Thomas DeWitt Talmage, clergyman and lecturer, was born near Boundbrook, New Jersey, January 7, 1832, the son of David Talmage, a farmer, and his wife Catharine Van Nest. He was educated at the University of the City of New York where he studied law, but changed to theology and was graduated from the New Brunswick Theological Seminary in 1856. He preached in the Dutch Reformed Church in Belleville, New Jersey, in Syracuse, and in Philadelphia. In 1869 he went to the Central Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn, where he drew immense crowds because of his eloquence and his showmanship. His sermons were published weekly by a syndicate in over 3,000 newspapers. He became editor of the Christian Herald in 1890, and after 1899 devoted all of his time to it. He was married three times, and died in Brooklyn April 12, 1902.

REFERENCES: Brooklyn Eagle, New York, Times, New York Herald, and New York Tribune, all of April 13, 1902; Appleton's Cyc. Amer. Biog., VI, 1889, 27; C. F. Adams, The Life and Sermons of Rev. T. DeWitt Talmage; J. Rusk, The Authentic Life of T. DeWitt Talmage: Puck, 1880-82, loved to cartoon him.

Adams, Victor & Co. publication. The Abominations of Modern Society, 1872.