Mary Washington Bacheler (February 22, 1860 – November 5, 1939) was an American physician and Baptist medical

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who 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.Thoma ...

in India.

Early life

Mary Washington Bacheler was born February 22, 1860, in

New Hampton, New Hampshire New Hampton is a town in Belknap County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,377 at the 2020 census. A winter sports resort area, New Hampton is home to George Duncan State Forest and to the New Hampton School, a private prepara ...

, the daughter of Rev. Otis Robinson Bacheler and his second wife, Sarah P. Merrill Bacheler. When Mary was a girl, she moved to India, where her father, a medical doctor and ordained minister, and her mother, an educator, were Baptist

Christian mission A Christian mission is an organized effort to carry on evangelism, in the name of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries. Sometimes individuals are sent and a ...

aries at

Midnapore Medinipur or Midnapore is a city known for its history in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the West Medinipur district. It is situated on the banks of the Kangsabati River (variously known as ''Kasai'' and ''Cossye''). ...

. As a teen she worked with her mother, visiting and teaching women in

zenana Zenana (, "of the women" or "pertaining to women"; ; ; ) is the part of a house belonging to a Muslim family in the Indian subcontinent, which is reserved for the women of the household. The zenana was a product of Indo-Islamic culture and was ...

. She returned to the United States to pursue a medical degree at the Women's Medical College in New York City.

Career

Bacheler completed her medical degree in 1890, and was appointed to assist her father, as the first medical missionary of the Free Baptist Woman's Missionary Society. She took over her parents' work at Midnapore when they retired in 1893. She taught school and provided medical care for women who would not see a male doctor for religious reasons. She was in the United States in 1900 for her own health, and to tend to her ailing parents (they died in 1900 and 1901). "I suppose I worked too hard after father and mother left," she recalled, "for several times I got low fever and was quite incapacitated." She spoke in New England churches while she was on leave. Bacheler returned to India in 1903, and lived with Miss Lavina Coombs in Midnapore, until Bacheler was transferred to

Balasore Balasore, also known as Baleswar, is a city in the state of Odisha, about from the state capital Bhubaneswar and from Kolkata, in eastern India. It is the administrative headquarters of Balasore district and the largest city as well as heal ...

in 1910. The two women traveled to the United States for rest in 1912–1913. Bacheler was back in India in 1914, first helping a Miss Butts at

Shantipur Shantipur is a city and a municipality in the Ranaghat subdivision of Nadia district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of West Bengal. The fort area of this city, also known as Daak-Garh (calling or gathering room) is thought ...

, and then back in Balasore to run an orphanage there. She spoke the

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

and Odia languages fluently. Bacheler returned to the United States in 1921 for the jubilee of the Woman's American Baptist Free Missionary Society, with Midnapore teacher

Khanto Bala Rai Khanto Bala Rai (born 1897) was a Bengali Christian educator, head of the Mission Girls' High School in Midnapore beginning in 1923. Early life Khanto Bala Rai was the daughter of evangelist Sachidananda Rai and teacher Esther Rai, Christia ...

. She retired in 1933 and left India in 1936.

Personal life

Bacheler died in 1939, aged 79 years, in

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located roughly west of Downtown Boston, and comprises a patchwork of thirteen villages. The city borders Boston to the northeast and southeast (via the neighborhoods of ...

. There is a small collection of her papers at the

American Baptist Historical Society The American Baptist Historical Society (ABHS) is the oldest Baptist historical society in the United States. History The American Baptist Historical Society was created in 1853 at the instigation of John Mason Peck. In 1862, it was chartered under ...

archives.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bacheler, Mary W. 1860 births 1939 deaths American physicians Baptist missionaries from the United States Christian medical missionaries People from New Hampton, New Hampshire Baptist missionaries in India Female Christian missionaries