Lucy Goodale Thurston (October 29, 1795October 13, 1876) was a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to ...

missionary 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 ...

and author. She was the wife of

Asa Thurston Asa Thurston (October 12, 1787 – March 11, 1868) was a Protestant missionary from the United States who was part of the first company of American Christian missionaries to the Hawaiian Islands with his wife Lucy Goodale Thurston. Asa Thurston ...

and was one of the first American Christian missionaries to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is ...

. She is noted for her letters documenting her life and missionary works in the islands.

Background

Lucy was born to a prosperous familyGrimshaw, P. (1989). Christian Brides. In ''Paths of Duty: American Missionary Wives in Nineteenth-Century Hawaii'' (pp. 14–36). Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctv9zcjqt.5 on October 29, 1795, on the Goodale Homestead in

Marlborough, Massachusetts Marlborough is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 41,793 at the 2020 census. Marlborough became a prosperous industrial town in the 19th century and made the transition to ...

, in what would later become

Hudson, Massachusetts Hudson is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, with a total population of 20,092 as of the 2020 census. Before its incorporation as a town in 1866, Hudson was a neighborhood and unincorporated village of Marlborough, Massa ...

. Her parents were Abner Goodale, a deacon and

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

veteran, and Mary Howe. She graduated from Bradford Academy and became a school teacher. In 1819, she applied to a newspaper advertisement seeking volunteers to missionize in Hawaii through the invitation of

King Kamehameha II Kamehameha II (November 1797 – July 14, 1824) was the second king of the Kingdom of Hawaii. His birth name was Liholiho and full name was Kalaninui kua Liholiho i ke kapu ʻIolani. It was lengthened to Kalani Kaleiʻaimoku o Kaiwikapu o Laʻa ...

. To be accepted, however, the applicants were required to be married beforehand. On October 12, 1819, she married Thurston, a scythe maker and minister from Fitchburg. He was one of the theological graduates from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the worl ...

who posted the mission announcement. Lucy and Asa were complete strangers prior to their wedding. Several days later, she accompanied her husband on a five-month voyage on board the ship ''Thaddeus.'' They reached Kawaihae, Hawaii, on March 30, 1820. The couple helped build churches and schools after securing permission for their ministry at

Kailua-Kona Kailua-Kona is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States. It is also known as Kailua (a name it shares with a community located on the windward side of Oahu), as Kona (a name it share ...

from King Kamehameha and Queen Ka'ahumanu. The Thurstons, unlike most missionary couples, spent most of the rest of their lives in the islands. In 1855, Lucy was diagnosed with

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a r ...

. As treatment for her illness, Lucy had a

mastectomy Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. A mastectomy is usually carried out to treat breast cancer. In some cases, women believed to be at high risk of breast cancer have the operat ...

to remove her left breast in the same year. The procedure was conducted by Seth Porter Ford without

anaesthetic An anesthetic (American English) or anaesthetic (British English; see spelling differences) is a drug used to induce anesthesia ⁠— ⁠in other words, to result in a temporary loss of sensation or awareness. They may be divided into two ...

, which had not been developed at that time. The operation was successful and she lived for another twenty years. She died on October 13, 1876 in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...

. One of the Thurstons' grandchildren, Lorrin Andrews Thurston, would later play an important part in King Kalakua's decision to sign the

Bayonet Constitution The 1887 Constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom was a legal document prepared by anti-monarchists to strip the Hawaiian monarchy of much of its authority, initiating a transfer of power to American, European and native Hawaiian elites. It became ...

, which paved the way for the abolition of the

Kingdom of Hawaii The Hawaiian Kingdom, or Kingdom of Hawaiʻi ( Hawaiian: ''Ko Hawaiʻi Pae ʻĀina''), was a sovereign state located in the Hawaiian Islands. The country was formed in 1795, when the warrior chief Kamehameha the Great, of the independent islan ...

and for its annexation to the United States.

Memoir

After her husband's death on March 11, 1868, Lucy started writing a memoir. She compiled her letters and other writings (completed by her daughter Persis Goodale Taylor and Walter Freer, and published under the title of ''Life and Times of Mrs. Lucy G. Thurston'' in

Ann Arbor Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in th ...

in 1876). It is one of the most vivid accounts of the early mission days. The autobiography was divided into several parts. The first was devoted to the mission's early work in Hawaii. Later parts covered her journey to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * ...

, the death of her daughter Lucy in 1841, and her experience battling cancer. The book also included accounts concerning Hawaiian chiefs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thurston, Lucy Goodale 1795 births 1876 deaths People from Marlborough, Massachusetts People from Hudson, Massachusetts American Protestant missionaries Female Christian missionaries American women memoirists 19th-century American memoirists 19th-century American women writers American emigrants to the Hawaiian Kingdom Protestant missionaries in Hawaii Schoolteachers from Massachusetts 19th-century American educators 19th-century American women educators