Cynthia Farrar (April 20, 1795,

Marlborough, New Hampshire Marlborough is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,096 at the 2020 census. The town is home to the Kensan-Devan Wildlife Sanctuary at Meetinghouse Pond. The primary settlement in town, where 1,066 peopl ...

– January 25, 1862,

Ahmednagar Ahmednagar, officially Ahilyanagar, is a city in, and the headquarters of, the Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India. Ahmednagar has several dozen buildings and sites from the Nizam Shahi period. Ahmednagar Fort, once considered almost impre ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

) was a Christian missionary from the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

. She was a teacher and founded girls' schools in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

and Ahmednagar. She was one of the first single American women recruited as a missionary to work and live abroad. In 1848

Jyotiba Phule Jyotirao Phule (11 April 1827 – 28 November 1890), also known as Jyotiba Phule, was an Indian social activist, businessman, anti-caste social reformer and writer from Maharashtra. His work extended to many fields, including eradication of u ...

visited her school in Ahemadnagar and was inspired to open a school for girls in Poona (Now

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

). It was first ever school for girls founded and run by an Indian. Later Phule enrolled his wife

Savitribai Phule Savitribai Phule (; 3 January 1831 – 10 March 1897) was an Indian educator, social reformer, and poet, widely regarded as the first female teacher of modern India. Along with her husband, Jyotiba Phule, she played a pivotal role in advancin ...

in Farrar's school for a course of teacher training.

Early life

Farrar was the daughter of Phinehas Farrar, a farmer, and Abigail Stone. At age 15, she joined the Congregational Church in Marborough, New Hampshire. She taught school in Marlborough and

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Missionary to India

In 1826, the

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

Mission of the

American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) was among the first American Christian mission, Christian missionary organizations. It was created in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College. In the 19th century it was the l ...

requested that a single female missionary be sent to

Bombay, India Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12.5& ...

to direct schools for girls there, thus relieving the wives of male missionaries of the task. The American Board and other American missionary societies had previously been reluctant to send single women missionaries abroad, but recruited Farrar for the position of Superintendent of Girls' Schools. She departed the U.S. from Boston on June 5, 1827 as part of a missionary group bound for India. She arrived in Bombay and assumed her duties on December 29, 1827. Despite opposition from some

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

s to educating females, by 1829 Farrar's schools enrolled more than 400 Indian girls. Farrar took a two-year furlough to the United States in 1837-1838 for health reasons. In 1839, she returned to India and was transferred to Ahmednagar to organize and direct schools for girls there. An Indian friend, Jyotiba Phule, visited the school and was inspired to open a school for girls in Poona (now

). Among Farrar's students was Savitribai Phule, a pioneering Indian feminist and educator. Savitribai enrolled in an education and teacher training program and later began teaching small group of girls with the help of Farrar. Farrar lived and worked in Ahmednagar until her death in 1862.

Legacy

Farrar is often cited as the first single American woman to be sent overseas as a missionary.James, et al, pp. 600-601 Actually, she was preceded by

Charlotte White Charlotte White (July 13, 1782 – December 25, 1863), also known as Charlotte Atlee and Charlotte Rowe, was the first American woman appointed as a missionary and sent to a foreign country. She was sponsored by the Baptist Board of Foreign Missi ...

in India and

Betsey Stockton Betsey Stockton (c. 1798–1865), sometimes spelled Betsy Stockton, was an American educator and missionary. In her early life, she was an enslaved person, but was emancipated and became a Christian missionary in Hawaii. Early life Betsey was b ...

in Hawaii, but Farrar was the first unmarried American woman to be recruited as a missionary for her abilities and qualifications and the first to spend most of her life as a missionary.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farrar, Cynthia 1795 births 1862 deaths People from Marlborough, New Hampshire American Congregationalist missionaries Congregationalist missionaries in India Missionary educators Female Christian missionaries American missionaries in India People from Ahmednagar