Rosewell Hobart Graves

Picture of China Centenary Missionary Conference records; Held at Shanghai, April 25 to May 8, 1907. Graves is pictured in the bottom left. Rosewell Hobart Graves (1833–1912) was a Christian medical missionary from Baltimore, Maryland. He served the communities of Southern China for 56 years. He was the longest-serving Southern Baptist missionary in the area, and made his impact by spreading western medicine and religion to women, inspiring the founding of the Woman's Missionary Union, and founding 42 schools. His literary work described his impact on the communities he visited.

Early life and family Rosewell Hobart Graves was born on May 29, 1833, in Baltimore, Maryland. His father was a medical doctor, and became the reason why Graves decided to study medicine. His mother, Ann Baker Graves was an author who supported Christian missionaries. Throughout his career, Graves was constantly writing to his mother, primarily about his strategy of converting the women of China. Taking inspiration, Ann went on to meet with women in Maryland to do the same thing, effectively founding Woman's Mission to Woman, now known as the Woman's Missionary Union.

At age 15, Graves began to develop his faith in Christ due to pastor Richard Fuller of the Seventh Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland. He graduated from St. Mary's College in 1853, with aspirations of becoming a doctor. He listened to the talks of J. Lewis Shuck and T. J. Bowen, missionaries who spoke at the Baptist General Convention in Baltimore in 1853.

Mission work In March 1855, Graves was formally appointed to serve in China. In April 1856, Graves got an honorary medical license from the University of Maryland, and was ordained as a Southern Baptist missionary at the Seventh Baptist Church, Baltimore. He left for China in April 1856, and began to learn Chinese from the people on his boat. In February 1857, he opened his first chapel, a small repurposed home. Later that year, Macao was struck with a typhoon, causing multiple deaths and irreparable damages. Graves faced financial concerns, and wrote home to request the churches send more. He stayed until 1859, opening another chapel during that time.

He also built lower-level schools in Canton and nearby towns. Only two of the schools, one in Shin Hing and the boys' school in Canton, were dependent on the International Mission Board. The others, which included several girls' schools, were funded by donations from Chinese Christians and special donors. Because of this book, Graves was awarded a Doctor of Divinity (D.D). He left behind 43 Baptist missionaries, over 140 Chinese preaching to 5000+ members, and 42 schools with over 1300 students.