1900 - Hattie Rice

July 13, 1900

Zezhou, Shanxi

Hattie Rice.

One of the group of 14 missionaries and children who fled Lucheng for Wuhan was Hattie Rice. Born in 1858, the American hailed from Haydenville, Massachusetts. Hattie invited Christ to be the Master of her life at the age of 15. Before her teenage years had ended, she had lost both her mother and father to death.

In 1888 Rice attended a conference where Hudson Taylor spoke on the needs of China. There “the Lord met her face to face, and from that experience she went back to her home a changed woman, and with no other desire than to follow Him who had [called] her into the regions beyond.”[1] Rice was 30-years-old when she received her call, but from that moment on everything seemed to go wrong. Obstacle after obstacle appeared, and her vision for missionary service was opposed by several family members and friends. Confused, she travelled to Chicago and attended the Moody Bible Institute. This time refreshed and reignited her call, and she decided to obey Christ regardless of the cost.

Hattie Rice started for China in 1892, where she was appointed to work in an opium refuge at Lucheng in Shanxi Province. There she met Mary Huston, with whom she was closely linked in both ministry and in death. The two became inseparable friends.

On July 12, 1900, during an attempt to escape the Boxers, Rice became dehydrated from the oppressive heat and from walking all day. She collapsed from exhaustion near the town of Zezhou. Cruel, hate-filled men beat the missionaries and robbed them of all possessions, even the clothing they were wearing. Seeing young Hattie Rice lying motionless on the ground, the callous crowd of onlookers

“began stoning her and a man ran a cart over her naked body to break her spine. Her companion, Mary Huston, shielded her body until shamefaced men came with clothing. When she was again clothed, they took her from Miss Huston to a temple and consulted their gods about her faith. When a priest announced that the gods would let her live, the men carried her back to the other missionaries on a stretcher. She died a short time later.”[2]

It was later said of Rice and Huston, “They had taken nothing from China and given everything.”[3] When news spread that Hattie Rice had been brutally murdered, many tears were shed for a good and faithful friend. A colleague wrote:

“Her quiet gentleness struck me as something out of the ordinary, and as I came to know her I found her one who truly walked with God and sought to glorify Him in all things. How she loved the Lord and trusted Him! It was always a great lift heavenwards to me to be in her company even for a little time.”[4]

1. Broomhall, Martyred Missionaries of the China Inland Mission, 60.
2. Hefley, By Their Blood, 26.
3. Hefley, By Their Blood, 26.
4. Broomhall, Martyred Missionaries of the China Inland Mission, 61.