596327 - Smith, Madorah Elizabeth

Events

Event	Date	Place	Sources
Birth [E127371]	1884-07-02	SHANGHAI, CHINA	1b 2b 3b
Birth [E127372]	1884-07-02	Shanghai, China	4b 5b
Death [E127373]	WFT 1885-1978	HAWAII	1c 2c 3c
Death [E127374]	WFT 1885-1978	Hawaii	4c 5c

Parents

Relation to main person	Name	Birth date	Death date
Father	Smith, John Nicolas Bailhache [I77708]	1854-06-04	1910-03-07
Mother	Strong, Fannie Madorah [I77718]	1858-11-14	1948-07-06
	Smith, Madorah Elizabeth [I77740]	1884-07-02	WFT 1885-1978
Sister	Smith, Ruth Bailhache [I77729]	1886-01-23	WFT 1904-1980
Brother	Smith, James Addison [I77751]	1888-11-12	WFT 1909-1978
Sister	Smith, Mary Louise [I77762]	1890-06-14	1983-07-16
Brother	Smith, John Erwin [I77409]	1891-11-27	1982-01-17
Brother	Smith, Francis Strong [I77420]	1893-03-11	1926-04-27
Brother	Smith, Edward Morgan [I77431]	1897-02-15	WFT 1918-1987
Sister	Smith, Helen Katherine [I77442]	1898-07-26	1979-06-07

Narrative

[3991.ftw]

[Brøderbund WFT Vol. 1, Ed. 1, Tree #3991, Date of Import: Oct 25, 1998]

Madorah Smith (1884- ? ) was the first child of John Nicolas Bailhache Smith (1854-1910) and Fannie Madorah Strong (1858-1948), and she was born in Shanghai, China. Her parents were missionaries there at that time and for some time afterward.

Madorah has written a beautiful biographical sketch about her youth in China, and I will not attempt to reproduce it here because of it's length. It would also be unfair to abbreviate it so that it would fit, so I will simply state that if you want to learn about that portion of Madorah's life, locate her sketch in a document prepared by Mary Louise Smith (Ormsby) which contains input from nearly all the children of John and Fannie.

After the family returned to the US from China, and the children were growing up, Madorah was granted a scholarship in 1902 at Fargo College, a Congregational school located in Fargo, North Dakota. She graduated from that school in 1907, and when her father moved to Mt. Vernon, Iowa, she taught in rural schools in Iowa and Minnesota.

After John, Madorah's father, died in 1910, Madorah took a position teaching in Walnut, North Carolina for a year. A friend offered Madoraha chance to go to China under the auspices of the Methodist Missionary Board, and since Madorah had been rejected in her bid to do the same thing for the Presbyterian Missionary Board, she decided to accept the offer.

She arrived in Shanghai, supposedly on her way to West China, but since military conditions were unfavorable, she spent the first year of her stay on the East Coast of China. She arrived in Chunking in January, 1913, where she was appointed to Cheng tu. She reached Cheng tu in late February, 1913, and remained there teaching in the school until early 1917, when she returned to the US

Madorah went to Iowa State University to study for her MA, and she gained that degree in 1918. She taught in Colorado for the next three years, then returned to Iowa State for further study. She attained her PHD from Iowa State in 1925, then remained in Iowa City teaching for about two years.

Madorah heard of an opening at the Normal School in Honolulu while she was in Iowa City, and decided to make application for the position. She was accepted for the position, and in 1927 she moved to Honolulu. Four years later the Normal School was absorbed into the University, and Madorah was one of the few selected to go with the school. She remained there, teaching Psychology and Education courses until her age and World War II forced her to retire in 1943, and temporarily leave the islands.

She returned to Hawaii after the end of World War II, and lived the remainder of her life among the many friends she had made, and in the paradise she loved so well.
[phelps.FTW]