USA > New Jersey > Extracts from American newspapers relating to New Jersey > Part 21
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takes up said thief, and confines him in any of his Maj- esty's goals, so that he may be brought to justice, and the horse, &c. returned, shall have Ten Pounds reward for their service and expence; for the horse without the thief Three Pounds; for the thief without the horse, &c. Five Pounds, money at Eight Shillings the oz. to be paid by
Woodbridge, October 5. SAMUEL JAQUES. -The Pennsylvania Chronicle, No. 91, October 3-10, I768.
TAKEN-up a few Days ago, and committed to the Goal of the Borough of Elizabeth, in New-Jersey, by order of John Stites, Esq; Mayor, a Negro Man about 24 Years old, very thick Lips, talks both Dutch and English, says he is a free Man, and that he lived some Time at Bloom- ingdale, near New-York: When taken up he had on a blue Cloth Coat, old Shoes, without Stockings. The Own- er may have him again, paying Charges, and proving his Property, by applying to the said John Stites, Esq; or the Goaler, Benjamin Miller .- The New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, No. 883 October 3, 1768.
Princeton, September 28. This Day being the Anni- versary Commencement of the College of New-Jersey, after the usual Procession, the Exercises of the Day were opened by the President, the Revd. Dr. Witherspoon, with a learned and elegant Latin Oration, on the Connection and mutual Influence of Learning and Piety.
After which Mr. Edwards, pronounced a spiritual Sal- utatory Oration in Latin, on Civil Liberty.
The following Theses were then defended to general Acceptation.
Quicunque vere pii sunt, prac omnibus aliis idoirco in honore habere debemus.
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It is the Interest of any Nation, to have the Trade of it's new Countries, as free from Embarrassments as pos- sible.
The Exercises of the Morning were concluded by Mr. Blackwell, with a judicious Harangue on Genius.
In the Afternoon the following Theses were defended :
Nequitia ipsa non obstante, eos, qui nobis in republica proepositi sunt, vel qui aliquod civile Munus exequntur, venerari debemus.
It is lawful for every Man, and in many Cases, his in- dispensable Duty, to hasard his Life in defence of his Civil Liberty.
Next to these Mr. Davies, a Candidate for the Master's Degree, pronounced an animated Latin Oration on Lib- erty.
To this succeeded a very Emphatical Exhibition on true Greatness, by Mr. Rush.
The Revd. John Blair, Professor of Divinity, then de- livered a judicious Discourse on the Importance of that Office in an Institution of Learning.
The Degree of Bachelor of Arts, was then conferred on the following young Gentlemen : Robert Blackwell, Elias Van Bunschooten, Ephraim Brevard, John Culbertson, Pierpoint Edwards, William C. Houston, Adlai Osborne, Thomas Rees, Michael Sebring, Thomas Smith, Isaac Story.1
1 Robert Blackwell, son of Jacob Francis Blackwell, of Long Island, New York, was born May 6. 1748. After his graduation he studied for the ministry, and on June 11, 1772, he was ordained a Deacon in the chapel of Fulham Palace, near London, by Bishop Richard Terrick, and subsequently to the order of the priesthood. Returning to Amer- ica, he was stationed in the southern part of New Jersey as a mission- ary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, officiating at Gloucester and Waterford, and at Greenwich. In the war of the Revolution he served as Chaplain to the First Pennsylvania Brigade, and Surgeon to one of the regiments in the year 1778. In 1781 he was called to be one of the assistant ministers of Christ church and St. Peter's, Philadelphia, where he served until 1811. He died Feb. 12, 1831
Elias Van Bunschooten was born Oct. 26, 1738, at New Hackensack. Dutchess county, N. Y .. son of Teunis Van Bunschoten. After gradu- ating from Princeton College in 1768 he studied for the ministry with the Rev. Dr. Myer, was licensed in 1773. and in the same year was
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The Degree of Master of Arts, was conferred on the following Gentlemen : Jacob Van Arsdalen, John Bacon, Joel Benedict, William Davies, Jonathan Edwards, Rob- ert Halstead, Robert Ogden, Ebenezer Pemberton, Jacob Rush. Stephen Voorhees, Alexander Miller, James Tuttle; Alexander Sears Hill, A. M. of Harvard-College, was ad- mitted ad lundem.
