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 50
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 50
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Making cidor, 41gd. blil.
Venison, 1d.
Killing a cow, 28. 3d. = calf, 1s. 6d.
Capons, 18. 6d. "
hog, 18.
Ducks, 131/2d. =
pig, 8d.
Hens, 9d. =
= sheep, 9d.
Oxeu, £4 10s.
Shearing
" 2d.
Colts, 14s. =
Weaving, 8d. yard.
William Hill
0 10 0
Roger Lambert.
0
G
0
ITeifers, £3 each.
1s. wona!].
Ebenezer Spinning.
0
6
0
Joseph Halsey.
0
G 0
John Lambert
0
6 =
John Gold 12
0
Jantes Crighton
...
1
0
0
Jeremiah Osborn ...
0
6
0
Wheat, 4s. to 6s. bushel.
Buckwheat, 2s.
Shingles, 3s. 6d. hundred.
Rye, 38. 41/2d.
Rails. 68. to 14s. =
Clapboards, 58.
Shoes for children, 3s. pair.
John Radler .. .
0
6
0
Shamgar Barnes ... 0
3
0
Turnips, 1s. bushel.
" women, 5s. pair.
John Herrick 0
8
0
Oats, 221d.
William Richardson 0 3
Henry Walvin ... 0
3
0
John Iudes. 0
3
0
Apples, 2s. to 3s. "
Barrele, 3s. each. Pails, 28.3d. “
0
David Woodruff
0
John Parker ....
1
William Browne ....
1 10
Deacon Jonathan Ogden
3
0
0
Mr. John Ogden ..
3
0
0
Widow Hannah Lyon ...
1
10
Joseph Lyon.
0
18
Benjamin Lyon
0
15
0
Mr. Isaac Whitehead.
0
Joseph Osborne.
1
0 0
Nathaniel Bunnell.
1
Nathaniel Bunnell, Jr.
0
6
Moses Thompson ...
Mr. John Woodruff
2
(
0
Mr. Benjamin Ogden
1
10 0
Benjamin Meeker.
1
10
Mr Benjamin Price, Jr ..
1
10 0
Robert Smith
1
0
0
Robert Muss.
1
0
Benjamin Pierson.
0
18 0
Alexander Kernee
0 10 0
Joseph Woodruff.
12
0
Benjamin Trotter.
6 =
Joseph Sayer ..
1
0
Thomas Price
0
15 0
Ephraim Price ...
0 10
Mr. Benjamin Price ..
1
0
0
Aaron Thompson.
0
15 =
Mary and John Thompson
1
=
0
Benjamin Woodruff
0
6
0
John Magie ..
0
6
0
Thomas Sayer.
0
6 0
Thomas Keenee.
0
5
0
George Ross, Jr.
0 10
O
Thomas Moore.
0
10
0
The whole number of actual subscribers is one hundred and twenty-four, and the amount of sub- scription £83 11s. Od. A very small part of the sub- scriptions were paid in cash, but such produce, meat, stock, labor, etc., as the minister needed formed the staple. A list of prices current from 1694 to 1705 is subjoined as a matter of curious interest :
Jobu Finds.
0
12
Nathaniel Tuttle.
1
0 0
Thomas Thompson
0
6 0
George Park
0
10 0
John Miles.
0
15
0
John Pope.
0
8
0
Jonas Wood.
0 12
Jonathan Clement ...
0
10 0
John Looker ..
0
1
6
0
6
=
Stephen {'rane ..
0 15 0
Ewe Sheep, 10s. to lls. each.
Day'e work, 28. 3d. mau.
Beef, £1 15s. Od. barrel.
18. hoy.
Salt slad, 2d. each.
3s. man and oxen.
5s. man and team.
Pasturing ox, 1s. week. Fanning, 2d. bushel.
Edward Frazee.
0
8
0
William Looker, Jr. 0
4
0
Joseph Frazee ..
1
0
0
George Thurp.
0
5
0
Charles Touker, Jr ..
0
1
0
Indian corn, 18. 6d. to 3s. boshiel.
' men, 68. 9d. pair.
0
Peas, 48.
Oysters, 9d. to 14d. bun .; 28. to 9d. gel.
George Jewell
0
10
O
John Clarke.
0
0
Cupt. John Baker
12 0
Richard Clarke, Jr ..
Ebenezer Lyon
0
Cornelins and Mary Hatfield.
