The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 86

Author: Robson, Charles, ed; Galaxy Publishing Company, publisher
Publication date: 1877
Publisher: Philadelphia, Galaxy publishing company
Number of Pages: 924

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speaker, and always creates enthusiasm among his listeners. } nicants-making in all thirty-five heads of families. The Ile was a Delegate to the National Convention when Andrew Johnson was nominated for Vice-President. IIe has always taken a great interest in the temperance move- ment, and in 1840 was one of the charter-members of the Division of Sons of Temperance which organized at Mount Ilolly in that year. During the year 1844 he was Grand Worthy Patriarch of the State Division. For nearly twenty years he has been a Trustee of the Pennington Seminary, and for the past ten years President of the Board. IIe was one of the corporators, and since its organization, a member of the Board of Directors of the Union National Bank, of Mount IIolly. He was married, February 4th, 1836, to Damaris IIarker, of New Jersey.

ALE, REV. GEORGE, D. D., seventh Pastor of Hopewell Church, Pennington, New Jersey, was a native of the State of New York. After pursuing a preliminary course of studies at Wil- liams College, he graduated from that institution in 1831, subsequently entered Princeton Theo- logical Seminary as a student, and there was graduated in IS38. January 2d, 1839, he was called to the pastorate of Ilopewell Church, Pennington, New Jersey, and in the winter of 1841-42 presided over a great revival in the church, which swept over Pennington and its vicinity like a purifying storm. By Sabbath, the 20th of March, 1842, when a sacramental service was held, the beneficent results were made manifest. On that day one hundred and twelve stood up to enter into covenant with God and his church, and sat down for the first time at the communion table; of this number eighty persons were baptized, while the whole number gathered into the visible church through this work of grace was one hundred and thirty-two, forty-nine of whom were heads of families. The hopeful converts were of every age, from twelve up to eighty-two. This revival of 1841-42 prepared the way for the organization of the Titus. ville Church in 1344. There was another revival in the year 1846. As a result, fifty-six names were added to the communion roll ; while the effects of this desirable awaken- ing were continued through the years of 1847-48. From 1850 to 1853 there were several minor revivals which eheered the pastor in his efforts, and incited him to still greater exertions in the gracious field of conversion. The winter of 1857-58 heralded another notable revival, of which the pastor made a record at the time : " It has pleased God recently to visit the church of Pennington, New Jersey, with a gracious outpouring of the Holy Spirit, as the result of which sixty persons have united with the church by a public profession of the faith." Of this number there were ten husbands with their wives; ten female heads of families, three of whom were the wives of church members; and five male heads of families, who were husbands of commu.

remainder were single persons of both sexes ranging from the age of sixteen upward; of the sixty, twenty-two were males and thirty-eight were females. "Among them are found the children of the covenant and the lineal descend- ants in the fourth and fifth generation of the godly men who, nearly a century and a half ago, laid the foundations of this church, as well as some of the posterity of a former pastor who labored faithfully among this people for almost half a century." On the ISth of November, 1863, being the twenty-fifth anniversary of the day on which he began his regular labors in Hopewell Church, he preached a " Quarter-Century Sermon," from Psalm lxviii. 28. Dur- ing his ministry of thirty years, 513 persons were added to the church on profession, and 127 by certificate ; there were 356 baptized in infancy, and there were 550 funerals, and 275 marriages. In 1867, in consideration of his manifold and harassing labors, with not a day of relaxation through a period so protracted, he was cordially granted leave of ab- sence for six months. On Saturday, May 25th, he sailed from New York for Havre, France, on the steamer " Guid- ing Star," and on his return in the "Arago," from Falmouth, England, landed in New York, and arrived safely at Pen- nington, New Jersey, on the evening of Thursday, Novem- ber 14th, 1867. On Friday two hundred of the congrega- tion met at Evergreen Hall, of that place, and there tendered him a hearty and inspiriting welcome. February IIth, 1869, he was elected, by the Trustees of the General Assembly, the Secretary of the F'und for Disabled Ministers and their families, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Rev. Joseph II. Jones, D. D. Upon the accept- ance of the appointment, he offered a letter of resignation to Hopewell Church, March 2d, 1869, and on the 7th of this month the pastoral relation was dissolved.

