USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Newark > First church in Newark : historical discourses, relating to the First Presbyterian church in Newark; originally delivered to the congregation of that church during the month of January, 1851 > Part 9
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HOLY DYING.
sense and memory, not knowing how long the Lord will continue the same mercy to me, being weak under His good hand of Providence, and willing to be at His dispose ; therefore, for life or death, do leave this as my last will and testament."*
Next, Richard Lawrence, perceiving that the infirm- ities of age were now creeping over him, made his last will and testament, Dec. 10th, 1686, acknowledging in nearly the same words used by his old friend Crane, the summons he had received from heaven, "to set his house in order."+ Old Michael Tompkins " being" he said, "infirm in body, and subject to many changes, and not knowing the time of my departure out of the world," began on the 30th day of January, 1688-9, to get his affairs in readiness. Before the end of March, 1691, both the good deacons had gone to their long home .¿
John Baldwin, junior,§ Joseph Riggs, | John Brown
Samuel Swaine made his will in New York, the 17th of March, 1681-2. It may be presumed perhaps that he died in that illness, as his name appears for the last time on the records, in the llist made in 1680. His wife Johanna died prior to Dec. 5, 1690. Town Records, p. 87. Town Book, p. 35.
+ Richard Lawrence's will is dated the 10th of December, 1686, and sworn to March 30th, 1691. His children mentioned in the will are, Bethiah, wife of Stephen Bond, Mrs. Bruen, wife of John Bruen, and Sarah, to whom was left the dwelling house and furniture .- Town Book, p. 10.
# Michael Tompkins made his will Jan. 30, 1688-9, which was sworn to by his ex- ecutors, Dec. 4, 1690. He must have died prior to the latter date. His children men- tioned in his will are, Jonathan, Micah, Seth, Mary Rose, Abigal Dalglesh, and Elizabeth Bishop. (See Town Book, p. 14.)
§ John Baldwin, Jr.'s, will is dated Dec. 21, 1688, and sworn to Nov. 28, 1689. His children mentioned in the will are, Han- nah Tichenor, and John, yet under age. He mentions William Camp as his unele. The inventory of his estate bears date Jan 30, 1688-9. Town Book, p. 14.
| Joseph Riggs's will bears date Jan. I, 1688-9, and was sworn to Nov. 27, 1689. His children being all minors were left in the care of their mother, to whose use for herself and them the whole estate was left during their minority, except two guns and one sword. Their names are John, Samuel, Zophar and Elizabeth. After their mother's decease, John was to have the homestead Samuel and Zophar the land at the mountain, and Elizabeth what- ever her mother should choose to bestow. The sword and hunting gun were be- queathed to John, and the other gun given to Samuel. Town Book, p. 18.
T John Browne's will is dated Decem-
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HOLY DYING.
and David Ogden,* all left behind their dying testi- mony in nearly the same words. "First, I bequeath my soul unto the hands of Almighty God, hoping for salvation from the riches of His grace, by the alone merits of Jesus Christ, and through faith in His blood. Also, I commit my body to the earth, decently to be buried, and there to rest until the resurrection of the just."
Nor was that venerable veteran, Lieut. Ward, or John Ward, senior, a soldier, not of his country only, but of his Heavenly Captain, surprised without his armor when the hour came for his last conflict. Nov. 21st, 1694, he left his dying testimony : " Imprimis. I commit my soul immortal unto God who gave it, to glorify Him, and to be glorified by Him for ever more. I give my body to the dust, of which it was made, to be decently and honorably buried, in hope of a better resurrection by Jesus Christ, Who shall change this vile, frail, and corruptible body of mine into the like- ness of His own glorious body, according to the work- ing whereby He is able to subdue all things to Him- self, that so I may be ever with the Lord, which is far best of all."+
Thus calmly, confidently and holily did the patri-
ber 17, 1689. He died November 5, 1690. The children named are, eldest son John, Joseph, Thomas, Daniel who was to have the homestead, Esther, Mary Pierson, Hannah Riggs, Phebe Dod, and Elizabeth Freeman. His loving brother, Ephraim Burwell, is one of the appointed overseers. See Town Book, p. 20.
* David Ogden's will is dated Dec. 26, 1691, and sworn to Feb. 27th, 1691-2.
Children mentioned are David, the eldest, John, Josiah, and Swaine. His wife, Eliz- abeth is appointed executrix. Town Book, p. 16.
