Pettigrew was a Scotsman born and sent in 1891 by the Arthington Aborigines Mission (Anglican) to Assam. By 1896 the American Baptists had accepted him as their missionary, with the apparent reasons his earlier decision to be baptized by immersion and the refusal of the Anglican mission to allow him to focus on language training and mission outreach through educational endeavors. At this point the Anglican (independent) mission seemed more focused on street evangelism than on educational outreach or the building of a permanent mission station or church. His earliest work was among Manipuri Hindus but soon shifted to the village of Ukhurl, where the Pettigrews worked with Tankhul Nagas. In 1901, after ten years of Pettigrew’s language work, preaching, and home visiting, the first converts (12 school boys) were baptized. By the time of his retirement, the church in this part of Assam had grown to number tens of thousands. Included is a long list of scripture translations done by Rev. Pettigrew in Bengali, Tangkhul Naga, and Khadou Kuki. What is perhaps as impressive as his linguistic skills and work is how closely he worked with a man named Ngulhao (a Thadou Kuki) to create and edit portions of scripture, hymnals, and school textbooks. So while he appears to be a solitary missionary (who rarely works closely with other missionaries), he seems to have lived happily in the community of Christian converts in Manipur—perhaps why he remains beloved there, to this day. Notes by D. Van Broekhoven May 2009