56-519: 9°43′45″N 79°56′52″E / 9.7293°N 79.9479°E / 9.7293; 79.9479 The Batticotta Seminary was an educational institute founded by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM)'s American Ceylon Mission at Vaddukodai , in the Jaffna Peninsula north Sri Lanka in 1823. It was founded as part of the medical mission of John Scudder, Sr . and
112-834: A theological education to candidates for ministry during a portion of each year at Yantai . At its principal stations in China, the Society maintained large medical dispensaries and hospitals, boarding schools for boys and girls, colleges for native students, and other agencies for effecting the purposes of the mission. It also helped create the Canton Hospital . As of 1890 it had twenty-eight missionaries, sixteen lady agents, ten medical missionaries, four ordained native ministers, one hundred and five unordained native helpers, nearly one thousand communicants, and four hundred and fifty pupils in its schools. The ABCFM founded many colleges and schools in
168-626: A former U.S. Attorney General , the Cherokee argued their position before the US Supreme Court in Georgia v. Tassel (the Court granted a writ of error for a Cherokee convicted in a Georgia court for a murder occurring in Cherokee territory, though the state refused to accept the writ) and Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) (the court dismissed this on technical grounds for lack of jurisdiction). In writing
224-471: A mentor, Elias Boudinot ). The Cherokee Boudinot had been educated in New England schools and was the nephew of Major Ridge , a wealthy and politically prominent Cherokee National Council member. The two men became close friends over the two years they had known each other. Sequoyah , a Cherokee from Tennessee, had independently developed a syllabary to create a writing system for the Cherokee language. This
280-579: A missionary. With her husband, William Schenck Robertson, she founded Nuyaka Mission in the Indian Territory . Dr. Samuel Worcester had served as the American Missionary Board's official corresponding secretary. His father died at Brainerd in 1821 and was buried there. Worcester was strongly influenced by a young Cherokee named Oowatie (later known by the English name he took, in honor of
336-479: A more unified Cherokee Nation. He wrote a prospectus for the paper that promised to publish laws and documents of the Cherokee Nation, articles on Cherokee manners and customs, as well as "news of the day." Using his missionary connection, Worcester secured funds to build a printing office, buy the printing press and ink, and cast the syllabary's characters. Since the 86-character syllabary was new, Worcester made
392-404: Is the only surviving original house on the land of the former Cherokee community of New Echota. The remainder of the buildings were destroyed by European-American settlers after the Cherokee were forced to remove in 1838. The Worcester house was constructed in 1828 as a two-story building. The Worcesters lived in the house from 1828 until 1834. It was confiscated by a Georgian who obtained title in
448-666: The 1832 Land Lottery . The house was owned by many Georgians through the years until 1952. That year the house was transferred to the state of Georgia, and in 1954 to the Georgia Historical Commission . It is managed by the Georgia State Parks and Historic Sites , a division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources . In 1962, the New Echota Historic Site was opened to the public. In 1973 it
504-616: The Cherokee , translator of the Bible , printer, and defender of the Cherokee sovereignty. He collaborated with Elias Boudinot (Cherokee) in Georgia to establish the Cherokee Phoenix , the first Native American newspaper, which was printed in both English and the Cherokee syllabary . The Cherokee gave Worcester the honorary name A-tse-nu-sti , which translates to "messenger" in English. Worcester
560-762: The Conservative Congregational Christian Conference , and the Missionary Society of the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches . The ABCFM conducted an annual meeting with a Prudential Committee (aka Executive Committee) that took care of day-to-day business. It elected a Corresponding Secretary to produce written documents, and a Treasurer to receive donations. It also had board members . The ABCFM held its first meeting on September 5, 1810, and elected Samuel Worcester as corresponding secretary. In 1826,
616-572: The Indian Removal Act of 1830 in particular. By the 1830s, based on its experiences, the ABCFM prohibited unmarried people from entering the mission field. They required couples to have been engaged at least two months prior to setting sail. To help the missionaries find wives, they maintained a list of women who were "missionary-minded": "young, pious, educated, fit and reasonably good-looking." The policy against sending single women as missionaries
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#1732852448707672-695: The University of Vermont . Samuel Worcester became a Congregational minister and decided to become a missionary. After graduating from Andover Theological Seminary in 1823, he expected to be sent to India, Palestine, or the Hawaii. Instead, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) sent him to the American Southeast to minister to the local Native American tribes. Worcester married Ann Orr of Bedford, New Hampshire , whom he had met at Andover. They moved to Brainerd Mission , where he
