Rev. William Ward Meriam
On 22 April 1859, the Protestant missionary William Merriam and his wife were appointed as missionaries to the newly established missionary station in Plovdiv. This appointment formed part of a coordinated policy between the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions and the Methodist Mission aimed at curbing the ambitions of the Catholic Uniate movement in the Balkans. The year 1859 marked the planned beginning of coordinated missionary activity on both sides of the Balkan Range. In 1857, Albert Long and Wesley Prettyman settled in Shumen (then Shumla). On Christmas Eve 1859, Dr. Long began holding regular worship services in the old capital Tarnovo, documenting a financial donation for a chitalishte (community cultural center) in which these services were to be conducted.
Almost simultaneously, in 1858, the Congregationalist Charles Morse settled in Sofia by appointment dated 26 March 1858, while the missionary Theodore Byington was appointed to Stara Zagora on 4 September 1858. Their settlement, as well as that of the missionary Merriam family in Plovdiv, is described in a letter from K. Vasilev to Nayden Gerov dated 15 October 1859. Prof. Hristo Hristov correctly notes the date of Merriam’s appointment to Plovdiv as 22 April 1859, as recorded in the archives of the American Board, whereas P. Angelova describes their later return to the city with the Clark family in October of the same year and therefore erroneously identifies Clark as “the first Protestant missionary in Plovdiv.” According to the American Board archives, however, Clark arrived half a year after Merriam.
The arrival of the Merriam family in Bulgaria marked the long-awaited beginning of serious activity aimed at the construction of churches in Sofia, Bansko, and Plovdiv, together with a school, as well as a similar institution in Stara Zagora. Rev. William Ward Merriam completed his theological studies at Harvard at the age of twenty-three and graduated from Andover Seminary only three years later. He married Susan Dimon on 1 September 1858 and was ordained by the Congregational Church on 28 November of the same year. His wife had been a long-serving teacher in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
On 17 January 1859, the couple sailed together for Smyrna, arriving there on 22 February. Almost immediately, on 12 March, a decision was taken to open a missionary station in Plovdiv. The Merriams then traveled to Adrianople (Edirne), where on 22 April 1859 they were formally appointed missionaries to Plovdiv and subsequently made several journeys to the city. In the autumn of the same year, the Clark family arrived from America and joined the new missionary station. The first missionary report from Plovdiv in 1859 states:
“On the part of the Bulgarians there exists a strong desire that the Bible be read in their native language… extensive fields, ripe for harvest, are open to native preachers, book distributors, and teachers… The Bulgarian nation is awakening to a new political life… No labor or sacrifice should be spared in order that these people may also be awakened to spiritual life.”
From the founding of the missionary station in Plovdiv, Protestant worship services were held every Sunday in Turkish, and the Bulgarian attendees soon expressed a desire to hear preaching in their own language. After the arrival of the Clark family in Plovdiv, a Bible study group was organized in their home. Following an unsuccessful rental agreement for a Greek-owned house, the missionaries rented the house of A. Zagarlia on Dzhambaz Tepe, where regular prayer meetings were attended by twelve to fifteen young Bulgarians.
On 21 July 1860, Merriam recorded in his diary: “Today Mr. Clark opened the school…” The first pupil was Zelo Mihailov from Chirpan, born in 1840, who had attended the Protestant college in Malta. Prior to the opening of the mission school, on 16 July, the pasha had been officially informed and exclaimed: “If all Protestant missionaries had begun with schools, they would have achieved far greater success.”
His comment demonstrates that the activities of the missionaries and the effectiveness of their educational work were well known to the authorities long before 1859–1860. On 24 November 1860, the Clark family rented a new residence due to the growing number of students. There were now five: Petar Musevich from Pazardzhik and Nikola Boyadzhiev from Panagyurishte, later joined by Georgi Penev from Chirpan, Ivan Tondzhorov from Samokov, and Andrey S. Tsanov from the Orhanie (Botevgrad) region. The Sunday school was attended by an additional seven to eight Bulgarian youths. Only two years later, students from the Protestant school were already singing a Bulgarian hymn in the church of St. Theotokos on the feast of Cyril and Methodius.
In the summer of 1862, the Merriam family traveled to Constantinople for the annual mission meeting. They were accompanied by their ten-month-old daughter Mary (born 27 August 1861, not a five-year-old son as erroneously stated by E. Shelton), while Susan Merriam was in an advanced stage of pregnancy. At the meeting with missionaries Morse and Byington, the expansion of the Bulgarian mission was discussed, which already counted thirty-two adherents in Plovdiv, Sofia, and Stara Zagora.
On 3 July 1862, the day before the American national holiday, while returning from the annual meeting along the road between Harmanli and Haskovo, in the region of Uzundzhovo, the Merriam family was attacked by brigands. A detailed account of the incident is found in a letter from Rufus Anderson, President of the American Board, dated 12 August 1862. The attack was carried out by five armed horsemen. Upon their appearance, the caravan’s guard – consisting of two well-armed mounted zaptiehs – fled without resistance, abandoning fifteen people traveling in five covered wagons. During the pursuit, a firefight ensued, and Merriam drew his own Colt revolver to defend his pregnant wife, who was holding their daughter. In response, the brigands opened fire, killing one of the horses and wounding two or three of the travelers. Merriam himself was struck by two bullets in his right side and died on the spot. He was only thirty-one years old.
His pregnant wife single-handedly defended her husband’s lifeless body and their infant daughter while the brigands looted the wagons. Two extraordinarily difficult days followed, during which Mrs. Merriam managed to transport her husband’s body to the nearest village. There she was met by a dispatched müdür, who assisted with the journey to Plovdiv. Burial could not be delayed, and under the protection of the British and Austrian consuls, it was carried out immediately in an Orthodox church. Some 20 days later, the trauma of the incident led to a premature birth, during which Mrs. Merriam died on 25 July 1862, together with her unborn twins. A special memorial service was held on 14 September of the same year by Rev. James Murray at the American Board’s Congregational church on Prospect Street in Cambridge.
