She was born March 29, 1840, near St. Clairsville, Ohio, U.S. died September 1, 1901, Lucknow, India, where she is actually buried. See Find A Grave Memorial# 56227232.
She was an American missionary to India whose work in education there, culminated in the founding of an important woman’s college, Isabella Thoburn College in Lucknow and Methodist High School in Kanpur. These two educational establishments were amongst the first in colonial India, catering to educational and religious needs of emergent Anglo Indian population in Awadh.
Thoburn attended local schools in United States and the Wheeling Female Seminary in Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia). In 1866, after she had taught for several years, Isabella was invited by her brother James Mills Thoburn, a [Methodist Episcopal] [missionary in India], to join and assist him, in his educational and missionary work in India. She delayed her departure until 1869, when the formation of the Women’s Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church enabled her to undertake missionary work under denominational affiliation and auspices.
She died of cholera after thirty-one years of devoted service to the Methodist Episcopal Church and its missionary work. She is quoted as saying, "I cannot remember the word 'fear' had any place in the household vocabulary. If it was right to go anywhere, go we must, in darkness or storm or danger. Not to go was never mentioned as a possibility, and so not thought of."
She was born March 29, 1840, near St. Clairsville, Ohio, U.S. died September 1, 1901, Lucknow, India, where she is actually buried. See Find A Grave Memorial# 56227232.
She was an American missionary to India whose work in education there, culminated in the founding of an important woman’s college, Isabella Thoburn College in Lucknow and Methodist High School in Kanpur. These two educational establishments were amongst the first in colonial India, catering to educational and religious needs of emergent Anglo Indian population in Awadh.
Thoburn attended local schools in United States and the Wheeling Female Seminary in Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia). In 1866, after she had taught for several years, Isabella was invited by her brother James Mills Thoburn, a [Methodist Episcopal] [missionary in India], to join and assist him, in his educational and missionary work in India. She delayed her departure until 1869, when the formation of the Women’s Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church enabled her to undertake missionary work under denominational affiliation and auspices.
She died of cholera after thirty-one years of devoted service to the Methodist Episcopal Church and its missionary work. She is quoted as saying, "I cannot remember the word 'fear' had any place in the household vocabulary. If it was right to go anywhere, go we must, in darkness or storm or danger. Not to go was never mentioned as a possibility, and so not thought of."
Inscription
FOR THIRTY-ONE YEARS A MISSIONARY TO INDIA.
Family Members
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Jeanette Thoburn Wilson
1823–1910
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Col Joseph Thoburn
1825–1864
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Thomas Crawford Thoburn
1827–1911
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Matthew Crawford Thoburn
1827–1848
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David Lyle Thoburn
1832–1865
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Ellen Thoburn Cowen
1834–1914
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Bishop James Mills Thoburn
1836–1922
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Mary Clark Thoburn Cratty
1838–1916
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Isabella Thoburn
1840–1901
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Eliza Ann Dixon Thoburn Mills
1843–1930
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