USA > New Jersey > Memorial cyclopedia of New Jersey, Volume I > Part 51
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reared in that faith; but carefully educated as he had been in one of the strict old pat- riarchal families, the prevalent laxity of morals and religion shocked him, and he left his home irresolute.
Visiting Bavaria, he there came under the teaching and advice of some of the leading bishops of the Roman Catholic church, with the result that he resolved to devote himself to the priesthood. After a thorough course of study, he was ordained in 1826, by the venerable Bishop Sailer, of Ratisbon, in whose diocese he labored for eight years. He then sailed for America in 1834, and was at first stationed at Holy Trinity Church, Philadelphia, where he re- mained a year ; and then became the asso- ciate of the Russian Count Demetrius Au- gustine Gallitzin, whose father was a Rus- sian prince, and his mother a daughter of the celebrated general, the Count of Schmet- tan. Count Gallitzin was one who gave up position and fortune, everything, in fact, to establish a church in the wilderness of Western Pennsylvania. Father Lempke was associated with Count Gallitzin for five years and until his death, and then became his biographer. He subsequently secured a tract of land in Westmoreland county, Penn- sylvania, and then returned to Germany, and brought back with him a colony of monks of the Order of St. Benedict, and founded the Abbey of St. Vincennes, on the above mentioned land. In the meantime, Father Lempke became a member of the order, and, leaving the colony in Pennsyl- vania in a prosperous condition, in 1856, went to Kansas and inaugurated a mission of his order in the town of Doniphan, which was afterwards transferred to the priory of Atchison, in the same State. In 1859 he left Kansas, and again vis- ited Germany, where he sojourned a year. Returning once more to the United States in 1860, he came to New Jersey to take temporary charge of St. Michael's Church, Elizabeth. This parish was in an enfeebled condition, but he brought it safe-
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ly through all difficulties, and in the course VERBRYCK, Rev. Samuel, of five years it had become too small to ac- commodate its worshippers. In ISós the congregation was divided. and. leaving the German element to retain possession of the Church of St. Michael, he. with the Irish members, commenced the erection of the Convent and Church of St. Walburga, which was regularly chartered in 18.S. The convent contained a large number of nuns of the Order of St. Benedict, and he was their chaplain, besides acting as pastor to those of his faith in that portion of the city of Elizabeth. On St. Mark's Day. April 25. 1876, he celebrated his golden jubilee, being the fiftieth anniversary of his induc- tion into the sacred order of the priesthood, on which occasion the little chapel of St. Walburga's Convent was the scene of an unwonted display. Both the pastoral res- idence and the chapel itself were decorated with arches of green, and the Bishops of Newark and Rochester. New York. pre- ceded by nearly one hundred priests, es- corted the venerable father and priest to the church. A solemn high mass was sung, and a sermon was preached by Bishop Mc- Quade, of Rochester, who paid a merited tribute to the veteran priest, and the bene- - diction was given by Bishop Corrigan. of Newark. At the altar a fine golden chalice was presented to him by a pupil of the Bene- dictine nuns, as the offering of the sisters and their pupils. One of the. congregation gave an elegant altar ; another, a set of vest- ments ; others, a fine cope : and at the din- . "Classis of Amsterdam to discipline him for ner which followed the services. Vicar Gen- contumacy. They especially complained that if he should get the charter for an academy, it would only tend to increase the same kind of ministers. But the dominie persisted, and he was prominent as an agent in bringing about the restored peace of the church. cral Doane. in the name of the clergy of the diocese. presented the reverend father with a purse containing nearly a thousand dollars. Father Lempke was a hale and hearty man : his appearance was impressive ; heightened especially by the long white beard, one of the characteristics of his order.
Foremost Founder of Rutgers College.
Bernardus Verbryck, the first member of this family of whom we have definite infor- mation, settled on the Raritan, in Somerset county, New Jersey. He is said to have been the son of Samuel and Ida (Barends) Garretsen of Gravesend, Long Island. . .
