USA > New Jersey > Cumberland County > History of the early settlement and progress of Cumberland County, New Jersey and of the currency of this and the adjoining colonies. > Part 10
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In 1729 Rev. Daniel Elmer came from Connecticut, and was ordained and installed the pastor. His wife, and the wife of Joseph Smith, who had been settled here a short time twenty years before, were connections of the Parsons family, so that it is proba- ble Elmer was sent here by Smith. He was a graduate of Yale College, and had for some time taught a grammar school at West Springfield. He found the title of the property at New England Town in a very unsatisfactory situation. He, however, soon built himself a comfortable house, near the meeting-house, which was burned down shortly before his death. The church records were then destroyed. He cultivated the farm adjoining, and it is believed was sometimes employed as a surveyor, a business to which his eldest son Daniel was educated, and which he followed until his death.
In the year 1741 the great schism occurred in the Presbyterian body, by which it was separated into two parties, called old-lights and new-lights, Mr. Elmer adhering to the old-lights. Whitfield preached in 1740 at Greenwich, and produced a powerful effect on many of his hearers, including the younger Daniel Elmer, who was then married and lived at Cedarville. He joined the new side, and was accustomed, for several years, to pass by his father's meeting-house, and go to Greenwich, which had a new-light minis- ter. When the meeting-house near his residence, built by his
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father-in-law Lorrance, came into his possession, he was in the habit of having the prominent new-lights preach there; and among them, the tradition always has been, Whitfield. This must have been during his second visit to this country, about 1747-8. It is certain that the breach went so far, that his children, born in 1750 and 1752, were baptized by Mr. Hunter, and not by his father, as the older ones had been. The writer heard from his father, that upon one occasion, when his son was present, the father preached on the subject of the schism, and became so pointed in his remarks that Daniel left the house. His father, seeing this movement, directed one of his elders to go out, and require him, in God's name, to return. He refused to obey the summons, and upon the elder being asked if he had summoned him in God's name, he replied, no; that he did not see that he had any authority to do that. Thereupon, after a considerable pause, the old gentleman said, "Perhaps we had better drop the subject," and did so. The minister appears to have frequently complained of his troubles to the Presbytery. In September, 1754, the Synod appointed a com- mittee to endeavor to remove the difficulties in the congregation ; but his death in January, 1755, put an end to the proceedings .*
* Rev. Daniel Elmer was the grandson of Edward Elmer, who came over from England to America as one of the congregation of Rev. Thomas Hooker, in 1632. They constituted a church at Cambridge, Massachusetts, but in 1636, with Hooker at their head, and carrying Mrs. H. in a litter, driving 160 cattle, for the sake of their milk to use by the way, and to stock a new settlement, went across the wil- derness to Hartford, Connecticut. Edward was a magistrate, and purchased a large tract of land on the Podunk River, and was killed by the Indians in 1676.
The family name was originally Aylmer-in Latin, Almer-and were settled in England as early as 1306, one of them being a Chief Baron of the Exchequer. John Aylmer, who was educated at Oxford, and was a Protestant, was tutor of the celebrated and unfortunate Lady Jane Grey, and was, in 1568, by Queen Elizabeth, made Bishop of London, by the name of John Elmer. Edward is believed to have been his grandson.
Daniel Elmer had three sons and four daughters, all of whom left descendants, still remaining in the county, and now become very numerous. His oldest son, Daniel, born in Massachusetts, who died in 1761, clerk of the county court, was a leading citizen at Fairfield, and so was Theophilus. Most of the name now residing in Bridgeton are descendants of Daniel second, Charles E. Elmer, Esq., being the heir, according to the rules of the common law ; and his son Daniel, the seventh oldest son in regular lineal descent, bearing that name.
