Lucy Goodale Thurston (October 29, 1795 – October 13, 1876) was a Protestant missionary and author. She was the wife of Asa Thurston and was one of the first American Christian missionaries to Hawaii. She is noted for her letters documenting her life and missionary works in the islands.
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Background
Lucy Goodale was born to a prosperous family on October 29, 1795, on the Goodale Homestead in Marlborough, Massachusetts, in what would later become Hudson, Massachusetts. Her parents were Abner Goodale, a deacon and American Revolutionary War veteran, and Mary Howe. She graduated from Bradford Academy and became a school teacher.
In 1819, she applied to a newspaper advertisement seeking volunteers to missionize in Hawaii through the invitation of King Kamehameha II. To be accepted, however, the applicants were required to be married beforehand. On October 12, 1819, she married Thurston, a scythe maker and minister from Fitchburg. He was one of the theological graduates from Yale University who posted the mission announcement. Lucy and Asa were complete strangers prior to their wedding. Several days later, she accompanied her husband on a five-month voyage on board the ship Thaddeus. They reached Kawaihae, Hawaii, on March 30, 1820.
The couple helped build churches and schools after securing permission for their ministry at Kailua-Kona from King Kamehameha and Queen Ka'ahumanu. The Thurstons, unlike most missionary couples, spent most of the rest of their lives in the islands.
In 1855, Lucy was diagnosed with breast cancer. As treatment for her illness, Lucy had a mastectomy to remove her left breast in the same year. The procedure was conducted by Seth Porter Ford without anaesthetic, which had not been developed at that time. The operation was successful and she lived for another twenty years. She died on October 13, 1876, in Honolulu.