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Firft  Prefbyterian  Church,  Trenton,   N.  J, 


H I  S  T  O  R  T 


T 


OF  THE 


• 

Presbyterian  Church 


IN  TRENTOX,   X.  J. 


FROM    THE    FIRST    SETTLExMENT    OF    THE    TOWN. 


MEIIDEK     OF     THE      PRESBYTERIAN      inSTORICAL     SOCIETT,    AND     OF    TUB     HISTORICAL 
60CIETIES    OF    NEW-JEESEY,  PENNSYLVANIA,   AND    WISCONSIN.  ^ 


NEW- YORK 

ANSON    B.    F.    RANDOLPH,    G3S    i^HOALMVAY, 

CORNER     OF     AMITY     STREET. 

1859. 

U  .T, 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1859,  by 

ANSOI^    D.    F.    RANDOLPH, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the 
Soutliern  District  of  New- York. 


-     <>     « 


JOHN    A.    GRAY, 

Priki£i'\i7id  'i^Cureoiyper-,  l§."dJ?;lJ3  Jacob  Street,  N.  Y., 

«r      <J       ■'      «       t        4  »  <■  '  "     '   I-      ' 

F'IRE-i'BOOi''  b'ui'LDISGS. 


J^r 


PRE  FAC  E. 


-•  •  ♦- 


It  will  be  at  once  noticed  that  this  volume  introduces  many  persons, 
places,  and  incidents,  as  well  as  churches,  that  do  not  come  strictly 
within  the  scope  of  its  title.  But  I  thought  that  it  would  contribute  to 
the  interest  and  usefulness,  not  to  say  the  circulation  of  the  book,  to 
make  it  contain  as  much  information  as  without  positive  incongraity 
could  be  collected  from  the  materials  that  came  before  me,  and  which 
would  probably  not  fall  so  easily  into  other  hands. 

I  take  the  opportunity  of  asking  to  be  apprised  of  the  errors  or  omis- 
sions that  may  be  discovered,  and  of  any  additional  facts  or  documents 
relative  to  the  history,  which  would  make  it  more  complete. 

Having  now  fulfilled  the  request  of  many  esteemed  friends  in  the 
church  and  city,  I  leave  the  work  in  their  hands,  hoping  that  none  will 
be  wholly  disappointed,  and  praying  that  the  result  may  show  that  the 
time  it  has  occupied  has  not  been  spent  at  all  inconsistently  with  the 
obligations  of  my  sacred  office  and  my  particular  charge. 

Trektox,  March  23,  1859. 


TABLE    OF     CONTENTS. 


•  •  •— 


CHAPTER   I. 

Presbyterian  Settlement  of  Central  New-Jersey — Falls     page 
OF  Delaware— 1682-1700, 9 

CHAPTER  II. 

TUE   CUURCUES  OF    HOPEWELL    AND    MAIDENHEAD — 1698-173G,  2G 

CHAPTER   III. 
The  Trenton  Church— The  Rev.  David  Cowell — 1714-1738,        52 

CHAPTER   IV. 

Rev.  Mr.  Cowell  and  Rev.  Mr.  Texnent — Schism  of  Synod — 

173G-1760, 79 

CHAPTER  V. 

Trenton  in  1748 — Episcopal  Churches — Trenton  Names  and 

Places— 1746-1700, 97 

CHAPTER   YI. 

College  of  New-Jersey— Cowell,  Burr,  Davies,  Finley — 

1746-1760, 116 

CHAPTER  YII. 
Mr.  Cowell's  Death  and  Burial — 1759-1760,  .        .        .      134 

CHAPTER  YIII. 
The  First  Charter  OF  the  Church — Trustees— 1756-1760,    .      154 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Ministry  of  the   Rev.   Wm.   Kirkpatrick — His  History — 

1760-1766, 163 


vi  Table  of  Contents. 


CHAPTER   X.  PAGE 

Trustees — Trenton  and  Maidenhead — 1764-1*769,  .        .      194: 

CHAPTER  XI. 
Elihu  Spencer,  D.D.— His  PREVIOUS  History— I721-lt69,      .      208 

CHAPTER   XII. 
Dr.  Spencer's  CoNaREGAxiON— 1769-17 13,        ....      229 

CHAPTER  XIIT. 

Dr.  Spencer's  Ministry — Revolutionary  Incidents  in  Tren- 
ton—1773-1780,         260 

CHAPTER  Xiy. 

Close  of  Dr.  Spencer's  Ministry — His  Death — 1780-1784,    .      280 

CHAPTER  XV. 

The  Rev.  J.  F.  Armstrong — Previous  History  and  Settle- 
ment—1750-1790,      295 

CHAPTER  XYI. 

The  General  Assembly — New  Constitution'  of  the  Church 

—Notes— 1785-1790, 319 

CHAPTER   XVII. 

Public  Occasions  in  Trenton — Notes — 1789-1806,  .        .      333 

CHAPTER   XYIII. 
The  New  Brick  Church— Notes— 1804-1806,  .        .        .      362 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Theological  Seminary — Mr.  Arjistrong's  Death — Notes — 

1806-1816, 367 

CHAPTER  XX. 

S.  B.  How,  D.D. — "W.  J.  Armstrong,  D.D. — Rev.  John  Smith 

—1816-1828, 388 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
* 
J.  "W.  Alexander,  D.D.— J.  "W.  Yeomans,  D.D.— J.  Hall,  D.D. 

—1829-1859,      ■.         .         ...'.'.         .         .         .       408 


APPENDIX. 


-•  ♦  ♦- 


I.    History  op  the  Proposal  to  make  Trenton  the  Capi-     page 

TAL  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 435 


^) 


ir.    Basse  and  Revel's  Deed,  .        .        .        .        .        .         440 

III.    Additional  Isotes, 443 

« 

lY.    List  of  the  Pastors,  Elders,  and  Trustees  of  Tren- 
ton Church, 446 

Y.    Pastors  op  Ewing  and  Lawrenceville  Church,  .        .      448 

YI.     Pastors,  Elders,  and  Trustees  of  Pennington  and 

Titusville  Churches, 449 

YIL    List  of  the  first  Members  of  the  Presbytery  of 

New-Brunswick,     • 451 


PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH  U  TRENTO!^. 


—•-> 


Peesbyteria:n'   Settlement  of  Central   New- 
Jeesey — Falls  of  Delaware. 

1682—1700. 

The  territory  occupied  by  the  present  city  of 
Trenton  lies  so  near  tlie  boundary  between  tlie 
Berkeley  and  tlie  Carteret,  or  tlie  east  and  the 
west  sections  of  tlie  Province  of  New-Jersey, 
tliat  the  history  of  its  settlement  is  connected 
with  that  of  both  the  original  divisions.  The  ad- 
vance of  the  Quaker  colonists  from  the  south 
and  west,  and  of  the  Dutch  and  Puritan  from 
the  north  and  east,  gradually  peopled  this  cen- 
tral region.  It  is,  however,  to  the  policy  which 
•invited  to  East- Jersey  the  inhabitants  of  Scot- 
land and  Ireland  that  we  owe  the  immigration. 


10  Firft  Proprietors. 


wliich  in  tlie  course  of  time,  gave  Presbyterian  fea- 
tures to  tlie  religious  cliaracter  of  its  inliaMtants, 
and  made  it  "  tlie  cradle  of  Presbyterianism  in 
America."^  In  tlie  year  1682,  when  Carteret's  in- 
terest in  New-Jersey  was  purcliased  by  William 
Penn  and  liis  eleven  associates,  the  Societv  of 
Friends,  of  wliicli  tliey  all  were  members,  was 
the  smallest  religious  denomination  there.  The 
few  settlements  that  existed  at  the  time — ^the 
whole  population  was  not  more  than  five  thou- 
sand— were  composed  chiefly  of  families  that  had 
emigrated  from  New-England,  Holland,  and  Scot- 
land. As  West  New-Jersey  and  Pennsylvania 
were  sufficient  to  absorb  the  Quaker  interest,  it 
was  a  matter  of  policy  to  place  the  new  enter- 
prise on  such  a  foundation  as  would  be  in^^Lting 
to  persons  of  all  creeds.  For  this  purpose  the 
twelve  original  proj)rietors  determined  to  share 
their  interest  with  an  equal  number  of  new  ad- 
venturers. The  leading  varieties  of  ecclesiastical 
connections  then  prevailing  in  the  mother  coun- 
tries of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  seem  to 
have  been  represented  in  the  new  body  of  pro- 
]3rietors,  but  most  of  them,  whether  Protestants 
or  Romanists,  and  even  the  leading  Quakers^ 

*  Hildreth's  "  United  States,"  vol.  ii.  chapter  IT. 


Scotch  and  Irilli.  ii 


were  connected  witli  Scotland.''^  The  Scotch  and 
Irish  Presbyterians  and  New-England  Puritans, 
(many,  perhaj)s  most,  of  whom  were  Presbyte- 
rians,f )  made  the  moral  character  of  the  Province. 
In  July,  1684,  a  vessel  from  Leith  carried  one 
hundred  and  sixty  passengers,  and  another  from 
Montrose  one  hundred  and  thirty  to  East-Jersey. 
In  that  year  Gawen  Lawrie,  the  Deputy  Gover- 
nor, wrote  from  EHzabethtown :  "  The  Scots  and 
William  Dockwra'sJ  peojple,  coming  now  and 
settling,  advance  the  Province  more  than  it  hath 
been  advanced  these  ten  years."  In  closing 
a  glowing  account  of  the  Province,  he  says :  "1 
have  none  to  write  for  me,  but  you  must  send  a 
copy  of  this  to  Scotland."  In  another  letter  of 
the  same  month,  the  same  writer  remarks  :  '''  The 
Scots  have  taken  a  right  course.     They  have  sent 

*  The  second  set  were  a  motley  collection.  The  earls  of  Perth  and 
Melfoid  (Drummond)  had  apostatized  to  Eomanism  from  the  Church  of 
Scotland  on  the  accession  of  James  II.  "  They  did  this,"  says  Macaulay, 
"  with  a  certain  audacious  baseness  which  no  English  statesman  could 
hope  to  emulate."  ("England,"  chap.  6.)  They  were,  at  the  time  of  be- 
coming proprietors  in  the  land  of  toleration,  persecuting  in  Scotland  such 
as  refused  to  testify  against  the  Presbyterians.  Barclay  was  a  native  of 
Scotland,  became  a  Koman  Catholic  in  Paris,  was  thereupon  recalled  by 
his  father,  and  both  became  Quakers. 

I  See  Hodge's  "Constitutional  History,"  part  i.  22-39. 

X  "  William  Dockwra,  of  London,  to  whom  London  owes  the  useful  in- 
voution  of  the  penny-post."    (Oldmixon.) 


12  Want  of  Minifters. 


over  many  servants,  and  are  likewise  sending 
more.  Tliey  have  likewise  sent  over  many  poor 
families,  and  given  tkem  a  small  stock."  James 
Johnston  writes  to  his  brother  in  Edinburgh : 
"  It  is  most  desired  there  may  be  some  ministers 
sent  us  over  ;  they  would  have  considerable  be- 
nefices and  good  estates  f"  and  since  it  would  be 
a  matter  of  great  piety,  I  hope  you  will  be  in- 
strumental to  advise  some  over  to  us."  Peter 
Watson  Vr^rites  to  a  friend  in  Selkirk,  (August, 
1684  :)  "  We  have  great  need  of  good  and  faith- 
ful ministers,  and  I  wish  that  there  v/ould  come 
over  some  here  ;  they  can  live  as  well  and  have 
as  much  as  in  Scotland,  and  more  than  many  get. 
We  have  none  within  all  the  Province  of  East- Jer- 
sey, except  one  who  is  preacher  in  Newark; 
there  were  one  or  two  preachers  more  in  the 
Province,  but  they  are  dead,  and  now  the  people 
meet  together  every  Sabbath-day,  and  read,  and 
pray,  and  sing  psalms  in  their  meeting-houses." 
In  January,  1685,  Fullerton  writes  from  Eliza- 

*  There  appears  to  have  been  an  early  provision  in  some  places  for  the 
ministry.  Oldmixon  says :  "A  year  or  two  after  the  surrender,  [of  the 
patents  of  the  proprietaries  to  the  Crown,  1*702,]  Serjeant  Hook  purchased 
3750  acres  of  land  in  West- Jersey,  and  gave  the  tenth  part  of  it  as  a 
glebe  to  the  Church.  He  was  a  Presbyterian  ;  but  I  suppose  glebe  is  as 
consistent  with  that  denomination,  as  any  other." — British  Emiyire  in 
America^  i.  p.  29-4. 


Perfecutions.  i^ 


betlitown  to  Montrose  :  "  By  my  next  I  hope  to 
insure  sixty  or  seventy  pounds  to  tlie  parson,  for 
we  Avant  a  minister."  In  March,  1685,  Cockhurn 
writes  to  Scotland :  "  There  is  nothing  discour- 
ages us  more  than  want  of  ministers  here  ;  but 
now  they  have  agreed  about  their  sti^^ends,  there 
is  one  to  be  placed  in  New-Perth,  Piscataway, 
Woodbridge,  and  Elizabethtown.  They  have  a 
mind  to  bring  them  from  Scotland."  Among  the 
emigrants  who  left  Scotland  in  1685,  was  George 
Scot,  Laird  of  Pitlochie.  It  was  the  first  year 
of  the  reign  of  James  II.,  when  already  the  non- 
conformists of  England  and  Scotland  perceived 
that  they  had  nothing  to  expect  under  the  new 
monarch  but  a  continuance  of  the  persecutions 
of  which  their  country,  for  its  faith's  sake,  had 
been  the  bloody  field.  "  Never,"  says  Macaulay, 
''  not  even  under  the  tyi^anny  of  Laud,  had  the 
condition  of  the  Puritans  been  so  deplorable  as 
at  that  time.  .  .  .  Through  many  years  the 
autumn  of  1685  was  remembered  by  the  non- 
conformists as  a  time  of  misery  and  terror.  .  .  . 
In  Scotland  the  King  had  demanded  and  ob- 
tained new  statutes  of  unprecedented  severity 
against  the  Presbyterians."*     "  Severe  as  the  suf- 

*  "History  of  England,"  chap.  5,  *J. 


14  Scot,  of   Pitlochie. 

ferings  of  tlie  non-conformists  in  England  were  at 
this  period,"  says  another  historian,  "  they  were 
nothing  compared  with  that  was  endured  by  the 
poor  Presbyterians  of  Scotland."* 

George  Scot  advertised  his  project  in  the  fol- 
lowing terms : 

"Whereas  there  are  several  people  m  tliis  kingdom, 
who  uj^on  account  of  their  not  going  that  length  in  con- 
formity required  of  them  by  the  law,  do  live  very  uneasy ; 
who,  beside  the  other  agreeable  accommodations  of  that 
place,  [East  New-Jersey,]  may  there  freely  enjoy  their 
own  principles  without  hazard  or  the  least  trouble  ;  seeing 
there  are  ministers  of  their  own  persuasion  going  along 
with  the  said  Mr.  George  Scot ;  who,  by  the  fundamental 
constitution  of  that  country  are  allowed  the  free  exercise 
of  their  ministry,  such  as  Mr.  Archibald  Riddel,  brother 
to  Sir  John  Riddel  of  Riddel,  Mr.  Thomas  Patterson,  late 
minister  of  Borthwick,  and  several  other  ministers ;  it  is 
hereby  signified  to  all  who  desire  this  voyage,  that  the 
Henry  and  Francis,  of  Newcastle,  a  shij)  of  350  tons,  and 
twenty  great  guns,  Richard  Hutton,  master,  is  freighted 
for  the  transportation  of  these  famiUes,  and  will  take  in 
passengers  and  goods  at  Leith,  and  passengers  at  Mont- 
rose, and  Aberdeen,  and  Kirkwa,  in  Orkney,  and  set  sail 
thence  for  East  New-Jersey,  against  the  20th  day  of  July, 
God  willing." 

Scot  sailed  abont  the  time  specified,  with  near- 

*  Orme's  "Life  of  Baxter,"  i.  294.     And  see  Woclrow's  "  History  of 
the  Sufierings  of  the  Church  of  Scotland." 


Scot's  Model. 


15 


ly  two  liundrecl  of  liis  countrymen,  but  himself 
and  wife  died  on  the  voyage."  Previous  to  his 
embarldng  he  published  at  Edinburgh  a  volume 
of  272  pages,  entitled :  "  The  Model  of  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  Province  of  East  New-Jersey  in 
America ;  and  encouragement  for  such  as  design 
to  be  concerned  there."f  The  Scottish  Presby- 
terian, or  one  knowino^  he  was  writing^  to  such,  is 
at  once  detected  in  the  elaborate  and  learned  a  - 
gument,  which  j)recedes  all  his  statistics,  to  prove 
a  warrant  for  colonization  from  the  w^ord  of  God. 
Among  his  points  is  that  the  wonderful  openings 

*  Of  the  company  brought  over  by  Pitlocliie,  seventy-two  are  said  to 
have  been  "prisoners,  banished  to  the  plantations,"  and  "made  a  pre- 
sent to  the  Laird."  Their  crime  was  non-conformity ;  and  on  the  pas- 
sage, "  when  they  who  were  under  deck  attempted  to  worsliip  God  by 
themselves,  the  captain  would  throw  down  great  planks  of  wood  in  order 
to  disturb  them."  The  Eev.  Mr.  Riddel  had  already  been  imprisoned 
several  years  in  England.  After  the  revolution  he  sailed  for  England, 
(June,  1689.)  but  was  "  captured  by  a  French  man-of-war,  and  after 
twenty-two  months'  imprisonment  in  France,  he  was  at  length  exchanged 
for  a  Popish  priest."  {MS.  History;  citing  Ci'ookshanUs  Church  of  Scot- 
land, vol.  ii.  110,  428.     Cloud  of  Witnesses^  ^PP-  337.) 

f  Only  four  copies  of  the  original  work  are  known  to  be  extant,  but  it 
has  been  reprinted  entire  in  the  first  volume  of  the  collections  of  the 
New- Jersey  Historical  Society,  as  an  appendix  to  Mr.  Whitehead's  "  East- 
Jersey  under  the  Proprietary  Governments."  The  facility  and  satisf  c- 
tion  of  reading  this  interesting  document,  are  much  impaired  by  its  being 
printed  in  the  obsolete  orthography  and  abbreviations  of  the  original 
copy — a  custom  of  our  Historical  Societies  which  seems  to  have  very 
httle  to  recommend  it,  even  to  the  antiquary. 


l6  Scot's  Model. 


to  tlie  discovery  of  America,  and  tlie  encourage- 
ments offered  to  Protestant  nations,  indicated  the 
purpose  of  Providence  that  "  he  might  at  length 
cause  the  glorious  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  shine 
out  to  them  as  it  did  to  other  nations,  after  the 
sharp  times  of  the  bitter  desolations  thereof  be- 
twixt the  Romans  and  them."  In  bolder  terms 
than  in  the  more  public  advertisement  of  his  un- 
dertaking, he  thus  appeals  to  the  religious  jea- 
lousy of  his  fellow-churchmen : 

"  You  see,  it  is  now  judged  the  interest  of  the  govern- 
ment altogether  to  suppress  the  Presbyterian  principles ; 
and  that  in  order  thereto  the  whole  force  and  bensill  [vio- 
lence] of  the  lavr  of  this  kingdom  are  levelled  at  the 
effectual  bearing  them  down,  that  the  vigorous  putting 
those  laws  in  execution  hath  in  a  great  part  ruined  many 
of  these,  who,  notwithstanding  thereof,  find  themselves  in 
conscience  obliged  to  retain  these  principles  ;  v/hile,  on  the 
other  hand,  Episcopacy  is,  by  the  same  laws,  supported 
and  protected.  I  would  gladly  know  what  other  rational 
medium  can  be  proposed  in  their  circumstances,  than 
either  to  comply  with  the  government  by  going  what 
length  is  required  by  law  in  conforming,  or  to  retreat 
where  by  law  a  toleration  is  by  his  Majesty  allowed.  Such 
a  retreat  doth  at  present  offer  itself  in  America,  and  is 
nowhere  else  to  be  found  in  his  Majesty's  dominions." 

"We  find  in  this  connection  an  allusion  to  the 
north  of  Ireland,  which  was  fully  realized  1)1  sub- 


North  of  Ireland. 


sequent  years,  in  the  contrihiitions  made  from 
that  quarter  to  the  Presbyterian  population  of 
America. 

"  I  had  an  account  lately  from  an  acquaintance  of  mine, 
that  the  Province  of  Ulster,  Avhere  most  of  our  nation  are 
seated,  could  spare  forty  thousand  men  and  women  to  an 
American  plantation,  and  be  sufficiently  peopled  itself. 
The  gentleman  who  gave  me  this  information  is  since 
settled  in  Maryland ;  the  account  he  sends  of  that  coun- 
try is  so  encouraging  that  I  hear  a  great  many  of  his  ac- 
quaintances are  making  for  that  voyage." 

But  it  was  not  contemplated  to  establish  the 
Kirk  in  New-Jersey.  "Presbyter"  of  Britain 
was  not,  according  to  Milton,  to  be  "  Priest  writ 
large" '  in  America.  "  Liberty  in  matters  of  re- 
ligion," said  Scot,  ''  is  established  in  the  fullest 
manner.  To  be  a  planter  or  inhabitant,  nothing 
is  required  but  the  acknowledging  of  one  Al- 
mighty God ;  and  to  have  a  share  in  the  govern- 
ment a  simple  profession  of  faith  of  Jesus 
Christ,  without  descending  into  any  other  of  the 
differences  among  Christians  ;  only  that  religion 
may  not  be  a  cloak  for  disturbance,  who  ever 
comes  into  the  Magistrature,  must  declare  they 
hold  not  themselves  in  conscience  obliged,  for  re- 
lio^ion's  sake,  to  make  an  alteration,  or  to  endeavor 
to  turn  out  their  partners  in  the  government,  be- 


i8  Character  of  the  People. 


cause  they  differ  in  opinion  from  them ;  and  this 
is  no  more  than  to  follow  the  great  rule,  to  do  as 
they  would  be  done  by." 

Mr.  Bancroft,  after  following  the  remark,  "  this 
is  the  era  at  which  East  Nev/-Jersey,  till  now 
cHefiy  colonized  from  New-England,  became  the 
asylum  of  Scottish  Presbyterians,"  with  an  eloquent 
sketch  of  the  sufferings  of  that  people  under  the 
attempt  of  tbe  Stuarts  to  force  Episcopacy  upon 
them,  asks :  "  Is  it  strange  that  Scottish  Presby- 
terians of  \drtue,  education,  and  courage,  blend- 
ing a  love  of  popular  liberty  with  religious  en- 
thusiasm, hurried  to  East  New-Jersey  in  such 
numbers  as  to  give  to  the  rising  commonwealth 
a  character  which  a  century  and  a  half  has  not 
effaced  ?"  "  In  a  few  years,"  he  adds,  "  a  law  of 
the  commonwealth,  gi^^-ng  force  to  the  common 
principle  of  the  New-England  and  the  Scottish 
Calvinists,  established  a  system  of  free  schools. . .  . 
Thus  the  mixed  character  of  New-Jersey  springs 
from  the  different  sources  of  its  people.  Puri- 
tans, Covenanters,  and  Quakers  met  on  her  soil ; 
and  their  faith,  institutions,  and  preferences,  hav- 
ing life  in  the  common  mind,  survive  the 
Stuarts."^ 

*  Bancroft's  "  Colonial  History,"  chap.  17. 


Frelbyterians.  19 


Eobert  Barclay  was  tlie  first  Governor  under 
tne  new  proprietary  administration,  (1683.)  Al- 
though the  office  was  given  him  for  life,  he  was 
not  required  to  reside  in  the  Province,  and,  in 
fact,  he  never  saw  it,  but  was  represented  by 
deputies.  Mr.  Grahame,  in  his  "  Colonial  History" 
says,  under  1685 :  ''As  a  further  recommenda- 
tion of  the  Province  to  the  favor  of  the  Scotch, 
Barclay  displacing  a  deputy,  (Lawrie,)  whom  he 
had  appointed  of  his  own  religious  persuasion, 
conferred  this  office  on  Lord  Neil  Campbell,  uncle 
of  the  Marquis  of  Argyle,  who  repaired  to  East- 
Jersey,  and  remained  there  for  some  time  as  its 
Lieutenant-Governor."  Campbell  was  followed 
by  another  Scotchman,  Andrew  Hamilton. 

While  Presbyterians  were  thus  finding  homes 
in  the  northern  and  eastern  parts  of  the  Province, 
others  mingled  with  the  settlements  that  were 
creeping  up  the  Delaware  on  both  banks,  and 
scattering  between  the  river  and  the  ocean.  The 
first  church  in  Philadelphia  (less  than  thirty 
miles  from  Trenton)  was  organized  about  1698. 
There  was  a  Dutch  Presbyterian  church  at  Ne- 
shaminy  (twenty  miles)  in  1 Y 1 0.  But  the  church 
in  Monmouth  county,  originally  called  "  the 
Scotch  Meeting-House,"  better  known  to  us  as  the 


20  Edmundfon's  PaiTage. 


J'  Tennent  Cliurcli,"  (tliirty  miles,)  was  formed 
of  Scottisli  materials  about  1692.  Its  first  j^astor 
was  fi^om  Scotland.* 

I  have  indulged  in  tlie  foregoing  retrospect  for 
tlie  purpose  of  showing  tlie  origin  and  general  pro- 
gress of  the  i^opulation  that  at  length  reached  the 
more  central  region  where  the  capital  of  the  Pro- 
vince came  to  be  established.  And  here  I  intro- 
duce, as  a  curious  local  memorandum,  the  earliest 
record  to  be  found  of  a  journey  on  what  is  now 
one  of  the  two  great  thoroughfares  between  New- 
York  and  Philadelphia,  by  Trenton,  but  eight 
years  before  Philadelphia  was  laid  out  by  Penn, 
and  when  the  site  of  Trenton  was  only  known  as 
at  "  the  Falls  of  the  Delaware."  William  Ed- 
mundson,  a  minister  of  the  Friends  from  Eng- 
land, made  the  following  entry  in  his  journal  of 
1675,  after  leaving  Shrewsbury  and  Middletown: 

*  His  grave  is  in  the  church-yard,  w-ith  a  Latin  inscription,  signifying : 
"The  ashes  of  the  very  pious  Mr.  John  Boyd,  pastor  of  this  church  of 
Calvin,  are  here  buried,  whose  labor,  although  expended  on  a  barren  soil, 
was  not  lost.  They  who  knew  him  well,  at  the  same  time  prove  his 
worth  as  rich  in  virtues.  Reader,  follow  his  footsteps,  and  I  hope  thou 
wilt  hereafter  be  happy.  He  died  August  30,  1108,  the  29th  year  of  his 
age."  Mr.  Boyd  completed  his  trials  with  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia 
September  27,  1*706,  and  was  ordained  ten  days  afterwards.  On  the 
minutes  of  May  10,  1709,  the  following  expressive  record  is  found; 
"  The  Kev.  Mr.  John  Boyd  being  dead,  what  relates  to  him  ceases." 


Edmund  son.  21 


"  Next  morning  we  took  our  journey  tlirongh  the  wil- 
derness towards  Maryland,  to  cross  the  river  at  Delaware 
Falls.  Richard  Hartshorn  and  EliakiniWardell  would  go 
a  day's  journey  with  us.  We  hired  an  Indian  to  guide 
us,  but  he  took  us  wrong,  and  left  us  in  the  woods.  When 
it  was  late  we  alighted,  put  our  horses  to  grass,  and 
kindled  a  fire  by  a  little  brook,  convenient  for  water  to 
drink,  to  lay  down  till  morning,  but  were  at  a  great  loss 
concerning  the  way,  being  all  strangers  in  the  wilderness. 
Richard  Hartshorn  advised  to  go  back  to  Rarington  river, 
about  ten  miles  back,  as  was  supposed,  to  find  out  a  small 
landing-place  from  New- York,  from  whence  there  teas  a 
small  path  that  led  to  Delaware  Falls.  So  we  rode 
back,  and  in  some  time  found  the  landing-place  and  little 
path ;  then  the  two  friends  committed  us  to  the  Lord's 
guidance,  and  went  back.  We  travelled  that  day,  and 
saio  no  tame  creature.  At  night  we  kindled  a  fire  in  the 
wilderness  and  lay  by  it,  as  we  used  to  do  in  such  jour- 
neys. Next  day,  about  nine  in  the  morning,  by  the  good 
hand  of  God,  we  came  well  to  the  Falls,  and  by  his  provi- 
dence found  there  an  Indian  man,  a  woman,  and  boy  with 
a  canoe  :  so  we  hired  him  for  some  wampam.peg  to  help 
us  over  in  the  canoe  ;  we  swam  our  horses,  and  though 
the  river  was  broad,  yet  got  well  over,  and  by  .the  direc- 
tions we  received  from  friends,  travelled  towards  Dela- 
waretown,  [probably  Newcastle,]  along  the  west  side  of 
the  river.  When  we  had  rode  some  miles,  vf  e  baited  our 
horses  and  refreshed  ourselves  with  such  provisions  as  we 
had,/b7'  as  yet  toe  were  not  come  to  any  inhabitants.'''^'^ 

*  "A  Journal  of  the  life,  travels,  sufferings,  and  labors  of  love  in  the 
■work  of  the  ministry  of  that  worthy  elder  and  faithful  servant  of  Jesus 


22  Falls  of  the  Delaware. 


As  "the  Falls  of  the  Delaware"  was  not  only 
the  first  name  given  to  the  part  of  the  river 
where  Trenton  was  afterwards  built,  but  was  for 
more  than  a  century  used  to  denote  the  general 
locality,  it  may  be  well  to  notice  that  w^hat  is 
dignified  by  the  term,  is  no  more  than  the  ra- 
pids of  the  current  in  the  descent  of  about  eigh- 
teen feet  in  six  miles.*  The  association  of  the 
term  has  often  led  to  the  confounding  of  the 
Trenton  rijDj)!©^  with  the  truly  grand  falls  of 
West  Canada  Creek  in  Xew-York,  which  are 

* 

called  "Trenton  Falls"  from  a  ^dlla^■e  in  their 
vicinity.  This  has  given  occasion  to  some  ludi- 
crous disappointments  with  travellers.  It  was 
probably  the  cause  of  the  illusion  of  the  English 
tourist  in  1797,  who  "  entered  the  State  of  jSTew- 
Jersey  and  slept  at  Trenton,  which  we  left  before 
sunrise  the  next  morning ;  a  circumstance  I  re- 
gretted, as  I  wished  to  see  the  falls  of  the  river 
Delaware  in  that  neighborhood,  which,  I  am  in- 
formed, are  worthy  the  attention  of  a  traveller."f 

Christ,  William  Edmundson,  who  departed  thiglife  the  81st  of  the  sixth 
month,  1712."     London.     1715.     (Philadelphia  Library,  No.  668.    8vo.) 

*  Some  pleasant  associations  must  have  lingered  about  the  old  name 
as  late  as  1824,  when  a  Bible  Society  being  formed  in  Trenton,  the  name 
was  adopted  of  "  The  Bible  Society  of  Delaware  Falls." 

f  "Priest's  Travels,  1793-7."     London. 


The  Falls.  23 


Tlie  translator  of  tlie  "work  of  Kalm,  to  be  more 
fully  quoted  hereafter,  raises  the  humLle  rapids 
mentioned  Ly  the  Swede,  to  "  the  cataracts  of  the 
Delaware  near  Trenton."*  Another  Englishman, 
and  president  of  the  Eoyal  Astronomical  Society, 
pronounced,  in  1Y96,  that  "these  do  not  deserve 
the  name  oi  falls ^  being  nothing  more  than  a 
ledge  of  rocks  reaching  across  the  river,  and  ob- 
structing the  navigation  for  large  vessels."f 

*  "  Kalm's  Travels,  by  Forster."     London.     1170.     I.  49. 

•{•  "Journal  of  a  tour  in  unsettled  parts  of  North  America  in  1196  and 
1197.  By  the  late  Francis  Baily,  President  of  the  Royal  Astronomical 
Society."     London.     1856.     P.  115. 

"Wansey,  the  "  Wiltshire  Clothier,"  says  in  1194 :  "  In  passing  the  Del- 
aware with  our  coacheo,  we  ferry  within  ten  yards  of  one  of  the  rapids, 
by  which  we  are  to  understand  that  part  of  a  river  where  the  bed  is  al- 
most filled  up  with  rocks,  chiefly  below  the  surface  of  the  water,  which 
occasions  the  current  to  pass  very  quick,  and  make  it  dangerous  to 
those  who  are  not  acquainted  with  the  navigation.  {Journal  of  an  Excur- 
sion, p.  106.)  In  a  work  by  Dr.  Douglass,  a  Scotchman,  but  for  thirty 
years  a  resident  of  Boston,  the  following  description  is  given  of  the  nav- 
igation of  the  Delaware  river  in  1149-53:  "Prom  Philadelphia  to 
Trent-Town  Palls  are  thirty-five  miles ;  these  are  the  first  falls  in  the 
river,  and  the  tide  reaches  up  so  high ;  these  falls  are  practicable,  and 
the  river  navigable  with  boats  that  carry  eight  or  nine  tons  iron,  forty 
miles  higher  to  Durham  iron  works.  .  .  .  Prom  Trent-Town  Palls 
this  river  is  practicable  upwards  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  for  Indian 
canoe  navigation,  several  small  falls  or  carrying  places  intervening." 
{A  Summary  historical  and  political,  of  the  first  planting,  progressive  im- 
provements, and  present  state  of  the  British  Settlements  in  North  America. 
By  William  Douglass,  M.D.  Boston.  Vol.  L  1149.  Vol.  IL  1153. 
Vol.  II.,  p.  312.) 


24  Mahlon  Stacy. 

It  was  at  the  Falls  that  Mahlon  Stacy,  a 
Yorkshireman,  found  the  tract  of  land  that  com- 
mended itself  as  the  most  suitable  site  for  a  new 
settlement.  He  was  one  of  the  emigrants  to 
Burlington  (or  Bridlington)  in  1678,  and  being 
a  creditor  of  Byllinge,  he  obtained  from  his  as- 
signees eight  hundred  acres,  l}^ng  on  both  sides 
of  the  Assanpink,  a  creek  which  empties  into  the 
Delaware  at  Trentou.  Here  he  took  up  his  own 
abode,  and  built  a  grist  mill.  If,  according  to 
Smith's  "  History  of  New-Jersey,"  the  first  name 
given  to  the  settlement  at  the  Falls  was  "  Little- 
worth,"  the  disparaging  title  must  have  been  dis- 
dained by  Stacy,  who  pronounced  it  "  a  most 
brave  place,  whatever  envy  or  evil  spies  may 
speak  of  it.'** 

In  letters  dated  from  "  the  Falls  of  Delaware" 

*  The  only  positive  evidence  T  have  ever  found  that  the  name  Little- 
worth  was  actually  used,  is  that  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Cooley,  who  states  that 
he  had  seen  a  deed  of  two  lots,  lying  east  of  Greene  street,  between 
Second  street  (now  State)  and  the  Assanpink,  which  were  described  as 
"being  in  Little  worth."  The  date  of  the  deed  is  not  given.  It  was  probably 
the  designation  of  some  portion  of  the  land  too  much  exposed  to  the 
freshes  of  the  creek  to  be  as  valuable  as  other  parts.  Smith's  Histoiy, 
in  the  account  of  the  great  flood  at  Delaware  Falls  in  1692,  says:  "The 
first  settlers  of  the  Yorkshire  tenth  in  New-Jersey  had  several  of  them 
bulk  upon  the  low  lands  nigh  the  falls  of  Delaware,  where  they  had  now 
lived  and  been  improving  near  sixteen  years."  It  is  to  be  hoped  that 
there  was  nothing  in  the  character  of  the  settlers  that  suggested  the  ap- 
plication of  Solomon's  epithet :  "  The  heart  of  the  wicked  is  littk  ivorth." 
Proverbs  10  :  20. 


Mahlon  Stacy.  25 


m  1680,  Stacy  extols  tlie  fertility  of  the  whole 
region,  the  abundance  of  fruit,*  berries,  game, 
and  fish,  whilst  he  "  honestly  declares  there  is 
some  barren  land,  as  (I  suppose)  there  is  in  most 
places  of  the  world,  and  more  wood  than  some 
would  have  upon  their  lands ;  neither  will  the 
country  produce  corn  without  labor,  nor  cattle 
be  got  without  something  to  buy  them,  nor  bread 
with  idleness  ;  else  it  would  be  a  good  country 
indeed."  The  good  Friend  would  not  overlook 
the  guidance  of  Providence  in  his  own  case,  nor 
encourage  his  Yorkshire  correspondents  to  follow 
him  over  the  sea,  unless  they  felt  the  same  in- 
ward direction.  "  When  I  am  walking  alone, 
and  the  sense  of  the  Lord's  good  dealings  is 
brought  before  me,  I  can  not  but  admire  him  for 
his  mercies,  and  often  in  secret  bless  his  name 
that  ever  he  turned  my  face  hitherward,  and 
gave  me  confidence  in  himself,  and  boldness  by 
faith  to  oppose  all  gainsayers,  though  never  so 
stronor.  ...  If  you  have  clearness  to  come 
to  New-Jersey,  let  nothing  hinder ;  but  if  you 
have  a  stop  within  yourself,  let  not  any  thing 
farther  you,  until  the  way  clears  to  your  full 
satisfaction." 

*  "Peaches  in  such  plenty  that  some  people  took  their  carts  a  peach- 
gathering.     I  could  not  but  smile  at  the  conceit  of  it." 

2 


<I|hayti!iI    ^j'lioiri. 


The  Chueches  of  Hopewell  and  Maidenhead. 


1698—1736. 


0      ®    JMl 


This  little  map  will  serve  to  explain  the  topo- 
grapliy  of  the  region  embraced  in  the  history  of 
the  united  churches  of  Hopewell  and  Maidenhead, 
which  is  the  history  of  the  churches  of  Trenton.* 


*  One  of  the  most  prosaic  downfalls  in  the  history  of  the  change  ot 
names,  took   place  when    the   ancient  English    term   for    maidenhood 


Hopewell.  27 

In  1694  tlie  Assanj)ink  was  made  the  northern 
boundary  of  the  county  of  Burlington  ;  and  in 
1Y14  the  new  county  of  Hunterdon  was  formed, 
reaching  from  the  Assanpink,  as  its  southern  line, 
to  the  northern  extremity  of  West -Jersey.  Of 
this  large  and  for  the  most  part  unsettled  terri- 
tory, now  divided  into  several  of  the  most  popu- 
lous and  important  counties  of  the  State,  Hope- 
well and  Maidenhead  were  adjoining  townships. 
It  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  Presbyterian 
inhabitants,  scattered  over  the  twin  townships, 
were  for  some  time  dependent  on  itinerant  or 
missionary  preachers  for  the  opportunities  of 
public  worship,  and  that  when  such  opjDortunities 
opened,  the  people  would  congregate  from  long 
distances  in  school-rooms,  or  private  houses,  or  in 
the  shade  of  woods,  in  different  neighborhoods, 
as  convenience  or  some  system  of  rotation  might 


was  converted  by  the  Legislature,  in  1816,  on  the  petition  of  the  inhab- 
itants, into  Lawrence  for  the  township  and  Lawrenceville  for  the  town, 
in  honor  of  the  hero  of  the  frigate  Chesapeake.  It  would  be  a  parallel 
improvement  if  the  people  of  Virginia  should  drop  the  name  of  their 
State  for  one  that  would  embalm  the  name  of  Captain  Joha  Smith.  The 
original  Maidenhead  is  a  small  town  on  the  Thames,  in  Berkshire,  and  is 
partly  in  the  parish  of  Bray ;  one,  at  least,  of  whose  vicars  is' an  historical 
personage.  Not  far  from  the  town  is  Salt  Hill,  famous  which  scholars 
for  the  Eton  Montem. 


28  Maidenhead. 


appoint  *  It  is  not  strange,  on  this  supposition, 
that  the  names  "  Hopewell"  and  "  people  of 
Hopewell,"  should  be  used  in  the  ecclesiastical 
records  in  reference  to  different  neighborhoods, 
and  even  parishes,  so  that  after  the  lapse  of  a 
century  and  a  half  it  would  not  be  possible  to 
determine  in  every  instance  what  particular  local- 
ity, if  any,  is  designated.  The  present  churches 
of  Ewino;',  Penninsfton,  and  Trenton  were  in 
Hopewell ;  that  of  Lawrence^dlle  was  in  Maiden- 
head. It  is  not  imj)robable  that  the  Presbyteri- 
ans in  the  latter  township  were  sometimes  in- 
cluded in  the  general  reference  of  ''  Hopewell." 

Some  of  my  readers  may  need  to  be  reminded 
of  a  ]!^ew-England  peculiarity  which  then  obtain- 
ed in  this  Province,  and  will  still  further  account 
for  the  confusion.     I  may  explain  it  in  the  words 


*  The  two  townships  would  have  been  a  small  circuit  for  a  mission- 
ary, compared  with  some  that  were  assigned  in  the  last  century  by 
Presbyteries  to  Supplies  and  even  to  Pastors.  In  1739  the  Presbytery  ot 
New-Brunswick  directed  one  of  their  ministers  to  divide  his  time  among 
the  peopleof  Allentown,  Cranbury,  Pepack,  Lebanon,  and  Muskinicunck,_^^ 
In  1740  Mr.  McCray  accepted  a  call  from  Lametunck,  Lebanon,  Pepack, 
Readingtown,  and  Bethlehem ;  and  Mr.  Robinson  was  directed  to  supply 
Middletown,  Shrewsbury,  Shark-river,  Cranbury,  Crosswicks,  the  Forks, 
G-reen's,  and  Pahaqually.  In  1749  Mr.  Chesnut  was  appointed  to  supply 
Amwell  for  four  weeks,  then  Penu's  Neck,  then  Woodbury,  then  seven 
Sabbaths  at  Cape  May. 


Deed  of   1698.  29 


of  Colonel  (afterwards  Governor)  Lewis  Morris, 
in  1700,  wlien  referring  to  tlie  "  towns"  of  East- 
Jersey.  ''  These  towns  are  not  like  the  towns  in 
England,  the  houses  built  close  together  on  a 
small  spot  of  ground,  but  they  include  large  por- 
tions of  the  country  of  four,  five,  eight,  ten, 
twelve,  fifteen  miles  in  length,  and  as  much  in 
breadth  ;  and  all  the  settlements  within  such 
state  and  bounds  is  said  to  be  within  such  a 
township ;  but  in  most  of  those  townships  there 
is  some  place  where  a  part  of  the  inhabitants 
set  down  nearer  together  than  the  rest,  and  con- 
fine themselves  to  smaller  portions  of  ground, 
and  the  town  is  more  peculiarly  designed  by 
that  settlement."* 

The  first  authentic  notice  of  any  efibrt  on  the 
part  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  two  townships  to 
provide  a  permanent  place  of  worship  is  found  in 
a  deed  dated  March  18, 1698-9.t  In  that  instru- 
ment, Jeremiah  Basse,  Grovernor  of  East  and 
West- Jersey,  and  Thomas  Eevell,  "  Agents  of 
the  Honorable  West-Jersey  Society  in  England," 
conveyed  one   hundred  acres    ''  for  the  accom- 

*  "The  Papers  of  Lewis  Morris.'.'     N.  J.  Hist.  Soc,  1852. 

f  In  this  part  of  my  researches  T  have  availed  myself  of  the  collections 
kindly  placed  at  my  disposal  by  the  Rev.  George  Hale,  pastor  of  Pen- 
nington. 


