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The Triumph of John and Betty Stam – Brethren Archive
Helen Priscilla Stam was three months old on December 8, 1934 when her parents were … George & Helen Mahy who went as missionaries to the Philippines.
Source: www.brethrenarchive.org
Date Published: 1/14/2021
View: 3563
Elisabeth Alden “Betty” Stam
Helen Priscilla Stam was born on September 11, 1934, at the Wuhu hospital. Since Betty had had a caesarian section, she needed to convalesce for a few weeks …
Source: bdcconline.net
Date Published: 3/3/2022
View: 9049
Helen Stam Obituary (2012) – Grand Rapids, MI
Helen B Stam, aged 91, of Holland went to be with her Lord on July 7, 2012. She was preceded in death by her husband, Gerrit, and daughter, …
Source: obits.mlive.com
Date Published: 7/26/2022
View: 8583
All Public Member Trees results for Helen Mahy – Ancestry.com
Helen Priscilla Stam Mahy · Cecil Stone ; Helen L Mahy found in 3 public trees · Coughlin Family Tree ; Leora Helen Mumson found in 6 public …
Source: www.ancestry.com
Date Published: 8/7/2021
View: 3045
Helen Scott Mahy ’30 – Women’s History at Wilson College
Helen Scott Mahy returned to China in 1935 under the Board of Foreign … (Helen Scott), with Betty Scott Stam’s daughter, Helen Priscilla, …
Source: womenshistory.wilson.edu
Date Published: 12/21/2022
View: 3494
Missionaries in China | Women’s History at Wilson College blog
AQ Frebruary 1942: “The Gordon Mahy family (Helen Scott), with Betty Scott Stam’s daughter, Helen Priscilla, are at Montreat, N.C. until such time as they may …
Source: womenshistoryatwilsoncollegeblog.wordpress.com
Date Published: 2/1/2022
View: 4898
Each Step of the Way – Total Life Journal
Tragically, he died in Montana soon after finishing his seminary work. … Helen Priscilla Stam was born on September 11, 1934.
Source: totallifenow.typepad.com
Date Published: 9/27/2021
View: 8692
Stam, Helen Priscilla 1934- [WorldCat Identities]
Stam, Helen Priscilla 1934-. Overview. Works: 4 works in 6 publications in 1 language and 26 library holdings. Genres: History …
Source: worldcat.org
Date Published: 10/6/2021
View: 3740
“Stam Baby Safe”: Remembering John and Betty Stam
The deaths of John and Betty Stam at the hands of communist soldiers and the “miraculous” survival of their daughter, Helen Priscilla, …
Source: fromthevault.wheaton.edu
Date Published: 11/9/2021
View: 8525
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Is Helen Stam still alive?
Helen B Stam, aged 91, of Holland went to be with her Lord on July 7, 2012. She was preceded in death by her husband, Gerrit, and daughter, Beverly Harper. Helen is survived by her daughters, Marlene (Howard) Kotman, and Sherri; son-in-law, Charles Harper; and six grandchildren.
What happened to John and Betty Stam’s daughter Helen?
Martyrdom at Miaoshou
The group stopped for a night, and Betty was allowed to tend to Helen, but in fact, she hid her daughter in the room inside a sleeping bag. The very next morning, John and Betty were being marched down the streets of Miaoshou to meet their deaths.
What happened to the Stam baby?
Finding a bible and hymnbook among his possessions, they arrested Chang Hsiu-sheng and killed him the next day. The Stams were forced up a hill outside Miaosheo, where they were executed by decapitation at the summit.
What happened to the China Inland Mission?
Following the departure of all foreign workers in the early 1950s, the China Inland Mission redirected its missionaries to other parts of East Asia. The name was changed to the Overseas Missionary Fellowship in 1964, and then to the current name in the 1990s.
Murders of John and Betty Stam
John Cornelius Stam (January 18, 1907 – December 8, 1934) and Elisabeth Alden “Betty” Stam (née Scott; February 22, 1906[1] – December 8, 1934) were American Christian missionaries to China, with the China Inland Mission (CIM), during the Chinese Civil War. The missionary couple were executed by Communist Chinese soldiers in 1934.[2]
Ransom demanded [ edit ]
Tsingtao (today called Qingdao), a city on the east coast of China, was Betty Stam’s childhood home; she (the oldest of five children) grew up there, where Betty’s father, Charles Scott, was a missionary.[3] In 1926, Betty returned to the United States to attend college. While a student at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago she met John Stam, who was also a student at Moody. Betty returned to China in 1931. When John arrived in Shanghai in 1932, they unexpectedly met again. They married in 1933.[4]
In November 1934, John and Betty moved to their mission station at Tsingteh[5] (now Jingde) (not to be confused with Tsingtao) in Anhui Province, with their three-month-old daughter, Helen.[6][7] On December 6, a messenger from the town’s magistrate came to the Stams at 8 o’clock in the morning and warned them that the Communists were approaching the city. At 9:30, they received a message that the Communists were within 4 miles (6 km) of the city.[8]: 67 After John confirmed this, the Stams prepared to leave. However, the Communists quickly overran the city, came to where the Stams were staying and broke open the gates to the compound. They demanded all the money the Stams had and it was handed over. The Communists then arrested John and took him to the city prison. They left Betty, baby Helen, the maid and the cook in the Stams’ house. The soldiers later came back and took Betty and Helen.[8]: 67 The maid and cook begged to go along, but they were threatened they would be shot if they did. Betty and Helen were taken to be with John in the prison. It was still the morning of December 6. That night, John Stam wrote a letter to CIM authorities, but it was never delivered. The letter was found later bundled up in some of Helen’s clothes. It stated that the Stams were being held by the Communists for a ransom of $20,000.[8]: 68 John Stam also wrote to the mission authorities of how he and his wife had been captured, then wrote, “Philippians 1:20: ‘May Christ be glorified whether by life or death.'”
John, Betty and Helen were then taken to the local prison where some of the prisoners were released to make room for the Stams. In the midst of hustle and bustle, Helen started crying, and a soldier suggested that they kill her, since she was only bothering them. Then one of the prisoners who had just been released asked why they should kill the innocent baby. The soldiers turned to him and asked if he was willing to die for the foreign baby. The man was hacked to pieces in front of the Stams. Helen was allowed to live.[8]: 69 [3]
Martyrdom at Miaoshou [ edit ]
The next morning, the Stams were forced to march 12 miles (19 km) west with the soldiers, to the town of Miaoshou[9] (which is just under 9 miles (14 km) due west of Jingde). The group stopped for a night, and Betty was allowed to tend to Helen, but in fact, she hid her daughter in the room inside a sleeping bag. The very next morning, John and Betty were being marched down the streets of Miaoshou to meet their deaths. Curious onlookers lined both sides of the streets. A Chinese shopkeeper stepped out of the crowd and talked to the Communists, trying to persuade them not to kill the Stams. The soldiers ordered the man back into the crowd, but he wouldn’t step back. The soldiers then invaded his house where they found a Chinese copy of the Bible and a hymnbook. He was led alongside the Stams to be executed for being a Christian.[8]: 72 After marching for a short while longer, John Stam was ordered to kneel, and was beheaded. His wife and the shopkeeper were killed moments later.[10]
Rescue of baby Helen, and aftermath [ edit ]
The baby, Helen, was found two days later by a Chinese pastor who took her home and took care of her. The Reverend Lo Ke-chou and his wife then took the baby girl to her maternal grandparents, the Reverend Charles Ernest Scott and his wife, Clara, who were also missionaries in China.[11] The Stams’ daughter later came to the United States and was raised by her aunt and uncle, George and Helen Mahy. As for Helen’s parents, a small group of Christians found their bodies and buried them on a hillside. The Stams’ gravestones read:
John Cornelius Stam, January 18, 1907, “That Christ may be glorified whether by life or by death.” Philippians 1:20
Elisabeth Scott Stam, February 22, 1906, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Philippians 1:21
December 8, 1934, Miaosheo, Anhui, “Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life.” Revelation 2:10
The story of their martyrdom was much publicized and inspired many to become missionaries.[12]
Red Army unit responsible for the deaths [ edit ]
When the Stams settled into the mission, the area was controlled by the Kuomintang-led Nationalist Government. The Nationalist forces were prevailing in the Chinese Civil War, and the forces of the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army (Red Army) had started their Long March. The Red Army’s 19th Division, under commander Xun Huaizhou 寻淮洲 and political commissar Nie Hongjun 聂荣臻, passed through the town of Tsingteh on December 6, 1934, where they captured the Stams. They forced the Stams to march with them, until the executions on December 8.
After the executions, the 19th Division turned south to join a main Red Army force—the 10th Army Group. The 10th Army Group was defeated on December 14 by a brigade from the Nationalist force, and commander Xun was killed in that battle. A few weeks later, on January 27, 1935, the entire 10th Army Group was annihilated by Nationalist forces. Of the officers responsible for the Stam murders, only political commissar Nie survived. After the communist victory in China, Nie became the first deputy chairman of Hubei province, and later deputy minister of the Department of Agriculture. Nie died in 1966.[13]
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
“Stam Baby Safe”: Remembering John and Betty Stam
The telegram contained only a single sentence: “Cablegram from mission headquarters Shanghai reports Stam baby safe Wuhu.”
Viewed today, the fragile, yellowing Western Union message is unremarkable, but to Peter Stam, its original recipient in Paterson, New Jersey, the telegram furnished yet another detail in a still-unfolding tragedy on the other side of the world. But this time it was good news. Signed by Robert Glover, longtime North America Home Director for China Inland Mission, the telegram announced to desperate, waiting relatives that their granddaughter was alive and safe at Wuhu General Hospital in Anhui Province, China, the same institution where she had been born three months earlier. Only now she was an orphan.
Telegram sent by Robert Glover, China Inland Mission Home Director for North America from 1929-1943. The original telegram is found in Collection 449: Ephemera of the Stam Family.
The deaths of John and Betty Stam at the hands of communist soldiers and the “miraculous” survival of their daughter, Helen Priscilla, have been documented in multiple books, articles, blogs, and testimonies over the decades, becoming something of twentieth-century American evangelical missionary lore. Much like Jim Elliot and the “Auca Incident” twenty years later, the Stams’ deaths shocked American Fundamentalists, heightening anxiety over the spread of global communism and inspiring a new generation of missions efforts.
This December, the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center Archives remembers the lives and spiritual legacies of John and Betty Stam, killed by communist soldiers in Anhui Province, China eighty-five years ago this month and showcases a few items from the Stam Family Papers and China Inland Mission Records (now Overseas Missionary Fellowship).
From Moody to the Mission Field
Undated portrait of John Stam (1907-1934) and Elisabeth Scott Stam (1906-1934).
The oldest child of Presbyterian missionaries, Elisabeth Scott was born in Albion, Michigan but raised on the mission field in China. From a young age, Betty felt called to a life of spiritual sacrifice and missionary service (see Collection 449 for examples of her poetry) and after graduating from Wilson College in Pennsylvania with a stellar academic record, she enrolled at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago for further training in missions work. A major hub of missionary training in the 1930s, Moody Bible Institute also drew John Stam, another young missionary candidate intended for the mission field in China.
Portrait of John Stam, taken on the rooftop of Moody Bible Institute a week before his graduation. April 14, 1932.
While at Moody, John and Betty’s friendship developed into love, but the couple postponed the possibility of marriage as John was convinced his first years in China would be spent in rural regions too dangerous to for a family.
A year ahead of John in the program, Betty graduated from Moody Bible Institute in 1931 and sailed for China under the auspices of China Inland Mission, where she completed six months of language school.
China Inland Mission officially accepted John Stam’s missionary application in July 1932, and he sailed for the mission field three months later. After landing in China, John unexpectedly met Betty again in Shanghai where she was receiving medical treatment for tonsillitis, and the pair became formally engaged.
John Stam and Betty Scott were married by American evangelist R. A. Torrey on October 25, 1933 in the Scott’s garden in Jinan, China.
John and Betty Stams’ wedding portrait. The ceremony was performed by R.A. Torrey (fourth from left) at the home of Betty’s parents (second and third from right) in Jinan, China. October 25, 1933.
The Stams spent the year following their wedding completing further language school and preparing to join the CIM mission work in Jingde. The fledgling mission station at Jingde was only five years old when the Stams replaced the Warrens, a missionary couple due for furlough. In 1934, the region surrounding Jingde was reeling from more than eight years of civil war, plagued by bandits and outbreaks of violence between Chinese Nationalist and Communist forces. After a brief stay in Wuhu, where Helen Priscilla was born in Wuhu Hospital in September, the Stams returned to Jingde in mid-November after the district magistrate personally guaranteed the their safety from communist attack.
“Things Happened So Quickly This A.M.”
