USA > New Jersey > Union County > Elizabeth > History of Elizabeth, New Jersey : including the early history of Union County > Part 59
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The vacant pastorate was almost immediately supplied by the
REV. NICHOLAS MURRAY.
He was born at Balynaskea, County of Westmeath, Ire- land, Dec. 25, 1802. His parents, Nicholas Murray and Judith Mangum were Papists, and of considerable means and influence. His father having died when the boy was but three years old, he was trained by his mother, until 9 years of age, in the dogmas of Popery. Then his mother's sister took charge of him for three years while he attended a village-school near Edgeworthtown, about ten miles from his native place. He entered in his twelfth year a store at Grannard, as a clerk, continuing there but three years, when, owing to the severity with which he was treated, he quit the
* Sprague's Memoirs of Rev. J. McDowell, D.D. Presb. His. Almanac for 1864, pp. 175-157.
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place and returned home, greatly to the grief of his mother. He determined to emigrate to America, leaving the inheri- tance to his brother.
He came to this country in 1818, arriving at New York with but $12 in his pocket. He obtained employment at the printing establishment of the Messrs. Harper, boarded first with their mother, and after two years with Mr. George Kirk (father of Rev. E. N. Kirk, D.D.), then residing in Liberty st., nearly opposite the present Trinity place. He was induced by some of his religious associates to hear the Rev. John M. Mason, D.D., was cured of his Popery, be- came a probationer in the Methodist church, and soon after a member of the Brick Presbyterian church under the care of the Rev. Gardiner Spring, D.D. His developments of mental and spiritual gifts were such as to lead several of his godly friends to urge upon him a preparation for the gospel- ministry.
He began his study of the languages in the winter of 1821-2, under the instruction of Mr. J. B. Steele, a fellow- lodger at Mr. Kirk's, and soon after a minister of the Re- formed Dutch Church. Having been adopted as a benefi- ciary of the Brick church, he relinquished the printing busi- ness, in the autumn of 1821, entered shortly after the Acad- emy, under the instruction of Gerard Hallock, at Amherst, Mass., and, in the autumn of 1822, the Freshman Class of Williams College, at Williamstown, Mass., then under the Presidency of the illustrious Rev. E. D. Griffin, D.D. He graduated in 1826, and after a brief Agency of six and a half .weeks in Washington County, N. Y., for the American Tract Society, he entered, November 9, 1826, the Theological Se- minary at Princeton, N. J. In May, 1827, he accepted an Agency for Pennsylvania, from the Tract Society, and in November following located himself at Philadelphia, having engaged with the same Society as their agent there for a year. He found time still to prosecute his theological stud- ies, and, at the expiration of his engagement, returned to the Seminary, where he completed, May, 7, 1829, the cur- riculum of the Institution.
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ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
He had previously been received under the care of the Presbytery of New York; but having been tranferred, he was licensed, at Frankfort, Pa., in April, 1829, by the Pres- bytery of Philadelphia. In June following, he was sent as a missionary, by the Board of Domestic Missions, to the beauti- ful Valley of Wyoming, Pa. IIe received a call, Ang. 12, 1829, with an offer of $600 salary, from the united churches of Wilkesbarre and Kingston, Pa., which he accepted. He was accordingly, Nov. 4, 1829, ordained and installed by the Presbytery of Susquehanna. He married, Jan. 1830, Miss Eliza J. Rhees, of Philadelphia, the daughter of Rev. Morgan J. Rhees, deceased. In November, 1831, he was tendered the General Agency of the American Tract So- ciety for the Valley of the Mississippi, but declined it. He had previously declined the Secretaryship of the Presbyte- rian Education Society at Philadelphia.