10 0
Nathaniel Lyon ...
0 15 1 0
0
Henry Norrie.
2
0
0
James llinds .. 15 0
Daniel Ross
0 10
Mr. Henry Lyon ... 3
10 0
Deacon George ROBB .....
1 10 =
0 10 0 0
10 0
0
0
Samnel Little 0
6
0
William Millar.
Hendrick Baker.
Turkeys, 15d. eacb.
0
Jeremiah Crane.
Meslin, 3s. 9d.
0
s. d.
200
HISTORY OF UNION AND MIDDLESEX COUNTIES, NEW JERSEY.
Salt, 4%, 4d. to 5s. bushel.
Buckete, 2%. each.
Cider, 13s, bbl. Butter, 6d. 1b, Cheese, 41%d. 1b. Sugar, 6d. =
llats for men, 22s. to 33s. each, Paper, 18. 6d, to 18. 10d. quire.
Powder, 38. 6d. 1b. Shot, 41/2d. 68
Flax, 9d. to 18. 6d. 1b.
Hops, 18.
Brooms, 41%d. each. Pins, 131/2d. paper. Ozenbriggs, 18. 8d. yard.
Реррег, 68. =
Tobacco, 41gd. to 10d, lb.
Kersey, 58. 6d. to 7s. yard,
Hides, 2d. 44
Holland, 38. 6d. to 4s 3d. yard.
Allum, 9d.
Fustian, 2s. 3d. Linsey wolsey, 48. Linen (blue), 18. 4d. to 28. "
Hay, 108. to 20s. load.
Serge, 48. 6d. to 6s.
Stones, 38.
Buttons, 6d, to 9d. doz.
Stockings, 48, 6d. pair.
Wool, 131/2d. 1b. Rum, 18. 6d. qt. Cider, 3d.
Gloves, 4s. 6d.
Silk (black), 48. 6d. oz.
Molasses, 28. 9d. gal.
Mr. Harriman was a man of large business. His 100-acre lot " in the plains" he cleared and cultivated. He charges "my lot in ye plaines," June 6, 1701, with cost of "beer, cake & rum to ye volunteers at ya clearing sª lott-£1 7 1}." He rented of Capt. Ebenezer Wilson, of New York, the mill on the creek (the same that "old John Ogden" huilt at the bridge, and mortgaged Oct. 9, 1668, to Cornelius Steenwyck, of New York), for which he and Capt. Benjamin Ogden, his partner, paid €25 per year. Nathaniel Whitehead had charge of the mill. In 1698 he built a new house in Meadow Street, north of Jersey Street, finishing it, however, in 1701, and moving into it in the fall of that year. Where he lived previously does not appear, probably on the parsonage ground south of the creek, near the pres- ent railroad-crossing. His "new barne" he built in 1702, " length 24 feet, breadth 22, height 11 feet." It was built "by Benj" Meaker & Benj" Trottar." Benjamin Pierson, Joseph Woodruff, Alexander Kee- ney, Joseph Osborn, Daniel Ross, and Richard Har- riman have each the credit of carting for it one load. The builders received seven pounds. In addition, he says, "the cost of my barne, built this summer, €7 14 0," the "timber getting & framing given me except 188. To ye carpenters."
for board was five shillings a week ; and for teaching " the art of Navigation," three pounds.
He dealt considerably in real estate also. In 1694 he sold to John Miles, his nephew, half an acre of land, on which to build his house, for five pounds. In 1703 he bought of Miles " his dwelling-house, etc.," for sixty-five pounds. The date of this transaction is May 24th. But under date of May 17, 1703, "John Blanchard, gallicus" (Frenchman), is charged with " a house &c sold you to day at €80." Could this be the same, or was it his own new house? Still earlier, March 25, 1703, Aaron Thompson is credited with " his 4-acre home lott at £20," the payment of which was completed May 12, 1704.
He dealt also in slaves, at least for his own use : "We bought the Negro Toney Aug 14th 1697 of Charles Tooker jun' for 481b." It is probable that Capt. Benjamin Ogden was one of the "we," and that Toney was principally employed at the mill ; or the " we" may include his son John. Again, Oct. 28, 1701, he bought of " Mr. James Emot an Indian girle named Hagar," for £19 108. 0d.
Occasionally he records the hire of a horse, or of a man and horse, for a journey to New England. On one occasion, January, 1699, Joseph Woodruff accom- panied him to Milford, Conn., where they had a con- ference with Governor Treat, as appears from Mr. Woodruff's affidavit in the answer to the Elizabeth Town bill in chancery, page 47.
