cA SKETCH OF 
 THE c^^ISSIONS OF 
 THE AMERICAN BOARD 
 
 BOSTON, c^TMASSACHUSETTS 
 1910 
 
In preparing this account of the 
 missions of the American Board 
 in Asiatic Turkey, the sections 
 relating to the country, the races, 
 and the government, as well as 
 to the early periods of missionary 
 work are draWn largely from the 
 admirable sketch prepared by the 
 late Rev. Dr. Edwin E. Bliss, of 
 Constantinople. The sketch is 
 here brought down to the present 
 time. 
 
 E. E. STRONG 
 
American Board of Commissioners for 
 Foreign Missions. 
 
 CONDENSED SKETCH 
 of the 
 
 Missions 
 
 of the 
 
 American Board 
 
 in 
 
 ASIATIC TURKEY 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE AMERICAN BOARD 
 1910 
 
THE MISSIONS IN ASIATIC TURKEY, 1910 
 
 
 
 CO 
 
 C 
 
 
 stors 
 
 ents 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 0 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 m 
 
 
 m 
 
 
 
 (X 
 
 <: 
 
 
 
 ■3 
 
 
 station 
 
 Out Sta 
 
 Americi 
 Mission 
 
 Native 
 
 Total 
 Native 
 
 Churchi 
 
 Membe 
 
 Pupils 
 in Scho 
 
 
 8 
 
 98 
 
 80 
 
 38 
 
 408 
 
 44 
 
 4704 
 
 8529 
 
 
 4 
 
 66 
 
 38 
 
 13 
 
 320 
 
 33 
 
 5561 
 
 7045 
 
 
 5 
 
 109 
 
 46 
 
 20 
 
 304 
 
 45 
 
 3050 
 
 8272 
 
 Totals 
 
 17 
 
 263 
 
 164 
 
 71 
 
 1032 
 
 122 
 
 13315 
 
 23846 
 
MISSIONS IN ASIATIC TURKEY 
 
 The Country. — Of the three missions of 
 the American Board of Commissioners for 
 Foreign Missions which form the subject of 
 the present sketch, that to Western Turkey 
 occupies the region formerly constituting the 
 Roman provinces of Pontus, Bithynia, Paph- 
 lagonia, Galatia, Cappadocia, Phrygia, Lyca- 
 onia, Mysia, Asia, and Troas; that to Central 
 Turkey is in Ancient Cilicia, and that to East- 
 ern Turkey in Armenia and Mesopotamia. 
 The greater part of the whole region is made 
 up of tablelands, having an average elevation 
 above the level of the sea of three thousand 
 feet, which rises to forty-five hundred in 
 Armenia. Through these tablelands pass 
 various mountain ranges, the principal of 
 which and forming the basis of the mountain 
 system are the Taurus and the Anti-Taurus 
 Mountains, the first from ten to twelve thou- 
 sand feet high, extending eastward along the 
 shores of the Mediterranean and reaching 
 into the interior; the second almost parallel 
 to it on the north. 
 
 In Eastern Turkey the principal rivers are 
 the Tigris and the Euphrates, emptying into 
 the Persian Gulf. In Western Turkey are 
 
 3 
 
the Iris (the Yeshil Irmak), the Halys (the 
 Kizil Irmak), the Sakkariah, emptying into 
 the Black Sea, and the Hermus and Menan- 
 der, emptying into the Mediterranean. 
 
 Climate and Products. — The cHmate 
 varies according to latitude, elevation, and 
 exposure, ranging from the heat and dryness 
 of regions south of the Taurus and the Mes- 
 opotamia Plain, to the cool summers and 
 severe winters of Armenia and other elevated 
 regions. On the whole, the country is poorly 
 supplied with water, for want of which many 
 of the high plains are almost barren. Valleys 
 and places where irrigation is possible are 
 fertile. The mountain slopes afford good 
 pasturage for numerous herds and flocks. ^ 
 Formerly the country was more fertile, but 
 six centuries of war have almost stripped it of 
 trees, and greatly diminished its water sup- 
 pHes. The forests are few, but the beech, 
 the oak, and the pine tree are found to a hm- 
 ited extent, and, where they are cultivated, 
 the cypress, poplar, sycamore, mulberry, 
 olive, fig (indigenous in some parts of the 
 Taurus), lemon, pomegranate, apple, peach, 
 and plum. The principal prodijctions are 
 wheat, barley, rice, cotton, tobacco, maize, 
 hemp, and flax. The grape-vine abounds in 
 some parts, as do different kinds of melons. 
 . 4 
 
