History of Elizabeth, New Jersey : including the early history of Union County, Part 50

Author: Hatfield, Edwin F. (Edwin Francis), 1807-1883
Publication date: 1868
Publisher: New York : Carlton & Lanahan
Number of Pages: 738

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Oli, she was all that thought could paint, The mortal rising to the saint, In every deed of life. At once, the fatal arrows end The fondest child, the kindest friend, And most endearing wife.

Immortal saint ! supremely bright! Look down through skies of purest light, And bid affliction cease.

Oh, smooth thy husband's lonely bed, In visions hover round his head, And hush his mind to peace."

It was mainly through his agency, and at his suggestion, that a " Medical Society for the Eastern District of the State of New Jersey " was formed in 1790, of which Dr Isaac Morse, of this town, was the efficient Secretary. It met quarterly, generally in this town or Newark. N. J. Journal, Nos. 890, 402. Clark's Med. Men of N. J., pp. 10-12.

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THE HISTORY OF

of whom, having graduated at Princeton, became known and considerably noted in the liberal professions, especially, divinity.

The more to foster this spirit, a Library Association was formed early in 1792, for the circulation of useful books, and the elevation of the tastes of the people. A similar Associa- tion, on a limited scale, had existed for some time previously but had not been successful. The Constitution of the new Company, now extant, is subscribed by John De Hart, Samuel Spraggs, David Austin, James Ricketts, Matthias Williamson, Jr., George Ross, Shepherd Kollock, William Shute, Job Haines, Elias B. Dayton, Jonathan H. Lawrence, Samuel Smith, Caleb Halsted, Jr., Aaron Ogden, Edward Thomas, Lewis Woodruff, Jeremiah Ballard, Isaac Morse, William Steele, Jonathan Dayton, Abraham Clark, Jr., John Clarke, William Halsted, John Chetwood, Jonathan Wade, Isaac H. Williamson, Matthias H. Williamson, Horatio R. Dayton, Joseph Lyon, Jr., and Cornelius Blanchard. These were original subscribers. Other names were added from year to year. George Ross was chosen Librarian, Elias B. Dayton, Treasurer, and Messrs, David Austin, J. Hampton Lawrence, Matthias Williamson, Jr., Jeremiah Ballard and Aaron Ogden, a Committee for the choice and purchase of books. In 1794, Isaac H. Williamson, was chosen Librarian, and in 1796, Dr. Abraham Clark.

The town, at this period, as in former days, contributed largely to the influences which shaped the politics of the State and the Nation. It was rarely the case that it was not represented in the State Legislature. To the first Congress, it sent the Hon. Elias Boudinot ; and to both the second and third Congresses, the Hon. Elias Boudinot, Abraham Clark, and Jonathan Dayton, (all of them active and influential members),-one twenty-fourth of the whole number of Rep- resentatives ; while, from Feb. 26, 1801 to Mar. 3, 1803, both the Senators from this State, Aaron Ogden and Jonathan Dayton were citizens of this town ;- an undue proportion certainly, not equaled by any other town in the country of the same size. To the fourth and fifth Congresses, it gave a

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ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.

Speaker in the person of the Hon. Jonathan Dayton, after- wards Senator for six years.

The first Mayor under the new Charter, the venerable John De Hart, continued in office until his death, June 1st, 1795, in the 67th year of his age. His remains were deposit- ed in the burial ground of St. John's Church, and the follow- ing inscription was placed on the stone that marks the spot :

During his Mayoralty, Isaac Woodruff was Deputy Mayor, and, in addition to those mentioned on a previous page, Edward Thomas, John Tucker, Anthony Morse, Benjamin Corey and Aaron Lane were appointed Aldermen.

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THE HISTORY OF

CHAPTER XXVI.

