USA > New Jersey > Monmouth County > History of Monmouth county, New Jersey > Part 115
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Daniel V. McLean became pastor in 1831. His successor was the Rev. L. H. Van Doren. After him came the Rev. Donald McLaren, who re- signed November 5, 1862. The Rev. Archibald P. Cobb was installed Angust 8, 1863. He continued in the pastorate nearly eighteen years, and until his death, which occurred February 26, 1881. His successor, the Rev. George G. Smith (the present pastor), was called May 31st and installed June 27th, in the same year.
The present church edifice, which (as already mentioned) was first used for worship in 1753, contained seventy-eight pews, which, in 1754, were sold to persons whose names (as also the price paid for each) are given in the following list,2 viz. :
PEW NO. £
..
1 Thomas Davis & Son . 17
00
2 Aaron Matteson and William Norcross 17
00
3 Samuel Karr . 15
00
4 Darick Suttfin, Jacob's son 15 00
5 William Van Kirk . 16
00
6 John Henderson . 16 00
Michael Johnson
15 00
S William Hugen, Darick Suttfin and his son Darick 15
00
9 David English 16
00
10 Samuel Forman and Robert Rhea . 16 00
11 Peter Forman . 12 00
12 Cort Schanek and Son, Garret and John Longstreet 12
00
13 Passage into the pews
14 George Rhea S 00
15 By the stairs a short pew 3
00
16 John Garton 10 00
17 Richard Pittenger
10 00
18 John Forman, son of Jonathan, Esqr 10 . 00
19 Benjamin Vancleve and Richard Van- mater 10
20 Peter Wilson, son of Peter 10
10
22 Gawen Watson I1 00
10
23 Samuel McKonke . 11 00
24 Jonathan Forman, Esq 11 10
25 Two pews for the minister of the place,
26 the Rev. William Tennent 11
00
27 Mr. Joseph Forman 11 00
28 Timothy Lloyd and his son, John Lloyd 11 00
29 John Reed 10 10
30 David Rhea 10 10
" This list, furnished by llon, William P. Forman, of Millstone, was found among the papers of Peter Forman, who, before and during the Revolution, lived on a farm near Monmouth Court-House. .
1 In April, 1782, John Woodhull (doubtless Rev. Dr. Woodhull) advertises that the Latin Sehool at Freehold is again revived in a peaceable and agreeable neighborhood, where board can be liad on reasonable terms. A number of gentlemen of first character, trustees. Mr. Clark, a very worthy, capable gentlemen, late of the College of New Jersey, was an instructor.
00
21 John Clayton 10
684
HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.
PEW NO.
£
S.
31 William Wikoff . 10
32 John Anderson, Esq . 10
1
33 William M. Knight 10
Michael Sweetman 10
35 John Van Skoyak 10
10
36 William Hampton 10 10
37 James Craig . 10
10
38 William Craig.
10
10
39 William Crawford 11
40 James Robinson . 11 00
41 James English
11 00
42 Peter Gordon, Esq.
11 00
43 Lewis Forman 11 00
44 Zebulon Baird. 11
00
45 John Little, Esq
11
00
46 Robert Davison
10
10
47 David Baird . .
10
10
48 John Truax, Thomas Craig and William Shaw . 10 10
49 Andrew Baird .
10
50 William Compton and John Clayton,
51 52 53
5-4 55 56
Michael Errickson 12
00 Joseph Cheeseman, William Cheeseman and John Reed, Jr 12
- 57
William Laird and James Dey 15
00
58
Abram Clayton, William Purton and 15 00
Ligged Smith .
15
00
59 60
Robert, James and Thomas Thompson . 15 00 William Covenhoven, Jr., and his son, 00 Peter and John Cheeseman . 15
61 Joseph Karr 16
00
62 Nicholas Cook 16
00
63
John Vorhis and his father and father-in- law 15
00
Robert Coming, Esq., George Walker 64
and David Barkly 17 00
David Gordon, £14 10s. ; Peter Gordon, Esq., £2 108. 17 00
Gallery pews, beginning at the northeast cor- ner :
PEW NO.
£
s.
1
S 00
2
7 00
3
7 00
5
7 00
6
7 Dr. Peter Lacount 8
00
S
7 00
9
7 00
7
00
PEW NO.
