Joanna Graham was born in Fort Niagara, Canada, on February 1, 1770, and spent her formative years in Scotland and the Netherlands before moving to New York City in 1789. She taught school with her sister Isabella and married Divie Bethune (1771?-1824), a wealthy Scottish immigrant and merchant, in 1795. She became increasingly spiritual during her married life and widowhood and often participated in charity work. She and her husband helped found New York City's first Sunday school in 1802 and the New York Orphan Asylum in 1806. The couple had six children, including George Washington Bethune, a minister, and Isabella Bethune, who married George Duffield III. Joanna Graham Bethune died on July 28, 1860.
From the guide to the Divie and Joanna Bethune collection, Bethune, Divie and Joanna collection, 1796-1853, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)
