WILSON, John Leighton, missionary, born in Sumter county, South Carolina, 25 March, 1809; died near Nayesville, South Carolina, 18 July, 1886. He was graduated at Union college in 1829, and at the Columbia (South Carolina) theological seminary in 1833, being a member of the first class that was educated in that institution He was ordained as a missionary the same year, and, after studying Arabic at Andover seminary, sailed in November on a voyage of exploration to western Africa, returning in the following spring As a result of his investigations, he decided that Cape Palmas was a promising field for missionary work. In May, 1834, he was married, and returned with his wife to Africa before the close of that year. Here they labored until 1841, during which period they organized a church of forty members, educated more than one hundred native youth, and reduced the Grebo language to writing', publishing a grammar and dictionary, and translating the gospels of Matthew and John, together with several small volumes, into the native tongue. In 1842 Mr. and Mrs. Wilson removed to the Gaboon river, 1,200 miles southeast of Cape Palmas, and began a new mission among the **Mpongwe people. Here again the language was reduced to writing for the first rime, and 8 grammar, a vocabulary, parts of the Bible, and several small volumes were published. In the spring of 1853, owing to failing health, he and his wife returned to the United States. The following autumn he became secretary of the board of foreign missions of the Presbyterian church, and continued to discharge his duties until the beginning of the civil war, when he returned to his home in the south. On the organization of the Southern Presbyterian church, Dr. Wilson was appointed secretary of foreign missions, and continued to act as such until 1885, when he was made secretary emeritus. For seven years during this period the home mission work was combined with that of foreign missions, he taking charge of both. In 1852 a strong effort was made in the British parliament to withdraw the British squadron from the African coast;, under the impression that the foreign slave-trade could not be suppressed. To prove that this view was erroneous, Dr. Wilson wrote a pamphlet, and pointed out what was necessary to make the crusade against the traffic successful. The pamphlet, falling into the hands of Lord Palmerston, was republished in the " United Service Journal," and also in the parliamentary "Blue Book," an edition of 10,000 copies being circulated throughout the United Kingdom. Lord Palmerston subsequently informed Dr. Wilson that his protest had silenced all opposition to the squadron's remaining on the coast, and in less than five years the trade itself was brought to an end. Dr. Wilson edited "The Foreign Record" (New York, 1853-'61), which gave an account of the progress of work in the foreign missionary field, and "The Missionary" (Baltimore, 1861-'85). He received the degree of D. D. from Lafayette college in 1854. While in Africa he sent to the Boston society of natural history the first specimen of the gorilla that was sent from there. He contributed to the "Southern Presbyterian Review" and other periodicals. He also published "Western Africa: its History, Condition, and Prospects" (New York, 1857).