USA > New Jersey > Union County > Elizabeth > History of Elizabeth, New Jersey : including the early history of Union County > Part 47
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62
t Journals, III. 90, 138, 205.
527
ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
torch of the enemy. It was situated on the old parsonage- lot, west of Race st., fronting on the Rahway road and nearly opposite Cherry st. Measures were speedily taken by the congregation to restore it. At a meeting of the congrega- tion, March 31, 1779, it was
Voted, That. David Ogden, Jonathan Williams, Ezekiel Woodruff, David Chandler, Joseph Lyon, Daniel Halsey [and] William Halstead, be a Committee to manage the temporal affairs of said Congregation for the Year ensuing-And in particular to settle all old accounts-to raise and put in to the public funds Money for procuring a Parsonage-House which shall be done agreeable to a future Vote of the Congregation.
Previous to November 18, 1779, the sum of three thou- sand dollars had been collected for this purpose and invested in Loan Office Certificates : 2872 dollars are thus accounted for :-
Subscribed to the Parsonage House and paid to Mr. Caldwell, By David Chandler, 870} Dollars, By Jona Williams, 436} Do, By Daniel Halsey, 461, By Samuel Woodruff, 1104 .*
During the year, 1778, Mr. Caldwell resided in Spring- field; and in the summer of 1779, he removed to Connec- ticut Farms, in order to be nearer to his people. It was not safe for him to reside at a nearer point. After the murder of his wife, he purchased a small house at Turkey [New Providence], and resided there until his decease.
The church, as previously related, was burned down, on the night of Tuesday, January 25, 1780, and the services of the congregation were thenceforth held in Col. Hatfield's " Red Store House," nearly opposite the site of the old par- sonage-house. It was, probably, while preaching here, and inay have been, at an earlier date, that " Mr. Caldwell," as related by Dr. McDowell, " preached with his pistols lying on each side of him on the pulpit, & centinels had to keep watch during the time of service." +
His beloved wife, it has been seen, was killed at Con- necticut Farms, June S, 1780. The house was plundered at the same time, and what was not carried off was des-
* Trustees' Book. Passages in His. of F. T., No. II. Murray's Notes, 103-5. Sprague's Annals, III. 225.
t Ms. Sermon of Dr. McDowell, Jan. 1, 1S11.
528
THE HISTORY OF
troyed. Many of his papers were carried to New York, and some of his correspondence published in Rivington's Gazette.
He was at once the ardent patriot and the faithful Chris- tian pastor. The Sabbath found him, whether at home or in camp, ready to proclaim the gospel with its messages of mercy and comfort, to his fellow-men ; while he was ever watchful, at other times, to improve every opportunity to promote the spiritual welfare of citizens and soldiers. He was held, therefore, in the highest esteem, by officers and men, confided in by all, and regarded with enthusiastic love by the rank and file. No one, consequently, save his parish- ioner, Gov. Livingston, was more feared and hated by the tories, and the British. Gladly would they have kidnapped him if they could; and, doubtless, they would have done it, had he continued to reside in town. At the fall election, of 1780, he was chosen, by his fellow-citizens, in testimony of their high regard, a member of the State Council.
Mr. Caldwell continued in the discharge of the vari- ous duties, to which, in these several capacities, he was called, month by month, until the autumn of 1781. The last record made of him by the Presbytery was at their meeting, May 7, 1782, at New Providence. It is in these words :-
The Revd Mr JAMES CALDWELL departed this life, falling by the hands of a Cruel Murderer, on the 24th of November, 1781.
The circumstances attending this mournful event were very fully announced in the public prints at the time, with much minuteness of detail; not however with particularity sufficient to settle some points, which, about twenty years since, were very fully and ably discussed by the press of this town and Newark. The principal facts, however, are undisputed.
The following statement appeared in the N. J. Journal, (then published by Shepard Kollock, at Chatham, N. J.), of Wednesday, Nov. 28, 1781, four days after the transaction :
It is with the utmost pain and distress that we inform our readers that
529
ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
the Reverend Mr. Jas. Caldwell, of Elizabeth-Town, was most inhumanly and barbarously murdered on Saturday last by a soldier belonging to the years's men at that place.
