USA > New Jersey > Salem County > Salem > History and genealogy of Fenwick's colony > Part 39
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SEVENTII-DAY BAPTIST SOCIETIES.
dred and forty signatures to a temperance pledge were immedi- ately obtained ; but none entered into the cause more heartily, nor rejoiced more to see it prosper, as I have been informed, than their venerable pastor, John Davis. Some years after the church adopted a temperance clause, and as a church has been com- mitted to it ever since.
Although the church at Shiloh has from time to time incurred heavy expenditures in money in building their churches and academies, I have been informed that it is clear of debt. They have obtained, by legacies and from other sources, consid- crable sums of money. In 1774 Esther Davis, daughter of Isaac Ayars, and widow of the first pastor, Jonathan Davis, left, by will, a house and lot to the church. In 1754 Richard Sparks, a Keithite Seventh-Day Baptist, left, by will, a lot on Fifth street, Philadelphia, for a burial ground. George Keitlı, the apostate Quaker preacher, in the latter part of the seven- teenth and early part of the eighteenth century, left the Society of Friends, of which he at one time was a consistent and useful member, and with his followers adopted the Seventh day as the Sabbath, and espoused the Baptist creed. Several of John Smith's, of Amblebury, grand-children became the followers of Keith, and others that resided within the Salem tenth, a number that belonged to Newton meeting, also many Friends that were citizens of Philadelphia and adjacent country, so much so that there were three Keithite meetings established-one in Byberry, one within the city limits, the third, I think, was located near Radnor. George Keith, within a short time after these meet- ings were established, returned to England, his native land, and became a member of the Church of England. Most of his fol- lowers in America, in a few years, became members of other religious denominations, generally the old Baptist organization. The city government soon afterward prohibiting interments thereon, the New Market and Shiloh churches took charge of it, and realized some $4,000 or $5,000 from the part not occu- pied by the graves.
In 1858 Deacon Ayars, grandson of Rev. Jonathan Davis, 3d, left, by will, $1,000 to the church, the interest only to be used. In 1873 the late Caleb Sheppard left, by will, $500 to the Shiloh Academy, and that sum, with the recent subscrip- tions, will free the institution from debt.
PRESBYTERIAN SOCIETIES.
From the year 1690 np to 1745 there was a large emigration from New England and New York States to Fenwick Colony. Many of the emigrants were Presbyterians, and they, like the early Friends, were satisfied with erecting log houses for Divine worship here in the wilderness. The first Presbyterian church erected in Fenwick's tenth was built at Fairfield, on the south bank of Cohansey creek, about the year 1695. It was composed of logs. The pastor of the church at that time was Thomas Bridges, who, it is said, was called away to Boston in 1702. A few years later the congregation erected for themselves a frame edifice in the old New Englandtown grave-yard, on the banks of Cohansey creek, it being about one mile from what is known at this time as the old stone church. Howell Powell, it seems, was one of the early pastors of Fairfield church. He died in 1717.
In the year 1727 Daniel Elmer emigrated to Fairton from Connecticut. He was a young man, and a clergyman of con- siderable note in his native State. IIe was a pastor of Fairfield Presbyterian church up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1755. From him originated the Elmers of Cumberland county, many of whom have been distinguished men in profess- ional and civil life up to the present day. The ancestors of the Potter, Ewing, Fithian, Westcott and Bateman families also came from New England and settled at Cohansey in the latter part of the seventeenth or early in the eighteenth century. They have held an influential position in Cumberland county for several generations.
The Presbyterians from New England settled on both sides of Cohansey creek, and quite a number of them purchased homes in, and in the neighborhoood of, Cohansey (now Green- wich). About the year 1705 they established and organized the first Presbyterian church on the north side of Cohansey creek, which was named Greenwich Church. I am indebted to the venerable Dr. Fithian, of Greenwich, for much valuable information respecting it. It appears that the early records of
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PRESBYTERIAN SOCIETIES.