Two weeks later, on December 6, Jingde fell to a sudden attack by the communist forces. Moving from house to house, communist soldiers plundered the city. The Stams, along with household staff, were in their home when soldiers appeared, demanding money and valuables. After surrendering their possessions, the Stams were marched to the local jail, where their captors discussed killing Helen Priscilla and forced John to write a ransom note to China Inland Mission headquarters in Shanghai demanding 20,000 dollars for their release (see transcription below). The Stams spent the night in prison, and the ransom note was never delivered. The next day, the foreign hostages were forced to walk twelve miles to neighboring Miaosheo, where they spent the night in an abandoned house. On the morning of December 8, John and Betty were paraded through the city to their execution. When a local Chinese merchant, Chang Hsiu-sheng, pleaded with authorities to spare the couple, soldiers searched his home. Finding a bible and hymnbook among his possessions, they arrested Chang Hsiu-sheng and killed him the next day. The Stams were forced up a hill outside Miaosheo, where they were executed by decapitation at the summit. Their bodies were left behind by the evacuating soldiers.
The “Miracle Baby”
Three-month old Helen Priscilla Stam, where she was found in an abandoned farmhouse two days after her parents’ deaths.
As the Red Army moved out of Miaosheo, a local Christian evangelist, Lo Ke-chou and his family, cautiously returned to their plundered city, where they were told about the deaths of two foreigners. Having met John Stam only weeks before, Pastor Lo recovered the Stams’ bodies and began a frantic hunt for their missing daughter. Retracing the Stams final steps led Pastor Lo and other local Christians to the abandoned home where John and Betty spent their final night. Inside they heard faint crying and found Helen Priscilla hidden in her mother’s sleeping bag with several clean diapers and two five dollar bills.
Helen Priscilla balanced in a rice basket with her rescuers, Pastor Lo (left) and his wife (third from right). December 1934.
Pastor Lo and his family carried Helen Priscilla and their four year old son in rice baskets through the mountainous regions surrounding Jingde, using the ten dollars Betty concealed with Helen Priscilla to buy powdered milk for her.
On December 14, nearly a week after the Stams’ murder, the Lo family trudged into Xuancheng, in southeastern Anhui Province and delivered the baby to George Birch at the local CIM mission station. Within hours, the Stam family in Paterson, New Jersey received Robert Glover’s telegram: “Stam Baby Safe.” Transferred to Wuhu Hospital where she had been born three months earlier Helen Priscilla was examined by doctors and declared a “miracle baby.” Shortly afterward, the baby was sent to her maternal grandparents in Jinan, where she lived until the age of five.
Becoming Missionary Mythology
Baby Helen Priscilla with Chinese schoolgirls in Jinan, China in early 1935, where her maternal grandparents lived.
The Stams’ death sent shock waves throughout China Inland Mission and American Fundamentalist circles, as authorities scrambled to uncover how the missionary couple were allowed to return to Jingde despite the Red Army’s presence in the region, and details slowly emerged about the Stams capture and final days. A full month after the couple’s death, Robert Glover sent the following letter to the Stam Family in New Jersey, still piecing together the timeline of events and providing a copy of John Stam’s final written words.
From CN 499, Box 1, Folder 5. Letter from CIM North America Home Director to the Stam Family in Paterson, New Jersey a month after the Stams’ death.
In January 1935, the bodies of John and Betty Stam were reinterred in the foreigners’ cemetery outside Wuhu, Anhui Province at the request of the governor.
The coffins of John and Betty Stam, as they arrived under military escort at Wuhu General Hospital for reburial in January 1934.
Headstone for John and Betty Stam in Wuhu, Wuhu, Anhui Province, China.
Today, the Stams are honored as China Inland Mission martyrs, and for years afterwards the compelling narrative of their tragic deaths and the rescue of the “miracle baby” has become part of twentieth-century missionary lore. The Stams’ sacrificial deaths are often cited as galvanizing a new generation of missionary candidates, including 700 young people at Moody Bible Institute, the Stams alma mater, and 200 at nearby Wheaton College, all pledging to follow the Stams example of selfless Christian service and echoing John Stam’s final message to his missionary colleagues: “The Lord bless and guide you—and as for us—may God be glorified whether by life or by death.”
The Archives’ fullest account of the Stams’ brief ministry and final days in China are recorded in a packet of letters from missionaries serving in Anhui Province to the Stam family in New Jersey in the weeks following John and Betty’s death. Included below is the extended letter from George Birch, who delivered Helen Priscilla safely to Wuhu Hospital in December 1934. For more of these letters, see Collection 449, Box 1, Folder 5.
The items featured in this post and many others documenting the life and ministry of the Stams are found in Collection 449: Ephemera of the Stam Family. More information about the Stams’ deaths and China Inland Mission’s response to the crisis is found in Collection 215: Records of Overseas Missionary Fellowship.
Stam, Betty
Betty Stam was born February 22, 1906, in Albion, Michigan in a pious Christian home. Her ancestors were Pilgrims who had come over on the “Mayflower.” Her father Charles E. Scott, had been awarded a Doctor of Divinity degree (D.D.) and was a professor who was later called to serve as pastor in Albion. Betty was the oldest; when she was born, her parents had been designated by the Presbyterian Church as missionaries to China, assigned to do preaching and theological education. They took their infant daughter with them to Qingdao, Shandong, as they began a ten-year career of service
Betty Scott grew up in China, where her two younger sisters and her two younger brothers were born and reared. Spending their childhood under the care and instruction of their parents in an environment of Christian faith, they grew physically, mentally, and spiritually. By their precept and example, the Scott parents laid a solid foundation of faith for their children. As they came to school age, each was sent to the school for foreign children at Tongzhou, Hebei.
In 1923, the Scotts returned to America on furlough; on the way home, they availed themselves of the opportunity to take their children on a tour of Egypt, Jerusalem, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, France, England and other places. Betty entered Wilson College, in Pennsylvania. She had a natural ability in literature, especially poetry. She was president of the literary society and editor of the literary magazine of the college. An excellent student, she evinced sincere Christian piety, and entered fully into the student volunteer missions movement. When she graduated, it was with a perfect scholastic record.
While in college, Betty already intended to return to China as a missionary. She once prayed to God: “If it is Your will, please allow me to return to China without any obstacle.” While she was attending the Keswick convention in England in 1925, the verse, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21), entered into her heart, moving her deeply. Hence, immediately upon completing college, she enrolled in Moody Bible Institute in Chicago in order to prepare for missionary service. There was a prayer meeting in the home of the Rev. Isaac Page on the campus of Moody every Monday evening. Mr. Page had a doctoral degree in theology, and had served as a missionary in China with the China Inland Mission (CIM) for more than ten years. It was at that prayer meeting that she met a student one year behind her, John Stam, who shared her intention and commitment. The two became fast friends, and committed their future together to God in prayer. Not long afterward, her long-held heart’s desire was fulfilled when Betty joined the CIM, becoming one of the “Two Hundred.”
Betty Scott arrived in Shanghai on November 4, 1931. After completing the required six months of language study at the CIM language school for women, she was assigned to the mission station at Yingzhou (now Fuyang City) in Anhui. From September to November, she attended a retreat for missionaries at Wuhu, an evangelistic meeting at Taihe, and an annual conference for missionaries at Yingzhou. When she saw how many Chinese had come from all over to attend these meetings, and how many were baptized, her heart was filled with deep joy.
When Betty’s parents returned from furlough in America in the fall of 1932, they arranged to meet her in Shanghai (where the headquarters of the CIM were located). While there, she came down with tonsillitis, and had to remain for treatment. Her friend John Stam arrived in Shanghai just as she had recovered (October 12). At that time the CIM required missionaries to wait for one year after arrival in China before getting married, so they took advantage of his presence in Shanghai to become formally engaged.
Then she said goodbye to her fiancé and, together with Miss Katie H. Dodd, headed for work at the Yingshang mission station, south east of Yingzhou, under the supervision of Mr. and Mrs. Carl J. Glittenberg, who were in charge. They first stayed at Yingzhou for a while to get accustomed to the environment, then went by rickshaw to Yingshang. From her letters to her younger brother, we know that, all along the way, sanitary conditions were primitive, flies filled the air while they were eating, and rats prevented them from sleeping at night. When they arrived, however, and saw the church building filled with people from morning to night, and so many women and children eager to hear the Gospel from them, they were very excited. In letters to her fiancé, she expressed her zealous heart:
“John, since our arrival, crowds have thronged the chapel. The seats are filled in the chapel, the courtyard, and our home. Aside from women, students, and children, there are many young girls. Katie and I distribute tracts while keeping up our Chinese study, and the eloquent woman preacher attracts many people. According to my count, each group has about 50 or 60, and one group replaces another. We invite them to return for worship on the Lord’s Day. How I long to conduct a Bible study for the girls who have had some education, and to hold meetings with these women and children!”
Just as Betty was entering more and more into her role as a missionary, security in Anhui was deteriorating. On May 12, 1932, the Rev. Henry S. Ferguson was captured by the Red Army at Zhengyangguan (now Zhengyang), and his whereabouts were unknown. On November 11, Mrs. Glittenberg was taking her two-year old daughter Lois, who had come down with dysentery, in a car to Huaiyuan Hospital when she was intercepted and robbed by a band of soldiers. She was detained for two days, which caused her daughter’s condition to worsen so much that she died.
At 2:00 o’clock in the afternoon of December 11, a band of soldiers burst into and occupied the missionaries’ residence and girls’ school, intending to garrison themselves there. Mr. Glittenberg and the Chinese pastor of the church were away at the time. At the critical moment, Betty came boldly forward to dissuade them, but was unable to stop them. Mr. Ho, the preacher, found the soldiers’ commander and took up the matter with him. Thankfully, this officer was both reasonable and friendly, and ordered his troops to withdraw, thus heading off a disaster.
Her fiancé John passed his language exam on March 25, 1933 and was assigned to his mission station. In September, Betty traveled to her parents’ Presbyterian mission station at Jinan, Shandong, to prepare for the wedding. She and John Stam were married on October 25, with more than 200 missionaries in attendance, along with more than 140 Chinese Christians adding their heartfelt blessing. Afterward, they went to Qingdao, the place of Betty’s childhood, for a two-week honeymoon.
Betty Stam with her husband John
The new couple returned to Shucheng, Anhui, at the end of November to resume missionary work, and began also to prepare to move to Jingde. The mission station at Jingde had been opened in 1929; at this time, Mr. & Mrs. Samuel Warren were in charge, but were planning to leave for furlough in the summer of 1934, so they had invited John and Betty Stam to come and take over their work while they were gone. The Stams went to Jingde in February, 1934, to become acquainted with the situation and the area. Mr. Warren took them to the outlying mission stations, introducing them to the church leaders and believers. During the day, they would go to nearby villages to do evangelism; in the evenings, they would go out to lead meetings with Mr. Warren. The region was mountainous, and the inhabitants were poor. The Stams got a taste of the difficulty of the work, even as they rejoiced in the chance to share the Gospel.
As the time for moving to Jingde drew near, Betty was also about to give birth, so they stayed at Shucheng for a while. Helen Priscilla Stam was born on September 11, 1934, at the Wuhu hospital. Since Betty had had a caesarian section, she needed to convalesce for a few weeks, so it was not until the November that the Stams moved to Jingde with their newborn daughter. After the move, Betty was busy fixing up their new home and caring for Helen Priscilla, while John planning the work of the mission station and visiting the local believers. Besides, he had made an appointment with evangelist Lo, inviting him to Miaoshou on December 7 and talking about Lo’s moving to Miaoshou. When things had settled down a bit, John managed to pay a visit to Mr. Peng, the county chief, who assured them of their safety.
Unexpectedly, on the morning of December 6, after Betty had gotten up, and as she was giving little Helen Priscilla her bath, the sound of gunfire broke out. Soon after, soldiers from the Red Army rushed into the city. Chinese Christians reported that the Red Army troops had surrounded the city, and were searching from house to house; the streets were chaotic. Betty quickly wrapped her baby in thick clothing and sowed two five-dollar notes into her coat as provision for food for her child, just as a precaution. Then John led the family and servants to kneel down in a prayer of reliance upon God. Just at the moment, the Red Army soldiers entered the room. The Stams treated them courteously, and gave them all their belongings, but the soldiers still wanted to take them and their baby with them. When a servant tried to go with them, a soldier interposed with a rifle.
When they arrived at headquarters, they were ordered to write a letter to the CIM headquarters in Shanghai. The entire document follows:
To our dear brothers in Shanghai:Today at Jingde, my wife, child, and I fell into the hands of the Communists. They demand a ransom of twenty thousand dollars for our release.
They have already taken all our possession, but our hearts are at peace, and we are thankful to the Lord for the small meal we were given tonight. May God grant you wisdom to know how to handle this, and may He grant us courage and peace. Nothing is impossible to Him; even at this time, He is our marvelous Friend.
Things happened all too quickly this morning.Many rumors in the past days have become reality at last. Nevertheless, the Red Army took the city in only two or three hours. There was really no time to prepare; it was already too late.
May God bless and lead you. As for us, whether by life or by death, may God be glorified.
Yours in the Lord, John Stam
December 6, 1934. Jingde, Anhui
Early in the morning on December 7, Red Army troops, escorting a large number of prisoners and much plunder, marched towards Miaoshou. John was carrying Helen Priscilla in his arms, while Betty had a horse on which to ride. Upon arrival in Miaoshou, they were confined by themselves in the Post Office building. The postmaster had met John briefly once before. When he saw their plight, he brought some fruit for them to eat. John availed himself of this opportunity to dash off a short letter and asked the postmaster to forward. When the postmaster saw Luo the evangelist three days later, he passed the note to him.
