USA > New Jersey > Historical collections of the state of New Jersey : containing a general collection of the most interesting facts, traditions, biographical sketches, anecdotes, etc. relating to its history and antiquities, with geographical desciptions of every township in the state. > Part 22
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CAVELIER JOUET."
On Tuesday night, the 27th ult., (April, 1781,) about 200 regulars and refugees from Staten Island, under the command of Maj. Beckwith,-who had eluded, by circuitous routes, the vigilance of the different patroles,-entered Elizabethtown in four divisions ; where they captured ten of the inhabitants, one lieutenant and three privates of the state troops, and two continental soldiers. They stayed about an hour and a half in town, and then retreated, with the loss of one man killed and another taken prisoner. They plundered the house of Mr. Joseph Crane to a very considerable amount.
From Rivington's Royal Gazette, Jan. 29, 1780.
On Tuesday night, the 25th inst., the rebel press at Elizabethtown were completely surprised and carried off by different detachments of the king's troops.
Lieut. Col. Buskirk's detachment,-consisting of about 120 men from the 1st and 4th battalions of Brig. Gen. Skinner's brigade, with 12 dragoons under the command of Lieut. Stuart,-moved from Staten Island early in the night, and got into Elizabethtown without being discovered, between the hours of 10 and 11. With little resistance, they made prisoners 2 majors, 3 captains, and 47 privates,-among whom were 5 dragoons, with their horses, arms, and accoutrements. Few of the rebels were killed, but several were wounded by the dragoons, though they afterwards escaped.
Maj. Lumm, of the 44th regiment, marched from Powles Hook about 8 at night, . having under his command the tank companies of that regiment, with detachments from the 42d Anspach and Hessian corps in garrison in this city, and, passing the rebel patrols upon the banks of the Passaic, reached the town of Newark, unperceived by the enemy, about an hour later than Col. Buskirk's arrival at Elizabethtown. Small parties were instantly posted to guard the principal avenues to the town, and Maj. Lumin seized possession of the academy, which the rebels had converted into a barrack. A moment- ary defence being attempted, seven or eight of the enemy were killed. The remainder, consisting of 34 non-commissioned officers and private men, were taken prisoners,-as were likewise a rebel magistratc, remarkable for his persecuting spirit, and another in- habitant. The captain who commanded in Newark made his escape. The Lieut. is said to be killed.
The services were performed without loss. The following are the names of some of the rebel officers brought to town on Thursday last, from Newark : Joseph Haddon, a
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magistrate, and commissioner for the sale of the loyalists' estates in New Jersey ; Mr. Robert Nott, an acting commissary. From Elizabethtown : Mcj. Eccles, of the 5th Maryland regiment ; Col. Belt, of the 4th regiment, from Prince George co .; Mr. B. Smith, son of Peartise Smith ; Maj. Williamson and his brother.
The following biographical sketches of Rev. Jonathan Dicken- son and Rev. James Caldwell, are extracted from memoirs recently published in the New York Observer :-
JONATHAN DICKENSON was born in Hatfield, Mass., April 22d, 1688. He was gradua- ted at Yale College in 1706. Where, or with whom he studied divinity, is now unknown ; but in the year 1707 or 1708, and when he was about twenty-one years of age, he be- came pastor of the First Presbyterian church of Elizabethtown, N. J., of which he was for forty years the devoted and beloved pastor.