the church were destroyed accidentally by fire, and the oldest record in possession of the congregation is a deed of gift from Jeremialı Bacon to Henry Joice and Thomas Maskell, for one acre of land, in trust for the people called Presbyterians, living on the north side of Cohansey creek, to build and establish a church for the public worship of God, dated 24th of 4th month, 1717. It is probable that this was a part of the thirty-two acres of land that William Bacon purchased of the executors of John Fenwick in 1688. The first pastor of the church was a gentleman of the name of Black, and he remained as pastor for about three years. In 1708 he removed to Lewes, Delaware, and in 1712 Ebenezer Goold, a native of New England, was installed pastor. The year after the installation of Goold the congregation procured a piece of land, on which they built a parsonage. The deed for the land (six acres) was from Nicholas Gibbon and Leonard Gibbon to Josiah Fithian, Thomas Maskell and Noah Miller. They made a provision in the deed that Presby- terians should build a house for their minister to dwell in, by deed dated 13th of 1st month, 1729. What a noble example the two wealthy men, Nicholas and Leonard Gibbon, set for future generations ! They, though strict members of the Church of England, were willing to assist other religious denominations. The congregation did build a house on the land, in which their pastor resided until it, together with the furniture it con- tained, was consumed with fire, as also the carly records of the church. Ebenezer Goold, soon after he went to Greenwich, married Ann Brewster, a sister of Francis Brewster, one of the elders of the church, and a descendant of Elder Brewster, who landed from the Mayflower, at Plymouth, in 1620. The congregation increased so greatly about the year 1735 that the house of worship was too small to accommodate them. They resolved to build a new church, and started a subscription for that purpose. Perhaps it would be interesting to many at this day to know who were the leading members of the Presbyterian Church at Greenwich at that period, who subscribed to the fund. They are as follows :
€ sh.
€ sh.
Ebenezer Goold,
5 00
Jos. Simpkins,
1 00
Wm. Watson,
10 00
Thos. Wartham,
3 00
Elias Cotting,
10 00
Matthias Fithian,
5 00
Samuel Clark,
5 00
Constant Maskell,
10 00
Benj. Dare,
10 00
John Woolsey,
2 00
Thos. Ewing,
10 00
Ananias Sayre,
4 00
Abel Carll,
5 00
Aaron Mulford, 3 00
Thos. Buryman,
5 00
Chas. Fordham,
3 00
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PRESBYTERIAN SOCIETIES.
£ sh.
£ sh.
Abraham Reeves,
10 00
Wm. Perry,
4 00
Jonathan Sayrc,
2 00
Jas. Carathers,
4 00
Nathaniel Bishop,
2 05
Thos. Road,
3 00
Samuel Miller,
4 00
John Woodruff,
3 00
Jonathan Holmes,
6 00
Noah Miller, Jr.,
4 00
Thomas Sayre,
5 00
Jos. Moore,
6 00
John Padgett, 8 00
Jas. McKnight,
2 00
Harbour Beck,
4 00
Ebenezer Smith,
1 00
Nehemiah Veal,
3 00
Nathan Lupton,
1 10
Balbie Sheppard,
1 00
John Tyler,
1 00
Francis Brewster,
2 00
Deborah Keith,
1 00
Samuel Moore,
5 00
John Plummer,
10
John Miller,
4 00
Elias Davis,
1 00
Joseph Peck,
2 00
Mercy Maskell,
2 00
Nathaniel Harris,
2 00
Samuel Bacon, Jr.,
15
Francis Tulies,
1 10
Josiah Parain,
4 00
John Shaw.
3 00
Thos. Padgett,
6 00
Philip Vickers,
5 00
James Crawford,
1 00
John Keith,
2 10
John Finlaw,
1 00
The subscription amounted to £234 10s. I think a number of those who subscribed were members of Deerfield Church, the members of which were in unison with Greenwich Presbyterian Church. The sum raised was insufficient to build the church, which in size was 44 feet in length by 34 feet in width, and it was not completed until 1751. It was built of brick, and has since been taken down, and a more modern edifice has been erected on the opposite side of the street.
When John Fenwick had determined upon laying out a town on the banks of the Cohansey, to be called after the Indian name of the river Cohansey; hence all the country on the north and south sides of said river was known as Cohansey Precinct. The country was known by the same name until about the year 1710 or 1720. In 1690 there were a number of emigrants from Connecticut came to Fenwick Colony, and settled at a place which they called Fairton, on the south side of Cohansey river, in Shrewsbury Neck, as it was called by the first settlers of Fenwiek Colony. The name was changed by the Eastern emi- grants to Fairfield, after their native township in Connecticut. There were also a number of families from the State of New York and the Eastern States emigrated and settled in the town of Cohansey and the country adjacent, such as the Denn, Miller, Maskell, Padgett, Watson, Ewing, Seeley, and several other families, who became conspicuous in the religious and civil affairs of the Colony. The great-grandson of the first Watson that settled at Cohansey removed to Philadelphia, and late in life wrote ' Annals of Philadelphia," a work that will perpetuate
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PRESBYTERIAN SOCIETIES.
his name for many generations. About the time the families that I mentioned came from New England and New York, the name of Cohansey was changed to Greenwich, after the native town of some of the emigrants.