While in attendance on the General Assembly at Phila- delphia, in May, 1833, he consented to supply, for two Sab- baths, the pulpit of the First Presbyterian church of this town, then just made vacant by the removal of Dr. McDowell. In October of the previous year he had passed a Sabbath here, and made an appeal to this congregation for aid in building a church at Wilkesbarre. So greatly did he please the people, that, at the expiration of the fortnight, a call was unanimously tendered him, June 3d, with an offer of $1000 salary, which he accepted. He was dismissed from his first charge, June 23, 1833, and installed here, on Tuesday, July 23d, at 11 o'clock, A. M., by the Presbytery of Elizabeth Town ; when the sermon was preached by the Rev. Joseph M. Ogden, of Chatham, N. J., from 2 Corinthians, iii. : 15, 16 ; the charge to the pastor given by Rev. Dr. McDowell ; and the charge to the people, by the Rev. Stephen O. Thompson, of Connecticut Farms.
Ilis ministry in this town was extended through a period of nearly 28 years-a few months only less than that of his distinguished predecessor. He entered fully into the round of pastoral labor, to which the people had so long been ac- customed, and made full proof of his ministry. He com-
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manded the respect and reverence not only of his own peo- ple, but of the whole town. In the Presbytery his influence was second to none. His counsels were highly valued, also, in the Synod and General Assembly, of the latter of which he was chosen Moderator in 1849. In the conflicts that re- sulted in the division of the Presbyterian Church in 1837-8, he took an active part, and cast his lot with the Old School portion, carrying his church and Presbytery with him. Large accessions of converts, particularly in 1834, 1836, 1842-3, and 1858, attested the faithfulness of his ministry. His labors resulted in a steady growth of the congregation, in numbers and effectiveness, so that at the close of his min- istry, he could say, Jan. 1, 1861,
A glorious meeting in the First Church to-day. The first time in all its history it was declared out of debt, with a balance in the treasury, with a yearly income to meet all its expenditures, and about four thousand dol- lars in funds, for the poor, and to keep the grave-yard in repair.
Much, however, as he excelled in pastoral service, he ob- tained a vastly more extended fame as a popular contributor to the columns of the religious Press. A series of articles from his pen, on " Practical Methodism," six in number, ap- peared in the " Christian Advocate," (a Presbyterian Monthly published in Philadelphia), from September 1830 to May 1831, which excited no little inquiry. He became most widely known, however, by a series of 12 Essays on Popery, with the signature of " Kirwan," which appeared in the col- umns of the N. York Observer, from Feb. 6, to May 8, 1847. They were addressed to Bishop Hughes, and were published directly after in book form, with an immense circulation, here and beyond the Atlantic. A second series followed, commencing with Oct. 2, 1847. A sermon, on the "Decline of Popery and its Causes," preached, "in reply to Bishop Hughes," Jan 15, 1851, in the Broadway Tabernacle of New York, was published widely.
Having revisited his native land, and extended his travels to Rome, in 1851, on his return, he published a series of let- ters, entitled, "Romanism at Home," addressed to Chief Justice Taney, which appeared in 1852. His other publica-
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ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
tions were " Parish and other Pencilings ; " " The Happy Home;" "Men and Things as I saw them in Europe ; " " Preachers and Preaching; " and some pamphlets. He vis- ited Europe again in 1860.
His great popularity subjected him to frequent solicitations to other posts of influence and usefulness. In 1834, he was called to the Presbyterian church of Charleston, S. C .; in 1835, he was elected Secretary of the Foreign Missionary Society (for N. York, Phila., Baltimore, &c.) ; in 1836, he was called to the Park st. church, Boston, thrice in suc- cession ; in 1837, and again in 1842, to the Presb. church of Natchez, Miss .; in 1839, and again in 1852, to the First (O. S.) Presb. church of Brooklyn, N. Y .; in 1849, to the Central Presb. church of St. Louis, Mo .; and, in 1850, to the Seventh Presb. church of Cincinnati, Ohio. In addition, he was often solicited to allow calls to be made for him, but uniformly refused, preferring to live and die among his own people, greatly to their satisfaction and delight.
