Samuel B. Fairbank

Samuel was born in Stamford, Connecticut, the eldest son of John Barnard Fairbank, principal of a school.

A deputation in 1854 led by Rufus Anderson of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) came up with the suggestion that all missionaries needed to focus on evangelization rather than improving the lives of people.

He used projectors in the evening (Magic Lantern / Sciopticon) to give talks on the scriptures with visuals and made use of traditional "kirtans" for his evangelism.

[4][7] He collaborated with other naturalists including William Thomas Blanford who named a genus of a mollusc Fairbankia after him although it is now a synonym of Iravadia.

[10] A set of fern specimens collected by Fairbank reside in the Pringle Herbarium (VT), at the University of Vermont.

[12] His scientific activities led to his being nominated as a fellow of the University of Bombay in 1868[3] With Abby he had three children, two of whom died young; a daughter, Emily Maria married Rev.

Thomas Snell Smith of Sri Lanka while Mary Crocker and John Melvin died young.

Rose and her husband Dr Lester Beals established the Willis F. Pierce Memorial Hospital in Wai, Satara District.