Hugh Sim, of Scotland, was admitted to the honorary Degree of Bachelor of Arts.
The Exercises of the Day were concluded with an ele- gant Valedictory Oration on Patriotism, delivered by Mr.' Story.
settled over the Reformed Dutch church at Schaghticoke, on the Hud- son, where he labored until 1785, when he resignd. On the 29th of August of the same year he was installed over three churches-Mini- sink, Magaghamack (near the persent Port Jervis), and Walpack, cov- ering fifty miles of territory- in Orange county, New York. In 1792 he gathered an additional church at the Clove, now Port Jervis, where he resided until 1812, when, on account of the infirmities of age. he witlidrew from active duties. He died Jan. 10, 1815. He was in person about six feet in height, erect and stately in his carriage, and was a man of great sternness of character. His manner in the pulpit was earnest and impressive. and his sermons highly evangelical. He preached both in Dutch and English. In his intercourse with his neigh- bors he seems to have displayed a parsimony that was harsh and miserly, dealing justice rather than mercy. That his object in accu- mulating money was not selfish was shown when he attended the General Synod in 1814, and emptied pocket after pocket on the Mod- erator's desk, until he had turned over $800 in cash, and $13,840 in securities, which he gave to Rutgers College, in trust, the income to be used to aid young men to prepare for the ministry. By his will he increased the fund to $17,000. It was allowed to accumulate to $20.000, at which it still stands. The interest has assisted nearly two hundred young men in their studies.
Ephraim Brevard was of Huguenot extraction. After graduating. he returned to his home in North Carolina and studied medicine, and entered upon practice. He is said to have been a leading spirit in the Mecklenburg Convention, and is credited with having drafted the Reso- lutions which have become so noted. When the British forces invaded the Southern States. Dr. Brevard entered the army as Surgeon, and was taken prisoner at the surrender of Charleston, May 12, 1780. The sufferings of those captured at that time were extreme, and Brevard contracted a wasting fever which soon brought him to his end.
Pierpont Edwards, a son of President Jonathan Edwards, was born in Northampton, Mass., April 8, 1750. After graduating at Princeton, in 1768. he studied law, and began the practice at New Haven in 1771, and was for many years distinguished at the Connecticut Bar. He served in the Revolutionary army, was a member of the Legislature of that State for a number of years, served in the Continental Congress, 1787-8, and in the Federal Convention of ITSS. He was Judge of the United States District Court for several years, and until his death, April 14. 1826.
William Churchill Houston was born about 1746 in Sumter county, South Carolina, son of a prominent and wealthy planter, who was a member of the Society of Friends. His father, in deference to the views of the Society, refused to give his son a liberal education, but at last consented to furnish him a horse, equipments, clothes and fifty pounds in money, to do with as he pleased. The young man gladly accepted the compromise and made his way to Princeton, where he entered the
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A STAGE WAGGON,
Between Poulas's Hook Ferry and Hackinsack, will begin on Friday the 14th Instant October, to set out, at about Seven in the Morning.
FROM the House of the Widow Watson, at New-Bar- badoes, (where the best Entertainment may be had) and will proceed to Poulas's-Hook, from whence the Waggon will set out on its Return, at two o'Clock in the After- noon; which Stages will be regularly performed every Monday and Friday, and the best Usage given to Passen- gers, each paying two Shillings from one Place to the other.
