Ann Hasseltine Judson (December 22, 1789 – October 24, 1826) was one of the first female American foreign

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

Biography

Ann attended the Bradford Academy and during a revival there read ''Strictures on the Modern System of Female Education'' by

Hannah More Hannah More (2 February 1745 – 7 September 1833) was an English religious writer, philanthropist, poet and playwright in the circle of Johnson, Reynolds and Garrick, who wrote on moral and religious subjects. Born in Bristol, she taught at a s ...

, which led her to "seek a life of 'usefulness'". Born in

Bradford, Massachusetts Bradford is a village and former town, in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. Eastern Bradford is the current town of Groveland, while western Bradford was annexed by the city of Haverhill, and today consists of the part of Haverhill o ...

a teacher from graduation until marriage. Her father, John Hasseltine, was a deacon at the church that hosted the gathering that, in 1810, founded the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions and, according to Ann's sister Ann, the family first met her husband

Adoniram Judson Adoniram Judson (August 9, 1788 – April 12, 1850) was an American Congregationalist and later Particular Baptist missionary, who served in Burma for almost forty years. At the age of 25, Judson was sent from North America to preach in B ...

at that time. She married Adoniram in 1812, and two weeks later they embarked on their mission trip to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The following year, they moved on to

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. She had three pregnancies. The first ended in a

miscarriage Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion and pregnancy loss, is the death of an embryo or fetus before it is able to survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks of gestation is defined by ESHRE as biochemical lo ...

while moving from India to Burma; their son Roger was born in 1815 and died at eight months of age, and their third child, Maria, lived for only six months after her mother's death. While in Burma, the couple's first undertaking was to acquire the language of the locals. Missionary efforts followed, with the first local converting to Christianity in 1819. Due to liver problems, Ann returned to the United States briefly in 1822–23. During the first Anglo-Burmese war (1824–26), her husband was imprisoned for 17 months under suspicion of being an English spy, and Ann moved into a shack outside the prison gates so as to support her husband. She lobbied vigorously for months to convince the authorities to release her husband and his fellow prisoners, but her efforts were unsuccessful. She also sent food and sleeping mats to the prisoners to help their time in prison to be more bearable. During this time, Ann wrote stories of life on the mission field and the struggles she faced. She wrote tragic descriptions of child marriages, female infanticide, and the trials of the Burmese women who had no rights except for the ones their husbands gave them. Ann's health was fragile by the time her husband was released. Her efforts to be near him when he was moved to a new location, all while she was nursing a newborn child, had involved strenuous travel and living conditions that may have contributed to her illness. After her husband's release they both remained in Burma to continue their work. Ann died at Amherst, Lower Burma, of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

in 1826. She wrote a

catechism A catechism (; from grc, κατηχέω, "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult c ...

Burmese Burmese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Myanmar, a country in Southeast Asia * Burmese people * Burmese language * Burmese alphabet * Burmese cuisine * Burmese culture Animals * Burmese cat * Burmese chicken * Burmese (hor ...

, and translated the books of

Daniel Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength" ...

and Jonah into Burmese. She was the first

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

to translate any of the scriptures into

Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...

when in 1819 she translated the

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and for ...

. Her letters home were published in periodicals such as ''The American Baptist Magazine'' and republished after her death as devotional writings, making both her and Adoniram celebrities in America. Her work and writings made "the role of missionary wife as a 'calling'" legitimate for nineteenth-century Americans. There have been at least sixteen biographies of Judson published, the most famous having a new edition printed almost every year from 1830 to 1856, and was described by Unitarian

Lydia Maria Child Lydia Maria Child ( Francis; February 11, 1802October 20, 1880) was an American abolitionist, women's rights activist, Native American rights activist, novelist, journalist, and opponent of American expansionism. Her journals, both fiction and ...

as "a book so universally known that it scarcely need be mentioned."

Publications

* Knowles, ''Life'' (Boston, 1829)

New International Encyclopedia ''The New International Encyclopedia'' was an American encyclopedia first published in 1902 by Dodd, Mead and Company. It descended from the ''International Cyclopaedia'' (1884) and was updated in 1906, 1914 and 1926. History ''The New Intern ...

Namesake colleges

Judson College (Alabama) Judson College was a private women's college in Marion, Alabama. It was founded in 1838 and suspended its academic operations on July 31, 2021. History It was founded by members of Siloam Baptist Church in 1838, making it the fifth-oldest ...

References

External links

Biography at Wholesome WordsE-text of an 1829 BiographyGoogle E-text of an 1829 Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Judson, Ann Hasseltine 1789 births 1826 deaths People from Haverhill, Massachusetts People of the First Anglo-Burmese War Baptist missionaries from the United States Baptist missionaries in Myanmar Baptist missionaries in India Translators of the Bible into Burmese Deaths from smallpox Female Christian missionaries Infectious disease deaths in Myanmar Women in 19th-century warfare Women in war in Southeast Asia American expatriates in India American expatriates in Myanmar American evangelicals Translators to Thai People from Bradford, Massachusetts 19th-century translators 19th-century Baptists Missionary linguists Female Bible Translators