It appears also that it was customary to take a contribution in the church every Lord's Day, of the proceeds of which an account is preserved only for a part of 1699. A specimen of these entries is here given : " Feb 19-cash 198. 103d. wampom 11d .- £1 00 93."
Feb. 1, 1696, John Woodruff, carpenter, is credited with " making a coffin for my dear Leonard ;" and in September, "wth a coffiu for my son Alexander." Two sons taken from him in one year ! Leonard was thirteen years old ; Alexander was at least five or six years younger, having been born in this town.
Of the preaching of Mr. Harriman no written memorials remain, and scarcely anything traditional. It is greatly to his credit that, in the midst of the ex- citements of 1688, of the anarchy of 1690-92, and of
Not content with preaching, pastoral visitation, farming, and carrying on a flour-mill, he had also a cider-press, he had an agency for furnishing glass to bis neighbors, he surveyed lands now and then, he | the revolutionary period from 1699 to 1702, he should attended the Legislature as a deputy, having been have succeeded in retaining not only his place, but also the affection and confidence of his people. His sympathies were altogether on the side of popular rights. His manly words of cheer on the Sabbath greatly encouraged the town in their long-protracted struggle against oppression. Like its predecessor, he doubtless had to contend with opposers. The Quak- ers, under the influence of Rudyard and Laurie, had increased in number and influence, and probably had formed themselves, as in other settlements, into a religious society in the southern part of the town. The Scotch, with their national preference for Pres- byterianism, adhered to him and his Puritan Church. thus elected in 1693, 1694, 1695, and 1698. Like the most of his profession, he kept a boarding-school also, His ledger shows that from 1685 to 1702 he had the following pupils under his care, most, if not all, of whom boarded with him : David Selleck, Richard Lawrence, John Potter, John Thelwell, John Wessels, John Ranselere, William Cooley, Andrew Wandler, (bis son) Richard, Jeremiah Floyd, William (son of John Crooke, of New York), John Manverte, Joshua Swaine, James Robeson, Joseph Tapping, Joseph Meaker, Jonathan Sayer, John Harrison, John Le Roax, Edward Taylor, and Peter Jewey. His price
Indigo, 41/2d, to 8d. oz.
Eggs, 3d. to 4d, doz.
201
THE CITY OF ELIZABETH.
Mr. Harriman was removed by death Aug. 20, 1705, in the fifty-eighth year of his age. The only partic- ular notice of this event is found in the Boston News- Letter of Sept. 10, 1705, as follows :
" Elizabeth Town in Jersey, August 30. On Monday the 20 Current Dyed here in the Afternoon the Reverend Mr. John Harriman, Pastor of the Church in this place, Aged about 60 years: Who the same day at a Church Meeting told his people that the time of his departure drew near, and exhorted them to Peace and Unity one with another, and to stand fast in the Covenant that they had engaged themselves to."
Mr. Harriman probably died of apoplexy. His son John was a merchant and a surveyor, and ex- erted a wide influence over his townsmen.
REV. SAMUEL MELYEN was for a short time a colleague of Mr. Harriman's before he became his successor in the pastorate of this church. It appears from Harriman's ledger that Mr. Melyen was or- dained and installed pastor about the 20th of May, 1704, the expenses of the occasion being £1 58. 10d. He was the son of Jacob Melyen, one of the founders of the town, and was baptized, with his brother Dan- iel and sister Abigail, Aug. 7, 1677, in the Dutch Church at New York, where the family then resided. A brother Jacob and sister Susanna had been bap- tized Oct. 3, 1674. As early as 1690 the family had probably removed to Boston, aud soon after Samuel entered Harvard College, where he enjoyed the in- struction of that eminent divine, Rev. Increase Ma- ther, D.D. He graduated in 1696, and in 1700-I taught the grammar school at Hadley, Mass. In Dec. 1702 his name appears as a witness to a will of John Clark, of Elizabeth Town, which shows that he was either a resident here at that time or here on a visit. The memorials left of his ministry are few and very unsatisfactory. "One of his books," says Rev. Dr. Hatfield, "'The Cambridge Concordance,' published in 1697, is now in the possession of Mr. Thomas O. Crane, of Rahway, whose father, Isaac Crane, of this town, bought it of Elizabeth Crane." 1 It is a rare old book and in good preservation. It contains the following beautiful autograph inscription :
" Vita eine literis est Mortis Imago; at Vita sine Christo est Morte pejor. Si CHRISTUM discis, nihil est si caetera neccis. Si CHRISTUM nescis, nihil est si caetera discis.
