USA > New Jersey > Middlesex County > History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men > Part 140
USA > New Jersey > Union County > History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men > Part 140
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In 1707 the Rev. Nathaniel Wade was ordained and installed the pastor of the congregation, and the following entries in the records of the church in Mr. Wade's own writing are before me :
"January 29th, 1707-8, was gathered the church of Christ in Woodbridge by Nath. Wade, pastor. Present there were as Messengers two from ye church of New- ark and one from the church of Elizabeth-town: Theophilus Pierson, Jonahs Wood, Benjamin Price. The foundation of ye church was laid first upon three persons who had been communicants in other churches, viz. : Sam'l Hail, John Pike, and Noah Bishop."
The names of the members of the church are as follows :
Samuel Ifail (assistant), John Pike (assistant), Noah Bishop (assistant), Stephen Tuttle, John Foard, admitted Jan. 29, 1707-8.
Thomas Pike, John Ayres, Richard Skinner (assist- ant), Joseph Gray, admitted Feb. 28, 1707-8.
Lidea Bishop, Francis Skinner, admitted June 6, 1708.
Matthew Fors, admitted June 20, 1708.
Joseph Thorp, Daniel Britton, Richard Cutler, Sarah Pike, Elizabeth Britton, Sarah Fors, Elizabeth Gray, Lidea Pangborn, adınitte I Ang. 15, 1708.
Sarah Holland, John Ilsley, John Jaques, John | Skiner, Nathaniel Pike, Mary Groves, Ann Skiner,
1 E. J. list.
1
BOYNTON'S
WORKS.
C.A.A
PRR
Office
C. W. BOYNTON'S DRAIN PIPE AND TILE WORKS, WOODBRIDGE, N. J.
571
WOODBRIDGE.
Elizabeth Ilsley, Mary Cutter, Mark Pike, Mary Stilwell, Susannah Jaques, Desire Walker, Mehitable Butler, Hannah Freeman, Mary Wade, Ester Blum- field, John Caplin, admitted Aug. 20, 1708.
Benjamin Jones, John Robinson, Elizabeth Thorp, Nathaniel Dunham, Daniel Dane, Mary Curtis, Phebe Ayres, admitted Oct. 31, 1708.
Mary Ayres, Sarah Conger, admitted Dec. 26, 1708.
William Sharp, Mary Sharp, admitted Jan. 2, 1708-9.
Moses Ralph, Hope Blumfield, admitted Feb. 27, 1708-9.
John Conger, Thomas Collier, Mary Conger, Anna Thorp, Edward Wilkinson, Mary Ralph, Samuel Butler, admitted May 12, 1709.
John Dille, Elizabeth Foard, Hannah Crowell, Jo- anna Pangborn, Ruth Dille, Susannah Shipley, ad- mitted June 26, 1709.
Peenelipoe Titus, admitted Sept. 4, 1709.
Rebeckah Phylip, Obediah Ayres, admitted Nov. 6, 1709.
Peter Pain, Joanna Ayres, Hannah Right, admitted Jan. 1, 1709-10.
Benjamin Thorp, John Scuder, admitted June 25, 1710.
Hannah Collier, Rebeckalı Mills, admitted Sept. 10, 1710.
Joanna Jones, admitted Oct. 3, 1710.
The records of the church state that Mr. Wade administered the sacrament of the Lord's Supper the first in the parish, but Whitehead, in his " East Jersey History," thinks this a mistake, and that other errors are also contained in the history.
In 1711, for some cause not now known, Mr. Wade became disliked by a number of the people. They seceded and formed an Episcopal congregation, the Rev. Mr. Vaughan, of Elizabethtown, visiting them at regular periods. Previous to this Mr. Vaughan says, in one of his letters, the people "horn in New England and Scotland had been bred in both places in the greatest prejudice and opposition to the Estab- lished Church of England."