This worthy gentleman being informed of the arrival of a young lady in a flag from New York, at the Point, whose family had been peculiarly serviceable to our unhappy fellow-citizens, prisoners with the enemy, proposed waiting on her and conducting her to the town, as a grateful acknowledgement of the services offered by her family as above mentioned. He accordingly went to the Point in a chair for that purpose, and after the young lady had got in the chair, the sentinel observing a handkerchief tied up in a bundle in her hand, told Mr. Caldwell he must seize it in the name of the state ; on which Mr. Caldwell jumping out of the chair, said if that was the case, he would return it to the commanding officer, wl:o was there present ; but as he stepped forward, another impertinently told him to stop, which he immediately did, but notwithstanding, the soldier, without farther provocation, raised his gun and shot him dead on the spot. The villain was immediately seized and secured. He made but a very indifferent excuse for this conduct, and still remains very sullen and ob- stinate. After his being secured, it appeared by several evidences that, though a soldier with us for near twelve months past, he had been seen in New York within a fortnight past; and, from several other circum- stances, there are just grounds of suspicion that the wretch had been bribed to commit this abominable deed .*
The N. J. Gazette, published at Trenton, Dec. 12, 1781, eighteen days after the occurrence, says that-
When he arrived there [at the Point], the officer then commanding the post at Elizabeth-Town, being on board the flag-sloop, asked him whether he would go on board. He then stepped on board of the sloop, and was informed that the young lady had already gone to the town. Being about to return, a person in the sloop asked him whether he would take a small parcel tied up in a handkerchief. Mr. Caldwell consented to take it, went on shore, put the bundle into a chair-box, and was driving off when a soldier stepped up to him and said, "I must search your chair to see whether you have not seizable goods in that bundle." Mr. Caldwell then seeing it would be imprudent to run any further risk, asked the soldier whether he would suffer him to return the bundle to the sloop. To this request the soldier readily agreeing, Mr. Caldwell took the bundle out of the chair box, and was stepping on board the sloop to return it, when the murderer, who was on the quarter-deck, and within about two yards of him, said, DAMN YOU, stop. Mr. Caldwell instantly stopped, and im- mediately on his stopping, the soldier presented his musket and shot him. He fell down and instantly expired without a groan.t
* N. J. Journal, No. 145.
+ N. J. Gazette, No. 207.
34
530
THE HISTORY OF
The mournful occurrence was noticed, also, by Rivington, of New York, in his Gazette, of Wednesday, Nov. 28, as he learned it, probably, on the return of the flag-boat to New York :-
Last Saturday, the Reverend Mr. Caldwell, Minister of the Dissenting Congregation at Elizabeth-Town, was shot dead without any provocation, at the Point, by a native of Ireland, named Morgan, one of the rebel twelve months' men. The Coroner's Inquest brought a verdict of wilful murder against him. Mr. Caldwell had ever been an active zealot in the cause of Independence, and was much esteemed and confided in by Mr. Washington and the republican leaders. It is said he lately promoted a petition to the New Jersey Assembly, for recalling the refugees to the re-possession of their estate. Requiescat in pace .*
These are the only accounts, written and published at the time, of this distressing providence. As that of the N. J. Gazette is the most particular, and was written after sufficient time had been allowed, to obtain, by means of the Coroner's inquest, and from other sources, the exact state of the case, it is apparently most to be relied upon. Statements made, after the expiration of more than threescore years, though purporting to be the oral testimony of eye-witnesses as remembered by a son or other relative, are of far less value, and are not to be allowed to controvert the original accounts.
The lady whose advent occasioned the calamity was Beu- lah, the daughter of Robert and Mary Murray, for whom the ship "Beulah," referred to on a previous page, was named. She was married not long after to the celebrated auctioneer, Martin Hoffman, the father of Lindley Murray Hoffman, who died at New York in 1862. Ichabod B. Barnet, who was complicated in the " Beulah " affair, had married another of the daughters of Robert Murray. Mrs. Barnet resided in this town. Her sister, Beulah, was expecting to make her a visit and had come over in the flag-boat, or was expected to come, for this purpose. It was on the afternoon of Saturday, that Mr. Caldwell went down to the Point to escort her to the town. The flag-boat lay at the ferry-wharf, at the end of
* Rivington's Gazette, No. 589.
531
ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
the Old Point road, now Elizabeth avenue, near the mouth of the Creek. This had been the flag-boat station, for the previous five years or more, for the exchange of prisoners. Major Adams was, at this time, the American Commissary of prisoners. The guard that were kept posted at the Point were under the command of Major John Scudder. Lieut. David Woodruff, father of the late Belcher Woodruff of this town, was near Mr. Caldwell, and, turning to see what the firing meant, saw him falling and caught him in his arms .*
Whether Morgan was, at the time, on duty or not (which is still a mooted point), the discharge of his musket was to- tally unjustifiable. Mr. Caldwell was not a vagrant, nor a stranger. No man was better known. Morgan, as well as the other sentinels, knew who he was. It was in the day- time, and every movement, therefore, could be seen. No attempt was made by Mr. Caldwell to escape with the pack- age entrusted to him, nor even to disobey the orders of the guard. The most, that could possibly have been warranted, was an arrest. Nor was this called for. The officer of the day was at hand, with full authority to admit Mr. Caldwell's explanation of the case, or to commit him. It was, unques- tionably, a murder, entirely unprovoked. It was impossible for the Coroner's inquest to find any other verdict.
