Susan, the granddaughter of Edward Pearce Hayes, visited China for the first time to trace her family roots.
On March 28, Susan and her family came to Kuliang, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, where his grandfather lived and his father was born, along with Friends of Kuliang member Elyn Maclnnis, according to Hola Fujian.
Edward Pearce Hayes was a Methodist missionary who served in China for 30 years. Born in Maryland, the United States in 1895, Hayes came from a Christian family whose father and grandfather were Methodist ministers. With a graduate degree from John Hopkins University, he worked for the Methodist Board of Missions in China from 1921 to 1951, during which he spent most of the time in Fujian Province, according to Find a Grave. Appointed District Superintendent of the Methodist Episcopal Church Board of Foreign Mission to China, Hayes served as an administrator in churches, schools, and hospitals.
He married Lily May Anderson in 1917, and the couple was sent to China in 1921. While many Western missionaries left China in 1949, he and his wife Lily stayed in China until 1951. Edward passed away in California in 1979.
His son Bruce, Susan's father, was born in Kuliang. His parents also brought him to Kuliang for summer resort, Kuliang Tourist Resort reported.
Kuliang was once a popular summer retreat for foreign missionaries, businessmen, and diplomats in the 19th century when Fuzhou was opened as one of China's earliest trading ports.
"My father wrote a lot of memories about Kuliang when he was a small child. They talked about how much they loved to be here because they got to play with all of lots of kids from a lot of different places," recalled Susan.
The house where they stayed in Kuliang has now turned into a museum and a Chinese and Western cultural and educational center.
During World War II, Bruce helped establish the coast watchers to provide aid to the Flying Tigers, which was formed to oppose the Japanese invasion of China. He stayed in China until 13.
"I would have liked to be sure that people here know how much they cared about the people and how important it was to them," said Susan. "He (my grandfather) and my grandmother were almost the last foreigners to leave Fujian."
She also wishes to find the descendant of Ding Sing Kie (possibly 陈新启), the assistant of Hayes. "My grandfather and my father referred to him all the time, in their letters and memoirs." She added, "I'd love to find out more about my father's boyhood friend who operated on his hand. I'd like to thank that [to] his family."
Edward Pearce Hayes wrote a book Reminiscences of Edward Pearce Hayes about his decades' life in China. He also served in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Japan when he left China.
Susan said that she would take the photos and stories from this visit back to the U.S. "I'm pretty sure that there will be some more Hayes family here."
Marilyn, Susan's daughter, said, "I think because of the unique experiences they had here, they wrote a lot of their family history and recorded it. So I grew up hearing stories about it from my parents [and] my grandparents." It was surreal for her to visit the place where her ancestors once lived.
