Evans, James

(1801-1846). Born in Kingston-upon-Hull, England. Emigrated to Canada; opened a school near L'Original, and about 1828 moved to Rice Lake, where he entered the Methodist ministry, and began his life-long Work among the Indians. In 1840 given charge of mi ionary work in the North-West, with headquarters at Norway House. Had already devoted much time to the study of the native languages, and while at Norway House invented the Cree syllabic characters, a simple, phonetic system, by means of which the Indian was taught to read with surprising facility. At first cast his own type, built his own pre , and printed on birchbark. Later obtained more effective materials, and set up catechisms, hymn-books, and portions of the Bible in syllabic. Bib. : Young, The Apostle of the North ; McLean, James Evans, Inventor of the Syllabic System ; Carroll, James Evans in the Methodist Magazine , October, 1882; Pilling, Bibliography of the Algonquian Languages .