USA > New Jersey > Mercer County > Trenton > History of the Presbyterian Church in Trenton, N.J. : from the first settlement of the town > Part 18
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When the New Jersey Bible Society was organized in 1810, Mr. Armstrong was elected a manager.3 In 1813 the anniversary of the Society was held in his church, when Dr. Wharton, the Episcopal minister of Burlington, preached, and the Rev. Wm. H. Wilmer, of Virginia, read the liturgy. This courtesy was extended in consequence of the Episcopal Church being under repair.
On the anniversary of Independence, in 1808, Mr. Arm- strong was again the orator at the celebration by the Cin- cinnati, and citizens.4 He acted as chaplain on that day in 1812, when the "Washington Benevolent Society of Tren- ton" made their first public appearance, and the concourse in the church was swelled by the members of a political con- vention opposed to the war, which was then meeting in the- town.5
The suffering, and incapacity of freely moving his limbs,. produced by his tedious disease, were now depriving Mr. Armstrong of the prospect of ever resuming his pastoral duties. The mere ascending into the pulpit cost the most painful exertion. He suppressed, as far as possible, the exhibition of his anguish, that he might perform the work in which he delighted; and although the act of writing must have been peculiarly distressing to his distorted hands,
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I have seen more than one discourse from his pen, indorsed as prepared to be read to the congregation by a substitute, when too ill to leave his house.6 One of these (not dated) begins thus :
"Unable, through the dispensation of Divine Providence, to address you in public, I embrace the only means in my power to convey a por- tion of that instruction which, I trust, has often been administered to our mutual edification. During the space of many years I have not for any whole day been free from pain. Reduced at times to the borders of the grave, and reviving, contrary to all human expectation, I have ardently desired to address you as one rising from the dead. A person on the verge of two worlds, contemplating the dread realities of eternity, standing equal chances to be the next hour an inhabitant of time or eternity, must have most impressive sentiments from the rela- tions which they bear to each other. In these moments, and under these impressions, I have wished for strength and opportunity, if it were but for once, to appear in the assemblies of the people of God, as I was wont to do. But on a conscientious review of the matter and the manner of my public instructions, I am constrained to ask what could I do more than I have done? All I could hope for would be that your sympathy, excited by my long and painful affliction, and heightened by an unexpected restoration to health, might, through the aids of divine grace, awaken a more lively attention, and give a more im- pressive solemnity to eternal things."
This touching preface was followed by an earnest and tender application of the lessons of our Lord's parable of the fig tree that remained unfruitful after years of faithful culture.
In April, 1815, the congregation authorized the session to engage an assistant minister, and they chose Mr. David Bishop, a licentiate, and at that time a teacher in the Trenton Academy-afterwards pastor in Easton. In the summer of that year Mr. Armstrong performed his last public ser- vice, and many still remember an affecting incident con- nected with it. Though emaciated and worn down by pain, there was no reason at that time to suppose that he might not yet, as for years past, make his way to the pulpit and assist in the services. But on that Sabbath it was noticed
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that the only psalm used in the singing was the third part of the seventy-first; the first half (or to the "pause") being sung at the beginning, and the remainder at the close of the devotional exercises. His text was "Woe unto me if I preach not the Gospel." There could not have been many unmoved hearts as the feeble pastor, verging on three-score and ten, read-
"The land of silence and of death Attends my next remove ; Oh! may these poor remains of breath, Teach the wide world thy love.
"By long experience have I known Thy sovereign power to save ; At thy command I venture down Securely to the grave.
"When I lie buried deep in dust, My flesh shall be thy care ; These withered limbs with thee I trust, To raise them strong and fair."
In a few months this faith was realized, and he entered on his rest, January 19, 1816, in the sixty-sixth year of his age, the thirty-eighth of his ministry, and (counting from the date of his call) the thirty-first of his pastorship.
On the twenty-second the remains of the deceased pastor were followed to the church by a large concourse, and, be- fore they were committed to the earth, an instructive discourse was delivered by the Rev. Dr. Miller. The preacher closed as follows :
"With respect to the character and success of his labors among you, my brethren, there needs no testimony from me. You have seen him for nearly thirty years going in and out before you, laboring with assiduity, and during a great part of the time under the pressure of disease, for your spiritual welfare. You have seen him addressing you with affectionate earnestness, when his enfeebled frame was scarcely able to maintain an erect posture in the pulpit. You have heard him lamenting, in the tenderest terms, his inability to serve
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you in a more active manner. And you have seen him manifesting with frequency his earnest desire to promote your best interest, even when weakness compelled him to be absent from the solemn assembly.