His decease was altogether unexpected. In the midst of life and robust health, he was seized, on Friday, Feb. 1, 1861, with an acute rheumatism of the heart, which resulted in a painful, but peaceful death, on Monday, the 4th, in the eve- ning. The whole community were deeply affected by the event. At his funeral, on Friday, the Sth, all business was suspended, and a great multitude, including many clergymen from abroad, gathered in the First church, when addresses were made by Rev. Drs. Rodgers of Boundbrook, Ogden, of Chatham, Hodge, of Princeton, and Magie, of this town, and by Messrs. Rankin of Baskingridge, and Sheddan of Rah- way. An appropriate funeral sermon was preached, on the Sabbath following, by his greatly-attached friend, Rev. Wm. B. Sprague, D. D., of Albany, N. Y. The religious press, everywhere, throughout the land, and numerous public bodies with which he had been connected, gave affecting ut- terance to their deep sense of bereavement.
The wife of his youth survives him, and of his ten children four only outlived their loved and honored father .*
* For further details of the admirable life of Dr. Murray, see " Memoirs of the Rev. NICH-
43
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His successor, the present worthy pastor, Rev. EVERARD KEMPSHALL, previously of Buffalo and Batavia, N. Y., was installed, Sept. 18, 1861. During his ministry large acces- sions have been made to the membership, and the church is enjoying a high degree of prosperity.
A SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH grew out of the "Great Revival " of 1817. So numerous were the accessions to the old church as greatly to exceed the capacity of their house of worship. During the revival of 1813, a long-felt neces- sity had been met, by the erection of a "Session House," on the rear of the parsonage-lot, fronting on Washington street. The expense was provided for by voluntary subscriptions, and the house was opened for worship, Sept. 10, 1813. At a meeting of the Trustees and Session of the First church, on Tuesday, Feb. 29, 1820, application having been made to that effect, arrangements were made, whereby the Session House might be used on the Sabbath, free of rent, for five years, by such persons as were desirous to form a second church. The house was enlarged in the summer following. Separate Sabbath services were commenced, March 26, 1820. A re- ligious society was organized, by the election, Oct. 26, 1820, of Messrs. David Meeker, John Humes, James Crane, Rich- ard Townley, Elijah Kellogg, Wm. Brown, and Elihu Price, as Trustees. A church of forty-one members, all but one from the First church, was constituted on Sunday, Dec. 3, 1820, when Elihu Price, James Crane, and David Meeker were set apart as Elders. The same month, they called, as their pastor, the
REV. DAVID MAGIE.
He was a native of this town, and this was his only home through life. His father, Michael, was the son of Joseph, and the grandson of John Magie, Sen., mentioned, p. 265. His ancestry were noted for their piety and Presbyterianism. His father married Mary Meeker, and both of them were
OLAS MURRAY, D.D. (Kirwan), by Samuel Irenæus Prime" [D.D.]; published by Harper & Brothers, N. York, 1863 ; also Dr. Sprague's Sermon, and Wilson's Presb. Histor. Almanac, for 1862, pp. 105-9.
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ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
exemplary members of the First Presbyterian church. Da- vid was born, at the rural homestead, west of the town, March 13, 1795. His father died, Jan. 6, 1810. In his Will, dated Aug. 23, 1806, mention is made of ten children : four daughters-Catharine Potter, Jane Brown, Phebe and Han- nah ; and six sons-Benjamin, John, David, Joseph, Job, and Haines.
David was converted in the revival of 1813, and, in June of that year, was received a member of the First church. He prepared for college under the supervision of his pastor, Mr. McDowell, and entered the junior class of the College of New Jersey, in 1815. He graduated in 1817, and entered the Theological Seminary at Princeton. At the expiration of a year, he was appointed one of the Tutors of the College, holding the post for two years. In the spring of 1820 he was licensed by the Presbytery of Jersey, and preached his first sermon, Ap. 28. During the summer, having frequently preached for the new congregation, he was invited to supply them for six months. He began his stated ministrations, Oct. 1, 1820, with a sermon from Rom. xv. 30. He was or- dained and installed on Tuesday, Ap. 24, 1821. He married, May 7th, Ann F. Wilson, daughter of James Wilson, Esq., deceased.