Area and Population. — ■ In 1820 the 
 Turkish Empire included within its bound- 
 aries, as it still does at least nominally, large 
 portions of Europe, Asia, and Africa, all 
 bordering on the Mediterranean Sea, and 
 estimated to cover more than two millions 
 of square miles, and to have a population of 
 forty millions. This area and this popula- 
 tion have since, as the result of numerous 
 wars, been much diminished. Large prov- 
 inces, Greece, Servia, Roumania, and Bul- 
 garia, have become independent, or, as in the 
 case of Bulgaria, acknowledge only a nominal 
 connection with the empire, while Egypt and 
 other African provinces pay an annual tribute 
 to the Sultan as their sovereign, but practically 
 are self-governing. The empire, including 
 all its dependencies, may now, according to the 
 Statesman's Year Book, be regarded as cover- 
 ing 1,662,000 square miles, and as having a 
 population of about 40,000,000; an area less 
 than one half that of the United States, in- 
 cluding States and Territories, and a popula- 
 tion equal to a little more than one half that 
 of those States and Territories. The prov- 
 inces under the immediate control of the 
 Sultan measure 1,157,000 square miles, and 
 have a population, in the absence of an ac- 
 curate census, supposed to be nearly twenty- 
 four millions. 
 
 5 
 
Of these twenty-four millions of the imme- 
 diate subjects of the Turkish Empire, about 
 sixteen millions are Mohammedan in their 
 religion; a large proportion of the remaining 
 millions profess Christianity in various forms. 
 Within this general division there is a large 
 diversity of race and language, making up a 
 most heterogeneous population. The large 
 proportion of the Mohammedans are Otto- 
 man Turks, found for the most part in the 
 northern part of the empire; next are the 
 Arabs, restricted principally to Syria, Arabia, 
 and the African provinces; then the Koords, 
 in the eastern and central portions of Asia 
 Minor; and then the Albanians in European 
 Turkey, about two thirds of whom are Mos- 
 lems and the remaining one third Christians. 
 Along with these are Turcomans, Tartars, 
 and Gypsies, and also a large number of 
 Circassians, — emigrants from Russia, — 
 with Yezidees and Druses and other semi- 
 pagan tribes. 
 
 The Christian population is made up largely 
 of Armenians, numbering about two and a 
 half millions, and having their home in the 
 northeastern portion of the empire, but found 
 also throughout Asia Minor; of Greeks, some 
 two millions in number, and found along the 
 northeastern shore of the Mediterranean and 
 on the adjacent islands; then Bulgarians, 
 
 6 
 
Syrians, Nestorians, Chaldasans, and Maro- 
 nites. In many parts of the empire, and 
 especially in the large seaport towns, are 
 found a good many Jews. 
 
 This mingling of races and religions is 
 found to such an extent in Turkey, that even 
 in small cities and towns there are frequently 
 to be found three or four distinct races, each 
 with its own language, its own religious and 
 social peculiarities, living on together gene- 
 ration after generation, never, commingling 
 beyond the necessities of business relations. 
 These are carried on in the Turkish lan- 
 guage, which each man learns to an extent in 
 addition to his own race-tongue used in the 
 family. There are places with a homogene- 
 ous population, Turkish, Armenian, or 
 Greek, but the mingling of races without 
 fusion is characteristic of the country. 
 
 The Turks. — ■ The Turks came originally 
 from the high plateau of Central Asia, having 
 China for its eastern border. They have 
 been known in history under various names, 
 as Mongolians, Scythians, and Tartars. 
 Chinese annals, dating back to before the 
 Christian era, speak of a powerful people 
 threatening their empire from the west, 
 calling them Hiong-nee (vile slav^c), and 
 also afterward Thiukin, or Turks, Numer 
 
 7 
 
ous tribes of Turanian stock, using dialects 
 akin to the Turkish, and some of them pro- 
 fessing Buddhism, are still found widely 
 scattered in that region. In early times the 
 tide of emigration and conquest, forced back 
 from China, poured towards the west, as early 
 as the fifth and sixth centuries of the Chris- 
 tian era. Turkish tribes became known in 
 Europe from their connection with the Greek 
 and Roman Empire at Constantinople. Ad- 
 vancing slowly, with great hordes of cattle, 
 through the vast region now bearing the 
 name Turkestan, some of these Turkish tribes 
 encountering the Saracens (Mohammedans 
 coming from Arabia), they themselves in the 
 tenth century embraced the religion of 
 Mohammed and became from that time 
 its zealous propagators. 
 
