Patsy Bolling Reynolds
People. Also called Patsy Bolling, Patsy Reynolds, Patsy B. Reynolds.
| Denomination | Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS; Southern Presbyterian) |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Death | 1962 |
| Born | 1868, Virginia, United States |
| Spouse | William Reynolds |
| Major Positions | Southern Presbyterian missionary to Korea |
| Activities in Korea | 1892–1937 |
Patsy Bolling Reynolds (1868–1962) was an American Southern Presbyterian missionary. In 1892 she came to Korea with her husband, William Reynolds (Korean name Yi Nul-seo), as one of the seven members of the Southern Presbyterian pioneer party, and she served there until 1937.
About this articleAI draft from a Korean source. Notes on Korean Protestant practice. 8 sources. Not yet reviewed by a person.
- Origin
Drafted by AI from the Korean church.wiki article, then translated and adapted for English readers on 5 November 2026.
- Perspective
Includes notes on Korean Protestant practice; other traditions are noted where they differ.
- Sources
8 sources
- Guide to the Reynolds and Groves Family Papers (Presbyterian Historical Society)
- Guide to the Reynolds and Groves Family Papers (Presbyterian Historical Society)
- Reynolds, Patsy Bolling (Wife of William D. Reynolds) - onthedh
- Missionary William D. Reynolds, Who Devoted the Longest to Translating the Bible into Korean - Christian Daily
- [History Feature] Do You Know the Seven-Member Advance Team? - Kidok Shinmun
- [Background] The Southern Presbyterian Church in the U.S. - Pyongyang Great Revival
- Awakening the Hermit Kingdom: Pioneer American Women Missionaries in Korea
- Pioneers - kmhistory
- Review
Not yet reviewed by a person. Last edited by a person: never. Translation updated 5 November 2026. Edit history
Life
She was born in 1868 in Virginia. Records of the Presbyterian Historical Society give her birthplace as Amelia County, while Korean biographical sources list her hometown as Richmond, her father as John Bolling, and her mother as Julia Tinsley Bolling. According to an article in a denominational newspaper, she worked as a teacher before her marriage.
In February 1892 the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS), commonly known as the Southern Presbyterian Church, appointed her and her future husband, William Davis Reynolds, as missionaries to Korea. The two married and left the United States in September of that year. The seven members of the Southern Presbyterian pioneer party were the Reynoldses; William Junkin and his wife, Mary Leyburn Junkin; Lewis Tate and his sister, Mattie Tate; and Linnie Davis. They entered Korea in two groups, on October 18 and November 3, 1892; the Reynoldses are recorded as having arrived on November 3.
The couple first lived in Seoul and moved to Jeonju in 1897. Thereafter she worked alongside her husband in Seoul, Jeonju, Mokpo, Pyongyang, and elsewhere, and in 1937 the two retired together and returned to the United States. Her husband died in 1951 in Montreat, North Carolina. She afterward lived in the home of her youngest daughter, Ella, until her death in 1962.
Ministry and Accomplishments
She was one of those who undertook women's work in the early years of the Jeonju mission. Mattie Tate held weekly meetings for women, and Patsy Reynolds started a Sunday school for boys and girls. With the addition of the physician Mattie Ingold, women's mission work in Jeonju is regarded as having quickly become established. In 1897 five people in Jeonju received baptism, the first to do so there.
Perspective: Korean Protestant practiceHow this idea is used in Korean churches, kept from the original Korean article.
Her husband, William Reynolds, served as the first chairman of the Southern Presbyterian mission. As a translator on the Bible translation committee, he labored for many years on the translation of the Bible into Korean, and he taught at the theological seminary in Pyongyang. Patsy Reynolds shared in this forty-five-year ministry from beginning to end. She bore four children in Korea; her second son, John Bolling Reynolds, served as a missionary from 1920 to 1930, teaching at Sinheung School in Jeonju and Sungil School in Gwangju, among others.
Assessment
She is remembered as one of the seven who opened the Southern Presbyterian mission, which was centered in the Honam region of Korea. Few sources, however, treat her individual work separately; most mention her in writings about her husband or about the pioneer party as a whole. More recently, studies of early women missionaries have drawn renewed attention to her as one who began women's work and Sunday school ministry in Jeonju. Within the sources examined, no record of criticism directed specifically at her has been found.
See also 8
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