30  Grantees. 


modation  and  service  of  the  inliabitants  of  the 
township  of  Maidenhead,  within  the  lil^erties 
and  precincts  of  the  said  county  of  Burlington 
and  the  inhal3itants  near  adjacent,  for  the  erect- 
ing a  meeting-house,  and  for  burying-ground 
and  school-house,  and  land  suitable  for  the 
same."*  The  names  of  many  of  the  grantees 
will  be  recognized  as  still  represented  in  this 
region. 

Ralph  Hunt,  ^  Philip  Phillips, 

John  Bainbridge,  [or  Ban-    Joshua   Anclris,    [sometimes 


bridge," 

Andrus    and   Andrews, 

Johannes  Lawrenson, 

and  Anderson, 

William  Hixon, 

Samuel  Davis, 

John  Bryerly,  [Brearley  ?] 

Enoch  Andris, 

Samuel  Hunt, 

Cornelius  Andris, 

Theophilus  Phillips, 

James  Price, 

Jonathan  Davis, 

John  Runian, 

Thomas  Smith, 

Thomas  Runian, 

Jasper  Smith, 

Hezekiah  Bonham, 

Thomas  Coleman, 

Benjamin  Maple, 

Benjamin  Hardin, 

Lawrence  Updike, 

William  Akers, 

Joseph  Sackett, 

Robert  Lannen,  [Lannino^,' 

Edward  Hunt,  y 

The  strong  presumption  is,  that  from  the  be- 
ginning this  was  a  Presbyterian    congregation, 

*  Eecorded  Book  B.,  No.  2,  p.  655,  in  the  State  House  at  Trenton. 


Maidenhead  Church. 


31 


and  that,  although  the  precise  year  in  which  a 
church  was  erected  on  the  ground  thus  con- 
veyed, can  not  be  ascertained,  the  first  house 
of  worship  for  any  denomination  in  the  two 
townships  was  that  at  Maidenhead,  now  Law- 
renceville.  John  Hart,  a  signer  of  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  was  baptized  by  the  Rev. 
Jedediah  Andrews,  at  Maidenhead,  December 
31,  1713.      As  Edward  Hart,  his  father,   lived 


in  Hopewell,  three  miles  below  Pennington,  it 
is  probable  that  there  was  a  church  at  Maiden- 
head to  which  the  child  was  taken.  There  were 
ten  baptisms  at  Maidenhead  in  April,  1713,  which 


32  Maidenhead  Church. 


goes  to  increase  the  probability  of  a  permanent 
place  of  worship  being  there  at  that  date.  There 
is  positive  evidencce  of  its  existence  three  years 
later,  for  in  the  records  of  the  Court  of  Sessions 
for  Hunterdton  county,  dated  Tuesday,  June  5th, 
1716,  is  the  entry :  '^  Proclamation  made  and  the 
court  adjourned  to  the  meeting-house  in  Maiden- 
head in  half  an  hour." 

I  regret  that  I  am  not  able  to  produce  views 
of  any  of  the  original  churches.  The  engraving 
here  presented  is  a  copy  of  the  Lawrenceville 
church  as  it  now  stands,  but  excluding  the  lec- 
ture and  school-l3uilding  which  stands  at  the 
extremity  of  the  front  of  the  lot,  and  excluding 
also  the  extensive  2Tave-yard  which  surrounds 
the  church.  The  present  front  (forty-five  feet) 
and  about  thirty-two  feet  of  the  depth,  is  the 
same  structure  that  was  raised  in  1764.  The 
church  was  enlarged  in  18)^3,  to  the  dimensions 
of  forty-five  by  sixty  feet,  and  in  1853,  fifteen 
feet  were  added  to  the  length.  I  may  add  that 
in  1819  this  congregation  came  into  possession 
of  a  valuable  farm  and  parsonage  devised  to  them 
by  Jasper  Smith,  Esq.,  an  elder  of  the  church. 

The  earliest  sign  of  preparation  for  a  church 
in  Hopewell  is  found  in  two  deeds  of  April  20, 


Hopewell  Church.  33 


1703."^  In  the  first  of  these,  John  Hutchinson 
conveyed  to  Andrew  Heath,  Eicliard  Eayre, 
Abiall  Davis,  and  Zel)ulon  Heston,  a  lot  of  two 
acres,  in  trust.  The  second  and  concurrent  deed 
declares  the  purpose  of  the  trust.  It  is  address- 
ed, ^'To  all  Christian  people  to  whom  these 
presents  shall  come,"  and  sets  forth  that  the 
trust  is  "  for  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  township 
of  Hoj^ewell  and  their  successors  inhabiting  and 
dwelling  within  the  said  township  forever ;  for 
the  public  and  common  use  and  benefit  of  tbe 
whole  township,  for  the  erection  and  building  of 
a  public  meeting-house  thereon,  and  also  for  a 
place  of  burial,  and  for  no  other  uses,  intents,  or 
purposes  whatsoever."  The  ground  thus  convey- 
ed is  within  three  miles  of  Trenton,  (marked 
"  Old  Church"  on  our  ma23,)  a  short  distance  be- 
yond the  State  Lunatic  Asylum.  A  church  was 
erected  on  this  site  which  seems  to  have  become 
tlie  exclusive  proj^erty  of  Episcopalians,  as  that 
denomination  occupied  it  until  St.  Michael's 
Church  was  built  in  the  towm,  and  tlie  cono^reo^a- 
tion  sold  the  ground  in  1838 — the  liouse  having 
long  before  disappeared. 

It   is   probable  that  if    tlie   history    of  this 

*  Deed  Book  AAA,  106  and  114.     State  House. 


34  OW  Cemetery. 


Cliiircli  could  be  ascertained,  it  would  read 
somewliat  like  the  following  record  in  tlie  Min- 
utes of  the  Presbytery  of  New-Brunswick,  Sep- 
tember 19,  1Y38. 

"  The  affair  of  Cranberry  concerning  the  Meeting-house 
was  opened  up  before  the  Presbytery,  wherein  it  appeared 
that  the  peoj)le  of  the  Presbyterian  and  Church  of  Eng- 
land persuasion  have  a  conjunct  interest  in  the  Meeting- 
house, by  virtue  of  an  agreement  between  such  of  the 
Presbyterians  as  assisted  the  building  of  it,  and  their 
neighbors  of  the  Church  of  England  ;  and  therefore  upon 
the  proposal  of  the  rest  of  our  persuasion  who  are  not 
willing  to  have  any  concern  with  the  said  house  upon  that 
foundation,  the  Presbytery  do  advise  and  judge  it  most 
proper  that  the  gentlemen  of  the  Church  of  England  do 
either  buy  or  sell  their  interest,  that  so  the  Presbyterians 
may  all  have  a  house  for  worship  by  themselves  alone,  and 
so  that  this  whole  body  may  be  united." 

When  St.  Michael's  Church  made  the  convey- 
ance of  1838,  by  which  the  old  church-plot  was 
added  to  a  surrounding  farm,  reservation  was 
made  of  an  inclosure  measuring  thirty-two  feet 
by  twenty-seven,  occupied  by  graves.  The  in- 
closure is  made  by  a  stone  wall,  now  falling  into 
ruins,  and  has  the  appearance  of  having  been  de- 
signed for  a  family  cemetery.  The  only  grave- 
stones remaining  are  those  of  Samuel  Tucker, 
1789,  and  Mrs.  Tucker,  1^87,  which  will  be  de- 


Lockart's  Deed.  35 


scribed  hereafter  ;  one  "  in  memory  of  John,  son 
of  William  and  Elizabeth  Cleayton,  who  died 
November  6,  1757,  [possibly  1737,]  aged  19 
years  ;"  another  of  "  Ma ,  [probably  Marga- 
ret,] the  wife  of  John  Dagworthy,  Esq.,  who  died 
May  16,  1729,  aged  37  years  ;"  and  a  few  more 
which  can  not  be  decij^hered  beyond  "  Grace 

Da ,"    or    "Hend ,"    etc.      It    is    said 

that  the  widow  of  William  Trent,  whose  name 
was  given  to  the  town,  was  buried  here,  but  there 
is  no  trace  of  the  grave. 

In  less  than  six  years  from  Hutchinson's  deed 
to  Heath  and  others,  the  Hopewell  Presbyterians 
took  measures  for  the  erection  of  a  church  for 
themselves,  within  three  miles  of  the  one  just  de- 
scribed. This  was  the  beginning  of  the  congre- 
gation, which,  after  the  foundation  of  the  town- 
ship of  Trenton,  (L7 19-20,)  was  called  the 
"  Trenton  First  Church,"  but  which  now  takes 
the  name  of  the  new  township  of  Ewing.  The 
original  deed  was  dated  March  9,  1709,  and  con- 
veyed two  acres  of  land  from  Alexander  Lockart, 
a  Scotchman,  to 

Richard  Sciidder,  Jacob  Reeder, 

John  Burroughs,*  Cornelius  Anderson, 

*  The  genealogy  of  the  family  of  Burroughs  may  be  found  in  Riker's 
Annals  of  Newtown,  Queen's  County,  New- York,"  published  in  1852. 


36  Flril  Congregation. 


Ebeiiezer  Prout,  John   Silerons,    (or   Siferons, 

Daniel  Howell,  Severance,  Severns,) 

John  Deane,  Simon  Sacket,f 

John  Davis,  George  Farley, 

Jonathan  Davis,  Caleb  Farley, 

Enoch  Anderson,  William  Reed, 

William  Osoorne,  Joseph  Sacket.f 

There  are  no  original  records  or  documents  to 
remove  tlie  obscurity  that  surrounds  the  first 
action  under  this  deed;  hut  in  the  following 
minute  of  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia^  May 
11,1 709,  Hopewell  may  refer  to  this  people — per- 
haj)s  in  connection  with  those  of  what  is  now  Pen- 
nins: ton : 

"  Ordered,  that  Mr.  [Joseph]  Smith  go  to  the  people  of 
Maidenhead  and  Hopewell,  and  confer  Avitli  them  on 
such  matters  as  shall  be  propomided  to  him  by  them,  cou- 

The  first  of  the  name  came  from  England  to  Salem,  Massachusetts,  in 
1637,  and  died  in  1678.  His  name  was  John.  His  son,  Joseph,  "a 
liberal  supporter  of  the  Presbyterian  ministry  in  Newtown,"  died  in  1138. 
Joseph's  sou,  John,  who  married  Margaret  Renne  in  1721,  "owned  land 
at  Trenton,"  and  died  at  Newtown,  July  7,  J  750.  Mr.  Charles  Bur- 
roughs, who  has  been  a  trustee  of  our  church  since  1826,  is  a  great- 
grandson  of  the  grantee  in  Lockari's  deed.  His  father,  John  Burroughs, 
died  in  Trenton  April  28,  1842,  in  his  eighty-ninth  year. 

f  In  Mr.  Hiker's  work  there  is  also  given  a  history  of  the  Sacket  family, 
which  appears  to  have  been  that  with  which  the  two  grantees  of  the 
name,  and  also  the  clergyman  hereafter  mentioned,  were  connected. 
Simon  was  a  familv-name 


Church  of  1712. 


37 


cerning  his  being  called  to  be  their  minister  ;  and  that  Mr. 
Smith  preach  to  the  people  aforesaid  on  his  way  to  New- 
England,  or  return  from  it,  or  both ;  and  that  this  be  in- 
timated to  Mr.  Smith,  and  the  people  aforesaid  be  writ  to 
by  Mr.  Andrews."" 


The  first  cliiircli  on  this  ground  was  built  of 
logs,  (1712  ;)  this  made  room,  about  1726,  for  a 
frame-building,  which  was  used  until  1795,  when 
one  of  brick  was  erected.  In  1839  the  church 
was  remodelled.  The  cut  represents  the  church 
of  1795  before  alteration  ;  and  here  I  take  the 
liberty  of  quoting  a  few  verses  from  a  poem, 


38  The  Old  Church. 


written  for  the  amusement  of  her  grandchildren 
by  an  estimable  member  of  this  church,  and 
prompted  by  the  destruction  of  one  of  two  old 
oaks  in  the  church-yard,  in  1852. 

its  4c  4c  *  4c  4: 

"  Two  hundred  years,  or  more,  the  storms  you  braved 
Unharmed,  while  round  your  head  the  tempest  raved. 
A  faithful  guard,  for  all  that  time,  you  kept. 
Above  the  throng  that  'neath  your  sha,dow  slept. 
The  wild  tornado's  breath  hath  o'er  thee  past, 
And  prostrate  on  the  earth  you  lie  at  last. 

^  !}»  <♦  H'*  T*  T* 

And  here  they  stood  when  the  forefathers  came, 
To  build  an  altar  to  their  Maker's  name. 
Men  from  afar — perchance  across  the  deep, 
This  place  they  chose  their  Sabbath  rest  to  keep. 
They  built  an  altar  of  materials  rude, 
Unhewn  the  stone,  and  roughly  dressed  the  wood, 
'Twas  blest  of  Him,  whose  promised  dwelling-place 
Is  where  his  people  meet  to  seek  his  grace. 

*JC  Jjj  ^  SfC  T»  *P 

Once  in  three  weeks  the  stated  pastor  came 
With  gracious  message  in  his  Master's  name, 
Reciprocated  all  the  greetings  kind, 
Rejoiced  in  health  and  peace  his  flock  to  find. 
The  morning  service  o'er,  beneath  your  shade 
They  ate  their  bread,  and  kind  inquiries  made  : 
'  How  fared  it  mth  the  brother  pioneers. 
What  were  their  prospects,  what  their  hopes  and  fears? 


The  Old  Church.  39 


What  news  from  home,  afixr — beyond  the  sea — 
Fight  Hampden,  Cromwell,  still  for  liberty  ? 
Or  to  his  kingdom  is  King  Charles  restored  ? 
Has  promised,  bnt  again  to  break  his  word  ? 
Has  Scotland  sheathed  the  sword,  or  does  she  still 
For  conscience'  sake  oppose  her  sovereign's  will  ? 
Worship  the  faithful  still  in  caves  and  dens, 
In  forest  deep,  or  wild  secluded  glens  ? 
For  Wales  who  strikes  to  put  oppression  down  ? 
Who  nobly  dares  to  w^ear  a  martyr's  crown  ?" 

^  ^  *  *  *  ^ 

One  to  the  other  thus  the  tidings  bore, 
Of  clime  and  kindred  they  would  see  no  more. 
That  duty  done,  once  more  to  praise  and  pray. 
The  church  they  entered — thus  they  spent  the  day. 

^  *  its  ifi  iH  :i: 

'  Time  levels  all,'  the  old  church  passed  away, 
It  served  a  holy  purpose  in  its  day  ; 
And  faithful  men  a  new  foundation  laid, 
Offerings  of  patient  toil  and  substance  made  ; 
Well  wrought,  the  buUding  rose  by  careful  hands. 
Memorial  of  their  zeal,  the  church  now  stands. 

*  *  *  *  *  H« 

Now,  many  a  mossy  stone  the  name  discloses 
Of  faithful  Reeds  and  Scudders,  Ho  wells,  Roses, 
Reeder,  Clarke,  Hart,  Carle,  Furman,  and  the  Moores, 
Fish,  Welling,  Hendrickson,  Temples,  Greens  by  scores, 
Lanning,  Hunt,  Cook,  Burroughs,  and  Jones  and  Lott, 
And  hundreds  lie  without  a  stone  to  mark  the  spot." 

*  ***** 


40  Firlt  Preibytery. 


At  tlie  time  of  tlie  formation  of  this  venerable 
cliurcli,  tlie  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  was  the 
only  one  in  America.  It  was  formed  in  1704  or 
1705,  and  included  seven  ministers,  who  were 
pastors  in  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  what  is 
now  Delaware.  In  1706  a  member  was  added 
from  New-Jersey.  To  this  body  the  Presbyteri- 
ans, whether  organized  or  not  into  congregations, 
or  represented  on  the  roll,  would  naturally  look 
for  counsel  and  aid,  esj)ecially  for  the  obtaining 
of  the  ordinances  of  worship).  In  Sejjtember, 
1710,  the  Presbytery,  writing  to  the  Presbytery 
of  Dublin  and  Synod  of  Glasgow,  in  entreaty  for 
their  help  in  furnishing  ministers,  say  that  they 
have  but  two  congregations  "  in  the  Jerseys ;" 
"  the  number  of  our  ministers  from  the  respective 
Provinces  is  ten  in  all ;  three  from  Maryland, 
five  from  Pennsylvania,  and  two  from  East- 
Jersey." 

Under  date  of  September  27,  1711,  the  fol- 
lowing minute  ajDpears : 

"  Upon  the  desire  of  the  people  of  Maidenhead  and 
Hopewell,  signified  by  Mr.  William  Yard,  for  our  assisting 
them  in  getting  a  minister,  it  was  agreed  that  in  case  the 
people  of  Maidenhead  and  Hopewell  are  not  engaged  with 
Mr.  Sacket,  that  they  use  all  opportunities  they  have  for  a 


Robert  Orr.  41 


speedy  supply,  and  apply  themselves  to  the  neighboring 
ministers  for  assistance  hi  getting  a  minister  for  them." 

Tliere  is  no  further  reference  in  the  Records 
of  Presbytery,  to  the  congregations  of  this  neic>;h- 
borhood  until  September,  1715,  when  Philip 
Ringo  presented  a  call  from  Maidenhead  and 
Hopewell  to  Mr.  Kobert  Orr,  which  was  ap- 
proved by  Presbytery,  accepted  by  him,  and  his 
ordination  appointed  for  October  20.  This  took 
place  on  the  day  specified,  when  Mr.  Orr  was 
"  solemnly  set  apart  to  the  work  of  the  ministry, 
by  Masters  Andrews,  Morgan,  Dickinson,  Evans, 
and  Bradner,  at  Maidenhead,  before  a  numerous 
assembly."''^ 

As  an  old  tablet,  now  in  the  wall  of  the  first 
church  in  the  city  of  Trenton,  gives  1712  as  the 
year  in  which  the  Presbyterian  church  was 
"  Formed,"  that  is  supposed  to  be  the  date  when 
the  parent  congregation  was  formally  organized 
in  view  of  taking  possession  of  the  ground  con- 
veyed by  Lockart  in  1709.  This  then,  would  be 
one  of  the  centres  of  Mr.  Orr's  mmistry  for  Hope- 
well. He  appears  to  have  resided  on  what  is 
now  the   boundary  line  between  the  townships 

*  Letter  Book  of  Presbytery.     Printed  Records,  p.  41. 


42  Pennington. 


of  Lawrence  and  Ewing.  A  son  of  his,  who  died 
during  his  pastorate,  was  buried  in  the  Lockart 
ground,  and  the  grave-stone  is  visible  from  the 
present  church.  Mr.  Orr  remained  in  this  charge 
nearly  four  years.  His  name  occurs  for  the  last 
time  in  ecclesiastical  records,  in  the  minutes  of 
Synod,  September  19,  1719,  where  he  is  spoken 
of  as  "  having  at  present  no  pastoral  charge,"  and 
the  usual  testimonials  were  given  to  him  and  an- 
other minister,  it  "being  uncertain  how  and 
where  Providence  may  dispose  of  them." 

The  age  of  the  Hoj^ewell  church  at  Penning- 
ton is  not  precisely  known,  but  the  building  was 
used  in  1725-6,  as  the  township  records  of  March 
9  of  that  year  show  that  it  was  "  agreed  upon 
by  the  majority  of  the  town,  to  hold  their  town- 
meetings  ensuing  at  the  new  meeting-house  by 
John  Smith's."  Smith  is  known  to  have  been 
owner  of  the  land  adjoining  the  lot  which  is  still 
the  site  of  the  church.  There  is  a  tradition  that 
prior  to  the  building  of  a  church,  a  school-house 
was  used  for  some  time,  which  stood  on  what  is 
now  the  southern  part  of  the  grave-yard,  and 
long  known  as  "  the  school-house  lot."  This  lot 
was  conveyed  by  John  Smith  for  the  considera- 
tion of  ten  pounds,  to  Nathaniel  Moore,  William 


Moi'es  Dickinfon.  43 


Cornwell,  Jolin  Everitt,  Ralpli  Hunt,  Joiiatlian 
Fiirman,  Reuben  Armitage,  and  Stephen  Baldwin. 
Tlie  Rev.  Robert  Orr  was  followed  in  tlie 
Hopewell  charge  by  the  Rev.  Moses  Dickinson, 
a  younger  brother  of  the  first  President  of  the 
College  of  New-Jersey,  and  a  graduate  of  Yale 
when  the  whole  senior-class  numbered  but  ^ve^ 
all  of  whom  entered  the  ministry.  This  was  in 
1717,  the  year  in  which  the  College  was  removed 
from  Saybrook  to  New-Haven.  The  history  of 
Mr.  Dickinson's  Presbyterial  connection  can  not 
be  given,  as  the  Records  of  that  period  are  not 
extant ;  but  according  to  the  minutes  of  the 
Synod  he  attended  the  sessions  of  that  body  in 
1722,  1724,  and  1725.  Among  the  delegates  of 
those  three  years  appears  the  name  of  Enoch 
Armitage,  who  was  a  Ruling  Elder  of  Ho23ewell. 
Mr.  Dickinson  removed  to  the  Congregational 
church  of  Norwalk,  Connecticut,  in  1727,  and 
continued  to  be  its  pastor  until  his  death.  May  1, 
1778,  in  the  83d  year  of  his  age,  and  51st  of  his 
ministry.  In  his  seventieth  year  he  took  a  col- 
league from  the  Presbytery  of  New-Brunswick, 
the  Rev.  William  Tennent,  Junior.  There  are 
two  printed  sermons  of  Mr.  Dickinson's :  one  of 
them  was  preached  at  the  ordination  of  the  Rev. 


44  Enoch  Armitage. 


Elisha  Kent,  grandfather  of  the  distinguislied 
Chancellor  of  New- York. 

Mr.  Armitage,  who  was  a  native  of  Yorkshire 
in  England,  was  an  active  elder.  He  officiated 
in  Hopewell  when  no  minister  was  present,  not 
only  in  reading  "  the  works  of  approved  di^dnes," 
as  our  elders  and  deacons  are  authorized  to  do  in 
such  an  emergency,  but  occasionally  reading  his 
own  compositions.  The  Rev.  J\Ir.  Hale  has  in 
kis  possession  a  manuscri23t  of  the  usual  lengtk 
of  a  sermon,  in  the  handwriting  of  Mr.  Armitage, 
headed,  "  Some  Meditations  upon  the  loth,  16th, 
and  17th  verses  of  tke  27  th  chapter  of  Numbers, 
occasioned  by  the  removal  of  Mr.  Dickinson,  and 
delivered  at  Hopewell  meeting-house  by  E.  A., 
1 7 27."  The  text  of  the  ''  meditations  "  is :  "  And 
Moses  spoke  unto  the  Lord,  saying.  Let  the  Lord, 
the  God  of  the  spirits  of  all  flesh,  set  a  man  over 
the  congregation,  which  may  go  out  before  them, 
and  which  may  go  in  before  them,  and  which 
may  lead  them  out,  and  which  may  bring  them 
in  :  that  the  conorres^ation  of  the  Lord  be  not  as 
sheep,  which  have  no  shepherd." 

The  discourse  opens  in  these  modest  terms  : 

"  Beloved  Friends :  I  having  no  book  of  any  subject 
suitable  to  the  present  outward  circumstances  of  the  con- 


Meditations.  45 


gre2:ation,  and  being  something  more  than  ordmarily  af- 
fected with  our  present  desolate  condition,  I  thought  meet 
to  deliver  my  own  meditations  on  the  forementioned  sub- 
ject, though  I  know  not  whether  they  will  be  of  any  use 
to  you,  or  meet  with  acceptance  from  you  ;  yet  hoping 
they  may  at  least  do  no  harm  to  any,  and  presuming  on 
your  flivorable  construction,  and  being  encouraged  by 
your  kind  acceptance  of  what  I  have  been  enabled  to  do 
in  your  service,  since  Divine  Providence  cast  my  lot 
amongst  you,  I  therefore  humbly  proceed  to  deliver  my 
meditations  on  these  words." 

I  quote  tlie  annexed  paragraph  from  the  Me- 
ditations for  the  sake  of  the  intimation  it  contains 
that  there  was  more  than  one  place  of  worship 
within  reach  of  the  people  of  Hopewell — the  re- 
ference being  probably  to  Maidenhead  ;  Mr.  Ar- 
mit age's  farm  was  within  a  mile  of  Pennington. 

"  Now  this  being  the  case  of  this  congregation,  w^e  are 
as  sheep  that  have  no  shepherd  by  the  removal  of  our 
minister  from  us  :  and  whether  the  same  Providence  that 
removed  him,  notw^ithstanding  all  our  endeavors  to  the 
contrary,  will  permit  his  return,  as  some  hope,  I  know  not : 
but  as  however  that  may  be,  as  affairs  now  stand,  it  seems 
likely  that  some  part  of  the  congregation  will  be  as  sheep 
that  have  no  shepherd,  therefore  I  hope,"  etc. 

Mr.  Dickinson  was  followed  in  1Y29  by  the 
Kev.  Joseph  Morgan.  He  is  supposed  to  have 
come  from  Wales,  but  was  educated  at  Yale,  and 


46  Joleph  Morgan. 


was  one  of  the  six  first  graduates  in  1702.  Pre- 
sident Woolsey,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Hale,  remarks 
that  "  some  interest  is  attached  to  Mr.  Morgan 
from  the  fact  that  he  was  not  only  one  of  the 
members  of  the  first  class  in  Yale  College,  but 
also  the  only  one  of  the  class  who  did  not  also 
take  his  degree  at  Harvard,  that  is,  the  only  one 
veritably  educated  at  Yale  alone."  He  came  into 
New- Jersey  from  Greenwich,  Connecticut,  in  1  YlO, 
and  was  pastor  at  Freehold  from  that  time  until 
called  to  the  united  congregations  of  Hopewell 
and  Maidenhead. 

In  the  "  Presbyterian  Magazine"  of  November, 
185Y,  is  preserved  a  long  letter  from  Morgan  to 
Dr.  Cotton  Mather,  written  at  Freehold  in  Sep- 
tember, 1721.  It  is  wholly  in  Latin,  and  in  such 
Latin  as  might  be  expected  from  the  circum- 
stances it  describes.  "  For,"  he  says,  "  I  spent 
only  three  years  in  the  study  of  languages  and 
the  arts,  and,  for  twenty-five  years  I  have  la- 
bored almost  constantly  with  my  hands.  A 
Latin,  Greek,  or  Hebrew  book  I  have  sometimes 
not  had  in  my  hands  for  a  whole  year.  I  have 
scarcely  any  books :  possess  no  dictionary  but  an 
imperfect  Rider.  I  have  no  commentaries,  nor 
theological  systems   nor  histories.      I  have  no 


Morgan.  ^7 

leisure  for  reading,  nor  for  writing  discourses  for 
the  cliurcli,  and  often  know  not  my  text  before 
the  Sabbath."  The  letter  is  chiefly  in  reference 
to  some  physical  and  metaphysical  arguments 
against  Deists,  Socinians,  and  other  heretics, 
which  Morgan  had  sent  to  Mather  some  months 
before,  but  which  had  not  ]:)een  acknowledged. 
He  incidentally  mentions  that  "  in  Hopewell  and 
Maidenhead,  thirty  miles  distant,  where  the  Rev. 
Moses  Dickinson  preaches,  there  is  a  great  in- 
crease of  the  church." 

Whether  there  were  any  unfavorable  rumors 
in  regard  to  Mr.  Morgan  when  he  came  from 
New-England,  is  not  certain ;  but  he  seems  to 
have  been  received  by  the  Presbytery  with  some 
caution.  On  the  21st  September,  1710,  a  com- 
mittee was  appointed  ''  to  inquire  into  Mr.  Mor- 
gan's and  [Paulus]  Van  Yleck's  affair,  and  pre- 
pare it  for  the  Presbytery."  In  the  afternoon 
the  committee  reported  on  "  Mr.  Morgan's  case," 
and  "  after  debating  thereon"  he  was  admitted  to 
the  Presbytery.  There  was  "  serious  debating" 
upon  Van  VLeck's  case  before  he  was  received. 
Within  two  years  Van  Vleck,  (who  was  settled 
with  the  Dutch  Presbyterian  congregation  at  Ne- 
shaminy,)  was  found  guilty  of  bigamy  and  other 


( 


48  Morgan. 

offenses.  Mr.  Morgan's  irregularities  begin  to  be 
noticed  in  1716,  when  his  "absence  this  and  se- 
veral years  by-past  being  inquired  into,  it  was 
resolved  that  a  letter  should  be  writ,  informing 
Mm  that  if  he  comes  not,  nor  sends  sufficient  rea- 
sons against  next  year,  we  shall  take  it  for 
granted  that  he  has  altogether  deserted  us."  It 
was  at  this  session  that  the  Presbytery  of  Phila- 
delphia di\T.ded  itself  into  three,  (Philadelphia, 
Newcastle,  and  Long  Island,)  and  formed  the 
Synod  of  Philadelphia,  and  there  being  no  mi- 
nutes of  the  Presbytery  extant  after  1716  until 
1733,  the  furtber  history  of  this  part  of  Morgan's 
delinquency  is  not  traceable.  He  a23peared  at 
Synod  in  1717,  and  was  a  punctual  and  active 
attendant  for  several  years.  In  1728  "divers 
papers  of  complaint"  against  bim  were  presented 
to  the  Synod  by  some  members  of  his  church. 
Of  the  seven  charges  one  related  to  astrological 
experiments,  another  to  dancing,  and  a  third  to 
intemperance.  The  Synod  judged  that,  though 
Mr.  Morgan  may  have  been  imprudent  in  some 
particulars,  the  accusations  proceeded  from  a 
"  captious  and  querulous  spirit ;"  and  as  to  th  e 
charge  of  intemperance,  "  it  appears  to  the  Synced 
to  be  a  groundless  prosecution  Against  one  wh^o 


Morgan.  49 

has  ever  been  esteemed  a  temperate  man."  But 
on  tills  liead  tlie  Synod  were  probably  too  chari- 
table, as  in  1736,  when  Morgan  had  been  settled 
in  Hopewell  for  some  seven  years,  he  was  tried  by 
the  Presbytery  and  found  guilty  of  intemperance, 
and  suspended.  A  reference  from  the  Pres- 
bytery to  the  Synod  in  May,  1737,  led  to  the  di- 
recting of  the  Presbyteries  of  Philadelphia  and 
East-Jersey*  to  meet  as  a  committee  at  Maiden- 
head in  August,  and  review  the  case.  After  this 
resolution  was  adopted,  a  paper  was  presented 
by  Enoch  Armitage,  the  preacher  of  the  "  Medi- 
tations," "  signed  by  many  hands  of  the  congre- 
gations of  Hopewell  and  Maidenhead,  requesting 
that,  since  Mr.  Morgan  is  not  likely  to  be  useful 
any  more  as  a  minister  among  them,  from  his  re- 
peated miscarriages,  if  the  Synod  should  see  cause 
to  restore  him  to  his  ministry,  he  might  not  be 


*  The  Presbytery  of  East-Jersey  was  formed  by  the  Synod  in  1733, 
by  dividiag  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia.  In  1*738  the  Presbyteries  of 
East- Jersey  and  Long  Island  were  united  as  the  Presbytery  of  ISTew-Tork. 
On  a  subsequent  day  of  the  same  sessions,  (May  25,  1*738,)  the  Presby- 
tery of  New-Brunswick  was  formed  out  of  the  Presbytery  of  New- York. 
Its  bounds  were  "all  to  the  northward  and  eastward  of  Maidenhead  and 
Hopewell  unto  Raritan  river,  including  also  Staten-Island,  Piscatua, 
Amboy,  Boundbrook,  Baskingridge,  Turkey,  Eocksiticus,  Minisink,  Pe- 
qually,  and  Crosswicks."  (Printed  "Records,"  pp.  104,  134,  136.)  This 
left  our  churches  in  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia. 

n  3 


50  '  Morgan. 

reinstated  as  tlieir  minister."  Upon  this  tlie 
Synod  came  to  the  decision  :  "  That  the  people  of 
Hopewell  and  Maidenhead  be  left  at  their  liberty 
to  entertain  Mr.  Morgan  as  their  pastor  or  not, 
even  supposing  the  committee  appointed  to  meet 
on  his  affair  in  August,  should  see  cause  to  re- 
store him  to  the  ministry  ;  only  the  Synod  en- 
joins the  people  to  pay  to  Mr.  Morgan  what  ar- 
rears are  due  to  him  for  time  past."^  The  com- 
mittee left  him  under  suspension,  which  con- 
tinued until  1738,  when  the  Presbytery  restored 
him,  but  his  name  is  not  found  again  on  the  re- 
cords as  present  after  1739. 

During  Mr.  Morgan's  pastorate — 1729-1736 — 
his  residence  was  near  Maidenhead  church.  In  the 
course  of  that  time  the  people  of  Hopewell  oj)ened 
a  subscription  for  the  purchase  of  a  j)arsonage, 
or  as  they  expressed  it,  "  a  plantation  to  be  a 
dwelling-place  at  all  times  "  for  the  minister  of 
"  the  Presbyterian  society  in  that  town,"  [town- 
ship.] If  the  subscription  should  admit  of  it,  a 
Latin  school  was  to  be  founded  on  the  plantation. 
Mr.  Hale,  from  whose  collections  I  obtain  these 
facts,  thinks  it  "  probable  that  this  resulted  in 


*    Eecords  of  the  Presb.  Church.      The  minutes  of  the  committe*. 
are  inserted  under  the  date  of  the  Synod's  session  of  May  24,  1738. 


Paribnage. 


51 


the  purchase  of  the  jDarsonage-farm  on  the  west 
side  of  the  Scotch  road,  where  for  so  many  years 
resided  the  Rev.  John  Guild  and  the  Rev.  Joseph 
Rue,  successively  pastors  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Hopewell  and  Pennington." 

As  names  help  to  identify  localities,  and  pre- 
serve other  historical  traces,  I  subjoin  a  list  of 
the  subscribers  to  the  parsonage  : 


Timothy  Titus, 
William  Lawrence, 
Thomas  Burrowes,  Jr., 
John  Branes, 
Cornelius  Anderson, 
Benjamm  Severance, 
Francis  Yanuoy, 
Jonathan  Moore, 
Edmund  Palmer, 
Alexander  Scott, 
Edward  Hunt, 
Thomas  Hendrick, 
Robert  Akers, 
Peter  La  Rue, 
John  Fidler, 
Andrew  Miibourn, 
Roger  Woolverton, 
Benjamin  Wilcocks, 
Johannes  Hendrickson, 
Henry  Oxley, 
Roger  Parke, 
John  Parke, 


Ralph  Hunt, 
Joseph  Hart, 
Abraham  Anderson, 
Bartholomew  Anderson, 
Joseph  Price, 
Ephraini  Titus, 
Robert  Blackwell, 
Ralph  Hunt,  Jr., 
Richard  Bryant, 
Jonathan  Stout, 
Jonas  Wood, 
Thomas  Read, 
John  Hunt, 
Jonathan  Furman, 
Samuel  Furman, 
John  Carpenter, 
Samuel  Hunt, 
]Sratha.niel  Moore, 
George  Woolsey, 
Jonathan  Wright, 
Caleb  Carman, 
Elnathan  Baldwin. 


The    TrentojS"     Chuech:     The     Rev.    David 

COWELL. 

1 Y 1 4  —1  7  3  8 . 

EQeeetofore  tlie  principal  settlements  of  Hope- 
well were  at  some  distance  from  the  "  Falls  of 
tlie  Delaware."  But  now  the  enterj)rise  of  Wil- 
liam Trent  opened  tlie  way  for  the  secular  and 
ecclesiastical  progress  of  the  township  in  another 
direction.  Mr.  Trent  had  come  to  Pennsylvania 
from  Inverness,  in  Scotland,  but  belonged  to  the 
Church  of  England.  He  was  a  merchant  in 
Philadelphia,  and  notwithstanding  his  unprofes- 
sional occupation,  was  for  many  years  a  Judge 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  and  Speaker 
of  the  House  of  Assembly,  and  withal  is  called 
"  Colonel.""     Mr.  Trent,  in  1714,  bought  Mahlon 

*  In  that  iaexhaustible  entertainment  for  the  local  antiquary, 
"  Watson's  Annals  of  Philadelphia,"  is  a  history  and  engraving  of  the 
house  occupied  by  Col.  Trent  in  Philadelphia  from  1*703  to  iTog.  It  is 
the  house  still  standing  (1858)  at  the  corner  of  Second  street  and  Norris' 
alley,  and  was  first  inhabited  by  William  Penn  ;  {Annals,  Edition  of  185  0. 


William  Trent.  53 


Stacy's  tract  of  eiglit  liundred  acres,  on  botli 
sides  of  the  Assaupink  creek,  and  some  time 
afterwards  removed  his  residence  thither.  He 
soon  fell  into  the  same  lines  of  public  life  which 
he  had  left  in  the  sister  province,  for  he  repre- 
sented Burlington  county  in  the  Legislature  of 
1721;  was  Speaker  in  1723;  and  in  the  same 
year  was  appointed  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court.  He  died,  however,  in  the  first  year  of 
his  ofiice,  December  25,  1724. 

That  "  Trent's-town,"  or  "  Trent-town,"  was 
growing  to  a  respectable  condition,  is  indicated 
by  the  direction  of  the  Governor  in  1719,  that 
the  county  courts  should  be  held  here,  and  it 
became  the  seat  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  1724. 
As  the  population  thickened,  the  convenience  of 
the  people  would  call  for  a  church  within  reach 
of  a  walk ;  and  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
before  the  time  had  come  for  building  a  new 
church,  the  Presbyterians  in  and  near  the  town 
would  hold  religious  meetings  there,  and  might 
even    erect    some  temporary   structure    which 

Vol.  i.  164.)  In  a  Trenton  newspaper  of  1840  I  have  marked  this 
announcement :  "  Died  at  her  residence  near  this  city,  December  20, 
1840,  Mary,  widow  of  Nathan  Beakes,  in  her  79th  year — the  last  person 
that  had  borne  the  name  of  Trent." 

;  O* 


54  Church-lot. 


would  afterwards  be  properly  regarded  as  the 
foundation  of  the  new  church.  In  tracing  the 
deeds  of  the  lot  now  occupied  by  the  State-street 
church,  there  is  an  appearance  of  its  ha\dng  been 
long  designed,  if  not  partially  used,  for  church 
purposes.  In  May,  1684,  Mahlon  Stacy  convey- 
ed to  Hugh  Standeland  sixty  acres  on  the  north 
side  of  the  Assanjiink.  His  heir-at4aw,  in  1707, 
conveyed  to  Joshua  Anderson  one  fiftla  of  the 
same.  This  fifth,  or  twelve  acres,  Anderson  in 
November,  1722,  conveyed  to  Enoch  Andrus. 
In  April  10,  1727,  Andrus  conveyed  a  portion 
of  his  lot^ — one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  square — 
for  the  nominal  sum  of  five  shillings,  to 

John  Porterfield,  William  Yard, 

Daniel  Howell,  William  Hoff, 

Richard  Scudder,  John  Severns, 

Alexander  Lockart,  Joseph  Yard.* 

The  witnesses   to    the    conveyance    are    John 
Anderson,  Francis  Giffing,  and  Daniel  Howell, 
junior. 
Now  Enoch  Andrus  was  one  of  the  trustees  in 

*  The  deed  is  in  the  possession  of  our  trustees.  It  is  recorded  in 
hook  AT.,  p.  108.  The  grant  is  described  as  "  a  certain  piece  or  lot  of 
land  lying  on  the  north  side  of  Second  street,  that  goes  to  the  iron-works 
in  Trenton,  containing  in  length  150  feet,  and  in  breadth  150  feet;  with 
all  the  mines,  minerals,  woods,  fishings,  hawkings,  huntings,  waters,  and 
v>-ater-courses."  The  iron-works  were  about  a  mile  eastward  of  the 
church. 


Anderfon's  Grant.  55 


the  deed  of  Basse  and  Revell  of  1698-9  for  tlie 
Maidenhead  church ;  five  of  his  eight  grantees 
were  signers  of  the  call  of  the  first  pastor  of  the 
town  church  in  1736,  which  they  subscribe  as 
"  inhabitants  of  Trenton  belonging  to  the  Pres- 
byterian congregation  ;"  Joshua  Anderson  was 
an  active  Presbyterian,  living  near  the  town  ; 
Lockart  was  the  grantor,  Scudder  and  Howell 
were  among  the  grantees  of  the  country  church. 
All  this  looks  as  if  a  church-plot  in  town  may  have 
been  long  in  view,  although  no  specific  object  is 
mentioned  in  the  conveyances.  This,  indeed,  does 
not  appear  in  the  deeds  until  August  24,  1763, 
when  Josej^h  Yard,  sole  survivor  of  the  joint 
tenants,  conveys  the  same  lot  to  "  the  Trustees 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Trenton,  for  the 
special  uses  and  trust  following,  that  is  to  say,  to 
be  and  remain  forever  for  the  use  of  public  wor- 
ship and  as  a  burial-place  for  the  Presbyterian 
congregation  of  Trenton  forever."*  The  joint 
tenancy  was  undoubtedly  for  the  purpose  of  hold- 
ing the  lot  for  the  congregation,  which  was  not 
incorporated  until  1756. 

*  The  original  is  with  the  trustees  ;  it  is  recorded  in  book  AT.,  p.  114. 
The  church  first  went  by  the  name  of  "  Anderson's  Meeting-house."  The 
fourth  and  fifth  generations  in  descent  from  Enoch  Andrus,  (Anderson,) 
aii3  now  members  of  the  city  church. 


56  Church-lot. 


Another  portion  of  the  lot  was  purchased  in 
1759.  A  deed  of  July  23,  of  that  year,  from 
Moore  Furman,  Sheriff  of  Hunterdon,  conveyed 
to  the  Trustees  a  lot  described  as  follows : 

"  Being  lot  No.  3,  beginning  at  the  corner  of  the 
Presbyterian  Meeting-house  lot  of  land  on  the  north 
side  of  the  street  or  road  that  leads  towards  the  old  iron- 
works, and  from  thence  runs  along  the  line  of  the  said 
meeting-house  lot  north  three  degrees  west,  2  chains  and 
14  links  to  the  land  of  WilUam  Morris,  Esq.,  and  from 
thence  runs  along  his  line  N.  81^  E.  one  chain,  23  links 
to  a  j)Ost,  being  a  corner  of  lot  No.  4  ;  and  from  thence 
runs  along  the  line  of  the  same  S.  3<^  E.,  two  chains  and 
14  links  to  the  aforesaid  street  or  road,  and  from  along  the 
same  one  chain  and  23  links  to  the  first  mentioned  corner 
or  j)lace  of  beginning." 