A controversy which had existed for some time in the synod of Philadelphia, then representing the whole Presbyterian church in the provinces, resulted in dividing that synod into two parts in 1741, which were thereafter known as the synods of New York and Philadelphia. From the time of their separation each made strong exertions to edu- cate youth for the ministry, with the mingled purpose of raising the standard of minis- terial education, and of strengthening their party. New Jersey went nearly unanimously with the synod of New York; and as the Presbyterian church was much stronger there than in New York, it was determined if possible to establish a college, and to locate it in New Jersey. Dickenson was the leader of his party in the old synod of Philadelphia ; and, after the separation, was the leading man in the synod of New York. He it was, no doubt, that gave being and shape to the deliberations that resulted in the creation of the College of New Jersey. He liad been for several years a very successful and popu- lar teacher of young men ; and when the institution was resolved upon, every eye turned to him as the best qualified to lay its foundations, and to superintend its concerns. A charter for the college was sought, and granted by John Hamilton, who acted as gover- nor, (being the oldest member of council,) between the death of Gov. Morris, in May, 1746, and the induction of Gov. Belcher in 1747. The college thus founded was com- menced in Elizabethtown, and Mr. Dickenson was chosen its first president. It is now in a very flourishing state, with an able and extended faculty, with numerous buildings 'and students ; but then, with the exception of an usher, the president was the only teacher, and the number of students was about twenty, who boarded with the president and with other families in the town. An old academy, which stood where the lecture- room of the First Presbyterian church in that town now stands, and which was burned down during the war of the revolution, contained the first recitation-room of the first classes ever attached to the New Jersey College. Although brought into existence through the energy and influence of Dickenson, he was spared to act as its president but one year, as he died Oct. 7, 1747. The students were then removed to Newark, and placed under the care of the Rev. Aaron Burr, who was elected to succeed Dickenson ; and in 1757, when about seventy in number, they were removed to Princeton, where the first college edifice was erected, and which, in honor of William III. of England, prince of Orange and Nassau, the assertor of Protestant liberty, was called Nassau Hall. This great and good man died of pleurisy in the 60th year of his age,-though not full of years, yet full of honors.
The first Presbyterian parish of Elizabethtown is now a very large one; but when under the care of Dickenson, it embraced Rahway, Westfield, Connecticut Farms, and Springfield. Over this extensive field the pastoral labors of Dickenson were scattered. And while a most laborious and faithful pastor, he was one of the most accomplished teachers of his day. He was compelled by the smallness of his salary to cultivate a farm, which he managed both with skill and profit. He was also a physician, possess- ing a large practice, and obtained a considerable medical reputation. He was also an ardent controvertist, and wrote largely on the Arminian and Episcopal controversies.
Mr. Dickenson left behind him three daughters. One of them married a Mr. Sar- geant, of Princeton, N. J., of whom the Hon. Jolin Sargeant, of Philadelphia, is a de- scendant. Another married the Rev. Caleb Smith, of Newark mountains, now called Orange, and the other became the wife of a Mr. John Cooper.
It is stated that Mr. Dickenson and the Rev. Mr. Vaughn, rector of the Episcopal church, entered Elizabethtown on the same day ; and after living forty years together, and serving their churches as pastors, that they died on the same day. Although con- troversy was at times very high between them, they never permitted it to embitter their
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feelings, or to interrupt their personal intercourse. Dickenson died about three hours before Mr. Vaughn. It was told to Mr. Vaughn in his dying hour that Dickenson was no more. And among the last words that he was ever heard to utter, were these : " Oh, that I had hold of the skirts of brother Jonathan !"
REV. JAMES CALDWELL .- We learn from some of his descendants, of whom there are very many, that his family was of French origin. Driven from their country by the fierce persecution against the Huguenots, they went over to Scotland. In the reign of James I., a branch of the family emigrated to Ireland, and settled in the county of An- trim. From this branch John Caldwell was descended, who came to this country, bring- ing with him, besides his wife and children, four single sisters. He first settled in Lan- caster co., Pa., but soon removed to a settlement called Cub creek, in what is now Char- lotte co., Va. There James was born, the youngest of seven children. At the age of fifteen he was sent to Princeton College, where he graduated in 1759. In about a year afterwards he was licensed to preach the gospel ; and whilst the dew of his youth was yet upon him, he was ordained and installed pastor of the First Presbyterian church of Elizabethtown, N. J., in December, 1761. On the 14th of March, 1763, he was mar- ried to Miss Hannah Ogden, of Newark, who was, in every respect, a help-meet for him. By her cheerful piety and unshaken fortitude she sustained and comforted him amid the many dark and trying scenes through which he was called to pass.