728-615: The animistic people in Hawaii. Printing and literacy played crucial roles in the process of Bible translation. Similarly, the press runs and literacy presentations contributed significantly to the social involvement exhibited by the Board. To a greater or lesser extent, education, medicine, and social concerns supplemented the preaching efforts by missionaries. Schools provided ready-made audiences for preachers. Free, or Lancasterian , schools provided numerous students. Boarding students in missionary homes allowed them to witness Christian life in
784-518: The ABCFM sought firstly to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. At home and abroad, the Board and its supporters undertook every effort to exhort the evangelical community, to train a cadre of agents, and to send forth laborers into the mission field. As a leader in the United Front and early federal American voluntary associations, the Board influenced the nineteenth-century mission movement. By 1850,
840-465: The ABCFM was to spread Christianity worldwide. Congregationalist in origin, the ABCFM also accepted missionaries from Presbyterian (1812–70), Dutch-Reformed (1819–57) and other denominations. In 1812, the ABCFM sent its first missionaries – Adoniram and Ann Hasseltine Judson ; Samuel and Roxana Peck Nott; Samuel and Harriet Newell ; Gordon Hall , and Luther Rice —to British India. Between 1812 and 1840, they were followed by missionaries to
896-601: The American Board absorbed 26 members of the United Foreign Missionary Society (UFMS) into its board. In 1806, five students from Williams College in western Massachusetts took shelter from a thunderstorm in a haystack. At the Haystack Prayer Meeting , they came to the common conviction that "the field is the world" and inspired the creation of the ABCFM four years later. The objective of
952-596: The American Board had sent 157 ordained, male missionaries to foreign posts. The January 1855 issue of the Missionary Herald listed the Current missions of the Board as follow: Orthodox, Trinitarian and evangelical in their theology, speakers to the annual meetings of the Board challenged their audiences to give of their time, talent and treasure in moving forward the global project of spreading Christianity. At first reflective of late colonial "occasional" sermons,
1008-696: The Bible into Cherokee. He established the first printing press in that part of the United States, working with the Cherokee to publish their newspaper in Cherokee and English. In 1963, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum . Worcester is a character in Unto These Hills , an outdoor drama that has been performed in Cherokee, NC since 1950. Worcester
1064-547: The Cherokee could take the case to the Supreme Court. William Wirt argued the case, but Georgia refused to have a legal counsel represent it, claiming that no Indian could drag it into court. In its late 1832 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the Cherokee Nation was independent and only the federal government had the authority to deal with it or other Indian nations. It vacated the convictions of Worcester and Butler. President Andrew Jackson , who favored Indian Removal, ignored
1120-518: The Cherokee who had already moved to Indian Territory (they were later known within the nation as the Old Settlers, in contrast to the new migrants from the Southeast). In 1836, they moved to Union Mission on Grand River, then finally to Park Hill . Worcester's work included setting up the first printing press in that part of the country, translating the Bible and several hymns into Cherokee, and running
1176-625: The Cherokee, even after they had made some land cessions to the US government. With the help of Worcester and his sponsor, the American Board , they planned to fight the encroachment by using the courts. They wanted to take a case to the US Supreme Court to define the relationship between the federal and state governments, and establish the sovereignty of the Cherokee nation. No other civil authority would support Cherokee sovereignty in their land and self-government in their territory. Hiring William Wirt ,
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#17328524487071232-866: The Chinese and Malays of the Straits Settlements . From 1842 to his death in 1846, Mr. Abeel devoted himself to establishing a mission in Amoy (modern Xiamen). The American Board followed with many other appointments in rapid succession. Revs. Ira Tracy and Samuel Wells Williams (1812–1884), followed in 1833, settling at Singapore and Macau . In the same year Revs. Stephen Johnson (missionary) and Samuel Munson went to Bangkok and Sumatra . There were four great centers from which smaller stations were maintained. These were Fuzhou , in connection with which were fifteen churches; North China, embracing Beijing, Kalgan , Tianjin, Tengzhou , and Baoding , with smaller stations in
