USA > New Jersey > Hunterdon County > Flemington > History of the Presbyterian Church in Flemington, New Jersey, for a century : with sketches of local matters for two hundred years > Part 1
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Gc 974.902 ₣62m 1212276
M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02248 3496
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REV. GEORGE SCUDDER MOTT, D.D., PRESENT PASTOR.
HISTORY
OF THE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN FLEMINGTON, NEW JERSEY,
FOR A CENTURY.
WITH SKETCHES OF LOCAL MATTERS
FOR TWO HUNDRED YEARS.
BY REV. GEORGE S. MOTT, D.D., PASTOR OF THE CHURCH.
NEW YORK, WILBUR B. KETCHAM. 1894.
1212276 THE FIRST SETTLERS.
A T the beginning of the 18th Century a steady and widening stream of emigration set in from Europe, the effects of which were apparent upon New Jersey. The main cause of it was the religious persecution, more or less severe, which prevailed in Great Britain and on the Continent of Europe. This fell with especial violence upon Presbyterians. The Test Act, in Great Britain, excluded them from all public offices, honors, and employments. The Schism Act, in 1714, would have swept them out of existence, had not its operation been prevented by the death of Queen Anne. The result was that they began to leave Ireland by thousands. In the spring of 1718 an Irish pastor wrote, "No less than six ministers have demitted their congregations, and great numbers of their people go with them." Also the rapacity and greed of landlords quickened the emigra- tion. "In two years after the Antrim eviction," says Froude, " 30,000 Protestants left Ulster for a land where there was no legal robbery. Ships could not be found to carry the crowds who were eager to go." The revo- cation of the edict of Nantes drove 500,000 of the Protes- tants out of France, who fled to Switzerland, Germany, Holland, and England. Very many of these came, at the beginning of the century, to this country. Most of them were Presbyterians. Vast numbers of Germans
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HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH,
came over. From 1730-1740 sixty-five vessels well filled with Germans arrived in Philadelphia. These were Lutherans and Presbyterians. The country rapidly filled up with Scotch, Irish, French, English, Dutch and Germans. They were persons of clear convictions, in- telligent, and brave.
To these thronging emigrants, Hunterdon County presented unusual attractions. The climate was mild- less bleak than New England, not so hot as Virginia. Peaches, plums, and berries grew plentifully in the woods. This whole region was heavily wooded with oak, hickory, beech, and maple. These forests abounded with game. The streams were alive with fish ; and most delicious shad made annual visitations along the bor- ders. That fish was caught higher up the South Branch than Flemington, before mill dams obstructed the stream. The hauls of them in the Delaware have been enormous within the memory of old people. Also the Indians were peaceable and friendly. The Raritan was navigable up to the junction of the North and South Branches. In seasons of freshets the farmers conveyed their grain to New Brunswick in flat-bottomed boats. The Delaware also was navigable up to Trenton. So that immigrants coming to this county could have the advantage of navigation within a few miles of their lands. Also early in that same century the farming lands had been well occupied in Monmouth and Bur- lington Counties. Hence the passion to go on to the frontier was impelling the sons of the settlers to seek a home among the attractive hills of Hunterdon. And the county rapidly filled up from 1715-1730.
A tribe of Indians living near the site of Hartsville,
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FLEMINGTON, NEW JERSEY.
Pa., had a path to and across the Delaware at Lambert- ville, and thence to Newark, by way of Mt. Airy, Ringoes and Reaville. The "Old York Road " was laid on the bed of that path, or rather this path became that road, for the road itself was never surveyed. In a deed for land at Ringoes, dated August 25th, 1726, this is de- scribed as " The King's Highway that is called the York Road." Another Indian trail came in from the north, through the valley at Clarksville, the gateway for all those tribes who threaded their way down the great val- ley of the Wallkill, or crossed over from Pennsylvania at the forks of the Delaware. This Indian highway led down to the wigwams on the Assanpink. These roads crossed at Ringoes. So that, before there were permanent settlers, this region was traversed by those going to and fro, either for hunting or for prospecting. To such an extent land was purchased from the Indians that an Act of the General Assembly, in 1703, forbid it, without consent of the proprietors. Surveyors from West Jer- sey passed over these Indian paths so early as 1688. The beauty of this hill country, the advantages of soil, climate, and productions, had become well known, so that many began to look with longing eyes upon this favored region, which was yet held by the Indians. In compliance with a request of the proprietors of West Jersey, the Council appointed a committee, consisting of John Wills, William Biddle, Jr., and John Reading to treat with the natives. This committee reported at a meeting of the Council held June 27th, 1703, that they had secured by purchase a tract of 150,000 acres from the two Indian chiefs, Himhammos and Coponnockus. This tract extended from the Raritan to the Delaware,
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HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH,
and covered the present townships of Raritan, Delaware, East and West Amwell. Probably small sections of land had been secured already from the Indians by ad- venturous settlers. This purchase was apportioned among the proprietors according to the number of their shares ; and this was the beginning of a land specula- tion that lasted many years, until this whole region was occupied. Space will not permit me to enter into the details of the early settlements. Those who might be interested in such historical matter can consult, "The First Century of Hunterdon County," which was a paper read by myself before the New Jersey Historical Society, January, 1878, and afterward published in pamphlet form. See also " History of Hunterdon and Somerset Counties," published in 1881.
