Mary Briscoe Baldwin

Mary Briscoe Baldwin (May 20, 1811June 20, 1877) was a 19th-century American missionary educator to Greece and Joppa. She was the "first unmarried woman sent out by the Foreign Committee of the Protestant Episcopal church's Mission Board". During the Crimean War, Baldwin assisted Florence Nightingale in hospitals, and they became friends. Early life and education Mary Briscoe Baldwin was born at Belle Grove, Frederick County, Virginia, May 20, 1811, in a mansion in the Shenandoah Valley. It was the home of her grandfather. Her father was Dr. Cornelius Baldwin (d. 1828), of Winchester, Virginia. Her mother was Nelly Conway Hite (d. 1830), (daughter of Maj. Isaac Hite, of Belle Grove). Nelly was a niece of James Madison, fourth President of the United States. Mary was the second daughter in a family of twelve —including Eleanor Conway Baldwin, Isaac Hite Baldwin, Ann Maury Baldwin, James Madison Baldwin, and Robert Stuart Baldwin. The family home was at Cedar Grove, which was near Belle Grove. All of the children in the family received their education from private tutors. On almost every subject which she studied, she formed her own opinions.