Rev. Samuel Robbins Brown D.D. (June 16, 1810 – June 20, 1880) was an American missionary to China and Japan with the
Reformed Church in America.
Birth and education
Brown was born in
East Windsor, Connecticut
East Windsor is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 11,190 at the 2020 census. The town has five villages: Broad Brook, Melrose, Scantic, Warehouse Point and Windsorville.
History
In 1633, Settlers laid cl ...
. He graduated from
Yale College
Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...
in 1832, studied theology in
Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-largest ...
and as a member of the first graduating class of
Union Theological Seminary, and taught for four years (1834–38) at the New York Institution for the Deaf and Dumb.
China
In 1838, he went to
Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
and opened, for the
Morrison Education Society, the first
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
School in the Chinese Empire—a school in which were taught
Yung Wing
Yung Wing (; November 17, 1828April 21, 1912) was a Chinese-American diplomat and businessman. In 1854, he became the first Chinese student to graduate from an American university, Yale College. He was involved in business transactions between Ch ...
and other pupils who afterward came to the United States. The several annual reports on this school were published in
The Chinese Repository
''The Chinese Repository'' was a periodical published in Canton between May 1832 and 1851 to inform Protestant missionaries working in Asia about the history and culture of China, of current events, and documents. The world's first major journal of ...
for 1840 to 1846, to which he contributed some of his papers on Chinese subjects.
Return to America
After nine years' service, his wife's health failing, Brown returned to the United States and became a pastor at
Sand Beach Church and teacher of boys at
Owasco Outlet
Owasco River (also known as Owasco Creek, Owasco Lake Outlet, and Owasco Outlet) is a river in Cayuga County in the state of New York. The river drains Owasco Lake at Auburn and flows in a north-northwest direction before converging with the S ...
, near
Auburn (1851–59). He worked for the formation of a college for women, which was situated first in Auburn and then in
Elmira,
New York and now known as
Elmira College
Elmira College is a private college in Elmira, New York. Founded as a college for women in 1855, it is the oldest existing college granting degrees to women that were the equivalent of those given to men. Elmira College became coeducational in a ...
.
Brown was responsible for sponsoring
Yung Wing
Yung Wing (; November 17, 1828April 21, 1912) was a Chinese-American diplomat and businessman. In 1854, he became the first Chinese student to graduate from an American university, Yale College. He was involved in business transactions between Ch ...
(1828-1912); the first Chinese student to graduate from a U.S. university, graduating from Yale College in 1854.
Japan
When by the
Harris Treaty
Harris may refer to:
Places Canada
* Harris, Ontario
* Northland Pyrite Mine (also known as Harris Mine)
* Harris, Saskatchewan
* Rural Municipality of Harris No. 316, Saskatchewan
Scotland
* Harris, Outer Hebrides (sometimes called the Isle ...
of 1858,
Kanagawa
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kanagaw ...
and
Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan.
It became the sole Nanban trade, port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hi ...
in Japan were opened to trade and residence, Brown sailed for the former, arriving on November 3, 1859. On arrival, Brown shared residential accommodation with the family of the
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
medical missionary Dr.
James Curtis Hepburn
James Curtis Hepburn (; March 13, 1815 – September 21, 1911) was an American physician, translator, educator, and lay Christian missionary. He is known for the Hepburn romanization system for transliteration of the Japanese language into ...
, then residing at Jobutsuji in Kanagawa, a dilapidated temple formerly occupied by the Dutch consulate.
Brown and Hepburn, both benefiting from the experience of living and working in China, were noted pioneers in the study of the Japanese language. In collaboration with Dr. Hepburn and others, Brown made substantial contributions to the translation of the
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...
into Japanese. Brown was also a gifted teacher,
Ernest Satow
Sir Ernest Mason Satow, (30 June 1843 – 26 August 1929), was a British scholar, diplomat and Japanologist.
Satow is better known in Japan than in Britain or the other countries in which he served, where he was known as . He was a key fig ...
, then a
student interpreter at the British legation, who many years later became British Consul to Japan, described the Japanese language lessons received from Brown to be, "of the greatest value."
Brown began presiding at Christian ecumenical religious services held at the Jobutsuji in
Kanagawa
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kanagaw ...
from the second Sunday after his arrival in November 1859. In July 1860, at the request of English-speaking merchants in Yokohama, Brown begun to preach regularly at Sunday morning service that attracted 30 to 40 congregants each week.
In 1861 Brown also contributed to drawing up the plans and specifications for the British
Anglican Garrison Church built on Lot 105 in the foreign settlement. The Garrison Church, also known as Christ Church, was the forerunner of
Christ Church, Yokohama
Christ Church, Yokohama (横浜山手聖公会 Yokohama Yamate Seikokai), is a historic Anglican church located in Yamate, Yokohama, Japan. Providing a center of worship for both Japanese and English-language congregations the church traces its fo ...
, rebuilt in 1901 on a prominent position on the Bluff overlooking the Port of Yokohama. On Lot 167 in the heart of the
Kannai commercial district, Brown was also able to establish a Reformed Church, later named in 1872 as Union Church, Yokohama.
At Yokohama, Brown also opened a school in which hundreds of young men, afterwards leaders in various walks of life, were educated. Brown acted as honorary chaplain to the United States legation, teaching and preaching for over 20 years. He was one of the founders of the
Asiatic Society of Japan and a prominent contributor to early
Meiji Period
The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912.
The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...
higher education.
Following a fire that destroyed much of his home, personal library, manuscripts, and notes, Brown returned to the United States for a two-year furlough in May 1867.
In June of the same year he was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Divinity by
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, th ...
.
Brown returned to Japan in 1869, arriving at Yokohama on August 26, to take up a new position as principal of a government funded school in
Niigata. The Niigata sojourn was only brief; desiring to be close to his fellow New Testament translators, Brown accepted a new teaching post and relocated back to Yokohama in 1870.
Brown, suffering from ill health, left Japan for the United States in the Autumn of 1879.
Death
Brown died during his sleep, while visiting an old friend in
Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and is buried at
Monson, Massachusetts, his boyhood home.
References
Bibliography
*
William Elliot Griffis
William Elliot Griffis (September 17, 1843 – February 5, 1928) was an American orientalist, Congregational minister, lecturer, and prolific author.Brown, John Howard. (1904)."Griffis, William Elliot,"''The Twentieth Century Biographical Diction ...
, ''A Maker of the New Orient'' (New York: F.H. Revell, 1902
Internet Archive Etext
Works
* ''Colloquial Japanese'' (1863), a grammar, phrase book, and vocabulary
* ''Prendergast's Mastery System Adapted to the Japanese''
* translation of
Arai Hakuseki
was a Confucianist, scholar-bureaucrat, academic, administrator, writer and politician in Japan during the middle of the Edo period, who advised the ''shōgun'' Tokugawa Ienobu. His personal name was Kinmi or Kimiyoshi (君美). Hakuseki (白 ...
's ''Sei Yo Ki Bun: or, Annals of the Western Ocean''
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Samuel Robbins
Qing dynasty
People from East Windsor, Connecticut
People from New York (state)
19th-century Christian clergy
American Protestant missionaries
Protestant missionaries in China
Protestant missionaries in Japan
Reformed Church in America ministers
1810 births
1880 deaths
Yale College alumni
Translators of the Bible into Japanese
19th-century American translators
American expatriates in China
American expatriates in Japan
People from Monson, Massachusetts
Missionary linguists