Background

Elijah Coleman Bridgman was born on April 22, 1801 in Belchertown, Massachussets, a descendant of James Bridgman who settled in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1640; and son of Theodore and Lucretia (Warner) Bridgman.

Education

From boyhood, when Elijah Bridgman was attracted to missionary work through his reading of missionary periodicals, his one unwavering interest was in that field of activity. To prepare himself for it, he went to Amherst College, graduating in 1826, and then to Andover Theological Seminary.

Career

On the day he finished his studies, September 23, 1829, representatives of the American Board asked him to accept an appointment to China, a New York merchant, D. W. C. Olyphant, engaged in trade with Canton, having offered to support a missionary there for a year. It took him but three days to come to a decision.

On October 3, he was commissioned; on October 6, at Belchertown, he was ordained; and the next week he was on his way, arriving in Canton the latter part of February 1830. Except for a brief visit to America, because of ill health in 1852, he spent the remainder of his life in China, never seeming to have any desire to leave his work. Here he died at the age of sixty, and his body lies buried in the Shanghai cemetery.

When he arrived in Canton the only Protestant worker in China was the celebrated English missionary and translator, Dr. Robert Morrison, under whose tutelage he soon acquired a good knowledge of the language. The open preaching of Christianity at that time was forbidden, and while he performed all the duties of a clergyman, his chief work was that of a pioneer organizer, educator, and translator. On the formation of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, in November 1834, he was chosen joint secretary with Dr. Charles Gützlaff.

In 1832 a mission press was started, and in May of that year he began the publication of the Chinese Repository, for the spread of information about China among English-speaking people. This periodical, widely read and valued, he edited until 1847, when S. Wells Williams, who had long assisted him, took sole charge.

After Hong-Kong was ceded to Great Britain, he removed to that city where he married, June 28, 1845. Later in the year he returned to Canton but in 1847 removed to Shanghai, and spent much of the remainder of his life working on translations of the Bible.

His own version, in preparing which Rev. M. S. Culbertson collaborated, appeared in 1862. On various occasions he was of much assistance to the United States government.

Achievements

• Elijah Bridgman was active in founding the Morrison Education Society, and with Drs. T. R. Colledge and Peter Parker called the public meeting in Canton, February 21, 1838, which resulted in the organization of the Medical Missionary Society in China. In 1841 he published his Chinese Chrestomathy, to which Williams also contributed, a quarto of 734 pages, and the first practical manual of the Cantonese dialect prepared in China. As a translator he contributed greatly to the formulation of America’s first treaty with the Chinese government under the Qing Dynasty. Caleb Cushing, in a letter published in the Presbyterian, March 8, 1845, speaks of Bridgman's "indispensable service" as translator and adviser during the former's negotiations with China. Later he was the first president of the Shanghai Literary and Scientific Society (later the North China branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, established in 1857, and edited its journal until his death in 1861. Bridgman and his wife were both buried in Shanghai.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Chinese Repository; Volume 4

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • The Chinese Repository (Volume Seventeen)

    (The Chinese Repository (Volume Seventeen) by Elijah Colem...)

  • The Chinese Repository (Volume Fourteen)

    (The Chinese Repository (Volume Fourteen) by Elijah Colema...)

  • The Chinese Repository (Volume Sixteen)

    (The Chinese Repository (Volume Sixteen) by Elijah Coleman...)

  • The Chinese Repository (Volume Fifteen)

    (The Chinese Repository (Volume Fifteen) by Elijah Coleman...)

  • The Chinese Repository (Volume Twelve)

    (The Chinese Repository (Volume Twelve) by Elijah Coleman ...)

  • The Chinese Repository (Volume Eleven)

    (The Chinese Repository (Volume Eleven) by Elijah Coleman ...)

  • The Chinese Repository (Volume Ten)

    (The Chinese Repository (Volume Ten) by Elijah Coleman Bri...)

  • The Chinese Repository (Volume One)

    (The Chinese Repository (Volume One) by Elijah Coleman Bri...)

  • The Chinese Repository (Volume Six)

    (The Chinese Repository (Volume Six) by Elijah Coleman Bri...)

  • The Chinese Repository (Volume Two)

    (The Chinese Repository (Volume Two) by Elijah Coleman Bri...)

  • The Chinese Repository Volume 11

    (This is a reproduction of a classic text optimised for ki...)

  • The Chinese Repository

    (This is a reproduction of a classic text optimised for ki...)

  • The Chinese Repository Volume 12

    (This is a reproduction of a classic text optimised for ki...)

  • The Pioneer of American Missions in China: The Life and Labors of Elijah Coleman Bridgman

    (This is a reproduction of a classic text optimised for ki...)

  • The Chinese Repository, Volume 4...

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

  • The Chinese Repository, Vol. 18: From January to December 1849 (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from The Chinese Repository, Vol. 18: From Januar...)

  • The Chinese Repository, Vol. 2: From May, 1833, to April, 1834 (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from The Chinese Repository, Vol. 2: From May, 18...)

  • The Chinese Repository, Vol. 12: From January to December, 1843 (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from The Chinese Repository, Vol. 12: From Januar...)

  • The Chinese Repository, Vol. 6 (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from The Chinese Repository, Vol. 6 An'r. II. Co...)

  • The Chinese Repository, Vol. 12: From January to December, 1843 (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from The Chinese Repository, Vol. 12: From Januar...)

  • The Chinese Repository, Vol. 9: From May, 1840, to December, 1840 (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from The Chinese Repository, Vol. 9: From May, 18...)

  • The Chinese Repository, Vol. 16: From January to December, 1847 (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from The Chinese Repository, Vol. 16: From Januar...)

  • The Chinese Repository, Vol. 17: From January to December, 1848 (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from The Chinese Repository, Vol. 17: From Januar...)

  • book

Membership

Bridgman was a member of the North China branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, and the editor of its journal. He was also a member of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, of the Morrison Education Society, and also a member of the Medical Missionary Society in China.

Later in life he was a member of the Shanghai Literary and Scientific Society.

Connections

After Hong-Kong was ceded to Great Britain, Elijah Coleman Bridgman removed to that city where he married, June 28, 1845, Eliza Jane Gillett. She had founded and managed for 15 years the first girls' school in Shanghai.

Father:

Theodore Bridgman

Mother:

Lucretia (Warner) Bridgman

wife :

Eliza Jane Gillett Bridgman

1805–1871

References

• The pioneer of American missions in China: the life and labors of Elijah Coleman Bridgman - Primary Source Edition
• The life and labors of Elijah Coleman Bridgman The pioneer of American missions in China
• The Life and Labors of Elijah Coleman Bridgman (Classic Reprint)