On the evening of that day, the soldiers took them to a big residence and locked them in a room. They allowed Better and her baby to sleep on a bed, but John was tied to the foot of the bed and had to stand, with a sentry keeping watch; they endured this treatment all night long. The next morning, a squad rushed into the room and roughly pushed them out the door. They were led to a small mountainous area outside the town. Lining the way on either side, all they saw was a vast crowd, cruelly mocking them, continuously roaring abuse at them. John and Betty, however, possessed deep inner peace, their faces wearing a smile, as if they were following in the footsteps of Jesus, walking step-by-step up Eagle Hill. At the summit, they were forced to kneel down and stretch out their necks, and were slaughtered thus together as martyrs of Christ. John was 27, Betty 28 years old.
As they were being taken out to their deaths, two-month-old Helen Priscilla was left on the bed. 36 hours later, in the providence of God, she was discovered and rescued.
Originally, after they had been in Jingde for a while, Rev. Stam asked Evangelist C. K. Lo to come to Miaoshou on December 7 and then join in evangelistic work together. On the evening of December 6, Mr. Lo arrived at Miaoshou with his family and lodged in the home of Mrs. Wang, a believer, unaware of what had happened earlier that day. On the next day, Red Army troops suddenly occupied Miaoshou in a surprise attack; Mr. Lo was among those captured. Thankfully, Mr. Chang Hsiu-sheng, a local resident, knew him and testified that he was a good man, so Lo was released. That night, he and his family fled, and spent all day Saturday hiding on a nearby mountain.
On Sunday afternoon, after the withdrawal of Red Army soldiers, Mr. Lo returned with his family to Miaoshou; only then did they learn what had happened to the Stams.
Immediately, they asked about Helen Priscilla’s whereabouts, but everyone kept their mouths shut out of fear. After several setbacks, they finally found the large room in which they had been held captive. After seeing the disordered condition of the place, both inside and out, and entering the room, they heard the very weak crying of a baby. Following the sound, they discovered little Helen Priscilla lying on the bed.
Inside her hooded Western-style two-piece suit they found several diapers, and two five-dollar notes fastened with a safety pin inside her coat. There was some milk powder left beside the bed, along with some sugar and a few cookies. Mr. Lo quickly picked her up and ran to Mrs. Wang’s house, where he gave the baby into the care of his wife. Then he raced with Mrs. Wang’s son outside the village to the mountain where the Stams had been killed, and found the bodies. Mrs. Wang and her son obtained coffins and then with Mr. Lo wrapped the bodies in white cloth and placed them into the coffins. With a number of villagers standing around looking on, the coffins were shut, Mr. Lo said a prayer, and then addressed the crowd:
“You have witnessed what took place here today, and feel pity for what has happened to our friends. You should know, however, that they are children of God, and their souls are already at rest in the bosom of their heavenly Father. It was for you that they came to China and to Miaoshou, in order to tell you about God’s great love and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, so that you might believe in Jesus and gain eternal life. You have already heard the message they preached, and have seen their sacrifice, which is certain evidence [of their love]. Do not forget what they said: that you must repent and believe the Gospel!”
After administering a very basic funeral for the Stams, Mr. Lo and his family immediately took Helen Priscilla northwards. They used a shoulder pole to carry two large baby baskets – one for Helen and one for the Lo’s own two-year-old son – as they hurried along through Jing County toward Xuancheng, searching along the way for a young, healthy wet-nurse for Helen Priscilla. Mrs. Lo also used the ten dollars that her mother left to purchase milk powder for her. After they arrived in Xuancheng on December 14, George A. Birch at once took a train with them to Wuhu, where they handed over the little girl, as well as the letter that John had passed to the postmaster, to the Rev. William Hanna, the Superintendent of the CIM in Anhui. The contents of that last message moved them deeply:
“Dear beloved CIM brethren in Shanghai:Yesterday, some Communist soldiers, passing through Jingde, captured us and brought us to this place. I requested that they allow my wife and child to bring a letter from Jingde to you there, but they were not willing, so today we came together to Miaoshou; they allowed my wife to ride a horse part of the way.
They demand twenty thousand dollars for our release. We told them plainly that no one would pay this ransom, so they took from us money we had on hand for disaster relief, the cash we were carrying, and all of our belongings.
May God give you wisdom in all that you do, and support us by his grace, that we may be able to stand firm with indomitable courage. He is almighty God!
Yours in the Lord, John Stam
Miaoshou, December 7, 1934.”
From this letter, we clearly see John Stam’s steadfast faithfulness and trust in God, as well as his steady and composed attitude in the face of danger and even death. The Rev. William Hanna, deeply grieved, hurriedly found Dr. Robert Brown at the Methodist Episcopal hospital, who examined Helen Priscilla carefully. When they realized that she was all right, they finally felt relieved of a heavy burden, and dubbed her “the Miracle Baby.” Dr. Brown then turned her over to Miss Laura M. Woolsey, a nurse, to nourish and care for her, and then to take her to Jinan, Shandong, where she was given to her maternal grandparents to bring up as their own.
Betty’s parents were in Jinan at the time. As soon as they learned of the capture of their daughter and son-in-law from a telegraph from CIM headquarters in Shanghai, they wrote a letter to John’s parents in America:
“If it is God’s will for them to remain alive on this earth, please pray earnestly for their release…… John and Betty love the Lord Jesus; they cherish in their souls a love for others and a heart to lead others to Christ; they are radiant with zeal to use every moment to preach the Gospel; they are filled with a heavenly hope. Therefore, if they are to endure brutal torture or suffer any other harm, they will absolutely not deny the Lord; they are elite soldiers of Christ.”
Not long afterwards, when they had heard the news of the Stams’ martyrdom, Mr. Scott, filled with faith, said,
“They most certainly did not die in vain. ‘The blood of the martyrs’ is still ‘the seed of the church.’ Because of their consecration to the Lord, it seems that I have heard the voice of our beloved child even now praising the Lord in the presence of our heavenly Father, that they had been counted worthy to suffer for the sake of his name.”
In his reply to the telegraph from CIM, John’s father also expressed his consolation:
“Though it seems like a great sacrifice, it still does not compare with the grace bestowed upon us by the God’s gift of His own son for us. We firmly believe the words of Romans 8:28, ‘We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are the called according to his purpose.’ ……What could compare with this glory? Our beloved children, John and Betty have already gone to be with the Lord. They loved Him, served Him, and now they are finally with him!”
Both Chinese and foreigners were shocked by this tragedy. The governor of Anhui Province issued an order for the Stams to be re-buried. An army truck escorted by officers and men took the bodies in their coffins to Wuhu for a solemn memorial service and burial on January 2, 1935. The Wuhu hospital was crowded with Chinese and foreigners, including representatives from the government, the American consul and other consular representatives, along with Chinese and foreign Christian leaders. After the memorial service, they were interred in the cemetery for foreigners in Wuhu. Thus, John and Betty Stam became the 73rd and 74th martyrs of the China Inland Mission.
The sign of the cross was inscribed on their tombstone, and under which were the words:
December 8, 1934. Miaoshou, Anhui.
To the left of the cross, “John Cornelius Stam, January 18, 1907. ‘May Christ be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death’” (Philippians 1:20).
On the right of the cross were the words: “Elisabeth Scott Stam, his wife. February 22, 1906. ‘For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain’ “(Philippians 1:21).
On the foundation stone was written, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10).
The Bible says, “Unless a Kernel of Wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John 12:24). After the news of their death was announced, telegrams and letters from China and overseas flooded the China Inland Mission headquarters in Shanghai. A few excerpts follow below:
“If we can serve God more effectively by death than by life, we are willing.”“We devoutly pray that what has happened will result in the salvation of souls and the glory of God. If more souls may turn to the Lord, or more young people be moved to offer themselves for lifetime service of the Lord, then we too are more than willing to share this same experience of suffering.”
“What an honor for our children to be working for the Lord among lost souls! Among such a company, for these two young people to have gained the martyrs’ crown is even more glorious!”
The death of the Stams shook the Christian world in Europe and North American. Aside from the flood of letters of condolence and monetary contributions, many people donated money and other gifts to Helen Priscilla, and a number of Christian families expressed a willingness to adopt her as their own child. Even more striking was the increase in numbers of people offering themselves for missionary service in China. At Moody Bible Institute 700, and at Wilson College 200 students consecrated themselves to God’s service, vowing to be faithful unto death.
A young Christian in England, after reading The Triumph of John and Betty Stam, by Mrs. Howard Taylor’s wrote,
“I am sure that no one can read this book without being deeply moved, for it is just like another chapter in the book of Acts!… In the annals of missionary service, perhaps none can compare with this pair. After the briefest life as a married couple, they were called to pay the highest price! I deeply believe that widespread dissemination of the fragrance of this book is a heaven-sent blessing from our Lord.”
A letter sent from Qingdao in Shandong expressed the grief, remorse, and profound respect of a Chinese person:
“As for this inhuman, cold-blooded murder, all of us Chinese are distressed by such a calamity. These two people came to China to bring the Gospel to us, but were cruelly murdered; this lays upon us Chinese a great debt to your family. We wish to express our deepest respect to them for their willing and courageous offer of their lives.”
In Yingzhou city, all who knew the Stams were greatly distressed by their death, especially the believers at the mission station in Shucheng. Hearing the news, they knelt down as a group, repenting of their lukewarm service toward God, and their resolve to imitate the martyrs’ example, live sacrificially, and preach the Gospel.
As of 2002, it is reported that Helen Priscilla was still alive, but for various reasons would not accept any interviews, so little is known of her life. We do know that many who care for her do not cease to pray. From an article written by church historian Chen Yi-ping, “To Helen” we gain some sense [of her condition]. Regardless, Ms. Chen’s words represent the feelings of many Chinese Christians:
“We know that you wish to remain unknown and obscure. You have refused all requests for interviews, and will not read letters sent by those who cared for your parents…… In all this, we beseech you to forgive us Chinese people, who are in debt to you for the blood of your parents, your lonely childhood and adult life (for who could know of your inner world, or how you felt that night when you lay in your swaddling clothes in Miaoshou, with no one aware of what you were going through). We even owe you a gospel debt, if you have stumbled and fallen in your faith…… Please accept our heartfelt apology, and please believe that your parents’ blood was not shed in vain, for from the hard, blood-stained ground of China has sprouted fields of lovely flowers – the souls of many who have been saved.”
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Women’s History at Wilson College
This blog contains a collection of accounts and photographs of the women who attended Wilson College since its founding in 1869. Wilson College women were pioneers in medicine, science, missionary work, women’s suffrage, business, education and more. This first collection will focus on more than eighty Wilson alumnae who were missionaries in fourteen countries and regions around the world from the late 1800s through the 1940s.
Missionaries in China
Of the eighty-five Wilson College alumnae who became missionaries in foreign countries, twenty spent time in China. The earliest was Ruth Johnson Clarke, class of 1912 and the most recent was Miriam Mathews Haddad, class of 1947. Most of the women who went to China were part of either the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions or the China Inland Mission. These women were teachers, doctors, nurses, and evangelists. Some spent time interned in Japanese prison camps during World War II, others narrowly escaped. Some endured hunger and primitive conditions during the Civil War in the 1920s, others were forced to flee from Communists in 1949. Some lost infants and children to disease, others tended to the children of war refugees. Two were murdered.