€
10 11 Philip Conine, Esq., £5 108 .; John
10 Siliman, £1 108. 00
12 James Mulligan and David Brooks . 7 00
13 Hugh MeFarren 7 00
14 Robert McChesney and son, May 29, 1755 8 00
With regard to the building of this old edi- fice, the Rev. A. P. Cobb, in the memorial ser- mon preached in 1877, and before referred to, said: "On the 29th of May, 1750, all the trustees, except Tobias Polhemus, being present, it was determined to build a larger church. John Davis, being appointed chief carpenter, constructed the present building, which is forty by sixty feet, twice the size of the former church. There were one hundred and ninety-two sub- scribers. The largest subscription was fourteen pounds, by Peter Gordon. The form of the church has not been essentially changed since its first construction, although a few alterations have been made. Many of the descendants of the original members sit in the same seats in which their forefathers sat. The charter of the corporation was procured February 21, 1750, of Governor Belcher, in the reign of George II. As soon as we obtained an independent govern- ment, the trustees of the church were obliged on going into office to take three oaths,-the first, disclaiming allegiance to England ; the second, swearing allegiance to New Jersey ; the third, swearing devotion to the church. After the church was built, for a long time no fire was kept up in winter, our ancestors giving as reason that they had determined not to be luke- warm, but to be either cold or hot. They had two services right in succession, separated only by an intermission of half an hour in order to partake of some refreshments. This was neces- sary because some persons came very long dis- tances."
The pulpit of this church was several times occupied by that most celebrated preacher of his time, the Rev. George Whitefield. The famous Indian missionary, the Rev. David Brainerd, also preached here, to congregations largely composed of savages, on several ocea- sions, notably in 1746, to which the following, from the "Memoirs of David Brainerd," has reference, viz. :
4 7 00
7 00
10
00 Jr . 10
00 Aaron Matteson, Jr .
Charles Hibbets (by the banisters) 3 00
The open entry .
00
10
10
00
685
MANALAPAN TOWNSIJIP.
" We, whose names are undersigned, being elders and deacons of the Presbyterian church in Freehold, do hereby testify, that in our humble opinion, God, even our Saviour, has brought a considerable number of the Indians of these parts to a saving union with himself. Of this we are persuaded from a personal ac- quaintance with them, whom we not only hear speak of the great doctrine of the Gospel with humility, affection and understanding, but we see as far as man can judge them, soberly, righteously and Godly. We have joined with them at the Lord's Supper, and do from our hearts esteem them as our brethren in Jesus.
"For those who were not God's people may now be called children of the living God. 'It is the Lord's doing and is marvelous in our eyes,' until he has subdued all things to himself, this is and shall be the unfeigned desire and prayer of
" WALTER KER,
" ROBERT CUMMINS,
" DAVID RHEA,
"JOHN HENDERSON,
" JOHN ANDERSON,
" JOSEPH KER, " Elders.
" WILLIAM KER,
"SAMUEL KER,
"SAMUEL CRAIG,
" Deacons.
" Presbyterian church, Freehold, August 16th, 1746."
A description of the old church, written by the Rev. James M. Freeman, was printed in the National Magazine in January, 1854, as follows:
" In size the building is forty by sixty feet, with three entrances on the longer side. The old oak frame is covered with shingles, which, though in good preservation for their age, confess the wasting assaults of time and storms. The pulpit is on the north side of the house, immediately opposite to the central door, so that the minister faces the width of the church instead of its length. It is very narrow, and is surmounted with a sounding-board, according to the custom of our fathers. A number of wooden pegs are placed in the panel work immediately back of the pulpit, on which the preachers used to hang their hats and overcoats. Leaning against the pulpit are several long and slender rods, at the extremity of each of which is suspended a silken bag, terminating in a tassel. These singular-looking things are used by the deacons in taking up collections, and must be very convenient in the long pews. The pews are high and very narrow, suggesting the idea of penance rather than devotion. The gallery is wide and lofty and will seat three hundred people. In former times one side of it was partitioned off for the colored people, but during the administration of the present
pastor, Rev. Mr. Van Doren, the middle wall of par- tition has been taken down. The pews on the ground floor will seat five hundred, so that the whole build- ing can accommodate eight hundred worshipers. Instead of being plastered, the interior is ceiled with boards, which, together with the pews, remained in their primitive unpainted condition until about twenty years ago, when the pews were painted a dingy red and the sides and ceiling white.
