ABEEL, David, missionary, born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, 12 June, 1804; died in Albany, New York, 4 September, 1846. He was educated at Rutgers College, New Brunswick, New Jersey, and studied at the Theological Seminary of the Reformed church in that place. His first pastoral charge was at Athens, New York, where he remained for two years, and then sailed for Canton, China, in October, 1829, under the auspices of the Seaman's Friend society, but after a year's service placed himself under the direction of the American board of commissioners for foreign missions. He visited Java, Singapore, and Siam, studying the Chinese language; but his health failed and he returned home by way of Europe in 1833, visiting Holland, France, and Switzerland, and everywhere urging the claims of the heathen upon Christian nations. In England he aided in forming a society for promoting the education of women in the East. On returning to America he published" The Claims of the World to the Gospel," "Residence in China," and "The Missionary Convention at Jerusalem." In 1839 he revisited Malacca, Borneo, and parts of Asia, and in 1842 established a mission at Amoy. In 1845 his health gave way altogether, and he returned home to die. He was one of the most successful of the early American missionaries, being gifted with sound practical sense and energy." See "Memoirs," by the Rev. G. R. Williamson (1849).