The Rev. Samuel Verbryck, son of Ber- nardus Verbryck, was born in Somerset county, New Jersey, April 30, 1721, and died at Clarkstown, Rockland county, New York, January 31, 1784. He undertook to learn the trade of wheelwright, but gave it up in order to study for the ministry under Dominie Goetschius. By permission of the Classis of Amsterdam he was examined and ordained by the Coetus in this country, which speaks highly of his scholarly attain- ments and excellent life, and these tributes are sustained by all that tradition has handed down of his ministerial record. The Coetus and Conferentie troubles ran high during the first twenty years of his ministry, and the American Revolution came and went during its last nine years, so his whole period at Tappan was one of intense excite- ment. From the first he was with the majority of his people on the side of the Coetus. In 1761 he sought to obtain from the government a charter for an academy, and also opposed fixed forms of prayer and festival days. On account of these things some of his ministerial brethren asked the
He secured from the governor of- New Jersey the original charter for Queens (now
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Rutgers) College, bearing date March 20, 1770, was one of the original trustees of the college, and did everything in his power to promote the education of young men, partic- ularly for the ministry. He seems in all this to have been far in advance even of most ministers of his time. His zeal was so great as to give offense to some of his people at Tappan, so that they refused to pay their. share of his salary. His good judgment, however, carried him through the excitement, and brought him success. Yet it was providentially ordered that his life should be a disturbed life to the end. Scarcely had the church controversy been adjusted when the Revolution broke out. The historic identification of Tappan, its roads and hills, its homes, and even its old church with the incidents of the war, are historical. Dominie Verbryck was a genu- ine patriot, and as such was one of the sufferers in the struggle of the country for independence. After having been annoyed during his first twenty years by the opposi- tion of Dominie Muzelius, and in the last of these twenty years by the springing up of a schismatic organization among his people, he was destined to have his church life and work still further disturbed by the war, and his church edifice itself used as a court room and a prison. It is even said that at one time he was himself taken prisoner and confined in the Hackensack jail. Through all these trials, however, he seems to have borne himself with exemplary patience. and to have left behind him at his death the memory of a godly life and of an eminently practical and useful ministry. The compiler of this sketch of him has been through life intimately acquainted with his descendants from his own children down through their children and children's children. Especially is the memory very precious of his honored son, Samuel G. Verbryck, who during the greater part of half a century down to 1835 led the Dutch singing in the Tappan church. All the dominie's children are mentioned in liis will. The remains of himself and his wife
are interred at Tappan. They lie in the graveyard on the west side of the road. The spots are still marked by the original stones. He married, in Hackensack, New Jersey, April 7, 1750, Susanna, daughter of Hendrick and Ariaentje (Westervelt) Van der Linde.
HOLDEN, Captain Levi,
Revolutionary Officer.
But little is known of the history of Levi Holden, except that he came of the same stock which produced boys in Boston whose liberty-loving spirit is said to have touched the heart and won the admiration of the British commander, General Gage, prior to the evacuation.
He was a native of the suburbs of Boston, but was hemmed in in the city when the Brit- ish landed there in force. He made several unsuccessful attempts to escape to the country by secreting himself in scavenger boats. In the same house with him, on friendly terms, stopped a British officer. The latter displayed a deep interest in Holden's business, that of chocolate dealing, and seemed disposed to engage in it. One day he procured a horse and chaise and started with Holden for a drive in the out- skirts of the town, beyond the line of the British sentries. Holden saw that his time to strike for liberty had come. Commanding all his resolution, he seized the reins, and told the officer in tones admitting of no doubt as to his determination, that he must alight and allow him (Holden) to pursue his own way .. Courteously, but with great firmness, he informed the officer that he was going to fight against him, was going to take up arms and join the American forces under George Washington. Taken wholly by surprise, the officer made no resistance, and did as directed. He walked back to Boston and Holden pushed on to his native village. Before nightfall he had begun to enroll a company of brave young spirits like himself, and within two weeks
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he had a band of seventy-four, the youngest being but fourteen years of age, and the oldest not yet out of his teens. Captain Holden's company is said to have borne a reputation for gallantry second to none in the service. With their spirited commander they served in nearly every battle of the Revolution except Bunker Hill. When that was fought the captain was still in Boston. Captain Holden's name is regularly entered in the official roster of the Jersey Line as compiled at Trenton in 1872, and is credited to Essex county ; but his family state that he did not come to Newark to settle until about the year 1800. They are also author- ity for mentioning him as of Washington's life or bodyguard, whose commander at one time was Captain William Colfax, of Pompton, and whose motto was "Conquer or Die."
