USA > New Jersey > Union County > History of Union County, New Jersey > Part 25
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Rev. Samuel Meylen, son of Jacob Meylen, one of the founders of the town, was the next pastor. He was a graduate of Harvard College, in 1696, after which, in 1700, he taught the grammar school at Hadley, Massachusetts. It is probable that he came here in 1702, and at the decease of Mr. Harriman was left in charge of the congregation. His ministry was short, his sun going down behind a dark cloud, about the year 1708. He was accused of some immoralities, unfitting him for the pulpit. He resided in the town until his death, which occurred in I7II.
Rev. Jonathan Dickinson was the next pastor. He was born April 22, 1688, at Hatfield, Massachusetts. He was a graduate of Yale, in 1706, came here in 1708, and married Miss Meylen, sister of Rev. Samuel Meylen, in March, 1709. His ordination took place Friday, September 29, 1709, and his death occurred October 7, 1747. By common consent Mr. Dickinson was the greatest man whose name adorned the annals of his town. He was a voluminous writer, and Tracy, in his "Great Awakening," calls him one of the greatest and safest men of that age. Dr. Sprague says : "It may be doubted whether, with the single excep- tion of the elder Edwards, Calvanism has ever found an elder more efficient in this country than Jonathan Dickinson," while the Rev. Dr. John Erskine, of Edinburgh, said, "the British Isles have produced no such writers on divinity in the eighteenth century as Dickinson and Edwards."
Such was the minister who began his labors, as a mere youth, in a town whose field of labor had begun to stretch out in every direction. During his ministry his church changed from independency to Presby- terianism, and at the meeting of the newly constituted synod of Philadel- phia, September, 1717, his name is enrolled as the youngest member of that body. In the synod of 1721 he was chosen moderator. At the meeting of the synod in 1727 it was proposed to require of every minister and candidate a hearty assent to the Westminster Confession and cate- chism. Mr. Dickinson, the ablest and most influential member of the synod, as Dr. Hodge calls him, at once took grounds against the propo- sitition. His reasons for rejecting it were afterward printed, April Io, 1729, by Zenger, at New York-a copy of the document having been found in the old South church library, Boston. Having been placed on the committee to whom the proposition was referred, he succeeded in uniting the whole synod in the support and adoption of the measure thence- forward known as the "Adopting Act." The period in which Mr.
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Dickinson served his church, was noted for the prevalence of skepticism. To breast and beat back these waves of error he prepared and preached to his people a series of discourses, which were soon afterward printed in a convenient manual edition. He wrote many books. In 1733 the presbytery of east New Jersey was formed out of the presbytery of Phila- delphia, and Dickinson at once became the head of the new presbytery. In 1738 he and his church became connected with the presbytery of New York.
Monday, October 19, 1739, the Rev. George Whitfield visited Eliza- beth Town and preached to upwards of seven hundred people, in Mr. Dickinson's church, and in the spring the gifted Whitfield preached for them again. In the year 1740 occured the well known revival, with manifest and marvelous benefits to Mr. Dickinson's congregation as well as to those elsewhere. In the month of June "near about sixty persons have received a saving change in this congregation alone," writes the pastor to the Rev. Foxcroft, of Boston.
Mr. Dickinson had long felt the necessity of a collegiate institution more accessable than Harvard or Yale, and mainly through his efforts a charter was granted, October 22, 1746, for the College of New Jersey. The first term it was opened at Mr. Dickinson's house, on the south side of the old Rahway road, directly west of Race street. Mr. Caleb Smith, a graduate of Vale College, was the first tutor. The first graduates of this institution became prominent men in the church, having received their education for the ministry from the instruction of Mr. Dickinson and his tutor. In the midst of these laborious employments Mr. Dick- inson died, of pleurisy, October 7, 1774, in the sixtieth year of his age.
The Rev. Elihu Spencer, born at East Haddam, Connecticut, February 12, 1721, was graduated at Yale College in 1746; ordained September 14, 1748; was employed about the Ist of May, 1749, first as a stated supply, then as pastor of this church. Owing to the absence of the church records, nothing can be learned of the fruits of his ministry, which terminated in 1756, about seven years from the time of its commencement., Rev. Abraham Kettletas, a graduate of the class of 1752 at Yale College, served the church at "at £1. 10.0 per Sabbath " as a candidate for six months, "at 130 Lite Money." He was inaugurated September 14, 1757, and his ministry continued till the month of April, 1760.