It was generally affirmed, at the time, that the murderer, as intimated in the N. J. Journal, was bribed by the enemy to do the dreadful deed ; " and this saying is commonly re- ported among " the people " until this day." No evidence, however, as far as can be ascertained, was discovered of any offer of the kind having been made to him. It was not strange, that it should have been extensively believed ; as it was known, that the British authorities had offered a reward for the apprehension or assassination of Gov. Livingston, and as no other reason could be assigned for the murder. As it was not proven, it must rank only with doubtful rumors, and not with the established facts of history.
* Passages in the Ilis. of E. T., No. I. Essex Standard-Extra, April 14, 1846.
532
THE HISTORY OF
After the consternation of the moment, the murderer was secured by Lieut. Woodruff, and carried to Major Scudder, by whom he was delivered to the civil authorities. He was confined in what was called the Robinson House, to await the verdict of the Coroner's jury .*
The body of Mr. Caldwell was carried to the public house at the Point. A homely ambulance was obtained, and the body was slowly brought to town, a crowd of people, greatly excited, gathering by the way. The mournful cortege, tra- dition says, passed through Water st. [Elizabeth Avenue] to Broad st., then to Jersey st., and then to the residence of Mrs. Noel, on Jersey st., subsequently so well known as the home of General Jonathan Dayton, and since as Miss Spald- ing's Female Seminary. The day following, when the people gathered for public worship, the place where they met might well have been named "Bochim "-the weeping-place. The people were crushed under the sad calamity. +
The funeral services were performed on Tuesday, the 27th, the whole town suspending all business and gathering in un- controlable grief at the house of Mrs. Noel. The Rev. Dr. Alex. McWhorter of Newark performed the services, and preached from Ecc. viii : 8. An opportunity was given to the people to view the corpse, in front of the house in the open street.
After all had taken their last look, and before the coffin was closed, Dr. Boudinot came forward, leading nine orphan children, and placing them around the bier of their parent, made an address of surpassing pathos to the multitude in their behalf. It was an hour of deep and powerful emotion : and the procession slowly moved to the grave, weep- ing as they went.}
* Morgan was imprisoned at Springfield, then at Burlington, and in January at Westfield, where, on the 21st of Jan. 1782, he was arraigned for trial. The court sat in the Presbyterian church, Chief Justice John Cleves Symmes presiding, assisted by two Associate Judges, one of whom was Judge Barnet. Col. Wm. De Hart of Morristown was Morgan's counsel. Ephraim Scudder, Benjamin Meeker, David Ross, Aaron Woodruff, and Mr. Ryno were members of the jury. He was found guilty of wilful murder, remanded to the custody of Noah Marsh, Sheriff of the county, and hung at Westfield, on Tuesday, January 29th. A sermon was preached on the occasion, by the Pastor of the church, Rev. Jonathan Elmer, from Jeremiah, 44: 4,-" Oh! do not this abominable thing that I hate." Morgan was a Ro- man Catholic, and of bad reputation. He seems not to have made any confession as to his intent in the act for which he suffered.
t Passages, &c., Nos. I., II. Essex Standard-Extra, Ap. 14, 1846. Murray's Notes, pp. 76, 7. Murray's Notes, p. 77.
533
ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
Laid by the side of his wife's remains, over his body was placed a marble slab with the following inscription :
Sacred to the memory of the Rev. JAMES CALDWELL & HANNAH his wife, who fell victims to their country's cause in the years 1780 & 1781.
HIe was the zealous & faithful pastor of the Presbyterian Church in this Town, where by his evangelical labours in the gospel vineyard, and his early attachment to the civil liberties of his country, he has left in the hearts of his people a better monument than brass or marble.
Stop, Passenger !
