History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 171

Author: W. Woodford Clayton, Ed.
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia: Everts
Number of Pages: 1224

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 171
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 171

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" Ditto of the Presbyterian Meeting-Honse at New Brunswick, Ex- hibited by Captain Richard Gibb and others, a Coalmittee of ye Congre- gation, viz., between November, 1776, and June, 1777 :

" To damages done to the above said Meeting-Honse to ye am't of £400 £400.0.0.

"John Lyle, Junior, being sworn, saith that he was an Eye Witness to the British Troops and their Adherents damaging of the above said Meeting House. JOHN LYLE, Jn'r.

"Sworn Oct. 4, 1782, )

before Nath. Huat.

"Joseph Vickers and John Voorhees, carpenters, being sworn, saith that they knew the above said Meeting Honse mentioned in this Inventory, and do adjudge the damages done to the same by the Enemy amounts to £400.

" Sworn before Nath'l Huur, { JOSEPH VICKERS, JOHN VOORHEES."

Oct. 4, 1782.

More deciaive is an entry in the records of the congregation, Jan. 19, 1784, 88 follows : " Agreed that John Van Emburgh sud Joha Lyle be authorized to dispose, in the best possible alaaner, of the old church edifice, and erect a suitable fence around the lot."

Dr. Steele, iu hie Historical Discourse, already referred to, says, "The building was not entirely destroyed, but se the congregation contem- plated removing to another part of the city, instead of repairing the old edifice it was sold to Mr. Ilassert, who removed it to New Street sad converted it into a dwelling-house. This building ia still standing, and is now No. 21." [P. 62, note.]

This statement of course would not have been made except upon grounda presumably eufficieat, but I have not been able to ascertain what they are.

As these difficulties increased, New Brunswick Church, which had at first been connected with the Presbytery of Philadelphia, was transferred to that of East Jersey (1733), and subsequently, when the Presbyteries of East Jersey and Long Island were merged in that of New York (1738), it was set off with several other churches to form the Presbytery of New Brunswick. Here we have the origin of a Presbytery which has exerted, in the course of its long history, a more commanding influence, per- haps, than any other in the body. There are older churches than ours now on its roll, but as ours fur- nished to it its name and the leading man, and through this man the very occasion for its existence, it has sometimes been called, it would seem not in- appropriately, the Mother Church of the Presbytery. It gave the name, indeed, to that whole branch of the church with which it stood connected in the division. In the history of the times the terms the " New Side" and the "New Brunswick party" are constantly oc- curring as interchangeable.

Between this party and the Synod of Philadelphia -the Old Side-the Presbytery of New York occupied for a time an intermediate position. But in a few years, having endeavored in vain, while standing aloof, to effect a reconciliation between the contest- ants, it came into organic union with the Presbytery of New Brunswick, the united body growing into that Synod of New York which, in the reunion of 1758, outnumbered the Old Side three to one, and in- cluded within itself the best part of the vigor and piety of the Presbyterian body, being the stock largely from which the denomination has grown to its present imposing dimensions. And what congre- gation, therefore, among the four thonsand and over of our communion occupies a position more directly in the focus of our early denominational history than our own ? And its record here is one of which it may well be proud. If it must share with its past the charge of divisive measures and of a turbulent spirit, it is entitled also with him to the credit of standing fast for an earnest and spiritual religion in the very crisis of the struggle, and of giving an im- pulse to the cause of Christ in the direction of evan- gelical effort and experimental piety, which it feels to-day.1 On this account it is all the more to be re- gretted that the early records are lost, and that the very names of the founders have perished.

In 1743, Mr. Tennent removed to Philadelphia, where he died in 1764, in the sixty-second year of his age. His career after leaving New Brunswick is a part of the general history of the church.

The congregation thus left without a pastor con- tinued in this state for several years. Dr. Gillett, in his " History of the Presbyterian Church," speaks of

1 Since writing the above we have been exceedingly gratified to hear a similar statement with reference to Mr. Tenneat from the lips of the venerable Dr. Charles Hodge, at the centennial meeting of the Preshy- tery of New Brunswick, at Lawrenceville.

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HISTORY OF UNION AND MIDDLESEX COUNTIES, NEW JERSEY.

