USA > New Jersey > Union County > History of Union County, New Jersey > Part 50
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The New York Life Insurance Company succeeded Captain Mc- Gilton as owner, and it disposed of the land to Flemmer & Felmley, the present owners, about a year ago.
At one time the cemetery covered a space of three acres, but at present only twenty-two stones are standing. Part of the yard was used at one time as a base-ball field, and some of the stones were broken off and used for bases. A lawn-tennis court also occupied part of the field.
The monuments yet standing are of old brown sandstone, and from two to three feet in height. On the face of each is carved the head and wings of an angel, in the style of a century ago. Most of the stones are moss-grown and weather-stained, and it is with difficulty they are read.
As one enters the cemetery from Morris avenne the most con- spicuous stone is a large tablet, five feet long, two and a half feet wide and six inches thick. This is supported by four pillars that stand two feet from the ground. Under this are laid the remains of John Stites, son of the first William, and liis widow. On this tablet can be deciphered the following:
"Here lies interred ye body of John Stites, Esq., who departed this life April ye 21st, A. D. 1782, in the LXXVI. year of his age. He lived beloved and died lamented by church and state."
John Stites was an alderman of the borough of Elizabeth, and an active worker in the cause of independence. In proximity to this tablet is the gravestone of John Stites's first wife, Abigail, who died in 1734, at the age of twenty.
East of the Stites plot are the graves of Captain Joseph Horton and his wife, Patience. It is not recorded that Captain Horton ever took any part in the war, but he was recognized as the village poet. He was noted for his keen wit and humor, and was in demand at every barn-raising or other social function held within the boundaries of the township. It is related that on the occasion of a barn-raising, after the work had been finished, all hands sat down to a supper for which the liostess, who was noted for her close-fistedness, used rye flour, instead of wheat, in making the crust for a potpie. . After the dishes
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had been cleared away Captain Horton was called upon for a toast. With a sarcastic curl of his lip he said:
Potpie made of rye, And mutton was the meat. Rough enough, tough enough, And not half enough to eat.
At the next barn-raising in the neighborhood, everything was of the first-class order and Captain Horton when asked for a toast responded as follows:
Potpie not made of rye, But of the finest wheat. Chickens all, both large and small, And fit for kings to eat.
Among the other heroes who are buried in this old graveyard is Jacob Brookfield, who was a captain in the Continental army. He is mentioned as having taken a prominent part in the battle of Springfield, in 1780. Captain Brookfield afterward served in the legislature for six years, not once returning home. At the end of the six years he had been home from Trenton only two weeks when he died of smallpox, contracted while watching the evacuation of the British at the end of the war. He resided in an old house east of the Rahway river, in Union. This old structure was torn down and a new house erected in which lives at present his granddaughter, Mrs. Wardsworth.
Captain Isaac Reeve is also buried here, although the stone that once marked his grave is not standing. Captain Reeve was connected with Colonel Dayton's regiment during the Revolution, and was killed at Elizabethı. Watts Reeve, his son, and town clerk of Springfield from 1789 to 1803, is also buried here. Their descendants are at present living in Springfield and Millburn. In another grave are the remains of Dr. Jonathan I. Dayton and his wife. Mr. Dayton was a practising physician when the Revolution broke out, and served as a surgeon during the entire war. Another stone is that over Peter Dickinson's grave. He was one of the persons who purchased the property for the erection of a church in March, 1751. Mr. Dickinson died December 14, 1773.
The other memorials standing are those of Noah Brookfield, died January 5, 1793; Sarah, wife of Peter Denman, died December 31, 1779; Elizabeth Terry, died March 1, 1755; Anthony Swain, died July 5, 1758; Catharine, wife of Captain Isaac Reeve, died March 3, 1783; Prudence Ross, died November 25, 1765; Joseph Black, died February 8, 1795; Mrs. Black, died July 23, 1793; and Isaac Egbert, died April 28, 1779.
The last person who was buried in the old cemetery was Stephen Addington. He was an Englishman, and was a son-in-law of Captain Jacob Brookfield. Addington died May 27, 1824. His body remained
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in the old cemetery only a few years, when it was taken up and reburied in the Presbyterian cemetery.