College of New Jersy in the freshman year. In order to defray his expenses he also took charge of the grammar school connected with the college, and taught it while keeping up with his classes in college. He graduated in 1768 with distinguished honor, receiving from the authorities a silver medal. On graduating, he was continued as tutor* until 1771, when he was appointed the first professor of mathematics and natural philosophy, the duties of which chair he discharged for twelve years with fidelity and signal ability. From his orders on the treasurer of the College, in 1770, and a receipt to that officer in 1773, both in the Dreer Collection, in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, it would appear that his yearly salary was something like £40 Jersey money, or about $100. Young as he was, the Continental Congress selected him to serve as Deputy Secretary of that body, and he offici- ated as such during a part of 1775 and 1776. Two documents in his handwriting, and signed by him as Deputy Secretary, one of 22 Decem- ber, 1775, and another of 1 May (1776 ?), are in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. He was treasurer of the College. 1779-1783, and acted as librarian also for a time. When the institution was suspended, in 1776, he was appointed by the Provincial Congress. Feb. 28. 1776, Cap- tain in the 2d Regiment of foot militia in the county of Somerset, serv- ing in that capacity until Aug. 17, 1777, when he wrote the Provincial Congress "that, from his connexion with the college in the absence of Dr. Witherspoon, & other circumstances, he cannot pay the due atten- tion to his company, & begging leave to resign his commission." His resignation was accordingly accepted. He was elected to the second Assembly, from Somerset county, taking his seat Oct. 28, 1777, and was re-elected a year later, but vacated his office June 11, 1779, on his election (May 25) as a delegate to the Continental Congress. As just stated, the New Jersey Legislature in joint meeting on May 25, 1779, elected Mr. Houston to be one of the delegates of New Jersey to the Continental Congress. He was re-elected to that body Nov. 17, 1779, Nov. 23, 1780, Nov. 2, 1781, and after an interval of three years was again elected to Congress on Oct. 29, 1784. In the deliberations and measures of that body he took an active and prominent part. Several of his letters, while in Congress, to Governor Livingston, show that he possessed a clear and intelligent perception of the critical situation of the country, and of the measures best calculated to improve its con- dition. In the meantime he studied law with Richard Stockton, of Princeton, and was admitted to the New Jersey Bar at the April term. 1781. Determined to address himself exclusively to the practice of his chosen profession, he resigned his professorship, and also his office
*Writing from Nassau Hall, September 30, 1769, James Madison men- tions that the trustees "have chosen for tutors for the ensuing year, for the junior class, Mr. Houston from North Carolina, in the room of Mr. Peream." -Letters and Other Writings of James Madison, New York, 1884, I., 3.
19
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N. B. The Waggon will regularly stop about eight in the Morning and three in the Afternoon, at the Tavern of Mr. William Earl, in Bergen Woods, where any Person coming over Wehawk Ferry, may readily get a Passage to New-York or Hackinsack, in the said Waggon, kept by JOHN BARDAN.
New-Jersey Monmouth-County Sept. 26, 1768. PURSUANT to an order of the hon. Charles Reade, and John Berrien, esqrs. two of the judges of the supreme court of judicature of the province of New-Jer-
as treasurer of the College, in 1783, and removed to Trenton, where he soon acquired a considerable practice, notwithstanding his rigid deter- mination that he would never undertake a cause which he did not believe to be just. He received the appointment of Clerk of the Supreme Court, Sept. 28, 1781. He resigned this office March 17, 1786. but was re-elected the same day, and continued in that position until his death. He was Receiver of Continental Taxes, 1782-1785. It has been stated that he held the office of Surrogate of Hunterdon county, but no evidence has been found in support of that assertion. He was one of the five commissioners appointed by Congress to adjust the dis- pute between Pennsylvania and Connecticut, in relation to the Wyoming lands. They met at Trenton, November 12-December 30, 1782, and their award, though acceptable to neither side, did avoid a very threatening situation. The New Jersey Legislature appointed Mr. Houston, on March 21, 1786, to represent New Jersey at the Annapolic Convention, giving