 One of these tribes, called Seljuk, from 
 the first known chief of the tribe, moving 
 on by a southern route through Bagdad, 
 estabhshed a kingdom which at one time 
 extended from the borders of China to the 
 shores of the Mediterranean. For 224 years 
 (1075-1299 A.D.) it had for its capital Konia 
 (the ancient Iconium) and waged frequent 
 wars with the Crusaders and the Greeks of 
 Constantinople. When this Seljukian Turk- 
 ish Empire began to wane, other Turkish 
 tribes, advancing by a more northern route 
 
 8 
 
from the prolific hive in Central Asia, by 
 the Caspian and Aral Seas and through 
 Armenia, completely subverted the dominion 
 of the Seljukians and established in its stead 
 that of the Ottoman Turks, so called from 
 Othman, their chief. Under him and his 
 successors this new Turkish power extended 
 into Europe, even to the walls of Vienna, and 
 in its reflux wave captured Constantinople 
 in the 857th year of the Mohammedan 
 Hegira, and the 1453d year of the Christian 
 era. Since that time these Ottoman Turks 
 have ruled the land. They assume to them- 
 selves as Mohammedans and conquerors all 
 the high offices of government, and desig- 
 nating the Christian part of the population 
 as rayahs (subjects), compel them to pay 
 special taxes, but exempt them from military 
 duty. These Ottoman Turks, through the 
 change of climate and habits of life resulting 
 from removal from Central Asia to Asia 
 Minor, and from the introduction of so many 
 Circassian women into their harems, now 
 present a physical type quite different from 
 that still found among the Turkish tribes in 
 heir original homes. 
 
 Other Races. — The Armenians are de- 
 scendants of a people whose home was the 
 mountainous region in the vicinity of Mount 
 
 9 
 
<\rarat. They once constituted a powerful 
 kingdom, covering a good part of Asia Minor 
 and extending even to the ancient province of 
 CiHcia on the Mediterranean Sea. Though 
 subject through much of their history to 
 foreign rule, they have all along kept them- 
 selves as distinct as the Jews from all com- 
 mingling with other races. Accepting Chris- 
 tianity in the fourth century, they have always 
 maintained their profession, though subjected 
 in consequence, in common with other 
 Christian nationalities, to much injurious 
 treatment at the hands of their Mohammedan 
 rulers. The Arabs, the Greeks, the Alba- 
 nians, and the Koords are probably descend- 
 ants more or less directly from the races 
 which anciently occupied the regions where 
 these nationalities are now found. 
 
 The Government. — This is an absolute 
 monarchy, the supreme authority being in the 
 hands of the Sultan, who bears the tide of 
 padishah (king of kings), and claims to be 
 caliph also, or head of the Mohammedan 
 religion. The oldest male member of the 
 royal family succeeds to the throne in case 
 of a vacancy. The Sultan has ministers in 
 various departments, appointed by himself, 
 whose counsel he seeks but often overrules. 
 The head minister of religion is called the 
 
 10 
 
Sheik ul Islam and is the supreme interpreter 
 of the sacred law. The highest minister in 
 the civil service is called the Grand Vizier, or 
 Sadrazam (the occupier of the highest 
 seat), corresponding to the Prime Minister in 
 other governments. After him comes the 
 Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister for 
 the Interior, for War, for the Navy, etc. All 
 unite to constitute the Grand Council of the 
 empire, and are designated by the Sultan as 
 his viziers, or representatives. Religious and 
 judicial magnates of different ranks bear the 
 general title of tilema (learned men), and 
 have as their head the Sheik ul Islam. For 
 them the book of law is the Koran. Of 
 late years the French code of laws and 
 methods of procedure by commissions are 
 coming into use in place of what is called the 
 sheriai, or ancient sacred law. The empire 
 is divided into provinces called vilayets, over 
 which governors, called valis, are appointed 
 by the Sultan, and have provincial councils 
 to assist in the administration. Provinces 
 are divided and subdivided, each district 
 having its own local government subject to 
 the one above it. In some parts of the empire 
 Christians are admitted to positions on vari- 
 ous councils, but controlling authority is 
 always retained in the hands of Mohamme- 
 dans. The various Christian communities 
 
 11 
 
have each its own national organization to 
 which the supreme government accords 
 limited authority and privileges, subordinate 
 to itself, and constituting an intricate system, 
 wheels within wheels, of civil and ecclesias- 
 tical administration. 
 
 MISSIONARY WORK. 
 
 The missionary work of the American 
 Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions 
 in Turkey began in 1820. Pliny Fisk and 
 Levi Parsons were appointed in 1818 to labor 
 in Palestine, but did not leave America till 
 the close of 18 19, and reached Smyrna only 
 in 1820. From that place Mr. Parsons went 
 on alone to Jerusalem in 182 1, but was soon 
 obliged on account of illness to retire; and 
 he died at Alexandria in Egypt, February 
 10, 1822, his associate, Mr. Fisk, being with 
 him at the time. The next year the Rev. 
 Jonas King joined Mr. Fisk, and the two 
 proceeded to Palestine. 
 
