Ann Hasseltine Judson

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Ann Hasseltine Judson

Ann Hasseltine Judson (born December 22, 1789 in Bradford, Essex County (Massachusetts) , † October 24, 1826 in Kyaikkami , Lower Burma ) was one of the first American female missionaries abroad.

Life

Ann Hasseltine Judson attended Bradford Academy in Massachusetts. There, under the impression of the revival movement , she read the book Scriptures on the Modern System of Female Education written by the British writer Hannah More , which inspired her to choose a career. In Bradford she was a teacher until her marriage. Her father, John Hasseltine, was a Church deacon attending a meeting to establish the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions . According to her sister, it was the first time Ann met her future husband Adoniram Judson .

In 1812 she married Adoniram. Two weeks later they went on their first mission to India . They moved to Burma the following year.

She had two children. Their first child, Roger, died in infancy in 1815. Their second child Maria died six months after Ann's death. While in Burma, the couple's first assignment was to learn the local language. This was followed by missionary assignments, the first successful conversion took place in 1819. Due to liver problems Ann returned to the USA in 1822–1823.

During the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-26), her husband was imprisoned on suspicion of being an English spy. Ann moved to a hut outside the prison to support her husband. She worked unsuccessfully for months to get the authorities to release her husband and his fellow inmates. She also sent food and sleeping mats to inmates. During this time Ann wrote stories about life as a missionary and the problems of local people. Among other things, she wrote about child marriage , the killing of female children and the hardships faced by Burmese women who had no rights other than those granted by their husbands. Ann's health deteriorated meanwhile; presumably because of the strenuous journeys and difficult living conditions that she had to endure. At the same time, she also had to look after her newborn child. After her husband was released, they both stayed in Burma to continue their work. Ann died of smallpox in Kyaikkami, Lower Burma, in 1826 . She is said to have said her last words in the Burmese language.

She wrote a catechism in Burmese and also translated the books Daniel and Jonah into this language. In 1819 she was the first Protestant to translate a gospel (the one after Matthew ) into Thai .

Her letters home were published in magazines such as American Baptists Magazine , which made her and her husband famous in America. Her work and writings made the role of "missionary wife" a recognized profession in 19th century America. At least 16 Judson biographies have been published. A new edition of the most famous of these was published almost annually between 1830 and 1856. The Unitarian Lydia Maria Child described it as "a book that is so well known that it needs to be mentioned only in short supply."

Honors

  • The Judson College , a college for Baptist women in Marion, Perry County (Alabama) , was named after her.
  • The Judson Research Center in Yangoon, the capital of Myanmar, is an ecumenical-theological research institute

Fonts

  • A Particular Relation of the American Baptist Mission to the Burman Empire , 1823 (A Burmese Missionary and Cultural History)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Dana L. Robert (2006). "The Mother of Modern Missions" . Christian History & Biography 90. Pages 22–24.
  2. ^ Francis Wayland (1853). A Memoir of the Life and Laboratories of the Rev. Adoniram Judson, Volume I. Boston: Phillips, Samson, and Company. Page 31.
  3. ^ A b c d e S. W. Williams, and other authors, Queenly Women: Crowned and Uncrowned . Cincinnati: Cranson and Stowe, 1885. pp. 59-60, 63, 66-68.
  4. ^ Richard V. Pierard (2006). "The Man Who Gave the Bible to the Burmese" . Christian History & Biography 90. Pages 16–21.
  5. ^ "Ann Hasseltine Judson: First American Woman Missionary" ( Memento of March 21, 2005 in the Internet Archive ). chi.gospelcom.net.
  6. ^ Ruth A. Tucker (2006). "Let Freedom Ring" . Christian History & Biography 90. Pages 12-15.
  7. ↑ "Did You Know?" . Christian History & Biography 90 page 2. (2006).
  8. ↑ Ann Hasseltine Judson 1789-1826: A Catechism for Burma - written by a woman called Bread for the World. Reformation on the way - people change the one world

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Judson, Ann Hasseltine
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American missionary
DATE OF BIRTH December 22, 1789
PLACE OF BIRTH Bradford
DATE OF DEATH October 24, 1826
Place of death Kyaikkami