USA > New Jersey > Mercer County > Trenton > History of the Presbyterian Church in Trenton, N.J. : from the first settlement of the town > Part 23
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32
It has been the prolific and fostering mother of neighbor- ing churches, until now there are in Trenton ten English- speaking, fully organized churches. It is easy to believe that this colonizing policy has been carried out as far as the present or prospective developments of the community have as yet warranted. Possibly, if their number were smaller their strength, in the aggregate, would be greater; but while the offspring have been scattered throughout the city, surrounding and circumscribing the sphere of this church, they leave the venerable mother at the old home- stead in the center. It is perhaps but natural that the younger and possibly more vigorous elements of the city's population should set up their residences in the outlying districts, thus making it more convenient and more natural that they should find their church homes also with these younger churches, rather than with the old First in the center of the city. Thus the familiar difficulties of the down-town problem have begun to emerge.
285
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
And yet the central churches of Trenton, by reason of the peculiar geography of the city and of its converging trolley lines from every direction, are not likely to suffer from the down-town tendencies as do the central churches of many larger cities. And, in any case, the affectionate interest that centers in this ancient location, with its his- toric church-yard and its hallowed burial-ground, and the fond attachment for this very building itself, which is cherished by those to whom this church through all their life has meant so much, are, under God, a pretty safe guarantee that a good many years must yet pass by before the old First will face the exigencies of a change of loca- tion.
We may content ourselves with merely mentioning a few of the outstanding features in the life and work of this church.
In the first place, it is perfectly obvious that this old church is passing through a period of transition. It can never again be what it was when the sainted Dr. Hall, of blessed memory, ministered to it, or even when Dr. Dixon came to be its pastor. There were giants in those days that made this State, and this city, and this church famous everywhere. These saints have departed, and with their sons have come conditions which their fathers never knew. The very generosity of their unstinted beneficence may have taught the great body of the congregation, by undue reli- ance upon their gifts, to be impotent and dependent. This is always the peril that is incident to such large and well- meant liberality on the part of a generous and deeply interested few.
The result of the changes thus induced, however, will not be unfavorable if the transition can be successfullly accom- plished. To this delicate and difficult work, much thought and great care have been devoted and we believe that with a growing sense of responsibility, the effect will be a
286
HISTORY OF THE
strengthening of the forces in respect both of material re- sources and spiritual energies, as well as a more democratic spirit in that the burdens of self-support and the gifts for the furtherance of the Kingdom of God elsewhere will less and less be felt to be burdens, for the reason that they will be more widely and more equally distributed throughout the membership of the entire congregation.
Second, with such new policies of work, it will be noted that those policies must largely be committed to new hands. There are to-day in the Session of this church only two ruling elders who were in it ten years ago. It is a striking and melancholy fact that within a period of about three years five faithful and beloved elders of our Session were called to lay down their work. Of the seven members of the present Session, not one is a native child of the church in which they serve. This is fairly indicative of the changes in the membership of the church itself. Many family names that were most prominent in former generations have entirely faded out from the records of this church and, with the new century with its new conditions and new de- mands, the pews are to be occupied and the work is to be done in large measure by those who will not be influenced by old associations and drawn by ancestral traditions and attachments.
It is equally obvious that with the exigency comes its own opportunity. Few churches ever had a finer field or a more inviting opportunity for aggressive evangelistic en- deavor. The prestige of these two hundred years is an invaluable asset in the work for which this church is set. The present is the past, capitalized and at work. The past must lend itself to the present for the sake of the future. Those who have the heritage of ancestral associations and those who freely select for themselves this church as the home and field of their Christian service, must join hands in the common work with a common zeal and to a common
287
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
purpose. Only thus will the future be worthy of the past. Only thus will the prayers of the fathers in a half dozen generations be answered. Only thus will this church, planted in virgin soil by the hand of faith and sacrifice and kept by the Grace of God during all the vicissitudes of the years, go on to coming generations, rich in blessing, fruit- ful in labors, and faithful even unto the end.
APPENDIX
(289)
19 PRES
APPENDIX I.
CHAPTER I.
I. "William Dockwra, of London, to whom London owes the useful invention of the penny-post." (Oldmixon, "British Empire in Amer- ica.")
