The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-09-21
DIR. McGILvARY AND HIS WORK
The Story Of the Venerable Missionary
and His Work in Siam.

The story OF tho SencrdDle. MISSIONARY
and His Work In Siam.
Rev. DR.. Daniel McGilvary. The ven-
cradle missionary who is spending the
summer at the home of his daughter.
Mrs. R ". Orr, in S~tatesville, recent
" made a visit 20 his old home n
Moore county. The Sanford Express
in mentioning his visit, gave the fol-
lowing account OF his life and work:
ITO North Carolinians, but most
especially TO the people Of this coun-
ty, the name Daniel McGilvary should
be familiar, for il is perhaps not an ex-
aggeration to say that in all the va
rious callings and professions Of life
the work Of no man in our midst sur
passes that OF this great pioneer mis-
sionary. We accord him love and hon
or not alone because of his strength OF
character and integrity of Christian
life, but because of the praise which
the work Of his own hantis give unto
him. During the As years that he has
been in the missionary field Dr.. No
Gilvary has, humanity speaking. bro
ken the shackles hat bound a ace of
millions of people in the sin and ieth-
argy of heather darkness and has seen
many of them gathered into the king
dom Of God.
Born in this county and educated
in this state. DR.. McGilvary has never
ceased to love his people and his ma
tive land with truest devotion, and, as
he speaks of himself, he is a North
Carolinian of the dyed-in-the-vOol
sort. As his name indicates, he is
sprung of sturdy Scotch stock. and
comes naturally into d rich heritage
Of common and spiritual insight
combined with sterling worth.
The old Bingham and Davidson
College have the honor Of having had
him a student. He completed his ed
ucation at Princeton Theological Sem
mary, where he was graduated along
with his friend and mission colleague,
Rev. Jonathan Wilson, d. D. Both Of
these young men dedicated their lives
to foreign mission work, but their ap-
pointment was withheld because of
the fraiI health of both. This, how
ever, did not swerve them from their
purpose.
DIR. McGilvary returned to North
Carolina. where he was ordained by
Orange P~resbytery at Pittsboro, Cha
than county, December 18th. 1857. Ac-
cOrding to our information he first
served Union n Carthage churches.
in this county. On the pulpit of Union
churches is an old Bible. the fv-leaf
Of which contains his name, written
there before he went to the foreign
field. In 1858 DR.. McGilvary and Dr..
Wilson were appointed missionaries
to Siam, and at the expense of the
Northern Presbyterian church they
sailed March 9th, 1858. This event was
reported to the next Southern General
Assembly, which met in the late DR..
Benjamin Palmer's church, in New
Orleans.
Or. McGilvary labored in this mis-
sion, principally in the great city Ct
BangkOk-pOpularly known as Eas-
tern Wonderland it was here that, in
1860, he was married to Miss Sophia.
Bradley, NJ. D., of the American Mis-
slOnary Association. But it was not
until 1863, when his native ountrv
was torn asunder by civil strife. that
he initiated the work. that was to make
him famous as a missionary.
DR.. McGilvary determined to push
out from the city and plant a mission
among the Laos people of northern
Siam. The country was unexDIOred
by civilized man, but he, accompanied
by DR.. Wilson, pushed through its high
mountain walls upon a tour of investi-
cation. Later he, accompanied bv his
wife, embarked in a little Laos boat
upon his long journey of 500 miles m
stream. The current was So strong
that rowing was impossible. and the
boat had to be poled all the way. If
the reader will remember that if took
from January until late in the spring
TO make the journey up into the heart
OF this strange country, he will aDpr4-
clate the spirit that has animated this
man n his wife in their work. From
this time on the spirit of the mission
is full Of romantic interest.
And now what of the people among
n for whom DR.. McGiIvary has Ia
bored for so many years? The Laos
people are settled in the mountain
Businesses of Indo-China. They num-
Der about eight million souls and
speak a language of their own more
difficult Of acquiring THAI any other
Oriental tongue. Their customs are
peculiar and unique. Their normal re-
llglon IS Buddhism. but in practice
they are bright like the Japanese.
This people had ueen so wholly
excluded by their geographical posi-
ton that they barely cnew Of the ex-
istence Of nations other than those ad-
Jacent to them, but they had no hatred
CT the white man simply because he
was a foreigner; and So McGilvarv
was allowed to settle in a sala-an
open sort of rest house or pavilion
and promise Of a lot upon which TO
build was given him and in time made
good.
For many months this pioneer fam
lly dwelt alone in the sala, STUDYING
the language and trying to make
friends Of natives. Only those who
have drank of the cup know what it is
TO be shut away from native home and
friends in foreign land. with not ever
papers or letters from home 10 cheer
! M HC-loh0-nrc DC - ~ 49,. i