Henry G. Appenzeller

Rev. Henry Gerhard Appenzeller (February 6, 1858-June 11, 1902) was a Methodist missionary and one of two American missionaries (the other being Horace Newton Allen) who arrived in Korea in 1885, soon after the first Protestant Christian missionary, Presbyterian Horace N. Allen in Korea, who arrived in 1884. While Allen worked as a medical missionary, Appenzeller and Underwood were posted to Korea as teachers. Appenzeller established a school in 1885 that still exists today, and in 1887 the first Methodist congregation in Korea.

Early life and training

Born in 1858 in Suderton, Pennsylvania, Henry Appenzeller was the 2nd of three sons born to Gideon and Maria Gerhard Appenzeller. His family attended the Emmanuel Reformed Church and gathered every week to read the Bible at home. After attending West Chester Normal School, he graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in 1882, and then attended the Drew Theological Seminary. During his college years he joined the Methodist church, and in 1885 was ordained to the ministry and appointed as a Methodist missionary to Korea in San Francisco. He married in December 1884, and his wife, Ella Dodge Appenzeller, accompanied him when he sailed for Korea to take up his mission.

Transplanting the family to Korea

After leaving the US on February 1, 1885, Appenzeller and his wife arrived at Jemulpo (now Incheon) on April 5, after a stop in Japan. Deciding that the atmosphere in Korea was not yet settled down after the coup attempt the previous December, they returned to Japan after 5 days, where they stayed until returning permanently to Korea in mid June. After settling into their mission house in Hanyang (Seoul), Appenzeller began to travel throughout the country, preparing to teach God's word. His oldest daughter, Alice, born five months later, was the first American baby born in Korea. The Appenzellers also had a son and two more daughters in Korea.

Working for education

As he travelled around Korea, Appenzeller became concerned about the lack of educational opportunities for women and commoners in the country, where only the sons of the upper classes had access to a good education. At home in the US, free (compulsary) education had been available to all children and college education had opened up to women in the mid 19th century. Appenzeller wanted to make the same opportunities available to the people of his new homeland.

Appenzeller opened what became the first western-style school in the country in 1885, beginning by teaching English, and in 1886, King Gojong endorsed its official name Pai Chai Hak Dang (Hall for the Rearing of Useful Men) and also provided an offical plaque confirming the school's royal accreditation. The Methodist Missionary board financed construction of a strong new brick building to house the school in 1887, built only one story high, in order to adhere to the royal court's decree that any buildings in the palace area should not be higher than the palace. In 1895, Pai Chai added additional departments, moving a step closer to today's Paichai University.

Foundations of the Methodist Church in Korea

The Pennsylvania native baptized his first Korean convert on Easter Sunday in 1887, and by Christmas had gathered a congregation, establishing the Methodist congretation in Korea. He made many tours throughout the country speaking about the Gospel of Jesus. He studied the Korean language five hours a day so that he could preach in Korean, and in order to participated in the translation of the Bible into Korean with other missionaries.

Discovering that virtually all of the local literature was written not in Korean, but in Chinese, he opened a bookstore in 1894, which later expanded to become Methodist Printing and Publishing House, in order to provide reading materials printed in Korean and English, both to teach the gospels and to expand literacy among the common people. The publishing house also revived a monthly magazine Korea Repository, originally published by Rev. F. Ohlinger to teach Americans about Korea and its people.

Death in maritime accident

In 1902, at the age of 44, Appenzeller drowned while journeying to a southern port city, Mokpo, to attend a meeting for Bible translation. He was later buried at the Yanhwajin Foreigners' Cemetery, the grave site of 40 missionaries sent by the United Methodist Church and its predecessor denominations in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Legacy

Since its founding in 19th century, the Korean Methodist Church has dramatically developed as one of major Protestant denominations in Korea. In 2001, the denomination comprised 5,262 churches, 1394,514 members, and 7,298 ministers. There were six universities established under the Methodist model, including Paichai. In addition, the denomination had its own theological seminary, the Methodist Theological Seminary in Seoul. It also had six theological institutes and 54 junior high and high schools.

See also

• Christianity in Korea
• 19th Century Protestant Missions in China
• List of Protestant missionaries in China

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607-1896. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1963.

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