The pulpit now remained vacant more than one year and a half, during which time not less than twenty-one different ministers of the gospel preached in the church.
In November, 1761, Rev. James Caldwell, a Virginian, received a call which was accepted. On the 14th of March1, 1763, Mr. Caldwell was united in marriage to Hannah, the daughter of John and Hannah (Sayre) Ogden, of Newark. Her father was the great-grandson of John Ogden, the planter, wlio came to this town in 1664. Mr. Caldwell was
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a graduate of the College of New Jersey, in 1759, and was licensed to preach July 29, 1760. The ministry of Mr. Caldwell was a memorable one. During his time the great war of the Revolution was fought, and his participation in that struggle gave him a national rather than a local reputation. He was the patriot minister of that church giving his life, at the hands of a murderer, upon his country's altar, November 24, 1781. His wife, too, the greatly beloved Mrs. Hannah Caldwell, in one fatal moment, was shot down by a British ruffian, instigated by malice, deliberate and infernal, on June 8, 1780. Mr. Caldwell's ministry was fruitful of some great revivals in religion. The apostolic Whitfield preached twice in this church on November 27, 1763, and he himself alludes to the "four sweet seasons at New Jersey College, and two at Elizabethtown on my way hither."
A great revival occurred in 1796, and inany additions were inade to the church during the years of 1771 and 1772, in particular. Mr. Caldwell had an ardent temperament, and dared all that a man could dare for his country, in the rush of events precipitating the war of the Revolution. His patriotism appeared in all of his prayers, often in his sermons and exhortations, and, in consequence, no society in the land took a bolder, nobler stand than that of Caldwell. Among his congre- gation at the commencement of the Revolution were such men as William Livingston, the noble governor of the state ; Elias Boudinot, afterwards president of the continental congress ; Abraham Clark, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence ; the Hon. Robert Ogden, speaker of the assembly at an earlier day, with his three sons, Robert, Matlinas and Aaron,-the last two becoming distinguished officers in the United States army ; the Hon. Stephen Crane, speaker of the assembly; Elias Dayton and his son Jonathan, both of whom subsequently became general officers of the army, and the latter, speaker of congress; William Peartree Smith, one of the most distin- guished civilians of the day; Oliver Spencer and Francis Barber, both of them colonels of the New Jersey Brigade; and others,-amounting in all to forty-two commissioned officers and about one hundred officers and privates in toto, who went forth, inspired by the shepherd of this flock, to fight the battles of independence. In April, 1776, Colonel Dayton's regiment, made up of many officers and privates of Mr. Cald- well's congregation, was ordered to march to the relief of the northern army, then besieging Quebec. Mr. Caldwell accompanied this regi- ment, as its chaplain, preaching for them ordinarily twice every Sab- bath, and always taking an active part in the military operations. During the absence of this regiment British troops took possession of Staten Island, which greatly alarmed the people of this town for their personal safety. Early in the autumn Mr. Caldwell, therefore, returned to his family and people, his services being here pressingly needed. In November of 1776 he took his family up into the mountains, and found
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a retreat for them in a place then called Turkey, now New Providence. From this time forward Mr. Caldwell was occupied more or less continually in the service of his country, to the close of his life. The journals of congress show that on March 15, 1777, two hundred dollars were ordered to be paid Rev. James Caldwell, of Elizabeth Town, for extraordinary services. On the 27th, $4,873.54 were ordered to be paid Rev. James Caldwell "for the services of a company of light horse of Essex county, in the state of New Jersey, commanded by Captain Jacob Wynans, their horse hire and expenses."
At various times, during the war, Mr. Caldwell not only served as chaplain of the Jersey Brigade, but as assistant commissary-general, and his salary from April, 1777, to April, 1779, consisted only of what his congregation gave in the Sabbath-morning collections. On February 25, 1779, the parsonage was destroyed by the torch of the enemy. During the year 1778, Mr. Caldwell resided in Springfield, and in the summer of 1779 he removed to Connecticut Farms, in order to be nearer his people, it not being safe for him to reside at a nearer point.
