American Indian preacher, born near New London, CT, in 1723. He accepted the doctrines of Christianity about 1740. Rev. Eleazar Wheelock educated him at his school at Lebanon, CT. In 1748, Occom taught school at New London; that same year he went to Montauk, Long Island, where he was a missionary among his own tribe for ten years; he was ordained a minister of the Presbyterian Church. By a trip to Great Britain he obtained over $50,000 for use in the endowment of an Indian school which grew into Dartmouth College. Occom preached afterward to the Indians on Long Island; but in 1786 he removed to the Brotherton tract, in Oneida County, New York. Later on he resided among the Stockbridge Indians. He was the author of several hymns; among them, Awaked by Sinai’s Awful Sound. He wrote, also, an account of the manners of the Montauk Indians. He died at New Stockbridge, NY, on the 14th of July 1792.