Shortly after his settlement, those differences between the colonies and Great Britain commenced, which resulted in the war of the revolution, and subsequently in the inde- pendence of these United States. Descended from the Huguenots, he early learned the story of their wrongs, and may be said to have inherited a feeling of opposition to tyr- anny and tyrants. Possessing warm feelings, and fine genius, and great muscular en- ergy, he entered with all his heart into the controversy. He was elected chaplain of those portions of the American army that successively occupied New Jersey. He ac- companied, in that capacity, the Jersey brigade to the northern lines ; and such was the confidence reposed in his skill and energy, that on his return he was made commissary. He was high in the confidence of Washington, with whom he was on the most intimate terms of friendship ; and in times of gloom and despondency, by his eloquent and pa- triotic appeals, contributed much to sustain and excite the spirits of both officers and soldiers. No man in New Jersey contributed so much to give direction and energy to the movements of her citizens. His popularity with the soldiers and people was un- bounded, and his practical wisdom was held in the highest estimation.
But the very things that made him popular with the friends of his country rendered him odious to its enemies. And to avoid the dangers to which he was constantly ex- posed from the tories and the enemy, then in possession of New York and Staten Island, he was compelled to remove his residence to Connecticut Farms, about four miles from Elizabethtown, where he resided until the day of his murder.
He was sustained in his political action by his large congregation, and with scarcely a single exception. The church in which he preached was yielded as an hospital for the sick, and disabled, and wounded soldiers ; its steeple was the watch-tower, and its bell it was that sent out the notes of alarm on the approach of the foe. In vengeance on pastor and people, the church was fired on the 25th of Jan., 1780, by a refugee called- Hetfield, whose malignant wickedness will never be forgotten by the residents of East Jersey. On the 25th of the following June, whilst Gen. Knyphausen was on his way to Springfield, Mrs. Caldwell was shot at Connecticut Farms, by a refugec, through the window of a room to which she had retired with her children for safety and prayer-two balls passing through her body. Her lifeless and bleeding body being laid in the open street, the building was fired, and soon the little village was laid in ashes. And on the :24th of Nov., 1781, Mr. Caldwell himself was shot at Elizabethtown-point, whither he had gone for a young lady who had come under the protection of a flag of trucc from New York. Taking in his hand a little bundle, containing some articles of her clothing, he was commanded by the sentinel to stop; which he hesitating to do, was shot by the ruffian through the heart. His corpse was conveyed to the house of Mrs. Noel, at Elizabethtown, his unwavering friend, whence it was buried ; Dr. Mcwhorter, of New- ark, preaching the funeral sermon from Eccl. viii. 8. He must have died in about the 40th year of his age, leaving a name as dcar to the country as to the church of Jesus Christ. Thus in less than two years the congregation which he served was bereft of its church, and of the inestimable wife of the pastor, and of the pastor himself. And as a proof of the estimation in which he was held, his name was given to one of the towns of Essex co., N. J.
Mr. Caldwell was shot late on Saturday afternoon, and many of the people were ig.
سعد ٠ ٩٠
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norant of the tragical deed until they came to church on the Sabbath. And instead of sitting with delight under his instructions, there was a loud cry of wailing over his melan- choly end. On the following Tuesday, there was a vast concourse assembled to convey his remains to the tomb. After the services were ended, the corpse was placed where all might take a last view of their murdered pastor. Before the closing of the coffin, Dr. Elias Boudinot came forward, leading a group of nine orphan children, and placing them around the bier of their parent, made an address of touching eloquence to the mul- titude in their behalf. It was an hour of deep and powerful emotion. The procession slowly moved to the grave, weeping as they went. And as they lifted their streaming eyes to heaven, they besought the blessings of God upon the fatherless and motherless children, and his kind interference to crown with success their efforts against their op- pressors.
So deep was the impression made by this man upon the minds of the youth of his charge, that after a lapse of sixty years their recollections of him are of the most vivid character. His dress, appearance, conversation, manner of preaching, texts, are as fresh in their minds as things of yesterday. And with a singular unanimity they agree in the following description of him. He was of the middle size, and strongly built. His coun- tenance had a pensive, placid cast, but when excited was exceedingly expressive of reso- lution and energy. His voice was sweet and pleasant, but at the same time so strong, that he could make himself heard above the notes of the drum and the fife. As a preacher he was uncommonly eloquent and pathetic, rarely preaching without weeping himself ; and at times he would melt his whole audience into tears. He was among the most active of men, and seemed never wearied by any amount of bodily or mental labor. Feelings of the most glowing patriotism and of the most fervent piety possessed his bosom at the same time, without the one interfering with the other. He was one day preaching to the battalion-the next marching with them to battle, and, if defeated, assisting to conduct their retreat-and the next administering the consolations of the gospel to some dying parishioner. His people were most ardently attached to him, and the army adored him. Let his name be held in perpetual remembrance.
