David Abeel

David Abeel (June 12, 1804 – September 4, 1846) was a missionary of the Dutch Reformed Church with the American Reformed Mission.

Biography Abeel was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey on June 12, 1804 In 1829, he left New York to serve as a missionary. He arrived in Canton, China in 1829, later evangelizing in Java, Malacca, Siam, and Singapore. In Xiamen, Abeel met with Chinese official and scholar Xu Jiyu, who helped obtain information on conditions in the West. In 1844 he was joined by new co-workers Pohlman and Elihu Doty. Xu later used this information to compile an influential work on geography.

In 1845 he returned to the United States and died in Albany, New York, on September 4, 1846.