" Arthur who succeeded Tennent at New Brunswick." This is in accordance with an old tradition which assigns the pastorate between 1746 and 1751 to a minister of that name, Rev. Thomas Arthur; but, so far as any local knowledge goes, the matter is doubt- ful. In 1760 the minutes of the Presbytery show that a temporary supply was appointed ; and arrange- ments of this character were repeated from time to time till, in 1768, Rev. Israel Read, who had some years previous been installed pastor at Bound Brook, was appointed to supply the pulpit regularly one- fourth of his time.

On this scanty diet the church entered upon and passed through the stormy era of the Revolutionary war, closing up what I have designated as the first period in its history. Through the patriotism and personal heroism of several of its members, among whom may be mentioned Cols. Neilson and Taylor and Dr. Moses Scott, it furnishes a brilliant page to the story of the war.

In January, 1784, when we first strike the solid historical footing which we have so long felt the need of (the records of the congregation, which have since been kept with great regularity, beginning at that time), we find the people assembled for deliberation ; and whether there was on hand the shattered frame of the former edifice to sell, or simply its blackened foundations, a new building is at once resolved upon, and, to meet the wants of a growing community, a new location. Lots were purchased on Paterson Street, corner of George, a point which is still as central as any in the city, and where, after a lapse of ninety years, the surroundings are still of the most desirable character ; and the work was almost imme- diately commenced. " In 1785," says Dr. Davidson, "the walls were up and under cover," though in some minor particulars it was two or three years before all was completed. The description con- tinues : " The structure was convenient, though not so large as the present church. It stood a little below the corner of George, fronting on Paterson Strect. It was built of bricks, painted yellow (the ' Old Yel- low Church' it is still called by those who remember it). At the north end was a small, narrow pulpit ; and square high-backed pews ran along the sides."

Some slight changes occurred from time to time, but the building remained substantially as it was first erected until it gave place to the new edifice in 1837. The pulpit, however, seems early to have become an offense in some eyes, for in 1819, at a meeting of the congregation, it was resolved "That the congre- gation proceed to erect, in the place of the one now standing, another pulpit of different form and con- struction, in consequence of many exceptions made to it by many speakers and various hearers as to height, depth, and contracted form."1 One hundred

dollars were appropriated to this object. Should the voice of criticism be lifted against the present pulpit to effect a similar change, a larger sum would proba- bly be required.

The church found itself thus with a new building, but withont means to pay for it. To obviate this dif- ficulty application for assistance was made to the people of Boston and vicinity, and to facilitate the project a handsome recommendation, certifying to the patriotism of the congregation and their losses during the war, was furnished by Governor Livingston, and indorsed by Governor Bowdoin, of Massachusetts. Nothing came of it except thirty dollars in money, unless a "box of spermaceti," forwarded at the same time, was a contribution to the building fund instead of a consignment to a private hand. It brings the past and the present into very close sympathy to find this want of success ascribed to " the failure of several persons in the region of Boston, together with the uncommon scarcity of specie." Dr. Davidson gives the correspondence entire.

With the beginning of the new era, 1784, the Leg- islature was applied to for an act of incorporation, which was granted, and the congregation was invested with all the rights and privileges usually conferred in this way. The original trustees were John Neilson, Moses Scott, William Patterson, John Taylor, James Richmond, John Meyers, and John Lyle, Jr.

It was at about the same period again that atten- tion was directed to the securing of more regular ser- vice in the pulpit. In 1786 the congregation relin- quished its partial claim upon Mr. Read, and Rev. Walter Monteith was called to the pastorate, on a salary of £200 ($500). Mr. Monteith was a native of Scotland, and a man of ability. His sermons, it is said, were strongly doctrinal in character .. He dressed in the old style, was dignified in his bearing, and greatly respected. The church prospered under him, though there is no evidence of great activity. He held the charge till April 22, 1794, when he resigned.

He was succeeded by Rev. Joseph Clark, who was installed Jan. 4, 1797, on a salary of ₺250. Dr. Clark died in office suddenly on Wednesday, Oct. 20, 1813, having served the church faithfully for sixteen years. The Sabbath previous he had preached from the text, "The time is short." His death, it is said, made a great impression. The whole city was in mourning. His remains lie in the yard in the rear of the church.

