Samuel Reynolds House of Siam, pioneer medical missionary, 1847-1876Feltus, George Haws
History
Samuel Reynolds House of Siam, pioneer medical missionary, 1847-1876
Feltus, George Haws
House, Samuel Reynolds, 1817-1899
Boon Itt was one of the earliest of the second generation
Christians of Siam. His maternal grandfather was Kee-Eng Sinsay
Quasien. This name appears in various abbreviations and spellings
in Dr. House’s journal, but here it is given in the form approved
by one of his grandsons, who explains that the first two syllables
constitute the name, while the remainder is the title. It will
not lessen the honour to correct several traditions that have
attached themselves to his story in America. Kee-Eng was not the
first Protestant Christian in Siam, nor the first convert of
the Presbyterian Mission; his wife did not make a profession of
Christian faith; his daughter Maa Tuan was not the first Siamese
woman to unite with the Christian church. His primacy was only that
he was the first “native” to be received into the Presbyterian
Church of Bangkok after its organisation.
Kee-Eng was baptised Jan. 7, 1844, by Rev. Stephen Johnston, of the
A. B. C. F. M., having been the Chinese tutor to Mr. Johnston for
several years; but there had been other converts previously. When
the A. B. C. F. M. abandoned Siam and turned their work over to the
Presbyterians, Kee-Eng was the only one of their converts still in
Siam in good standing; and he was transferred to the Presbyterian
Church. On this occasion Dr. House reported:
“Kwa Kieng is a native of middle age (about forty-five),
good education, was formerly Mr. Johnston’s teacher, of
respectable appearance, amiable character and appears for
five years back to have led a faithful and exemplary life
as a disciple of Christ. He has a wife (a Cambodian woman)
and three children—two sons and a daughter [another son and
daughter were born later]—now living at Rapri, one hundred
miles west of Bangkok. Though he speaks Siamese imperfectly,
we can communicate tolerably well with him, and we feel that
Providence may make him the instrument of great good to many
of his countrymen. He would be well equipped in many respects
for a native assistant, and we have confidence in him.”
In his _Journal_ at this time Dr. House states that Kee-Eng was a
Hakien Chinaman from Amoy. The reference to Cambodia in connection
with his wife must be taken to indicate only that she came from
there. Her name was Maa Hey and, according to her son Kru Tien Soo,
she was the daughter of a Chinese, born in Cambodia. Although,
according to her son, Maa Hey never made a profession of the
Christian faith; yet she did manifest a sympathy with the work of
the mission. All the children of the family were baptised at the
request of the father.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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