+ John Ward, Sen., or Sergeant Ward, afterwards Lieut. Ward, when in the year 1672 Lieut. Swaine was promoted to the captaincy, probably died not far from Nov. 20, 1694, the date of his will. (Rec- ords at Trenton, copied by Mr. Congar.)
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SACRED GROUND.
archs of this community pass away from the turmoils of the world. Fit epilogue for such a drama as they had been enacting! Fit end for such a life as theirs !
"So fades a summer's cloud away, So sinks the gale when storms are o'er ; So gently shuts the eye of day, So dies a wave along the shore."-MRS. BARBAULD.
The wastes of time have not left us the departing words of most of the others; but doubtless what we have here is but a sample of the entire community. Dear, honored sires ! No costly monument crowns the turf where they slumber, and no pretentious pan- egyric has applauded their merits. All unconsciously, and only in the records of their ordinary business transactions, they wrote from day to day their own memoirs, epitaphs and eulogy. Thrice hallowed be the spot where their honored dust moulders. Some old mortality come yearly and with pious care remove the gathering moss from their headstones. Let the turf be green, and the choicest foliage wave its shad- ows above it. Let it be sacred to piety and filial reverence, and no unhallowed foot intrude within its enclosure. Let the ground be made the most beauti- ful and attractive in our city, as it is the most replete
1 with holy memories; and let the generations, as they rise, learn to hold in special honor and affection, the old graveyard where the fathers lie waiting for the resurrection of the just !
But I am perhaps dwelling too long on these pathetic memorials. It only remains that I record the closing event of this period, the dissolution of the pastoral
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DISMISSION OF THE MINISTER.
relations of the Rev. Abraham Pierson, junior. The removal of so many of the first settlers had doubtless operated to change in some degree, the public senti- ment of the community, and meanwhile a new race had sprung up, and new elements from abroad come in to modify it still further. But however that may be, dissatisfaction arose at length between the people and the pastor, out of some differences of views respect- ing Church government, the precise nature and merits of which cannot now be determined. Mr. Pierson, it seems, was not pleased with the strictly Congregational plan on which the Church had been settled, but pre- ferred a moderate form of Presbyterian government .*
* Dr. Macwhorter says, in his manu- Weathersfield, both of whom led the way in script history, that Mr. Pierson, after his calling the Council of 1657, with which the New Haven men were so much displeased ; while, on the other hand, those who strenuously insisted on the restrictions re- ferred to, among whom in Connecticut were Governor Webster and the other ag- grieved brethren of Mr. Stone's church pursued their opposition in the name of strict and original Congregationalism. It is in accordance with this view that we find a Scotchman writing to his friends from New Perth, in 1664, commending the people of East Jersey, as very much like the Presbyterians, "only," he says "they will not receive every one into their society." father's death, "was for introducing more rigid Presbyterianism into Newark, in which he was encouraged by four men from Scotland, who had fled from the persecu- tions and troubles there under Charles II. Their names were Young, Nesbit, Clisby, and Douglass, who for their zeal and piety had been admitted by the first settlers to great privileges in the town. Meanwhile," he adds, "in the progress of the settle- ment, many had come to the place from Connecticut, with strong habits in favor of the Saybrook platform, from whence arose an opposition to Mr. Abraham Pier- son, and his measures and party, so that he finally thought it expedient to leave the town, and remove." Several errors are to be noticed in this statement.
In the first place, Presbyterianism in New England at that day did not stand related to Congregationalism, as the more rigid, but as the less rigid system. The party who were accused of Presbyterian leanings, were those who opposed the Puritan plan of restrict- ing the privileges of baptism and church membership. Such was the case with Mr. Stone of Hartford, and Mr. Russel of
In the next place, those who came from Connecticut prior to Mr. Pierson's dismis- sion, in 1692, could not have come "with strong habits in favor of the Saybrook Platform," since that Platform did not come into being till 1708, sixteen years later; nor, if it had, would those who were inclined to favor it, have been op- posed to Mr. Pierson's innovations on that account, as the Saybrook Platform was nearer to his views than the previous practice.
There is, furthermore, some apparent
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CAUSES OF DISSATISFACTION.