He was shot by a man called Morgan, who was tried and found guilty of murder. It was proved on his trial that he was bribed to the murderous deed. He was hung, giv- ing signs of the most obdurate villany to the last. The day of his execution was in- tensely cold; and a little delay taking place under the gallows, he thus addressed the executioner with an oath : " Do your duty, and don't keep me here shivering in the cold !" The place of his execution is about half a mile north of the church in West- field, and is called Morgan's Hill to this day.
Mr. Caldwell left behind him nine children, all young, with but little provision to sus- tain or educate them. But the Lord took them up, and raised up friends to protect and educate them. They all lived, not only to become members of the church of Christ, but to fill places of distinguished honor and usefulness. And down to the present day the rain and dew of the Spirit are descending upon the third and fourth generations of his offspring.
Margaret, the oldest child, became the wife of Isaac Canfield, of Morristown, and was long known as a mother in Israel.
Hannah became the wife of James R. Smith, for many years a distinguished mer- chant of New York, and subsequently the wife of Dr. Rogers.
John E. was taken by La Fayette to France, where he was educated. For many years he was a distinguished philanthropist of New York ; was the editor of the Chris- tian Herald, one of the first religious periodicals of the country, and did as much as any other man in laying the foundation of the American Bible Society.
James B. was for many years a judge of the courts of Gloucester co., and died in Woodbury.
Esther became the wife of the late Rev. Dr. Finley, of Baskenridge, afterwards the president of Athens College, Georgia, whom she yet survives.
Josiah F. is now a resident of Washington city, and an officer in the general post- office.
Elias B. was for some years the clerk of the supreme court of the United States, and because of his distinguished efforts in the cause of colonization, one of the towns of Li- beria in Africa is called Caldwell in honor of him.
Sarah became the wife of the Rev. John S. Vredenburgh, for many years a useful and beloved pastor of the Reformed Dutch church of Somerville.
Maria, who lay in her mother's bosom when she was shot, married Robert S. Robin- won, of New York, who, with her husband, still survives.
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The following historical items are embodied in a petition pre- sented to Congress in 1840, by the Trustees of the First Presby terian Church, praying for indemnification for property destroyed in the Revolutionary War.
The church of which we are now the ecclesiastical and corporate officers, is the old- est formed by the English in our State. It dates its origin from the year 1664, and was organized by our fathers soon after the settlement of our town. They, in the in- fancy of our community, erected a building for the worship of God, and dedicated it to that holy purpose ; and for nearly fifty years it was here the only temple consecrated to the service of Jehovah. Considering the time and circumstances of its erection, it was large and commodious. As the population inereased, it was enlarged by an addition of 20 feet in 1760 ; when it was a substantial building, with galleries, a high steeple, a bell, and a town clock. And as this was the chief town for many years in the province, it was always kept with great neatness, and in a fine state of repair.
On the first settlement of our town, a large town-lot was set apart for the use of the pastor, on which our fathers early erccted a parsonage-house as a residence for their successive ministers. It was a long building, a story and a half high, and ample for the accommodation of a large family. It was, like the church, the public property of the congregation.
Feeling a deep solicitudc for the cdueation of their children, our fathers, at a very early day in our history, herc erected an acadeiny. It was substantially built of wood, two stories high, and amply commodious for all the purposes of its erection. For many years it was the most celebrated institution of the kind west of the Hudson. In it a Burr, who onee filled the chair of President in your Senate Chamber, and a Jona- than Dayton, who presided in the House of Representatives, an Aaron Ogden, a Ste- phen Van Rensselaer, and others not unknown to your council chambers, nor to their country, received the first rudiments of their education. In that academy were laid the foundations of the College of N. Jersey, now located in Princeton ; and within its walls President Jonathan Dickenson taught the first classes ever connected with that institu- tion. This also was the property, and was under the supervision of the trustees of our church.
