USA > New Jersey > Union County > Elizabeth > History of Elizabeth, New Jersey : including the early history of Union County > Part 31
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1 April 7. In the afternoon, rode to Newark, to marry the Rev. Mr. Dickinson : and in the evening performed that service. Afterwards rode home to Elizabethtown, in a pleasant frame, full of composure and sweet- ness.t 1
In 1745, the Rev. John Beach of Newtown, Ct., and the Rev. Henry Caner, of Fairfield, Ct., both preached for the Rev. James Honyman, in Trinity Church, Newport, R. I., and printed their sermons, in which they reflected upon the revival doctrines of the day. The Rev. Dr. Samuel John- son, of Stratford, Ct., also, published, about the same time, . " A Letter from Aristocles to Anthades," designed to set the doctrine of the divine sovereignty and promises in its true light, as he, and the other Episcopal ministers of the day, understood them. These several publications were designed as antidotes mainly to Mr. Dickinson's works on the same subject. He was not slow, therefore, in issuing, 1746, his reply, entitled,
A vindication of God's Sovereign Free Grace. In some Remarks
* Edwards' Works, X. 247, 262, 283, 290, 353, 4, 6, 371, 374-380, 444.
t Edwards' Works, X. 379.
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on Mr. J. Beach's Sermon, with some brief Reflections upon H. Caner's Sermon, and on a pamphlet entitled A Letter from Aristocles to Anthades.
It called forth a reponse from Dr. Johnson, to which Mr. Dickinson wrote a rejoinder, called " A Second Vindication of God's Sovereign Free Grace," which was published, after his death, by his brother, Moses Dickinson, of Norwalk .*
Mr. Dickinson had long felt the necessity of a Collegiate Institution, more accessible than Harvard or Yale, for the colonies this side of New England. The course pursued by the authorities of Yale College, in denying to his young friend, David Brainerd, his degree, on account of a slight irregularity, and for whom he and Burr had both interceded in vain, determined him to establish, if possible, a College in New Jersey. Something had been done, already, by the friends of the Log College at Neshaminy, Pa. Mr. Dickin- son, it is credibly reported, had for years taught a Classical School, or at least received young men into his house, to fit them for the ministry. The Rev. Jacob Green, of Hanover, and the Rev. Caleb Smith, of Orange, N. J., both of them were his students. Incipient steps were taken by the Synod as early as 1739, to obtain aid from Great Britain, for this object, Mr. Dickinson being on the Committee for this pur- pose, "but the war breaking out" with Spain prevented it. At length, application was made, to John Hamilton Esq., President of his Majesty's Council, and (by reason of the death, May 14, 1746, of Gov. Lewis Morris) Commander in Chief of the Province of New Jersey, for " a Charter to in- corporate sundry persons to found a college." The applica- tion was successful, and it was granted, under the great seal of the Province, Oct. 22, 1746. Notice of the event and of the intentions of the Trustees was duly given, in the New York Weekly Post Boy, No. 211, dated February 2, 1744, as follows :-
Whereas a Charter with fall and ample Privileges, has been granted by his Majesty, under the Seal of the Province of New Jersey, bearing date the 22d October, 1746, for erecting a College within the said Prov- ince, to Jonathan Dickinson, John Pierson, Ebenezer Pemberton and
* Sprague's Annals, III. IS, V. 55, 63, 85. Chandler's Life of Johnson, p. 71.
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Aaron Burr, Ministers of the Gospel and some other Gentlemen, as Trustees of the said College, by which Charter equal Liberties and Privileges are secured to every Denomination of Christians, any different religious Sentiments notwithstanding.
The said Trustees have therefore thought proper to inform the Public, that they design to open the said College the next Spring; and to notify to any Person or Persons who are qualified by preparatory Learning for Admission, that some time in May next at latest they may be there admitted to an Academic Education.