The first notice of a settled clergyman thereafter appears in 1714, when "Mr. John Pierson, clerk," is mentioned as having been called from Connecticut; but as the salary seemed no longer to have been raised by a general rate upon the inhabitants, there is not the same frequency of allusion to the minister as in the earlier years of the settlement. In 1722 and 1723, Mr. Pierson is mentioned in the town records in con- nection with the parsonage grounds as " our present minister," although for eleven or twelve years there had been a congregation formed within the town, wor- shiping in their own edifice according to the forms of the Church of England,-a significant indication of what was " the religion of the States." -
Mr. Pierson was the son of the Rev. Abraham Pier- son, Jr., whom the town had called in 1669, and the grandson of the Rev. Abraham Pierson, the first min-
ister of Newark. He continued in Woodbridge until 1752. In 1739 his salary was assured to him by mu- tual agreement among sixty individuals. He was one of the first trustees of the College of New Jersey, and died at Hanover, N. J., in 1770, in the eighty-first year of his age, and in the fifty-seventh year of his ministry.1
He was dismissed from Woodbridge at his own re- quest, and it is recorded of him "that he was justly reputed and esteemed a worthy and able minister, sound in the faith and of exemplary conversation and conduct. He well supported the dignity of his office, and had but few equals in his day in theologi- cal knowledge. It was in his time and by his influ- ence that the congregation obtained a royal charter.
Mr. Nathaniel Whitaker, a licentiate of the Pres- bytery of New York, followed Mr. Pierson as a sup- ply, and was subsequently called to the pastorate, which he accepted Dec. 10, 1755, and was immedi- ately ordained and installed. Mr. Whitaker con- tinued to officiate until 1759 or 1760, when he re- signed his charge.
Mr. Azel Roe was then selected as their preacher, and after being among them for a year or two was, in the autumn of 1763, ordained and installed pastor of the congregation. Some time during Mr. Whita- ker's administration a portion of the inhabitants re- siding in the southern part of the township formed a separate congregation, subsequently known as the Second Presbyterian Church of Woodbridge, and eventually as the Presbyterian Church at Metuchen. Mr. Roe officiated alternately in the two congregations very acceptably, and continued among them during the Revolution.
In 1790 the old congregation were no longer satis- fied to share the labors of their pastor with another, and after considerable opposition effected a separation from the Metuchen society, and thereafter until 1815, when he closed his long and faithful career in his eighty-second year. Mr. Roe continued to "go in and out" among them, respected and beloved, having been pastor of the flock for about fifty-four years.
In April, 1803, a movement was made towards the erection of a new place of worship, and so vigorously was the work prosecuted, it was finished and conse- crated in December of the same year. It yet stands, in all respects a convenient and suitable edifice.
The Rev. Henry Mills was called in 1816 to succeed Mr. Roe, and remained in charge of the congregation until 1821. The next year the Rev. William B. Bar- ton was installed, and for thirty years was their faith- ful minister. During his administration the number of members reached two hundred and forty-two (in 1843), and at the time of his death, April 7, 1852, there were one hundred and sixty in communion with the church. The number of church-members at the different periods was as follows :
1 Newark Daily Advertiser, Sept. 11, 1848.
572
HISTORY OF UNION AND MIDDLESEX COUNTIES, NEW JERSEY.
Year.
No.
Year.
No.
1787
82
1841
194
1830
160
1843
242
1831
157
1845
233
1832
170
1847
213
1833
181
1850,
200
1834
184
1859
160
1835
211
1853
163
1837
19G
1863.
179
1838
20G
1873
125
1839
198
1882
158
1840
201
-
The next minister was the Rev. William M. Martin, who accepted the pastorate in 1852, and resigned it in 1863. The Rev. George C. Lucas began to minister here in the year of Mr. Martin's departure, and con- tinued his connection with the church until the autumn of 1873, when he resigned.
Rev. Joseph M. McNulty was invited to this church iu 1874; he accepted in the month of July of that year, and is the present pastor, 1882.
CHAPTER LXXX.
WOODBRIDGE .- ( Continued.)
