Hiram Harrison Lowry (May 29, 1843 – January 13, 1924) was an educator,

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

clergyman and college president in China.

Early life

Lowry was born on May 29, 1843, in Zanesville,

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, to Hiram and Margaret née Speare. He graduated from the

Ohio Wesleyan University Ohio Wesleyan University (abbrevriated OWU) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1842 by Methodist leaders and Ohio Valley, Centra ...

, and received the degrees of Bachelor and

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

and

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

. In 1862–1863 Lowry served during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

in the ninety-seventh regiment of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry. In 1867 he was ordained to the ministry of the

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself nationally. In 1939, th ...

and was sent out to China.

China

On October 10, 1867, Lowry arrived with his wife, Parthenia Nicholson, in

Fuzhou Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian, China. The city lies between the Min River (Fujian), Min River estuary to the south and the city of Ningde to the north. Together, Fuzhou and Ningde make up the Eastern Min, Mindong linguistic and cultural regi ...

, where they labored till 1869. In 1869 he was sent to

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, where the foundations of the work of the North China Mission was laid. In 1870, Lowry built up the first Methodist church in Northern China, the Asbury Church (today the Chongwenmen Church in Beijing), named after the American Methodist Bishop

Francis Asbury Francis Asbury (August 20 or 21, 1745 – March 31, 1816) was a British-American Methodist minister who became one of the first two bishop (Methodist), bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. During his 45 years in the col ...

. From 1873 to 1893, Lowry served as superintendent of North China Mission (until it became the North China Annual Conference) and since 1914 president of Huiwen University (), the precursor of

Yenching University Yenching University () was a Private university, private research university in Beijing, China, from 1919 to 1952. The university was formed out of the merger of four Christian colleges between the years 1915 and 1920. The term "Yenching" come ...

(). From 1894 until it became a union institution, he was president of Huiwen University, later be part of

, where he trained thousands of young Chinese who are now active in Christian work, in business, the professions and in government. Lowry retired in 1922 and died in

Peking Beijing, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's most populous national capital city as well as China's second largest city by urban area after Shanghai. It is l ...

on January 13, 1924. He was survived by six children: George Davis Lowry, Edward Kinsley Lowry, Fanny May Lowry, Grace Ernestine (Lowry) Hooper, Ernest Wilbur Lowry, and Mabel Annetta (Lowry) Dobson.

References

* Shavit, David (1990): ''The United States in Asia: A Historical Dictionary.'' .
History of Chongwenmen Church
* "Reports of Deaths of American Citizens Abroad 1924;" "US Consular Registration Certificates 1910;" "US Passport Applications 1916" vi
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowry, Hiram Harrison 1843 births 1924 deaths Ohio Wesleyan University alumni Methodist writers Christian missionaries in Fujian Methodist missionaries in China American expatriates in China American Methodist missionaries