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| Adelaide N. Whitney 講談社版『クララの明治日記（上）』 カバージャケットより（部分） |
If you look for the image of foreigners' cemetery in Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan on a search engine, you could find a grave with a low white cross near a hydrangea bush among hundreds of photos, like the following.
This is the final rest place for Adelaide Norton Lang, née Whitney, younger sister of Willis Norton Whitney.
You might think why the cross has not a good balance - the vertical bar is too short, even as a Greek cross? This mystery was solved when I found a book Hakodate Gaijin Bochi [函館外人墓地, Hakodate Foreigners' Cemetery] written by BABA Osamu, published in 1975.
Mr BABA (1892-1979), a well-known local historian, a dentist, who was born and raised in Hakodate city, compiled the fruits of years of research on buried non-Japanese-persons in Hakodate into a book. This is a great, unprecedented work.
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| 『函館外人墓地』馬場脩 著/図書裡会 1975 |
http://search.library.utoronto.ca/details?4036709&uuid=3cbbe878-8f0f-4efa-944f-cbde0a741e49
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| 『函館外人墓地』 p.22 より |
ADELAIDE NORTON LANG
THE BELOVED WIFE OF
REV. D. M. LANG, C. M. S.
WHO DIED AT HAKODATE
OCTOBER 1ST 1896
AGED 26 YEARS
“SO HE GIVETH HIS BELOVED SLEEP”
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| Hakodate St John Church put a metal plate for Addie, just beside the grave. Photo taken in 2016. |
Mr BABA wrote that “nothing was known about this priest's wife” [p.59], however, I can add something.
Adelaide Norton was born 17 June 1868 at Newark, NJ, as the third and youngest child of Mr & Mrs Whitney. She was 7 years old when her family arrived Japan on August 1875. On 17 January 1893 Addie married a Scottish missionary, Rev. David Marshall Lang (1862-1946) of CMS at St Andrews Church, Tokyo. She passed away just after she delivered her first-born on 1 October 1896, at the age of 28, not 26.
Dr. Whitney's younger sister had married a missionary of the Church Missionary Society, Rev. David M. Lang and they resided at Hakodate. Four years later, and only a week or two after our return from furlough in 1896 the news came to us by telegram that a son was born； but the dear mother had died about two hours after. On hearing this Dr. Whitney immediately started for Hakodate, with a sorrowful heart, and came back five days later bringing the beautiful motherless boy with him for me to take care of. He was with us for six months and then an opportunity offered to send him to Mr. Lang's sister in London, where he was brought up. [ Remi1933, p.55 ]
The son was baptized David Marshall after his father, was grown up in England. He became a medical doctor as his uncle Willis, had a practice at Bath and died on 16 August 1978. His eldest son, born on 6 May 1924 was named also David Marshall Lang, became a professor of Caucasian Studies, University of London.
I felt so happy when I had found Professor Lang's son lives in London — poor Addie's great-grandson IS alive! What I might tell his family is, the small corner of a foreign field your great-grandmother resting is very beautiful place with a fine view. Her life was short, but was blessed.
The following is her obituary, written by her husband.
Mrs. D. Marshall Lang.Adelaide Norton Lang, wife of Rev. D. M. Lang, M. A. of the Church Mission Society, who died at Hakodate, October 1st. 1896, was the daughter of Prof. W. C. Whitney of Newark, New Jersey, U. S. In 1875 (when she was only 6 [sic] years old) her father was invited to found a Commercial College in Japan. Five years later a visit was paid to England, and while there she became interested in the Scripture Union; so on her return she endeavoured to start a branch in Japan. Through the influence of Mr. Tsuda Sen [*1] this was begun, and the number of members rapidly increased until now there are over 11,000 with 460 secretaries and branches in all parts of the Empire. For a while Mrs. Lang was teacher of English in the Peeress' School [*2] in Tokyo, until her marriage in January 1893. Since then first at Osaka, then at Hamada [*3], and lastly at Hakodate, she truly helped the work of her husband for the spread of the Saviour's kingdom in Japan. Whether visiting Kushiro and other outstations with him, or preparing Bible Women for their work and herself holding women's meetings, she was ever labouring for the good of those around her.Her long residence in Japan gave her a command of the language rarely attained, which she always used for God's glory. By translating the life of Catherine Tait [*4] and in other ways she also tried to impress upon the mothers of Japan the duty and beauty of a Christian Home. Her death, at a time when a wider sphere of usefulness seemed opening out for her, was a great loss to the work, but her service is only continued in a higher and more perfect sphere for the Master she loved and served below. D. M. L.
— Proceedings of the General Conference of Protestant Missionaries in Japan, p.703.
[ Notes by the editor ]*1 TSUDA Sen : 津田仙 1837-1908, a Methodist educator, agriculturist. Father of Miss TSUDA Umeko, founder of Tsuda College [津田塾大学].
*2 Peeress' School in Tokyo : 女子学習院. See History of Gakushuin School.
*3 Hamada : 石見国浜田町〔現・島根県浜田市〕 Now Hamada City, Shimane.
*4 Catherine Tait : 1819-1878, wife of Archibald Tait (1811-1882), Archbishop of Canterbury (1868-1882).
Rev. D. M. Lang got remarried with his Scotland-born maternal first cousin in 1902 and had another son, who became a school teacher. He continued his missionary work on Hokkaido in Japan with his second wife until 1920. He died in the first day of 1946, aged 83, as a rector of Fillingham, Lincolnshire, England. Incidentally, Rt. Rev. William Cosmo Gordon Lang (1864-1945), Archbishop of Canterbury (1928–1942) was his paternal first cousin.
Images are cut out and processed by the editor.
Thanks for the those prepared the original data on the net.
Images of “Kurihon” stamped were photos taken by me,
for the Japanese edition of my blog.
Images of “Kurihon” stamped were photos taken by me,
for the Japanese edition of my blog.
Last updated 27 November 2016
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