For twenty-five years after settling with his family in Newark, Captain Holden conducted a profitable business there. He died in 1825, and was buried in Trinity church-yard, at the rear of the chapel in Rector street. The tooth of time has eaten away much of the legibility of the inscrip- tion on his marble headstone, so that it is with difficulty the following lines were deciphered :
Sacred To the memory of Levi Holden
Who departed this life 19th of April, 1825, in the 70th year of his age. He was a Revolution- ary soldier, a tried and gallant officer, a nian of temper firm and resolute, of affection, temperate, steady and benevolent, of industry, active and unreserved. His amiable character shone most conspicuous in the domestic circles. He adorned the several relations of husband, father, and neighbor. Through a life of unvaried integrity, his candor, frankness, and love of truth, endeared him to all. Those qualities, united with faith in the Redeemer, upon whose merits he alone re- lied, and whose presence supported him in his last moments, afford persuasive evidence that his spirit has entered that mansion of the blessed, and that in the morning of the resurrection his body will rise to immortal life.
KINNEY, Thomas and Abraham,
Patriots of the Revolution.
The Kinney family has been resident in New Jersey since about the middle of the eighteenth century. Originally established in Morris county, where it possessed ex- tensive landed property, it was identified with the early iron manufacturing industry, and took an active part in public affairs be- fore, during, and after the Revolution, and removed in the latter part of the eighteenth century to Newark, and in that city has since continued. Of pure Scottish lineage, traceable with genealogical precision to the twelfth century, this family bears no an- cestral relationship to other present New Jersey families of the name Kinney, or Kinne, which are of Dutch origin.
Thomas Kinney, eldest son of James and Elizabeth (Kelsey') Kinney, was born in Carlung, Scotland, April 9, 1731, and died in Morristown, New Jersey, April 2, 1793. He probably came to America as early as 1755, for it is known that he was married in New Jersey, and that two of his children were baptized in the First Presbyterian Church, of Morristown. Doubtless in mak- ing this change of abode he was actuated by the examples of several of his near kinsmen, especially his paternal uncle, John Kenny, who had for some time been established and was influential in Morris county. Possess- ing substantial means, he soon acquired much property in lands, and also interested himself with his Uncle John and Colonel Jacob Arnold in the iron manufacturing business. The second slitting mill in the county was erected at Speedwell, near Mor- ristown, by the Kinneys and Arnold. Al- though the partnership was dissolved in 1779, Thomas Kinney continued until his death as one of the proprietors of this foundry. He was the owner of a large farm in Morristown, on which stood the noted tavern where Washington had his headquarters in 1777. known as the Arnold
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Tavern (having been sold by Kinney to his partner, Colonel Jacob Arnold). It has since been moved and now constitutes a por- tion of All Souls' Hospital.
A man of energetic character, he was prominently and usefully identified with public affairs. From 1773 to 1776 he was high sheriff of Morris county. In the Rev- olution he took a zealous and influential part from the very beginning. He was instru- mental in raising and equipping a company of light horse for service with the New Jersey forces, of which he was made cap- tain. This company, under his command, was designated by the Revolutionary au- thorities to escort the Tory governor, Sir William Franklin, to Connecticut-a service for which he was rewarded by the legisla- ture. Resigning his military commission, he was succeeded by Colonel Jacob Arnold, under whose leadership the company, known as Arnold's Light Horse, became noted. In 1769 he subscribed to increase the capital of the College of New Jersey ( Princeton University), and he was prominent in the Masonic order, being a member of Newark (now St. John's) Lodge, No. I, established in 1761. In the public and other records he is always referred to as Thomas Kin- ney, Esquire, a designation of distinction in those times.
He married his cousin, Elizabeth, daugh- ter of John Kenny, of Hanover township, Morris county, New Jersey; she was born March 23, 1736, died April 23, 1789. Hus- band and wife lie buried side by side in the cemetery of the First Presbyterian Church, of Morristown. Their tombstones, very large horizontal slabs. are excellently pre- served, and the inscriptions are perfectly legible.
