Absalom Sydenstricker
Encyclopedia
Hillsboro, West Virginia
Hillsboro is a town in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 243 at the 2000 census.- History :Hillsboro was named for pioneer John Hill, from North Carolina, who built a log cabin near what is now Lobelia...
was Absalom's early childhood home.
His daughter, Pearl S. Buck
Pearl S. Buck
Pearl Sydenstricker Buck also known by her Chinese name Sai Zhenzhu , was an American writer who spent most of her time until 1934 in China. Her novel The Good Earth was the best-selling fiction book in the U.S. in 1931 and 1932, and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932...
, became an award-winning author. The book Fighting Angel
Fighting Angel
Fighting Angel: Portrait of a Soul is a memoir, sometimes called a "creative non-fiction novel," written by Pearl S. Buck about her father, Absalom Sydenstricker as a companion to her memoir of her mother, The Exile...
, written as a companion to her memoir of her mother, The Exile
The Exile (1936)
The Exile is a memoir/ biography, or work of creative non-fiction, written by Pearl S. Buck about her mother, Caroline Stulting Sydenstricker , describing her life growing up in West Virginia and life in China as the wife of the Presbyterian missionary Absalom Sydenstricker...
, recounts the life and work of Absalom (called "Andrew" in the book). She describes her father in harsh terms, both for his treatment of her mother and for his closed minded attitude towards China. She wrote that his was
the story . . . of one soul and its march through time to its appointed end. For this soul there was birth, predestined, a duty to be done and it was done, and there was heaven at the end – that was the whole story. There was nothing of the lives of people in it, no merriment of feasts, no love of joy, no tales of death. . . . There was nothing in it of empire or emperors or revolutions or of all the stir of changing human times. There was no reflection upon the minds and manners of men or any subtlety of philosophies. The tale was told as simply as the sun rises out of the dawn, marches swiftly across the firmament, to set in its own glory.
This brief summary of the family life and missionary work of Absalom (Andrew) (b. 1852 d. 1931) and Caroline (Carie) Sydenstricker (Stulting) (b. 1857 d. 1921) shows the perseverance, under extreme hardships, of missionaries to China during this time period.
The names of the family members are given as written in the books The Exile
The Exile (1936)
The Exile is a memoir/ biography, or work of creative non-fiction, written by Pearl S. Buck about her mother, Caroline Stulting Sydenstricker , describing her life growing up in West Virginia and life in China as the wife of the Presbyterian missionary Absalom Sydenstricker...
, and Fighting Angel
Fighting Angel
Fighting Angel: Portrait of a Soul is a memoir, sometimes called a "creative non-fiction novel," written by Pearl S. Buck about her father, Absalom Sydenstricker as a companion to her memoir of her mother, The Exile...
. Eg. Andrew is used for Absalom, Carie is used for Caroline, Comfort is used for Pearl. Names of cities of China are given in the modern Pinyin form, with names used in the books given in parentheses.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1880 | Andrew and Carie married. Andrew and Carie sail for China. Land in Shanghai. |
| 1880~1883 | Divide time between Hangzhou (Hangchow) and Suzhou (Soochow). |
| 1881 | Son Edwin born. |
| 1882 | Daughter Maude born (b. 1882 d. 1883) |
| 1883 | Daughter Edith born. |
| 1884? | Live in Yantai (Chefoo), Shandong Province. Carie recovers from TB. |
| 1885? | Andrew travels throughout Jiangsu Province (Kiangsu). Carie and children live in Zhenjiang (Chinkiang, Tsingkiang) Jiangsu Province. |
| 1886 | Son Arthur born. |
| 1887 | Drought in Zhenjiang; Angry mob and Carie’s faith (pp. 109- in The Exile). Arthur and Edith die within a month. Cholera epidemic in Shanghai. Arthur (b. 1886 d. 1887). Edith (b. 1883 d. 1887). Buried Shanghai (w/ Maude). |
| 1891~1892 | Family on furlough in USA. |
| 1892 | Daughter Comfort (Pearl) born (b. 1892 d. 1973) |
| 1893-1895 | Back to Zhenjiang (Chinkiang). |
| 1894 | Carie contracts dysentery. Son Clyde born (b. 1894 d. 1899) |
| 1894? | Andrew begins Chinese New Testament translation, from Greek NT. Translated to vernacular of the common people. Several editions published until Andrew’s death. |
| 1895 | Andrew takes family to “small city well to the north.” Carie overrules and family moves back to Zhenjiang. |
| 1895-1921 | Family lives in Zhenjiang. Andrew travels, establishing churches. |
| 1897 | Edwin sent to college in USA. |
| 1898-1901 | Boxer Rebellion. |
| 1899 | Clyde dies. Buried Zhenjiang. Comfort sick (Diphtheria?) and survives. |
| 1900 | Daughter Faith born. Adopted daughter Precious Cloud. |
| 1901 | Family moves to Shanghai temporarily. Andrew stays. |
| 1902~1903 | Family on furlough in USA. |
| 1903 | Back to Zhenjiang. |
| 1905 | Famine in Yangtze valley – ministry of relief amongst great need. |
| 1910~1911 | Family on furlough in USA. Travel by way of Russia and Europe. Comfort at college (1911-1914). |
| 1911-1912 | Revolution. Republic of China declared by Sun-Yatsen. Qing dynasty falls. |
| 1917 | Carie takes ill with “tropical disease.” |
| 1918 | Carie recovers mostly. |
| 1919 | Comfort’s wedding (Zhenjiang). |
| 1920 | Andrew and Faith on furlough in USA. Faith at college. Carie stays in China. Andrew returns to Zhenjiang. |
| 1921 | Carie dies. Buried Zhenjiang? |
| 1922? | Nanjing. Andrew lives with Comfort and husband; works at Theological Seminary. |
| 1927 | “Nanjing Incident” Andrew, Comfort, Faith and families sheltered for 1 day during revolutionary turmoil. |
| 1927 | Andrew in Korea. Comfort in Japan. |
| 1928 | Andrew returns to Nanjing. Some time later, Comfort returns. |
| 1931 | Andrew dies. Buried Lu Shan mountains? |
| 1934 | Comfort leaves China for last time. |