At Flemington the tracts of three proprietors touched : those of William Penn, Daniel Coxe, and Joseph Kir- bridge. Penn had one of 5000 acres, and Daniel Coxe one of 4170, which were surveyed by John Reading in 1712. The dividing line ran from east to west, by the Soldiers' Monument, in front of the Presbyterian Church. A high stone just over the brook east of the South Branch Railroad is where this line touched the stream. South of this line belonged to Penn; north of it to Coxe. Coxe's was commonly called the Mt. Carmel tract, and the high hill on the top of which is Cherry- ville still bears the name of Coxe's Hill. The old name of Klinesville was Mt. Carmel. In 1731, Coxe sold to William Johnston 210 acres. He came from Ireland. His son, Samuel, was a distinguished teacher and math- ematician. His son, Thomas Potts, was an eloquent and learned lawyer of New Jersey. He married a daughter
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FLEMINGTON, NEW JERSEY.
of Robert Stockton. His portrait may now be seen over the judge's chair in the court-room at Flemington .* Other settlers, in and around the village, were Johannes Bursenbergh, John Philip Kase, Robert Burgess, William Norcross, John Hairling, George Alexander, Joseph Smith, James Farrar, Thomas Hunt, Dr. George. Creed (of Dr. Creed nothing is known except that he was practising at Flemington in 1765), William Black Potter, Samuel Fleming, Thomas Lowrey, John Anderson, Gershom Lee. The first settlers were German, Irish, and English.
In March, 1738, John Philip Kase came from Ger- many, and purchased from Penn a tract of land on which was built the first house in this neighborhood. The house stood on the east bank of Minebrook close to the road. There was then a group of Indians occu- pying the land back of Mullins Hill, to the left, just after entering the new road to Cherryville. Between Kase and the Indian chief a warm friendship existed. Indeed, he was very popular with all the Indians ; and they presented him with curious and useful articles, which were in the Kase family a long time.
In 1756, Samuel Fleming purchased land. He brought with him from Ireland a boy, Thomas Lowrey, who afterwards married his daughter, Esther. Lowrey became the most prominent man in the village, and ac-
* It has been claimed that this is the portrait of Judge Samuel Johnston, mentioned on p. 13; but Miss Margaret E. Hoyt, a descendant of Judge Johnston, writes : " I never heard any one of my family speak of the portrait in Flemington as that of Judge. Samuel Johnston. I am inclined to believe Dr. Mott is right, and that it belongs to the family of Johnstons he mentions in his history. The date on it would also incline me to this belief."
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HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH,
quired large property here, and in the county toward Milford. He was one of the founders of the Baptist Church in 1765, in Flemington, which was the first Baptist Church in Amwell township. He was a shrewd, sagacious man, who generally succeeded in his under- takings. He was a member from Hunterdon of the Provincial Congress in 1775. After the war, for several years, he was a member of the Legislature. Both Fleming, and Lowrey and his wife, were earnestly de- voted to the cause of the Revolution. The old house where Fleming lived, and the first erected in the village, is now standing. It is the second house on the north side of Academy Street. Fleming kept a tavern in it. As in time other houses were erected, the place was called Fleming's-so it is named in the old maps-and finally Flemington. Afterwards Samuel L. Southard purchased and occupied this house.