 The missionary work of the American 
 Board in the parts of Turkey under consider- 
 ation in this sketch began at Constantinople 
 on the arrival there, in 183 1, of Rev. William 
 Goodell. It had been preceded since 1822 
 by the publication in Malta in various 
 languages of portions of the Bible and 
 other books for schools and for religious 
 
 12 
 
reading. There had been also as early as 
 1826 some efforts in the line of schools for 
 Greeks at Smyrna. The previous year 
 (1830) Messrs. Eli Smith and H. G. O. 
 Dwight had made an extensive tour of obser- 
 vation and research through Asia Minor, 
 Armenia, and Persia, reaching Constanti- 
 nople on their return a little after Mr. 
 Goodell's arrival there. 
 
 First Period. — The first period in the 
 history of the mission thus established, ex- 
 tending from 183 1 to 1846, may be called 
 the period of preparation. During this 
 period five stations were successively formed: 
 Constantinople in 183 1; Smyrna, 1833; 
 Biousa, 1834; Trebizond, 1836, and Erz- 
 room, 1839. At first the missionaries were 
 mainly occupied in the study of the lan- 
 guages of the country, making the ac- 
 quaintance of the people and establishing 
 schools as opportunity offered and teachers 
 could be secured. Subsequently as they 
 acquired the ability they secured the transla- 
 tion of the Bible into the spoken languages 
 of the country, with the preparation, publi- 
 cation, and circulation of religious books 
 and tracts, and of textbooks for schools, at 
 the same time preaching the gospel, as their 
 tongues were loosened, to individuals and 
 
 13 
 
small audiences. They had been instructed 
 to regard themselves as missionaries to all 
 the people of Turkey, but soon discovered 
 that the door of access most widely opened 
 was that to the Armenians, and accordingly 
 devoted their labors for many years mainly 
 to that people. It was, however, no part of 
 their scheme to labor to bring about any 
 secession from the Armenian Church, but 
 simply to secure a reformation within the 
 church from the serious errors in doctrine 
 and practice which had crept in during long 
 years of ignorance. 
 
 Their hopes in this respect were disap- 
 pointed. The ecclesiastics and other leaders 
 among the Armenians, seeing after awhile 
 that those brought under missionary influence 
 began to forsake the confessional, neglected 
 to pray to the saints, abandoned the use of 
 pictures in worship, and appealed to the 
 testimony of the Word of God on all ques- 
 tions of doctrine, set themselves to the work 
 of opposing the missionaries and of persecut- 
 ing all who yielded to their influence. 
 
 This persecution began in 1839 
 tinued with varying degrees of severity for 
 years. This was a period of great religious 
 interest in the intercourse between the mis- 
 sionaries and the gospel brethren, as those 
 were called who favored the new views. 
 
 14 
 
The Christian experience of many of the 
 latter was very remarkable; the persecution 
 suffered often seeming to stimulate rather 
 than repress their spiritual life. Allusion has 
 already been made to the authority accorded 
 by the Turkish government to the different 
 national organizations among the Christians. 
 Availing themselves of this authority the 
 ecclesiastics and other chiefs of the Armenian 
 community inflicted all manner of hardship 
 upon the gospel men. They were bastina- 
 doed, thrown into prison, fined, put out of 
 employment, deprived of permits to trade, 
 or sent into exile. The ecclesiastics had but 
 to denounce a man as an unruly member of 
 their flock, disobedient to their orders, when 
 the Turks would deliver him into their hands, 
 giving their own police orders to punish the 
 offender. Then, too, the anathemas hurled 
 in the churches against the heretics, as they 
 were called, made them outlaws. No one 
 in the Armenian community might give them 
 salutations or sell them even the necessaries 
 of life. Of course they were deprived of all 
 church privileges and in case of death were 
 cast out to the burial of dogs. 
 
 Rejected thus from their own national 
 church, the gospel brethren naturally sought 
 a church organization for themselves in which 
 they and their children could enjoy the or- 
 
 15 
 
dinances of the gospeL The aid of the 
 missionaries was invoked in this matter, and 
 was granted, for it was obvious that it was 
 impossible for the excommunicated brethren 
 to return to the national church except by 
 subscribing to doctrines and conforming to 
 rites that would violate their consciences. 
 At the request, therefore, of the native con- 
 verts a plan of church organization, including 
 a simple creed and covenant, was prepared 
 by the missionaries, and, having been ex- 
 amined and accepted by the native brethren, 
 on its basis forty individuals, including three 
 females, united in forming (July i, 1846) 
 the first Evangelical Armenian Church of 
 Constantinople. They chose one of their 
 number named Apisoghom Hatchadoorian 
 to be their pastor, who was ordained to that 
 office during the following week. Churches 
 on the same basis were formed during the 
 summer at Nicomedia and Adabazar in the 
 neighborhood of Constantinople, and in the 
 autumn at Trebizond on the Black Sea. 
 This may be regarded as the termination of 
 the first period of the work in this part of 
 Turkey, during which, in connection with 
 preparations for larger operations, the gospel 
 had been already extensively preached in the 
 vicinity of Constantinople, and to some 
 extent in more distant places The zeal of 
 
 le 
 
the native converts and the evidence they 
 gave of the power of the truth upon their 
 hearts, their cheerful endurance of the per- 
 secutions laid upon them, attracted the 
 attention of many and brought numbers to 
 places where the missionaries preached, 
 and thus laid deep foundations for work in 
 the future. 
 