Abraham, third child of Thomas and Eliz- abeth (Kenny) Kinney, was born in Speed- well, New Jersey, August 16, 1762; died in Newark, New Jersey, January 31, 1816. Like his father lie was an active patriot in the Revolution, the records showing that on May 14, 1779, he was ensign in the Third
Regiment Pennsylvania Line, and June 14, 1781, lieutenant of the Second Regiment Continental Dragoons. After the Revolu- tion he was lieutenant-colonel of the Morris and Sussex cavalry, and in that capacity served through the war of 1812, being sta- tioned at Sandy Hook. Some years after his marriage he removed from Morris coun- ty to Newark, where he spent the remainder of his life. His high personal character is indicated by an entry in the family Bible in his widow's handwriting, following the record of his death-"the tenderest and most affectionate of husbands and fathers."
He married, January 12, 1784, Hannah, daughter of Dr. William Burnet, the elder, and Mary Camp. She was born in Newark, May 24, 1761, died there, April 6, 1832. Remarkable for her piety and good works, she was much beloved by an admiring circle of friends, and at this day, nearly eighty years after her death, philanthropic and Christian influences which she was largely instrumental in setting in motion are still active in Newark. She was one of the or- ganizers (January 31, 1803) of the Female Charitable Society of that city, and was its first directress. The minutes of the society contain frequent allusions to Mrs. Kinney, and in several passages are eloquently sug- gestive of her exalted spirit. Under date of April 28, 1805, it is stated that "Mrs. Kinney read a most tender and pathetic ad- dress, composed by herself, for the benevo- lent purpose of exciting sympathy in the bosoms of all present for the afflictions of the poor and distressed." For some years after her husband's death she resided with a brother in Cincinnati, but the concluding portion of her life was passed in Newark. She left a number of diaries, preserved by the family, which are records of an intense but practical piety. Her portrait is expres- sive of a nature of exquisite delicacy, sweet- ness and charm. She was a descendant from Thomas. Burnet, born in Scotland, emigrated to Massachusetts, and removed to Southampton, Long Island, where he
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a member of the Congress of the United States for 1780-81. Dr. Burnet was highly esteemed as a very skillful and successful physician. He was one of the founders of the State Medical Society, and was its presi- dent in 1767, and again in 1786. In 1754 he married Mary, daughter of Nathaniel Camp, by whom he had eleven children, among whose descendants we find the names of many of the most eminent citizens of New Jersey. Of his six sons, one died at the age of ten years, one became a merchant, three became lawyers, and one was a physician. In domestic and social life he exhibited all the qualities of a true gentleman and an earnest Christian. He died on October 7, 1791, mourned by all who knew him, and by none more than by the poor, to whom he had always been a most liberal friend.
William Burnet, Jr., who was born in 1754, studied medicine, and settled in Belle- ville, where he entered upon the practice of his profession. He inherited the patriotism of his father, and like him, gave the benefit of his medical knowledge to his country during the Revolutionary War, being com- missioned surgeon in the general hospital, Continental army. He married Joanna, daughter of Captain Joseph Alling, another of the patriots of the Revolution, who com- manded a company of minute-men in the township of Newark, and by her had three daughters, of whom Abigail married Caleb S. Riggs, a lawyer, of New York; Mary married Chief Justice Joseph C. Horn- blower; Caroline married Governor Wil- liam Pennington.
LOW, Isaac,
Early Merchant.
Isaac Low was born in his father's man- sion on the Raritan river, near New Bruns- wick, New Jersey, April 13, 1731, son of Cornelius Low, Jr., and Johanna ( Gouver- neur ) Low, grandson of Cornelius and Mar- garetha (Van Borsom) Lowe, and of Isaac and Sarah (Staats) Gouverneur, and a de-
scendant of Peter Cornellessen Lowe, of Holstein, Germany, who appeared in Esop- us, New York, in 1659, and married Eliza- beth Blanchan, and of Egbert Van Bor- som, a native of Amsterdam, Holland, who was in New Amsterdam (New York), in 1644, married Annekin Hendricks, and oper- ated the ferry between New York and Brooklyn, 1655-63, and of Nicholas Gou- verneur, a French refugee to Holland and thence to New Amsterdam before 1663, who married Machtelt De Reimer, daughter of Isaac and Lisbeth Grevenraet and grand- daughter of Metje Grevenraet, widow, who came from Amsterdam before 1632.
