William Harrison "Harry" Anderson (June 25, 1870 – June 26, 1950) was an American missionary for the

Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...

. He arrived in Africa in 1895 and established the Solusi Mission near

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''Bulawayo'') is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council cl ...

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

(modern

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

). Anderson and the mission survived the

Second Matabele War The Second Matabele War, also known as the Matabeleland Rebellion or part of what is now known in Zimbabwe as the First ''Chimurenga'', was fought between 1896 and 1897 in the region later known as Southern Rhodesia, now modern-day Zimbabwe. ...

and a 1899–1901

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

outbreak. In 1903 he established the Rusangu Mission in the north of Rhodesia (modern

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

), which now hosts schools and a university. Anderson later worked in the

Bechuanaland Protectorate The Bechuanaland Protectorate () was a British protectorate, protectorate established on 31 March 1885, by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (later the United Kingdom, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) in So ...

and

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

. From 1935 to his retirement in 1945 he was employed by the Seventh-day Adventist Church's Africa Division with responsibilities stretching from Cape Town to Lake Chad.

Early life

William Harrison Anderson was born on June 25, 1870, in

Mexico, Indiana Mexico is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson Township, Miami County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 915 at the 2020 census. History Mexico was platted in 1834. The community's name prob ...

. His parents were Elija and Neomi Pearson Anderson and he moved with them shortly afterwards to a farm in

New Waverly, Indiana New Waverly is an unincorporated community in Miami Township, Cass County, Indiana. History New Waverly was laid out in 1855. It was likely named after the Waverley Novels by Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 ...

. Anderson attended

Battle Creek College Andrews University is a private Seventh-day Adventist university in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Founded in 1874 as Battle Creek College, it was the first higher education facility started by Seventh-day Adventists and is the flagship universit ...

Battle Creek, Michigan Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, Michigan, Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo River, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek River, Battle Creek rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle C ...

and whilst there converted to the

, being baptised in 1889. In the early 1890s he helped found the student foreign mission band. On October 24, 1893, Anderson married Nora Haysmer, a fellow student who had joined his band. Nora graduated in 1893 but Anderson graduated in absentia, the couple having agreed to join a Seventh-day Adventist Church mission to Africa.

Solusi Mission

The Anderson couple boarded a ship for Cape Town at New York on April 10, 1895, with the aim of establishing the first Seventh-day Adventist mission on the continent. The departed Cape Town by rail on May 22 and, reaching the end of the north-bound line at

Mafeking Mafikeng, officially known as Mahikeng and previously Mafeking (, ), is the capital city of the North West province of South Africa. Close to South Africa's border with Botswana, Mafikeng is northeast of Cape Town and west of Johannesburg. In ...

, made a seven-week ox-drawn wagon journey to Solusi near

in the south part of

(now in modern

) which they reached on July 26. The Andersons helped to found the Solusi Mission on of land granted to the church by the

British South Africa Company The British South Africa Company (BSAC or BSACo) was chartered in 1889 following the amalgamation of Cecil Rhodes' Central Search Association and the London-based Exploring Company Ltd, which had originally competed to capitalize on the expecte ...

(BSAC) in 1894. This was the first

Adventist Adventism is a branch of Protestant Christianity that believes in the imminent Second Coming (or the "Second Advent") of Jesus Christ. It originated in the 1830s in the United States during the Second Great Awakening when Baptist preacher Wil ...

mission in Africa to be directed at the black population. The mission suffered early setbacks. Heavy rains disrupted works to erect mud-walled buildings; at one point, a wall of the Andersons' house collapsed onto their newly built wood-fired stove. Disease reduced the mission's cattle herd from 100,000 to just 500. The missionaries were forced to flee to Bulawayo for some months during the

of 1896–97. A

outbreak in 1898 led to the deaths of many of the missionaries. A replacement party arriving in 1899 was also struck down by the disease, and by 1901 Anderson and his wife were the only missionaries at the station, the others having died or moved away. Their survival was down to their use of the anti-malarial

quinine Quinine is a medication used to treat malaria and babesiosis. This includes the treatment of malaria due to ''Plasmodium falciparum'' that is resistant to chloroquine when artesunate is not available. While sometimes used for nocturnal leg cr ...

which had been rejected by the other missionaries as dangerous. The Andersons had had a daughter, their only child, Naomi in 1899. In 1900, the missionaries had built a church and converted the first of the local population.

Rusangu Mission

In 1903 Anderson travelled to the northern portion of Rhodesia (modern

) to establish a mission station there. His route followed much of that of the British explorer and missionary

David Livingstone David Livingstone (; 19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) was a Scottish physician, Congregationalist, and pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, an explorer in Africa, and one of the most popular British heroes of t ...

