Jerusha Bingham Kirkland

Jerusha Bingham Kirkland (October 15, 1743 – January 23, 1788) was a prominent colonial American pioneer in the missionary cause. During the years of her residence and labors among the Oneida people, where she and her husband, Rev. Dr. Samuel Kirkland, brought about many conversions to Christianity, Mrs. Kirkland was noted for her kind deeds as a nurse and medical benefactor to the Native Americans. Both she and her husband gained a wide influence among the indigenous people of the region, many of whom they were afterwards and during the American Revolutionary War, able to win over to the colonialist cause. Early life Jerusha (sometimes referred to as "Jemima") Bingham, was born in Windham, Connecticut, October 15, 1743. Her parents were Joseph Bingham of Windham, and Sarah Wheelock, sister to Rev. Eleazar Wheelock, D. D., a successful laborer in missionary work among Indigenous Americans. Kirkland came of a devout Christian family, and was reared amid the privileges of her Connecticut home. Career In Connecticut, in 1769, she married Rev. Dr. Samuel Kirkland, the missionary. who had taken up the missionary work among the Oneidas. Entering with a sustained enthusiasm into the plans of her husband, she shortly, after her marriage, accompanied him to his post of duty in the wilderness near Fort Stanwix, where Rome, New York, is now situated. This was literally on the frontier, in the midst of a dense forest which extended for hundreds of miles in every direction, and was the abode of numerous Native American tribes, some of which were hostile to the colonial settlers. Their forest home, near the "Council House” of the Oneidas, was in the center of the forest. There, the couple, alone and unaided, commenced their joint missionary labors. The gentle manners, courage, and energy of Rev. Kirkland, were supplemented by the admirable qualities of his wife. With sweetness, gentleness, simplicity, and delicacy, her energy and courage were strong, even in danger. Prior to his marriage, Rev. Kirkland made his home and pursued his missionary labors at the "Council House"; after a house had been prepared for Mrs. Kirkland, he still continued to preach and teach at the "Council House", addressing the Native Americans in their own language, which both he and his wife had acquired.