"But why enlarge on these topics before those who knew him so well? or why dwell upon points of excellence in his character which all acknowledged? The warmth of his friendship; his peculiar urban- ity; his domestic virtues; his attachment to evangelical truth; his decided friendliness to vital piety ; his punctuality, as long as he had strength to go abroad, in attending on the judicatories of the Church ; these, among the many excellent traits of character exhibited by the pastor of whom you have just taken leave, will no doubt be remem- bered with respect and with mournful pleasure, for a long time to come.
"More than once have I witnessed, during his weakness and decline, not only the anxious exercises of one who watched over the interests of his own soul with a sacred jealousy, but also the affectionate aspirations of his heart for the eternal welfare of his family and flock. Farewell! afflicted, beloved man, farewell! We shall see thee again ; see thee, we trust, no more the pale victim of weakness, disease, and death, but in the image and the train of our blessed Master, and in all the immortal youth, and health, and lustre of his glorified family. May it then, oh! may it then appear that all thine anxious prayers and all thine indefatigable labors for the spiritual benefit of those who were so dear to thine heart, have not been in vain in the Lord.""
The epitaph on the tomb of Mr. Armstrong, in the church-yard, was written by President S. Stanhope Smith :
"Sacred to the memory of the Reverend JAMES FRANCIS ARMSTRONG, thirty years pastor of the church at Trenton, in union with the church at Maidenhead. Born in Maryland, of pious parents, he received the elements of his classical education under the Rev. John Blair ; finished his collegiate studies in the College of New Jersey, under the Rev. Dr. Witherspoon, and was licensed to preach the Gospel in the year 1777. An ardent patriot, he served through the War of Independence as a chaplain. In 1790 he was chosen a Trustee of the College of New Jersey. A warm and constant friend, a devout Christian, a tender husband and parent; steady in his attendance on the judicatories of the Church; throughout his life he was distinguished as a fervent and affectionate minister of the Gospel, and resigned his soul to his Creator and Redeemer on the nineteenth of January, 1816. 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. Amen : even so come Lord Jesus.'"
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NOTES.
I.
For the years of Mr. Armstrong's pastorate before 1806, there is no official record of statistics. In a memorandum made by him, he says that when he first came to Trenton "the number of communicants did not exceed perhaps eight or nine in that church, exclusive of Maiden- head. The numbers increased slowly and gradually. At every com- munion season, which was twice a year, a few were added; generally of such as had been under serious impression for some time before admission."
In 1806 the whole number of communicants in Trenton was sixty- eight. Two only of these are known to be surviving in 1859. At the two communions of 1808 seventeen persons made their first profession at one, and thirteen at the other. In 1809 seventeen more were re- ceived. Among the manuscripts of Mr. Armstrong is a series of ser- mons on the divine being, attributes, and perfections, marked by him as having been preached "just before so many were added to the church in 1808 and 1809." In 1810 the whole number of communicants was one hundred and twenty-four; in 1815, one hundred and eleven.
II.
I throw into this note some miscellaneous items collected from the books of the Treasurer and Trustees at the close of the last century.
