Background
He was born on 27 June 1789 in Massachusetts, United States, was the youngest of the twelve children of Joseph and Mary (Abbott) Poor of Danvers.
He was born on 27 June 1789 in Massachusetts, United States, was the youngest of the twelve children of Joseph and Mary (Abbott) Poor of Danvers.
His early years were passed in the common school and in labor in his father's tannery. Being of a thoughtful turn of mind and fond of reading, he was sent at the age of seventeen to Phillips Academy at Andover from which he entered the sophomore class at Dartmouth College where he was graduated with high honors in 1811. After a period of theological study with the Rev. Asa Burton of Thetford, Vermont, he entered Andover Seminary where he graduated in 1814.
It was while in Seminary that he dedicated himself to foreign missions - a cause in which he had felt an interest from early boyhood. On June 21, 1815, he was ordained with five other candidates in the Presbyterian church at Newburyport, Massachussets, and on October 23, all but one of the group sailed from that town as the second missionary band of the American Board. They arrived at Colombo, Ceylon, on March 22, 1816, and began work in the northern province of Jaffna.
Poor, whose first station was at Tillipally, began to preach at once through an interpreter, but his progress in Tamil was so rapid that he spoke the language freely in less than a year. In 1823 he removed to Batticotta where he founded a boarding school for boys. In 1835 he was transferred to Madura, India, where he remained until 1841 when he returned to his original station at Tillipally. In 1848 he visited the United States where he created a profound impression by his able and eloquent advocacy of the cause of missions.
He returned to Ceylon in two years and carried on his labors at Mampy till he fell a victim to the cholera. In his mission work he combined the educational with the evangelistic method. He attracted the attention and won the respect of the educated classes and was more expert than other missionaries in the use of the native language. He preached constantly and gave daily religious instruction in the schools and to groups of adults and children in their homes.
He died in 1855 in Manipai, Jaffna.
He was a man of eminent ability and learning. In stature he was short, broad-shouldered, and somewhat lacking in the physical graces, but he had a gentle spirit, a winning address, and a striking personality.
On October 9, 1815, he married Susan Bulfinch of Salem, Massachussets, who died at Tillipally on May 7, 1821, leaving one son and two daughters. On January 21, 1823, he was again married to Ann Knight of Stroud, England, who survived him.