Not only a history book, Aunt Mae's China [1] is also an alight example of what family history digging efforts may harvest, put to words by late Bernice A. Verbyla in 2010.
As debriefed by her :
It would take some digging into the history that surrounded
Mae's life between 1886 and 1959, and not being a fan of history, I
knew for me, it would be a daunting task.
Tracing family roots can become addicting. The more I learned
about their births, marriages, and deaths, the more I needed to know.
It was a fascinating journey. Mae was born with a pioneer spirit,
and she certainly put it to good use. She was the one member of
her immediate family to enroll in higher education, first in nurse's
training, then in biblical studies. Her hobby was reading, and that
led to her traipsing around the world in her imagination — then in
reality.
(from Preface)
Through a covert government operation, Aunt Mae and others
had been secretly transported to the United States from China on a
freighter over a circuitous route that took them over six weeks.
During the six years, she lived with us, I became the beneficiary
of many exciting stories about her missionary adventures. As she
talked about the children of China and the dear friends she had left
behind... [2]
She was always faithful in putting others first and perhaps that
was why her name was hidden so well among the thousands of arti-
cles of the Alliance Weekly magazine published from 1914-1959. (*)
(*) we are luckier in current era that many of the related archives appear to be available online, already up to 2004 now.
And there is an above-average search function !
The Newberns, Bechtels and Carters
In the 1940 photo shared before in gwulo posts two times, there is a group of missionaries coming together for conference. I put a shorter link here.
Firstly I think, this South China conference was held in Kwangsi, just like the 1930 one. As more evidences come up, this photo was taken de facto in Hong Kong, likely Alliance Children's Hostel on Belfran Road. [3]
Actually, the author took the great efforts to go through the history info and archives (on CDROM then), apart from other first-hand information and interviews.
Putting the pieces together is not easy at all, now that it offers a snapshot view of this unrest period in history of China (c.1930-1945), and Hong Kong partly.
Alongside this 'mega-complex universe' [4] of China's history in this period, the micro-history of individuals are equally relevant. They do fill in the gaps not in the official history, I think.
Between the lines of the book, we almost read that Newberns and Bechtels were very friends in need, not just mission co-workers in South China.
Even though his wife had been encouraged to accompany their
children home, Rev. and Mrs. Newbern declined the offer. They felt
because of her importance to the school, it was vital that she stay;
therefore, they decided to entrust their children to the Bechtels and
Mrs. Carter, and ultimately - God! Those three missionaries then
secretly booked passage on a steamer headed for the U. S. with all
the children from the Hostel on board.
[5]
Our prayers followed them as they crossed the ocean, and we were both
thankful and thrilled to hear their letters read over the famous KGEI
radio station, telling of their safe arrival. Last Sunday we again received
a message from Dorothy, telling us that they had arrived safely at
Beulah Beach, Ohio, and were all well. The reading of the "mail-bag" from
KGEI, San Francisco, has become an important weekly event. We gather
about the radio; and although it is late in the evening, we rub the sleep
out of our eyes and listen eagerly for news from the homeland.
[6]
Directory of Protestants Missions 1936 ilustrates below for this period, an independent source about their then locations :
Newbern, Rev. W.C. & Mrs (C.A.), Nanning, Si. (ab.)
Bechtel, Rev. J. & Mrs (C.A.), Kowloon, Hongkong
Tonkin, Miss B.M. (C.A.) Liuchow, Si. (ab.)
Rev. Newbern had been the president of Alliance Bible Seminary relocated to Cheung Chau from Kwangsi, from 1950 until his retirement in 1972.
An account of his hundred mile journey into inland province Kweichow in 1925 was also retold in Aunt Mae's story.
Notes and References
[1] Aunt Mae's China This is the Story of Beatrice Mae Tonkin
[2] ... arrived by steamer in Boston, Mass., on May 23, after a journey
of many weeks from China and India. The group included ...
Rev. and Mrs. W. C. Newbern, Rev. and Mrs. Robert Patterson
and three children, Miss B. M. Tonkin, and Miss A. C. Galvin from South
China ...
Arrivals on Alliance Weekly, 1944-7-1:300
[3] From Hongkong to Chungking, by Rev. A.C. Snead on Alliance Weekly, 1941-2-22:120;
church announcement of Emmanuel Church, SCMP 1940-10-26, p.13
[4] borrow the author's words
[5] ibid, p.305;
total 12 children, they were but teenagers in 1941, few were kids of age about two; (see also 14 Jul 1941, Chronology of Events on gwulo)
Carters should be : Rev. Curtis B. Carter and wife Mrs Eda Carter
[6] Alliance Weekly, 1942-2-28