USA > New Jersey > Middlesex County > New Brunswick > Historical discourse delivered at the celebration of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the First Reformed Dutch Church, New Brunswick, N.J., October 1, 1867 > Part 4
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* " A letter has been found, written at New-York on the 10th of October, 1759, which establishes the fact that he sailed on that day, and that gossip and predictions of a fatal voyage were rife, which led to the tradition of his
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second son, John, succeeded his father at Raritan in August, 1750, and died very suddenly while on a visit to Long Island, attending a meeting of the Coetus, in 1754. The third and fourth sons, Jacobus and Fer- dinand, died on their return passage from Holland, of the small-pox, in 1753, and were buried at sea. They were promising young men, and had both received calls, the one at Marbletown, the other at Kinder- hook, N. Y. The fifth son, Hendricus, pursued his studies in this country, and was licensed by the Coetus, aud in 1756 settled over the church of Wawarsing, in Ulster county, N. Y .; but in a short time he also died from an attack of small-pox, and was buried at Napa- nock. Thus rapidly did these young ministers close their work, just at a time when the whole church was needing the labors of such devoted and godly men. One of his daughters, Anna, was married to Rev. Wil- liam Jackson, who for thirty years was the pastor of the church in Bergen; she died at the age of seventy- two, in May, 1810. And Margaret became the wife of Rev. Thomas Romeyn, whose only son, Theodore Fre- linghuysen Romeyn, was the pastor of Raritan in the same charge of his grandfather and uncle, whose short and promising ministry of only eighteen months was brought to a close by his sudden death at an early age, amid the lamentations of a bereaved people.
On the death of Mr. Frelinghuysen, the churches under his charge had so far increased in strength that they immediately resolved to settle two pastors. Rari- tan, North-Branch, and Millstone, now Harlingen, settled Rev. John Frelinghuysen, whose short ministry of only
loss at sea, and which is nowhere authenticated except by the garrulous Mrs. Grant. The tradition seems to have grown out of the ominous break- ing down of the bench in the pulpit of a new church in which he preached on the Sabbath previous to his departure."-Munsel's Annals of Albany.
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four years was eminently successful. While he was possessed of much of his father's bold, evangelical spirit, he seems to have been of a more pleasing disposition, although he did not have to encounter difficulties which disturbed the early ministry of his honored parent. He was much interested in the education of young men for the ministry ; and there is still standing in Somerville a house built by him of bricks brought from Holland, where Hardenbergh, Jackson, and others pursued their theological studies. Although party spirit raged very high in his charge, yet his ministry was remarkably blessed by the outpouring of the Spirit, and at his death there was great lamentation. The churches of New-Brunswick and Six Mile Run, very conveniently located, and both of considerable strength, formed an ecclesiastical connection for the settlement of a minister who should devote himself entirely to this field. The choice of the people immediately fell with great una- nimity upon a young man who had just completed his studies, and in September, 1748, there was called, as the second pastor of this church,
REV. JOHANNES LEYDT.
Our knowledge of Mr. Leydt is quite limited, though he labored in this field for thirty-five years. In respect to his early history, I have only been able to learn that he was a Hollander by birth, and was educated at one of her universities-which one is not certain-and that he came to this country with an elder brother, settling at first in Dutchess county, in the neighborhood of Fishkill. He was born in the year 1718. The time of his emigration to America is not known. The first notice we have of Mr. Leydt is in the minutes of the
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Coetus held in New-York on the 28th of April, 1748, in these words: "The student Leydt, according to ap- pointment, delivered a proposition upon 2 Corinthians 3 : 6-8, and gave such satisfaction that he was likewise received with Van Der Linde to be examined in the morning, after reading the church certificate, from which it appeared that they had been communicants for some years." The Elder Hendrick Fisher was a member of this assembly, and presented a letter from the Consis- tory of New-Brunswick, "urging the speedy examination of the student, in order that their congregation, which was vacant, might employ him as a candidate, and, if satisfied, might call him."
