Betsey Stockton

Betsey Stockton, 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 born into slavery in Princeton, New Jersey, during the year 1798. While she was a child, her owner Robert Stockton gave her to his daughter upon her marriage to Reverend Ashbel Green, president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University). Much of what is known of her earlier life comes from sporadic mentions of her in Green's diary; while useful, this source also reflects Green's assumption of control over the enslaved girl, often leaving out key details about her. When Green decided she needed further discipline, young Betsey was temporarily sent to labor in the household of Green's nephew, the Reverend Nathaniel Todd.

She gained her education from reading in Reverend Green's library. She attended evening classes at Princeton and was studying at the university during the winter of 1815 when a revival broke out on campus; at this time she was granted her manumission by the Greens.

In 1817 she was admitted as a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Princeton.

She remained as a paid domestic servant with the family, and learned to read, perhaps with some instruction from Reverend Green's sons. A deeply religious person, she expressed a desire to go as a missionary to Africa. and provided that she was not to be more occupied with domestic duties than the other missionaries.

The team (which included William Richards) set sail on the ship "The Thames" from New Haven, Connecticut on November 22, 1822, for a five-month voyage. The Stewarts and Stockton settled at Lāhainā on Maui. Stockton was the first unmarried woman from the U.S. to travel to Hawai'i as a missionary (most women accompanied their husbands), as well as the first African American to serve as a missionary in Hawai'i. She was the teacher of the first mission school opened to the common (non-chiefly) people of Hawaii. Along with being a missionary and teacher, Stockton also served unofficially as a doctor and nurse to a number of people in Hawaii. She also trained native Hawaiian teachers, who took over from her upon her departure until the arrival of another missionary. She returned with the Stewarts to the U.S. in 1825 due to Harriet Stewart's poor health.

In 1835, the Presbyterian church building burnt down; the people of color attending the church decided to form their own congregation.