Edward Eugene Silliman

     Edward Eugene Silliman was born on 31 December 1857 at Sacramento, White County, Illinois.² He was the son of Robert Alexander Silliman and Lucretia Caroline Powell.³ Edward Eugene Silliman married, at age 45, Susan Ida Kurtz, age 36, daughter of Isaak Kurz and Katharina Miller, on Wednesday, 29 July 1903 at Secunderbad, India.⁴ Edward Eugene Silliman died on 23 January 1948 at National City, San Diego County, California, at age 90 years and 23 days. of pneumonia, senility, cerebral arteriosclerosis.⁵ He was buried in the Glen Abbey Cemetery, located in San Diego County, California.⁵
     He often watched the soldiers drill that were going off to the Civil War (in which two of his Powell uncles did) and thought that the month of March was named after soldiers marching.⁵ He was graduated in 1881 from Hanover Presbyterian College, located in Indiana. This college was situated on the bluffs overlooking the Ohio River. He and his friends went boating on Ohio River and then had to walk all the way back to the college. His strength was arithmetic.⁵ He was graduated in 1884 from Baptist Theological Seminary, located in Rochester, Monroe County, New York.⁵ He sailed to India in Oct 1884 as a missionary of the American Baptist Foreign Missionary Society and quickly acquired a good command of the Telegu language having charge of the Kurnool station not far from Madras. He then eturned to United States in 1889 for health reasons. Spending time in Colorado to regain his health he bought an 80 acre ranch "Beaver Brook," near Canyon City, where he lived from 1891 to 1901.

Returned to India in 1901 for the missionary society to be in charge of the station at Narsaravupet, India with over 10,000 Christians under his supervision. Touring occupied a great deal of his time from August to April being in charge of churches of the region, village schools, and ministering to those which had neither school or church. He helped to establish 32 churches that were self supporting with independent Indian pastors during his tour. He also loved to sing and wrote several songs and poems. At a time when the word "relativity" was a new one to many people, he was ordering books from England on astrophysics to read during the hill season. Edward also supervised the building of the Mary Kurtz Memorial Church.

He had recurring bouts with malaria during his tours in India. Finally returning to the United States in August 1923 for an operation, then going back to India 6 months later.⁵ He was Baptist Missionary between October 1884 and August 1927 at India.³ He retired on 1 August 1927 from his missionary work.⁶ In his last days he became almost blind and deaf, but he remained alert and bright to the very end, keenly interested in world events. Kathryn, his daughter recounts that once when she was seeking to console him, he instantly cried out in triumph, "But I can think and pray!"⁵