Samuelis Melyen Liber, Martii, 1º Anno Domini, 1702."
It is not known at what date his ministry here closed. Tradition asserts that he was deposed on ac- count of some immoralities unfitting him for the pul- pit. Dr. Murray gave currency to the following : " Being strongly suspected of intemperance, the choir, on a certain Sabbath morning, sung a hymn as a volun- tary, which he considered as designed to reprove and expose him. Whilst being sung he descended from the pulpit, and taking his wife he walked out of the church, and never again entered it." 2 Dr. Hatfield
thinks this very doubtful, as " the days of choirs and voluntaries had not yet come." However, the doctor says, ".His ministry was short, his sun going down behind a very dark cloud." Farther on he says, " That he was intemperate is quite likely. The temp- tations to this vice were at that period very great."
It is thought that Mr. Melyen was never married, and that his sister Joanna kept house for him. He continued to reside in Elizabeth Town until his death, and held some minor offices. At the Court of Quarter Sessions, sitting at this town in November of the same year, a complaint was brought against him by Matthias De Hart, of the nature of which no record remains. A true bill was found against him by the grand jury, and he was ordered into the cus- tody of the sheriff until he should give special bail. At the sessions of the court in Newark, Aug. 21, 1711, he is reported as having deceased since the sessions in May. He died nearly at the same time with Col. Richard Townley, who was president of the court by which he was indicted.
His will bears date May 10, 1711, and expresses a high degree of faith in the gospel of the Redeemer. He gives thirty-five pounds to Mrs. Ann Gardener ; five pounds to his executor, George Jewell ; his pew- ter tumbler and silver spoon to Mrs. Sarah Jewell ; his looking-glass and three "Turkey worked chears" to Sarah Jewell; his saddle, pillion, books, bow and arrows, and " portmantle" to Cornelius Jewell; and the remainder of his possessions to his sister, Abigail Tilley, at Boston. His will was proved July 26, 1711.3
REV. JONATHAN DICKINSON .- The vacancy occa- sioned by the retirement of the Rev. Samuel Melyen from the pulpit of the church was filled shortly after- ward by the ordination and installation of the Rev. Jonathan Dickinson. This distinguished minister and writer was the son of Hezekiah, and grandson of Nathaniel Dickinson, the latter one of the early settlers of Wethersfield, Conn., and an emigrant thence in 1659 to Hadley, Mass. Hezekiah was born at Wethersfield in February, 1646; became a merchant, and resided successively in Stratford, Conn., and in Hatfield, Hadley, and Springfield, Mass. He married at Stratford, December 4, 1679, Abigail Blackman.
Jonathan was the second child of these worthy parents. He was born April 22, 1688, at Hatfield, Mass., removed to Hadley in 1690, and to Springfield in 1695, where he spent the most of his youth. Pos- sibly a portion of his younger days may have heen passed at his grandfather Blackman's in Stratford. The worthy minister of Stratford, Rev. Israel Chauncy, was one of the principal founders of Yale College, which went into operation in 1702. Through his in- finence it was probably that young Dickinson entered the new college the same year, and was received into
1 Written in 1868.
" Murray's Notes un E. Town, p. 53.
3 Valentine's N. Y. Manual for 1863, p. 795.
202
HISTORY OF UNION AND MIDDLESEX COUNTIES, NEW JERSEY.
