USA > New Jersey > Mercer County > Trenton > History of the Presbyterian Church in Trenton, N.J. : from the first settlement of the town > Part 1
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LIGHT TO
MY PATH.
BIB
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Gc 974.902 T72h 1194948
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ett 4
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02256 0194
*
REV. JOHN HALL, D.D.
HISTORY
OF THE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
IN TRENTON, N. J.
FROM THE FIRST SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWN
BY JOHN HALL, D.D.
MEMBER OF THE PRESBYTERIAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, AND OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETIES OF NEW JERSEY, PENNSYLVANIA AND WISCONSIN.
SECOND EDITION
Prepared for the observance of the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the First Church, with much supplementary material collected by Dr. Hall during his Pastorate
TRENTON, N. J. MACCRELLISH & QUIGLEY, PRINTERS - 1912
00850
1194948
PREFACE.
I T WILL be at once noticed that this volume introduces many per- sons, places, and incidents, as well as churches, that do not come strictly within the scope of its title. But I thought that it would contribute to the interest and usefulness, not to say the circulation of the book, to make it contain as much information as without positive incongruity could be collected from the materials that came before me, and which would probably not fall so easily into other hands.
I take the opportunity of asking to be apprised of the errors or omis- sions that may be discovered, and of any additional facts or documents relative to the history, which would make it more complete.
Having now fulfilled the request of many esteemed friends in the church and city, I leave the work in their hands, hoping that none will be wholly disappointed, and praying that the result may show that the time it has occupied has not been spent at all inconsistently with the obligations of my sacred office and my particular charge.
TRENTON, March 23, 1859.
(iii)
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
A FTER the publication of his History, in 1859, Dr. Hall continued the collection of all manner of interesting illustrative material, which he wrote out at length in a book to which he gave the title "Sup- plement to the History of the Presbyterian Church in Trenton, by John Hall, New York, 1859." This manuscript book he deposited in the archives of the church. In the preparation of this second edition the bulk of this supplement has been added to the book of 1859, in the form of an appendix. Dr. Hall's preface to his supplementary collec- tion is as follows :
"It should be remembered that the History was, avowedly, not exclusively that of the First Church (as sometimes noted in books and pamphlets), but of the 'Presbyterian Church in Trenton,' and 'from the first settlement of the town.' Also, that, as declared in the Preface, 'many persons, places and incidents, as well as churches,' were introduced, because of the opportunity which I then had, and no one might have again, of obtaining the information, even though the facts had no direct connection with the name of the work. I have taken the same license in the Supplement, and hope to forestall objec- tions by foretelling on this page that it has purposely included many names and occurrences which have only an indirect or casual associa- tion with the title, but which are not without some interest in them- selves, and will demand no apology."
No changes in either the text or the form of Dr. Hall's unique and invaluable book have been made, except that a very few of the footnotes, essential to the correctness and accuracy of the text, have been incorporated with it, and others of a general illustrative character
(v)
vi
PREFACE.
have been transferred to the appendix, where they appear in connec- tion with the other material of the Supplement. A very few errors, pointed out by Dr. Hall himself in his notes, have been corrected. It is believed that this second and enlarged edition of Dr. Hall's work will prove not less interesting and valuable, to readers of a later time, than was the first book to his friends and fellow-townsmen of 1859.
I gratefully acknowledge the aid of the Rev. John Dixon, D.D., the Rev. Lewis Seymour Mudge, D.D., and the Rev. Henry Collin Minton, D.D., who have written the history of the church during their pas- torates, but especially am I indebted to the Rev. Walter A. Brooks, D.D., who has most happily combined the Supplementary Collections with the first published text in a continuous narrative, the original authorship of each being exactly preserved. Also am I indebted to the Hon. Garret D. W. Vroom for his generous interest in the super- vision of the book through the press, for his valued suggestions, and for his interest in securing some of the historical facts and illustra- tions for the book.
MARY ANNA HALL.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE.
PRESBYTERIAN SETTLEMENT OF CENTRAL NEW JERSEY-FALLS OF I
DELAWARE-1682-1700,
CHAPTER II.
THE CHURCHES OF HOPEWELL AND MAIDENHEAD-1698-1736, 13
CHAPTER III.
THE TRENTON CHURCH-THE REV. DAVID COWELL-1714-1738, .... 31
CHAPTER IV.
REV. MR. COWELL AND REV. MR. TENNENT-SCHISM OF SYNOD- 1736-1760, 47
CHAPTER V.
TRENTON IN 1748-EPISCOPAL CHURCHES-TRENTON NAMES AND PLACES-1746-1760, 57
CHAPTER VI.
COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY-COWELL, BURR, DAVIES, FINLEY- 1746-1760, 69
CHAPTER VII.
MR. COWELL'S DEATH AND BURIAL-1759-1760, 81
CHAPTER VIII.
THE FIRST CHARTER OF THE CHURCH-TRUSTEES-1756-1760,
...... 93
CHAPTER IX.
MINISTRY OF THE REV. WM. KIRKPATRICK-HIS HISTORY-1760- 1766, 99
(vii)
viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER X.
PAGE.
TRUSTEES-TRENTON AND MAIDENHEAD-1764-1769, ........ II7
CHAPTER XI.
ELIHU SPENCER, D.D .- HIS PREVIOUS HISTORY-1721-1769, 125
CHAPTER XII.
DR. SPENCER'S CONGREGATION-1769-1773, I39
CHAPTER XIII.
DR. SPENCER'S MINISTRY-REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS IN TRENTON -1773-1780, 159
CHAPTER XIV.
CLOSE OF DR. SPENCER'S MINISTRY-HIS DEATH-1780-1784, .. 171
CHAPTER XV.
THE REV. J. F. ARMSTRONG-PREVIOUS HISTORY AND SETTLEMENT
-1750-1790,
179
CHAPTER XVI.
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY-NEW CONSTITUTION OF THE CHURCH- NOTES, 1785-1790, 193
CHAPTER XVII.
PUBLIC OCCASIONS IN TRENTON-NOTES-1789-1806, 20I
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE NEW BRICK CHURCH-NOTES-1804-1806, . 213
CHAPTER XIX.
THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY-MR. ARMSTRONG'S DEATH-NOTES-
1807-1816,
223
CHAPTER XX.
SAMUEL B. How, D.D .- WILLIAM J. ARMSTRONG, D.D .- REV. JOHN SMITH-NOTES-1816-1828, 237
1x
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXI.
PAGE. JAMES W. ALEXANDER, D.D .- JOHN W. YEOMANS, D.D .- JOHN HALL, D.D .- 1829-1859, 249
CHAPTER XXII.
SUPPLEMENTARY ITEMS-1859-1884, 265
CHAPTER XXIII.
JOHN DIXON, D.D .- LEWIS SEYMOUR MUDGE, D.D .- 1884-1901, . .. 271 CHAPTER XXIV.
HENRY COLLIN MINTON, D.D.,
283
APPENDIX.
PAGE.
I. DR. HALL'S SUPPLEMENT,
291
II. HISTORY OF THE PROPOSAL TO MAKE TRENTON THE CAPITAL OF THE UNITED STATES, 365
III. DEED OF BASSE AND REVEL,
37I
IV. LIST OF THE PASTORS, ELDERS, DEACONS AND TRUSTEES OF TREN- TON CHURCH, 373
V. LIST OF BURIALS MADE FROM INSCRIPTIONS ON THE HEADSTONES IN THE CHURCH-YARD, 377
VI. INSCRIPTIONS ON TOMBSTONES UNDER THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN
CHURCH,
393
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN TRENTON.
CHAPTER I.
PRESBYTERIAN SETTLEMENT OF CENTRAL NEW JERSEY- FALLS OF DELAWARE.
1682-1700.
The territory occupied by the present city of Trenton lies so near the boundary between the Berkeley and the Car- teret, or the east and the west sections of the Province of New Jersey, that the history of its settlement is connected with that of both the original divisions. The advance of the Quaker colonists from the south and west, and of the Dutch and Puritan from the north and east, gradually peo- pled this central region. It is, however, to the policy which invited to East Jersey the inhabitants of Scotland and Ire- land that we owe the immigration, which, in the course of time, gave Presbyterian features to the religious character of its inhabitants, and made it "the cradle of Presbyterian- ism in America."* In the year 1682, when Carteret's in- terest in New Jersey was purchased by William Penn and his eleven associates, the Society of Friends, of which they all were members, was the smallest religious denomination there. The few settlements that existed at the time-the whole population was not more than five thousand-were composed chiefly of families that had emigrated from New England, Holland and Scotland. As West New Jersey and Pennsylvania were sufficient to absorb the Quaker interest, it was a matter of policy to place the new enterprise on such
* Hildreth's "United States," vol. ii, Chapter 17.
