USA > New Jersey > Hunterdon County > Clinton > The Presbyterian Church of Clinton, New Jersey, a historical sketch, an address delivered on the occasion of the semi-centennial celebration, September 14, 1880 > Part 1
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 03247 8213
GO 974.902 C615b Blauvelt, I. Alstyne. The Presbyterian Church of Clinton, New Jersey
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Presbyterian
OF CLINTON, NEW JERSEY.
A HISTORICAL SKETCH.
AN ADDRESS .
DELIVERED ON THE OCCASION OF THE
emi= entenary
celebration,
SEPTEMBER 14TH, 1880,
-- BY-
I. ALSTYNE BLAUVELT,
SIXTH PASTOR OF THE CHURCH.
PUBLISHED BY REQUEST.
NEW YORK: E. WELLS SACKETT & BRO., STATIONERS AND PRINTERS, 56 & 58 WILLIAM STREET, CORNER OF PINE.
1880.
. Allen County Public Library 900 Webster Stroet PO Box 2270 Fort Wayne, IN 46801-2270
THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
OF CLINTON, NEW JERSEY.
A HISTORICAL SKETCH.
AN ADDRESS
DELIVERED ON THE OCCASION OF THE
SEMI-CENTENARY CELEBRATION,
SEPTEMBER 14, 1880,
BY
I. ALSTYNE BLAUVELT,
SIXTH PASTOR OF THE CHURCH.
PUBLISHED BY REQUEST.
NEW YORK: E. WELLS SACKETT & BRO., STATIONERS AND PRINTERS, 56 & 58 WILLIAM STREET, CORNER OF PINE.
1880.
HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
WENTY or thirty years ago, an article of furniture in many houses of this region was " a map of the State of New Jersey, compiled under the patronage of the Legislature of said State, by Thomas Gordon, 1828." It was a very good map for its day. It was on the scale of three miles to the inch. The brooks and the carriage roads were traced upon it, and it exhibited not only the very small vil- lages, but if in any locality a name had been given to but three or four houses, that name was to be found on the map. Nearly opposite to the point where the Spruce Run enters the South Branch of the Raritan, the map had the name "Hunt's Mills." The mill at that point was a very ancient one. It was held by the Hunt family for more than half a century. The first Hunt who owned the mill was named Daniel. He was descended from Ralph Hunt, Esq., who emigrated to this country from Yorkshire, England. Daniel was born near Maidenhead, now called Lawrenceville, on a large plantation situated on the King's road, the old road from Princeton to Trenton. He purchased the mill, with a considerable tract of adjacent land, and removed to this place before or during the revolutionary war. At his death he was succeeded in the ownership of the mill by his son Ralph. Ralph Hunt was a graduate of Princton Col- lege, a man of fine presence and popular manners. He held various offices, and was commonly known as Major Hunt. The mill was located nearly, if not precisely, on the spot now occupied by Mr. Parry's mill. It has been described to me as "rudely built of stone." During the war of 1812 Major Hunt built a woolen mill on the opposite side of the stream:
At the time when Gordon's map was made, there were but four houses in the neighborhood of the mill. Of these,
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one stood on the site of the present residence of Mr. Samuel Parry : another was near the Baptist parsonage ; the third was where Mr. Philip Gulick's house now stands, and the fourth, the residence of the Hunts, the mansion of the neighborhood, is the only one which has not been swept away in the course of time. This solitary relic of the by- gone age is the house which is now occupied by Mr. James R. Kline.
On the other side of the river, although at a considerable distance from the bridge, there were two houses. One of these, the residence of General Hope, has not entirely passed out of existence ; but it has ceased to be a human habitation. The other was the Dunham mansion, the present residence of Mrs. M. S. Stiger.
In the year 1827*, the mill property and the lands connected with it changed hands, the Hunt family removing to Ohio. The new proprietor was Archibald S. Taylor. With the change of ownership the building of the village may be said to have commenced. . An edifice which, for our present purposes, has consider- able interest, was the stone school-house. Most of us remember this only as a ruin, very near the street, and nearly opposite to the present residence of Judge Voor- hees. This school-house was erected in 1827. In 1828 the nascent village refused to be called after the old mill, and took the name which it has ever since borne.