 Second Period. — A second period in the 
 history of the missionary work under con- 
 sideration, covering twenty years, from 1846 
 to 1866, was a period of growth and organiza- 
 tion. The stations occupied by mission- 
 aries increased in number from five to 
 twenty-four. Aintab, in what is now called 
 the Mission to Central Turkey, was first oc- 
 cupied in 1849; Mosul on the Tigris in 
 1850 ; Diarbekir, also on the Tigris, and 
 Marsovan, in the centre of Asia Minor, in 
 1857; Arabkir, in Eastern Turkey, in 1853; 
 Tocat and Cesarea in 1854; Marash, 
 Aleppo, Sivas, and Harpoot in 1855; Oorfa, 
 Nicomedia, and Antioch in 1856; Mardin, 
 Bitlis, and Adrianople in 1858; and Adana 
 in 1863; the work thus spreading to all parts 
 of Northern Turkey. 
 
 Division into Three Missions. — At first 
 all the stations occupied constituted but one 
 mission, which held annually a meeting of 
 
 37 
 
•delegates from each station for the consider- 
 ation of all plans and estimates for the 
 coming year. But at length the expense of 
 time and money involved in attendance 
 upon these annual meetings became so great 
 for delegates coming from remote places 
 that in 1856 the stations of Aintab, Marash, 
 Antioch, Aleppo, and Oorfa were constituted 
 a separate mission, having the Taurus Moun- 
 tains for its boundary on the north. This 
 is called the Mission to Central Turkey. 
 
 Again in i860 the delegates to the annual 
 meeting of the remaining stations, finding 
 that some of their number had been obliged 
 to travel seven hundred and fifty miles, 
 requiring more than a month of time, and 
 finding other difficulties in the care of so ex- 
 tensive a region by one mission, decided 
 upon another division, by which the stations 
 of Erzroom, Harpoot, and Arabkir, uniting 
 with Mosul, Mardin, and Diarbekir (stations 
 of the 'Assyria Mission, which had been 
 carried on for eleven years in Southeastern 
 Turkey), should constitute a separate mis- 
 sion, to be called the Mission to Eastern 
 Turkey, having for its boundary on the west 
 the forty-second degree of east longitude, and 
 for its eastern limit the borders of Persia. 
 The remaining stations, Constantinople, 
 Adrianople, Smyrna, Brousa, Nicomedia, 
 
 18 
 
Trebizond, Marsovan, Sivas, including Tocat' 
 and Cesarea, are within the bounds of what is 
 called the Mission to Western Turkey. 
 These three missions, all acting under the 
 supervision of the Prudential Committee at 
 Boston, now carry on the work entrusted to 
 them, holding annual meetings independently 
 of each other, but securing unity of plan and 
 operation by an interchange of representa- 
 tives at their meetings. 
 
 The persecutions, already mentioned, con- 
 tinued with but little abatement till 1850, 
 when through the kind intervention of the 
 English ambassador. Sir Stratford Canning, 
 afterwards bearing the title Lord Stratford de 
 Redcliffe, and others, the Sultan issued a 
 royal firman, giving to his Protestant subjects 
 all the rights and privileges of a distinct civil 
 organization, putting them on an equality' 
 with the Armenians, Greeks, and other non- 
 Moslem communities. The provisions of 
 this firman have been imperfectly carried 
 out, but have secured the cessation, to a 
 great extent, of former persecutions. During 
 these twenty years, the number of evangel- 
 ical churches increased from four to forty- 
 seven, with 1,913 members in all, the number 
 on their rolls from the beginning having 
 amounted to 2,337. 
 
 Evangelical Unions. — In 1864 eight of 
 
 19 
 
the churches in the vicinity of Constantinople 
 formed an ecclesiastical association called, 
 from the ancient name of the Roman prov- 
 ince to which they belonged, the Bithynia 
 U nion. It carries on its work independentlv 
 -)i the missionaries, who, however, attend 
 its meetings and take part in their exercises 
 as honorary members. The object of the 
 union is to take oversight of the churches, 
 provide pastors, attend to cases of complaint, 
 and promote the prosperity of the evangel- 
 ical work in the region. A similar union 
 was formed in 1865 among the churches in 
 the mission to Eastern Turkey, and was 
 called the Harpoot Union. This union has 
 carried on an important missionary work for 
 years for the Armenians living among the 
 Koords in that region. Another union has 
 been formed among the churches of Central 
 Turkey, and bearing the name of the Cilicia 
 Union, and still another called the Central 
 Union, among the churches centering about 
 Marsovan, Cesarea, and Sivas in the Mission 
 to Western Turkey. There have been es- 
 tablished native evangelical societies also in 
 the regions of Erzroom and Bidis for the 
 promotion of home missionary work. Be- 
 sides the meetings of these associations, 
 repeated conferences were held during these 
 twenty years, sometimes extended for days, 
 
