Named Persons

Andersson, Susanna. (1892 - ). Susanna was baptized in Minneapolis 1913. Studied at Bethel Academy, St Paul Minnesota and three years at Northwestern Missionary Training School. She went to China in 1923, and later was "on leave" from the mission, living in the United States, from 1938. She was on furlough 1929 and 1937, so her active time in the mission must have been 1923-1937.

Axelsson, Rune and Siv. Siv, wife of Rune, died in Sweden in September, 2007. 1

Axelsson, Edvard and Mrs. Friends of the Oscar and Hellen Rinell and family who paid for Dollan Rinell's nurses training in Sweden.

Chi, Mrs. (Qi - modern day spelling) was a teacher in the Girl's school, working closely with Hedvig Rinell. Daughter of Fan Yingtang. She and her sister Mrs. Jiang belonged to the first group of girls who attended the "higher ed" for Hedvig, and later they lived in the little area called Foyin cun (The Gospel village) in Kiaohsien, where there were five small compounds with a row house in each.

Dong, Pastor. Ordained pastor of the Wangtai church in 1940. ⁵⁵ According to Lally Rinell. 2008.

Engberg, Sigurd and his wife were missionaries who arrived in China after World War II. They first spent a year in language study in Peking, then went down to Shantung. They never started work in the to the "mission field" because of all the political instability. Instead they worked among refugees in Tsingtao. They left China 1948. Later in life Sigurd live in Karlstad in Värmland after retiring as a district pastor for Gotland. He died in Sweden at the end of 2007 or the beginning of 2008. [They are not mentioned in the book yet].⁵³ Info from Lally Rinell, 2008.

Errson, Jan. (1835-1894) Father of Hedvig Rinell. Jan died in Sweden during Hedvig's first year in China.

Ersson, Johanna. (1838-1907) Mother of Hedvig Rinell. Johanna's maiden name was Sjöberg. Passed away and is buried in Sweden.

Fan Yingtang was one of the first to work as an evangelist in the Mission. Father of two daughters. One of the daughters became Mrs Qi, and was a teacher in the Girl's school, working closely with Hedvig Rinell. The other was Mrs Jiang, who worked as a "Bible woman". Both belonged to the first group of girls who attended the "higher ed" for Hedvig and later they lived in the little area called Foyin cun (The Gospel village) in Kiaohsien, where there were five small compounds with a row house in each. Our pastor Han and the Principal Wang ("rektor Wang") also lived in this area. It was situated om the other side of the road from the Girl's School.

Goforth, Jonathan (1859-1936) was a Canadian missionary to China. He and his wife, Rosalind, lead revivalist meetings in Kiaohsien in 1914.

Han, Pastor. Church pastor in Kiaohsien. Lived in the little area called Foyin cun (The Gospel village) in Kiaohsien.

Holmquist, Bernard (Bud). US Marine who arrived in Tsingtao in 1945 after fighting the Japanese on Okinowa. In Tsingtao he dated the student nurse, Dollan Rinell.

Holtz, Anna. Arrived in China as a Swedish Baptist missionary together with John Afred and Hedvig Rinell on April 12, 1894. Anna later married J.E. Lindberg.

Jansson, Martin. Arrived in China in 1932 and left in 1948. He worked for a time in the Wangtai church, and in Kaomi. Martin's daughter is Mariann. Part of the family now lives in Australia according to Lally Rinell. Martin wrote the book Kineser på himlavägen [Chinese on the celestial path] about the hearings and shootings that took place in Wangtai, focusing especially on Pastor Dong. Parts of this book have been translated into Chinese. Lally has a copy which she is trying to find.

Jewett, LeRoy Roberts married Margaret Ingeborg Rinell daughter of Johan Alfred and Hedvig Rinell. Roy was born in Manchester, New Hampshire on March 27, 1894.

Jiang, Mrs. worked as a "Bible woman". Daughter of Fan Yingtang. She and her sister, Mrs. Q, belonged to the first group of girls that attended the "higher ed" for Hedvig. Later they lived in the little area called Foyin cun (The Gospel village) in Kiaohsien, where there were five small compounds with a row house in each.

Johansson, Eivor. A student at the Swedish school in Kiaohsien Swedish School Eivor was an A+ student. Tragically she died on the operating table while having her tonsils removed.

