page_title: Lacy Irvine Moffett
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Lacy Irvine Moffett / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Chinese countryside.
context_page_description: Lacy Irvine Moffett was a Presbyterian missionary minister to China beginning in 1904 and he and his family served until 1940. He was a missionary minister, a self-taught expert on the birds of China, and a photographer.
context_section_description: Lacy Irvine Moffett was born February 10, 1878 in Churchville, Virginia and destined from birth to become a missionary minister.  His father, Rev. Alexander Stuart Moffett, was a Presbyterian minister.   All of his Moffett ancestors were Scotch-Irish arriving before the American Revolution, seeking the opportunity to worship freely and govern themselves.  All were Presbyterians—many were of the strict Covenanter persuasion.  Their commitment to the church led them to take on leadership roles, often serving as ministers and elders.  The ancestors of Moffett's mother, Carrie Lena Crawford, also included several prominent Presbyterian ministers.
  Few details are recorded of Moffett's boyhood.  His family moved several times, from Virginia to Kentucky and Missouri as his father accepted new ministerial assignments.  His parents had sought to become missionaries to Brazil, but were prevented from doing so for reasons of health.  After this rejection, Lacy's mother, Carrie Lena, wrote in her diary, “I feel that my life work:  the work God has given me to do now; is to train my darling children for God and His service; as missionaries; ALL of them if it be his will.” 
  Six of the couple's eight children eventually served in China.  Another son, Harry, became a minister and served as chaplain at Davidson University.
  Moffett had a keen eye for photography.  He took and developed a large number of traditional photographs that chronicled his family's missionary years in China.  In addition to these, he also photographed many of the beautiful landscapes he observed.
caption: Lacy's photography
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