 20 
 
and attended by missionaries and represen- 
 tatives of the churches, pastors, and others, 
 to secure harmony in action and progress in 
 the work. Extensive tours on the part of 
 native pastors and of missionaries helped 
 in the same direction. During the same 
 period there was continual advance, though 
 at first not very rapid, in the contributions 
 of the churches to the support of their own 
 institutions. The habit of giving tithes to 
 the service of the Lord was adopted in many 
 of the communities, especially in the interior. 
 
 Theological Seminary and the Press. — - 
 Early in the history of the station at Con- 
 stantinople, a seminary was established there 
 for the education of young men preparing 
 for the ministry, such as gave promise {or 
 that work. This seminary, long under the 
 care of Rev. Cyrus HamHn, D.D., was re- 
 moved in 1865 to Marsovan in the interior, 
 and has been continued there as the theo- 
 logical seminary for the Mission to Western 
 Turkey. In its place has arisen Robert Col- 
 lege, which though having no organic con- 
 lection with the mission, is in full sympathy 
 with its work. Robert College opened in 
 1862, and graduated its first class in 1868. 
 A theological seminary was. started in 1859 
 at Harpoot in Eastern Turkey, and sent out 
 its first class of eighteen men in 1863. 
 
Schools for the training of preachers and 
 teachers were also early established at Tocat, 
 Mardin, Marash, and Aintab. 
 
 The Mission Press, which had been trans- 
 ferred in 1833 from Malta to Smyrna, was 
 again transferred in 1853 to Constantinople, 
 where it has ever since continued its opera- 
 tions. The books, tracts, and newpapers 
 printed have been in Armenian, ancient and 
 modern, for the use of Armenians speak- 
 ing their own language; in Armeno-Turkish 
 (Turkish printed in the Armenian character), 
 for Armenians using only the Turkish 
 language; in Arabo-Turkish (Turkish in the 
 Arabic character), for Turks; in Greco-Turk- 
 ish (Turkish in Greek character), for Greeks 
 using the Turkish language. The Scriptures 
 in these different languages and characters 
 were at first published under the auspices 
 of the mission, but since 1858 this work has 
 been under the care of the agents of the 
 American and of the British and Foreign 
 Bible Societies. The general publication 
 work of the three missions is done princi- 
 pally at Constantinople on account of facili- 
 ties found there, and is about equally divided 
 between publications of Christian literature 
 and textbooks for schools. 
 
 Third Period. — A third period, cover- 
 
 22 
 
ing the thirty years 1866 to 1896 of the history 
 of the missions in Turkey, may be character- 
 ized as the period of decided advance in 
 educational work, and in the establishment of 
 cordial relations of co-operation between the 
 native evangelical churches and the foreign 
 missionary laborers. During this period the 
 number of organized churches increased 
 from 47 to III, and the membership from 
 1,913 to 11,889. 
 
 One of these churches, organized by the 
 Bithynia Union in 1867, was composed 
 entirely of evangelical Greeks. In other 
 cases Greeks and converts of different na- 
 tionalities, Turks, Jews, Bulgarians, have 
 become members of the local evangelical 
 church. In 1872 Van was added to the list 
 of stations in Eastern Turkey. The theo- 
 logical seminary at Marash graduated its first 
 class in 187 1. The erection of a large and 
 commodious Bible House (dedicated in 
 June, 1872, by means of funds collected, 
 mainly in America, by Rev. I. G. Bliss, D.D., 
 and placed under the care of trustees) marks 
 an era in the" Bible and general publication 
 work. 
 
 Educational Work. — From the beginning, 
 common schools to teach reading (especially 
 the Bible), writing, and other primary studies 
 had been established at all stations and out- 
 
 23 
 
stations. During these thirty years these 
 schools were multiplied, improved in char- 
 acter, and graded schools introduced. High 
 schools for boys, and seminaries for the 
 higher education of girls, were established in 
 almost every important city in the three 
 missions. Industrial departments were added 
 to some of the high schools for boys, to 
 teach the pupils to some extent useful trades, 
 form habits of industry, and aid in their 
 pecuniary support. "The Home," a board- 
 ing schools for girl, established at Constanti- 
 nople in 1872 under the auspices of the 
 Woman's Board of Missions, for the higher 
 education of pupils of various nationalities, 
 now called the American College for Girls, 
 began to send out its graduates in 1875. 
 the same year Central Turkey College com- 
 menced operations at Aintab, and soon added 
 its medical department. Prior to 1903, 224 
 had been graduated in the twenty-four classes 
 of this institution. The Normal School 
 established in 1872 at Harpoot became 
 Armenia College in 1878. Its name has 
 since been changed to Euphrates College. 
 The institution is for both sexes and it has 
 primary and high school as well as collegiate 
 and theological departments. In 1907 there 
 were in all these departments nearly 1,000 
 students, of whom 242 were in the college 
 
 24 
 
proper. In 1886 the high school for boys 
 at Marsovan became AnatoHa College. 
 One third of its pupils have been Greeks. 
 About one sixth of its graduates have become 
 preachers of the gospel. 
 