ANEWAY, REV. JACOB JONES, D. D., Presby- terian Clergyman, Vice President of Rutgers Col- lege, Trustee of the New Jersey College, late of New Brunswick, New Jersey, was born in the city of New York, November 20th, 1774, of George Janeway and Effie (Ten Eyck) Janeway, and grew up amid the religious influences which surrounded him from his birth. His mother was a cultured and pious woman, and in his journal he often speaks of her with rev - erence and affection. She died soon after his entrance on the ministry, after a period of harassing illness. His parents were members of the Reformed Dutch Church. His father, an ardent Whig, was compelled to leave, with his family, when the British troops took possession of New York. During the seven years of exile the family removed re- peatedly, as New Jersey was ravaged by the frequent incur. sions of the enemy. At the close of the war and on the cvacuation of the city, the family returned, and there he

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remained during the whole course of his education. From the excellent " Life " of his father, by Thomas L. Janeway, is taken the following : " Two centuries ago there existed in England, and not far from London, a remarkable family, bearing the name of Janeway-remarkable, not for anything which the world esteems, but for the eminent holiness which adorned them. William, the father, was a minister of Christ, together with four of his sons, and the holy life and triumphant death of his son, John, is cherished amid the sacred literature of the English language. A descendant of this holy seed was an officer in the royal navy, in the reign of William III., and on a visit with his ship to this country, purchased property on Manhattan Island, on the edge of New York, which then hardly passed the present Park and City Hall. Returning at a subsequent period to New York, he intermarried with Mrs. De Meir, and became a resident. He was intrusted with the charter of Trinity Church, granted by Queen Anne, of which church he was named by the crown as one of the vestrymen, and brought the charter to America. His death, judging from the probate of his will, was about the year 1703." His only son and surviving child, Jacob Janeway, settled, on arriving at man's estate, in Somerset county, New Jersey, where he died in early manhood, leaving a widow and three children. One of these, a daughter, died in her minority, and the eldest son, William, was lost at sea. The survivor, George, bereft of his father when but four years of age, and of his mother when twelve, grew up in ignorance of his right to the prop- erty purchased by his grandfather, and which had been seized and was held by the city corporation. With his characteristic energy, he indentured himself to a carpenter, and assiduously applied himself to his business. On reach- ing his twenty-first year, aided by friends, he commenced a suit against the city for the recovery of his property, and after several years of the law's delay, recovered about one- half of the patrimony of his fathers. IIe lived a long life, honored by his contemporaries; as Alderman, intrusted with important duties, and died in his eighty-fifth year, from mere decay of nature and without any apparent disease. Until the age of eleven years he went to an English school, then commenced the study of Latin and Greek preparatory to college life. At fifteen he entered Columbia College and took its full course of four years. Subsequently, on his re- covery from a violent attack of scarlet fever, he turned ar- dently to religion ; for the fear of death and anxieties about his soul had wrought in him conviction for sin. Ile was then urged by Dr. Livingston to repose on the imputed righteousness of Christ, and his mind gradually obtained composure. " From this time I began to reform my life, and read the sacred Scriptures. . . . " May 15th he made a confession of his faith, and was received into full commu- nion with the church. In 1795 he narrowly escaped death in falling from his horse, but escaped the yellow-fever, which was then raging with such terrible results in New York. The year 1797 found him diligent in the use of the means

