Williamson, John Poage, 1835-1917

John Poage Williamson (1835-1917); Missionary to the Dakota Indians for the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. from 1860 to 1898, preaching in their native language, which he had learned as a child. He worked at many sites, including: the Lower Sioux Agency, Minn., 1860-1862; Fort Snelling, 1862-1863; Crow Creek, S.D., 1863-1866; Santee Agency, Neb., 1866-1869; and the Yankton Agency, S.D., 1869-1898. Williamson also acted as the Special U.S. Agent for the Flandreau Indians, 1873-1878. In 1871, he started a Native American publication entitled "Iape Oaye." Williamson also wrote books in Dakota Language.

Presbyterian Missionary.

Williamson was the son of pioneer Minnesota missionary Thomas Smith Williamson. He spent his youth in Minnesota, was educated in Ohio and Illinois, and returned to Minnesota as a missionary in 1860. In 1863 he followed the exiled Santee Sioux to Ft. Thompson on the Crow Creek Agency in Dakota Territory, and in 1866 he went with them to Niobrara, Nebraska. In 1869 he moved to Yankton Agency in Dakota, where he became general missionary to the Sioux for the Presbyterian Church.