Unquestionably he was not extreme in these prefer- ences, as his whole character and subsequent life indi- cate. Where the blame lay we are not competent to determine. Dr. Macwhorter throws it chiefly on the pastor, though the merciless edge of his sarcasm does not spare the people. "Matters were peaceable in the town," he says, "and went well in the Church while the father lived, but soon after his death some became uneasy with the young man. His abilities, and the pride of directing were far beyond any thing that the congregation had been accustomed to witness."* But Mr. Dickenson, of Elizabethtown, who undoubtedly knew the facts, as he was a pupil of Mr. Pierson in Yale College, and graduated under his presidency, as- cribes it to an unreasonable jealousy on the part of the people. In reply to some reflections on the conduct of the Presbyterians by an Episcopal minister, after
misapprehension in Dr. Macwhorter's statement respecting the emigrants from Scotland. Excepting Douglass, none of the names mentioned appears in any list of settlers, or in any town trans- actions, until about the time of Mr. Pierson's dismission. The name of Rob- ert Young first appears in the records in 1690. James Clisby was admitted a planter in March, 1693-4. Dr. M.'s Cen. tury Sermon gives 1670 as the date of their arrival in Newark; but if they were here so soon, they certainly could not have been " admitted to great privileges in the town" till a much later day. None of their names, except that of Douglass, appear among the signers of the agreement to pay Mr. Pierson's salary, when there was a difficulty respecting that matter in 1688. Scotchmen however were here, and one of them, probably, viz., John Cockburn, was . among those signers. On the whole, how- ever, it seems probable that Dr. Macwhor-
ter's statement respecting the meeting of two contradictory elements-from the old hive in Connecticut on the one hand, and from Scotland on the other, and its in- fluence in producing division and dissatis- faction in the Church-is substantially correct, notwithstanding the errors of its details.
* Century Sermon, p. 10. The spirit of this statement is manifestly incorrect. Mr. Pierson was neither as far superior in abil- ities to his father, nor as far inferior in other respects as this would imply. Nor was he at this time entitled to be called a young man, having reached the mature age of 37 years when his father died, and that of fifty-one or two at the time of his dismissal. Dr. M. is mistaken, too, in supposing him to have been dismissed soon after his father's decease. During at least ten years of his sole pastorate we hear not a note of disturbance or disaffec- tion.
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CAUSES OF DISSATISFACTION.
speaking of the harmonious co-operation of Congrega- tionalists and Presbyterians in New England, "who have always," he says, " lived together as united brethren," he thus refers to the case now before us : "Some of the people of Newark have, indeed formerly, been culpable for managing a controversy with their worthy minister upon these points, and I hope your putting them in mind of it, may conduce to their hu- miliation, if there be any of them yet living. But then they did not imitate the disposition of the people of New England in this opposition to that worthy gen- tleman, who removed from their abuses to New Eng- gland, was there received with great kindness and love, and advanced to the rectoral charge of their col- lege, in which he lived and died in the highest honor and esteem among them all, notwithstanding his Pres- byterian principles. In a word, as both Presbyterians and Congregationalists were from the beginning em- barked upon the same bottom, so have they yet reason to conclude, notwithstanding their lesser trifling differ- ences in their sentiments, that they have all the same common interests to pursue."
It is not improbable that the truth lay somewhere between these two apparently opposite judgments. The people were liable, from their early history to be too strenuous on points of ecclesiastical government ; and the minister may have erred in attempting to in- troduce in such a community, modifications for which the body of the people were not prepared.
Traces of the dissatisfaction may perhaps be detected in the records of the town, wherein it appears that on.
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CAUSES OF DISSATISFACTION.
one occasion the usual vote to collect the pastor's sal- ary " by a rate," was afterwards " desisted from," and recourse had to a voluntary contribution; and that during the last two years of his ministry, the amount agreed upon was not collected in any way .* It is due, however, to the honor of the town to add, that not- withstanding this temporary stopping of the supplies, all arrearages were collected and paid in full after his dismission.+
* " Jan. 2, 1687-8. Item-The way of Dalglesh, Francis Lindly, Samuel Pierson, rating as formerly, which was after desist- ed from, and agreed to pay the minister by contribution for the year 1687."