Trinity Church .- In 1711 a number of persons seceded from the First Church of Woodbridge for the purpose of forming a congregation to be called "Trinity Protestant Episcopal Church." An invita- tion was sent to Rev. Mr. Vaughan, of Elizabeth Town, to visit them at regular periods, of which the follow- ing is a copy :
"Sir the unhappy difference between Mr. Wade 1 aod the people of Woodbridge is grown to that height that we cannot joyn with him in the worship of God as Xtians out to do, it is the desire of some people here that if you think it may be for the Glory of God and oo damage to other churches that you would be pleased to afford us your help some- times on the sabbath days, according as you shall think convenient : we do it not with any intent to augment the difference among us but rather hope that with the blessing of God it may be a means for our better joyning together in setting up the true worship of our Lord Jesus Christ here amongst a poor deluded people. This is the desire of your humble servants.
" Rich. Smith, John Ashton, Benj. Dunham, Amos Goodwin, Gershom Higgins, len'y Rolph, John Bishop, Will'm Bingle, George Eubancks, Robert Wright."
It appears that the invitation was accepted, as the record says "a house was placed at the disposal of Mr. Vaughn as a place of worship by Benjamin Dun- ham, and for four or five years monthly services were regularly held. A convenient frame building was also put up and inclosed, but a stop was put to further proceeding and to the growth of the parish by the death of Mr. Dunham on the 31st December, 1715, in the thirty-fifth year of his age, (his grave is in the rear of the church ), and the transfer of Mr. Vaughan's services to Amboy and Piscataway."
The ground upon which this edifice was erected is represented to have been a portion of the two hun- dred acres providently set apart by the proprietors
Vaughan, states in 1717 that the church was still with- out either floor or glass, and although divine service was sometimes ,performed in it afterwards it never was finished, and eventually went to ruin.
Subsequently the visits of clergymen of the Estab- lished Church became less frequent, and finally ceased entirely, so that the Rev. Mr. Chandler, of Elizabeth Town, on commencing missionary labors there in 1752, wrote to the secretary of the society in England "they had not been visited by any of our clergy for upwards of twenty years." Some few of the congre- gation had during this period attended public worship at Amboy, but many connected themselves with other denominations. " Appearances now are much in favor of the church there," says Mr. Chandler, " and I have seldom had less than two hundred hearers." He con- tinued his visits monthly, the number of families pro- fessedly Episcopalians being then about fifteen, and his audiences generally numbering two hundred.
In November, 1752, he wrote that the Presbyterians had dismissed their minister, who had been with them for more than thirty years (the Rev. Mr. Pierson), in consequence of his being somewhat dull and too feeble an antagonist of the church, at the growth of which they were much disturbed.
Thus situated was the congregation for several years, excepting that the other engagements of Mr. Chandler did not long admit of his visiting Wood- bridge oftener than once in six weeks, on intervening Sundays James Parker officiating as lay-reader to the general satisfaction of the congregation.
In 1754 they erected a church. In 1760 the small- pox carried off many useful and reputable persons in the parish, much to the regret of their zealous mis- sionary. More than half of those who had the dis- ease in the natural way died. Mr. Chandler himself took it in 1757, and did not entirely recover from its effects for three years.
In 1764 Woodbridge was placed in charge of the missionary at Amboy, the Rev. Mr. Mckean visiting it once every three weeks, and continued thereafter connected with that parish until the Revolution put a stop to all religious services in the town according to the forms of the English Established Church. Mr. Bingley reading the services, while the Rev. Mr. Preston was the missionary, and absent at Amboy. The congregation then, as for some years before, num- bered about fourteen families, although the auditories were large.
The charter of the congregation was granted Dec. 6, 1769, Samuel Jaques and Samuel Tingley being named therein as wardens, and David Alston, Thomas Haddon, Josoph Donham,2 and Ebenezer Foster, ves- trymen.
In February, 1770, Mr. Preston wrote that his reg- advisable in order that he might properly present a
for parsonage lands, but the Rev. Mr. Halliday, who ular induction into the parish as rector was thought occasionally officiated after the withdrawal of Mr.
