Charlotte “Lottie” Diggs Moon 1840-1912 – Teacher and Baptist Missionary
Born: December 12, 1840 in Albemarle County, Virginia
Profession of Faith: December 21, 1858
Accepts Cartersville, Georgia teaching position: 1869
The Call to Missions: During a missionary sermon by Rev. Headden of the Cartersville Baptist Church (known today as the Cartersville First Baptist Church), Lottie heard the call to go to China on the mission field “as clear as a bell.” Lottie left Cartersville to serve as a missionary to the people of China in 1873. Lottie’s sister Edmonia had become a missionary the year before.
Financial Support Begins: At Cartersville Baptist Church a missionary society was established to help the financial support of Lottie Moon. Missionary boxes (mite boxes) were placed in the homes and on the first day of the week each woman would put two cents into her box. Along with the direct support of Lottie, the members helped purchase a bell for a chapel in Chia-Kiang and supported the “Little Crossroads” house-school along with room and board of the girls at the school. This humble offering from the women of Cartersville, along with Lottie’s compelling letters, was the catalyst for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions, first collected nationally in December 1888.
The Cookie Lady: Lottie overcame adversity in China where many called her “foreign devil”, by baking cookies using a “plain tea cake” recipe. Soon she became more endeared as “the cookie lady,” and gained the village children’s trust, and earned invitations into their family home, where she would share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Died: December 24, 1912
Lottie Moon served 39 years and ultimately gave her life for the people of China. The famine of 1912 took her life when she refused to eat more than what they had to eat. She died of starvation in Kobe, Japan, while en route home.
Buried: Crewe, Virginia
Tributes to Lottie Moon are visible at the original Cartersville Baptist Church. The structure is now a private residence located across Cherokee Avenue from Rose Lawn Museum. Moon began her work on the mission field abroad, just as Rose Lawn resident Sam Jones was beginning his domestic ministry.