Rev. Jonathan Elmer, long a prominent Presbyterian minister in Essex County, N. J., before the Revolution, was a cousin of Rev. Daniel, and has left descendants living in the northern part of the State and in New York. One of his brothers, who was a Colonel in the Connecticut line, was commissioned as Samuel Elmore,
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The people now showed a disposition to unite, and in June, 1755, Thomas Ogden, one of the elders, proceeded to New Haven with a letter from Dr. Alison, of Philadelphia, to Mr. Stiles. IIe writes : "These wait on you in favor of the church at Fairfield, in New Jersey, which was formerly under the care of Mr. Daniel Elmer. They were divided in his time, but have now agreed, by advice of our Presbytery, to invite a minister from Connecticut, and, if they can be happily supplied, to bury all their contentions, and to unite under his ministry." No minister was found in Connecticut; but William Ramsey, of Irish descent, who had graduated at Princeton in 1754, soon went to Fairfield, and was licensed and ordained, and settled there by the Abingdon Presby- tery, a new light Presbytery, to which he belonged in 1756. In 1758 the breach of the Presbyterian church was healed, and the two hostile Synods united; after which Mr. Ramsey and his church joined the old Presbytery of Philadelphia. He was a man of ardent piety and eloquence, and succeeded in producing harmony. The members, as recorded in his record of the Session in 1759, were 78. In 1758 he married the eldest daughter of Col. Ephraim Seeley, of Bridgeton, his congregation including persons residing there and at the Indian fields. Col. Seeley was himself a Baptist, but his wife, in 1761, connected herself with Mr. Ramsey's church, and the family attended his services. Upon the occasion of his marriage his people purchased a parsonage, consisting of a farm of 150 acres in Sayres' Neck, about a mile southwest of where the old stone church now stands; and here he resided until his death in 1771. About 1765 a powerful revival of religious feeling occurred, in which, as recorded by Ebenezer Elmer, then about thirteen years old, "the young, in general, became very much engaged, and we had meeting at least twice a week during all the summer and fall." About sixty new members were added to the church.
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He was succeeded by the Rev. William Hollinshead, who was quite distinguished as a preacher, and who was installed in 1773. The troubles and privations produced by the Revolutionary War
and having afterwards adopted that spelling, his descendants continue to write their names in that way. Several of the name of Elmore have lived in the Southern States, and perhaps still do; one of whom was formerly a senator of the United States from South Carolina, and one was Treasurer of the "Confederate States," when the seat of government was at Montgomery.
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fell heavily on the congregation, and, to increase their difficulties, it became necessary to build a new meeting-house. The ground was purchased in 1775, and subscriptions obtained to commence the work. It was, however, suspended until 1780, when, under the energetic superintendence of Theophilus Elmer, one of the sons of Rev. Daniel Elmer, who resided at New England Town, it was resumed. In September, 1780, Mr. Hollinshead preached the first sermon in it, but a year elapsed before it was completed, and rules adopted for selling and renting the seats. Those down-stairs were rented at the annual rental of £65 10s., and those up-stairs at about £36; in all £100, or $266. In 1783 the society was incor- porated by a special act of assembly ; and in the same year Mr. Hollinshead left, having been chosen pastor of the principal church in Charleston, South Carolina, where he remained until his death. A very signal revival of religion occurred in the winter of 1780-81. The next spring forty-eight new members were added, and the succeeding winter forty-six more followed by a few others; in all, during these years, one hundred and fifteen.
In 1786 the parsonage was rented on shares. In 1788 the Rev. Ethan Osborn, then 30 years old, of Litchfield, Connecticut, having visited Philadelphia, was induced by the Rev. Dr. Sproat to extend his journey to Fairfield. He preached for them on trial, according to the fashion of the day, for six months. March 11th, 1789, the trustees' book records: "It was agreed to pay 15s. hard money per week for the keep of Mr. Osborn and horse." This sum was nominally two dollars; but paid in hard money, and making allowance for the difference in prices, was equivalent to five dollars in specie now. Having received a unanimous call to be pastor, he accepted it, and was ordained and installed December 3d, 1789.