Measures were taken, April 30, 1821, to build a house of worship. The corner-stone of the house on Jersey st. was laid, June 20, 1821, and the house dedicated, May 1, 1822. In this his first and only pastoral charge, among his own townsmen, he continued to labor as a faithful, godly, useful and highly honored minister of the gospel, nearly forty-five years, declining promptly several calls and appointments to other fields and spheres of labor. He received, in 1842, the degree of D. D. from Amherst College-and during the lat- ter period of his life filled several stations of honor and ser- vice in connection with literary and benevolent institutions. The additions to the church, during his ministry, were 651 ou profession, and 596 on certificate.
After a period of great bodily suffering, protracted through fifteen months, full of peace, hope, and comfort, he departed
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THE HISTORY OF
this life, May 10, 1865, greatly lamented, as he had been greatly beloved.
He was, indeed, "a model pastor." Calm, genial, affectionate, sympa- thizing, abundant in labors, his services were welcomed by the whole people, and his influence among them gradually strengthening from first to last. Combining temperance, charity, humility, prudence, sound judg- ment, simplicity, and earnestness, he was a faithful, persevering, success- ful laborer in the vineyard committed to his charge. He preached and prayed with a power and unction which sank deep into the hearts of his hearers ..... Besides several able published discourses, he was the author of "The Spring-time of Life," an excellent volume of 350 pages .*
A few months before the decease of Dr. Magie, the Rev. WILLIAM C. ROBERTS, previously of Columbus, Ohio, was in- stalled co-pastor, and continued in charge until his resigna- tion in February, 1866, to become the pastor of the newly- organized Westminster church. The Rev. James B. Pat- terson, for several years pastor of the Presbyterian church of Steubenville, Ohio, was shortly after installed his suc- cessor, and is still in charge of the church .*
A THIRD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, growing out of the in- crease of the population, and the crowded state of the other two Presbyterian churches, was organized by the Presbytery of Elizabeth Town, Nov. 17, 1851. It numbered seventy-six members, who had been dismissed, in equal proportions, from the First and Second churches, for this purpose. Messrs. Edward Sanderson, David Woodruff, John D. Norris, Benja- min Ogden, and John McCord were installed Elders.
Public worship was commenced, by the new congregation, in Collet Hall, Sep. 14, 1851. The Rev. ROBERT AIKMAN, previously of Troy, N. Y., was employed from Sep. 21, and having soon after received a call to be their pastor, was in- stalled by the Presbytery of Newark (to which the church had been transferred), March 1, 1852, and still continues in charge.
The grounds of the late Dr. Isaac Morse, on the S. W. corner of East Jersey and Bridge sts., 145 by 245 feet, were purchased in June, 1852, for $3000, and preparations made
* Trustees' Book of First Chh. Manual of 2d Chh. Pierson's Memorial. Wilson's Presb. Almanac for 1866, pp. 128-81.
.
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ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
for the erection of a house of worship. The corner-stone was laid, Sep. 21, 1852 ; the Lecture Room, or Chapel, was occupied, May 8, 1853, and the house completed and ded- icated, Mar. 28, 1855. It is of brick, 60 by 120 feet. It fronts on Scott Place [late Bridge st.], and the andience- room, finished with galleries, will seat about 900 persons. The Chapel, with a Lecture Room to seat 200 persons on the first floor, and a Sunday School Room and Study on the second floor, is attached to the rear of the church, and fronts on Jersey st. The property was freed from debt in 1865. The church numbers more than 200 members .*
Still another Presbyterian church has grown up in that part of the town formerly known. as ELIZABETHPORT. A union religious service was commenced there, in 1836, every Sabbath afternoon, in an Iron Foundry. The Rev. ABRAHAM BROWN, a congregational minister of Oxford, Ct., was employed as a stated supply, and began to preach, Oct. 6, 1838. A Congregational church of 29 members was organized, Aug. 7, 1839. Messrs. Jonathan M. Ropes and Elias Marsh were chosen Deacons, and Major Denman, and Messrs. James C. Fairbank, Joseph P. Augur, Jeremiah Robinson, and Jonathan M. Ropes were chosen Trustees. At the same time, the corner-stone of the church on Marshall st., between First and Second sts., was laid. The house was completed the following year.
