Nathan Brown (missionary)

Lore & Background

Nathan Brown was born in New Ipswich, New Hampshire, and graduated first in his class from Williams College. After teaching in Vermont, he and his wife Eliza served as missionaries in Burma. In 1835, David Scott, the Agent to the Governor General in the North-East Frontier, invited American Baptist missionaries to come to Assam; Brown and Oliver Cutter arrived in 1837. Brown originally intended to translate the Bible into Burmese but instead focused on Assam, where by 1846 he had founded 14 Assamese-medium schools and written textbooks in arithmetic and geography. He also translated Pilgrim's Progress into Assamese, while his wife Eliza wrote story books and tracts and ran a girls' boarding school.

In 1848, Brown published an Assamese grammar and an Assamese translation of the New Testament, titled Amar Trankôrta Yisu Khristôr Nôtun Niyôm. He found the existing Assamese Bible by William Carey idiomatically inadequate due to Bengali and Sanskrit loan words, so he undertook a new translation into pure and simple Assamese with Pandit Atmaram Sharma. In 1846, with Oliver Cutter, he published Orunodoi, the first Assamese periodical. He also published works of Assamese scholars, including Ôxôm Burônzi by Kashinath Phukan (1844), Kitabôt Mônzôri in two parts by Bakul Kayastha (1845), and Sutiya Burônzi (1850). From 1836 to 1873, British policy subsumed Assamese under Bengali, but Brown's publications and association with Hemchandra Barua helped regain official recognition for the language.

After returning to New England in 1848, Brown joined the abolitionist movement, delivering anti-slavery sermons in Boston. He joined the American Baptist Free Mission Society and met with President Abraham Lincoln to discuss emancipation. He wrote a satirical work, Magnus Maharba and the Dragon, under the pen name Kristofer Kadmus, addressing the battle against slavery. Following the Civil War, in 1868, Brown turned to Japan, interacting with Japanese students in the United States. After his first wife Eliza died in 1871, he married Charlotte Marlit in 1872 and returned to missionary work in Japan, collaborating with Jonathan Goble to build the First Baptist Church of Yokohama in 1873. With Japanese scholar Kawakatsu Tetsuya, he produced a Japanese-language Bible from ancient Greek manuscripts and printed thousands of Hiragana copies for wider access.

Reader's Guide

Nathan Brown's significance lies in his multifaceted contributions to language, education, and social reform. In Assam, he is remembered as a pioneer who championed the native Assamese language at a time when British colonial policy subsumed it under Bengali. His translation of the New Testament into pure Assamese, his publication of the first Assamese periodical Orunodoi, and his grammar and school textbooks helped revive and standardize the language, leading to its official recognition. His work with local scholars and his printing press empowered Assamese literature and culture. As an abolitionist, Brown engaged directly with President Lincoln and used satire to critique slavery, reflecting the moral struggles of the era. Later, in Japan, he facilitated cultural exchange and produced a vernacular Japanese Bible, aiming to make scripture accessible to less educated readers. Brown's legacy is that of a missionary who used literacy, translation, and publishing as tools for both evangelism and cultural empowerment, leaving a lasting impact on two distinct societies.

Did You Know?

• Brown published the first Assamese periodical, Orunodoi, in 1846 with colleague Oliver Cutter.
• He translated the New Testament into Assamese because he found the existing version by William Carey idiomatically inadequate.
• Brown used the pen name Kristofer Kadmus for his satirical abolitionist work Magnus Maharba and the Dragon.
• He collaborated with Japanese scholar Kawakatsu Tetsuya to produce a Japanese-language Bible from ancient Greek manuscripts.