Isaac Low was a partner with Abraham Lot in the importing dry goods and fur business in New York, and built up an im- mense fur trade through the influence of the Schuylers, and also owned large tracts of land in Montgomery county, New York. He was a delegate to the Stamp Act Congress of 1765; made speeches against taxation without representation; was chairman of the first and second committees of fifty to correspond with the colonies; a delegate to the General Congress of all the colonies, Philadelphia, September 5, 1774, and was elected to the Continental Congress to as- semble May 10, 1775. On April 29, 1775, he urged the people to form a compact body "to prevent mobs, to support the civil au- thority, and to defend the rights and liber- ties of the people against the unjust claims of the British ministry," closing his ad- dress by saying that, although a member of the Church of England, "he damned the King, cursed the ministry and insisted that all who refused to sign the 'articles of agree- ment' should be published as the enemies of America and the rights of mankind." He was colonial treasurer and president of the Chamber of Commerce. To the surprise of the patriots, in the spring of 1776, just after the battle of Lexington, he suddenly announced his opposition to any efforts to obtain independence, and his belief that "we ought not to deny the just rights of our
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received his allotment of land, October 16,- man of strong mentality, who won success 1643, and where he died ..
Dr. William Burnet, the elder, born in Lyon's Farms, New Jersey, December 2, 1730 (o. s.), died in Newark, October 7, 1791. He was graduated from the College of New Jersey (then in Newark) in 1749, studied medicine in New York City, and resided and practiced in Newark. He was one of the foremost Revolutionary patriots in New Jersey, active in raising and dis- patching troops. He was presiding judge of Essex county courts, 1776-86; in 1780 dele- gate to the Continental Congress ; a leader in establishing the military hospital in New- ark, and Surgeon-General by appointment from Congress; one of the founders of the New Jersey Medical Society, and a mem- ber of the Society of the Cincinnati. He married (first) January 23, 1754, Mary, daughter of Nathaniel Camp, and had by her eleven children (the fifth of whom was Hannah, wife of Abraham Kinney), of these being Dr. William Burnet, the young- er (whose daughter Mary married Chief Justice Joseph C. Hornblower, and was the mother of the wives of Judge Lewis B. Woodruff, of New York; Justice Joseph P. Bradley, of the United States Supreme Court, and Governor William Pennington, of New Jersey), and Judge Jacob Burnet (who removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, and was a prominent citizen there and author of the "History of the Northwest Territory") ; married (second) 1783, Gertrude, daugh- ter of Nicholas Gouverneur, and widow of Anthony Rutgers, and had by her three chil- dren, of whom were Isaac Gouverneur Bur- net (mayor of Cincinnati), and David G. Burnet (first president of the republic of Texas, 1836).
BURNET, William, M. D.,
Man of Large Accomplishments.
William Burnet, who was a representative member of the medical profession, a man of whom his State may well be proud. a
by his ability, fidelity and perseverance, was born December 2, 1730.
He was graduated in Newark in 1749. from the College of New Jersey, then located in that place, and there settled as a physician, after a course of medical studies in the city of New York. With large exper- ience in his profession, he entered the service of his country at the commencement of the Revolutionary War, as a surgeon of the Second Regiment of Essex county, being the same with which Dr. Uzal Johnson was connected, both receiving their appointments the same day, February 17, 1776. But nearly a year prior to this time, namely, on May 4th, 1775, Dr. Burnet presided at a meeting of the "Freeholders and Inhabitants of the Township of Newark," at which a resolution was adopted in which we find the same sentiment which more than a year afterwards was embodied in the famous "Declaration of Independence." This reso- lution, after rehearsing the "openly avowed design of the ministry of Great Britain," and expressing the horror felt by the people of Newark "at the bloody scene now acting in Massachusetts Bay," thus closes :
"With hearts perfectly abhorrent of slavery (we) do solemnly, under all the sacred ties of religion, honor and love of country, associate and resolve that we will personally, and as far as our influence can extend, endeavor to support and carry into execution whatever measures may be recommended by the Continental Congress or agreed upon by the proposed convention of deputies of this Province for the purpose of pre- serving and fixing our Constitution on a per- manent basis, and opposing the execution of the several despotick and oppressive acts of the Brit- ish Parliament, until the wished-for reconcilia- tion between Great Britain and America on con- stitutional principles can be obtained."
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