David D. Demarest

David D. Demarest (July 30, 1819 – June 21, 1898) was an American author and theologian from New Brunswick, New Jersey. He was the first professor of pastoral theology and sacred rhetoric at the New Brunswick Theological Seminary, starting in 1865.

Education and early life Demarest was born in Oradell, New Jersey, on July 30, 1819, of Dutch and Huguenot background. His father, Daniel P. Demarest, died in 1822, when David was only three. He was then raised by his mother, Leah Bogert Demarest, and grandfather, Peter P. Demarest. He is a descendant of David des Marest, an early French settler in Bergen County. He was graduated from Rutgers College (now Rutgers University) in 1837, received a Master's degree (A.M.) from the New Brunswick Theological Seminary in 1840, and a Doctor of Divinity degree (D.D.) from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1857.

Ministry After graduation from the seminary, Demarest served at several Reformed Church of America congregations: Catskill, New York; Flatbush, Ulster County, New York; New Brunswick, New Jersey; and Hudson, New York. Next, he was pastor of the Flatbush Reformed Church of Saugerties, serving from 1841 to 1843. He was the first pastor of the Second Reformed Church of New Brunswick, starting in 1843 and serving until 1852.

He was president of the General Synod of the Reformed Church in America for the 1858–1859 term. In 1865, a fourth professor position, the Professorship of Pastoral Theology and Sacred Rhetoric, was established at the New Brunswick Theological Seminary. Demarest was the first elected to that professorship and was inaugurated on September 19, 1865, at the First Reformed Church of New Brunswick. He served for thirty-three years. and later pastor of the Flatbush Reformed Church from 1876 to 1881. Another son, William Henry Steele Demarest, would become pastor of the Catskill church from 1897 to 1901 and president of Rutgers College from 1906 to 1924. David D. Demarest died on June 21, 1898, at his home in New Brunswick and is buried at the Elmwood Cemetery.