2. Of the company brought over by Pitlochie, seventy-two are said to have been "prisoners, banished to the plantations," and "made a pres- ent to the Laird." Their crime was non-conformity; and on the pas- sage, "when they who were under deck attempted to worship God by themselves, the captain would throw down great planks of wood in order to disturb them." The Rev. Mr. Riddel had already been im- prisoned several years in England. After the revolution he sailed for England (June, 1689), but was "captured by a French man-of- war, and after twenty-two months' imprisonment in France, he was at length exchanged for a Popish priest." (MS. History; citing Crookshank's Church of Scotland, vol. ii., 110, 428. Cloud of Wit- nesses, App. 337.)
3. Only four copies of the original work are known to be extant, but it has been reprinted entire in the first volume of the collections of the New Jersey Historical Society, as an appendix to Mr. White- head's "East Jersey under the Proprietary Governments." The facility and satisfaction of reading this interesting document are much im- paired by its being printed in the obsolete orthography and abbrevia- tions of the original copy-a custom of our Historical Societies which seems to have, very little to recommend it, even to the antiquary. In the edition of Evelyn's "Dairy," London, 1850, "in compliance with a wish very generally expressed, the spelling of the Diary has been modernized."
4. His grave is in the church-yard, with a Latin inscription, signify- ing: "The ashes of the very pious Mr. JOHN BOYD, pastor of this church of Calvin, are here buried, whose labor, although expended on a barren soil, was not lost. They who knew him well, at the same time prove his worth as rich in virtues. Reader, follow his footsteps, and I hope thou wilt hereafter be happy. He died August 30, 1708, the 29th year of his age." Mr. Boyd completed his trials with the ยท Presbytery of Philadelphia September 27, 1706, and was ordained ten days afterwards. On the minutes of May 10, 1709, the following ex- pressive record is found: "The Rev. Mr. John Boyd being dead, what relates to him ceases."
(291)
292
APPENDIX.
The tombstone is now removed to the rooms of the Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadelphia, and a commemorative monument is erected at the place.
5. Some pleasant associations must have lingered about the old name as late as 1824, when a Bible Society being formed in Trenton, the name was adopted of "The Bible Society of Delaware Falls."
6. In 1867 the Long Island Historical Society published the "Journal of a Voyage to New York and a Tour in Several of the American Colonies in: 1679-80, by Jasper Dankers and Peter Sluyter, of Vieward in Friesland," translated from the Dutch manuscript by Henry C. Murphy. (They were Labadists.) "November 17, 1679. The road from here (near Piscataway) to the falls of the South (i. e., Dela- ware) river runs for the most part W. S. W. and then W. It is nothing but a foot-path for men and horses .- We saw many deer running before us .- As it was still daylight, and we had heard so much of the falls of the South river, or at least we ourselves had imagined it, we went back to the river to look at them, but we discovered we had deceived ourselves in our ideas. We had supposed it was a place where the water came tumbling down in great quantity and force, from a great height above, over a rock into an abyss, as the word falls would seem to imply, and as we had heard and read of falls of the North river and other rivers. But these falls of South river are nothing more than a place of about two English miles in length, or not so much, where the river is full of stones almost across it, which are not very large, but in consequence of the shallowness the water runs rapidly and breaks against them, causing some noise, but not very much. The place, if it were necessary, could be made navigable on one side. As no Europeans live above the falls, they may so remain."-pp. 170-3.
7. From the "Journal" quoted above, at the same pages: "Resum- ing our route we arrived at the falls of the South river about sun- down, passing a creek (Assanpink?) where a new grist mill was erected by the Quakers, who live hereabouts in great numbers, and daily increase, but it seemed to us as if this mill could not stand long, especially if the flow of water were heavy, because the work was not well arranged. We rode over here and went directly to the house of the person who had constructed it, who was a Quaker, where we dismounted and willingly dismissed our horses. The house was very small and from the incivility of the inmates and the unfitness of the place, we expected poor lodgings-this miller's house is the highest up the river hitherto inhabited. Here we had to lodge, and, although we were too tired to eat, we had to remain sitting upright the whole night, not being able to find room enough to lie upon the ground. We had a fire, however, but the dwellings are so wretchedly con- structed that if you are set so close to the fire as almost to burn
293
APPENDIX.
yourself you cannot keep warm, for the wind blows through them everywhere. Most of the English and many others have their houses made of nothing but clapboards, as they call them here (describes how they are made). When it is cold and windy the best people plaster them with clay. Such are most all the English houses in the country, except those they have which are built by people of other nations. Now, this house was new and airy; and as the night was very windy from the north, and extremely cold with clear moonshine, I will not readily forget it. About 10 o'clock, after we had breakfasted, we stepped into a boat in order to proceed on our journey down the river. The water was then rising, and we had to row against the current to Burlington. Before arriving at this village we stopped at the house of one Jacob Hendricks, from Holstein, living on this side.