The first burying ground was on the knoll back of the dwelling formerly occupied by Jediah Higgins. It was on Fleming's land. His first wife was buried there. Afterwards most of the bodies were removed to the old burying ground on the south side of Academy Street. This land afterward came into the possession of the Kase family, who were related to the Lowrey's. A stone now there bears this inscription: " Hester Lowrey, second daughter to Thomas and Hester Lowrey, departed this life on the 15th of April, 1777, aged 16 years, 7 months and I day." This maiden died on the eve of her mar- riage, and she was buried in her bridal robes. The first interment in this yard was the body of the Indian chief, who was the unswerving friend of John Philip Kase. This took place in the year 1750. The funeral was at
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FLEMINGTON, NEW JERSEY.
sunset. He was buried in an upright position, with his weapons of war, pipes, blanket, etc. He was a tall, muscular man. There was a wild Indian religious dance about his grave, which tradition relates was con- tinued through the night. John Philip Kase was buried there in 1754.
Freedom of religious belief sooner or later secures civil rights. And those who serve their church faithfully will be the first to make sacrifices for their country. Immediately after the battle of Lexington, Hunterdon County was in a glow of ardor for the defense of the rights of the Colonies. The character and antecedents of its people made it so. The Provincial Congress of New Jersey, in August, 1775, directed fifty-four Com- panies, each of sixty-four minute men, to be organized, allotting to each county a specific number. Hunterdon's quota was from twenty-five to fifty per cent. above the other counties. The members of this Congress from Hunterdon were, Samuel Tucker, John Mehelm, of New Germantown, John Hart and John Stout, of Hopewell, Jasper Smith and Thomas Lowrey, of Flemington, Charles Stewart and Daniel Hunt, of Bethlehem, Ralph Hart, Jacob Jennings, Richard Stevens and John Stevens, Jr., of Round Valley, Thomas Stout, Thomas Jones and John Bassett.
Charles Stewart resided at Landsdown near Clinton. On his return home, he called a meeting at Abram Bonnel's Tavern, and a regiment of minute men was raised, probably the first in the State. He was a leading spirit in this movement, and rendered important ser- vices from the commencement of the struggle to its final triumph. Many distinguished loyalists were among his
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HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH,
friends, who made every effort to retain him on the King's side, but in vain. He was Colonel of the First Regi- ment of minute men in this State ; then Colonel of the regiment of the line. By commission from Congress, in 1776, he became one of Washington's Staff, as Com- missary General, which position he occupied until the close of the war. General Washington and his wife were frequently at his house. His granddaughter, Mrs. Bower, who, after the war, in Philadelphia, received marked attention from Mrs. Washington, relates the following, respecting the economy practised by Mrs. Washington : "She ravelled a set of old satin chair covers, inherited by her. She had the material carded and spun, and, with the addition of cotton yarn, woven in alternate broad and narrow stripes, the broad being of white cotton and the narrow of crimson silk. Out of this fabric, she had two morning dresses made for her- self."
After the war, General Stewart moved to Flemington, where he occupied a house near the residence of John C. Hopewell, and owned a large farm which extended to Coxe's Hill. He held a leading position in his adopted State, and was her representative in the Congress of 1784 and 1785. After much important public service, he died in Flemington, June 24th, 1800, aged seventy-one years. His grandson, Charles C. Stewart, son of Samuel Robert Stewart, was a man of fervent piety, refined cul- ture, of a deeply sympathetic nature, who devoted him- self to the spiritual interests of his fellows. He was born in Flemington in 1795. He graduated at Prince- ton College in 1815. He was a classmate of Dr. Charles Hodge, and of Alexander Wurts, who, for sixty-one years
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FLEMINGTON, NEW JERSEY.
was an eminent lawyer of this town, and died February 16th, 1881, highly esteemed by all. Charles Stewart was converted in the great revival in Princeton during the winter of 1814-1815. He united with the Princeton Presbyterian Church, July 7th, 1815. He then went to the law school at Litchfield, Conn. But soon he turned his attention to theology, and entered Princeton Theolog- ical Seminary from which he graduated. After a serious pondering of the subject he felt it to be his duty to become a foreign missionary. In company with other mission- aries, he and his wife sailed November, 1822, from New Haven for the Sandwich Islands ; but failure of his wife's health compelled their return in 1825. He was appointed a Chaplain in the Navy in 1828, which posi- tion he retained until his death, although retired for several years. At his death he was the Senior Chaplain. His position enabled him to visit nearly all parts of the world, and furnished the material for several books, which were received with great favor, and passed through several editions both in this country and in England. On account of failing health he was retired in 1862. The next year the New York University con- ferred on him the degree of D.D. He died at Coopers- town, N. Y., in 1870, at the age of seventy-five, and his remains lie in the beautiful cemetery that overlooks Lake Otsego, and not far from the monument to J. Fenimore Cooper.
