USA > New Jersey > Documents relating to the Colonial History of the state of New Jersey, Vol. XXVIII > Part 20
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After this a Dialogue on "the proper Employment of the Time of Youth," composed by a Graduate of the Col- lege, was spoken by Messrs. Evans, Finley, and Hodge.
The next in Order was an Oration on "the Advantages of political Liberty," pronounced by Mr. Eckley.
Mr. Burnet, a Candidate for the second Degree in the Arts, then delivered an Oration on "the Principles of Criticism and Taste;" and Mr. Davenport,1 another Can- didate for the second Degree, an Oration on "the Influence which Success has in fixing the general Estimation of the Merit of Actions."
The President then conferred the Degree of B. A. on the following young Gentlemen, Alumni of the College, Isaac Alexander, Moses Allen, Robert Archibald, Will- iam Bradford, Andrew Bryan, Aaron Burr, John Debowe, Joseph Eckley, Israel Evans, Ebenezer Finley, Philip
2 And.
1 John Davenport, of the Class of 1769. See N. J. Archives. 26:521.
18
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Fithian, James Grier, Andrew Hodge, Andrew Hunter, Robert Keith, William Linn, William Smith Livingston, Samuel Maccorkle, John Macmillan, Oliver Reese, James Templeton.2
2 The following biographical sketches of the Class of 1772 are for the most part condensed from S. D. Alexander's "Princeton College during the Eighteenth Century":
ISAAC ALEXANDER, one of the Mecklenburg family of Alexanders, after graduating, returned to North Carolina and entered upon the study of medicine.
MOSES ALLEN was born in Northampton, Mass. He was licensed by the Presbytery of New Brunswick, February 1, 1774. On March 10, 1775, he was ordained near Charleston, South Carolina, and installed as pastor of an Independent Church at Pappetaw. In 1777 he resigned his charge and removed to Liberty County, Georgia, where he took charge of the Midway Presbyterian Church; but the next year his congre- gation was dispersed and his church burned. He thereupon entered the army as chaplain. At the capture of Savannah he was taken prisoner, and being obnoxious to the enemy, on account of his patriotic exhortations from the pulpit, and his animated exertions in the field, he was confined closely in a prison-ship. Wearied with his confinement for weeks in that loathsome place, he determined to es- cape by swimming, but was drowned in the attempt, on the night of February 8, 1779.
ROBERT ARCHIBALD, after leaving Princeton, studied medicine and later theology, and was licensed by the Presbytery of Orange, Va., in the autumn of 1775. He was ordained and installed pastor of Rocky River Presbyterian Church, North Carolina, October 7, 1778, and continued to hold this office till he was brought into difficulties for preaching erroneous doctrines, about the year 1792, for which, in 1794, he was suspended from the work of the ministry, and, in 1797, was solemnly deposed.
WILLIAM BRADFORD, a grandson of William Bradford, the cele- brated printer of Philadelphia, and son of Colonel William Bradford of the Revolutionary Army, was born in Philadelphia, September 14, 1755. He remained a year in Princeton after graduating, studying theology with Dr. Witherspoon. On returning to his home, he read law in the office of Edward Shippen; but the Revolution commencing, he joined the army, and rose to the rank of Colonel, which he was compelled to resign in April, 1779, on account of ill health. Returning to the study of law, he was admitted to the Bar in the same year, and settled in Yorktown, Pennsylvania. His marked ability soon at- tracted attention, and in 1780, when but twenty-three years of age, he was appoir ted Attorney-General of the State. He held this position for eleven years, when, on the 22d of August, 1791, he was elevated to the Supreme Bench of Pennsylvania. This office he filled until 1794, when he was appointed by Washington Attorney-General of the United States, in which office he remained until his death, which oc- curred August 23, 1795, at Rose Hill, near Philadelphia. Judge Brad- ford married a daughter of Elias Boudinot in 1782.
AARON BURR was the son of President Burr, and the grandson of President Edwards. In 1775 he joined the army at Cambridge, and accompanied Arnold in his expedition against Quebec. In 1779, with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, he retired from military life. In 1782 he commenced the practice of law at Albany, but soon removed to New York City. From 1791 to 1797. he was a member of the Senate of the United States. He and Jefferson had each seventy-three votes for President of the United States in 1800. On the thirty-sixth ballot in the House of Representatives Jefferson was elected, and Burr be- came Vice President. On the 11th of July, 1804, he mortally wounded Alexander Hamilton in a duel. In 1807 Mr. Burr was arrested for high treason, and was tried in Richmond and acquitted. Luther Martin, of the class of 1766. a personal friend, was one of his counsel. The remainder of Mr. Burr's life was passed principally in New York in comparative obscurity and neglect. He died September 14, 1836, and was buried at Princeton, near the grave of his father.