of grace, and seeking growth in the divine life. IIe then became a pupil of Rev. Dr. J. H. Livingston, professor of theology in the Reformed Dutch Church, and under him prosecuted the study of Hebrew, etc. Thursday, Novem- ber 30th, 1797, he was licensed to preach by the Classis of New York; and while still under the paternal roof, em- braced every opportunity of preaching in the pulpits of the city, and of making occasional excursions to the city. In company with the late Rev. Dr. J. N. Abeel, he made a journey of some two thousand miles, much of it in the saddle, mainly in pursuit of health, which had been much shattered by the ardor of his studies. Much of the journey was performed through New England, and, while at Charlestown, he preached for Dr. Morse, at the old South Church, in Boston, Massachusetts. At this period his thoughts were directed to a mission among the North American Indians, and he offered himself to those who had charge of the infant missions of that day. IIe afterward received an urgent request from Rev. Dr. Ashbel Green, then sole pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church, Phila- delphia, to remove thither with a view to a settlement. The yellow fever then prevailing, however, it was judged prudent to defer his visit until the pestilence had passed. In the close of the year he preached in Philadelphia with such ac- ceptance that he was unanimously called as a colleague with Dr. Green. This church was then, as it was during the whole of his pastorate, rich in the cldership. Men of high social position and of eminent piety served that people in the gospel of Christ; among them were such names as Latimer, Jandon, Smith, Henry, Ralston, etc. June 13th, 1799, he was ordained by the Presbytery of Philadelphia, in company with John Blair Linn, William Latta, John E. Latta, and Buckley Carl. In the summer of 1803 the eyes of his church were turned toward the desolations in the Northern Liberties, or Campington, whose population was increasing, and as it lay north of the Arch Street Church, it was regarded as its peculiar domain and field of culture. It was to be an outlaying post, and when able to sustain the gospel, to be separate. The connection continued, how- cver, for ten or twelve years, and it was served by the col- league pastors of the Second Church. During the hot season of 1855, Dr. Milledoler being absent, and Mr. Potts pros- trated by sickness, the care of all the city churches devolved on him, " the most youthful preacher of them all." As the era of missions dawned on the American church, he mani- fested a deep interest in its hastening, was familiar with every movement of the church in relation thereto, and re- joiced greatly in the advancement of every project and en- terprise. Ile preached a sermon in order to raise funds to aid British Christians in their efforts to translate the holy word into the dialects of Hindoostan, and was a zealous coworker with Robert Ralston, Captain Wickes, and other pious laborers. In the fall of 1807 he visited Newark, New Jersey, to attend a memorable revival there in progress, and preached sermons while thus engaged. In

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1808 " politics ran high, and Philadelphia was the head- quarters of the excitement. The old Federal party was fast losing its power. War with Great Britain was advocated by one party, and deprecated by the other. The rancorous debates were unfavorable to religion, and the hopes of the pious were mocked then, as they have been since. He would have been more than human, not to have felt some of the influences around him. But we see from his journal the jealous guard he maintained over his heart." Late in [808, he, in union with others, entered upon measures to establish a Bible society to promote the circulation of the word of God. He was one of the four who issued the eir- eular. to their brethren of other denominations, to meet in solemn deliberation on this, the first series of measures, " which have resulted in such good to our country and the world." It was on December 11th, 1808, that the prepara- tory meeting was held, and when a constitution previously drafted was adopted, he, with Dr. Benjamin Rush, Robert Ralston, and Dr. Green, " were the men who were honored of God to inaugurate the new movement of mercy." It was the pioneer movement of the kind in the United States, and was followed by similar action throughout the land ; and, during his life, the venerable Bishop White was the chief officer of the Philadelphia establishment. In 1312 he published his " Letters on the Abrahamic Covenant," as establishing the right of the children of believing parents to the ordinance of baptism. " He entertained high ideas of the precious nature of the privilege, and the bounden duty of Christian parents to present their infant offspring to God. IIe did not merely defend the received faith of God's church on this matter, but ever insisted upon it as a part of our covenant obligations, from which we could not escape without sin." He was appointed in 1812 to organize the First Presbyterian Church in the Northern Liberties, but continued, in exchange with the minister succeeding him, to preside in a measure over his old pastorate. Early in 1814 he preached in the Presbyterian church at New Brunswick, vacant by the decease of Dr. Clark, on their invitation ; and in April received a unanimous eall, which he accepted. About this time, also, the College at Middlebury, Vermont, conferred on him the degree of Doctor in Divinity. During the year 1819 he preached a notable sermon, as Moderator of the General Assembly, " full of honest warnings, which proved abundantly prophetic." In May, 1827, he was elected Professor of Theology in the newly-erected Western Theological Seminary, established at Alleghenytown, Penn- sylvania, by the General Assembly, with great unanimity. "After solemn and mature reflection, and after, by prayer and fasting, seeking to know the will of God, to the great joy of his people he declined the call." In the following spring he took a prominent part, until attacked by sickness, in the proceedings of the meeting of the Directors of the Theological Seminary at Princeton, New Jersey. In IS28 he visited Pittsburgh, and finally was inaugurated Professor during the meeting of the Synod, when he delivered his in-