1 Pastor of First Church.
2 Donham may be Dunbam.
-
573
WOODBRIDGE.
claim for a due portion of the glebe set apart by the proprietaries ; but as affairs then stood he deemed it best to let tlie matter remain in abeyance " till peo- ple," he adds, " are grown a little cooler, so as to be able to distinguish that a trial of a matter of right is not an attack upon their principles, which I am afraid would hardly be the case at present." The question was again agitated in 1774, and the worthy mission- ary, averse to entering into a lawsuit, prevailed upon the vestry to propose a compromise; but possession being thought then, as now, " nine points in the law," ho terms would be made by the Presbyterian congre- gation ; and a project was on foot to raise a fund to meet the expense of prosecuting the claim in the courts, when the confusion and distractions of the war ensued and effectually stayed the proceedings. If the author has been rightly informed, no portion of the lands set apart for the support of the ministry has been enjoyed by the Episcopal congregation except- ing the lot upon which the church edifice is crected.
After the Revolution, Woodbridge was only visited occasionally by missionaries of the Protestant Epis- copal Church, and as a natural consequence both the temporal and spiritual interests of the congregation suffered. In 1810 such was the dilapidated condition of the church that the convention of the diocese ap- pointed a committee to its repair, which was done in the course of the year, through the agency of Mr. Daniel Terrill, of Elizabethtown. From that time till 1830 the Rev. James Chapman, of Perth Amboy, officiated from time to time ; and during. 1818 and 1819 the Rev. F. H. Cuming also gave the parish a portion of his services. From 1830 to 1840 the Rev. William Douglas had charge of it in connection with St. James', Piscataway, and from 1840 to 1841 the Rev. Frederick Ogilby. From 1841 to 1842 the Rev. Hamble J. Leacock ministered in the parish, and from 1843 to 1857 the Rev. James Chapman has performed missionary. From 1858 to 1862 Rev. E. A. Hoffman ministered here. Rev. Mr. Chapman died in 1857. In 1862 Rev. P. L. Jacques became pastor. In 1869 Rev. R. C. Mellvaine succeeded. In 1872 Rev. J. A. Penniman followed. In October of the same year Rev. T. Lewis Banister assumed the pastorate.
a substantial brick edifice, capable of accommodating the present congregation. On the day of consecra- tiou a beautiful paten was presented to the church, thus inscribed :
" The Gift of Christ Church, Elizabeth, N. J., to Trinity Church, Woodbridge, N. J., Whit-Sun-Monday, 1861."
In 1869, it being one hundred years from the date of the church charter, a centennial service was held, on which occasion an elegant cup was given, bearing the following inscription :
" In memoriam. Rev. C. Hance to Trinity Church, Woodbridge, N. J., December, G, 1869."
An old cup is still in possession of the parish au- thorities on which is engraved :
" The Gift of Mary Dennis, Widow, to Trinity Church in Woodbridge, December ye 25th, 2760."
The following wardens from 1810 to 1862: Daniel Terrill, David Bunn, William P. Terrill, John Lang- staff, James Jaques, Henry Mundy, Edward Mundy, Henry Campbell, Alanson Newton, Jotham Codding- ton, Nath. Bunn, Elias Marsh, George A. Hollister, William Taylor, Rene Pardepus, Charles B. Reed, Lorrain Freeman. The following have been vestry- men : Barry Strangman, William P. Terrill, Elias Marsh, John Jaques, James Smith, Alston Bishop, Edward Munday, William Hanham, James Parker, Thomas Barron, Frederick Huffmaster, George Brad- shaw, Daniel Terrill, Elias Marsh, James E. Parker, Capt. Forbes, William Herrod, William P. Terrill, Barry Strangman, William Taylor, Abel Clarkson, James M. Brewster, John Brentnall, Nathen Harned, Dr. Matthias Freeman, John Barron, Samuel Barron, Robert Lee, James Clarkson, William Taylor, Joseph Barron, James Parker, Andrew Bell, George A. Hol- lister, John Zellar, William E. Fink, Rene Pardepus, Alanson Newton, James Jones, John M. Tufts, W. H. Benton, Jotham Randolph, Dennis Mawbey, Frederick Smith, Charles B. Reed, W. W. Mawbey, James Luck- hurst, John Manning, J. H. Campbell, Henry Maw- bey, Melancthon Freeman, Charles Young, David E. Paton, William Harriot. Josiah Dunham, James Bunn, Daniel Terrill, Orry Rifle, H. Barkaloo, H. Ellwell, Henry Campbell, Robert Lee, Joseph Marsh, C. A. Forbes, Edward Munday, George Jones, Joseph Marsh, Thomas Marsh, Isaac Jones, Frederick Smith, Capt. C. A. Forbes, P. B. Pope, Jotham Coddington, William Bedman, George Lasslett, George Hollister, Henry W. Holton, Milton Arrowsmith, William H. Benton, James Bloodgood, George C. Hance, Samuel A. Meeker, Daniel Shaw.
