Canton Mission. - Rev. J. L. Shuck and Rev. T. J. Roberts, missionaries of the Triennial Convention, transferred themselves to the Southern Convention soon after its organization. The former had constituted the First Baptist church of Canton, and traveling in this country in1846 with a native convert, Yon Seen Sang, raised for a chapel $5000. This chapel fund, with the consent of the donors, was transferred with the missionary, in 1847, to Shanghai. Mr. Roberts had preached six or seven years to lepers at Macao. In 1847 his chapel was destroyed, and the mission property of the Missionary Union was bought by the Southern Convention. Mr. Roberts raised much money on the field, and published and distributed large numbers of tracts and portions of the Scriptures. In 1850 the mission had been reinforced by Messrs. S. C. Clopton, George Pearcy, F. C. Johnson, B. W. Whilden, and Miss H. A. Baker. There were three preaching-places. A union effected between Mr. Roberts's (Uet-tung) church and the First church was not happy. In 1852 "the relation between Mr. Roberts and the board was dissolved." He had done some good foundation-work. He remained an independent missionary until 1866, when he returned to America. He died of leprosy, Dec. 28, 1871, at Upper Alton, Illinois. Mrs. Roberts lives at St. Louis, Mo. Mr. Clopton was born in Virginia, Jan. 7, 1816, fell asleep July 7, 1847, lamented as a choice spirit. Mr. Pearcy and Miss Baker were transferred to the Shanghai Mission. Mr. Johnson went as a "Theological Tutor and Missionary," and after making great progress in the written language, returned, in 1849, with broken health. He resides in Marietta, Ga. In 1848 the native assistants, Yong and Mui, went to Canton. In 1850, Mrs. Whilden died, and Mr. Whilden brought home his children. The health of his second wife failing, they retired from the field finally in 1855. Mr. Whilden, much beloved, resides in his native State, South Carolina.In 1854, 1856, 1860, Rev. Messrs. C. W. Gaillard, R. H. Graves, and J. G. Schilling joined, respectively, the mission. In 1856, Mr. Gaillard reported "69 Sundayschool scholars, 321,200 tracts and Scriptures distributed;" and in 1860, "40 baptisms and 58 church members." July 27, 1862, he was killed by the falling of his house in a typhoon. Mr. Schilling made "good progress in the language," but after the death of his wife, in 1864, came home with his children. He practises law in West Virginia. Rev. N. B. Williams, whose wife is the daughter of the returned missionary, Rev: B. W. Whilden, went to China in 1872, accompanied by his wife's sister, Miss Lula Whilden, who, supported by the women of South Carolina, is doing a grand work among the women of Canton. Mr. Williams had a school of forty pupils, and was treasurer of the mission. In 1876, Mrs. Williams's failing health compelled their return to the United States. Mr. Williams preaches in Alabama. In 1874, Wong Mui died. Yong Seen Sang, supported by the Ladies' Missionary Society of the First Baptist church of Richmond, Va., since 1846, still labors for the Master. Rev. E. Z. Simmons and wife arrived in Canton Feb. 6, 1871, and are doing good work for the Lord. Miss Sallie Stein, sustained by the Young Ladies' Missionary Society of the First Baptist church, Richmond, Va., joined the mission in 1879.
Rev. R. H. Graves, D. D., was born in Baltimore, May 29, 1833; was baptized by Dr. Richard Fuller, Oct. 15, 1848; graduated at St. Mary's College in 1851; arrived at Canton 14th August, 1856. For twenty-five years he has been consecrated to his mission, in which he has achieved great success, and has won, as many a brother missionary has done, a name for purity of character and ability as a gospel laborer which is imperishable. He married first the missionary Gaillard's widow, who died December 12, 1864. His present wife, daughter of G. W. Norris, Esq., of Baltimore, has been, since 1872, a self-sacrificing and successful missionary worker for Jesus. In the last eight years Dr. Graves has published, in Chinese, two hymn-books, a work on the Parables of our Lord, a book on homiletics, a work on Scripture geography, and will soon publish a "Life of Christ." In the same time "a dwelling has been built in Canton,
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one chapel finished, and money raised for another in the country, six country stations have been opened, and two native brethren ordained to the ministry. The Chinese Native Missionary Society has also a station and two assistant preachers, supported mainly by contributions from Chinese Christians in Demerara and the United States." The results of the preaching and Scripture distribution and holy living of this long line of missionaries in the city of Canton, and among the dense masses of the interior of Southern China, can never be estimated. The statistics reported in 1880 are as follows: 2 churches, 230 members, 52 baptized, $255 annual contributions, 9766 tracts and Bibles distributed, 4514 medical cases, 5 schools, with an average attendance of 121, 6 foreign missionaries and 12 native assistants, $5585.35, cost of house recently built, $4591.87 house fund in Canton