As we trace the lives of these women through letters, clippings and notes to classmates in the College’s Alumnae Quarterly, we will discover eye-witness moments to history. Where we can, we supplement the stories with historical and cultural context, but for the most part, we leave it to the scholar to use these primary sources as a starting point for further study……
Beatrice Scott Stevenson ’33
Beatrice (“Bunny”) Scott Stevenson began her missionary work in China in 1934, teaching nurses at the Hackett Medical College, Canton, where her husband, Ted, was resident surgeon. He was interned during World War II in Manila for 3 ½ years. Alumnae Quarterly (AQ) May 1938: “A letter received from Bunny Scott at Christmas time gives most interesting news of her experiences in China, where her husband is resident surgeon of a mission hospital in Canton. Due to the war, Bunny and their two year old son went as refugees to Hong Kong for two months, but at the time she wrote, had returned again to Canton, where, she said, Japanese planes were bombing almost every day, with terrible damage to all sorts of property.”Bunny leads a busy life helping in any way she can at the hospital – she mentions teaching the nurses English, coaching choruses and plays, and landscaping the new hospital grounds.” AQ November 1945: “Polly Hay Cooley wrote of a Wilson Reunion at her home in North Carolina. They had a grand Wilson picnic with Helen Scott Mahy, Bunny Scott Stevenson and Laddie Scott, with all their families. Polly wrote she was expecting to hear that her husband would soon be on his way home after more than three years of duty with the Army Medical Corps in the Pacific. She says she expects to see more of her Wilson friends now that the war is over and they will soon be planning trips in their new cars.” AQ November 1945: “The Class will rejoice with Bunny Scott Stevenson, whose husband was released from a Japanese prison camp in the Philippines, where he had been a prisoner since 1942.” AQ November 1948: “Beatrice Scott Stevenson and family are now living permanently in the United States.” AQ November 1955: “Beatrice Scott Stevenson reports that her husband’s appointment by the Presbyterian Board as medical director for all overseas medical work means a move for the Stevenson family to the New York City area. Ted will be off on long jaunts to Africa, India and other mission fields.” AQ February 1956: “Beatrice Scott Stevenson’s husband, Dr. Ted, in his new position as Associate Medical Secretary for the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, left before Christmas for the Near East, India and Pakistan to get acquainted with hospitals and medical personnel over there. He expects to return home in March.” AQ May 1958: “Beatrice Scott Stevenson writes that her doctor husband returned just before Christmas from a two-month tour of hospitals in the Orient.” AQ February 1957: “Theodore and Beatrice Scott Stevenson have just moved from Rye, NY to Tenafly, NJ. ‘Positively the last move’ – so Bunny says.” AQ February 1961: “Theodore and Beatrice Scott Stevenson left on January 5 for India. They expect to be gone for about eight months during which time Ted will inspect medical facilities in India, Pakistan and Nepal.” AQ August 1961: “The most intriguing letter of the spring came from Beatrice Scott Stevenson in Yeotmal, India, where she was visiting Libby Yerkes Kline in March. The following is a fascinating direct quote from Bunny’s letter. “It’s impossible to believe I’m not dreaming. The things that seem so ordinary to Libby still make me stare. Just looking out of the window here I can see the water-cart drawn by two white bullocks as they bring her daily supply of water; the beautiful hump-backed Brahman cow which supplies Libby’s milk and butter, the fierce watchman with his gun who guards the property. Last night at a ‘progressive dinner,’ Libby’s contribution was a meat loaf made of wild boar and venison! “We have had a strenuous two months so far, but fascinating enough to make up for all the midnight departures and dusty jeep rides. We did all our traveling in the Upper Nile in a tiny mission Cessna plane which had broken its pontoon landing on a hippo the week before. This was really wild country with tattooed natives seven feel tall. Ethiopia was primitive too with hyenas howling in Addis Ababa at night. The Emperor, himself, wants our church to take over medical work in his western, most primitive province, so that’s where we traveled most.” AQ November 1961: “Satoko Matsumoto Tasaka ’33 writes of a great reunion during the summer with Beatrice Scott Stevenson in Tokyo when Bunny and her family were returning home from India. They visited the International Christian University together, and Satty was thrilled to learn that Bunny had helped to raise money for the institution by giving talks.” AQ May 1963: “Beatrice Scott Stevenson is serving as PTA President and Sunday School teacher. Her husband is traveling in Iran, Ethiopia and the Camerouns.” AQ Winter 1964: Beatrice Scott Stevenson writes that she and her daughter, Dorothy, ‘marched on Washington last August along with 200,000 others in one of the most interesting, meaningful days of my long and chequered life’.” http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/king-speaks-to-march-on-washington Bunny and Ted in 1996. A Spring 1997 Alumnae Quarterly featured a story about Beatrice and Helen. Beatrice recalled, “During the early 1900s there was a great deal of fighting between the warlords in China. When I was old enough, I went to a boarding school in Northern China, but traveling there was very difficult even by train. I remember one trip where the warlords borrowed our engine right in the middle of our trip, leaving us stranded in the countryside.” “When Beatrice reached high school, the fighting in Northern China was so bad that her school was forced to close. She finished her education in northern Korea, and then enrolled in Wilson College, where her older sisters were already students. Here is more information about the life of Ted Stevenson, from the tribute upon his death in 1999, at the age of 96: Ted Stevenson was the son of Dr. Ross Stevenson, a pastor, who became President of Princeton Theological Seminary. A trip around the world in 1926 opened Ted’s eyes to the tragic need for medical care in third world countries, and he felt God’s call to become a medical missionary. He graduated from Johns Hopkins Medical School in 1931, interned and completed a surgical residency and was appointed to China in 1934 by the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church. He and Bunny were married in September of 1934 and sailed on their honeymoon to their new assignment at Hackett Medical Center in Canton, South China. Ted served as Chief Surgeon and Professor in the School of Nursing for the next five years. The Japanese bombed the city for 15 months before capturing it. In the city of one million people, without air protection, there were countless wounded, keeping the busy doctors at Hackett Hospital working around the clock. Two sons were born during our China tour, and a third followed when the family returned to the United States on furlough (1939 – 1941). When it was time to return to China in 1941, Ted sailed alone, with three quarters of a ton of medical supplies for his hospital, even though Bunny’s and the children’s visas had been denied by the State Department. His ship was near the Philippines when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, December 6, 1941, and he was captured in Manila and held in Santo Tomas Prison, with 5000 other internees, for three and a half years. During this time Ted served as the chief medical officer for the prisoners. He himself lost 50 pounds and saw many internees die because of their starvation diet. To alert the world to their plight, Ted signed, as the cause of death, “Malnutrition” on most death certificates. The enraged Japanese Commandant ordered Ted, at gun-point, to change the “insulting” word, and when Ted refused, put him into the camp jail. There he stayed, a stubborn hero for the other internees, until the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division liberated Santo Tomas in February 1945. This link includes testimony by Ted Stevenson before the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce House of Representatives Eightieth Congress in 1947, on conditions in the prison camp:
http://anthonydamato.law.northwestern.edu/WWII/doc10all.pdf Ted later spent 17 years as Medical Director of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, travelling throughout the world. He worked to raise health standards, push public health and family planning and see to the training of nationals. After his retirement, Ted and Bunny went to West India as volunteers to turn around a hospital that was on the verge of closing. Four years later, they did the same for a hospital in Tumu Tumu, Kenya.
Elisabeth Scott Stam ’28 Part 1.
Elisabeth Alden Scott was the oldest of three sisters who were raised in China as the children of foreign missionaries and attended Wilson College. After graduating from Wilson in 1928, Betty completed a course of study at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. She married John Cornelius Stam on October 25, 1933. The Stams were stationed at the China Inland Mission in Yangchow, Kiangsu, China. Betty wrote of their assignment:
“If the Lord wants me to be one of the two hundred (new missionaries of the C.I.M.) nothing can touch me beyond His will. It doesn’t matter what happens in China. If God wants those people to be given the last change before He comes, what does it matter if one or two hundred missionaries are captured by the Bandits, or succumb to famine, or sickness, or are in any way endangered, provided only they do what they are meant of God to do.” (The Story of John and Betty Stam, E.H. Hamilton. March, 1936) The Wilson Billboard, December 15, 1934:
“BANDITS SEIZE WILSON GRADUATE IN INTERIOR CHINA”
“Word has come through the Associated Press in the last week of the seizure by communistic bandits of the Rev. and Mrs. J.C. Stam and their ten week old baby in southern Anhui province in China. By Thursday night, a report from the China Inland Mission revealed that the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Stam had been found. No other details were given. Mrs. Stam was Elisabeth Scott, ’28, and a sister of Mrs. Gordon Mahy (Helen Scott, ’30), and of Mrs. Theodore Dwight Stevenson (Beatrice Scott, ’33); the latter was married early in September and sailed with her husband on the staff of the Hackett Medical College in Canton. Mrs. Stam’s parents are Dr. and Mrs. Charles E. Scott, Presbyterian missionaries at Tsinan, Shantung. “Immediately after the China Inland Mission was advised of the seizure, the superintendent of the mission for Anhui province left for Nanking to help the American consulate release Mr. and Mrs. Stam. The foreign office wired the governor of Anhui province urging him to undertake a rescue expedition. “The Stams, who spent the summer in Anhui because of disorder in their own district, had but recently returned to their station in the town of Tsingteh. This has just been raided by Reds, presumably a portion of those defeated in Kiangsi province and scattered.”
Alumnae Quarterly (AQ) February 1935 – a tribute to Betty by Wilson College Professor of Ethics and English Bible, Warren N. Nevius, D.D. appeared: “The story as finally disclosed in the papers of the tragic event which has cost the lives of Betty Scott ’28, and her devoted husband, John Stam, at the hands of Communist bandits in China, has made an impression on the College community that will not soon be forgotten. It is safe to say that nothing from the mission field in recent years has so poignantly brought home what Christian consecration and Christlike heroism can mean. “By reason of the many close friendships of the present student body with Beatrice Scott ’33, and among the more recent graduates of the College with Helen Scott ’30, both undergraduates and alumnae, as well as the many members of the faculty who knew Betty here so intimately, will long continue to share with Dr. and Mrs. Scott, and with the members of their family, the intense grief and profound sense of loss which this tragedy has entailed, a sorrow mitigated only by the joy of knowing that their infant grand-daughter survived. “Faced in its stark reality what has actually happened seems scarcely possible of realization. it seems only yesterday that Betty herself was here, in the classroom, as a Student Volunteer, at her post in the Cabinet, and in her literary society; with her gentle and gracious presence exerting that quiet and pervasive influence for which she will always be remembered by those who knew her. To recall Elisabeth Scott to her own classmates is needless. To recall her to those who shared with her any one of the four happy years of her college life is to recall a presence so radiant of sincerity and of inward beauty that its memory can never be lost. “Perhaps what most alumnae will recall, aside from the gentleness of her demeanor, the fragrance of her loving affection and the grace of her literary expression, is the serenity and faith with which she lived among us; a serenity born of the deep peace of her own soul, and a faith that was founded upon a Rock. Values like this have not perished. Faith demands the acknowledgement that they have but moved on to higher and ampler fields of service. What Dr. Robert E. Speer wrote some twenty-five years ago of William Borden of Yale, “It seems impossible that all this strength and devotion can have been taken away from the work of the Church here below. Evidently there are missionary undertakings of even greater importance elsewhere.” must be said of Elisabeth Scott and of John Stam.”
Elisabeth Scott Stam ’28 Part 2
John and Elizabeth Stam John and Elizabeth Stam
A number of accounts have been written about the deaths of John and Elisabeth Stam at the hands of Chinese Communists on December 8, 1934. These include “The Triumph of John and Betty Stam” by Mrs. Howard Taylor, published in 1935 by the China Inland Mission, Philadelphia, and “Not Worthy to be Compared” and “The Miracle Baby” by Rev. E.H. Hamilton, 1935, in Kiangsu, China. Memorials include an Anniversary Letter by Clara and Charles Scott, Elisabeth’s parents in 1936 in Tsinan, China, and materials published by a variety of religious organizations ranging from The Alliance Weekly in 1935, to The Christian History Institute’s Glimpses in 2003.
Helen Priscilla as she arrived at C.I.M. Home Wuhu Helen Priscilla as she arrived at C.I.M. Home Wuhu
Here is John’s letter to the China Inland Mission upon being captured by the Communists on December 6:Dear Brethren: My wife, baby and myself are today in the hands of the Communists in the city of Tsingteh. Their demand is twenty thousand dollars for our release. All our possessions and stores are in their hands, but we praise God for peace in our hearts, and for a meal tonight. God grant you wisdom in what you do, and us fortitude and courage, and peace of heart. He is able-and a wonderful Friend in such a time. Things happened so quickly this A.M. They were in the city just a few hours after the everpersistent rumors really became alarming, so that we could not prepare in time. We were just too late. The Lord bless and guide you and as for us, – may God be glorified, whether by life or by death, (Phil.I:20).
In Him,
John C. Stam The original army of two thousand Communist soldiers quickly increased to six thousand and took command of the district. When they captured John and Betty, they discussed killing the baby immediately to avoid the trouble of dealing with an infant. An anonymous prisoner who had just been freed from jail spoke up to save the infant. Helen Priscilla was spared, but the man was killed instead. The Stams were marched twelve miles away to Miaosheo. They were held overnight in the home of a man who had previously fled. Betty hid two five dollar bills in the baby’s clothing and left her behind. John and Betty were taken to “Eagle’s Hill” where it was announced that the “foreign devils” would die. A Chinese medicine seller, Chang Hsiu Sheng, pleaded for their lives and was murdered. John and Betty were then made to kneel and were swiftly executed with a sword. For the next day and a half, the bodies lay where they had fallen and the baby cried quietly still hidden in the house. The Communist army was only several miles away and no one dared touch the bodies, or retrieve the infant. Finally, a Chinese Evangelist, Mr. Lo, whom John had previously worked with returned. With the help of an elderly Chinese woman, he found the baby still located in the abandoned house in which John and Betty had spent their last night. Lo’s wife cared for the baby and coffins were made to properly bury the Stams. The Los walked nearly one hundred miles carrying Helen and their own young son in rice baskets, in order to return Helen to her maternal grandparents in Tsinan.
Left to right: Evangelist Lo, nurse, Chinese helper, Rev. George Birch, Mrs. Lo, Dr. Brown This account is drawn largely from “The Triumph of John and Betty Stam” by Mrs. Howard Taylor, 1935.