As permission had been previously obtained from the Classis of Amsterdam, the examination was accordingly proceeded with, and, proving satisfactory, these two young men were sent forth to preach the Gospel. Sep- tember 27th, 1748, a formal call was laid before the Coetus by the Elder Hendrick Fisher; and, having passed his final examination, Mr. Leydt was set apart to the work of the ministry, and constituted the pastor of the churches of New-Brunswick and Six Mile Run. There was great joy among the people in having so soon obtained a successor to the excellent Dominie Frelinghuysen, and who, according to all accounts, was influenced by a similar spirit of entire consecration to the ministry. I have not been able to ascertain the place of his church relations, nor the circumstances of his introduction into the ministry. It is said that he was a student of Mr. Frelinghuysen, and was well known in the city.
The first act of the Consistories was to provide him a home; accordingly, they purchased a parsonage with fifty acres of land. This property was located at Three
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Mile Run, and is known as the Skillman farm, now in the possession of Isaac W. Pumyea. The old house is still standing, a short distance from the road, in which Mr. Leydt lived during his entire ministry of thirty-five years.
Great changes had taken place in this town and the surrounding country since the organization of this church. The land had been cleared up and cultivated, more substantial buildings erected, farms increased in value, and the morals and intelligence of the community greatly improved. In 1717, the Dutch church was the only organization in the town; but in 1748 there was a Presbyterian church, of which Rev. Thomas Arthur was the minister; and the Episcopalian church, erected in 1743, on a lot given by Philip French, of which Rev. Mr. Wood was the missionary ; and all of these congre- gations are represented to have lived in a spirit of great harmony and Christian cooperation.
A very interesting description of our town at this date, 1748, the year in which Mr. Leydt commenced his ministry, is given in the account of a traveler by the name of Peter Kalm, a professor in the University of Abo in Swedish Finland, who visited North-America as a naturalist, under the auspices of the Swedish Royal Academy of Science. " About noon," he writes, "we arrived in New-Brunswick, a pretty little town in a valley on the west side of the river Raritan; on ac- count of its low situation it can not be seen coming from Pennsylvania, before coming to the top of the hill which is close up to it. The town extends north and south along the river. The town-house makes a pretty good appearance. The town has only one street lengthwise, and at its northern extremity there is a street across; both of these are of considerable length.
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One of the streets is almost entirely inhabited by Dutchmen who came hither from Albany, and for that reason they call it Albany street. On the road from Trenton to New-Brunswick, I never saw any place in America, the towns excepted, so well peopled." **
Very shortly after his settlement, Mr. Leydt interested himself in procuring a charter from the royal governor for the churches originally embraced in the charge of Mr. Frelinghuysen. This instrument was obtained un- der the administration of Jonathan Belcher, Esq., Gov- ernor-in-Chief of the Province of New-Jersey, and was executed on the 7th day of June, and the twenty- sixth year of the reign of King George II. (1753.) The trustees under the charter were the two ministers, Rev. Johannes Leydt and Rev. John Frelinghuysen, with the several members of the Consistories of the five churches. The first meeting of the new corporation was held at Raritan, October 31st, 1753, when Hen- drick Fisher, one of the elders of this church, was chosen president of the board, and arrangements made to carry out the provisions of the charter.+
The increase of population in the town, and the popularity of the minister, soon called for more en- larged church accommodations. The old building in Burnet street was full, and as early as 1754 the plan was agitated for the erection of a new and more com- modious church edifice in a more central location. An
* In some of his statements Mr. Kalm is not accurate. In reference to his "two German churches, one of stone, the other of wood," it is certainly a mistake. The Dutch congregation had but one building, a structure of wood, in Burnet street. His error is equally apparent in the remark that " the Presbyterians were building a church of stone." They never had a stone edifice, and there was no church building going on in the town at this date. The statements of travelers in reference to local matters, unac- quainted with the language of the people, and merely passing through a place, are to be taken with some degree of allowance.
t See Appendix III.
