Adoniram Judson
| Adoniram Judson | |
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Adoniram Judson by George Peter Alexander Healy, 1846
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| Born |
August 9, 1788 Malden, Massachusetts |
| Died | April 12, 1850 (aged 61) At sea in the Bay of Bengal |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Brown University |
| Occupation | Missionary to Burma |
| Spouse(s) |
Ann Hasseltine, 1812–26 (her death) Sarah Hall Boardman, 1834–45 (her death) Emily Chubbuck, 1846–50 (his death) |
| Children | Edward Judson, several others |
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Adoniram Judson, Jr. (August 9, 1788 – April 12, 1850) was an American Congregationalist and later Baptist missionary, who served in Burma for almost forty years. At the age of 25, Adoniram Judson became the first Caucasian Protestant missionary sent from North America to preach in Burma. His mission and work with Luther Rice led to the formation of the first Baptist association in America to support missionaries.
At times mistakenly referred to as the first missionary to Burma, he was in fact preceded by James Chater and Richard Mardon (who both arrived in 1807) as well as by Felix Carey. However, since those predecessors did not remain long, and Judson also translated the Bible into Burmese, as well as established a number of Baptist churches in Burma, Judson is remembered as the first significant missionary in Burma, as well as one of the very first missionaries from America to travel overseas.
Judson was born on August 9, 1788 in Malden, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. He was born to Adoniram Judson, Sr., a Congregational minister, and Abigail (née Brown). Judson entered the College of Rhode Island & Providence Plantations (now Brown University) when he was sixteen, and graduated as valedictorian of his class at the age of nineteen. While studying at college, he met a young man named Jacob Eames, a devout deist and skeptic. Judson and Eames developed a strong friendship, leading to Judson's abandonment of his childhood faith and parents' religious instruction. During this time, Judson embraced the writings of the French philosophes. After graduating from college, Judson opened a school and wrote an English grammar and mathematics textbook for girls.
Judson's deist views were shaken when his friend Eames fell violently ill and died. Both had been sleeping in separate rooms at an inn, and Judson heard the death throes of the person next door, only to learn from the clerk the next morning that his anonymous neighbor had been Mr. Eames, who had indeed died. The shock of learning the dying neighbor's identity – and that Eames had led Judson away from the Christian faith into skepticism, but was now dead – returned Judson back to the faith of his youth, although he was already attending the Andover Theological Seminary. In 1808, Judson "made a solemn dedication of himself to God". During his final year at the school, Judson decided upon a missionary career.
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