Frances Fulton ’27
Alumnae Quarterly (AQ) February 1940: “Frances Fulton sails February 24 for Lima, Peru, where she will teach science and math in the Lima Girls’ High School.” Frances Fulton was a teacher at Hwa Nan College in Foochow, China during the 1930s.February 1940: “Frances Fulton sails February 24 for Lima, Peru, where she will teach science and math in the Lima Girls’ High School.” AQ May 1947: “Frances Fulton has gone to China to teach in Hwa Nan College, Foochow. Fukien Province. She expects to be there for at least five years. She took her cello with her and hopes to continue her enjoyment of it in China.” Frances Fulton wrote a Christmas letter from China, having returned on the third trip of the Marine Lynx with some hundreds of others in crowded hatches. Frances had been away from China eight years, and her first impression was one of the sameness of China. On closer examination, however, she found that there were many changes. The educated group and the once moderately comfortable middle class are shabby. The college’s greatest need is buildings. The largest buildings are in ruins and they have more than twice the enrollment of pre-war days. Frances wrote from Peiping where she has been studying Mandarin which she thinks must be the hardest language on earth. However, she is glad for the opportunity and hopes to put it to good use when she returns to Foochow. AQ February 1948: “Frances says that in spite of what our newspapers print about China, there is much that is constructive going on. The people are going about their daily work, the schools are overflowing, the churches have full programs and full houses, and life in general seems to be going on in a normal way. She believes China will make interesting history in the next few years.” AQ November 1949: “A long letter reached us from Frances Fulton from Hwa Nan College at Foochow, Fukien, China, where she is one of the music faculty. At the time of writing in May, the situation in China was tense, but college was to continue on normal schedule, come what may. She said that communications might become difficult, but to continue writing to her because it meant so much.” AQ Spring 1950 p. 7 “D.P. in China” Frances discusses the circumstances in which she found herself as a “displaced person” after leaving Foochow and finding that she was allowed to return. (Click link to read letter.) AQ November 1951: “Frances Fulton’s plans include the study of Korean at Yale, then off to Korea, perhaps.” AQ November 1952: “Frances Fulton sailed September 26 for Japan. Her eventual destination is Ewha Womens University, now in Pusan; but until she is permitted to enter Korea she will be at the Seiwa Training School, near Kobe Japan.” AQ February 1953: “Frances Fulton describes Ewha Unversity and the difficulties of teaching and living there. “The pianos! Ewha had 60 in the prewar days. Now it is down to seven and none of those have all the hammers and strings. The practice rooms are board sheds about 9×12 with dirt floors and canvas roofs. The pianos are up on board platforms to keep them from sinking into the mud, so the chairs must be propped up too. Each lesson becomes a balancing act…That Ewha has been able to keep going at all, and has 1300 students in its various colleges is nothing short of amazing…I have covered the floor of my room with heavy paper pasted down at the edges, and with matting so the wind no longer whistles up between the boards and blows out the oil stove. We can buy the root vegetables, spinach, Chinese cabbage, carrots, apples, pears, persimmons and some beef and excellent fish on the local market.” Frances, conducting the women’s choir at Ewha University.
Susan Sharpe Waddell Hsu ’15x
Alumnae Quarterly November 1935:
Bandits Kill Wilson Alumna in China.
Wilson College has for the second time within a year heard of the tragic death of an alumna serving as a missionary in China. The New York and Philadelphia newspapers have reported the death of Dr. Susan Sharpe Waddell Chu (Hsu), a member of the Class of ’15. Although few details are available, it is believed that Dr. Chu was slain by robbers who waylaid her rickshaw. Dr. Chu was head of the department of physiological chemistry in the Medical school of Tsinan, China. She was known in China as Dr. Hsu Shih Chu. The October 24 issue of the The Presbyterian painted the following article concerning Dr. Chu: Susan S. Waddell Hsu’15x (Mrs. Hsu Shih Chu) transferred from Wilson College to the University of Pittsburgh. She was murdered in China in 1935 while riding in a rickshaw on her way to work. She had been head of Physiological Chemistry at the Medical School of Tsinan.November 1935:Wilson College has for the second time within a year heard of the tragic death of an alumna serving as a missionary in China. The New York and Philadelphia newspapers have reported the death of Dr. Susan Sharpe Waddell Chu (Hsu), a member of the Class of ’15. Although few details are available, it is believed that Dr. Chu was slain by robbers who waylaid her rickshaw. Dr. Chu was head of the department of physiological chemistry in the Medical school of Tsinan, China. She was known in China as Dr. Hsu Shih Chu. The October 24 issue of thepainted the following article concerning Dr. Chu: “Mrs. Susan Sharpe Waddell Chu, wife of Dr. Hsu Shih Chu, a professor at Central University, Nanking, China, was found slain on October 15, near Nanking, apparently strangled by Bandits. For twelve years Mrs. Chu had been a medical missionary in China under the Board of Foreign Missions. She was the daughter of Dr. John M. Waddell, a former pastor of the Bellevue Church, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but now residing in Mill Valley, California. She was always at the head of her class at the University of Pittsburgh and Medical School. She had a real sense of humor, and was one of the most beloved college girls of her day. She had been in laboratory work in the Orient, and had planned for a further career in China, where she hoped to establish medical stations in some of the outlying regions.” Wilson College classmate and fellow missionary, Theodora Gleysteen’s tribute to Susan Waddell appeared in the Alumnae Quarterly. From the Clearfield Progress, Clearfield, PA, Wednesday, October 16, 1935:
Chinese Missionary, Born in Clearfield, Killed by Bandits
In far away Nanking, China, authorities hunted today for the slayers of Dr. Susan Waddell, 39, former Pennsylvania girl who was found strangled in a ditch.The body of Dr. Waddell, who spent 15 years in China teaching medicine, was found yesterday. She apparently had been killed by bandits. Dr. Waddell was a native of Clearfield, PA, born there while her father, the Rev. J.M. Waddell was pastor of a Presbyterian Church. She lived in Charleston, W. Va., from 1908 to 1912 when she entered a private school in Pittsburgh. Dr. Waddell was graduated from the University of Pittsburgh school of Medicine in 1920 and for a time did research for the Rockefeller Foundation. She went to China in 1921 but returned two years later for further study. Three years ago she married Dr. Hsu Shih Chu, Chinese physician. Friends in Pittsburgh were told that a month before Dr. Waddell’s death she wrote to California that “when I hear and read all of what is going on in Europe and Africa, I think China is the safest place of all.” From the Danville Register Bee, Danville, VA, January 15, 1937:
Murderer of Dr. Susan Waddell Hsu Found in China; Rickshaw Runner
The woman referred to in the following dispatch, Dr. Susan Waddell Hsu, was the daughter of a former pastor of the Clearfield Presbyterian Church and was born in Clearfield. Accounts of the terrible tragedy to befall Mrs. Hsu were carried in the Progress recently. “Nanking, January 15 – The fifteen month old mystery of the death of Dr. Susan Waddell Hsu, formerly of Berkeley, California, was solved Friday with police announcement – a “rickshaw coolie had confessed her slaying. The body of the American woman was found in a ditch beside a lonely Nanking road Oct. 15, 1935. Police said Liu Yung-Hsing, the coolie, had confessed strangling and robbing her. Liu will be strangled Saturday.” Note – the newspaper really does say that Liu will be strangled. It is unclear if it was supposed to say ‘executed’ instead. Note – an ‘x’ following a graduation year indicates that the student did not graduate from Wilson College, but had previously been a member of the class.
Marguerite Luce Young ’28
Marguerite Luce Young graduated from Yale University School of Nursing in June 1931. She sailed for China on September 3, 1931. In 1938 she became Director of Clinical Instruction in the Temple Hill Hospital in Chefee. Alumnae Quarterly (AQ) August 1942: “Marguerite Luce was married on December 9, 1941 to Dr. James Young, a cancer specialist (two days after Pearl Harbor). The Young’s are in occupied China and since all mail is suspended Marguerite sent word of her marriage to a friend in Free China who finally managed to get word to Mrs. Luce by radiogram on April 11.” AQ May 1943: “Marguerite Luce Young and her husband have been interned by the Japanese in Chefoo, China. They are being held in their home, one of the residences which surrounds the hospital. A large number of missionaries, both English and American are being held in the same area.” AQ February 1944: “Marguerite Luce Young and her husband returned to the United States from China on the “Gripsholm.” From an article in the Valley News Dispatch, Tarentum, PA, September 24, 1977 on the occasion of Dr. Young’s retirement: “They were engaged only a short time when Pearl Harbor was attacked. The couple suddenly became enemy aliens. According to Marguerite, ‘The Japanese officer in charge of taking over American institutions in Chefoo, North China, on December 8, 1941, said emphatically that we could not get married.’ ‘Admitting the Japanese authority over us as enemy nationals, but being determined to carry out our plan, Dr. Young and I took advantage of the general confusion and got married anyhow!’ ‘It was a strange sort of wedding with the bridegroom wearing a suit he had slept in the night before while I took time only to change from uniform to street dress. There were no flowers, no music. For a wedding ring we used a Chinese silver puzzle ring. ‘There were only four guests besides the minister and we had kippered herring for the wedding supper. But all initiated a great deal of happiness and in the hectic days that followed we learned that “danger shared is affection deepened”’”. Interned with 357 “foreigners” the second year of the war, the Youngs were included in an exchange of civilians arranged through neutral nations. After 11 weeks on the sea and over 20,000 miles of ocean, they finally reached New York. AQ February 1948 – letter from Marguerite Luce Young: “We want to acquaint you with our plan to return to China in August, 1948, under the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. We have had a happy, profitable period in the homeland but return eagerly to share with Chinese and other colleagues in the task of Christian medical education. We expect to go, not to our former station of Chefoo, but to Cheeloo University in Tsinan, the capital of Shantung Province. Jim will help in the Medical School and hospital and I will help in the School of Nursing.” AQ November 1949: “The Young family have been in Foochow, China for about a year, where Jim is attached to the Cheeloo University Medical School. They are not certain whether the school will be moved back to Shantung but in any case have decided to stay in China so long as they can do it without too much risk for the children. They are very comfortably housed in the American Board Compound adjoining Union Hospital.” Again, from the Valley News Dispatch article: “Four years in New York and two children later, the Youngs returned to China to join the Medical School at Tsinan, Shantung, but were forced to flee by the Communists with the advent of the Korean War. It was evident the Chinese were sympathetic to the North Koreans and Americans were again on the ‘wrong’ side and an embarrassment to their Chinese colleagues.“ The Youngs had a third child in November 1949 in China, but all further class notes are from the U.S
The Young’s, enjoying retirement. The Young’s, enjoying retirement.
Tirzah Roberts McCandliss ’18
Tirzah Roberts McCandliss ’18 was a medical missionary in Hwai Yuan, Anhwei, Canton. She assisted at the Relief Bureau of the Rockefeller Foundation Hospital in Peking. In 1930, she published “A Program of Religious Education for pre-school children of Working Class Parents.”.Excerpt from a letter from Canton, China October 16, 1924: “The last few days have been the most tragic we have seen. Canton is full of war and looting, though our side of the river is normal Shameen and the warships stand between us and the fighting. Sun’s soldiers are fighting the Merchants’ Volunteer Protective Association which refused to turn over its $70,000 worth of imported arms to him. Yesterday all day was fighting, looting, and setting fire, and the sky was red back of Shameen till 3 a.m. this morning. The tragedy is all this gets nowhere. They are no nearer settlement than if yesterdays destruction had not been wrought. Language school closed yesterday (for the sake of the teachers) and we get no bread, ice, or groceries. No one can cross the river. However, it can’t last long. These poor people!” Alumnae Quarterly (AQ) August 1928: “Dr. and Mrs. McCandliss and their three children spent the past winter in a mountainous station in China which would have been closed had they not volunteered to carry on the work in this dangerous bandit district.” AQ November 1928: “In a September issue of The Detroit Free Press appeared a picture of Tirzah Roberts McCandliss and an article concerning some phases of her life in China: Mrs. McCandliss has some interesting experiences to relate about the days that followed the outbreak of the Civil War. How thievery was so common that no night went by without robbers attempting to break into the house: how, one morning bullets crashed into her bedroom; How, during a smallpox epidemic, she opened the door one morning to find that a little child had died on her doorstep of that dread disease. She counted four such bodies lying on the street that day in a half-mile walk. ‘I considered my supreme accomplishment the fact that I have managed to raise three healthy children in Canton. The hygienic conditions in that city are unspeakable. During the anti-foreign fever that followed the outbreak of war we could not get a Chinese to so much as deliver our groceries. It was considered disloyal for a Chinaman to be seen entering a foreigner’s house. But – was not without blessing. The robbers, evidently afraid of being caught leaving the home of a foreigner, bothered us no more. Despite the fact that the political unrest was bringing more and more patients to the hospital – the sudden and terrible attacks of bandits, particularly, terrorized many Chinese women to the point of insanity – the hospital was ordered closed by the party then in power.’ Dr. and Mrs. McCandliss and their children were for a while refugees in Hong Kong. And then word came that a small country hospital up the North river needed a doctor. The little family braved their way for eleven days through bandit country until they reached their destination.” AQ August 1930: “Dr. and Mrs. McCandliss and their family sailed August 11 for China.” AQ May 1931: “Dr. and Mrs. McCandliss have taken up their new work in China after six months’ study of Northern Mandarin at the Union Language School, Peiping. They are now located in central China, near Nanking.” AQ August 1938: “Tirzah McCandliss sent a letter from China. Her husband is in the war zone, and has been separated from the family for months.” AQ August 1939: “Tirzah McCandliss attended alumnae weekend in June. She has been much in demand as a speaker while on furlough in this country, among her subjects being the work at the Relief Bureau of the Rockefeller Foundation Hospital in Peking, where she has been assisting with the work.” AQ February 1940: “Tirzah McCandliss her husband and three younger children have returned to China.” The family had returned to the United States by 1943.
