USA > New Jersey > Monmouth County > Millstone in Monmouth County > Historical discourse on occasion of the centennial anniversary of the Reformed Dutch Church of Millstone > Part 3
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We cannot, of course, go into his history in detail, t as all that is known of him has been published in various forms heretofore. Suffice it to say, that the long lack of frequent religious services had produced a most lamentable declen- sion in the piety of the people, which had perhaps been
* Do. Frelinghuysen lived in the place now owned by John Bronson, -R. Voorhees, of Middlebush.
+ He was born at Lingen, in East Friesland, Hanover, about 1691. He was ordained in Friesland in 1717, by John Brunius, and settled at Embden. The churches of the Raritan obtained Mr. Frelinghuysen through the kind offices of Rev. Mr. Freeman, of Long Island, who also afterward vindicated him from the aspersions of his enemies.
See Frelinghuysen's Sermons, pp. 5, 7, 299, 357.
Messler's Memorial, Taylor's Annals, p. 176. Gunn's Livingston, p. 359.
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somewhat formal before, and Frelinghuysen, being tho- roughly evangelical, and bold withal,* not sparing their sins of any kind, necessarily aroused great opposition, (1723.) But in the strength of God he persevered, and maintained his position to the end, and succeeded in impressing upon the new generation, his own deeply religious character ; and now for his fidelity, he is univer- sally honored by the descendants of those who once opposed him.
It was during his time, also, that the Dutch denomina- tion became rent into two factions-the Coetus, represent- ing the thoroughly evangelical party, the party of progress and reform, and to which Frelinghuysen contributed not a little ;f and the Conferentie, as the other party was called, representing formality, and adherence to custom, and horror at innovation, even when change would be undeniable
His enemies shut his churches against him, so that he had to preach in barns, in '1725. In the same year a slanderous book appeared against him, and afterward a lawsuit was begun, to try to eject him, but he was acquitted by the court; they also complained of him to the Classis of Amsterdam, but they sustained him. New Brunswick is not named in the protest against him.
Frelinghuysen's Sermons, pp. 7, 8, 353. Whitehead's East Jersey, pp. 168, 291, 305-7.
+ Mr. Frelinghuysen was one of the originators of the Coetus, in 1738 ; the eminent and useful elder, Hendrick Fisher, of New Bruns- wick, accompanying him. The text in Mints. of Gen. Syn., vol. i., pp. 8, 13, does not decide whether the Frelinghuysen who is there said not to have won over his consistory yet to the Coetus, is Theodore of Raritan or John of Albany.
# Both the Frelinghuysens had helpers, (like the Apostles,) to par- tially supply their places when absent ; but some found great fault with this innovation. The Conferentie, seeing their waning influence, became at last unwilling to have the majority rule .- Mints. Gen. Syn. vol. i., p. 96., and Messler's Memorial.
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improvement. For fifty years did the strife continue, which was often very bitter, all the churches in this county having two consistories, * representing, respectively, the progressive and the unprogressive parties. And it was only through the changes brought about by the American Revolution, that this strife was at length effectually allayed. +
It was during the first Frelinghuysen's ministry, more- over, that the church at what is now ealled Harlingen was formally organized, although for some cause, not now well understood, he himself was not invited to do this work, though it lay within his pastoral field .¿ Rev. Henricus Coens, who had commeneed to labor during the preceding year at Aquacononck, ordained the Consistory on May 1Sth, 1727. They called themselves the church " over the Mill- stone," § indicating apparently thereby, that the inhabitants
* Mints. Gen. Syn., vol. i., p. 103. Gunn's Livingston, pp. 141-143. Harlingen Records, 1734.
Kain, the Swedish traveler, in 1728, speaks of one Presbyterian and two German (Dutch ?) churches in New Brunswick. Possibly the Con- sistory was divided, or Kain may have been mistaken.