 In 1882 a high school for girls was founded 
 at Marash, which subsequently received the 
 title of the Central Turkey Girls' College. 
 Nearly all the graduates from this institu- 
 tion have been engaged in the work of 
 teaching. 
 
 St. Paul's Institute at Tarsus was char- 
 tered by the legislature of New York in 1887, 
 having been founded by Col. Elliot F. Shep- 
 ard, of New York. From its inception the 
 institution has had a good body of students, 
 numbering, in 1906, 158. 
 
 Another college formed within this period 
 is the International College at Smyrna 
 which was started as a boys' school in 1S91, 
 but was incorporated as the International 
 College in 1903. The city of Smyrna has 
 a population of 325,000 and the college also 
 reaches out towards Greece, Macedonia and 
 the islands of the ^gean. The American 
 Board aided the college in its earlier years, 
 but since 1898 the institution has been 
 entirely self supporting. 
 
 Self-support and Self-government. — It is 
 a principle early accepted on the part of 
 
 25 
 
missionaries and of the churches formed in 
 connection with their labors that an evangel- 
 ical work once begun in any region should 
 pass, as soon as may be, into the hands of 
 native Christians; that the work should be 
 primarily regarded as belonging to their 
 churches, and that the missionaries from 
 abroad should be regarded as their helpers. 
 Hence the efforts to establish self-supporting 
 and self-governing churches, and to induce 
 them to take upon themselves as fast and 
 as far as possible the responsibilities of push- 
 ing on the work. 
 
 Departments of Work. — Aside from the 
 evangelistic work, to which the larger number 
 of the missionaries devote their energies, 
 the educational department calls for the 
 entire attention of many of the missionaries. 
 Indeed, most of them give some attention to 
 the supervision of educational work. The 
 seven colleges and four theological schools 
 and forty-seven boarding and high schools 
 demand constant labor on the part of the 
 men and women of the mission. 
 
 The publication department for the three 
 missions is located at Constantinople, where 
 the press under the care of a special committee 
 is preparing and issuing books, tracts and 
 newspapers as needed throughout thp Turk- 
 ish Empire. 
 
 26 
 
The medical department is an important 
 arm of the service, eleven of the male mis- 
 sionaries being physicians. Well conducted 
 hospitals are open at Marsovan, Cesarea, 
 Sivas, Harpoot, Van, Mardin, and Erzroom. 
 The hospital at Aintab is second to none in 
 efficiency, but is independent of the mission. 
 A new one is about to be opened at Diar- 
 bekir in Eastern Turkey. 
 
 The work of these three missions has been, 
 through its whole history, to a very great 
 extent, among the Armenians, but has ex- 
 tended also to other nationalities of the em- 
 pire, especially to Greeks in Western Turkey, 
 to Koordish-speaking and to Syrian Chris- 
 tians in Eastern Turkey, and somewhat in all 
 the three missions to the Turks. Few of this 
 latter nationality have publicly professed 
 acceptance of Christianity, but judging from 
 the increasing sale of Scriptures and portions 
 of the same in the language used by them, 
 and from the not infrequent attendance upon 
 evangelical worship by individuals of this 
 nationality, many among them are giving 
 attention to its claims. 
 
 Fourth Period. — From 1896-1907. The 
 beginning of this period was marked by 
 a sudden and fierce persecution, involving 
 the loss of thousands of lives and much prop- 
 
 27 
 
erty. Not since modern missions began has 
 a disaster so widespread and severe befallen 
 Christian converts unless it may be compared 
 with the Boxer rebellion in China, in the 
 year 1900. These massacres began in the 
 autumn of 1895. With a single exception, 
 all the eight stations of the Eastern and Cen- 
 tral Turkey Missions, besides several in the 
 Western, were the scenes of brutal massacres, 
 while hundreds of villages were pillaged and 
 burnea. Mission property at Harpoot and 
 Marash went up in flames, and while the life 
 of no foreign missionary was taken, hundreds 
 and thousands of native Christians were 
 cruelly slain, scores on scores of them dying 
 as faithful martyrs for Christ's sake. 
 
