Alabama (c 1838- May 23, 1937) age~99 yrs

Maria Fearing , born enslaved near Gainesville, Alabama.  She learned to read and write at the age of 33. She graduated from the Freedman’s Bureau School in Talladega, Alabama and became a very successful teacher in Anniston. Fearing went to Africa in 1894 as a Presbyterian missionary. The church rejected her because of her age. She initially financed her mission primarily through funds from the sale of her home. For twenty years, she worked in the Congo as a teacher and Bible translator. She also bought many people out of slavery in the Congo. Her most famous achievement was the establishment of the Pantops Home for Girls in Luebo, Congo. She was known as mama wa Mput, which means “Mother from far away”. She retired from missionary service in 1915 due to age restrictions. She taught school in Selma, Alabama until her death in 1937 at the age of 99.