The Conferentie frequently refused to recognize the ministers of the Coetus as legitimate, but God had received them, and they finally pre- vailed. While negotiations were progressing for several years before, to free the American churches from infantile dependence on Holland, the independence of the country settled the matter forever.
# See Mints. Gen. Syn., vol. i., p. 4, respecting this church, under the younger Frelinghuysen.
§ Die Kerk op der Millstone. The name Millstone, applied to the river, occurs in the first references to this section of country. There is a tradition, (though not very reliable,) that a millstone was once lost in the river, when crossing a bridge, and never recovered, and hence the name. Scot, writing in 1685, says that the hills on the north were filled with good millstones, (Whitehead's East Jersey, p. 265,) and this may have suggested the name for this branch of the Raritan ; but it is
1
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of that region had previously attended church at Six Mile Run. It was known by the name of the Church of Mill- stone, * and afterwards sometimes by the name of Sourland, until after the death of the elder Rev. Van Harlingen, when out of memory to him, and to distinguish it from our own village, it became incorporated, under the name of Harlingen, in 1801. It was soon after organization, very largely increased in numbers, and prospered much. Fifty- three members were received in the first twenty years. It began with only seven. +
Two years after the organization of what is now the church of Harlingen, (viz., 1729,) the old church of Three Mile Run, although Frelinghuysen was living close by, made an effort to call a minister for themselves ; and since they were not acting in concert with the other churches, but alone, it would seem, that it must have been disaffec- tion on their part toward the faithful Frelinghuysen. In the same document,¿ the church building at that place is
also sometimes early spelled as mile-stone, perhaps a mile-stone on some route, standing on its banks, and in what place so likely, as where the road from Brunswick to Trenton crosses the Millstone, near Prince- ton, that being just twenty miles from the Raritan? This is the most probable derivation. The present village of Millstone is frequently called Middleburgh in early deeds.
" The Church of Millstone," in all records before 1766, and some- '
* times after, means the church now at Harlingen. Hence the error in the Manual of R. P. D. C., which dates the organization of Millstone in 1727, the writer not then being acquainted with these localities.
t For a fuller account of the church of Harlingen, see Christopher C. Hoagland's pamphlet.
# Papers in possession of Hon. Ralph Voorhees, of Middlebush. Henry Vroom and Fred. Van Liew were appointed a committee to carry out these matters, if successful, in procuring a minister. The fol- lowing names are attached to the salary-list for this call : - A. Boorham, Simon Wyckoff, Dennis Van Duyn, - Smock, Cor. Peter-
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represented as old and dilapidated, and they agree, if they secure a minister, to build a new place of worship shortly, to be located on the lands of John Pittenger, at Three Mile Run. But they did not procure a new minister, and pro- bably the new building was never begun, and with the disuse of the old, the church in that place expired. The last reference to it is in 1751 .* For a long time previous, it had had two consistories.
Dos. Antonides, De Ronde, and Arondens,t of Long Island, were the troublesome men, who visited all the churches in Frelinghuysen's field several times a year. They were formal and unevangelical men themselves, organizing consistories, which were opposed to the regular consistories,¿ and baptizing the children of the disaffected.§ These actions began in 1734, and thirteen years later, Arondeus permanently removed to these parts, and died in 1754. But the locality of his home and grave are unknown.
After the death ! of Rev. T. J. Frelinghuysen. about
son, Geo. Anderson, Wm. Van Duyn, Jac. Boise, Hen. Smock, Chris. Probasco, Win. Kouwenhoven, Jac. Bennet, Pet. Bodine, Gid. Marlat, Wm. Bennet, Paul Le Boyton, Francis Harrison, Ab. Bennett, Isaac Le Queer, Jac. Bennet, - - , Nic. Daily, Ad. Hardenbrook, Luke Covert, Jac. Probasco.
* See Mints. Gen. Syn., vol. i., pp. lv., cxxxi.
t See Mints. of Gen. Syn., vol. i., session of 1751.
