He was Talmadge Rousseau. The Rousseau family came from the Alsace region and as you know it passed between Germany and France with some frequency. The custom was the eldest for the family, the second for the army and the third for the church – so this Talmadge’s ancestor had become a French Jesuit going to China in the late 18th Century… where they remained. – Talmadge would have been born around the turn of this Century in China and by this time his father had become some sort of non-Catholic missionary and married an American missionary woman from the South. I think she was a member of some sort of Southern religion called World Missionaries and he lived with missionaries in China and HK.. I think they all left after the revolution in China to go back to the US to the south.
There were some other Rousseaus' who stayed in China from the 18th Century and were enormously successful with houses in Beijing and Shanghai and several beach and mountain houses for holidays. Most of these either returned to France in 1949 or Taiwan. One moved to Hong Kong but he probably did not even know Talmadge Rousseau the missionary as a generations had passed.
Photos that show this Person
Comments
T H Rousseau
The Find A Grave website has this entry for a Talmadge Henry Rousseau, which looks like a match:
Birth:Jun. 20, 1888, Hillsborough County, Florida, USA
Death:Aug. 28, 1951, Hong Kong
Reports of Deaths of American Citizens Abroad, 1835-1974
Name: Talmage Henry Rousseau
Date of Birth: abt 1888
Date of Death: 28 Aug 1951
Place of Death: Hong Kong
Age at Death: 63
Family links:
Spouse:
Eva Belle Brown Rousseau (1888 - 1970)* - *Calculated relationship
Burial: Franklin Springs City Cemetery, Franklin Springs, Franklin County
Source:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=85649813
T H Rousseau overview
[Updated 17/Feb/2026]
American Talmadge Henry Rousseau was a missionary in Hong Kong, and he is closely linked with the story of the Pentecostal Holiness Church there.
Talmadge Rousseau was born on June 20th, 1888, near Clearwater, Florida. He came to faith at a very young age, and could not remember a time when he did not believe. He felt a calling to preach the gospel, was licenced in 1908 and ordained in 1913 in Falcon, North Carolina, aged 25.
He later attended Holmes Bible School in South Carolina, where he received a calling to China.
Rousseau married Eva Belle Brown in 1913. She also had a calling to missionary work in China. They met while they were both teaching at Falcon School, NC. They had five children; Morrison (1914), Elizabeth (1917), James (1920), Evelyn (1923) and Sybil (1925), the latter three being born in Hong Kong.
Arriving in Hong Kong in 1919 with his family, Rousseau, alongside William Henry Turner and his family, completed a work establishing a school and the first Pentecostal Holiness Church at Shaukiwan, started by Miss Anna Deane, who passed away in Hong Kong in 1918. Subsequently eight new missions were opened up.
Rousseau was made Superintendent of all the Hong Kong work, a post which he held continuously to 1951 except for the War and two furloughs.
He was recognised for his leadership at the inaugural session of the China Conference in April 1923, where he was appointed to oversee the work in Wanchai and Shaukiwan.
Rousseau’s commitment contributed significantly to the church’s growth, with the Shaukiwan congregation expanding to over two hundred believers within six years.
He devoted himself also to ministering among the fishing communities. In 1924, together with Miss Anna Dean Cole, (niece of Anna Deane), he organised the construction of the (static) Gospel Boat, which became the heart of Pentecostal Holiness ministry to the Boat People in Hong Kong before the Second World War. Later, a Gospel Motor Boat was purchased for work amongst the Boat People and reaching outlying missions.
The Rousseaus owned a large bungalow on the island of Cheung Chau, House #27, and he is listed as Mr T H Rousseau in the 1938 list of European owners of Cheung Chau houses. The house was termed a 'summer house', which implies they had another property in Hong Kong.
When Japan invaded Hong Kong in 1941, the Rousseaus were fortunate to be in India. In 1942 they returned to the States.
After the war, however, the Rousseaus were among the first missionaries to return to Hong Kong in February 1946, and they were deeply involved in the post-war restoration of the church. Out of the chaos left by the Japanese, he brought the Hong Kong field back to a working basis.
