Abbie Goodrich Chapin
Abbie Goodrich Chapin | |
|---|---|
 Abbie G. Chapin, from a 1901 publication. | |
| Born | April 2, 1868 Tongzhou, China |
| Died | July 24, 1956 Glendale, California |
| Occupation | Missionary |
Abbie Goodrich Chapin RRC (April 2, 1868 – July 24, 1956) was an American missionary in China. In 1901 she became the first American decorated with the Royal Red Cross, for services rendered at Peking's International Hospital during the Boxer Rebellion.
Early life and education[edit]
Abbie Goodrich Chapin was born in Tongzhou, China,[1] the daughter of Lyman Dwight Chapin and Clara Labaree Evans Chapin. Her parents were American missionaries in China; her father was an ordained minister, and her mother was a teacher.[2] Her brothers Dwight and Edward were also a missionaries in China; both were ordained Presbyterian ministers.[3]
Chapin graduated from the University of Southern California in 1892 (her older sister Louise (Lula) graduated from USC the previous year).[4][5][6]
Career[edit]
Under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, Chapin taught at the Mary Morrill School for Women in Paotingfu,[7] and at Tongzhou.[8][9] Her work was funded in part by Christian Endeavor societies.[8] In 1900, she was in Beijing,[10] and listed among "Foreigners Who Have Probably Been Slain" in a San Francisco newspaper, after she was captured in the Boxer Rebellion.[11] She and the other missionaries in her group were confirmed alive about six weeks later.[12] In 1901, she was one of four women decorated by King Edward VII with the Royal Red Cross, for services rendered at Beijing's international hospital,[13][14][15] the first American so honored.[3]
She visited her siblings in the United States and spoke to American church groups in 1905,[16] 1913,[17] 1921,[18] and in 1931[19] and 1932.[7] In 1937, she was again in peril, as one of several Americans sheltering from Japanese bombings and caring for wounded soldiers at the Presbyterian Hospital in Paotingfu.[20][21]
Personal life[edit]
Chapin worked and lived for most of her life with Mary E. Andrews (also seen as Mary E. Andrus), a fellow American teaching missionary. Andrews died at Paotingfu in 1936.[22] Chapin died in Glendale, California in 1956, aged 88 years.[3]
References[edit]
- ^ "Work for Christian Endeavor Societies" Life and Light for Woman 24(March 1894): 123
- ^ "Memorial Services Held for Three Evans Sisters". The Brooklyn Citizen. 1904-11-28. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-11-15 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c "Missionary, 88, Taken by Death". San Marino Tribune. August 2, 1956. p. 1. Retrieved November 15, 2020 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
- ^ University of Southern California (1892). Year-book. Daily Herald Book and Job Printing House. p. 12.
- ^ "The Dragons of Troy". USC News. 2006-10-31. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
- ^ "The University of Southern California". Los Angeles Evening Express. 1892-06-23. p. 8. Retrieved 2020-11-15 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Missionaries to Sail for Posts in China". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. 1932-08-05. p. 4. Retrieved 2020-11-15 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Letter from Miss Abbie G. Chapin to Christian Endeavor Societies" Life and Light for Woman 24(September 1894): 422-424.
- ^ "A Survey of Our Work Abroad: China". Life and Light for Woman. 47: 23. November 1917.
- ^ "In the Public Eye". The Atkinson Plain Dealer, Atkinson Graphic and Holt County Republican-Consolidated. 1900-10-04. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-11-15 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Foreigners Who Have Probably Been Slain". San Francisco Call. July 7, 1900. p. 1. Retrieved November 14, 2020 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- ^ "Out of the Fowlers' Snare". The Grenada Sentinel. 1900-08-25. p. 4. Retrieved 2020-11-15 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "A Royal Red Cross Decoration" The Missionary Herald 97(August 1901): 313.
- ^ "News and Notes of the Month". The Spirit of Missions. 66: 318. May 1901.
- ^ "King Edward Decorates a Chinese Missionary". San Francisco Chronicle. 1901-07-30. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-11-15 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Miss Chapin Returns to Missionary Work". Los Angeles Evening Post-Record. 1905-08-05. p. 5. Retrieved 2020-11-15 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Unitarian Church". Springfield Reporter. 1913-12-05. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-11-15 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Missionary Program". Long Beach Press. 1921-04-05. p. 5. Retrieved 2020-11-15 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Many Speakers at Shafter Meeting". Bakersfield Californian. October 29, 1931. p. 12. Retrieved November 15, 2020 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
- ^ Hanson, Haldore (1937-10-10). "Paotingfu Reign of Terror Told". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. p. 14. Retrieved 2020-11-15 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Alarm Felt for 5 U. S. Nationals Believed to be Still in Paotingfu". Bradford Era. September 23, 1937. p. 8. Retrieved November 15, 2020 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
- ^ "Oldest Missionary Has Passed Away". The Morning Call. 1936-04-25. p. 17. Retrieved 2020-11-15 – via Newspapers.com.
External links[edit]
- "Alice S. Browne Frame, Mary E. Andrus and Abbey G. Chapin, near their girls' school in Tung-chou, China" , photograph in the Viette Brown Sprague Papers, Mount Holyoke College.
- Abbie Goodrich Chapin at Find a Grave
