USA > New Jersey > The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century > Part 79
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stood that it required great capacity and energy to stand at the head with such association. In 1845 Mr. Grover had obtained from the Legislature of New Jersey the charter of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company, and in its This field of duty, however important, withdraws a person from public observation, and necessarily circumscribes a life within a comparatively narrow boundary; but when we look at the success, the results and the advantages springing fro.i organization he was made counsel of the institution. From such an institution, it assumes new importance and stronger claims. Within its protecting care are shielded the widow and the fatherless, and its blessings are distributed far and wide. Thus a life devoted to such labors becomes en- nobfed by results, and we learn to appreciate the patient toil and untiring energy which leaves its mark in blessings scattered through a whole community. This sketch would
small beginnings it gradually accomplished a success which was real and permanent, and it began to need a vigorous and capable mind. Mr. Grover was invaluable in his po- sition, but the constant demands upon his time and attention by his professional and political pursuits detracted from his usefulness, and at the close of his first session in the Legis- lature it was proposed by the officers and directors that he be wanting in portraiture if we did not refer to the moral should abandon politics and give his attention almost ex- and religious culture which distinguishes Mr. Grover. From his youth this private and public conscientiousness has become a part of his life and character, and has been felt in all his connection with business affairs. His charities have been large, constant and beneficent, and they have been governed by no narrow boundary of creeds. Human want and suffering have always been sufficient to make a claim on that large and comprehensive charity which recog- nizes the unvarying law of the Christian faith. clusively to the affairs of the company. To a young man of great promise and much ambition this was not a pleasant alternative; but, having decided that the work of his life must be in life insurance, he complied with all its conditions with scrupulous fidelity. Withdrawing from active life, he directed his attention entirely to the success of the company, extending and enlarging its business, and securing it from that irresponsible control which would have destroyed its usefulness. During many years his history would be simply a history of the progress of the company. But while Mr. Grover, in accordance with his engagements, withdrew from the field of political aspirations, he did not lose his in- terest in public questions. He has not been the less a URMAN, HON. MOORE, Merchant, first Mayor of Trenton, late of Trenton, New Jersey, was born in 1730, or thereabout, and was an active participant in the war of the Revolution, a loyal and eminently useful citizen both in private life and as a State officer, and a leading spirit in all that concerned the interests of his State and welfare of his fellow-citizens. During the days of conflict between the colonies and the mother country his enterprising character would not permit him to look on with indifference at pass- ing events of such importance, and he at once declared for the patriot against the royal cause. He served as Deputy Quartermaster-General and in other capacities; and by ap- pointment of the Legislature, upon its incorporation, in 1792, became the first Mayor of Trenton, an honor which he bore with energy and uprightness. June 12th, 1760, he was elected a Trustce of the Trenton Presbyterian Church, and Treasurer in 1762. He subsequently removed to Pitt -- town, and thence to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Upon his return to Trenton from the latter city, he was re-elected to the Board, in 1783, and continued in it until the time of his decease. Though so long connected with the temporal affairs of this Presbyterian congregation, he was not a con- municant until November Ist, 1806. Ile died at Trenton. New Jersey, March 16th, 1808, in the eightieth ycar of his age. IIc had made a written request of Mr. Armstrong that, in case he should be called to officiate at his funeral, he would speak from the words, " Into thine hand I com- mit my spirit : thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth," Psalm xxxi, ; and his request was faithfully followed patriot because he did not take part in political quarrels, for none were more active in sustaining the country in its hour of peril, or more anxious that faithful and honorable men should control its destinies. The friend of law and order, of temperance and religion, of humanity and right, his in- fluence has been frequently potent for good. We are thus brought up to a period in his career when the real success and object of his life became apparent even to himself. His life, indeed, became merged in that of the great com- pany with which he was connected as counsel, Vice-Presi- dent and President. Its success and prosperity became assured with every passing year, and finally its management and control became a great responsibility, requiring the best energies of his mind and strong character. When . the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company was formed, life insurance was but little understood or appreciated. Ils varied and complex problems had scarcely been reduced to an exact science, and its adaptation to the fresher and newer life of the United States was a question only to be solved by experience. This company proceeded upon care- ful general principles, its growth was real rather than rapid, and the experience of over thirty years proves the wisdom of its management and the soundness of its mathematical and business control. It is not too much to say that Mr. Grover has always been found equal to the demands made upon him, and that in the complicated management of the company he has proved himself worthy of the confidence rcposed in him. To-day the institution over which he pre- sides is regarded as among the strongest in the country.