Subsequently, in No. 222, Ap. 20, 1747, notice is thus given :--
This is to inform the Publick, That the Trustees of the Colledge of New-Jersey, have appointed the Rev. Mr. Jonathan Dickinson, PRESIDENT of the said Colledge : which will be opened the fourth Week in May next, at Elizabeth-Town; At which Time and Place, all Persons suitably quali- fied, may be admitted to an Academic Education.
At the time specified the first Term of "the College of New Jersey " was opened at Mr. Dickinson's house, on the south side of the Old Rahway road, directly west of Race st. Mr. Caleb Smith, of Brookhaven, L. I., a graduate of Yale College, in 1743, and now in the 24th year of his age, was employed as the first Tutor. Enos Ayres, (afterwards a Presbyterian minister at Blooming Grove, Orange Co., N. Y.), Benjamin Chesnut, (an Englishman, and subsequently of the Presbytery of New Brunswick), Hugh Henry, (afterwards of the Presbytery of New Castle), Israel Reed, (shortly after the pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Bound Brook, N. J.), Richard Stockton, (of Princeton, the well-known civilian), and Daniel Thane, (a Scotchman, and subsequently pastor of the Church of Connecticut Farms in this town), were the first graduates of the Institution, and were all of them, doubtless, under the instruction of Mr. Dickinson and his Tutor, Caleb Smith ; with others, perhaps, of the succeeding class .*
In the midst of these useful and laborious employments, full of honors as of service, Mr. Dickinson's career on earth was brought to a close. He died, of pleurisy, Oct. 7, 1747, in the sixtieth year of his age. The Rev. Timothy Johnes, of Morristown, visited him in his last illness, and found him
* Memoir of Rev. C. Smith, p. S. Triennial of C. of N. J.
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fully prepared for the event : " Many days have passed be- tween God and my soul, in which I have solemnly dedicated myself to Him, and I trust what I have committed unto Him, He is able to keep until that day." Such was his testi- mony, in death, to the gospel in which he believed. On the occasion of his burial, a sermon was preached by his old friend and neighbor, the Rev. John Pierson, of Woodbridge, which was afterwards published. The following notice of his death and burial appeared in the N. York Weekly Post Boy, of Oct. 12, 1747 :-
Elizabethtown in New Jersey, Oct. 10.
On Wednesday Morning last, about 4 o'clock, died here of a pleuritic illness, that eminently learned, faithful and pious Minister of the Gospel, and President of the College of New Jersey, the Rev. Mr. Jonathan Dick- inson, in the 60th Year of his Age, who had been Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in this Town for nearly forty Years, and was the Glory and Joy of it. In him conspicuously appeared those natural and acquired moral and spiritual Endowments which constitute a truly excel- lent and valuable Man, a good Scholar, an eminent Divine, and a serious devout Christian. He was greatly adorned with the Gifts and Graces of his Heavenly Master, in the Light whereof he appeared as a Star of supe- rior Brightness and Influence in the Orb of the Church, which has sus- tained a great and unspeakable Loss in his Death. He was of uncommon and very extensive Usefulness. He boldly appeared in the Defence of the great and important Truths of our most holy Religion and the Gospel Doctrines of the free and sovereign Grace of God. He was a zealons Pro- moter of godly Practice and godly Living, and a bright Ornament to his Profession. In Times and Cases of Difficulty he was a ready, wise and able Counsellor. By his Death our infant College is deprived of the Benefit and Advantage of his superior Accomplishments, which afforded a favorable Prospect of its future Flourishing and Prosperity under his Inspection. His Remains were decently interred here Yesterday, when the Rev. Mr. Pierson, of Woodbridge, preached his funeral Sermon, and as he lived desired of all so never any Person in these Parts died more lamented. Our Fathers where are they and the Prophets, do they live forever ?
