By Rev Lyndan Syiem
Today is Thomas Jones Day. It is being observed in the six districts of East Khasi, West Khasi, South-West Khasi, Ri Bhoi, West Jaiñtia and East Jaiñtia. In 2018, the Government of Meghalaya had officially notified Thomas Jones Day, in recognition of the contribution and legacy of the first Welsh Calvinistic-Methodist missionary among the Khasis who arrived at Sohra on 22 June, 1841. There have been many scholarly writings and discussions on the Rev. Thomas Jones, and the profound impact of the mission he established. Last year the Shillong Times carried an article on his immediate successors, William and Mary Lewis. This year, it would be appropriate to discuss about Annie W. Thomas, who arrived in Shillong in the middle of a cholera epidemic, just months after the Great Earthquake of 1897.
We too are in the midst of this pandemic and lockdown that have caused severe economic loss and social disruption. When twenty-six-year-old Annie entered Shillong, it was with shock as she beheld the widespread destruction, the disease and deaths. The Assam Earthquake had struck on 12 June, 1897, 5:15 pm, with a magnitude of 8.7 on the Richter scale. The epicentre was the northern edge of the Shillong Plateau; buildings shook in Calcutta and tremors were felt as far as Peshawar. In Shillong, Ward’s Lake burst open and flooded the Polo area.
All stone masonry buildings collapsed: government offices, military quarters, missionary chapels and dispensaries, the Theological College at Sohra. It was only after the earthquake that ‘Assam-type’ houses emerged. The colonial British government officially recorded 1542 deaths, 600 of these in the Sohra region. The IGP of Assam, Mr. R.B. McCabe’s house collapsed on him and he died. The house of my Diengdoh great-grandmother at Sohra also collapsed on her but she survived, and was rescued from under the stones.
The earthquake didn’t end on 12 June. Aftershocks, literally hundreds of them, continued for many months; my grandfather told of people who were terrified of sleeping near stone walls or underneath a roof. Heavy monsoon rain was recorded on the night of 12 June. For many months afterwards, the wind and the rain lashed the earthquake survivors, some of them badly injured. Sanitation was damaged and the water supply disrupted. Cholera broke out. At that time there were no antibiotics, no cholera vaccine in India, no tetanus vaccine, no IV drip. There was shortage of food and medicines as the Gauhati-Shillong road had collapsed at many places.
Many Indians and Europeans died of cholera and other diseases. Annie Williams, Principal of the Girls’ School in Shillong (now the KJP Girls’ School) succumbed to cholera. Her namesake, Annie Thomas was appointed Principal over the ruins of a school. Initially it was very difficult. She first had to win back students who had fled earthquake and epidemic. Besides, many Khasis were then opposed to women’s education, some claiming that it caused infertility. The grass-thatched girl’s hostel was once set on fire. Historically, there has always been resistance to education, empowerment, modern medicines, vaccines, social progress.
Annie Wozencraft Thomas was born in the town of Merthyr Tydvil, in Wales, on 4 June, 1871. She was the daughter of Rev. John Thomas, a Calvinistic-Methodist minister, first at Merthyr Tydvil and later at Liverpool, in England. The Thomas family served the Welsh diaspora in Liverpool and also supported the foreign mission among the ‘Cassias.’ Reports say that Annie resolved to become a missionary at the age of twelve and earnestly began preparing for the task. After her studies at the Windsor High School, in the outskirts of Liverpool, she stayed on for several years to gain experience as a teacher. The industrious Annie also studied at an art school, even exhibiting her work, and learnt music notation and tonic solfa.
Shillong in 1897 was a rude shock to Annie’s idealized notions of the mission field. She didn’t despair though but raised funds from Wales to rebuild the school, not with stone but in ‘Assam-type.’ As pupils returned, Annie worked hard to upgrade the Girls’ School into a High School. The result was the first Khasi woman matriculate in 1902 and the first woman graduate (from Calcutta University) in 1912. After classes she would visit people’s homes for prayers, but also to change attitudes towards women’s education, modern medicine, social progress. By all accounts, Annie was not the typical, stiff, 19th century Protestant missionary but she transcended cultural boundaries in sharing meals and ideas with the ‘natives.’
Annie was barely five feet tall and small-built, but possessed boundless energy and enthusiasm for extra-curricular activities, for teaching singing in tonic solfa. Her pupils and their parents were charmed by the Principal, whom they affectionately called ‘Miss Thomas.’ Very soon, even senior Khasi churchmen were also addressing Annie as ‘Miss Thomas.’ She served as Principal from 1897 until 1925, but continued to assist the school for many years. An entire generation of matriculates from her school became pioneers of Khasi women in various professions: in nursing, government service, as doctors and professors.
Miss Thomas also became an itinerant evangelist, a ministry she never planned. During the long winter holidays, she would accept preaching invitations to distant villages. Soon these developed into annual tours across the interior regions, especially in Ri Bhoi and the Umngot river basin, roughly between Langkyrdem and Mawlat. The former was without roads, malaria-infested, and full of animals; the latter was barren grassland with a thousand-foot gorge over the Umngot river. Most missionaries never ventured to such perilous places but Miss Thomas apparently relished the challenge. She was usually accompanied by a maid, some schoolgirls and a few young men. Besides basic necessities, she carried a folding harmonium, a ‘magic lantern’ with slides of Bible stories, gospel tracts and hymn books.
The group would walk from village to village, sometimes through thick jungles, the young men hacking aside the undergrowth. Many legends have emerged around Miss Thomas, including one where her prayers and the singing of the hymn, “Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go,” dispersed a herd of dangerous wild elephants in Ri Bhoi. She normally stayed a few days in each village, holding worship services, teaching Scripture lessons using her own illustrations and showing slides on the magic lantern. She would organize a local congregation and survey the area for establishing a school. Many churches and schools in the Ri Bhoi and Umngot regions trace their origins to the tours of Miss Thomas.
In the summer, Miss Thomas remained in Shillong. She raised funds through her father for buying a plot and constructing a church at Laban in 1905. The original building is no more but the memorial plaque to her parents, Rev. and Mrs. John Thomas of Liverpool, remains. Though separated by 5000 miles, she shared a close relationship with her parents and siblings throughout life. She was also involved in children’s ministry and translated many children’s hymns into Khasi. In 1925, Miss Thomas and Ellen Hughes, another missionary educator, established what is now known as the ‘Shillong Christian Children’s Rally.’
Annie Thomas never married. After retiring as Principal in 1925, she began her writing career. Without any formal theological education, she wrote Scripture notes and Sunday School lessons. Biographer Nansi Thomas writes, “In five years she had prepared Scripture notes which covered the whole Bible and a thousand copies were printed every month.” These remained in print for decades until they were succeeded by more academic commentaries. As she grew older, Miss Thomas could no longer tour her beloved Ri Bhoi and Umngot areas. But people from there would regularly visit her for advice, counsel and prayer.
By the 1950s, Miss Thomas was the senior-most missionary in the Khasi-Jaiñtia Hills. She decided not to return to Wales, but to remain with the Khasis till the end. She withdrew all her savings and donated everything to church and charity. By the 1960s, despite failing eyesight and feeble hearing, she continued to receive visitors and to encourage their ministry. On 23 March, 1965, after sixty-seven years of faithful service, she passed away, at the age of ninety-three. With thousands of mourners lining the streets, Annie Wozencraft Thomas was laid to rest at the Mawkhar Presbyterian Church Cemetery.