A Visit with Horace Underwood’s Great, Great, Great Grandson 

By John Schloss, PhD 

Horace Grant Underwood (1859 – 1916) was an early Christian missionary to Korea (arrived Easter Sunday, 1885). His brother, John Thomas Underwood, who founded the Underwood Typewriter Company, partially funded Horace’s mission to Korea. Horace taught physics and chemistry at the Chejungwon medical institution in Seoul, the first Western medical institution in Korea. Chejungwon was affiliated with Yonhee University, which later became Yonsei University (see the picture of the statue of Horace Underwood on the campus of Yonsei University below). Horace Underwood also collaborated with other missionaries to translate the Bible into Korean. His descendants have played, and continue to play, a significant role in Korean history. His only son, Horace H. Underwood, became president of Yonhee University (now Yonsei University), which his father founded. His grandson, Horace G. Underwood II, served on the board of trustees at Yonsei University until his death in 2004. He also served as an interpreter in the Korean War armistice talks. His great grandson, Horace H. Underwood II, served as director of the international division of Yonsei University and later became the executive director of the Fulbright program in Korea. One of Horace Underwood’s great, great grandsons, William David Underwood II, married my daughter, Carol Marie Underwood (née Schloss). Carol Underwood gave birth to a great, great, great grandson of Horace Underwood, Wesley Peter Underwood, on April 12, 2022. I hope to visit my grandson Wesley again during the inter-quarter break in March.