About the year 1825 a Sabbath-school had been started in a school-house on the turnpike, about a mile to the east of the village, near the present residence of Mr. Elijah Stout. This school was afterward transferred to the chair and spinning wheel factory of General Hope, a building which is still standing on the other side of the river. On the completion of the new stone school-house, in 1827, the Sabbath-school took up its quarters there. It must be borne in mind that at this time churches were very much fewer than they are now, and the number of ministers was still less. The pastor of Bethlehem Church was Bishop of a very extensive region of country, reaching from the
* Or 1828.
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Delaware river almost to Lebanon Valley. His parish embraced what is now occupied by the Presbyterian Churches of Clinton, Alexandria, Milford, Kingwood and Frenchtown. He had two churches in this territory, besides his Bethlehem Church-one at Alexandria and one at Kingwood. In all this scope of country, I do not know that there was any other church, except the Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, the Friends' Meeting-house at Quakertown, and the Baptist Church at Baptisttown. There was an ancient German Reformed Church * in Lebanon Valley, which was associated with the Church of German Valley under one pastor. In later years, perhaps from the beginning of the present century, or a little earlier, the preaching at Lebanon + was half the time in German and half the time in English. In 1813 the church was transferred to the Reformed Dutch denomination. But as Lebanon and Bethlehem were so near together, it was not the custom to hold services in the two churches on the same day. The people in the vicinity of Hunt's Mills had thus ordinarily the privilege of going to church on the Sabbath either at Bethlehem or at Rockaway. But those who were strongly attached to the Presbyterian Church, when there was no service at Bethlehem, would often drive to Lamington. And it was not only that they found a church of their own order there, but the pastor of the Church of Lamington, the Rev. William Boyd, was the most attractive preacher in this whole region of country.
Few as the churches were in those days, the communion rolls were not very long. In 1824 there were two hundred and seventy-three communicants in the three churches of Bethlehem, Alexandria and Kingwood. It was not the fashion to come to the communion of the Church; and when a young person took such a step, it was looked upon as a marked event.
With the rise of Clinton, there began to be a general desire for the regular preaching of the gospel in the village. And it was not long before that desire was gratified. The first man who preached here continuously was William
* Founded in 1740.
t Then called Rockaway.
-
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Millar Carmichael. He was a graduate of Hamilton College and of Princeton Theological Seminary, and a licentiate of the Presbytery of Albany. He was sent here by the *New Jersey Missionary Society. at the recommendation of Rev. Dr. Archibald Alexander. His first labors here commenced in May or June, 1829, before he had finished his course at Princeton. He continued here for four or six weeks. preaching in the stone school-house, and in several private houses, and visiting the families of the neighborhood. Mr. Carmichael then returned to the Seminary. and graduated in the autumn. In the month of November, or early in December, he resumed his labors at Clinton, and continued here until some time in the month of March. As his stay was so short, very little is remembered of him by persons now living here. It may, however. be well to record one fact which should be a warning to all young ministers. He married an Episcopal wife, and the consequence was that on the 13th of January, 1832, he was ordained as a Deacon in the Episcopal Church, and on the 10th of April of the same year he was made a Presbyter. He afterward became a Doctor of Divinity, and filled several positions in the Episcopal Church. He first labored at Rye and Ma- maroneck, New York. At Hempstead, Long Island. he was a teacher for nine years. In 1844 he took charge of a Church at Watertown. New York : in '46 he went to Meadville. Pa .: in '50. to Newton. Conn .: in '53, to Christ Church. Richmond. Va .: in '55, to Albion. N. Y .; in '56, to Pilatka. Fla .: in '57, to St. Stephen's Church. Milledge- ville. Ga .: in '59 he returned to Hempstead. Long Island. He afterward acted as librarian at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. He is now living at Jamaica, Long Island, in the seventy-seventh year of his age. His memory of his brief sojourn in Clinton is vivid and pleasant, and nothing but physical infirmity prevents his being with us to-day.
But in addition to the labors of Mr. Carmichael, the Presbytery of Newton took the young village under its watch and care. On the 6th of October, 1829, an appli-
* This society had its headquarters in Newark. It was afterward merged in the Assembly's Board of Missions at Philadelphia.
