Amos Sutton

To be distinguished from Amos Sutton Hayden (1813-1880)

Amos Sutton (Sevenoaks in Kent, 1802 — Cuttack, Orissa, August 17, 1854) was an English General Baptist missionary to Orissa, India, and hymn writer.^[1]

He published the first Oriya-language dictionary, Introduction to Oriya grammar, and translated the Bible into the Oriya language.

He also composed a hymn to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne": "Hail, sweetest, dearest tie."^[2] and wrote a History of the mission to Orissa: the site of the temple of Juggernaut 1835. ^[3][4][5][6]

Biography

This section requires expansion.

At the age of 21, he was recruited by General Baptist Foreign Missionary Society for missionary service. He is trained for the ministry under J.G. Pike, founder of the Connexion's Missionary Society in Derby. After a brief period in home ministry, he was sent as a missionary to India in 1824 by Baptist Missionary Society, two years after William Bampton and James Peggs, the first two Baptist missionaries, had entered Orissa. Sutton along with his wife Charlotte Sutton(née Charlotte Collins) sailed to Calcutta(present Kolkata) and joined the missionary work at station Cuttack on 11 March 1825. Soon after their arrival to his mission station, his first wife Charlotte died due to sickness at Puri, Orissa;later, he married James Coleman, second wife and an American Baptist missionary widow.^{[4][6][7][8][9]}

Missionary work

This section requires expansion.

The missionary began the evangelism and recorded the first Oriya conversion in 1828. By 1841, he trained three Oriya evangelists at Cuttack. By 1846, when the students increased to eight, he formalised the class as the Cuttack Mission Academy. By 1805, Baptist missionary society and later Amos Sutton under the auspices of Serampore Trio -- William Carey, Joshua Marshman, and William Ward attempted to preach Telugu-speaking people in northernmost parts of present Andhra Pradesh -- adjoining areas to Orissa like Chicacole(present Srikakulam) and Vizagapatnam(present Vizag or Visakapatnam). Baptist missionary attempts and Amos Sutton objectives to evangelize Telugus failed and missionaries didn't venture the Telugu regions again, confining themselves to Oriya speaking districts.^[4][8]

As Baptists Missionary Society was not able to support the Orissa missionary work, through his second wife he was able to get contact details of American Free Will Baptists. Sutton contacted Free Will Baptists Mission mentioning the great needs of Orissa and adjoining Telugu speaking areas; accordingly, he received an invitation from the convention to visit America. ^[7][8]

Sutton and his wife visited England and America and spent two years between 1833 and 1835 sharing their mission fields. During their visit to United States, he spoke in the seventh General conference of the Free Will Baptists in October 1833 before an audience of 3,000 people inspiring them to devote their life to the missionary service. In this conference, Jeremiah Phillips and Eli Noyes came forward to offer their service to Oriya speaking people.^[7][8][6]

While visiting his relatives in the United States in 1835, he urged the Baptist convention in Virginia to take over the abandoned work among the Telugus; accordingly, Samuel S. Day, a Canadian-born American Baptist missionary, and E.L. Abbot, including their wives were sent by American Baptist Foreign Mission Board to Telugu speaking provinces along with Sutton.^[7][8]

On 22 September 1835, Amos Sutton, Jeremiah Phillips, Eli Noyes, Samuel S. Day, including their wives and several other missionaries sailed to India. After 136 days of sailing, they arrived Calcutta. From Calcutta, they travelled by land and joined their respective mission stations -- E.L. Abbot departed to Burma, while Samuel family proceeded to Telugu speaking provinces and arrived at Vizagapatnam - Amos Sutton, Eli Noyes, and Jeremiah Phillips proceeded to Oriya-speaking provinces and arrived at Cuttack where British Baptist Missionaries already working there - Jeremiah Phillips and Eli Noyes dedicated their missionary service to Santals. Amos Sutton soon became the corresponding secretary of the new society Free Will Baptist Missionary.^[7][8]

Bibliography

This section requires expansion.

Sutton devoted himself in learning local Oriya language, as soon as he arrived the mission station. Sutton being a gifted translator, soon compiled the Oriya grammar, dictionary, and translated a number of English books, including Bible into Oriya language. Amos Sutton's Introducctory Grammar of Oriya language in 1831, happens to be oldest publication available in the Oriya's historical collection till-date.^{[4][6][7][10]}

He published first volume of Oriya dictionary in 1841, and next two volumes by 1843. It was printed in Orissa mission press at Cuttack. The Oriya dictionary gives Oriya meaning of Oriya words with English synonyms. Sutton also prepared a dictionary named Sadhu Bhasharthabhidhan, a vocabulary of current Sanskrit terms with Oriya definitions which was also printed in Orissa mision press in 1844.^{[4][6][10][11]}

He published Dharmapustakara Adibhaya between 1842 and 1843. He also published the History Of The Mission To Orissa: The Site Of The Temple Of Juggernaut in 1835. In addition to Oriya tracts, he published A Narrative of the Mission to Orissa in 1844, Orissa and its Evangelization in 1850, an autobiography, the Happy Transformation in 1844, and compiled Padarthavidyasara to be taught as textbook in the schools of Orissa.^{[4][6][10][11][12][13]}

As a hymn writer, he prepared the Oriya's first hymn book—179 of the hymns being of his own composition. He composed hymns, especially for divine worship, public, private, and social occasions. It looks, Amos Sutton's hymns happens to be the Protestants first hymnal printed in India. On his visit to England in 1833, he composed a farewell hymn—to the tune of Auld lang syne - Hail sweetest, dearest tie tbat binds - it soon became very popular and is still in common use.^[6][14]

Awards

• A degree of D.D. was conferred on him by the College of Waterville, USA.^[6]

See also

• The British missionary societies

References

External links

• Annual report, Issues 1-18 -- American and Foreign Bible Society, Bible Convention
• Missionary Position: The Irony of Translational Activism in Colonial Orissa
• ORISSA in the CROSSFIRE