Warnshuis, Abbe Livingston, 1877-1958

WARNSHUIS, DEVRIES, OONCK, HALSEY

Posted By: Lydia Lucas - Volunteer (email)
Date: 8/31/2022 at 21:40:40

From the Daily News (New York, N.Y.), March 18, 1958:

REV. ABBE L. WARNSHUIS

The Rev. Dr. Abbe Livingston Warnshuis, 81, retired minister of the Reformed Church in America and former executive vice president of Church World Service, died yesterday at his home at 8 Valley Road, Bronxville. He was long active in missionary work in the Far East, and had headed a special non-denominational coordinating committee to channel relief work for Palestine refugees.

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From the Ithaca Journal (Ithaca, N.Y.), March 18, 1958:

Mission Director Dies

Bronxville—The Rev. A. Livingston Warnshuis, 80, a pioneer in Protestant interdenominational relief and mission work, died yesterday. He was former president of the Foreign Missions Conference of America and in 1945 became head of the newly formed Church World Service. He was born in Clymer, N.Y.

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From his FindaGrave.com page (no citation):

Abbe Livingston Warnshuis was born in 1877 in Clymer, New York. His grandfather had emigrated from Holland. He pursued studies for an A.B. (1907), A.M. (1900), at Hope College, Michigan and in 1916 was awarded a D.D. by the same college. In 1900 he also graduated from New Brunswick Seminary, New Jersey and was ordained in the Reformed Church of America. Warnshuis married Anna De Vries in 1900. After the passing of Anna De Vries in 1941, Warnshuis remarried to Margaret Chambers Halsey in 1942. He arrived in Amoy in the year of the Boxer Rebellion (1900) and served there as a missionary until 1915. From 1915-1920 Warnshuis served as the National Evangelistic Secretary of the China Continuation Committee in Shanghai. Warnshuis was deeply involved in educational and missionary activities in Fujian Province. Warnshuis also played a role in the establishment of the Church of Christ in China. He played leadership roles in a number of international organizations and educational institutions. In 1920 Warnshuis became the first American secretary of the International Missionary Council, where he served until 1943. He was integral to the organizing of IMC meetings in Jerusalem (1928) and Tambaram, India (1938). Warnshuis played a key role in organizing the wartime Orphaned Missions’ service of the IMC. In 1944 Warnshuis was tapped by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to report on the condition of churches in Europe. After his return, Warnshuis played an active role in relief efforts as Executive Vice President of the Church World Service from 1946-1948.

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RESEARCH NOTES

His FindaGrave.com has Rev. Abbe Livingston Warnshuis; born 22 Nov 1877 in Clymer, Chautauqua County, New York; died 17 April 1958 in Bronxville, Westchester County, N.Y.; buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, Bronx County, N.Y. Parents John William Warnshuis (1840-1901) and Hendrika Johanna Oonck Warnshuis (1839-1885). Four siblings and six half-siblings listed. Spouses Anna De Vries Warnshuis (1874-1941, married 1900) and Margaret Chambers Warnshuis (1889-1980, married 1942). There is a photo of him, and of his headstone.

The 1900 Ottawa County (Mich.) marriage register has groom Livingston Warnshuis, age 22, resident of Holland, Mich., born in New York, occupation clergyman, parents J. W. Warnshuis and Hendriks J. Oonk, bride Anna De Vries, age 26, resident of Holland, Mich., born in Holland, Mich., parents Peter De Vries and Hannah Borgers; Married July 11, 1900 in Holland.

Sioux County newspapers, particularly the Alton Democrat and De Volksvriend, have some coverage in the 1900s and 1910s of the Warnshuis’s service in China; A. L. Warnshuis was sponsored by the First Reformed Church of Alton.

The 1940 U.S. census shows Abbe Living[??] Warnshuis (62), born in New York, occupation secretary, foreign missions, and Anna D. Warnshuis (66), born in Michigan; residence in 1935, Sanbourns[?]; guests in the home of Harold A. Stein and family, Mount Vernon, Westchester County, N.Y.

His World War II draft registration card shows him as age 64; employed by the International Missionary Council; physical description: height 6’2”, weight 185, grey eyes, brown hair, light complexion.