William Fithian emigrated from England to America, and settled at East Hampton, New York, in 1639, and his son, Sam- uel Fithian, removed from New York to Fairfield, in Fenwick Colony, in 1700, with his family. His wife was Priscilla Bur- nett. They had six children-John, Josiah, Samuel, Esther, Matthias and William. Josiah Fithian removed from Fairfield and made Cohansey his permanent home, in 1706, and there married Sarah Dennis. They had seven children-John, Jere- miah, Samuel, 3d, Hannah, (who subsequently married Ephraim Seeley) ; Esther, Joseph, Sarah and Josiah. Josiah and Sarah Dennis Fithian were the great grandparents of the present Dr. Enoch Fithian, of Greenwich.
By a deed dated 13th of 2d month, 1738, the Presbyterian grave-yard was enlarged by the addition of one acre and a quar- ter to its southern end, which was purchased for the sum of £25. The deed, made by John Ogden, of Cohansey, conveyed to Jo- siah Fithian, William Watson, and Abraham Reeves, "in trust for the sole and proper use and benefit of the Presbyterian con- gregation of Greenwich, for a meeting house and burying- ground forever, and to and for no other use."
About the year 1700, William Hall, of Salem, and Daniel Cox, of Burlington, came into possession of large tracts of ex- cellent land in the southern portion of Pilesgrove township, Deerfield, and other parts of the Colony. They held out in- dncements to purchasers, and from the year 1715 to 1750 there was a large emigration from New York and other places to South Jersey. The Parvin, Harber Peck, Harris, Preston, Foster, and several other families, most of them Presbyterians, purchased lands in Deerfield, Cumberland county, as it is called, since the division of Salem tenth. Nearly at the same period the Newkirk, Vanmeter, Dubois, and other families bought lands of Cox and the heirs of Hall in what is now Pittsgrove, being formerly part of Pilesgrove. Abont 1737 the first Pres- byterian Church was erected at Deerfield. It seems that the churches at Greenwich and at Deerfield were in full unity with each other, both of them being under the charge of a body of deacons and elders who were members of both churches. Their names were as follows: Andrew Hunter, their pastor, Josiah Parvin, ILarber Peck, Joseph Peck, Nathaniel Harris, Isaac Preston, and Jeremiah Foster, of Deerfield Church; Jonathan
431
PRESBYTERIAN SOCIETIES.
Holmes, Isaac Mills, Francis Brewster, Thomas Padgett, Thomas Ewing and Abraham Reeves, of Greenwich Church. It appears that Andrew Hunter succeeded Ebenezer Goold as pastor of those two churches. He was born in Ireland about the year 1715, and has been represented to have had great oratorical powers in the pulpit ; better than all, his moral and Christian life was in accordance with his precepts. He married Annie Stockton, of Princeton, New Jersey who survived him; they left no children. Andrew Hunter died 7th month, 2d, 1775, and was buried in the ancient grave-yard at Greenwich, he being at the time of his death about sixty years of age.
The Presbyterians, like the early Friends, seem to have had dissensions among them. The old church at Fairfield adhered strictly to the old Calvinistic doctrines, while the members of Greenwich and Deerfield took a more liberal view of their modes of faith; hence there was no unity between the two oldest Presby- terian churches in Fenwick Colony. While the Fairfield mem- bers adhered to what they called the old side, the members of Greenwich and Deerfield churches strenuously advocated the new modes of faith. It appears there was not full unity between the two churches for nearly forty years. The eloquence of Hunter, however, attracted many persons from Fairfield Church, as Web- ster, their historian remarked, to the congregation at Greenwich.
Pilesgrove Presbyterian Church is known at this time as Pittsgrove congregation, on account of the division of the town- ship of Pilesgrove. The said church was organized by David Evans, in 1741; it was associated at the first period of its existence with the church at Gloucester, later with Deerfield, the neighboring church, and finally with Quihawkin, located in Penn's Neck. There appears to be no definite record showing when the latter named church was founded. It is generally believed by the members of that society that it was about the time Pilesgrove church was organized. The families that were members of Pittsgrove church at its establishment were-David Evans, their pastor, DuBois, VanMeter, Newkirk and Mayhew, and at a later date the Coombs family, and a number of others that I do not recollect at this time, whose descendants generally are members of the same church that their forefathers assisted in founding in the wilderness more than one hundred and thirty years ago. The congregation at this time is said to be large, and has a large moral and religious influence in that sec- tion of the county.
