John brainerd biography

John Brainerd was.
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John Brainerd served as pastor of the Old First Presbyterian Church, Newark, New Jersey from 1755 to 1759.

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While David Brainerd has long held a prominent place in the annals of American religious history, his younger brother John Brainerd is often overshadowed. Yet John Brainerd's life is a fascinating tale of dedication, resilience, and faith in the face of adversity. Although not much is known in the way of John Brainerd's experiences as a chaplain in the Revolutionary War, he played a crucial role in supporting the morale and spiritual well-being of the soldiers and Native Americans under his care.

America’s Revolutionary War was a nearly 30-year period of political upheaval and martial conflict, which means that nearly twenty years of John’s ministry was done in the midst of war. (see Mack Tomlinson, The Indomitable Brainerds: The Gospel Legacy of David and John Brainerd’s Mission to the Indians, 126). Brainerd’s example of self-sacrifice as a minister of the Gospel in time of conflict is an inspiration for Christians living in war or peace.

Early Life and Ministry

John Brainerd was born on February 28, 1720, in Haddam, Connecticut, to Hezekiah and Dorothy (Mason) Brainerd.

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Brainerd, John

Brainerd, John brother of David, was born in Haddam, Conn., Feb. 28, 1720, and, like his brother, was brought up in a strictly religious household, and was educated at Yale College. David, before his death, requested John to take his place in New Jersey as missionary to the Indians. Accordingly, he was licensed in 1748 as a preacher by the Presbytery of New York, and entered the missionary service (under the Scottish Society) in New Jersey, in which labor he spent eight years. During this period he was pressed by pecuniary trouble, his salary being too small to provide even the necessaries of life. In 1752 he married. An attempt to transfer his Indian flock to Wyoming, on the Susquehanna, failed. In 1754 he was elected a trustee of Princeton College, and the year after the Scotch Society dismissed him, because the Indians, having parted with their lands, would soon be obliged to move. Soon after he received a call to succeed president Burr in the church at Newark, accepted it, again engaged with the Scotch Society for the Indians, was dismissed a second time, in Se

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