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soon the pet of the pious section of the San Francisco community.
Everyone was impressed with this suave, intelligent and seemingly religious young Chinese gentleman. The Rev. Albert Williams, founder of the First Presbyterian Church in San Francisco, after meeting A-chick, reported that "his answers to questions touching matters of Christian doctrine are intelligent and satisfactory. He is associated with his uncle, accompanying him in a mercantile venture, and will remain in this city. I have much hope, that through his instrumentality we may bring the gospel more directly to bear upon his interesting country.” A-chick was viewed as a potential medium for missionary endeavour.
Soon after A-chick's arrival, a Bible class for Chinese was organised by a Presbyterian Elder. Its first members were A-chick "and his companions.” Among these was Lee A-kan, a former classmate at the Morrison Education Society School in Hongkong.
It was realised, however, that if the Chinese in San Francisco were to be reached by the church, it was not enough to have classes for them in English. The Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions was asked to send a Chinese-speaking missionary to San Francisco.
The Board sent the Rev. William Speer.
Mr. Speer had been in Canton for about three years, returning to the United States in 1849. His wife Cornelia Breckenridge and an infant daughter died within a few months of each other and are buried in the Protestant Cemetery at Macau near the grave of Dr. Robert Morrison.
After his arrival in San Francisco, Mr. Speer began looking up the Chinese who had been connected with missionary churches or schools in China. He called on Tong A-chick. By then the young man was already in a position of leadership in the Chinese community and was recognised as a man of wealth.
Of the meeting Mr. Speer remarks: “A-chick is regarded by the American community here as a man of more than common ability-