This notice was probably written by the Rev. Mr. Pem- berton, of New York, with whom Mr. Dickinson had been intimately associated, for years, in the defence of the truth, and the promotion of the cause of Christ. The testimony thus borne to his great work was fully confirmed by all who
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knew him. President Edwards called him " the late learned and very excellent Mr. Jonathan Dickinson." The Rev. Dr. Bellamy called him "the great Mr. Dickinson." The Rev. Dr. John Erskine, of Edinburgh, said, "The British Isles have produced no such writers on divinity in the eighteenth cen- tury as Dickinson and Edwards." The Rev. David Austin, of this town, writing of him in 1793, gathers up the traditions of that day concerning him as follows :-
There are those alive, who testify that he was a most solemn, weighty and moving preacher-that he was a uniform advocate for the distin- guishing doctrines of grace, as his writings prove-that he was industri- ous, indefatigable, and successful in his ministerial labors-as to his per- son, that it was manly-of full size : solemn and grave in his aspect, so that the wicked would seem to tremble in his presence .*
His monument in the Presbyterian "Burying Ground " bears the following inscription :-
Here lyes ye body of ye Revd Mr Jonathan Dickinson, Pastor of the first Presbyterian Church In Elizabeth Town, who Died Oct" ye 7th 1747. Aetatis Suae 60. Deep was the Wound, O Death! and Vastly wide, When he resign'd his Useful breath and dy'd : Ye Sacred Tribe with pious Sorrows mourn, And drop a tear at your great Patron's Urn ! Conceal'd a moment, from our longing Eyes, Beneath this Stone his mortal Body lies : Happy the Spirit lives, and will, we trust, In Bliss associate with his precious Dust.
Another monument, by the side of his, has the following :-
Here is interred the body of Mrs. Joanna Dickinson-Obiit. April 20, 1745. Anno Aetatis 63.
Rest, precious Dust, till Christ revive this Clay To Join the Triumphs of the Judgement Day.
They had nine children. (1.) Melyen was born Dec. 7, 1709. (2.) Abigail, married to Jonathan Sergeant, a widow- er, of Newark.+ Her son, Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant, was
* Edwards' Works, X. 879. Webster's P. Chh., p. 361. Preface to the Five Points, viii.
t His first wife was Hannah, (born, 1709, and died, 1743), the daughter of the Rev. John
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born in 1746, and married Margaret, daughter of Rev. Elihu Spencer, D. D., Mr. Dickinson's successor in the ministry here. Their children were Hon. John Sergeant, Hon. Thomas Sergeant, Hon. Elihu Spencer Sergeant, and Sarah, the wife of Rev. Samuel Miller, D. D. (3.) Jonathan, born, Sept. 19, 1713, graduated at Yale College in 1731, and died in 1735. (4.) Mary, married, (1.) to John Cooper, a tailor, of this town, and had a daughter, Martha, and two sons, William and Caleb Cooper. Mr. Cooper died in March, 1753, and she was married, (2.) to -- Plum, of Newark, and had Elizabeth, Mary, and Martha Plum, the latter married to David Burnet. She died in 1763. (5.) Joanna, born, Feb. 27, 1716, and died, May 9, 1732. (6.) Temperance, married to Jonathan Odell, of Ct. Farms, and had four children : Jona- than, Joanna, Eunice, and Elizabeth. Mr. Odell died, June 25, 1750. His son, Jonathan, was then a member of the Freshman Class of the College of New Jersey, at Newark, where he graduated in 1754-afterwards, entering the gos- pel ministry. (7.) Elizabeth, born in 1721, married to Mr. Jonathan Miller, of Barnet's Mills, in this town, and died, Nov. 27, 17SS. (S.) -. (9.) Martha, married, Sept. 7, 1749, to Rev. Caleb Smith, of Newark Mountains, [Orange], N. J., and dicd, August 20, 1757, leaving three daughters, -Nancy, Elizabeth, and Jane. She is described as
A Lady endowed with many amiable Qualities; she was superior to most of her Sex in Strength of Genius, her intellectual Qualities were quick and penetrating, she had a Thirst for Knowledge, and was greatly delighted in Reading : Kindness, Ease and Friendship composed her natural Tem- per ; she was an agreeable Companion, very obliging in her Behaviour, and admired and loved by all who had the Happiness of her Acquaint- ance: As she was blessed with an early religious Education so the things of Eternity began betimes to exercise her : She had serious Impressions upon her Mind even from her Childhood, and began a Course of secret Prayer while Young. She was a most faithful Friend, an amiable and affection- ate Companion, and the Heart of her Husband safely trusted in her .*
Nutman of Hanover, N. J. Her daughter, Hannah, was married, about 1759, to the Rev. John Ewing, [afterwards, D. D.], ofPhiladelphia. Mr. Sergeant removed at an early day to Prince- ton, N. J.