# See vol. i. Gen. Syn., pp. cxxxi., ciii., lv., Ivi., for fuller particulars.
§ The Harlingen Records have a list of baptisms by Arondeus, from 1744 to 1749, including certain baptisms at Raritan .- Frelinghuysen's Sermons, pp. 355-58.
See also the second paragraph of p. 340, and pp. 354, 358, of Freling- huysen's Sermons. Mr. Frelinghuysen called him a dead man.
[ He left five sons and two daughters ; viz., Theodore, who preached at Albany, 1745-1760, when he went to Holland to raise funds for a
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1747, the churches of New Brunswick and Six Mile Run conjointly called Rev. John Leydt, who was one of the students prepared and examined by the Coetus in this country. His call was approved, September 27, 1748.
The other three churches, viz., Raritan, Harlingen and Readington, united and called Rev. John Frelinghuysen,* the son of their preceding pastor, and who arrived in this country in August, 1750. He lived near Somerville.
During his time, the people of Harlingen built a new church near the present site, leaving the land originally given to them, where the cemetery remains. The youthful pastor dedicated the new building in 1752, preaching from the texts-1 Kings viii. 29, and Psalm xxvii. 4: "That thine eyes may be open toward this house, night and day, even toward the place of which Thou hast said, My name shall be there : that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place." And, " One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple."
During the ministry of Leydt and the younger Freling- huysen, in 1753, the five Dutch churches over which they presided, obtained a common charter, including them all under one corporation.
But the youthful Frelinghuysen's labors were not long in
literary institution, and on his return was lost at sea; John, who suc- ceeded his father in Somerset County ; Jacob and Ferdinand, died at sea on their return from Holland in 1753; Henry, who settled at Warwarsing and Rochester in 1756, and died in 1757; Anna, married Rev. Wmn. Jackson, of Bergen, and Margaret married Rev. Thos. Romeyn, of Long Island.
* See Mints. Gen. Syn., vol. 1., pp. liii., xcvii.
.
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the church below. After only four years of service, and at the early age of twenty-eight, he died. This took place in September, 1754 .* An effort was then made by the church of North Branch, to induce the united congregations to call Rev. John C. Freyenmoet, who had been preaching for ten years at Minisink and connected places, on the upper waters of the Delaware. And though there was a strong party in his favor in each of the churches, they did not succeed in their design,t having their eye already on Mr. Jacob R. Hardenbergh, who had married young Fre- linghuysen's widow. In the meantime, in 1758, the churches of Nechanic and Bedminster were organized, and these two, in connection with the other three, in the same year called Mr. Hardenbergh, (who was ordained in October,) and who served the three northern churches, (with the excep- tion of a visit to Holland of two years,) for twenty-three years. But Sourland and Nechanic, during his absence, called Rev. John M. Van Harlingen, in 1761,§ and he served these two churches till his death, in 1795, the people making great lamentation over him.
In 1759,| the year after Mr. Hardenbergh had been called
* He died suddenly on Long Island, while there to attend the Coetus .- Min. Gen. Syn., p. lxxxix.
He left one son, Frederick, who was the father of the late Hon. Theodore Frelinghuysen.
t They had only three or four services in two years, after Frelinghuy- sen's death .- Mints. Gen. Syn., vol. i., pp. ciii., xcix.
į He was a native of Millstone, but had gone to Holland to be educated.
§ Doc. Hist. N. Y., vol. i., p. 406. He was no doubt a descendant of Frans Van Harlingen, of Holland, with whom Dr. Livingston frequently stayed when in that country .- Gunn's Livingston, p. 80.
I Rev. Wm. Jackson, of Bergen, a great field orator, and second only
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to the five churches north and west of the Raritan and the Millstone, the English settlers of Millstone petitioned to have regular preaching in this locality .* While we have been tracing the history of the Dutch Presbyterians, we must remember that the English Presbyterians were increasing in even a more rapid ratio. The Presbytery of New Brunswick had been organized since 1738, and all around, Presbyterian churches had sprung up. Many ship- loads of persecuted dissenters, from England and Scotland, had arrived at Amboy, and moved directly up the Raritan, and were the founders of the early Presbyterian churches in our county, t and these are represented, by early writers, as persons who had been refined and purified by afflictions and persecutions.
to Whitefield, was called in this year as a colleague with Hardenbergh, but did not accept .- Taylor's Annals, p. 125.
