Henry J. Van Lennep was born in 1815 in Smyrna, or modern­day Izmir, Turkey. At the young age of 15, his parents sent him to the United States to receive a quality education. In 1837, Van Lennep graduated Amherst College with high honors. Two years later, in 1839, Van Lennep was ordained a Congregational minister. He quickly returned home to Smyrna and became amissionary with the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Van Lennep served as a missionary in Smyrna from 1840­1844 and again in 1863­1869. He also worked in Constantinople from 1844­1854 and Tocat from 1854­1856. Unfortunately, in 1869 Van Lenneplost his eyesight due to a cataract and returned to America. Due to his skills as an artist and his proficiency in numerous languages, Van Lennep became a professor of natural sciences and languages. In his personal life he was married three times and had six children. In 1889, Henry Van Lennep died in Massachusetts and his remembered as a renowned Christian Minister, missionary, writer, and educator. (Biography written by Edward Siciliano, December 2013).

 

Reverend Henry J. Van Lennep’s book, Travels in Little-Known Parts of Asia Minor, is available online through Google books. Click here to read. His wife’s memoir is also available here.

 

View Rev. Van Lennep’s itinerary in a Google map: View Rev. Henry J. Von Lennep pt.II in a larger map

 

Access Rev. Van Lennep’s itinerary here.

 

To read more about Reverend Henry J. Van Lennep, please read Edward Siciliano’s essay, which can be found here.