# {Quihawkin Church was located at Obisquahasit, now Penn's Neck, on the banks of the Shanangah (now Delaware) river,
432
PRESBYTERIAN SOCIETIES.
near what is now Pennsville. The building was similar to the old Presbyterian Church at Greenwich, but less in size ; it has been taken down for a number of years. Some of the persons that were members of it at its organization were Tobias Copner and family, and Dunn and Lambson families. Tradition asserts that the Philpot family, Thomas Miles, and his son Francis, and a number of others, were also members of said church. There is no Presbyterian meeting now kept up in that township. Joseph Copner, the son of Tobias, became a member of the Society of Friends in old age, while the large and influential family of Dunns have left the religious society of their ances- tors, most of them being members of the Methodist church.
The records of the Presbyterian church located formerly at Logtown, in Alloways Creek, seems in lapse of time to have been lost. Johnson, in his history of Salem county, says that the said church was founded in 1750. The families that were members of it at the time of its organization were James Sayre, Joseph Hildredth, Richard Moore, a person by the name of Woodruff, (I think it was Thomas, whose grandparents, Thomas and Edith Wyatt Woodruff, emigrated from Worcestershire, England, to Salem county, in 1678), and Thomas Padgett, Jr. Towards the latter part of the last century Solomon Du- Bois, a young man from Pittsgrove, George Grier, Sr., Henry Wood, and a few others, became members of said church. I think it was not at any time large. The house of worship has been taken down more than a half century. The cemetery that once belonged to the church is now enclosed with the Baptist grave-yard, near the village of Canton, where the descendants of the former members of the Presbyterian church still bury their deceased relatives, and a number whose parents were formerly members of the Logtown Church have become mem- bers of the Baptist Society.
Bridgeton is comparatively a modern city in Fenwick's Col- ony. Richard Tindall, after the difficulties between Richard Hancock and the proprietor, was made surveyor-general of the province by Fenwick, in the year 1680. In 1682 Richard Hancock erected a saw mill on the south side of Cohansey, where Bridgeton is located, on a small stream that flows into the Cohansey, called Mill ereck. I presume that name was given to it on account of Hancock's mill being located there. What time he remained there I have no means of determining, but Judge Elmer thinks he left that place and purchased prop- erty where Hancock's Bridge is located, and the family by that name at that place are his descendants. I am inclined to think
433
PRESBYTERIAN SOCIETIES.
that Richard Hancock left no children, if any they were daugh- ters ; hence the name of the family is lost. There were three persons by that name who emigrated to this country. Richard came with the proprietor in 1675. William Hancock, who pur- chased one thousand acres of land of the proprietor before he embarked to take possession of the province. William gave Richard Whiticar the power of attorney to take charge of his landed estate until such time as he should arrive in this country himself, which was in 1677. He died in 1679, on his allotment, leaving two sons-John and William Hancock. John Hancock was the father of William, who was killed at the massacre in his own house during the American Revolution. William Han- cock, the son of the emigrant, purchased lands in Elsinborough, and was the ancestor of the family by that name in that town- ship. John, the cousin of Richard and William Hancock, camc to this province in 1680, and married Mary, the daughter of Nathaniel and Elizabeth Chambless, in 1681. Their descend- ants are numerous in the county at this time.
Where the city of Bridgeton is now located the first bridge across the Cohansey was built. The village, during the time of the Revolution, went under the name of Cohansey Bridge. The American Militia, under Colonels Hand and Home, was quartered there for some time in the years 1777-8. I was told many years ago by a celebrated antiquarian, the late"Dalyman Harris, that a few years before the Revolution John Moore, a native of Ireland, after he arrived in this country, followed the business of a pedlar of dry goods. According to the custom of that day he carried the pack of merchandise on his back. By strict economy he soon was enabled to build a small building on the north side of the creek, near the bridge, in which he kept store. My informant further stated that he believed he married a young woman by the name of Reeve, grand-daughter of Mark Reeve. They were the grand-parents of the late John Moore White, of Woodbury. At the time of his death he was more than fourscore years and ten. He was a good lawyer, and for a number of years one of the Judges of the Courts.