1288-575: The Dakota mission experienced the explosion of Dakota violence in August 1862 at the start of the U.S.-Dakota War. Some of them attended the imprisoned Dakota and accompanied the exiled Dakota when they were forced out of Minnesota in 1863, especially those of the Williamson and Riggs families. The Dakota mission translated the Bible into Dakota and produced a dictionary and a schoolbook. The Ojibwe mission translated
1344-681: The German Evangelical and Reformed Church to form the United Church of Christ . As a part of the organizational merger associated with this new denomination, the ABCFM ceased to be independent. It merged operations with other missions entities to form the United Church Board for World Ministries, an agency of the United Church of Christ. Other organizations that draw inspiration from the ABCFM include InterVarsity Christian Fellowship ,
1400-827: The Green Bay mission (Michigan Territory at Green Bay), the Dakota mission (Michigan Territory/Iowa Territory/Minnesota Territory primarily along the Mississippi and the Minnesota (St. Peters) Rivers), the Ojibwe mission (Michigan Territory/Wisconsin Territory/Minnesota Territory/ Wisconsin at La Pointe and Odanah, Yellow Lake, Pokegama Lake, Sandy Lake, Fond du Lac, and Red Lake), and the Whitman mission in Oregon. Missionaries of
1456-549: The Indian nations and recognized the latter's sovereignty, above state laws. Both President Andrew Jackson and Governor George Gilmer ignored the ruling. After receiving a pardon from the subsequent governor, Worcester left Georgia on a promise to never return. He moved to Indian Territory in 1836 in the period of Cherokee removal on the Trail of Tears . His wife died there in 1839. Worcester resumed his ministry, and continued translating
1512-457: The New Testament into Ojibwe and produced a number of schoolbooks, but used a now-abandoned notation style to do so. Both were among the first to render these languages in print. Indigenous preachers associated with the Board proclaimed an orthodox message, but they further modified the presentation beyond how the missionaries had developed subtle differences with the home leaders. Drawing upon
1568-846: The Ottoman Empire and the Balkans. For example, the American College of Sofia in Bulgaria is the successor to a Boys' School founded by the ABCFM in 1860 in Plovdiv and a Girls' School in Stara Zagora in 1863. They were combined in Samokov, Bulgaria in 1871, and moved to Sofia in the late 1920s. Samuel Worcester Samuel Austin Worcester (January 19, 1798 – April 20, 1859), was an American missionary to
1624-736: The Scriptures into a mother tongue reflected a sensitivity to culture and a desire to work within the host society. Second only to the verbal proclamation of the Gospel, Bible translation took place in all sorts of settings: among ancient Christian churches, such as the Armenians and the Assyrian [Nestorian] church; cultures with a written language and a written religious heritage, such as the Marathi ; and creating written languages in cultures without them, such as among
1680-417: The annual meeting addresses gradually took on the quality of "anniversary" sermons. The optimism and cooperation of post- millennialism held a major place in the scheme of the Board sermons. After having listened to such sermons and been influenced at colleges, college and seminary students prepared to proclaim the gospel in foreign cultures. Their short dissertations and pre-departure sermons reflected both
1736-492: The arrival of the Cherokee. In 1835 he and his family moved to Tennessee, where they lived a short while before beginning their major trip by flatboat and steamer in 1836. They lost much of their household goods when a steamer sank. The journey to Dwight Presbyterian Mission in Indian Territory took seven weeks, during which Ann contracted a fever. After reaching Dwight Presbyterian Mission, Worcester continued to preach to
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1792-597: The board in 1821 expanded the role of women: it authorized Ellen Stetson , the first unmarried female missionary to the American Indians , and Betsey Stockton , the first unmarried female overseas missionary and the first African-American missionary. Evarts led the organization's efforts to place missionaries with American Indian tribes in the Southeastern United States. He also led the ABCFM's extensive fight against Indian removal policies in general and
1848-549: The capital of the nation on the headwaters of Oostanaula River in what is now Georgia. Worcester worked with Elias Boudinot (Cherokee) to establish the Cherokee Phoenix newspaper, the first published by a Native American nation. It was published in Cherokee, using the syllabary developed by Sequoyah , and in English. The Worcesters had seven children together: Ann Eliza , Sarah, Jerusha, Hannah, Leonard, John Orr and Mary Eleanor. Ann Eliza followed her father in becoming
1904-570: The country before or after. It was closed in 1855 under the leadership of E. P. Hastings. The reason for such a decision being that it was not successful in the mission of its founding namely, conversion of Hindus to Christianity . The seminary was reopened in 1871 by alumni as Jaffna College with EP Hastings as the first principal. This seminary -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions ( ABCFM )