JOHN DEBOW received his license from the Presbytery of New Brunswick in 1773, and soon after removed to North Carolina, where
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And the Degree of M. A. on the following Gentlemen, Alumni of the College, John Beatty, Matthias Burnet, John Davenport, James Linn, Thomas Melville, Samuel Smith, William Wilcocks.
he was ordained and installed pastor of a Presbyterian Church at Hawfields in 1776. Here he remained until his death, which occurred September 17, 1782.
JOSEPH ECKLEY was born in the city of London. He was licensed by the Presbytery of New York May 7, 1776. In 1779 he was ordained pastor of the Old South Church, Boston, where he remained until his death in April. 1811. His alma mater conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity about 1787.
ISRAEL EVANS was the son of the Rev. Samuel Evans, licensed by Philadelphia Presbytery in 1741; and was a grandson of the Rev. David Evans, a native of Wales, who graduated at Yale in 1713, and was ordained in 1714. Mr. Evans was ordained by the First Presbytery of Philadelphia in 1776, and immediately entered upon his duties as Chaplain in the American Army, serving from 1777 till the close of the war as Chaplain to the New Hampshire Brigade, and by means of this connection, he was introduced to the Church in Concord, New Hampshire, of which he became pastor July 1, 1789, his classmate, Joseph Eckley, preaching his installation sermon. He resigned this charge in July, 1797, but continued to reside in Concord, where he died March 9, 1807. [Hertman's Register says that Israel Evans was Chap- lain 1st New York, 3d August, 1775; Chaplain 2d New York 21st No- vember, 1776; Brigade Chaplain, 5th January, 1778; retired 1st August, 1780; and see N. Y. Col. Docs., XV., 527, 186; and N. Y. Rev. MSS. II., 9, 29, 31, 44. This was doubtless a different man from the New Hamp- shire Chaplain.] He received from Gen. Washington a complimentary letter for a sermon he preached at Valley Forge Dec. 18, 1777, to Gen. Poor's Brigade, of which he was Chaplain, says Sparks.
EBENEZER FINLEY, the eldest son of President Finley, studied medicine, and became a highly respectable physician in Charleston, South Carolina.
PHILIP VICARS FITHIAN was born in Cumberland County, New Jersey. In connection with his classmate, Andrew Hunter, and about forty other young patriots, he assisted in the destruction of a cargo of tea at Greenwich, New Jersey, on the evening of November 22, 1774. Mr. Fithian was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Phila- delphia in 1775. For some time he labored as a missionary under the direction of the Presbytery, and then entered the army as Chaplain. At the battle of White Plains he fought in the ranks. He died in 1776 from disease contracted in camp. Mr. Fithian was never or- dained. A volume of his "Journal and Letters, 1767-1774," was pub- lished by the Princeton Historical Association in 1900.
JAMES GRIER, a native of Bucks County, Pa., graduated with the highest honors of his class, and acted as tutor for about a year. He was licensed by the First Presbytery of Philadelphia in 1775, and or- dained and installed as pastor of Deep Run Presbyterian Church, Pennsylvania, in 1776, where he remained until his death, November 19, 1791.
ANDREW HODGE was the son of Andrew Hodge, a wealthy mer- chant of Philadelphia. After graduating, he commenced the study of law in the office of Governor Reed. He was thus engaged at the open- ing of the Revolution, when his patriotism led him to join the First City Troop of Philadelphia, which participated in the battle of Trenton. Shortly before the close of the war he engaged in commercial business with his younger brother, Hugh, until 1783, when the firm was dis- solved. He continued in business until about 1806, when the embargo and his impaired health caused him to retire from active life. He resided partly in Philadelphia and partly in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, until his death. which occurred in May, 1835.
ANDREW HUNTER, the son of a British officer, was born in Vir- ginia. For a sketch of the Rev. Andrew Hunter, see N. J. Archives, Second Series, III., 109.
ROBERT KEITH, a native of Pennsylvania, studied theology after his graduation, and was licensed by the First Fresbytery of Phila-
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Archibald Gamble, B. A. of Philadelphia College, was admitted ad eundem in this College.