Mr. Brown died, Oct. 15, 1840, æt. 45. Rev. Jonathan Huntington and others were employed as stated supplies, the next eighteen months. The Rev. OLIVER S. St. JOHN was ordained the first pastor of the church, June 15, 1842. The former Deacons having been elected Elders, Feb. 9, 1846, the church was received, Ap. 22, 1846, under the care of the Presbytery of Elizabeth Town. Mr. St. John was dismissed, Oct. 20, 1846; and the present pastor, Rev. . EDWIN H. REINHART, was installed, Oct. 26, 1847. The church has now about 120 members.+
More recently the WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH has been organized. It was originated by the Second church.
* Ms. Letter of Rer. R. Alkman.
t Ms. Letter of Rev. E. II. Reinhart.
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It was constituted, of 100 members, Jan. 31, 1866. Messrs. Richard T. Haines and Mahlon Mulford were installed El- ders, and Messrs. Henry M. Baker and Henry Seymour, Deacons. The first Sabbath service was held, in Library Hall, March 4th, and, on the 7th, the Rev. WILLIAM C. ROB- ERTS, having accepted their call and resigned the pastorate of the Second Church, was installed by the Presbytery of Passaic.
A beautiful location having been obtained in the "North End" of the city, near the junction of the old Salem and Newark Roads, the corner-stone of a commodious and sightly house of worship was laid, June 13, 1866, and the building was opened for the public service of God, Dec. 29, 1867. It is not surpassed by any other public building in the city. It is of brown stone, in the Norman style, 70 by 105, with an organ projection of 16 by 27 feet on one side. The front is finished with a tower on each corner, one of them terminating in finials above the roof. The other is to terminate in a stone spire, 212 feet high. The chapel, 40 by 92 feet, in the rear, for Lecture and Sunday School rooms, and the Pastor's study, is not completed. The audience room is spacious, with an elliptical ceiling, heavily ribbed, and paneled, 46 feet from the floor. The wood-work is of blackwalnut. The cost of the house and grounds thus far is about $110,000. The structure would do honor to any city in the land .*
The Presbyterians have, also, a colored church, worshiping in Washington st., known as the Siloam church. It is a feeble congregation, reporting, last May, only 36 members.
The congregation of St. John's church [Episcopal], three months after the removal of the Rev. Mr. Lilly, invited the
REV. JOHN CHURCHILL RUDD,
to become their rector, with a salary of $500, and the use of the rectory. The call was accepted, and Mr. Rudd entered upon his work in December following, his institution taking place in May, 1806.
Mr. Rudd was born at Norwich, Ct., May 24, 1779. He
* N. Jersey Journal, Nos. 4590, 4673.
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ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
was the eldest child of Jonathan Rudd, and Mary, daughter of Deacon Barnabas Huntington. His grandfather, Samuel, was, probably, a great-grandson of Jonathan, who was at New Haven, in 1644. His ancestors were of Puritan faith, and he himself was bred a Congregationalist. He was fitted for college under the tuition of Rev. Samuel Nott, of Nor- wich, West Farms, now Franklin, Ct., but was not favored with a collegiate course. When of age, he went to New York, and made it his home, connecting himself with the Episcopal church. He married, Jan. 22, 1803, at New York, (Dr. Hobart officiating), Phebe Eliza, daughter of Edward Bennett, of Shrewsbury, N. J. Having prepared for the ministry, under the direction of Bishop Moore, and Rev. J. H. Hobart, he was ordained, by the former, as a Deacon, April 28, 1805, and was employed, for several months, as a missionary on Long Island. Mr. Hobart, having married, some years previously, a daughter of Rev. Dr. Chandler, doubtless introduced him to the pulpit of St. John's church, where he preached, for the first time, July 21, 1805.