augural address, which, with Dr. Swift's address, was pub- lished by the directors. In 1829 he returned with his household to Philadelphia, and eventually severed his con- nection with the seminary. In April, 1830, he removed to New Brunswick, New Jersey, and became pastor of the First Reformed Dutch Church. " The duties were onerous. His preaching was extended to the country parts-his visit- ing laborious." He then labored in New York, in Orchard street, for a short time. In May, 1833, he was elected by the General Synod of the Reformed Dutch Church, Vice- President of Rutgers College and Professor of Belles- Lettres and the Evidences of Christianity, and settled definitely in New Brunswick, which was his home during the remainder of his life. On the retirement of Dr. Mille- doler he was offered, but declined, the presidency of this institution. In 1839 he resigned his offices in the college, and at the same time returned to the Presbyterian Church, wherein he believed was offered a wider field of influence. He was then elected a Trustee in the College of New Jer- sey, which office he had vacated on his removal to the West; and the General Assembly replaced him in the Directors' Board of the Seminary at Princeton, with whose earliest movements he had been connected. He was placed also on the Executive Committee of the Foreign Board of Missions, and to its funds he gave the largest of his contributions. " We have now come to the later stages of his life, still filled with active labor in the work of his Master. Matters connected with the movement of the Bible Society interested him. He had been her life-long friend, and he was true to the end of his days. The dis- tribution of Bibles, chiefly through the county society, occu- pied his attention .. He gave regularly and largely to its funds, and manifested great interest in the resupply of the State of New Jersey." He became greatly interested also in the erection of a new Presbyterian church in New Bruns- wick, attended its worship, and gave largely to its support; and when the present tasteful edifice was erected, con- tributed of his own funds between four and five thousand dollars. In 1850 " the heaviest sorrow of his life fell upon him ; the wife of his youth sickened and died." His views of the millennium increased the joy he ordinarily felt in re- vivals, and on the commencement of those works of mercy in 1858, his soul was greatly refreshed and he grew eloquent with pious enthusiasm. In 1857 his health was seriously assailed, and on Sabbath, January 3Ist, of the same year, he was confined to that bed from which he never arose. Disease obscured his mind and caused confusion and wan- dering, yet, on the subject of religion, or any exposition of the Scriptures, he was clear as ever. At the close of June he became unconscious, and lay for two or three days with- out any communion with the outer world ; and June 27th, at sunset, he died. ITis funeral was attended in the First Presbyterian Church, where Rev. Dr. Hodge preached his funeral sermon. In April, 1804, he was married to Martha G. Leiper, daughter of Thomas Leiper, a respectable and

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wealthy merchant of Philadelphia. " The Bible was his | cordingly he departed on his mission; September 8th he great study, and other books only as they illustrated the word of God. In early life, while settled in the ministry, he had, in the interval of his parochial duties, paid much attention to the study of the prophecies, and especially in the great aspects of the decline and fall of Antichrist, and written much on this subject. . . . . Himself a true patriot, he was deeply interested in the welfare of his native land; and the sectional agitations which at times threatened it were for him a great grief. He published ' Hope for My Country,' as an exposition of his views, and as such it was warmly received by the clergy and the public in general. The duty of pastoral visitation he recognized and practised, and his systematic habits enabled him to accomplish much in this mattter. Of it he made a conscience, though he often complained of want of disposition and talent to drop a word for God, and render his visits more practical."

STAUGHI, JOHN, late of IHaddonfield, New Jer- sey, was born in Keldevon, Essex county, Eng- land, February 23d, 1776, of estimable parents ; but he grew uneasy with the religious professions of both father and mother (they being of different persuasions), and being a seeker, fell in with the Baptists, and " liked them so well, he was on the point of joining them ; but a Friend, a neighbor, being dead, it so happened that he was invited to the burial," where that worthy minister of the gospel, Francis Stamper, of London, being led to speak with life and power directly to his state, it made such deep impressions on his tender mind that he at once entered upon a search into the principles of Friends, and finding that he could conscientiously be one with them in belief and sentiment, joined with their society in the seventeenth year of his age. A year later he came forth in the ministry, and grew in his gift, so that in some time he travelled to visit Friends in America, and, having the unity of the brethren, embarked in 1800, and " was enabled by the great hand that drew him forth to perform that service to the great satisfaction of Friends and the reward of peace in himself." Being then, and for some time after, freed from any concern to travel in the service of truth, he married and set- tled at Haddonfield, New Jersey. " In the forepart of histime he travelled pretty much ; but in latter part he was troubled with an infirmity in his head, which rendered him unfit for the service." After several years of indisposition he finally re- covered so far as to be strong enough to endure with safety the fatigue of a long journey, and then was filled with a concern to visit Friends at Tortola. This brought on him a deep exercise, but when he was confirmed that it was really required of him so to do, he abandoned himself en- tirely and gratefully to the teachings of the inward monitor. He first wrote to them, but finding that this would not excuse him, dared delay no longer. August 8th, 1842, ac-

