USA > New Jersey > Middlesex County > Perth Amboy > Contributions to the early history of Perth Amboy and adjoining country : with sketches of men and events in New Jersey during the provincial era > Part 24
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37 For a highly interesting account of this mission see "Days of Old," a Centennial Discourse by the Rev. Mat- thew H. Henderson, preached in Trinity Church, Newark, February 22d, 1847-one of the best productions of the kind.
38 This application of Mr. Brown for the parish was the cause of some un- pleasant feelings on his part. He visited the congregation in September
or October, 1768, but the Vestry then declined receiving him, on the ground of his not always enjoying good health and their preference for a clergyman from England. Probably doubting the truth of these objections, he addressed to them the formal proposition men- tioned in the text, which they again declined ; and in letters subsequently written to the Secretary, for the pur- pose of exculpating themselves from a
*
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RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.
The Vestry then tendered it to Mr. Preston, who accepted it on condition that he should be allowed to retain his chaplaincy, which being granted by his General, he was nominated, and in due time appointed by the Society their Missionary to Perth Amboy and Woodbridge, with a salary of fifty pounds per annum. 39
Mr. Preston remained at Amboy until 1774, when the " tide of war" caused his removal. He was a Scotchman, tall of stature, and with an athletic frame, surmounted by a bushy wig ; he was a bachelor and had accumulated consider- able property, the loss of which, by the failure of his banker, caused his death-bringing him to the grave old and broken- hearted. The character he bore in the recollection of aged citizens, who have certified it to the present generation, was that of a truly amiable and pious man, performing his duties in sincerity and truth. Under his administration the congre- gation steadily improved.
In September 1768-there having been for several years applicants for pews, who could not be supplied-on its being determined that no new arrangement of the pews could be made that would afford additional accommodation, a proposition was accepted from several persons to erect a gallery on the south side of the church at their own expense, they to hold their pews under the same rules and regulations that were in force towards those in other parts of the church. Seven pews were consequently constructed in the course of the ensuing year, which were to revert to the vestry should the occupants remove, and they were made subject to assessments for the Clerk and Sexton. 40
charge of unkindness to Mr. Brown, they state that " the peace and har- mony of the church made it necessary to refuse him." They add that Mr. B.'s practising as a physician had been the fruitful source of contention with his Newark parishioners through the bills rendered by him in that capacity ; and as they had experienced some bad effects from Mr. Mckean's practising, · they thought it advisable to avoid the possibility of dissension by procuring
some other clergyman .- Records of Soc. for Prop. Gos.
39 Minutes of Vestry.
40 These rates were laid Dec. 26th, 1769. One pew paid 4s. 4d. and the other 3s. 6d. each to the sexton and double these sums to the clerk-these rates were increased in 1771. The pay of the sexton in 1733 was about 5l. 5s. raised by a tax on the pews, and the same amount was paid to the clerk. The list of these worthies is not
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RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.
Although the congregation had thus increased, the commu- nicants had not. Mr. Preston reports them in 1770 as only thirty in number. He says : "We are in this town very little intermixed with dissenters of any denomination. There are only two Quaker families, and some few Presbyterians, but these last frequently come to church. They have a meeting house here, but the doors of it have not been opened for these two years past." He estimates the population of the town at that time to be 500.
From January 3d, 1774, to November 11th, 1782, there are no records of the Vestry's proceedings, and it is doubtful if any meetings were held. The dire consequences of the civil war raging throughout the colonies fell upon the small congre- gation of St. Peter's and scattered them abroad,-many of them to seek in foreign lands a home they might no longer claim within sight of the church in which they had so long worshipped-and others, who would have watched over its welfare and protected its altar from insult, obliged to attend elsewhere the calls of their own or their country's interests. " The sacred edifice was soon laid open to the injuries of the weather ; the works in the inside were torn to pieces ; the floor, cleared of the pews, was occupied as a stable for horses, and the graves and monuments were exposed to injury by the destruction. of the fences :- Against the headstones fires were lighted by the soldiers to prepare their food, and the tomb- stones they occupied as tables for the meals which they thus pre-
complete. Previous to 1764, John Stock- ton was sexton, and dying that year, Henry Richards succeeded him. No oth- ers are mentioned by name previous to the revolution, at which time Edward Aswell was clerk. January, 1785, Hugh Brady was appointed sexton, and in August, 1791, Thomas Griggs, with a salary of 3l. In 1764 John Griggs was clerk, and in October he in- formed the vestry, the fees of the office were so small as not to be worth his ac- ceptance, and therefore desired leave to resign the situation. But Mr. Griggs was too valuable an officer to lose, and a farther tax was laid upon the pews in order to increase his salary a pound. In Dec. 1769, by the addi-
tion of the south gallery the fees were farther increased to &l. 5s. and the sexton's to about 7l. 10s., and in 1771, another graduation took place, by which the fees of the sexton were fixed at 7l. 2s. 6d., and the clerk's at 101. 2s. 6d. In 1805 Baltus Leonard was ap- pointed sexton, and held the office thirty-two years, digging in that time it is said four hundred graves with his own hands. He died in 1837, and was succeded by George Fothergill, whose salary was $20 and fees ; and in 1846 John Foster was put in the re- sponsible and valuable post, which he held until his death, in 1854, being suc- ceeded by his son, George Foster, the present incumbent.
