1. Betsey Stockton was born into slavery in Princeton, New Jersey, about the year 1798.
15 Facts About Betsey Stockton
1. 2.
When Green decided she needed further discipline, young Betsey Stockton was temporarily sent to labor in the household of Green's nephew, the Reverend Nathaniel Todd.
3.
The Todd household seemed a place Betsey Stockton was more able to flourish, but financial matters related to Todd's employment caused Betsey Stockton to return to Green's household in 1816.
4.
Betsey Stockton gained her education from reading in Reverend Green's library, and eventually gained fluency to read religious and scholarly texts in several languages.
5.
Betsey Stockton 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.
6.
Betsey Stockton remained as a paid domestic servant with the family, and learned to read, perhaps with some instruction from Reverend Green's sons.
7.
Betsey Stockton learned of plans by Charles S Stewart, a student at Princeton Theological Seminary and friend of the Green family, to go to Hawaii as a missionary.
8.
Betsey Stockton expressed a desire to go with him and his family, and Dr Green and her Sabbath school teacher wrote letters of recommendation to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.
9.
Betsey Stockton was commissioned by the Board as a missionary, and became the second single American woman sent overseas as a missionary.
10.
Betsey Stockton was the first unmarried woman from the US to travel to Hawai'i as a missionary, as well as the first African American to serve as a missionary in Hawai'i.
11.
Betsey Stockton was the teacher of the first mission school opened to the common people of Hawaii.
12.
Betsey Stockton trained native Hawaiian teachers, who took over from her upon her departure until the arrival of another missionary.
13.
Betsey Stockton returned with the Stewarts to the US in 1825 due to Harriet Stewart's poor health.
14.
Betsey Stockton stayed with the Stewart household until at least 1830.
15.
Betsey Stockton was buried in Cooperstown, New York alongside the Stewart family.