. A BSAC official directed him to

Monze Monze is a small town (population 30,000) in the Southern Province of Zambia and is about 180 km south-west of Lusaka. It is the administrative centre of Monze District.Tonga people who had risen against the company in 1902. The official hoped that the missionaries would help pacify the Tonga. Monze provided Anderson with a guide and the pair located suitable land which the chief agreed to grant for a mission. He returned to Solusi but received news that his father had died and was granted a 12-month furlough in the United States. Whilst there, Anderson lectured on the Adventist missionary activity, becoming one of the movement's best-known missionaries. Anderson returned to Monze in 1905. The mission land had been claimed by a priest but he had failed to mark the acquisition in accordance with the local custom. Anderson complied with this requirement by carving a message in a tree trunk at the site and founded the Rusangu Mission and farmstead on September 5, 1905. Anderson arranged for supplies to be sent from the Solusi mission, and within a month was teaching 40 students at Rusangu whilst learning the

Tonga language Tonga may refer to five different languages: *Tongan language, or Tonga (ISO 639-3: ton) – a Polynesian language spoken in Tonga in the South Pacific *Tonga language (Zambia and Zimbabwe), or Chitonga (ISO 639-3: toi) – a Bantu language spoken i ...

. Anderson was ordained the same year. The rival priest returned to Rusangu and attempted to lay claim to the mission land. The matter was referred to the district commissioner who awarded the land to Anderson, in compliance with the local custom. The rival was awarded another plot of land on the far side of the river which was developed into a school and hospital. By 1907 Anderson had built a brick house for his family, replacing an earlier mud structure. Nora Anderson contracted

blackwater fever Blackwater fever is a complication of malaria infection in which red blood cells burst in the bloodstream (hemolysis), releasing hemoglobin directly into the blood vessels and into the urine, frequently leading to kidney failure. The disease ...

on November 24, 1907, and died from the disease at Plumstead Sanitorium, near Cape Town, on February 4, 1908. Her last message to her husband was to urge him to "take care of Naomi; stay by the mission and make it all we have planned, under God, it should be". Anderson house Barotse trail of livingstone

Anderson house Barotse trail of livingstone

Anderson received a $1,000 grant from the Adventists' general conference in 1914 to install a borehole at Rusangu, which saved a round trip to collect water from the Magoye River and helped attract local people to the mission. He also served as supervisor for all the church's activity in northern Rhodesia. Anderson got married again on May 10, 1914, to Mary Perin. He was granted furlough from missionary work and between 1916 and 1918 was in the United States.

Later career and legacy

Anderson wrote ''On the Trail of Livingstone'', an account of his life as a missionary. This was published by

Pacific Press The Pacific Press Publishing Association, or Pacific Press for short, is one of two major Seventh-day Adventist publishing houses in North America. It was founded in 1874 by James White in Oakland, California, and is now located in Nampa, Id ...

in the United States in 1919. The book is said to have generated interest in African missionary work amongst the American people. Returning from furlough Anderson moved to

(modern

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

), an area he was familiar with from his journey to Solusi. Anderson was supervisor of the church's missions in the protectorate. In 1922 he moved to the Portuguese colony of

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

, establishing several missions there and heading the Angola Union Mission from 1924 to 1933. Anderson was employed by the Seventh-day Adventist Church's Africa Division from 1930 to 1945 during which time he had responsibility for establishing new missions, organising meetings and advising new missionaries in a region running from Cape Town to

Lake Chad Lake Chad (french: Lac Tchad) is a historically large, shallow, endorheic lake in Central Africa, which has varied in size over the centuries. According to the ''Global Resource Information Database'' of the United Nations Environment Programme, ...

. In this role he celebrated the 50th anniversary of the start of mission work at Solusi by pulling a wagon to the site. During Anderson's career in Southern Africa he saw the Adventist membership rise from around 500 to more than 45,000. The Rusangu mission is now home to a grade school, a high school and a university with around 4,000 students. The Seventh-day Adventist Church remains strong in Zambia (the modern name of northern Rhodesia) with more than 1.3 million members in 2020. Anderson retired to the United States in 1945 and settled, with his wife, at

Claremont, North Carolina Claremont is a city in Catawba County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,352 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Hickory–Lenoir– Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Originally known as Charlotte Crossi ...

. He died at his home there on June 26, 1950, from a heart attack after carrying out gardening work. Anderson had been due to leave home the following day to attend the church's 1950 General Conference.

Early life

Solusi Mission

Rusangu Mission

Later career and legacy

Publications

References

Further reading