4
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article of agreement was entered into at this time for the purchase of a lot on which to erect a new building. But the subject was postponed from time to time, in consequence of a difference of opinion in the congrega- tion as to the proper location. One party insisted on remaining in Burnet street and enlarging the old edi- fice, and the other desired a removal into that part of the city which had the prospect of growth. The mat- ter was finally adjusted by the gift of the plot of ground on which our present building is erected, by Philip French, Esq., one of the members of the congre- gation. The deed of conveyance is dated September 12th, 1765. The Consistory was then composed of Hendrick Fisher, Ferdinand Schureman, and Derick Van Veghten, elders; Cornelius Seebring, Ernestus Van Harlingen, and Jacobus Van Nuise, deacons. A building committee was immediately appointed, of which John Schureman, son of the school-master, was the chairman, and arrangements made for the erection of the second church edifice of our denomination in the town.
The new building was completed and occupied by the congregation in the autumn of 1767, one hundred years ago, when the old church in Burnet street was taken down, and the lot sold to John Schureman. The ground plan of this building is given in our records, the sale of pews, and a complete list of the congrega- tion at this date. The building was of stone, nearly square, and would seat comfortably four hundred per- sons. The cost of construction was £1097 13s. 7d. It had a front entrance on Queen, now Neilson street, and a side-door on Prince, now Bayard street. At the south side was a long pew for the accommodation of the public officers of the city, and on the north similar
*
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pews running parallel with the walls, which, it is said, were much sought after, " as one eye could be directed toward the minister, and the other to any thing that might require attention in the other part of the house." Far off and up in a circular pulpit, supported by a pedestal, was the minister, beneath the old time-honored sounding-board. Two pillars support the roof from the centre, which went up on four sides, ending in a small steeple. A bell" was put up about the year 1775, and the sexton, in ringing, stood in the middle aisle, winding the rope during service around one of the pillars. The church was never desecrated with stoves, but in the midst of winter the good Dutchmen kept up what heat they could by an occasional stamp on the floor, and tradition says the Dominie would keep warm by an extra amount of gesture.
The city presented a far different appearance from its present aspect. The streets were unpaved; a swamp extended from Church to New street, affording a fine skating-pond for the boys in winter; there were a few buildings to the right of the edifice, and only an occa- sional house between this and Albany street. On the hill occupying the ground in the rear of our parsonage stood the stone barracks, a commodious building one hundred feet in length and sixty in depth, erected in the year 1758; and the farm of Jacobus Van Nuise covered all that ground now occupied by Schureman, Liberty, and New streets, extending west as far as the residence of. Richard McDonald. This building stood for about forty-five years ; and, unornamented as it was, it had gathered around it unusual interest. Here your fathers
* I have been informed that the bell was taken down at some period dur -- · ing the war, and buried in the orchard where now stands Rutgers College,. and restored to its place after the enemy left the city.
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worshiped ; and from the old pulpit was preached the true Gospel of Christ. A few are left who remember the edifice well; but fifty-six years have passed since this venerable structure was taken down, and soon all recollection of it will have passed away.
We can picture to our minds the Sabbath morning, one hundred years ago, when the church was completed, and the building was set apart for the worship of God. In the absence of the precise date, we can imagine that this most beautiful season of the year, and this very month of October, was selected for the service. The day opens with a bright sunshine, and the patriarchal head of the house unclasps the huge, old-fashioned Bible, and reads a chapter for the family devotions, comment- ing on the verses with an ability which shows his knowledge of the Scriptures, and his strong belief in the theology of the Reformation. The day is to be an important one in the church of New-Brunswick, and earlier than usual the whole surrounding population are on their way to the house of God. All the roads leading into the city are lined with travelers, some on horseback, many on foot, and a few enjoying the luxury of a wagon-ride over the rough and winding roads.
There is no service that day at Six Mile Run, and the whole congregation are present. Every family in the surrounding country is represented in the throng. The men are attired in their best Sunday garments, low-crowned hats with very broad brims, coats of large dimensions, with plated buttons, polished brightly for the occasion, ruffled bosoms and wristbands, with silver sleeve-buttons, and the more aged in small clothes, with knee-buckles, and a linen neck-tie of perfect whiteness. The women were modestly and appropriately attired ; the dress was of homespun material of fine texture, ex-
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tremely short-waisted, but not entirely devoid of orna- ment; their bonnets were large and expansive, with crowns of sufficient size to inclose the most aspiring head-dress; a neat linen collar, with knit gloves of their own manufacture, and a stout pair of shoes completed the toilet.