A son of Dr. Stewart, C. Seaforth Stewart, was graduated in the same class with General George B. McClelland at West Point. He served his country faithfully during the Civil War, being in charge, for the greater part of the war, of the Engineers' Department
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HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH,
at Fortress Monroe, for which important post he was selected on account of his fitness. After the war, he was put in command of the United States Corps, at San Francisco. He is now retired, and lives at Cooperstown, N. Y.
A daughter of General Charles Stewart, Martha, mar- ried in January, 1776, Robert Wilson who was born in Innishowen, Ireland, and emigrated to this country. He was a man of education, and engaged in business in Philadelphia. He acquired a large property near Hack- ettstown. When the war broke out he accompanied Washington to Cambridge. In consequence of fail- ing health he resigned, and returned to his New Jersey home. In 1777 he entered the service again as Assistant Commissary General under his father-in-law, General Stewart. Feeble health compelled him again to resign; and in 1779 he died at his Hackettstown home, aged 28, leaving his widow at the age of 21. Mrs. Wilson's father, after the surrender of Cornwallis, returned to his estate of 1000 acres, and she took charge of his house ; and then removed with him to Flemington. For fifteen years after his death she was the sole administratrix. After her father's death she took charge of her brother Samuel Robert Stewart's home, who lived just to the east of this church; and after his death, September 15th, 1802, she assumed the care of his two sons. From the time she became the head of her father's house to her death, March 15th, 1852, she led a life abounding in good works. From her early youth she was a member of the Presbyterian Church. In many respects she was one of the most remarkable women of her time. See Mrs. Ellis' " Women of the Revolution," vol. 2.
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FLEMINGTON, NEW JERSEY.
Her father's house, and her own residence were within a short distance of General Washington's head- quarters in Morristown, so that he was frequently a guest at the house. His relations with her father were intimate. Also from time to time, Generals Green, La Fayette, Wayne, Hamilton, Gates, and other officers of the army came to her father's home. On one occasion she entertained General Washington and his wife and staff (between thirty and forty persons) for two days. Her gate on the public road bore this inscription in con- spicuous characters : "Hospitality within to all American officers, and refreshment for their soldiers."
Associated with General Stewart in his patriotic meas- ures and conspicuous, too, was Colonel Philip Johnston, whose sister was the wife of Stewart, whom she married in 1755. Philip was the oldest of seven children, and was born in 1741. His father, Judge Samuel Johnston, was a colonial magistrate thirty years before the Revo- lution. The family were from Scotland, and belonged to an ancient barony in Anandale. They were a war- like clan, and a great terror to the border thieves. He was one of the first settlers in Union (near Clinton). His mansion at Landsdown was erected at a time, when it was a wise precaution to be protected against the Indians. It was therefore constructed as a stronghold, with massive walls of stone and heavy portals. Civil and criminal cases were often tried before him, in its spacious hall. He was a gentleman of exalted virtue, and renowned for his hospitality, and unbounded be- nevolence. At one time he had fourteen widows living on his land free of rent.
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HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH,
The feeling for and against Great Britain, at the be- ginning of the Revolution, was intense and bitter on both sides, in this county. Persons disaffected toward Congress, confederated, and proceeded to acts of open violence. But the combination was broken up by the prompt action of the Provincial Congress, which, July Ist, 1776, ordered the colonels of the militia, in each county, to disarm those who refused to bear arms (Gordon's New Jersey, p. 195). Yet, as a whole, Hun- terdon County was strong for the war. In March, 1776, the Committee of Safety, of which Captain Mehelm and John Hart were members, resolved that three battalions of militia be draughted out of the militia of the State, for the help of New York. The quota of Hunterdon was four hundred and forty, which was just double that of any other county. Colonel Frelinghuysen, of Rari- tan, wrote to Governor Livingston, August 15th, 1777 : " I must not forget to congratulate your Excellency on the great loyalty of Hunterdon County." N. J. Rev. Cor. pp. 5, 95.
