Reverend James Cantine (March 3, 1861 – July 1, 1940) was an American

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who 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.Thoma ...

, scholar, and traveler. While studying at

New Brunswick Theological Seminary New Brunswick Theological Seminary is a seminary of the Reformed Church in America (RCA), a mainline Protestant denomination in Canada and the United States that follows the theological tradition and Christian practice of John Calvin. It was fo ...

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, he co-founded the Arabian Mission with John Lansing and Samuel Marinus Zwemer. The mission exists today as the

American Mission Hospital The American Mission Hospital is a 120 year old private not-for-profit hospital located in Manama, Bahrain. Established in 1903, as the Mason Memorial Hospital, it was the first modern hospital in the country and, possibly, along the entire Pers ...

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

. He was a missionary for forty years, which included establishing the first mission for the Reformed Church in Arabia, which was also the first mission in eastern Arabia. Between 1891 and 1929, he established mission posts, medical clinics, and churches in Arabia. His wife, Elizabeth, was a nurse and the first single woman to become a missionary in Arabia. Together they founded a women's clinic in

Muscat, Oman Muscat (, ) is the capital and most populous city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the population of the Muscat Governorate in 2022 was 1.72 million. ...

, worked at missionary posts, and when the United Missions was formed, they were both representatives of the Reformed Church in America for the organization. Cantine co-authored the book, ''The Golden Milestone: Reminiscences of Pioneer Days Fifty Years in Arabia'' with Zwemer.

Early life and education

He was born on the family homestead in

Stone Ridge, New York Stone Ridge is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 1,234 at the 2020 census. Stone Ridge is located in the Town of Marbletown, along US 209 where it overlaps NY 213. History T ...

on March 3, 1861 to James and Charlotte Hasbrouck Cantine. He had a sister, Catherine. His mother died on the family homestead in Stone Ridge on November 24, 1916 at 99 years of age, after having been a widow for many years. Cantine graduated with a Civil Engineering Degree from

Union College Union College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the s ...

in 1883. After graduating, Cantine worked for three years as an engineer at

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Schenectady Schenectady ( ) is a City (New York), city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-most populo ...

, but decided to become a missionary. He studied at New Brunswick Theological Seminary in

New Brunswick, New Jersey New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.classis in the Fair Street Reformed Church,

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. He received his

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(D.D.) in 1903 from Union College.

Career

Arabian Mission established

Lansing, Cantine, and

Samuel Zwemer Samuel Marinus Zwemer (April 12, 1867 – April 2, 1952), nicknamed The Apostle to Islam, was an American missionary, traveler, and scholar. He was born at Vriesland, Michigan. In 1887 he received an A.B. from Hope College in Holland, Michigan, ...

established the Arabian Mission on August 1, 1889, at the Cantine homestead in Stone Ridge. About two and a half months later, on October 16, Cantine boarded a ship for

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

; Zwemer would join him after he completed his last year at the seminary. He studied

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

and the

Arabic language Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

in Beirut and Syria, where he met and was influenced by

Henry Harris Jessup Henry Harris Jessup (1832–1910) was an American Presbyterian missionary and author who devoted his distinguished career to evangelical missionary work in Syria (now Lebanon). Biography He was born at Montrose, Pennsylvania, son of the jurist ...

, an American

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

missionary and the main editor of the Protestant translation of the Arabic Bible. Both Cantine and Zwemer visited a number of cities in the Arabia region to determine the best place for them to establish a mission.

Basrah and other initial outposts

Cantine established a mission at Basrah, and Zwemer joined him in early 1892. Basrah was chosen because of its location along the eastern coast that enabled easy access to the whole of Northern Arabia. Located on the Persian Gulf, it was the first mission on Arabia's eastern coast, and it was the first mission for the Reform Church in Arabia. Their approach was one of direct evangelism, by converting Arabs to Christianity. Prior to that, missionaries used an indirect approach, where they sought to revitalize the faith among people who were already Christians. Direct evangelism by foreigners had been forbidden by the Ottoman government. Cantine was primarily interested in spreading Christianity, and so he created relationships with other Christian missions in the area, but he also wanted their Arabian Mission to survive and at times bowed to political pressures to do so. Zwemer was a gifted linguist, writer, and orator and became the voice of the Arabian Mission. "He had an irrepressible and aggressive personality, earnest where Cantine was tender, driving where his colleague was contemplative." Their plans to establish a needed medical mission were delayed due to staffing issues and funding, but they carried on with their Bible work, taking over efforts of the

British and Foreign Bible Society The British and Foreign Bible Society, often known in England and Wales as simply the Bible Society, is a non-denominational Christian Bible society with charity status whose purpose is to make the Bible available throughout the world. The ...