the delegates larger powers than those vested in the representa- tives from other states, thus paving the way for the Federal Conven- tion a year and a half later. On Nov. 23, 1786, the Legislature ap- pointed Mr. Houston, together with David Brearly, William Paterson and John Neilson, to represent New Jersey in the Federal Convention, which met at Philadelphia in 1787, and framed the National Constitu- tion. William Livingston and Abraham Clark were added to the dele- tion, May 18, 1787, and Jonathan Dayton on June 5, 1787. Mr. Houston had been detained at home by illness, but was present to help form the quorum which was obtained on May 25, 1787. On June 6 he was absent. (Madison to Jefferson, June 6, 1787.) On July 17, 1787, when the Convention had under consideration the clause relating to the Presidency, Mr. Houston moved to strike out the paragraph making the President of the United States ineligible for a second term, and his motion was carried. (Mr. Bancroft, however, says this motion was made by Mr. William Houston, of Georgia. The published reports of the Convention merely mention "Mr. Houston" as taking part in the proceedings that day; but in the indices to Gilpin's ed. of Madison's Papers, II., 1124; Elliot's Debates, V., 325, and to the Documentary History of the Constitution, published by Congress in 1900, the motion in question is attributed to William Churchill Houston.) His name does not appear among those who signed the Constitution, probably because of his absence on account of declining health, which had ren- dered him unable to remain in the Convention after July 23. He signed the report made to the Legislature by the New Jersey delegates to the Convention. In order, if possible, to regain his former strength, he resolved to go South, but was stricken down suddenly at Frankford, near Philadelphia, and died there on August 12, 1788 .* The Pennsyl- vania Packet, and Daily Advertiser, No. 2973, August 13, 1788, contains this brief announcement of his death and of the funeral services:
*David Evans, cabinet maker, of Philadelphia, enters in his day- book, August 12, 1788: "Made a coffin for William Churchill Houston Esq. of Trenton, who died at Geiss's tavern, on Frankford road."- Penn. Mag. of Hist. and Biog., XXVII., 50.
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sey : Notice is hereby given to the respective creditors of William Van Kirk, and John Van Kirk, insolvent debt- ors in the gaol of the said county; that they be and appear on Wednesday the ninth day of November next, at the Court-house in the county of Burlington, at twelve o'clock of the same day, to shew cause, (if any they have) why the estates of the said debtors, should not be assigned for
"Yesterday morning died on his way to this city, the Hon. William Churchill Houston, Esq. late of Trenton, formerly one of the Repre- sentatives in Congress from the State of New-Jersey .- The citizens are respectfully requested to attend his funeral from the house of Mr. Sergeant, in Arch-street, This Morning, at Eight o'clock." The Penn- sylvania Gazette and the Pennsylvania Journal make no mention of Mr. Churchill's decease. He was buried in the yard of the Second Presbyterian church, which then stood at the northwest corner of Arch and Third streets, Philadelphia. Mr. Churchill married Jane, daughter of the Rev. Caleb Smith, pastor of the First Presbyterian church of Orange, New Jersey. His wife's mother was Martha (m. Sept. 7, 1748, d. Aug. 10, 1757), youngest daughter of the Rev. Jonathan Dickinson, the first President of Princeton College. Mrs. Houston died in 1796, aged forty-one, and is buried in Lawrenceville cemetery. Children:
1. William Churchill, a successful merchant in Philadelphia, who married Susan Somers, of Philadelphia.
2. Louisa Ann, married Dr. John Vancleve, of Princeton.
3. Elizabeth, married Horace G. Phillips, who removed to Day- ton, Ohio, about 1804.
4. George S., married Mary Forman.
The foregoing account of William Churchill Houston has been com- piled from a biographical notice by William C. Alexander, published in the New York Observer, of March 18, 1858, and reproduced in great part in Hall's Hist. Presbyterian Church in Trenton, p. 308; Cooley's Genealogy of Early Settlers in Trenton and Ewing, N. J., pp. 124-128; Correspondence of the Executive of N. J. during the Revolution; Min- utes Provincial Congress of N. J., 395, 541; Minutes of the Legislature, and of the Joint Meeting, passim; Princeton University General Cat- alogue. Other sources are noticed in the text. Since the foregoing was written there has appeared the fullest sketch of Mr. Houston yet pub- lished-by Thomas Allen Glenn, Norristown, Pa., 1903, Svo, pp. 96.