Wilson Missionaries in China
Ruth Johnson Clarke `12 Ruth Johnson Clarke `12
Of the more than eighty Wilson College alumnae who became missionaries in foreign countries, twenty spent time in China. The earliest were Ruth Johnson Clarke and her sister, Margaret Johnson Corbett, both class of 1912, and the most recent was Miriam Mathews Haddad, class of 1947. The women who served in China were teachers, doctors, nurses, and evangelists. Some spent time interned in Japanese prison camps during World War II, others narrowly escaped. Some endured hunger and primitive conditions during the early years of the Chinese Civil War in the late 1920s, others were forced to flee from Communists in 1949. Some lost infants and children to disease, others tended to the children of war refugees. Two were murdered. Miriam Matthew Haddad `47 As we trace the lives of these women through letters, clippings and notes to classmates in the College’s Alumnae Quarterly, we will discover eye-witness moments to history. Where we can, we supplement the stories with historical and cultural context, but for the most part, we leave it to the scholar to use these primary sources as a starting point for further study.
Ruth Johnson Clarke ’12 and Margaret Johnson Corbett ’12
This post is a compilation of information and quotes from an article about Ruth Johnson in the San Francisco Examiner, January 21, 1962, an article in a local paper (name and date unknown) in 1940, Wilson College Alumnae Quarterly class notes, and background information directly from a biographical note from Stanford University Archives, which houses the personal papers of Ruth’s husband, Eric Clarke.
Ruth Johnson and her sister Margaret came to Wilson College in 1908 from Wei Hsien, Shantung Province, China. Their parents, Dr. Charles Fletcher and Agnes Elliott Johnson, were Presbyterian medical missionaries. Ruth and Margaret attended Miss Jewell’s School in Shanghai, later attended briefly by Pearl Buck. They graduated from Wilson in 1912 and Ruth returned to Shanghai to teach at Miss Jewell’s.In 1916 Ruth began teaching at the Peking American School where she met Eric Clarke. Clarke was born in Tientsin, China to British missionary parents. He attended the Chefoo School where Henry Luce and Thornton Wilder were educated. Ruth and Eric were married on June 21, 1916. The couple spent 16 years in Peking. During this time, Ruth began collecting jade and other art.In 1939 a selection of the most precious pieces was sent to New York, to the Arden Galleries on Park Ave. for a benefit showing for Chinese war orphans. After the exhibit, because the Clarke’s were planning to retire shortly, the collection was left in New York storage. Ruth Johnson and her sister Margaret came to Wilson College in 1908 from Wei Hsien, Shantung Province, China. Their parents, Dr. Charles Fletcher and Agnes Elliott Johnson, were Presbyterian medical missionaries. Ruth and Margaret attended Miss Jewell’s School in Shanghai, later attended briefly by Pearl Buck. They graduated from Wilson in 1912 and Ruth returned to Shanghai to teach at Miss Jewell’s.In 1916 Ruth began teaching at the Peking American School where she met Eric Clarke. Clarke was born in Tientsin, China to British missionary parents. He attended the Chefoo School where Henry Luce and Thornton Wilder were educated. Ruth and Eric were married on June 21, 1916. The couple spent 16 years in Peking. During this time, Ruth began collecting jade and other art.In 1939 a selection of the most precious pieces was sent to New York, to the Arden Galleries on Park Ave. for a benefit showing for Chinese war orphans. After the exhibit, because the Clarke’s were planning to retire shortly, the collection was left in New York storage. Alumnae Quarterly (AQ) May 1940: “Mr. Clarke was interviewed by one of the local papers in Pensacola, Florida, while on furlough. He stated that the war-changed way of the world has not so greatly changed life in China, and the International Settlement in Shanghai holds its charm, and men and women assembled there from many nations find life good, and oft time gay, as life in Shanghai has been for many generations. The Clarkes plan to return to China in May (1940).” Then in December 1941, the Japanese occupied Shanghai. The Clarkes were taken to a military internment camp, where they were to spend 33 stark months. Their possessions were reduced to one trunk of clothes and a bed. Mrs. Clarke managed to secret two fine small pieces of jade in a sandwich. AQ November 1947: “Ruth Clarke, and her good husband, Eric attended our Reunion at which time they thrilled us all with the grim story of their war experience in China where they spent thirty months in a Japanese Internment Camp. Space here is not available to give much of her account but be assured their predicament was unthinkable. Indescribable hardships were forced upon them but they made the very best of conditions, even organizing community life where every person was commandeered to some vital job. Ruth was made chief of police. Can’t you just see her? The great lack of food, the separation from the outside world and its news, the sickness, lack of medicine, and supplies and, at times, insults and near blackout of hope made their experience desperate, yet their faith, ingenuity, vitality and courage carried them through.” For a complete history of the internment of civilians in Japanese prison camps in China during World War II see Captives of Empire by Greg Leck: http://www.captives-of-empire.com/default.php For a look at the experience of women in the internment camps, see Chapter 3 of Bernice Archer’s book, The Internment of Western Civilians under the Japanese: http://www.west-point.org/family/japanese-pow/Internment.pdf From the biographical note from Stanford: “Among the nearly 1800 interns at LungHwa were men and women from all professions and backgrounds. Although spirits were high during the first season at the camp, morale worsened during the winter – food became scarce and poorer in quality and the stoves which the Japanese installed on each floor of the ten dormitories were never lit. “The cubicles they occupied were 4’8 by 22′ long. Despite the difficult conditions they encountered at the camp, the Clarkes and their fellow inmates managed to maintain a high level of personal development which is reflected in the many activities enjoyed at the camp: lectures, plays, musical productions and many other kinds of intellectual stimulation. “One of the most amusing highlights of their stay was the development of a game called Dictionary Please. Because of their limited reading material, the Clarkes designed a game which relied only upon the dictionary they brought with them and their active imaginations. The game was so successful that it became a partial livelihood following their return to America in 1946.” Eric Clarke’s sister Agnes, was with the China Inland Mission for 47 years. She was evacuated with others during World War II and continued to serve at Mission Headquarters in London. JADE COLLECTION From the San Francisco Examiner: Ruth began collecting jade as a young wife and gradually became very knowledgeable. Over the years, she added to the collection, selling lesser pieces to acquire better ones. She amassed a collection beginning from the Ming Dynasty in 1366 through the end of the Ching dynasty in 1911. When Ruth and Eric were preparing to go to the internment camp, she hid two valuable jade pieces in a sandwich. One was a phoenix which she still had in old age, the other, a dragon, paid their passage on the “General Meiggs”, when they came to the US in 1946 after the war was over. Lavender jade pigeons, with insets of amber as eyes, date from Ch’ien Lung period (1736-1796). Ruth’s sister, Margaret Johnson Corbett, returned to China after graduating from Wilson College – also in 1912. She was a relief worker for refugees during the war from 1914-1918. Margaret wrote on an alumna survey from 1942: “Teaching in China, one had to be ready to teach everthing. I had pupils studying for the Cambridge and Oxford examinations. I had one pupil who studied Greek with me for two months and passed her entrance exam to Wellesley. I also taught French and mathematics, history – one has to be a Jack of all trades!” Alumnae Quarterly May 1949: “A letter from Margaret Johnson Corbett detailed a description of the dream house which her husband designed and built. She reports that sister, Ruth Johnson Clarke, and husband, Eric, are settling in Portland. Ruth now being an American citizen again, and Eric is in under the proper visa. What a relief for Ruth to be safe as an American housewife, instead of the family here wondering about their status in worn-town China!”
Grace Potts Vaughan ’40
Grace Potts was with the China Inland Mission of the World Council of Churches. During World War II, she was a ballistics computer from 1942 to 1944, with the Ordnance Department of the War Office, Philadelphia Computing Unit. She was in China during the spread of communism. From a letter she wrote to the Alumnae Office in 1950:
“Since we foreigners can’t do any country work at all, or any traveling except for urgent reasons such as serious illness, we have been glad Pastor Ch’en could go out and preach in many places where the groups of Christians have no pastor. Alas, even he did not have an easy time. We thank the Lord for the amount of liberty we do have here in Suancheng, and we want to appreciate it since we don’t know how long it will last.” Alumnae Quarterly (AQ) February 1951: “Grace Potts reports, as of August 22, that she is quite happy despite war conditions in China. They are forbidden to leave the town where she is living, but she spends her time teaching a class of high school girls.” AQ May 1951: “Grace Potts is in Nanking and from there will go to Hong Kong to await transportation home. She and other China Inland Mission (C.I.M.) missionaries were to be sent home as soon as transportation was available. Their work has been curtailed so that further stay is inadvisable.” AQ November 1951: “Grace Potts arrived home in July and is making her home in Reading. So far her further missionary plans are indefinite, but she will continue mission work after her furlough.” AQ February 1952: “Grace Potts has been home from China since July and hopes to return to some place in the Orient.” AQ May 1952: “Grace Potts will serve in the translation department of the C.I.M. in Hong-Kong where she expects to go sometime in April.” AQ November 1952: “Grace Potts is in Hong Kong China for three years helping in a translation office.” AQ August 1953: “Grace Potts writes of the problems in Hong Kong especially of refugees. She lives on the ground floor of a modern eight-flat apartment house. She says it is often her joy to show visitors around this fascinating city which she finds so different from the little muddy town of Suancheng.” Grace Potts sent greetings to the Class from China. “I am one of two and a half million sitting on the outside remembering those inside. Our mission, the China Inland Mission (which can no longer live up to its name, of course) has its publishing house here in Hong Kong. We are engaged in the preparation and distribution of all types of Christian literature not only Chinese but also in ten other languages of Southeast Asia.Grace and her family returned to the United States in 1960. Grace urges us one and all to be thankful for the freedom, security and many privileges of American life.
Pauline Landes Browne ’38
Pauline Landes married the Rev. George C. Browne, a graduate of the Princeton Seminary, in 1940. Alumnae Quarterly (AQ) May 1944: “Pauline Landes Browne, with her husband and two children are now living in California. They are under appointment as missionaries to China and are studying at the California College in China, taking full time language work, preparing to go to China as soon as conditions will allow.” AQ February 1948: “Would that it were possible to let you read, in their entirety, the two letters we have received from China. Both Pauline Landes Browne and Betsie Hopkins Crothers are enthusiastic about their new work. “Polly lives with her husband, Chalmers, and their three children at Tung Men Wai, Chenhsien, Hunan, China. Chalmers has organized three centers of distribution for the sorely-needed UNNRA supplies; the one in Chenhsien alone distributed food to over 2800 families. In addition to relief work the Brownes are engaged in hospital work and student activity. Polly had ‘just had enough of a taste of the life out here, just learned enough to make me want to know a lot more’.” AQ February 1950: “Still away from the Orient are Pauline Landes Browne and her family. They hope to be able to return to China early next year.” AQ May 1951: “Polly Landes Browne has sent a most interesting letter from Brazil where she and Chalmers are starting an appointment of six or seven years.” The Brownes spent many years as missionaries in Brazil and we will catch up with them again when we move on to South America. Their story was included in the book Every Road Leads Home by Jule Spach. The March 1998 issue of Presbyterian Today highlights Pauline’s family which included three generations of missionary doctors. Her father, Dr. Archibald Fletcher founded a hospital in Taegu, Korea. Her brother Archibald, Jr., was a thoracic surgeon in Maraj, India, while his son, Dr. John Fletcher, was sent to the Good Shepherd Hospital in Zaire.
Mary Elizabeth Hopkins Crothers ’38
Helen Scott Mahy ’30
The Scott sisters, Elizabeth ’28, Helen ’30, and Beatrice ’33, were raised in China by their parents (Dr. and Mrs. Charles E. Scott) who were missionaries. They all returned to China as missionaries, themselves. Helen Scott Mahy returned to China in 1935 under the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church. Alumnae Quarterly (AQ) May 1935: “Helen Scott Mahy and her husband have been assigned by the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church to the China Council for suggested location at Shantung.” AQ August 1935: “Helen Scott Mahy and her husband have sailed for China under appointment of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions.” AQ February 1938: “Word has been received from Seattle that Helen Scott Mahy is safe and well.” AQ Frebruary 1942: “The Gordon Mahy family (Helen Scott), with Betty Scott Stam’s daughter, Helen Priscilla, are at Montreat, N.C. until such time as they may be able to return to China.” AQ August 1945: “Margaret Mahy Van Dyke spent two weeks with her brother and his wife, Helen Scott Mahy, Ted Stevenson, husband of Bunny (Beatrice) Scott, arrived there for a family reunion after three and one-half years as a prisoner of the Japs in Manila.” AQ May 1946: “Helen Scott Mahy’s husband left for China in January. Helen and the children will join him during the summer.” AQ May 1949: “Gordon Mahy has returned recently from a trip into Chinese Communist Territory. The Mahy’s feel they will continue to stay in Tsingtao as long as they can help their Chinese Church and friends, but with Communist military successes and U.S. Navy evacuations, they may send the three older children to school in America. Don Mahy, is now a high school junior, and is six and a half feet tall. The other Mahy children are well and growing – typical American children as yours and mine.” AQ August 1950: “Gordon and Helen Scott Mahy and family are now in the Philippine Islands. Helen is teaching there and writes that the family is well.”