There are those in the congregation who still re- member Dr. Clark and speak of him with interest, though information of him now must mostly be gath- ered at second-hand. Dr. Davidson's brief outline of his life and character is exceedingly interesting.

1 Dr. Augustus R. Taylor, one of the trustees of the church, was the original mover in this matter, drew the plan for the new pulpit, and collected by subscription the necessary funds for ite erection. The pul

pit when completed was greatly admired, and when the second edifice was torn down was thought too good to be destroyed, and so was removed to the lecture-room. It stood there till the spring of 1875, when, having had its full day, it also gave way to the march of improvement. It had a kind of sacredness in some eyes to the last, and portions of it are still preserved as relics.

705

CITY OF NEW BRUNSWICK.

According to this, he was a man of the old style, like Mr. Monteith, in dress and manner. His preaching was very impressive, particularly by reason of its emo- tional character. Few ministers have enjoyed to a greater degree the confidence and affection of their people. He exerted a commanding influence also in the church at large, and his counsel was greatly prized by his brethren. He left a church of one hun- dred and twenty-seven members, nearly double what it had been at his accession.

The choice of the people then fell on the Rev. Lev- erett F. Huntington, a young man from Princeton Seminary, who was installed Dec. 5, 1815. A high character for ability and piety is given him by those who recall his ministry. His services were particu- larly attractive to the young, and he interested him- self greatly in the colored people of his parish, hold- ing special services for them. These the remainder of the congregation were requested not to attend, but they would go notwithstanding.

During this pastorate, in the year 1816, the Sab- bath-school was established. It appears to have grown out of conferences over the religious destitu- tion of the city, had at the meetings of the Dorcas Society. "The ladies of the Presbyterian Church," says the record, " volunteered their services to collect children on the Sabbath for religious instruction." It was a school, like the original ones in England, for neglected children, rather than for those of Christian families. It is to this feature, no doubt, Dr. David- son refers when he speaks of it as " organized on the modern plan," adding, " It was the first in the city." Miss Hannah Scott, a daughter of Dr. Moses Scott, and a lady of eminent piety, was the leader in the movement and the first superintendent. This pe- culiar indebtedness of the school to woman seems to have characterized it throughout its history. Woman's hand and heart have never been wanting to carry on the work, and its success is largely due to her instrumentality.

While the whole Sabbath-school work was of a missionary character at first, in 1828 a mission school was started, since known as the North Mission. Pres- byterians were the principal movers in this, though members of other churches were associated with them. The character of the work at that day may be inferred from the fact that the ladies were con- strained to take soap and towels with them, to put the children in decent outward plight before begin- ning the work of instruction. This mission has had a checkered history. It is now (1876) flourishing, under the superintendence of Mr. W. H. Gallup.

The Sabbath-school movement had the full appro- bation of Mr. Huntington, and the spirit of enter- prise thus manifested by him, together with his sin- gular sweetness of disposition and his faithfulness in embracing every opportunity to say a word for his master, gave hopes of great prosperity under his min- istry, but these were speedily blighted by his death,

which occurred May 11, 1820, in the thirty-fourth year of his age. He left a church of one hundred and fifty-five members. His remains lie by the side of Dr. Clark's.

Rev. Samuel B. How, D.D., was installed pastor in 1821. Dr. How was a native of Burlington, N. J., and a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. He was licensed to preach in 1813 by the Presbytery of Philadelphia, and ordained over the church at Lambertville. He then removed to Trenton, whence he was called to New Brunswick. Here he remained but two years, resigning in 1823, under a strong im- pression of duty to accept a ca'l to Savannah, Ga. Returning from Savannah he became president of Dickinson College in 1830, passing from there to New York, from which point he was called to the First Reformed Church in New Brunswick in 1832. His long and successful ministry in this position (till 1861) is evidence that our people did not err when they judged him a suitable person to set over them in the sacred office. And tangible results of his labors among them were not wanting, though the term of service was so brief. He left a church of one hundred and sixty-seven members.