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cation was made by certain citizens of Clinton to the Pres- bytery, to send some of their own number to preach in the school-house. It was after Mr. Carmichael's return to Princeton to finish his course at the Seminary that this application was made. Presbytery granted the request, and several ministers were appointed as "supplies" for Clinton. The request was renewed at several subsequent meetings of Presbytery, and " supplies " were appointed for about two Sabbaths of each month, for more than two years. Among these "supplies," the names which occur with greatest frequency are Hutton, Campbell, Kirkpatrick, Clark, Van Dervoort, Blauvelt and Gray.
On an unknown date, probably in the winter of 1829-30, there was a meeting of citizens. The persons present were A. C. Dunham, J. W. Bray, J. B. Taylor, Nehemiah Dun- ham, A. W. Dunham, A. S. Taylor, and others. These persons, after deliberation, resolved to erect a Presbyterian Church. A Board of Trustees was chosen, and to this Board a suitable lot was given by Messrs. Bray and Taylor .* As the village has since grown, this site is not the most convenient that could have been chosen. But, all things considered, it is the most desirable lot in the village for this purpose.
The work of building was commenced in the month of May, 1830, and it was completed the same year. There is no record of the dedication of the house, but this must have taken place late in the autumn, or early in the winter.
The congregation of Bethlehem erected a new church the same year. This new building took the place of one which was commonly called the Old Frame Church. It was itself called the New Stone, and retained that name until it grew so old that the congregation replaced it with their present commodious house. There was living at that time in the lower part of the county a man who commanded the respect of the community in an unusual measure-Rev. Jacob Kirkpatrick, pastor of Amwell. He grew to be a very old man in his pastorate, and many of us who are still young can remember him as he was in his last years,-
* John W. Bray and John B. Taylor.
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a man of great heart, and that heart full of love for Christ and for his fellows. There was a gentle, loving smile on his face when he spoke which made one think of the Apostle John. He used to say that as he read prophecy, he thought that something very good would happen in 1866, "about the middle of the year." And he was not disappointed in his calculation, for that was the time when the dear old man went home to his Saviour. At the time of which I am speaking, Mr. Kirkpatrick was in the fullness of his manly vigor. This good man felt in his heart a great longing for the spiritual welfare of the people of this region. And it seemed to him that there was a call for some special evangelistic efforts. He selected for the work the young pastor of the Church at Lamington, Rev. Wm. W. Blauvelt, and the still younger pastor of German Valley, Rev. Mancius S. Hutton. Dr. Kirkpatrick met his two young brethren at the New Stone Church, on the day of the dedi- cation. The pastor of the Church found himself not well enough to attend the service, and he requested Mr. Blauvelt to preach, and to conduct the exercises of the dedication, which he did. But that service was only the beginning of an extraordinary series of services. For some days the meetings were held in the New Stone Church. Afterward the two ministers went to Alexandria, and to Milford, preaching not only in the churches, but in almost every school-house in the region. Among other points reached was Clinton, where several meetings were held. In all these services, one of the ministers preached, and the other followed him with an address. The whole campaign lasted . about a fortnight, in which time each minister preached twenty-two* sermons, and made an equal number of addresses. These forty-four services were all attended by throngs of people, and the interest was most profound. It is not known that there was any great addition to the com- munion of the churches as the immediate result of this extraordinary effort. But the effect of this sowing of the good seed was marked and lasting. For years after, people would tell how they had then been impressed with their
* This is believed to be the true number.
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need of the new birth. Not the least of the results of this work was the spiritual quickening received by the people of Clinton. It was the right start for the new Church.
As has been said, the church building was commenced in May, 1830, and finished before the close of the year. And this is, therefore, a very proper time to celebrate the semi-centenary of that event. It was not, however, till *" the first Monday after the third Sabbath" of June, 1831,+ that the Church was regularly organized. In strict truth, therefore, the Church will not be fifty years old until June, 1881. The organization of the Church of Clinton was effected by a committee of the Presbytery of Newton. The committee consisted of Dr. Kirkpatrick, of Amwell, Dr. Campbell, of Hackettstown, and Dr. Gray, of Easton. There was a numerous assemblage of people on the occasion, and "all present who considered themselves connected with the congregation of Clinton by uplifted hands professed fully their adoption of the confession of faith of the Presbyterian Church, its mode of worship, and book of discipline." The number of communicants at the time of the organization was only ten. After a sermon by Dr. Kirkpatrick, Messrs. Nehemiah Dunham, William H. Yawyer and John Race were ordained to the eldership "by prayer and the imposi- tion of hands by the committee."