. In 1893, outposts were established in Bahrain and Muscat, by Zwemer and his brother, Peter, respectively. Since its beginning, missionaries and physicians came to support the work of the Arabian Mission and staff its posts. They sold about 200 booklets with Scripture within a couple of years. In 1894, the management of the independent mission was transferred to the Foreign Board of the church. The missionaries hired Dr. Worrall in 1895, but he was severely ill much of his first summer. Cantine returned to the United States for part of the year and raised interest and funds for the mission. In the meantime, there were wars between local tribes, with looting at Muscat. The Bible shop was closed by the government. Another station was opened up at Amara, and Dr. Worrall was well enough to see patients in Basrah and Nasariah, creating a means to build relationships with the local people. They were also selling more Scriptures, about 80% of them to Moslems. Zwemer settled in 1895 or 1896 in Bahrain, which had been judged to have very poor living conditions, like malaria, cholera, dysentery, and smallpox due to significant humidity and high temperatures. In his search for information about living conditions, Cantine found that it was considered "the most unhealthy place in all the area."

Other areas

In 1898, Cantine urgently left Basrah for Muscat because Samuel Zwemer and another colleague fell sick. Later, Muscat came to be known as "Cantine's station". In 1901, Cantine helped build a two-story building, the Mason Memorial Hospital after extensive negotiations with the ruler of

. Elizabeth DePree, a nurse from

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

, came to Arabia and was the first single woman to work as a missionary in Arabia. She was recruited by the mission and first studied and worked in Bahrain before coming to the mission in Oman. Cantine married DePree in 1904, and they continued their work together. They stayed in Muscat, Oman, where Elizabeth made house calls, worked at a daily clinic, and taught at a sewing school for girls. She became known as the "mother of modern medicine in Oman". He returned to the United States, and with Zwemer, spoke about the Arabian Mission at the

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on November 1, 1908, and two weeks later at the Lenox Avenue Collegiate Reformed Church, both in

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. Cantine and his wife opened a women's clinic in Muscat, which was staffed by Dr. Sarah Hosman. In 1921, the Cantines were transferred to Baghdad to the Reform Church Missionary Society to help rebuild following

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Later years

In 1924, the outposts and stations that they had established were merged with other missions in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

and Arabia to form the United Missions in Mesopotania, and both of the Cantines were representatives of the Reform Church of America for the organization. Zwemer raised funds and Cantine implemented the plans to build the Union Church and Religious Center in Baghdad by mid-1926. Elizabeth's health declined and they returned to the United States in April 1926. She died in Stone Ridge on August 30, 1927. He continued his missionary work in Arabia for a further of two years after her death, when he was no longer in good health. He returned to the homestead in Stone Ridge and continued promoting the work of the Arabian mission by speaking out to various sections of the

Reformed Church Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyterian, ...

. Cantine was co-author of ''The Golden Milestone: Reminiscences of Pioneer Days Fifty Years in Arabia'' with Zwemer, which he spoke about in the United States. Cantine was honored for his 50 years of missionary work on the October 27, 1938 by the Reformed Church at Fair Street, where he was first ordained.

Death

He had a heart attack in 1938 during a vacation in Florida, and a severe heart attack about May 1940, when he was taken to Benedictine Hospital in

. He remained there until his death on July 1, 1940. He was buried with his wife at the Fairview Cemetery in Stone Ridge, New York about July 5, 1940.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cantine, James 1861 births 1940 deaths Union College (New York) alumni American expatriates in the Ottoman Empire New Brunswick Theological Seminary alumni People from Ulster County, New York Reformed Church in America ministers American Protestant missionaries Christian medical missionaries Protestant missionaries in Oman Protestant missionaries in Yemen Protestant missionaries in Bahrain Protestant missionaries in the Ottoman Empire