Missionary to China Killed in Boxer Rebellion: "she is enrolled in the noble army of martyrs…"

A remarkable archive of three letters, three envelopes, and one postcard, ca. 1893-1900, relating to American Protestant missionary Annie Allender Gould (1867-1900). Gould worked at the American Board mission in Paotingfu [modern day Baoding] in northern Imperial China until she was killed during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. One letter was written by Annie's friend confirming her departure from Japan in 1893; two of the letters were written by Annie in China in 1894 and 1895; and the last letter was written in Japan in 1900, confirming the sad news of Annie's death.

Annie Allender Gould of Portland, Maine was the daughter of Major John Mead Gould (1839-1930), distinguished by an unimpeachable Civil War service record, and Amelia Jenkins Twitchell Gould (1842-1926), who had missionized free blacks in the Reconstruction South. Gould graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1892, and was granted an appointment with the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to Paotingfu, Imperial China the following year. Paotingfu was located approximately 160 km southwest of then Peking [Beijing], in Chihli [Zhili] province. The city's proximity to Peking would put it in the crosshairs of the Boxer Rebellion seven years later.

The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions--shortened to the American Board--was one of the oldest missionary agencies in the United States, established by New England Congregationalists in 1810. Its missionaries were dispatched to China as early as 1829, and North China, where Paotingfu was located, was one of its four primary zones. In addition to China, American Board missionaries worked in Africa, the Middle East, the Pacific islands, and the American West.

The lot is comprised of:

1. A carte postale addressed to Major John G. Gould, postmarked from Yokohama, Japan, informing him that is "Anne just sailing for China, after that Cochin China [Vietnam], India and Korea." Three of the four philatelic markings appear to be erroneously dated 1883 instead of 1893.

2. 4pp autograph letter signed by Gould as "Annie" on the bottom of the fourth page. Written at Paotingfu, China between September 24-29, 1894 on bifold stationery paper. Expected paper folds, else near fine. 5.5" x 8.25." Accompanied by its original transmittal envelope bearing multiple philatelic markings including those from Yokohama, Nagasaki, and San Francisco.

In part: "One year in China has taught me some things. Next time I come to China I won't rob you of your 'Inglesides.' Colored cards the children like, but do not care much for engravings. A superfluity of naughtiness abounds in my closets; I tell you an embarrassment of riches is almost as bad as a shortness of them. If there is any one thing that is unadvisable [sic] it is to give much to the Chinese. There is too much of the spirit that anything that belongs to the church is public property, and all the brethren have a right to expect work or help from the church, i.e. the foreigners…"

3. 3pp autograph letter signed by Gould as "Annie A. Gould" on the bottom of the third page. Written on a journey from Peking [Beijing], China between June 21-24, 1895 on bifold stationery paper. Stamped and received by Gould's family in Portland on July 31, 1895 at the top of the first page, and also docketed on the last page, which is blank. Expected paper folds, and minor discoloration from a transparent circle of gauze or fabric, of unknown purpose, that was tucked inside the letter, else near fine. 5.5" x 8.25." Accompanied by its original transmittal envelope bearing multiple philatelic markings and docketed, "80, Peking en route to Westn. Hills."


In part: "It was early, the vegetable and fruit vendors were abroad, carrying their wares in two shallow open baskets slung from either end of a pole which the man carries on his shoulder. Some of these small peddlars [sic] call out to attract the attention of people, others strike some kind of metal or blow on some instrument, it seems to me that each special trade has its own sound. Blind fortune-tellers play a flute; Barbers strike what looks like a large tuning-fork; one class of vendors have a saucer shaped piece of copper or brass to strike…"

4. A 1p autograph letter signed by Dwight Whitney Learned (1848-1943), Secretary and Treasurer of the American Board's Japan Mission, as "D.W. Learned" at lower right. Written in Kyoto, Japan on September 13, 1900 on a half-page of stationery paper with bilingual English and Japanese "American Board's Japan Mission" letterhead. Accompanied by its original transmittal envelope bearing multiple philatelic markings from Kyoto, Yokohama, and Portland.

In part: "For a long time I had some hope that I might some time deliver the enclosed letter [not included in this lot] to your daughter [i.e. that Annie would be found alive.] We have sorrowed with you in the great affliction which has come to you, but you have the comfort that your daughter met her end in the most heroic way, and that she is enrolled in the noble army of martyrs…"

The Boxer Rebellion, which engulfed China from October 1899 - September 1901, was a political movement led by anti-Qing Dynasty, anti-foreign, and anti-Christian Chinese insurgents. Unusual flooding and drought conditions, as well as military defeat against the Japanese in the preceding years, primed the nation for an explosion of civil unrest. The targets of this unrest were "foreign devils" whose pernicious economic, political, social, cultural, and religious influences were corrupting China, or so the "Boxers," or nationalist revolutionaries, believed. The Boxers destroyed railroads, cut telegraph wires, and began killing Chinese officials.

In June 1900, the Boxers began a 55-day-long siege of the Legation Quarter in Peking, where European, American, and Japanese diplomats, officers, missionaries, and civilians holed up until rescue. Around the same time as the siege, Boxers began murdering white Catholic, Russian Orthodox, and Protestant missionaries, their families, and Chinese Christian converts throughout the countryside. Estimates vary widely, but as many as 650 Christian missionaries were killed during the Boxer Rebellion alongside as many as 32,000 Chinese Christian converts.

Annie Allender Gould was among the 11 foreign missionaries killed during the Paotingfu Massacre on June 30-July 1, 1900. On June 30th, the Boxers killed members of the Presbyterian Board at Paotingfu. The following day, the mission walls of the American Board and China Inland Board were breached. Its missionaries--among them Annie Allender Gould--were led into the city, tried, beheaded, and buried in a mass grave. Gould's close mission work associate and fellow Portlander Mary S. Morrill (1863-1900), as well as the Yale University-educated Reverend Horace Tracy Pitkin (1869-1900), were also slain. The Paotingfu Massacre was the first major massacre in a chain of massacres to take place during the next 10 days (with the Taiyuan Massacre occurring on July 9th.)

For a detailed account of the Paotingfu Massacre, as well as biographical information about Gould and her fellow missionaries, see Isaac Conrad Ketler's "The Tragedy of Paotingfu; An Authentic Story of the Lives, Services, and Sacrifices of the Presbyterian, Congregational, and China Inland Missionaries Who Suffered Martyrdom at Paotingfu, China, June 30th and July 1, 1900" (New York: Fleming H. Ravel, 1902). See especially Chapter VII, "Misses Morrill and Gould," and Chapter XVII, "The Crowning Day."

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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