Of this original bench of elders, Mr. John Race is the only one who continues to be a member of the Church of Christ on earth. Although he ceased to be an acting elder many years ago, he still enjoys a measure of health and vigor which is very remarkable in one so far past his allotted four-score years. As he has looked down on the church and the village from his house on the hill above us, he has seen great changes in all these years. It is our good wish for him, that when he leaves these earthly scenes, he may not fail to find a goodly mansion on high.
Mr. Wm. H. Yawyer was a farmer, living north of the
* Our good fathers seem to have lacked the courage to look a date squarely in the face, and tell what day of the month it was. They generally used some such unsatisfactory circumlocution.
+ Eleven A. M.
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village. It appears from the record that he attended to the duties of the eldership with punctual fidelity. For some time he filled the office of Justice of the Peace, and was highly respected in the community. On the 8th of October, 1842, he was dismissed, to join the Church of Lower German Valley.
Nehemiah Dunham was one of a family of brothers to whom this Church owes a debt which is quite incalcula- ble. His grandfather, who was also named Nehemiah Dunham, established himself on the other side of the river in the year 1760. He had previously lived at Piscataway, near New Brunswick. He was a member of the State Legislature, and an ardent advocate and supporter of the national independence. He performed important services for the patriot cause during the revolutionary war, in con- nection with the commissary department. He was also a very active and faithful elder of the Church of Bethlehem, a man of exemplary life. His son James was also a man of elevated Christian character, and an elder of the Church of Bethlehem. Our Clinton elder, Nehemiah Dunham, was the son of James Dunham. He was thus the third in a direct line who served the Church in the eldership. And as he was born within the covenant,* and was a participant of its blessings, he loved to plead the ancient covenant on behalf of his household. At his family worship he used to pray continually for his children and his "children's chil- dren, to the latest generations." With great love to the Church of Christ, he continued in the faithful discharge of the duties of the eldership until his death. This event took place Jan. 29th, 1868, in the seventy-first year of his age.+ He was a quiet man, of very gentle manners, with an expres- sion of countenance which always seemed to speak of peace with God, and a loving trust in a Saviour's grace. A man once told me that it was painful to him to differ in any matter with Nehemiah Dunham, because "he seems to me to be a holy man." And this was the impression which Mr. Dun-
* I will establish my covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee. -Genesis, xvii., 7. Now are the children holy .- 1 Corinthians, vii., 14.
t Born August 3d, 1797.
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ham commonly made on those who knew him. In the minute adopted by the session after his death, I find this : "It might be said of him in truth, that during his long life he had done good in Isreal, both toward God and toward His house. While he.was with us, his conversation was in heaven ; and in his death, he was greatly sustained by his Saviour's presence."
Such was the first bench of elders in the infant Church. It does not seem to fall within the proper scope of this sketch to speak of the private members. But pardon me that I feel constrained to pay a tribute of affection to the memory of two who were connected with the Church soon after its organization.
Asa Clarkson Dunham was the eldest of the Dunham brothers. It was his purpose in early life to obtain a liberal education, and he did actually enter the College of New Jersey, at Princeton. In a little while, however, he found that he was utterly unable to carry on his studies, on ac- count of the defectiveness of his preparation, and he was accordingly obliged to leave college, and relinquish his cherished plans. This disappointment he always attributed to the incompetence of his classical teacher. Those of you who have a knowledge of Latin will appreciate this story. One of the first books read in those days was always Cor- nelius Nepos. The first words were "Quid agis?"- " What are you doing ?" Mr. Dunham said that he was taught to say that quid was nominative to agis.
Quite early in life Mr. Dunham served for three years* in the State Legislature. Subsequently an attempt was made to nominate him as the Whig candidate for Congress. The effort failed, and he never afterward took a very prominent part in politics. Although he failed to secure a college education, he was a man of superior intelligence, and great clearness and strength of mind. It was a great pleasure to preach the gospel to him. There was little danger of his failure to appreciate any good word that might be spoken. He always seemed to drink in God's truth with the most exquisite delight. But he wanted the
1824-1826.