The church was destroyed by fire on the night of January 25, 1780, and the services were thenceforth held in Colonel Hatfield's "Red Store House," nearly opposite the site of the old parsonage, which was situated on the lot west of Race street, fronting on the Rahway road, and nearly opposite Sherry. It was probably while preaching here-Mr. Caldwell preached with his pistols lying on either side of him in the pulpit, and sentinels had to keep watch during the time of service-on June 8, 1780, that his beloved wife was killed at Connecticut Farms. The house was plundered at the same time, and what was not carried off was destroyed. Many of his papers were carried to New York and some of his corres- pondence published in Rivington's Gazette. No one save Governor Livingston was more feared and hated by the Tories and the British than Mr. Caldwell. Gladly would they have kidnaped him if they could, and, doubtless, they would have done it had he continued to reside in the town. In the fall of 1780 he was chosen a member of the state council, and he continued in these several capacities until the autumn of 1781, when he too was murdered, as before stated, November 24, 1781.
The circumstances attending this mournful event were as follows: " Mr. Caldwell being informed of the arrival, at the Point, in a flag-ship from New York, of a lady whose family had been peculiarly serviceable to our unhappy fellow citizens, prisoners with the enemy, proposed wait- ing on her, and conducting her to the town, as a grateful acknowledge- ment of the services offered by her family as above mentioned. He accordingly went to the Point in a chaise for that purpose, and after the young woman had been seated in the chaise, the sentinel observed in her hand a handkerchief tied up in a bundle, and told Mr. Caldwell he must sieze it in the name of the state; on which Mr. Caldwell jumping out of
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the chaise, said if that was the case he would return it to the commanding officer who was then present ; but as he stepped forward another imper- tinently told him to stop, which he immediately did, but notwithstanding this, the soldier, without further provocation, raised his gun and shot him dead on the spot."-[New Jersey Journal, November 28, 1781.]
The lady whose advent occasioned the calamity was Beulah, daughter of Robert and Mary Murray. The villian who did the shooting was immediately seized and secured. His name was Morgan. As there was no cause for the murder, it was commonly believed that he was bribed by the enemy. He was found guilty of murder and was hung, at Westfield, on Tuesday, January 29, 1782. The body of Mr. Caldwell was carried to the Public House at the Point, and from there brought to town in an ambulance, a crowd of people, greatly excited, gathering by the way. The people seemed to be crushed under the sad calamity. The funeral services were performed on Tuesday, the 27th, the whole town suspending all business and gathering, in uncontrollable grief, at the house of Mrs. Noel. The Rev. Dr. Alex. McWhorter, of Newark, performed the services, preaching from Ecc. viii: 8. His body was laid by the side of his wife's remains, and over the graves was placed a marble slab, with the following inscription:
Sacred to the memory of the Rev. James Caldwell and Hannah his wife, who fell victims to their country's cause, in the years 1780 and 1781. He was the zealous and faithful pastor of the Presbyterian church in this town, where, by his evangelical labors 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 !
Here also lye the remains of a woman who exhibited to the world a bright con- stellation of the feminine virtues. On that memorable day, never to be forgotten, when a British foe invaded this fair village and fired even the temple of 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.
Mr. Caldwell left nine children, four sons and five daughters, with but a scanty patrimony at the best. The Hon. Elias Boudinot cheer- fully took upon himself the administration of the estate and the care of the children. Rev. James Francis Armstrong the next pastor took charge of the congregation in June, 1782, but his labors closed in April, 1784. The new church was dedicated about the Ist of January of this year, and during the next two years the congregation was again visited with a special outgoing of the spirit of God. In 1786 Rev. William Adolphus Linn accepted an invitation to supply the pulpit, but in six months from the time of his installation, to the regret and indignation of the people, this excellent preacher without mnuch hesitation or delay, accepted a call to the Collegiate Reformed Dutch church, of New York. During this ministry the grant of a lottery was obtained from the legis-
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lature, "towards finishing a building erected by the Presbyterian congregation in Elizabeth Town."