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RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.
pared." 41 Had not the church been built of durable mate- rials, the trial to which it was subjected would have proved fatal ; and to those who subsequently for so many years gath- ered together beneath its roof it was ever a matter for con- gratulation, that in the providence of God it escaped the fiery ordeal. In this connection the following letter from Mr. Preston is interesting :
Mr. Preston to the Secretary. (Extract.)
PERTH AMBOY, NEW JERSEY, Jan'y 2d, 1777.
Reverend Sir :
My correspondence with the Society has been interrupted for some con- siderable time, owing to this place having been made a garrison-town of the Rebels, and their endeavoring to intercept all letters that were writ from hence ; which was attended with bad consequences to the writers of them. Whilst they were here they never interrupted me in the discharge of my duty, they threaten'd, indeed, to compell me to observe the Fast Day that was appointed by Congress in May last, which I not choosing to do, I left town for two days, and on my return had service in church as usual without any molestation, which I continued till the end of June, when In- dependence was declared. After that it would not have been prudent in me, nor, indeed, would they have have suffered me to officiate, unless I would have conformed to the alterations which they made in the Liturgy. Upon the King's troops taking possession of Staten Island, which is separated from this place by a narrow channel, they crowded in 6,000 or 7,000 men into this little town, filled all the houses with soldiers, and took the church and made a Barrack of it; they at last gave out an order that any person that had any connections or acquaintances upon Staten Island should quit the place. Upon this the greater number of the Inhabitants were obliged to leave Town. I retired 40 miles back into the country, where I remained till one of the King's Regiments passed along, which had been made prison- ers and were going to be exchanged, and I Join'd them and got to this Town the 20 of December. I had service in the church the Sunday before Christmas and had that day 20 communicants. Few of the inhabitants have as yet been able to return here, the Roads are all beset by the Rebels and their houses are now filled with the King's Troops. I found the Par- sonage House so demolished that it was not habitable : the windows broke to pieces, the Partitions torn down, the Outhouses and Fences all burnt and destroyed :- £300 will not repair the damage and how that is to be done I know not; for every body here have been such sufferers that it cannot be expected that they should contribute much towards it. Many of them will find it a hard matter to repair their own losses. My own private losses I do not bring into the account, tho' I have been a considerable suf- ferer ; part of my Household Furniture is gone, and some of my books, amongst which was the Register of Baptisms, &c., so that I can make no return to the Society of the occasional duties for these two years last past. I am, Reverend Sir, Yours.
JOHN PRESTON.
During the years 1782, '83 and '84 the Rev. Abraham
41 Mr Chapman's Hist. Discourses.
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RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.
Beach occasionally officiated in the parish, being appointed in 1783 by the Society for Propagating the Gospel, at the request of the 'Vestry, their temporary missionary. The revolution over, and all civil and ecclesiastical connection with Great Britain severed, Mr. Beach continued to serve as mis- sionary by the invitation of the congregation until succeeded by the Rev. John Hamilton Rowland, in 1784, who was at that time settled as Rector of St. Andrew's Church, Staten Island. He officiated for the congregation at stated periods . for two or three years and then removed to Nova Scotia. As yet nothing had been done towards repairing the church. It was in such a dilapidated state, that, saving the expense of walls, the cost of repairs promised to be equal to that of its first construction ; but in Ootober, 1784, the vestry commenced devising plans for fitting it up for the services of Mr. Row- land, but they matured very slowly. Subscriptions to a tri- fling extent were obtained at once, and the first repairs effected show in how ruinous a state the church then was. The Com- mittee were directed to glaze the two south windows, and half the end window, to board up all the others, and put a lock on the door : but it is doubtful if the building was made use of in this condition.