treasury.The Shanghai Mission was started in 1847 by Rev. Messrs. M. T. Yates, J. L. Shuck, and T. W. Tobey. Mr. Yates was the first on the ground. Nov. 6, 1847, a Baptist church of ten members was founded. Two natives - Yong and Mui - were licensed to preach. In April, 1848, a gloom overspread the infant church by the drowning of Dr. and Mrs. J. Sexton James, who were daily expected at Shanghai. Mr. Pearcy, from Canton, joined the mission in November, 1848. The meetings were attended by "500 or 600 natives." In 1849 Mr. and Mrs. Tobey, very useful missionaries, were forced home by the ill health of the latter. In May, 1850, a mission building was erected at Oo-Kah-Jack. Mr. Shuck wrote, "Our board is the first Protestant board of missions in the world which ever held property and gained a permanent footing in the interior of China." In 1851, Mrs. Shuck died. Her biography was written by Dr. Jeter. Mr. Shuck returned with his children to America. In China he had been very "faithful and effective." In 1854 he went to California, where he labored for seven years, baptizing sixteen Chinese, and organizing a Chinese church. He died in Barnwell, S. C., Aug. 20, 1861, aged fifty-one. His widow resides in Charleston, S. C., with his son, Rev. L. H. Shuck, D. D. In 1852, Rev. and Mrs. Crawford and Dr. G. W. Burton reinforced the mission, and early in 1853, Rev. and Mrs. A. B. Cabaniss arrived. In the city there were three schools and six places of worship. In 1854, Miss H. A. Baker, who came from Canton in 1851 and opened a boarding school, was recalled by the advice of her physician. She lives in California, and is the author of the "Orphan of the Old Dominion." Mr. and Mrs. Pearcy, on account of his shattered health, returned home in 1855. He passed away July 21, 1871, "mildly and grandly as the setting sun." That year, 1855, there were "eighteen public services per week, with an average attendance of 2500 souls; five day schools, with an average attendance of 100 pupils. This year was signalized by the first baptism of a Chinese woman. The board reported, "The gospel has won glorious triumphs in China. . . . Multitudes having given evidence of saving faith in the Redeemer." The next year the board commended the missionaries as performing "almost super-human labors in their wide-opened field." In 1859, Rev. and Mrs. J. L. Holmes came to Shanghai, and the next year were settled in the Shantung province. In 1859, Rev. J. B. Hartwell and wife arrived, and in 1860 joined Mr. Holmes in Shantung. In 1860, Mr. and Mrs. Cabaniss, after eminent service, returned home. The same year Rev. and Mrs. A. L. Bond, assigned to this mission, were lost at sea, with Rev. and Mrs. J. Q. A. Rohrer, assigned to Japan, in the ill-fated "Edwin Forrest." In 1863, Rev. and Mrs. T. P. Crawford, having done a good work in Shanghai, went to Tung-Chow. In 1861, Dr. Burton, a great benefactor of the mission, returned to America, and is practising his profession in Louisville, Ky. In 1865, Mr. and Mrs. Yates were alone in Shanghai, and have remained so until now. To sum up the labors and holy influences of these missionaries, and of this great man and his noble wife, would be impossible. Dr. Yates wrote, -
"Sept. 12, 1877. - This is the thirtieth anniversary of our arrival at Shanghai. At first our way was in the dark; but every successive decade has shown marked progress in our work. To-day the missionary influence in China is a mighty power. The leaven of divine truth has been deposited in this mass of error and corruption, and its irresistible force is beginning to be seen and felt far and wide. The Bible has been translated into the literary or dead language of the whole country, and also rendered into the spoken language or dialects of many localities, - a style in which the Chinese have not been in the habit of making books. Places of worship have been secured, where multitudes come to the sound of the church-going bell to hear the word of God. Churches of living witnesses have been established. Tens of thousands have been convinced of the truth of the gospel, who have not had the moral courage to make a public confession of their faith in Christ. Thirty years ago, when the prospect was so dark, and the darkness seemed so impenetrable, I would have compromised for what I now behold as my life-work. Now my demand would be nothing less than a complete surrender. I am in dead earnest about this matter, for I fully realize that God is in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, and has committed unto us the word of reconciliation, and that he has commanded us to make it known to all nations. I not only do not regret devoting my life
[p. 1082]to the mission work, but I rejoice that he counted me worthy to be his embassador to the greatest empire on the globe. Now my one desire is that he would give me wisdom to do his will and be a faithful steward. The Lord be praised for all his goodness and mercy to us in our hours of darkest affliction."Statistics, 1880: 2 churches, 100 members, $273.17 contributions, 2 important out-stationsA sketch of Dr. M. T. Yates, whose reputation is as broad as the earth, is found here.