The windows of the church appear to have been exposed to extra- ordinary casualties, as there are constant entries of payments for glazing, and sometimes subscriptions for that object. Evening ser- vices were only occasional, as we learn from such entries as, "1786, March 18, paid for candles when Mr. Woodhull preached in the evening, 2s. 6d." There were collections on every Sabbath; their amount varied from 2. 4d. to f1 15s. 2d. That the old prescriptive coin was freely used on these occasions is revealed in such entries as, "By old coppers"; "to amount of old coppers on hand that won't pass." The collections were sometimes for other than church pur- poses. "1788, collection for Rev. Samson Occom."" "1789, collection raised for a poor traveler, 27s. 6d." In 1792, £2 7s. 6d. were collected "for Lutherans to build a church at Fort Pitt." In 1806, five mahogany "poles and [velvet] bags for collecting at church," were provided, ac- cording to a fashion long since superseded by boxes. For several years there is an invariable charge of Is. 6d. for "sweeping meeting- house," every fortnight. The supplies for the pulpit, and the expense
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of their horses, seem to have been regularly paid. "1779, paid Rev. Mr. Grant, as a supply, being a young man unsettled, fI 2s. 6d." 1785, "Supply one day and a half, 45s." "Half a day, 15s." The office of Deacon was performed by the pastor and elders at their dis- cretion, out of funds in the Treasurer's hands. "Paid Mr. Arm- strong for a sick woman at Mr. Morrice's." "Shirt for "Relieving her distress." "Paid Bell that was scalded." "Seth Babbitt, a stranger that was in distress, being castaway, as he said." Fuel was often distributed. December 20, 1799: "Bill for sundries to put the pulpit in mourning for G. Washington, and Mrs. Emerson for put- ting it on." The expenses of Presbytery were sometimes borne by the church treasury. "To Presbytery's expenses at Mr. Witt's," one of the hotels, means probably the keeping of their horses; but I must not conceal that in 1792 there is this charge, "for beer at Presbytery, 4s. Iod." In the same year the other congregation were more liberal in their entertainment, as appears by this entry: "Bought of Abraham Hunt, for the use of the congregation when Presbytery sat in Maiden- head :
"8 gal. Lisbon wine at 7s. 6d., £3 0
"5 " spirits, 9s., 2 5
£5 5"
Ten years before-"half gallon of rum." The last, we may suppose, was for the use of workmen about the church, according to the cus- tom then universal. In building the church of 1805, "spirits" were bought for this purpose by the barrel. The churches were sometimes repaid for this branch of their expenditures; as in 1798, Mr. Bond (probably a magistrate), divided between the Presbyterian and Epis- copal churches a fine collected by him from some unlicensed vender of spirituous liquors.
In November, 1786, the purchase of "an elegant, large Bible for the use of the Trenton Church," was authorized. The sexton's fee for digging a grave, inviting to the funeral, and tolling the bell, was fixed at two dollars. In 1799 it was increased to three dollars and a half. As late as 1842 it was the custom for the sextons to go from house to house and make verbal notice of funerals at the doors. There were not then, as now, three daily newspapers to supersede the necessity of publishing notices of this kind from the pulpit or other- wise.
The Trustees appear to have provided for the conveyance of the pastor to the places of the meeting of the Presbytery. At one time it was "agreed that Mr. Jacob Carle or his son, Capt. Israel Carle [neither elder nor Trustee] attend Mr. Armstrong to the Presbytery." At another time (1787) James Ewing, Esq., [then in no church office,]
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was designated to this service. There may have been that deficiency of acting elders (at least in the town) at this time, to which Mr. Armstrong refers in a note of 1813, in which he speaks of his having had charge of the charity-fund: "I am inclined to believe before there were any elders in the congregation." The expenses of the session in attending judicatories were paid by the Trustees.
The pew-rents in town were received by a collector annually ap- pointed by the Trustees out of their own number, or from the con- gregation. Delinquents were sometimes threatened with the last resort. In 1788 it was ordered, "that no horses or other creatures be put in the graveyard." It is presumed that this was a prohibition against hitching the animals there on the Sabbath, or pasturing them at any time. The sexton, however, had "leave to pasture sheep in the grave- yard."
In 1788, "the present meeting taking into consideration the great defect in public worship in the congregation, by want of a regular clerk, and Mr. John Friend, a member of the congregation, having voluntarily offered himself steadily to supply that office, the congre- gation accepted of his offer and desire the Trustees to make any agree- ment they may think proper with said Friend on that subject."
In 1799, (at a congregational meeting,) "whereas applications are often making for the burial of strangers in the ground belonging to this congregation, by which means it is filling up very fast, therefore it is ordered that no stranger be permitted to be buried in said ground hereafter, without paying what may be agreed upon by the Trustees of said church; and for relief in the premises it is agreed that pro- posals be made to the other societies of Christians in this place, and to the inhabitants in general, to open and promote subscriptions for the purpose of purchasing a piece of ground for a Potter's field." The Trenton "Potter's field" is on the New Brunswick road, and was probably purchased by the town about 1802. One of the graves is designated as follows: "Sacred to the memory of Judy, wife of Wil- liam Field; faithful and favorite Christian servants of the late Robert Finley, D.D., of Basking Ridge, New Jersey. Erected 1839."
In 1799 the Trustees "ordered that the minutes and proceedings of the congregation and Trustees be read by the minister or clerk of the church the next Sabbath, or as soon as convenient after their meetings, in order that it be generally known how the business of the Society is conducted."