* Rec. Presbytery of New Brunswick. The Presbytery met at Basken- ridge, Oct. 30th, 1759. It then consisted of Revs. John Guild, Israel Reed, Benj. Hart, Sam. Kennedy, Sam. Harker, Wm. Tennent, David Cowl, Chs. McKnight, Jas. McCrea, Thos. Lewis, John Prudden, and Conrad Wortz, besides elders.
+ The first Presbytery organized in America was that of Philadelphia in 1705. The Wall-street Presbyterian church, (the first in city of New York,) was organized in 1716. (Doc. Hist., iii., 79. Riker's Newtown, p. 138.) The Long Island Presbytery was organized in 1717, taking in New York and Westchester. That of East Jersey a little later, and that of New Brunswick in 1738. This Presbytery, at its organization, included the following churches in this vicinity :- Paepack, Crosswicks, Cranberry, Maidenhead, Hopewell, Bound Brook, Baskenridge, Leba- non, Readington, Neshaminy, and New Brunswick. (See Whitehead's East Jersey, pp. 204, 257, 268. Whitehead's Amboy, pp. 23, 35. Smith's New Jersey, p. 166.) This rapid immigration, and the feelings of the immigrants themselves, show a powerful religious prescience, that God intended America as the field for the development of liberty and religion. Compare Rev. xii., which certainly received its crowning fulfillment, in the flight of the many religious exiles to these shores.
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The Dutch and English in this vicinity therefore united, and built a common place of worship, about 1760.
Eleven years before, the Presbyterian church of Bound Brook had called and settled a young man by the name of Israel Read, and now the Presbyterians of this place enter into an engagement with the church of Bound Brook,* to secure a service once a month. The Dutch also held service about as often in the same building, which stood on the present premises of Mr. Van Mater Van Cleef, of this village. Dos. Leydt, Van Harlingen, and especially Har- denbergh, preached for them in this place.
After a few years, however, some difficulty occurred between the parties, in reference to the church building, the points of which have not been distinctly ascertained, and the Dutch resolved to build a church edifice for them- selves. Mr. Israel Read + served the English in this place for about nine years, after which he divided his labors between Bound Brook and New Brunswick, till 1786, when Rev. Walter Monteith succeeded him in the latter place. Mr. Read continued at Bound Brook till 1793, when he was killed by being thrown from his wagon at Raritan landing, November 28, 1793, being in his seventy-fifth year .; After he ceased to preach in Millstone, about
* The Presbyterian church of Bound Brook was organized about 1700, and that of Baskenridge in 1732. English and Scotch Presby- terians began to locate on the Raritan as early as 1683, the first ones coming from Amboy, Woodbridge and vicinity .- Dr. Rogers' Hist. Ser- mon of Bound Brook.
+ Rev. Mr. Lamb, of Baskenridge, occasionally, and Rev. Mr. Crea, from about 1745-'50, supplied the Presbyterian church of Bound Brook before the settlement of Mr. Recd.
# His successors were-Rev. David Barclay, 1794-1805; Rev. Selah Strong Woodhull, 1805-1806, when he went to R. D. C., of Brooklyn ; Rev. Jas. Paterson, IS09-1813; Rev. Wm. A. McDowell, 1813-1814;
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1769, they had supplies occasionally,* from the neighboring Presbyterian churches, until the Revolution, and between the close of that event, and the beginning of this century, a Rev. Mr. Elmore, t from Elizabethtown, preached here a part of his time, as tradition says, though no documentary evi- dence concerning him at this time, has been met with.