John Hotchkiss, M. A. of Yale College, and Harvard College ad eundem.
delphia about 1775, and for some time acted as a missionary in Penn- sylvania and Virginia. In 1779 he was ordained, and received the ap- pointment of Chaplain in the Army, serving during the whole war. Mr. Keith was never permanently settled over a congregation. He died in 1784.
WILLIAM LINN was born in Shippensburg, Pa., in 1752. Soon after being licensed, he entered the American army as chaplain. In 1784 he was Rector of an academy in Somerset County, Md., where he ac- quired a high reputation as a teacher and scholar. In 1786 he removed to Elizabethtown, New Jersey, and became pastor of the Presbyterian Church in that place. He remained here but a few months, as in the November after his settlement he received and accepted a call to the Reformed Dutch Church of the City of New York. In consequence of declining health, which it was supposed a change of air might benefit, he removed to Albany, where he died in January, 1808.
WILLIAM SMITH LIVINGSTON, a son of Robert James Living- ston, was commissioned Major of Lasher's Regiment, New York Militia, July, 1776; Aide-de-camp to Gen. Greene, 12th August, 1776, to 14th January, 1777; Lieutenant Colonel of Webb's Additional Conti- nental Regiment, 1st January, 1777; retired 10th October, 1778 .- Heit- man's Register. He then studied law and was admitted an attorney of the Supreme Court of New Jersey at the April Term, 1780. After- wards he practised law in the City of New York.
GEORGE LUCKEY was a native of Faggs Manor, Pa. He was licensed by the Presbytery of New Castle in 1776, and was ordained and settled as pastor of Bethel and Centre Churches, Hartford County, Md., where he preached until 1799, when he resigned. He died at Bethel, probably in 1819, as his name disappears from the roll of Synod in that year.
SAMUEL EUSEBIUS MACCORKLE was born in Lancaster County, Pa., August 23, 1746. His parents removed to North Carolina when he was quite young, and he was prepared for college by Rev. David Caldwell, of the Class of 1761. After graduating, he studied theologv with his maternal uncle, the Rev. Joseph Montgomery, of the Class of 1755, and was licensed by the Presbytery of New York in 1774. For two years he labored as a missionary in Virginia, and in 1776 re- turned to North Carolina, and on the 2d of August, 1777, was installed pastor of the church at Thyatira, where he remained until his death, January 21, 1811.
JOHN McMILLAN, a native of Chester County, Pa., became one of the most eminent founders of the Presbyterian Church in the Western country. He was licensed by the Presbytery of New Castle, Del., October 26, 1774. In 1775 he made a missionary tour through the Valley of Virginia, enduring much privation and meeting many difficulties. He made a second tour to the same region in 1776. Crossing into Western Pennsylvania, he was ordained and settled as pastor of the Congregations of Chartiers and Pigeon Creek, where oc- curred some of the most remarkable revivals in the history of the Church. Mr. McMillan very early turned his attention to the educa- tion of young men for the ministry. He started a school within a year after he removed his family to the West. In 1791, his school became merged with an academy at Cannonsburg, which in time be- came Jefferson College.
OLIVER REESE was licensed by the Presbytery of New Brunswick in 1774, and in 1775 was ordained and settled as pastor of Wilton Presbyterian Church in South Carolina. The congregation seem to have rejoiced in securing him as their pastor in those troublous times. But his connexion with them, and his work on earth were alike brief. He died either in the same year or the succeeding one.
JAMES TEMPLETON received his license from the Presbytery of Hanover, Va., October 26, 1775, soon after which he removed to North Carolina. In 1794 he became stated supply of Nazareth Church in South Carolina, and continued so for nearly eight years. In 1797 he was at the head of the "Philanthropic Society," organized with the view of advancing and perpetuating an academy of South Carolina, in 1797.
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Andrew Oliver, Esq; M. A. of Harvard College, ad eundem in this College.
The Revd. Thomas Reid, of Newark, B. A. of Phila- delphia, to the Degree of M. A. in this College.
David Rittenhouse, M. A. of Philadelphia College, ad eundem in this College.
The Revd. Henry Hunter, of London, M. A. to the Degree of Doctor in Divinity.
The Revd. John Adam, of Greenoch, in North Britain, M. A. to the Degree of Doctor in Divinity.
Mr. Bradford then pronounced a valedictory Oration, on "The Disadvantages of an unequal Distribution of Property in a State;" and the President concluded the whole with Prayer.
The Exercises both of the Forenoon and Afternoon, were preceded and closed with vocal Musick, by a select Number of the Students.