The following March (1785) resolutions were passed having in view the complete reparation of the church, commencing with the windows and floors, by effecting a loan to the amount of £150, secured by a lien upon the rents of the church lands, and subsequent donations. On the 16th April the vestry petitioned the Board of Proprietors of the Eastern Division for aid, and received from them a grant for one hundred acres of land, which were sold and the proceeds made available, form- ing, with the above-mentioned sum and private contributions of the inhabitants, a sufficient fund to warrant the completion of the interior. The arrangement of the pews was changed by placing the pulpit at the east end, instead of leaving it as before between the two north windows, and leaving one aisle to run the length of the building.
The pews were completed in October, and they were sub- sequently sold to the following persons : the war having
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RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.
worked a great change in the list of attendants on the services of the church.
No 1)
32 )
2 Unsold.
31
Unsold.
3
30
29 J
4 5 Capt. John Moore.
28 George Buchanan.
6 Margaret Campbell.
27 James Dobbin.
7 John Clark. 42
26 James Parker.
8 Jacob Weiser.
25 John L. Johnston.
9 Norris Thorp.
24 James Parker.
10 John Griggs. 43
23 John Halsted.
11 Matthias Halsted.
22 John Johnston.
12 John Rattoone.
21 Thomas Farmar.
13
Joseph Taylor.
20 Andrew Bell.
14
Jane Lyell. 44
19 Lambert Barberrie.
15 Sophia Terrill.
18 Henry Farley.
16 Poole England.
17 Joseph Marsh.
It is presumed that Mr. Rowland's labors in Amboy ceased about August, 1786, for in that month Mr. Joseph I. Bend, a candidate for orders, who then resided in the town and taught a school, was engaged by the congregation as lay reader. On being ordained, Mr. Bend removed to the South, 45
42 In 1791, John Hampton.
43 In 1791, Ravand Kearny.
44 In 1791, Anthony Butler.
45 He was thought to be something of a poet, and a MS. copy of a poem entitled "The Pennsylvaniad," with some other pieces, has been seen by the author in a good state of preser- vation. He was of an irascible, que- rulous disposition, and before leaving Amboy, from a supposition that many of the inhabitants were inimical to him he invoked the Muses in a " Prophetic Vision inscribed to Miss Eliza Park- er,"-in which he kindly condemned the place and its people to numerous ills. It may satisfy the curiosity of some, to give some specimens of this vision. The reader must first be in- formed that Mr. B.'s Guardian Angel
" Induced by pity to unhacknied youth, A foe to base deceit, a friend to truth,"
wings . his flight to his protegé's " re- tired abode," to bring him "wise in- struction from on high." After up- braiding him for his restlessness under the dispensations of Providence, he takes the poet first to the Church and thus addresses him :
* Rev. Mr. Skinner.
" Here view effects of war's destructive rage, And borrow wisdom from its bloody page. When Britain's King possessed this wide do- main,
And lovely peace maintained its gentle reign ; Here did a decent, modest train repair,
To join in praise, to join in ardent prayer. They prais'd, they pray'd, they felt their hearts rejoice,
With silence heard the reverend preacher's voice ; *
He from the treasure of his sacred lore Dispens'd, with liberal heart instructions pure. Improv'd each transient moment as it flew, And 'bove this world he rais'd their wond'ring view."
*
But
" Snatched from this corrupt world, his labors o'er,
Where oft his towering soul was wont to soar He dwells in bliss, and from his blest abode Complacent views the servants of his God. By his example fired, another rose t
And taught the way to bliss, to sweet re- pose ;
Short was his reign : he yielded to his doom, And tears sincere bedewed his early tomb." * * *
* *
The prophetic vision so far as the Church was concerned showed,
" Religion gasping in the gloomy shade ;
HIer priests far hence by worthless scandal dri- ven,
+ Rev. Mr. Mckean.
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RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.
and was succeeded in his school, and probably in his cleri- cal duties also, by George Hartwell Spieren. In June, 1788, this gentleman was called by the congregation to be their minister as soon so he should be ordained, which took place on the 9th July following, at Amboy, -the Right Rev. Dr. Provost, Bishop of New York, officiating,- and on the 18th July he was admitted to Priest's orders in New York.46 Thus the first ordination in New Jersey according to the forms of the Protestant Episcopal Church, took place within the walls of old St. Peter's at Amboy.47 Mr. Spieren was an Irishman, who had received a good edu- cation, and is described by an English traveller as "a man profoundly versed in the languages of Greece and Rome, and not unconversant with the delicacies of the English ; and a powerful preacher.48
On first entering the ministry he was exceedingly diffident, so much so as to be obliged to prepare himself for his public ministrations by first reading to small assemblies in private houses, and to associate others with him when making his pastoral visitations. He had enjoyed the advantages of good society, wrote poetry, and danced elegantly. He was married, but his lady does not appear to have moved in the same circle with himself.