Allen H. Brown, a divine of considerable eminence, gave the following of the first Presbyterian Church built at Bridgeton, in a discourse delivered in that city, in 1865 : "Sensible of the " inconvenience of attending public worship in the neighboring " churches, the people of Bridgeton determined, about the year " 1774, to build a house for publie worship and to form a con- "gregation on or near the lot where the old session house re- "cently stood. The revolutionary war coming on soon after,
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PRESBYTERIAN SOCIETIES.
" the project was relinquished. In 1778 the subject was revived, "but because of disagreement respecting the location, the site " was not determined upon until 1791. The work was begun " in 1792, and in the same year the house was enclosed. In " May, 1793, a lottery was started for raising two thousand " dollars for the purpose of finishing the building, which was " drawn in January, 1794. In May, 1795, the house was " opened and dedicated by Davenport, the pastor of Deerfield " church." Although the same anthor further states that they possessed a house, the people still felt unable to support the Gospel alone. They made a proposition to Greenwich church to unite with them as a collegiate church, under the name of the " United Churches of Greenwich and Bridgeton," with but one set of church officers, and one church session for both churches, and that for the present the officers of Greenwich church shall control both churches, but in filling vacancies, elections shall be held and officers chosen alternately at each church. Greenwich congregation did not agree to the proposal, and the plan was relinquished. Application was then made to the Presbytery for a separate congregation in Bridgeton, and the prayer was granted in 10th month, 1792. The population at that place at that period was about three hundred. They now number about eight thousand. I have been informed that at the present time there are three Presbyterian churches in that city, besides a large seminary called the West Jersey Academy. The said institution, if the report respecting it be correct, is extensively patronized.
I think many of the ancestors of the members of the Presby- terian churches of Bridgeton were members of the old Presby- terian church at Fairfield. It can safely be said of Bridgeton that it is a place of factories and churches, and there seems to be a general industry and talent in its population that is calcu- lated to produce good results upon their character.
The Presbyterian church at Salem was founded about 1821. At that time there were only six members-the late Dr. James VanMeter, and his brother, Robert VanMeter, were two of the principal members, and took an active part in its organization. The corner stone of their church was laid in the beginning of 3d month, 1821, on a lot on Griffith street, which was given to the church by Robert Johnson. In 1824 the congregation increased from six to thirty-one members, and the number who generally attended their meeting was about two hundred. The congregation agreed about that time to give their pastor, Burt, three hundred dollars per annum, and his firewood, and find
435
PRESBYTERIAN SOCIETIES.
him a house to live in. Their record further states that "their " people are mostly of common circumstances. From the atten- " tion given to their minister the congregation confidently ex- "pected, by the goodness of Divine Providence, that in a few " years the Society will be so far increased in numbers that they " may be able to support their minister without the aid of their " brethren elsewhere." They further stated that "they will be " thankful to their Christian friends for any pecuniary assist- " ance they may feel disposed to confer upon the infant church " at Salem."
Notwithstanding the Presbyterian church had erected a sub- stantial brick edifice on the lot they obtained from Robert G. Johnson, on East Griffith street, they soon found it too small to accommodate the congregation, and a few years afterward they built an addition to it. Their pastor at that period was Daniel Stratton, a native of Bridgeton, New Jersey. He married Ellen, the eldest daughter of Morris and Sarah Hancock, of Salem. Daniel was educated for the ministry. In early life, I have been informed, he was threatened with consumption, and soon after his marriage he removed with his wife to Newburn, North Carolina, where he was installed pastor of the Presbyte- rian church of that town. Thinking, I have no doubt, that a warmer climate would be more genial to his weak constitution, he continued in that place for several years, and in 1852 he and his family returned to their native State. I think he was installed pastor of the Salem Presbyterian congregation the same year. He continued in that service until his death, in Sth month, 1866, which event cast a gloom over his admiring con- gregation, a large number of relatives and acquaintances, and the inhabitants of the city of Salem generally, by whom he was much beloved for his Christian and moral deportment whilst residing among them. He was succeeded in the pastoral charge of the congregation by Frederic W. Bauns, who continued to fill the duties of pastor for sixteen or seventeen months, having resigned the charge in 1868. He was followed by the present popular pastor, William Bannard, who was installed by the congregation the same year.
The Presbyterian Church, desiring a more eligible location for their house of worship, bought a lot of ground on Market street of the late Calvin Belden, who was a member and a lib- eral contributor, the lot costing $4,000. The corner stone was laid July 17, 1854, for the new church, and the house, when completed, cost $22,000, furniture $1,200; the whole cost, in- cluding the ground, was $27,000. The building is 83x49 feet,
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