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Adam and Clara Groesbeck were Baptist missionaries in the Kwangtung province of South China from 1897-1927 and 1931-1935. They were first assigned to Ungkung and later to the station in Chaochowfu. They moved to their final residence in Chaoyang in 1904. Reverend Adam Groesbeck provided religious services for a number of communities in the province and also had considerable administrative responsibilities with the South China Mission. Clara Groesbeck's missionary work involved teaching at the boys' school in Chaoyang.
Reverend Adam Groesbeck was born July 23, 1866 in Iowa. He attended Rochester Theological School in Rochester, N.Y. Clara Groesbeck was born in New York. Her birthdate is not indicated. They were married on August 23, 1892. Their first child, Katherine, was born on September 18, 1904 at Chaochowfu and their second child, Tracy, was born July 30, 1907 at Chaoyang.
The Adam and Clara Groesbeck papers contain a great deal of Reverend Groesbeck's work, including newsletters, church reports, personal correspondence, sermons, special interest reports, and his diaries which cover thirteen of his thirty years in China. In her diaries Mrs. Groebeck writes almost exclusively of family matters, covering a period of eighteen years. Photographs include prints and negatives of the missions, the Chinese people and countryside, and family photographs.
The main sources of information are Reverend Groesbeck's newsletters, reports, outgoing correspondence and diaries. These provide details of the South China Mission's organization and important issues. There is statistical information on mission growth, construction, and converts. His diaries provide a more personal look at the events in China. There is some indication in the last volumes of his diaries that he questioned the presence of Americans and all foreign missionaries in China. He became a strong advocate of turning the controls of the Christian missions over to the Chinese.