Maria Fearing

Maria Fearing (July 26, 1838 – May 23, 1937) was an American teacher and missionary, most famous for her work in the Congo Free State.

Life Maria Fearing was born in slavery near Gainesville, Alabama in 1838, to Mary and Jesse, on the Oak Hill plantation of William O. Winston, After the end of slavery in the United States, she learned to read and write at the age of 33. She went on to graduate from the Freedman's Bureau School in Talladega and qualified as a teacher, and worked in Anniston.

In spite of her old age of 56, she accompanied William Henry Sheppard to Africa in 1894 as a Presbyterian missionary. Rejected by the church because of her age, she initially financed her mission primarily through funds from the sale of her home. For twenty years, she worked in the Congo Free State as a teacher and Bible translator. She also bought many people out of slavery in the Congo. Her most famous achievement was the establishment of the Pantops Home for Girls in Luebo, Congo. Despite the church's skepticism, Fearing outlasted many of her colleagues in Africa and only retired from missionary service in 1915 due to age restrictions. She taught Sunday school in Selma, Alabama, until she was 93;