In 1825, July the 28th, a new pastor was installed, the Rev. J. H. Jones, a man truly the gift of God to the people. Under him the church immediately leaped forward on a new career. There was an im- mediate and decided advance in temporal things. A parsonage, the same now in the possession of the church, though since greatly enlarged, was built in 1 1827 at a cost of $3355; a new session-house in 1832, costing $2696; and, to crown all, the present church, dedicated to the worship of God Dec. 15, 1836, at a cost of $23,328.26. At the time that this last enter- prise was undertaken the old edifice was still in a good state of preservation, but the congregation had considerably outgrown its dimensions, and on mature consideration it was determined that instead of being enlarged it should be entirely taken down and a new one erected. Improvement in style as well as capacity was thus secured, and by a slight change of location a front on George instead of Paterson Street, a change every way desirable.

In the midst of all this temporal prosperity there was spiritual vigor to at least an equal degree. Dr. Jones was a man of rare gifts, both in pulpit and parish, and his piety was of that devoted character which among an appreciative people is in itself al- most an assurance of success. He had the hearts of his entire congregation, and their co-operation in all his efforts. Deep religious impressions were the re- sult, and large ingatherings. In 1828 sixteen were added to the church on confession of faith ; in 1830, nineteen ; in 1832, thirty-four; in 1833, thirty-seven. The great work, however, was reserved to 1837, the year memorable in the annals of the church as that of the great revival.

The year following Dr. Jones resigned his charge,

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HISTORY OF UNION AND MIDDLESEX COUNTIES, NEW JERSEY.

though with great reluctance, to accept a call to the Sixth Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia. He left amid the deep regrets of the people. His pastorate may be called, withont disparagement to others, the palmy period in the history of the church. In thir- teen years five hundred and three persons were re- ceived to membership, three hundred and thirty-eight by profession of faith, one hundred and sixty-five by Jetter. The membership when he left was four hundred and eleven.

In the Index of the Princeton Review, vol. ii., will be found an interesting biographical sketch of Dr. Jones, prepared by the Rev. George Hale, D.D., from which the following has been condensed :

Joseph Huntington Jones was born in Coventry, Conn., Aug. 24, 1797. He graduated at Harvard University in 1817, with George Bancroft, Caleb Cushing, Stephen H. Tyng, and other men of mark. While at the university he was at one time in great danger of being led astray by the erroneous teachings of the Unitarians, but he was saved through influ- ences in which the warnings and instructions of a praying mother-a woman of great force of character, as well as of piety-bore no small part. After taking his degree, Mr. Jones was for a time tutor in Bowdoin College, Maine. Then, feeling that "necessity was laid upon him" to preach the gospel, he entered upon a course of study for this purpose, completing it at Princeton Seminary, where he spent one year, 1823- 24. He was licensed to preach Sept. 19, 1822, at Braintree, Bradford Co., Pa., by the Presbytery of Susquehanna, and was ordained by the same Presby- tery as an evangelist at Wilkesbarre, Pa., April 29, 1824. In June of the same year he was installed pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Woodbury, N. J. Here he found a church almost extinct, steps having already been taken to dissolve it, but by his earnest labors, blessed of God, new life was infused into it ; thirty-three were added to the roll of commu- nicants in a single year, and the whole moral aspect of the town was changed. From Woodbury he was called to New Brunswick, and from New Brunswick to Philadelphia, where he continned twenty-three years. Here again a feeble, almost dying church was reinvigorated, and large accessions were made to its membership.

He was a model pastor. Wherever he went the chil- dren, the sick, the poor were especially cared for. Though always in delicate health, and sometimes suf- fering deep spiritual depression, he was never idle. In 1861 he resigned his charge in Philadelphia, to accept the secretaryship of the fund for disabled min- isters. In this work he had already been engaged for seven years without compensation. He now devoted his whole strength to it, with the same snecess which had attended his other labors, continuing without in- termission at his post until his death, Dec. 22, 1868.

