Jessup, Henry Harris, 1832-1910

Henry Harris Jessup was a missionary in Syria from 1856 to 1910, serving under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions and Presbyterian Mission Board. He was one of the founders of the Syrian Protestant College, later known as the American University of Beirut.

From the description of Henry Harris Jessup papers, 1851-1912 (inclusive). (Yale University). WorldCat record id: 702152609

• 1832 Apr 19: Born in Montrose, Pennsylvania
• 1851: B.A., Yale
• 1855: B.D., Union Theological Seminary
• 1855: Ordained as Presbyterian minister
• 1856 - 1860 : Served in Tripoli, Syria as a missionary under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions; developed expertise in Arabic language
• 1857: Married Caroline Bush while on visit to America; --Children: Anna, William, and Henry
• 1858: Returned to Tripoli
• 1860: Moved to Beirut
• 1862: Brother, Samuel, went to Syria as missionary for the American Board
• 1860: Wife, Caroline, died
• 1866: One of the founders of the Syrian Protestant College, now the American University of Beirut
• 1868: Married Harriet Elizabeth Dodge who died in 1882--Children: Stuart, Mary, Amy, Ethel, Frederick
• 1870: Syrian mission work transferred from the American Board to the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions; Jessup was acting pastor of the Syrian Church of Beirut and secretary of the Asfuriyeh Hospital for the Insane from its foundation.
• 1873: Published The Women of the Arabs
• 1874: Published Syrian Home Life
• 1879: Published The Mohammedan Missionary Problem
• 1884: Married Theodosia Davenport Lockwood
• 1891: Published The Greek Church and Protestant Missions
• 1898: Published The Setting of the Crescent and the Rising Cross
• 1910: Published Fifty-Three Years in Syria
• 1910 Apr 28: Died in Beirut

From the guide to the Henry Harris Jessup Papers, 1851-1912, (Yale University Divinity School Library)