Abigail Moore was born on March 2, 1813 in New Marlboro, Massachusetts to Ariel Moore and Electa Lyon Moore, Mary Lyon's eldest sister. She graduated from Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in 1838 and taught there until 1846. She also served as associate principal in 1842-1846. In 1846, she married Reverand Ebenezer Burgess. In September of 1846, they left Boston, Massachusetts and sailed for Bombay, India to work as missionaries. The Burgesses were stationed in Ahmadnagar, northern India. Burgess had two daughters, Abbie Lyon and Mary P., both of whom graduated from Mount Holyoke. Abigail Moore Burgess died in Mahabaleshwar, India on April 26, 1853 at the age of forty.