* Murray's Notes, p. 60. Sprague's Annals, III. 17. IIall's Trenton, p. 259. Memoir of Rev. Caleb Smith, p. 48.
23
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Mrs. Mary Dickinson survived her husband, and died, August 30th, 1762, in the 68th year of her age. Her remains repose in the Cemetery of the First Presbyterian Church of Newark, N. J. She was the widow of Elihu Crane, and the mother of Lewis, Christopher, Charles, Elder Elihu, Isaac, Hannah (married to Dr. Moses Scott), and Phebe (the wife of Rev. John Carmichael, of Chester Co., Pa.). Her grand- daughter, Martha Crane (daughter of Elihu), was the wife of the Rt. Rev. John Croes, of N. Jersey .*
Mr. Dickinson was, by common consent, the greatest man, whose name adorns the Annals of the town. Tracy, in his "Great Awakening," p. 404, calls him " one of the greatest and safest men of that age ; " and Dr. Sprague ventures the assertion,-
It may be doubted whether, with the single exception of the elder Edwards, Calvinism has ever found an abler or more efficient champion in this country, than Jonathan Dickinson.
This peculiar prominence is a sufficient apology for giving him so large a place in this history. His name, during the nearly forty years of his ministry, gave the town itself a prominence both in the province and in the country.
* Bicentenary of Newark, p. 116 Sprague's Annals, III. 231.
.
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CHAPTER XVI.
A. D. 1708-1747.
ECCLESIASTICAL- Rev. Edward Vaughan, Episcopal Missionary, arrives from England - Call to Jamaica, L. I., declined -Poverty of his People - Preaches at Rahway, Woodbridge, and P. Amboy -Marries Mrs. Emott -- Removes to Amboy - Returns -Church Edifice not finished for years - Annual Reports to the "Society " - Chh. Glebe - Opposes Mr. Whitefield - His Death and Character -Increase of Religious Congregations in 40 years.
REV. EDWARD VAUGHAN.
AFTER the departure of the Rev. Mr. Brooke, Nov., 1707, for England, the Episcopal Congregation were left without a preacher nearly two years. They were dependent entirely on missionary service from England. Urgent representa- tions were made to " the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts ;" and, in the summer of 1709, the Rev. Edward Vaughan was appointed their missionary for this region. Occasionally the Rev. John Talbot, of Burling- ton, extended his ministrations as far as this town, as may be learned from a letter written by him to the Secretary of the Society, Sept. 27, 1709 :
I hear Mr. Vaughan is arrived at Boston, but is not yet come into this province, he will have enough to do to supply Mr. Brook's charge at Elizabeth Town, Amboy, Piscataway, who have had none since he left them ; but I have done for them, maybe once in a quarter, or so ; some- body occasionally passing by that way .*
Mr. Vaughan arrived shortly after the date of this letter and commenced his ministry here and in the neighboring
* Clark's St. John's Chh., p. 34.
