Erastus Wentworth

Erastus Wentworth Missionary to China Born August 5, 1813 Stonington, Connecticut Died May 26, 1886(1886-05-26) (aged 72) Sandy Hill, New York

Signature from Wentworth Genealogy

Erastus Wentworth (simplified Chinese: 万为; traditional Chinese: 萬為;^[1] Pinyin: Wànwéi; Foochow Romanized: Uâng-ùi; August 5, 1813 - May 26, 1886) was an educator, a Methodist Episcopal minister, and a missionary to Foochow, China.

Life

Dr. Wentworth was born in Stonington, Connecticut. He converted to Methodism in 1831. Later he studied at the Cazenovia Seminary and attained an undergraduate degree at Wesleyan University in 1837.

Wentworth began teaching after leaving College. From 1838 to 1846 he taught natural science in the Gouverneur Wesleyan Seminary; from 1841 to 1846, in the Troy Conference Academy; in 1846 he became president of the McKendree College, which position he occupied until 1850, when he took the chair of Natural Philosophy and Chemistry in Dickinson College. In 1850, he received the degree of D.D. from Allegheny College.^[2]

In 1854, Dr. Wentworth left his position to spearhead a Methodist Mission to Foochow, China, along with some students who were just graduating from Dickinson, including Otis T. Gibson. In 1862, he had to cut short his work in China because of the state of his wife's health. The couple returned to Troy Conference where he then worked as a pastor.

Wentworth was editor of the Ladies' Repository from 1872–76, after which he was semi-retired, writing and serving on committees for the Methodist Church. On May 26, 1886, he died at his home in Sandy Hill, New York.^[3]

Family

The son of Erastus and Esther (States) Wentworth, and seventh generation descendant of William Wentworth (elder), Erastus married three times, was widowed twice, and had twelve children, one in China.^[4]

References

v t e Protestant missionaries in Foochow ABCFM Caleb Cook Baldwin Willard Livingstone Beard Justus Doolittle Charles Hartwell Emily Susan Hartwell Lewis Hodous Alden E. Matthews Dauphin William Osgood AME Stephen Livingstone Baldwin James Whitford Bashford Elizabeth Fisher Brewster Judson Dwight Collins Otis Gibson Elizabeth Chamberlain Gibson John W. Gowdy William Henry Lacy George Carleton Lacy Hiram Harrison Lowry Robert Samuel Maclay James Simester Nathan Sites Erastus Wentworth Moses Clark White Isaac William Wiley CMS John Shaw Burdon John Hind Joseph Charles Hoare W. S. Pakenham-Walsh Horace MacCartie Eyre Price C. B. R. Sargent George Smith (bishop) Robert Warren Stewart Swedish Lutheran Carl Joseph Fast Independent Margaret E. Barber

v t e Protestant missions to China Background Christianity Protestantism Chinese history Missions timeline Christianity in China Nestorians Jesuits Protestant missions in China 1807–1953 People Robert Morrison Hunter Corbett Gladys Aylward Pearl S. Buck Thomas Cochrane Jonathan Goforth Karl Gützlaff Eric Liddell Robert Samuel Maclay Lottie Moon Gideon Nye Timothy Richard Cambridge Seven Hudson Taylor (more missionaries) Missionary agencies OMF International/China Inland Mission LMS ABCFM CMS M.E.M US Presbyterian Mission (more agencies) Impact Chinese Bible Medical missions in China Manchurian revival Chinese colleges Chinese hymnody Chinese Roman Type Minnan Roman Type Foochow Roman Type Anti-footbinding Anti-opium Pivotal events Taiping Rebellion First Opium War Second Opium War Unequal treaty Yangzhou riot Tianjin Massacre Kucheng Massacre Boxer Crisis Xinhai Revolution Chinese Civil War WWII People's Republic Chinese Protestants Feng Yuxiang Liang Fa Keuh Agong Samuel Lamb Wang Ming-Dao Watchman Nee Xi Shengmo Sun Yat-sen John Sung Allen Yuan