Adlai Osborne was a son of Alexander Osborne, a Colonel in the Colonial army. After graduating, Mr. Osborne returned to his home in North Carolina, and was soon appointed Clerk of Rowan county, under royal rule, and held the same office after the war until 1809. During the Revolution he served as a Colonel in the American army. He was one of the original Trustees of the University of North Caro- lina. He died in 1815.
Thomas Reese was born in Pennsylvania in 1742. Removing to North Carolina with his parents when quite young, he was prepared for college by Rev. Joseph Alexander. Returning to South Carolina after his graduation, he studied theology, and was licensed by Orange Presbytery in 1773, and was ordained and installed over Salem church in the same year. In 1792 he accepted a call to two churches in Pen- dleton district. He received the Degree of Doctor of Divinity from Princeton in 1794. Dr. Reese was an accomplished scholar, his ap- pearance in the pulpit was graceful and dignified, his style flowing and elegant. For five or six years of his later life, besides performing the regular duties of a pastor, preaching on the Sabbath, and lecturing to the colored part of his congregation, he superintended a small farm, and attended to a large classical school. He died in 1796.
Thomas Smith was licensed by the Presbytery of New Castle, Del., about 1772, and ordained and settled as pastor of Middleton and Pecan- der churches, in Delaware, in 1774. He died Jan. 25, 1792.
Isaac Story became a Congregational minister, and settled at Mar- blehead, Massachusetts, in 1771. After preaching thirty years, he left the ministry and engaged in secular pursuits. He died in 1816.
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the benefit of their creditors, and their persons discharged, agreeable to a late act of the legislature of the said prov- ince, for the relief of insolvent debtors .- The New York Journal or General Advertiser, No. 1344, October 6, 1768.
CUSTOM- HOUSE, Philadelphia, CLEARED. Schooner Polly, A. Mansfield, Salem.
Trenton, September 29, 1768.
THE Members of the New-Jersey MEDICAL SOCIETY, are desired to remember, that their next stated General Meeting will be on the First Tuesday in November next, at the House of Mr. DUFF, in New-Brunswick; and as some important Matters, respecting the farther Establish- ment, &c. of said Society, will then be taken into Consid- eration, it is expected that every Member will punctually attend, if nothing very extraordinary should interfere.
For the above Reason, those Gentlemen of the Profes- sion, who have not hitherto joined the Society, are invited to attend at the Time and Place above mentioned.
ISAAC SMITH, Secretary.
TEN POUNDS Reward,
RUN away, in the night of the 30th of September, from the subscriber, living at Mount-holly, in New-Jersey, an Irish servant man, named John O'Bryan, but denies that the O belongs to his name, aged about 35 years, about 5 feet 6 inches high, marked with the small-pox, speaks pretty good English, with a little of the brogue, is a shoe- maker by trade, and can work plantation work, has short dark curled hair : Had on, when he went away, a felt hat, light coloured cloth jacket, lined with flannel, new ozen- brigs shirt and trowsers, pretty good shoes, with large brass buckles, but may be likely to change his clothes, as he stole from his master a bearskin riding coat, with side
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pockets, a bluish cloth jacket, faded to a light colour, with metal buttons, a pair of old superfine cloth breeches, of a blue colour, mixed with red, a white ruffled shirt, an old leather jacket, with a piece put in the back, lined with woollen, a pair of lattice made silver buckles, light blue grey stockings, a large silk handkerchief, ticken trowsers, and old striped shirt; he had with him two new pairs of ozenbrigs trowsers, and two new ozenbrigs shirts; and stole his master's sorrel horse, above 14 hands high, with a white face, and white hind legs, paces, trots and gallops well; an old saddle and bridle, and a bag, in which he car- ried the things, but may have stolen many more things, not yet discovered. Whoever secures the above servant and horse, &c. so that his master may have them again, shall have the above reward, or Four Pounds for the horse, &c. and Six Pounds for the man. The same fellow and horse is advertised in single advertisements, at Six Pounds; but in this I have advanced the reward to Ten Pounds, if not taken before it comes out.
