David Abeel (June 12, 1804 – September 4, 1846) was a
missionary
A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who 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.Thoma ...
of the
Dutch Reformed Church
The Dutch Reformed Church (, , abbreviated NHK ) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the traditional denomination of the Dutch royal famil ...
New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. to Captain David and Jane Hassert Abeel. He is a descendant of
Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...
Mayor Johannes Abeel.
After having begun his studies in medicine, Abeel converted and was ordained a minister. He graduated from
New Brunswick Theological Seminary
New Brunswick Theological Seminary is a seminary of the Reformed Church in America (RCA), a mainline Protestant denomination in Canada and the United States that follows the theological tradition and Christian practice of John Calvin. It was fo ...
in 1827, and was ordained to the ministry that same year. He served as a pastor of his church until the winter 1828, when he went to St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda to recover his health. He was appointed the
chaplain
A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...
of the Seaman's Friend Society. In 1829, he left New York to serve as a missionary. He arrived in Canton, China in 1829, later evangelizing in
Java
Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
,
Malacca
Malacca (), officially the Historic State of Malacca (), is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the Peninsular Malaysia#Other features, southern region of the Malay Peninsula, facing the Strait of Malacca ...
,
Siam
Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
, and
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
. In 1833, he relocated to Europe, where he visited England, Switzerland, France, Germany, and the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
through 1834.
In 1835, he returned to the United States to recruit additional missionaries from his church to work overseas. He remained in that capacity through 1838, to return to active missionary duty. In 1839, he visited
Maritime Southeast Asia
Maritime Southeast Asia comprises the Southeast Asian countries of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and East Timor.
The terms Island Southeast Asia and Insular Southeast Asia are sometimes given the same meaning as ...
, and later established a mission in
Xiamen
Xiamen,), also known as Amoy ( ; from the Zhangzhou Hokkien pronunciation, zh, c=, s=, t=, p=, poj=Ē͘-mûi, historically romanized as Amoy, is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Stra ...
in 1842. In Xiamen, Abeel met with Chinese official and scholar
Xu Jiyu
Xu Jiyu (; 1795–1873), native of Wutai County in Shanxi, high-ranking Chinese official and geographer during the late Qing dynasty. He is mostly known as the author of ''A Short Account of the Maritime Circuit'' (1849) and is widely regarded as a ...
, who helped obtain information on conditions in the West. In 1844 he was joined by new co-workers Pohlman and Elihu Doty.David Abeel --Father of Amoy Mission /ref> Xu later used this information to compile an influential work on geography.
In 1845 he returned to the United States and died in
Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...
, on September 4, 1846.
Works
His published works include:
*''To the Bachelors of China, by a Bachelor'' (1833)
*''A Narrative of Residence in China'' (1834)
*''The Claims of the World to the Gospel'' (1838)
*''The Missionary Convention at Jerusalem'' (1838)