 The persecution was directed chiefly against 
 the Armenians, both those belonging to the 
 old Gregorian Church and to the Protestant 
 churches; their church buildings were dese- 
 crated and burned, their homes were de- 
 stroyed, many were slain, and it seemed for 
 a time as if the race would be entirely obliter- 
 ated. One of the most dreadful stories con- 
 nected with this reign of terror throughout 
 the cities and villages of Asia Minor was that 
 which came from Oorfa in Central Turkey. 
 There the Armenians fled for refuge to their 
 great church, crowding it with 2,000 people, 
 some estimating the number as high as 3,000, 
 
 28 
 
and upon these defenseless multitudes the 
 persecutors drew their swords and while 
 slaughtering to the right hand and left, the 
 building was set on fire and not more than 
 loo escaped with their lives from the terrible 
 holocaust. But the effort to blot out the Chris- 
 tian faith reacted upon the persecutors; the 
 blood of the martyrs again proved to be the 
 seed of the church. The furnace of affliction 
 through which the people passed welded them 
 together as never before and the Gregorians 
 to some large extent learned that the mission- 
 ary movement among them was designed not 
 for the destruction, but for the reformation 
 of their church. 
 
 It is wonderful to say that the Protestant 
 communities, though so terribly smitten by 
 the loss of so many of their churches and 
 pastors, and the destruction of their homes 
 and property did not give over to despair. 
 Smitten to the earth they kept their faith in 
 God and have shown marvelous recuperative 
 power. Little by little they have rebuilt their 
 churches; they have kept open the schools; 
 out of their deep poverty have sought Chris- 
 tian education for their children, so that at 
 the present time the number of pupils in the 
 various educational institutions of all grades 
 is larger than ever before. Churches are 
 fairly prosperous; the conditions under which 
 
 29 
 
they live are most trying; taxes are exorbi- 
 tant and their positions are insecure. Emi- 
 gration to America has been very constant 
 and communities that have been under the 
 influence of our missions are found in many 
 parts of the United States. Our missionaries 
 are laboring hopefully and are anticipating a 
 brighter day for the evangelical work through- 
 out the empire. 
 
 1907-1910. — To bring this sketch down to 
 the centennial year of the American Board 
 a brief statement should be made concern- 
 ing the period from 1907 to 1910. On the 
 part of the Turkish government most sweep- 
 ing changes have transpired within this 
 brief period. On the 24th of July, 1908, by 
 order of the Sultan, a constitution framed in 
 1876, but suspended a year later, was re- 
 stored to the amazement of all parties within 
 and without the nation. A new party has 
 arisen, whose origin and purpose were for a 
 time obscured, called the Union of Liberty 
 and Progress, headed by a committee which 
 manifested much energy and patriotism. This 
 Constitution guaranteed religious liberty, 
 freedom of the press and a parliament. 
 This reform was hailed with the greatest 
 enthusiasm, and for a time it seemed as if 
 an era of brotherly love and mutual for- 
 bearance had begun which would remove 
 
 30 
 
all racial and religious animosities. Turks 
 and Armenians fraternized openly on the 
 street and in public assemblies. The revo- 
 lution was bloodless and seemed well-nigh 
 complete. There was great jubilation on 
 the part of missionaries and native Chris- 
 tians, not altogether unmingled with fears, 
 lest some reaction should take place and 
 there should be some failure to achieve that 
 which seemed so near and yet so improb- 
 able. It was not long before a storm broke 
 forth at Constantinople and almost at the 
 same instant at Adana, in Central Turkey. 
 Influences, the source of which is still dis- 
 puted, but which were at the time believed 
 to be connected with the Sultan's palace, 
 decreed that another massacre should be 
 perpetrated. 
 
 On April 14, 1909 the Turks commenced 
 the devastation both by fire and sword. 
 Hundreds of people at Adana, and at Tarsus, 
 and at many villages over the plain and 
 back in the mountains, were killed, houses 
 and shops were plundered and burned. One 
 of the missionaries of the American Board, 
 Rev. D. Miner Rogers, and another Ameri- 
 can of the Mennonite Mission were killed; 
 the marvel was that any escaped. For days 
 the work of destruction went on and it was 
 found that 21 native pastors and preachers 
 
 31 
 
had fallen as victims of the rage of their 
 enemies, and some of the churches that had 
 been full of promise seemed utterly destroyed. 
 The account of the pitiful condition of the 
 people and of the devastation and slaughter 
 led to a movement at Constantinople on the 
 part of the Committee of Progress by which 
 the Sultan, Abdul Hamid II, who had 
 reigned so long and so cruelly, was deposed 
 and became a prisoner at Salonica. Some 
 real and effective attempts at restoration on 
 the part of the new vali at Adana have 
 mitigated the woes of the people and the 
 Christians have rallied with an energy be- 
 yond all praise for the maintenance of the 
 Christian work throughout the Cilician pro- 
 vince. The wounds are healing though the 
 scars remain, and the present outlook for 
 missions in the district is hopeful. 
 
 32