the family of the Rev. Abraham Pierson, of Killing- York, in 1712, and a copy of it is preserved in the library of the Connecticut Historical Society at Hart- worth, Conn., the first president, at whose house the students received instruction until his death in 1707. , ford. The theme of the sermon was "The Great His tutor for three years (1703-6) was John Hart, subsequently the minister of East Guilford, Conn. ! He graduated in 1706. His classmates were Jared Eliot (Mr. Pierson's successor in the ministry at Kill- ingworth, and highly celebrated as a physician as well as a divine) and Timothy Woodbridge, minister of Simsbury, Conn., from 1712 to 1742.1
Shortly after he left college his father died (June 14, 1707), and his mother married, Jan. 21, 1709, Thomas Ingersoll, of Springfield, Mass. With whom young Diekinson studied theology, and by whom he was licensed to preach, no record informs us. While in college at Killingworth he may frequently have extended his visits to Guilford, the next town on the west, and here among the Hubbards and Fowlers have met and courted their cousin, Joanna Melyen, the daughter of Jacob, and the sister of the Rev. Samuel Melyen. He may thus have had his atten- tion directed to the vacant pulpit in this town, or the people here may have been thus directed to him. Mr. Pierson, too, who had for more than twenty years been the pastor of the church of Newark, and familiar with this whole region, may at or soon after bis grad- uation (for Mr. Pierson died March 17, 1707) have advised him to go to East Jersey.2
He was in his twenty-first year, a mere stripling, when he came hither in 1708. His marriage to Miss Melyen must have taken place as early as March, 1709, the birth of his first child being thus recorded in his family Bible: "Our son, Melyen, was born Dec. 7, 1709." His wife was more than four years his senior, having been born in 1683. His ministry proved so acceptable that measures were soon taken for his ordination as pastor. The ministers of Fair- field County, who had just become consociated. ac- cording to the Saybrook Platform of Sept. 9, 1708, were invited to perform the services on that occasion. The ministers were John Davenport, of Stamford; Stephen Buckingham, of Norwalk ; Joseph Webb, of Fairfield ; and Israel Chauney, of Stratford. These with " messengers" from the several churches consti- tuted the ordaining council, together with probably the Rev. Nathaniel Wade, with a messenger from the church of Woodbridge, and the Rev. Nathaniel Bowers, with a messenger from the church of Newark. The Rev. Joseph Morgan had just left Greenwich, Conn., and been installed at Freehold, N. J. He, too, was invited, and it had been arranged that he should preach the sermon. The ordination took place on Friday, Sept. 29, 1709. Mr. Morgan preached from Mark xvi. 16: "Go ye into all the world," etc. The discourse was printed by W. and A. Bradford, at New
Concernment of Gospel Ordinances, manifested from the great effects of improving or neglecting them." It was probably abbreviated in the delivery, as " one of the ministers frequently desired him to be brief ou account of the shortness of the day and the greatness of the work in hand." He urges the duty of thor- ough preparation for the pulpit by the adage " A tow lace ill beseems a silk garment."3
It was an extensive field of labor with the cultiva- tion of which young Dickinson was thus intrusted. The town had been spreading itself in every direction. It included in addition to the main settlement along the creek, the neighborhoods of Woodruff's Farms, Lyon's Farms, Connecticut Farms, Williams' Farms, a considerable population on both sides of the upper Rahway River, and a large settlement on the northi of the river at the crossing of the Woodbridge road. A few scattered habitations were fonnd in the present town of Westfield and at the Scotch Plains. Neither church nor minister was yet to be found in the regions beyond.towards the setting sun. It was the extreme border of civilization. An Episcopal Church as al- ready related had been organized within these bounds, but its numbers were yet inconsiderable and its pulpit was not yet supplied. Mr. Vaughan had been ap- pointed to the place, but had not arrived. It was a weighty charge to be laid on such youthful shoulders, and yet not too weighty, as the sequel proved. Quietly and diligently he applied himself to his work, and his profiting presently appeared to all. It was not long before he took rank among the first of his profession.4
The only information thus far obtained in regard to his compensation is contained in a letter from the Rev. Thomas Halliday, Episcopal missionary, dated " Elizabeth Town, 8th November, 1716":
"In this part of East Jersey there are three large Townships, Newark, Elizabeth Town and Woodbridge which consist of upwards of a thousand families the chief settlers of which were New England Independents, who are now old and confirmed in their erroneous way. In each of those towns there is a large Independent Congregation who support their preachers with the allowance of £80 per annum besides House, Glebe, and perquisites of Marriages." 5
Very brief notices only remain of the first few years of his ministry. He took part, as a corresponding member of the Presbytery of Philadelphia, Oct. 20, 1715, in the ordination of Robert Orr, at Maidenhead, now Lawrenceville, N. J. It was doubtless through his influence principally that John Pierson, one year younger than himself, with whom he had been inti- mately associated at the house of his father, Rev. Abraham Pierson, at Killingworth, was introduced to the people of Woodbridge and settled there. Dick-
1 Trumbull's Conn., 1, 501. Baldwin's Yale Coll., pp. 18-22. Yale Cul. Triennial.
2 Chapin's Glastonbury, p. 172.
3 Webster's His, of the Presh. Chh. in Am., pp. 358-61; Sprague's Annals, in. 14-18. Trumbull's Conn., i. 501, 502, 509. 515, 523. 4 ('lark's St. John's Chh., p. 34.