In 1794 he married Elizabeth Riley, residing at Indian-fields near Bridgeton, whose parents formed a part of his congregation, and commenced housekeeping at the parsonage. After a few years, however, he preferred to follow the New England fashion of having a homestead of his own, and accordingly purchased, and enlarged the house, about a mile from his church, on the northeast side of the road to Cedarville, where he took up his residence in 1803, and continued to occupy it fifty-five years; transmitting it to his family, one of his sons now owning it. His salary at first was £100; soon after his marriage it was raised to £125, but in 1802 it was put back to the original sum. In 1803 it was fixed at $300
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and of course included the use or rent of the parsonage farm. In 1807 it was resolved to sell the parsonage, and the salary was put at $400. In 1809 the salary was raised to $450, and in 1812 to $500. Upon this pittance he raised a large and interesting family, and although of course always straitened, lived, according to the habits of his day, in comfort. The writer well remembers calling at his house, with a company of young persons, to see his eldest daughter, then a young lady of prepossessing manners and appear- ance, in the year 1814. Some one asking for water, it was brought in a glass pitcher, but no drinking glasses. With a peculiar pleasant smile Mr. Osborn remarked, "I would tell you that all our glasses got broken, and in these war times we could not afford to buy any more, but it rather mortifies Mrs. Osborn (who was present), so I suppose I musn't say anything about it."
Mr. Osborn was a remarkable man, and obtained a character and influence, not only in his own congregation, but throughout the county, which no one else can expect to emulate. So scattered was his congregation, and such had been the effect of the destitu- tion of preaching, following the removal of Mr. Hollinshead, that he found only 125 members on his arrival. But his labors were greatly blessed. In 1809 and 1810, there was a special awakening, so that 120 members were added to his church. In 1819 there was again a revival, 56 being added at one time. Again in 1827 there were 51 additions; and in 1831 about 80 were added. The total number of members at that time was 336; and the congrega- tion had so increased that the old stone church had become filled. Not a pew, and scarcely a sitting either on the floor or in the spacious galleries, could be obtained by a new-comer. During his pastorate, which lasted fifty-five years, he admitted more than six hundred members to the communion of his church. In 1836, having reached his 78th year, Rev. David Mckee was installed as co-pastor, and he relinquished $200 of his salary. Mr. McKee continued in this relation about two years. In 1844 Mr. Osborn resigned, at the age of 86. His last sermon was preached in 1850, in the old stone church, being a solemn farewell to that place, hallowed by so many endearing associations, and to the people so long under his charge. From this time his faculties gradually decayed; but he survived eight years longer; at the time of his decease, lacking only three months and twenty days to make his age one hundred years!
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The lower part of the township having, during the fore part of this century, very considerably increased in population and wealth, a disposition began to be shown to establish a new church at Cedar- ville. In 1819 the question was brought to a vote of the congre- gation, when 43 voted in favor of the proposition and 45 against it. About 1837 occurred the division of the Presbyterian church into Old School and New School. Mr. Osborn belonged to the New School party, but the preference of many of his church was for the other side. This led to the establishment of the brick church at Cedarville, which now numbers 195 members.
A New School Presbyterian church was also established about the same time at Cedarville, which still continues, numbering 120 members. The congregation worshipping in the stone church soon removed to the village of Fairton, where a handsome edifice was erected, and the church there now numbers 140 members; claiming, it is believed without dispute, to be the legal successor of the old Cohansey Presbyterian Church; thus, after near a century and a half, multiplied to three; having three pastors and an aggregate of 355 members.
At what precise time a Presbyterian church was constituted at Greenwich there is no means of knowing. From the letter of An- drews, referred to in the account of the church at Fairfield, it ap- pears there was a separate congregation there before 1722, to whom the minister at Fairfield was accustomed to preach. There was a constant intercourse between the two places, many of the settlers at Greenwich having gone there from Fairfield. Both places, al- though spoken of for many years as Cohansey, or as in Cohansey, were named from towns in Connecticut. In 1717 land was con- veyed by Jeremiah Bacon to trustees, for the people called Pres- byterian on the north side of Cohansey. Although this mode of referring to them has been thought to indicate that they were con- stituted a distinct church before this time, the language is entirely consistent with the people being still connected with the Cohansey church at Fairfield. Settlers were constantly arriving from Scot- land and the north of Ireland, most of whom established them- selves on the north side of Cohansey, so that while the New Eng- land element prevailed at Fairfield it was otherwise at Greenwich; and when the division occurred, the former, as a general rule, ad- hered to the old side, while the latter were warm supporters of the New Lights, or followers of Whitfield.
