Monadnock Moment No. 093

Era 4: Expansion and Reform - 1800 to 1860

Sarah Hall Judson

The town histories of Cheshire County tell many stories of 19th century missionaries who left their homes here to travel to distant lands to minister to the needs of others. Sarah Hall Judson was one of those.

Sarah was born in Alstead, New Hampshire in 1803. As a young woman she was fascinated with accounts written by missionaries and longed to serve in a foreign land. In 1825 she married George Boardman, a young divinity school graduate. A few weeks later the two sailed from Philadelphia with the intention of becoming missionaries in Burma. George and Sarah arrived in Calcutta, India five months later. Their first child was born there and died soon after birth.

The Boardman's finally arrived in Burma in 1827. A second child was born and died, and a third barely survived. George Boardman himself died of a tropical disease in 1831. Sarah was left alone and in poor health. Most of her belongings had been stolen and she had a young son to care for, but she continued her work of establishing village schools.

Three years later Sarah married another missionary named Judson and they continued their work together for eleven years. They taught, preached, and translated English works into Burmese. By 1845, after losing several more children, Sarah's health was so poor that she and her husband decided to return to America for rest and treatment. She never made it home, however. Sarah Hall Judson died on the passage home after spending twenty years of her life helping people less fortunate than herself.