USA > New Jersey > Hunterdon County > Frenchtown > Semi-centennial history of the Frenchtown M.E. Church with a chapter of reminiscences, and brief sketches of the pastors, also, a chapter on the part this church bore in suppressing the rebellion > Part 6
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God was very graciously with him, and he had a revival each year, and the converts received, added greatly to the working force of the church. Milford was attached to Frenchtown the third year, and seventy souls were converted. From that revival four young men went out to preach the Gospel, one of them, Nomer J. Wright, of the New Jersey Conference, is doing noble work for Christ and Methodism. Bro. Hayter writes : " We had a noble band of Methodists at French- town. They were true to God, true to Methodism, and true to their country." Many of them have gone to their glorious reward, among them the ever faithful Morris Maxwell, and the brave soldier Johnson J. Lair, and Obadiah Stout, who also shouldered his rifle and fought bravely
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HISTORY OF THE M. E. CHURCH,
for the Union, came back without a stain upon his character and took his honored place in the church. A few days after my appointment at Frenchtown, Gen. Lee surrendered: The whole town was alive with joy. At night every street was bright with the illuminated windows. But oh ! alas, alas! how soon came the sad, sad tidings of the assassina- tion of the immortal Lincoln. We fell from our highest joy to our deepest grief ; where could we go but to God. The different congrega- tions met on April 19th in the Baptist Church, to join in services appropriate to the funeral of our beloved martyred President; the pastors of the Baptist, Presbyterian and Methodist churches leading in the service.
June 1st was the day appointed by President Johnson as a day of humiliation and prayer. The citizens of the town met in the Presby- terian Church, and I was requested to preach the funeral sermon. My text was, Psalms 50: 15. Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
RUSH
REV. W. E. BLAKESLEE. (See Page 76.)
.
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FRENCHTOWN, NEW JERSEY.
CHAPTER VI. BRIEF PERSONAL SKETCHES OF THE PASTORS WHO HAVE SERVED THE FRENCHTOWN M. E. CHURCH-CONTINUED.
" Tis not a cause of small import The pastor's care demands, But what might fill an angel's heart, And filled a Saviour's hands."
John B. Taylor.
JOHN B. TAYLOR is an earnest and efficient worker in the Master's cause. His three years spent in Frenchtown were full of activities and crowned with the best of results. His pulpit ministrations were both interesting and edifying. Brother Taylor was admitted to the Newark Conference in the spring of 1865. The following is a list of his appointments: Bernardsville, Bloomsbury, Frenchtown, Pine Brook, Clinton, Trinity Church, Staten Island ; Boonton, Tottenville, Waverly Church, Jersey City ; Hackensack, Bound Brook, Palisades, Jersey City, Port Jervis, Nyack. He has filled some of the best appointments in the Newark Conference.
C. Clark, Jr.
C. Clark, Jr., the subject of this sketch was born in the town of Orange, N. J., February 9th, 1834 ; he was a son of William H., and Mary Jane Clark. When he was four years old the family moved into Mon- mouth County, N. J., and settled near Keyport, which was a community of very decided and vigorous Methodists. In this county Mr. Clark spent his boyhood, attending the public schools with regularity, summer and winter, and for two years a private school of higher grade at Keyport, wherein he taught subsequently as assistant principal, for one year previous to entering the ministry. At the age of seventeen, while engaged in a country store as clerk, young Clark began the work of seeking the Lord's favor at a revival held near Navesink under the ministry of Rev. Samuel Morrell, of New Jersey Conference, but before his realizing the regeneration wrought by the Holy Ghost, was necessarily moved to Freehold circuit, where his father was for the
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year junior preacher, and holding revival meetings in Jackson town- ship, Ocean County, young Clark was very soundly converted to God. He spent subsequently four years in the town of Freehold as a mer- chant's clerk and as a member of the Methodist Church in that town. About this time in his twenty-first year he was thoroughly aroused by what to him then, was an awful fact, that he was called to enter the ministry of his church and make that his life profession. At first it was an appalling weight on the mind of the young man, who seemed in his own estimation so little qualified for so great a work. For awhile he was disposed to rebel against what seemed to him a Divine call.