The Shantung Mission has had two main stations, viz., at Chefoo and at Tung-Chow. In 1860, Rev. and Mrs. J. L. Holmes settled in the former, and Rev. and Mrs. J. B. Hartwell in the latter. The next year Mr. Holmes was brutally murdered by the rebels. He was born in Preston County, now in West Virginia; was graduated from Columbian College in 1858. In "Our Life in China" Mrs. Nevins describes him as "handsome, talented, ardent, with very winning manners, and peculiarly fitted for usefulness among the Chinese." Mrs. Holmes removed to Tung-Chow, where she is still doing heroic work. She has issued several editions of "Peep of Day." In 1871, Mr. Hartwell re-opened the station in Chefoo. In 1872 he located in Chefoo, which, he said, had "sextupled itself" since 1860, and asked the board "to appropriate $4000 for a residence and $4000 for a chapel." He rented a commodious dwelling, where he had "at evening family prayer a company of twenty Chinese," and used the chapel of the English Baptist mission, kindly offered by Dr. Brown of that mission. In 1875 he wrote, "I think the people are receiving the ideas of the gospel." That year he was forced home by the ill health of his wife, who died Dec. 3, 1879, in California, where Dr. Hartwell has a mission under the home board of the Convention. Dr. Hartwell was born in Darlington, S. C., in 1835; graduated with distinction from Furman University in 1856. In 1858 he married Miss Eliza H. Jewett, of Macon, Ga., who died in China in 1870, greatly lamented. His second wife, Miss Julia Jewett, was her sister. With sixteen years' experience in China, Dr. Hartwell is eminently adapted to the work in California, where he has organized a Chinese church. The Doctorate was conferred on him by Furman University.
Tung-Chow Station. - Mr. Hartwell, as has been stated, located there in 1860, and constituted a church of eight members, Oct. 5, 1862. It was known as the North Street church. In 1864 there were eighteen members. Mr. Crawford, coming to Tung-Chow, took charge of the church, while Mr. Hartwell supplied a temporary absence of Mr. Yates from Shanghai, and baptized eight converts. There were two schools there, and some "6000 books had been printed and distributed." In 1866, Mr. Crawford constituted a second church, of eight persons, known as the Monument Street church. In 1868 "a deep religious revival" arose in neighboring villages, through the instrumentality of a native baptized by Mr. Hartwell, and twenty were baptized. In 1869, Mr. Hartwell reported his church contributions to be $127. In 1871 the membership was fifty-six. In 1870, Woo was ordained a native pastor. In 1872, Mr. Hartwell wrote, "Woo has managed the church with great discretion and propriety. . . . He tells them that instead of their being dependent on the missionaries, the missionaries should be dependent on them." In 1873 the statistics were: membership, 63; connected with the church from the first, 81; income of church, $224. The church bears its own expenses, except chapel rent. In 1875 the board reported, "Rev. Woo is pastor, but Brother Hartwell, though living in Chefoo, kept an advisory relation to it, and aided it by his constant counsel and occasional presence." After sundry vicissitudes this church is virtually merged in the Monument Street church.
In 1871, Mr. Crawford, greatly encouraged, wrote, "Christianity gains ground day by day. The government and people all feel that their ancient strongholds are giving way." In 1873 he built a chapel for $3000. In 1872, Miss Edmonia Moon joined the mission, but, after remarkable progress in the language, she had to yield in 1876 to broken health and quit the field. In 1873 her sister, Miss Lottie Moon, a woman of distinguished ability, joined the mission, and, with Mrs. Crawford and Mrs. Holmes, is teaching in the city, and telling of Jesus far in the country. In four years the ladies made 1027 visits to country villages. In 1879 the schools numbered 56, the church 115. In 1880 "more than a thousand visits were made for preaching the gospel and distributing books in villages around Tung-Chow." Dr. Crawford adds, "May God bless the seed thus sown under many difficulties!"
T. P. Crawford was born in Warren Co., Ky., May 8, 1821; graduated from Union University, Tenn., in 1851, "at the head of his class, and with the first honors of the institution." He was ordained in 1851, and married Miss Martha Foster, of Alabama, daughter of the late Deacon J. L. S. Foster. The same year he was appointed a missionary; labored in Shanghai until 1862, when he went to Tung-Chow, where he has toiled indefatigably ever since. Mrs. Crawford has published several books. The last work of Dr. Crawford's is "The Patriarchal Dynasties." In 1879 the degree of D. D. was conferred on him by Richmond College, Va.
============= [From William Cathcart, editor, The Baptist Encyclopedia 1881; 1988, pp. 1080-1082. Scanned and formatted by Jim Duvall.]
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