. After the Revolution, considerable correspondence # took place between the Presbytery of New Brunswick, and the Classis of New Brunswick, respecting this Presbyterian church in Millstone; but the early books and papers of Classis, which contained this correspondence, are lost,- said to have been destroyed by fire. The Dutch complained that the Presbyterians encroached on their territory, and committees of conference were appointed. But the Presby- terian congregation gradually dwindled, until it became extinct. The building, no longer safe, was taken down about 1809.§
On July 26th, 1766, seventy heads | of families of the
Rev. John Boggs, 1815-1828; Rev. Dr. Rodgers, 1830 to present time. -Dr. Rodgers' MISS. Sermons.
* In 1770 the licentiate, Wm. Schenck, supplied them two Sabbaths, and subsequently Rev. Sam Kennedy, of Baskenridge, Rev. Mr. Van Arsdale, and Rev. Mr. Smith, of Cranberry. In 1775 this Presbyterian church united with Kingston in calling a man, but without success ; on April 23d, 1776, they petitioned for a minister to assist Mr. Elmore in the celebration of the Lord's supper, (hence Mr. Elmore must have been at this time unlicensed,) and Mr. Kennedy was appointed.
t He died between sixty and seventy years ago.
Į Mints. Gen. Syn., vol. i., pp. 104, 108.
§ It was a small building with a very steep roof. It is said that the land belonging to it, having been sold, the proceeds were divided among the heirs of the original donor, by the name of Ten Eyck.
! Peter Schenck, Cornelius Van Liew, Hend. Probasco, Ab. Van Beuren, Hend. Schenck, Jice Smock, John Vanderveer, Lawr. Van
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Dutch settlers of the Millstone Valley, addressed a petition to the Dutch ministers and elders of Raritan, New Bruns- wick, Six Mile Run, and Millstone, (i. e. now Harlingen,) as follows :- " We, the undersigned, belonging to the afore- said congregations, and living where the four congregations meet, finding it very inconvenient, and sometimes impos- sible to attend the Dutch church or Dutch services with our families, which, in view of God's command, and our baptizmal vows, we feel to be the duty of ourselves and children, and also for other reasons which we might pre- sent ; therefore we have deliberated, whether a new congre- gation ought not to be established by taking some from each of these congregations ; and having considered it advisable, we request respectfully your council and advice. If our desire be approved, (and our prayer is that it may prosper,) and we on the Lord's day, once a month, or as often as pos- sible, may be served, by our three ministers ; then, for the accomplishment of the same, we will provide a place of worship, and salary. This petition, we sign with respect,
Cleef, Ram. Ditmars, Bergen Coevert, Jr., Sam. Brewer, John Van Doren, John Smock, Peter Stryker, Dan. Covert, Jac. Wyckoff, Jac. Van Noorstrandt, Hend. Wilson, Jer. Douty, John Stryker, Cor. Lott, John Probasco, Christiaen Van Doren, Ab. Van Doren, Phil. Folker- son, John Blauw, Pet. Blauw, Ab. Metzelaer, Peter Perrine, Burgon Hoff, Jer. Silwill, Jac. Stryker, Wm. Geo. Prall, Mary Arrismith, Jac. Metzelaer, Aron Van Dorn, Wm. Spader, Pet. Cavaleer, Peter Wilson, John Christopher, John Brokau, John Hoogeland, John Covert, Mindert Wilson, Isaac Brokau, Joseph Arrismith, Joseph Vanderveer, Rem. Gerritson, Juryee Van Cleef, Dirrick Croesen, Peter Wyckoff, John Powelson, Stephen Turhune, Douwe Ditmars, Hend. Vander- veer, Luke Rynierson, Reynier Van Hengelen, Sam. Gerretson, Jac. Gerritson, Stoffel Van Arsdalen, Gerret Turhune, Jos. Cornel, Barent Stryker, Gretje Cornel, John Ditmars, Roelof Turhune, Marritje Van Nuys, Wm. Corteljou.