Thus attired, the people gather into the sanctuary. The building is plain, and for the times ample in its proportions. It is of rough stone, brought all the way from Hurl-Gate in sloops, up the Raritan, and they are still preserved in the walls of this edifice. The pews have been sold the preceding week; and, since there is no bell in the tower, the signal of a horn announces the hour of worship, while the services are regulated by an hour glass. The voorlezer takes his seat in front of the pulpit, and, according to the custom of the day, com- mences the exercises by reading the ten commandments and selections from the Scriptures, after which the psalm is read, and for the first time those walls resound with the praise of God. During the singing the min- ister enters the church, bowing to the right and left as he passes up the crowded aisle, pausing for a few mo- ments with covered face in silent devotion before enter- ing the sacred desk. He is now in his full prime, having served the congregation for about nineteen years. The hour-glass, stands at the right of the minister, by the side of the Bible. While the sermon is in progress, the sand has run out; it is then turned, and the congrega- tion know that a half-hour of the discourse is yet to come. But the people listen with grave attention, and are full of reverence. We have the names of all the heads of families. We may suppose that John Schure- man, the patriot and scholar, was present that day, and had a glad time in seeing the building for which he had
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toiled completed; as also Philip French, who gave the lot, and Christian Van Doren, Hendrick Fisher, Derick Van Veghten, Abraham Oakey, and Jeremiah Van Der- bilt, former elders of the church. Hendrick Van Deur- sen, with his son William, were in the assembly; so also were Jacobus and James Van Nuise, both young men. Then there were John and Matthew Sleight, and a long list of Voorhees, Roelef, Albert, Lucas, John, James, Garret, Martinus, Matthew, and Abraham; there were Edward Van Harlingen, John Ryder, Charles Bor- ram, Peter Vredenberg, Matthew Egerton. Abraham Schuyler was also there, giving promise of the useful man which he afterward became. So also the Van Liews, Dennice, John, Hendrick, and Frederick; the Stoothoffs, Whilhelmus, Johannes, John, and Cornelius; the Suydams, Charles and Cornelius; the Outgelts, Fredrick and Johannes; the Waldrons, Leffert and John. And, while we have the familiar names of Nevius, Spader, Garretson, Van Sickle, Provost, Thomp- son, De Hart, Wyckoff, Van Pelt, and Cortleyou, all represented among us to-day, we have also some which are no longer known in our city, as Hyse, Hortwick, Standley, Wilton, Probasco, Hance, Kin, and Hassert. All these, with others, listened to the word of God that day. The morning service was followed by an inter- mission of half an hour, and then they all returned to hear another sermon. Thus the Sabbath day passed, closing with the family recitation in the catechism, and evening worship.
The services in this church were held on each alter- nate Sabbath, and there is the evidence of great punc- tuality in the administration of the ordinances. Mr. Leydt was a very laborious minister; and while he does not seem to have left any distinct impressions of his
t
st CO
P fa
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pulpit talents, he is represented to have been very faithful as a pastor. He took a very active part in all the public enterprises of the day. In connection with the organization of new churches, the calling and in- stallation of pastors, and the healing of difficulties in congregations, we will find the name of Dominie Leydt. He was a regular member of the Coetus, a constant at- tendant on their meetings, and, from the frequent refer- ences to his name, he seems to have been a prominent and influential member. He took a warm interest in this long controversy, and is placed among the number of those who were chiefly instrumental in procuring the independence of the church in this country. He wrote several very excellent pamphlets on the subject, which were answered by the opponents of the measure, and are referred to in the minutes of that body. The Classis of Amsterdam, in their correspondence with the churches in this country, speak of his writings as excel- lent in spirit and argument .* At one time he repre- sented the Coetus to the Conferentie party, and was chairman of the committee. In the minutes of the latter body he is represented as being very pointed in his remarks, and as saying some things so piercing that they could hardly keep silent. On the erection of the General Synod, he was associated with Dr. Livingston in conducting the principal part of their business, and at their annual meeting at New-Paltz, in 1778, he was chosen president.+
* I have this fact from Dr. Thomas De Witt, but have not seen the minute itself. This valuable correspondence would have been of service, no doubt, in compiling this history. There is an admirable paper in the collection by Dr. Hardenbergh, which presents the points of controversy in a strong light. I regret very much that I could not obtain access to the book of minutes copied from the original under the direction of Synod. We are pleased to learn that all the documents are soon to be given to the public.
