Doty was an American missionary of the Dutch Reformed Church. He was neither widely read nor a profound scholar, but his accuracy, sound judgment, and freedom from prejudice fitted him admirably for his work.
Background
Elihu Doty was born on September 20, 1809 in Berne, Albany County, New York, United States. He was the son of Stephen Holmes and Phebe (Nelson) Doty, he was a descendant of Edward Doty who came to Plymouth on the Mayflower, as a servant to Stephen Hopkins.
Education
Doty graduated from Rutgers College in 1835 and from Rutgers Seminary in 1836, because of his advanced age and mental maturity taking the combined courses in five years.
Career
Doty was ordained at Berne, on May 16, 1836, and on May 30 was commissioned by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, with which the Dutch Reformed Church was then affiliated. On June 8 he embarked with Nevius, Youngblood, and Ennis as the first missionary band of the New Brunswick Seminary, and arrived at Batavia, Java, on Sept. 15. There they were delayed and hindered by the jealousy of the Dutch government, but after three years of discouraging labor in Batavia and Singapore, Doty began work on the island of Borneo, in June 1839, devoting himself to the Chinese-speaking portion of the population.
While his actual missionary labors were unsuccessful, he made several extensive tours of exploration the valuable results of which are incorporated in his Narrative ofaTour in Borneo. The Borneo mission failed and was given up for lack of workers, but in 1844 Doty joined the Amoy mission, composed of Dutch Reformed missionaries working under the American Board, and here most of his effective work was accomplished. His connection with the American Board ceased on the final transfer of the Amoy work to the newly organized Dutch Reformed Board, Mar. 23, 1858. Doty was a member for twenty years of the Amoy mission, where by his character and work he left an enduring impression. He baptized the first Chinese woman to be received into church fellowship, baptized the first children of native Christian parents, and was for a time in charge of the first Chinese day school, in the province.
At length he gradually withdrew from the distinctively evangelistic work of the mission and gave himself to literary labors, for which he was well adapted.
Achievements
Personality
Doty was a man of unromantic temperament and not much given to the graces; but he was solid, steadfast, and plodding. He was neither widely read nor a profound scholar, but his accuracy, sound judgment, and freedom from prejudice fitted him admirably for his work.
Connections
On May 13, 1836 Doty married Clarissa Dolly Ackley of Washington, Connecticut, who died at Amoy on October 5, 1845. His second wife, Eleanor Augusta Smith of Parsippany, New Jearsey, whom he married on February 17, 1847, died on February 28, 1858, at Amoy.