A. D. 1725-1795.

Subdivisions of the Township -Springfield set off, and Turkey annexed to it - New Providence set off from Springfield -Settlement of SPRINGFIELD - Rev. Timothy Symmes - Rev. Nathan Ker - Rev. J. Van Artsdalen -Settlement of NEW PROVIDENCE-Rev. John Cleverly -- Rev. A. Horton - Rev. Jos. Lamb- Rev. Timothy Allen- Rev. Jonathan Elmer - WESTFIELD set off - Its Settlement - Rev. N. Hubbell - Rev. John Grant - Rev. Ben. Woodruff - SCOTCH PLAINS - Rev. Ben. Miller- Rev. Wm. Van Horn-Death of Hon. Abraham Clark -Removal of Hon. Elias Boudinot, LL. D.

ONE hundred and twenty eight years had passed since the town was planted, and one hundred years, lacking five months, since the bounds of the original township were de- fined by the Provincial Legislature. These bounds, with the exception of that rather indefinite portion of the town that extended beyond the Passaic river had continued unaltered during this whole period. They had been retained, in the amended Charter of 1789. The town laws and regulations, and the authority of its magistracy, extended over the whole area.

At an early date, however, various hamlets, and clusters of farm-houses, gradually sprung up in different localities. The facilities of navigation, and the attraction of water privi- leges, drew quite a number of the early settlers to the banks of the Rahway river. Another group of planters, mostly of one family, gave name to the neighborhood, called-" Lyon's Farms." Still another, locating a few miles to the west, gave name to " Wade's Farms," better known as " Connecticut Farms." Soon after, a little to the north of west, just under the mountain, a few neighbors called their settlement by the

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ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.

name of " Springfield." Seven miles to the west of the town proper, " Westfield," began to attract settlers quite early in the eighteenth century. Two or three miles still west of this settlement were the "Scotch Plains," where a large part of the Scotch immigration of 1684-6, found a pleasant liome, on the eastern side of Green-Brook ; while, at a later period, on the same side of the Brook, two or three miles lower down, a few scattered habitations served as the nucleus of " Plainfield," 16 miles from the town proper, and yet within the township. Four or five miles over the mountains to the northwest of Westfield, and nearly as far to the west of Springfield, the beautiful valley of the upper Passaic very early drew from the older parts of the town a considerable · number of hardy pioneers, to whose settlement was originally given the name of "Turkey," by which it continued to be known until quite recently ; though, not long after their being gathered together, they chose to be called, the people of " New Providence."

In the administration of the township laws, the several parts, or neighborhoods, were denominated "Wards ; " as the Rahway Ward; the Westfield, the Springfield, and the Farms' Wards ; the latter referring to Connecticut Farms. In the selection of civil officers for the town,-aldermen, councilmen, town committee, constables, overseers of the poor, surveyors and overseers of the highways, assessors, col- lectors, pound keepers, as well as sheriff, coroner, marshal, and mayor of the borough, due regard was had to the claims of these several wards.

As the population increased, and churches and school- houses were built, these respective settlements began to complain of, what they had long felt, the inconvenience of living so far away from the central authority-the seat of government in the town proper, and of being compelled to travel so far to town meetings. One after another, therefore, they began to agitate the question of subdivision of the township, so as to give to each of these localities a township of its own. The first to effect their object in this respect was

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THE HISTORY OF

SPRINGFIELD.

Application was made to the Legislature in 1793, and an Act passed, May 27th, providing,

That all that part of the township of Elizabeth, and the township of Newark, lying within the following line; beginning on the bank of the Rahway river, in the line which divides the wards of Springfield and Westfield ; thence running in the said line to the top of the mountain, and from thence to New Providence meeting-house, and thence to Pas- saic river ; thence down the said river to the bridge commonly known by the name of Cook's bridge; thence down the old road to the top of the mountain ; thence on a direct line to Kean's Mills ; thence on a direct line to a bridge, which crosses the east branch of Rahway river, commonly known by the name of Pierson's bridge, by his mill-dam, and from thence down the said river to the place of beginning ; shall be, and is hereby set off from the townships of Elizabeth and Newark, and made a separate township to be called by the name of " The Township of Springfield .* "

