Benton, William Austin

Benton, William Austin a Congregational minister, was born at Tolland, Conn., Oct. 11, 1817. He spent two years in Williams College, and entered Yale in 1841. After graduation he taught for a time, and then began his theological course in the seminary in East Windsor, where he remained until 1846. Having given himself to the foreign missionary work, he was ordained May 18, 1847. In the following month he sailed as a missionary of the American Board for Syria and Palestine. Arriving in Beirut in October, he spent the winter in the study of Arabic, and in April, 1848, went to Aleppo, where he labored with zeal and success until February, 1851, when ill-health compelled him to return. Re-embarking for Syria in January, 1853, he established in April a missionary station at Bhamdun, on Mount Lebanon, where he continued until the spring of 1869. The remaining years of his life were spent in America. He died at Barre, Mass., Aug. 23, 1874. See Obituary Record of Yale College, 1875.