On their return (December 29, 1679), at or near Bordentown, "we crossed over about one o'clock, and pursued a foot-path along the river, which led us to a cart-road, and, following that, we came to the new grist-mill at the falls, which, in consequence of the great flow of water, stood in danger of being washed away. Crossing here, we began our journey in the Lord's name, for there are no houses from this point to Peskatteway, an English village on the Raritans."
"When we passed by the mill, a Quaker was there who gave us a letter, and told us it was difficult traveling on account of the height of waters in the creeks; that about eight miles further on some Indians had come to live, a little off the path on the left hand. We thought we could reach there by evening. We left the falls about 2 o'clock, following the ordinary path, which is the same for men and horses, and is grown up on both sides with bushes, which wore our breeches, stockings and shoes as much as all the woods in Mary- land together. The road runs from here E. N. E."
A map is given with the above history, made by the travelers, en- titled (in Dutch) "The South river from its source to Burlington." The Rancocas is there "the Ohepiessing creek." Mill creek (Molekill) is the Assanpink. The names of property owners or holders, at the falls, are Richard Ridgway, 218 acres; Wm. Biles, 309: Gilbert Wheeler, 205; Johan Uncas, 149; Robert Scolis, 206; Thos. Sibeley (?), 108; Johan Ackerman and son, 394.
8. The only positive evidence I have ever found that the name Littleworth was actually used, is that of the Rev. Dr. Cooley, who states that he had seen a deed of two lots, lying east of Greene street, between Second street (now State) and the Assanpink, which were described as "being in Littleworth." The date of the deed is not given. It was probably the designation of some portion of the land too much exposed to the freshes of the creek to be as valuable as other parts. Smith's History, in the account of the great flood at Delaware Falls in 1692, says: "The first settlers of the Yorkshire
294
APPENDIX.
tenth in New Jersey had several of them built upon the low lands nigh the falls of Delaware, where they had now lived and been improving near sixteen years. It is to be hoped that there was nothing in the character of the settlers that suggested the application of Solomon's epithet : "The heart of the wicked is little worth." Proverbs 10: 20.
Smith's language, when he mentions the death of Wm. Trent, Dec. 29, 1724, is: "Being a large trader at Trenton, when that place was laid out for a town, it from him took its name, being before signifi- cantly called Little-Worth." (History of New Jersey, chap. xxii.)
In 1726 the Legislature granted to James, son of Wm. Trent, the exclusive use of the Delaware for a ferry, "two miles above and two below the falls."
Smith's History, under date of 1765, says: "The courts are held at Trenton, a place of concourse and lively trade. It stands at the head of the tide, and in a high, pleasant situation. The inhabitants have a public library. Of places of worship [in Hunterdon county], the Presbyterians are nine, the Low Dutch do. one, German do. one, Episcopalians three, Quakers two, Baptists two."
In a letter from Wm. Franklin (afterwards Governor) to his father, Burlington, June 10, 1767, he says: "Governor Wentworth [of New Hampshire] visited me on his journey home, and lay a night at my house. I next morning accompanied him as far as Trenton Falls, where we spent the day a fishing, and supped together." (Franklin's Correspondence, by Duane, p. 35.)
"The first falls in Delaware river in Trent Town are opposite to the forty-seventh mile of this divisional line"-that is, Lawrence's line between East and West Jersey, run in 1743, and starting from Little Egg Harbor. (Douglass' Summary, ii., 282.)
.
295
APPENDIX.
CHAPTER II.
I. One of the most prosaic downfalls in the history of the change of names, took place when the ancient English term for maidenhood was converted by the Legislature, in 1816, on the petition of the inhabitants, into Lawrence for the township and Lawrenceville for the town, in honor of the hero of the frigate Chesapeake. It would be a parallel improvement if the people of Virginia should drop the name of their State for one that would embalm the name of Captain John Smith. The original Maidenhead is a small town on the Thames, in Berkshire, and is partly in the parish of Bray; one, at least, of whose vicars is an historical personage. Not far from the town is Salt Hill, famous with scholars for the Eton Montem.