The people of New Providence, believing that they would be better accommodated by annexation to this new township, as it was on the line of their roads, which, by necessity, (owing to the trend of the mountains back of them towards the south-east), ran in the direction of north-east and south- west, made application, the following winter, and an Act was passed by the Legislature, Feb. 4th, providing,-

That all that part of the township of Elizabeth, lying within the limits or boundaries herein described, that is to say, beginning where the line of the township of Springfield intersects the Passaic river ; thence up said river to the line that divides the counties of Essex and Somerset; from thence on the line that runs between the two aforesaid counties ; until it comes to the head of the west branch of Green Brook ; thence down said brook on said line until it comes where the east and west branches of Green Brook form a junction; thence up the east branch of said brook until it intersects the line of the township of Springfield, at the north- west corner of the township of Westfield ; thence on the line of the town- ship of Springfield to the place of beginning ; shall be and hereby is an- nexed to the township of Springfield.t

This Act remained in force until Nov. 8, 1809, when an- other Act was passed, at the request of the people of New Providence, and they were erected into a township with the

Paterson's Laws of N. Jersey, p. 122.

t Ibid., p 123.

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ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.

same bounds as above, except on the Springfield line, which is thus described :-

Beginning in the line that divides the townships of Westfield and Springfield at the head of Green Brook, thence north twelve degrees and twenty minutes east to the south side of the road running from New Providence to Springfield and a little east of the dwelling-house of Amos Potter, esquire, thence north forty one degrees and fifty five minutes west to the race of the saw-mill of Benjamin Bonnel deceased, thence into the bed of the river Passaic in the Morris county line, thence up the bed of said river, &c .*

The settlement of Springfield dates back to the year 1717, when the Briant family made it their home, coming hither from Hackensack. The Stites,+ Denman, Whitehead, and Van Winckle families followed. Others moved up from "the Farms " and from the town, and occupied the desirable lands below the mountain. The greater part of the original set- tlers were from Elizabeth Town and Newark, as appears from the obvious identity of the names most prevalent.

In the infancy of the settlement, the people were under the necessity of going to Elizabeth-Town to worship on the Sabbath, many of them performing the whole distance on foot. This continued, however, but for a few years, as a church was organized, and a pastor settled, at Connecticut Farms, as early as 1734, when, of course, they found it more convenient to attach themselves to the new organization. Some of them, however, in admiration of Mr. Dickinson, may have continued their Sabbath-day's journeyings to Elizabeth Town, until his decease in 1747.

For the convenience of the dwellers under the mountain, a rude house of worship was erected, about the year 1745, in what is now known as Millburn, about half a mile north of the place where Aaron Dean resided, one hundred years later. A Presbyterian church was organized here, by the Presbytery of New York, in 1745. The Pastor of "the Farms'" church having removed to Newtown, L. I., the

* Bloomfield's Laws of N. Jersey, p. 213.

A genealogical account of the family of William Stites is found in Littell's Passaic Val- ley, pp. 407-10.

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THE HISTORY OF

Springfield church united with the church of New Providence, in calling the

REV. TIMOTHY SYMMES.

He was a great-grandson of Rev. Zechariah Symmes, of Cambridge University, Eng., 1620-1, who came to Charles- town, Mass., in 1634, and died in 1672. His eldest son, Wil- liam, was born in 1627, and died in 1691. William, the eldest son of William, was born in 1679, married Ruth Con- vers of Woburn, and died in 1764. Their fourth son, Timo- thy, was born at Scituate, Mass., in 1715. He graduated at Harvard, in 1733. He was ordained, Dec. 2, 1736, the first pastor of the Congregational church of Millington, in East Haddam, Ct. He took an active part in promoting "the Great Revival," then, or soon after, in progress among the churches of New England, and was led, in common with Croswell, Allen, and Davenport, into some excesses and errors, by which reproach was brought upon the work of grace. When Jonathan Dickinson published, in 1742, his " Display of God's Special Grace," Mr. Symmes joined with Mr. Allen and several other N. England ministers, in an en- dorsement of Croswell's virulent reply, and in testifying against Mr. "Dickinson's inexcusable error." It was his con- nection with this party that led to his dismission in 1743; after which, introduced, probably, by his friend, Davenport, he supplied the church of Upper Acquebogue, Riverhead, L. I., for a short period. Subsequently he filled vacancies in West Jersey. One of his college classmates was Joseph Cleverly, a son, it is thought, of the Rev. John Cleverly, the first minister of New Providence. It was through him, most likely, that he was introduced to this region. He was in- stalled, at the latter place, Oct. 16, 1746. The record of the church of New Providence says, he

