John Livingston Nevius

His biography describes it as an idyllic country location in Lake Seneca, "gleaming through the trees", only 2 miles distant; he was the son of Benjamin Nevius, of Dutch descent, and his wife Mary Denton.

[1] In 1853, Nevius married Helen Coan and, on June 15 of that year, the couple set off, as missionaries, on a 6-month sea voyage to Ningbo, in the Zhejiang province on the southeast coast of China, arriving in the spring of 1854.

He and his wife immediately set about learning the language, and Nevius's subsequent interest in the phenomenon of spirit possession was sparked off by conversations about the supernatural with his language tutor, Mr. Tu; the Chinese had a strong belief in the reality and power of the spirit world that was part of an animistic tradition in Chinese folk religion.

John also trained missionaries and helped to establish the country's first Synod which took place in Shanghai in 1870, while Mrs. Nevius set up a boarding school for girls.

[1] Nevius continued with his missionary work to country areas until 1887, travelling thousands of miles, often under arduous conditions of terrain, weather etc.

[1] Nevius was the author of several books covering the subjects of Chinese religions, spiritual practices and social and political life, spirit possession and missionary work; his wife also wrote an exhaustive biography (see bibliography).