Rosewell Hobart Graves

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Rosewell Hobart Graves (1833–1912) was a Christian medical missionary from Baltimore who spent 56 years serving southern China. He became the longest-serving Southern Baptist missionary in the area, spreading Western medicine and the Christian faith, especially to women. He helped inspire the founding of the Woman’s Missionary Union and started 42 schools. He wrote about his work, helping others learn from his experiences.

Graves was born May 29, 1833, in Baltimore. His father was a doctor, which inspired Graves to study medicine. His mother, Ann Baker Graves, was an author who supported missionaries. Graves often wrote to his mother about how to reach Chinese women, and she later encouraged women in Maryland to do the same, helping to start the Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU).

He began to follow Christ around age 15. He finished St. Mary’s College in 1853, hoping to become a doctor. He heard missionaries J. Lewis Shuck and T. J. Bowen speak in 1853 and was formally appointed to go to China in March 1855. He earned an honorary medical license in April 1856 and was ordained as a Southern Baptist missionary at his church in Baltimore. He left for China in April 1856 and learned some Chinese on his boat. He arrived in Canton on August 14, 1856.

Graves faced early dangers, including the Battle of Canton. The mission moved to Macau for a time to study Chinese. He opened his first chapel in a small house in February 1857. A typhoon hit Macao in 1857, causing damage and financial strain. He stayed there until 1859, opening another chapel that year.

In 1859 he moved near Canton and was welcomed by local people. In 1860 he was arrested and flogged for being a foreigner in the interior. In 1861 he rented a house in Shin Hing and opened a third chapel. He began offering medical care and vaccinations, while continuing to share Christian scriptures. Graves believed strongly that medicine and faith should go together, and he built hospitals to connect with doctors, nurses, teachers, and patients who shared Christian beliefs.

The Civil War in the United States caused funding problems, but Graves soon received donations from friends in England and China. The Shin Hing church grew, and a Chinese pastor named Au led the church. Women started to take active roles, often reading the Bible and sharing the gospel with other women. Graves wrote to his mother about this, and she helped start the WMU in Baltimore.

In 1869 a new chapel was built entirely from Chinese donations. Graves also helped reform education in China. He held Bible classes and trained people to become evangelists and pastors. He started the Graves Theological Seminary, the first Southern Baptist school for training clergy overseas, and helped set up lower-level schools in Canton and nearby towns. Some schools were funded by Chinese Christians and other donors, while funds from Mississippi supported a school in Lao Hai.

Graves remained single for several years. He married Eva Gaillard in 1863 after her husband died in a typhoon; Eva died a year later, and Graves adopted her son. He later married Jane Norris in 1871; she died in 1888. In 1890 he married Janie Lowery Sanford, another missionary, and together they opened schools for women and the first school for the blind in China.

In 1868 Graves published two tracts: one arguing against feet binding of women in China, with three reasons, and another explaining differences between Protestant and Catholic teaching. In 1895 he published Forty Years in China, which earned him a Doctor of Divinity degree. His health declined in later years due to malaria, and his eyesight worsened. He died June 3, 1912, in Guangzhou. He left behind 43 Baptist missionaries, over 140 Chinese preachers, more than 5,000 church members, and 42 schools with about 1,300 students.