At the solicitation of the church and of his faithful pastor, Rev. John Scarlett, he took work in the ministry under the Presiding Elder, Rev. John S. Porter, and in 1856 was stationed at South Orange, N. J. In the spring of 1857, he was received into the traveling ministry at New Jersey Conference session in Greene street, Trenton. His subsequent fields of labor have been, Chatham, Parsippany, Rockaway, Succasunna, Vienna, Hope, Mt. Hope, Frenchtown, Bernardsville, Tottenville and Mariners Harbor, S. I .; Quakertown, N. J. ; Thiells and Stony Point, N. Y .; Milford, Pa., and now again Rockaway, N. J., where he is closing up his fourth year, making in all forty years in the ministry. How successful has been his work under God, eternity alone will reveal. In his ministry from the first, revivals of religion have occurred and many of them quite phenominal for influence and number of converts. None more than the one occurring in Frenchtown on the third year of his residence there, when it did seem as if Pentecost and the Saul of Tarsus conversions, and the scene of the Philippian jail were almost reproduced.
We will add, his three years of labor here were fraught with blessed results as far reaching as eternity. May he at last hear the "well done," " thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."
Hamilton C. McBride
Was admitted into the Philadelphia Conference in 1866, and stationed at Garrettstown, 1867, Portland, Pa.
' In 1868, he entered the Newark Conference and served Centenary Church, Jersey City, for two years. In 1870, his appointment was Irvington, and in 1871 (assistant pastor), Central Church, Newark. In 1872-'73, Bernardsville ; 1874, Frenchtown.
In 1875, at the session of the Newark Conference, held in Trinity Church, Jersey City, he was granted a supernumerary relation, and is now engaged in evangelistic work.
BUSH
REV. HENRY J. HAYTER.
(See Page 79.)
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FRENCHTOWN, NEW JERSEY.
Edward Morrell Griffith.
Was born at Elizabethtown, N. J., March 5th, 1822, and died at Hilton, N. J., May 23d, 1884. He was connected with some of the best families in New Jersey Methodism-Methodist of the Methodists for four gener- ations. His great-grandfather, Robert Duncan, was converted under the preaching of John Wesley, and when he came to America during the Revolution, he united with old John Street Church, New York. Bro. Griffith's parents were earnest Christians. His father was a native of Wales, and his mother was born in South Norwalk, Conn. Our brother was converted in South Norwalk in February, 1833, under the ministry of Rev. A. F. Francis. "Of my conversion," said he, "I never had the shadow of a doubt." Rev. D. W. Bartine, D.D., gave him his license as Exhorter at Morristown, N. J., in 1841, and he was licensed to preach by the Burlington Quarterly Conference in 1843. The following year he was admitted to the New Jersey Conference, and was stationed at Tom's River- a circuit which comprised nearly the whole of what is now Ocean County, and which required four weeks to fill the round of appointments.
As he was the junior preacher and unmarried, he was expected to keep in motion ; consequently he had no boarding place and tarried only a night. But the Lord was with him, and a remarkable revival at Crammertown rewarded his labor. In 1845 he was sent as colleague with Rev. James Long on the Tuckerton circuit, which, like that of Tom's River, was thirty-five miles in length. Here again the Lord was gracious and visited his people. In 1846 he was appointed to Columbus circuit, with six places to preach. The next two years he ministered at Mendham and Bernardsville, and revivals broke out in both places. He was married, March 7th, 1849, to Miss Marietta Kitchell, of Morristown, and the union proved a very happy one. This estimable lady survives him.
During 1849-'50 he was stationed at Caldwell; 1851-'52, at Dover ; 1853-54, at Middletown Point ; 1855, at Heightstown ; 1856-'57, at Belvidere. In the spring of 1858, when the New Jersey Confer- ence was divided, his lot was cast with the Newark Conference, and he was pastor at Vienna during the next two years. In 1860 he preached at Rockland Lake, N. Y., and then, on account of broken health, he was on the supernumerary list until the spring of 1867, when he was stationed at Peapack. After this he filled the follow- ing appointments : 1868-'69, Somerville ; 1870-71, Woodbridge ; 1872- '74, Woodrow, Staten Island ; 1875-'76, Frenchtown. Subsequently he removed to Hilton, near Newark, where he resided until his death.
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HISTORY OF THE M. E. CHURCH,
From 1377 until the close of his life he had no regular charge, as the precarious state of his health would not admit of it; but he preached frequently when strength seemed to be returning; and his friends were hoping that he would soon be restored to his former vigor and hold up again the Lamp of Life to dying men. But heart disease and a general relaxation of the physical powers gave warning that the end was drawing near. Four years ago we thought he was sinking to the grave ; and I shall never forget the words he whispered to me, for his voice was nearly gone: " Never cease to preach the Gospel, brother ; never do anything else, no matter how poorly you fare." " Teli the preachers I love them. Tell my brethren not to turn aside from the preaching of the Gospel. Tell them to preach neither for honor nor applause, but for the glory of God. It is a glorious work. I die in the faith which I espoused at eleven years of age, and which I have preached for so many years. I do not pride myself on anything I have done. My trust is in Christ. He is my life and my light. I am not in the dark !" Though his eyes were closed in weariness and the tears were on the good man's face, a certain radiance rested there that showed how true was every word that he had spoken.