This  part  of  the  present  grounds  was  bought 
for  ten  pounds  proclamation  money,  being  sold 
under  execution,  at  the  suit  of  James  Hazard 
and  Richard  Alsop,  Executors  of  Nathaniel 
Hazard,  against  Benjamin  Stevenson,  Executor 
of  Enoch  Anderson.^  The  trustees  took  it  "  for 
the  use  and  benefit  of  the  said  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Trenton,  to  bury  theii^  dead  in,  and 
for  other  public  uses  of  the  said  Church."        I 

*  In  the  present  church-porch  is  a  grave-stone,  "In  memory  of  Enoch 
Anderson,  who  departed  this  hfe  April  15th,  1756.  Aged  59  years." 
In  the  church-yard  hedge  is  the  grave  of  "  Margaret  Anderson;  173  3." 


Date  of  Church.  57 


From  this  it  appears  that  the  purchase  of  1759 
was  of  a  lot  about  eighty  feet  front;  making 
with  the  lot  of  1727,  a  front  of  two  hundred  and 
thirty-one  feet. 

The  present  dimensions  of  the  lot,  as  surveyed 
in  1840,  are : 

South  line,  (the  front,)  247  feet  9  in. 
Korth  "  241     " 

East      "  142     " 

West    "  126    " 

Over  one  of  the  doors  of  the  Church  is  a 
ma]*ble  tablet  thus  inscribed : 

"PRESBYTERIAI^ 
CHURCH. 

FOEMED  1712, 

Built  1726, 
Result  1805." 

This  memorial  was  transferred  to  its  present 
place,  from  the  brick  church  taken  down  in 
1805  ;  and  the  first  two  dates  were  copied  from 
a  similar  inscription  found  in  the  stone  building 
which  preceded  the  brick.  The  date  of  1712  is 
presumed  to  apply  to  the  organization  of  the 
country  church.  There  is  more  difference  of 
opinion  about  the  second  line — some  supposing 
'p  to  be  the  date  of  the  frame  church  on  Lock- 


58  Church  of  1726. 


art's  ground,  which  superseded  the  log  building 
first  erected.  But  while  the  matter  is  not  cer- 
tain, the  weight  of  probability  appears  to  be  in 
favor  of  the  supposition  that  some  kind  of  build- 
ing was  erected  on  the  Andrus  ground  a  year 
before  he  made  the  formal  conveyance  of  1727, 
and  that  this  is  the  explanation  of  "  Built  1726." 
I  am  strengthened  in  this  conclusion  by  find- 
ing that  sixty-six  years  ago  the  tradition  of  t^ae 
day  was  to  the  same  eftect.  In  a  note  prepared 
April  25,  1792,  by  the  Kev.  James  F.  Armstrong, 
in  compliance  with  the  call  of  the  General 
Assembly  for  historical  documents,  and  in  which 
he  refers  to  "  Mr.  Chambers  and  Mr.  Benjamin 
Yard,"  as  his  authorities,  is  this  statement: 

"  The  first  Presbyterian  congregation  in  the  county  o:f 

Hunterdon  was  formed  in  the  township  of  Trenton  ;  and 

the  church  called  the  Old  House  was  built  about  the  yej\r 

1712,  where  the  Rev.  Robert  Orr,  a  Scotsman,  preach^id 

part  of  his  time  during  three  or  four  years  ;  the  remaindc  er 

of  his  time  he  preached  at  Maidenhead,  where  a  church 

was  built  about  the  year  1716.    .    .     .    The  congregati -on 

of  Trenton,  in  or  about  the  year  1726,  built  a  church    in 

the  village  of  Trenton,  not  as  a  different   congregatio>a, 

but  for  the  convenience  of  that  part  of  congregation  I  in 

and  near  the  town." 

u 

In  this  place  may  be  approjDriately  inserted  &t 


Stone  Church. 


j9 


^e^c)Y'^p^ion  of  the  original  town^Qrch,  furnish- 
Q^  .for  this  volume  by  myjfented  friend  and 
felL^^^  elder,  Franci^^i>^strong  Ewing,  M.D., 
whc^^^^^parture  from  this  life  before  the  publi- 
catii,  will  call  upon  me  to  introduce  his  name 
anciharacter  more  fully  in  a  later  chapter.  The 
enjaving  is  taken  from  a  drawing  made  by  Dr. 
Eamp  from  the  descriptions  of  those  who  remem- 
b'      the  first  church. 


hi 


^Ije  Olb  ^ioite  Cljurtlj. 


The  old  stone  church,  built  in  1^26 — the 
fi;t  of  the  series — stood  on  the  south-west  corner 
ot'^he  church  lot,  on  the  same  site  as  its  succes- 


p  Stone  Church. 


ircjre- 

ar 


.1      T    -'-Tone,  but  not  coverinsr  so  lardiiT 
sor,  the   brick^    '  ^  /   cl  :;e  a 

Tx  J?      X  ii^outh  on  Second  street,  (n^t.- 
space.     It  ironted  >     ^  i     r     ^    .xow 

State,)  standing  a  little  Ijc^it^^     -     .   ^    n       .  /the 

street,  and  having  a  large  flat  stone^  oex.  ^te 

door.     Its  front  presented  in  the  centre  a  la'  ^|^ie 

door-way,  closed  by  two  half-doors,  on  each  shr  de 

of  which  was  a  pretty  large  window,  squa 

headed,  as  was  the  door  ;  and  probably  over  ij 

door  another  window,  though  on  this  point  th  ^""i^e 

is  a  difference  of  recollection.     The  stones    „i[d 

the  building,  free  of  wash  or  plaster,  sho^  Sic^ri 

only  their  native  hue,  or  that  acquired  by  Y,  ^i^^^^ 

exposure  to  the  weather.     The  roof,  with  ga   .'^-^as 

to  the  street,  was  of  the  curb  or  double  pitj     '■'^d 

kind,  and  was  covered  with  shingles,  each  ni      { ly 

rounded  or  scalloped.     Entering  the  front /ity  oj^r, 

a  middle  aisle,  floored  with  wood,  led  tof5  ^^t.s 

the  pulpit,  which  was  at  the  opposite  or  ^®  ^^^  th 

,  *6acli<.  I' 

end.  The  first  object  reached  was  a  setth  .  ^^hu- 
pied  during  service  by  the  sexton.  Rai^  «>,,^^;rne 
step  from  the  floor,  was  an  inclosed  sj)ace  wi  ith 
desk  in  front,  where  stood  the  minister  wl^^'iile 
administering  the  sacraments  or  hearing  i^hhe 
catechism.  Behind  and  above  was  the  pulpliilt, 
of  wood,  unpainted,  as  was  all  the  wood-work  -\   a 

the  building,  except  the  ceiling,  having  a  soun  f|Wl- 

f 


Stone  Church.  61 


board  over  it,  fastened  against  the  rear  wall.  In 
this  wall,  on  each  side  of  the  pulpit,  was  a  win- 
dow corresponding  to  those  in  front.  The  pulpit- 
stairs  rose  from  the  pastor's  pew,  which  was 
against  the  rear  wall  on  the  east  side  of  the 
pulpit.  A  gallery  ran  round  the  front  and  two 
sides,  the  stairs  to  which  rose  in  the  front  cor- 
ners. Between  the  front  door  and  these  corner 
stairs  were  two  square  pews  on  each  side,  of 
unequal  size,  over  the  one  of  which,  nearest  the 
stairs,  was  one  of  the  front  windows.  Before 
these  pews  was  a  cross-aisle,  leading  to  the  stairs 
and  to  the  side-aisles.  These  were  narrower  than 
the  middle  one,  and  led  to  the  north  wall.  All 
the  pews  against  the  walls  were  square,  and,  like 
all  the  others,  had  the  usual  high,  straight  backs 
of  the  time.  Sitting  in  church  was  not  then 
the  easy^  cushioned  affair  of  modern  days.  Two 
square  pews  against  the  rear  wall ;  four  on  each 
side,  the  foi'irth  from  the  front  being  in  the 
corner,  ahd  the  four  on  the  front  comjDleted  the 
number  of  fourteen.  The  rest  of  the  floor  was 
occupied  by  narrow  pews  or  slips,  opening  into 
the  side  and  middle  aisles.  The  ceiling  was 
wooden,  curved  in  four  ways,  (the  lines  of  junc 
tion  rising  from  the  corners,)  and  painted  in  ; 

1    4 


62  Stone  Church. 


sort  of  clouded  style,  blue  and  white,  intended 
to  represent  the  sky  and  clouds,  if  the  childish 
impressions  of  one  of  my  informants  have  not 
thus  mistaken  the  mottled  results  of  time  and 
dampness. 

''  "While  the  old  church  was  standing,  there 
was  a  tradition  that  there  was  a  vault  under  the 
building,  but  it  was  not  known  where.  When 
the  house  was  taken  down  the  vault  was  discov- 
ered, containing  two  coffins  with  plates,  and 
other  evidences  that  the  bodies  were  those  of 
persons  of  standing  and  importance.  In  the 
brick  church,  in  the  floor  within  the  railing 
before  the  pulpit,  was  a  trap-door,  which  was 
said  to  lead  to  this  vault.  The  vault  was  covered 
over  when  the  present  church  was  built,  and  is 
embraced  in  one  of  the  burial  lots  in  the  space 
where  the  old  house  stood.* 

''  The  old  church  was  rich  enougli  to  own  a 
bier,  which,  except  during  service  ajid  when  not 
in  use,  was  kept  in  the  middle  aisle.  Tliere  was 
no  pulpit  Bible  ;  the  pastor's  family  Bible  sup- 
plied its  place,  being  taken  to  church  in  the 
morning  and  carried  back  after  the  afternoon 
service.     This  return  being  once  neglected,  and 

*  The  mysten^  of  the  vault  will  be  explained  in  a  later  chapter. 


Stone  Church.  63 


the  book  being  needed  in  the  evening,  '  Black 
George,'  the  minister's  boy,  was  sent  to  bring 
it.  After  a  long  absence  he  came  running  back, 
alarmed  and  agitated,  saying  he  had  stumbled 
over  the  '  pall-bearers,'  meaning  the  bier.  There 
was  seldom  service  in  the  evening,  and  no  provi- 
sion for  it ;  when  needed,  two  large  brass  candle- 
sticks, belonging  to  the  pastor's  wife,  were  put 
in  requisition  to  enlighten  and  decorate  the 
pulpit. 

"  In  the  yard  behind  the  church  stood  a  fine 
apple-tree,  much  resorted  to  for  its  shade,  its 
blossoms,  and  its  fruit,  by  the  children  from  the 
school-house,  which  was  on  the  eastern  part  of 
the  same  lot.  This  school  was  taught  by  Mr. 
Nicholas  Dubois,  who  united  in  himself  the 
offices  of  elder,  teacher,  and  chorister ;  in  which 
last  capacity  he  had  a  place  with  his  choir  in  the 
gallery. 

"  In  the  pews  of  the  old  church  I  have  describ- 
ed, were  gathered  every  Sabbath,  to  listen  to 
the  preachers  of  the  olden  time,  the  princijDal 
families  of  that  day.  Of  these  a  few  relics  still 
linger  among  us,  treasuring  u])  the  memory  of 
others ;  while  even  the  names  of  most  of  them  are 
almost  unknown  to  our  present  people.     There 


64  Stone  Church. 


were  Hunt  and  Milnor,  the  leading  merchants  of 
their  time,  whose  names  were  for  many  years  at- 
tached to  the  corners  they  respectively  occupied, 
(now  Norcross'  and  Britton's.)  There  was  Leake, 
learned  in  the  law,  but  of  extreme  simplicity  and 
guilelessness  ;  Smith,  eminent  as  a  physician  and 
judge  ;  Belleville,  from  France,  at  the  head  of 
the  medical  profession,  and  esteemed  by  the 
highest  authorities  in  the  neighboring  cities  ;  the 
elder  Judge  Ewing  ;  and  besides  these,  the  Gor- 
dons, Ryalls,  Haydens,  Calhouns,  Yards,  Moores, 
Collins,  Chambers,  Woolseys,  and  others  whose 
names  and  memories  have  nearly  passed  away. 
In  another  place  will  be  found  the  names  of 
eminent  preachers,  whose  voice  at  times  filled 
the  old  house. 

"  But  all  things  come  to  an  end,  and  so  did  the 
old  stone  church.  Ha\dng  stood  for  nearly 
eighty  years  witnessing  the  growth  of  the  town 
almost  from  its  beginning,  and  the  stirring  events 
of  the  Revolution,  it  was  at  length  taken  down 
in  the  year  1804,  to  make  room  for  its  successor. 
On  the  last  Sabbath  before  its  destruction,  be- 
sides the  installation  of  two  new  elders,  the  com- 
munion was  administered.  The  solemnities  of 
that  occasion  must  have  been  deeply  impressive, 


Hubbard.  65 


for  tlie  language  and  manner  of  tlie  pastor,  and, 
indeed,  the  whole  scene,  are  still  spoken  of,  by 
some  who  were  present,  with  strong  emotion." 

The  Kev.  Mr.  Armstrong's  memorandum, 
already  quoted,  proceeds  to  say :  "  After  the 
founding  of  the  two  places  of  worship  in  the 
township  of  Trenton,  Messrs.  Hubbard,  Wilson, 
and  Morgan,  unsettled  ministers,  preached  in  suc- 
cession at  Trenton  and  the  old  house ;  but  their 
first  settled  pastor  was  the  Rev.  David  Cowell." 
Morgan  has  already  been  mentioned  in  connec- 
tion with  the  other  Hopewell  churches  and  with 
Maidenhead.  Of  Hubbard  and  Wilson,  the 
date  and  duration  of  theii*  ministries,  nothing  is 
known  beyond  Mr.  Armstrong's  record.  It  has 
been  suggested  to  me  that  the  first-named  person 
may  have  been  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Hubbard, 
(the  family  name  is  sometimes  spelled  Hobart,) 
of  Connecticut,  who  graduated  at  Yale  in  1Y24, 
and  died  in  1765.  He  was  a  fellow  collegian 
and  townsman  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Richard  Treat, 
of  Abington,  Pennsylvania.  Dr.  Treat  was  at 
the  Synod  of  1783,  when  the  Trenton  people 
applied  for  supplies,  and  the  conjecture  is  that 
he  may  have  obtained  the  services  of  Mr.  Hub- 

4* 


66  Wilfon. 

bard,  wlio  about  tliat  time  discontinued  his  con- 
nection witli  the  cliurcli  of  Eastbury,  Connecticut. 
There  was  a  Eev.  John  Wilson,  who,  on  Sep- 
tember 19,  1729,  according  to  the  minutes  of 
the  Synod  of  PhiLadelphia  under  that  date, 
"  coming  providentially  into  these  parts,  signify- 
ing his  desire  of  being  admitted  as  a  member  of 
the  Synod,  his  credentials  being  read,  and  the 
Synod  satisfied  therewith,  was  unanimously 
received."  He  was  afterwards  employed  at 
Newcastle,  where  some  misunderstanding  arose 
between  his  congregation  and  the  Presbytery, 
which  was  referred  to  the  Synod,  (September 
18,  1730,)  who  "judged  that,  as  far  as  things  ap- 
pear to  us,  they  (the  Presbytery)  are  not  charge- 
able with  any  severity  to  him,  but  the  contrary." 
There  was  another  Rev.  John  Wilson,  a  Presby- 
terian pastor  in  Chester,  New-Hampshire,  in 
1734,  who  died  there  in  1779,  aged  seventy-six, 
and  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  son  of  the  first 
named.*  One  of  these  may  have  been  the  Tren- 
ton supply. 

The  township  of  Trenton  was  set  off  from 
Hopewell  by  the  Hunterdon  County  Court  of 
Quarter  Sessions  in  March,  1719-20.     The  new 

*  Webster,  p.  405. 


Cowell's  Call.  67 


township  included  the  country  (now  Ewing) 
and  town  churches,  so  that  the  name  of  Hope- 
well did  not  properly  aj^ply  to  either  of  the 
parts  of  the  joint  congregation  affeer  that  date, 
although  from  habit  the  term  may  have  contin- 
ued to  be  used,  especially  of  the  country  church. 
The  call  of  the  Rev.  David  Cowell  was  made  on 
behalf  of  the  united  Trenton  church.  •  The  ori- 
ginal document,  in  its  ample  sheet,  and  well  en- 
grossed by  a  clerkly  hand,  is  before  me,  and  runs 
as  follows  :* 

"  Whereas  we  the  subscribers,  inhabitants  of  Trenton, 
belonging  to  the  Presbyterian  congregation,  being  desir- 
ous to  settle  a  Gospel  ministry  amongst  us,  and  having  had 
the  experience  of  the  ministerial  abilities,  and  the  blame- 
less life  and  conversation  of  the  Reverend  Mr.  David 
Cowell,  do  hereby  unanimously  call  and  desire  him  to 
settle  amongst  us,  and  to  take  the  charge  of  this  congre- 
gation as  their  minister.  And  we,  the  said  subscribers,  do 
herby  promise  and  oblige  ourselves  to  support  the  said 
Mr.  Cowell  with  a  maintenance,  and  otherwise  to  assist 
him  as  we  may  to  discharge  his  ministerial  function 
amongst  us ;  as  witness  our  hands  the  seventh  day  of 
April,  1736. 

Joseph  Higbee,  Clotworthy  Reed, 

William  Hoff,  Christopher  J.  Cowell, 

*  For  this  and  other  papers  I  am  indebted  to  Mr,  John  V,  Cowell, 
elder  of  the  Second  Churchy  Philadelphia,  who  is  a  great-nephew  of  our 
pastor. 


68 


Cowell's  Call. 


William  Worslee, 
William  Reed, 
Joseph  Jones, 
Isaac  Joeus, 
David  Howell, 
Robert  Lanning, 
Jonathan  Furman, 
William  Lartmoor, 
Richard  Furman, 
Jacob  Anderson, 
Isaac  Reeder, 
John  Porterfield, 
William  Yard, 
Richard  Scudder, 
Ralph  Hart, 
Charles  Clark, 
Cornelius  Ringo, 
Samuel  Johnson, 
Joseph  Yard, 
Ebenezer  Prout, 


Richard  Green, 
Joseph  Green, 
Wilham  Green, 
Francis  Giffing, 
Samuel  Hooker, 
John  Scudder, 
Henry  Bellergeau, 
Andrew  Reed, 
Ralph  Smith, 
Arthur  Howell, 
Peter  Lott, 
James  Bell,  Jr., 
Eliakim  Anderson, 
William  Yard,  Jr., 
]^eal  W.  Leviston, 
John  Osburn, 
Daniel  Bellergeau, 
William  Peirson, 
David  Dunbar." 


On  tlie  call  is  this  indorsement : 

"  Trenton,  April  the  Yth,  1736.  The  following  persons, 
viz.,  Richard  Scudder,  Ralph  Hart,  Charles  Clark,  Samuel 
Johnson,  Cornelius  Ringo,  and  Joseph  Yard,  were  np- 
23ointed  by  the  Presbyterian  congregation  present  at 
Trenton  the  day  above,  to  be  a  committee  to  present  the 
withm-named  call  to  Mr.  Cowell,  and  to  discourse  with 
him  in    behalf   of   the   congregation,    and    his   settling 


among  us. 


Jos.  Yard,  Clerk,  S." 


Cowell.  69 

There  is  also  on  tlie  back  of  tlie  call  a  memo- 
randum by  the  hand  of  Mr.  Cowell,  "  Recepi. 
May  1,  1736,"  denoting  the  day  on  which  he  was 
waited  on  by  the  committee. 

Mr.  Cowell,  although  then  in  the  thirty-second 
year  of  his  age,  was  only  four  years  from  college, 
and  was  still  a  licentiate.  He  was  born  in 
Dorchester,  Massachusetts,  in  1704,  and  was 
graduated  at  Harvard  in  1732,  the  seventh 
year  of  the  Presidency  of  the  Rev.  Benjamin 
Wadsworth.  Mr.  Cowell  was  in  college  in  dis- 
orderly times.  In  the  September  of  his  last  year 
a  committee  of  the  corporation  closed  an  eight 
months'  investigation  of  the  causes  of  the  low 
condition  of  morals  and  study.  The  commence- 
ment had  become  the  occasion  of  so  much  dissi- 
pation in  the  town  and  neighborhood,  that  for 
some  years  about  this  time  it  was  held  on  Fri- 
day, and  then  with  a  very  short  public  notice, 
so  as  to  allow  but  the  end  of  the  week  for  its 
indulgence."^ 

I  find  no  record  of  Mr.  CowelPs  reception  to 
the  care  of  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  nor 
of  his  licensure.  They  were  probably  in  the  lost 
minutes  of  1732-3.     On  the   20th  July,  1736, 

*  Quincv's  '•  History  of  Harvard  University."  i.  388-H92. 


yo  Cowell. 

the  people  of  Trenton  supplicated  tlie  Presby- 
tery of  P]iiladel23liia,  to  whicli  tliey  then  be- 
longed, for  tlie  ordination  of  Mr.  Cowell.  This 
was  granted,  and  according  to  appointment,  a 
committee  of  Presbytery  met  at  Trenton  on  the 
second  of  November  of  that  year.  The  commit- 
tee, as  present,  were  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Jedediah 
Andrews,  David  Evans,  Eleazer  Wales,  and  Rich- 
ard Treat.  The  Rev.  William  Tennent  and  Hugh 
Carlile  were  absent.  The  Rev.  Jonathan  Dickin- 
son and  John  Pierson  sat  as  correspondents,  having 
been  delegated  on  other  business.  In  the  forenoon 
of  the  first  day  Mr.  Cdwell  was  carried  through 
his  examination  in  theology.  In  the  afternoon 
he  preached  his  trial  sermon  from  Romans  3 :  25, 
read  his  exegesis,  ("  An  lex  naturse  sit  sufficiens 
ad  salutem,")  and  was  conversed  with  on  personal 
religion  and  his  motives  for  the  ministry.  The 
next  day  was  observed  by  the  congregation,  ac- 
cording to  the  Directory,  with  fasting  and 
prayer.  At  two  o'clock  the  services  of  ordina- 
nation  and  installment  took  place  "  in  the  public 
meeting-house  at  Trenton,  in  the  presence  of  a 
numerous  assembly,"  Mr.  Andrews,  of  Philadel- 
phia, j)reaching  from  2  Timothy  2:2. 

At  this  Presbyterial  meeting  an  inquiry  being 


Signers  of  Call.  yi 


instituted  as  to  what  pro^dsion  could  be  made  for 
the  vacant  congregations  of  Hopewell  and  Maid- 
enhead, (Pennington  and  Lawrenceville,)  Mr. 
Cowell  was  appointed  to  supply  the  former  as 
often  as  he  could,  and  Mr.  Wales  the  latter. 

Mr.  Cowell  established  his  residence  in  the 
town.  He  was  then,  and  continued  through  life, 
unmarried.  In  May,  1737,  he  was  received  in 
Synod,  and  at  that  session  a  supplicatioix  coming 
in  from  Trenton  for  an  appropriation  from  the 
fund  for  the  assistance  of  the  feebler  congrega- 
tions, the  sum  of  ^ve  pounds  was  allowed  for  the 
year. 

I  would  be  glad  to  give  some  notice  of  each 
of  the  signers  of  Mr.  Co  well's  call,  but  find  it  im- 
possible to  collect  materials  to  any  extent. 

Cornelius  Ringo  was  of  the  German  family 
which  gave  name  to  the  village  of  Kingoes  in 
Amwell.  Philip  Ringo,  of  Amwell,  in  1757  left 
four  sons,  Albertus,  Henry,  John,  and  Cornelius. 
Cornelius  died  at  Maidenhead  in  1768. 

Peter  Lott  was  a  name  of  several  generations. 
In  1721  one  of  them  died,  leaving  ^ve  children, 
to  one  of  whom,  Peter,  he  bequeathed  ''  six  shil- 
lings" more  than  to  the  rest,  and  made  him  exe- 
cutor.    He  was  of  Hopewell.     Peter  Lott  was  a 


72  Porterlield. 


witness  before  Presbytery  in  Kev.  Mr.  Morgan's 
case  in  1737.  In  1755,  Peter  Lott,  of  Trenton, 
had  (as  appears  by  his  will)  a  nephew  Peter,  son 
of  his  brother  Hendrick,  and  a  nephew  Peter 
Kappleje,  and  a  third  nephew,  Peter  Schanck. 
He  had  a  brother  Mewrice,  or  Manrice.  He  de- 
sired "  to  be  buried  in  Long  Island,  where  my 
father  and  mother  were  buried."  In  1762  a  Pe- 
ter Lott,  Jiinioi\  died  at  South- Amboy,  leaving 
sons  Peter,  Daniel,  and  Gershom,  and  a  daughter, 
Euth;  and  in  1764,  the  legatees  of  Peter  Lott, 
of  Middlesex,  were  his  grandson  Gershom,  and 
his  sons  Henry,  Abram,  George,  and  Charles. 

John  PoRTEKFiELD  died  in  1738.  His  will, 
dated  three  years  before,  describes  him  "  of  Tren- 
ton, merchant,"  and  devises  a  thousand  acres  on 
the  south  branch  of  the  Earitan,  and  other  pro- 
perty in  East  New- Jersey,  "  late  recovered  from 
John,  Earl  of  Melfort,"  one  of  the  noble  proprie- 
taries. It  mentions  his  brother,  Alexander,  of 
Duchall,  in  Scotland,  and  a  nephew,  William 
RoUston,  of  the  shire  of  Air,  and  "  Boyd  Porter- 
field,  grandson  to  my  brother."  He  bequeathed 
to  another  nephew,  William  Farquhar,  "  chirur- 
geon  of  Brunswick,  all  my  interest  in  one  third 
part  of  the  forge  at  Trenton."     John  Kinsey,  of 


Scudders.  73 


Philadelphia,  Joseph  Peace  of  Trenton,  and  "Wil- 
liam Farquhar  were  his  executors. 

Fra^^cib  GiFFiTiG.  A  blacksmith  of  this  name 
died  at  Trenton  in  1749.  His  children  were 
John,  Martha,  and  Rebecca.  His  wife  Margaret 
and  Joseph  Yard  were  the  executors. 

The  Bellerjeaus  are  of  French  descent,  and 
have  their  representatives  still  in  Trenton.  The 
name  of  Samuel  Bellerjeau  occurs  hereafter,  in 
1770.     One  of  the  family  was  a  physician. 

Richard  Scudder  came  from  Long  Island  in 
1704,  and  established  himself  on  a  farm  on  the 
Delaware,  about  five  miles  above  Trenton,  which 
is  still  possessed  by  his  lineal  descendants.  His 
children  were  Hannah,  Mary,  Richard,  John, 
Abigail,  Joseph,  Samuel,  Rebecca,  and  Joanna, 
all  of  whom  were  baptized  by  the  Rev.  Jedediah 
Andrews,  eight  of  them,  together  with  himself, 
at  one  solemnity.  He  died  March  14,  1754,  at 
the  age  of  eighty-three. 

His  son  John,  who  also  signed  the  call,  died 
May  10,  1748,  at  the  age  of  forty-seven.  His 
children  were  Daniel,  Amos,  Prudence,  Jemima, 
Jedediah,  and  Ephraim. 

Daniel,  the  eldest  son  of  John,  died  June  5, 
1811,  aged  seventy-five.     He  was  a  trustee  in 

5 


J4  Andrew  Reed. 


IY86    and    subsequently.      His   children   were 
Kachel,  Keziali,  Abner,  and  Elias. 

Elias,  the  youngest  child,  died  February  20, 
1811,  at  the  age  of  forty-four.  His  children 
were  Daniel,  John,  Jasper  Smith,  and  Abner. 
The  third  of  these  is  the  present  Treasurer  of 
the  city  congregation,  being  of  the  fifth  generation 
of  the  family. 

Andeew  Reed  was  a  merchant  in  Trenton, 
and  is  probably  the  person  mentioned  in  Gover- 
nor Morris's  Papers,  as  having  caused  an  excite- 
ment in  1744,  in  consequence  of  his  having  been 
elected  Loan  Officer  with  some  informality  by 
the  Justices  of  Hunterdon.*'^  He  w^as  the  first 
treasurer  of  the  borough  of  Trenton  upon  its  in- 
corporation in  1746.  He  was  made  a  trustee  of 
the  church  by  the  charter  of  1756,  and  served 
until  1759,  when  he  removed  to  Am  well, 
where  he  died  December  16,  1769.  He  was  the 
father  of  General  Joseph  Reed  of  the  Revolution, 
wdio  followed  him  in  the  trusteeship  in  1766. 
Mr.  Andrew  Reed  residedt  for  some  time  also  in 
Philadelphia,  and  was  a  trustee  of  the  Second 
Presbyterian  Church  in  that  city.     He  had  a 

*  Papers  of  Lewis  Morris,  pp.  275,  303,  317. 


Baptisms.  y5 

brother  Josepli,  who  died  at  Am  well  in  1774, 
wliose  will  mentions  tlie  cliildren  of  liis  late  ])ro- 
tlier  Andrew,  namely,  Joseph,  Boaz,  John,  Sarah, 
(wife  of  Charles  Pettit,)  and  Mary.  He  (Jo- 
seph) left  a  legacy  to  Margaret,  "  the  wife  of 
Clotworthy  Reed,  of  Trenton,"  a  name  which  is 
fonnd  anion  Of  the  sis^ners  of  the  call.  He  also 
left  thirty  pounds  to  Princeton  College,  in  addi- 
tion to  twenty  already  subscribed,  and  fifty  to 
the  united  Presbyterian  congregations  of  Amwell, 
directing  that  his  body  should  be  interred  in 
"the  old  English  Presbyterian  meeting-house 
grave-yard  in  Amwell,"  or  in  any  other  Presby- 
terian grave-yard  nearer  which  he  might  be  at 
the  time  of  his  death. 

In  the  Register  of  Baptisms  by  the  Rev.  Jede- 
diah  Andrews,  pastor  of  the  First  Church  of  Phi- 
ladelphia, some  of  the  names  of  the  signers  are 
found.  August  2,  1711,  Mr.  Andrews  baptized 
in  Hopewell,  Richard  Scudder,  and  his  eight 
children  Hannah,  Mary,  Richard,  John,  Abigail, 
Joseph,  Samuel,  and  Rebekah.  At  Maidenhead, 
March  6,  1713,  Rebekah,  daughter  of  Ebeistezer 
Prout,  and  Daniel,  son  of  Robert  Lanxh^o.  At 
Hopewell,  April  21,  1713,  Susanna,  daughter  of 
Richard     Scudder,    and    Alexander,    son    ot 


76  Governor  Morris. 


Charles  Claek.  At  Maidenliead,  December 
21,  1713,  Abigail,  claiigbter  of  Ralph  Hart.  At 
Hopewell,  July  28,  1714,  Eunice,  claugliter  of 
Ebe^ezer  Prout.  At  Maidenbead,  April  17, 
1715,  Edward,  son  of  Ralph  Hunt.  July  13, 
1715,  Josepb  and  Anna,  cbildren  of  Eliakim  An- 
derson"; Frances,  daughter  of  Robert  Lanning. 
The  year  1738  is  notable  in  tbe  history  of 
New-Jersey,  as  tbe  first  in  wbicb  tbe  Province 
bad  a  Governor  exclusively  its  own.  Heretofore 
tbe  crown  bad  united  it  witb  New- York  in  tbe 
commissions  of  tbe  successive  governors ;  but 
now  Colonel  Lewis  Morris,  a  native  of  Morri- 
sania,  in  New- York,  was  appointed  for  New- 
Jersey  alone.  Tbe  Legislative  Assembly  of  tbe 
Province  was  accustomed  to  meet  alternately  at 
Pertb  Amboy  and  Burlington.  Gov.  Morris  was 
anxious  to  ^x  upon  a  permanent  and  more  cen- 
tral place  for  tbe  seat  of  government.  In  1740 
be  writes :  "  1  bave  bired  Dagwortby's  bouse  at 
Trenton."  In  1742  be  negotiates  witb  Gov. 
Tbomas,  of  Pennsylvania,  for  a  lease  of  bis  estate 
called  Kingsbury — tbe  property  in  tbe  lower  part 
of  Warren  (tben  King)  street,  subsequently  occu- 
pied by  otber  provincial  governors — and  wbicb, 
after  a  long  interval,  became  tbe  executive  man- 


Morris. 


77 


sion  during  tlie  incumhency  of  Governor  Price. 
Lewis  describes  it  in  1744,  as  "about  half  a 
mile  from  Trenton  ;  a  very  liealtliy  and  pleasant 
place,  parted  by  a  small  brook  (Assanpink) 
from  Trentown,  tlie  great  tliorouglifare  between 
York  and  Pliiladelpliia."  He  was  not  able 
to  obtain  a  cliano-e  in  the  seat  of  o^overnment ; 
but  in  accommodation  to  liis  bad  liealtli  tlie 
Legislature  was  summoned  to  meet  at  Trenton, 
and  once  at  least  at  Kingsbury,  in  order  to  be 
dissolved  in  person  by  tlie  Governor.  He  died 
there.  May  21,  1746. 

Governor  Morris  belonged  to  the  English 
Church,  and  while  a  resident  at  his  estate  of 
Tintern,  or  Tinton,  in  Monmouth  county,  w^hen 
President  (1700)  of  Council  had  recommended 
to  the  Bishop  of  London,  as  necessary  "  to  the 
bringing  over  to  the  Church  the  people  in  these 
countries,"  that  none  but  "  churchmen"  should 
be  placed  in  the  high  offices — ^that  members  of 
that  Church  should  have  "  some  peculiar  privile- 
ges above  others,"  and  that  no  man  should  be 
admitted  to  a  great  benefice  in  England  who  had 
not  preached  "  three  years  gratis  in  America." 
But  his  sectarian  zeal  had  disappeared  when  he 
made  his  will :  "I  forbid  any  man  to  be  paid  for 


5" 


78 


Morris. 


preacliing  a  funeral  sermon  over  me ;  those  wlio 
survive  me  will  commend  or  blame  mj  life  as 
tliey  think  fit,  and  I  am  not  for  paying  of  any 
man  for  doing  of  either ;  but  if  r.ny  man,  whether 
Churchman  or  Dissenter,  in  or  not  in  priest's 
orders,  is  inclined  to  say  any  thing  on  that  occa- 
sion, he  may,  if  my  executors  think  fit  to  admit 
him  to  do  it.""^^ 


*  "  The  papers  of  Lewis  Morris,"  vol.  iv,  of  Collections  of  the  Xew- 
Jersey  Historical  Society,  pp.  9,  325,  etc.  Morris's  rent  in  Trenton  was 
sixty  pounds,  ($160,)  the  landlord  expending  £200  "in  putting  of  it 
into  repair  and  building  a  wing  for  a  kitchen  to  lodge  servants."  "  The 
lessee  might  cut  his  fire-wood,  but  not  of  timber-trees."  "  Our  house  is 
good,"  writes  the  Governor  in  1?44,  "and  not  one  chimney  in  it  smokes. 
I  have  not  yet  got  into  ploughing  and  sowing,  having  but  little  ground, 
and  that  but  ordinary,  and  much  out  of  order,  but  shall  try  a  little  at 
it,  when  I  get  it  into  something  better  fence,  which  I  am  doing." 


(!llui})tci|    (^fl.urllj. 

Rev.   Mk.    Co  well   and   Eey.    Mr.   Te]!^nent. 

Schism   of    Synod. 

1736—1760. 

Mr.  Cowell's  name  appears  in  the  minutes  of 
Presbytery,  first  of  Philadelphia,  afterwards  of 
IN^ew-Brunswick,  as  a  punctual  attendant  down 
to  1746.  From  that  year  to  1762  there  is  a 
hiatus  in  the  records,  and  there  is  no  means  of 
ascertaining  what  part  he  took  in  that  judicature 
during  the  remainder  of  his  life,  beyond  what 
transpires  through  the  minutes  of  the  Synod. 

It  is  only  from  the  proceedings  of  this  court 
that  we  obtain  information  of  a  theolos^ical  contro- 
versy  between  Mr.  Cowell  and  the  Rev.  Gilbert 
Tennent,  of  the  Presbytery  of  New-Brunswick, 
that  is  first  mentioned  in  May  1738,  at  which  time 
a  large  correspondence  had  already  passed  be- 
tween them.  From  the  tenor  of  the  proceedings 
in  three  successive  sessions  of  the  Synod,  it 
appears  that  Mr.  Tennent  suspected  Mr,  Cowell 


8o  Cowell  and 


of  holding  tliat  doctrine,  or  some  form  of  it, 
Tvliicli  makes  tlie  happiness  of  the  individual  the 
chief  motive  of  religion.  ISTot  satisfied  with  the 
result  of  the  correspondence,  Mr.  Tennent  brought 
the  subject  to  the  notice  of  Synod,  May  27, 
1738,  with  a  request  for  an  expression  of  their 
opinion.  The  Synod  appointed  a  committee,  com- 
posed of  Rev.  Messrs.  J.  Dickinson,  Pierson,  Pem- 
berton,  Thomson,  Anderson,  Boyd,  and  Treat, 
to  converse  with  the  two  controvertists  together, 
"  that  they  may  see  whether  they  so  widely  dif- 
fer in  their  sentiments  as  is  supposed ;  and  if 
they  find  there  be  necessity,  distinctly  to  con- 
sider the  papers ;  that  Mr.  Tennent  and  JMr. 
Cowell  be  both  directed  to  refrain  all  public  dis- 
courses upon  this  controversy,  and  all  methods 
of  spreading  it  among  the  populace,  until  the 
committee  have  made  their  report  to  the  Synod; 
and  that  no  other  member  take  notice  of  and 
divulo:e  the  affair."  The  committee  findins:  that 
the  debate  was  not  to  be  settled  by  conversa- 
tion, obtained  leave  to  defer  their  rejDort  until 
the  next  Synod,  and  the  Kev.  Mr.  Cross  was 
added  to  their  number. 

On  the  second  day  of  the  next  year  s  session, 
(May  24,  1739,)  the  committee  were  not  pre- 


G.  Tennent.  8l 


pared  to  report.  Ou  the  25t]i  the  subject  was 
again  deferred — the  Committee  being  probably 
engaged  in  private  conference  with  the  parties. 
On  the  29th  the  report  was  presented ;  npon 
hearing  which  the  Synod  expressed  their  great 
satisfaction  in  finding  the  contending  parties  fully 
agreed  in  their  sentiments  upon  the  point  in  con- 
troversy, according  to  the  terms  in  which  the 
overture  of  the  committee  had  embodied  the 
doctrine.  The  committee  preface  the  theologi- 
cal statement  to  which  they  had  secured  the 
assent  of  the  disjijutants,  with  this  somewhat 
caustic  intimation : 

"  Though  they  apprehend  that  there  were  some  incau- 
tious and  unguarded  expressions  used  by  both  the  contend- 
ing parties,  yet  they  have  ground  to  hoi^e  that  the  princi- 
pal controversy  betvreen  them  flows  from  their  not  having 
clear  ideas  of  the  subject  they  so  earnestly  debate  about, 
and  not  from  any  dangerous  errors  they  entertain." 

The  committee  then  proceeded  to  harmonize 
the  views  which  each  of  the  polemics  took 
of  his  favorite  side  of  the  problem.  The  sub- 
stance of  their  statement  is,  that  God  has  been 
pleased  to  connect  the  highest  happiness  of  man 
with  the  promotion  of  the  divine  glory,   and 


82  G.  Tennent. 


therefore  the  two  designs  must  never  be  placed 
in  opposition. 

The  decision  was  made  at  the  last  sederunt  of 
the  meetino\  when  Mr.  Tennent  had  not  much 
time  to  weigh  the  terms  of  the  report ;  but  upon 
the  reading  of  the  minutes  at  the  opening  of  the 
session  of  17-iO,  he  expressed  his  dissatisfaction 
and  asked  for  a  reconsideration  of  the  subject. 
After  much  debate  upon  this  request,  it  was 
refused  by  a  great  majority. ■^'"'  Mr.  Tennent's  dis- 
position was  not  towards  concession.  Neither 
his  pen  nor  voice  as  yet  gave  promise  of  the 
future  "  Irenicum."  x\s  Dr.  Finley  said  at  his 
fr'^eral,  if  an  end  seemed  to  be  attainable,  "he 
would  not  give  up  the  point  while  one  glimpse 
of  hope  remained."  He  subsequently  alluded 
in  the  harshest  terms  to  what  he  conceived  to  be 
the  heretical  standing  of  many  of  the  Synod  on 
the  point  of  his  controversy  with  Mr.  Cowell. 
"  His  natural  disposition,"  says  Dr.  Alexander, 
"  appears  to  have  been  severe  and  uncomprom- 
ising ;  and  he  gave  strong  evidence  of  being  very 
tenacious  of  all  his  opinions,  and  not  very  toler- 


*  Eecords,  pp.  138,  142,  143,  146,  149,  150.     The  proceedings  are 
given  in  Dr.  Hodge's  Constitutional  History.     Part  L,  pp.  235-239, 


The  Revival.  83 


ant  of  those  who  dissented  from  his  views,  as 
appeared  by  the  controversy  which  he  had  with 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Co  well,  of  Trenton,  and  which  he 
brought  before  Synod."* 

Our  whole  Church  was  now  approaching  one 
of  the  most  exciting  and  tumultuous  epochs  in 
its  history — an  epoch  signalized  by  the  discord- 
ant epithets  of  "  The  Great  Revival,"  and  "  The 
Great  Schism,"  to  which  mio^ht  be  added,  as 
their  sequel,  "The  Great  Relapse" — the  times 
of  Edwards,  Whitefield,  Wesley,  Tennents,  Dick- 
inson, Blair,  Davenport,  and  the  parties,  sects, 
and  controversies  w^ith  wdiich  their  names  are 
associated ;  times  of  f^maticism  and  censoiious- 
ness,  yet  also  of  awakening  and  reformation  ;  the 
good  of  which  has  overbalanced  the  mischief — 
the  Divine  wisdom  neutralizinsr  the  foolishness 
of  men.  A  full  and  candid  survey  of  the  period 
from  1740  to  1758,  and  a  discriminatino:  view^  of 
what  is  pure  and  what  spurious  in  the  character 
of  a  "  Revival,"  may  be  found  in  Dr.  Hodge's 
volumes  on  the  "  Constitutional  History  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church."  All  that  pertains  to  my 
limited  purpose  may  be  compressed  in  a  few 
paragraphs. 

*  "Log  College,"  chap.  iv. 


