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Dwight Lamar Sherertz (1893-1970) was a Methodist Episcopal Church, South, missionary to China and Africa. He received a B.A. from Roanoke College, an M.A. from Princeton University, and a honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Roanoke in 1945. Sherertz also studied at Emory University's Candler School of Theology, Columbia University, and Union Theological Seminary. In 1918 he began teaching English and religion at the junior and senior high schools in Soochow, China, a position he held until World War II when he was interned and then evacuated. Sherertz returned to China in 1945 and served as a liasison officer between Chinese and American troops. He continued to teach at Soochow University from 1946 until the Communist takeover in China in 1950. Forced to leave China, he went to Rhodesia in 1952 to work at a teacher training school and as an assistant minister until his retirement in 1957.

Margarita Mary Sherertz (1889-1973) married Dwight Lamar Sherertz in October 1919. She was the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. William Hector Park and a niece of Bishop Walter R. Lambuth.

William Hector Park (1858-1927) was a Methodist Episcopal Church, South, missionary to China. He received an undergraduate degree from Emory College in 1880 and studied medicine at Vanderbilt University. He continued his medical course work at Bellevue Medical College in New York and later studied in Edinburgh, Scotland. Park arrived in China in 1882 and in the following year, with the assistance of Bishop Walter R. Lambuth, established the Soochow Hospital. He worked at the hospital for nearly forty-five years and trained many doctors. His book, "Opinions of Over One Hundred Physicians on the Use of Opium in China," published in 1899, was instrumental in stopping the British opium trade in China. Park married Nora Kate Lambuth (n.d.-1949), a sister of Bishop Lambuth. The Parks worked together at the Soochow Hosptial, and Nora Park was active in the Anti-Foot Binding Association.

Katherine Lorena Kelly (1903-?), American missionary, was born at Mt. Mourne, North Carolina on May 17, 1903. She received a B. A. from the University of North Carolina and an M.A. from Scarritt College (Tennessee). Kelly was a Methodist Episcopal, Methodist and United Methodist Church missionary in the Central Zaire Conference for thirty-three years. In 1936, she arrived in what was then The Belgian Congo, after spending a short time in Belgium for French language instruction. Kelly served as an education worker directing primary schools, organized a junior high school for women, and taught in various institutions. During her tenure, Kelly served in Tunda, Wembo Nyama, Lubondai and Lodja. She witnessed the transfers of powers from the Colonial Committee of Fourteen in Belgium to the eventual rule of Joseph Mobutu, later known as Mobuto Sese Seko. In 1960, the Congo civil war ended with independence for the former colony which was now known as the Republic of the Congo. Kelly, along with other missionaries in the area, fled to what is now Kitwe, Zambia, during the war and did not return full-time until early 1965. Upon her return she served as dean of the Congo Polytechnique Institute. In 1969, Kelly retired from active missionary work and returned to the United States of America.

Charles Edwin Draper (1879-1964), Methodist Episcopal Church Missionary, was born on November 9. 1879 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He graduated from Purdue University in 1906 with a degree in Electrical Engineering. He married Mary Ethel Parks Draper on November 23, 1911 and they had four children named: C.R., Margaret, Betty, and John E. Draper, and they lived and worked throughout China, Singapore, Malaysia as missionaries and teachers in the early 20th Century. Draper attended the Hinghwa Conference in 1918 and worked in construction in Nanchang, China in 1922, before he became a Professor of Science at the Nanchang Academy in 1922. Later, he served as the Acting Registrar and was head of the Science Department at Nanchang Academy in 1923.

Charles E. Draper died on November 4, 1964.

John Talbot Gracey (1831-1912), American Missionary to India, was born in Philadelphia on September 16, 1831. He was very studious, and liked to study the sciences. He eventually went off to college to study medicine in an attempt to one day become a physician. However, it was during this time that he realized that his true calling was not to heal people physically, but spiritually. When he made this decision in 1850, he joined the Virginia and later the Pennsylvania Conferences. Gracey received his masters from both Ohio Wesleyan University as well as Dickinson College, and earned the title of Doctor of Divinity from Syracuse University. On March 10, 1858, John married Annie Ryder, who was at the time working at Ohio Wesleyan University.

