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David Lawrence Anderson
David Lawrence Anderson (4 February 1850 - 16 March 1911) was an Episcopal minister and missionary to China. Anderson served as the first president of Soochow University as well as a founding member of their board of trustees. He spent one year in Shanghai, China and 26 years in Suzhou, China originally as a religious missionary then mainly in education. He was involved in the formation and solidification of Southern Methodist missionary universities in China.
David Lawrence Anderson was born on February 4, 1850, in Summerhill, South Carolina to James Harkins Anderson and Mary Margaret Adams, who were a part of a larger merchant family.
On December 31, 1879, he married Mary Garland Thomson, a musician and church worker, of Huntsville, Alabama. Together, they had five children.[citation needed]
Anderson attended Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. He studied for two years before abandoning his studies. Much later, he received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from the school.
Anderson worked briefly as a bookkeeper for the Atlanta Constitution, which was his father’s newspaper. He then became a minister for the North Georgia Conference of the Southern Methodist Church.
Anderson was sent by the American Methodist Episcopal Church, South to China. Anderson arrived by boat in China in 1882. Originally, he preached the gospel at a chapel in Jiading, a suburban district of Shanghai. After one year there, he transferred to Suzhou to preach in the Kung Hang Chapel. He remained in Suzhou for the rest of his life. Five years later, the Lequn Social Church was established in Gongxiang Alley in Central Suzhou with Anderson as the first pastor.
Many young people attended Anderson’s chapel, asking him to teach them English afterwards, so they could receive a western education. This led to the formation of an informal school, known as the Kung Hang School (later known as Kung-hsiang Academy), where Anderson and three members of his family taught courses in math, science, and English. The first year, there were 25 students at the school, which grew to 40 in year two and 109 in year three. Anderson, Young John Allen, and other missionaries in the region began seeking funding for a university. However, the Boxer Rebellion created unrest in China, closing the Kung Hang School and halting any plans for a university.
After China stabilized again, Anderson restarted his attempt to establish a university in Suzhou. He spent 1900 in the US raising funds for the university, where he raised over $100,000 in gold. On May 13, 1900, Anderson was one of the seven members of the board of trustees for the proposed university at a Board of Missions meeting in Nashville, Tennessee. On December 15, 1900, the board of trustees met and selected Anderson as the founding president of the university. In March 1901, Central University of China was founded (later renamed Soochow University during the Republic of China period). Most of the students at this school went to the accompanying day school for the first years. The university followed the example of an American university. There were three departments: theology, liberal arts, and science.
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David Lawrence Anderson
David Lawrence Anderson (4 February 1850 - 16 March 1911) was an Episcopal minister and missionary to China. Anderson served as the first president of Soochow University as well as a founding member of their board of trustees. He spent one year in Shanghai, China and 26 years in Suzhou, China originally as a religious missionary then mainly in education. He was involved in the formation and solidification of Southern Methodist missionary universities in China.
David Lawrence Anderson was born on February 4, 1850, in Summerhill, South Carolina to James Harkins Anderson and Mary Margaret Adams, who were a part of a larger merchant family.
On December 31, 1879, he married Mary Garland Thomson, a musician and church worker, of Huntsville, Alabama. Together, they had five children.[citation needed]
Anderson attended Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. He studied for two years before abandoning his studies. Much later, he received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from the school.
Anderson worked briefly as a bookkeeper for the Atlanta Constitution, which was his father’s newspaper. He then became a minister for the North Georgia Conference of the Southern Methodist Church.
Anderson was sent by the American Methodist Episcopal Church, South to China. Anderson arrived by boat in China in 1882. Originally, he preached the gospel at a chapel in Jiading, a suburban district of Shanghai. After one year there, he transferred to Suzhou to preach in the Kung Hang Chapel. He remained in Suzhou for the rest of his life. Five years later, the Lequn Social Church was established in Gongxiang Alley in Central Suzhou with Anderson as the first pastor.
Many young people attended Anderson’s chapel, asking him to teach them English afterwards, so they could receive a western education. This led to the formation of an informal school, known as the Kung Hang School (later known as Kung-hsiang Academy), where Anderson and three members of his family taught courses in math, science, and English. The first year, there were 25 students at the school, which grew to 40 in year two and 109 in year three. Anderson, Young John Allen, and other missionaries in the region began seeking funding for a university. However, the Boxer Rebellion created unrest in China, closing the Kung Hang School and halting any plans for a university.
After China stabilized again, Anderson restarted his attempt to establish a university in Suzhou. He spent 1900 in the US raising funds for the university, where he raised over $100,000 in gold. On May 13, 1900, Anderson was one of the seven members of the board of trustees for the proposed university at a Board of Missions meeting in Nashville, Tennessee. On December 15, 1900, the board of trustees met and selected Anderson as the founding president of the university. In March 1901, Central University of China was founded (later renamed Soochow University during the Republic of China period). Most of the students at this school went to the accompanying day school for the first years. The university followed the example of an American university. There were three departments: theology, liberal arts, and science.