The congregation seldom then exceeded a hundred souls, and the communicants were sixty in number. A new steeple was erected in 1807, and other improvements were made in the church-edifice. In 180S, the length of the house was in- creased seventeen feet, and the interior entirely renovated. An addition of one hundred dollars was made to his salary in 1810. In 1813, he became the Editor of a new series of "The Churchman's Magazine," and the place of publication was changed from N. York to this town. Other improve- ments were made in the church-edifice in 1818. The Par- sonage-house was also rebuilt, at an expense of about $3000. For several years, he conducted a classical school, in his house, with great success. July 31, 1823, the University of Pennsylvania conferred on him the degree of D.D.
Owing to the loss of health, and particularly of his voice, Dr. Rudd was released from his parochial charge, June 1, 1826, and the next month removed to Auburn, N. Y., where, and at Utica, N. Y., as teacher, rector, and editor of "The Gospel Messenger," his later days were spent. Having suf-
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THE HISTORY OF
fered long and greatly from a rheumatic affection, he died at his home in Utica, Nov. 15, 1848, greatly lamented by his own Church and others. His remains, at his own request, were brought to this town, and buried, on the 19th, in St. John's church-yard. His widow died in Oct. 1867 (æt. 88), having survived him nearly 19 years. In addition to his editorial work, he published, at various periods, more than a dozen discourses, most of them sermons .*
Dr. Rudd was succeeded by the Rev. SMITH PYNE, who began his work, June 1, 1826, and was instituted by the R. Rev. John Croes, D.D., May 3, 1827. His salary was $500, and the rectory. This was his first parochial charge. His ministry here, though highly acceptable to the people, was but of short continuance. He resigned the rectorship, Dec. 31, 1828, to accept a call from the church of Middle- town, Ct. Subsequently he became the Assistant Minister, and then, after the decease of the Rev. Dr. Hawley, for many years, the rector of St. John's church, Washington City, D. C. Dr. Pyne now resides at New York City.+
A call was extended, March 8, 1829, to the Rev. BIRDSEYE GLOVER NOBLE, the predecessor of Mr. Pyne, at Middletown. He was born, in 1792, at New Milford, Ct. ; graduated at Yale College in 1810; married a daughter of Elijah San- ford, of Newtown Ct. ; was ordained a deacon in'1812, and priest in 1817 ; and was rector of the church of the Holy Trinity, at Middletown, Ct., 1812 to 1829. He came here on a salary of $500, the rectory, and his firewood. The finan- ces of the church were greatly improved during his ministry, and otherwise the congregation appeared to prosper ; save that, during the cholera season of 1832, the church met with severe losses by death. His ministry terminated, Oct. 15, 1833. He removed to Bridgeport, and opened a boarding- school on Golden Hill, where he died, Nov. 16, 1848, in his 57th year .;
At the close of January, 1834, the Rev. RICHARD CHAN-
* Dr. Rudd's Hist. Discourse. Clark's St. John's, pp. 170-8. Sprague's Annals, V. 501-6.
N. J. Journal, No. 4,668. Berrian's Recollections. Ms. Records of St. John's.
+ Clark's St. John's, p. 173. Ms. Records.
# Sprague's Annals, V. 154. Clark's St. John's, p. 173. Ms. Records.
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ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
NING MOORE, Jr., son of Bishop Moore, of Va., was chosen rector, and at once entered upon his work. He graduated at Washington [Trinity] College, Hartford, in 1829, and, the first year after his ordination, assisted his cousin, Rev. Dr. Bedell, of St. Andrew's church, Phila. He continued in charge of St. John's church, of this town, until the second Sunday in March, 1855. At his coming his salary was only $400, with the usual perquisites. So acceptable and ef- fective was his ministry, that soon a considerable enlargement of the church edifice was required. An addition of eight feet was made to each side of the house, and the interior was wholly renewed. The work was done between June 1, and Dec. 31, 1840. When completed it measured, 45 by 66 feet. A Sunday School Room of brick was also erected at the same time. The expense of these improvements was about $4000. A new impulse was thus given to the congre- gation, which rapidly now increased in numbers and in effi- ciency. After his removal from this town, he became the rector of Christ church, Williamsport, Pa., where he now resides .*
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