" The remains of the sainted Tennent lie buried under the floor of the central aisle. In the year 1818 a marble słab was placed in the wall at the right of the pulpit, with the following inscription in gilt lettering :
' Sacred to the Memory of the REV. WILLIAM TENNENT,
Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Freehold, Who departed this life the 8th of March, 1777, Aged 71 years and 6 months.
He was Pastor of said church 43 years and 9 months. Faithful and beloved. 1818.''*
OLD TENNENT CHURCH.
About 1855 the east end of the old edifice was reshingled and painted white. The in- terior of the church has also been repainted, stoves introduced, the pews upholstered and the aisles carpeted ; but with the exception of these, and some other minor changes, the old edifice is the same as when first occupied in 1753. The old communion-table, at which the Lord's Supper has been administered to succes- sive generations for one hundred and thirty years, is still in use.
68G
HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.
Immediately after the ordination of William Tennent as pastor (1733) the congregation ap- pointed a committee to purchase a parsonage, with farm land attached. In 1735 the com- mittee made the purchase from Mr. Covenho- ven, at a cost of five hundred pounds. The parsonage (situated more than half a mile from the church) was a low building, large on the ground, with four lower rooms,-two on cach side of the hall,-with kitchen attached in the rear. Above was the attic room, sloping on one side with the rafters, and with a window facing the north, which, as is said, was used as a study by both Mr. Tennent and Mr. Wood- hull. During the battle of June 28, 1778, a round shot came through the roof into this room while the conflict raged furi- ously around the house and in the adjoining orchard.
In order to keep the parsonage and farm always in possession of the church, they put every legal safeguard around the property which they could devise. Every year the trustees were obliged to swear that they would be faithful to this trust and would keep the parsonage from being sold. A little over one hundred years after its pur- chase the Tennent Church suffered this property to pass out of its hands. The farm (one hundred and eighty acres) was sold, February 6, 1860, to Charles A. Webster, for thirteen thousand two hundred dollars. The venerable parsonage house has since been demolished.
The ancient burial-ground which surrounds the old Tennent Church is no less historic than the edifice itself. In front of the church is a monument to the memory of Rev. John Wood- hull, D.D., who exercised pastoral charge here for forty-five years. A little further on, a dark stone slab covers a grave, on which are these words : " Here lies the mortal part of Gilbert Tennent. In the practice of physic he was successful and beloved. Young, gay, and in the highest bloom of life, death found him hopefully in the Lord; but O, reader, had you heard his last testimony, you would have been convinced of the extreme madness of delaying repentance. Natus April,
1742. Obiit March 6, 1770." This young physician, who had not completed his twenty- eighth year when he was summoned away from earth, was the son of William Tennent.
At one end of the church is the grave of Lieutenant-Colonel Monckton, a gallant officer in the British army, who was killed in the bloody engagement of the 28th of June, 1778. There was nothing to mark the spot but his name rudely carved on the building, until about 1850, when a Scotch school-teacher in the neighborhood put up a red board, with the sim- ple inscription, in black letters, " Hic jacet Col- onel Monckton," and the date of his death. Afterwards this school-teacher died ; and, ar-
OLD TENNENT PARSONAGE.
cording to his particular request, was buried by the side of the remains of him to whose memory he paid such respect. When the battle of Mon- mouth was fought, a man was sitting on a gravestone in the yard; a stray cannon-ball broke off one corner of the stone and mortally wounded the man. He was taken into the church, and laid out on a seat, where he died, and where the dark stain of his blood is said to be still visible. The broken grave-stone has since been carried away in small pieces by vis- itors as mementos of the conflict.