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
This account of the historical church is from a sermon preaclied by the pastor, Rev. Henry W. Teller, on Sunday, July 16, 1876.
It was in those early days that the people in all these regions round about Eliza- bethtown, having but the one church to worship in, used to walk to it from Rahway, Westfield, Springfield and Connecticut Farms. Whether they were in the habit of going to and from both services, or of attending as regularly on rainy Sundays as clear ones, we have no means, at this late day, of determing. The church in Springfield (which is the only child of the Connecticut Farms church, and one of the grandchildren of the First church of Elizabeth), was organized twenty-nine years after the first settle- ment here. It belonged originally to the presbytery of New York. A house of worship was immediately built, and was situated about halfway between the present parsonage and the Millburn depot. It was very near, if not exactly on, the same spot where Mr. John Meeker's store is now standing. There was also a graveyard there. Tradition says the church was build of logs. It was completed, and the first pastor, .Rev. Timothy Symms, was installed in 1746, just one hundred and thirty years ago. Mr. Symmms had charge of this church in connection with the one at New Providence.
Mr. Symms was pastor of the church for four years, until 1750, after which there was a vacancy for thirteen years. While he was pastor and the first church was still standing there was given to the congregation a tract of land, consisting of one hundred acres in the following way and upon the following conditions. I quote from the original deed as it was given by James Alexander. The deed bears date March 29, 1751, and reads as follows : "And as to the other one hundred acres of the premises," (one hundred acres were first deeded to Rev. Timothy Symms as his own private property ), "the same is to be the sole and only proper nse, benefit, and behoof of the said Timothy Symms and Peter Dickinson, their heirs and assigns, rendering therefor yearly one pint of spring water when demanded on the premises : Provided always, and it is here- by declared that the last hundred acres is to be held by the said Timothy Symms and Peter Dickinson, and the survivors of them and their heirs, in trust, to be a glebe for the use of the minister of the said parish of Springfield-for the time being-forever, and never to be sold or disposed of to any other use. But the said trustees and their assigns shall and may, from time to time, at the request of the minister and the vestry of the said church of Springfield-for the time being-grant and convey the same to such other trustees as they shall, from time to time, name for the use and purpose aforesaid and no others."
For years the chief valne of this land was in the forests that covered it, which enabled the church to add to their other inducements in seeking a pastor an abundance of firewood. Whatever became of the first log-house of worship I have not been able to learn. There is no record of it, save tlie single fact, stated in an old mannscript, that it was built. It might have been destroyed, or very likely it was abandoned as soon as they were able to put up another. We know very well the Puritan principles of our forefathers would not suffer them to worship very long in a temple of logs while they dwelt in their ceiled houses. The second meeting house was built in 1761, fifteen years after the first, upon the spot where the present one is standing, and stood here for nineteen years.
In 1763 Mr. Ker was installed, and was here two years, when there was a vacancy of nine years. There is no account of any of the events transpiring in all that time except that the first parsonage was raised August 22, 1764. When the record is again resnmed, it is at a period immediately preceding the Revolution, for this second church was the centre of Revolutionary interest for the town of Springfield. In November, 1778, it was so taken up with public stores that the congregation abandoned it for the
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time being, and fitted up the garret of the old parsonage as a temporary place of wor- ship. Thus was the building itself dedicated to the country's service in the name of the God of battles. How small and mean the spirit of revenge that afterwards hurned it to the ground, and yet a spirit worthy the tyranny that employed mercenary troops and savages to carry on an unholy war. On October 12, 1773, a call was given Rev. John Close. He was offered two hundred and fifty dollars, besides the parsonage and fire- wood, but for some reason kept secret from the ages the offer was not accepted. Per- haps he was a young man and modest, and the offer seemed too great. During this year Rev. Mr. Caldwell,-who was called the high priest of the Revolution, whose wife was shot at Connecticut Farms shortly before the battle of Springfield, and who was himself murdered the year following at the Elizabeth ferry,-preached several times to this congregation.