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submission and love, praying God Almighty to overrule all things for the best. 1
" And furthermore, the salary, as is usual, shall be paid by each one of us. The Rev. ministers, above mentioned, are invited, with elders from each of the congregations, to come together at the house of Peter Schenck, on Monday, the eleventh of August, prox."
Accordingly on the eleventh of August, 1766, Rev. John Leydt, pastor of the churches of New Brunswick and Six Mile Run, with an elder respectively from each, viz., Hendrick Fisher, and Ab. Voorheese ; Rev. Jacob R. Har- denbergh, of Raritan, with the elder Reynier Van Neste ; and the Rev. J. M. Van Harlingen, of Nechanic and Sour- land, with elders Simon Van Arsdalen, and Johannes De Mott, met together at the house of Peter Schenck, (which stood on the present premises of Deacon Broach,) and after prayer, each of the points of the petition were thoroughly discussed, and the petition and plan were approved ; except that the new congregation should not have the services of the three ministers without the consent of their respective congregations, as it would infringe on their calls. They at once proceeded to erect a Consistory, and to establish the con- gregation under the name of NEW MILLSTONE. They accord- ingly elected Joseph Cornell and Peter Schenck for elders, and Johannes Hogelandt, and Ab. Van Beuren, M.D., for deacons. Dominie Leydt, of New Brunswick, was appointed to ordain the new Consistory on a certain day, the date of which is not given, but being prevented by an accident, this duty was performed by Dominie Hardenbergh, of Raritan.
A little difficulty was at once experienced in reference to the bounds of the new congregation, as the Consistories of each of the other churches complained that it was taking
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too many families from them .* Accordingly each Consis- tory determined what families could be spared, and no others should attempt to go, and those who were permitted to go, should also have the privilege of remaining in their old connections if they chose. Our Consistory protested that these arrangements very much contracted them, but still promised to do nothing to disturb the peace.
The three neighboring ministers, by an arrangement en- tered into with their congregations, each preached at New Millstone four times a year, giving them conjointly a ser- vice once a month. Thus matters stood for eight years.
The first thing the new consistory attempted to do, was to erect a house of worship, in accordance with their pro- mise, and also because it was not agreeable longer to use the Presbyterian edifice, which it would seem from the withdrawal of the Dutch, had been built chiefly by the English. A subscription was begun, in December of the same year, which received seventy-eight names,t and an aggregate amount of £446 or $1,115 00, the subscribers agreeing to pay the sums promised, in four installments of six months each, beginning May 1st, 1767. The subscrip- tion paper states that the Church should be built on a piece of land near the Somerset Co. Court House, (this being the County-seat,) which land should be bought by the builders of John Smock. It was further stipulated, that the congre- gation should belong to the Coetus, i. e., the progressive party in the church, showing that the efforts of the First Frelinghuysen, on the people of this locality, had not been
* This subject was agitated for many years. In 1790 the road run- ning west from the brick-walled cemetery, was made the division line between Raritan and Millstone, Weston also being included in Raritan. Consist. Book 2. p. 13.
t See Appendix. Note 1.
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in vain. Subscriptions * were also solicited for help in New-York and on Long Island, and £104 10s. 11d. or $260 were thus received for the original building of the Church.
John Van Doren gave land to the church immediately north of the present parsonage lot, on what is now the gar- den of Dr. Fred. Blackwell. But John Smock, who owned the plot where the church now stands, being willing to exchange with the Consistory, they gladly accepted of the proposal, on account of the superiority of the site, and hence the deed for the ground stands in the name of John Smock, dated Jan. 7th, 1767, to certain trustees, t in behalf of the congregation. The land comprised cight and a half tenths of an acre, and was valued at £10. This plot was subse- quently increased, by three different purchases of land, viz., the square west of the Lecture Room of Dan. Disborough, in 1814,¿ the western end of the grave-yard of John Broach, in 1834,§ and a small plot in the northwest corner of the yard, of Dan. Disborough, in 1835, | costing in all $191.
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