Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church (

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

WFMS of the MEC) was one of three

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

organizations in the United States focused on women's foreign missionary services; the two others were the WFMS of the Free Methodist Church of North America and the WFMS of the

Methodist Protestant Church The Methodist Protestant Church (MPC) is a Methodist denomination of Christianity that is based in the United States. It was formed in 1828 by former members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, being Wesleyan in doctrine and worship, but adopt ...

. The WFMS of the MEC was founded in the Tremont Street Methodist Episcopal Church, in

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Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, March 1869, and incorporated under the laws of the

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in 1884. Its fields of operation included:

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(Bulgaria, Italy, France);

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(Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Uruguay);

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(Malaysia, China, Korea, India, Japan, The Philippines); and

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(Algeria, Angola, Portuguese East Africa, Rhodesia, Tunis).

History

WMFS was organized in March 1869 at the Tremont Street Methodist Episcopal Church in

, by eight women who responded to a call sent to thirty churches. The eight founders were, Mrs. Lewis Flanders; Mrs. Thomas Kingsbury; Mrs. William B. Merrill; Lois Lee Parker; Mrs. Thomas A. Rich; Mrs. H.J. Stoddard; Mrs. William Butler ( Clementina Rowe Butler); and Mrs. P.T. Taylor. A window in the Tremont Street Church commemorates the event and preserves their names. The first public meeting of the society was held in the Bromfield Street MEC, May 26, 1869. The discussion was quickly followed by decisive action. At a business meeting held by the women at the close of the public occasion, it was voted to raise money to send as a missionary to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, Isabella Thoburn, sister of Bishop

James Mills Thoburn James Mills Thoburn (March 7, 1836 – November 28, 1922) was an American bishop and missionary of the Methodist Episcopal Church as well as an author. He did missionary work in India and greatly increased the number of Christian practitioners in ...

. An appeal for a medical woman soon followed. As a result of prompt and efficient measures to procure funds, the services of Isabella Thoburn and of

Clara Swain Clara A. Swain (18 July 1834 – 25 December 1910) was an American physician and Christian missionary of the Methodist Episcopal Church. She has been called the "pioneer woman physician in India," and as well as the "first fully accredited woman p ...

, M.D., were secured. These two women sailed from

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

for India, via England, on November 3, 1869, reaching their destination early in January, 1870. They were cordially received, and soon entered upon their work, Thoburn organizing schools and superintending the work of Bible readers, and Swain's medical ability gaining for her admission to many places that were closed to others. This society sent to India, China, Korea, and Japan the first woman medical missionary ever received in those countries. By 1903, its 34th year, it had 265 missionaries carrying on its work in India, China, Japan, Korea, Africa, Bulgaria, Italy, South America, Mexico, and the Philippines, by means of women's colleges, high schools, seminaries, hospitals, dispensaries, day schools, and "settlement work". Its receipts during the first year were , and in the year 1903, , with a total from the beginning of . Six branches were organized the first year. By 1903, there were eleven, the first being the New England, and the eleventh being the Columbia River Branch.

Publications

The first number of the society's first periodical, '' The Heathen Woman's Friend'', appeared in June, 1869, with

Harriet Merrick Warren Harriet Merrick Warren (September 15, 1843 – January 7, 1893) was an American editor. She was also an untiring worker in the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society, its first recording secretary, and for years, president of the New England Branch. ...

as its editor for 24 years. Other publications were established later on.

WFMS of other Methodist denominations

Other Methodist denominations developed their own women's foreign missionary organizations. The WFMS of the Methodist Protestant Church was established in 1879. Its office was in

Catonsville, Maryland Catonsville () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Baltimore County, Maryland, Baltimore County, Maryland. The population was 44,701 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 US Census. The community is a streetcar suburb of Baltimore along the cit ...

. Its focused on Asia, especially China and Japan. It issued the periodical, ''The Woman's Missionary Record''. Notable people included Mrs. E. C. Chandler, Mrs. Henry Hupfield, Mrs. D. S. Stephens, Mrs. L. K. East, and Mrs. J. F. McCulloch. The WFMS of the Free Methodist Church of North America was established in 1882. Its office was in

Oneida, New York Oneida () is a city in Madison County in the U.S. state of New York. It is located west of Oneida Castle (in Oneida County) and east of Wampsville. The population was 10,329 at the 2020 census, down from 11,390 in 2010. The city, like b ...

. It issued the periodical, ''Missionary Tidings''. Notable people included Mary L. Coleman, Mrs. C. T. Bolles, and Lillian C. Jensen.

Notable people

Mary Osburn Adkinson Mary Osburn Adkinson (July 28, 1843 – 1918) was an American social reformer active in the temperance movement. She took a leading part in the organization of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Madiso ...

* Esther E. Baldwin *

Annie Maria Barnes Annie Maria Barnes (pen name, Cousin Annie; May 28, 1857 – October 21 1933 or December 31 1943) was a 19th-century American journalist, editor, and author from South Carolina. At the age of eleven, she wrote an article for the '' Atlanta Const ...

Susan Hammond Barney Susan Hammond Barney (, Hammond; November 24, 1834 – April 29, 1922) was an American social activist and evangelist. She was the founder of the Prisoners' Aid Society of Rhode Island, and due to her efforts, police matrons were secured for the ...

Anna Fisher Beiler Anna Fisher Beiler (February 25, 1848 – April 1, 1904) was a British-born American Christian missionary and newspaper editor, who engaged in temperance, missionary, and philanthropic work. Associated with the Methodist Episcopal Church, she s ...