On January 6, 1816, the inhabitants of the township of Maidenhead were convened to consider the proposed change of name. The meeting ordered the clerk of township to call a special meeting on the next Saturday (Jan. 13). At that meeting the proposal was negatived "by a majority of at least 3 to I"-not less than 60 against, not more than 20 for the measure. A committee of three was appointed to con- tract the proposed measure, who presented to the Legislature a remon -- strance, stating that the township has borne the name for more than 120 years, and that the change was the suggestion of "men whom the inhabitants consider as aliens in the township." The statements of this page would be more exact by inserting, that by act of Assembly Jan. 22, 1709-10, Burlington county was made to include Maidenhead, Hope- well, and Amwell. The portion of Trenton, now above the Assanpink, was then in Hopewell. Hunterdon county, as set off in March, 1713-14, included what are now the counties of Morris, Sussex, Warren, and Hunterdon, and the present townships of Trenton, Ewing, Lawrence, and Hopewell, in Mercer county.
2. The two townships would have been a small circuit for a mission- ary, compared with some that were assigned in the last century by Presbyteries to Supplies and even to Pastors. In 1739 the Presbytery of New Brunswick directed one of their ministers to divide his time among the people of Allentown, Cranbury, Pepack, Lebanon, and Mus- kinicunck. In 1740 Mr. McCray accepted a call from Lametunck, Leb- anon, Pepack, Readingtown, and Bethlehem; and Mr. Robinson was directed to supply Middletown, Shrewsbury, Shark-river, Cranbury, Crosswicks, the Forks, Green's, and Pahaqually. In 1749 Mr. Chesnut was appointed to supply Amwell for four weeks, then Penn's Neck, then Woodbury, then seven Sabbaths at Cape May.
3. January 18, 1806, a public dinner was given in Trenton to Capt. (afterwards Commodore) Bainbridge, upon his return from Barbary.
296
APPENDIX.
The Commodore's family were of this locality and church. Edmund Bainbridge was an elder from the united churches of Trenton and Maidenhead in the Presbytery of October, 1794. John Bainbridge was one of the grantees in the church-deed of 1698, (page 15,) and that name is still visible on a tombstone in a deserted burying-place in Lam- berton. The inscription on Bainbridge's grave stands thus :
"In memory of
Iohn Banbridge who di'd Febry.
the 14th. 1732. In ye 75th Year of his Age."
The first i in his name was inserted after the name had been cut. The family name in England had another variety, as is found in an epigram quoted in Bayle's Dictionary, beginning ---
"Doctor Bambridge came from Cambridge." (Art. on John Bain- bridge; born 1582.)
4. There is "Thomas Byerly," 1712, in "New Jersey Archives," Ist series, vol. iv., p. 169, and "T. Byerley," 1717, p. 310.
5. Richard Eayre. This is probably the same family that has since been better known as Eyres and Eyre. In our church-yard is the grave of "Sophia, relict of Capt. Richard Eyres, formerly of Philadelphia"; February 9, 1801 : aged 60.
6. Concerning an Episcopal Church in Hopewell, John Talbot, of Burlington, writes, October 28, 1714, "The church at Hopewell has been built these ten or twelve years, and never had a minister settled there yet, though they have sent several petitions and addresses to the Society (for the Propagation of the Gospel), but I understand since that Hopewell, Maidenhead, &c., are kept under the thumb for Cotton Mather and the rest of the New England Doctors to send their emis- saries; and these hirelings have often come there, and as often run away, because they are hirelings, and care for no souls but themselves." Hills' "History of Burlington Episcopal Church," p. 126.
Also, Talbot writes September 20, 1723, "I have been this month at Trenton, at Hopewell and Amwell, preaching, and baptizing nineteen persons in one day." (Hills', p. 175.)
J. Bass (Hills' "History," p. 131)-no date-speaks of the "church at Hopewell, in the upper part of the county of Burlington, which hath since been finished, which was for some time supplied by the Rev. Mr. May, but is now without any minister."
