Abstract The Berkshire and Columbia Missionary Foundation was a missionary society that was officially founded in February 1798. It is considered to be the oldest missionary society in the US, predating the "Haystack Movement" by eight years. The year prior, members met at the Green River in Hillsdale, N.Y. where it was suggested that a group form to send out missionaries both far and near. The locations that they decided upon included parts of Vermont, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New...