Early in 1861, Gracey decided that he and his wife were being called for missions in India. At the time, India was still a very remote location, one especially devoid of westerners since relations between India and Britain had not been so great. India was a very important place for missions, and a land in need of help, but few had yet pioneered the mission field in that area. Gracey brought together a team of missionaries, including his wife, to embark on such a journey. They left the United States in June 1861 and arrived in India in October. The trip had been quite dangerous, and the group was lucky to have arrived safely. Now that they were in India, they got right to work. Gracey was a very impressive man, intelligent yet humble and kind. One could always find Gracey sitting with the local children or the older men, telling them stories of the Prodigal Son or the Good Samaritan, and the locals would accept this with excited and wild imaginations. After only living in India for five months, Gracey gave his first sermon in a native tongue. Gracey was also involved with the Methodist Indian Conference, of which he was secretary when he arrived, and President in 1867. During his time in India, John lived in Sitapur, Calcutta, Bareilly, and Naini Tal. He also took a short excursion into the mountains to the north.

In 1868, their homestead in India was abruptly cut short when Annie became severely ill. Upon return to the United States, it was clear that she could not endure the extreme tropical environment, and thus the two could not return together. So after a marvelous seven years serving and teaching in India, John retired from that particular field, never to return to India.

For the latter stage of his life, Gracey took on many different roles. He was involved with a missionary society through the church, giving speeches and writings in the interest of all missions. He was a professor of a historical theology at Drew University. He transferred to the Central New York and Genessee Conferences. While in these conferences, Gracey was the pastor of many churches, from Rochester, Buffalo, and Brooklyn to holding the position of elder at a church in Syracuse for six years. He also organized and presided over the International Missionary Union in 1883, an organization that protects the rights and safety of missionaries. From late 1876 to early 1877, Gracey was invited to join a group in a visit to missions in West Africa. There he evaluated the work and gave suggestions to improving life and efficiency in the mission field. Upon the return to the United States, Gracey stopped in Spain and France as a little vacation.

Gracey retired from the pastorate in 1889, but that didn't end his ministry. He worked for the Northern Christian Advocate as the missionary editor for 18 years. He also continued to speak about his experiences about being a missionary. He wrote a few books on his thoughts as well.

Along with being such an active member in the church, Gracey was a devoted father of three. One of these children of Francis Ida Gracey, who became a very active missionary to China. She devoted her life to helping little children in China have a better life. His wife Annie died on February 17, 1908, and John died four years later, on January 5, 1912.

Rev. Carroll Summerfield Long, D.D., PhD. (1850-1890) American Methodist Episcopal Church missionary was born on January 2, 1850 in Athens, Tennessee. He was the oldest son of Reverend William R. Long (February 18, 1819-November 4, 1847) and Sarah Elizabeth (Atlee) Long (April 4, 1829-December 5, 1889). He attended East Tennessee Wesleyan College (Athens, Tennessee) with the intent of practicing medicine. However, he had a change in plans and wanted to live a more religious lifestyle. He became licensed to preach on June 22, 1872 under Reverend J. W. Mann. Higher education was important to Long, and he would return to East Tennessee Wesleyan College to complete his studies, receiving a B.A. in the classics in 1878, a M.A. in 1881, followed by an PhD in 1886.

In October 1875, Long was admitted to the Holston Conference and was stationed in Asheville, North Carolina where he would serve for four years as the pastor of the church. During which he would also serve as the president of Candler College for two of those years. In August 1879, he was elected as the principal of Powells Valley Seminary (Well Spring, Tennessee), where he would hold the position for a short five months before accepting an appointment as missionary to Japan. Long and his wife sailed from San Francisco, California on February 28, 1880 and arrived in Nagasaki March 20, 1880. Long was determined to become emerged within the Japanese culture, and took up to the study of the language and customs upon his arrival. Within less than 13 weeks, Long was able to give his first sermon in the vernacular of the people. Reverend Carroll Summerfield Long would serve a total of eight years as a missionary to Japan. Some of his many accomplishments include founding Cobleigh Seminary (1881), becoming the presiding elder of the Nagasaki and Nagoya districts, as well as founding a school for girls in Nagoya (October 1888).

His missionary experiences were not experienced alone, and in many aspects, could not be completed without his family. On June 3, 1879 he married Flora Isadore Smith (1861-1952), the daughter of Reverend William Conway Smith (1830-1881) and Mary Eliza (Hemens) Smith (1835-1929). They met through “Pen Pal,” as Flora loved to read “The Children’s Corner” and began an relationship through the correspondence that the two would have. During their time in Japan, Carroll and Flora would have 4 children: Mary Elizabeth Long Dayharsh (1880-1975), Flora Hortense Long Harrison (1881-1968), Pauline “Haru” Atlee Long (1883-1931) and “Michi” Geraldine Long Bailey (1888-1985).