I PRES
(I)
2
HISTORY OF THE
a foundation as would be inviting to persons of all creeds. For this purpose the twelve original proprietors determined to share their interest with an equal number of new adven- turers. The leading varieties of ecclesiastical connections then prevailing in the mother countries of England, Scot- land and Ireland, seem to have been represented in the new body of proprietors, but most of them, whether Protestants or Romanists, and even the leading Quakers, were connected with Scotland. The second set were a motley collection. The earls of Perth and Melford (Drummond) had apos- tatized to Romanism from the Church of Scotland on the accession of James II. "They did this," says Macaulay,* "with a certain audacious baseness which no English states- man could hope to emulate." They were, at the time of becoming proprietors in the land of toleration, persecuting in Scotland such as refused to testify against the Presby- terians. Barclay was a native of Scotland, became a Roman Catholic in Paris, was thereupon recalled by his father, and both became Quakers. The Scotch and Irish Presbyterians and New England Puritans (many, perhaps most, of whom were Presbyterianst), made the moral character of the Province. In July, 1684, a vessel from Leith carried one hundred and sixty passengers, and another from Montrose one hundred and thirty to East Jersey. In that year Gawen Lawrie, the Deputy Governor, wrote from Elizabethtown : "The Scots and William Dockwra's1 people, coming now and settling, advance the Province more than it hath been advanced these ten years." In closing a glowing account of the Province, he says: "I have none to write for me, but you must send a copy of this to Scotland." In another letter of the same month, the same writer remarks: "The Scots have taken a right course. They have sent over many ser- vants, and are likewise sending more. They have likewise
* "History of England," chapter 6.
¿ See Hodge's "Constitutional History," part i, 22-39.
3
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
sent over many poor families, and given them a small stock." James Johnston writes to his brother in Edin- burgh : "It is most desired there may be some ministers sent us over; they would have considerable benefices and good estates; and since it would be a matter of great piety, I hope you will be instrumental to advise some over to us." There appears to have been an early provision in some places for the ministry. Oldmixon says :*
"A year or two after the surrender [of the patents of the proprie- taries to the Crown, 1702], Sergeant Hook purchased 3,750 acres of land in West Jersey, and gave the tenth part of it as a glebe to the Church. He was a Presbyterian; but I suppose glebe is as consistent with that denomination, as any other."
Peter Watson writes to a friend in Selkirk (August, 1684) : "We have great need of good and faithful minis- ters, and I wish that there would come over some here; they can live as well and have as much as in Scotland, and more than many get. We have none within all the Prov- ince of East Jersey, except one who is preacher in New- ark; there were one or two preachers more in the Province, but they are dead, and now the people meet together every Sabbath day and read, and pray, and sing psalms in their meeting-houses." In January, 1685, Fullerton writes from Elizabethtown to Montrose: "By my next I hope to insure sixty or seventy pounds to the parson, for we want a min- ister." In March, 1685, Cockburn writes to Scotland : "There is nothing discourages us more than want of min- isters here; but now they have agreed about their stipends, there is one to be placed in New: Perth, Piscataway, Wood- bridge and Elizabethtown. They have a mind to bring them from Scotland." Among the emigrants who left Scot- land in 1685 was George Scot, Laird of Pitlochie. It was the first year of the reign of James II., when already the
* British Empire in America, i. p. 294.
4
HISTORY OF THE
non-conformists of England and Scotland perceived that they had nothing to expect under the new monarch but a continuance of the persecutions of which their country, for its faith's sake, had been the bloody field. "Never," says Macaulay, "not even under the tyranny of Laud, had the condition of the Puritans been so deplorable as at that time. Through many years the autumn of 1685 was remembered by the non-conformists as a time of misery and terror. In Scotland the King had demanded and obtained new statutes of unprecedented severity against the Presbyterians."* "Severe as the sufferings of the non- conformists in England were at this period," says another historian, "they were nothing compared with that was en- dured by the poor Presbyterians of Scotland."t
George Scot advertised his project in the following terms :
"Whereas, There are several people in this kingdom, who, upon account of their not going that length in conformity required of them by the law, do live very uneasy; who, beside the other agreeable ac- commodations of that place [East New Jersey] may there freely enjoy their own principles without hazard or the least trouble; seeing there are ministers of their own persuasion going along with the said Mr. George Scot; who, by the fundamental constitution of that country are allowed the free exercise of their ministry, such as Mr. Archibald Riddel, brother to Sir John Riddel, of Riddel; Mr. Thomas Patter- son, late minister of Borthwick, and several other ministers; it is hereby signified to all, who desire this voyage, that the Henry and Francis, of Newcastle, a ship of 350 tons, and twenty great guns, Richard Hutton, master, is freighted for the transportation of these families, and will take in passengers and goods at Leith, and passen- gers at Montrose, and Aberdeen, and Kirkwa, in Orkney, and set sail thence for East New Jersey, against the 20th day of July, God willing."