In December, 1776, Washington was preparing to cross the Delaware and attack the British who were encamped at Trenton. As a part of the preparation, General Maxwell was directed to collect Durham boats high up the river, which were brought down to Coryell's Ferry (now Lambertville). The Durham boats were built originally for conveying pig iron from the old Dur- ham furnace, which was located in Pennsylvania, oppo- site Regelsville. They were rounded on the bottom like a batteau, and sharp at both ends, with a long handled rudder like that used on a raft. They drew very little water. When the wind was favorable a large
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FLEMINGTON, NEW JERSEY.
sail was hoisted, otherwise they were poled. These boats when collected were hidden behind Malta Island, just below what is known as "The Mills," on the Penn- sylvania side. The island was densely wooded, so that the boats could not be seen by a reconnoitering party, as it looked down from the New Jersey heights. Cap- tain Gerhart, of Flemington, was one of the militia officers engaged in procuring the boats, and floating them down to Washington's Crossing.
Cornwallis was informed of this undertaking, and sent a detachment to seize these boats, but they could not be found ; or, perhaps, the soldiers were afraid to cross the river in the face of batteries, which had been placed on the top of the hill at New Hope. Probably, while engaged in this search, the British learned that a supply of guns was stored in Flemington. A part of Cornwallis's army was then encamped near Pennington.
At the opening of the Revolution, near this church, was a long, low frame building, beginning a few feet in front of the Steele's lawn-fence, and extending a few feet south of the north end of their dwelling. For many years it was a store, famous in all these parts. It afforded a market for wheat to a wide section of the county. In winter the roads crossing its front were filled with sleds. The store was kept by Thomas Lowrey, in connection with a mill on the site of John Rockafel- low's mill. A tavern then stood just in front of the church. In this storehouse a quantity of muskets was placed by the Continentals.
The commander at Pennington suspected that Flemington was to be made a rendezvous, and that these muskets were held for the purpose of
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HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH,
arming the militia. To thwart this measure, he de- tailed Cornet Geary, with about twenty men, to seize the guns. The troops passed through Ringoes early in the morning of December 14th, 1776. Captain John Schenck, who was home on a visit, saw them ; and be- lieving that they would return that way, aroused the neighbors, and prepared for an attack. In what was then a small woods between Copper Hill and Larison's Corner, on the east side of the road, on the farm now belonging to Mr. L.C. Case, he secreted his men. Ammu- nition was scarce, and tradition relates that the men and women moulded bullets that morning for the muskets. Meanwhile Cornet Geary had reached Flemington, where he found a man with a cart. He ordered the man to take his cart, and show the way to the storehouse. The chests, in which the guns were packed, were put into the cart, and the troops hastened away. Tradition relates that Geary saw a man on Mullins Hill, who was Colonel Lowrey, evidently reconnoitering ; and on inquiry was told that just beyond the hill a body of troops was en- camped. This was a military lie, but it had the effect to hasten Geary's departure. He soon found that these boxes impeded their progress too much for safety, so that when they reached Tattersall's Lane (which is now the road on the edge of the town that leads to Reaville) they concluded it was better to destroy the muskets, which they did, by breaking the stocks, and bending the bar- rels. When they reached the ambush, where Captain Schenck and his men were concealed, Schenck called out, " First line fire and fall back "; again, "Second line fire and fall back." Geary ordered his men to halt and return the fire. Almost at the first fire he was struck
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by a bullet in the forehead, and fell from his horse. His men turned and fled. Captain Schenck and his men stripped the body, taking the hat (which was a high leather hat, with a plume), and coat and boots, and hastily buried the body, about two hundred yards east of the encounter. · The grave was marked by two stones, and the owners of the land did not disturb the spot. It had been questioned for years whether the body had been removed, or was left in the grave. To decide this, a committee, ap- pointed by the Hunterdon County Historical Society, opened the grave in May, 1891. They found traces of clothing, parts of buttons, and of bones. The tops of four small silver buttons, which had evidently been the buttons on the Cornet's jacket, were found in such good preservation, that the letters Q. L. D. and the figure 16 were easily traced. Inquiry has shown that these mean, "The Queen's Light Dragoons, 16th Regi- ment." This was a famous regiment of the British army of that period. Also from the British army list of that time, it has been learned that General Howe promoted " Patrick Cannon, Commissary, to be Cornet in place of Francis Geary, killed December 14th, 1776." (I am in- debted to Elias Vosseller, of Flemington, for these facts.)
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