Austin David

Austin David a Presbyterian minister, was born in New Haven, Conn., 1760, and graduated at Yale College, 1779. After studying with Dr. Bellamy, he spent some time in European travel, and in 1788 was ordained pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Elizabethtown, N. J. He labored faithfully till 1795, when he became deranged from fever. On his recovery the derangement continued, and he preached that Christ would appear in May, 1796. The failure of his prediction only confirmed his delusion, and he went about preaching the advent with great zeal, and creating great excitement. In 1797 he was dismissed from his pastorate. After some years he recovered his sanity, and was installed in 1815 pastor at Bozrah, Conn., where he remained until his death in 1831. He edited a Commentary and published several millennial pamphlets. — Sprague, Annals, 2, 197.