In 1836 the church was whitewashed on the outside and repaired. Trees were planted in the yard to beautify in 1839, and a new stove was procured, and in the summer and fall of 1842 the building was " thoroughly repaired," new seats added, and a vestry- room built. The burning of this old church on Sab- bath, March 7, 1858, was followed by a vigorous effort to rebuild. The old timbers were drawn out of the ruins and sold, contributions were solicited from After the Rev. Mr. Banister resigned the pastorate for some months the church was supplied, when Rev. Julian E. Ingle became the rector in 1876, and re- mained for nearly three years, and in 1879 Rev. Frank Hallque supplied the parish for one year. The pres- all quarters, and funds were soon raised, and the cor- ner-stone of their new church was laid July 7, 1860, and the following spring, May 20, 1861, the church was duly consecrated by the Right Rev. W. H. Oden- heimer, bishop of the diocese of New Jersey. It is | ent rector is Rev. Howard E. Thompson, who came
37
574
HISTORY OF UNION AND MIDDLESEX COUNTIES, NEW JERSEY.
October, 1880. The following is the list of officers of 1874 a meeting was held at the house of Mr. John Trinity Church at the present time : George C. Hance, senior warden ; Jotham Coddington, the junior war- den ; John B. Osbourn, James V. Freeman, Jonas Coddington, Milton Arrowsmith, Edward S. Savage, and Henry A. Hind. Communicants, one hundred ; sittings, two hundred.
THE EPISCOPAL MISSION .- Connected with Trinity parish is the Episcopal mission at Ford's Corners, the Rev. Howard E. Thompson officiating there nearly every Sabbath, as many of the neighborhood are in- terested in this mission. There is an existing endow- ment fund of five thousand dollars, and with the generous support by the members of Trinity parish this church has bright prospects of its future growth.
Methodist Episcopal Church .- The organization of this church dates prior to 1820, which was called the Elizabethtown Circuit, and connected with Rah- way. They formed a class of some thirteen members, holding their meetings in private houses, but in 1831 Mr. Gage Inslee gave them some land on Main Street, upon which was built their first house; near them had been situated the Quaker meeting-house and their burial-ground.
From account given by Rev. Joseph W. Dally he says : " At a meeting held at Rahway July 15, 1784, the Friends determined to sell the meeting-house at Woodbridge. An unknown person offered to buy it, but the negotiations were broken off, for a while at least. The old building has long since been demol- ished, and the ancient burying-ground is now the property of the Methodist Episcopal Church." For a number of years the Methodist society worshiped in their "plain frame structure," and many were added to their numbers. In the year 1869-70, at a meeting of the official board, the society decided that a new church be built upon the same location, which was completed in the fall of 1870, " an ele- gant brick Methodist Church with a graceful spire," at a cost of $23,000; sittings, 500; communicants, 170. They have also built a substantial parsonage on the same lot west of the church.
The following are the pastors who have served, with the dates: David Bartine, Thomas Sovereign, 1831-32; Rev. William Granville, 1832; Rev. Isaac N. Felch, 1833-34; James Cunningham, 1835; Isaac Cross, 1836; William Hanley, 1838; Wesley Robertson, 1839-40; Mulford Day, 1843-44; Edmund Hance, 1845-46; William A. Wilmer, 1847 ; Henry Trumbower, 1848- 49; Abraham Owen, 1850-51 ; James H. Dandy, 1852-53 ; David Graves, 1854-55; Rodney Winans, 1856; John W. Barret, 1857-58 ; Ralph S. Arndt, 1859; Ilenry A. Butts, 1860-61; Edward W. Adams, 1862-63 ; Albert II. Brown, 1864-65; John S. Coit, 1866; Jacob P. Dailey, 1867-68; E. M. Griffith, 1870-71; R. Johns, 1872-73 ; R. B. Lockwood, 1874- 75; S. B. Rooney, 1879; George F. Dickerson, 1881.