IIere also lye the remains of a woman, who exhibited to the world a bright constellation of the female virtues. On that memorable day, never to be forgotten, when a British foe invaded this fair village, & fired even the temple of the Deity, this peaceful daughter of heaven, retired to her hallowed apartment, imploring heaven for the pardon of her enemies. In that sacred moment, she was by the bloody hand of a British ruffian, dispatched like her divine Redeemer through a path of blood to her long- wished for native skies .*
By the joint action of Committees of the First Presbyterian church and the Cincinnati of New Jersey, a much more
* It is somewhat strange, that it should have been recorded, on this monumental stone that Mrs. Caldwell was killed on the day when the church of this village was burned; the former event having taken place, June Sth, and the latter, Jan. 25th, in 1780. The anachron- ism grew out of the fact that this Epitaph was abridged from one of much greater length, that was written by a Friend, [William Peartree Smith, Esq.], a few weeks after her death, and published in the N. J. Journal, of the 13th of Sept., 1780, designed " for Mrs. Caldwell's Tomb," supposed to be at Conn. Farms. It is well worth a place in this history :
SACRED to the memory | of Mrs. HANNAHI CALDWELL, | consort to the Rev. JAMES CALDWELL, | of Elizabeth Town, in New Jersey, | who fell a victim to her country, | on the 7th [8th] of June, 1780-aged forty-two years [ and nine months. |
PASSENGER ! | Thou treadest over the remains of a woman | whose fair character, and final catastrophe, | merit a monument | more durable than brass or marble; | and which will remain | indelibly engraven on the breasts of her countrymen, | to the last period of recorded time. | She was, among her sex, uncommonly distinguished ; | exhibiting to the world, | through the whole course of her earthly race, | a bright constellation | of the female virtues. | With undeviating punctuality, | she performed every religious, social, and relative duty ; | To a numerous offspring, | the tenderest of mothers : [ To her servants and domestics, | a kind and indulgent mistress : | Of conjugal fidelity and affection, | the most exemplary model. | But what gave singular lustre | to an assembly of virtues | was-that condescending affability, | that sweetness of temper, | that heaven-born benevolence, | which were her characteristic and distinguishing qualities. | A serene and placid aspect, { joined with the softest accents of expression, | ever disarmed the resentment of her weapons, [ and repressed the ebullitions of censure and malevolonce. | Theso engaging manners | attracted tho peculiar love and esteem | of her extensive acquaintance, | among whoin she found not a single enemy. | But, as her crowning glory, | adding divinity to her graces, | she was a SINCERE CHRISTIAN!
"On that memorable day- | (an æra never to be forgotten | in the American annals) | when the army of the British tyrant | entered into this state, | and, with merciless barbarity
534
THE HISTORY OF
costly and elegant monument was erected over the remains of Mr. and Mrs. Caldwell, which was dedicated, with appro- priate ceremonies, November 24, 1845, a commemoration Address being delivered, on the occasion, by the Rev. Samuel Miller, D. D., of Princeton, N. J.
Mr. Caldwell left nine children (four sons and five daughters) with but a scanty patrimony at the best. The Hon. Elias Boudinot cheerfully took upon himself the administration of the estate and the care of the children. In both respects he was eminently successful. The patrimony was eventually rendered productive, the children were well-educated, and all of them became respectable and useful. They were, also, greatly befriended by Mrs. Noel, Gen. Lincoln, President Washington, and the Marquis de La Fayette .*
1. MARGARET, the eldest, was born, Jan. 23, 1764, and married Isaac Canfield, of Morristown, N. J.
2. JOHN DICKINSON was born, Jan. 29, 1765, and died, May 11, 1766.
3. HANNAH was born, Sep. 20, 1767, and married, at Philadelphia, in 1790, to James R. Smith, a Pearl st. mer- chant, and one of the proprietors of the Tontine Coffee House, N. York ..
4. JOHN EDWARDS was born, Feb. 2, 1769. After his father's death, he was placed under the care of the Rev. Dr. Mc Whorter of Newark. The Marquis de La Fayette, out of his great regard for the father, solicited from Mr. Boudinot
desolated these fair fields ;- | laid this fair village in ashes ;- | violated female chastity ;- | and fired even the temple of the Deity. | This peaceful daughter of heaven, | shocked by the tumults of war, | retired to her sequestered and hallowed apartments ; | here seated, | in calm and pensive contemplation, | cherishing too a lovely innocent | in her own innocent bosom, | weeping over the effusions of human blood- | deprecating the calamities of her country- | and imploring heaven for the pardon of its enemies, | she was | (blush ye spirits of their ancestors at the horrid tale !) | by the ensanguined hands of a British ruffian, | insti- gated by malice, cool, deliberate, and infernal- | in one fatal moment | Dispatched, | like her divine Saviour, through a path of blood, |. to her long-wished for NATIVE SKIES ! | Leaving an affectionate companion, and nine children, | in their tender and unformed years, } to be- wail their unutterable-their irreparable loss. | READER ! | If thou art a man | thou canst not refrain a sigh | at her melancholy story. | If of the softer frame, | thou wilt drop a tear at the tomb of one | who was the boast of thy sex : and who would have shed a thousand for thee, | had her's been thine own hapless fate. | If-a lover of thy country | thou wilt depart from this spot | consecrated to her dust, | filled with eternal heart-felt HORROR | at the exe- crated name of | A BRITON." N. J. Journal, No. 82.
