Tuesday, November 25, 2014

John MacGowan of Amoy -- and Hayley Mills?!

Ahoy from Amoy!

I was happy to hear again from the descendants of John MacGowan, the Amoy missionary who wrote so many books a century ago, (I have all of them). But there is almost nothing about his own life, and I have only a couple photos of him, so it is fun to learn a bit more about him--and a surprise to learn that one of his descendants is Hayley Mills (I had a crush on her when I was too young to even know what a crush was!). I was also surprised to learn that Hayley's ancestors had been in Siam in the 1830s (she was in the musical "Anna and the King of Siam").

Below is the second email (which I take the liberty of posting, since it does not have their names).

Enjoy Amoy!

Dr. Bill's Amazon eBooks
www.amoymagic.com
Yesterday's Email:
John MacGowan's descendent is Hayley Mills, the actress.  In 1990's she toured in the musical "The King & I" based on the book "Anna and the King of Siam."   I wondered if she knew that her family had been in Siam in the 1830's: decades before Anna got there.  Hayley Mills' family might have info about MacGowan.  We have a little info about the time he married Jennie Peet. I'm not at home now so I can't give you all the names but I'll fill it in when I get back in about 2 weeks.  
 
Lyman Burt Peet married _____ Sherrill (first wife who died in China) 
Their daughter Jennie Peet (born in Siam) married John MacGowan
Their daughter ______married____ Bell
Their daughter Mary Hayley Bell married John Mills.
Their daughter is Hayley Mills.
 
Do MaGowan's books have photos?
 
 We are descended from Peet's second wife Hannah Louisa Plimpton.  She later married Rev. Charles Hartwell.
We have photos of chapels and lists of villages Rev Peet served as well as and drawings and banners.  Would you like me to email you copies?  We have shoes for bound feet, etc...

Bill Brown Xiamen University www.amoymagic.com

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Lyman Burton Peet and John Macgowan, Amoy and Foochow

Today I received the intriguing but unsigned email below (at the bottom of this post). I hope to hear more from them. It has been so hard obtaining information, photos, etc. for the proposed Amoy Mission museum we hope to open.

Dr. Bill
Bill's Amazon eBooks
www.amoymagic.com
Unsigned Email Received Today
 My family was in Amoy / Pagoda Anchorage from 1847 till 1925. Three generations. Lyman Burt Peet and family went to China from Siam. His son Lyman Plimpton Peet became a missionary. His daughter Jennie married British missionary Rev Macgowan. His daughter Ellen Louisa married Rev George Henry Hubbard. Nellie was born there and died there in 1925. Her children were born in Foochow. My grandmother was her youngest. We have some photos and drawings.