Preached alternately with us and Springfield, and was dismissed from us the 26th of December in the year 1750, for his ill conduct.

What this " ill conduct" was does not appear ; it, proba- bly, did not compromise his moral character, as the Synod recommended the Presbytery, in May, 1750, to send him

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ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.

South to supply vacancies, and as, too, he remained in con- nection with the Presbytery, about a year after he was dis- missed from his church. He had married a daughter of the Rev. Jolin Cleaves of Ipswich, Mass., whither he returned, and where he settled. After the death of his first wife, he married Eunice, daughter of Francis Cogswell. He died at Ipswich, April 6, 1756, aged forty one years. Judge John Cleve Symmes was his son .*

After the removal of Mr. Symmes, the church remained vacant about thirteen years ; supplied, probably, occasionally or statedly, by the Rev. Messrs. Davenport, Thane, and Derby, of Connecticut Farms, and the Rev. Messrs. Allen and Elmer of New Providence. The next pastor was the

REV. NATHAN KER.

He was the great grandson of Walter Ker, who was ban- ished from Scotland, Sept. 3, 1685, and came to America, settling at Freehold, N. J., where he was regarded as one of the principal founders of the town, and the church. His son, Samuel, had two sons, Samuel and Joseph. The grandson. Samuel, also, had two sons, Jacob, and Nathan. The latter was born, in 1735, at Baskingridge, N. J. His brother, Jacob Ker, graduated at the College of New Jersey, in 1758, was a Tutor of the College from 1760 to 1762, and afterwards a highly respectable minister of the Presbyterian Church in Delaware. Nathan graduated at the same College in 1761, and, with his brother, Jacob, was ordained by the Presbytery of New Brunswick, July 17, 1763. Shortly after he was trans- ferred to the Presbytery of N. York, and took charge of the church of Springfield. He continued here but two years. when he removed to Long Island, and in 1766, to Goshen, N. Y., where he continued in the faithful discharge of his ministry until his decease, Dec. 14, 1804.+

Another vacancy of several years' continuance ensued, during which the people were dependent on neiglibor-

* Savage, IV. 242-4. Webster's Presb. Chh., pp. 584-5, 54S-9. Barber's N. Jersey, pp. 191, 2. Records of New Providence Chh., p. 2. Records of Presb. Chh., p. 240.

t Records of the Presbytery of New York. Whitehead's P. Amboy, p. 40. Littell's Pas- saic Valley, p. 475.

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THE HISTORY OF

ing ministers for occasional supply. Their next pastor was the

REV. JACOB VAN ARTSDALEN.

He was, as his name indicates, of Dutch extraction. Sy- mon Jansen Van Arsdalen emigrated from Holland to New Amsterdam, in 1653, locating at Flatlands, L. I., where he was classed among the first citizens. He died about 1710, and left two sons, Cornelius and John, the prolific source of all the Van Arsdale family in America. Cornelius had six sons, Derick, John, Simon, Philip, Abraham, and Jacobus, who settled in Somerset Co., N. J., as early as 1726. He had, also, three daughters : Alletta, Petronella, and Mary. John was the great-grandfather of the late Cornelius C. Van Arsdale, D.D., of New York. Philip, born, Feb. 12, 1701, at Flatlands, L. I., married, Ap. 30, 1726, Jane Van Dyck of Red Mills, L. I. (born, Feb. 23, 1703), and had eight chil- dren : Cornelius, Hendrick, Mary, Isaac, Philip, John, Ja- cob, and Abraham. He died, in his 97th year, June 17, 1797, at Somerset, N. J.

