The Bartow China Connection

Bill Brown ... Xiamen University
Lloyd Harris, of First Presbyterian Church of Bartow, Florida (where I went to high school), is an historian on the side, and has found some fascinating connections with our little town of Bartow and the Orient, including some connections with the King of Siam (played by Yul Brynner in The King and I). Below are excerpts from Lloyd's e-mails. If you have more material or photos, please share it with us! Bill.

Click Here for 1st Presbyterian Church of Bartow Historical Page (great photos!)
Note: Photos on this page were provided to Mr. Lloyd Harris by Mr. Jan van der Wal (Almelo, Netherlands)

Letter from Lloyd Harris, 17 July 2003:
Hi Bill,
Cypress knee howdy's from Imperial Polk County to ya'll and all in the Great Land of Chin.
Sue's web site is GREAT!!!!!!!

First Presbyterian Church of Bartow is building a web site. Alex is putting it together since he's worked on one or two at school. I am working on the history and as I was going through records dating back to 1882 I found a Charlotte Ann Torrey, wife of Ambassador to King of Siam. She transferred her membership from Episcopal Church in Hong Kong back in 1885 to FPCB, He daughter Elena transferred membership from First Presbyterian Church of Bangkok at the same time. I did further research and found out that her husband was a J.W. Torrey founder of the American Trading Company along with a guy named Harris (no near relation as I can tell) in Hong Kong.

I know Hong Kong was British at the time. This Mrs. Torrey was Charlotte Ann nee Mills and Elena was their first child. Torrey later swings a deal with a Sultan in Borneo and succeeds in establishing American trading influence in the region and by 1864 is appointed Rajah in the area now known as Sabah. He names his city on some River Elena (I don't have my notes nearby and am typing this from memory) He was actually a Vice Consul to the King of Siam (Same one as Yul Brynner , etc., etc., etc.) I believe his name was Mongkut. Torrey, his wife Charlotte and two children return to Massachusetts, USA in 1884 due to his being sick. Within a few months J.W. Torrey dies and the wife and children come to Bartow. They lived here for the rest of their lives and married into the Varn family.

Anyhow I thought it interesting to note a Bartow-China connection. I didn't check into what the American Trading Company dealt in as to goods or services and would presume unfortunately opium etc.. He also was editor of two different newspapers in Hong Kong from mid 1850s to 1860s. Just before Torrey died he received an appointment as an advisor to the King Chulalangkorn (boy king in "King & I" who instituted reforms. Torrey was never able to reply due to death.

From Lloyd Harris, 13 Sept. 2007:

...Our church has a Chinese connection from the 1860's-1880's. You can look up some of the story on line by searching out the American Trading Company in Hong Kong, William Torrey, Thomas Harris. One of the early members of First Presbyterian of Bartow was Charlotte Torrey the wife of William an ambassador to the king of Siam (the son of Yul Brynner in the movie Anna & the King) at the time Pres Grant visited the orient. William Torrey, Thomas Harris and a Chinese national chartered a trading company based in Hong Kong. Torrey was later granted a title equal to a king in his own right over the northern end of Borneo. They were apparently making money and at the same time advancing trade ventures for the US throughout the region. In the early 1880s Torrey returned to the US and died, his widow and daughter moved to Bartow around 1887 and were members of the church. Charlotte]s transfer was from a church in Hong Kong and was noted in the minutes of the church and in addition it was noted she was the wife of the former ambassador to Siam. Her granddaughter was Charlotte Varn and elderly lady who worked for the newspaper in Bartow. She wrote the Society column and lived on Broadway. I am writing this from memory and will send you details if your interested later.

It would be interesting to know what business they actually were involved in at Hong Kong. (tea, opium, etc..) In addition if the church Charlotte belonged to is still in existence.

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