The Merriams’ one-year-old daughter, Mary, was left a complete orphan in the very country to which God had called her parents as missionaries. She returned to Boston only on 12 May of the following year, aboard the sailing bark Smyrniota (owned by the Armenian merchant Marko Nikola Regio), which maintained a direct route between Smyrna and Boston. She was raised in the family of her uncle, John Newton Merriam, a prominent industrialist in Cambridge, Massachusetts. A high price – too often underestimated today – paid for the existence of an Evangelical church in Plovdiv.
Dony K. Donev, D.Min., is a prominent researcher and author specializing in Bulgarian Protestant, Evangelical, and Pentecostal history, with over three decades of study. His work, including 19th Century History of Protestantism in Bulgaria and The Unforgotten: Historical and Theological Roots of Pentecostalism in Bulgaria, documents the development of these movements, their suppression under Communism, and the subsequent post-1989 revival. Key aspects of Donev’s research on Bulgarian Protestant history include:
Origins (19th Century): Protestant work began in the 1800s, with denominations like Congregationalists (1856), Methodists (1857), and Baptists (1865) establishing missions, culminating in the first Bulgarian Protestant Church in 1871. Donev also highlights the 1871 publication of the Protestant Bulgarian Bible translation. His research, often in collaboration with the Institute of Bulgarian Protestant History, has focused on preserving, digitizing, and recovering documents, including church diaries, photographs, and, in some cases, saving records from destruction during the communist era.
Spurling and Tomlinson: Between Azusa Street and Cleveland
Bezmer Residents Launch Petition Against U.S. Aircraft Deployment
Residents of the Bulgarian village of Bezmer have launched a petition opposing the deployment of American KC-135 tanker aircraft at the nearby military airbase, saying they fear the move could make the region a potential target because of tensions surrounding Iran.
The initiative was announced by Bezmer Mayor Rosen Rusev, who said support is already spreading to neighboring villages in Tundzha Municipality and across the Yambol region. The campaign follows the approval by Bulgaria‘s Parliament and government of a U.S. request to station up to eight American tanker aircraft and up to 250 military personnel at the Bezmer Air Base.
Local residents say their main concern is that the aircraft could be used for logistical missions connected to the conflict involving Iran, increasing security risks for nearby communities. “People in the village are worried because there are no clear guarantees for the security of the settlement itself,” Rusev said. “We hear that Iranian missiles can reach a target within minutes, and we do not know what system could intercept them because Bulgaria does not have modernized equipment capable of stopping such missiles.”
The petition has already been joined by the mayors and residents of Kozarevo, Malomir, Bolyarsko and other nearby villages. Signature sheets have been placed in municipal offices, shops and other public locations, with organizers planning to collect signatures until Friday. The document is expected to be submitted to the National Assembly, the regional governor of Yambol, the mayor of Tundzha Municipality and Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov during his scheduled visit to the region. The mayors of municipalities across Yambol Province have also prepared a joint position on regional security.
According to Rusev, support has grown rapidly. “In just one commercial establishment we counted around 100 signatures in a single day. There are several more collection points, so I believe there are already between 300 and 400 signatures, and the number is continuing to rise.” He acknowledged that residents understand the petition alone is unlikely to reverse the decision, but said some have also organized a protest outside the airbase scheduled for Friday evening.
The mayors of neighboring villages said they are hearing similar concerns from local residents. Bolyarsko Mayor Vanya Peeva said, “People follow the news and understand what is happening. The concerns are serious.” Roza Mayor Roza Encho Yorgov added that nearby villages fear they could become collateral victims if the airbase were ever targeted. “Residents believe that if anything happens at the airbase, neighboring settlements could also suffer from a conflict that we ourselves are entering,” she said.
Residents interviewed in Bezmer expressed fears that their village could become a military target. Some said they have no objection to the presence of aircraft or international military exercises, which have long been held at the base, but view the current deployment differently because they believe the tankers could directly support operations related to the Middle East.
“We are worried because Bezmer is becoming a target,” one resident said, while another added, “We don’t want them here. The whole village doesn’t want them.” Others argued that Bulgaria should avoid involvement in conflicts that do not directly concern the country. Several people said they were prepared to escalate their actions through protests, road blockades and civil disobedience if necessary.
Reports indicate that thousands of people have now joined the petition, while the first American tanker aircraft are expected to arrive at the airbase on Friday.
Defending the government’s decision, Progressive Bulgaria MP Yavor Gechev said the deployment serves Bulgaria‘s national interests and fulfills the country’s NATO commitments. Speaking on Bulgarian National Television, he noted that the presence of American military aircraft in Bulgaria is not unprecedented.
“Previously, American aircraft were stationed at Sofia Airport. Now they will be where they belong – at a military airbase,” Gechev said.
He stressed that Bulgaria is not at war with Iran and wants the conflict to end, but argued that refusing the request could damage relations with the United States, which he described as one of Bulgaria‘s key strategic partners. “These are strategic decisions. If we reject this cooperation, we risk worsening our relations with the United States, and that would also have economic consequences,” he said.
Gechev acknowledged that some supporters of the governing majority disagree with the deployment but maintained that decisions involving national security require a broader statesmanlike approach. He declined to comment on speculation linking the deployment to other diplomatic or economic issues, saying not every aspect of diplomacy can be made public.
First U.S. Air Force tanker landed at Bulgaria’s Bezmer Air Base
