John Elias Williams (; 1871 – 24 March 1927) was a missionary to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, he served with the American Presbyterian Mission for 28 years. He was also the vice president of the University of Nanking. He was murdered in the Nanking Incident on 24 March 1927. Williams was born and raised in

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. He was a coal miner in his teenage years. He graduated from

Marietta College Marietta College (MC) is a private liberal arts college in Marietta, Ohio, United States. Its campus encompasses approximately six city blocks next to downtown Marietta and enrolls 1,200 students. History Marietta College began as the Muskin ...

, Ohio, and Auburn Seminary,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. He applied to the Presbyterian Board of Missions and was assigned to China. He married Cora Lilian Caldwell, daughter of missionaries in August 1899, and sailed with her to China that same month. They raised four children. Williams served several years as principal of the Presbyterian Academy in

Nanking Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yan ...

, a boys' school. He later taught for a year at

Waseda University Waseda University (Japanese: ), abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the Tōkyō Professional School by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the fifth Prime Minister of Japan, prime ministe ...

, Tokyo. He returned in 1907 to Nanking, where he helped open Union College, formed by the union of several mission schools. Williams served as acting dean of the college of arts and science and as vice president. Williams was shot and killed by a Chinese soldier on the campus of the university, during an outbreak of violence against foreigners, now known as the Nanking Incident.

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