Anna (Seward) Pruitt (1862–1948), was born in Tallmadge,

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

, on May 16, 1862, the daughter of John Woodhouse and Urania (Ashley) Seward. She traveled west in the early 1880s to teach school in

Ojai Ojai ( ; Chumash: ''’Awhaỳ'') is a city in Ventura County, California. Located in the Ojai Valley, it is northwest of Los Angeles and east of Santa Barbara. The valley is part of the east–west trending Western Transverse Ranges and is ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

; her letters about the trip were later published in the California Historical Quarterly (1937–1938). She was a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

in Northern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

and belonged to the so-called "missionary generation" of Americans born between the years 1860 - 1885.

Early years and children

To honor the example of a beloved cousin who had died in mission work in China, Anna Seward decided to travel there as a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their n ...

missionary and settled in Huang Xian,

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in His ...

province in North China, where she met Cicero Washington Pruitt. They married on February 16, 1888, and had five children: Ida (1888–1985), John (1890–1912), Ashley (1892–1898), Virginia (died in infancy, 1894), Robert (1897–1961), and Dudley McConnell "Mac" (1902–1967). The death of Ashley and Virginia inspired Southern Baptists to send money to start a hospital in Huang Xian. The famous missionary

Lottie Moon Charlotte Digges "Lottie" Moon (December 12, 1840 – December 24, 1912) was a Southern Baptist missionary to China with the Foreign Mission Board who spent nearly 40 years (1873–1912) living and working in China. As a teacher and evangelist s ...

apparently babysat the children on some occasions. Ida was one of the few Westerners that remained influential in Chinese Aid and Development throughout much of the century even after the

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

take over. While stationed in Huangxian, the children attended school at the

Chefoo School The Chefoo School (), also known as Protestant Collegiate School or China Inland Mission School, was a Christian boarding school established in 1881 by the China Inland Mission—under James Hudson Taylor—at Chefoo (Yantai), in Shandong pro ...

operated by the

China Inland Mission OMF International (formerly Overseas Missionary Fellowship and before 1964 the China Inland Mission) is an international and interdenominational Evangelical Christian missionary society with an international centre in Singapore. It was founded in ...

. Anna Seward began a missionary school for boys, and by 1904 C.W. Pruitt had organized the Baptist Theological Seminary for Central China.

Writings and later years

Anna wrote two books about missionary life in China: The Day of Small Things (Foreign Mission Board, Southern Baptist Convention, 1929) and Up from Zero: In North China (Broadman Press, 1939). She also wrote two children's books set in China: The Chinese Boat Baby (Rice Press, 1938) and Whirligigs in China: Stories for Juniors (Broadman, 1948). After C.W. retired in 1936, they returned to the United States and settled in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

where he became the dean of the Baptist Foreign Missions of North America. Anna spent the last years of her life traveling and lecturing on China and mission work. Anna Seward died on June 20, 1948. ''Most of this article is taken from the Radcliffe Finding Aid. See link below.''

External links

World Catalog entry for Missionary mother and radical daughter: Anna and Ida Pruitt in China, 1887-1939 - Marjorie King's thesis on Anna Seward, her daughter Ida and their different approaches to life and living with the Chinese people.
*World Catalog entry fo
The day of small things
Clic
here
to read the PDF. *World Catalog entry fo
Up from Zero
*World Catalog entry fo
The Chinese boat baby
*World Catalog entry fo
Whirligigs in China: stories for juniors
*World Catalog entry fo
California in the eighties. As pictured in the letters of Anna Seward.
* - 2006 book on Ida Pruitt with possible insight into her mother's outlook on life and the different point of view that Ida her daughter took. by Marjorie King
The Pruitt family's virtual libraryThe finding aid
for Ida Pruitt's papers located at Radcliffe College. The papers contain many items related to C.W. *History of th
Lottie Moon Christmas Offering
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pruitt, Anna Seward 1862 births 1948 deaths American Presbyterian missionaries Presbyterian missionaries in China Missionary educators Female Christian missionaries People from Tallmadge, Ohio People from Ojai, California American expatriates in China

Early years and children

Writings and later years

See also

External links