A great number of soldiers of the Revolu- tion-many of whom were killed in the service, and others who survived the war-were buried in this churchyard, as also numbers of soldiers
687
MANALAPAN TOWNSHIP.
of the wars of 1812-15 and 1861-65. A list of these interments, as nearly complete as is possible, has been made (at the request of Major James S. Yard) by Mr. R. P. Craig, sexton and superintendent of the Tennent Church burial- ground, and is here given, viz. :
SOLDIERS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Anderson, James, lieutenant, Hazen's regiment (Sec- ond Canadian), Continental army.
Anderson, John, first lieutenant, Captain Reading's company, Third battalion, first establishment. Continental army; captain, Fourth battalion second establishment.
Anderson, John, private, Captain Waddell's com- pany, First regiment, Monmouth.
Anderson, Kenneth, adjutant First regiment, Mon- month.
Baird, David, captain, First regiment, Monmouth. Baird, John.
Bowne, Joseph, corporal, Captain Waddell's company, First regiment, Monmonth.
Bowman, John, Captain Dunn's company, First regi- ment, Monmouth.
Brewer, Joseph, captain, Monmouth.
Craig, David, private, Captain Walton's troop light dragoons, Monmonth.
Craig, James, ensign, Captain Walton's troop light dragoons, Monmouth.
Craig, John, Captain Waddell's company, First regi- ment, Monmonth.
Craig, John, first lieutenant, Captain Elisha Walton's company, First regiment, Monmouth.
Craig, Samuel, troop light horse, Monmonth.
Craig, William, teamster.
Campbell, William, Continental army.
Campbell, John, Captain Waddell's company, First regiment, Monmouth.
Clayton, Jonathan, Captain Walton's troop light dra- goons, Monmouth.
Cale, Jacob, Captain Walton's troop light dragoons, Monmouth.
Conover, David, Monmonth.
Conover (Covenhoven), Theodorous, sergeant, Cap- tain Hankinson's company, First regiment, Mon- mouth.
Conover, John M., troop light dragoons.
Covenhoven, Cornelius, Captain Hankinson's com- pany, First regiment, Monmouth.
Covenhoven, Lewis, sergeant, infantry; sergeant, troop light horse, Monmouth.
Covenhoven, Jolin, Captain Hunn's company, First regiment, Monmouth.
Covenhoven, John, Captain Walton's troop light dra- goons, Monmonth.
Covenhoven, William, Captain Hankinson's com- pany, First regiment, Monmouth.
Combs, Joseph, Captain Walton's troop light dra- goons.
Combs, Thomas, captain rangers, Middlesex.
Combs, John, Captain Waddell's company, First reg- iment, Monmouth.
Chambers, John, Captain Walton's troop light dra- goons, Monmouth.
Cheeseman, William, private, sergeant.
Davis, William, captain.
Dey, John, Monmonth.
Edwards, Thomas, second lieutenant, Monmouth. Emmons, Abraham, Monmouth.
English, David, Middlesex.
English, James, surgeou, State troops.
English, James, Monmonth.
Errickson, Michael, Monmouth.
Forman, David, paymaster, Monmonth.
Forman, Jonathan, cornet, Captain Walton's troop light dragoons, Monmouth.
Forman, Jonathan, Captain Waddell's company, First regiment, Monmouth.
Forman, Tunis, sergeant.
Forman, William, Captain Walton's troop light dra- goons, Monmonth.
Freeman, Henry, fifer, Continental army.
Gordon, David, Captain Elisha Walton's company, First regiment, Monmonth.
Gordon, Ezekiel, Middlesex.
Gordon, James, Middlesex.
Gordon, Jonathan.
Hays, John, Captain Bond's company, Fourth bat- talion, second establishment.
Hankinson, James, Captain Walton's light dragoons, Monmouth.
Hankinson, Kenneth, captain, Colonel Forman's bat- talion.
Herbert, Daniel, Captain Walton's troop light dra- goons, Monmonth.
Herbert, James, troop light horse, Monmonth.
Henderson, John, captain, Monmouth.
Henderson, Thomas, lieutenant-colonel, Colonel For- man's battalion.
Jolinson, Peter, sergeant, Captain Walton's troop light dragoons, Monmouth.
Johnson, William, Third battalion, Continental army Low, Alexander, sergeant, Monmonth.
Laird, Moses.
Laird, William, Captain Walton's troop light dragoons, Monmouth.
Laird, William, Captain Nixon's troop horse, Middle- sex.