Helen Fraser West M.D. ’25
Helen Fraser West was a missionary with the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. Alumnae Quarterly (AQ) August 1929: “Helen Fraser who was graduated from the Women’s Medical College in Philadelphia in June, will be an intern in the Presbyterian Hospital of Pittsburgh during the coming year.” AQ May 1930 (paraphrased): “Helen Fraser married the Reverend Kirk West, a graduate of the Princeton Theological Seminary. They plan to sail for China under appointment by the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions.” AQ February 1935: ‘The Wests oldest daughter, Prudence, died at their home in Weihsien, Shantung, China due to pneumonia following bacillary dysentery. She was three years old.” AQ August 1937: “Numerous Wilson alumnae in Shantung: Helen Scott Mahy and Helen Fraser West are next door neighbors. Marguerite Luce is nearby. The Dicksons, who have two daughters at Wilson are neighbors, and Kathleen Neale Kepler was there for a year.” AQ February 1941: “Helen Fraser West and her family have been sent to the Philippines due to the dangerous conditions in China.” AQ August 1942: “The Wests are now in Pennsylvania while on enforced furlough from China.” AQ August 1946: “Helen Fraser West’s husband sailed for China – March 1. Helen and the children expect to sail in August.” AQ May 1947: “Helen Fraser West and her family of four children sailed from San Francisco on March 28 for China. Her husband left about a year ago and has been back in their old station.” AQ February 1947: “Helen Fraser West’s life sounds like a three ring circus. She and her family are in Tsingtao, China. They were not allowed to return to their station at Weihsien as it is Communist country. Kirk is away a great deal on inspection trips. Tuck’s (Helen) house seems to take in and care for everyone.” Wilson alumnae during this era frequently used nicknames. AQ November 1949: “Helen Fraser West and her family arrived in San Francisco in late spring.”
Kathleen Neale Kepler ’23
Kathleen Neale Kepler studied at the North China Language School in Peiping from 1930 to 1931. Alumnae Quarterly(AQ) February 1932: “Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Kepler are now stationed in Siangton, Hunan, China, where they are doing evangelistic work.” AQ February 1938: “A very cheerful letter has been received by Kay Neale Kepler’s friends in this country, saying she is well and safe.” AQ August 1938: “Kay Neale Kepler, who is in China with her husband and two daughters is three miles outside Tsing Tao, and they are not able to return to their mission station.” AQ November 1942: “Kay Neale Kepler and her family are living in New Jersey until they can return to their home and work in China.” AQ February 1947: “Kay Neale Kepler is in Shanghai, China.” AQ May 1949: “Dear Class of 1923: We five Kepler’s were evacuated from China on a Navy transport, leaving Shanghai in early December. A brief stop in Tsingtao and at Yokasuka Bay, where the Navy planned a day in Tokyo for us and where we saw the bombed areas coming back to life in the remarkable reconstruction of that country, and where we Christmas shopped in the little stalls of the Ginga, Tokyo’s great thoroughfare, and the greatest variety of fellow evacuees, missionary, civilian, and military dependents, all made an interesting trip home. “Our plans are still indefinite…as we have little chance of returning to China in the near future. That brings me to China, which we so hated to leave. Last summer we realized that our days there were probably numbered, as the situation from the political, financial, and military viewpoint was deteriorating so rapidly. Tension was great a good deal of the fall in Shanghai (near which we lived after we had to leave North China), especially when the food situation became very acute. Inflation made rice jump about six dollars U.S. per hundred pound bag to four hundred U.S. for the same amount, in ten days time, and even at that price you couldn’t get it. Farmers refused to bring in produce, inflation was such that money was worthless to them before they could use it. For a time we couldn’t buy so much as an egg or a potato. Paying up to $2.50 U.S. for a loaf of bread, with queues of waiting people unable to get it at that price, caused the American Council to get bread and sell it rationed at about fifty cents a loaf to Americans. Stores were closed; streets were jammed with idle, restless, panicky people; rioting was constant. The flow of refugees into and out of the city was indescribable. “Temporary money adjustments eased the tension and the food crisis, but when our government sent evacuation notices, and the school bus stopped for our children, and many of their teachers were evacuating, that – together with other things – made us feel we would have to leave. “The future no one can predict. Our personal opinion is that China will fall to the Communists eventually, and that it is a Russian Communism. From experience in a city nearest to the “Iron Curtain” for nearly a year, we know it is an anti-God, anti-freedom ideology that denies the one thing China needs – the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Friends who have tried staying ended up practically as prisoners in their own homes, a menace to their Chinese friends or to anyone who showed any connection with them. In our area, we were asked to leave not just for our own but for the sake of the Chinese Christians. Our hearts ache for China.” AQ May 1956: “Kenneth and Kathleen Neale Kepler have again been called into the missionary field, this time to Formosa (Taiwan).” AQ November 1956: “Kathleen and Kenneth Kepler sailed from San Francisco September 14 to be gone five years. They will conduct English Bible classes among college and high school students, government workers, lepers, and the aboriginal tribes of Formosa (Taiwan). AQ February 1959: “Kathleen Neale Kepler believes the light of Christmas is really beginning to shine in Free China. All over the city of Taipei there were groups (both those born on the island and mainlanders who have lost all they had) that were decorating their churches and homes, sending gifts and cards, and letting their neighbors know of the joy Christ has brought them.” The Kepler’s spent another 10 years in Formosa/Taiwan.
Total Life Journal
On April 1, our longtime friend and ministry partner, Arnold Tanner, celebrated his 82nd birthday. This does not seem possible because my mind has frozen us in the glory days of our adult prime.
Our friendship spans 50 years. When Robbie and I first met Arnold and his beautiful wife, Betty, in Lubbock, Texas, they were the owners of Highland Interiors, a great furniture and carpet store. I think I first saw him when he was doing a television commercial. Soon, I discovered that he was actively involved in the music ministry of his church and that he had a heart for evangelism and missions. Some of my first volunteer mission experiences involved his encouragement, support and participation.
Arnold had a life goal of retiring early and spending the remainder of his life in full time Christian work. God ordered circumstances so that he was positioned to do just that. For 31 years he has been engaged in coordinating volunteer mission projects around the world. He has been instrumental in reaching thousands of people with the Gospel in Australia, Wales, England, India, Kenya, the Middle East, the Caribbean, Central America and Brazil.
Last month, he was in Kenya working with associations of churches that have, under his leadership, planted scores of new churches during the past twenty years. He is enlisting and planning for an evangelism project in Cabo Frio, RG, Brazil, June 12-24. God willing, he will be back in East Africa July 31-August 15 for a youth conference and vacation Bible school. He plans to be in India November 6-18 for leadership training and evangelistic campaigns’
We have been together in India, Kenya, Brazil, the Caribbean and Central America. We have lived through experiences that exposed us to each other in ways that left few secrets. The result has been a lasting bond. During all of the crossroads experiences of our lives, we have laughed and cried, talked with a no holds barred honesty and prayed for and with each other.
During a recent telephone conversation, we laughed while recalling one of our wildest and most memorable adventures. As a birthday tribute to Arnold, I am retelling that story. Forgive me if the years have taken a bit of a toll on the fine tuning our memories. We both recall a lot of first names but not many surnames. God knows.
In September of 1981, Arnold and I responded to the invitation of Ted, an Arizona business man, to accompany him Honduras and Belize. He had close Christian friends in both places and had arranged for us to be engaged in ministry on the English speaking island of Roatan off the coast of Honduras.
When our afternoon flight from the USA landed in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, we were anticipating making an easy connection on Taca Airlines to Roatan. Silly us, we had momentarily forgotten that if anything can go wrong, it will.
We joined a small group answering the on time boarding call for our flight. However, when we emerged onto the tarmac, we were told that there was a problem with our plane’s radio and repairs were being made. Instead of ushering us back into the terminal, we lounged on baggage carts and our carry-on pieces. Three confused looking guys trotted back and forth from the ancient DC-3 that was awaiting us. As our waiting time entered its second hour, our murmurings turned from curiosity to trepidation.
Taca DC-3
Finally, we were given permission to board. When Arnold and I mounted the stairs of the World War II workhorse, we were greeted by a smiling flight attendant who directed us to find the seats of our choice. Through an open cabin door, we could see a rotund pilot in the captain’s chair and a young co-pilot. Our stewardess went forward to converse with them, closed their door and we assumed that we were at last on our way to Roatan. Silly us, once again, we forgot that if anything can go wrong, it will.
Our plane, which had probably flown missions over the Hump of the Himalayas, from India into China, during World War II, lumbered out onto the runway and sat shuddering. I was braced for the engines to rive up to their max for our takeoff.
It did not happen. Instead, the engines died and the cabin door opened to reveal an agitated captain. He came storming down the aisle and exchanged several heated Spanish expletives with the questioning flight attendant. As we exchanged confused looks and turned to see what was happening, the captain, with his co-pilot in tow, exited the plane. As the stewardess shook a fist and shouted after them, they calmly walked toward the distant terminal.
We expected that all would be explained. Silly us, we were still learning to simply expect the unexpected. Our flight attendant took a seat, folded her arms and said nothing.
After about 15 minutes, an old yellow school bus, which might have been driven all the way to Central America from a Texas school district, pulled up beside our plane. We were loaded on board and immediately bused to a very nice hotel in San Pedro Sula.
There the story of what had just happened came together. Instead of clearing our flight for a takeoff, the captain was told that our delay had eaten up the daylight required for a landing on Roatan. The runway there was without lights, and traffic control had determined that safety called for an early morning departure. The captain had vehemently protested this decision, arguing that he could make a successful landing in the fading light. When this was forbidden, he simply shut the plane down where it was and left us stranded on the runway.
That night, at Taca’s expense, we dined on lobster and steak. Early the next morning, our yellow school bus arrived and we were transported to our abandoned plane. Our same crew, smiling as though nothing untoward had happened, greeted us and we were off to Roatan.
Our flight adventure proved to be an excellent initiation for all that was before us on the island. We were warmly greeted by Glenn, the pastor of a Baptist church and the governor of the island. We were to be guests in the governor’s home for the next week. This sounded great, and for the most part it was. The food was fantastic, the fellowship was sweet and the laughter came easy. Everything was great…until bedtime.
Arnold and I had a large second floor bedroom with our own bath. But, there were a couple of problems. One, there was no air conditioning and we were on a tropical island, which meant suffocating heat and extremely high humidity. Stripped to our shorts, we lay on our beds like dying slugs and sweated through our mattresses. When exhaustion was just about to drag us into sleep, we discovered problem number two. All of our windows were wide open to let in anything resembling fresh air. Just below one bank of these windows was a vacant lot. Every night, trucks and heavy equipment being used to build a new airport runway were parked there. This lot turned out to be the gathering place for most of the stray dogs on the island. Just when lights were going off and everyone was saying, “good night,” the dogs came alive. Far into the night, they fought, mated, barked and howled.
In the wee hours of the morning, the ruckus would subside and fitful sleep would come to us. Then, at about 4:00, the heavy equipment drivers would start their engines. Our room would literally vibrate and the smell of diesel fuel would assault our lungs. Getting up early was our only choice.
When the sun came up, all of the island dogs found shady places and slept as though they were dead. Not one canine could be found in motion.
After three nights of this chaos, Arnold asked, “Do you know how I plan to spend my day tomorrow?”
I asked, “How?”
He said, “I am going to go all over this island looking for sleeping dogs. When I find some, I am going to kick them and yell, ‘O. K., everybody up. If I can’t sleep nobody sleeps. Get up and get moving.'”
When we got up, we got moving. There was a lot to do, including a radio program every morning. One of Arnold’s strongest memories is of the man who met us on the street and told us about hearing me preach on the radio that day. He said, “I was riding my motorcycle and listening to you. When you said for us to bow our heads and close our eyes for prayer, that’s what I did, right there on my motorcycle.”
When the guy walked away, Arnold said, “I think you had better stop saying that.”
Our stay on Roatan included an opportunity to meet the president of Honduras. We joined his party for a meal at the governor’s home. He was on the island for a national youth soccer tournament and the opening of a new bridge.
Meeting the president was nothing compared to our meeting Charlie. Arnold and I had asked if there was someone who could take us around the island by boat. The answer was, “Sure, call Charlie.”
When we asked how to do that, we were told to walk out to the end of a downtown pier, look over to a small island about a half mile off shore and yell, “Hey, Charlie!”