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There is no evidence in the minutes of the Presbytery and Synod of an organized church at Greenwich until 1728, when Ebenezer Gould, a graduate of Yale, and friend of Daniel Elmer, was in- stalled the pastor. A wooden meeting-house was erected a little before this time, but in a few years was superseded by one of brick 34 by 44 feet, which was not finished until 1751, although occu- pied for worship several years sooner. It was considered at this time the largest and most imposing church edifice in South Jersey. At first the only pews it contained were those constructed around the walls, each pew being built at the expense of its occupant, the area in the middle being furnished with benches. The galleries were originally reached by a stairway on the outside of the build- ing. It stood on the lot still used as a burial place at the place usually called the "head of Greenwich," and remained until when one of brick was erected on the opposite side of the street; enlarged to its present dimensions in 1860.
Gould left in 1739 and went to Long Island. The church re- mained vacant several years, but was from time to time supplied by Tennant, Blair, and other eminent ministers of the new side. The celebrated Whitfield preached here in 1740, not in the church building, which could not hold his hearers, but on the side of the ' hill, northeast of the church, then covered with the original forest. His journal records that he crossed the Delaware from Philadel- phia in the morning of Monday, preached in the middle of the day at Gloucester, then the county seat, and in the evening at Green- wich, where he passed the night. This was at or near the place now called Clarksboro', then and still the township of Greenwich. On the next day he rode to Pilesgrove, now Pittsgrove, and preached there. The next day he preached at what he calls Cohansey, no doubt meaning Greenwich, from whence on the next day he went to Salem and preached there. At Greenwich, his journal states, "The words gradually struck the hearers till the whole congrega- tion was greatly moved, and two cried out in the bitterness of their souls after a crucified Saviour, and were scarcely able to stand."
Andrew Hunter, from Ireland, an uncle of another Andrew Hun- ter, father of the present General Hunter, and of Andrew Hunter, Esq., deceased, an eminent lawyer at Trenton, and formerly Attor- ney-General of this State, was settled in 1746 by the New Bruns- wick Presbytery, controlled by the New Lights with which the church remained connected until the union of the two parties, when
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it returned to the Presbytery of Philadelphia. He was also in- stalled pastor of the Deerfield church, this connection remaining until 1760. He died in 1775 of a malignant dysentery, which was very fatal that year. A vacancy then occurred, during the trouble- some time of the Revolution, and the church was obliged to depend upon casual supplies. In 1782 George Faitoute was installed, re- maining until 1790, when he removed to Long Island. He, how- ever, occasionally officiated afterwards at Greenwich, the writer having been baptized by him there in 1793.
In 1795 a union was formed with the newly-constituted church at Bridgeton, and William Clarkson was installed as the joint- pastor, remaining until 1801, when he removed to Savannah. Jonathan Freeman succeeded him in 1805, and remained pastor until 1822, when he died. The practice of these ministers was to preach in the morning of the Sabbath at Greenwich, and in the afternoon at Bridgeton. After 1810, when Mr. Freeman took up his residence in Bridgeton, he also preached in the court-house in the evenings of Sunday and Wednesday.
A parsonage farm was purchased for the Greenwich pastor in 1754, near Bowentown, immediately south of the Baptist parson- age. Mr. Clarkson and Mr. Freeman both resided here during the early part of their settlement, but they both soon removed to Bridgetown. It was sold in 1811.
The upper part of Deerfield and Hopewell townships, especially in the neighborhood of the streams flowing into the Cohansey, having a fertile soil, were settled at a pretty early date, among whom were a number of Presbyterians. They, in union with the people of Pilesgrove, of which Pittsgrove then made a part, took measures as early as 1732 to organize a religious society. In 1737 a log building was erected for worship in Deerfield, and the Rev. Daniel Buckingham preached there, and at Pilesgrove, in 1738. The Pilesgrove people insisted upon having a distinct organization, and after much contention, a commission of the presbytery acceded to their request, on condition that the house should not be nearer to the Deerfield house than six miles. David Evans was settled at Pilesgrove, but the Deerfield Church went over to the new side, and depended on supplies until they united with Greenwich, in 1746, and Mr. Hunter became the pastor of the united churches. This connection, being found too inconvenient, was dissolved in 1760.
