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Small Collection 114 Ephemera of William Ekvall Simpson

 Collection
Identifier: Small CN 114

Scope and Contents

This collection contains a booklet of photocopies assembled by Ray Smith and a photocopy of a manuscript copied from a typed manuscript attributed to William Wallace Simpson. The booklet contains a narrative by Smith about the life and death of William E. Wallace and copies of many documents, articles and excerpts from books. The documents are mainly concerned with the investigation into the death of the two men, while the articles and excerpts also deal to some extent with Simpson's work as an evangelist. The W. W. Simpson manuscript consists of a narrative about his son's life and death and photocopies of several letters by William E. Simpson from the later 1920s and early 1930s. Other correspondents include: Shao Li-Tse, Nelson Trusler Johnson, Wang Chao-ming, Dimitri Horvath. The geographic coverage of the materials is the Chinese-Tibetan border in the area of Labrang.

Dates

  • Created: 1998

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions on the use of this collection.

Biographical Information

Missionary to Tibet; born William Ekvall Simpson on October 19, 1901 in Old Orchard, Maine, USA to William Wallace and Alma Maria Otilia (Ekvall) Simpson, missionaries to China, first with the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) and then with the Assemblies of God (AOG). Siblings: Margaret Helene (Simpson) Jamieson and Louise Matina (Simpson) Chenoweth. Simpson converted to Christianity at the age of 10; homeschooled until the age of 13. In 1915, he attended an academy in Tennessee while his family was back in the United States on furlough; 1917, he attended and graduated from Bethel Bible Training School in Newark, New Jersey, USA, where his father was principal. Simpson received formal appointment as an AOG missionary on December 4, 1923, although he had been one informally since 1919. From 1918-1932, he traveled among Tibetan nomadic herdsman in the general area of Labrang, Tibet, sharing the gospel with them. He pioneered many uncharted paths in the area, and at the time of his death had trained and supported eight Chinese evangelists who were also working in the area. Simpson was killed by army deserters at Shih Keo Waunao in Kansu Province, China on June 20, 1932.

Extent

1.00 Folder (Biographical Sketch; Letters; Photographs; Articles)

Language of Materials

English

Accruals and Additions

The materials in this collection were given to the Archives of the Billy Graham Center by Ray Smith in 1998 and 2001.

Accession: 98-45, 00-01

April 10, 2007

Robert Shuster

Title
Small Collection 114 Ephemera of William Ekvall Simpson
Author
Bob Shuster
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Roman Script

Repository Details

Part of the Evangelism & Missions Archives Repository

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