I have heard him say more than once, "Oh, I love to preach the Gospel !" It was no common favor to be the intimate friend of such a man. Very few people knew him well. Naturally retiring, he was nevertheless one of the most companionable of men when in con- genial company. His tastes were literary. He contributed many valuable historical articles to the columns of the Christian Advocate. One large manuscript volume, comprising an exhaustive history of Methodism in Warren County and other portions of northern New Jersey, is the careful work of his facile pen.
A few weeks before he died I visited him, and he placed in my hands the manuscript of a volume which he had penned within the last year of his life, entitled : " The Land of Beulah." As he said, it was written among the shadows of death. It is full of most vigorous thought, and is a development of the doctrine of the supremacy of the spiritual over the natural. It need scarcely be told that the tone of the work is full of sweet religiousness.
We all remember the effect of Brother Griffith's letter, read to the conference of 1883-how all hearts were thrilled in the large audience as the words were heard which told of an unspeaka- ble joy in the midst of a wasting disease. Brother Griffith was a stu- dent. His sermons were carefully prepared, and, in the days of his strength, were delivered with energy and effect. They were logical. That was their prime characteristic, though they were not wanting in
REV. J. B. TAYLOR.
(See Page 833,)
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FRENCHTOWN, NEW JERSEY.
other qualities when occasion called them forth. Whatever of pathos there might be in his preaching was rather the pathos of earnestness. Revivals of religions were not uncommon in the charges where he ministered, and many souls were converted through his efforts. But his great work as a preacher was in the edification of believers and the estab- lishing of the church in the faith; and it is not too much to say that in this department of Christian labor he was abundantly successful. Blessed in the companionship of a devoted wife, two daughters and a son, his last days were full of comforting kindness and spent in cheer- ful expectation of that entering into rest of which he held the promise.
In our last interview he spoke of his trust in Christ and the great peace that filled his soul. He was very feeble in body, but his mental vigor was astonishing. His thoughts upon holy themes, and we talked of little else, were expressed with a force and unction which mated strangely with the distressing cough which punctuated his glowing sentences. He said that many times when the hours of sleeplessness would have been heavy with watching for the morning, his heart would be filled with the goodness of the Lord, and eyes and soul would overflow together in joyful thanksgiving.
Among his papers was found one, evidently written but a short time before he died, with the word "Jesus " on the margin ; and it reads : " I wish here to record one fact, and impress it upon the memory of all my children, of my dear wife, and of all my friends; Jesus is my unfailing friend. I relinquish you all and I hold on to Him. I know Him. I have been very unfaithful, but He does not cast me off. I have to Him given soul and body. Think of your husband, your father, your brother-my wife, my children, my sisters-as now with the Lord. Give your hearts to Jesus and come to me beyond the Gates of Pearl !"
The funeral was held in the Irvington Church, under the direction of Presiding Elder Brice. Revs. J. F. Andrew, T. T. Campfield, Dr. E. H. Stokes, A. E. Ballard, George Hughes, W. G. Wiggins, J. P. Fort, and the writer, participated in the service. We buried him in Fair- mount Cemetery, Newark, among the ashes of his kindred; and God has marked the place where he sleeps .- Newark Con. Minutes.
P. G. Ruckman
Was admitted into the Newark Conference in 1870, and was sent to Sparrowbush as his first field of labor. His subsequent appointments were: Centerville and Greenville, N. Y .; New City, N. Y .; Sergeants- ville, N. J.
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HISTORY OF THE M. E. CHURCH,
At the annual conference in 1875, he was granted a supernumerary relation ; Rev. E. M. Griffith's health failing, Brother Ruckman was sent by the Elder to Frenchtown, to fill out the balance of the year.
His labors were abundantly blessed, a gracious revival of religion was the result, and the fruit remains unto this day.
The following year he went West, and took work in the Nebraska Conference, where he labored successfully for seven years. He returned to the Newark Conference in 1891, and was appointed to Buttzville charge, serving three years.
