Religious Figure. He was a Colonial American Missionary to Native Americans. He began to study for the ministry at Yale College in 1739 and the same year, was diagnosed with tuberculosis, which gave him bouts of depression. He became involved with the "New Light" movement and in November of 1741 Brainerd was expelled from Yale College for refusing to make a public confession. Since the door to becoming an ordained minister was close, he became an itinerant preacher, filling pulpits of New Light sympathizers throughout New England and New York. After hearing his zealous preaching in 1742, Jonathan Dickinson, a Presbyterian minister and commissioner of the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge, first proposed that Brainerd become a missionary. He began to minister to Native Americans. He was ordained by the Presbytery of New York in 1744. From 1743 to 1747 he ministered to the Native Americans in western Massachusetts, eastern New York, the Lehigh region of Pennsylvania, and central New Jersey. The stress of this work made his fragile health decline. He died of tuberculosis at the home of Jonathan Edwards, a well-respected religious leader in Northhampton, Massachusetts. He was close friend to Edward's daughter, Jerusha, who is buried next to Brainerd. In 1749 Edwards published "An Account of the Life of the Late Reverend Mr. David Brainerd," which was drawn from Brainerd's extensive diaries and supplemented by Edwards's own commentary. The book has received international fame and been reprinted several times.

Religious Figure. He was a Colonial American Missionary to Native Americans. He began to study for the ministry at Yale College in 1739 and the same year, was diagnosed with tuberculosis, which gave him bouts of depression. He became involved with the "New Light" movement and in November of 1741 Brainerd was expelled from Yale College for refusing to make a public confession. Since the door to becoming an ordained minister was close, he became an itinerant preacher, filling pulpits of New Light sympathizers throughout New England and New York. After hearing his zealous preaching in 1742, Jonathan Dickinson, a Presbyterian minister and commissioner of the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge, first proposed that Brainerd become a missionary. He began to minister to Native Americans. He was ordained by the Presbytery of New York in 1744. From 1743 to 1747 he ministered to the Native Americans in western Massachusetts, eastern New York, the Lehigh region of Pennsylvania, and central New Jersey. The stress of this work made his fragile health decline. He died of tuberculosis at the home of Jonathan Edwards, a well-respected religious leader in Northhampton, Massachusetts. He was close friend to Edward's daughter, Jerusha, who is buried next to Brainerd. In 1749 Edwards published "An Account of the Life of the Late Reverend Mr. David Brainerd," which was drawn from Brainerd's extensive diaries and supplemented by Edwards's own commentary. The book has received international fame and been reprinted several times.

Bio by: Linda Davis