Smith, Sarah Lanman Huntington (1802-1836)

ABCFM missionary to Native Americans and to Syria

Sarah Lanman Huntington was born in Norwich, Connecticut in 1802. A capable and creative young woman, she decided at age twenty-five that she would bring the gospel to the nearby Mohegan Indians. At first she distributed tracts and brought along an Indian girl to interpret. Then she started a Sabbath school, fund-raised, and eventually moved to the area in order to teach. She petitioned the Connecticut legislature to fund a school for the Mohegans, and when that failed she turned to the United States Secretary of War. As she became aware that the Choctaw and Pequod were being forcibly removed from their land, she made their plight known to the women in her prayer group. She also opened a “Charity Warehouse” with other women who were dedicated to benevolent work. Although Sarah Huntington enjoyed this work, she also expressed discontent at being unable to preach. As a woman she could not be a minister, but her marriage to Eli Smith in 1833 presented her with the next best thing, assisting her husband in mission work. The two of them sailed to Beirut, where Eli had already done some mission work. Sarah Smith learned Arabic, French, and Italian, which allowed her to better understand the cultural context and help her husband with translation work. Because she wanted to improve life for women, Smith also founded a mission school for Arab girls, which was attended by girls from Christian, Druze, Muslim, and Jewish families. She hoped the school would give her the opportunity to evangelize, a goal she also worked towards by starting prayer meetings for women.

Smith’s previous mission experience with the Native Americans prepared her for her new mission context. Although she was at first judgmental of Syrian culture, she gradually developed a more nuanced understanding of both Syrian and American culture. She realized that not all Syrian practices had to be rejected before a person could become Christian and that some American approaches to mission repelled the Syrian people. She also decided that since Syrian culture was saturated with “pious language,” Christian ministry should focus more on deeds than words, so she developed a ministry of hospitality and service to the poor. After only three years in the field, Smith died. Unlike the spirit of quiet acceptance that marked the deaths of most missionary wives, Smith expressed anger and frustration; she had finally mastered Arabic, only to die. Despite her short missionary tenure, Smith offers us some of the most thoughtful and culturally-sensitive, female mission theory of the period.

by Anneke Helen Stasson

Bibliography

Digital Text

Hooker, Edward W. Memoir of Mrs. Sarah Lanman Smith, Late of the Mission in Syria, Under the Direction of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. 2d Ed. Boston: Perkins and Marvin, 1840.

Primary

Smith, Eli. Papers (include some of Sarah Lanman Huntington Smith’s letters). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Library, 1801-1857.

Secondary

Robert, Dana Lee. American Women in Mission: A Social History of Their Thought and Practice. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1996.

Portrait

“Sarah L. Smith.” In Hooker, Edward W. Memoir of Mrs. Sarah Lanman Smith, Late of the Mission in Syria, Under the Direction of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. 2d Ed. Boston: Perkins and Marvin, 1840.