Reverend Carroll Summerfield Long made his last return trip to the United States on August 17, 1890, and due to bad health, passed away at the home his friend Reverend J.D. Robertson in Asheville, North Carolina on September 4, 1890 and is buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery (Athens, Tennessee).

Ruth Louise Stahl, Methodist Episcopal and Methodist Church Missionary, was born on April 8, 1887 in Somerset, Ohio to Clara W. Stahl. Her father's name is not known at the present time. Ruth is the sister of Minta May Stahl who later married A. W. Nagler. Osie Stahl is her other sibling. Stahl attended Canal Winchester High School, Ohio State University and Mount Union Conservatory where she earned a Bachelor of Music in 1909.

Ruth received her Women's Foreign Missionary Society appointment to China in November 1917. She set sail that same month. Upon arriving in China her assignment was to teach music at North China Women's College in Beijing. Later the college would become part of Yenching University. The school was closed by the Japanese in 1941. For the next two years Ruth was interned by the Japanese until repatriation in December 1943. Ruth then sailed back to the United States but returned to China in 1946 for two more years of service. Her official missionary retirement came in March 1951. Ruth died in July 1959.

Minta May Stahl, and Tirzah Marie Stahl were also missionaries who served in China between 1917 to 1945. They worked in various schools around China with students of all ages. Minta May Stahl worked in Tientsin, China and Tirzah Marie Stahl worked in Taianfu, Shantung, China.

Paul Stephen Mayer (1884-1962) was a missionary to Japan with the Evangelical United Brethren Church (EUB) from 1909 until 1947. Mayer spent his childhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and attended college at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, graduating in 1907. He then attended Evangelical Theological Seminary at Naperville, graduating in 1909. That year he married Frances Frank, who had just completed her nurses training, and they left together for Japan that November. They lived and worked in Tsukiji until 1914 and then in Shimo-Ochiai, Shinjuku-ku. Mayer taught English for most of his years in Japan at several different schools in addition to his church work. He served as the EUB Japan Mission superintendent from 1926 until 1941. He also served as the chairman of the Japan Forward Movement. of Christ in Japan (UCC Japan) in 1941. When the Japanese government ordered all missionaries home in 1942 the Mayers refused to go, and they were eventually held in separate internment camps for a year. They were released and returned to the United States in 1944. Mayer was part of the reorganization of the Church and in the preparations for new missionaries responding to MacArthur's call for "10,000" new missionaries to Japan. Mayer worked with the Foreign Missionary Conference of North America and the Kyodan, the indigenous church of Japan, as well as his own denomination, in this role. He also helped to begin the work of rebuilding damaged or destroyed church buildings and schools. He served as the associate secretary of the National Christian Council, which replaced the United Christian Church Japan, for five years. Mayer attempted to put together a history of the Japan Mission while in retirement, but it was never finished. Mayer died in Washington, D.C., but his body was returned to Japan for burial.

Louise Avett (1903-1994), an American missionary, was born May 7, 1903, in Norwood, North Carolina. She received an A. B. from Duke University and an M. A. from Scarritt College. Avett taught fifth grade in the United States prior to her missionary service in China, which lasted from 1932 to 1945. Part of her service included evangelistic and social work in the Soochow, Changhsu Ku, Haito, Huchow provinces of East China and the Houchuan Province of West China. Teaching duties included working at the Hwa Mei, Hochuan, Dahoba, Tongnan, and Gwei Chin Tze primary and middle schools. When itinerating, Avett would stay with numerous families and minister to them for several days at a time. She also taught in Hong Kong during the 1960s. Louise Avett died in 1994.

Melville Owens Wiliams (1904-1995) was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, to Meville Owens and Mary Louise Codd Willams. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1924, an Master of Science degree in sociology and religion from Vanderbilt University in 1929, and an Doctor of Education from Union Theological Seminary in 1936. He married Annie Lee Young in August of 1926, and they had two children: G. Melville and Anne W. (later Craig).