Laird, Richard, sergeant, Pulaski Legion, Continental army.
Leonard, Samnel, sergeant, Captain Waddell's com- pany, First regiment, Monmouth.
Lloyd, John, Captain Waddell's company, First regi- ment, Monmonth.
Mount, Mathew.
MeKnight, Joseph, Monmonth.
688
HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.
McChesney, Robert.
MeDermott, William.
Newell, Hugh (grandfather of Governor Newell), blacksmith, Captain Brewer's company, Mon- mouth.
Perrine, John, Middlesex.
Perrine, Lewis, Captain Walton's troop light dragoons, Monmouth.
Perrine, Mathew, Middlesex.
Reid, Aaron, Captain Walton's troop light horse, Monmouth.
Reed, John, sergeant, Captain Hankinson's company, First regiment, Monmouth.
Rogers, John.
Rogers, Samuel, lieutenant, Tice's company, First regiment, Monmouth.
Rue, John, Captain Walton's troop light dragoons, Monmouth.
Scudder, Nathanial, colonel, First regiment, Mon- mouth; killed in skirmish with Refugees at Shrewsbury, Monmouth County, N. J., October 15, 1781.
Schenck, Ruliff, Captain Flanagan's company, Third battalion, second establishment, Continental army.
Seabrooks, Stephen, troop light horse, Monmouth. Smith, Thomas, Continental army.
Sprowls, Moses, ensign, First regiment.
Sutphen, Derrick, sergeant, Captain Barnes Smock's company artillery.
Sutphin, Joseph, Captain Walton's troop light dra- goons, Monmouth.
Sutphin, John, Captain Ilankinson's company, First regiment, Monmouth.
Suydam, Jacob, Middlesex.
Thompson, Joseph, Captain Waddell's company, First regiment, Monmouth.
Tone, William, Captain Nixon's troop light horse, Middlesex.
Van Cleve, Benjamin, captain, Captain Smock's com- pany, First regiment, Monmouth.
Vanderveer, John, Monmouth.
Voorhees, John, First battalion, Second regiment ; First regiment.
Walker, Aaron, fifer, Continental army.
Walker, George, served as captain in the Second bat- talion, second establishment, Continental army. Walton, Elisha, major, First regiment, Monmouth. Wilson, Joseph.
Woodhull, John, D.D., chaplain.
Wickoff, Jacob, Captain Hankinson's company, First regiment, Monmouth.
Wikoff, William, corporal, Captain Waddell's com- pany, First regiment, Monmouth.
Yetman, James, private, Continental army. Yetman, John, Monmouth.
Perrine, Peter, captain, Third battalion, Middlesex.
Rhea, David, lieutenant, Captain Walton's company, State troops (horsemen).
Coward, Enoch (grandfather of Captain Enoch L., of Fourteenth Regiment).
Henderson, William, Captain Holmes' company, Fourth battalion, second establishment, Conti- nental army.
Clayton, John, Captain Walton's troop light dra- goons, Monmouth.
Soldiers of 1812-15.
Anderson, John L., cap- Kerr, Joseph,
tain,
Myres, Nathaniel,
Brewer, Daniel,
Malatt, Mathias,
Boyde, John,
Nesbit, John,
Bowne, Peter, Perrine, Robert, quarter-
Bruen, Cyrus,
master,
Coward, Enoch,
Robinson, James, cap- tain,
Clayton, John,
Robinson, John,
Conover, Robert, captain,
Rue, William,
Conover, John I.,
Conover, Benjamin,
Teneyck, William, cap tain,
Craig, John,
Thompson, Joseph,
Craig, Joseph,
Thompson, Pearson,
Craig, Robert E.,
Van Schoick, Samuel,
Emmons, Isaac,
Voorhees, Stephen,
Freeman, Simeon,
White, William,
Gordon. Lewis,
Wilson, Robert,
Gordon, John E.,
Yetman, Eseck,
Hampton, William,
Yetman, Walter,
Laird, David (navy),
Gordon, James.
Soldiers of the War of the Rebellion.