Scot sailed about the time specified, with nearly two hundred of his countrymen, but himself and wife died
* "History of England," chap. 5, 7.
t Orme's "Life of Baxter," i. 294. And see Wodrow's "History of the Suffer- ings of the Church of Scotland."
5
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
on the voyage.2 Previous to his embarking he published at Edinburgh a volume of 272 pages, entitled: "The Model of the Government of the Province of East New Jersey in America; and Encouragement for Such as Design to be Concerned There."3 The Scottish Presbyterian, or one knowing he was writing to such, is at once detected in the elaborate and learned argument, which precedes all his statistics, to prove a warrant for colonization from the word of God. Among his points is that the wonderful openings to the discovery of America, and the encourage- ments offered to Protestant nations, indicated the purpose of Providence that "he might at length cause the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ shine out to them as it did to other nations, after the sharp times of the bitter desolations thereof betwixt the Romans and them." In bolder terms than in the more public advertisement of his undertaking, he thus appeals to the religious jealousy of his fellow- churchmen :
"You see, it is now judged the interest of the government altogether to suppress the Presbyterian principles; and that in order thereto the whole force and bensill [violence] of the law of this kingdom are leveled at the effectual bearing them down; that the vigorous putting those laws in execution hath in a great part ruined many of these, who, notwithstanding thereof, find themselves in conscience obliged to retain these principles; while, on the other hand, Episcopacy is, by the same laws, supported and protected. I would gladly know what other rational medium can be proposed in their circumstances, than either to comply with the government by going what length is required by law in conforming, or to retreat where by law a toleration is by his Majesty allowed. Such a retreat doth at present offer itself in America, and is nowhere else to be found in his Majesty's dominions."
We find in this connection an allusion to the north of Ireland, which was fully realized in subsequent years, in the contributions made from that quarter to the Presby- terian population of America.
"I had an account lately from an acquaintance of mine, that the Province of Ulster, where most of our nation are seated, could spare
6
HISTORY OF THE
forty thousand men and women to an American plantation, and be sufficiently peopled itself. The gentleman who gave me this informa- tion is since settled in Maryland; the account he sends of that country is so encouraging that I hear a great many of his acquaintances are making for that voyage."*
But it was not contemplated to establish the Kirk in New Jersey. "Presbyter" of Britain was not, according to Milton, to be "Priest writ large" in America. "Liberty in matters of religion," said Scot, "is established in the full- est manner. To be a planter or inhabitant, nothing is required but the acknowledging of one Almighty God; and to have a share in the government a simple profession of faith of Jesus Christ, without descending into any other of the differences among Christians; only that religion may not be a cloak for disturbance, who ever comes into the Magistrature, must declare they hold not themselves in conscience obliged, for religion's sake, to make an altera- tion, or to endeavor to turn out their partners in the gov- ernment, because they differ in opinion from them; and this is no more than to follow the great rule, to do as they would be done by."
Mr. Bancroft, after following the remark, "this is the era at which East New Jersey, till now chiefly colonized from New England, became the asylum of Scottish Presby- terians," with an eloquent sketch of the sufferings of that people under the attempt of the Stuarts to force Episcopacy upon them, asks: "Is it strange that Scottish Presbyterians of virtue, education and courage, blending a love of popu- lar liberty with religious enthusiasm, hurried to East New Jersey in such numbers as to give to the rising common- wealth a character which a century and a half has not effaced ?" "In a few years," he adds, "a law of the com- monwealth, giving force to the common principle of the New England and the Scottish Calvinists, established a
* See "History of the Church of Ireland," Biblical Repertory, April, 1844, Octo- ber, 1859.
7
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
system of free schools. * Thus the mixed character of New Jersey springs from the different sources of its people. Puritans, Covenanters and Quakers met on her soil; and their faith, institutions and preferences, having life in the common mind, survive the Stuarts."*
Robert Barclay was the first Governor under the new proprietary administration (1683). Although the office was given him for life, he was not required to reside in the Province, and, in fact, he never saw it, but was repre- sented by deputies. Mr. Grahame, in his "Colonial His- tory," says, under 1685: "As a further recommendation of the Province to the favor of the Scotch, Barclay dis- placing a deputy (Lawrie), whom he had appointed of his own religious persuasion, conferred this office on Lord Neil Campbell, uncle of the Marquis of Argyle, who re- paired to East Jersey and remained there for some time as its Lieutenant Governor." Campbell was followed by another Scotchman, Andrew Hamilton.