* Anna Smeed Benjamin * Martia L. Davis Berry * Jennie M. Bingham *

Sophia Blackmore Sophia Blackmore (18 October 1857 – 3 July 1945) was an Australian Christian missionary. She founded the Fairfield Methodist Schools, and also Methodist Girls' School in Singapore. She was the first unmarried woman missionary sent by the Woman ...

* Ariel Serena Hedges Bowen * Maria Kane Brown *

Adda Burch Adda Burch (January 6, 1869 – February 18, 1929) was an American missionary-teacher in Latin America. She was also a Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) leader, serving in various positions in the U.S. as well as president of the World WCTU ...

Louise L. Chase Louise L. Chase ( Bond; September 2, 1840 – September 19, 1906) was an American social reformer. She was elected president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.) of Middletown, Rhode Island, and elected president of the Woman's Fore ...

Lucilla Green Cheney Lucilla Green Cheney, M.D. (July 15, 1853 – September 30, 1878) was an American physician and Christian missionary. Beginning in 1876, she served a medical mission in Bareilly, British India under the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the M ...

Lucinda L. Combs Lucinda L. Combs-Stritmatter (October 10, 1849April 23, 1919) was an American physician who was the first female Medical missions, medical missionary to provide medical care in China. She is credited with establishing the first women's hospital i ...

Emily M. J. Cooley Emily M. J. Cooley ( Jones; 1831–1917) was an American religious and temperance leader affiliated with the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.) and the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Early life ...

Mary Helen Peck Crane Mary Helen Peck Crane (, Peck; April 10, 1827 – December 7, 1891) was a 19th-century American church and temperance activist, as well as a writer. She was the mother of the writer, Stephen Crane. She died in 1891. Early life and education Mary ...

Allie Luse Dick Allie Luse Dick (, Luse; June 2, 1859 - June 10, 1933) was an American music educator who identified with various religious, social, philanthropic and educational activities. Among the positions she held, Dick served as director of music at Heddin ...

* Hü King Eng * Mary Porter Gamewell * Jennie Margaret Gheer * Annie Ryder Gracey * Lucinda Barbour Helm * Maria Hyde Hibbard *

Louise Manning Hodgkins Louise Manning Hodgkins (August 5, 1846 – November 28, 1935) was an American educator, author, and editor from Massachusetts. After completing her studies at The Pennington School, Pennington Seminary and Wilbraham Wesleyan Academy, she became a ...

Gertrude Howe Gertrude Howe (September 13, 1846 – December 29, 1928) was an American Methodist missionary educator and translator, based in China from 1872 until her death there in 1928. Early life and education Howe was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, the ...

* Julia Lore McGrew *

Caroline Elizabeth Merrick Caroline Elizabeth Merrick (November 24, 1825 – March 29, 1908) was an American writer and temperance worker. She is the author of ''Old Times in Dixie Land: a Southern Matron's Memories'' (1901). Taking an active part in the charitable and ph ...

* Mary A. Miller * Nancie Monelle *

Cornelia Moore Chillson Moots Cornelia Moore Chillson Moots (nickname, “Mother Moots”; October 14, 1843 – 1929) was an American missionary and temperance evangelist. She was one of four pioneer missionaries of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Ep ...

* Mary Clarke Nind * Esther Pak * Anna Campbell Palmer * Rebecca Parrish * Alice E. Heckler Peters * Mary Q. Porter * Mary Reed * Jane Bancroft Robinson * Elizabeth Russell * Mary F. Scranton * Liang May Seen *

Cora E. Simpson Cora Eliza Simpson (February 13, 1880 – May 14, 1960) was an American nurse and nursing educator. She was a missionary in China from 1907 to 1945, and founded and ran the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing in Fuzhou. She was also a founder ...

* Susan J. Swift Steele *

Ōyama Sutematsu Princess was a Japanese socialite in the Meiji era, and the first Japanese woman to receive a college degree. She was born into a traditional samurai household which supported the Tokugawa shogunate during the Boshin War. As a child, she surv ...

* Lucy Robbins Messer Switzer * Isabella Thoburn * Mary Sparkes Wheeler * Charlotte Frances Wilder *

Zara A. Wilson Zara A. Wilson (born October 8, 1840) was an American reformer and lawyer. Early life and family Zara Mahurin was born in Burnettsville, Indiana, on October 8, 1840. She was the fourth in a family of eight children. Her maiden name was Mahuri ...

Annie Turner Wittenmyer Annie Turner Wittenmyer (August 26, 1827 – February 2, 1900) was an American charitable organization leader, known for social reform, relief work, and her writing. She served as the first National President of the Woman's Christian Temperance ...

Gallery

File:A glimpse of India - being a collection of extracts from the letters Dr. Clara A. Swain, first medical missionary to India of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church (14743527986).jpg, Dr.

File:Mary Clarke Nind and her work - her childhood, girlhood, married life, religious experience and activity, together with the story of her labors in behalf of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of (14781075991).jpg, Mary Clarke Nind File:Miss sigourney trask.jpg,

Sigourney Trask Sigourney Trask (June 14, 1849 - March 20, 1936) was an American physician and missionary. She is remembered as being the first woman physician at Fuzhou, China sent by the Methodist Episcopal Church missionaries. Biography Trask was born June 14 ...

File:Nancie Monelle Mansell.png, Nancie Monelle Mansell File:Anna Fisher Beiler (1895).png,

File:Clementina Rowe Butler.png, Clementina Rowe Butler File:GertrudeHowe1916.png,

References

Sources

* * * {{authority control 1869 establishments in Massachusetts Christian women's organizations History of Methodism in the United States Religious organizations based in Boston * Women's organizations based in the United States