84  Whltefield. 


Both  in  this  country  and  Great  Britain,  the 
p^ety  of  the  Church,  its  ministry  and  haity,  was 
in  a  languid  condition.  In  some  parts  this  was 
accompanied  with,  or  caused  by,  a  looseness  in 
doctrinal  ojDinion.  The  first  marked  symjDtoms 
of  improvement  appeared  at  Freehold,  New- 
Jersey,  in  the  congregation  under  the  care  of  the 
Bev.  John  Tennent,  and  throughout  his  brief  min- 
istry from  1730  to  his  death  in  IT 32.  Under  the 
itinerating  ministry  of  the  Bev.  John  Bowland, 
in  Maidenhead,  Hopewell,  and  Amwell,  similar 
effects  appeared  a  few  years  later,  and  most  con- 
spicuously in  1T40.  In  Elizabethtown,  Newark, 
New-Brunswick,  and  other  parts  of  New- Jersey, 
as  well  as  in  the  neighboring  Provinces,  and  in 
Virginia  and  New-England,  the  "  awakening" 
was  remarkably  extended  and  decided.  In  the 
year  1738,  Whitefield  first  appeared  in  America, 
and  repeated  his  visits  at  intervals  until  his  death 
at  Newbury j)ort  in  1770.  His  extraordinary 
preaching  and  inexhaustible  enthusiasm  served 
to  increase  and  diffuse  the  relio^ious  fervor  that 
had  already  made  its  appearance,  while  the 
irrerrularities  of  his  measures,  and  the  marks  of 
fanaticism  that  characterized  his  lanc:uao:e  and 
conduct,  excited  the  mistrust  of  some  of  the  most 


Synods  of  1737-8.  85 


pious  and  judicious,  as  to  the  ultimate  effect  of 
Lis  course. 

It  was  tlie  excitement,  botli  good  and  bad, 
attending  the  movements  just  referred  to,  that 
led  some  of  the  most  zealous  ministers  to  disre- 
gard formalities  and  regulations  which  they  sup- 
posed were  impediments  in  the  way  of  attempt- 
ing what  the  times  required.  In  1737,  the 
Synod  of  Philadelphia,  the  only  Synod  and  the 
highest  court  of  the  Church,  prohibited  the 
intrusion  of  the  ministers  of  one  presbytery 
within  the  bounds  of  another.  The  main  ob- 
ject of  this  law  was  to  prevent  itinerant  ministers 
from  producing  confusion  by  preaching  in  par- 
ishes uninvited  by  the  proper  minister.  Again, 
in  1738,  the  Synod  directed  that  every  candi- 
date for  the  ministry  should  present  to  the  Pres- 
bytery to  which  he  applied,  a  diploma  of  grad- 
uation, or  an  equivalent  certificate  of  scholarship 
from  a  committee  of  the  Synod.  In  that  year 
the  Synod  had  formed  out  of  the  Presbyteries 
of  New- York  and  Philadelphia,  the  Presbytery 
of  New-Brunswick.  All  the  churches  and  minis- 
ters to  the  north  and  east  of  Maidenhead  and 
Hopewell,  with  some  others,  were  united  in  the 
new  Presbytery.     On  the  first  day  of  its  consti- 

6 


86  Rowland. 


tutioD,  it  deliberately  disregarded  tlie  latter  rule, 
and  licensed  a  candidate  without  diploma  or  cer- 
tificate. The  Synod  pronounced  this  act  disor- 
derly, and  refused  to  recognize  the  licentiate. 
In  reply,  the  Presbytery,  led  by  the  Eev.  Gilbert 
Tenuent,  stated  their  objections  to  both  of  the 
above-named  rules,  as  infringing  on  Presbyterial 
rights  and  transgressing  Synodal  authority."^  The 
Synod  slightly  modified  the  rule  of  examination, 
but  adhered  to  its  principles.  The  Presbytery 
persisted  in  their  contumacy,  ordained  the  very 
probationer  (Rowland)  that  they  had  irregularly 
licensed,  and  continued  to  license  in  the  old  way. 
The  Hopewell  family  of  churches  became  in- 
volved in  the  schismatic  proceedings.  Hopewell 
and  Maidenhead,  still  in  the  Presbytery  of  Phi- 
ladelphia, supplicated  the  new  Presbytery  for 
Mr.  Rowland  as  their  sujDply,  which  was  granted. 
The   Presbytery  of    Philadelphia,    which   had. 


*  Mr.  Tennent's  warmth  was  undoubtedly  increased  by  his  behef  that 
the  cautiousness  of  the  Synod  in  regard  to  the  scholarship  of  candidates, 
arose  from  a  want  of  confidence  in  the  accomplishments  of  the  pupils  of 
the  Neshaminy  Academy,  established  by  his  father.  The  arts  and 
sciences  were  not  thought  to  bo  as  well  taught  there  as  the  classics. 
Thus,  Dr.  Alexander  remarks  that  the  schism  "  was  actually  produced 
by  the  Log  College."  (Log  College,  p.  57.)  Rowland  was  educated 
there,  and  of  course,  by  the  Synod's  rule,  was  subject  to  examination. 


Hopewell.  87 

tlLrough  Mr.  Co  well,  informed  Rowland  tliat  tliey 
adhered  to  tlie  Synod's  view  of  his  defective 
standing,  and  advised  liim  not  to  preach  at  Hope- 
well, now  refused  to  allow  him  to  minister  in 
their  jurisdiction.  Thereupon  the  people  who 
favored  Rowland,  asked  the  Philadelphia  Pres- 
hjterj  to  form  them  into  a  separate  congregation. 
This  w^as  consented  to,  provided  they  would  not 
erect  a  new  church  without  the  consent  of  the  other 
part  of  the  congregation  to  its  location.*  Upon 
this  agreement  they  were  set  off.  The  new  con- 
gregation at  once  asked  to  be  dismissed  to  the 
more  congenial  Presbytery  of  New^-Brunswick. 
The  Presbytery  insisted  upon  their  first  complying 
with  the  condition  on  which  thev  were  set  off. 
The  people  complained  of  this  decision  to  Synod, 

*  The  old  congregation  were  represented  by  Enoch  Armitage,  Thomas 
Eurrowes,  Edward  Hart,  and  Timothy  Baker ;  the  "new  erection"  by- 
Benjamin  Stevens,  John  Anderson,  Samuel  Hunt,  and  Joseph  Birt. 
"We  had  the  privilege,"  wrote  Rowland,  "minister  at  Hopewell,"  "of 
Maidenhead  meeting-house,  [1788.]  and  my  people  built  a  meeting-house 
in  Hopewell.  There  is  another  town  [township]  lying  contiguous  to 
Hopewell,  which  is  called  Am  well.  They  petitioned  for  a  part  of  my  time, 
viz.,  one  Sabbath  in  three."  William  Tennent  writes  in  October,  1 744 : 
"  About  four  weeks  since  I  gathered  a  church,  and  celebrated  the  Lord's 
Supper  at  a  new  erected  congregation  in  the  towns  of  Maidenhead  and 
Hopewell."  ("Ginies'  Collections,"  ii.  137,  323.)  This  was  a  mile  west 
of  Pennington,  and  was  but  a  temporary  secession,  both  parties  reiiniting 
afterwards  in  the  old  church,  probably  in  1766. 


88  Synods  of  1739-41. 


wliicli  (1739,)  wholly  sustained  tlie  Presbytery, 
and  provided  for  their  (the  Presbytery's)  fixing 
the  place  of  the  new  house  ;  but  none  of  the  par- 
ties submitted  to  its  judgment. 

Matters  became  still  more  complicated  as  the 
Synod  endeavored  to  compromise  the  points  in 
debate.  Gilbert  Tennent,  with  his  characteristic 
harshness  and  uncharitableness,  formally  attri- 
buted the  objectionable  rules  of  the  Synod,  and 
its  adherence  to  them,  to  doctrinal  unsoundness 
and  want  of  piety.  Mr.  Blair  followed  in  the 
same  strain.  Tennent  encouraged  the  schismatic 
tendencies  of  the  Synod's  opponents  by  a  bold 
sermon  at  ISTottingham,  exciting  the  disaffected 
to  withdraw  from  the  ministry  of  those  whom  he 
condemned.  It  was  fruitful  in  alienations  and 
divisions. 

The  Synod  met  in  1Y41.  A  ^^olent  protest 
against  recognizing  the  Tennent  party  as  mem- 
bers of  Synod  was  read,  and  then  signed  by  a 
majority.  Scenes  of  disorder  ensued.  The  Pres- 
bytery of  New-Brunswick,  regarding  themselves 
excluded  by  this  unconstitutional  measure,  with- 
drew in  a  body  from  the  house.  The  next  day 
it  divided  itself  into  the  Presbyteries  of  ISTew- 
Brunswick  and  Londonderry,  and  took  measures 


1742-1745  89 

for  orgauizing  a  new  Synod.  In  1742  tlie  old 
Synod  was  occupied  with  ineifectual  plans  of  re- 
conciliation. In  1743  Mr.  Cowell  being  modera- 
tor, and  in  1744,  the  discussion  went  on,  and  no 
union  taking  place,  the  disowned  members,  and 
others  who  sympathized  with  them  as  unjustly 
dealt  with,  met  as  the  Synod  of  Kew-York  in 
Elizabethtown,  September,  1745.  In  the  refer- 
ences to  this  schism  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia 
is  called  historically  the  Old  Side^  and  the  other 
Synod,  tlie  Neio  Side.  The  separation  continued 
until  1758.^ 

Through  these  agitations  Mr.  Cowell  stood  by 

*  The  unhappy  personal  eflects  hngered  still  longer.  Dr.  Green  was 
ordained  in  Philadelphia  in  178Y,  and  says  :  "  The  arrangements  for  my 
ordination  had  been  made  with  a  view  to  mingle,  and  if  possible,  to  har- 
monize the  old  side  and  the  new  side  members  of  the  Presbytery.  Por 
although  twenty-nine  years  had  elapsed,  since  in  1758  the  rival  Synods 
had  become  united,  two  Presbyteries  of  Philadelphia  had  existed,  com- 
posed severally  of  the  litigant  parties ;  and  the  aged  members  of  both 
sides  had  retained  something  of  the  old  bitter  feeliugs  towards  each 
other."    ("  Life,"  p.  154.) 

The  church  where  Dr.  Green  was  ordained  and  installed  had  the  less 
favorable  associations  for  the  purpose  mentioned,  as  it  was  the  one  built 
by  the  exertions  of  Gilbert  Tennent,  for  a  people  described  by  Dr.  Frank- 
lin as  "  originally  disciples  of  Mr.  Whitefield."  In  compliance  with  the 
philosopher's  advice,  Tennent  "asked  of  every  body ;  and  he  obtained  a 
much  larger  sum  than  he  expected,  with  which  he  erected  the  capacious 
and  elegant  meeting-house  that  stands  in  Arch  street."  (Franklin's  Auto- 
biography; Sparks,  i.  168.) 

6- 


90  Co  well's  Side. 


tlie  old  Synod  ;  and  tliongli  after  Ms  experience 
of  Mr.  Tennent's  qualities  as  an  antagonist,  lie 
may  not  have  felt  any  personal  prepossession  for 
tlie  side  on  wliicli  he  was  leader,  his  character- 
istic moderation  and  self-command  were  doubt- 
less preserved.  According  to  President  Davies, 
perhaps  alluding  to  these  times,  "  in  matters  of 
debate,  and  especially  of  religious  controversy, 
he  was  rather  a  moderator  and  compromiser, 
than  a  party."  There  is  no  reason  to  believe 
that  he  was  carried  away,  as  many  were,  by  their 
admiration  of  the  zeal  of  Whitefield,  to  overlook 
the  serious  perils  of  the  excitement  of  his  "visits. 
Whitefield  was,  of  course,  a  favorite  with  the  "  New 
Side."  He  was  one  of  those  men  towards  whom 
a  broad  charity  is  extended  by  the  humble  minds 
who  honor  in  another  the  zeal  in  which  they  re- 
gard themselves  to  be  defective,  and  overlook 
extravagancies  for  the  sake  of  the  good  which 
they  hope  they  will  be  the  means  of  j^roducing. 
Whitefield's  history  stands  in  need  of  this  cha- 
rity, and  we  should  be  slow  in  suspecting  those 
men  of  coldness  to  a  true  work  of  Divine  grace, 
who  were  conscientiously  restrained  from  gi^dng 
their  countenance  to  his  methods  of  procedure. 
In   the   first   year    of  his  American   travels 


Whitefield.  91 


"Whitefielcl  preaclied  at  the  towns  between  Plii- 
ladelj)liia  and  New- York.  His  own  journal  of 
]S"ovem"ber  12,  1739,  says  :  "  By  eight  o'clock  we 
reached  Trent-town  in  the  Jerseys.  It  being 
dark,  we  went  out  of  our  way  a  little  in  the 
woods ;  but  God  sent  a  guide  to  direct  us  aright. 
We  had  a  comfortable  refreshment  •  when  we 
reached  our  inn,  and  went  to  bed  in  peace  and 
joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost."  He  left  town  early 
the  next  morning.  After  preaching  in  the  neigh- 
borhood he  was  brought  back  to  Trenton  in  the 
same  month,  by  the  prospect  of  a  great  gathering 
of  people  to  view  an  execution.  "  November  21, 
1739.  Being  strongly  desired  by  many,  and 
hearing  that  a  condemned  malefactor  was  to  suf- 
fer that  week,  I  went  in  company  with  about 
thirty  more  to  Trent-town,  and  reached  thither 
by  ^ye  in  the  evening.  Here  God  was  pleased 
to  humble  my  soul,  and  bring  my  sins  to  remem- 
brance, so  that  I  could  hardly  hold  up  my  head. 
However,  knowing  that  God  called,  I  went  out, 
trusting  in  Divine  strength,  and  preached  in  the 
court-house ;  and  though  I  was  quite  barren  and 
dry  in  the  beginning  of  the  discourse,  yet  God 
enabled  me  to  speak  with  great  sweetness,  free- 
dom, and  power  before  I  had  done.     The  un- 


92  Whitefield. 


happy  criminal  seemed  hardened,  but  I  hope 
some  good  was  done  in  the  place." 

Whitefield,  it  appears  from  this,  preached,  ac- 
cording to  English  custom,  in  the  presence  of  the 
condemned  man.^  Mr.  Co  well  improved  the  same 
occasion  by  a  sermon  in  his  own  church,  on  the 
re|)entance  of  the  dying  thief,  which  looks  as  if  he 
did  not  offer  his  pulpit  to  the  eloquent  itinerant. 
A  letter  of  Jonathan  Arnold,  who  appears  to 
have  been  an  Episcopal  minister,  perhaps  a  mis- 
sionary, in  Connecticut,  dated,  "  East  Chester, 
November  27,  1739,"  and  addressed  to  Wm. 
Smith,  Esq.,  of  New- York,  refers  to  an  incident 
of  that  visit.  "  When  Mr.  Whitefield  came  with 
me  from  Trenton,  we  agreed  to  search  and  exa- 
mine each  other.  He  had  the  preference.  I 
past  his  examination  till  we  came  to  Brunswick, 
after  which  I  was  to  have  the  same  liberty  with 
him.  He  escaped  by  turning  aside  to  preach  for 
the  famous  Mr.  Tennent." 

In  November,  1740,  AYhitefield  was*here  again, 
as  his  journal  speaks  of  having  had  at  Trenton 
"  a  long  conference  with  some  ministers  about 
Mr.  Gilbert  Tennent's  complying  with  an  invita- 

*  The  custom  in  Newark  as  late  as  1791.      Whitehead's  Perth  Amhoy, 
p.  319. 


Cowell  in  Synod.  93 


tion  to  go  and  preach  in  Ngav-Ed gland."  It  is 
probable  that  he  visited  Trenton  during  his  other 
tours  in  America,  from  1744  to  1770.  On  the 
30th  July,  1754,  one  of  his  letters  says:  "To- 
morrow I  preach  at  Newark ;  on  Wednesday,  at 
two  in  the  afternoon,  at  New-Brunswick,  and 
hope  to  reach  Trent-town  that  night.  Could  you 
not  meet  me  there  quietly,  that  we  might  spend 
one  evening  together  V  He  was  advertised  in 
the  Philadelphia  papers  to  preach  at  Trenton  on 
the  13th  and  14th  September,  1754. 

Mr.  Cowell  was  an  active  member  of  Synod. 
In  1738  he  was  on  a  committee  to  meet  at  Han- 
over, to  adjust  a  difficulty  between  two  parishes. 
At  the  same  session  he  was  placed  on  a  commit- 
tee of  seven  to  examine  candidates  for  the  mi- 
nistry. This  committee  had  charge  of  the  stu- 
dents in  the  Presbyteries  to  the  north  of  Phila- 
delphia, and  a  corresponding  one  had  charge  of 
those  to  the  south.  In  1743  he  was  Moderator, 
and  elected  on  the  Synod's  commission  for  the 
year.  For  before  the  j^resent  constitution  of  our 
Church  was  adopted,  the  Synod  followed  the 
usage  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Scotland,  in 
annually  appointing  a  convenient  number  of  its 
members  to  sit  as  a  commission  in  the  interval 


94  Commiffions. 


of  its  stated  con veniugs,  and  perform  any  Synodal 
business  that  required  immediate  dispatch."^  The 
Moderator  of  1743  was  also  added  to  a  commit- 
tee to  answer  a  communication  from  Governor 
Thomas,  of  Pennsylvania,  in  regard  to  a  pam- 
phlet by  the  Rev.  Alexander  Craighead,  which 
the  government  considered  seditious,  and  which 
the  Synod  disavowed,  both  as  to  its  sentiments, 
and  as  having  any  jurisdiction  over  its  author.f 
In  1749  the  Synod  of  New- York  sent  a  dele- 
gation to  the  Synod  of  PhiladeljDhia,  with  a  pro- 
posal that  each  Synod  should  appoint  a  commis- 
sion to  meet  and  deliberate  upon  a  plan  of 
reiinion.  This  movement  towards  reconciliation 
was  acceded  to  by  the  sister  Synod,  and  on  the 
25th  May  they  appointed  a  commission  of  nine 
members,  of  whom  Mr.  Cowell  was  one.  The 
united  meeting  was  appointed  to  be  held  in  Tren- 
ton on  the  first  Wednesday  of  the  ensuing  Octo- 
ber.    The  meeting  took  place  accordingly  on  the 

*  The  sessions  of  the  Commission  appear  to  have  been  opened  as  form- 
ally as  those  of  the  Synod.  I  have  before  me,  in  a  pamphlet,  "  A  Sermon 
preached  before  the  Commission  of  the  Synod  at  Philadelphia,  April  20th, 
1  '735.  By  E.  Pemberton,  Pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  City  of 
New-York."  The  dedication  "  to  the  Eeverend  Commission  of  the  Synod," 
refers  to  its  having  been  "  preached  in  obedience  to  your  commands." 

I  The  address  to  the  Governor,  signed  by  Cowell,  and  the  Governor's 
reply,  are  in  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  June  9,  1743. 


Conferences.  95 


4tli  and  otli  of  October,  and  Mr.  Cowell  was  cho- 
sen  to  preside.     The  negotiations  initiated  at 
this  meeting  were  prolonged  in  various  shapes 
until  May  29,  1755,  when  a  commission  of  con- 
ference was  again  appointed  by  the  Synod  of 
Philadelphia,  and  Mr.  Cowell  was  one  of  its  seven 
members.    They  met  in  Philadelphia  on  the  same 
afternoon.     He  was  also  on  a  committee  of  five 
in  1756  to  answer  a  minute  then  received  from 
the  other  Synod  ;  and  on  another  committee  to 
obtain  a  charter  for  the  WidoAvs'  Fund  from  the 
Messrs.  Penn,  the  Pennsylvania  Proprietors,  and 
also  on  the  Synod's  Commission  and  Fund.*     In 
May,  1757,  another  joint  conference  was  held  at 
Trenton,  of  which  Mr.  Cowell  was  a  member. 
He  was  on  the  Commission  of  the  Synod,  and 
Committee  for  the  Fund  for  175S,  in  which  year 
the  two  Synods  were  at  length  combined  under 
the  title  of  the  Synod  of  New-York  and  Phila- 
delphia. 

At  the  first  meeting  of  the  new  Synod  (May 
30, 1758)  Mr.  Cowell  and  Mr.  Guild,  (of  Penning- 
ton,) were  transferred  from  the  Presbytery  of 
Philadelphia  to  that  of  New-Brunswick,  and  from 

*  The  Synod's  "  Fund  "  was  for  such  "  pious  uses  "  as  were  desig- 
nated from  time  to  time. 


96  1 760. 

that  time  tlie  respective  cburcbes  Lave  retained 
the  connection.  The  L^st  mention  of  Mr.  Cowell's 
name  on  the  Synod's  records  is  under  the  date 
of  May  22,  1760,  when,  although  not  present,  he 
was  placed  on  a  committee  to  dispose  of  the  fund 
for  the  relief  of  poor  and  pious  youth  in  the  Col- 
lege of  New-Jersey. 

Note. — It  may  have  been  expected  that  some  notice  should  be  found 
in  this  chapter,  of  the  celebrated  case  which  was  before  the  Supreme 
Court  at  Trenton,  in  1742,  in  which  the  Kev.  William  Tennent  was 
arraigned  for  perjury,  on  account  of  the  evidence  he  had  given  to  prove 
that  the  Rev.  John  Rowland  was  far  from  Hunterdon  county  when  Bell, 
assuming  his  name,  stole  a  horse.  But  I  trust  that  an  authentic  account 
of  that  whole  affair  will  soon  be  furnished  by  a  more  competent  hand, 
and  I  believe  that  it  will  be  made  to  appear  that  there  is  no  foundation 
for  the  story  of  the  supernatural  mission  of  witnesses  from  Maryland  to 
Trenton.  A  paper  to  this  effect,  by  Mr.  Richard  S.  Field,  has  already 
appeared  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Nevj- Jersey  Historical  Society.  (Vol. 
vi.  p.  31.) 


^luijjti^r  c^liftlt. 


Trenton  in  1'748 — Episcopal  Churches — Tren- 
ton Na^jes  and   Places — 1722-1768. 

1746—1760. 

On  tlie  sixtli  of  September,  1746,  at  the  in- 
stance of  Governor  Morris,  Trenton  was,  by  royal 
charter,  constituted  a  borough-town.  Thomas 
Cadwalacler  was  the  first  Chief-Burgess ;  JSTa- 
thaniel  Ward,  Recorder,  with  twelve  Burgesses. 
But  in  April,  1750,  the  inhabitants  haviug  found 
that  the  disadvantages  of  incorporation  prepon- 
derated, surrendered  the  charter  through  the 
hands  of  Governor  Belcher.* 

For  the  sake  of  the  impression  it  may  convey 
of  what  the  town  Avas  at  this  period,  I  will  here 
make  an  extract  from  the  journal  of  a  traveller 
who  saw  it  in  the  year  1748.  This  writer  was 
Peter  Kalm,  Professor  of  Economy  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Abo,  in  Swedish  Finland  ;  who  visited 

*  The  Charter  is  in  book  AAA  of  Commissions,  p.  266  :  the  surrender 
on  p.  306. 

7 


98  Profeffor  Kalm. 


North  America,  as  a  naturalist,  under  tlie  ausj^i- 
ces  of  tlie  Swedish.  Eoyal  Academy  of  Sciences. 
It  was  in  honor  of  his  botanical  researches  that 
Linnseus  gave  the  name  of  Kalmia  to  our  Laurel. 
Under  the  date  of  October  28,  1748,  Kalm 
enters  his  observations  as  follows  : 

"  Trenton  is  a  long,  narrow  town,  situate  at  some  dis- 
tance  from  the  river  Delaware,  on   a   sanely  plain.     It 
belongs  to  I^ew- Jersey,  and  they  reckon  it  thirty  miles  from 
Philadelphia.    It  has  two  small  chm-ches,  one  for  the  people 
belonging  to  the  Church  of  England,  the   other  for  the 
Presbyterians.      The  houses   are   partly  built   of  stone, 
though  most  of  them  are  made  of  wood  or  planks,  com- 
monly two  stories  higb,  together  with   a    cellar  below 
the  building,  and  a  kitchen  under  ground,  close  to  the 
cellar.     The  houses  stand  at  a  moderate  distance  from  one 
another.     They  are  commonly  built  so  that  the  street 
passes  along  one  side  of  the  houses,  while  gardens  of  dif- 
ferent dimensions  bound  the  other  side.     In  each  garden 
is  a  draw-well.*     The  place  is  reckoned  very  healthy. 
Our  landlord  told  us  that  twenty-two  years  ago,  when  he 
first  settled  here,  there  was  hardly  more  than  one  house  ; 
but  from  that  time  Trenton  has  increased  so  much  that 
there  are  at  present  near  a  hundred  houses.     The  houses 
were,  within,  divided  mto  several  rooms  by  the  partitions 


*  Among  the  debits  of  the  Treasurer's  book,  in  account  with  the 
Trenton  parsonage,  are  frequently  to  be  found  such  items  as,  "  to  hoops 
for  the  well-bucket,"  "for  cleaning  the  well,"  "  to  a  rope  for  the  well." 


Kalm.  99 


of  boards.  The  inhabitants  of  the  place  carried  on  a 
small  trade  with  the  goods  which  they  got  from  Philadel- 
phia, but  their  chief  gain  consists  in  the  arrival  of  the 
numerous  travellers  between  that  city  and  New- York ;  for 
they  are  commonly  brought  by  the  Trenton  yachts  from 
Philadelphia  to  Trenton,  or  from  thence  to  Philadelphia. 
But  from  Trenton  farther  to  ISTew-Brunswick,  the  travel- 
lers go  in  the  wagons  which  set  out  every  day  for  that 
place.  Several  of  the  inhabitants,  however,  likewise  sub- 
sist  on  the  carriage  for  all  sorts  of  goods  which  are  every 
day  sent  in  great  quantities  either  from  Philadelphia  to 
New- York,  or  from  thence  to  the  former  place ;  for  be- 
tween Philadelphia  and  Trenton  all  goods  go  by  watei', 
but  between  Trenton  and  New-Brunswick  they  are  all 
carried  by  land,  and  both  these  conveniences  belong  to 
people  of  this  town. 

"  For  the  yachts  which  go  between  this  place  and  the 
capital  of  Pennsylvania,  (Philadelphia,)  they  usually  pay  a 
shilling  and  sixpence  of  Pennsylvania  currency  per  person, 
and  every  one  pays  besides  for  his  baggage.  Every  pass- 
enger must  provide  meat  and  drink  for  himself,  or  pay 
some  settled  fare.  Between  Trenton  and  New-Bruns- 
wick a  person  pays  2s.  6d.,  and  the  baggage  is  likewise 
paid  for  separately. 

"  On  the  road  from  Trenton  to  New-Brunswick  I  never 
saw  any  j^lace  in  America,  the  towns  excepted,  so  well 
peopled.  An  old  man,  who  lived  in  the  neighborhood, 
and  accompanied  us  for  some  part  of  the  road,  however, 
assured  me  that  he  could  well  remember  the  time  when 
between  Trenton   and   New-Brunswick  there  were   not 


lOO  Burnaby. 

above  three  farms,  and  lie  reckoned  it  was  fifty  and  some 
odd  years  ago."* 

Wlien  it  is  said  tliat  tiie  landlord  told  Kalm 
that  in  1Y26  tliere  was  hardly  one  house  in 
Trenton,  either  the  Swede  did  not  understand 
the  Jerseyman,  or  the  host  spoke  at  random  ;  for 
if  as  early  as  1719  the  courts  sat  in  Trenton,  it  is 
not  probable  that  such  a  selection  would  be 
made,  seven  years  before  there  was  "  hardly  a 
house." 

The  statistical  guesses  or  reports  of  travellers 
are  not  to  be  relied  on,  especially  if  the  rej)ort- 
ers  do  not  speak  the  language  of  the  country. 
The  Eev.  Andrevv^  Burnaby,  an  English  clergy- 
man, describes  Trenton,  in  1759,  as  "  containing 
about  a  hundred  houses.  It  has  nothing  remark- 
able :  there  is  a  Church,  (of  England,)  a  Quaker's 
and  Presbyterian  meeting-house,  and  barracks 
for  three  hundred  men."f    These  barracks,  which 

*  In  a  letter  of  ItSO-l,  quoted  in  Whitehead's  History  of  Perth 
Amboy.  (p.  155,)  the  writer  remarks  that  in  1715  "there  were  but  four 
or  five  liouses  in  the  tliirty  miles  between  Inian's  Ferry  (Xew-Bruns- 
wick,)  and  the  Falls  of  Delaware ;  but  now  the  wliole  way  it  is  almost  a 
continued  lane  of  fences  and  good  farmers'  houses,  and  the  whole  coun- 
try is  there  settled  or  settling  very  thick." 

I  Travels  through  the  Middle  Settlements  in  Xorth  America,  etc.,  in 
1*759  and  1760. 


Sinclair.  loi 


are  now  in  part  occupied  by  tlie  "  Home  for 
Widows,"  were  erected  in  1758,  simultaneously 
with  those  at  New-Brunswick  and  Elizabeth- 
town.  Elkanah  Watson,  who  was  here  in  17 Y7, 
says :  "  Trenton  contains  about  seventy  dwellings, 
situate  principally  on  two  narrow  streets  running 
parallel."^  In  the  travels  of  the  Duke  de  la 
Kochefoucault  Liancourt,  in  1795-7,  Trenton  is 
said  to  "  contain  about  three  hundred  houses ; 
most  of  which  are  of  wood.  Those  of  the  high- 
street  are  somewhat  better  in  structure  than  the 
rest,  yet  still  but  very  moderate  in  their  appear. 
ance."f  In  the  same  year  an  English  visitor 
says:  "Trenton  contains  about  tivo  hundred 
houses,  together  with  four  churches.  The  streets 
are  ^mmodious,  and  the  houses  neatly  built."  J 
Melish,  in  1806-7,  makes  it  "  a  handsome  little 
town,  containing  about  two  hundred  houses."§ 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Burnaby  "  went  to  Sir  John  Sin- 
clair's, at  the  Falls  of  Delaware,  about  a  mile 
above  Trenton,  a  pleasant  rural  retirement." 
Sir  John  Sinclair's  knighthood  was  of  the  order 

*  Memoirs,  p.  29. 

f  Travels;  Translated  by  Newman.    London,  1*199,  i.  594. 
X  Travels  through  the  States  of  North  America,  etc.,  in  1795-7.     By 
Isaac  Weld,  Jr.     London,  1799. 
§  Travels,  i.  143. 


102  Sinclair. 


known  in  English  heraldry  as  a  Baronetcy  of 
Nova  Scotia.  He  was  the  first  occupant  of  the 
mansion  that  afterwards  belonged  to  "  Lord" 
Stirling,  and  then  to  Mr.  Kutherford,  a  short 
distance  west  of  the  State  House,  and  on  the 
river.  The  three  families  were  connected.  The 
house  was  subsequently  tenanted  by  Kobert 
Lettis  Hooper,  and  the  walls  of  "  the  Green- 
House,"  remained  to  give  name  to  the  site  long 
after  the  dwelling  itself  had  been  demolished. 
A  correspondent  of  the  Trenton  "  Federalist," 
of  March  30,  1802,  states  that  the  first  ice-house 
in  the  State,  "in  our  recollection,  was  erect- 
ed by  Sir  John  St.  Clair,  [so  written,]  about  the 
year  1760."''^ 

*  There  was  a  Si»  John  Sk  Clair  in  Braddock's  army,  who  arrived  in 
January,    1755;    was  Lieutenant  Colonel  of  the   2  2d  Regiment,  and 
Deputy  Quarter-Master  General  for  all  the  forces  in  America.     In  IT 6 2 
he  was  made  a  full  Colonel,     On  the  list  of  the  wounded  at  the  defeat 
(July  9,  1155)  he  is  put  down  as  "  Sir  John  Sinclair,  Baronet,  Dep.  Q. 
M.   Gen."     (Winthrop   Sargent's  History  of  Braddock's   Expedition  : 
Pennsylvania  Historical  Society,    pp.  136,   143,   285.)     The  death  of 
"Hon.  Col.  Sir  John  St.  Clair,  Bart.,"  is  announced  in  the  newspapers 
of  the  day,  as  having  taken  place  at  Elizabeth  town,  December,  1767. 
There  was  a  "Captain  Rutherford"  with  St.  Clair  in  the  Expedition. 
From  some  references  and  correspondence,  it  would  appear  that  Sir  John 
was  a  petulant  officer.     See  "  Letters  and  Papers  relating  to  the  Pro- 
vincial History  of  Pennsylvania, "  principally  from  papers  of  the  Shippen 
family,  privately  printed.     Philadelphia  :  pp.  35-8,  61,  151.     In  one 
letter  Sir  John  speaks  of  "Betsey — I  mean,  Lady  St.  Clair." 


Epifcopal  Church.  103 


I  would  here  enlarge  the  notices  already  given 
incidentally  of  the  foundation  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  in  Trenton  and  its  vicinity.  I  have 
mentioned  the  building  erected  on  the  ground 
conveyed  by  Hutchinson  in  1Y03,  and  its  occupa- 
tion at  intervals,  if  not  jointly,  by  the  Presbyte- 
rians. In  Huraphreys'  "  Historical  Account  of 
the  Gospel  Propagation  Society,"  we  have  the 
following  statement : 

"Hopewell  and  Maidenhead  are  two  neighbouring 
towns,  containing  a  considerable  number  of  families.  The 
people  of  Hopewell  showed  a  very  early  desire  of  having 
the  Church  of  England  worship  settled  among  them  ;  and 
in  the  year  1704  built  a  church  with  voluntary  contribu- 
tions, though  they  had  no  prospect  then  of  having  a  min- 
ister. The  Rev.  Mr.  May  was  there  some  short  time,  but 
Mr.  Talbot,  from  Burlington,  often  visited  them.  This 
church  was  for  ten  years  vacant.  In  1720  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Harrison  was  appointed  missionary  there,  with  the  care  of 
Maidenhead,  but  soon  wrote  the  Society  word  that  he  was 
not  able  to  undergo  the  fatigue  of  constantly  riding 
between  two  places,  and  in  1723  he  removed  to  a  church 
in  Stat  en  Island." 

In  the  Society's  "Account"  for  1706,  it  is  said : 
"  Many  other  public  letters  were  continually  sent 
over,  by  which  it  appeared  that  the  inhabitants 
of  Hopewell  and  Maidenhead  were  buildins:  a 


104  Epifcopal  Church. 


church,  and  desired  a  minister  and  some  subsist- 
ence for  him."  In  1709  Mr.  Talbot  writes  from 
Burlington  :  •"  Poor  Hopewell  has  built  a  church 
and  have  had  no  minister  yet.""^  In  a  manuscript, 
headed,  "  State  of  the  Church  of  England  in 
America  in  1705,"  probably  a  copy  of  some 
English  document,  it  is  said  that  a  minister  is 
wanted  "  at  Hopewell,  between  Cross  wicks  and 
Maidenhead,  where  they  are  building"  a  church  ; 
and  one  "  at  the  Falls,  thirty  miles  above  Phila- 
delphia, where  a  church  is  building."  In  collat- 
ing these  notices,  Hopewell  and  the  Falls  would 
seem  to  indicate  different  localities ;  and  if  the 
former  be  the  name  of  the  "  Old  Church"  of  our 
map,  in  Chapter  Second,  the  latter  may  denote 
some  other  place — perhaps  in  Pennsylvania — to 
which  the  general  neighborhood  title  of  the 
Falls  may  have  been  applied.f 

*  In  the  first  edition  (1*708)  of  Oldmixon's  British  Empire  in  America, 
it  is  said  there  are  "but  two  Church  of  England  ministers  in  both  the 
Provinces"  of  East  and  West  IsTew-Jersej. 

Tlie  most  comprehensive  account  of  the  denominations  existing  in  the 
middle  of  the  century,  which  I  have  seen,  is  in  "A  digression  concern- 
ing the  various  sectaries  in  rehglon,  in  the  British  settlements  of  North 
America,"  contained  in  Dr.  Douglass'  "  Summary,  Historical  and  Poli- 
tical."   Boston,  1753,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  112-157. 

f  In  a  map  in  Humphreys'  Historical  Account  of  the  Gospel  Propaga- 
gation  Society,  1730,  I  find  the  following  topography : 


Houdln.  10^ 

In  1749  a  lottery  "for  finisliiiig  the  cliiircli  at 
Trenton,"  was  drawn  in  Pennsylvania.  Of  the 
Trenton  Episcopal  church,  however,  we  find 
nothing  definite  until  June,  1750,  when  the  Rev. 
Michael  Houdin  is  reported  in  the  Society's 
Accounts  as  "invited  by  the  inhabitants  of 
Trenton  and  other  places  in  ISTew- Jersey,  to  go 
and  officiate  among  them."  Upon  this  he  ad- 
dressed a  letter  to  the  Society,  dated  Trenton, 
November  1,  1750,  which  begins:  "Having 
my  residence  at  New-York,  I  heard  of  repeat- 
ed comj)laints  made  by  gentlemen  and  principal 
inhabitants  of  this  place,  Allen's  Town  and  Bor- 
den's Town,  it  being  for  many  years  past  desti- 
tute of  a  Church  of  England  minister ;  and  with- 
out any  sort  of  application  of  mine,  about  five 
months  ago,  some  of  them  were  pleased  to  press 
me  by  letter  to  come  amongst  them.  .  .  . 
When  I  waited  on  them  I  really  found  they 
were  destitute  indeed,  there  not  being  a  minister 
of  the  Church  of  Eno^-land  nearer  than  Burliner- 
ton."     The  Abstracts  of  the  Society  for  1753, 

°  Hopewell, 
°  Maidenhead, 
°  Burlington, 
If  this  was  the  understanding  in  1705,  the  Hopewell  of  the  manuscript 
could  not  be  so  near  Trenton  as  the  "Old  Church  " 


io6  Houdin. 


say :  "  The  Eev.  Mr.  Houdin,  having  for  some 
years  officiated  at  Trenton  and  the  neighboring 
places  in  the  Province  of  New- Jersey,  among  the 
members  of  the  Church  of  England,  upon  such 
slender  support  as  they  in  their  poor  circumstan- 
ces could  afford  him,"  the  Society  appointed 
him  their  "  itinerant  missionary  to  officiate  in 
Trenton  and  the  parts  adjacent." 

Michael  Houdin,  whose  name  has  been  usually 
given  nearer  to  its  pronunciation,  as  Udang  or 
Eudang,  in  which  latter  form  it  actually  appears 
in  the  first  minutes  of  the  Vestry  of  St.  Michael's 
Church,  (April  30,  1755,)- — born  in  France  in 
1705 — was  originally  a  priest  in  the  Church  of 
Rome  and  Superior  of  a  Franciscan  Convent  in 
Montreal.  He  renounced  that  faith  and  entered 
the  Episcopal  Church  in  New- York  in  1747,  and 
thence  came  to  Trenton  as  the  Society's  "  itiner- 
ant missionary  in  New- Jersey,"  on  a  salary  of 
fifty  pounds.  In  1759  Houdin  accompanied 
General  Wolfe  to  Quebec,  as  his  guide  ;  and  in 
October  "  intreats  the  Society  that  his  absence 
from  his  mission  may  not  bring  him  under  dis- 
pleasure, as  he  was  in  some  measure  forced  to  it, 
in  obedience  to  the  commands  of  Lord  Loudon, 


• 


Houdin.  107 


and  tlie  succeeding  commanders,  who  depended 
mucli  on  Ills  being  well  acquainted  witli  that 
country."  After  the  reduction  of  Quebec,  Hou- 
din asked  leave  to  return  to  his  missionary  post, 
but  General  Murray  retained  him  in  the  army. 
He  complained  that  he  had  lost  much  by  the 
death  of  Wolfe,  "  who  promised  to  remember 
his  labor  and  services."  From  Canada  he  ap- 
pears to  have  been  sent  as  missionary  to  New- 
Rochelle,  Westchester  county,  JS^ew-York,  where 
were  many  French  refugees.  He  died  there  in 
October,  1Y66.*  The  Rev.  Mr.  Treadwell  was  the 
successor  to  Houdin.  In  May,  1Y69,  the  Eev.  Wil- 
liam Thomson  produced  to  the  Vestry  the  Soci- 
ety's letter  appointing  him  ta  the  mission  of 
"Trenton  and  Maidenhead,"  to  which  the  War- 
dens gave  their  approbation.f 


*  Anderson's  History  of  the  Colonial  Cliurch  of  England.  London, 
3856,  vol.  iii.  Bolton's  History  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  Westchester 
County.  New-York,  1855,  p.  453-471.  O'Callaghan's  Documentary 
History  of  New- York.     Vol.  iii.  955. 

f  In  1732  "  the  inhabitants  of  Am  well  and  Hopewell"  applied  to  the 
Society  for  a  Missionary.  In  1739,  Col.  Daniel  Coxe  made  his  will, 
devising  one  hundred  acres  in  Maidenhead,  "known  as  the  town-lot, 
for  the  use  of  an  Episcopal  Church  erected,  or  to  be  hereafter  erected,  in 
the  township  of  Maidenhead."  The  minutes  of  St.  Michael's  Vestry,  of 
1775,  mention  "the  glebe  of  Maidenhead." 


io8  Names  and 


The  nearest  newspaper  offices  accessible  to 
Trenton  for  half  a  century  after  its  foundation, 
were  those  of  Philadelphia.  Through  all  that 
period  the  want  of  a  local  press  and  the  obstacles 
to  correspondence,  kept  the  affairs  of  the  town 
in  their  native  obscurity.  Such  notices  and  ad- 
vertisements, however,  as  are  found  in  the  Phi- 
ladelphia journals,  afford  some  idea  of  the  popu- 
lation and  business  of  Trenton,  and  give  some 
names  of  its  early  inhabitants,  not  otherwise  to 
be  found.  From  a  cursory  inspection  of  a  series 
of  Bradford's  WeeMy  Mercury^  and  Keimer's  and 
Franklin's  PenU'Sylvania  Gazette^  I  have  made 
the  folio  wins;  miscellaneous  notes.  A  number  of 
the  names  are  ^  among  the  signatures  of  Mr. 
Cowell's  call  in  1736. 

November,  1722 — William  Yard,  of  Treuton,  advertises 
the  escape  of  a  negro  servant. 

August,  1V23. — Joseph  Peace  offers  for  sale  two  dwell- 
ing houses  belonging  to  Peter  Pummer,  near  Trent's  Mill. 
Inquiry  to  be  made  of  Mr.  Peace,  at  his  residence  in  Trent- 
Town. 

September,  1723. — A  line  of  transportation  for  goods 
and  passengers  is  advertised  as  running  between  Trenton 

*  In  the  Philadelphia  Library  is  a  series  of  the  Mercury  from  1719  to 
1146,  and  of  the  Gazette  from  1728  to  1174.  The  latter  appeared  at  first 
under  the  extraordinary  title  of  The  Universal  Instructor  in  all  Arts  and 
Sciences,  and  Pennsylvania  Gazette. 


Places. 


109 


and  Philadelphia,  once  a  week  each  way.  The  agent  in 
Trenton  was  John  Woollaud.  The  office  in  the  city  was 
at  the  celebrated  "  Crooked  Billet." 

March,  1728. — A  large  stone  house,  with  a  good  smith- 
shop,  to  be  sold  at  vendue  at  the  house  of  "William  Hoff. 

December,  1729. — Jolm  Severn's  stable  and  seven  horses 
burnt. 

October,  1731. — For  sale  a  plantation,  adjoining  the 
town  of  Trenton,  130  acres ;  also  one  three  miles  above 
Trenton,  near  the  ferry  above  the  falls,  one  mile  from 
Yardley's  old  mill,  and  three  from  his  new  one,  500  acres. 
"  Inquire  of  Capt.  James  Gould,  at  Trenton,  and  be  further 
informed." 

December,  1731. — A  bolting-house  and  store,  belonging 
to  Benjamin  Smith,  took  fire,  "  but  was  seasonably  pre- 
vented." 