Some precedence seems to have been accorded to the Governor of the State. He was allowed the first choice of a pew in the new church of 1806. The incumbent at that time was JOSEPH BLOOMFIELD, known by the titles both of Governor and General. He resided in Trenton during the successive terms of his administration, (1801-12.) Mrs. Bloomfield was a communicant of the church, and her nephew, Bishop
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McIlvaine, remembers the visits of his childhood to the then new, but now demolished church.
In the earlier part of Mr. Armstrong's ministry he conformed to the custom, then common in our pulpits, of wearing a gown and bands. The practice seems to have fallen gradually into disuse, more from its inconveniences than from any rise of scruples. The variety of English academical gowns seems to have been known in our State as late as 1800, for in that year a Burlington tailor advertises in the Trenton Gazette : "D.D., M.A., and other clerical robes made correctly."?
III.
In 1815 the church lost one of its ruling elders. His epitaph is:
"In memory of NICHOLAS DUBOIS,10 many years teacher of the Young Ladies' Academy, and an elder of the Presbyterian Church of this place. Died November 4, 1815. An. æt. forty-four. A man amiable, pious, and exemplary ; a teacher, able, zealous, and faithful; an elder ardently devoted to the welfare of his Father's flock."
IV.
The interval between Mr. Armstrong and his successor is marked in our history by the commencement of the Sunday-school of the church. The earliest school of this description was instituted by mem- bers of the Society of Friends, for the instruction of colored persons. It was called the "Trenton First-day School," and the primary meet- ing of the Society was called for "the second second-day of the second month," 1809. This failed, as it would appear, from want of means to pay a teacher; and in May, 1811, a society of all denominations formed "a first-day, or Sunday-school, for the instruction of the poor of all descriptions and colors."11 I am indebted to John M. Sherrerd, Esq., of Belvidere,12 for the following interesting memoranda as to the introduction of the more strictly religious, or church Sunday- school :
"While a student of law in the office of the late Chief Justice Ewing, in the winter of 1815-16, I became a member of the Trenton church, under the preaching of Dr. Alexander, who chiefly supplied the pulpit after the death of Mr. Armstrong. There was some awakening among the churches in that winter. We held a union prayer-meeting, weekly, for some time, and at one of these it was mooted whether we might not do good by starting a Sunday-school. Several of us had read about such schools in England, and heard that they had been begun in Philadelphia, but none of us had ever seen one. Our prayer-meeting was composed of about a dozen young men who had just united with the different churches, and a few others who were seriously disposed. I recollect the names of Gershom Mott,
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John French, and Mr. Bowen, Baptists; John Probasco, a Methodist ;13 Lewis Evans, who was brought up a Friend. At first I was the only Presbyterian, but others soon joined me. I was appointed to visit the schools in Philadelphia, and accordingly spent a Sabbath there, during which I visited the old Arch Street, Christ Church, and St. John's Schools, which were all I could find. The teachers furnished me with all the desired information, and gave me specimens of tickets, cards, books, etc. On my return we determined to make the experiment, and obtained the use of the old school-room over the market-house on Mill Hill, which then stood nearly opposite the present Mercer court house, and eight o'clock on the next Sunday morning found us assembled there-six teachers and twenty-six scholars.
"We kept up our weekly prayer-meeting at different places, in the Baptist, Presbyterian, and Methodist connection-chiefly in the first two. Every Sunday the school was dismissed in time to attend the three churches, on alternate days, each teacher accompanying his class and occupying a part of the gallery. We seldom failed of having a word of encouragement from the officiating minister, and I well remember the address of Dr. Alexander, the first Sabbath we met in the Presbyterian Church. At the end of three months, the room becoming too small for us, we formed a school in each of the three churches, and each soon became as large as the original one. The Presbyterian was held in the school building on your church lot. The others in the Baptist Church and Trenton Academy. I continued there about nine months, and until I left Trenton, during which time we kept up our union prayer-meeting, and the visits of all the schools alternately at the different churches on Sunday mornings. Towards the last they almost filled the gallery of each church. After the sepa- ration on Mill Hill female teachers, for the first time, took part. We followed the old plan of each scholar committing as much as he could during the week-receiving tickets, redeemed, at a certain number, with books. One factory boy, I remember, who, although twelve hours at work daily, committed so many verses that I could not hear him in school-hours, but took the time for it after church."