September 9, 1788, the Rev. David Austen was ordained pastor of the church. During his ministry the graceful spire was erected, and subscriptions for the purchase of a bell obtained. Mr. Austen began, in 1790, the publication, by subscription, of the " American Preacher," -a serial containing some of the choicest discourses of living American divines, without respect to denomination. Four volumes were issued, between the years of 1791 and 1793. In the meantime Mr. Austen's attention was directed to the prophecies of the Bible. Indeed, about this time men everywhere were studying the remarkable events of the period in which they lived, under the inspiration of the wonderful movements of divine Providence, and the pulpit throughout the land began to resound with earnest utterances against Babylon, and in prophecy of the speedy coming of the millennial reign of Christ and his saints. In pursuing the study of these sublime and mysterious oracles, the excitable temperament of Mr. Austen gracefully yielded to the cur- rent of general belief that seemed to sweep everything before it.
In the spring of 1793, first in his own church and again, on April 7th, in New York, Mr. Austen preached a sermon that produced a profound sensation. The title was "The Downfall of Mystical Babylon, or a Key to the Providence of God, in the Political Operations of 1793-4." Adopting the theory that the days of prophecy are years of Providence, and the twentieth chapter of the Apocolypse are yet entirely in the future, he persuaded himself and most of his congrega- tion that the latter-day glory of the church had already dawned, and that the Redeemer would soon return to earth, and reign personally and visibly over all mankind.
This was becoming more and more, from day to day, the absorbing topic of his thought, remark and effort. Finally he became perfectly convinced that he had ascertained the precise day of the second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. He delivered a series of sermons on this topic, from the sixtieth chapter of Isaiah, in language of surpassing eloquence, deeply moving his congregation, who, for the most part, were carried away with the holy fervor of their beloved pastor. At length, on the Sabbath of May 8, 1796, Mr. Austen announced that the Lord would surely come on the ensuing Lord's day,-the 15th. A prodigious excitement followed this announcement. In the midst of this ferment Mr. Austen made all his arrangements to receive his adorable Lord in a becoming manner. There were selected several young females, for whom white raiment was prepared, that they might attend upon the Lord at his coming. Much of the time during the week was occupied with religious exercises. On the evening of Saturday, the 14th, a crowded and deeply agitated meeting was held in the Methodist church. The long-expected, dreaded, wished-for day
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arrived; the church was thronged. The church-going bell tolled long, but the heavens gave no sign. Mr. Austen, after long and wearisome waiting, took the desk, taking for his text, "My Lord Delayeth His Coming." A slight error, it is said, in the computation of dates satisfied some of the congregation, but the more substantial portion were disaffected and deeply grieved. The congregation met April 19, 1797, at which time measures were taken for dispensing with his future services.
In June, 1799, the church gave a call to Rev. John Giles, and he was installed pastor on Tuesday, June 24, 1800, but, on the 7th of October following, he applied to the presbytery to be released from his charge, and, the congregation offering no objection, it was granted.
Rev. Henry Kalloch was the next pastor. He was ordained December 10, 1800, but in 1803 was removed. The pulpit was again vacant, by the removal of the pastor to another charge. On the 29th of July, 1804, the congregation voted a unanimous call to the Rev. John McDowell, D. D. He graduated with honor at the College of New Jersey, at Princeton, in 1801, professed religion in September, 1802, and was licensed to preach in 1804. A few weeks after his installation he married Henrietta, daughter of Shepherd Kalloch, and sister of his predecessor in the pastoral office.
He continued as pastor of this church for a period of twenty-eight and a half years. The attendance on his ministrations steadily in- creased until it reached the full capacity of the church edifice ; so that, in February, 1820, measures were adopted for the gathering of a second Presbyterian church. The number added to his church during his ministry, on profession of faith, was nine hundred and twenty-one ; on certificate, two hundred and twenty-three,-in all eleven hundred and forty-four. The baptisms numbered fourteen hundred and ninety-eight, of which two hundred and eighty-two were conferred upon adults. He was in high repute both as a preacher and an author. As a trustee of the College of New Jersey and as a director of the theological seminary at Princeton, he rendered the most important services to the cause of education and of religion. Calls were extended to him at different times from all quarters of the country, but were not entertained. He was chosen a professor in the theological seminary at Allegheny, Pennsylvania, and in the Union Theological Seminary of Virginia. He was also appointed secretary of the board of missions.