1960-865: The following people and places: Tennessee to the Cherokee Indians , India (the Bombay area), northern Ceylon (modern day Sri Lanka ), the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii); east Asia: China, Singapore and Siam ( Thailand ); the Middle East: ( Greece , Cyprus , Turkey , Syria , the Holy Land and Persia ( Iran )); and Africa: Western Africa— Cape Palmas —and Southern Africa—among the Zulus . Jeremiah Evarts served as treasurer, 1812–20, and as corresponding secretary from 1821 until his death in 1831. Under his leadership,
2016-466: The intimacy of the family. Education empowered indigenous people. Mostly later than 1840, it enabled them to develop their own church leaders and take a greater role in their communities. Board missionaries established some form of education at every station. A number of Board missionaries also received some medical training before leaving for the field. Some, like Ida Scudder , were trained as physicians but ordained as missionaries and concentrated on
2072-525: The issue of slavery and by the fact that New School Presbyterian -affiliated missionaries had begun to support the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions , after 1870 the ABCFM became a Congregationalist body. The American Board (as it was frequently known) continued to operate as a largely Congregationalist entity until the 1950s. In 1957, the Congregational Christian church merged with
2128-531: The larger battle had been lost, because the state and settlers refused to abide by the decision of the Supreme Court. Within three years, the US used its military to force the Cherokee Nation out of the Southeast and on the " Trail of Tears " to Indian Territory , lands west of the Mississippi River. After being released, Worcester and his wife determined to move their family to Indian Territory to prepare for
2184-573: The law would, in effect, be surrendering the sovereignty of the Cherokee Nation to manage their own territory. Once the law had taken effect, Governor George Rockingham Gilmer ordered the militia to arrest Worcester and the others who signed the document and refused to get a license. After two series of trials, all eleven men were convicted and sentenced to four years of hard labor at the state penitentiary in Milledgeville . Nine accepted pardons, but Worcester and Elizur Butler declined their pardons, so
2240-472: The light of modern science shown in contrast with "superstition" would prove effective. He and his wife taught astronomy , mathematics , natural philosophy, and history. He trained young men to be teachers all over North China. The young men whom he had trained in Biblical instruction began native ministry. Drs. John Livingstone Nevius and Hunter Corbett (1862–1918) co-operated in this latter work, by giving
2296-475: The majority opinion, Chief Justice Marshall described the Cherokee Nation as a "domestic dependent nation" with no rights binding on a state. Worcester and eleven other missionaries had met at New Echota and published a resolution in protest of an 1830 Georgia law prohibiting white men from living on Native American land without a state license. While the state law was an effort to restrict white settlement on Cherokee territory, Worcester reasoned that obeying
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2352-462: The message they shared. The missionaries found the audiences to be similar to Americans in their responses to the gospel message. Some rejected it outright, others accepted it, and a few became Christian proclaimers themselves. Among the North American missions of the ABCFM north or west of the displaced Southeast tribes were the 1823 Mackinaw Mission ( Mackinac Island and Northern Michigan ),
2408-503: The metal type for each character. The two men helped produce the Cherokee Phoenix , which first rolled off the press on February 21, 1828, at New Echota (now Calhoun, Georgia ). This was the first Native American newspaper to be published. At some point, the Cherokees honored Worcester with a Cherokee name, A-tse-nu-tsi , meaning "messenger." The westward push of European-American settlers from coastal areas continued to encroach on
2464-576: The mission. In 1839, his wife Ann died; she had been serving as an assistant missionary. He remained in Park Hill, where he married again in 1842, to Erminia Nash. Worcester worked tirelessly to help resolve the differences between the Georgia Cherokee and the "Old Settlers", some of whom had relocated there in the late 1820s. On April 20, 1859, he died in Park Hill , Indian Territory . Worcester House
2520-419: The outlook of annual Board sermons and sensitivity to host cultures. Once the missionaries entered the field, optimism remained yet was tempered by the realities of pioneering mission work in a different milieu. Many of the Board agents sought—through eclectic dialogue and opportunities as they presented themselves, as well as itinerant preaching—to bring the cultures they met, observed, and lived in to bear upon