While Presbyterians were thus finding homes in the northern and eastern parts of the Province, others mingled with the settlements that were creeping up the Delaware on both banks and scattering between the river and the ocean. The first church in Philadelphia (less than thirty miles from Trenton) was organized about 1698. There was a Dutch Presbyterian Church at Neshaminy (twenty miles) in 1710. But the church in Monmouth county, originally called "the Scotch Meeting-House," better known to us as the "Tennent Church" (thirty miles), was formed of Scottish materials about 1692. Its first pastor was from Scotland.4
I have indulged in the foregoing retrospect for the pur- pose of showing the origin and general progress of the population that at length reached the more central region where the capital of the Province came to be established.
* Bancroft's "Colonial History," chap. 17.
8
HISTORY OF THE
And here I introduce, as a curious local memorandum, the earliest record to be found of a journey on what is now one of the two great thoroughfares between New York and Philadelphia, by Trenton, but eight years before Phila- delphia was laid out by Penn, and when the site of Tren- ton was only known as at "the Falls of the Delaware." William Edmundson, a minister of the Friends from Eng- land, made the following entry in his journal of 1675, after leaving Shrewsbury and Middletown :
"Next morning we took our journey through the wilderness towards Maryland, to cross the river at Delaware Falls. Richard Hartshorn and Eliakim Wardell would go a day's journey with us. We hired an Indian to guide us, but he took us wrong, and left us in tlie woods. When it was late we alighted, put our horses to grass, and kindled a fire by a little brook, convenient for water to drink, to lay down till morning, but were at a great loss concerning the way, being all strangers in the wilderness. Richard Hartshorn advised to go back to Rarington river, about ten miles back, as was supposed, to find out a small landing place from New York, from whence there was a small path that led to Delaware Falls. So we rode back, and in some time found the landing place and little path ; then the two friends committed us to the Lord's guidance, and went back. We traveled that day, and saw no tame creature. At night we kindled a fire in the wilder- ness and lay by it, as we used to do in such journeys. Next day, about nine in the morning, by the good hand of God, we came well to the Falls, and by His providence found there an Indian man, a woman, and boy with a canoe; so we hired him for some wampampeg to help us over in the canoe; we swam our horses, and though the river was broad, yet got well over, and by the direction we received from friends, traveled towards Delawaretown [probably Newcastle], along the west side of the river. When we had rode some miles, we baited our horses and refreshed ourselves with such provisions as we had, for. as yet we were not come to any inhabitants."*
As "the Falls of the Delaware" was not only the first name given to the part of the river where Trenton was afterwards built, but was for more than a century used to
* "A Journal of the life, travels, sufferings, and labors of love in the work of the ministry of that worthy elder and faithful servant of Jesus Christ, William Edmundson, who departed this life the 31st of the sixth month, 1712." London. 1715. (Philadelphia Library, No. 668. 8vo.)
A
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
denote the general locality, it may be well to notice that what is dignified by the term, is no more than the rapids of the current in the descent of about eighteen feet in six miles.5 The association of the term has often led to the confounding of the Trenton ripples with the truly grand falls of West Canada creek in New York, which are called "Trenton Falls" from a village in their vicinity. This has given occasion to some ludicrous disappointments with travelers.6 It was probably the cause of the illusion of the English tourist in 1797, who "entered the State of New Jersey and slept at Trenton, which we left before sunrise the next morning; a circumstance I regretted, as I wished to see the falls of the river Delaware in that neighborhood, which, I am informed, are worthy the at- tention of a traveler."* The translator of the work of Kalm, to be more fully quoted hereafter, raises the humble rapids mentioned by the Swede, to "the cataracts of the Delaware near Trenton."; Another Englishman, and president of the Royal Astronomical Society, pronounced, in 1796, that "these do not deserve the name of falls, being nothing more than a ledge of rocks reaching across the river, and obstructing the navigation for large vessels."}
Wansey, the "Wiltshire Clothier," says in 1794: "In passing the Delaware with our coachee, we ferry within ten yards of one of the rapids, by which we are to under- stand that part of a river where the bed is almost filled up with rocks, chiefly below the surface of the water, which occasions the current to pass very quick and make it dangerous to those who are not acquainted with the navi- gation .** In a work by Dr. Douglas, a Scotchman, but for thirty years a resident of Boston, the following de-
* "Priest's Travels, 1793-7." London.
+ "Kalm's Travels, by Forster." London. 1770. I. 49.
# "Journal of a tour in unsettled parts of North America in 1796 and 1797. By the late Francis Baily, President of the Royal Astronomical Society." London. 1856. P. 115.
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