Jacob, the 6th son, was born, Feb. 8, 1745, at Somerset, N. J., and was educated at Princeton, where he graduated in 1765, a classmate of Judges Bacon and Rush, of Drs. Halstead and Rumsay, of Robert and Jonathan Ogden, of this town, of the Rev. Samuel Kirkland, Rev. Drs. Joel Benedict and Jonathan Edwards, College Presidents, and other worthies. He was ordained, by the Presbytery of New Brunswick, June 19th, 1771, in whose connection he contin- ued until the latter part of 1774, when he was received by the Presbytery of New York, and put in charge of the church of Springfield. He continued in the orderly and faithful performance of the duties of the office, as far as his health permitted, more than a fourth of a century. In the spring of 1797, and again three years later, he was, by rea- son of long-continued illness, disqualified for preaching, and, at his request, supplies for his pulpit were provided by the Presbytery. He was compelled to relinquish the pastoral office at length, and was dismissed from his charge, May 6, 1801. He died at Springfield, Oct. 24, 1803. He married

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ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.

Mary Sutphen, of Monmouth Co., who survived him, and died, at Somerset. They had four children : Mary [the wife of Grover Coe], Jane [the wife of Mr. Stewart], Elizabeth Ryerson [the wife of Isaac Van Arsdale, of Somerset], and Elias Van Arsdale, LL. D., of Newark, N. J .*

NEW-PROVIDENCE.

Though not organized as a distinct township until the year 1809, New Providence, from the time of its annexation to the township of Springfield, February 4, 1794, ceased to have any connection with the old town of Elizabeth. The settlement of this attractive portion of the town dates back, as previously stated, mainly to the period of the second gen- eral allotment of lands to the original Associates, or their legal representatives, 1736-S. Some few farms had been located there previously, but, at and after this period, fam- ilies from below the mountains began to move up and locate themselves on their several allotments.

The earliest settlers were,-Jonathan and Joseph Allen, John and James Badgley, Thomas Baker, Jr., John Bedell, Nathaniel Bonnell, William Broadwell, John Camp, Jona- than and Jacob Carll, James Cauldwell, Elias Clark, Henry Connet, Daniel Day, Joseph Doty, Joseph Frazee, Jeremiah Hart, Uriah Hedges, Samuel, Andrew, and Anthony Littell, Jeremiah Ludlow, Jonathan Mulford, John Osborn, William Peirsons [Parsons], Benjamin Pettit, John Pierson, Daniel Potter, Samuel Ross, Peter Rutan, Isaac and Ephraim Sayre, Richard Scudder, John Simpson, Aaron Thompson, Richard Valentine, and Peter Willcox.

These were followed soon after by Abner Bailey, Andrew Blanchard, Jacob Brittin, James Corey, Joseph and Isaac Crane, William Crawford, Timothy Day, Philemon Dickin- son, Benjamin Force, Melancthon Freeman, Abraham Hen dricks, Micah Howell, Uzal Johnson, David Lacy, Peter Lyon, Daniel Marsh, William Maxfield, Moses Miller, "Deacon Morehouse," "Lawyer Ogden," William Parrott, Andrew Prior, William Robertson, John Roll, Nathaniel

* Records of the Presb. of N. Y. Riker's Newtown, p. 307.

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THE HISTORY OF

Smith, John Totten, Kennedy Vance, and Daniel Wood. All these came within the first forty years. Many more came up during the Revolutionary War for a short season.