At the next conference session, convened in Centenary Church, Jersey City, he was transferred to the Wyoming Conference.
Rev. James H. Runyan.
James Henry Runyan was born at Liberty Corners, Somerset County, N. J., August 28th, 1833, and died at Bethel, Staten Island, January 19th, 1888.
When four years of age his parents moved to Bayonne, Hudson County, N. J. ; here he spent six years of his boyhood in the schools. When he reached the age of ten his parents again moved to Staten Island, N. Y., where he lived until about seventeen years of age, in the meantime receiving such education as the schools could afford. From Staten Island he went to Newark to learn the trade of silversmith, and while at his trade the spirit of the Lord found him out, and he at once turned his face Godward and earnestly sought and found Christ in the pardon of his sins, at a watch-night service in the Halsey Street Church, 1852, being then about nineteen years of age. His conversion was clear and positive, and he began at once to work for the Master, distributing tracts and books throughout the city, and going to the outposts to assist in holding meetings, at the same time devoting his leisure moments to the study of such books as he could obtain by his own labor, and receiving some assistance from his father. His gifts and graces soon attracted the attention of the church, and he was licensed to exhort by the Union Street Quarterly Conference, March 1st, 1854, Richard Vanhorne, pastor. In 1855 he was called to supply Buttzville and Harmony circuit, and licensed to preach by Buttzville Quarterly Conference, M. Force, P. E. In the spring of 1856 he was admitted to the ministry in the New Jersey Conference, and appointed to Montagne, N. J. His subsequent appointments were: 1857, Dela- ware, Pa .; 1858, Marshall's Creek, Pa .; 1859-'60, Narrowsburgh, N. Y. ; 1861-'62, West Milford, N. J .; 1863-'64, Rome and Greenville, N. J .; 1865-'66, Stillwater and Swartswood, N. J .; 1867-'68, Branchville
REV. C. CLARK, JR.
(See Page 83.)
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FRENCHTOWN, NEW JERSEY.
and Frankford Pl., N. J .; 1869, Cokesbury, N. J. ; 1870-'71, Vienna and Janes Chapel, N. J. ; 1872-'73-'74, Succasunna, N. J .; 1875-'76, Peapack and Chester, N. J. ; 1877-'78-'79, Frenchtown, N. J .; 1880- '81-'82, Linden avenue, Jersey City, N. J. ; 1883-'84-'85, Woodbridge, N. J .; 1886.'87, Bethel, Staten Island, N. Y., where he ceased at once to work and live. On March 31st, 1859, he was united in marriage to Miss Marilla Shay, who for twenty-eight years shared with him the joys and sorrows of the itinerancy. To them five children were born, two of whom have died, while one son and two daughters live to claim our sympathy and prayers.
Brother Runyan was ordained deacon April 4th, 1858, by Bishop E. R. Ames, and ordained elder April 8th, 1860, by Bishop Levi Scott. His ministry was one of extensive usefulness. Revival work was his delight, his greatest joy was in seeing sinners coming to God. He was a bold champion of the truth. When it cost something to be some- thing, he was willing to pay the price. When the war cloud hung over the nation, it cost something to be loyal in those regions where he was called to labor, but he had a loyal heart, and said, cost what it may I shall stand by my country's flag. So in the war against the rum traffic. This principle of fidelity to duty was the key note that gave him inspiration. More than once was he called to pay the price for his loyalty to his country and to God. He was a real man and had no sympathy with shams; to him religion was a reality, not a mere sentiment. He was fearless in his attacks upon sin, and faltered not to attack it in high or low places. He was a good preacher, clear and practical, a faithful expounder of the Word of Life. His aim was to reach the heart rather than the head, yet he failed not to instruct as well as to move to tears those who sat under his ministry. As a man he was genial, always full of good cheer, having a great warm heart that made one feel at home in his presence. As a worker there were few among his brethren more successful. Bethel stands to-day as a monu- ment of his untiring zeal.
His will was indomitable, few, if any, ever made a more heroic fight for life ; he stood at his post as a faithful watchman to the last, saying, "I must preach Jesus to the people." Only two weeks before his release, being unable to stand, he sat and preached from 1 Cor. 15: 41, 42: "There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars, for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corrup- tion, it is raised in incorruption." This was his last sermon, and the corruption has put on incorruption, " the mortal is clothed with immor-
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HISTORY OF THE M. E. CHURCH,
tality." His funeral services were held in Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church, January 23d, 1888. Addresses were made by Revs. J. N. FitzGerald, S. Van Benschoten, and the writer, about thirty-two of the members of the Conference being in attendance. His remains were laid to rest in a beautiful plot donated by the church in Bethel cemetery. We, with wife and children, revere his memory and morn his loss. All shall met in the morning.