The First Congregational Church .- In the year
White to consider the expediency of organizing a Congregational Church, when it was decided the 30th day of September, 1874, and the following gentlemen were elected trustees : Edward J. Thompson, J. Mat- tison Melick, Charles A. Campbell, John White, Matthias Vanderveer, George F. Fink, and William W. Selleck.
A certificate of incorporation was recorded by the trustees Nov. 16, 1874. The first church services were held in Masonic Hall, Sunday, Oct. 11, 1874. During a few months of its existence the church was without a regular pastor, when, on March 23, 1875, the Rev. S. Lee Hillyer accepted a call, and Jnne 3, 1875, he was installed. A site was selected and the plan of a church adopted. The corner-stone was laid Sept. 9, 1875. The building is of brick, standing on high ground on the corner of Barron and Grove, one of the beautiful avenues of Woodbridge. It will ac- | commodate nearly three hundred and fifty. The Rev. Albert H. Shaw became pastor in the fall of 1877, and remained until the spring of 1880, when the present pastor, Rev. Charles Noble, came. Mem- bership, 115. The following official members: Dea- cons, 1873-82, James P. Edgar, Lewis D. Kelly, Daniel Voorhees; 1882, Edward J. Thompson.
St. James the Minor Roman Catholic Church .-- For many years services were held in a hall supplied by the parish priest from Perth Amboy and New Brunswick. Father Quinn was the builder and main mover in the enterprise in 1867. The parish is well supported by a large number of communicants, who are engaged in the clay-works. Father Connerly and many others have been appointed here. Rev. Father Bettoni, from Hoboken, is the present pastor. There are about seven hundred adults and children con- nected with the church.
CHAPTER LXXXI.
WOODBRIDGE .- (Continued.)
Quakers .- It is a well-known fact that the Friends I were much more numerous in this part of the State, and especially in this township, than they are now.
"The first meeting in this section of which we have any account was held Aug. 3, 1686." The old book in which this record is made is a curiosity. It is bound like the Woodbridge town book, in thick sheepskin, and is written in the quaint chirography of the time. The orthography is also unmistakably ancient, but remarkably legible. "With this old book in our hands we seem to be en rapport with the men and events of auld lang syne."
The first entry, "Friends at Amboy agreed to have a monthly meeting there and that upon the second 4th day of each month, and the first to begin the second 4th day of the 9th month, 1686."
575
WOODBRIDGE.
The Monthly Meetings continued at Amboy for three years, when they were changed to Woodbridge, the 17th day of August, 1689, and it was voted that the meetings should be on the third 5th day in every month at Benjamin Griffith's in Woodbridge, and that friends in the ministry coming to visit us should be taken care of. The meeting-house was completed Sept. 19, 1713, when their first session was held.
Two letters, signed "G. F." (supposed to have been "Grace Fitz Randolph," wife of Nathaniel), which are full of good counsel, were read in the meeting Dec. 15, 1704, at meeting-house, Woodbridge :
" DEAR FRIENDS,-Be faithful in ye service of God and mind ya Lord's bnisnass, be diligent and bring ye power of ye Lord over all those that have gainsaid it; and all you that be faithful go to visit them all that have been convinced from boose to house, that if possible you may not leave a hoofe in Egypt, and so every one go seek ye lost sleep and bring him home on your back to ye Fold, and there will be more joy of that one sheep than of the Ninety-nine in the Fold."
From the second letter the following extract is made :
" And Friends all take heed of sleeping, sutishness, and duiness in Meetings for it is an illsavory thing to see one sit nodding in a meeting, & so to loose ye sense of ya Lord & shamefac'dness; and it grieveth ya upwright and watchful, that wait upon ya Lord, to se such things and for ye Priest's people and others that come into your Meetings, to se you that come together to worship God and wait upon him to have fellow- ship in His Spirit, for you to sit nodding is a shame & unseenily thing."
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