Maryknoll Fathers at Easter at Xinchang, China, 1928

This is a photograph of Maryknoll Frs. Cairns and Heemskerk with the community on Easter. "Fr. General's former catechist, John Tong Ying, is seated between the two Maryknollers."; Fr. Cairns was born in Glasgow, Scotland and became a Maryknoll Missionary in 1918 at the age of thirty-four. He spent many years in China in Yeung Kong [now Yang-Chiang], Fachow [now Fahsien] and eventually Sancian Island. During WWII he was captured by the Japanese on Sancian Island and killed. His presumed date of death is December 14, 1941. -- Born in Bennebrock, Holland, Fr. Heemskerk came to the United States and applied to Maryknoll in 1915. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1925. That same year he was assigned to the Kongmoon Mission and remained there until 1952. He held various positions while working in the United States. His diaries of life in China between the years 1926 and 1932 reflect a keen insight into the life and culture of the Chinese people. He gives detailed and colorful descriptions of the customs of the people, tragedy of the opium trade and the countryside and crowded cities