The Assembly was numerous, learned and polite, con- sisting of Persons of Rank and Fortune, from almost all Provinces on the Continent, some of the most distant; and who will, doubtless, do Justice to the real Merit of the Speakers, and the present State of the College, which is truly flourishing.1
To the PRINTER of the PENNSYLVANIA CHRONICLE.
SIR,
THE important consequences which result from the cultivation of the youthful mind, render it an object worthy our strictest attention and watchfulness. On the method of conducting the education of our children depend, in a great measure, their future characters, as
1In The New York Gazette; and the Weekly Mercury, No. 1094, October 12, 1772; The Pennsylvania Gazette, No. 2286, October 14, 1772; The Pennsyl- vania Packet, and the General Advertiscr, No. 52, October 19, 1772; The Pennsylvania Journal, and the Weekly Advertiser, No. 1558, October 14, 1772; The Pennsylvania Chronicle. and Universal Advertiser, No. 301, October 10- 17, 1772; The New York Gazette, or The Weekly Post-Boy, No. 1541, October 26, 1772; The New York Journal, or The General Advertiser, No. 1555, Octo- ber 22. 1772.
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obedient sons, just and useful citizens, and upright christians. Every member therefore of society is interested in its execution, and has a right to offer his sentiments with candour and modesty; to propose and commend what appears salutary, and to detect and oppose whatever he conceives pernicious in any publicly adopted method of instruction.
The author of this letter, tho' he has not himself enjoyed the benefits of an acedemical education, was ever a zealous friend to well-regulated Seminaries, and enter- tains the hope that his children will hereafter reap some of their advantages. For these reasons he cannot forbear mentioning what appeared to him improprieties in a late public exhibition at a neighboring Seminary; in order that, if they are real they may be removed, or, if only apparent, that his prejudices may be obviated. Attending at a late commencement, he, with many others, was sur- prised to hear most of the young Gentlemen discussing, in their performances, the most perplexing political topics. The most difficult and knotty questions, relating to the British constitution, were solved in a jerk; and one Orator, in particular, showed us, that he was better ac- quainted with the nature of the disturbances in Ireland, than the Ministry itself .- I could almost have persuaded myself that I was within a circle of vociferous politicians at Will's coffee-house, instead of being surrounded with the meek disciples of wisdom, in the calm shades of academic retirement. Institutions of this sort I always understood, were intended to enable our youth, by giving them a general view of the intellectual world, to apply themselves, with steadiness, ease and success to the acquirement of such knowledge as is necessary to their figuring with utility and lustre, in any of the learned de- partments in society.
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To attain a competent acquaintance with classic lore, with the constitution and revolutions of ancient states, with the manners and customs and the philosophical tenets of antiquity, with the mathematics, and natural history, to gain a knowledge of the opperations of their own minds, the leading principles of ethics, and an acute- ness in distinguishing truth from falshood, and to accus- tom them to compose with accuracy and elegancy, and to speak properly and persuasively-these I conceive are the peculiar objects of academical education; and these are abundantly sufficient to engross the scanty term of a collegiate life. An examination of questions which relate to the British constitution, or to the present circumstances of the nation, must be highly unseasonable, as it diverts the attention of Students from subjects necessary for their inquiry, and either leads them to speak of what they know not, or engages them in investigations which are beyond the sphere and remote from the views of academical education. To determine the propriety of a public measure generally requires an eminence in knowl- edge which the unfledged wings of youth cannot soar to, and a comprehensive view of numerous circumstances, important principles and perplexed tracts, which their feeble unpurged eyes cannot take in.
As I would not choose that my son's mind should be imbued, at an Academy, with the peculiar opinions of any religious sect, or be entangled in any of the controversies of Theology, before he was furnish'd with abilities and rules to enable him to form a proper judgment of them; so neither would I be willing that he should be nurtured in the dogmas of any political party, or attempt to canvass the measures of administration, or declaim on the fitness of any statute, instead of employing his time in acquiring those general principles of government, which would
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enable him hereafter to study the constitution of his own country with advantage.
Should it be said, that such a disorderly method of study is not countenanced at the College alluded to, it will then be difficult to show the propriety of exhibiting as fruits of their academical education (in which light the performances at a commencement are always considered) exotic productions which were never cultivated at the Seminary.
It is also worthy of consideration, that the inhabitants of this country are composed of persons widely differing from each other in their religious and political principles. They will consequently look with a jealous eye on the slightest attempt to render the instruction at any Academy subservient to infuse into the minds of their children, sentiments contrary to their own. This circum- stance alone, will induce a wise preceptor to guard against any practice, which may present the smallest ground for such a suspicion, and we especially wish that such a cau- tion may be maintained in a Seminary, which, by reason of the happiness of its situation, remote from scenes of temptation, is deemed by many to be best adapted for the education of youth.