On October 10, 1774, Rev. Jacob Van Artsdalen, whose remains are resting in our cemetery, came before the people and "preached a lecture," as the record has it, which was so well received that it secured him a call at once. He came in December of the same year, upon a salary of two hundred and fifty dollars, together with the use of the parsonage and the inevitable firewood, which was to be drawn to his door. The salary was afterward increased to three hundred dollars.
The meagre support received from the churches had a tendency to make some of the pastors pretty sharp financiers. As an illustration of this there is still in existence a fifteen-hundred dollar bond given by the trustees of the church to Mr. Van Artsdalen, upon the condition that if the trustees paid promptly every year, in " quarterly pay- ments," their pastor's salary, " and well and truly provided a sufficient quantity of fire- wood, and kept him in quiet and peaceable possession of the parsonage, with all the appurtenances, and kept the same in good repair, according to the true intent and meaning of their agreement," then the obligation of the bond was to be void; otherwise to remain in full force and virtue.
It does not prove the pastor avaricious, hut only that his salary was so small that he could not afford to run any risks. He evidently did not consider their word as good as their bond. Let it be said, however, to the credit of the church, that every obligation was promptly met, and in due time the bond was canceled. Mr. Van Artsdalen served the church faithfully for twenty-seven years, and resigned his charge when failing health compelled him to do so. One evidence of the people's affection for him is the fact that in May, 1778, they gave him a vacation of six months and continued his salary. You must remember that that was not as much the practice then as it is now. It was something more than mere conventional courtesy or a forced concession to a growing custom that led a people in those days to grant their pastor a leave of absence .. He was ardently devoted to his country and to the work of the Master. The time of his ministry included the whole period of the Revolution. He saw his church, together with many of the homes of his parishioners, reduced to ashes, but, nothing daunted, he continued his work. He gathered his scattered flock together again, as a father would gather his children, and, releasing them from their bonded obligation to pay him a stipulated salary, he hired to them from year to year, accepting just what they could afford to give. After the burning of the church we next find him preaching to his heroic band of Chris- tian patriots in the old parsonage barn. Why they did not return to the garret we are not informed, but very likely the congregation had outgrown it or, what is equally probable, they might have thought that, as they were now driveu out of their church indefinitely, the barn would be more convenient. They certainly had the grace and the good sense to make the best of the situation. They were cast down but not discouraged. As soon as they fixed upon their place of worship, they agreed to ceil it up to the plate and gable-end beams. In the following year they had put in galleries, with the fore- most seats on the right-hand side of the pulpit reserved for the singers. In this rudely fitted up temple they must have worshiped ten years. September 25, 1786, four years after the barn was fairly fitted up, the church was incorporated under the name of the " First Congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Springfield." The seal of the church, a dove with an olive branch, was not adopted until December, 1792. In 1786
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they began to talk of building for themselves the third house of worship. Four years, at least, were spent in working up an interest and laying plans and devising means before the building was fairly begun. It was first agreed to build of brick and stone.
" A burnt child dreads the fire." They wanted something that wouldn't burn; but the first plan was given up as too expensive for their limited means. Twelve months afterward they concluded upon cedar shingles, and finally, in 1791, the frame went up. It was a time for general rejoicing to both pastor and people. Work and material were contributed by the members of the congregation as they were able. Men came bringing their tools and the best timber their farms could furnish. Booths were erected upon the ground, where the women prepared nieals for the volunteer workmen. Contributions were solicited from the churches of the presbytery of New York. The bell was contributed by Samuel Tyler, and thus the work went forward to completion, and grand old Jacob Van Artsdalen was the first to preach in the new church, as he had been the last to preach in the old.
