George Dana Boardman (February 8, 1801 – February 11, 1831) was an American missionary.
Life
He was born in
Livermore, Maine
Livermore is a town in Androscoggin County, Maine, United States. Formerly in Oxford County, Maine. The population was 2,127 at the 2020 United States Census. It is included in both the Lewiston- Auburn, Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area and t ...
, the son of the Rev.
Sylvanus Boardman. He attended
Colby College
Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine. It was founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, then renamed Waterville College after the city where it resides. The donations of Christian philanthr ...
, and was the school's first graduate in 1822. He served as tutor for a year at Colby, then continued his education at
Andover Theological Seminary
Andover Theological Seminary (1807–1965) was a Congregationalist seminary founded in 1807 and originally located in Andover, Massachusetts on the campus of Phillips Academy. From 1908 to 1931, it was located at Harvard University in Cambridge. ...
. On February 16, 1825, he was ordained a
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
minister in
West Yarmouth, Maine. Rev.
Jeremiah Chaplin
Jeremiah Chaplin (January 2, 1776 – May 7, 1841) was a Reformed Baptist theologian who served as the first president of Colby College (then called the Waterville College) in Maine.
Chaplin was born in Rowley, Massachusetts (now Georgetown ...
, President of Colby College, spoke at his ordination. Boardman married
Sarah Hall on July 4, 1825.
On July 16, the couple sailed for
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
, where they arrived on 2 December 1825. After acquiring the
Burmese language
Burmese ( my, မြန်မာဘာသာ, MLCTS: ''mranmabhasa'', IPA: ) is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Myanmar (also known as Burma), where it is an official language, lingua franca, and the native language of the Burmans, the count ...
, he entered upon his labors at
Maulmain in May 1827, and founded a mission which became the central point of all the Baptist missions in Burma. In April 1828, he established a mission at
Tavoy
Dawei (, ; mnw, ဓဝဲါ, ; th, ทวาย, RTGS: ''Thawai'', ; formerly known as Tavoy) is a city in south-eastern Myanmar and is the capital of the Tanintharyi Region, formerly known as the Tenasserim Division, on the northern bank of ...
, where he soon afterward baptized Ko Tha Byu, a
Karen
Karen may refer to:
* Karen (name), a given name and surname
* Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors
People
* Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand
** Karen languages or Karenic l ...
convert, whose labors were very successful among his countrymen. On 5 February 1828, Boardman set out on a tour among the Karen villages, and met with such success that he determined on a systematic course of itinerary labor. On these trips, he was usually accompanied by Ko Tha Byu or some other convert.
His exertions occasioned the loss of his health and brought on his early death by consumption. His widow married the Rev.
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 ...
, also a missionary. He and Sarah had a son also named
George Dana Boardman, often referred to as "the Younger".
A residence and dining hall at his alma mater,
Colby College
Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine. It was founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, then renamed Waterville College after the city where it resides. The donations of Christian philanthr ...
, is named "Dana" in his honor.
References
Attribution:
*
Further reading
*King, Alonzo (1834) ''Memoir of George Dana Boardman : late missionary to Burmah, containing much intelligence relative to the Burman mission''. Boston : Lincoln, Edmands & Co.
*Chaplin, Jeremiah (1825) ''A Sermon Preached at North Yarmouth, February 16, 1825 : at the ordination of the Rev. George D. Boardman, as a missionary to the heathen''. Waterville : W. Hastings.
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boardman, George
1801 births
1831 deaths
People from Livermore, Maine
Baptist missionaries from the United States
Baptist missionaries in Myanmar
Colby College alumni
American expatriates in Myanmar
American expatriates in India
19th-century Baptists