Marilla Baker Ingalls

Marilla Baker Ingalls (, Baker; November 25, 1828 – 17 December 1902) was an American Baptist Missionary Union missionary and writer. After marrying the widower, Rev. Lovell Ingalls, they sailed for Burma in 1851. Widowed in 1856, she continued working as a missionary in Burma till her death there in 1902. Ingalls had great influence among the Buddhist priests in spreading the word of Christianity. She established Bible societies, distributing tracts in their own language to the French, English, Burmese, Shans, Hindus and Karens. She opened a library for the benefit of the employees of the railway, and established branch libraries on these lines. Her work was most valuable among the men who went out into these countries to work for the syndicates building railroads, and also among the local workers. The various governments represented appreciated her work, and often assisted her.

Ingalls was the author of, Ocean Sketches of Life in Burmah (1858), A Golden Sheaf from the Judsons' Work at Ava (1881), and The Story of the Queen's Bible (1909). She was a constant and graphic writer to publications such as the Baptist Missionary Magazine.

Early life Marilla Baker was born in Greenville, New York, November 25, 1828. (The Baptist magazine (1921), records Marilla's year of birth as: "about 1827".)

She was a merry, light-hearted child, loved and loving, reading from the Bible to her blind grandfather, and showing at an early age a surprising knowledge of the book. One day at church a stranger, a missionary from Burma, addressed the people. On the desk before him was a little white idol from Burma. Ingalls listened with rapt attention and sympathy, and announced afterward to her companions that if she were grown up, she would go to Burma and tell the people that that idol was no god.

Selah Baker died, and her mother married again. When Marilla was about 20, the family moved to Wisconsin where her stepfather became pastor of the Baptist church at Eastport. at a missionary meeting at Racine, Wisconsin.

Career Missionary In December 1850, at her home in Eastport, they were married. The mother of the bride watched the ceremony with many misgivings.

In December 1855, the Ingalls left Rangoon to evangelize in others towns of the region. They stopped at the villages of Sike gu and The lu, as well as a large town named 'Th'co'peinmeaning. From there, they proceeded to the Karen village called Co Doung. They visited the village of Tet thit, and the village of Cot tu yoh.

Burma under appointment of the Missionary Union, 1858 She sailed for Burma, November 26, 1858, this time under appointment of the Missionary Union for independent missionary work.

Ingalls showed ability in convincing Buddhist priests to convert to Christianity. Her article in the Baptist Missionary Magazine for November, 1893, and also one in May, 1894, told the story of this work in her own words. A Golden Sheaf from the Judsons' Work at Ava (Woman's Missionary Society, 1881) was a tract written by Ingalls in her usual graphic style. It is a sketch of the life of Mah Po, the wife of one of the ministers of the Burman king, who carried food to Ann Hasseltine Judson while her husband, Dr. Adoniram Judson, was imprisoned at Oung-pen-la. The Story of the Queen's Bible (Boston, Woman's Baptist Foreign Missionary Society, 1909) was published posthumously in 1909. The story, related by Ingalls, was retold by Sarah Frances Whiting.

She was a constant and graphic writer. She kept in touch with many churches and friends. She knew how to make the events of her life live in the messages that came to the U.S. so that she was continually receiving funds from different sources for the various activities of her life. Even though she made long stays in Burma, her writings for the Baptist Missionary Magazine and other papers made people interested in her work. She was buried, according to her wish, in the jungle cemetery of Burma.

Selected works Ocean Sketches of Life in Burmah, 1857 A Golden Sheaf from the Judsons' Work at Ava, 1881

Posthumous publications The Story of the Queen's Bible, 1909