1839
HT:Dan Graves
John Williams encountered hostility when he landed on Erromanga, New Hebrides (Vanuatu) on this day, November 20, 1839. He tried to dash back to his ship, but he wasn’t quick enough. Swift-footed natives captured him. The missionary who had hoped to feast them with the Gospel became their feast instead.
When the inhabitants of scattered islands of the South Pacific heard the news, they wept. John was greatly loved. One of the most successful missionaries of modern times, he had learned their languages and customs and labored to uplift them morally, spiritually and economically.
To some, his success was surprising. After all, he had little education, although he was a skilled metal worker. However, he was practical; and his skills, vision and commonsense found solutions to the challenges he met.
Reared in a Christian family, he grew indifferent to the faith for some years as a youth, but a sermon he heard aroused him from his spiritual lethargy. He became an active Christian worker and soon offered himself to the London Missionary Society.
With his newly-wed bride, he sailed to Tahiti. Although the London board did not want him to trade or to sail the South seas, he did so anyway. At one point, he even built his own boat, The Messenger of Peace although he had never seen one built before. He navigated it across hundreds of miles of open sea. As a result of his initiative, he planted churches not only in Tahiti, but in the Samoan Islands, Raratonga and numerous other islands of the Pacific. He was able to affirm that every known island along a 2,000 mile line had received the Gospel. He left Polynesian ministers at several of these outposts.
On a visit back to England, he roused enormous interest wherever he spoke. A book he published about his work sold well. Fresh funds poured in to enable him to make further mission trips.
The New Hebrides was a new region for him. No other missionary had visited those parts. Its inhabitants were in a mood of revenge because of cruelties perpetrated against them by a trading ship. Unaware of the good that John meant to do them, they chased him, as we have seen, and killed and ate him. His story inspired numerous other missionaries to venture to the islands, and several mission boats were named after him.
The following account of his death is by the account written by Robert C. Morgan, one of his co-workers.
“Dear Sir, I have to communicate to you the painful intelligence of the death of your beloved brother and faithful missionary, the Rev. John Williams, who was massacred at the island of Erromanga, one of the New Hebrides, on the 20th of November, 1839, and of Mr. James Harris, a gentleman who was on his way to England, with a view of becoming a missionary.
“Mr. Williams remarked, he saw a number of native boys playing, and thought it a good sign, as implying that the natives had no bad intentions: I said, I thought so too, but I would rather see some women also; because when the natives resolve on mischief they send the women out of the way; there were no women on the beach. At last he got up, went forward in the boat, and landed. He presented his hand to the natives, which they were unwilling to take; he then called to me to hand some cloth out of the boat, and he sat down and divided it among them, endeavouring to win their confidence. All three walked up the beach, Mr. Harris first; Mr. Williams and Mr. Cunningham followed. After they had walked about a hundred yards, they turned to the right, alongside of the bush, and I lost sight of them. Mr. Harris was the farthest off. . . . I stopped to see the boat anchored safely, and then walked up the beach towards the spot where the others had proceeded; but before I had gone a hundred yards, the boat’s crew called out to me to run to the boat.
“I looked round, and saw Mr. Williams and Mr. Cunningham running; Mr. Cunningham towards the boat, and Mr. Williams straight for the sea, with one native close behind him. I got into the boat, and by this time two natives were close behind me, though I did not see them at the moment. By this time Mr. Williams had got to the water, but, the beach being stony and steep, he fell backward, and the native struck him with a club, and often repeated the blow; a short time after, another native came up and struck him, and very soon another came up and pierced several arrows into his body.”