"Jan. 9, 1687-8. It is fully and unani- mously consented unto by every planter now present, all being called by name, that they will from time to time pay or cause to be paid yearly, in their full pro- portion, equally, in a rate that may be agreed on by the major part of the town, to the maintenance and allowance now agreed upon for the upholding and preach- ing of the Word in our town, and eighty pounds by the year is agreed upon to be allowed to the present minister, with his fire-wood, and to be rate free. Note-It is to be understood that every man that doth now subscribe to this agreement, he pay- ing his proportion in the rate, shall not be liable to be prosecuted to make payment for any that may be deficient in non-pay- ment. In confirmation whereof, we have hereunto set our names. John Ward, sen., John Bruen, Thos. Johnson, Samuel Free- man, John Curtis, John Baldwin, jr., Seth Tompkins, Micah Tompkins, Sam'l Tiche- nor, Edw. Ball, Edw. Riggs, Sam'l Kitchel, John Cockburn, Anthony Oliff, Joseph Riggs, Theophilus Pierson, Azariah Crane, Samuel Harrison, Daniel Dod, Stephen Davis, Samuel Plum, sen., John Crane, Nathaniel Ward, John Browne, sen., Zech- ariah Burwell, Ephraim Burwell, Thomas Browne, John Tichenor, Joseph Browne, John Browne, jr., Joseph Walters, Eben- ezer Camfield, Matthew Camfield, Robert
Jasper Crane, Joseph Harrison, Thomas Pierson, Samuel Dod, George Harrison, Samuel Lyon, Thomas Richards, David Ogden, Samuel Rose, Richard Lawrence, Jonathan Sargeant, John Baldwin, sen., Hans Albers, Jonathan Tompkins, Joseph Johnson."
" Town meeting, April 2, 1692. It is voted that Mr. Pierson shall be paid his salary for that time which no rates have been made proportionable to the rate made for two years together, viz .: '88 and '89." Town Records, pp. 111, 112, 116.
+ The period above referred to was one of great political disorder. Sir Edmund Andros had received a commission as Governor of all New England, including New York and New Jersey. He assumed the government of this Province in 1688, the Proprietors having made a formal sur- render of their patent to King James on the condition that their rights to the soil should be respected. Of this event several old deeds and wills of the Newark people bear witness, by being dated at "Newark, in the government of New England." (See Newark "Town Book.") But the Revolution in England had led to the seizure of Andros, and the subversion of his offensive government in New Eng- land. Deputy Governor Hamilton doubt- ing about his powers, had gone to England for instructions. Governors were appoint- ed whom the people "scrupled to obey," and during several years, viz., from 1689 to 1692, they were left without any gov-
90
CHARACTER OF ABRAHAM PIERSON, JUNIOR.
The date of this event was somewhere between the 23d of January,* and the 2d of April in the year 1692. Immediately afterwards, Mr. Pierson sold his house and lands in Newark, and returned to Connecti- cut, where he settled as pastor of the Church in Kil- lingworth, in the year 1694. A few years later, on the institution of Yale College, he was appointed its first rector, and his people being unwilling to part. with him, the trustees established the college tempora- rily at Killingworth, where he continued in the exer- cise of both offices till his death, which took place on the 5th of March, 1707, in the sixty-sixth or sixty- seventh year of his age.+
The character of Mr. Pierson seems to have fallen in no respect behind that of his excellent father. Trumbull says of him-" He had the character of a hard student, a good scholar, and a great divine. In his whole conduct he was wise, steady and amiable. He was greatly respected as a pastor, and he instructed and governed the College with general approbation." There is no doubt that he was a thorough Calvinist, or he would not have been appointed as the first Pres- ident or Rector of Yale College. An early tradition
ernment whatsoever, except that of their own local authorities. Of the troubled state of affairs the Newark Town Records show tokens in the vote of March 25th, 1689-90, already referred to, appointing a committee "to order all affairs in as pru- dent a way as they can for the safety of ourselves, wives, children and estates, ac- cording to the capacity we are in;" and at the beginning of the next year, we find
the following : "It is voted, that the sol- diers be paid their wages for the time they were out." How much influence these disorders may have had in discour- aging the people in their ecclesiastical af- fairs, must be left to conjecture. (See Whitehead, pp. 112-181. Newark Town Book. Newark Town Records.)
* See Patrick Falconer's will.
+ Trumbull, vol. 1, p. 488.
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CONCLUSION.
represents him as an excellent preacher, and an ex- ceedingly pious and good man ; and particularly as " very kind and charitable to the poor and indigent, who in a special manner lamented his death."*
Such were the beginnings, and such the men who made the beginnings of this ancient Church and con- gregation. It was my intention to pursue the sketch, and bring it down near to the present time. But the matter has so grown upon my hand, that I shall be obliged to defer the rest to some other opportunity.
Let me close to-day with one or two reflections sug- gested alike by the text, the subject of discourse, and the present occasion.