While Mr. Spieren was in charge of the congregation, measures were taken to procure a new bell. In April, 1773, it was recommended to lessen the clapper of the bell they
Her votaries few, who raise their thoughts to heaven,
Iler temple ruined, tottering to its fall,
Her friends depress'd lament the hanging wall."
He is next directed to the "Govern- ment House, " now "Brighton, " which had been burnt during the revo- lution.
"Yon ruined mansion view ; observe it well,
There wit and mirthful glee were wont to dwell,
Prudence and courage, manly sense refined, With every great endowment of the mind. There by his proxy Britain's Monarch reigned, Unshaken loyalty its court maintained. The sad reverse, the mournful prospect see, And yield submission to the stern decree,- Defac'd the glory of the neighboring plain, Its naked, ruin'd walls alone remain A sad memento they shall ever stand.
And find no friendly, no assisting hand. Remorseless foes shull on its ruins jest, And screech-owls, toads and snakes the walls infest." * * * * * *
But we cannot follow the poet in his wanderings. Enough has been extracted to show that Mr. Bend's Guardian Angel was no seer. The moral of the vision appears to be, that for the injustice of its inhabitants to Mr. Bend, the ancient city would in due time be delivered up to destruc- tion.
46 Minutes of Vestry.
47 Mr. Chapmans's Hist. Discourses. 48 Travels of John Davis in the U. States, from 1798-1802, p. 140.
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RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.
then had, but nothing more is entered in regard to it, until January, 1787, when, anticipating the receipt of the funds from the sale of the lands given to the church by the proprie- tors, the Vestry ordered a committee to " consult Mr. David Ross, of Elizabethtown, to know his price for a bell about 3 cwt., and report his terms," the great necessity for one having been considered and the old one being unfit for use ; but the negotiation seems to have been unsuccessful.
In 1788 a ship commanded by Capt. Philip Lytheby, a Scotchman, arrived at Amboy from the Bahama Islands, and learning that the place had been settled principally by his countrymen, and grateful for the civilities shown to him while there, he offered to procure the casting of a bell of the size required, and by resolution of the vestry on the 9th November,, the old bell was placed in his possession towards payment. therefor. A vote of thanks to " Capt. Lytheby also passed, not only for his kind offer, but also for " the use of his ship's bell to be hung in the State House until the vestry are sup- plied with a proper one for the church." The bell was pro -- cured, and in due time made its appearance as a present from: Capt. Lytheby, and took its station in the tower of the church. 48, Many have heard it ring forth its summons to the worship of God, without knowing that around it is this quaint inscrip -- tion :
"IN PERTH AMBOY MY SOUND ENJOY, 1789."
In June, 1790, as the previous lottery had resulted so ad- vantageously for the church, an application was presented to the Legislature, then 'in session at Amboy, for another, and an act was passed authorizing a scheme to raise the sum of £350 .. It was put under the management of John Rattoone, Michael Kearny and Andrew Bell, and the lottery was drawn in Oc- tober, and an additional sum was secured by private subscrip- tion.50
49 Capt. Lytheby became afterward a regular trader out of Amboy. His store or warehouse was under the hill adjoining, on the south, the precincts of the old Parker mansion. Some re-
mains of its foundation were visible . until with a few years.
50 It was drawn at the Court House -the Hon. James Parker, still living, being one of the boys employed. The .
236
RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.
Mr. Spieren did not long remain in charge of the congre- gation. He removed into the diocese cf New York, and sub- sequently into that of South Carolina, where he assumed the charge of the Georgetown Seminary,51 and where he died.52 The precise time of his leaving is not known, but in 1791, the Vestry, in conjunction with that of Christ Church, New Brunswick, invited the Rev. Henry Van Dyke of Poughkeep- sie to become the Rector of the two churches. Having ac- cepted the invitation he arrived at Amboy with his family on the 19th April, and officiated alternately between Perth Amboy and New Brunswick, until June or July, 1793, when he removed to Burlington.53
The church being thus left vacant, the Vestry thought it advisable, until they could offer greater inducements to a permanently settled minister, to get one of the neighboring clergymen to supply the pulpit occasionally, or for a stipu- lated time, and complied with the unanimous wish of the con- gregation in engaging, on the 25th November, 1793, the Rev. Richard. C. Moore, of Staten Island, to officiate for them once a fortnight.55 The services of Mr. Moore, afterward Bishop of Virginia, endeared him to the small flock over which he thus became the overseer, and after his removal to other fields of labor, his occasional visits were full of interest ; the surviving members of the congregation welcoming him with all the warmth of personal friendship and regard ; and the descend-
high prize of $1,000 fell to General Frelinghuysen. It is probable this lottery led the people of New Bruns- wick to think of a similar plan for the benefit of their church. In 1791, 750l. was raised by lottery there. It was drawn in July under the inspection of Col. John Bayard, President of New Brunswick ; James Parker, Esq. Mayor of Amboy, and Archibald Mercer, De- puty Governor of the Manufacturing Society of New Jersey.
