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On a cold wintery day in 1820, two
27-year-old men caught their first
glimpse of the coastal Turkish town of
Smyrna. Church bells were ringing in
town, almost drowning the yells of multi-
lingual shouts of passerbys on the streets
below. More than a hundred vessels were
harbored nearby getting ready for the
day’s trade. Long camel caravans, mostly
laden with figs, licorice root, raisins,
wood, tobacco, and rugs attached with
ropes and led by drivers, dominated the
narrow streets.
For Reverends Pliny Fisk and Levi
Parsons, the scenes were a welcome
respite from the tossing and turning of
their ship. Two months earlier, they had
embarked on their mission to Palestine
from Boston, where the American Board
of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
had appointed them to investigate op-
portunities for religious and social work
in Jerusalem.
Their stop in Smyrna was supposed to be
a temporary one. But the two men found
themselves captivated with the area and
decided that Smyrna was an ideal location
for a Protestant mission base.
Neither Parsons nor Fisk lived to see the
mission base. Both men succumbed to
fevers less than six years later. But their
missionary work in the region had been
extensive (Fisk was the pioneer mission-
ary in Beirut) and Smyrna was now firmly
established as a staunch missionary post.
Forty years later, a small Canadian boy
was stuffing tree leaves in his pants as
he walked the 22km through the for-
est to reach the area’s only school. He
had gotten into another fight and the
schoolmaster was sure to take the rod to
his backside again.The leaves, he thought,
would lessen the effects of the blows
which were sure to come. He would later
have to trudge back home carrying not
only his school supplies but the needed
family provisions from the general store.
But young Alexander MacLachlan took
it all in his stride. His hard working but
penniless family had emigrated from
Scotland a few years back and claimed a
20-acre forested homestead in the unruly
area of Muddy York (later to become
Toronto).They singlehandedly cleared the
trees, built a log cabin and farm. Joined
by other homesteaders, the MacLachlan
family donated some of their land and
built a church and cemetery (where Alex-
ander MacLachlan is now buried).
While Alexander loved farm work, he felt
a higher calling and ultimately received a
university scholarship to Queens Univer-
sity in Ontario. He continued his studies
at Union Seminary in New York and was
very active in the bible study group. It
was in this group that MacLachlan met
4
SPRING
2012
Rev. Alexander MacLachlan
Below: The Smyrna harbor
in the 1800s
Below right: The American Tarsus
College today - founded
by MacLachlan and Jenanyan
The Adventures of
Alexander MacLachlan: