1900 - Cortlandt & Elsie Hodge

June 30, 1900

Baoding, Hebei

Cortlandt Hodge.

Cortlandt van Rensselaer Hodge was born at Burlington, New Jersey, on July 1, 1872. His father was a pastor, and many of his uncles and other relatives were among the eminent theologians and scientists of their day, for it was an era where the divide between science and theology was much narrower than it is perceived today. Cortlandt’s uncle, Dr. Charles Hodge, was a world-renown theologian.

As a boy, Cortlandt was frequently immersed in the atmosphere of missions. His father’s church often hosted visiting missionaries who shared heroic stories of faith and courage to the wide-eyed youngster. He later attended Princeton University, graduating in 1893. He then proceeded to the University of Pennsylvania, where he completed medical studies, becoming a fully fledged doctor in 1897. Standing six-feet (1.83 m) tall and weighing a muscular 180 pounds (82 kg), the handsome young doctor had numerous females interested in him, yet he shunned them all. He would not consider a relationship with any lady unless she clearly possessed a similar call to his own.

Elsie Hodge.

Elsie Sinclair was born at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 1874. The other missionaries nicknamed her ‘Bonnie’ because of her cheerful disposition. One writer described her as “Beautiful, talented and of a lovable personality, she had made an enviable record in college as well as in social life…. She was in her twenty-third year when she left college with her plans largely made for a life of missionary service.”[1]

Elsie had also grown up in a well-to-do home. Her father, a prominent businessman with investments all around the world, generously supported mission work among Native American tribes, until his sudden death in 1881. In 1887 the Sinclairs moved to Philadelphia, where they attempted to start a new life. It was there that Elsie met her future husband and fellow martyr for Christ. They were married at the Woodland Presbyterian Church in West Philadelphia on February 14, 1899.

Just three weeks after the wedding, Cortlandt and Elsie Hodge sailed for China, where they had been appointed to assist Dr. George Taylor in Baoding, Hebei Province. The newlyweds arrived at Baoding on May 2, 1899. After a year in Baoding the Hodge’s were due to be transferred to a hospital in Beijing, but the Boxer persecution commenced before they had a chance to move there.

On June 30, 1900, all of Baoding was aware that the Boxers planned to slaughter the Christians that day. Cortlandt and Elsie Hodge decided to take refuge with their fellow missionaries—the Simcox family. Together they were burned to death. Aged just 28 and 26 respectively, the deaths of Cortlandt and Elsie Hodge was considered a terrible waste by some back in America. God, however, accepted their sacrifice as a precious offering. It was said of the martyred duo:

“They were exemplars to the young of all that is pure and noble in youthful aspiration; and these early martyrdoms will not fail to admonish the youth of China and of all other nations of the exceeding glory and honour of lives devoted to the redemption of a lost and sinful world.”[2]