David Oliver Allen (1800–1863) was an American missionary to India and an author.

Life

Allen was born in

Barre, Massachusetts Barre ( ) is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,530 at the 2020 census. History Originally called the Northwest District of Rutland, it was first settled by Europeans in 1720. The town was incorpora ...

to Moses and Mahitable Allen. His father relocated the family to Princeton, Massachusetts while David Allen was an infant. He initially began collegiate studies at

Williams College Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kill ...

, but moved to Amherst College upon that institution's opening. He graduated from Amherst College in 1823 and spent a year teaching in

Groton, Massachusetts Groton is a town in northwestern Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, within the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The population was 11,315 at the 2020 census. It is home to two prep schools: Lawrence Academy at Groton, founded in 1 ...

. In 1824 he began study at

Andover Theological Seminary Andover Theological Seminary (1807–1965) was a Congregationalist seminary founded in 1807 and originally located in Andover, Massachusetts on the campus of Phillips Academy. From 1908 to 1931, it was located at Harvard University in Cambridge. ...

and completed their course in 1827. He decided upon

missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

work his final year, and was ordinated on May 21. Seven days later he was married to Myra Wood. Allen was called to

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

, India as a missionary before he graduated as the situation there was deemed an emergency. He arrived in Bombay on November 27, 1827. His wife accompanied him, but she died on February 5, 1831. In 1844 he took charge of the Bombay printing establishment. He wrote tracts in "Mahratta," (

Marathi language Marathi (; ''Marāṭhī'', ) is an Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken by Marathi people in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the official language of Maharashtra, and additional official language in the state of Goa. It is one of t ...

) and supervised a new translation of the Bible into that language. Weakened by the Indian climate, he returned to America in 1853. His ''History of India'' was published at

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

in 1856. The full title of this book is ''"India Ancient and Modern. Geographical, Historical, Political, Social, and Religious; with a particular account of the state and prospects of Christianity."''

References

1800 births 1863 deaths Amherst College alumni 19th-century American historians 19th-century American male writers American Protestant missionaries Protestant missionaries in India People from Barre, Massachusetts Translators of the Bible into Marathi 19th-century American translators American expatriates in India Andover Theological Seminary alumni Historians from Massachusetts Missionary linguists 19th-century American clergy American male non-fiction writers {{US-historian-stub