Woman of the Century/Hannah M. Underhill Isaac

​ISAAC, Mrs. Hannah M. Underhlll, evangelist, born in Chappaqua, N. Y., 27th September, HANNAH M. UNDERHILL ISAAC. 1833. Her maiden name was Underhill. Her ancestors for many generations were members of the orthodox Friends Society in which her parents were members and elders. Her education was received principally in the Friends' boarding schools in Dutchess county, N. Y., and Westtown, Pa. For four years after leaving school she taught in her native town, and later carried on a private school at home. She spent several winters with friends and relatives in New York City, where she entered society with the same ardor that characterizes all htr efforts. During one of these winters of pleasure there came to her a deep sense of her responsibility. This strong conviction so wrought upon her mind that, in the summer of 1861, she determined to renounce the worldly life she had been leading. She was converted, and for some time that life satisfied her, and then there came a conviction for a deeper work of grace, and five years after conversion she entered into the rest of faith. At once there came what she believed to be a call to preach the gospel. She was an invalid for three years, and on recovering her health she began to do evangelistic work. For six years she was connected with Miss Elizabeth Loder in mission work in the village of Cornwall, N. Y. Miss Loder owned a chapel, and together these women worked for the saving of souls. Sailors, boatmen and laborers went to their meetings, and many were converted. When the temperance crusade came, Miss Underhill at once joined in the work of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, entering a union in Brooklyn. In 1880 she organized a society in Cornwall, which now is one of the most prominent of the local organizations in Orange county, N. Y. For some years past she has given her time entirely to evangelistic work. Her services are in frequent demand by ministers in revival work. She became the wife of William Isaac, of Cornwall, in March, 1886. Her pleasant home is in that town.