In pastoral labors he ranked among the most useful ministers of the church. In April, 1833, a call was extended to him by the Central Presbyterian church of Philadelphia, and was accepted. His death occurred February 13, 1863.
The Rev. Nicholas Murray, D. D., succeeded to the vacant pulpit almost immediately. He was a native of Ireland, born in that land December 25, 1802. His parents were Roman Catholics and he was
16
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trained in the dogmas of popery until nine years of age. Then his mother's sister took charge of him, his father having died when he was but three years of age. At twelve years of age he entered a store as clerk, but the brutal treatment of his employer was such that, at the age of fifteen years, he left the place, and soon after emigrated to America. In New York he found employment in the printing establishment of the Messrs. Harper and boarded first with their mother. About this time he was induced by some of his religious associates to hear the Rev. John M. Mason, and was cured of his popery. His development, both mentally and spiritually, was such as to lead several of his godly friends to urge upon him a preparation for the gospel ministry.
In the winter of 1821-2 he began his study of the languages, and in the autumn of 1822 entered the freshman class of Williams College, at Williamstown, Massachusetts, graduating at that institution in 1826. He entered the theological seminary at Princeton, New Jersey, November 9, 1826, and completed his course there May 7, 1829. He was installed here July 23, 1833. His ministry extended through a period of nearly twenty-eight years. He entered fully into the round of pastoral labor to which the people had so long been accustomed, and made full proof of his ability. In the presbytery his influence was second to none. His counsels were highly valued in the synod and general assembly.
His labors resulted in the steady growth of the congregation, so that at the close of his ministry, January 1, 1861, for the first time in the history of the church, it was declared out of debt, with about four thousand dollars in funds for the poor, in hand. Dr. Murray obtained fame as a writer. He wrote for various publications, but became most widely known, however, through a series of twelve essays on popery, which were subsequently published in book form and excited no little inquiry. A second series followed, on the "Decline of Popery, and its Causes," preached in reply to Bishop Hughes, and these were published widely also. Having revisited his native land, extending his travels to Rome, in 1851, on his return he published a series of letters entitled " Romanism at Home," addressed to Chief Justice Taney, and these appeared in 1852. Besides writing many books for publication, Dr. Murray filled many important and useful positions in his church at large until his death, which came somewhat suddenly. He was called to his eternal home February 4, 1861. At his funeral, on Friday, the 8th, all business was suspended, and a great multitude, including many clergymen, attended the services. His wife and four children survived him.
REV. EVERARD KEMPSHALL, D. D.
September 18, 1861, Rev. Everard Kempshall was installed pastor of the First Presbyterian church, of Elizabeth. Dr. Kempshall was born at Rochester, New York, August 9, 1830. His father, Thomas Kempshall, was elected member of congress, in 1838, representing
Everard Kempshall
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western New York, in which section of the state he was interested in nearly every large industrial enterprise.
Dr. Kempshall attended Williams College from 1848 to 1851, entered Princeton Theological Seminary in 1852, and was graduated in 1855, receiving the title of Doctor of Divinity fromn both colleges in . 1870. He was ordained at Buffalo, in 1855, and served his first pastorate in Calvary church, of that city, where he spent two and one-half years. He then went abroad for several months, and on his return was called to a church at Batavia, New York, where he served until called to the vacant pulpit of the old First Presbyterian church of this city.
In a private journal, dated September 8, 1861, Dr. Kempshall wrote the following : " I have received and accepted a call to the pas- torate of the First Presbyterian church of Elizabeth, New Jersey, made vacant by the death of Rev. Dr. Murray. I trust I have been guided in this step by the spirit and providence of God. The congregation is large and scattered, and there is, I am told, opposition on the part of some to my being settled there as pastor, but if I am in the path of duty which God has marked out for me, He will sustain me, and I trust my decision has been made in the fear of God, and with a sincere desire to follow His leading. It is not without fear and trembling that I enter upon this service, but I cast myself upon God, and lean upon His promises ; that is all I can do."
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