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in the body of the discourse, to which the pastor added as | and publish the gospel, as he held it, to all his fellow- follows : "This congregation weil know huis long and faith ful services as a zealous supporter and Trustee of the con- cerns and interests of this church. In the Revolution he was known as a faithful friend of his country, and was in- trusted by government and the commander-in-chief of our revolutionary army-whose friendship was honor indeed- in offices and in departments the most profitable and most important. When bending beneath the load of years and infirmities, how did it gladden his soul and appear to renew his life to see this edifice rising from the ruins of the old one and consecrated to the service of his God ! And did you not see him, shortly after its consecration, as a disciple of his Redeemer, recognizing his baptismal vows, and in that most solemn transaction of our holy religion stretching his trembling hands to receive the symbols of the body and blood of our Lord and Saviour, and in that act express the sentiment of the words selected by himself for the use of this mournful occasion, 'Into thine hand I commit my spirit : thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth'"? Peter Hunt, his son-in-law, a prosperous and influential merchant of Trenton, was after- ward elected a Trustee to supply the vacancy occasioned by his death. He was buried within the shadow of the church he held in such warm affection, and his gravestone may still be seen in its porch.
RELLET, STEPHEN, eminent Quaker Preacher and Missionary, of Burlington, New Jersey, was born in France, in 1773. His parents being of the household of Louis XVI., he was nur- tured in the bosom of the Roman Catholic Church, and educated at the Military College of Lyons. While in his seventeenth year he became one of the body-guard of the king. After the execution of that monarch he evaded the searches of those evilly disposed to every one and everything savoring of royalty, and es- caped to Demerara, In 1795 he proceeded to New York, where, chancing to attend a Quaker meeting, he was so attracted by the primitive, simple demeanor and doctrines of the Friends that he determined to join their society. In the following winter he removed to Philadelphia, and during the prevalence of the yellow fever in that city, in 1798, ministered with efficient zeal and rare magnanimity to the sick, the dying and the afflicted. " He was as an angel of mercy to the plague-stricken ; unfearingly braved the most virulent types of diseases, contagious and in- fectious ; and spent freely of his substance, time and ex- ertions to rescue those whom, in several cases, their very friends, relations and physician had abandoned." During this terrible and trying season he became impressed with the idea that it was his duty to go abroad, and preach
creatures, but did not at once act upon the conviction that had taken firm hold upon him. In 1799 he settled in New York and engaged in mercantile pursuits for a brief period, not yet resolved to accept the role of itinerant preacher, but still uneasy in his mind and unsettled in his deliberations. Eventually he set himself to the pious and self-appointed task, and in 1800 made an extensive tour through the Southern States as far as Georgia, and in 1801 through the various States of New England, and the towns and villages of East and West Canada. In 1807, continuing his ministrations with unflagging ardor, he went to the south of France, and in that historic country, where religion and its adjuncts have for centuries exercised a prime and ruling influence, stirred and thrilled the people by his pleadings, his denunciations, and his eloquent exhortations. In 1812 he travelled in England on his philanthropic mission, and also in Germany. In 1816 he found a fresh field of labors in Hayti; and in 1818, 1819 and 1820 made an extended tour through Norway, Sweden, Russia, Greece and Italy, ever holding the same great end steadfastly in view-the awakening of all to the sacredness and importance of a Christian life, and the peril of worldly pleasure and immorality. At Rome he entered the papal mansion, and standing before the head of Roman Catholicism, with his com- panion, William Allen, addressed him with the warmth and enthusiasm of an early apostle. On this notable oc- casion his Holiness, Pope Pius VII., received him with kindness, and even listened to his exhortations " with the greatest respect and courtesy." While in Russia he was granted an audience also with the Czar, and in the palace of that powerful monarch " spoke out valiantly and beseechingly for the cause of pure religion." In August, 1820, he returned to his home in this