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Boudinot Currie Atterbury (June 10, 1852 – May 21, 1930), from a wealthy New York family, trained to be a medical doctor and worked with the Presbyterian missions in China and later with Chinese communities in the United States.

Early life

Atterbury was born in Manchester, England, on June 10, 1852. He was a son of Benjamin Bakewell Atterbury (1815–1900) and Olivia Eggleston (née Phelps) Atterbury (1821–1894). His father was a New York merchant with a shipping agency in Manchester. His brother, Anson Greene Phelps Atterbury, and one of his sisters, Olivia Phelps Atterbury, married into the Van Rensselaer family, who had relatives working in China (some of whom were killed in the Boxer uprising).

His maternal grandparents were Anson Greene Phelps and Olivia Egleston. Boudinot Atterbury’s uncles included James Boulter Stokes, Daniel James, and William Earle Dodge, wealthy families that supported and funded his missionary work in China. Among his ancestors was Bishop Francis Atterbury as well as his grand-uncle, Elias Boudinot, first president of the Continental Congress.

He attended Phillips Academy class of 1869 before going to Yale, leaving as a non-graduate in 1873. After three years work experience he attended medical school under Dr. Frank Hastings Hamilton at Bellevue Hospital from where he graduated with a medical degree in 1878. He expanded his medical knowledge, working in New York, Paris and Palestine.

Career

In 1879, Atterbury moved to China as a medical missionary. He built a hospital in Peking with funding from family and friends, treating the poor and training Chinese medical students. Another of his sponsors was Deborah Matilda Douw, who was also related via the Van Rensselaer connection. She survived the uprising by disguising herself in traditional Chinese clothing. Douw had funded a pavilion for female patients at the hospital and paid for a female physician for the facility. In 1896 he was awarded the Order of the Double Dragon by the Dowager Empress for his services during the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894.

In 1894 Atterbury attended the medical mission at Pao-ting-fu whilst the resident doctor took leave. During his tenure he built, at his own expense, a dispensary and additional hospital rooms. He also donated funds at a later date for equipment to the hospital.

Due to ill health he left China in about 1898 and did not return, but continued his work amongst the Chinese population in Pasadena, Los Angeles and Brooklyn. In 1900 several of his colleagues in China were killed during the Boxer uprising.

Personal life

On August 18, 1890, Atterbury was married to Mary Josephine Lowrie (1858-1910) at Tianjin, China by the Rev. J.W. Lowrie, the bride's brother. Mary was born in China, the daughter of missionaries Amelia and Rev. Reuben Post Lowrie, who lived and worked there, but was educated in America. Together, they were the parents of Boudinot Bakewell Atterbury (1892–1976), a businessman who married Ruth Rand, a daughter of Lyman Fiske Rand and sister to Gertrude Rand. Marguerite "Daisy" Atterbury (1896–1988), and Olive Atterbury (1898–1962).

His wife Josephine died in Pasadena in 1910 and he died on May 21, 1930, in Altamonte Springs, Florida. After his death, his daughter Daisy returned to China to continue the missionary work and was interned in the Japanese Weihsien Compound during World War II (repatriated 1943).

References

1. The Phrenological Journal and Science of Health. Fowler & Wells. 1885. p. 69. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
2. "ANTI-VICE SOCIETY GETS $5,000 LEGACY; Sister and 16 Nephews and Nieces to Share Residue of $100,000 Estate of Dr. Atterbury". The New York Times. 15 January 1931. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
3. Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History Volume 16 North America, South-East Asia, China, Japan, and Australasia (1800-1914). BRILL. 29 June 2020. p. 357. ISBN 978-90-04-42990-1. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
4. Atterbury, Boudinot (1886). Pekin Hospital Pekin China. Presbyterian Mission. p. Inside end cover. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
5. ^ Times, Special to The New York (22 May 1930). "DR. B.C. ATTERBURY DEAD IN FLORIDA; New Yorker One of First Medical Men in China--Honored by Dowager Empress". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
6. Shepard, Frederick J. "History of Yale Class of 1873". Internet Archive. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
7. Atterbury, Boudinot (1886). Pekin Hospital, Pekin China. Presbyterian Mission. p. Cover. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
8. "Missionary Leaves $50,000 to charities" (PDF). New York Times. 4 January 1912. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
9. The Medical News. Lea Brothers & Company. 1896. p. 590. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
10. Taylor Memorial Hospital. Presbyterian Mission Paotingfu. 1920. p. 4. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
11. "American Presbyterian Missionaries Killed During 1900 in the Boxer Rebellion". Presbyterian Heritage Center. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
12. Ketler, Isaac (1902). The Tragedy of Paotingfu. Fleming H Revell. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
13. "AUTUMN WEDDINGS". The New York Times. 7 October 1890. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
14. Johnson, Rossiter (1904). The twentieth century biographical dictionary of notable Americans: Lowrie, Reuben Post. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
15. Leighton, David (2 November 2020). "Street Smarts: Atterbury's winding road to Tucson started in China". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
16. "Chinese War Film Shown". Google News. The Pittsburgh Press - Aug 24, 1938. Retrieved 18 November 2014.

• 1852 births
• 1930 deaths
• American expatriates in China
• American Presbyterian missionaries
• Christian medical missionaries
• English emigrants to the United States
• Health professionals from Manchester
• People from New York (state)
• Presbyterian missionaries in China
• Presbyterian missionaries in the United States