David Brainerd
Lower Mount Bethel Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
The log house occupied by the Presbyterian missioner to the Indians in 1744 was a short distance away on the side road. It was here the youthful zealot wrote part of his famed journal.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
In 1744, the young Presbyterian missionary David Brainerd lived in a log house in this corner of the Forks of the Delaware, laboring to bring Christianity to the region's Native peoples. Racked by the illness that would kill him at 29, Brainerd poured his hopes and torments into a diary that, published after his death by Jonathan Edwards, became one of the most widely read spiritual journals in American history. His brief, feverish ministry left a mark on frontier Pennsylvania far larger than his short life would suggest.
Why it matters
Brainerd's journal shaped generations of American and British evangelical missionaries, making this quiet Northampton County spot a wellspring of a movement that reached far beyond the colonial frontier.
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Related people
- · David Brainerd
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