June,  1732. — Enoch  Anderson,  "at  the  Falls'  ferry." 

July,  1732. — Enoch  Anderson,  Junior,  sub.  sheriif. 

August,  1732. — The  house  of  Ebenezer  Prout,  "near 
this  place,"  was  struck  by  lightning.  William  Pearson 
was  hurt,  a  boy  killed. 

September,  1732. — Eliacom  [kim]  Anderson,  "now  liv- 
ing at  Trenton  ferry." 

February,  1732-3. — A  fresh  carried  away  the  dam  of 
the  ii'on  works,  also  the  dam  of  the  grist-mill,  bridge  and 
dyeing-house. 

September  19,  1734. — Xotice  is  given  of  the  establish- 
ment of  a  post  office  at  Trenton,  "  where  all  persons  may 
have  their  letters,  if  directed  for  that  county ;  also  where 
they  may  put  in  their  letters  directed  to  any  parts,  and 
due  care  vrill  be  taken  to  send  them."    The  postmaster 

8 


no  Poll-Office. 


was  Andrew  Reed,  and  the  office  was  at  the  house  of  Jo- 
seph Keed. 

The  first  advertisement  of  uncalled-for  letters, 
wLicli  I  have  seen,  is  under  the  date  March  25, 
1755,  and  is  as  follows  : 

"  A  list  of  letters  now  in  the  post  office  at  Trenton. 

0 
William  Carnegie,  near  Kingston^ 
John  Clark,  (Attorney,)  Trenton, 

H 
John  Hyde,  Hopeioell. 

M 
Joseph  Morton,  Princetoicn. 

P 
Richard  Patterson,  Princetovin. 

S 
John  Stevens,  Rocky  Hill. 

V 
Ares  Vanderbelt,  Maidenhead. 
"  Letters  not  taken  np  within  three  months  from  this 
date  will  be  sent  to  the  General  Post  Office  at  Phila- 
delphia." 

September,  1734. — Isaac  Harrow,  an  English  smith,  has 
lately  set  up  at  Trenton  a  plating  and  blade-mill,  where 
he  makes  axes,  carpenters'  and  coopers'  tools,  tanners'  and 
skinners'  knives,  spades,  shovels,  shears,  scythes,  mill  and 
hand-saws,  frying-pans,  etc.,  "  likewise  all  sorts  of  iron 
plates,  fit  for  bell  making  or  any  other  use." 

May,  1736. — ApjDlication  for  a  stone  house  and  a  lot  of 
three  quarters  of  an  acre,  to  be  made  to  Cornelius  Riiigo 


Advertifements.  1 1 1 


in  Trenton.     It  "  lies  in  a  very  convenient  part  of  tlie 
town  for  any  manner  of  business,  being  near  the  mill." 

February,  1737. — There  will  be  a  stage- wagon  from 
Trenton  to  Brunswick  twice  a  week  and  back ;  will  set 
out  from  William  Atlee's  and  Thomas  Hooton's,  in  Trenton. 

October,  1737.  —  Servants  absconded  from  Benjamin 
Smith  and  Richard  Noland. 

N'ovember,  1737. — A  Scotch  servant-man  absconded 
from  Mr.  Warrell. 

January,  1738. — Servant  absconded  from  Joseph  Decow. 

August,  1739. — To  be  let,  the  grist-mills  at  Trenton,  with 
two  tenements  adjoining,  now  in  the  tenure  of  Joseph 
Peace. 

December,  1739. — Andrew  Reed  receives  subscriptions 
in  Trenton  for  Whitefield's  Sermons  and  Journals,  to  be 
published  by  Franklm. 

March,  1740. — ^^Yilliam  Atlee  proposes  to  continue  to 
keep  a  store  with  John  Dagworthy,  Junior,  until  his  part- 
nership with  Thomas  Hooton  is  settled. 

May,  1744. — To  be  sold,  by  Benjamin  Smith,  a  cornei 
lot ;  also  a  stone  house,  fronting  King  street ;  sundry  lots 
on  Queen  street. 

September,  1745. — To  be  sold,  "  the  iron  plating  works, 
smith's  shop,  and  all  the  tools  and  moulds  for  making  fry- 
ing-pans, dripping-pans,  etc.,  said  works  being  now  fit  for 
use ;"  also  a  good  dwelling-house — all  of  the  estate  of 
Isaac  HajTow,  deceased.  Apply  to  Anthony  Morris,  Phi- 
ladelphia, or  William  Morris,  Trenton. 

January,  1745. — For  sale,  dwelling,  malt-house,  brew- 
house,  and  all  utensils,  and  quarter  of  acre  of  land  in  King 


112  Names  and 


street,  estate  of  "William  Atlee.     Enquire  of  James  Atlee, 
Trenton,  or  Thomas  Hooton,  Trenton  ferry. 

March,  1746. — Sundry  lots  offered  by  William  Morris 
and  William  Morris,  Junior,  on  both  sides  of  Hanover 
street  45  feet  front  and  147  feet  deep. 

October,  1746. — A  fair  for  three  days  will  be  held  in 
the  borough-town  of  Trenton  for  cattle  of  all  kinds,  goods, 
wares,  and  merchandise. 

1746. — William  Morris,  Junior,  at  his  store  opposite  to 
John  Jenkins's,  advertises  rum  by  the  hogshead,  and  salt 
by  the  hundred  bushels. 

June,  1748. — Enoch  Anderson  offers  for  sale  a  house 
"  fi'onting  the  street  that  leads  directly  to  Xew-York," 
also  "  two  lots  opposite  the  Presbyterian  meeting-house, 
on  one  of  which  is  a  very  good  stable." 

April,  1750. — House  of  William  Douglass  at  Trenton 
landing. 

1750. — For  sale  by  Benjamin  Biles,  a  "  well-accustomed 
tanyard,  with  vats  enough  for  800  hides,  and  dwelling  ad- 
joining the  tanyard,  on  the  west  side  of  King  street,  near 
the  middle  of  the  town." 

May,  1750. — Thomas  Cadwalader  offers  900  acres  of 
woodland,  a  mile  and  a  half  north  of  the  town,  watered  by 
fine  streams,  "  one  of  which  the  Trenton  mills  stand  on." 
Also  a  i^lantation  of  700  acres,  on  the  Delaware,  where 
William  Douglass  now  lives,  north  of  Trenton  about  two 
miles,  adjoining  the  plantation  v/here  Mr.  Tuite  lately 
lived  ;  also  a  large  corner  brick  house  in  Queen  street,  Jh 
a  very  public  part  of  the  town  ;  also  25  acres  of  pasture 
laud  in  the  upper  end  of  Queen  street. 

June,  1750. — For  sale,  plantation,  447  acres,  late  in  pos- 


Places. 


113 


session  of  Alexander  Lockhart,  Esq.,  between  three  and 
four  miles  from  Trenton,  on  Scot's  road,  and  adjoining  the 
old  Meeting-house  lot,  and  the  j^lantation  of  Charles  Clark, 
Esq.     Enquire  of  John  Cox,  Trenton. 

April,  1751. — John  Evans,  cooper. 

January,  1752.     James  Rutherford's  house  robbed. 

April,  1752. — Elijah  Bond's  stable  and  14  horses,  and 
soni#  adjoining  houses  burnt. 

September,  1753. — For  sale,  Xathaniel  Moore's  mills 
and  plantation,  six  miles  above  Trenton,  400  acres ;  apply- 
to  William  Clayton,  or  William  Pidgeon,  Trenton. 

1754. — Several  men  for  sale  by  "  Reed  and  Furman." 

May,  1754. — Tickets  in  the  Lottery  in  Connecticut  for 
the  benefit  of  College  of  New-Jersey,  for  sale  by  Rev.  Mr. 
Cowell,  and  Reed  &  Furman. 

July,  1754. — Edward  Broadfield  has  removed  from  Bor- 
dentown  to  Trenton. 

1756. — The  Philadelphia  and  New- York  line.  John 
Butler's  stage  starts  on  Tuesday  from  Philadelphia,  to 
house  of  Nathaniel  Parker  at  Trenton  Ferry,  thence  over 
the  ferry  to  house  kept  by  George  Moschell,  where  Francis 
Holman  will  meet  John  Butler,  and  exchange  passengers, 
and  proceed  on  Wednesday,  through  Princeton  and  New- 
Brunswick,  to  Perth  Amboy,  where  will  be  a  boat  to  pro- 
ceed to  New- York  on  Thursday  morning. 

1757. — Subscriptions  for  the  JVew  Americaii  Magazine^ 
about  to  be  published  in  Philadelphia,  may  be  left  with 
Moore  Furman,  Postmaster  of  Trenton. 

Apiil  1758 — Andrew  Reed,  of  Trenton,  advertises  tract 
of  200  acres  at  Amw^ll,  and  in  Trenton  two  good  stone 
houses,  with  garden,  well,  etc.,  one  of  which  now  lets  for 

8* 


114  Names  and 


£8  lOs.  per  annum,  and  the  otlier,  having  a  cooper's  shop 
on  the  lot,  for  £12  ;  also  three  lots  on  the  west  side  of 
King  street,  45  by  140. 

April,  1758. — William  Douglass,  sign  of  the  Wheat- 
sheaf,  or  at  the  house  of  John  Cummings,  is  authorized  to 
enlist  a  regiment  of  one  thousand  men  for  the  King's 
service. 

Jvily,  1758. — For  sale  by  executors,  the  seat  of  Jdfcph 
Warrell,  Esq.,  late  deceased,  well  known  by  name  of  Bell- 
ville,  on  the  Delaware,  three  fourths  of  a  mile  from  Tren- 
ton, with  gardens,  orchards,  etc.  Also  a  plantation  of 
300  acres,  within  one  fourth  of  a  mile  of  the  above,  on  the 
Delaware,  with  a  patent  for  ia  feiTy. 

May,  1759. — Robert  Lettis  Hooper  has  laid  out  lots  60 
by  181,  for  a  town  in  IN'ottiugham  township,  beginning  on 
the  Delaware  at  Trenton  ferry,  running  as  the  road  runs 
to  the  grist  mills  opposite  Trenton,  thence  down  the 
stream  of  the  mills  to  the  Delaware,  thence  down  the  river 
to  the  ferry,  being  the  head  of  navigation,  "  where  there  is  a 
considerable  trade  extended  from  the  city  of  Philadelj^hia, 
and  great  parts  of  the  counties  of  Hunterdon,  Morris,  Middle- 
sex, Somerset,  and  Bucks,  in  Pennsylvania,  dehver  their 
produce,"  and  rafts  of  timber,  staves,  etc.,  come  from  120 
miles  up  the  river.  Offered  for  sale,  or  on  lease  for  sixty 
years.  Apply  to  advertiser  or  his  sons  Robert  L.  Hooper 
and  Jacob  Roeters  [or  Rutters]  Hooper,  "  living  at  his 
mills  opposite  to  Trenton." 

May,  1764.— Samuel  Tucker,  Sheriff,  will  sell  that  well- 
accustomed  tavern,  the  lot  67  feet  on  Front  street,  and  174 
on  Market,  adjoining  lands  of  WTliiam  Morris,  Junior, 
Wm.  Cleayton,  James  Smith,  and  Robert  Singer ;  house 


Places.  1 15 


35  feet  square,  having  a  "  genteel  assembly-room,  with  a 
door  opening  into  a  fine  balcony,  fronting  Queen  street," 
late  the  property  and  now  in  possession  of  Robert  Ruth- 
erford. 

March,  1765. — For  sale  a  settlement  on  the  river  called 
Lamberton,  about  half  a  mile  below  the  ferry  near  Tren- 
ton, with  utensils  for  curing  herring  and  sturgeon. 

March,  1768. — For  sale,  "  Hermitage"  on  the  Delaware, 
one  mile  from  Trenton,  220  acres.  Apply  to  Benjamin 
Biles. 

I  Lave  taken  the  trouble  of  making  this  collec- 
tion for  the  sake  of  the  local  interest  it  may  pos- 
sess with  the  inhabitants  of  Trenton,  and  to  cor- 
roborate what  was  said  in  the  beginning  of  the 
chapter  as  to  the  probable  size  of  the  town  in  the 
first  quarter  of  the  century. 


College  of  Net7-Jeesey — Cowell,  Buee, 

Davies,  Finley. 

1746—1760. 

Of  the  College  of  ISTew-Jersey,  the  Eev.  Mr. 
Cowell  was  so  early  and  active  a  friend,  that 
he  may  be  counted  among  its  founders.  The 
College  was  indeed  projected  by  members  of  the 
Synod  of  New- York,  as  one  of  the  means  of 
strengthening  themselves  after  the  disruption  of 
1741,  and  not  unlikely  as  a  means  of  remo^^ing 
the  taunt  connected  with  the  inadequacy  of  the 
Neshaminy  school.  But  as  it  was  to  be  esta- 
blished in  New-Jersey,  and  for  all  that  he  knew, 
in  Trenton  or  its  neighborhood,  Mr.  Cowell  was 
not  so  bigoted  a  churchman,  as  to  withhold  his 
influence  from  a  scheme  which,  while  it  had  no 
positive  connection  with  any  party,  promised 
such  important  advantages  to  the  religious  and 
educational  condition  of  the  whole  Province."^'* 

*  Dr.  Green,  in  his  "  Notes,"  overlooked  the  pastor  of  Trenton  and 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Guild,  when  he  wrote :   "  la  tlie  Province  of  New-Jersey 


Belcher.  117 

He  had  learned  the  value  of  college  training 
from  his  own  career  at  Harvard,  and  must  have 
shared  the  indignation  of  the  friends  of  David 
Brainerd  against  Yale,  when  he  was  expelled  in 
1742,  for  saying  of  one  of  the  tutors,  "  he  has  no 
more  grace  than  this  chair,"  which  incident  is 
said  to  have  had  its  influence  in  encouraging  a 
new  college. 

The  College  of  New-Jersey  received  its  first 
charter  in  1746,  and  was  opened  with  eight  pu- 
pils, at  Elizabethtown,  under  President  Dickin- 
son, in  1T47.  Upon  his  decease  that  same  year, 
the  pupils  were  removed  to  Newark,  and  placed 
under  the  Rev.  Aaron  Burr,  who  had  a  classical 
school  in  the  town.  In  1748  a  more  enlarged 
charter  was  obtained.  Of  the  trustees  named  in 
this  instrument,  Mr.  Cowell  was  one,  and  he  was 
deputed  to  wait  on  Governor  Belcher  with  an 
address  from  the  corporation,  acknowledging 
their  acceptance  of  the  trust. 

The  Governor  was  res^arded  so  much  in  the 
light  of  a  founder  of  the  College,  that  upon  the 
completion  of  the  edifice  they  formally  asked  his 
permission  to  call  it  Belcher  Hall.     He  declined 

it  is  not  known  that  there  was  a  single  clergyman  who  belonged  to  the 
Synod  of  Philadelphia."    (Discourses  and  Notes,  p.  281-2.) 


ii8  Naffau  Hall. 


the  lionor,  professing  to  "  have  always  been  very 
fond  of  the  motto  of  a  late  great  personage,  'pro- 
desse  quam  conspici — to  be  useful  rather  than 
conspicuous^ — but  asked  the  liberty  of  naming 
the  College  Nassau  Hall,  in  memory  of  William 
HI.,  "  who  was  a  branch  of  the  illustrious  house 
of  Nassau,  and  who,  under  God,  was  the  great 
deliverer  of  the  British  nation  from  those  two 
monstrous  furies,  Popery  and  Slavery."f  Mr. 
Burr  was  chosen  President,  and  the  first  class, 
seven  in  number,  was  graduated.  J  At  the  first 
regular  meeting  of  the  trustees  after  the  reorgan- 
ization, Mr.  Cowell  was  placed  on  committees 
to  apply  to  the  Legislature  for  pecuniary  aid, 
and  to  receive  subscriptions  in  Trenton.  From 
the  few  remains  of  the  correspondence  it  appears 
that  President  Burr  frequently  and  familiarly 
consulted  with  Mr.  (Jo well  about  the  affairs  of 
the  College.     In  July,  1753,  he  presses  him  to 


*  This  motto  of  the  House  of  Somers  was  adopted,  probably  from  the 
G-overnor's  answer,  by  the  Cliosophic  Society  of  the  College,  instituted 
in  1765.  It  was  the  theme  of  the  striking  oration  before  the  rival  so- 
cieties, by  the  Rev.  Baynard  R.  Hall,  D.D.,  in  the  commencement  week 
of  1852. 

f  Dr.  Green's  "  Notes,"  pp.  274-5. 

X  There  is  a  particular  report  of  the  first  commencement  in  the  Penti' 
sylvania  Gazelle,  for  December  13,  1T4:8. 


Burr.  119 

be  at  a  certain  meetiDg  of  the  Board  :  "  Besides 
discharging  your  duty  as  a  trustee,  you  might 
consult  about  providing  for  your  school  in  the 
best  manner.  I  find  myself  a  great  deal  in  your 
debt  as  to  the  article  of  letters,  and,  like  other 
bankrupts,  though  I  never  expect  fully  to  pay, 
yet  I  would  make  some  attempts,  that  I  may  re- 
tain my  credit  a  little  longer.  I  will  do  my  best 
in  providing  you  a  schoolmaster,  but  have  some 
fears  whether  I  can  quite  suit  you  or  me.  One 
of  the  best  I  must  keep  for  my  own  use  ;  one  or 
two  more  that  I  could  recommend  are  otherwise 
engaged.  I  have  three  in  my  mind,  and  am  a 
little  at  a  loss  which  to  send."  The  compensa- 
tion offered  for  a  teacher  at  that  time  was  twenty- 
five  pounds  and  boarding. 

From  the  allusion  in  this  and  other  letters,  it 
appears  that  Mr.  Cowell  was  looking  for  a  good 
teacher  for  Trenton,  and  that  the  school  referred 
to  had  a  connection  with  his  own  parish,  or  at 
least  had  been  built  on  the  church-grounds, 
and  conducted  under  some  general  control  of  the 
coDgregational  authorities. 

Some  light  is  thrown  upon  this  enterprise  by 
an  advertisement  which  is  found  in  the  Philadel- 


120  School  Lottery. 


phia  newspapers  of  May,  1^75 3,  and  which  is  not 
without  interest  for  other  reasons : 

"  We,  whose  names  are  hereunto  subscribed,  sons  of  some 
of  the  principal  famiUes  in  and  about  Trenton,  being  in  some 
measure  sensible  of  the  advantages  of  learning,  and  desir- 
ous that  those  who  are  deprived  of  it  through  the  j^overty 
of  their  parents,  might  taste  the  sweetness  of  it  with  our- 
selves, can  think  of  no  better  or  other  method  for  that 
purpose,  than  the  following  scheme  of  a  Delaware-Island 
JOottery^  for  raising  225  pieces  of  eight  [Spanish  dollars]  to- 
wards building  a  house  to  accommodate  an  English  and 
grammar   school,   and  paying   a  master   to   teach   such 
children  whose  parents  are  unable  to  pay  for  schoolmg. 
It  is  proposed  that  the  house  be  thirty  feet  long,  twenty 
feet  wide,  and  one  story  high,  and  built  on  the  south-east 
corner  of  the  meeting-house  yard  in  Trenton,  under  the 
direction  of  Messieurs  Benjamin  Yard,  Alexander  Cham- 
bers, and  John  Chambers,  all  of  Trenton  aforesaid.    .    .    . 
The  managers  are  Reynald  Hooper,  son  of  Robert  Lettis 
Hooper,  Esq. ;   Joseph  Warrell,  Junior,  son  of  Joseph 
Warrell,  Esq. ;  Joseph  Reed,  Junior,  son  of  Andrew  Reed, 
Esq. ;  Theophilus  Severns,  Junior,  son  of  Theophilus  Se- 
verns,  Esq. ;  John  Allen,  Junior,  son  of  John  Allen,  Esq. ; 
"William  Paxton,  son  of  Joseph  Paxton,  Esq.,  deceased ; 
and  John  Cleayton,  son  of  WiUiam  Cleaytou,  Esq." 

The  drawing  was  to  take  place  June  11,  "on 
Fish  Island  in  the  river  Delaware,  opposite  to 
the  town  of  Trenton,  and  the  money  raised  by 


School-house.  121 


this  lottery  shall  be  paid  into  the  haiuls  of  Moore 
Furman,  of  Trenton,  who  is  under  bond  for  the 
faithful  laying  out  the  money  for  the  uses  above. 
.  .  .  And  we  the  Manacrers  assure  the  adven- 
turers  upon  our  honor,  that  this  scheme  in  all  its 
parts  shall  be  as  punctually  observed  as  if  we 
were  under  the  formalities  used  in  lotteries  ;  and 
we  flatter  ourselves,  the  public,  considering  our 
laudable  design,  our  age,  and  our  innocence,  will 
give  credit  to  this  our  public  declaration." 

The  lottery  of  the  innocents  was  drawn  on  the 
2d  July,  1753,  and  the  building  was  doubtless 
erected  immediately  afterwards  on  the  spot  indi- 
cated. The  minutes  of  our  trustees  record  that 
in  1765,  Alexander  Chambers  and  Benjamin  Yard 
were  elected  by  the  congregation  "  Directors  of 
the  School-House."  In  a  lease  of  1800  to  the 
"  Trenton  Academy,"  the  premises  are  described 
as  "  a  certain  brick  building,  which  was  erected 
on  the  lot  belonging  to  the  trustees  of  the  said 
church  for  the  purpose  of  a  school-house."  The 
lessees  added  a  story  to  the  building,  and  it  con- 
tinued to  be  used  for  school  and  church  purposes 
until  it  was  taken  out  of  the  way  at  the  erection 
of  the  present  church. 

To  return  to  the  College.     In  1753  the  Eever- 

9 


122  Davies. 

end  Samuel  Davies  and  Gilbert  Tennent  were 
sent  to  Great  Britain  to  solicit  contributions  for 
building  a  suitable  edifice  for  the  institution. 
Princeton  was  selected  as  its  place.  It  was  wliile 
making  bis  final  arrangements  for  tbe  voyage 
that  Davies  first  made  his  personal  acquaintance 
with  Cowell.  In  his  journal  of  September  18, 
1753,  Davies  writes :  "  Rode  solitary  and  sad 
from  Philadelphia  to  Trenton.  Spent  the  eve- 
ning with  Mr.  Cowell,  an  agreeable  gentleman, 
of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia ;  but  my  spirits 
were  so  exhausted  that  I  was  incapable  of  lively 
conversation,  and  was  ashamed  of  my  blundering 
method  of  talking."  It  was  a  bachelor's  home. 
The  next  evening  was  enlivened  by  his  visit  to 
the  family  of  the  gentleman  who  succeeded  Mr. 
Cowell  in  the  pastorship  of  Trenton.  "  Rode  on 
and  came  to  Mr.  Spencer's,  at  Elizabeth  town, 
where  I  was  most  kindly  received,  and  my  spirit 
cheered  by  his  facetious  conversation."* 

*  The  interestiDg  and  valuable  journal  of  Davies,  from  ll53  to  IVSS,  is 
given  entire  in  Dr.  Foote's  Sketches  of  Virginia,  first  series,  chap.  xii. 
It  adds  to  my  personal  interest  in  this  part  of  the  history,  to  find  that  it 
was  possibly  my  ancestor,  Matthew  Clarkson,  of  Philadelphia,  whom  Davies 
mentions  as  a  fellow-passecger  to  London,  and  certainly  it  was  the  great- 
grandfather of  my  great-grandfather,  who  is  referred  to  in  Davies'  journal 
of  January  27,  1754,  when  having  preached  in  Berry  street^  Davies  says : 


Burr.  1 23 

At  various  dates  in  1754,  President  Burr  writes 
from  Newark  to  Mr.  Co  well,  who  was  on  the 
building  committee.  "  I  liked  Mr.  Worth's  [the 
mason]  proposals  very  well  on  first  view,  and 
think  with  you  it  is  necessary  to  have  a  meeting 
of  the  committee,  and  as  many  others  as  can  at- 
tend, as  soon  as  may  be.  .  .  .  Yesterday  I 
received  letters  from  Messrs.  Tennent  and  Davies, 
dated  April  30,  which  bring  the  agreeable  news 
that  they  have  Id  hand  and  promises  £1400  ster- 
ling." "  Let  me  know  if  you  think  I  had  best 
bring  a  man  with  me  to  Princeton  that  under- 
stands quarrying."  "  They  ask  double  the  price 
for  carting  at  Princeton  to  what  they  do  this 
way ;  so  I  believe  it  would  not  be  best  they 
should  cart  much  sand."  "We  must  begin  a 
barn,  buy  a  wagon,  etc.,  immediately."  "  It 
pleases  me  to  find  the  College  lies  so  much  on 
your  mind.  I  have  a  hundred  things  to  say  that 
must  be  deferred  to  our  meeting,  and  can  only 
add  that  I  am  ut  semper  yours  affectionately ." 
"  We  appointed  the  committee  to  meet  at  Prince- 
ton on  the  third  Tuesday  of  November,  but  I  fear, 

"  When  I  entered  tlie  pulpit  it  filled  me  with  reverence  to  reflect  that  I 
stood  in  the  place  where  Mr.  Clarkson,  Dr.  Owea,  Dr.  Watts,  and  others 
had  once  officiated. " 


124  College. 

things  will  suffer  in  meantime.  We  depended  on 
Mr.  [John]  Brainerd's  going  to  see  how  things 
went  on,  but  he  is  sick.  I  wish  your  affaii'S 
would  admit  of  your  visiting  the  building  ;  and 
if  you  think  there  is  need  of  it,  you  may  appoint 
our  meeting  sooner  ;  but  if  nothing  will  suffer,  it 
is  best  the  other  appointment  should  stand.  .  .  . 
There  should  be  the  utmost  care  that  the  founda- 
tion be  laid  strono;.  Vie  ousrht  to  have  had  a 
man  to  oversee  the  work  de  die  in  diem,  though 
I  put  great  confidence  in  Mr.  Worth.  I  know 
how  much  you  have  the  affair  at  heart." 

The  trustees,  by  a  vote  on  the  29th  September, 
1756,  directed  the  removal  to  Princeton  to  be 
made  "this  fall."  President  Finley,  in  1Y64, 
wrote :  "  In  the  year  lYoY  the  students,  to  about 
the  number  of  seventy,  removed  from  Newark." 
President  Green,  writing  in  1822,  believed  it  took 
place  in  the  vacation  succeeding  the  commence- 
ment of  1Y56.  Dr.  Griffin,  at  Dr.  Macwhorter's 
funeral  in  1807,  said  the  removal  was  in  October, 
1Y56,  and  this  is  confirmed  by  a  memorandum 
of  Nathaniel  Fitz  Randolph,  made  in  1758.  The 
commencement  of  1757  fell  on  the  26th  Septem- 
ber;  President  Burr  died  in  Princeton  on  the 
24th  of  the  same  month.     Before  leaving  the 


President  Cowell.  125 


town,  after  the  funeral  and  commencement,  the 
trustees  elected  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards,  Sr., 
to  the  vacant  chair.  Mr,  Edwards  not  coming 
immediately,  the  trustees  in  December  appointed 
Mr.  Cowell  to  act  as  President  of  the  College  until 
their  next  meetincf.  "  The  choice  of  the  said 
Mr.  Cowell,''  according  to  the  minutes  of  the 
trustees,  "  being  made  known  to  him,  he  was 
pleased  to  accept  of  the  same,  and  was  qualified 
as  the  charter  directs."  UjDon  his  election  it  was 
"  voted  that  President  Cowell  provide,  as  soon  as 
possible,  an  Usher  for  the  grammar-school."  He 
served  until  February  16,  1Y58,  when  President 
Edwards  took  his  seat ;  but  held  it  scarcely  a 
month,  falling  a  victim  to  the  small-pox  on  the 
22d  of  March. 

Mr.  Davies  was  elected  his  successor  on  the 
19th  April,  being  then  but  thirty-four  years  of 
age.  Mr.  Cowell  was  appointed  an  alternate  to 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Caleb  Smith,  to  act  at  the  next 
commencement,  and  was  placed  on  the  commit- 
tee to  attend  to  Mr.  Davies'  removal  from  Vir- 
ginia, import  books  from  England,  and  attend  to 
the  completion  of  the  President's  house  and 
the  College. 

Mr.  Cowell  had  been  corresponding  with  Mr. 
9" 


1 26  Davies. 

Davies  on  other  matters,  before  his  election  to 
tlie  presidency.  In  a  letter  of  February  20, 
1758,  after  lamenting  tlie  loss  wliicli  tlie  College 
and  the  Cliurcli  had  suffered  in  the  recent  re- 
movals by  death  of  Governor  Belcher,  President 
Burr,  and  the  Eev.  Mr.  Davenport,  Mr.  Davies 
indulges  in  what  he  calls  a  reverie,  as  follows  : 

■'  As  tlie  death  of  these  good  men  was  undoubtedly 
gain  to  them,  may  we  not  modestly  conjecture  that  it  will 
also  prove  an  advantage  to  the  world,  though  we  are  apt 
to  lament  them  as  lost  ?     I  can  not  conceive  of  heaven  as 
a  state  of  mere  enjoyment,  without  action,  or  indolent  su- 
pine adoration  and  praise.     The  happiness  agreeable  to 
vigorous  immortals  must  consist,  one  would  think,  in  pro- 
per exercise,  suitable  to  the  benevolence  of  their  hearts 
and  the  extent  of  their  powers.     May  we  not  then  suppose 
that  such  devout  and  benevolent  souls  as  these,  v>'hen  re- 
leased from  the  confinement  of  mortality,  and  the  low  labor 
of  the  present  life,  are  not  only  advanced  to  superior  de- 
grees of  happiness,  but  placed  in  a  higher  sphere  of  use- 
fulness, employed  as  the  ministers  of  Providence,  not  to 
this  or  that  particular  church,  college,  or  colony,  but  to  a 
more  extensive  charge,  and  perhaps  to  a  more  important 
class  of  beings,  so  that  the  public  good,  as  the  good  of  the 
tmiverse  of  creatures  taken  collectively,  to  which  the  in- 
terests of  private  persons  and  inferior  communities  must 
always  be  subordinate  under  a  wise  administration,  may 
be  promoted  by  their  removal  from  us,  and  from  their 
narrow  sphere  of  beneficence   in   this  imperfect  world. 


Davies.  127 


And  if,  when  they  cease  to  be  useful  men^  they  commence 
angels^  that  is,  ministering  spirits,  we  may  congratulate 
them  and  the  world  upon  this  more  extensive  beneficence, 
insead  of  lamentin^:  them  as  lost  to  all  usefulness.  Thus, 
sir,  I  sometimes  permit  my  imagination  to  rove  ;  but  I 
must  confess,  sense  prevails  against  speculation  and  con- 
jecture, and  as  an  inhabitant  of  this  world  I  deeply  feel 
the  loss.  Forgive  me,  dear  sir,  this  reverie,  which  seems 
to  suggest  a  new  thought ;  if  it  should  be  new  to  you^  I 
should  for  that  very  reason  suspect  it  not  to  be  just. 

"  I  heartily  rejoice  in  the  choice  the  Trustees  have  made 
of  a  successor  to  Mr.  Burr.  Mr.  Edwards  has  long  been 
very  high  in  my  esteem  as  a  man  of  very  great  piety,  and 
one  of  the  deepest  thinkers  and  greatest  divines  of  the 
iige.  May  the  Lord  long  continue  his  life,  and  his  capaci- 
ties for  action !" 

Mi\  Davies  was  much  perplexed  as  to  Ms  duty, 
when  informed  of  his  own  election  as  successor 
of  President  Edwards.  Upon  referriDg  the  mat- 
ter to  his  Presbytery  they  recommended  his  re- 
maining in  Virginia,  and  he  yielded  to  their 
judgment.  His  later  resolution,  and  the  state 
of  mind  which  led  to  it,  are  described  in  a  letter 
which  he  wrote  on  the  14:th  September,  1758,  to 
Mr.  Cowell,  and  which,  notwithstanding  its  want 
of  direct  connection  with  our  narrative,  I  think 
needs  no  excuse  for  its  insertion  here,  especially 
as  this  ^.orrespondence  has  not  before  been  edited. 


128  Davies  and 


"  Though  my  mind  was  cahn  and  serene  for  some  time 
after  the  decision  of  the  Presbytery,  and  I  acquiesced  in 
their  judgment  as  the  voice  of  God,  till  Mr.  Smith  [Rev. 
Caleb  Smith,  of  the  Committee]  was  gone,  yet  to-day  my 
anxieties  are  revived,  and  I  am  almost  as  much  at  a  loss 
as  ever  what  is  my  duty ;  nor  can  my  conscience  be  easy 
without  sending  this  postscript  to  my  former  letter  at  a 
venture,  though  I  have  no  other  medium  of  conveyance 
but  the  post,  which  is  often  uncertain  and  tedious.  I  can 
honestly  declare,  sir,  I  never  was  so  much  concerned 
about  my  own  estate  as  I  have  been  and  still  am  for  the 
prosperity  of  the  College.  And  the  very  suspicion  that  I 
may  possibly  have  done  it  an  injury  by  not  accepting  the 
honor  the  Trustees  were  pleased  to  confer  upon  me,  causes 
me  to  appear  almost  an  unpardonable  criminal  to  myself. 
This  suspicion  haunts  me  night  and  day,  and  I  can  have 
no  ease  till  I  am  delivered  from  it.  It  received  a  terrible 
confirmation  when  I  found  that  though  the  Presbytery 
could  not  positively  determine,  it  was  my  duty  to  leave 
Virginia  and  accept  the  invitation.  Yet  they  were  very 
skeptical  about  it,  and  wished  I  could  have  determined 
the  matter  for  myself.  I  am  also  apprehensive  the  gener- 
ous error  of  their  excessive  personal  friendship  for  me, 
and  their  excessive  diffidence  of  their  own  abilities  to 
manage  affairs  in  a  concern  of  so  much  difficulty  without 
my  conduct  and  assistance,  had  no  small  influence  uj)on 
their  determination.  I  am  Hkewise  convinced,  that  if  I 
liad  been  able  to  form  any  previous  judgment  of  my  own, 
it  would  have  turned  the  scale,  and  theii'S  would  have 
coincided  with  mine. 

"  I  have  indeed  a  very  large,  important  congregation  ; 


the  College.  129 


and  I  am  so  far  from  having  any  reason  to  think  they 
are  weary  of  me,  that  it  is  an  agreeable  misfortnne  to  me, 
that  they  love  me  so  •well,  lint  I  make  no  scruples  even 
to  tell  themselves  that  they  are  by  no  means  of  equal  im- 
portance with  the  College  of  N'ew-Jersey ;  and  some  of 
them,  whose  public  spirit  has  the  predominancy  over  pri- 
vate friendship  and  self-interest,  are  sensible  of  it.  I  am 
sure  if  I  had  appeared  in  the  same  light  to  your  Board  as 
I  do  to  myself,  I  should  have  escaped  all  this  perplexity. 
It  is  the  real  sentiment  of  my  heart,  without  aifectation 
of  humility,  that  I  am  extremely  unlit  for  so  important  a 
trust,  the  most  important,  in  my  view,  that  an  ecclesiastic 
can  sustain  in  America  ;  and  I  have  never  as  much  as  sus- 
pected that  it  would  be  my  duty  to  accept  it,  except  upon 
the  supposition  of  its  being  a  desperate  case,  if  I  should 
reject  it ;  and  it  is  my  fear,  that  it  may  be  so,  eoiisicler- 
atis  conside7'andis,  that  makes  me  so  extremely  uneasy. 
When  I  reflect  upon  such  things  as  these,  I  am  co^istrain- 
cd  to  send  you  this  answer,  though  I  am  afraid  out  of  sea- 
son, that  if  the  Trustees  can  agree  to  elect  my  worthy 
friend,  Mr.  Finley,  with  any  tolerable  degree  of  cordiality 
and  unanimity,  I  shall  be  perfectly  satisfied,  and  rejoice  in 
the  advantageous  exchange.  But  if  not,  I  shall  think  it 
my  duty  to  accept  the  offer,  if  the  Trustees  judge  it  pro- 
per to  continue  or  renew  my  election. 

"  If  this  should  come  to  hand  before  another  election,  I 
give  you  leave,  sir,  though  with  trembling  hesitation,  to 
communicate  it  to  the  Board ;  if  not,  I  beg  you  would 
forever  conceal  it,  for  the  real  difficulty  of  the  affair,  and 
the  natural  caution  and  skepticism  of  my  mind,  have  given 
my  conduct  such  an  appearance  of  fickleness  that  I  am 


130  Davies  and 


quite  ashamed  of  it.  My  life,  sir,  I  look  upon  as  sacred 
to  God  and  the  public ;  and  the  service  of  God  and  man- 
kind is  not  a  local  thing,  in  my  view.  Wheresoever  it 
appears  to  me  I  may  perform  it,  to  the  greatest  advantage, 
there,  I  hope,  I  should  choose  to  fix  my  residence,  whether 
in  Hanover,  Princeton,  or  even  Lapland  or  Japan.  But 
my  anxieties  in  the  present  case  have  proceeded  from  the 
want  of  light  to  determine  where  the  sphere  of  my  useful- 
ness would  be  the  most  extensive. 

"  If  matters  should  turn  out  so  as  to  constrain  me  to 
come  to  Xassau  Hall,  I  only  beg  early  intelligence  of  it, 
by  Mr.  Smith,  who  intends  to  revisit  Hanover  shortly,  or 
by  post,  and  I  shall  prepare  for  my  journey  and  the 
removal  of  my  family  with  all  possible  expedition.  The 
honor  which  you,  sir,  and  the  other  gentlemen  of  the 
Trustees,  who  are  in  other  instances  such  good  judges  of 
merit,  have  done  me,  is  such  a  strong  temj^tation  to  van- 
ity, as  requires  no  small  degree  of  self-knowledge  to  resist. 

"  I  shall  always  retain  a  grateful  sense  of  it,  and  I  pray 
God  it  may  have  no  bad  influence  upon  a  heart  so  deeply 
infected  with  the  uncreaturely  vice  of  j)ride." 

After  clispatchiDg  this  letter,  "  extorted  from 
Mm,"  as  lie  said,  "by  irresistible  anxieties,"  a 
second  messenger  (Halsey)  from  tlie  Trustees, 
appears  to  liave  intimated  to  Mr.  Davies,  that  in 
tlie  event  of  his  declining  the  chair,  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Finley  would  be  the  choice  of  the  Board, 
and  that  he  was,  by  some,  already  j^referred  to 
himself.      Accordingly,    on   the    18th    October, 


Finley.  131 


Davies  writes  again  to  Cowell,  to  urge  Finley's 
election : 

"  Since  you  and  a  majority  of  the  Trustees  have  thouglit 
me  fit  to  fill  so  important  a  seat,  you  must  also  think  me  in 
some  measure  fit  to  judge  of  the  proper  qualifications  of  a 
President ;  I  therefore  beg  you  would  not  only  believe  me 
sincere,  but  also  have  some  little  regard  to  my  judgment, 
when  I  recommend  Mr.  Finley,  from  long  and  intimate 
acquaintance  with  him,  as  the  best  qualified  person  in  the 
compass  of  my  knowledge  in  America,  for  that  high  trust ; 
and  incomparably  better  qualified  than  myself.  And 
though  the  want  of  some  superficial  accomplishments  for 
empty  popularity,  may  keep  him  in  obscurity  for  some 
little  time,  his  hidden  worth,  in  a  few  months,  or  years  at 
most,  will  blaze  out  to  the  satisfaction,  and  even  astonish- 
ment of  all  candid  men.  A  disappointment  of  this  kind  wiJl 
certainly  be  of  service  to  the  College ;  but  as  to  me,  I 
greatly  fear  I  should  mortify  my  friends  with  a  disappoint- 
ment of  an  opposite  nature  ;  like  an  inflamed  meteor,  I 
might  cast  a  glaring  light  and  attract  the  gaze  of  man- 
kind for  a  little  while,  but  the  flash  would  soon  be  over, 
and  leave  me  in  my  native  obscurity. 

'*  I  should  be  glad  you  would  wi'ite  to  me  by  post,  after 
the  next  meeting  of  the  Trustees,  what  choice  they  shall 
have  made ;  for  though  I  never  expect  another  applica- 
tion to  me,  yet  I  feel  myself  interested  in  the  welfare  of 
the  College,  and  shall  be  anxious  to  hear  what  conclusion 
may  be  formed  upon  this  important  afiair." 

"When  the  Trustees  met  in  ]N'ovember,(l758,) 


132  College  and 


after  conferring,  and  comparing  letters,  it  was 
put  to  vote  whether  Mr.  Da  vies'  refusal  was  to 
be  regarded  as  final.  Upon  two  ballots,  tlie 
voters  of  *'  not  final"  and  "  non  liquet"  had  the 
majority,  but  to  remove  the  embarrassment,  they 
yielded ;  upon  which  the  Rev.  Jacob  Green,  of 
Morris  county,  father  of  Dr.  Ashbel  Green,  was 
chosen  Vice-President,  and  the  election  of  Presi- 
dent postponed  till  the  next  May.  I  find  these 
particulars  in  a  letter  from  Mr.  Cowell  to  Mr. 
Davies,  dated  at  Trenton,  December  25,  1758, 
to  which  he  adds : 

"  If  I  may  be  allowed  to  guess,  I  think  : 

"  1.  That  yon  will  be  elected  next  May  ; 

"  2.  That  if  you  are  not,  Mr.  Finley  will  not  be. 

"  I  think  with  you,  dear  sir,  that  the  College  of  Xew- 
Jersey  ought  to  be  esteemed  of  as  much  imjDortance  to 
the  interests  of  rehgion  and  liberty,  as  any  institution  of 
the  kind  in  America.  I  am  sensible  your  leaving  Virginia 
is  attended  with  very  great  difficulties,  but  I  can  not 
think  your  affairs  are  of  equal  importance  with  the  Col- 
lege of  New-Jersey." 

At  the  May  meeting  Messrs.  Davies  and  Fin- 
ley  were  both  nominated.  Davies  was  elected, 
and  in  July  arrived  in  Princeton.  Mr.  Cowell's 
interest  and  activity  as  a  trustee  did  not  abate 


Cowell.  133 

upon  the  accession  of  Lis  friend  and  favorite 
candidate ;  but  scarcely  had  eighteen  months 
elapsed  from  the  President's  inauguration,  before 
both  were  in  their  graves.  The  last  relic  of  their 
correspondence  shows  that  Mr.  Cowell's  medical 
skill  (for  he  had  studied  and  on  emergencies 
practised  medicine)  was  valued  in  Princeton. 
Under  date  of  February  15,  1760,  Mr.  Davies 
writes  : 

''  Doctor  Scudder  has  inoculated  a  number  of  the  stu- 
dents, who  are  all  likely  to  do  well,  except  one,  who  was 
taken  with  the  pleurisy  about  the  time  of  his  inoculation, 
and  had  an  inveterate  cold  for  some  time  before.  The 
Doctor's  own  family  and  his  father-in-law  were  inoculated 
about  the  same  time,  and  one  of  them  is  so  ill  that  he  has 
not  been  able  to  give  good  attendance  here.  I  made  an 
explicit  reserve  of  liberty  to  consult  any  other  physician 
upon  the  appearance  of  any  other  alarming  symptom, 
therefore  I  send  for  you  at  the  request  of  many,  as  well  as 
my  own  motion.  I  beg  you  would  come  immediately,  for 
the  young  man's  life  is  in  evident  danger,  and  my  dear 
Mrs.  Davies  is  so  affected  in  her  mouth,  etc.,  with  the 
mercurial  and  antimonial  preparations,  that  she  has  been  in 
exquisite  agony,  and  stands  in  great  need  of  immediate 
relief.  I  long  to  hear  from  my  promising  pupil  under 
your  care."  . 