The congregation next enjoyed the ministry of Rev. Robert Birch, who was installed March 4, 1839. His

pastorate was short, being terminated by death on Sept. 12, 1842 ; but it was long enough to win for him the high admiration of the people for his many excel- lent qualities both of mind and heart ; and the sorrow at his death was sincere and general. His remains lie in the new Presbyterian cemetery, and the spot is marked by a handsome monument erected by the congregation. Dr. Davidson gives an account of his early life, as follows :

"Mr. Birch was the son of an eminent physician io the city of New York, and was born in January, 1808. While an infaut he was attacked by a severe inflammation of the brain, and life was despaired of, inso- much that his mother made his shroud while watching at his couch. He was only saved by a vein being opened in his head when he was apparently near dying, hut be always suffered somewhat from the effects of this illness to the end of his days. At a very early age he lost his father, and with him his expectation of a liberal education. He was taken from school and placed io a counting-house. Becoming pions he was received to the communion of the Ceder Street Church, under Dr. Romeyn, at the age of twelve. The fatherless and sprightly boy at- tracted the notice of Dr. John Breckinridge, and was iodnced by him to resume his studies. Ilaving graduated at Dickinson College he taught a classical school, first at Lancaster and afterwards at SaveDush, where he made friends of gentlemen of the first distinction. His theological studies were commeoced &t Andover and completed at Princeton. After his licensure by the Presbytery of New York, he preached for & short time to a new church in a hell io Broadway, from which he was called to New Brunswick."

One of the longest pastorates in the history of the church followed, that of Rev. Robert Davidson, D.D., who was installed May 4, 1843, with a salary of $1200 and the parsonage.

Dr. Davidson was born in Carlisle, Pa., on Feb. 23, 1808. His father, Dr. Robert Davidson, Sr., was for many years professor, afterward president, in Dickin- son College, and for more than thirty years he com- bined with the duties of these successive offices those of pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Carlisle.

Robert graduated from Dickinson College in 1828, having previously made a profession of religion, and devoted himself to the ministry. He pursued his theological course at Princeton, completing it in 1831. In 1832 he became pastor of the MeChord Presbyterian Church of Lexington, Ky., which he served successfully for eight years. He left it in 1840 to become president of Transylvania University, and from that position he passed in 1842 to the office of superintendent of public instruction in the State of Kentucky. In 1843, declining more than one in- vitation to a professorship, he accepted the call of this church. After leaving New Brunswick, from 1860 to 1864 he was pastor of the Spring Street Church in New York, and from 1864 to 1868 was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Huntington, L. I. Subsequently he resided at Philadelphia, busy to the last, so far as his strength would permit, with his voice, and especially with his pen, in the cause of truth. He died suddenly on Thursday, the 6th of April of the present year (1876). The circumstances were somewhat unusual. For some time previous he had been suffering from a complication of difficulties, confining him at times to the house. On this day

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CITY OF NEW BRUNSWICK.

he felt well enough to gratify a desire which he had A few years subsequent to this Dr. Davidson found ! it necessary to seek temporary relief from his duties on account of failing health. Leave of absence for long cherished to visit the Centennial Grounds at Fairmount Park. But he had miscalculated his strength. While he was upon the grounds the several months was granted him in November, 1856, stroke fell, and he scarcely lived to reach his home. His funeral occurred at Carlisle, Pa., on Saturday, April the 8th, and from the biographical sketch pre- pared for that occasion most of the particulars given here have been taken.

A few more may be added mostly from the same source. He was for five years permanent clerk of the General Assembly, for twenty years a member of the Board of Foreign Missions, and for ten years preced- ing his death a director of the Theological Seminary at Princeton. The address to the graduating class of that institution this year had been assigned to him, and he had prepared it with his usual care. Death intervened, and the reading of it by another formed one of the impressive incidents of the graduating exercises. The year previous he prepared, by Syn- odical appointment, a centennial discourse, which was delivered in Philadelphia in October, and a copy of it was deposited in the corner-stone of the Wither- spoon monument in Fairmount Park.

As these things indicate, he had great fondness for literary pursuits, for which the high order of his scholarship admirably fitted him. Throughout his life he made his influence felt scarcely less through the press than through the pulpit. The list of his published works is quite extensive, several being of a substantial character. To these were added numer- ous pamphlets and articles in the Princeton Review and other periodicals. His taste for historical research appears in his sketch of this church, and a similar one of the church in Huntington, L. I., and still more conspicuously in his "History of the Presbyterian Church in Kentucky," a considerable volume.

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History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 171

Author: W. Woodford Clayton, Ed. Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Philadelphia: Everts Number of Pages: 1224

Author: W. Woodford Clayton, Ed.
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia: Everts
Number of Pages: 1224