"One generation passeth away." So we find it. "The fathers" of this Church, "where are they, and its prophets, do they live for ever ?" All who shared in its early toils have been done with earth more than a century, and their memories we are able to restore only from obscure vestiges. Even the generation which stood here when the aged Macwhorter sum- moned his flock fifty years ago, to "consider the days
* In a letter, said to have been written to President Stiles of Yale College, in 1788, "by Abr'm Pierson, son of Ab'm Pierson, son of Rector Pierson, son of Abr'm Pier- son, pastor of a Church on L. I.," it is said, " that an aged woman of ninety states that she has seen said Mr. Abraham Pier- son, and heard him preach often. He was something taller than a middle size, a fleshy, well formed and comely looking man ; and she remembers that the people set very much by him, and esteemed him an exceeding pious good man, and an ex- cellent preacher. Particularly she remem-
bers that he was a very kind, charitable man to the poor and indigent, who in a special manner lamented his death. She also remembers his having care of a col- lege." Lambert says, p. 151, " After Mr. Pierson graduated, and before he settled in Newark, he resided for some months in Milford, and it is thought pursued his the- ological studies with Mr. Newton. He married while in Milford, Abigal Clark, daughter of George Clark, farmer, and sister of Sarah, the mother of Governor Law."
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CONCLUSION.
of old and the years of ancient times," where are they now ? Almost all gone! And is the generation of which we form a part destined to a different lot? The dying of another year, another half century, speaks to us of dying time, dying opportunities, a dying life ! We are all going, and if not prepared for our depart- ure soon, it is very certain that we never shall be.
But we are reminded also by the same sacred Word that "another generation cometh." The world will not cease its course because we are gone. Other forms will occupy this house of prayer, other voices will sound the praises of the sanctuary, and another tongue will speak of the love of Jesus, and point the way to heaven in this pulpit. At least so we trust it may be.
So it will be, through God's grace and Providence, if we are faithful in the work assigned us. Even now we see the young plants scattered among us, who will flourish as we trust, when we are removed, strong, healthful, fair and fruit producing trees in the garden of our God. Another generation cometh ! Alas, many of the present race of men have had the offer of salvation and rejected it; and even the professed chris- tians of the present age are far below the true mark, both in the intensity and the completeness of their piety. Let them pass away then, if it must be so, and a new and better era dawn upon the Church and the world. Another generation cometh ! O yes, and we will take courage, as we see their glowing counte- nances intent on listening to the Word of Life in the sanctuary, in the Sabbath school, and at the family altar, in the hope that they will prove themselves a
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CONCLUSION.
purer, holier, more completely Christian race of men than were any of their fathers. So shall the promise be secured to us, "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of Hosts."
DISCOURSE NUMBER II.
ECCLESIASTES, I: 4. One generation passeth away and another generation cometh.
SOME may ask, where is the propriety of inquiring so minutely into the experience of long buried gene- rations. Since "their love, and their hatred, and their envy have now perished, neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun," why not let their names and their history too pass into oblivion ?
We reply, the seeds of the present are to be found in the past. The world, with all its circumstances, opinions, customs, laws, ruling our present condition and shaping our future destiny, are what they are in consequence of the actions and characters of those who have gone before us. We ourselves are what we are, because of influences which have distilled upon us, like the silent dew, through the atmosphere of a thousand generations. In the past therefore we have a practical interest, and must look narrowly at its characters and events, in order to understand well either our circum- stances or ourselves.
In the former discourse we traced the history of this
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SECOND GENERATION.
congregation through the first quarter of a century of its existence. We come now to a period in which the means of information are less abundant, and the evi- dence of prosperity in the congregation less steady and unequivocal. The generation of the first settlers was fast passing away. A few names already familiar to us, are still found among the leaders of the commu- nity,* but its affairs have chiefly fallen into the hands of the children, or of those who, when the settlement was begun, were recorded under the designation of "young men."+ Azariah Crane, only twenty years of age when he signed the fundamental agreement, was now, I suppose, the deacon of the Church; and his broth- er, Jasper, then too young to be mentioned in the pub- lic affairs, had become one of the most active citizens. John Treat, son of the chivalric Captain Robert, and brother-in-law of Deacon Crane, then only seventeen years of age, was now prominent among the "towns- men," and with Jasper Crane, junior, serving from year to year as a representative of the town in the Provin- cial Legislature. John Curtis, who was twenty-five years old at that time, had become one of the most re- spected fathers of the community. Jonathan Sargeant and Daniel Dod, then likewise among the "young men"
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