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pure water of life, and nothing else. One day I preached a sermon somewhat out of my ordinary course. Talking with him on Monday, with boyish frankness, I said that I had felt an unusual interest in my sermon of the previous morning. " Yes," said he, " Milton thought that his ' Para- dise Regained ' was better than his 'Paradise Lost.'" On one occasion a young preacher occupying the pulpit went into a metaphysical disquisition on the will. I confess that it was my judgment that the water was too deep for the young man's line. Mr. Dunham afterward spoke of it to me, with this comment : " When a man in the pulpit under- takes to speak of what he does not understand. he makes bad work."
Mr. Dunham had very little liking for the modern "gushing" religion. One day a brother preached a long sermon, in which he did very little of that which is the preacher's one business-the setting forth of the Word of God. I could see by the countenance of my old friend that he felt that he was not being fed with the bread of life. After service I introduced the preacher to him. He spoke very quickly, " Glad to see you, Mr. Dunham ! are you a Christian ?" "What did you say ?" said Mr. Dunham. " I asked you if you were a Christian man," said the min- ister. Mr. Dunham had a pinch of snuff just ready be- tween his thumb and finger. He put it up to his nose, and, with his fingers still in that position, replied, "I am a member of the Church."
Along with his unusual force of mind and clear, com- prehensive grasp of the doctrines of the Bible, Mr. Dun- ham chiefly impressed me by his humility and pénitence. No one could hear him pray in his later years without being made to feel that he was a man of a humble and contrite spirit. And this impression was very much deepened by intimate association with him. He was received into the communion of the Church, on confession of his faith, on the 10th of June, 1832. He was then in his thirty-eighth year. How he felt with respect to the years which he spent without Christ, I was made to know one day when I was visiting him. We had talked together on
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other subjects until I rose to go. He accompanied me to the gate, and there he laid his hand suddenly on my shoulder, and the tears started from his eyes : "Oh !" said he, " you don't know what a blessing it is that you were led to the Lord when you were young, before you could know the wickedness of the world !" That was about all that he said, but I shall never forget how he looked as he spoke, and I wish that all the young people could have seen him. He died on the 3d day of May, 1876-his eighty- first birthday.
The other private member of the Church. of whom I desire to speak, is Dr. Henry Field. Dr. Field was a Lamington boy. He received his academical education partly under the instruction of his pastor-Rev. Horace Galpin-and partly in a school at Somerville. One of his schoolmates at Somerville was A. O. Zabriskie, afterward Chancellor of New Jersey.
He studied medicine with good Dr. Johnson, at White House, and very soon after settled in the young village of Clinton. He was received into the communion of the Church by certificate on the 3d of August, 1833, and from that day to his death he continued to seek the peace and prosperity of the Church. He was always the warmest friend of the Church and of the pastor, but he could never be induced to take a prominent part in the management of Church affairs. He was elected to the eldership, but his retiring disposition did not allow him to accept the office. He was a man of great and generous hospitality, the num- ber of visitors sometimes making his house seem almost like a hotel. He had a very gentle spirit, never wished to hurt the feelings of any fellow-creature and kept very clear of unkind words. He was a genial companion, with a merry little story to illustrate almost every thought that might be suggested in the course of conversation. Coming here so soon after the village was started and the Church organized, living where he did and as he did for so many years, it has been hard for me to think of Clinton without him. He died March 15th, 1878, at the age of seventy-three years.
·
After the organization of the Church, the next step was to
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obtain a pastor. The Rev. Mancius Smedes Hutton, pastor of the Churches of German Valley and Fox Hill, as has been stated, had often preached here-not only at the time of the special services spoken of, but also on several other occasions as one of the "supplies " appointed by Presbytery. As the people had become greatly interested in him, a call was made for his services as pastor. This call was presented to the Presbytery of Newton, at its meeting at Allentown, Pa., October 4th, 1831. Presbytery retained the call in its own hands, and cited the Churches of German Valley and Fox Hill to appear by commissioners at Mansfield, on the second Tuesday of the following month,* " that the parties to the case may be heard and the matter adjusted." The question of accepting the call was seriously considered by Mr. Hutton. But when the people of German Valley promised that if he would remain with them they would build a new church, he felt that he would advance the good cause best by declining the call to Clin- ton. So a greatly needed new church was secured for Ger- man Valley, but Clinton failed to get a very excellent pastor.
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