51 Davis's Travels, p. 140. It was at Georgetown that Davis met with Mr. Spieren. He was there when the news of the death of Gen. Washing- ton was received, and Mr. Spieren preached a funeral sermon. "Never was there a discourse' -- he says- " more moving. Tears flowed from
every eye, and lamentations burst from every lip," p. 514. Davis alludes also to Mr. S.'s dancing, and gives a humorous piece of poetry written to commemorate the participation of " the Parson and the Doctor," his friend, in a dance at Waccamaw, and their inter- ference with the enjoyment of the par- ty by their ignorance of its mysteries. On his leaving South Carolina, Davis took letters of introduction from Mr. Spieren to Bishop Moore of New York, which seem to have secured him a favorable reception.
52 Rev. Mr. Chapman's Discourses.
53 His salary was 100l. N. Y. cur-
rency.
54 Minutes of Vestry. His salary was to be 50l. per annum.
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RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.
ants of all estimating as they should the privilege of receiving the administration of the holy ordinances of the church from the same hands, and listening to the words of truth from the same lips, to which their parents had looked for similar benefits.
Mr. Moore for several years performed his duties in the parish with great punctuality and fidelity, notwithstanding the difficulty and danger attendant upon crossing the Sound at all seasons ; but the growth and welfare of the congregation requiring the services of a permanently settled pastor, the Vestry after some considerable delay-arising from the scarci- ty of unengaged clergymen at that time-finally called, in 1804, the Rev. Jasper D. Jones to the rectorship ; who con- tinued in charge of the congregation until the spring of 1809, when he resigned, and removed to Connecticut, where he died in 1823.55 On the 9th September, 1809, the Rev. James Chapman was chosen Rector, and continued to be the incum- bent for the long period of thirty-five years. He resigned in 1844, but still resides in Amboy, performing missionary ser- vices in the neighborhood.
At the time of Mr. Jones's resignation the church was much embarrassed with heavy debts, but in 1813 arrange- ments were made by which these obligations were discharged. The erection of a new parsonage, however, in 1815, again unfavorably affected the finances of the congregation, but under prudent management, St. Peter's has since been placed on as firm a foundation as it at any former time possessed.
In 1794 a new pulpit and reading-desk were erected, and in 1811 a new chancel constructed, and in 1825 the church was thoroughly refitted and numbers of forest trees set out, that will cast their shade upon the graves around, and add to the beauty of the already delightful site. To afford room for the growth of these and others subsequently set out, most of the tall poplars that are represented in the sketch on a pre- ceding page were cut down, many of them having become de- cayed. A new fence was also placed around the churchyard in 1824, which, after the lapse of sixteen years, gave place to a better in 1841.
56 Rev. Mr. Chapman's Discourses.
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RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.
After the rectorship of Mr. Chapman closed, the church was supplied by various clergymen for some months, but the next year (1845) the Rev. Hamble J. Leacock, then officiating as Missionary at Woodbridge and Piscataway, was called to the charge of the congregation-and continued its rector till 1848, when he resigned ; his private affairs having called him to the West Indies the year previous. Mr. Leacock's services were highly regarded, and the congregation relin- quished them with regret. The vacancy was not filled until the summer of 1849, by the calling of the Rev. H. E. E. Pratt ; the church in the intermediate time being supplied by occasional services from different clergymen. The new church was first used for public service, while yet not entirely finished, on Sunday, June 19th, 1853. It is to be regretted that the old edifice, hallowed by so many pleasing associations, could not have been preserved for all time ; but its limited dimensions, and, in some respects, dilapidated condition, rendered its destruction unavoidable. Mr. Pratt removing to California, in 1854, the Rev. Alexander Jones, D. D. was called to the Rectorship, January 1st, 1855, and is the pres- ent incumbent.
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