When the glorious war of our Revolution commenced, which resulted in our inde- pendence, thesc buildings werc all standing and in good repair, and each devoted to the purposes of its ereetion. The Rev. James Caldwell was then the pastor of this church. , His name and his famc are interwoven with the history of his country, and are as dear to the state as to the church of God. Influenced not less by his sense of our wrongs, than by the impulses of his vigorous mind and glowing enthusiasm, he became early and deeply interested in the confliet, and devoted all his powers no less to the freedom of his country than to the service of his God. Such was his influence over his people, that, with few exceptions, they became one with him in sentiment and feeling ; and thenceforward he and they were branded as the rebel parson and parish. To the ene- mies of his country he was an object of the deepest hatred ; and such was their known thirst for his life, that, while preaching the gospel of peace to his people, he was com- pelled to lay his loaded pistols by his side in the pulpit. To avoid their vigilance and violence, he was compelled to desert his own home, with his large family of nine children, and to seek a temporary residence in thic interior. The parsonage thus vacated by him became the resting-place of our soldiers. And to deprive them of its shelter, and to vent a rankling enmity toward its rightful oeeupant, it was fired and burnt by the enemy.
The church in which our fathers worshipped God, also became the resting-place of our soldiers on several occasions. There they lodged after the labors of the day, while its steeple was their watch-tower, and its bell pealed forth in quick succession the notes of alarm on the approach of danger. And for the purpose of depriving them of its shelter, and out of enmity to the patriotic and eloquent occupant of its pulpit, it was reduced to ashes by the eneiny, on the night of the 25th of January, 1780.
At the sound of the tocsin of war our academy was deserted. At their country's call, its scholars ran from their masters, and with them to the rescue ; and it was con- verted into a storehouse for the provisions of the American army. This, also, after plundering it of its provisions, was reduced to ashes by the cnemy, who immediately retreated to their camp on Staten Island, carrying the beef and pork taken on the tops of their bayonets.
As a people, we suffered as much in the loss of our citizens in battle as any town of the same population in this land. The blood of our fathers and brothers and neighbors
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mingles with the soil of Flatbush, and Monmouth, and Princeton, and Trenton, and Brandywine, and Germantown. But for their sufferings and blood, we feel amply re- paid in the possession of that broad inheritance of civil and religious liberty which they so dearly purchased for us.
As a congregation, we contributed our fair proportion to the civil and military service of the Revolution. To the army we gave a Dayton, father and son, a Spencer, an Ogden, and, as chaplain and commissary, our beloved Caldwell. To the state and national councils we gave a Boudinot, a Livingston, a Clarke, a Dayton, an Og- den. Where in our land is there another congregation which has made a like contri- bution? And we feel not merely proud, but thankful to God, that we were enabled to - send such men to the field and to the cabinet in the day of darkness and peril, when wisdom to direct was as necessary as valor to execute.
Owing to our vicinity to Staten Island and New York city, the grand depots of the enemy, we suffered very much as a people from midnight alarms and plunder, from the burning of our houses and property, and from the taking of our citizens from their beds and fields as prisoners, and incarcerating them in the famous sugar-house in New York. But these things we regard as necessarily incidental to the great contest; and a few old Romans there are yet among us who remember the cup of wormwood, but who yet rejoice in sufferings that have resulted so gloriously.
For these things we ask no remuneration. Congress could grant us no equivalent. We would not sell the laurels we have won in the Revolutionary contest for the public domain. We mention these things merely to show you the amount of our contribution to the wisdom, and valor, and firmness, and suffering, which achieved our glorious in- dependence.
All that we desire now from our country is a compensation for our public property destroyed ; and destroyed because of being converted to public purposes for the benefit of the American army. And the evidence that our parsonage, and church, and acad- emy, were so used, is hereby respectfully submitted with this our memorial.
And such is our sense of honor, that we do not wish to draw from the national treasury the small compensation hereby solicited, unless it is considered rightfully our due.
NICHOLAS MURRAY, Pastor.
The following inscriptions are copied from monuments in the graveyard of the First Presbyterian church :
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