393.1115 Harsh and Neher/1: Telegram
The Counselor of Embassy in China (Lockhart) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 12—12:05 p.m.]
814. (1) Mr. F. H. Crumpacher of the Church of the Brethren Mission at Pingting on the Taiyuan–Shihkiachuang Railway informed [Page 400] the Embassy today of the disappearance of [on] the evening of December 2 of the American citizens, Mr. and Mrs. Alva Harsh and Miss Minneva Neher, of the Church of the Brethren Mission at Shouyang, which is between Pingting and Taiyuan. The Harsh’s home address is Petersburg, West Virginia. That of Miss Neher is Lavern, California. Mr. Crumpacher heard on December 5 of the disappearance and went that day to Pingting. He was informed by Chinese of the mission that the three Americans left the mission at 7:30 p.m., to walk half a mile to the house of a Frenchman and never returned. The daughter of the Frenchman claims that they were at the house for half an hour and then set out for the mission. Reputable Chinese of the town, when questioned, stated that they had no knowledge of the presence of Chinese irregulars in the vicinity at that time. If this is true, the motive of the persons who caused the disappearance is obscure. Crumpacher states that he believes that the Japanese officials at Shouyang have knowledge of the affair which they have not revealed and that probably Japanese are in some way responsible for the disappearance.39 A memorandum of the known facts of the case (omitting Crumpacher’s opinion stated in preceding sentence) has been handed to the Japanese Embassy today with the written request that the Japanese authorities take all possible measures to discover the whereabouts of the three Americans and their present condition.
(2) Crumpacher states that the following Americans of his mission are safe at Pingting: Minerva Metzer, Mary Schaeffer, Myrtle Pollock, Corda Wartz, Mary Gauntz, Velma Ober, and Mrs. F. H. Crumpacher.
Although he has had no direct word from I. E. Oberholtzer at Liaochow, some 80 miles south of Pingting, nor from Mr. and Mrs. E. M. Wampler at Chinchow, some 170 miles southwest of Pingting, he believes them to be safe at those places, which are still in the hands of the old Chinese authorities.
(3) Crumpacher requests that the information contained in this telegram, with presumably the exception of that part which is only his personal belief reported in paragraph 1, be reported by telegram to the headquarters of the Church of the Brethren Mission at Elgin, Illinois.
Sent to Department. Repeated to Hankow and copy to Tientsin by mail.
- Further investigation convinced the Embassy at Peiping that the three American missionaries had been killed but failed to reveal any conclusive evidence as to their fate.↩