We were told that Charlie had no telephone, but that if we yelled loud enough he would hear us and respond.
Feeling like a couple of kids who had been sent to buy a sky hook, we ventured out onto the end of the pier and looked around to see if the guys who had put us up to this were watching and laughing. Spotting no one, we started shouting, “Charlie!”
Sure enough, this bronzed blond haired young man walks out on his little island’s pier and waves at us. We motion for him to come to us, and in a few minutes his little boat was on its way.
We discovered that Charlie made his living as a guide for the folks who find Roatan to be a diver’s paradise. He lived alone on his little island. With no phone, he still managed to stay busy enough to keep body and soul together. Apparently, a lot of people were hoarse from yelling, “Hey, Charlie!”
We told him that we wanted to take a boat ride around the island and wondered how much it would cost. He thought for a moment and asked if we would mind him doing a little fishing along the way. When we said that would be no problem, he said, “Well, fifteen dollars should do it.”
We asked, “Per hour?”
“No, just fifteen,” he said.
We asked, “Each?”
“No,” he said, “Fifteen will do.”
Charlie said that he would be back for us in about thirty minutes and headed back for his island. I turned to Arnold and remarked, “You never offered a deal like that when you were doing those furniture commercials on TV.”
Sure enough, Charlie was back right on time. Climbing into his boat, we discovered that there were no backed seats, just planks spaced about three feet apart. The first things that caught our attention were a bucket of chopped up fish, a coil of the heaviest fishing line I had ever seen, a club shaped somewhat like a small baseball bat, and a mean looking hook on the end of the line. Our guide saw us taking all of this in and explained, “I am going to be looking for barracuda.”
Quickly, my mind was flipping through
Barracuda
pictures and descriptions of fish. When I found “barracuda,” I did not like what I saw.
When we were well underway, Charlie threaded a huge chuck of raw fish onto the big hook and tossed it into the water. Arnold and I had hardly had time to exchange looks when the line started zinging out.
For the next few moments, we watched in growing horror as Charlie gripped the line with both hands and started manually drawing something in. Suddenly, one of the most vicious looking fish imaginable broke the surface. It seemed to be three fourths razor sharp teeth. Then, reality took hold of my consciousness. This thing was about to come on board with us.
When Charlie had the thrashing barracuda in swinging distance, he gave it a deadly whack with the little bat. As he pulled it into the boat, he clubbed it again and shoved it under three of the forward planks.
With a “this is all in a day’s work” attitude, Charlie said, “I am going to pull in up here and gut him. With these things, you need to do it right away.”
When he docked, we realized that we were at an exclusive resort club. We asked, “Are we supposed to be here?”
“Don’t worry,” he laughed. “We won’t be here long.”
With that, he leaped onto the club’s pier, gutted his catch, tossed the innards into the water, climbed back aboard and we were off again. That was the first of three barracuda catches that afternoon. We never got over the rush of watching the process. I had my answer ready if he had asked, “Do you want to try this?”
A docking at quiet water front café for cold drinks and good conversation put the wrapper on a memorable day with Charlie. All of that for $15.00. What a deal.
One evening, Arnold and I went to a church at French Harbor. There, we learned that a picture does not come close to telling the whole story. Prior to the service, we walked down a pathway toward the ocean. Suddenly, we saw a fantastically beautiful tropical scene; palm trees, sandy beach, gentle waves and a never-to-be-forgotten sunset. Almost in unison, we said, “We have got to get a picture of this.”
We were so caught up in the beauty of the scene and the capturing of it on film that we were unaware of what was going on around us. That is, we were unaware until the mosquitoes that were swarming almost to our waists starting taking their toll on our exposed flesh. Desperately fighting them off, we beat a hasty retreat for the church.
When we got home and developed our film, the tropical sunset scene looked like a place you would kill to visit. In reality, we remembered it as a place where we were almost killed by swarming blood suckers. A picture just does not tell the whole story.
En route home from Roatan, we stopped for a visit with a missionary family in Belize. While there, we made an afternoon visit to a picturesque island. It was idyllic; no paved roads, no electricity, no motorized vehicles. As we were enjoying the peacefulness of the place and waiting for a boat to ferry us back to mainland, Arnold took a seat of a stool and learned his head against a coconut tree for a siesta. I was watching him when suddenly, like a bomb being dropped, a huge coconut came crashing down. It missed him by barely six inches and bounced on the ground beside him. His startled response was, “That could have killed me.”
Indeed, it could have, but God was not through with him. He was just beginning to use him to make a world of difference one volunteer project at a time. He is still doing that.
© 2014 Wayne Bristow
Stam, Helen Priscilla 1934- [WorldCat Identities]
“Not worthy to be compared” : the story of John and Betty Stam and “The miracle baby,” Helen Priscilla Stam
“Stam Baby Safe”: Remembering John and Betty Stam
The telegram contained only a single sentence: “Cablegram from mission headquarters Shanghai reports Stam baby safe Wuhu.”
Viewed today, the fragile, yellowing Western Union message is unremarkable, but to Peter Stam, its original recipient in Paterson, New Jersey, the telegram furnished yet another detail in a still-unfolding tragedy on the other side of the world. But this time it was good news. Signed by Robert Glover, longtime North America Home Director for China Inland Mission, the telegram announced to desperate, waiting relatives that their granddaughter was alive and safe at Wuhu General Hospital in Anhui Province, China, the same institution where she had been born three months earlier. Only now she was an orphan.
Telegram sent by Robert Glover, China Inland Mission Home Director for North America from 1929-1943. The original telegram is found in Collection 449: Ephemera of the Stam Family.
The deaths of John and Betty Stam at the hands of communist soldiers and the “miraculous” survival of their daughter, Helen Priscilla, have been documented in multiple books, articles, blogs, and testimonies over the decades, becoming something of twentieth-century American evangelical missionary lore. Much like Jim Elliot and the “Auca Incident” twenty years later, the Stams’ deaths shocked American Fundamentalists, heightening anxiety over the spread of global communism and inspiring a new generation of missions efforts.
This December, the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center Archives remembers the lives and spiritual legacies of John and Betty Stam, killed by communist soldiers in Anhui Province, China eighty-five years ago this month and showcases a few items from the Stam Family Papers and China Inland Mission Records (now Overseas Missionary Fellowship).
From Moody to the Mission Field
Undated portrait of John Stam (1907-1934) and Elisabeth Scott Stam (1906-1934).
The oldest child of Presbyterian missionaries, Elisabeth Scott was born in Albion, Michigan but raised on the mission field in China. From a young age, Betty felt called to a life of spiritual sacrifice and missionary service (see Collection 449 for examples of her poetry) and after graduating from Wilson College in Pennsylvania with a stellar academic record, she enrolled at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago for further training in missions work. A major hub of missionary training in the 1930s, Moody Bible Institute also drew John Stam, another young missionary candidate intended for the mission field in China.
Portrait of John Stam, taken on the rooftop of Moody Bible Institute a week before his graduation. April 14, 1932.
While at Moody, John and Betty’s friendship developed into love, but the couple postponed the possibility of marriage as John was convinced his first years in China would be spent in rural regions too dangerous to for a family.
A year ahead of John in the program, Betty graduated from Moody Bible Institute in 1931 and sailed for China under the auspices of China Inland Mission, where she completed six months of language school.
China Inland Mission officially accepted John Stam’s missionary application in July 1932, and he sailed for the mission field three months later. After landing in China, John unexpectedly met Betty again in Shanghai where she was receiving medical treatment for tonsillitis, and the pair became formally engaged.
John Stam and Betty Scott were married by American evangelist R. A. Torrey on October 25, 1933 in the Scott’s garden in Jinan, China.
John and Betty Stams’ wedding portrait. The ceremony was performed by R.A. Torrey (fourth from left) at the home of Betty’s parents (second and third from right) in Jinan, China. October 25, 1933.
The Stams spent the year following their wedding completing further language school and preparing to join the CIM mission work in Jingde. The fledgling mission station at Jingde was only five years old when the Stams replaced the Warrens, a missionary couple due for furlough. In 1934, the region surrounding Jingde was reeling from more than eight years of civil war, plagued by bandits and outbreaks of violence between Chinese Nationalist and Communist forces. After a brief stay in Wuhu, where Helen Priscilla was born in Wuhu Hospital in September, the Stams returned to Jingde in mid-November after the district magistrate personally guaranteed the their safety from communist attack.
“Things Happened So Quickly This A.M.”
Two weeks later, on December 6, Jingde fell to a sudden attack by the communist forces. Moving from house to house, communist soldiers plundered the city. The Stams, along with household staff, were in their home when soldiers appeared, demanding money and valuables. After surrendering their possessions, the Stams were marched to the local jail, where their captors discussed killing Helen Priscilla and forced John to write a ransom note to China Inland Mission headquarters in Shanghai demanding 20,000 dollars for their release (see transcription below). The Stams spent the night in prison, and the ransom note was never delivered. The next day, the foreign hostages were forced to walk twelve miles to neighboring Miaosheo, where they spent the night in an abandoned house. On the morning of December 8, John and Betty were paraded through the city to their execution. When a local Chinese merchant, Chang Hsiu-sheng, pleaded with authorities to spare the couple, soldiers searched his home. Finding a bible and hymnbook among his possessions, they arrested Chang Hsiu-sheng and killed him the next day. The Stams were forced up a hill outside Miaosheo, where they were executed by decapitation at the summit. Their bodies were left behind by the evacuating soldiers.
The “Miracle Baby”
Three-month old Helen Priscilla Stam, where she was found in an abandoned farmhouse two days after her parents’ deaths.
As the Red Army moved out of Miaosheo, a local Christian evangelist, Lo Ke-chou and his family, cautiously returned to their plundered city, where they were told about the deaths of two foreigners. Having met John Stam only weeks before, Pastor Lo recovered the Stams’ bodies and began a frantic hunt for their missing daughter. Retracing the Stams final steps led Pastor Lo and other local Christians to the abandoned home where John and Betty spent their final night. Inside they heard faint crying and found Helen Priscilla hidden in her mother’s sleeping bag with several clean diapers and two five dollar bills.
Helen Priscilla balanced in a rice basket with her rescuers, Pastor Lo (left) and his wife (third from right). December 1934.
Pastor Lo and his family carried Helen Priscilla and their four year old son in rice baskets through the mountainous regions surrounding Jingde, using the ten dollars Betty concealed with Helen Priscilla to buy powdered milk for her.
On December 14, nearly a week after the Stams’ murder, the Lo family trudged into Xuancheng, in southeastern Anhui Province and delivered the baby to George Birch at the local CIM mission station. Within hours, the Stam family in Paterson, New Jersey received Robert Glover’s telegram: “Stam Baby Safe.” Transferred to Wuhu Hospital where she had been born three months earlier Helen Priscilla was examined by doctors and declared a “miracle baby.” Shortly afterward, the baby was sent to her maternal grandparents in Jinan, where she lived until the age of five.
Becoming Missionary Mythology
Baby Helen Priscilla with Chinese schoolgirls in Jinan, China in early 1935, where her maternal grandparents lived.
The Stams’ death sent shock waves throughout China Inland Mission and American Fundamentalist circles, as authorities scrambled to uncover how the missionary couple were allowed to return to Jingde despite the Red Army’s presence in the region, and details slowly emerged about the Stams capture and final days. A full month after the couple’s death, Robert Glover sent the following letter to the Stam Family in New Jersey, still piecing together the timeline of events and providing a copy of John Stam’s final written words.
From CN 499, Box 1, Folder 5. Letter from CIM North America Home Director to the Stam Family in Paterson, New Jersey a month after the Stams’ death.
In January 1935, the bodies of John and Betty Stam were reinterred in the foreigners’ cemetery outside Wuhu, Anhui Province at the request of the governor.
The coffins of John and Betty Stam, as they arrived under military escort at Wuhu General Hospital for reburial in January 1934.
Headstone for John and Betty Stam in Wuhu, Wuhu, Anhui Province, China.
Today, the Stams are honored as China Inland Mission martyrs, and for years afterwards the compelling narrative of their tragic deaths and the rescue of the “miracle baby” has become part of twentieth-century missionary lore. The Stams’ sacrificial deaths are often cited as galvanizing a new generation of missionary candidates, including 700 young people at Moody Bible Institute, the Stams alma mater, and 200 at nearby Wheaton College, all pledging to follow the Stams example of selfless Christian service and echoing John Stam’s final message to his missionary colleagues: “The Lord bless and guide you—and as for us—may God be glorified whether by life or by death.”
The Archives’ fullest account of the Stams’ brief ministry and final days in China are recorded in a packet of letters from missionaries serving in Anhui Province to the Stam family in New Jersey in the weeks following John and Betty’s death. Included below is the extended letter from George Birch, who delivered Helen Priscilla safely to Wuhu Hospital in December 1934. For more of these letters, see Collection 449, Box 1, Folder 5.
The items featured in this post and many others documenting the life and ministry of the Stams are found in Collection 449: Ephemera of the Stam Family. More information about the Stams’ deaths and China Inland Mission’s response to the crisis is found in Collection 215: Records of Overseas Missionary Fellowship.
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