Burgess, Abigail M. (Abigail Moore)
Burgess papers,
1838-1853.
Manuscript Collection: MS 0513
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Agency History/Biographical note:
Abigail Moore was born on March 2, 1813 in New Marlboro,
Massachusetts to Ariel Moore and Electa Lyon Moore, Mary Lyon's
eldest sister. She graduated from Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in
1838 and taught there until 1846. She also served as associate
principal in 1842-1846. In 1846, she married Reverand Ebenezer
Burgess. In September of 1846, they left Boston, Massachusetts and
sailed for Bombay, India to work as missionaries. The Burgesses were
stationed in Ahmadnagar, northern India. Burgess had two daughters,
Abbie Lyon and Mary P., both of whom graduated from Mount Holyoke.
Abigail Moore Burgess died in Mahabaleshwar, India on April 26, 1853
at the age of forty.
Scope and Content:
The Abigail Moore Burgess Papers consist of correspondence, a
journal, manuscript essays, poems, and stories written by Mount
Holyoke Female Seminary students and collected for Burgess, and
biographical information. The papers chiefly contain letters written
by Burgess to family and friends, including Mary Lyon and Hannah
Porter. The letters relate to Burgess' years as a teacher at the
Seminary and her subsequent work as a missionary in Ahmadnagar,
India, 1847-1849, alongside her husband, Reverend Ebenezer Burgess.
Burgess' letters describe her activities and health while in India as
well as the Indian people and conflicts in the Punjab region. The
journal is a short, yet detailed account of her voyage to India
dedicated to her family and Hannah Porter. The volume of manuscript
essays and poems includes writings, known as Seminary Literature, by
students between 1838-1849. Also includes biographical information
containing published letters in response to her death and is
supplemented by biographical notes that extend to 1945.
Cite as: Abigail M. Burgess Papers, Mount Holyoke College,
Archives and Special Collection, South Hadley,
Massachusetts
Access Restrictions: Unrestricted
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