Bostwick, David

honorific(s): Reverend
Birth: January 8, 1721 in New Milford, CT
Death: November 12, 1763 in New York, NY
Affiliation

Yale College; College of New Jersey; Presbyterian Church; New York Board of Commissioners of the Society in Scotland for Propating Christian Knowlege

Education

Yale and private theology study with a Rev. Graham. Received a Masters from College of New Jersey in 1756.

Faith

Presbyterian

Nationality

Scottish-American

Occupation

Schoolteacher in Newark briefly before ordination, Minister from 1745 until death.

Residence(s)
  • New Milford (from 1721-01-08 to 1736)
  • Yale College (from 1736)
  • Newark, NJ ( to 1745-09-09)
  • Jamaica, Long Island (from 1745 to 1756)
  • New York, NY (from 1756 to 1763-11-12)
Marital status

Married Mary Hinman on July 30 1739. They had ten children: four sons and six daughters.

Biography

David Bostwick was a popular Presbyterian minister in New York—so popular, in fact, that two congregations fought over him and the New York Synod had to intervene. He was the president of the New York Board of Commissioners for the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowlege. Bostwick encouraged Occom's mission to the Oneidas; took up a collection at his church for Occom, which reached over 60 pounds; and lent his name to a recommendation for Occom to Sir William Johnson. When Samuel Buell published his sermon from Occom's ordination, it was prefixed with a letter addressed to David Bostwick outlining Occom's character.

Sources

Love, William DeLoss. Samson Occom and the Christian Indians of New England. Pilgrim Press: 1899. Oxford Past Genealogy Project. http://www.oxfordpast.net/oxfordpas/aqwg850.htm. Accessed 11/6/2012. Presbyterian Historical Society. “Bostwick, David (1721-1763) Papers, 1761 Finding Aid to Record Group 312.” http://www.history.pcusa.org/collections/findingaids/fa.cfm?record_id=312 Accessed 11/6/2012.Sprague, William Buell. Annals of the American Pulpit: Presbyterian. Robert Carter and Brothers, 1858: 131-134.