Daughter Sybil Rousseau also returned, further strengthening the missionary team. Their leadership and dedication were instrumental in reviving church activities, acquiring two new properties, and gradually rebuilding the ministry. However, their renewed efforts were again interrupted by another evacuation during the Korean War.
Rousseau was made Superintendent of all the South China work, which greatly added to his responsibilities.
A church was built on Duck Tongue Island and dedicated in 1950. Additional land was purchased at Shaukiwan to extend the school and church buildings there.
In July 1951, Rousseau became critically ill after a successful ten-day revival meeting in Shaukiwan, and he died in the Central Hospital at the age of 63. It was an unexpected shock, and it left a vacancy in the field difficult to fill. The funeral was conducted by the Reverends Harland Park and Mills of the AOG Church, and five pages of warm tributes to him were published in the Advocate Magazine. His ashes were interred in the USA.
It was said of him that 'his bright personality and sincere understanding won for him the love and admiration of his countless friends and especially the Chinese Christians and workers'. It was estimated that he baptised some 3500 new believers during his ministry in Hong Kong.
Talmadge Rousseau’s commitment to the Pentecostal Holiness Church in Hong Kong left an enduring legacy, and today the Pentecostal Holiness Church at Ap Lei Chau bears his name.
Sources:
The IPHC Advocate, 18 October 1951
Welcome 5th Global Assembly
Find a Grave
The Rousseaus in Rose Reiton's Diaries
[Updated 19/12/25]
Rose Reiton's diaries cover the period 1930-34.
Missionaries Albert and Rose Reiton were based in Kowloon and knew and associated with the Rousseaus. Their oldest daughter, Helen, was clearly a friend of the Rousseaus' oldest daughter, Elizabeth. They were in their mid-teens at this time and Elizabeth was younger than Helen by one year.
Elizabeth Rousseau (from Cheung Chau) would regularly visit the Reitons for a meal or a birthday party or church service and sometimes stay the night with Helen at the Reitons' house in Kowloon.
These are some of Rose Reitons' other entries which mention the Rousseaus:
Year 1930
Monday August 11th - Mrs Burtt and Esther Burtt (fellow missionaries) went to the Rousseaus' house to spend the rest of August there. (use of houses by other missionaries. The Rousseaus may have been on holiday elsewhere.)
Year 1931
Monday September 28th -The three Rousseau girls, Elizabeth, Evelyn and Sybil, joined the celebration for Esther Reiton's eighth birthday party in Kowloon. The Rousseau sisters, together with other children (Kehrs and Cranes), from the community, enjoyed the festivities and brought presents. (Some of the families in this social group)
Year 1932
Friday February 19th - Evelyn and Sybil Rousseau celebrated their birthdays with a party attended by Helen and Esther Reiton, amongst others.
Mrs Rousseau paid a visit to Rose Reiton on Thursday, 31 March.
Year 1933
The Rousseaus hosted Helen Reiton for dinner on Tuesday, 4 July, the same day she received her new piano.
Year 1934
Elizabeth and Sybil Rousseau went to dinner with the Reitons on Thursday, 26 July.
additional data Talmage H. Rousseau
Mr and Mrs Talmage H Rousseau had a fifth child, James Talmage Rousseau, who was born in Hong Kong on 07 May 1920 at Matilda Hospital. They lived at the time of James' birth at 118 Main Street, Shaukiwan. James had a long career as a consular officer with the US State Department and died 2 Feb 2010.
Talmage H Rousseau, age 63, died of heart disease at the HKG Central Hospital on 28 Aug 1951. At the time of his death, Mr. and Mrs. Rousseau resided at 7 Victory Ave, Ho Man Tin, HKG. His body was cremated and his ashes subsequently interred in the Franklin Springs City Cemetery at Franklin Springs, Georgia. His spouse Mrs. Eva B. Rousseau, son James T. Rousseau, and daughters Evelyn (Rousseau) Shealy and Sybil (Rousseau) Cates are also buried at the Franklin Springs Cemetery.