Some of you will remember this church as it was originally, just as it came from the hands of that earnest band of workmen. You have in your memory an nnfading picture of its old-fashioned, straight-back pews, its broad centre aisle, its middle seats that had no partition running through them as these have, its narrow side aisles which made a passage for the benefit of the wall seats ouly as they opened into them, the centre being closed up at the ends nearest the wall. Yon have not forgotten either the quaint old circular pulpit, mounted upon a high column like a huge barrel, elevated so as to overlook the back of the church, and at the same time sweep the galleries. And you will remember also the great sounding-board back of the pulpit and directly over the preacher's head, that caused you always to think of the wings that overshadowed the mercy seat, though it never bore to them the slightest resemblance. Such was the primitive glory of this latter house, as some of you well remember. In it Mr. Van Artsdalen preached as long as he was able, and finally, when he could no longer, he was brought one day by loving hands that his sorrowing people might look upon his face once more and for the last time.
On the Ist of May, 1800, he stopped preaching, but he remained in the parsonage, and his salary was continued. On May 1, 1801, he was dismissed, and one year's further salary was voted hin. In 1803 he entered into his rest. It is recorded that near the close of his ministry Rev. Jonathan Elmer preached for him; aud as he was without charge he requested a contribution, which was accordingly taken up, and amounted to eight dollars and some cents. It may seem to us an unimportant item to be a matter of record, but we must acknowledge that he was a better judge as to its importance. In March, 1801, it was decided to hire Rev. Gershom Williams for one year from May Ist. In October of the same year a call was given him, which he seems to have had under consideration for a long while, for the first communion after his acceptance of it was on the 23d of May, 1802. His ministry here was marked by the most powerful revival that ever occurred in this church. He has left on record, in his own handwriting, two bits of personal experience that are as windows looking into the heart of the man, and disclos- ing something of the spiritual moods to which he appears to have been subject. Like the Psalmist David, he was susceptible of the highest exaltation and deepest depression. On September 9, 1804, he went home from the Lord's Supper and wrote in the bitterness of his spirit, "Not one new member admitted. O melancholy instance, once repeated since my public ministry began ! May this evidence of barrenness humble me and lead all the disciples to ardent prayer." Four years the leanness continued, and there were but nine added to the church in the whole time. There was an addition of thirty at one communion, and at another in the same year of fifteen. After that there was no general work of grace until 1814. On May 8th of that year the faithful pastor goes from the breaking of bread to his study in a far different mood from that which carried him there on that dark September day ten years before. The fruit is at length ripening and drop- ping into his hand, and his heart is full. He sits down and writes a long list of names, every one of which he counts as a star, and then under the list he writes, "The above one hundred and one names were all added to the church in one day, of whom forty-
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nine then received baptism. Wondrous day of the Lord ! Never to be forgotten !" It was, indeed, a wondrous day for the church at Springfield. These galleries were packed uutil it was feared they would break down ; these seats and aisles were crowded with penitent saints and sinners that had heen alike quickened into new life. Do you think that pastor's joy could have been measured that day hy any earthly measurement ? There are many treasures in this world that men reckon of priceless value, and count with pride and delight, but there are none like the souls that are saved for Jesus. We know nothing of the fullness of joy until we sit down to number the saved through our instrumentality, who shall shine as stars hereafter in our crown of rejoicing.
Just at the close of Mr. Williams' ministry, in 1818, the first Sunday school known in this part of the country was started by Miss Catherine Campbell, in a room fitted up for the purpose on her father's premises. The school began with three teachers, -Miss Catherine Campbell (now Mrs. Wilbur, of Orange, ) Miss Eliza Campbell, and Miss Duyckinck,-and with one hundred scholars. Miss Eliza taught forty of the larger boys, Miss Catherine twenty-five of the larger girls, and Miss Duyckinck took the remaining boys and girls. A few months later the schools immediately connected with this church were organized by Mrs. May Ten Broeck ( now Mrs. Atwater, of New Haven, ) and a young lady (now Mrs. Samuel Halsey, of Newark.) It began with about five teachers and a hundred scholars. Neither scholars had any male teachers at the begin- ning. The good brethren wanted to see the innovation a success before they lent it any assistance that would be likely to compromise their Christian standing.