6 Ibid., p. 44.
20:
THE CITY OF ELIZABETH.
inson took part, with Prudden, Andrews, Morgan, and Orr, April 29, 1717, in this ordination also.1
Hitherto the church of Elizabeth Town had re- mained independent, retaining the forms and usages of the New England Churches. At the time of their organization no Presbytery had been formed in America. It was not until forty years had passed that the Presbytery of Philadelphia was constituted. One after another the churches out of New England were becoming connected with it. The church of Freehold had joined the Presbytery as early as 1706; Woodbridge and their minister, Nathaniel Wade, in 1710; Newtown, L. I., and their minister, Samuel Pumroy (a fellow-student with Dickinson at Yale, where in 1705 he graduated), in 1715; and South- ampton (with whom the people of this town were so intimately connected), with their minister, Joseph Whiting, and his colleague, Samuel Gelston, had been received in 1716. Dickinson, it may be pre- sumed from the well-known preferences of President Pierson, was not averse to the change from Inde- pendency to Presbyterianism. But he was very young, and needed first to establish himself with his people before proposing any innovations. They were thor- ough Puritans, and, as has been abundantly exhibited in this narrative, men of spirit. They were slow to part with what they conceived to be their rights. Dickinson was not a member of the Presbytery pre- vious to September, 1716, as appears from the roll. It is quite probable that he united with the Presby- tery of Philadelphia at their meeting in Woodbridge, April 29, 1717, for the ordination of Mr. John Pier- son, on which occasion he took part in the services.2
At the meeting of the newly-constituted Synod of Philadelphia, Sept. 17, 1717, his name is enrolled as the youngest member. His church also, either then or very soon after, put themselves under the care of the Presbytery. The following year, Sept. 19, 1718, it is noted in the records that "Mr. Dickinson delivered one pound twelve shillings from his congre- gation of Elizabethtown for the fund 'for pious uses.'" This was undoubtedly the first contribution for Presbyterian purposes ever made by this congre- gation. From 1719 until after 1724, probably until 1733, he was the stated clerk of the Presbytery, as ap- pears from the record of the Synod : "The book of the Presbytery of Philadelphia was not produced by reason of Mr. Dickinson's absence." He was " neces- sarily detained by his brother's sickness." His brother Moses had been settled at Hopewell (Pennington) in 1717. He took part, Oct. 22, 1719, in the ordination of Joseph Webb at Newark by the Presbytery of Philadelphia. So rapidly had he risen in the estima- tion of the Synod that when a standing commission was appointed in 1720 he was made one of the num- ber.3
1 Records of the Presb. Chh., U. S. A., pp. 41, 43
2 Ibid., pp. 7, 16, 39, 42, 46.
$ Ibid., pp. 46, 51, 54, 62, 76, 80. Stearns' Newark, p. 122.
For the first time the church was represented in the Synod of 1721 by one of their elders, Robert Og- den, son of Deacon Jonathan, and grandson of " Old John Ogden." Mr. Dickinson was chosen moderator. Though he had in good faith adopted the Presbyte- rian system, he could not wholly forego that in which he had been trained. Against an overture adopted by the Synod, which savored of the stricter and more rigid system of the Old World, he, with five other brethren of like liberal views,-Webb, of Newark, Pierson, of Woodbridge, Morgan, of Freehold, and two Welsh brethren,-protested. At the opening of the Synod, the following year, he preached the ser- mon from 2 Tim. iii. 17, in which he took occasion to define his views of ecclesiastical jurisdiction, in justification of his protest of the previous year. "An excellent Sermon," says Foxcroft, of Boston, "where the true Boundaries of Church-Power are particularly considered, and set in their proper Light."+
At this meeting he succeeded, after the subject had been fully discussed, in so harmonizing the views of the Synod by the presentation of a paper on the sub- ject as to carry their unanimous assent, and lead them to a hearty giving of thanks in prayer and praise for the composure of their difference. The church was represented in the Synod this year by Elder Joseph Woodruff, whose affidavit relative to the Newark boundary line is recorded in the answer to the Eliza- bethtown bill in chancery.5
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