2576-528: The positive and negative aspects of their own cultures, the native evangelists steeped their messages in Biblical texts and themes. At times, indigenous workers had spectacular or unexpected results. On many occasions, little fruit resulted from their labors. Whatever the response, the native preachers worked on—even in the midst of persecution—until martyrdom or natural death took them. Native preachers and other indigenous people assisted Board missionaries in Bible translation efforts. The act of translating
2632-483: The ruling by continuing to lobby Congress for a new treaty with the Cherokee, and Governor Gilmer continued to hold the two men prisoner. Wilson Lumpkin assumed the governorship early the next year. Faced with the Nullification Crisis in neighboring South Carolina , he chose to free Worcester and Butler if they agreed to minor concessions. Having won the Supreme Court decision, Worcester believed that he would be more effective outside prison and left. He realized that
2688-558: The task of preaching. Others, such as Peter Parker , sought to practice both the callings of missionary and medical practitioner. After the London Missionary Society and the Netherlands Missionary Society , the Americans were the next to venture into the mission field of China. The Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, representing the Congregational Churches of the United States, sent out Revs. David Abeel and Elijah Coleman Bridgman in 1829. They were received in February 1830 by Dr. Robert Morrison . These men worked first among
2744-409: The various districts of the center missions; Hong Kong; and Shanxi , with two stations in the midst of districts filled with opium cultivation and staffed by missionaries of the Oberlin Band of Oberlin College . At Tengzhou missionaries established a college, over which Dr. Calvin Mateer presided. Tengzhou was one of the centers for Chinese literary competitive examinations. Mateer believed that
2800-431: Was a singular achievement for a person from a pre-literate society. He and his people had admired the written papers of the European Americans, which they called the "Talking Leaves." Boudinot asked Worcester to use his printing experience to establish a Cherokee newspaper. Worcester believed the newspaper could be a tool for Cherokee literacy, and a means to draw the loose Cherokee community together; it would help promote
2856-525: Was among the first American Christian missionary organizations. It was created in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College . In the 19th century it was the largest and most important of American missionary organizations and consisted of participants from Protestant Reformed traditions such as Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and German Reformed churches. Before 1870, the ABCFM consisted of Protestants of several denominations, including Congregationalists and Presbyterians. However, due to secessions caused by
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#17328524487072912-455: Was arrested in Georgia and convicted for disobeying the state's law restricting white missionaries from living in Cherokee territory without a state license. On appeal, he was the plaintiff in Worcester v. Georgia (1832), a case that went to the United States Supreme Court . The court held that Georgia's law was unconstitutional. Chief Justice John Marshall defined in his dicta that the federal government had an exclusive relationship with
2968-472: Was assigned as a missionary to the Cherokee in August 1825. The goals ABCFM set for them were, "...make the whole tribe English in their language, civilized in their habits and Christian in their religion." Other missionaries working among the Cherokee had already learned that they first needed to learn the Cherokee language. While living at Brainerd, the Worcesters had their first child, a daughter. Two years later, they moved to New Echota , established in 1825 as
3024-475: Was born in Peacham, Vermont , on January 19, 1798, to the Rev. Leonard Worcester, a minister and his wife. His father was the seventh generation of pastors in his family, dating to ancestors who lived in England . According to Charles Perry of the Peacham Historical Association, the father Leonard Worcester also worked as a printer in the town. The young Worcester attended common schools and studied printing with his father. In 1819, he graduated with honors from
3080-417: Was not strictly followed and was reversed in 1868. The secretary post was offered to Elias Cornelius in October 1831, but he became ill and died in February 1832. Rufus Anderson was the General Secretary of the Board from 1832 through the mid-1860s. His legacy included administrative gifts, setting of policy, visiting around the world, and chronicling the work of the ABCFM in books. Between 1810 and 1840,
3136-416: Was subsequently led by Nathan Ward . In 1846 the mission experienced a significant cholera outbreak. Emerson Tennent judged the Batticotta Seminary equal in rank with many European universities. The late Sabapathy Kulendran , the first bishop of the Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India (JDCSI) observed that the seminary brought about a tremendous upsurge the like of which has never been seen in
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