Sunday schools were then a new thing under the sun. A good many of the churches, and not a few of the pastors, regarded them suspiciously, as calculated to draw away the general interest from the long-established means of grace and methods of salvation. The people also shared this waut of confidence in them, or else were at a loss to know just what was intended by them. Some had the impression that it was a money- making operation. One woman, to whoin one of the teachers went, asking if her children could attend, wanted first to know how much she was going to charge a quarter. There were difficulties to overcome, but the schools were successfully estab- lished, and from the first were greatly prospered and blessed. They are not yet done bearing fruit. Rev. James W. Tucker, who succeeded Mr. Williams, came here from New England. He was installed August 4, 1818, and was here but a few months. He died suddenly, February 11, 1819. He is described as a man of remarkable pulpit ability, having few equals in his day in this respect. He was warmly in sympathy with the two infant Sunday schools, and greatly endeared himself to the earnest workers of the church during his short stay among them.
Following him, in 1820, was the Rev. Elias W. Crane. He was installed January 5th, and preached here six years. He was dismissed October 17, 1826. A large number were added to the church during his ministry. While here he preached the first his- torical sermon, but there is no copy to be found of it at present. It was during his time that a decided novelty in the shape of a stove was introduced iuto the church. Hitherto foot-stoves heated with corncohs, and flat stones well toasted and wrapped up, togetlier with the warming power of the pulpit and the inward heat of the spirit, had been relied upon. But the people were getting more tender or fastidious or both. There seems not to have been, however, as much opposition here to the ungodly things as in other places. It came and took peaceable possession of the centre aisle, about one-third of the way from the door. The pipe ran straight up towards the pulpit to within a few feet of it, and then sent out at right angles two arms that were thrust out through these side windows. As there were no chimneys you can imagine the condition of the church on windy Sundays. The stove was paid for by voluntary coutributions. An incident con- nected with this fact has been preserved to illustrate the generous spirit of the good old times of which we delight to hear, if it is not too frequently thrust upon our notice, as in sharp contrast with the more peuurious spirit of the present age. One liberal-minded young man, when the contribution box was passed around, dropped twenty-five cents into it, and a near neighbor, witnessing his ruinous liberality, nudged him, and in- quired, reprovingly, "What did you give so much for? "
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During the last year of Mr. Crane's ministry the people of the township met in this church to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the nation's independence, and to listen to an able and eloquent oration delivered by Mr. Sylvester Cooke, then a young man, and a teacher in the public school, now a venerable minister of the gospel, retired from the active work. Rev. John D. Paxton followed Mr. Crane, and was here little less than a year. He was never installed. He was moderator of the session from October 27, 1826, to June 25, 1827. Rev. William Gray was settled February 6, 1828, and was here about a year. He left some time in 1829. In the sessional records, as kept by these earlier pastors, I find that whenever there was a meeting of the session, if one of the elders was absent he was called to an account at the next meeting, or even if he was late he must give his reasons. It was considered a matter of sacred duty in those days that every elder should be present at every meeting of the session. It was a custom that might be practiced to an advantage in our present day. Rev. Horace Doolittle was installed in May, 1830, and dismissed in April, 1833. After Mr. Doolittle's time the church was without a pastor, except as supplied by Rev. Mr. Woodbury, until 1835. On April 28th of that year Rev. John C. Hart was installed, and remained eight years. He was dis- missed September 1, 1843. Mr. Hart is remembered as an earnest preacher and most excellent pastor, There were large accessions to the church during his ministry here. He preached a historical sermon, July 1, 1840, to which reference is made in the His- torical Collections of New Jersey. From his manuscript we learn of a thrilling incident that occurred during the battle of Springfield.
When the alarm was sounded upon the mountain, a family living where Mrs. Daniel Smith is now living began to hide away their more valuable household goods. While they were all thus busily engaged the two armies were posted for the fight on either side of the Rahway river. They themselves were directly between the contend- ing forces. They could not go down the road to cross the bridge without exposing themselves to the fire of friend or foe. So they sought the shelter of the woods in the rear of the house, and becoming separated from each other, one of the family, a girl, fourteen years old, found herself alone with a little sister in her care. Taking the baby in her arms, she bravely forded the river while the battle was raging, and ran with it past the church on the road to Millburn, until she sank down exhausted. There the father and mother soou fouud her, aud they all continued their flight to a place of safety among the Short Hills.
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