10 


Mk.    Coavell's    Death   and    Burial. 

1759—1760. 

In  June,  1759,  Mr.  Cowell  was  present  in  the 
Presbytery,  wliich  met  at  Trenton,  but  his  health 
was  probably  then  failing,  as  a  request  was  made 
from  the  congregation,  that  his  pulpit  "  might  be 
supplied  at  least  in  part  during  his  illness."  He 
was  present  again  at  the  meeting  in  Princeton, 
July  25,  1759  ;  at  which  time  his  friend.  Pre- 
sident Davies,  was  received  from  Hanover.  At 
Baskingridge,  October  30  of  that  year,  another 
petition  was  brought  from  Trenton,  "  praying  that 
as  Mr.  Cowell  is  unable  through  sickness  to  attend 
the  ministerial  function,  Mr.  Guild  might  be  or- 
dered to  supply  them  every  third  Sabbath."  In 
compliance  with  this,  Mr.  Guild,  pastor  of  the 
Hopewell  (Pennington)  church  was  directed  to 
"  supply  as  much  of  his  time  as  he  can  at  Trenton." 
Mr.  Cowell  was  present  at  the  meeting  of  Pres- 


Cowell's  Illness.  135 


hytery,  held  at  Nassau  Hall,  March  11,  I'TGO. 
The  regular  Moderator  being  absent,  Mr.  Cowell 
was  chosen  in  his  place,  and  President  Davies 
acted  as  clerk.  One  of  Mr.  Cowell's  successors, 
William  Kirkpatrick,  was  at  this  meeting,  and 
another,  Elihu  Spencer,  sat  as  a  corresponding 
member. 

"  Mr.  Cowell  represented  to  the  Presbytery  that  he  has 
been  long  indisposed  in  body,  and  unable  to  discharge  the 
duties  of  the  pastoral  relation  to  his  congregation  in  Tren- 
ton, and  therefore  requested  that  he  might  be  dismissed 
from  it ;  and  the  congregation  also  by  their  petition,  and 
the  declaration  of  their  commissioners,  intimate  their  ac- 
quiescence in  it. 

"  The  Presbytery  therefore  consent  to  the  request,  and 
do  hereby  dismiss  Mr.  Cowell  from  said  congregation  ; 
yet  they  affectionately  recommend  it  to  him  that,  if  it 
should  please  God  to  restore  him  to  an  ability  to  exercise 
his  ministry,  he  would  preach  as  often  as  he  can  in  that 
congregation  while  vacant,  and  in  other  vacancies  as  he 
shall  have  opportunity." 

The  last  session  of  Presbytery,  which  Mr. 
Cowell  attended,  was  at  Lawrenceville  (Maiden- 
head) September  17,  1760,  the  sixth  meeting  held 
in  that  year.  On  the  28tli  of  October  Messrs. 
Kirkpatrick  and  Treat  were  deputed  to  supply 
Trenton. 


136  Cowell's  Death, 


Mr.  Coweirs  decease  took  place  on  the  first 
day  of  December,  1760,  at  his  residence  in  Tren- 
ton. He  was  in  the  fifty-seventh  year  of  his  age, 
having  served  the  Trenton  people  in  the  town 
and  country  congregations  nearly  twenty-four 
years. 

His  beloved  friend  Davies,  who  was  then  in 
the  middle  of  the  second  year  of  his  presidency 
of  INTassau  Hal],  was  called  upon  to  preach  in  the 
church  on  the  day  of  the  interment.  He  fulfilled 
this  office  with  great  affection  and  fidelity,  and  it 
adds  interest  to  the  narrative  to  know  that  in  a 
few  weeks  afterwards,  (February  4,  1761,)  tha.t 
most  eminent  preacher,  just  past  the  thirty-sixth 
year  of  his  age,  was  himself  suddenly  removed 
by  death  from  the  new  sphere  of  usefulness  and 
fame,  upon  which  he  had  entered;  so  that  on 
the  page  of  the  Synod's  Minutes  of  May  20, 
IY6I,  is  found  the  sentence  :  "  The  Presbytery  of 
New-Brunswick  further  report,  that  it  has  pleased 
God  to  remove  by  death,  since  our  last,  the  Rev. 
Mr.  President  Davies  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  David 
Cowell." 

In  his  fatal  illness  Mr.  Davies  remarked,  that 
he  had  been  undesignedly  led  to  preach  his  own 
funeral  sermon.     He  alluded  to  the  fact  that  he 


and  Funeral.  137 


liad  delivered  a  discourse  on  'New  Year's  day 
(ITGI)  from  the  words  in  Jeremiah,  "  Thus  saith 
the  Lord,  this  year  thou  shalt  die."  He  took 
this  text,  however,  after  having  been  informed 
that  President  Burr  had  preached  from  it  on  the 
first  day  of  the  year  in  which  he  died.  Davies' 
sermon  at  the  College  on  the  first  day  of  the 
preceding  year,  is  entitled,  "  A  New- Year's 
Gift."  The  text  of  that  is  :  "  And  that  knowing 
the  time,  that  now  it  is  high  time  to  awake  out 
of  sleep,  for  now  is  our  salvation  nearer  than 
when  we  believed."  It  is  the  fifty-ninth  in  the 
published  collection. 

The  autograph,  from  which  Davies  preached 
at  Mr.  Cowell's  funeral,  is  now  before  me.  It  is 
a  sermon  on  the  words  from  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,  "Let  us  labor,  therefore,  to  enter  into 
that  rest,"  adapted  to  the  occasion  by  a  new  in- 
troduction, and  by  what  appears  to  be  an  imjDar- 
tial  and  discriminating  estimate  of  the  character 
of  the  deceased.  As  these  parts  of  the  discourse 
are  interesting  as  relics  of  the  great  preacher,  as 
well  as  for  their  descriptions  of  a  prominent  per- 
son in  our  history,  I  shall  quote  them  in  full. 

The  new  opening  was  thus  : 

"  While  death  reigns  in  our  world,  and  spreads  its  pale 

10* 


138  Funeral  Sermon 

trophies  so  often  before  our  eyes,  how  gloomy  and  dismal 
would  our  prospect  be,  especially  at  funeral  occasions,  if 
Jesus  had  not  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light  by  the 
Gospel!  And  how  intolerable  would  be  the  doubtful 
struggles,  the  toils  and  fatigues  of  life,  if  we  had  no  pros- 
pect of  Rest !  Add  an  everlasting  duration  to  them, 
and  they  become  too  oppressive  for  human  nature.  But 
blessed  be  God,  there  remaineth  a  rest  for  the  people  of 
God  ;  a  rest  that  may  be  obtained  by  hard  labor,  though 
lost  by  unbelief.  '  Let  us  labor,  therefore,  to  enter  into 
that  rest.'  Here  heaven  is  represented  under  the  agree- 
able idea  of  a  time  of  rest  /  the  way  to  obtain  it  pointed 
out,  namely,  by  hard  lahoi%  and  the  necessity  of  laboring 
hard  imphed.  These  are  the  several  topics  I  now  hitend 
to  illustrate  for  the  religious  improvement  of  this  melan- 
choly occasion." 

Having  completed  this  plan  in  tlie  usual  full- 
ness of  bis  manner,  tlie  discourse  closed  with  the 
new  matter  prepared  for  the  day,  as  follows  : 

"  What  remains  of  the  present  hour,  I  would  devote 
more  immediately  to  the  memory  of  the  dead.  To  pro- 
nounce a  panegyric  on  the  dead  is  supposed  to  be  the 
principal  design  of  funeral  sermons ;  and  to  praise  the 
dead  is  a  debt  which  envy  itself  will  allow  us  to  discharge. 
But  it  is  not  a  regard  to  ancient  custom,  nor  an  apprehen- 
sion that  the  eulogium  will  not  be  envied  nor  disj^uted, 
that  excite  me  at  present  to  take  some  particular  notice  of 
the  character  of  our  worthy  friend,  who  now  lies  a  pale 
corpse  before  us.  It  is  rather  my  desire  to  concur  with 
the  sentence  of  heaven,  and  to  praise  the  virtue  which  I 


by  Davles.  139 


cheerfully  hope  has  ere  now  received  the  approbation  of 
the  Supreme  Judge.  It  is  my  full  conviction  that  the 
character  of  the  deceased  was  in  many  respects  worthy  of 
the  imitation  of  the  living,  and  that  in  recommending  it, 
I  shall  recommend  virtue  and  religion  with  advantage,  as 
exemplified  in  life. 

"  Indeed,  it  would  have  relieved  me  fi'om  some  anxiety, 
if  my  worthy  friend  had  nominated  some  one  to  this  ser- 
vice, whose  long  acquaintance  with  him  would  have  en- 
abled him  to  do  justice  to  his  memory,  and  exhibit  a  full 
view  of  his  character.  During  the  short  time  that  I  have 
been  a  resident  of  this  Province,  he  has  been  my  very  in- 
timate friend,  and  I  have  conversed  freely  with  him  in  his 
most  unguarded  hours,  when  his  conversation  was  the  full 
image  of  his  soul.  But  I  had  only  a  general  acquaintance 
with  him  for  ten  of  the  years  before,  and  of  the  earlier 
part  of  his  life  I  had  no  personal  knowledge,  and  have  re- 
ceived but  a  very  imperfect  account  from  his  earlier  ac- 
quaintances. But  from  what  I  have  heard  from  persons 
of  credit,  or  have  known  myself,  I  shall  give  you  the  fol- 
lowing general  sketch  of  his  character;  and  as  I  would  by 
no  means  incur  the  censure  of  flattery,  or  risk  the  reputa- 
tion of  my  veracity,  you  may  be  assured  I  fully  believe 
myself  in  the  account  I  give  of  his  character. 

"  The  Rev.  Mr.  David  Cowell  was  born  at  Dorchester, 
in  the  government  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  educated  at 
Harvard  College.  I  am  informed  by  one  of  "his  early 
friends,  that  the  characteristics  of  his  youth  were  a  serious, 
'virtuous,  and  religious  turn  of  mind,  free  from  the  vices 
and  vanities  of  the  wild  and  thoughtless  age,  and  a  re- 
markable thirst  for  knowledge.     The  study  of  books  was 


140  Character  of  Cowell 


both  his  amusement  and  serious  business,  while  he  was 
passing  through  his  course  of  collegiate  education,  and 
even  before  he  entered  upon  it,  and  I  am  witness  how 
lively  a  taste  for  books  and  knowledge  he  cherished  to  the 
last. 

''  I  am  not  able  to  give  you  an  account  of  the  sensations 
and  impressions  of  his  mind  from  divine  things  in  early 
life,  which  were  the  beginnings  of  his  religion.  But  as 
every  effect  must  have  an  adequate  cause,  from  what  I 
have  observed  in  him  of  the  Christian  temper,  I  conclude 
he  had  been  the  subject  of  such  impressions. 

"  He  appeared  to  me  to  have  a  mind  steadily  and  habit- 
ually bent  towards  God  and  holiness.  If  his  religion  was 
not  so  warm  and  passionate  as  that  of  some,  it  was  j^erhaps 
proportionally  more  evenly  uniform  and  rational.  He  was 
not  flighty  and  visionary,  nor  yet  dull  and  senseless.  His 
religion  was  not  a  transient  passion,  but  appeared  to  be  a 
settled  temper. 

"  Humility  and  modesty,  those  gentle  virtues,  seemed 
to  shine  in  him  with  a  very  amiable  lustre.  Far  from  be- 
ing fall  of  liimself,  far  from  taking  airs  of  superiority,  or 
giving  himself  the  preference,  he  often  imposed  a  volun- 
tary silence  upon  himself,  when  he  could  have  made  an 
agreeable  figure  in  conversation.  He  was  fond  of  giving 
way  to  his  brethren,  with  Vv'hom  he  might  justly  have 
claimed  an  equality,  and  to  encourage  modest  worth  in  his 
inferiors.  '  He  was  not  impudently  liberal  of  unasked  ad- 
vice, though  very  judicious,  impartial,  and  communicative 
when  consulted.  He  had  an  easy,  graceful  negligence  in 
his  carriage,  a  noble  indifference  about  setting  himself  off. 
And  though  his  intellectual  furniture,  his  experience  and 


by  Davies.  14  i 

seniority  might  have  been  a  strong  temptation  to  the 
usual  foible  of  vanity  and  self-sufficiency,  I  never  have  seen 
any  thing  in  his  conduct,  that  discovered  a  high  estimate 
of  his  own  accomplishments.  Indeed,  he  seemed  not  to 
know  them,  though  they  were  so  conspicuous  that  many 
a  man  has  made  a  very  brilliant  appearance  with  a  small 
share  of  them. 

"  He  had  a  remarkable  command  of  his  passions.  No- 
thing boisterous  or  impetuous,  nothing  rash  or  fierce,  ap- 
peared in  his  conduct,  even  in  circumstances  that  would 
throw  many  others  into  a  ferment.  Had  I  not  been  told 
by  one  who  has  long  and  intimately  known  him,  that  he 
was  capable  of  a  manly  resentment  wpon  proper  occasions, 
I  sliould  have  concluded  that  he  was  generously  insensible 
to  personal  injuries,  for  I  can  not  recollect  that  ever  I 
heard  him  speak  a  severe  word,  or  discover  the  least  de- 
gree of  anger  against  any  man  upon  earth.  He  appeared 
calm  and  unruffled  amidst  the  storms  of  the  world,  peace- 
ful and  serene  amidst  the  commotion  and  uproar  of  human 
passions. 

"  Far  from  sanguine,  prattling  forwardness,  he  was  re- 
markably cautious  and  deliberate  ;  slow  to  pronounce, 
slow  to  determine,  and  especially  to  censure,. and  therefore 
well  guarded  against  extremes,  and  the  many  pernicious 
consequences  of  precipitant  conclusions. 

"  In  matters  of  debate,  and  especially  of  religious  con- 
troversy, he  was  rather  a  moderator  and  compromiser 
than  a  party.  Though  he  could  not  be  neuter,  but  judged 
for  himself  to  direct  his  own  conduct,  yet  he  did  not  aflect 
to  impose  his  sentiments  upon  others,  nor  set  up  his  own 
understanding  as  an  universal  standard  of  truth.      He 


142  Character  of  Cowell 


could  exercise  candor  and  forbearance  without  constraint 
or  reluctance ;  and  when  he  happened  to  differ  in  opinion 
from  any  of  his  brethren,  even  themselves  could  not  but 
acknowledge  and  admire  his  moderation. 

"  His  accomplishments  as  a  man  of  sense  and  learning 
were  very  considerable.  His  judgment  was  cool,  deliber- 
ate, and  penetrating.  His  sentiments  were  well  digested, 
and  his  taste  elegant  and  refined.  He  had  read  not  a  few 
of  the  best  modern  authors,  and  though  he  did  not  often 
plod  over  the  mouldy  volumes  of  antiquity,  he  was 
no  stranger  to  ancient  literature,  whether  classical,  philo- 
sophical, or  historical.  He  could  think  as  well  as  read, 
and  the  knowledge  he  collected  from  books,  was  well  di- 
gested, and  became  his  own.  He  had  carefully  studied  the 
Sacred  Scriptures,  that  grand  accomplishment  for  a  divine, 
and  had  a  rational  theory  of  the  Christian  system. 

"  He  had  an  easy,  natural  vein  of  wit,  which  rendered 
his  conversation  extremely  agreeable,  and  which  he  some- 
times used  with  great  dexterity  to  exj^ose  the  rake,  the 
fop,  the  infidel,  and  the  other  fools  of  the  human  species. 
But  never  did  his  humanity  allow  him  to  use  this  keen 
weapon  to  wound  a  friend,  or  the  mnocent,  whether  friend 
or  foe.  His  wit  was  sacred  to  the  service  of  virtue,  or  in- 
nocently volatile  and  lively  to  heighten  the  pleasure  of 
conversation. 

"  He  was  a  lover  of  mankind,  and  delighted  in  every 
oflice  of  benevolence.  Benevolence  appeared  to  me  to  be 
his  i^redominant  virtue,  which  gave  a  most  amiable  cast  to 
his  whole  temper  and  conduct.  Did  he  ever  refuse  to 
give  relief  or  pleasure  to  any  of  his  fellow-creatures,  when 


by  Da  vies.  143 

it  was  in  liis  power  to  do  it  ?  I  never  had  reason  to 
think  he  did. 

"  That  he  might  be  able  to  support  himself,  without  op- 
pressing a  small  congregation,  he  applied  some  part  of  his 
time  to  the  study  and  practice  of  physic,  in  which  he  made 
no  inconsiderable  figure.  In  this  he  was  the  friend  of  the 
poor,  and  spared  neither  trouble  nor  expense  to  relieve 
them. 

"  As  I  never  had  the  happiness  to  hear  him  in  the  sa- 
cred desk,  I  can  say  but  little  of  him  in  his  highest  cha- 
racter as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel.  But  from  what  I  know 
of  his  disposition,  theological  knowledge,  and  other  re- 
ligious performances,  I  doubt  not  but  his  sermons  were 
judicious,  serious,  well-composed,  and  calculated  to  show 
men  the  way  of  salvation. 

"  In  prayer,  I  am  sure,  he  appeared  humble,  solemn,  ra- 
tional, and  importunate,  as  a  creature,  a  sinner  in  the  pre- 
sence of  God  ;  without  levity,  without  affectation,  without 
Pharisaical  self-confidence. 

"  In  the  charter  of  the  College  of  ll^ew- Jersey,  he  was 
nominated  one  of  the  trustees,  and  but  few  invested  with 
the  same  trust,  discharged  it  with  so  much  zeal,  diligence, 
and  alacrity.  His  heart  was  set  upon  the  prosperity  of 
the  infant  institution,  and  he  exerted  himself  in  its  service, 
nor  did  he  forget  it  in  his  last  moments."^ 

"  This  church  has  lost  a  judicious  minister  of  the  Gos2:)el, 
and,  as  we  hope,  a  sincere  Christian ;  the  world  has  lost 
an  inoffensive,  useful  member  of  society ;  this  town  an 
agreeable,  peaceable,  benevolent  inhabitant ;  the  College 

*  Mr.  Cowell  bequeathed  fifty  pounds  to  the  College. 


144  Epitaph. 

of  New- Jersey  a  father,  and  I  have  lost  a  friend ;  and  I 
doubt  not  but  public  and  private  sorrow  and  lamentation 
will  be  in  some  measure  correspondent,  and  express  the 
greatness  of  the  loss. 

"  Let  us  endeavor,  my  brethren,  to  copy  his  amiable 
character,  and  make  his  virtues  our  own.  The  character, 
indeed,  is  not  perfect.  The  friend,  the  scholar,  the  min- 
ister, the  Christian  was  still  a  man  ;  a  man  of  like  pas- 
sions with  ourselves  ;  and,  therefore,  he  undoubtedly  had 
his  blemishes  and  infirmities.  He  is  at  best  but  a  sinner 
sanctified  and  saved.  However,  I  shall  not  describe  his 
faults,  because  I  hardly  knew  them,  and  because  greater 
can  be  found  almost  every  where.  His  virtues  and  graces 
are  not  so  common,  and  therefore  I  have  exhibited  them 
to  your  view  for  imitation. 

"  With  him  the  dubious  conflict  of  life  is  over,  and  we 
hope  he  has  entered  into  rest,  and  sweetly  fallen  asleep 
in  Jesus.  Let  us  also  labor  to  enter  into  that  rest,  lest 
any  of  us  fall  by  imbelief " 

Mr.  Co  well's  body  was  deposited  in  the  church- 
yard at  Trenton,  and  the  grave,  which  is  w^ithin 
a  few  feet  of  the  western  wall  of  the  church,  is 
designated  by  a  head-stone  with  the  following  in- 
scription : 

"  Li  memory  of  the 
PvEVD.  Me.   DAVID    COWELL. 

Born  in  Dorchester,  1 704. 

Graduated  in  Harvard  College,  Cambridge,  IST.  E.,  1732. 

Ordained  at  Trenton,  1736. 

Died  December  the  1st,  ^tatis  sua)  56,  1760. 


Sermons.  i^_j 


"  A  man  of  penetrating  wit ;  solid  judgment ;  strong 
memory ;  yet  of  great  modesty,  piety,  and  benevolence.'* 

Mr.  Co  well  was  an  iudustrions  preacher.  There 
lies  before  me  a  memorandum,  kept  by  him  of 
the  places  and  texts  of  his  preaching,  from  Jmie, 
1735,  to  October,  IToY.  In  those  twenty-two 
years  there  is  seldom  a  Sabbath  without  its  re- 
cord of  service,  besides  the  extra  duties  of  sacra- 
mental seasons  and  funerals.  On  a  very  few 
Sabbaths  is  the  entry  of  "  non  valui,"  (not 
well,)  and  but  one  or  two  "  procellosus," 
(stormy.)  The  only  observable  blank  is  from 
April  10  to  June  5,  1748,  which  is  accounted  for 
by  the  line,  "  went  to  New-England."  He  fre- 
quently administered  the  Lord's  Supper  at  Mai- 
denhead and  Hopewell.  Occasionally  he  sup- 
plied Fisher's  Island,  Rocky  Hill,  Bristol,  Bor- 
dentown,  Whippany,  Elizabethtown,  Abington, 
Norrington,  Shrewsbury,  Neshaminy.  The  few 
notes  of  funerals  in  this  little  register,  may  be  of 
some  chronological  use  or  family  interest. 

1736,  July  7.     Mary  Eli. 
1739,  January  31,     Armitage. 
1739,  February  6.     George  Snow. 

1741,  December  26.     Mrs.  Green. 

1742,  January  10.     Widow  Furman. 

11 


]  46  Funerals. 


1742,  April  14.     Slack's  wife. 
1742,  July  11.     Hi(?bee. 

1742,  September  6.     Margaret. 

1743,  June  16.     Jones's  child. 

1744,  March  21.     Widow  Reed. 
1744,  December  8.     Mr.  Yard. 

1746,  June  17.     Stephen  Rose. 

1747,  September  22.     Mrs.  Snow. 
1747,  October  21.     Mrs.  Yard. 
1749,  July  30.     Hart. 

1749,  November  7.     Howell's  wife. 

1749,  December  19.     Mr.  Griffin. 

1750,  July  18.     Susan  Osborn. 

1750,  September  17.     Mr.  Paxton. 

1751,  January  7.     Mr.  Taylor. 

1752,  May  1.     John  Green. 

1753,  January  2.     Rose's  wife. 

1754,  December  1.     William  Green. 
1756,  September  5.     Mr.  Dagworthy. 

Tlie  "  vddow  Farman"  in  the  list  is  comme- 
morated by  Professor  Kalm,  who,  among  other 
instances  of  American  longevity,  states,  that  "  on 
January  8,  1742,  died  in  Trenton,  Mrs.  Sarah 
Furman,  a  widow,  aged  ninety-seven  years  ;  leav- 
ing alive  at  the  time  of  her  decease  five  children, 
sixty-one  grand-children,  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
two  great-grand-children,  and  twelve  great-great 
grand-children."^ 

'•'  Kaliu's  Travels,  vol.  ii.  5. 


Funeral  Sermon.  147 


The  sermon  of  January  Bl,  1739,  was  preached 
at  Pennington,  at  the  interment  of  the  Ekier 
Enoch  Armitage,  and  I  quote  a  passage  as  a  spe- 
cimen of  the  preacher's  style.  The  text  was : 
"]^ow  lettest  thou  tliy  servant  depart  in  peace, 
according  to  thy  word." 

"  The  words  of  our  text  Mr.  Armitao^e  adoDted  as  his 
own,  and  desired  they  might  be  discoursed  upon  at  his 
funeral.  Those  most  acquainted  with  him  testified  his  dis- 
position for  peace.  God  had  given  him  by  nature  a  calm 
and  quiet  spirit,  which  was  his  ornament  and  glory.  He 
was  not  subject  to  anger-heats  and  passions,  as  many  others 
are,  and  this  happy  natural  talent,  assisted  and  improved 
by  a  religious  principle  and  the  love  of  God,  was  so  bright 
and  shining,  that  his  moderation  was  known  to  all  men 
who  had  the  happiness  of  an  intimate  acquaintance  with 
him.  In  his  dealings  he  was  strictly  just  and  honest ;  to 
those  in  distress  charitable,  and  ready  to  help  and  assist. 
In  his  conversation  he  was  grave  without  moroseness,  and 
pleasant  without  levity.  From  the  quickness  of  his  wit, 
and  the  strength  and  clearness  of  his  judgment,  he  was 
ready  on  all  occasions  to  bring  out  of  the  good  treasure  of 
his  heart  things  new  and  old.  The  sum  of  his  religion  was 
love  to  God  and  his  neiglibor,  without  being  rigid  and 
contentious  for  things  indiiferent.  The  government  of  his 
family  was  with  the  greatest  economy  and  religious  order. 
His  stated  times  for  prayer,  both  private  and  secret,  his 
times  for  instructing  his  family,  for  taking  refreshment, 
and  his  times  for  following  the  works  of  his  calHng,  fol- 


148  Armitage. 

lowed  one  another  so  constantly  by  turns,  and  in  the  re- 
vohition  of  such  certam  'periods,  that  they  seldom  inter- 
fered, much  less  jostled  out  each  other ;  and  such  a  vein 
of  religion  ran  through  the  whole,  that  his  life  was  like  the 
life  of  Enoch,  whose  name  he  bore,  a  walking  with  God. 
If  we  consider  him  at  church,  we  shall  find  he  was  con- 
stant and  devout  in  attendance  upon  God's  public  worship. 
In  the  management  of  church  affairs,  which  was  early  com- 
mitted to  him,  and  continued  to  the  last,  he  deservedly 
obtained  that  character  of  a  good  steward  to  be  faithful ; 
and  as  his  management  was  the  product  of  religious  prin- 
ciples and  a  sound  judgment,  he  had  the  satisfaction  to  see 
them  approved  by  the  wisest  men  and  the  best  Christians. 
Such  a  religious,  honest,  and  just  walk  in  his  own  house, 
and  in  the  house  of  God,  procured  to  him  the  esteem  of 
persons  of  all  persuasions  and  all  characters.  If  he  was 
maligned  by  any  self-conceited  brethren,  who  run  their 
own  ways,  and  give  likhig  unto  nothing  but  what  is  framed 
by  themselves,  and  hammered  on  their  anvil,  as  their 
ignorance  was  the  cause,  so  that  only  can  plead  their  ex- 
cuse. A  sovereign  God  gave  him  such  a  fiducial  sight  of 
Christ,  and  his  own  interest  in  him  founded  on  the  divine 
promises,  that  he  adopted  the  words  of  good  old  Simeon 
for  his  own.  He  made  it  the  business  of  his  life  to  follow 
peace  with  all  men,  and  it  was  his  grief  his  endeavors  suc- 
ceeded no  better.  He  desired  to  die  in  peace,  and  to  have 
a  hopeful  prospect  of  peace  after  his  death.  With  respect 
to  himself,  his  prayer  was  eminently  answered.  When  he 
passed  through  the  valley  of  death,  God  was  with  him. 
Death  gave  one  friendly  stroke,  and  it  was  over — so  that 
he  rather  seemed  to  conquer,  than  to  be  overcome." 


Cowell's  Will.  149 


One  of  the  sermons  is  marked  as  preached  on 
Friday,  November  23,  lYo9,  from  the  text  of  the 
crucified  thieves,  and  a  note  is  appended,  "  Exe- 
cution, Trenton."  This  was  the  execution  which 
brought  Whitefield  to  Trenton  on  the  21st  of 
November,  as  already  quoted  from  his  journaL 

The  only  names  of  ministers  that  appear  as  re- 
lieving him  in  his  own  pulpit  through  all  those 
years,  are  Guild,  Huston,  Leonard,  Miller,  Phil- 
lips of  Boston,  Munson  of  New-England,  and 
Spencer. 

Mr.  Cowell  bequeathed  fifty  pounds  to  "the 
Presbyterian  congregation  of  Trenton  ;  the  prin- 
cipal to  remain  good,  and  the  interest  thereof  to 
be  applied  for  the  benefit  of  the  congregation  for- 
ever." He  left  an  equal  sum  to  the  College  of 
New-Jersey.  The  will  was  signed  only  four  days 
before  his  death,  "  being  sick  and  weak  in  body, 
but  of  perfect  mind  and  memory,"  and  was  wit- 
nessed by  Samuel  Tucker,  Jr.,  Arthur  Plowell, 
Benjamin  Yard,  and  George  Davis.  Many  of  the 
wills  recorded  at  that  time  have  the  same  reli- 
gious phraseology  as  that  of  Mr.  Cowell,  the  testa- 
mentary part  of  which  begins  thus :  ''  Principally 
and  first  of  all  I  give  and  recommend  my  soul 

11* 


1^0  Archibald  Home. 


into  the  hands  of  God  that  gave  it ;  and  for  my 
body,  I  commit  it  to  the  earth,  to  be  buried  in  a 
Christianly  and  decent  manner,  nothing  doubt- 
ing but  at  the  general  resurrection,  I  shall  re- 
ceive the  same  again  by  the  mighty  power  of 
God."  It  is  to  be  feared  that  the  scriveners' 
pious  formulas  are  not  always  subscribed  by  tes- 
tators with  as  much  sincerity,  as  they  doubtless 
were  in  this  good  man's  case. 

Amono:  the  few  extant  manuscripts  of  Mr. 
Co  well  is  a  fragment  of  notes  of  a  funeral  sermon, 
marked  as  preached  April  1, 1744,  at  the  "  bury- 
ing of  Mr.  Home."  It  contains  an  expression 
of  the  preacher's  intention  "  not  to  make  enco- 
miums on  the  Honorable  person  to  whose  re- 
mains we  have  been  paying  the  last  friendly 
office.  That  is  a  task  to  which  I  am  on  several 
accounts  unequal.  Besides,  I  humbly  conceive 
the  proper  use  to  be  made  of  instances  of  mor- 
tality, is  to  instruct  and  exhort  the  living,  accord- 
ins:  to  that  of  the  wise  man,  Eccles.  7  :  2." 
This  defunct  was  undoubtedly  Mr.  Archibald 
Home,  who  was  Deputy  Secretary  of  the  Pro- 
vince in  the  time  of  Governor  Morris,  and  who 
upon  his  recommendation  to  the  Lords  of  Trade 
(October  18, 1740)  was  appointed  to  a  seat  in  the 


Vault.  1  J I 

Council,  made  vacant  by  the  death  of  Robert 
Lettis  Hooper."^ 

AVhen  the  church  was  taken  down  in  1805,  a 
vault  was  discovered  under  the  broad  aisle,  con- 
tainins:  the  remains  of  two  bodies  in  their  re- 
spective  coffins,  the  "  dress  and  furniture "  of 
which,  (according  to  the  j)apers  of  the  day,)  "  and 
the  habiliments  of  the  corpses,  denoted  to  have 
been  persons  of  distinction."f  A  year  after  the 
discovery,  another  newspaper  made  this  publica- 
tion :  "  A  gentleman,  on  whom  we  can  rely,  and 
who  says  he  will  vouch  for  the  authenticity  of  his 
statement,  informs  us,  that  the  name  of  one  of 
the  persons  found  in  the  vault  was  Feeeman,  a 
man  of  considerable  connections  in  the  West-In- 
dies, who  removed  to  and  resided  at  Blooms- 
bury  with  his  family,  and  was  interred  about 
seventy  years  ago.  The  other  was  Aechibald 
Hume,  Esquire,  a  Scotchman  of  very  considerable 
literary  acquirements,  and  brother  to  the  cele- 
brated Sir  John  Hume,  who  came  over  and  re- 
sided  in  Trenton  some  months  after  the  decease 
of  his  brother."  J 

*  The  Papers  of  Le\\n3  Morris.    Pp.  122,  13t,  219,  283. 

f  Trenton  Federalist,  April  22,  1805. 

X  Trenton  True  American,  April  21,  180C.     "Homo,"  or  "Hume,'"  is 


152  Home. 

I  have  seen  the  will  of  Archibald  Home,  which 
was  made  February  24,  1H3.  The  device  of  the 
testator's  seal  is  an  adder  holding  a  rose,  which 
is  the  crest  of  a  Home  family,  in  which  there  are 
several  baronets  named  Sir  John  ;  but  I  can  not 
find  any  trace  of  such  a  resident  in  Trenton. 
Mr.  Archibald  Home  bequeathed  all  his  property 
to  his  brother  James  Home,  Esq.,  of  Charleston, 
South-Carolina.  His  executors  were  Robert  Hun- 
ter Morris,  Thomas  Cadwalader,  and  the  legatee. 
The  witnesses  to  the  will  were  Joseph  Paxton 
and  Moreton  Appleby.  The  probate  was  certi- 
fied October  5,  1Y44,  by  ''  James  Home,  Secr'y." 
This  suggests  the  conjecture  that  he  was  the 
brother  reported  in  the  newspaper  as  "  Sir 
John,"  and  that  upon  removing  from  Charleston 
to  Trenton,  upon  Archibald's  decease,  he  was  put 
into  the  vacant  secretaryship. 

There  is  a  tradition  that  connects  one  of  the 
bodies  in  the  vault  with  the  family  of  Governor 
Cosby.  I  supposed  this  to  be  a  mistake  of  the 
name  of  Cosby  for  Morris,  and  that  the  person 
referred  to  was  Mr.  Home,  until  I  found  the  fol- 


the  same  family-name.     "  Isfy  father's  family  is  a  branch  of  the  Earl 
of  Home's  or  Hume's."    {Autobiography  of  David  Hume.) 


Freeman.  153 


lowing  item   in   the  Pennsylvania   Gazette^  of 
March  T-14,  1737-38: 

"  We  learn  from  Trenton  tliat  Thomas  Freeman,  Es- 
quire, son-in-law  to  the  late  Governor  Cosby,  died  there 
on  Saturday  last  after  a  few  hours'  illness." 

This  would  reconcile  the  tradition  w^ith  the 
newspaper  paragraphs,  and  appears  to  identify 
the  body.  It  is  part  of  the  old  report,  that  one 
of  the  interments  was  by  torch-light.  Mr.  Cow- 
ell's  memorandum  shows,  that  Mr.  Home's  fune- 
ral-sermon was  on  Sunday,  and  was  a  second  ser- 
vice on  that  day.  On  the  removal  of  the  site  of 
the  church  in  1839,  the  vault  was  a  second  time 
examined,  before  it  was  carefully  closed,  but 
neither  the  inscription  nor  arms  upon  the  mould- 
ering plate  that  was  found  in  it,  could  be  deci- 
phered. That  could  scarcely  have  been  a  family- 
vault,  in  which  any  connections  of  such  enemies 
as  Morris  and  Cosby  w^ould  be  associated."^ 

*  Governor  Cosby's  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Lord  Halifax.     Their  eldest 
daughter  was  married  to  a  younger  son  of  the  Duke  of  Grafton. 


The  Fikst  Chartee  of  the  Teentoi^  Chuech  — 

Teustees. 

1T56  — 1760. 

It  was  during  the  pastorate  of  Mr.  Co  well  that 
the  first  charter  of  incorporation  was  obtained, 
and  his  name  stands  first  among  the  corporators. 
The  date  of  this  instrument  is  Se|)tember  8, 1Y56. 
It  runs  in  the  name  of  George  the  Second,  through 
the  Provincial  Governor  Belcher,  and  incor- 
porates 

The  Rev.  David  Cowell, 

Charles  Clark, 

Andrew  Reed, 

Joseph  Yard, 

Arthur  Howell, 

William  Green, 

Alexander  Chambers, 

and  their  successors,  by  the  name  of  "The 
Trustees  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Trenton." 
The  Charter  follows  the  phraseology  of  others 


Firft  Charter.  155 


£:iven  to  our  churclies  under  tlie  same  adininistra- 
tloD,''^  ill  tlie  preambulary  acknowledgmeDt  tliat 
"  the  advancement  of  true  relicrion  and  virtue  is 
absolutely  necessary  for  the  promotion  of  the 
peace,  order,  and  prosj^erity  of  the  State,  and 
that  it  is  the  duty  of  all  Christian  Princes  and 
Governors,  by  the  law  of  God,  to  do  all  they  can 
for  the  encouragement  thereof;"  and  also  that 
"  the  known  loyalty  of  the  petitioners,  and  the 
Presbyterians  in  general,  to  us,  their  firm  aifec- 
tion  to  our  i:)erson  and  government,  and  the  Pro- 
testant succession  in  our  royal  house,  gave  the 
petitioners  hopes  of  all  reasonable  indulgence 
and  favor  within  the  same  colony,  where  the  re- 
ligious rights  of  mankind  are  so  happily  pre- 
served, and  where  our  equal  grace  and  bounty 
to  all  our  Protestant  faithful  subjects,  however 
differing  in  opinion  about  lesser  matters,  has 
hitherto  been  so  sensibly  felt  and  enjoyed." 

Of  the  lay  members  of  the  first  Board  of 
Trustees  I  herewith  furnish  all  the  information 
within  my  reach. 

Chaeles  Claek  came  to  Trenton  from  Long 
Island,  and  occupied  a  farm  in  the  township  near 

*  See  Murray's  *'  Elizabetlitowo,"  p.  62.    Stearns's  "  Newark,"  p.  193. 


156  Clarks. 

the  country  cliurcli.  Ke  is  recorded  as  present 
at  every  meeting  of  the  Trustees  from  1757  to 
1775.  On  the  night  of  the  battle  of  Trenton, 
December  26,  1776,  he  met  his  death  by  falling 
into  the  fire  of  his  own  hearth.  In  1777  his  son 
Benjamin  was  elected  a  trustee  in  his  place.  An- 
other son,  Daniel,  was  in  the  Board  with  his 
father  from  1766  to  1788.  At  the  annual  meet- 
ing of  1777,  "  Daniel  Clark  and  Benjamin  Clark 
informed  the  Board  that  their  father,  Charles 
Clark,  Esq.,  deceased,  had  left  the  congregation 
twenty  pounds,  to  be  put  at  interest,  the  interest 
to  be  annually  applied  towards  the  support  of 
their  minister.  They  produced  the  will  of  their 
late  fither,  and  paid  the  twenty  pounds  to  Mr. 
Alexander  Chambers,  who  put  the  same  to  in- 
terest to  Mr.  John  Howell  at  six  per  cent." 

Benjamin  died  ISTovember  25,  1785,  in  his 
fifty-fifth  year.  The  Gazette  of  the  week  says : 
''  He  served  in  the  magistracy  with  reputation, 
both  before  and  since  the  Eevolution.  The  esti- 
mation he  was  held  in  by  the  neighborhood  was 
manifest  from  the  numerous  and  respectable  at- 
tendants on  his  funeral,  and  his  loss  will  be  sen- 
sibly felt,  not  only  by  his  family  but  by  the 
Church,  and  the  county  in  which  he  lived." 


Reed — Yard— Howell.  1 57 


Of  Andeew  Eeed,  tlie  next  on  the  list  of 
trustees,  I  have  given  all  I  know  in  a  previous 
chapter.  There  are  stones  in  the  Trenton  church- 
yard, marked,  Sarah,  wife  of  Andrew  Eeed, 
March  15,  1739  ;  Ann,  daughter  of  Andrew 
Reed,  July  4,  1Y5Y,  8ot.  14;  and  three  infant 
Reeds,  Francis,  September  12,  1747  ;  Thomas, 
February  7,  1754 ;  Andrew,  Jr.,  July  7,  1758. 

Joseph  Yaed  belonged  to  a  family,  which  ap- 
pears among  the  earliest  settlers  of  Trenton,  and 
spread  into  numerous  branches.  It  is  said  that 
there  was  a  doubt  whether  the  name  of  Yard 
had  not  a  superior  claim  to  that  of  Trent  for  the 
new  locality.  Our  trustee  came  from  England 
with  his  four  brothers,  Benjamin,  "William,  John, 
and  Jethro.  Benjamin  was  an  elder  of  this 
church  in  1765,  and  it  is  probably  his  death 
which  is  recorded  as  having  taken  place  in  Octo- 
ber, 1808,  in  his  ninety-fourth  year.  Joseph 
acted  as  trustee  until  1762,  and  was  Clerk  of 
the  Board. 

Aethur  Howell's  name  appears  on  the  mi- 
nutes of  May  8, 1762,  for  the  last  time.  On  the 
sixth  of  December  of  that  year  his  will  was  be- 
fore the  surrogate.     His  "trusty  and  beloved 

12 


158  Green — Chambers. 


friend  Obadiah  Howell"  was  one  of  liis  exe- 
cutors. 

Y/iLLiAM  GsEEiq-  was  in  office  until  1764.  This 
family,  like  the  Howells  and  Yards,  is  too  rami- 
fied to  be  traced  for  any  object  of  the  present 
work. 

Alexandee  Chambees,  the  last-named  corpo- 
rator, belonged  to  a  family  Avhich  has  its  fifth  and 
sixth  generations  to  represent  it  at  this  time.  I 
avail  myself  of  a  paper  prepared  by  Mr.  John  S. 
Chambers,  to  furnish  all  the  information  neces- 
sary to  my  purpose. 

"  John  Chambers,  tlic  ancestor  of  the  Chambers  family 
of  Trenton,  came  to  America  from  the  county  of  Antrim 
in  the  north  of  Ireland,  about  the  year  1730. 

"  His  tombstone  stands  near  the  present  church-edifice 
in  good  preservation,  by  the  inscription  on  wliich  it  appears 
that  he  died  September  19th,  1747,  at  the  age  of  seventy 
years. 

"  He  had  several  children,  of  vrhom  his  son  Alexander 
continued  to  live  in  Trenton.  Alexander  was  his  second 
son,  and  was  born  in  Ireland  in  the  year  1716.  He  was 
one  of  the  first  trustees  named  in  the  Charter  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  of  Trenton,  given  from  the  King  through 
Gov.  Belcher,  and  held  the  oflice  from  September  8th, 
1756,  until  his  death,  September  16th,  1798,  a  period  of 
forty-two  years,  during  all  which  time,  as  is  shown  by  the 


Chambers.  159 


Trustees'  Book  of  Minutes,  his  name  is  recorded  as  present 
at  every  meeting  of  the  Board.  He  was  elected  Treasurer 
of  the  Board  May  6th,  1766,  and  performed  the  duties  of 
that  office  till  August  1st,  1796,  a  period  of  thirty  years, 
when  he  resigned  on  account  of  his  advancing  age.  He 
was  also  chosen  President  of  the  Board  on  the  5th  of  May, 
1783,  which  office  he  filled  till  his  death,  a  period  of  fifteen 
years. 

"He  was  by  occupation  a  turner,  spinning-wheel  and 
chair-maker.  He  built  the  brick  house  on  the  corner  of 
State  and  Willow  streets,  for  many  years  used  as  a  store, 
and  known  as  Chambers'  Corner,  and  carried  on  store- 
keeping  in  the  old  mud  house  built  by  his  father,  which 
stood  adjoining. 