Johansson, Gerd. Younger sister of Eivor who arrived in Kiaohsien with her mother after Eivor's death.

Johansson, Mrs. Mother of Eivor and Gerd. Swedish missionary in northern China.

Kung Enyung [Current spelling" Gong Enyung]. Pastor of the church Wangtai. Shot in late 1947. Lally and Oscar Rinell met Mrs Gong many years later in China and she has since passed away. In April 2004 Lally met three of their four children. One is a doctor at a local hospital in Jiaozhou, built on the property where the Mission had a Bible School, one is in Qingdao and one lives far away in Xinjiang Province. They are all active Christians. Lally sent them photographs of their father and family pictures, which she found in her father's photo albums. They had no pictures left from those early days. Lally even got a couple of pictures from one of the missionaries, Sigurd Engberg, of the Hung family taken when they were refugees in Qingdao. The Hung family is eager to build up the Church in Wangtai. It was torn down, but the property is still vacant. – Lally Rinell was actually successful in finding the deeds of the property at the archives at Bethel Seminary in Stockholm, and copies were sent to the Hung's. One day they may be able to build their church again..⁴⁸ Quoted in part in a one or two page document by Lally Rinell entitled 'Some facts about the Communist take-over of Kiaohsien (Jiaoxien ë now again called Jiaozhou) and Tsingtao (Qingdao)'. Document file name is 'Communist-Takeover'.

Lindberg, Anna. Married missionary J.E. Lindberg in China. Anna's maiden name was Holtz.

Lindberg, J.E. Swedish Baptist missionary who arrived in China about 1892 following Karl Vingren who arrived in 1891. J.E. later married Anna Holtz.

Lindberg, Sigbert Roland. Youngest child of Anna and J.E. Lindberg. After China he lived the rest of his life in the United States, running a convalecent home.

Lindberg, Signe Cecilia (June 22, 1896 - ). Daughter of Anna and J.E. Lindberg. Remain unmarried.

Lindberg, Sten Fritiof (August 12, 1899 - ). Son of Anna and J.E. Lindberg. Like his father and mother Sten was missionary in China, but since he had American citizenship, he left China before World War II. He then worked with a mission ambulance in Ethiopia for the Baptist General Conference, and returned to China after the war for the Baptist General Conference working in Tsingtao. He was forced to leave China when the Chinese Communists took over the nation.

Lindberg, Svea Alexandra (August 24, 1903 - ). Daughter of Anna and J.E. Lindberg. Studied nursing at the Peking Union Medical College in Peking, but shortly after graduation had a brain tumor and died.

Lindberg, Sven Edvard (August 24, 1897 - ). Son of Anna and J.E. Lindberg. Became an engineer in Stockholm, Sweden.

Persson, Matilda ,1 Midwife and missionary trained in Sweden, joined the staff in Chucheng. In 1910 or 1911 she was involved [founded? member of staff?] of the first clinic in Kiaochow. Besides her skills as a midwife she also took care of many other medical problems being often the most experienced medical person for many miles. Often Chinese would come to her home and ask her to come with them to some distant village to heal someone.

Polle, possible name of the horse Oscar rode to visit the outlaying mission stations in other towns and villages

Reinbrecht, Charles and his wife Macy arrived in China in 1928 or 1929 and left China January of 1949. The day Pearl Harbor was bombed the Reinbrechts were put under house arrrest. In 1943 the famiily were interned at the Weihsien camp by the Japanese and released in 1945. Children of the Reinbrechts were Janet, Charles and Georgianna.

* Reinbrecht, Charles. Son of American Lutheran missionaries Charles and Macy. Mission station in Kiaohsien, China.

* Reinbrecht, Georgeanna. 'Georgie' born at Faber Krankenhaus in Tsingtao, Georgie was the daughter of American lutheran missionaries. She left China in January 1949 for Hong Kong, and later that year returned to the United States. Many years later in 2008, Georgie received a phone call from one of the fellows she dated. He had been wondering all those years if she had made it safely out of China after the communists took over. He had gotten her phone number via a reunion of the Tsintao American School held in the state of Virgina.

* Reinbrecht, Janet. Daughter of American Lutheran missionaries Charles and Macy. Mission station in Kiaohsien, China. Janet returned to the United States in June 1948 to attend college and did not return to China.