Abraham, James, Rue, John, A.,
Breece, William, Reid, Spafford W.,
Combs, William,
Smith, Josiah,
Duncan, William, Smith, Jacob,
Dey, Roland, Van Aman, James N.,
Fisher, David R., Woodhull, Dr. Addison,
Fisher, David A ..
Weeden, John E.,
Gordon, Conover,
Yetman, Tunis.
McChesney, George S.,
Manalapan township is divided into six school districts, which contain five hundred and ninety- eight children of school age. The school prop- erty is valned at eight thousand five hundred dollars.
In Lafayette School District, No. 32, the first school-house was built over sixty years ago on the present site, and was rebuilt about 1860. The district at present contains sixty- nine children.
In the Session School District, No. 33, the first school was the Latin School, opened by the Rev. Dr. John Woodhull. Dr. J. T. Wood- hull, in an article on "Revolutionary Reminis-
Combs, William,
689
MANALAPAN TOWNSHIP.
cences, written in 1862, speaking of his father, of Colonel Monckton in the old Tennent Rev. Dr. Woodhull, says,-
" And the same year of his settlement (1779) ' wish to be buried by the side of Monckton.
he built a house on an acre of ground leased of the congregation for the purpose of establishing a school.1 This being the only school of this kind in this part of the State, it became very popular and flourishing. Many eminent men were here trained for usefulness. Among them I must name S. Berrien, who was after- wards Attorney-General of the United States, the two Breeses-Sidney and AArthur-Rev. Dr. Clark, Rev. Ira Condiet and George Ord, who wrote the life of Wilson, the ornitholo- gist. . "
A very bad boy, who had been punished for ' house that stood on the site of the present some delinquency, remained at home one Sun- day until the neighbors had all gone to church, when he, with a little fellow, his cousin, went to the school-house and set it on fire, which , Miss Mary D. Hankinson, who, later, kept a consumed it and all it contained. A short in- terruption ensued, but another house was speed- ily erected and the school continued to flour- ish. It was discontinued about 1794.
There is no account of any other school there until 1827, when Asa S. Colton, who later be- came a clergyman, taught a classical school for a short time in the vicinity of Tennent Church, from which place he removed to Freehold, and there taught. Several years after, the district erected a school-house on the Tennent Church lot, which was used until about 1863, when the present building was erected. The old house was abandoned, moved back and made a part of the horse-sheds. The distriet contains at present one hundred and thirteen children.
Churchyard. He several times expressed a After teaching here several years he removed to Forked River, where he died. Mrs. Achsah Hendrickson and others of his former pupils at Tennent united in causing the removal of his remains to the Tennent burial-ground, and there erected the stone that now marks his grave.
In Englishtown School District, No. 34, the first school of which anything is known was kept in 1817 in the old tavern-house, now the residence of John Laird. Joseph Lewis was a pupil there in that year. In 1835 the school- Mount Vernon school-house was removed to "No Chance," and was kept by - Lord, - Vorhis, and last, and for many years, by school in her own house. Another house was built beyond the Presbyterian Church for both school and church purposes. This house was used until the present edifice was erected, in 1871. Among the teachers at this second house were Francis Frary, Horace Rood and David Stratton. The latter taught many years. The district now contains one hundred and sixty-one children.
In Manalapan School District, No. 35, the first school of which any account has been ob- tained was kept in the carriage-house of Dr. John T. Woodhull for his own children, but a little later the other children of the neighbor- hood also attended. Dr. Kearney was a teacher there. The school was afterwards removed to a room in Dr. Woodhull's residence. About 1830 the people of the neighborhood united and built a school-house on Dr. Woodhull's farm, on the north side of the Manalapan road. At this place Condit Guliek (brother of Peter Gulick, the missionary), a Mrs. Emery, William
About 1830, William Wilson, a Scotch- man, who had been a minister in his own country and had become dissipated, came to this part of New Jersey and taught school in several places in this county, and about 1835 became a teacher at Tennent school. To this place he became much attached. It was he ; Woodhull, James Crawford and Elizabeth How- who erected the wooden slab over the grave
ard were teachers. No deed was given of the lot ou which this house was erected, and upon the sale of Dr. Woodhull's property the school- house was sold with it. Then the present school- lot was purchased of Major John Perrine, and the house erected on it in 1840. The first teacher
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