country, to which he was deeply attached. In 1831-1834 he made another extended missionary excursion through Europe; and in the course of the latter year retired to Burlington, New Jersey, where he resided permanently until the time of his decease. He married the eldest daughter of Isaac Collins, also a member of the Society of Friends, and an eminent citizen of Trenton, New Jersey, where he established and edited the famous pioneer newspaper of the State, The New Jersey Gazette, published in opposition to the royalist organs of New York city. His singular career as a con- vert from the faith of Rome, and his change from the position of body-guard of Louis XVI. to a devoted Quaker minister and an itinerant missionary, have been commemo- rated in a printed discourse by Dr. Van Rensselaer; while his " Memoirs," by Benjamin Seebohn, were published (two volumes, 8vo.) in 1860, and are a storehouse of mar- vellous experiences, facts and fancies of a highly suggestive nature, and revelations of the inner life and meditations of one whose nature, standing out in bold relief from among the listless and incredulous of his kind, was full
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of the fire of piety, and desirous of the salvation of all man- kind. He died at Burlington, New Jersey, November 16th, 1855.
highest eulogy of his character. He had devoted himself to the service of God in the ministry of reconciliation, and when just upon the threshold of the sacred office was re- moved by death from the brightest prospects of usefulness to serve his Maker in another sphere." And, as a learned divine of the same church has remarked, " This is but one of many examples illustrating his surpassing usefulness in a sphere of beneficent labors and good actions."
MITH, REV. JOHN, former Pastor of the Trenton Presbyterian Church, was born in Wethersfield, Connecticut, in 1795-1800. He was a graduate of Yale College, 1821, and of the Andover Theo- logical Seminary, and a licentiate of the Congre- gational Association of East Fairfield. In De- cember, 1825, he was chosen by the congregation of the COLLINS, ISAAC, Printer and Publisher, late of Burlington," New Jersey, was born in Delaware, February 16th, 1746. His father emigrated to the United States from Bristol, England. In his boyhood he served an apprenticeship to the print- ing business, and at its completion removed to Philadelphia, where he worked as a journeyman during the ensuing eighteen months. At the expiration of this time he entered into partnership relations with Joseph Cruikshanks, and in 1770 settled in Burlington, New Jersey, having been chosen colonial printer to George III. In 1771 he com- menced the printing and publishing of almanacs, and con- tinued that series of works for nearly a quarter of a century. He was also at this time the publisher of several other use- ful and needed books. On his removal to Trenton, New Jersey, in 1778, he projected what was in the publishing business of that time a great enterprise, namely, the publi- cation of an octavo family Bible; and the putting forth of the entire work was then considered so adventurous an un- dertaking that it was deemed necessary to secure extraordi- nary encouragement and inducements in advance, and, accordingly, the first edition of the Scriptures, that of Jolin Aitken, was recommended to the country by a resolution of Congress. This was on September 12th, 1782, just five years after the report of a committee on a memorial had stated that to import types and print and bind 30,000 copies would cost {10,272 IOS., and therefore recommended the adoption of a resolution authorizing the importation of 20,000 Bibles. In 1788 he issued proposals to print a quarto edition of the Bible, in 984 pages, at the price of four Spanish dollars, " one dollar to be paid at the time of subscribing." There- upon the Synod of New York and New Jersey, November 31, 1788, warmly indorsed the matter, and appointed Dr. Witherspoon, President S. S. Smith, and Mr. Armstrong to concur with committees of any other denominations, or of any other Synods, to revise the sheets, and, if necessary, to assist in selecting a standard edition. This committee was authorized to agree with him to append Ostervald's " Notes," if not inconsistent with the wishes of other than Calvinistic subscribers. In 1789 the General Assembly appointed a committee of sixteen to lay his proposals before their re. spective Presbyterics, and to recommend that subscriptions Trenton Presbyterian Church to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Rev. Dr. William Jessup Armstrong; in the ensuing February was received by the Presbytery, and March 8th was ordained and regularly installed. In that service Dr. Carnahan presided; Dr. Hodge