"He  died  SejDt.  16th,  1798,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two,  and 
lies  buried  near  his  father  in  the  church-yard.  The  first 
bequest  in  his  will  is  in  these  words  : 

"  '  Item.  I  give  unto  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Tren- 
ton, Thirty  Pounds,  to  be  put  at  interest,  and  the  interest 
to  go  towards  the  support  of  a  minister,  said  Thirty 
Pounds  to  be  paid  to  the  Trustees  one  year  after  my  de- 


cease.' 


"  Alexander  Chambers  left  several  children.  Two  of 
the  sons,  John  and  Alexander,  remained  in  Trenton. 
John  carried  on  the  trade  of  his  father  at  his  own  shop  at 
the  head  of  town  in  Warren  street.  Alexander  converted 
the  brick  house  built  by  his  father  on  the  corner  of  State 
and  Willow  streets  into  a  store,  and  carried  on  an  exten- 
sive business  for  many  years.  He  was  the  first  to  estab- 
lish Bloomsbury  as  a  port  for  sloops,  and  built  a  wharf  and 
storehouse  there  about  the  year  1803  ;  the  transportation 


1 6o  Chambers. 


business  having  been  previously  conducted  at  Lamberton, 
about  a  mile  below. 

"  On  the  Vth  of  August,  1799,  about  a  year  after  the 
death  of  his  father,  he  was  chosen  a  trustee,  and  so  con- 
tinued till  his  death  in  1824,  a  period  of  twenty-five  years. 
John  S.  Chambers,  son  of  the  last-mentioned  John  Chambers, 
was  chosen  a  trustee  ISTovember  24th,  1823,  and  so  con- 
tinued till  his  death  in  November,  1834,  a  period  of  eleven 
years  ;  for  the  last  two  of  which  he  was  also  President  of 
the  Board,  having  been  elected  to  that  office  October  13th, 
1832." 

To  tills  I  may  add  tliat  tlie  son  of  the  last- 
named,  who  furnishes  this  paper,  is  the  present 
Clerk  of  the  Board.  There  was  a  John  Cham- 
bers in  the  eldership  in  1760-4.  My  correspond- 
ent says : 

"  I  have  not  yet  ascertained  who  the  elder,  John  Cham- 
bers, was.  It  is  evident  from  the  dates  he  could  not  have 
been  the  ancestor  who  first  came  over,  as  I  at  first  sup- 
posed." 

According  to  the  terms  of  the  charter,  the 
seven  trustees  were  to  hold  their  office  until  the 
first  Tuesday  of  June,  1757,  when  and  thereafter 
the  trustees  were  to  be  elected  by  "  the  Minister, 
Elders,  and  Deacons  of  the  said  Presbyterian 
Church  and  Congregation."  This  unpopular 
feature  of  ecclesiastical  corporations  passed  away 


Officers.  161 


in  due  time,  together  with  the  loyalty  to  the 
house  of  Hanover ;  but  the  minister,  elders,  and 
deacons  continued,  until  after  the  indejiendence,  to 
elect  the  trustees,  of  whom  the  minister  himself 
was  usually  one,  and  also  President  of  the  Board. 
As  such,  he  was  constituted  by  the  charter  keeper 
of  the  books,  seal,  and  all  papers  of  the  corpo- 
ration."^ In  1760  the  pastor  w^as  Treasurer  as 
well  as  President. 

In  1760,  June  12,  John  Chambers,  John  Hen- 
drickson,  and  Stephen  Rose  were  "  chosen 
elders,"  and  on  the  same  day  is  this  entry  on  the 
trustees'  minutes:  "  Memorandum,  that  it  is 
agreed  by  the  congregation  now  met,  that  the 
Presbyterian  Congregation  of  Trenton  shall  an- 
nnally  meet  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  June  to 
choose  elders,  and  that  then  the  minister,  elders, 
and  deacons  shall  proceed  to  the  choice  of  trus- 
tees of  said  Presbyterian  church."  From  this 
provision,  and  occasional  subsequent  records,  it 
seems  that  there  was  for  a  time  a  departure  from 
the  principle  of  our  church,  that  the  lay-elder- 
ship, like  the  clerical,  is  perpetual,  and  is  not 
open,  even  as  to  the  exercise  of  the  office,  to  re- 

*  The  original  Ciiarter  is  still  preserved.-    It  is  recorded  in  Book  Q, 
p.  163,  State  House. 

12* 


i62  Officers. 


peated  elections,  as  is  the  custom  of  our  sister 
Presbyterian  Churcli,  tlie  Keformecl  Dutch.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  this  was  nearly  thirty 
years  before  the  constitution  of  our  American 
Church  was  framed. 

In  1760  the  name  of  Moore  Furman  appears  in 
the  Board  in  the  place  of  Andrew  Eeed.  In 
1762,  Obadiah  Howell  filled  the  vacancy  made 
by  the  death  of  Mr.  Cowell.  A  personal  notice 
of  Mr.  Furman  will  come  in  more  appropriately 
under  a  later  date.  Obadiah  Howell  was  a 
trustee  until  1770.  He  lived  on  a  farm  which  is 
still  in  the  family,  on  the  Scotch  road  on  the 
borders  of  Trenton. 


Ministry  of  tiie  Key.  Williai\i  Kirkpatrick 

—  His  History. 

1760—1700. 

Soon  after  the  Eev.  Mr.  Cowell's  withdrawal 
from  the  pastorate,  and  before  his  decease,  the 
attention  of  the  people,  perhaps  at  his  suggestion, 
was  turned  towards  Mr.  William  Kirkpatrick 
as  his  successor. 

Neither  the  place  nor  time  of  Mr.  Kirkpatrick'e 
birth  is  known.  Judging  from  his  age,  as  given 
without  dates  on  his  grave-stone,  he  was  born 
about  1720.  He  probably  had  not  a  liberal  edu- 
cation at  the  usual  age,  as  he  was  at  least  thirty 
years  old  when  he  took  his  Bachelor's  degree  at 
Princeton.  This  was  with  the  class  of  1757,  a 
year  noted  in  the  college  history  as  that  in  which 
it  was  removed  from  Newark  to  Princeton,  and 
in  which  its  distinguished  President  Aaron  Burr 
died.  Among  his  class-mates  were  the  young  men 
afterwards  eminent  as  Governor  Joseph  Eeed,  of 


164  Kirkpatrick  apxd 


Pennsylvania,  and  the  Eev.  Alexander  Mac- 
wliorter,  D.D.,  and  in  the  class  next  below  his 
were  John  V.  and  William  Tennent,  sons  of  the 
Eev.  William  Tennent,  Jr.  It  was  in  the  March  of 
that  year  that  the  College  was  blessed  (according 
to  the  language  of  Gilbert  Tennent)  with  "  an 
extraordinary  appearance  of  the  divine  power 
and  presence  there."^  In  the  next  year,  (June 
13  and  14,  1758,)  at  the  meeting  of  the  Presby- 
tery of  New-Brunswick,  which  was  the  first  after 
the  union  of  the  Synods  of  New- York  and  Phila- 
delphia, and  when  Messrs.  Cowell  and  Guild  had 
been  transferred  to  it  from  the  Presbytery  of 
Philadelphia,  Kirkpatrickf  and  Macwhorter  were 
taken  under  trials  as  candidates  for  the  ministry. 
Upon  their  preliminary  examination  the  Pres- 
bytery pronounced  themselves  "  well  pleased  that 
they  can  with  so  great  freedom  encourage  them 
in  their  design."  The  theme  for  Kirkpatrick's 
exegesis  was  "  an  certitudo  subjectiva  salutis  sit 
de  essentia  fidei  justificantis :"  his  trial  text  was 

*  Preface  to  Sermons.  Rev.  Wm.  Tennent,  of  Freehold,  wrote  an  ac- 
coiint  of  the  state  of  things  to  Dr.  Finley,  which  is  printed  in  Dr.  Alex- 
ander's "Log  College,"  pp.  36T-9.  In  that  letter  ho  mentions  that 
both  of  his  sons,  John  and  WilHam,  were  partakers  "  of  the  shower  of 
blessing." 

f  His  name  is  written  Kiilpatrick  in  the  earlier  minutes. 


Macwhorter.  165 

Rom.  3  :  28.  On  tlie  25tli  of  the  next  month, 
the  Presbytery  met  at  Princeton,  when  no  other 
business  was  attended  to  but  the  hearing  and  ap- 
proving of  the  compositions  of  the  two  candidates, 
and  giviug  them  texts  for  further  exercises. 
These  were  heard  on  the  15th  August,  at  Prince- 
ton ;  Kirkpatrick's  second  trial  text  was  Philip- 
pians  4:5;  and  the  course  of  trials  being  com- 
pleted, they  were  licensed,  and  both  of  them 
were  immediately  sent  out  to  supply  vacant  con- 
gregations till  the  Fall  Presbytery.  Kirkpatrick's 
appointments  were  to  Oxford,  Forks  of  Delaware, 
Greenwich,  Bethlehem,  Kingwood,  and  wher- 
ever else  he  should  find  opportunity.  In  Octo- 
ber he  was  appointed  to  the  same  circuit,  with 
Shrewsbury  added  to  the  places  named. 

In  the  early  part  of  1759  he  wrote  the  follow- 
ing letter  to  Dr.  Bellamy,  of  Connecticut  r"^ 

"l^ewark,  Feb.  12,  1759. 

"Rev.  anb  woethy  Sir  :  I  think,  if  I  remember  right,  I 
came  under  a  promise  of  writing  to  you,  which,  if  made, 
I  am  now  about  to  fulfill. 

"  I  remember  we  had  some  conversation  about  George's 
Town  on  Kenuebeck  river  when  I  was  with  you.  I  have 
since  seen  a  man  who  once  Uvedon  the  spot,  who  seems  to 

*  In  tLG  manuscript  collections  of  the  Presbyterian  Historical  Society, 
Philadelpbia. 


i66  Letter  to  Bellamy. 


be  an  intelligent,  sober  man,  and  his  account  of  that  people 
discourages  from  thoughts  of  settling  there.  He  says  they 
are  a  remarkably  contentious,  brawling,  difficult  people,  and 
that  no  minister  can  have  any  comfort,  or  be  long  useful  with 
them.  I  have  had  an  invitation  from  the  Presbytery  ot 
'New  Castle,  (of  which  Mr.  Finley  is  a  member,)  to  come 
under  their  care,  and  settle  among  them,  should  Providence 
oiDcn  a  way  for  it.  Likewise  I  have  had  a  probationary 
call  from  a  place  under  the  care  of  our  own  Presbytery, 
(viz.,  N'ew-Brunswick.)  And  another  of  the  same  kind 
from  a  congregation  near  Elizabethtown  in  York  Presby- 
tery bounds.  I  have  not  yet  seen  my  way  clear  to  accept 
of  an  invitation  from  any  of  these  places,  but  continue  to 
itinerate  among  the  small  vacancies  towards  the  frontiers 
of  this  Province.  If  any  door  of  more  extensive  usefulness 
opens  with  you,  I  would  be  very  glad  if  you  would 
take  care  to  inform  me  ;  my  inclinations  lead  me  much  to 
New-England.  If  you  can  send  a  letter  to  this  place  from 
whence  I  write,  or  to  Mr.  Hazard's  in  ISTew-York,  dii'ected 
to  me  at  Princeton,  it  will  soon  come  to  hand.  However 
the  matter  stands,  I  would  be  very  glad  of  a  letter  from 
you,  at  least  before  the  sitting  of  our  Presbytery,  (the 
third  week  in  June.) 

"  I  am  lately  informed  that  some  of  the  trustees  of  our 
College  have  sent  a  messenger  yesterday  to  Mr.  Davies,  a 
third  time  to  invite  him  to  the  Presidentship  of  om*  Col- 
lege, after  two  former  denials^-we  wait  the  event.  Mr. 
Green  presides  2^0  temjwre,  I  have  lately  heard  from 
good  Mr.  Finley  that  he  is  well, 

"  Religion  is  here  at  a  low  ebb.  Truth  is  fallen  in  the 
streets,  and  equity  can  not  enter.    Christians  fallen  from 


Calls.  167 


their  first  love,  and  vice  triumphaut.     A  spirit  of  cTeadness 

prevails.    How  long,  Lord,  liow  long? 

"  But  being  in  great  hurry,  I  can  not  add  anymore, but 

salutations  to  Mrs.  Bellamy,  best  respects  to  Mr.  Wells  and 

Mr.  Day,  with  aflectionate  duty  and  regard  to  yourself 

from 

"  Rev.  sii',  your  unworthy  son  and  servant, 

"Wm.  Kirkpateick." 

Ill  June,  1759,  tlie  united  congregations  of 
Bethleliem  and  Kingwood  broiiglit  a  call  for 
Mr.  Kirkpatrick.  There  was  also  a  request  or 
'^supplication,"  as  suck  petitions  were  called, 
from  tke  people  of  Tokikan  (or  Tekicken  or  Tini- 
cum)  tkat  ke  skould  supply  tkeir  pulpit.  But 
tke  Synod,  wkick  in  tkose  days  often  exercised 
wkat  are  now  considered  Presbyterial  preroga- 
tives, kad,  in  its  sessions  a  montk  before,  made 
otker  arrangements  for  tke  Presbytery's  proba- 
tioner.*"* It  "  ordered,  tkat  Messrs.  Macwkorter, 
Kirkpatrick,  and  Latta,  take  a  journey  to  Vir- 
C'inia  and  Carolina,  as  soon  as  tkey  can  tkis  sum- 

*  Presbyteries  would  act  for  Sessions,  too.  Thus  in  October,  1156,  a 
request  was  presented  by  Jacob  Eeeder,  a  member  of  Hopewell  and 
Maidenbead  congregations,  "that  for  the  sake  of  the  conveniency  of  his 
family,  the  Presbytery  would  please  to  dismiss  him  from  the  aforesaid 
congregation,  (which  yet  he  professed  a  regard  to,)  that  he  may  join  Tvith 
Am  well ;  and  the  Presbytery  taking  mto  consideration  said  request,  judge 
it  to  be  reasonable,  and  grant  it." 


i68  Ordinations. 


mer,  or  ensuing  fall,  and  spend  some  months  in 
those  parts  f  and  the  Synod  "  further  consider- 
ing the  destitute  condition  of  Hanover^  and  the 
uncertainty  of  their  being  supplied,  if  suppliers 
are  left  to  their  own  discretion,  respecting  the 
time  of  their  going  to  Virginia,"  directed  that 
Kirkpatrick  should  be  at  Hanover  by  the  third 
Sabbath  of  July,  to  be  followed  by  the  two  other 
licentiates  in  September  and  November;  and 
their  respective  Presbyteries  were  counselled  to 
"take  care  that  these  gentlemen  fulfill  this  ap- 
pointment, and  neither  prescribe  nor  allow  them 
employment  in  our  bounds,  so  as  to  disappoint 
this  our  good  intention."  The  direction  of 
their  work  was  to  lie  with  the  Presbytery  of 
Hanover,  which  belonged  to  the  same  Synod. 
Deferring  to  the  superior  authority,  the  Presby- 
tery took  no  order  upon  the  Tohikan  supplica- 
tion, but  directed  their  two  probationers  to  sup- 
ply vacancies  as  far  as  they  could  before  their 
journey  South. 

In  view  of  their  mission,  the  Presbytery  de- 
termined to  hasten  their  ordination.  They  gave 
to  Kirkpatrick  for  his  trial  sermon  the  text, 
"  The  poor  have  the  Gospel  preached  to  them ;" 
and  for  a  Latin  exegesis,  the  perseverance  of  the 


Calls.  169 

saints.'^  These  were  presented  at  Cranbury, 
July  4,  1759,  and  both  Kirkpatrick  and  Mac- 
whorter  were  ordained  on  that  day.  After  all, 
none  of  the  three  fulfilled  the  Synod's  appoint- 
ment ;  but  whatever  were  their  reasons,  (Mac- 
whorter's  was  his  call  to  Newark,)  they  were 
admitted  to  be  sufficient  by  the  Synod,  at  their 
annual  meeting  in  17 GO.  Mr.  Kirkpatrick,  in 
the  mean  time,  had  declined  the  Bethlehem  and 
Kin^rwood  call ;  and  had  received  one  from 
Hanover,  Virginia. 

The  Trenton  congregation  now  first  signified 
their  inclination  to  him.  On  the  day  (March  11, 
1Y60)  on  which  the  Presbytery  released  Mr. 
Cowell  from  that  charge,  they  were  petitioned  to 

*  A  second  exegesis  used  to  be  required  of  candidates,  besides  the 
one  given  for  licensure.  The  Minutes  of  the  Presbytery  of  New-Bruns- 
wick for  October,  1761,  providing  trials  for  certain  licentiates  in  view  of 
ordination,  state  "  that  these  three  young  gentlemen  represented  to  the 
Presbytery  their  great  fatigue  and  continued  hurry  in  riding  from  place 
to  place,  and  begged  to  be  excused  from  making  exegeses,  as  usual  be- 
fore ordination,  and  these  their  requests  were  granted."  In  the  last  cen- 
tury a  branch  of  trial  was  sometimes  introduced,  which  would  scarcely 
be  considered  reverent  now.  In  the  licensure  of  Charles  Tennent,  by  the 
Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  in  1136,  record  is  made  of  "a  previous  test 
of  his  ability  in  iwayery  The  examinations  on  scholarship  were  more  spe- 
cific than  with  us ;  for  example,  Latta  and  Anderson,  at  one  sederunt, 
were  examined  on  "  Logic,  Pneumatics,  and  Ontology."  (Second  Pres- 
bytery of  Philadelphia,  1*765.) 

13 


1 70  Chaplaincy 


send  Mr.  Kirkpatrick  to  supply  the  pulpit,  and 
he  was  accordingly  directed  to  preach  there  "  as 
many  Sabbaths  as  may  consist  with  his  other 
obligations  betvreen  this  and  the  next  Presby- 
tery." 

But  another  and  different  kind  of  field  was  invit- 
ing him.  The  French  war,  though  near  its  close, 
was  still  calling  out  the  loyal  colonists  to  the  fron- 
tiers. Kirkpatrick,  through  his  associations  with 
Hanover  Presbytery,  may  have  caught  the  mar- 
tial spirit  of  sucli  sermons  of  Davies,  as  the  one 
we  read  "on  the  curse  of  cowardice,*'  preached 
"  at  a  general  muster.  May  8,  1Y58,  with  a  view 
to  raise  a  company  for  Captain  Samuel  Meredith," 
or  the  one  "  preached  to  Captain  Overton's  inde- 
pendent company  of  volunteers."  But  in  the 
French  and  Revolutionary  wars  our  clergymen 
required  no  special  stimulus  to  accompany  the 
troops,  at  least  as  chaplains.  All  v\^e  know  of 
Kirkpatrick's  engagement  is  derived  from  this 
entry  on  the  minutes  of  his  Synod,  May  21, 
1^60  : 

'-'  'Tis  allowed  that  Messrs.  Alexander  McDowel  and 
Hector  Alison  go  as  chaplains  to  the  Pennsylvania  forces, 
and  that  Mr.  Kirkpatrick  go  with  the  Xew-Jersey  forces, 
the  ensuing  campaign." 


Supplications.  1 7 1 


That  liis  absence  was  not  expected  to  Le  long, 
is  intimated  by  the  recommendation  subjoined 
by  tlie  Synod,  *'  that  Mr.  Kirkpatrick  pay  a  visit 
to  the  people  of  Windham  on  his  return."  If  he 
went  at  the  time  mentioned,  he  was  back  in  sea- 
son for  the  meeting  of  Presbytery  in  Princeton, 
February  8,  1761,  at  which  he  was  clerk. 

Supplications  were  made  to  Presbytery  from 
^'arious  quarters  for  his  services  as  a  supply,  or  as 
a  candidate  for  settlement;  and  on  the  28th 
April,  17G1,  a  regular  call  was  presented  from 
the  Trenton  congregation.  No  further  order  was 
taken  in  resrard  to  it  at  that  meetiuof,  but  it  was 
probably  with  a  view  of  affording  an  opportunity 
of  making  up  his  mind,  that  the  Presbytery  ap- 
pointed Mr.  Parkhurst,  a  new  licentiate,  to  sup- 
ply four  Sabbaths  at  Trenton,  and  deferred  giv^- 
ing  Kirkpatrick  any  appointment  till  the  meet- 
ing in  the  intervals  of  the  next  Synod. 

At  that  Synod  (May,  1761)  we  find  Mr.  Kirk- 
patrick one  of  a  committee  of  nine  to  whom  was 
referred  the  consideration  of  what  vras  to  be  done 
for  the  better  support  of  John  Brainerd,  who  had 
left  Newark  at  the  solicitation  of  the  Indians,  made 
destitute  by  the  death  of  his  brother  David,  and 
had  become  his  successor  in  the  mission.     Cross- 


172  Crofswicks. 


wicks,  a  pLace  hallowed  in  tlie  memory  of  tlie 
w^liole  Cliurch  by  these  associations,  is  but  eight 
miles  from  Trenton,  and  Mr.  Kirkpatrick  appears 
to  have  had  the  leading  of  the  business  devolved 
on  him,  as,  though  last-named  on  the  committee, 
the  overture,  urging  an  addition  to  the  missionary 
force  as  well  as  the  funds,  is  minuted  as  comins^ 
from  him.  The  Synod,  however,  concluded  that 
as,  after  all  their  inquiry,  no  new  missionary  pre- 
sented himself,  they  could  do  no  more  than  direct 
a  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  to  be  raised  for  Mr. 
Brain erd  for  the  ensuing  year.  Two  years  after 
this,  (May,  1763,)  w^hen  the  Synod  appointed 
Messrs.  Brainerd  and  Beatty  to  visit  "  the  dis- 
tressed frontier  inhabitants  and  to  report  their 
distresses,"  and  also  what  opportunities  were 
opened  for  the  Gospel  among  the  Indian  nations, 
Mr.  Kirkpatrick  was  made  the  alternate  of  either 
who  misfht  fail. 

Between  the  hours  occupied  by  the  Synod  at 
the  session  of  1761,  the  Presbytery  had  a  special 
meeting,  in  the  proceedings  of  which  Mr.  Kirk- 
patrick was  an  interested  party.  The  minutes, 
drawn  probably  by  his  own  hand,  as  he  was 
clerk,  are  thus  : 

"Applications  were  made  from  ElizabethtowD,  Brims- 


Trenton  Call.  173 


wick,  and  Deerfield  for  the  labors  of  Mr.  Kirkpatrick  till 
our  next  Fall  Presbytery.  The  Presbytery  conclude  to 
leave  the  disposal  of  his  time  entirely  to  himself,  as  he  is 
supposed  to  be  best  acquainted  with  the  necessity  of 
these  vacancies  ;  and  the  Presbytery  advise  these  vacan- 
cies not  to  insist  upon  his  tarrying  long  among  them,  un- 
less they  design  to  put  in  a  call  for  him;  as  they  declare 
this  to  be  their  design,  and  he  appears  disposed  [fa- 
.settlement." 

It  would  seem  from  this,  though  there  is  no  re- 
cord to  the  eflfect,  that  the  Trenton  call  had  not 
been  accepted.  Neither  was  it  declined.  From 
the  complexion  of  the  proceedings  all  through 
these  years,  and  from  the  subsequent  transactions, 
I  should  judge  that  Mr.  Kirkpatrick  preferred 
Trenton,  but  that  the  congregation  were  so  back- 
ward on  the  point  of  salary  or  other  arrange- 
ments, that  he  held  the  matter  in  suspense.  Per- 
haps the  minute  last  copied  was  ingeniously 
worded  by  himself  so  as  to  suggest  motives  ^  to 
the  people  of  Trenton  to  be  more  in  earnest,  if 
they  wished  their  call  to  be  preferred  above  the 
others  that  v/ere  coming  in  at  every  Presbytery. 
That  that  people  supposed  they  had  a  special 
claim  upon  him,  is  seen  in  the  tenor  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  a  special  meeting  summoned  for  Au- 

13* 


I74  Kirkpatrick 


gust  11,  1761,  at  Trenton,  to  dispose  of  a  fresh 
invitatioD. 

"A  call  wasbronglit  inby  Capt.  Samuel  Morris  and  Capt. 
AYm.  Craighead,  commissioners  from  the  congregation  of 
Hanover,  in  Virginia,  soliciting  the  settlement  of  Mr. 
Kirkpatrick  among  them  as  their  minister,  which  was 
objected  to  by  the  congregation  of  Trenton  ;  and  the 
Presbytery,  having  deliberately  heard  and  matm'ely  con- 
sidered the  arguments  and  reasons  offered  by  both  parties, 
and  having  likewise  had  a  declaration  by  Mr.  Kirkpatrick 
of  his  sentiments  and  mclmations  relative  to  the  case,  came 
to  the  following  conclusion,  namely,  that,  although  they 
would  gladly  concur  vrith  the  congregation  of  Hanover  in 
their  call,  yet  as  they  can  not  think  it  their  duty  to  ap- 
point Mr.  Kirkpatrick  contrary  to  his  own  inclination  and 
judgment  to  settle  among  them,  they  judge  that  it  is  in- 
expedient to  present  him  the  said  call." 

It  appears,  therefore,  that  he  continued  to 
serve  the  Trenton  congregation  without  install- 
ment ;  but  took  his  share  with  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  Presbytery  and  Synod  in  giving  an 
occasional  Sabbath  to  the  numerous  vacancies  in 
their  extended  bounds..  Among  the  j^laces  thus 
visited  by  him  from  time  to  time  were  Mount 
Holly,  Hard  wick,  Smithfield,  Springfield,  Black- 
river,  Burlington,  Bristol,  Amwell,  Williams- 
burgh,  (Virginia,)  Second  Church  Philadelphia, 


and  Presbytery.  I75 


Boiindbrook,  Teliicken.  At  one  time,  (November 
2,  1763,)  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelpliia,  being 
applied  to  by  the  Kev.  Gilbert  Tennent  for  a  sup- 
ply for  his  pulpit  during  a  winter,  on  account  of  his 
ill-health,  the  Presbytery  advised  the  congrega- 
tion to  ask  the  Presbytery  of  New-Brunswick, 
to  alio w  Messrs.  Kirkpatrick  and  Enoch  Green  to 
supply  them  as  much  as  they  can. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  year  (1761)  commis- 
sioners from  the  Trenton  congregation  aj)pear  to 
have  proposed  to  the  Presbytery  some  advance 
on  the  amount  of  salary  previously  offered  to 
Mr.  Kirkpatrick.  The  Presbytery  expressed  their 
stratification  at  the  exertion  made  to  this  end, 

O  7 

but  pronounced  the  ''  medium  proposed "  to  be 
insufficient.  As  the  commissioners,  however,  had 
given  their  reason  to  hope  that  a  still  further  ef- 
fort would  be  made  for  "  said  medium's  being  in- 
creased," Presbytery  advised  Mr.  Kirkpatrick  to 
officiate  among  them  until  the  next  Spring 
meeting. 

At  this  meeting  (December  1, 1761)  President 
Finley  was  received  from  the  Presbytery  of  New- 
castle, and  he  and  Mr.  Kirkpatrick  vf  ere  deputed 
to  draw  up  and  present  an  address  to  Governor 


176  Parsonage 


Handy,  on  Lis  accession  to  tlie  administration  of 
the  Province. 

In  the  spring  (April  20,  1762)  no  better  pro- 
posals were  received  from  Trenton.  The  Pres- 
bytery confessed  great  embarrassment  as  to  their 
course,  but  finally  gave  their  unanimous  advice 
to  Mr.  Kirkpatrick  to  accept  the  call.  He  com- 
plied with  the  advice,  ])ut  no  direction  was  given 
for  installment. 

An  important  measure,  however,  was  taken  by 
the  congregation,  immediately  after  this  meeting, 
tovv^ards  encouraging  the  permanent  settlement 
of  their  minister.  This  was  the  purchase  of  a 
parsonage.  The  people  bought  a  lot  on  the 
north  side  of  Hanover  street,  which  runs  in  the 
rear  of  the  church,  sixty-five  feet  front,  and  about 
one  hundred  and  sixteen  feet  in  depth,  containing 
twenty-eight  perches  of  land,  on  which  was  a 
dwelling-house.  This  property  v/as  conveyed  to 
tlie  trustees  by  deed  of  Stacy  Beaks,  and  his 
mother  Mary  Beaks,  a  widovr.  May  B,  1762,  for 
the  consideration  of  two  hundred  and  seventy 
pounds,  proclamation  money,  "  to  be  and  remain 
for  a  parsonage  for  the  Presbyterian  congregation 
of  Trenton  forever,  and  the  use,  benefit,  and  profits 
thereof  to  be  held  and  enjoyed  by  the  Presby- 


Calls.  177 

terian  minister  of  TrentoD,  that  sliall  be  regularly 
called  by  the  Presbyterian  congregation  of  Tren- 
ton, and  approved  by  the  Presbytery  of  New- 
Brunswick." 

May,  1763,  brought  another  trial  of  the  strength 
of  Kirkpatrick's  attachment  to  Trenton.  This  was 
in  the  shape  of  a  petition  from  the  congregation 
of  Huntington,  Long  Island,  that  he  should  be  al- 
lowed to  settle  there  as  the  assistant  or  colleague 
of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Prime,  who  was  disabled  by  age 
and  infirmities  for  the  pa'storal  service.  The  de- 
cision on  this  application  was  deferred  till  June, 
when  he  was  allowed  to  relieve  Mr.  Prime  for  two 
Sabbaths  in  July.  This  was  followed  in  August 
by  an  aj)plication  in  person  by  Dr.  Zophar  Piatt, 
on  behalf  of  the  Huntington  congregation.  To 
this  oral  call  the  Presbytery  objected  that  it  was 
too  informal  and  indefinite ;  there  was  no  liberty 
from  the  Presbytery  of  Suffolk,  no  mention  of  the 
capacity  in  which  Kirkpatrick  was  desired,  whe- 
ther as  stated  supply,  sole  pastor,  or  colleague. 
Moreover,  the  Trenton  difiiculty  existed  here  also  ; 
"  the  Presbytery  look  upon  the  proposed  medi- 
um of  support  to  be  insufiicient,"  and  therefore 
could  not  encourage  Mr.  Kirkpatrick  to  make  a 
change.     Immediately  afterwards,  however,  upon 


178  Harker. 

a  petition  from  Loudon  county,  Virginia,  for  a 
candidate  or  supply,  Kirkpatrick,  among  others, 
was  directed  to  "  pay  a  visit  there  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible, and  tarry  a  number  of  Sabbaths  at  discre- 
tion." The  Rev.  Messrs.  McKnight,  Hait,  Ten- 
nents  Senior  and  Junior,  and  Guild  were  ap- 
pointed to  supply  his  pulpit  ^ve  Sabbaths. 

The  Synod  of  1763  brought  to  a  final  issue  a 
series  of  investisrations  into  certain  erroneous 
opinions  of  the  Eev.  Samuel  Harker,  and  of  con- 
ferences with  him,  which  had  occupied  some  por- 
tion  of  their  attention  at  every  meeting  since 
that  of  1758,  when  the  case  was  first  brought  to 
tlie  Synod's  notice  by  the  Presbytery  of  JVew- 
Brunswick,  of  which  he  was  a  member.  Finding 
him  the  more  mischievous  and  obstinate  for  their 
forbearance,  the  Synod  pronounced  him  disquali- 
fied from  exercising  his  ministry.  This  decision 
coming  to  the  Presbytery,  they  directed  Mr. 
Kirkpatrick  to  go  as  soon  as  possible  to  Mr.  Har- 
ker's  congregation,  [Blackriver,]  "warn  them  not 
to  receive  his  doctrines,  or  receive  his  ministra- 
tions, vindicate  the  conduct  of  the  Synod,  signify 
the  paternal  care  of  the  Presbytery  over  them, 
and  inquire  whether  they  are  resolved  to  abide 
under  our  care;  that  if  so,  we  may  order  them 


Presbytery,  1763.  179 


supplies."  At  the  uext  meeting  Kirkpatrick  re- 
ported that  lie  had  fulfilled  his  appointment,  and 
that  the  cono;re2:ation  were  in  such  a  confused 
and  divided  state,  they  were  unable  to  form  a 
determination. 

At  the  October  meetins:  of  1TG3  the  Trenton 
congregation  is  again  before  Presbytery  with 
an  application  for  the  installment  of  their  favorite 
minister,  now  in  the  fourth  year  of  his  service  as 
their  supply.  He  declined  to  accede  to  the  pro- 
position ;  but  no  clew  is  given  to  his  reasons  be- 
yond the  statement,  "  that  he  could  not  in  the 
present  situation  of  affairs."  At  the  same  time 
he  crave  no  intimation  of  withdrawing;  from  the 
place,  or  of  a  willingness  to  yield  to  any  of  the 
numerous  invitations  that  had  come  to  him  from 
other  quartei's.  The  Court  was  perplexed.  They 
declared  they  could  advise  neither  the  people 
nor  their  called  minister  to  proceed  any  further 
towards  the  installation,  but  rather  inclined  to 
the  opinion  that  by  mutual  consent  both  parties 
should  allow  "  things  by  a  natural  and  easy  clian- 
nel  to  return  to  their  former  state  and  situation." 
What  follows  in  the  minute  does  not  help  to 
throw  light  upon  the  difficulties  of  the  case.  "  If 
this  advice  be  complied  with  by  the  said  parties, 


1 8o  Trustees. 


the  Presbytery  foresee,  that  a  congregation  will 
become  a  vacancy  of  whom  they  had  entertained 
hopes  that  they  might  have  been  happily  and 
permanently  settled,  which  is  to  them  a  very  dis- 
agreeable prospect.  But  if  this  should  finally  be 
the  event,  the  Presbyter}^  do  recommend  it  to 
the  people  to  pay  off  the  arrears  to  Mr.  Ivirk- 
patrick  in  proportion  to  what  they  have  hitherto 
done  ;  and  in  the  j^resent  exigence  of  affairs  do 
advise  Mr.  Kirkpatrick  to  supply  the  congrega- 
tion of  Trenton  at  discretion,  as  much  as  he  and 
they  may  agree  upon  till  our  next  Presbytery." 

The  charter  of  the  congregation,  as  we  have 
before  seen,  vested  in  the  Minister,  Elders,  and 
Deacons  the  power  of  electing  trustees.  As  long 
as  Mr.  Cowell  lived  after  the  charter  was  re- 
ceived, he  was  one  of  the  trustees.  There  was 
no  election  in  1761.  In  1762-3  the  Trustees 
were  all  laymen.  But  in  1764  Mr.  Kirkpatrick 
was  elected  Trustee  and  Clerk  of  the  Board ;  an 
evidence  that  his  relation  was  not  considered  that 
of  a  transient  supply.  In  those  times  a  formal 
installment  was  sometimes  dispensed  with  as  un- 
essential to  the  constitution  of  the  pastoral  con- 
nection. In  1736  the  Presbytery  ratified  a  de- 
cision of  their  commission,  (for  Presbytery  as 
well  as  Synod  Scit  in  those  days  in  interims  by 


Calls.  181 

commission,)  that  the  Rev.  William  Tenuent  was 
to  be  considered  "tlie  proper  Gospel  minister 
and  pastor"  of  the  congregation  of  Neshaminy, 
though  he  had  never  been  regularly  installed,  on 
the  ground  that  he  had  accepted  their  call ;  that 
in  the  preamble  of  their  subscription  for  his  sa- 
lary, they  had  spoken  of  him  as  their  minister  ; 
that  the  body  of  them  once  owned  him  as  such 
when  the  question  was  openly  proposed  to  them 
in  the  church,  and  that  he  had  for  ten  years  car- 
ried on  all  parts  of  the  Gospel  ministry  without 
opposition.  An  aj^peal  from  this  decision  was  car- 
ried to  Synod  in  the  same  year,  but  the  Presby- 
tery was  sustained ;  the  Synodal  decision  declar- 
ing, that  though  the  omission  of  a  formal  install- 
ment was  not  to  be  justified,  it  v/as  far  from  nulli- 
fying the  pastoral  relation." 

The  people  of  Huntington,  not  discouraged  by 
previous  failures,  and  having  repaired  the  infor- 
malities of  the  ye^r  before,  renewed  their  appli- 
cation for  Mr.  Kirkpatrick  at  the  October  session 
of  1764.  At  this  time  his  position  in  Trenton,  as 
inferred  from  the  Records,  takes  a  more  definite 
phase.  The  congregation  aj)peared  by  their  repre- 
sentatives, and  expressed  their  opinion  that  Mr. 

*"  Records,"  p.  125. 
14 


i82  Kirkpatrick 


Kirkpatrick  should  be  either  installed  or  dis- 
missed ;  but  "  earnestly  desired  the  former."  On 
the  other  hand,  a  paper  was  presented  with  the 
signatures  of  fifteen  members  of  the  congrega- 
tion, charging  their  minister  with  using  the  people 
ill,  especially  in  his  delays  about  a  permanent 
settlement,  and  concluding  with  a  disavowal  on 
their  part,  of  any  further  obligations  to  him  as 
their  pastor,  or  for  his  future  maintenance. 

The  Presbytery  considered  these  allegations 
and  pronounced  them  groundless.  They  likewise 
assured  the  malcontents  that  the  obligations  be- 
tween the  congregation  and  Kirkpatrick  re- 
mained in  force  "  while  he  continues  their  regular 
minister."  They  proceeded  to  say  that  in  the 
present  confusion  the  way  was  not  clear  for  the 
installment,  and  deferred  final  action  in  the  pre- 
mises till  their  next  meeting,  which  was  to  be 
held  in  a  few  weeks  in  Trenton.  Meanwhile 
Mr.  Kirkpatrick  was  at  liberty,  to  spend  two  or 
three  Sabbaths  in  Huntington. 

Accordingly  on  the  4th  December,  after  or- 
daining Mr.  James  Lyon  as  a  minister  to  Nova 
Scotia,  it  was  determined,  when  the  parties  had 
been  fully  heard,  first,  that  the  opposition  of 
some  of  the  congregation  to  the  settlement  of  the 


and  Presbytery.  183 


pastor  was  witlioiit  just  cause  ;  secondly,  that 
there  was  no  satisfactory  evidence  that  he  could 
be  duly  supported  in  the  execution  of  his  office, 
if  settled ;  thirdly,  that  the  way  is  not  clear  for 
the  installment ;  fourthly,  that  Kirkpatrick  was 
under  no  obligation  to  settle  in  the  place  ;  fifthly, 
that  as  the  body  of  the  congregation  were  in  his 
favor,  he  might  supply  them  for  the  present  sea- 
son ;  sixthly,  that  he  should  be  paid  his  salary 
and  arrears ;  seventhly,  that  he  should  have  li- 
berty to  preach  for  vacant  congregations  ;  and 
eighthly,  if  he  should  wish  to  leave  the  bounds  of 
the  Presbytery,  Dr.  Finley  was  authorized  to  give 
him  the  usual  certificate. 

From  all  this,  it  appears  that  no  advance  or 
change  in  the  position  of  affairs  was  accom- 
plished, and  Mr.  Kirkpatrick  retained  his  place. 

In  the  Synod  as  well  as  in  the  Presbytery,  the 
minister  of  Trenton  was  a  punctual  and  active  mem- 
ber. He  was  often  clerk,  and  his  name  is  found  in 
connection  with  much  of  the  prominent  business. 
In  the  S3mod  of  1763,  he  was  on  the  committees 
for  the  education  of  pious  students  at  Princeton, 
and  for  the  direction  and  support  of  missionaries 
on  the  frontiers,  and  seems  to  have  been  gene- 
rally in  request  as   a  practical  worker  in  the 


1 84  Trenton 

financial  and  judicial  transactions  of  Churcli 
courts.  On  one  occasion  he  is  recorded  as  hav- 
ing left  town  without  leave :  but  it  was  for  the 
two  tedious  days,  in  which  the  roll  of  Synod 
w^as  called,  that  each  member  might  express  his 
opinion  on  the  question,  whether  a  candidate 
should  be  required  to  narrate  his  religious  expe- 
rience before  a  judicature,  as  a  ground  of  decid- 
ing upon  his  reception.^ 

New^-Brunswick  and  Metuchin,  White  Clay 
Creek  and  Christiana  Creek  and  Walkill,  ap- 
plied to  Presbytery  in  1765,  for  the  services  of 
Kirkpatrick,  with  a  view  to  settlement,  or  as  a 
supply ;  but  without  resulting  in  any  change. 

In  April,  1766,  there  came  once  more  a  formal 
call  from  Trenton,  and  at  the  same  time  one 
from  Am  well.  The  former  of  these  is  spoken  of 
in  the  course  of  the  proceedings,  as  his  "  re-settle- 
ment," probably  meaning  a  renewed  effort  for 
his  settlement,  as  his  w^ork  as  pastor,  in  every 
thing  but  the  name,  had  been  continued  with- 
out suspension.  Both  congregations  made  their 
plea^  before  the  Presbytery.  It  would  seem 
from  the  Minutes,  that,  after  both  the  minister 


*  a 


Records,"  p.  31t-8. 


and  Amwell.  18; 


and  people  of  Trenton,  had  signified  their  assent 
that  the  Amwell  call  should  be  prosecuted,  both 
were  disposed  to  retract,  when  the  time  of  sepa- 
ration approached ;  for  this  is  the  deliverance : 

"  That  there  was  some  degree  of  nnprudence  on  the  part 
of  Mr.  Kirkpatrick,  or  the  people  of  Trenton,  or  both,  in 
proceedmg  so  far  in  their  call,  without  the  advice  of  Pres- 
bytery, and  that^  after  they  had  jointly  and  severally  given 
encouragement  to  the  people  of  Amwell  to  invite  him 
amono;  them. 

"  As  the  above  congregations  are  places  of  importance, 
and  equally  dear  to  the  Presbytery,  and  said  congrega- 
tions, together  with  Mr.  Kirkpatrick,  have  submitted  the 
final  determination  of  the  aflair  to  the  Presbytery,  they 
do  therefore  judge,  upon  the  whole,  that  it  is  most  expe- 
dient for  Mr.  Kirkpatrick  to  accept  the  call  from  Am- 
well." 

But  neither  was  this  the  close  of  this  pro- 
tracted business.  Mr.  Kirkpatrick's  dilemma  was 
not  relieved  by  the  decision  he  had  invoked. 
The  matter  went  on  undecided  for  another 
month,  when  a  new  influence  interposed.  The 
Synod  met  in  May,  in  New-York.  In  the  course 
of  their  meetings,  the  Presbytery  held  a  session. 
At  this,  two  members  of  the  Presbytery  of  Phi- 
ladelphia— the  Kev.  Andrew  Hunter,  and  Wil- 
liam Eamsey — were  present,  and  in  their  capa- 

14* 


i86  Trenton 

city  as  corres^pondents,  urged  the  re-consideration 
of  tlie  vote  in  April.  They  apprehended  the 
most  serions  consequences  to  the  interests  of  reli- 
2:ion  in  Trenton,  if  Kirkpatrick  shonld  be  re- 
moved.  They  pleaded,  that  from  the  hapj^y 
union  of  "  all  societies  "  in  the  last  call,  and  the 
extraordinary  exertions  that  had  been  made  in 
view  of  its  acceptance,  a  happy  prospect  opened 
-of  "  an  important  congregation  being  gathered 
there,"  if  he  was  settled  among  them.  "  But  if 
not,  that  the  hearts  of  the  people  would  be  so  sunk 
and  discouraged,  that  they  would  be  effectually 
prevented  from  future  applications,  especially 
considering  the  unhappy  prejudices  they  have 
contracted  against  the  Presbytery,  for  the  afore- 
said judgment."  "  It  was  therefore  earnestly 
overtured  by  these  brethren,"  (and  Mr.  Kirk- 
patrick, if  not  the  reporter,  was  the  recorder  of 
their  language,)  "  that  the  matter  should  be  re- 
viewed, in  order  to  prevent  the  ruin  of  that  grow- 
ing society,  which,  on  account  of  its  situation, 
etc.,  is  really  important ;  and  the  rather,  as  the 
number  of  ministers  present  at  said  determina- 
tion, was  but  small." 