Willaims spent his early years in education, serving as the chaplain for the Virginia Industrial School in Maidens (1924-1925), and then as a teacher at Emory University Academy, in Oxford, Georgia (1926-1928). In 1929 the Williams family moved to China where he taught sociology. They remained there until 1940. In 1942, Williams was ordained in the Virginia Conference of the Methodist church, receiving his full connection in 1945. The same year he was ordained Williams was appointed secretary of Missionary Personnel, a position he held until the merger in 1968. From 1964 until 1968 he was Chairman of the Commission on world Mission under the National Student Christian Federation. After his retirement from the Board of Missions, Williams worked with the Commission on Ecumenical Mission and Relations (COEMAR), a cooperative effort with the Presbyterian Church, USA. In this capacity he and his wife traveled to Africa, Asia, Europe, and Central and South America. They retired to Ohio in 1985.

Roy Stinson Smyres (1895-1994) was born on November 17, 1895 in Mount Vernon, Indiana, to Luther Robert and Mary Hannah Brown Smyres. Nell Smyres was his only sister. Smyres grew up in Terre Haute, Indiana, attending local public schools and the local Methodist Episcopal Church. At the age of six he bought his first camera, a two-dollar Kodak Brownie, which began a life-long hobby that would create a large global image archive.

Smyres attended Northwestern University and Garrett Theological Seminary (then Garrett Biblical Institute), receiving his B.A. in 1921 and M.A. in 1922. He left during his junior year of college to go to Africa for one year as secretary to missionary John McKendree Springer. Roy sailed from New York City to Africa on the S.S. City of Glasglow in December 1916. The one year appointment stretched into three years.

Roy was stationed at Elisabethville, and later Kambove, Belgian Congo, where he taught at the night school when not traveling with Springer. He was appointed the assistant secretary of the Congo Mission Conference.

In 1917 Smyres was received into membership by the Central New York Annual Conference of The Methodist Episcopal Church. He was ordained under the missionary rule by the Congo Mission Conference, with Bishop Eben, Johnson officiating in 1919. During that same year, Smyres journeyed with Bishop Johnson across West Africa to map out future mission stations. He sailed back to the United States on October 5, 1919 to resume his college work at Northwestern University.

Roy and Esther Montgomery of Sioux City, Iowa, were married on September 7, 1921. They eventually raised five children: Peg, Richard, Mary, Bob, and Ruth. The following year Roy was appointed to be the minister for the Forest Home Chapel in Ithaca, New York. At the same time he enrolled at Cornell University for a doctoral degree.

In 1924, Roy and Esther Smyres became missionaries for the Methodist Episcopal Church and returned to the Congo, where they worked for five years. Most of their time was spent in the bush country. Roy served as principal of the Congo Institute, district superintendent for the Elisabethville-Luba District, and treasurer of the mission.

They returned to the United States in 1929. Upon his return and in order to make financial ends meet Roy taught at Ithaca High School. He also worked at Associated Gas and Electric Company. Ministerial appointments for the Central New York Annual Conference included Forest Home Chapel (1931-1936), Horseheads (1937-1940), and Montour Falls (1941-1945). Roy became an instructor at Cazenovia Seminary in 1940, and served as treasurer of the conference from 1941 to 1945.

It was during this period of ministry that Smyres took his first around the world trip in 1957. He retired from the board in 1964.

The year after his retirement from the Board of Missions, Roy and and Esther Smyres volunteered to become missionaries to India and Nepal. They also traveled around the world for a second time, and that trip resulted in the production of more than six thousand photographic images.

Smyres remained active in church work on many different levels after retirement. He spoke, wrote, and freelanced as a photographer for the Mission Board and other religious organizations from 1966 to 1973.

Esther Montgomery Smyres died on July 2, 1972. Despite the loss, Roy Smyres later took his third trip around the world.

Mary Fraley and Roy Smyres were married on October 13, 1973. Smyres continued freelance photography and journalism for various religious organizations. The Protestant Church in Kathmandu in Nepal called Smyres to be an interim pastor for three months in 1974.

Upon his return from Nepal in 1975, Smyres developed a slide lecture about Nepal, and proceeded to speak about the country across the United States. During that same year, Smyres made his fourth and final around the world trip. It was Mary's first. Mary and Roy Smyres settled in Cayuga Heights, New York, until 1992, when they moved to nearby Bethany Manor.

Nell Smyres died on November 19, 1977, at the age of eighty-six

Eventually, Smyres visited eighty-five different countries during his lifetime. Many of these trips were to visit mission centers of the United Methodist Church. From the late 1970s and early 1980s, , Smyres focused on writing and publishing, and began to write his autobiography. He also continued to keep an active speaking calendar until 1981.

Smyres continued to be active in church work until 1989. He died on September 7, 1994, at 98. His final act of charity was manifested by donating his body to medical science.