Henrietta Hall Shuck spent her early years on the eastern shore of Virginia. Born October 28, 1817 in Kilmarnock, Virginia, Henrietta was a daughter of the Baptist preacher, Addison Hall. Converted at a camp meeting at age thirteen, Henrietta was baptized into the Morattico Baptist Church by her Pastor, Jeremiah Bell Jeter.  Morattico Church, at one time, had the largest membership of any Baptist church in the country and was the seat of influence for “The Wonderful Boy” preacher, Lewis Lunsford. J.B. Jeter, biographer of Shuck, was himself an influential preacher in Virginia. Although this area was rich in Baptist History, it is probable that noone suspected a young lady like Henrietta would contribute to that heritage. But she did. The same year in which Henrietta was converted, her mother died. The last message from her mother was “Prove faithful to your creator and meet me in heaven.”  On September 8th, 1835, at the age of seventeen, Henrietta married Lewis Shuck. Two days later, Mr. Shuck was set apart for the gospel ministry, and following sad farewells, the young couple, having dedicated themselves to missionary service, sailed for China, just two weeks after their marriage. After a brief stop in Burma, where Henrietta visited the grave of Mrs. Judson, the Shucks arrived in Singapore, March 31, 1836.  Henrietta Hall Shuck holds the distinction of being the first female missionary ever to reside in China. A brief examination of her sacrificial service reveals a work well done. Henrietta started a school for Chinese children which is still in operation today. In addition to bearing four sons and a daughter, she adopted several Chinese babies and eventually cared for as many as thirty-two children. In Hong Kong, Mrs. Shuck assisted her husband in organizing two Baptist churches. One wonders how much more she might have accomplished had her life been prolonged, but again, after sad farewells Henrietta made her move to that heavenly country the twenty seventh of November, 1844. She was only twenty-seven. Henrietta had proven faithful to her creator and no doubt enjoyed a sweet reunion with her mother. Jeter says that “She was taken from Christian work to Christian joy”, and that her funeral, to that time, was “the largest ever seen in Hong Kong.