William Henry Lacy ' onMouseout='HidePop("2863")' href="/topics/Pinyin">Pinyin

Pinyin

Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...

: Lì Wéilián; Foochow Romanized: Lĭk Ùi-lièng; January 8, 1858 - September 3, 1925) was an American Methodist missionary to China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

.

Life

William Henry Lacy was born on January 8, 1858 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...

. He graduated from Northwestern University

Northwestern University

Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....

 and the Garrett Bible Institute, and was ordained in 1883. In 1887 he was sent to Foochow as a missionary under the Board of Foreign Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church

Methodist Episcopal Church

The Methodist Episcopal Church, sometimes referred to as the M.E. Church, was a development of the first expression of Methodism in the United States. It officially began at the Baltimore Christmas Conference in 1784, with Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke as the first bishops. Through a series of...

. He and his wife Mrs. Emma Nind Lacy, daughter of Mary Clarke Nind

Mary Clarke Nind

Mary Clarke Nind , known as "Our Little Bishop", was a philanthropist and worker for social justice. It was during her time living in Minnesota that she fulfilled her calling into missionary work.-Biography:...

, arrived in Foochow on November 5, 1887. Rev. Lacy consequently served as a professor at the Foochow Anglo-Chinese College  from 1887 to 1894, superintendent of the Anglo-Chinese Book Concern in Foochow from 1891 to 1902, senior manager from 1902 to 1906, and manager of the Methodist Publishing House in China  in Foochow and Shanghai

Shanghai

Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

 after 1907. On September 3, 1925, Lacy died in Shanghai. His four sons, Walter Nind, Henry Veere, George Carleton

George Carleton Lacy

George Carleton Lacy was an American Methodist missionary and the last Methodist Bishop in Mainland China.-Early years and education:...

 and William Irving Lacy, and one daughter, Alice, were also missionaries to China.