A FRIEND TO IMPARTIALITY.
Lancaster October 19, 1772.
-Pennsylvania Chronicle, No. 303, October 31, 1772.
P URSUANT to an Order of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas, in and for the County of Somer- set, notice is hereby given to the Creditors of Daniel Mor- ris, jun. Edward Brown, and William Denis, three insol- vent Debtors, that having severally filed their Schedules, and complied with the Directions of the late Act of the Governor, Council, and General Assembly of the Prov-
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ince of New-Jersey, entitled, "An Act for the Relief of insolvent Debtors, that the said Creditors do appear at the Court-House of said County, on the 13th Day of No- vember next, at Two o'Clock in the Afternoon, before two of the Judges of the said Court, to shew Cause, if any they have, why the said Daniel Morris, Edward Brown, and William Denis, should not be discharged agreeable to the Directions of the said Act.
TO BE RUN FOR,
O VER a beautiful fine course lately made at Acquack- ennock bridge, near Timothy Day's, on Thursday the 22d day of October inst. a purse of Ten Pounds, free for any horse, mare or gelding not more than half blood; the two best of three two mile heats; each horse to carry 8 stone 7 pounds; not less than three reputed running horses to start for the said purse. The horses to be en- tered with Timothy Day, the day before running, paying Twelve Shillings entrance, or double at the stake. Proper judges (gentlemen of good repute) will be chosen and appointed to determine any dispute that may arise in the said race. The entrance money to be run for the next day, by all except the winning and the distanced horses. To start at 2 o'clock in the afternoon.
N. B. If rainy weather that day, the next day the horses positively to start.
T House of Assembly, New-Jersey, Sept. 7th, 1772. HE petition of Jacob Kemper, an insolvent debtor, praying a law for his relief, &c. was read the second time: On the Question,
ORDERED, That he have leave to bring in a bill at the next sessions, (unless cause shewn to the contrary) and that the petitioner publish a copy of this order in the public news papers, six weeks before the next sessions.
A true copy, JONATHAN DEARE, Clk .- The New York
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Gazette; and the Weekly Mercury, No. 1094, October 12, 1772.
We are informed that by an Act of the Legislature of New-Jersey, passed at Perth-Amboy on the 26th of Sep- tember last, there are not to be any more Fairs held in the city of Burlington, Princeton or the township of Wind- sor.1
Once more the Fair at Princeton will be held on Wed- nesday and Thursday, the 21st, and 22d of this instant, October.
New-Brunswick, October 11, 1772.
IT is my endeavours to make the troops under my com- mand behave as British soldiers ought to do, not only honestly, but to look on the inhabitants as their fellow subjects, and treat them with civility; this is a great re- straint upon bad men, who desert to be more at their lib- erty. I therefore beg the favour of all his Majesty's good subjects, that they will lend their assistance in the apprehending of THOMAS PRISLEY, HENRY BAKER, THOMAS RUSSELL, and PHILLIP SCHRYER, who have deserted from the four companies under my command, besides being obliged to those who lend their assistance; every person who gives such information to any party of his Majesty's troops, so that any of the said deserters shall by them be apprehended, shall, for each of the said deserters so apprehended, receive a reward of TWENTY SHILLINGS Sterling, to be paid by me: And whoever brings any of the said deserters to me, or delivers him or them to any commissioned or non-commissioned Officer of the King's troops, shall, for each so brought, receive a reward of FORTY SHILLINGS Sterling.
Gavin Cochrane, Capt. Com. Of Royal American Ist Battalion.
1 The act in question is published in Allinson's Laws, 383.
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TO BE SOLD,
A LOT OF LAND, in the township of Springfield, in Bur- lington county, containing about 15 acres; on which is a good dwelling-house lately finished, stable, chair-house, garden, orchard, &c. Also, a Store, Pork-House, and Smoke-House, conveniently situated for trade, there being no store within several miles, and where a great quantity of pork may be taken in. For terms apply to WILLIAM DILLWYN, WILL. LOVET SMITH, Or JOSEPH SMITH, who have also for sale,-The Dwelling-House, Stores, and Wharf, situated on Water-street, between Race and Arch- streets in Philadelphia, now in the tenure of Jonathan Smith, and James and Drinker. . October 14.
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