arrived at the house of John Pickering with his companion, John Cadwalader, and was there fittingly welcomed. He retained his health until the death of his beloved associate, when, on the occasion of his burial, he was drenched with rain, and soon after attacked by a severe cold. On the fol- lowing day he went to a small island called Jos Vandicks, accompanied by several friends; but on the next morning complained very much. IIe persisted, however, in attend- ing meeting, and while there "extended his voice as a trumpet of the Lord's own sounding, but was so inwardly spent he was ready to faint." He went on board the sloop that afternoon, and next morning was prostrated by a shiver- ing fit and high fever, which kept its constant course every day. .... And though the last two days he was in much pain, yet he was preserved under it in much patience and resignation, and had his perfect senses to the last, exhorting Friends to faithfulness, etc. And on the Sixth day of the Tenth month, about six o'clock at night, he went away like a lamb, with praises and thanksgivings in his lips but about two minutes before. At the Monthly Meeting at Haddon- field, New Jersey, November 9th, 1843, a touching tribute to his memory was signed by sorrowing Friends. October Ist, 1802, he was married to Elizabeth, his loving and devoted wife.

ORSE, DR. ISAAC, Physician, late of Elizabeth, was born in Rahway, New Jersey, August 5th, 1758, of parents who were respected members of the Society of Friends. His ancestor, Robert Morse, arrived in Boston before 1644; his son, Robert the second, was born in the Elizabethtown grants ; his son, Robert the third, came into the world at the same place. His father, Joseph Morse, was also born at Elizabeth in 1709, and died in 1779. " He was a short, stout man, with a partially bald head. His society was uni- versally courted, and, while overflowing with mirthfulness, he had courage, firmness, constancy, and perseverance." He was a student of Dr. William Barnet, under whose able preceptorship he acquired an extensive knowledge of the theory and practice of medicine. The following anecdote related of him exhibits him in a characteristic light : "A sloop was loaded with hay half-mast-high, going from Morse's Mill to New York. She got foul of an English vessel. The captain cried out, 'Cut the infernal Yankee shallop's rigging and let her drift.' The doctor, who was on board, called to his colored man to give him a firebrand. Mounting the hay, he cried out in a loud tone, 'I will fire the hay.' Said the frightened Englishman, ' We shall drift down to Hell Gate.' Said the doctor, 'You shan't stop at the gates of hell, if you cut one of my ropes.' The doctor was then invited on board the English vessel, and treated. When asked if there were any more like him, he replied,

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' I am not a circumstance to our people generally.'" IIe owned a useless slave, Pete, who went off in one of Wil- liam Gibbons' steamers. He sued Gibbons and recovered three hundred dollars. He told Gibbons afterward that if he brought him back he would sue him for three hundred more. Said Mr. Gibbons, " Did you not want him ?" "No, I offered him twenty dollars to run away and never come back." . . . . Although a very accomplished scholar, and a charming and intelligent companion, a skilful practi- tioner, and a brilliant conversationalist when so inclined, he was so fond of practical jokes, that he was not unfrequently rude. Stories of his management of hypochondriacs, his practical pleasantries, and his facetious acts, full of humor, always kind in intent, if apparently harsh, could be multi- plied to any extent. He died, after a life of great usefulness and considerable brilliancy, at Elizabeth, New Jersey, July 23d, 1825.

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The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 86

Author: Robson, Charles, ed; Galaxy Publishing Company, publisher Publication date: 1877 Publisher: Philadelphia, Galaxy publishing company Number of Pages: 924

Author: Robson, Charles, ed; Galaxy Publishing Company, publisher
Publication date: 1877
Publisher: Philadelphia, Galaxy publishing company
Number of Pages: 924