Rev. Charles Hartwell ' onMouseout='HidePop("66487")' href="/topics/Pinyin">Pinyin

Pinyin

Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...

: Xià Chálǐ; Foochow Romanized: Hâ Chák-lī; December 19, 1825 - January 30, 1905) was an American Board

American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions

The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was the first American Christian foreign mission agency. It was proposed in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College and officially chartered in 1812. In 1961 it merged with other societies to form the United Church Board for World...

 missionary to Foochow, China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 in the second half of the 19th century.

Life and work

Charles Hartwell was born in Lincoln, Massachusetts

Lincoln, Massachusetts

Lincoln is a town in the historic area of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,362 at the 2010 census, including residents of Hanscom Air Force Base that live within town limits...

 on December 19, 1825, and was fitted for college at Westford Academy

Westford Academy

Westford Academy is the public high school for the town of Westford, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1792, and is one of the oldest public high schools in the United States. Westford Academy was originally established as a private school and was changed to a public school in 1928...

 in Westford, Massachusetts

Westford, Massachusetts

Westford is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,951 at the 2010 census.-History:Originally a part of neighboring Chelmsford, West Chelmsford soon grew large enough to sustain its own governance, and was officially incorporated as Westford on September 23,...

. After teaching several months at West Killingly

Killingly, Connecticut

Killingly is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 16,472 at the 2000 census. It consists of the borough of Danielson and the villages of Attawaugan, Ballouville, Dayville, East Killingly, Rogers, and South Killingly....

, Hartwell studied theology

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

 at Amherst College

Amherst College

Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...

 in 1849, and received the degree of Master of Arts

Master of Arts (postgraduate)

A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 from the same institution three years later. He was ordained at Lincoln, Massachusetts

Lincoln, Massachusetts

Lincoln is a town in the historic area of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,362 at the 2010 census, including residents of Hanscom Air Force Base that live within town limits...

 on October 13, 1852, entered the service of the ABCFM, embarked for China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 on November 3, and reached Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

 on April 16, 1853. Hartwell was located at Foochow (today Fuzhou

Fuzhou

Fuzhou is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute the Mindong linguistic and cultural area....

) on June 9, 1853, and was engaged in missionary work there for the rest of his life, with only three visits to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

: 1865 - 1867, 1877 - 1878, and 1890 - 1891, in all, four years.

Charles Hartwell ranked high as a Sinologist. He spoke the Foochow dialect with fluency, and was one of the proposers of the romanization of that dialect. In addition to preaching the Gospel

Gospel

A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...

, he translated one fourth of the New Testament

New Testament

The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....

 into the Foochow colloquial, composed the Three Character

Three Character Classic

The Three Character Classic, Trimetric Classic or San Zi Jing is one of the Chinese classic texts. It was probably written in the 13th century and attributed to Wang Yinglin during the Song Dynasty...

 and the Four Character Classics in the same dialect, and various tracts and books (including the 2nd edition of the Dictionary of the Foochow Dialect). He also prepared many textbooks for schools (including one series of the so-called Hongkong Readers), wrote a book on Meteorology

Meteorology

Meteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere. Studies in the field stretch back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not occur until the 18th century. The 19th century saw breakthroughs occur after observing networks developed across several countries...

, and contributed articles on temperance to English and American journals.
The fiftieth anniversary of the arrival at Foochow of Charles Hartwell was celebrated on May 26, 1903, a full account of which was issued from the Foochow Mission Press in February, 1904, in a volume entitled Jubilee Notes.

Rev. Charles Hartwell was married twice during his life. On September 6, 1852 he married his first wife Lucy E. Stearns, who died July 10, 1883 in Foochow. In 1885 he married his second wife Hannah Louisa Plimpton Peet Hartwell. Hartwell died of heart failure in Foochow on January 30, 1905. At the time of his death he was the senior missionary of the American Board in China. His wife died 3 years afterwards. His daughter, Emily Susan Hartwell

Emily Susan Hartwell

Emily Susan Hartwell was a Congregational Christian educational missionary and philanthropist in Foochow, China under the American Board of Foreign Missions.-Life:Miss Emily S. Hartwell was the daughter of Lucy E...

, remained in the field until 1937.