t See Minutes of Synod, Vol. I .- Gun's Life of Livingston, p. 143.
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Mr. Leydt was one of the prominent movers in the establishment of Queen's, now Rutgers College. This was the favorite object of the Coetus, or progressive and evangelical party in the church. With them an educated ministry was the great want of our American Zion; as Mr. Leydt expresses it in a letter to Dr. Liv- ingston, "I humbly conceive that, without a regular course of collegiate studies, we shall never make any respectable figure in church or state." The Charter of this institution was procured of Governor Franklin, March 20th, 1770. In the following year the long con- troversy in which the church had been engaged was finally adjusted by adopting a plan of union, drawn up by Dr. Livingston, which received the approval of the church in Holland, and which dated our separate eccle- siastical organization. The consent was based upon a condition that the Dutch Church in America should make provision in her constitution to provide herself with an educated ministry. The founding of our col- lege was an event that gave great joy to our church. Mr. Leydt was one of the signers of the petition to Governor Franklin for the charter, and was named as a trustee ; as such he attended a meeting of the board at Hackensack, when the location of the college was defi- nitely fixed at New-Brunswick. In the letter to Dr. Livingston, from which I have quoted a sentence, he re- joices over the event in this language : "The great and glorious promise consequent upon the noble confession of Nathanael, ' Thou shalt see greater things than these,' frequently exercising my mind upon favorable turns in Divine Providence, with acknowledgment and expecta- tions, hath with some energy of late reverted to my mind with respect to our present situation ; as a door . seems to be opening, not only for a desirable union
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and fixed order, but also increase of knowledge and ef- fusion of the Holy Spirit." In the same letter he ap- prises Dr. Livingston of a motion in the board of trustees to elect him president of the college, and of certain other plans to render the institution prosperous and efficient .*
We are brought in the course of our narrative to the commencement of the Revolutionary war, a most inte- resting period in the history of our country and our church. During all these exciting years of conflict Mr. Leydt was the pastor of this church, and there are in- dications of great interruption in the growth of the congregation. There had been a steady increase in the number of membership up to the year 1773, but dur- ing the next six years there are no records of additions to the church. The minds of the people were agitated with the din of preparation, the city during a portion of this time was in the possession of the enemy, and for more than a year the services in the church build- ing were entirely suspended.
Mr. Leydt was a firm patriot, and took a warm inte- rest in the conflict. He preached upon the topics of the day in such a manner as to rouse the patriotism of the people into a pitch of enthusiasm ; he prayed for the success of the American cause, and counseled the young men to join the army of freedom.
New-Brunswick suffered during the war to an extent to which few towns were subjected. It lay in the path of the two armies crossing and recrossing the State, and in the varying fortunes of war was at one time in the hands of the enemy, and at another under the protec-
* Mr. Leydt was a member of the Board of Trustees of Princeton Col- lege, and served in that position for six years, under the presidency of Dr. Samuel Finley.
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tion of friends. During the winter of 1776-77, the city was in the possession of the British army, who oc- cupied it by a very large force. Lord Howe, the Com- mander-in-Chief, had his head-quarters in the Neilson house in Burnet street; the Hessian commander in the Van Nuise house in Queen street. Fortifications were thrown up on the hill beyond our Theological Semi- nary, and two important out-posts were erected-one at Raritan Landing,on an eminence overlooking the river ; the other on Bennet's Island, two miles below the city. Many of the officers were quartered upon the inhabit- ants; and on the property of William Van Deursen, below New street, there was an encampment with a redoubt thrown up for their protection.
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