At twenty-four years of age, Lucy Goodale Thurston and her husband, Asa, set sail for Hawaii, where she became the first American Christian missionary wife on the islands. She resided in Hawaii for most of her life. Born at the Goodale Homestead in Marlborough (now Hudson, Massachusetts), she was educated at Bradford Academy, later becoming a teacher. As a missionary wife, Thurston recorded and transcribed the Hawaiian language, taught reading, helped establish a printing press and built churches and houses, while managing household chores and family. Thurston’s letters and writings, published in 1876 as The Life and Times of Mrs. Lucy G. Thurston, provide a vivid account of early missionary days.