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The next pastor at Deerfield was Simon Williams, who was set- tled in 1764, and remained two years. In 1767 Enoch Green became the pastor, and so continued until 1776, when he died. He was much esteemed as a preacher and scholar. For several years he taught a classical school. In 1777 John Brainerd, a brother of the celebrated missionary, David Brainerd, was settled. He died in 1781. Both these ministers were buried there. In 1783 Simon Hyde was installed, but he died during the same year. In 1786 William Pickles, an Englishman of extraordinary eloquence, was installed. It was not long, however, before he showed himself unfit for the office, and he was deposed by the Presbytery. John Davenport suc- ceeded him, being installed in 1795, and was dismissed in 1805. Nathaniel Reeve was installed in 1795, removing in 1817 to Long Island. Several others have succeeded, in all not less than seven. The church is now prosperous, numbering 145 members. This church is believed to be the only one in the county retaining a farm attached to the parsonage. Besides the farm it owns a considerable tract of wood land, which has been the means, by the sale of the wood, of adding considerably to its resources. The stone church now occupied was built in 1771 and enlarged and improved in 1859.
Bridgeton remained without any organized church, or any place of worship but the court-house, forty-five years after it became the county town. The Presbyterians residing there or in the vi- cinity worshipped at Fairfield or Greenwich, and the Baptists at the old Cohansey church, in Lower Hopewell. The question of having a church in the town began to be agitated, however, about 1770. An unexecuted will of Alexander Moore, on file in the surrogate's office, dated in that year, contains a devise of a lot of land 13 by 15 perches, lying within and described on the plan of the town made for him by Daniel Elmer, on the east side of the river, for the sole use of a Presbyterian meeting-house and burial-ground; and also a legacy of £50, to aid in building the house. The lot was situated on the north side of Commerce Street, a little above where Pearl Street now is. In 1774 some subscriptions were made to carry out this plan, and stone was brought on the lot, but the building was never commenced. The stones were used in building a house, which used to stand nearly opposite the proposed site at the corner of Commerce and Pearl Streets, which for many years was owned and occupied by Mark Riley, who belonged to a family
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from Connecticut who settled at an early day on the Indian Field tract.
At this time, and during several years afterwards, the most influ- ential, and indeed the larger part of the inhabitants, lived on the west side of the river. There was no little strife in regard to the site. Dr. John Fithian offered a lot at the southeast corner of Broad and Giles Streets. Several meetings, to agree upon the place, were held without any result. At length, in 1791, through the influence of Dr. Jonathan Elmer, Col. Potter and Gen. Giles, Mark Miller, the son and heir of Ebenezer Miller, who was a Friend, agreed in consideration of a promise made by his father, to give the lot, containing two acres, then and still at the extreme west end of the town, "to be used, occupied, and enjoyed by the inhabitants of Bridgetown forever, for the purposes of a burying-ground for all said inhabitants generally, and for erecting thereon a house for the public worship of Almighty God." To this lot additions were made by subsequent purchases.
About £600, or $1600, were subscribed, and the building com- menced in 1792, but the money raised was only sufficient to put up the walls and roof of the house. In 1793 a law of the State was obtained, authorizing the trustees to raise $2000 by means of a lottery, in accordance with a practice then very common. By this* means the money was obtained, and in 1795 the house was so far completed as to be opened for public worship. At this time the public, or, as it was still called by old people, the King's highway to Greenwich, ran through the middle of the lot, a little south of the church building; but it was now altered by extending to Broad Street, or, as it was then called, High or Main Street, up to Fourth Street, as West Street was then called, and the road to Greenwich passed to the north and west of the church lots. The fence around the graveyard was first put up and the old King's highway closed in 1802. Many of the posts, which were of red cedar, are now, after a lapse of sixty years, in good condition. In 1792 a church had been duly constituted by the Presbytery of Philadelphia, which united with the church at Greenwich, and so continued until the death of Mr. Freeman in 1822.
Brogan Hoff became the pastor in 1824, and left in 1833. The session-house at the corner of Commerce and Pearl Streets was built in 1826, and continued to be used there for lectures, prayer meetings, and the Sabbath school until 1863, when it was removed
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to its present site. In 1834 John Kennedy became the pastor, and removed in 1838.
In 1835 the congregation resolved to build a new church edifice on the east side of the river, which was done, and the house on Laurel Street was opened for worship in 1836. In 1839 Samuel B. Jones became the pastor, and continued until 1863, when he resigned. It contains now 281 members.
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