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towns. He was from the West of England, and a brother of the Rev. Robert Vaughan, Rector of Llantewy and Vicar of Llantrissent, Monmouthshire, Wales, and of Jane, the wife of Thomas Godden, of Leather Lane, near Holborn, London. His prospects were by no means flattering. Writing from Amboy, Dec. 4, 1709, he says :-
I believe that the most inverate enemies of our mother church would recant their pernicious notions were there a faithful pastor in every town to instil better principles into their minds; here are a vast number of Deists, Sabbatarians, and Eutychians, as also of Independants, Anabap- tists, and Quakers, from which absurdities Mr. Brooke brought a consid- erable number of them to embrace our most pure and holy Religion, and I hope that my labors also will be attended with no less success, and ob- serve that those late converts are much more zealous for promoting the interests of our church, and more constant in the public worship of God, than those who sucked their milk in their infancy.
Referring to the decease, in August, 1709, of the Rev. Mr. Urquhart, of Jamaica, he adds, --
Whose cure I have been solicited to supply, but declined it in obedi- ence to the Society's instructions, whose leave and approbation for my removal to that cure I must humbly beg for these following reasons : 1st. That there is not one family in Elizabeth Town that can accommodate me with an ordinary lodging excepting Colonel Townly, who, upon the ac- count of some difference with Mr. Brooke (though a gentleman of an unblemished character), hath declared never to entertain any missionary after him. Secondly. That my salary of £50 per annum will not afford me a competent subsistence in this dear place where no contributions are given by the people towards my support, and where I am continually obliged to be itinerant and consequently at great expenses, especially in crossing Ferries .*
Mr. Vaughan seems not to have obtained the desired leave, but proceeded to cultivate diligently the field assigned him. At the expiration of a year, Dec. 4, 1710, he informs the Secretary, that,-
The people have not contributed any thing towards my subsistence since I came amongst them, and, indeed, to desire it from them, or to show an inclination for it, would very much tend to the dis-service of the Church, in causing our proselytes to start from us rather than bear the weight of such burthens, which to their weak shoulders and poverty,
* Clark's St. John's Chh., pp. 35, 6,
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would seem intolerable. I frequently visit the Dissenters of all sorts in their houses, and I experimentally find that an affable even temper with the force of arguments is very prevalent to engage their affections and conformity to holy mother, the Church, which I do assure you is con- siderably increased by late converts from Quakerism and Anabaptism .*
It is mainly from his periodical reports to the Society, that his life and labors are to be sketched. He writes, Sept. 12, 1711, a few months after the decease of Col. Richard Town- ley, (the main pillar of St. John's, at that early period), as follows :-
I preach to them in the fore and afternoon of every Lord's day and ad- minister the blessed Sacrament monthly to twenty eight or thirty com- municants. I have baptized since my arrival to this government seventy- two children, besides eleven adult persons, unfortunately brought up in dark Quakerism and Anabaptism, and are now so happy as to be mem- bers of the Church of Christ, whose worship they constantly frequent with great devotion and seeming delight. t
In the summer of 1711, the Rev. Thomas Halliday was sent by the Society to take charge of Amboy and Piscata- way, and Mr. Vaughan divided his labors between the town proper and that part of it called Rahway-a monthly lecture being given to the latter place. Shortly after the decease of Col. Townley, the Congregation obtained from his son, Charles, a clear title to the church lot, for want of which the interior of the Church had not been "fitted according to the rules of decency and order."
Owing to a serious disaffection in the Presbyterian Church of Woodbridge, a few families withdrew, and formed an Episcopal Society. Mr. Vaughan was requested to officiate there occasionally-in a house built for the purpose-" prob- ably the smallest you have ever seen, but amply sufficient for the congregation at this day."
Though I reside, (he says, Feb. 28, 171}), at Elizabeth Town, whose distance is ten miles from Woodbridge, yet I promise through God's bless- ing to supply both eures by officiating on every Lord's day, in the fore- noon in the former and once a fortnight in the afternoon in the latter, which I hope to performn in the summer time when the days are long,
* Clark's St. John's Chb., p. 36. t Ibid, p. 3S.
