Dr. Thomas Willburn Ayers was born in Habersham County, Georgia in 1858. He graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Baltimore, Maryland in 1886. From there he conducted medical and missionary work in Hwanghsien, Shantung, China where he was the founder and superintendent of Warren Memorial Hospital. It was the first foreign mission hospital of the Southern Baptist Convention. Dr. Ayers was married to Minnie Skelton in 1878 and they had five children. This digital collection includes papers from both Dr. T.W. Ayers' missionary work in China as well as his son's work, Dr. Sanford Emmett Ayers.