* Brown's Memoir of Finley, p. 249.
535
ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
and obtained the privilege of adopting and educating the eldest son. On the departure, therefore, of the Marquis, in 1782, for France, young Caldwell accompanied him and be- came a member of the family. He remained abroad until 1791, when, owing to the horrors of the French Revolution, he returned to America. He married Mrs. Van Wyck. In Nov. 1809, he renounced the Popery which he had embraced in France, and became a member of the Cedar st. Presb. Church, N. Y., devoting himself to the work of benevolence. His name was connected with almost every good object of the day. He was one of the most active and influential founders of the American Bible Society, and, until his death, its General Agent. He founded, in March, 1816, the "Chris- tian Herald," a religious weekly magazine, the first five volumes of which he edited and published at New York. He died greatly lamented, at his home in N. York, March 9, 1819 .*
5. JAMES B. was born, Jan. 8, 1771, became a lawyer, took up his residence at Woodbury, N. J., a few miles below Philadelphia, and was for several years before his death an honored Judge of Gloucester Co., N. J.
6. ESTHER FLYNT was born, Oct. 26, 1772, and was mar- ried, May 16, 1798, to the Rev. Robert Finley of Basking- ridge, N. J., afterwards, Dr. Finley, and President of the University of Georgia. She was the mother of a highly re- spectable and useful family of children. She died at Leba- non, Ill., in 1844.
7. JOSIAH F. was born, Aug. 23, 1774, entered the service of the U. S. government at Washington, D. C., and was em- ployed in the Post Office Department.
S. ELIAS BOUDINOT was born, Ap. 3, 1776, was adopted by the distinguished citizen for whom he was named ; graduated at the College of N. Jersey, in 1796 ; became distinguished as the Clerk, from Aug. 15, 1800, of the U. S. Supreme Court, and was one of the principal founders, Jan. 1, 1817, of the American Colonization Society, of which he was the Corresponding Secretary, until his death at Washington,
* Christian Herald, V. 760-4.
536
THE HISTORY OF
D. C., May 31, 1825. He had been licensed to preach by the Presbytery, and was accustomed to occupy vacant pulpits on the Sabbath. His name was given to one of the towns of Liberia, as his father's name had been given to one of the towns of Essex Co., N. J.
9. SARAH was born, June 12, 1778, at Springfield, and was married to the Rev. John S. Vredenburg, pastor, for many years, of the Ref. Dutch chh. of Somerville, N. J.
10. MARIA was born, Sep. 29, 1779, at Connecticut Farms, and was married to Robert S. Robertson, a N. York mer- chant.
.
537
ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
CHAPTER XXIV.
A. D. 1747-1790.
ECCLESIASTICAL - Rev. T. B. Chandler, D.D. - Birth - Education - Catechist of St. John's Chh. - Parsonage - Wardens and Vestrymen - Mr. Chandler goes to Eng., and obtains Orders-Rector of St. John's -Marriage - Has the Small Pox -Long Illness -Zeal for Episcopacy - Obtains a Charter for St. John's - Wardens and Vestrymen - Visit of Mr. Whitefield - Troubles in the Parish - Enlargement of the Parsonage - Political Troubles - Hon- orary Doctorate - Ep. Controversy - Pension - Flies to England - Worship suspended for Years - Resumed again - Rev. Uzal Ogden, Ass. Minister - Birth - Popularity - Settles at Newark - Rev. S. Spraggs, Ass. Minister - Dr. Chandler 10 Years in England -Returns home -Obtains the Offer of an Episcopate -- Too ill to accept - Death - His Family.
THE decease of the Rev. Mr. Vaughan, Rector of St. John's Church, in October, 1747, left the church for some years without a settled pastor. All the Episcopal clergymen either came here from the mother-country, or were under the ne- cessity of making a voyage to England and back again, to obtain orders. It was, therefore, no easy matter to fill the vacancies made by death. It required time to send to Eng- land, and procure the needed ministry, unwilling as most candidates, at that period, were to migrate to America. In these circumstances, the vestry of St. John's were advised to secure the services of a Catechist, or Lay-Reader, for the time being. The Rev. Dr. Johnson, of Stratford, and others, thereupon, recommended a young man, who was teaching school at Woodstock, Ct., and studying theology, at intervals, with Dr. Johnson. They complied with this advice, and thus secured, as their Rector, the
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.