On May 3, 1898, in the village of Rotufunk, Sierra Leone, members of the local Mendi tribe massacred 5 missionaries, Rev. Isaac N. Cain & his wife Mary, Dr. Mary Archer, Dr. Marietta Hatfield and Miss Ella Schenck.
Dr. Hatfield, who had been ill and confined to her bed, managed to get up and went out into a nearby street and knelt to pray. Her assailants waited until she finished praying and then beheaded her.
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Marietta Hatfield was born at Ludlow (now Potsdam), Miami County, Ohio. She was the third in a family of thirteen children. She lived with her parents in the village until she was about 16, and attended the village school. At 16 she began work as a teacher and continued in that profession for some 20 years. She entered the Women's Medical College, Cincinnati, Ohio in 1889 and graduated March 4, 1891. While still in medical school she applied for membership in the Woman's Board of Missions of the Church of the United Brethen in Christ, in hopes of entering into missionary work in Africa and was accepted. On October 10, 1891, she arrived in Sierra Leone, and traveled to the mission in Rotufunk, as the first person officially recognized by her church as exclusively a medical missionary. She remained there until 1895 when she returned home to America. In 1897 she once more returned to Africa to resume her work. While on a journey to Taiama with Mr. and Mrs. McGrew, she became ill and returned to Rotufunk to medical aid. Although she resumed her work, she never fully recovered from her illness, and was still in poor health at the time of her death.
Note concerning burial: According to the book "History of the Woman's Missionary Association of the United Brethren in Christ" published in 1910, the bones of the 5 missionaries killed in Rotufunk were gathered by English officers, put into one box and were later interred in the cemetery in Rotufunk.
Dr. Hatfield, who had been ill and confined to her bed, managed to get up and went out into a nearby street and knelt to pray. Her assailants waited until she finished praying and then beheaded her.
_____________________________
Marietta Hatfield was born at Ludlow (now Potsdam), Miami County, Ohio. She was the third in a family of thirteen children. She lived with her parents in the village until she was about 16, and attended the village school. At 16 she began work as a teacher and continued in that profession for some 20 years. She entered the Women's Medical College, Cincinnati, Ohio in 1889 and graduated March 4, 1891. While still in medical school she applied for membership in the Woman's Board of Missions of the Church of the United Brethen in Christ, in hopes of entering into missionary work in Africa and was accepted. On October 10, 1891, she arrived in Sierra Leone, and traveled to the mission in Rotufunk, as the first person officially recognized by her church as exclusively a medical missionary. She remained there until 1895 when she returned home to America. In 1897 she once more returned to Africa to resume her work. While on a journey to Taiama with Mr. and Mrs. McGrew, she became ill and returned to Rotufunk to medical aid. Although she resumed her work, she never fully recovered from her illness, and was still in poor health at the time of her death.
Note concerning burial: According to the book "History of the Woman's Missionary Association of the United Brethren in Christ" published in 1910, the bones of the 5 missionaries killed in Rotufunk were gathered by English officers, put into one box and were later interred in the cemetery in Rotufunk.
On May 3, 1898, in the village of Rotufunk, Sierra Leone, members of the local Mendi tribe massacred 5 missionaries, Rev. Isaac N. Cain & his wife Mary, Dr. Mary Archer, Dr. Marietta Hatfield and Miss Ella Schenck.
Dr. Hatfield, who had been ill and confined to her bed, managed to get up and went out into a nearby street and knelt to pray. Her assailants waited until she finished praying and then beheaded her.
_____________________________
Marietta Hatfield was born at Ludlow (now Potsdam), Miami County, Ohio. She was the third in a family of thirteen children. She lived with her parents in the village until she was about 16, and attended the village school. At 16 she began work as a teacher and continued in that profession for some 20 years. She entered the Women's Medical College, Cincinnati, Ohio in 1889 and graduated March 4, 1891. While still in medical school she applied for membership in the Woman's Board of Missions of the Church of the United Brethen in Christ, in hopes of entering into missionary work in Africa and was accepted. On October 10, 1891, she arrived in Sierra Leone, and traveled to the mission in Rotufunk, as the first person officially recognized by her church as exclusively a medical missionary. She remained there until 1895 when she returned home to America. In 1897 she once more returned to Africa to resume her work. While on a journey to Taiama with Mr. and Mrs. McGrew, she became ill and returned to Rotufunk to medical aid. Although she resumed her work, she never fully recovered from her illness, and was still in poor health at the time of her death.
Note concerning burial: According to the book "History of the Woman's Missionary Association of the United Brethren in Christ" published in 1910, the bones of the 5 missionaries killed in Rotufunk were gathered by English officers, put into one box and were later interred in the cemetery in Rotufunk.
Dr. Hatfield, who had been ill and confined to her bed, managed to get up and went out into a nearby street and knelt to pray. Her assailants waited until she finished praying and then beheaded her.
_____________________________
Marietta Hatfield was born at Ludlow (now Potsdam), Miami County, Ohio. She was the third in a family of thirteen children. She lived with her parents in the village until she was about 16, and attended the village school. At 16 she began work as a teacher and continued in that profession for some 20 years. She entered the Women's Medical College, Cincinnati, Ohio in 1889 and graduated March 4, 1891. While still in medical school she applied for membership in the Woman's Board of Missions of the Church of the United Brethen in Christ, in hopes of entering into missionary work in Africa and was accepted. On October 10, 1891, she arrived in Sierra Leone, and traveled to the mission in Rotufunk, as the first person officially recognized by her church as exclusively a medical missionary. She remained there until 1895 when she returned home to America. In 1897 she once more returned to Africa to resume her work. While on a journey to Taiama with Mr. and Mrs. McGrew, she became ill and returned to Rotufunk to medical aid. Although she resumed her work, she never fully recovered from her illness, and was still in poor health at the time of her death.
Note concerning burial: According to the book "History of the Woman's Missionary Association of the United Brethren in Christ" published in 1910, the bones of the 5 missionaries killed in Rotufunk were gathered by English officers, put into one box and were later interred in the cemetery in Rotufunk.
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