From a document in a Trenton newspaper (August 8, 1817) it ap- pears that the three schools mentioned by Mr. Sherrerd were organ- ized under the title of "The Trenton and Lamberton Sunday Free- School Association." The date of its beginning is there given as March 9, 1816. "From April to October the school consisted of ninety scholars. On the twenty-seventh October it was divided into three." "It is with peculiar pleasure the Association notice those two nurseries of mercy, the Female and African Sunday-schools, which have arisen since the establishment of their own." A column of a newspaper of October 4, 1819, is occupied with a report of the "Trenton Sabbath- day School," which opens with saying, "Nine months have now elapsed since, by the exertions of a few gentlemen, this school was founded."
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The report is signed by James C. How, afterwards the Rev. Mr. How, of Delaware, a brother of the Presbyterian pastor. In February, 1821, the same Society reports that it had four schools, the boys', the girls', the African, and one at Morrisville.14 The last school had, in Novem- ber, 1819, eleven teachers and one hundred and sixteen scholars. The "Female Tract Society" furnished tracts monthly to the schools, and the "Juvenile Dorcas Society" supplied clothing to the children.
Six female members of our congregation (Ellen Burrowes, Mary Ann Tucker,15 Mary A. Howell, Hannah E. Howell, Eliza R. Cham- bers, and Hannah Hayden) originated "The Female Sabbath Asso- ciation," October 4, 1816. To these were soon added Sarah M. Stock- ton (afterwards wife of Rev. W. J. Armstrong), Rosetta C. Hyer, Jane Lowry, Eliza C. Palmer, Lydia Middleton (afterwards wife of Rev. Henry Woodward), Ellen E. Burrowes (Mrs. Stacy G. Potts), Catherine Schenck, Mary Creed, Abigail Ryall, Juliette Rice,16 Susan Armstrong, Anna Jackson (wife of Rev. Jos. Sanford).17 The ses- sion granted the use of the gallery of the church, as a place of teach- ing. The school was opened October 20, and was held for an hour and a half in the afternoon. A boys' school was afterwards formed, of which Mr. James C. How was the first Superintendent. There are eight hundred and twenty-two names on the roll of female pupils from 1822 to 1839.
V.
In the minutes of the Trustees, March 19, 1814, is this entry :
"BENJAMIN SMITH, Esq., who has for a long time been a Trustee and President of the Board, as also Treasurer for the church, all which offices he has filled with faithfulness, but expecting shortly to remove to Elizabethtown, and make that his final place of abode, begged for said reason to resign his trusteeship."
Mr. Smith was elected "a Deacon for Trenton," May 6, 1777, and was an elder in 1806, and probably for some years before. He died in Elizabethtown, October 23, 1824, and a sermon was preached at his funeral by his pastor, the Rev. Dr. John McDowell, from the words: "Lord, I have loved the habitation of Thy house, and the place where Thine honor dwelleth." This text had been selected by himself for the purpose, and his will directed the same to be inscribed on his tomb. By the kindness of Dr. McDowell, I am enabled to present a copy of the statements in the funeral discourse, which show how applicable was its inspired motto :
"Our departed friend loved the house of the Lord, and he has told the speaker that this evidence has often encouraged and comforted his soul, when he could get hold of scarcely any other. His conduct in this respect corresponded with his profession. Through a long life
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he manifested that he loved the Lord's house. It was taught him, I have understood, from his childhood. At an early age he became the subject of serious impressions, and hopefully of divine grace. He was first received into this church under the ministry of the Rev. James Caldwell, in the year 1765, when he was about eighteen years old. He afterwards removed to Trenton, and connected himself with that church, where he spent most of his days. There he long acted in the office of ruling elder. During the latter part of the time of his residence in Trenton, the congregation erected a new house of worship. In this he took a deep and active interest. He bestowed much of his time, contributed liberally of his means, and went abroad soliciting aid for its completion. About ten years since he removed to this town, and in the decline of life again connected himself with this church. He was soon elected a ruling elder, which office he exe- cuted with fidelity until his decease, in the seventy-ninth year of his age. He manifested his love to the house of God by his constant attendance on its worship until his last short illness; and he mani- fested it in his will, by leaving a bequest for the support of its wor- ship, and remembering other congregations in the town. His last words were: 'Welcome, sweet day of rest.'"
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