The first settlers were of the Puritan faith-religiously educated and inclined. They could not content themselves without a church in which to worship on the Sabbath. As early, therefore, as the year 1737, they put up a rude structure of logs, and presented a request to the Presbytery of East Jersey for a minister, who sent them Mr. JOHN CLEVERLY, a graduate of Harvard College in 1715-a son, probably, of Lieut. John Cleverly of Braintree, Mass., (1669), and of Boston, 1671. After his graduation, being then 20 years old, it is quite likely that he gave himself to teaching. How he was induced to visit the Jerseys does not appear. He is found at West Hanover [Morristown], as early as 1735. At the meeting of the Synod of Philadelphia, Sept. 24, 1735,

The West part of Hanover having applied to the Synod for the ordina- tion of Mr. Cleverly, the Synod do order it to be left to the Presbytery of Philadelphia.

About this time, Mr. Cleverly began to preach at Turkey, it being quite accessible from the place of his residence at West Hanover. It is probable that for the next two years he supplied both congregations. At the close of these two years, he withdrew from Turkey, and preached awhile at Rahway; but, his ministrations not being acceptable, he retired to West Hanover, or Morristown, where he continued to reside, unmarried, and in straitened circumstances, until his decease, Dec. 31, 1776, aged 81 years. His brother Thomas, fifteen years younger, appears to have lived with him, but died before him, June 11, 1775. It does not appear that Mr. Cleverly was ever ordained to the ministry."

In the autumn of 1739, the log meeting-house gave place to a new frame-building, more commodious and better adapted to the wants of the increasing congregation. Application was made, Jan. 30, 1739-40, to the Presbytery for a minister.

* Records of New Providence Chh., p. 1. Records of Presb. Chh., pp. 119, 143. Morris- Town Bill of Mortality, pp. 20, 28. Webster's Presb. Chh., pp. 415, 4S2.

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ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.

The Presbytery of Long Island had, the year before, 1738, been annexed to the Presbytery of East Jersey, which was then called the Presbytery of New York. The Rev. Simon Horton, a native of Southold, L. I., had been settled at Con- nectient Farms, in 1734. His brother, AZARIAH HORTON, graduated, the next year, at Yale College, in the same class with the Rev. Aaron Burr, and the Rev. Dr. Joseph Bellamy. He had, probably, been licensed by the Presbytery of New York, a short time before the application of the church at New Providence, and was directed to this new field. He remained here less than two years, the American Correspond- ents of the Edinburgh Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge having prevailed upon him, to become their Missionary to the Indians on Long Island. For this purpose, he was ordained by the Presbytery of New York, in 1741, and labored faithfully in the work until 1752, when he ac- cepted a call to the church of South Hanover, N. J., [Bottle- Hill, now Madison], where he died, March 27, 1777, aged 62 years .*

The church of New Providence [then Turkey], was organized about the time of Mr. Horton's leaving, the first session consisting of Messrs. Joseph Allen, John Pierson and Daniel Day. To these were subsequently added, previous to 1768, Jacob and John Bedell, Samuel Rolfe, Samuel Ross, Benjamin Bonnel, William Johnston, William Jones, William Caldwell, John Clark, Alexander Simpson, Thomas Osborn and William Connet.

Another application to the Presbytery, May 19, 1742, resulted in their obtaining the services of the Rev. JOSEPH LAMB, of whose early history not much is known. He may have been the son of John or Samuel Lamb, noticed on p. 263. He graduated at Yale College in 1717, in the class with Moses Dickinson, the brother of Rev. Jonathan Dick- inson. He was almost immediately invited to Mattituck, L. I., where he was ordained, Dec. 4, 1717, by the Presbyt- ery of Long Island, and where he continued ifearly 25 years.

* Records of New Providence Chh., p. 1. Records of Presb. Chh., pp. 134, 160. Webster's Presb. Chh., pp. 433, 465. Primo's L. Island, pp. 104-110.

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History of Elizabeth, New Jersey : including the early history of Union County, Part 50

Author: Hatfield, Edwin F. (Edwin Francis), 1807-1883 Publication date: 1868 Publisher: New York : Carlton & Lanahan Number of Pages: 738

Author: Hatfield, Edwin F. (Edwin Francis), 1807-1883
Publication date: 1868
Publisher: New York : Carlton & Lanahan
Number of Pages: 738