Born on February 18, 1871, in
Huntington, Staffordshire,
England, James Simester was converted at age fourteen and called to preach when sixteen. He received
A.B. from
Baldwin University in 1893, and
A.M. in 1901,
D.D. in 1904, and
B.D. from
Drew Theological Seminary in 1896. He entered the Newark Conference in 1896, and had several appointments (1890 in
Strongsville, Ohio, 1891 and 1892 in
Litchfield, Ohio, and
Whippany, New Jersey) before transferring to the
Foochow Conference in China in 1896. He married Winifred Smack (1875–1952) in
Madison, New Jersey, on August 6, 1896, and the couple arrived in Fuzhou on September 27, 1896. From 1896 to 1899 James Simester taught in the
Anglo-Chinese College, Foochow () and from 1899 to 1901 was the acting president and from 1901 to 1904 the president. He was president of
S.L. Baldwin School of Theology from 1904 to 1905. He also worked as the editor of the Educational Department of the Methodist Forum from 1902 to 1903, and the editor of Sunday-school Literature, Foochow Conference, from 1899 to 1903. ==References==