" The grass grows green upon his tomb, And flowers bloom above him ; Yet still his spirit hovers o'er, The dear ones left, who loved him."
Newark Con. Minutes.
Thomas E. Gordon.
Thomas E. Gordon is a preacher perhaps above the average, but not always appreciated for all he is worth. God's workmen chosen to carry on his work, and sent forth to disciple all nations were not all of the same temperament. There was the impulsive Peter, the loving John, etc.
He was admitted to the Newark Conference in 1859. The following is a list of his appointments; Chatham, Greenville, Hudson City, Passaic, Piermont, Otisville, Stillwater and Swartswood, Mt. Horeb, Prospect Street, Paterson; Rockland Lake, Flemington, Quakertown, Frenchtown, Rahway, Tottenville, Bernardsville, Phillipsburg and Harrison, where he is now serving his third year.
He was born in Ireland, trained for a teacher in the Wesleyan Model School, in Dublin, and came to America in 1859.
I. N. Vansant.
Bro. Vansant was born in Atlantic County, N. J., in the year 1830. His father was Nicholas Vansant, who for many years was a devout local preacher. The subject of this sketch was converted when about fourteen years old through the influence of his brother Samuel, who went to his heavenly home a few years ago.
He traveled for some years under the Elder, his first charge as junior preacher being Tuckerton circuit with Abraham Gearhart as preacher, in charge. He next traveled Barnegat circuit one year, then Columbia, and Hainsburg was favored by having him as pastor for two years.
After admission in the Newark Conference, in 1859, he filled the follow ing appointments, viz. : Hope, Stillwater, Wantage, each two
B
RISH
REV. HAMILTON C MCBRIDE.
(See Page >4.)
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FRENCHTOWN, NEW JERSEY.
years. Tranquility, Perth Amboy, Bethel, S. I., each three years, and Clinton, N. J., two years. His next field of labor was Pine Brook, where he remained three years, then he next served East Newark two years, and Stanton and Allerton one year. His next field of labor was Frenchtown, where he remained three years, and his influence there is still a benediction. His next appointment was St. Mark's, S. I., three years, then up the Hudson River to Stony Point, where he remained four years. Quakertown was then favored by having him as pastor for three years, and now he is at Bloomsbury on his first year. Brother Vansant has one son in the ministry.
S. D. Decker.
Brother Decker was born September 14th, 1838, near New Spring- ville, Staten Island, on the old Asbury circuit. His parents were, T. Drummond and Susan Wood Decker. His father was for a number of years class-leader and licensed exhorter, and both were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church for more than forty years, indeed his ancestors for more than a hundred years have been devout Methodists, and he cannot remember a time even from his earliest childhood that he was free from religious convictions. At the age of thirteen, after enduring for several days the most pungent conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit, he came into the noon-day splendor of a clear and positive sense of pardon, and full salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, and has retained until this day the assurance and joy of an indwelling Holy Ghost; not only a Blessing, but the Blesser, Himself.
His now sainted mother and translated father had more to do in leading him to the Saviour and forming his character as a religious boy and Christian man than any other human instrumentality.
Rev. Bartholomew Weed, of precious memory, was at that time pastor on the Asbury charge, Staten Island, for the first time. He served the charge after a few years for a second term.
Brother Decker began his education in the district school of his native village, and has been a reader in general literature and theology for near forty years. After a few years as a licensed exhorter and local preacher, he entered the ranks of the traveling ministry in 1870. His first appointment was East Millstone, in Somerset County, N. J., where he remained two years. Thereafter serving the following charges in the order named : Denville and Rockaway Valley, three years. Here a commodious parsonage was built, the charge never having owned, but rented a house for their pastor. Asbury and Bethlehem in Warren County, two years; New Germantown and Fairmount, two years ;
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HISTORY OF THE M. E. CHURCH,
Bloomsbury and Finesville, three years; Clinton, three years ; French- town, three years; High Bridge and Lebanon, three years. At the end of his term of service here, Lebanon was taken from High Bridge and connected with Clinton and he went to Clinton for a second term, remaining two years, when Lebanon was made an independent charge. Grace Church, Dover, was the next field of labor where he stayed one year ; Deckertown, in Sussex County was his appointment in April, 1894, and he is now on his second year.
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