Sophronia Farrington Cone (1801-1880) was a teacher, artist, and one of the first single female missionaries from America to Africa when she helped found a mission in

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

in 1834. Farrington was born in

Concord, New Hampshire Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the county seat, seat of Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Merrimack County. As of the 2020 United States census the population was 43,976, making it the List of municipalities ...

, in 1801 and grew up in

Herkimer, New York Herkimer is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Herkimer County, New York, United States, southeast of Utica, New York, Utica. It is named after Nicholas Herkimer. The population was 9,566 at the 2020 census, down from 10,175 in ...

. She enrolled at the

Cazenovia Seminary Cazenovia College was a private college in Cazenovia, New York. Founded as the Genesee Seminary in 1824 and sponsored by the Methodist Church in 1894, the college adopted the name of "Cazenovia Seminary". It was reorganized in 1942 after church s ...

in 1825 and left in 1828 to attend the female seminary in

Utica, New York Utica () is the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The tenth-most populous city in New York, its population was 65,283 in the 2020 census. It is located on the Mohawk River in the Mohawk Valley at the foot of the Adiro ...

. Farrington then taught at a school in

Onondaga, New York Onondaga is a town in Onondaga County, New York, United States, encompassing 65 square miles. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 22,937. The town is named after the native Onondaga tribe, part of the Iroquois Confederacy. Onondaga was in ...

, and the female seminary in

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem was one ...

. In 1843 she sailed to Liberia and became the first single female missionary to go to Africa, working with the Young Men's Missionary Society of

Boston 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 ...

at the first foreign mission established by the

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself nationally. In 1939, th ...

. Pastor Melville Cox arrived first and helped to found the

College of West Africa The College of West Africa is a Methodist high school in Monrovia, Liberia. The school was opened in 1839 as the Monrovia Seminary, making it one of the oldest European-style schools in Africa. It has produced many of Liberia's leaders. Alumni inc ...

, but Cox died shortly after arriving, of the "African fever". Farrington arrived shortly after Cox and taught at the school. Farrington almost died from the fever herself but recovered, and stayed behind in Liberia after the other missionaries left. The local residents were impressed by her artwork and teaching. In 1851 Miss Farrington married Mr. George Cone, of Utica, New York. She died in 1880.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farrington Cone, Sophronia Methodist missionaries in Liberia People from Utica, New York People from Concord, New Hampshire American expatriates in Liberia American Protestant missionaries Female Christian missionaries