preached, I Cor. i. 21, and both the charges were given by Rev. E. F. Cooley. In this pastorate he continued less than three years, yet in that time fifty-nine persons made their first profession. Twenty- six of these were received at the communion of April, 1827, two of whom afterward entered the ministry, viz., Rev. George Ely, pastor of Nottingham and Dutch Neck, who died August 14th, 1856, and Rev. George Burrowes, D. D., pastor of Kirkwood, in Maryland, professor in Lafayette College, and pastor in Newtown, Pennsylvania. During his ministry some confusion was created by the indiscreet, however sincere, zeal, in what they called the cause of Christ, of two or three superserviceable ministers and can- didates, who desired to introduce those measures for the promotion of the work of a pastor that had, then at least, the apology of being too new to have taught their warning lessons. An attempt was made to form a distinct congrega- tion, and separate meetings were held for a time, and even a small building erected, which was put into connection with the German Reformed Church; but the Presbyterians gradually returned, and no effort was made, or probably de- signed, to produce a schism. In August, 1828, he requested a dissolution of the pastoral relation, which was granted by the Presbytery, and in the following February was detached from that body and took charge of a Congregational church in Exeter, New Hampshire. He afterward exercised his ministry in Stamford, and other towns of Connecticut, and large numbers of persons of both sexes have, through his labors and persuasions, become united with the churches he has served. While residing in Trenton, New Jersey, he was married to a daughter of the late Aaron Dickinson Woodruff, >Attorney-General of the State of New Jersey. In the churchyard at Trenton is a tablet bearing the follow- ing inscription, commemorating a noteworthy bringing to God of one of eleven new communicants, in April, 1828: " Ilere lie the remains of Jeremiah D. Lalor, who departed this life March 8th, A. D. 1845, aged thirty-two years. To those who knew him the remembrance of his virtues is thie | be solicited in cach congregation, and report the number
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to the next Assembly. This recommendation was reiterated in 1790 and 1791. Thus sustained, the quarto edition of 5,000 copies was published in the course of the latter year. Ostervald's " Practical Observations," which added 170 , pages of matter, were furnished to special subscribers. " Col- lins' Bible " was so carefully revised that it is still a stan- dard. He and his children assumed the roles of careful proof-readers, and it is stated in the preface of a subsequent edition, after mentioning the names of several clergymen who assisted the publisher in 1791, "Some of these per- sons, James F. Armstrong in particular, being near the press, assisted also in reading and correcting the proof-sheets." The following, taken from Dr. IIall's excellent work treat- ing of Trenton and the Presbyterian church of that city, is an item of interest and value : "As an instance of the weight which the most incidental acts of the Assembly carried at that early period of its existence, I would allude to a letter to the Moderator of 1790 from the Rev. David Rice, often called the Presbyterian Pioneer, or Apostle of Kentucky, in which he states that having received from Mr. Arm- strong, as clerk of the Assembly, a notification of the action in reference to the Collins Bible, he had procured the call- ing of a special meeting of the Transylvania Presbytery, ' that we might be in a capacity to obey the order of the General Assembly.' 'Such is our dispersed condition ' that it was some weeks before the meeting could convene. 'After two days' deliberation on the subject,' they found that a compliance was impracticable, and on Mr. Rice was de- volved the office of explaining the cause of the delinquency. One of the difficulties was that of sending a messenger to Philadelphia in time for the Assembly to carry the advanced subscription money ; ' the want of horses sufficient for so long a journey, or of other necessaries, laid an effectual bar in. our way.'" In order to secure the utmost accuracy in the typography of his Bible, the whole was subjected to eleven searching and careful proof-readings, the last of which was by his daughter, Rebecca ; and so free from errors was this edition of the Scriptures, that it became at once the standard for all critical appeal, when the English translation alone was concerned. The American historiographer of printing, according to Hall, makes no mention of the quarto edition of 5,000 copies published in 1791, but speaks only of his octavo New