Minister of First Congregational Church in Plainfield CT, 1784-1816
| When Burke met | 1811 |
| Where Burke met | Plainfield CT |
| Occupation | Minister |
| Interaction with Burke | Burke stayed with him on his way home |
| Identity Statu | Confirmed |
| Genealogy | WikiTree |
| Memoir Pages | 77 |
Notes
Rev. Joel Benedict, D.D. (1745–1816) was a Congregational minister born on January 8, 1745, in North Salem, New York, to Peter and Agnes (Tyler) Benedict. After graduating from Princeton College in 1765, he was ordained on February 21, 1771. He first served the Newent Society in Lisbon, Connecticut, for eleven years before leaving due to salary deficiencies caused by the Revolutionary War. In December 1784, he was installed as pastor of the First Congregational Church in Plainfield, Connecticut, where he successfully unified a historically divided congregation and served for over thirty-one years until his death on February 13, 1816. He married Sarah McKown of Maine; among their several children was Sarah, who married Union College president Rev. Eliphalet Nott. He is clearly distinct from his nephew, Rev. Joel T. Benedict (b. 1772), who served as a missionary and minister in New York and Pennsylvania.
Sources
Burke, William. Memoir of William Burke: A Soldier of the Revolution, Reformed from Intemperance, and for Many Years a Consistent and Devoted Christian; Carefully Prepared from a Journal Kept by Himself; to Which Is Added, an Extract from a Sermon Preached at His Funeral, by Rev. Nathaniel Miner. Hartford, CT: Case, Tiffany, 1837.