JOHN MONROW.
-The Pennsylvania Gasette, No. 2076, October 6, 1768.
Capt. Wasdale, from Leghorn, the 9th ult. in lat. 21, 40, long. 60, spoke the brig Greyhound, Capt. Alexander, from this port for St. Eustatia, out 18 days; and on the 29, 50 leagues S. E. of our Capes, with Capt. Davidson, in a sloop from this port for Jamaica, out two days.
RUN away on the 28th day of September 1768, from the subscriber, living in Greenwich township in Glouces- ter county, an Irish servant lad named Thomas Morehead, but sometimes passes by the name of Dowel; with black hair, about nineteen years of age : Had on when he went away, an old shirt and trowsers, oznabrigs frock, and a
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felt hat; he has been four years in the country, and it is expected he will change his name. Whoever takes up and secures said lad in any goal, so that his master may have him again, shall receive Forty Shillings reward, and all reasonable charges paid, by
ARCHIBALD MAFFETT.
N. B. All masters of vessels are forbid to carry him off at their peril .- The Pennsylvania Journal, No. 1348, October 6, 1768.
TWENTY DOLLARS REWARD.
BROKE-out of the Goal of the County of Morris, and Province of New-Jersey, a few Days ago, two Criminals, one of which named, John Smith, 45 Years old, about 5 Feet 10 Inches high, long-visaged, and his Hair somewhat grey; the other named John Harbor, a likely young Fel- low, about 5 Feet 3 Inches high, and has the Letter D marked on one of his Hands with Gun-powder, and both of them born in Ireland : They were both bare of Cloathes, but may be well clothed, as a House not far from the Goal was robbed the Night they escaped, of the following Cloaths, (one of the two having been committed for rob- bing the same before) A mixed blue and white lappelled Coat and Jacket with blue Buttons & Binding, a faded snuff coloured lappelled Coat with yellow Binding, a Pair of Leather Breeches almost new, a Pair of new knit Breeches, and two Pair of Pumps and Stockings. Who- ever takes up and secures the said Fellows, so that they may be brought to Justice, shall have the above Reward, or 10 Dollars for each, paid by
DANIEL COOPER, Jun. Sheriff. Morris-County, Octo. 7, 1768.
Woodbridge, (N. Jersey) October 5, 1768.
STOLEN from the Subscriber, on Tuesday Night the
-
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4th Instant, by a Person who calls himself Richard How- ard; a lightish Brown Horse, about 14 Hands and a Half high, with a Star and small Snip: The Horse has been stifled in his right Leg, and has a Ring round his near Leg, occasioned by wearing a Cord: Also a Saddle, al- most new, and a Curb Bridle of black Leather. He also took away with him, a lightish colour'd Great Coat, of Coating, with Basket Buttons, and bound round the But- ton-holes; the Cape lined with green : A new double- breasted Jacket, black and blue Broad Cloth, with slash Sleeves, lined with Flannel, and Horn Buttons; also a Pair of Boots, with a Spur-piece up behind. He had on a Castor Hat, blue Homespun Coat, that has been turn'd. a strip'd Cotton Lappell'd Jacket, two check'd Shirts, long stripped Cotton Trowsers, about 5 Feet 7 Inches high, black curl'd Hair, round Shoulder'd, thin Beard, high boned, long Chin, thick spoken: Whoever takes up said Thief and Horse, &c. and secures him in any Jail, so that I can get them again, shall have TEN POUNDS Reward for their Trouble and Cost, and FIVE POUNDS for the Thief alone, also THREE POUNDS for the Horse, &c. current Money of New-Jersey, paid by
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