* Rinell, Doris Hellen. 'Dollan' daughter of Oscar and Hellen Rinell. Her Chinese name was "Swa-mei" or "Snow Flower". And Dollan was known as "Yin Earl Mu-she dee da-go niang" (Rinell Second Pastor Oldest Daughter)

Rinell, Egron. Also known as "Yin Da MU SHE" or "Rinell Large Pastor". Son of Oscar and Hellen Rinell.

Rinell, Hedvig. (October 12, 1867 - August 14, 1962). Wife of Johan Alfred Rinell. Arrived in China as missionary in 1894. Left China for Sweden as a result of war between the Chinese nationalist and communists. She passed away in Sweden.

Rinell, Johan Alfred. Also, known eventually as "LAO YIN MU-SHE" or "old Rinell pastor". Husband of Hedvig Rinell. Arrived in China as missionary in 1894. Johan Afred died and was buried in the international cemetery in Tsingtao. During the Chinese cultural revolution the international cemetery was destroyed including Johan Alfred's grave. The graveyard was made into a park. At this time it is not know if the remains of those interned in the cemetery were exhumed or remain where they are.

Rinell, Margaret Ingeborg. Daughter of Johan Alfred and Hedvig Rinell, married LeRoy Roberts Jewett in Tokyo, Japan in 1927. Margaret and Roy experinced the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1942. In their later years they settled in the desert of California at Yucca Valley.

Rinell, Oscar Henry. Also known as "Yin earl MU SHE" "Rinell 2nd Pastor". Born in China. Son of Johan Alfred and Hedvig. Oscar and his wife, Hellen, along with his brother Egron and his wife, Gerda, were missionaries to China. Oscar was forced out of China by the communist Chinese government about the year 1951. He lived with his wife in Sweden for a time, and then both moved to Japan and later Korea as misionaries.

Rinell, Roy. Son of Oscar and Hellen. As a boy Roy left of China for Sweden to attend boarding school. As a result of the wars in China he was cut off from his parents for several years. After graduating from school he became a kondeterei (sp?), a baker of pastries, which is a specialized skill.

Schlyter, Titti. Born 1892. Titti was a nurse. She came to China in 1921, but had to return to Sweden for health reasons in 1923.

Suen Woe-uh. Lindberg's cook, and fellow Christian and baptist, Suen Woe-uh helped Lindberg in his mission work. Earlier Suen Woe-uh had worked many years for Dr. Hartwell, and had accompanied him to and from America.

Strecker, Frieda. German Lutheran missionary who lived at the Lutheran compound in Kioahsien. She continued to live there after the American Lutheran family, Reinbrecht, were taken to an internment camp. Later she took care of the Matzat boys in Tsingtao after thier mother was killed in an accident. Their father had died years before. Eventually Frieda moved to Badenweiker, Germany where she passed away.

Strutz, Erik and Doris. Worked for a time in the Wangtai church, and . . . Children are Bertil, and Barbro. Erik and Doris also had another daugher who died in China at about two years of age of dystentary.

Ulla. The name of Dollan's doll that she received when she was one year old.

Vingren, Karl. First Swedish Baptist Missionary to China arriving in Shanghai on March 21, 1891. Remaining briefly in Shanghai he choose Kiaochow, later named Kiaohsien, as the home base of the Swedish Baptists' mission field.

Wahlin, Esther. Missionary with the Swedish Baptist Mission. Raised bees which provided honey to the missionaries, and chickens. She lived in Nanguan (West Garden) in Kiaohsien. She was unmarried.

Wiborg, Iris. Iris was in charge of the dorm for the Swedish-speaking students who came from other parts of China and lived at the Kiaohsien Swedish school. Iris was the wife of Erik Wiborg.

Wang, Principle.Principle of the school(s). Lived in the little area called Foyin cun (The Gospel village) in Kiaohsien.

Yang Shefo. Cook for Martin Janson, and later the family of Egron and Gerda Rinell. Lived in Johan Alfred's house in Tsingtao for a time, and with Oscar at the Iltis Huk house at a time when it may not have been very advantageous for him to do so, considering what was happening in China a the time.

1. Email from Lally Rinell to LJH, September 28, 2007.

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