Testament of 1788, and Bible of 1793-94. He also printed in Trenton 2,000 copies of Sewel's " History of the Quakers," of nearly 1,000 pages folio; Ramsay's "South Carolina," 2 vols., and other large and important works. Moreover, the first newspaper issued in New Jersey was printed by him at Burlington, December 5th, 1777; subsequently it was transferred to Trenton, and published there from February 25th, 1778, to November 27th, 1786, excepting a suspension of nearly five months in 1783, when it was finally discontinued. He was the conductor as well as proprietor of the paper, the title of " editor," indeed, not fifty years." His eldest daughter was married to Stephen having superseded that of " printer," and it was established to counteract the anti-republican tendency of Rivington's
Royal Gazette, of New York. Governor Livingston was a correspondent of the Trenton Gazette as long as it remained in his hands. December 9th, 1777, the Legislature exemptcd him, " and any number of men not exceeding four to be en- ployed by him at his printing office," from militia service during the time they were occupied in printing the laws, or the weekly newspaper. In 1779 he vindicated the liberty of the press in a signal and notable manner, considering the time and circumstances bearing on him, by refusing to give the name of a political correspondent on the demand of the Legislative Council. His reply was : " In any other case, not incompatible with good conscience or the welfare of my country, I shall think myself happy in having it in my power to oblige you." There was a paper-mill in Trenton before the time of the publication of his Bible. In Decem- ber, 1788, it was advertised by its proprietors, Stacy Potts and John Reynolds, as "now nearly completed." The manufacturers issued " earnest appeals for rags ; in one of their publications presenting to the consideration of those mothers who have children going to school the present great scarcity of that useful article, without which their going to school would avail them but little." In January, 1789, the Federal Post, otherwise known as the Trenton Weekly Mer- cury, printed by Quequelle & Wilson, was obliged to have its size reduced "on account of the scarcity of demy print- ing paper." The " Trenton School Company " originated in a meeting of citizens, held February 10th, 1781, the capital being $720, divided into thirty-six shares. A lot was then purchased and a stone building erected, one story of which was occupied in 1782; in the following year it was enlarged and the endowment increased ; in 1785 it was incorporated, and in 1794 its funds were replenished by means of a lot- tery ; and in 1800 the girls' school of the academy was re- . moved to the school-house belonging to the Presbyterian church, "The public quarterly examinations were usually closed with exercises in speaking in the church, and the newspapers tell of 'the crowded and polite audiences.' which attended, usually including the Governor, Legisla- ture, and distinguished strangers." Among the latter, in 1784, were the President of Congress, Baron Steuben, and members of the Congress and Legislature. Of this academy he was one of the leading and active founders, and al- though nine of his children were educated within its walls, he refused to take advantage of his right as a stockholder to have them instructed without further charge. In 1796 . he removed to New York, but in 1808 returned to his former home in Burlington. His wife, Rachel Budd, was great- granddaughter of Mahlon Stacy, an eminent citizen of New Jersey, and the original proprietor of the land on which the academy now stands. " It is a remarkable fact in the his- tory of his family of fourteen children that, after the death of one in infancy, there was no mortality for the space of
Grellet, whose singular career as a convert from the faith of Rome, and the position of bodyguard of Louis XVI., to
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an ardent Quaker minister and missionary, has been com- memorated in a printed discourse by Dr. Van Rensselaer. In 1848 his surviving family " printed for private use a memoir of their venerated parents," and therein may be found a more extended and minute account of the life and works of this useful and distinguished citizen. His children have cherished the religious sentiments of their parents and united with the Friends, while the sons turned their atten- tion and energies to the vocation of their father, and through- out the United States to-day are thousands of books bearing the imprints of the various firms with which this generation of publishers has been connected. He died at Burlington, New Jersey, March 21st, 1817.
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