David Brainerd, d. 1747

REV. DAVID BRAINERD Missionary b. 1718, Haddam, CT d. October 10, 1747, Northampton Brainerd began Yale in September 1740. It was there that he first met Jonathan Edwards, who became his great hero, and met Edwards' youngest daughter Jerusha, to whom he later became engaged. At the time also, he was drawn into the evangelical uprising and religious revival known as The Great Awakening. He was expelled from Yale in 1742 and returned to Haddam, beginning to show signs of tuberculosis. At home, he continued studying for the ministry, becoming a licensed preacher. He spent his time until 1747 as a missionary to the Indians, when his TB made him leave for Boston to seek medical treatment. He died October 10 of the same year, and Jerusha died shortly following him, at the age of seventeen. Their graves are side by side.

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