In 1836, Renville employed a clerk named Eugene Gauss (1811-1896), who, during his service as a private in the United States Army, had become "a pious Presbyterian and decided he wanted to be a missionary." Gauss assisted with translation of the Bible from French into Dakota, and Dr. Williamson wrote, "Brother Gauss, Mr. R's present clerk being pious and feeling a deep interest in the spiritual welfare of the Dakotas and my own increasing knowledge of the French language make it more practicable to give religious instruction than heretofore." Eugene Gauss was a son of the renowned German mathematician and physicist, Carl Friedrich Gauss.