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but in the winter season I shall, as I now do, divide my service between both congregations by preaching alternately .*
Mr. Halliday proved to be utterly unworthy of his office, and, in 1713, was obliged to leave Amboy, when Mr. Vaughan was requested to include that place within his parochial dis- trict. Mrs. Mary Emott, the widow of James Emott of New York, and the daughter of Mrs. Philip Carteret, had been, doubtless, a frequent visitor at the house of her step-father, Col. Townley. Her husband had died in April 1713, leaving her with four sons and a handsome "fortune of £2000." She was about 48 years old, and of high social standing. Mr. Vaughan was accepted as her second husband. . They were married at the close of the first year of her widowhood.t
By his marriage, he came into possession of the house and grounds, afterwards owned and occupied by Col. Wm. Rick- etts, on the Point Road; which, thenceforth, became his home ; also, of lands held by Proprietary rights ; and, as already related, to secure a portion of this property, he brought, in 1714, the year of his marriage, an Action of Ejectment against Joseph Woodruff, one of the Elders of the Presbyterian Church at its reception into the Presbytery in 1717, and probably a Deacon previously. It is likely, that Mr. Vaughan bore much the same relation to the Proprietary party, that Mr. Dickinson did to the Associates; and that the two congregations were separated very nearly by the same lines.
At or soon after his marriage, Mr. Vaughan removed to Amboy, for the benefit of his health, "which," he says, " was much impaired during my abode in Elizabeth Town where I still do and shall continue to officiate in the fore and afternoon three Lord's days successively in every month," the other being given to Amboy. The Society seem not to have favored this plan of non-residence, and to have inti- mated to him, that some one else would be sent to take his place here ; as he expresses, Sept. 28, 1716, a desire to be restored to his former charge at Elizabeth Town .¿
* Clark's St. John's Chh., pp. 38-41. Whitehead's P. Amboy, pp. 216, 7, 387. Webster's P. Chh., pp. 383, 4. t Clark's St. John's Chh., p. 42. # Ibid., p. 43.
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How the matter was finally arranged the correspondence does not show, nor how long he continued to reside at Amboy ; save the fact, that he returned to his former charge, and was residing here in 1721. He continued to divide his time between the several stations as before, giving the chief attention to this town. Writing, July 8, 1717, he says,-
Elizabeth Town itself is a considerable village and equals if not exceeds any in the Province as well in bigness as in number of Inhabitants, custom and education has engaged them for the most part in the Congregational way, but notwithstanding they are not so very rigid in that persuasion as altogether to deny their attendance on my ministry .*
The Church, which had been erected of brick, in 1706, had not yet been finished. Mr. Halliday, who seems to have resided here at the time, and to have been retained as a mis- sionary in the service of the Propagation Society, wrote to the Secretary, Aug. 1, 1717, of the building of St. John's Church, in these words :-
There was £400 raised by subscription of Charitable People. Mr. Brooks received most of the money and as Mr. Townly informs me he went to England before he made up his accounts, several subscriptions remaining in his hands unpaid, but as his father [Col. Townley] being en- gaged for the payment of the workmen, he had made up the deficiencies and given bond for £20 to Elizabeth Town Church however this is, the Bond is now in Mr. Willock's hands but I think ought rather to be em- ployed for the use of the Church, there being only the shell of Brick, no · pews, Pulpit, notwithstanding so much money has been raised for it.t
In such circumstances, it is not strange, that the congrega- tion grew but slowly, and that the most they could raise for their minister was £30, without a glebe or parsonage. That they were pleased with his ministrations is testified by a let- ter sent in their name to the Society, in the course of the same year :-
We esteem ourselves happy under his pastoral care, and have a thor- ough persuasion of mind that the Church of Christ is now planted among us in its purity. Mr. Vaughan hath, to the great comfort and edification of our families, in these dark and distant regions of the world, prosecuted the duties of his holy calling with the utmost application and diligence ;
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