Jona. Odell, missionary at Burlington, July 5, 1768, is quoted in Hills' "History," as follows: "I think it my duty to represent to the Society the importance of a mission at Trenton. There is no other Episcopal church on the great road between Burlington and Bruns-
297
APPENDIX.
wick, a distance of more than forty miles. Within the memory of many persons yet living, the inhabitants of Trenton and the country for some distance round it were chiefly members of the Church of England, and the few Dissenters that were among them were mostly Quakers." See "New Jersey Archives," Ist series, vol. iv., pp. 156, 225.
The Trenton "State Gazette," May, 1881, contained the following article descriptive of the church property held by the Episcopalians :
The document, of which the following is a copy, represents the first establishment of the Episcopal Church of Trenton, New Jersey. It was located on a part of the 5,000 acres taken up by Thomas Hutchin- son, known as "Hutchinson's Manor," which had then, by the death of Thomas, fallen to his only son, John Hutchinson. Part of its walls are still standing on a hill a short distance beyond the State Lunatic Asylum. It was used by the Episcopalians until the building of their church (St. Michael's) in Trenton.
It is worthy of note that Thomas Tindall was most prominent in its establishment and erection, and was one of its first Wardens.
Thomas Hutchinson (the proprietor) had only one son, "John" here named. John had two sons, Marmaduke and Isaac. Marmaduke did not attain manhood. Isaac was living in Trenton in 1749, after which all trace is lost of him, and of the descendants of Thomas Hutchinson.
"Richard Ingoldsby, Esquire, Lieut. Governor of Her Majesties Provinces of New Jersey, New York, and all the Territories, &c, depending thereon, in America &c .-
To Thomas Tindall, Roger Parke, Robert Eaton and Andrew Heath, Greeting .-
Whereas several of the Inhabitants of the Township of Hope- well, in her Majesty's Province of New Jersey, out of a pious designe, to promote the honour of God, and the advancement of the Protestant religion, and Church of England, as by law established; and in order thereunto, have purchased a convenient Tract of Land of John Hutchinson, deceased, as by the deed of sale thereof, bearing date, the twentieth day of April Anno Dom. 1703, for the erecting and building a house for the more decent worshipping of God, accord- ing to the usage aforesaid; and have by voluntary contributions begun to erect and build the same; for which they have also desired my Lycense,-
These are therefore to Lycense, authorise or empower you, or any three or more of you, to erect and build, upon the said Tract of Land, as purchased, as aforesaid; a church or place for the more decent worshipping of God, according to the forms and worship of the Church of England as by law established; and also to take and receive such gifts and Contributions as well-disposed people shall voluntarily bestow, for the said pious designe .-
Hereby appointing ye the said Thomas Tindall and Robert Eaton
298
APPENDIX.
to be church wardens, of the said church; to be called by the name of "Christ Church", for the year next ensuing .-
Giving hereby and Granting unto you; in Conjunction, with the minister and vestry, of the said church, all such power and privileges as the minister, Church wardens and vestrymen, usually have and enjoy in the Kingdom of England.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seale, the third day of April, Anno Reg. Regn Anna Nunc Anatic &c .- Anno Dom. 1705.
By his honners Commd.
J. Bass."
RICH. INGOLDSBY.
7. "John Dagworthy," 1732, New Jersey Archives, vol. v., p. 317.
8. Richard Scudder and Jacob Reeder, whose names are at the head of the list on page 19, were lineal ancestors of Jasper S. Scudder and wife, their great-great-grandfathers respectively. The great-great- grandfathers, great-grandfathers, grandfathers and fathers of each are buried in the Ewing church-yard; and Jasper S. Scudder and wife have a son and grandson there-seven generations (including J. S. S. and wife, living in 1867).
9. The genealogy of the family of Burroughs may be found in Riker's Annals of Newtown, Queen's County, New York, published in 1852. The first of the name came from England to Salem, Massa- chusetts, in 1637, and died in 1678. His name was John. His son, Joseph, "a liberal supporter of the Presbyterian ministry in Newtown," died in 1738. Joseph's son, John, who married Margaret Renne in 1721, "owned land at Trenton," and died at Newtown, July 7, 1750. Mr. Charles Burroughs, who has been a trustee of our church since 1826, is a great grandson of the grantee in Lockart's deed. His father, John Burroughs, died in Trenton, April 28, 1842, in his eighty-ninth year.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.