The  subject   being   thus  opened    afresh,  the 
Presbytery,  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the 


and  Amwell.  187 


following  day,  resumed  tlie  discussion,  and  con- 
sented to  adjourn  to  tlie  next  month  at  Trenton, 
and  there  re-consider  their  decision.  The  con- 
gregations of  Amwell  and  Trenton  were  to  be 
notified  of  the  opportunity  of  being  heard. 

On  the  24th  June,  the  parties  were  again  pre- 
sent; and  the  judicatory,  perhaps  tired  of  the 
subject,  turned  the  whole  responsibility  upon  the 
candidate,  by  putting  both  calls  into  his  hands, 
and  requiring  him  to  make  his  own  choice. 
Thus  constrained,  Kirkpatrick  decided  for  Am- 
well, and  the  Presbytery  immediately  appointed 
the  second  Wednesday  of  the  following  August 
for  his  installment  there,  which  was  accomplished. 

Kirkpatrick  had  but  a  short  career  left.  In  1 7  6  7 
he  was  elected  a  Trustee  of  the  College  of  New- Jer- 
sey. He  was  among  the  supplies  for  Trenton  for 
that  year.  He  w^as  Stated  Clerk  of  Presbytery, 
and  Clerk  of  Synod,  a  member  of  the  Commission 
of  Synod,  one  of  the  Synod's  deputation  to  meet 
the  Consociated  Churches  of  Connecticut  at  Xew- 
Haven  in  September,  for  a  plan  of  union,  in  view 
of  the  prospect  of  the  establishment  of  Diocesan 
Episcopacy  in  America  by  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land.^^     In  1768  he  supplied  'Q.ve  Sabbaths  in 

*  The  Convention  had  annual  sessions  alternately  in  New- Jersey  and 
Connecticut,  until  11 7G.     See  Minutes  by  Pr.  Field. 


i88  Last  years 

Trenton ;  is  again  on  the  Synod's  commission ; 
a  delegate  to  tlie  General  Convention  or 
Union  meeting  witli  the  Connecticut  Consocia- 
tion at  Elizabethtown  ;  in  May  a  correspondent 
for  the  Presbytery  with  the  Kev.  Job  Prudden 
in  Connecticut ;  and  in  October  for  the  Synod 
with  ministers  of  Dublin,  according  to  a  system 
of  intercourse  with  foreign  churches.  In  1769 
he  was  Moderator  of  the  Synod  in  Philadelphia, 
and  a  member  of  the  Presbytery's  committee  to 
draft  a  memorial  to  obtain  funds  for  the  College 
at  Princeton.  This  memorial  is  recorded  on  the 
minutes.  Amonsf  its  statements  is  this :  "  It  is 
with  pleasure  they  observe  some  very  eminent 
departments  of  a  civil  nature  already  filled  with 
the  sons  of  this  College,  and  that  in  the  year 
1767  not  fewer  than  eighty  of  them  were  minis- 
ters dispersed  through  the  several  colonies  ;  since 
which  time  there  has  been  a  considerable  addi- 
tion." In  the  archives  of  the  Assembly  is  a 
copy  of  this  memorial  in  a  printed  folio-sheet, 
signed  by  Mr.  Kirkpatrick  as  Moderatoi'.  There 
is  also  preserved  in  the  same  collection,  and  in 
the  same  form,  with  his  signature  as  clerk,  the 
Synod's  circular  of  1767,  recommending  congre- 
gations to  provide  glebes  for  their  pastors — a 
greater  care  for  widows,  orphans,  and  the  poor 


and  Death.  189 


— tlie  avoidance  of  law-snits — tlie  aj)pointment 
of  masters  to  teacli  the  catechism  and  psalmody 
— the  disuse  of  spirituous  liquors  at  funerals — and 
the  establishment  in  each  congregation  of  a  so- 
ciety for  the  reformation  of  morals. 

In  1769  Kirkpatrick  was  Loth  Treasurer  and 
Clerk  of  Presbytery.  On  the  15th  of  June  of 
that  year  his 'familiar  name  appears  for  the  last 
time  amons:  its  livins:  members.  He  died  in 
Amwell  on  the  eighth  of  September,  not  yet  forty- 
three  years  of  age.  His  body  was  buried  in 
front  of  the  pulpit  of  the  First  Church  of  Am- 
well or  "  Old  House ''  between  the  villasres  of 
Eingoes  and  Reaville.  The  church  has  been 
since  taken  down,  and  a  new  one  built  at  Rea- 
ville, but  the  tomb  remains  in  its  first  position, 
and  is  thus  inscribed. 

"  Here  lieth  the  body  of  tlie 
Rev.    WILLIAM     KIRKPATRICK, 

Late  Pastor  of  this  church, 
Who  died  in  the  43d  year  of  his  age. 
Reader,  vrouldst  thou  know  his  character  for  thy  good  ? 
Think  what  a  Man,  a  Christian,  a  Minister  of  the  Gospel? 

a  Friend,  a  Husband,  a  Father,  a  Master  should  be  ; 

For  in  imitating  this  pattern  (if  justly  drawn)  thou  shalt 

imitate  him,  and  witli   him  shalt  with  distinguished 

honor  attain  to  the   resurrection  of  the  just." 


Kjo  ■  Hannah  Kirkpatrick. 


u 


Xear  him "  (says  a  correspondent  of  T/ie  Preshy- 
terian)  lie  the  "  remains  of  a  daughter  who  survived  him, 
and  whose  name  is  found  on  the  records  of  Amwell  First 
Church  as  a  member  in  full  communion.  We  give  the  in- 
scription on  her  tombstone. 

"  In  memory  of 
Hanxah,  daughter  of  the  late  Rev.  William  Kirkpatrick, 

Pastor  of  this  church, 
Who  died  August  7th,  1786,  in  the  nineteenth 

year  of  her  age. 

The  dust  beneath 
Proclaims  this  solemn  truth  : 

The  young  are  fading, 
Frail's  the  bloom  of  youth  ; 

Life's  a  short  dream, 
A  false  and  empty  show, 

And  all  is 
Fleeting  vanity  below. 

0  reader  !  speak, 
Can  you  believe  too  soon, 

The  fairest  morn  of  life 
Will  not  insure  the  noon." 

"  Mrs.  Margaret  Kirkpatrick,  his  widow,  was  after- 
wards married  to  the  Rev.  John  Warford,  who  having 
been  called  by  the  Amwell  j^eople  April  3,  1776,  was  or- 
dained and  installed  their  pastor.  The  man  of  God,  who 
is  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  fulfilled  his  course  in  about 
eleven  years  ;  but  short  as  that  course  was,  it  left  an  abid- 
ing impression  in  the  region  where  he  closed  his  labors. 
Testimony  to  this  effect  has  been  frequently  given  to  the 
writer  by  a  highly  intelligent  parishioner,  who  was  born  in 


Recollections.  '  191 


1760,  and  lived  to  euter  his  ninety-first  year.  There  is 
now  Uving  [185 7]  a  venerable  mother  in  Israel,  aged 
ninety-seven,  who,  though  only  eight  or  nine  years  old  at 
the  time,  has  a  distinct  recollection  of  Mr.  Kirkpatrick's 
personal  appearance.  She  describes  him  as  being  above 
the  ordinary  size,  but  not  corpulent ;  grave,  dignified,  and 
commanding  in  his  aspect,  and  of  most  engaging  address. 
But  by  no  survivor  was  he  more  loved  and  revered  than 
by  a  slave,  whom  he  owned  to  the  time  of  his  death,  i^ew- 
Jersey  being  then  a  slaveholding  State.  This  slave  lived 
to  be  about  one  hundred  years  of  age.  To  old  Cato  his 
master  was  the  model  of  a  man  and  a  Christian  minister, 
and  but  for  his  greater  love  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  his 
profound  veneration  and  deep-rooted  afiection  might  have 
been  looked  upon  as  idolatry."* 

I  am  sorry  to  find,  not  only  in  the  Eecorcls  of 
our  Trustees,  but  of  the  Presbytery,  that  there 
was  both  before  and  after  Mr.  Kirkpatrick's 
death,  some  irregularity  and  delay  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  salary.  Insufficiency  of  stipend  and 
unpunctuality  in  receiving  it,  have  long  been 
amonp*  the  trials  of  pastors,  especially  of  those 


*  The  name  of  the  Rev.  Jacob  Kirkpatrick,  D.D.,  is  so  much  identified 
with  the  churches  of  Amwell,  where  he  is  now  [1858]  actively  passing 
the  forty-eighth  year  of  his  pastorate,  that  it  will  meet  a  natural  inquiry 
to  state,  that  Dr.  Kirkpatrick  does  not  know  that  he  has  any  family  con- 
nection with  his  predecessor  and  namesake. 


192  Salary. 

settled  in  rural  districts  where  tlic  people,  accus- 
tomed to  maintain  their  own  families  from  their  ^ 
farms,  or  by  barter,  have  an  inadequate  idea  of 
the  necessity  of  money  to  those  who  have  nothing 
else  to  live  upon.  In  the  times  of  which  I  am 
writing,  these  evils  frequently  engaged  the  at- 
tention of  the  Presbytery,  and  for  a  while  re- 
ports of  such  delinquencies  were  statedly  called 
for  and  acted  upon.  In  regard  to  Mr.  Kirk- 
patrick's  case,  inasmuch  as  the  subject  stands 
upon  the  Records,  it  ought  to  be  said  that  ac- 
cording to  the  church-books,  it  appears  that 
there  was  a  difficulty  in  determining  the  claims 
for  arrears  due  on  the  last  six  months'  salary, 
and  that  the  committee  of  the  Trustees,  ap- 
pointed for  the  purpose,  could  not  get  access 
to  the  accounts  of  Mr.  Kirkpatrick,  so  as  to 
ascertain  what  amount,  or  whether  in  fact  any  re- 
mained unpaid.  The  subject  was  dismissed  from 
Presbytery  with  the  conclusion,  "  that  all  has 
been  done  that  can  conveniently  be  done  relating 
^"^^o  the  Trenton  arrears."     One  source  of  the  diffi- 

1  Q 

^ulty  probably  was,  that  the  salary  was  collected 

•.jy  a  committee  in  each  church,  who  may  have 

handed  their  collections  to  the  minister  without 


Minute.  193 

the  agency  of  tlie  treasurer.     Thus  in  March, 
1765  is  a  minute  in  the  Trustees'  book: 

"  Appointed  to  collect  the  six  months'  salary  for  Mr. 
Kirkpatrick : 

*'  In  town  :  John  Ely,  Hezekiah  Howell. 
"  In  the  country :  Isaac  Green,  Richard  Palmer." 
15 


Trustees  —  Tkenton  and  Maidenhead. 

1T64— 1769. 

Fro:m  Mr.  Cowell's  death,  until  Mr.  Kirkpat- 
rick's  removal,  tke  Trenton  Board  of  Trustees  re- 
mained unckanged,  at  tke  annual  elections,  except 
tkat  in  1762  the  name  of  Obadiak  Howell  ap- 
pears in  the  place  of  Mr.  Cowell's  ;  in  1764,  the 
names  of  Mr.  Kirkpatrick,  James  Cumin es,  and 
Abraham  Hunt,  come  in  the  places  of  Arthur  How- 
ell, Joseph  Yard,  and  Moore  Furman;  in  1766, 
the  names  of  Joseph  Reed,  Jr.,  Samuel  Tucker, 
and  Daniel  Clark,  succeed  those  of  Mr,  Kirk- 
patrick, William  Green,  and  James  Cumines.  In 
1764,  John  Chambers,  John  HendricksoD,  and 
Joseph  Green,  were  elected  Elders;  in  1765, 
Benjamin  Yard,  Hezekiah  Howell,  and  William 
Tucker  were  elected,  apparently  to  succeed  them. 

James  Cumestes,  or  Cumine,  or  Cumins,  died 
February  21,  1770,  aged  sixty-six.  He  be- 
queathed ten  pounds  to  the  Trustees,  to  be  in- 


Abraham  Hunt.  195 


vested  for  the  support  of  the  pastor.  This  was 
not  payable  until  the  death  of  his  wife,  at  which 
time  the  rest  of  his  property  was  to  be  divided 
among  James,  William,  Samuel,  and  Joseph, 
sons  of  William  Cumines,  of  Nottingham,  Chester 
county,  Pennsylvania.  A  Mrs.  Jean  Cumins 
signed  the  call  of  Mr.  Spencer,  in  1769. 

Abraham  Hunt  was,  for  many  years,  the 
most  prominent  and  opulent  merchant  of  the 
town.  He  was  in  the  Board  from  1764  till  his 
death,  at  the  age  of  eighty-one,  October  27, 1821, 
a  space  of  fifty-seven  yer.rs.  He  was  regular  in 
his  attendance  at  the  meetings,  down  to  1818. 
In  that  year  he  made  his  will,  bequeathing  one 
hundred  dollars  to  this  church,  and  the  same 
amount  to  the  Episcopal.  Mr.  Hunt  was  Post- 
master of  Trenton,  both  before  and  after  the 
Kevolution.  His  grandson,  Mr.  Wesley  Hunt,  has 
in  his  possession  o;Qe  of  his  commissions,  dated 
January  10,  1764,  by  which  "Benjamin  Frank- 
lin and  John  Foxcroft,  Postmasters-General  of  all 
his  Majesty's  Provinces  and  Dominions  in  the  con- 
tinent of  North- America,"  appoint  Abraham 
Hunt,  Deputy  Postmaster  in  Trenton,  for  three 
years;  and  another,  dated  October  13,  1775, 
also  for  three  years,  from  "  Benjamin  Franklin, 


196  Jofeph  Reed. 

Postmaster-General  of  all  the  United  Colonies  on 
the  continent  of  North- America." 

The  tradition  is  now  on  record,  that  Colonel 
Rahl  was  spending  a  late  evening  at  Mr.  Hunt's 
house,  in  Christmas  festivities,  the  day  before  the 
battle  of  Trenton,  in  which  he  fell,  and  that  his 
hilarity  caused  him  to  leave  unopened  a  note 
that  warned  him  of  the  approach  of  Washing- 
ton's army."^  Mr.  Hunt  was  the  father  of  Pear- 
son, Wilson,  John  W.,  and  Theodore  Hunt.  Of 
his  first  wife,  Theodosia,  who  died  March  4, 1784, 
at  the  age  of  thirty-nine,  her  tomb-stone  declares : 
"Such  was  the  cheerful,  uninterrupted  benevo- 
lence of  her  heart,  such  was  the  gentleness  and 
purity  of  her  manners,  that  she  never  made  an 
enemy,  nor  ever  lost  a  friend.  To  know  her 
once,  was  to  love  her  forever."  His  second  wife 
was  Mary  Dag  worthy,  who  died  April  4,  1814, 
in  her  sixty-sixth  year. 

Joseph  Reed,  Jr.,  is  well  known  in  American 
history,  in  connection  with  the  public  positions 
enumerated  in  the  title  of  the  two  volumes  of 
his  "  Life  and  Correspondence,"  as  "  Military  Se- 
cretary of  Washington  at  Cambridge,  Adjutant- 

*  LossiDg'g  Field-Book  of  the  Revolution. 


Jofeph  Reed.  197 


General  of  tlie  Continental  Army,  Member  of  the 
Conerress  of  the  United  States,  and  President  of 
the  Executive  Council  of  Pennsylvania.""'  He 
was  also  (1777)  elected  Chief- Justice  of  Penn- 
sylvania, but  declined  the  office.  Mr.  "Reed  was 
born  at  Trenton,  August  27, 1741.  Of  his  father, 
Andrew  Keed,  who  was  one  of  the  original  Cor- 
porators and  Trustees,  I  have  already  made  men- 
tion. Joseph  Reed  graduated  at  Princeton,  in 
1757 ;  studied  law  with  Richard  Stockton,  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1763.  He  then  went 
to  London,  and  prosecuted  his  professional  stu- 
dies in  the  Middle  Temple,  until  1765,  when  he 
returned  and  commenced  practice  in  Trenton. 
According  to  a  letter  of  1766,  his  family  in  Tren- 
ton, at  that  time,  consisted  of  himself,  his  father, 
sister,  two  brothers,  his  half-sister,  (Mrs.  Charles 
Pet  tit,)  and  her  three  children.  In  the  same 
year  he  writes :  "  There  are  sixteen  courts  which 
I  am  obliged  to  attend  from  home,  oftentimes 
near  a  whole  week  at  each,  besides  attending  the 
assizes  once  a  year  through  the  whole  province, 


*  Life  and  Correspondence  of  Joseph  Reed,  by  his  grandson  William 
B.  Reed,  2  vols.,  1847.  Memoir  of  the  same,  by  Professor  Henry  Reed, 
in  Sparks'  American  Biography,  vol.  viii.  The  Life  of  Esther  de  Berdt, 
[Mrs.  Joseph  Reed,]  by  W.  B.  Reed ;  privately  printed. 

15* 


198  Jol'eph  Reed. 


which  contains  thirteen  counties."  His  dwelling, 
according  to  an  advertisement  of  the  property, 
in  1779,  was  near  the  market-house,  having 
nearly  two  acres  of  ground  attached  to  it,  ex- 
tending two  hundred  feet  on  Market  street,  and 
commanding  a  beautiful  view  of  the  Delaware, 
including  the  Falls. 

In  1770,  Mr.  Reed  re- visited  London,  and  was 
married  to  a  daughter  of  Denys  de  Berdt,  after 
which  he  took  up  his  residence  in  Philadelphia, 
and  his  j)ublic  life  thenceforward  was  identified 
with  his  adopted  State. 

Mr.  Reed  was  a  Trustee  of  the  congregation 
from  1766  to  1769.  On  his  removal  to  Phila- 
delphia, he  attended  the  Pine  Street  (third  Pres- 
byterian) Church.  His  biographer  says :  He  "  was 
firmly  attached  to  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in 
which  he  had  been  educated."  In  one  of  his  pub- 
lications, he  said  of  it :  "  When  I  am  convinced 
of  its  errors,  or  ashamed  of  its  character,  I  may 
perhaps  change  it  ;  till  then  I  shall  not  blush 
at  a  connection  with  a  people,  who,  in  this  great 
controversy,  are  not  second  to  any  in  vigorous 
exertions  and  general  contributions,  and  to  whom 
we  are  so  eminently  indebted  for  our  deliverance 
from  the  thraldom  of  Great  Britain." 


Jofeph  Reed.  199 


In  the  Pennsylvania  Packet  of  April  22,1779, 
is  an  address,  presented  to  President  Reed,  from 
the  officers  of  the  Scots'  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Philadelphia,  applauding  his  administration.  The 
Pine  Street  congregation,  for  whom  Mr.  Reed 
had  acted  as  counsel,  in  settling  a  difference 
about  property  with  the  Market  Street,  or  First 
Church,  presented  him  with  a  pew.  It  was  to  the 
pastor  of  Pine  Street,  that  the  direction  of  Mr. 
Reed's  will  referred  in  saying :  "  If  I  am  of  con- 
sequence enough  for  a  funeral  sermon,  I  desire  it 
may  be  preached  by  my  old  friend  and  instructor, 
Mr.  Duffield,  in  Arch  street,  the  next  Sunday 
after  my  funeral." 

When  John  Adams  was  attending  Congress  in 
Philadelphia,  he  often  attended  the  Arch  and 
Pine  Street  churches  with  Mr.  Reed.  Thus  in 
his  Diary  of  1774:  "September  10,  [which  was 
Saturday,  and  preparatory  to  the  communion.] 
Rambled  in  the  evening  with  Jo.  Reed,  and  fell 
into  Mr.  Sproat's  meeting,  [Arch  street,]  where 
we  heard  Mr.  Spence  preach.  September  11. 
Mr.  Reed  was  so  kind  as  to  wait  on  us  to  Mr. 
Sproat's  meeting."  "October  24, 1775.  Heard  Mr. 
Smith,  of  Pequea.  This  was  at  Duffield's  meet- 
ing,"    Mr.  Adams  pronounced  Sproat  to  be  "to- 


r 


200  Samuel  Tucker. 


tally  destitute  of  the  genius  and  eloquence  of 
Duffield."^ 

Colonel  Reed  vvas  witli  General  Cadwalader's 
division  when  Washington  crossed  the  Delaware, 
in  1777.  In  1782,  he  was  one  of  the  professional 
representatives  of  Pennsylvania,  before  the  Com- 
missioners of  Cono^ress,  who  met  at  Trenton  to 
decide  the  dispute  between  that  State  and  Con- 
necticut, in  regard  to  the  Wyoming  lands.  In 
one  of  his  letters  he  writes  of  having  received  a 
letter  "  under  cover  of  Mr.  Spencer,"  then  the 
pastor  at  Trenton.  He  was  a  Trustee  of  the 
College  of  New- Jersey,  from  1781  until  his  death. 
In  1783,  visiting  England  for  his  health,  he  was 
associated  with  Dr.  Witherspoon,  who  went  out 
in  the  same  vessel,  on  a  mission  to  obtain  sub- 
scriptions Ibr  the  College  abroad.  Ee  died  in 
Philadelphia,  March  5,  1785. 

Samuel  Tuckee  served  in  the  Trusteeship 
from  1766  to  1788,  and  for  most  of  the  time  was 
Clerk  of  the  Board.  He  held  many  public  sta- 
tions. He  had  been  Sheriff  of  Hunterdon,  and 
when  as  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Assembly 
of  1769,  he  took  an  active  part  in  the  investiga- 

♦  Life  and  Works  of  John  Adams,  vol.  ii.    In  1 7 1 T,  Mr.  Adams  boarded 
•with  the  family  of  Mr.  Sproafc. 


Samuel  Tucker.  20i 


tion  of  alleged  professional  abuses  of  lawyers, 
there  was  a  recrimination  in  regard  to  his  own 
fee-bills  as  Sheriff.*  He  was  President  of  the 
Provincial  Congress  of  New-Jersey,  which  sat  in 
Trenton  from  October  4  to  28,  1YY5,  and  offi- 
cially signed  the  Constitution  which  it  framed, 
July  2,  1776.  On  the  4th  September  of  that 
great  year,  he  was  appointed  a  Justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court.  He  was  also  for  a  time  Treas- 
urer of  the  new  State,  and  in  that  relation 
there  will  be  occasion  to  introduce  his  name 
hereafter.  In  1776  he  was  Chairman  of  the 
Provincial  Committee  of  Safety,  but  in  the  sub- 
sequent panic  he  took  advantage  of  the  offer  of 
British  protection.f  Perhaps  some  of  this  weak- 
ness was  attributable  to  the  family  connection  of 
Mr.  Tucker — his  vnfe  being  an  English  lady.  It 
is  said,  that  Mr.  Tucker  and  John  Hart  (after- 
wards a  signer  of  the  Declaration)  were  compe- 
titors for  the  Assembly,  in  1768 ;  Tucker  was 
supported  by  the  Episcopalians,  Methodists,  and 
Baptists,  Hart  by  the  Presbyterians.  "During 
the  first  and  second  days  of  election,  Hart  was 

*  Field's  Provincial  Courts  of  New- Jersey,  p.  169. 
f  Journal  of  Assembly  of  New- Jersey,  Dec.  17,  1717,     Sedgwick's 
Life  of  Governor  Livingston,  p.  194. 


202  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tucker. 


ahead,  but  on  tlie  third,  one  Judge  Brae,  coming 
up  with  a  strong  reserve  of  Church  of  England 
men,  secured  Tucker's  return."  ^ 

Mr.  Tucker  died  in  1789.  By  his  will  he  left 
fifty  pounds  to  "  the  Trustees  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Trenton  and  Lamberton,"  as  it  is 
named  in  the  will,  to  distinguish  the  town  from 
the  country  church ;  the  interest  was  to  be  paid 
annually  "  to  the  minister,  to  attend  divine  ser- 
vice in  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Trenton,  to- 
wards his  support."  He  left  thirty  pounds  to 
the  Episcopal  Church.  His  will  made  judicious 
provision  for  the  emancipation  of  his  slaves,  either 
immediate  or  at  a  conditional  time;  as,  upon 
learning  a  trade,  adding  a  legacy  of  money  to 
that  of  liberty. 

Mrs.  Tucker's  maiden  name  was  Gould.f  In 
1766  she  inherited  from  Elizabeth  Gould,  of 
Exeter,  Devonshire,  (perhaps  her  mother,)  some 
property,  which,  by  her  own  will,  in  1787,  she 
bequeathed  to  her  nieces,  White  and  Murga- 
troyd. 

*  Sedgwick's  Livingston,  p.  143. 

]  There  was  a  "Captain  Gould"  in  Trenton,  in  1725,  with  whom 
Thomas  Chalkley,  the  Quaker  minister,  lodged — "  who  treated  me  very 
politely."  A  brook,  running  through  the  meadows,  near  the  old  ceme- 
tery where  the  Tuckers  were  buried,  is  called  Gould's  or  Gold's  run. 


Epitaphs.  203 

Mr.  aud  Mrs.  Tucker  were  buried  in  the  old 
grave-yard  described  already  as  lying  inclosed 
but  desolate,  in  the  midst  of  cultivated  fields. 
The  two  large  stones  that  cover  their  graves,  are 
the  only  ones  in  the  little  inclosure  that  remain 
unmutilated.     The  inscriptions  are  as  follows ; 

1 .  "  Underneath  this  stone  lie  the  remains  of  Samtjel 
Tucker,  Esq.,  who  departed  this  life,  the  14th  day  of 
January,  1789,  aged  67  years,  3  months,  and  19  days. 

"  Though  in  the  dust  I  lay  my  head, 

Yet,  gracious  God,  thou  wilt  not  leave 
My  soul  forever  with  the  dead. 

Nor  lose  thy  children  in  the  grave." 

2.  "In  memory  of  Elizabeth  Tucker,  the  wife  of  Sam- 
uel Tucker,  Esq.,  of  Trenton,  and  daughter  of  James  and 
Ann  Gould,  who  departed  this  life  on  Sunday,  the  13th 
day  of  May,  1787,  aged  57  years,  8  months,  and  14  days. 

"  This  life's  a  dream,  an  empty  show, 
But  the  bright  world  to  which  I  go 
Hath  joys  substantial  and  sincere ; 
When  shall  I  wake  and  find  me  there  ? 
Then  burst  the  chains  with  sweet  surprise. 
And  in  my  Saviour's  image  risa" 

At  the  meeting  of  Presbytery,  in  the  fall  of 
the  year  in  which  Mr.  Kirkpatrick  left  Trenton, 
the  congregation  applied  for  supplies,  "  and  in 
particular  for  the  Eev.  Mr.  McKnight,  in  case  of 


204  Charles  McKnIght. 


his  dismission  from  his  present  charge,  which  they 
inform  us,  they  have  heard  is  probable."  This 
was  the  Rev.  Charles  McKnight,  who  was  the  pas- 
tor of  Allentown,  but  who  at  the  same  meeting 
was,  at  his  request,  dismissed  from  that  charge. 
At  that  time  also,  a  call  for  him  was  presented 
from  Shrewsbury,  Shark  River,  and  Middletown 
Point,  which  he  subsequently  accepted. 

The  people  next  turned  their  attention  to  Mr. 
Jonathan  Edwards,  son  of  the  eminent  President 
of  Princeton  College,  and  himself  afterwards  dis- 
tinguished as  President  of  Union  College,  at 
Schenectady.  Mr.  Edwards  graduated  at  Prince- 
ton, after  his  father's  death,  and  in  1767  was 
employed  there  as  Tutor.  He  had  been  licensed 
by  the  Litchfield  Congregational  Association,  in 
17S6  ;  but  in  April,  1767,  he  applied  to  be  taken 
under  the  care  of  the  Presbytery  of  New-Bruns- 
wick, which  was  done,  and  among  the  vacancies 
assigned  to  him  was  Trenton,  which  he  was 
directed  to  supply  for  three  Sabbaths.  On  the 
20th  October,  1767,  a  call  was  brought  for  him 
from  the  congregation.  As  Mr.  Edwards  was 
not  present,  the  matter  was  deferred,  but  "  in  the 
mean  time  the  Presbytery  can  not  help  express- 
ing their  pleasure  to  see  such  a  harmony  among 


Jonathan  Edwards.  205 


said  people  in  the  call  aforesaid,  and  that  they 
have  exerted  themselves  so  far  for  the  support 
of  the  Gospel;  and  we  assure  said  people,  we 
will  concur  with  them  in  their  prosecution  of  said 
call ;  and  we  appoint  Mr.  Edwards,  to  supply  at 
Trenton  as  much  as  he  can  do,  till  our  spring 
Presbytery." 

The  exertion,  for  which  the  people  are  com^ 
mended,  refers  to  a  subscription  for  the  support 
of  the  pastor  elect,  which  accompanied  the  call, 
and  the  lack  of  which — added  perhaps  to  the 
want  of  the  same  unanimity  in  the  people — had 
been  the  main  cause  of  preventing  the  installment 
of  their  late  minister.  The  application,  however, 
was  ineffectual,  and  on  the  19th  April,  1768,  the 
entry  is : 

"  Mr.  Edwards,  having  been  chosen  a  Professor  of  Lan- 
guages, etc.,  in  the  College  of  IsTew- Jersey,  and  being  now 
employed  as  a  Tutor  there,  could  not  see  it  to  be  his  duty 
to  break  his  connections  with  the  College  aforesaid  ;  and 
therefore,  as  he  would  not  accept  the  call  from  Trenton, 
it  was  returned."  * 

*  Mr.  Edwards,  on  the  20tli  AprD,  11Q8,  was  appointed  to  supply  at 
Allentown  and  New-Brunswick  at  discretion ;  and  this  is  the  last  time 
his  name  appears  in  the  records  of  the  Presbytery.  He  did  not  accept 
the  Professorship,  and  on  January  5,  IT 69,  was  ordained  over  the  Con- 
gregational Church  of  White  Haven,  Conn.     It  may  be  doubted  whetlier 

16 


2o6  Trenton. 

The  College  was  often  looked  to  for  ministers. 
Just  before  callina'  Mr.  Edwards,  Trenton  was 
one  of  three  vacant  congregations  tliat  applied 
for  Mr.  James  Thompson,  a  recent  licentiate,  to 
sujiply  them  statedly;  ''but  Mr.  Thompson's 
connections  with  the  College  of  New- Jersey  as 
a  Tutor,  so  embarrass  him,  that  it  appears  inex- 
pedient to  the  Presbytery  to  lay  him  under  any 
positive  appointment ;  but  only  recommend  it  to 
him  to  supply  as  much  as  he  can  at  these  places, 
at  discretion."     (Minute  of  June  23,  1767.) 

In  the  year  17^9,  the  two  congregations  of 
Trenton  united  with  the  Maidenhead  congi'e- 
gation  in  an  arrangement,  by  which  one  pastor 
could  serve  the  three  societies.  There  must  have 
been  some  strong  necessity,  financial  or  other- 
wise, for  a  measure  that  would  reduce  the  share 
of  each  congregation  from  one  half  of  a  minister's 


his  coming  under  tlie  care  of  tlie  Presbytery  meant  more  than  asking  to 
be  employed  by  them  dming  his  continuance  in  the  College ;  but  the 
Minute  of  April,  1*767,  is,  "  Being  desirous  to  be  taken  under  the  care  of 
this  Presbytery,  we  do  gladly  receive  him  according  to  his  desire."  In 
1807,  there  was  a  case  of  this  kind:  "Mr.  Enoch  Burt,  a  licentiate  of 
the  Southern  New-Hampshire  Association,  appeared  in  Presbytery,  and 
being  asked  whether  he  was  wilhng  to  accept  of  appointments  to  preach 
in  our  vacant  churches  the  ensuing  summer,  answered  in  the  affirmative. 
The  Committee  of  Supplies  was  directed  to  take  notice  of  the  same." 


and  Maidenhead.  207 


care  to  one  third.     The  iirst  evidence  of  the 
nnion  is  in  a  minute  of  October  18 : 

"  A  petition  was  brought  into  the  Presbytery,  from  the 
congregations  of  Trenton  and  Maidenhead,  signed  by  the 
respective  elders,  requesting  them  to  invite  the  Reverend 
Mr.  Spencer,  a  member  of  the  Presbytery  of  Newcastle, 
to  settle  among  them  :  which  the  Presbytery  unanimously 
complied  with." 


The    Reverend    Eliiiu    Spencer,    D.D.— His 

Previous  History. 

1721—1769. 

Elihu  Spencer,  thus  introduced  into  our  his- 
tory, Avas  a  son  of  Isaac  and  Mary  (Selden) 
Spencer,  and  ^vas  horn  in  East-Haddam,  Con- 
necticut, February  12,  1721.  He  entered  Yale 
College  in  1742,  and  commenced  Bachelor  of 
Arts  in  1746,  in  the  class  with  President  Stiles 
and  John  Brainerd.  The  families  of  Spencer 
and  Brainerd  were  doubly  connected,  for  Han- 
nah Spencer,  a  sister  of  Dr.  Spencer's  grandfather, 
was  the  grandmother  of  David  and  John  Brain- 
erd ;  and  their  sistei',  Martha  Brainerd,  was  the 
wife  of  General  Joseph  Spencer,  brother  of  Elihu. 
In  the  Life  of  David  Brainerd,  President  Ed- 
wards relates  that  when  David  was  on  his  death- 
bed, his  youngest  brother,  Israel,  came  to  see 
him  ;  "  but  this  meeting,"  he  says,  "  was  attend- 
ed with  sorrow,  as  his  brother  brought  him  the 


Brainerd  and  Spencer.  209 


sorrowful  tidings  of  liis  sister  Spencer's  deatli  at 
Haddam.  A  peculiarly  tender  affection  and 
mucli  religions  intimacy  had  long  subsisted  be- 
tween Mr.  Brainerd  and  bis  sister,  and  be  used 
to  make  ber  bouse  bis  borne,  wbeuever  be  went 
to  Haddam,  bis  native  place." 

Mr.  Spencer  bad  entered  college  witb  tbe  de- 
sign of  preparation  for  tbe  ministry,  and  soon 
after  bis  licensure  be  was  cbosen  by  tbe  Ameri- 
can Correspondents,  or  Commissioners,  of  tbe 
Scottish  Society  for  propagating  tbe  Gospel  in 
New-England  and  parts  adjacent,  as  a  suitable 
missionary  to  tbe  Indian  tribes.  At  tbis  time 
David  Brainerd  w^as  tbe  most  prominent  evangel- 
ist among  tbe  Indians,  and  it  was  partly  owing 
to  bis  favorable  opinion  tbat  young  Spencer  was 
engaged  for  tbe  same  work.  Under  date  of 
September,  1747,  in  tbe  Life  of  Brainerd,  it  is 
said  tbat,  "  Brainerd  having  now,  witb  much  de- 
bberation,  considered  tbe  subject  referred  to  him 
by  tbe  Commissioners,  wrote  them  about  tbis 
time,  recommending  two  young  gentlemen  of  bis 
acquaintance,  Mr.  Elibu  Spencer,  of  East»Had- 
dam,  and  Mr.  Job  Strong,  of  Northampton,  as 
suitable  missionaries  to  tbe  Six  Nations.  The 
Commissioners  on  the  receipt  of  tbis  letter,  cheer- 

16* 


210  Spencer  and  Strong. 


fully  and  unanimously  agreed  to  accept  of  and 
employ  tlie  persons  whom  he  liad  recommended." 
But  upon  David's  death,  in  l'r47,  his  brother 
John  became  the  principal  agent  of  the  Society, 
and  it  was  with  him  that  Mr.  Sjoencer  and  Mr. 
Job  Strong  spent  a  winter  (1748)  in  studying 
Indian  languages,  and  otherwise  availing  them- 
selves of  the  Brainerd  experience.  Jonathan 
Edwards  was  himself  an  active  friend  of  the 
Indians,  and  after  his  removal  from  Northamp- 
ton, in  1750,  accepted,  at  the  same  time,  a  call  to 
the  church  at  Stockbridge,  and  an  appointment 
of  the  Boston  Commissioners  as  missionary  to 
the  Indians  living  in  that  part  of  Massachusetts 
Bay.  Spencer  passed  a  summer  with  Edwards, 
and  accompanied  him  to  Albany  to  witness  a 
treaty  with  the  aborigines,  many  of  whom  spent 
their  winters  about  Stockbridge,  and  the  rest  of 
the  year  near  Schoharie,  beyond  Albany.  What 
it  was  to  travel  from  Stockbridge  to  Albany  a 
century  ago,  may  be  learned  from  the  Rev. 
Gideon  Hawley's  narrative  of  such  a  journey  in 
1753.*  Mr.  Hawley  was  a  teacher  and  minister 
of  the  Indians,  under  Edwards'  instructions,  and 

*  Iq  Massachusetts  Historical  Collections,  and  in  the  Documentaiy 
History  of  New-York,  (vol.  iii,  p.  1033.) 


Indian  Miflion.  211 


says  of  the  great  metaphysician :  "  To  Indians 
he  was  a  very  plain  and  practical  preacher  ;  upon 
no  occasion  did  he  display  any  metaphysical 
knowledge  in  the  pulj)it." 

Thus  prepared,  Spencer  was  ordained  in  Bos- 
ton, September  14,  1Y48,  and  went  to  the  Onei- 
da tribe — the  chief  of  the  Six  Nations  of  the 
Mohawks,  or  Iroquois.  His  station  was  at  Ono- 
quaqua,  (afterwards  Unadilla,)  at  the  head  of 
the  Susquehannah,  one  hundred  and  seventy, 
miles  south-west  of  Albany,  and  one  hundred 
and  thirty  beyond  any  white  settlement.  One  of 
the  results  of  his  mission  was  a  vocabulary  of  the 
Oneida  language,  which  he  prepared.  Hawley 
says  he  "  could  not  surmount  the  obstacles  he  met 
with."  These  obstacles  are  indefinitely  described 
elsewhere,  as  difficulties  connected  with  his  in- 
terpreter, and  other  causes  frustrating  his  useful- 
ness. He  soon  withdrew  from  the  mission,  and 
gfoino^  to  Elizabethtow^n  he  received  a  call  from 
the  Presbyterian  Church  left  vacant  by  the 
death  of  President  Dickinson.  Having  accepted 
the  call  he  was  received  by  the  Presbytery  of 
New- York,  and  installed  February  7,  1749.  Re- 
cording that  date  in  his  family  Bible,  he  writes : 
^'  This  day  was  installed  E.  Spencei*,  and  took 


2 1 2  Spencer. 

tlie  great  charge  (onus  liumeris  angelorum  for- 
midandum)  of  the  ministry  in  Elizabethtown ; 
^etatis  su?e  28.  The  Lord  help  me."  Mr.  Spen- 
cer gave  part  of  his  time  to  Shrewsbury.  In 
1848  two  men  were  living  in  that  town,  one 
in  his  ninety-seventh,  the  other  in  his  eighty- 
ninth  year,  who  remembered  Mr.  Spencer,  and. 
showed  the  house  he  occupied  on  his  visits.^ 
He  took  his  place  in  Synod,  September,  1T50, 
at  their  meeting  at  Newark,  and  was  placed 
on  a  committee  of  -Q.Ye  for  drafting  proposals 
for  a  reiinion  with  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia. 
He  was  often  on  the  commission  for  the  interim. 
In  1753  he  was  on  a  committee  to  settle  diffi- 
culties in  w^hat  was  then  our  onlv  church  in  the 
city  of  New-York ;  the  subject  of  discord  being 
the  introduction  of  Watts's  Psalms,  the  use  of 
anthems,  and  prayer  at  burials.f  In  1753, 
Spencer  was  appointed  to  take  his  part  in  sup- 
plying Mr.  Tennent's  pulpit  in  Philadelphia, 
during  his  absence  in  Europe  for  the  College,  the 


*  Letter  of  the  Rev.  Rufus  Taylor,  of  Shrewsbury,  to  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Miller.  In  October,  1750,  Mr.  Spencer  was  married  to  a  daughter  of 
John  Eaton,  of  Eatontown,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Shrewsbury. 

f  See  "  Alexander  Gumming,"  in  Dr.  Sprague's  Annals,  vol.  i.  462. 
"Records,"  Sept.  2G,  1754. 


Da  vies.  213 

Synod  directing  at  the  same  time  tliat,  "Mr. 
Spencer's  congregation  be  supplied  in  liis  absence 
the  whole  of  the  time,  at  the  request  of  his  ex- 
cellency, the  Governor,"  (Belcher.) 

When  Mr.  Davies  was  preparing  for  his  voyage 
with  Tennent,  in  September,  1753,  he  saw  much 
of  Spencer.  After  passing  a  night  at  his  house 
in  Elizabethtown,  and  proceeding  the  next  day 
to  Newark,  Davies  writes  in  his  journal :  "The 
Governor  insisted  that  I  should  preach  for  Mr. 
Spencer  next  Sunday  come  se'nnight,  that  he 
might  have  an  opportunity  of  hearing  me."  On 
the  following  Saturday  he  "  sailed  to  Elizabeth- 
town  :  was  pleased  with  the  company  of  my 
brother  Mr.  Spencer,  and  Mr.  James  Brown." 
The  next  day  Davies  preached ;  and  on  Tuesday 
returned  to  Philadelphia  to  meet  the  Synod,  in 
company  with  Messrs.  Spencer,  Brainerd,  and 
Brown,  "  and  spent  the  time  in  pleasing  conver- 
sation, principally  on  the  affairs  of  the  Indians." 

At  the  Synod  of  October,  1755,  various  peti- 
tions having  been  presented  from  North- Caro- 
lina, "  setting  forth  their  distressing  circumstan- 
ces for  want  of  a  preached  Gospel  among  them," 
the  Synod  resolved  to  extend  what  relief  was  in 
their  power,  and  appointed  Mr,  Spencer  with  Mr. 


214  Spencer  and  Bralnerd. 


John  Brainerd  to  take  a  journey  thither  before 
winter,  and  supply  the  vacant  congregations  for 
six  months,  or  as  long  as  they  should  think  neces- 
sary.    This  is  a  specimen  of  the  manner  in  which 
Synods  then  exercised  their  authority  over  set- 
tled ministers,  and  of  the  manner  in  which  con- 
gregations yielded  to  the  necessity  which  called 
for  the  missionary  services  of  their  pastors.     No 
objection  from  any  of  these  quarters  prevented  a 
comjDliance  with  the  Synod's  direction ;  the  en- 
try  of  September,   1756,   being  that  "the  diffi- 
culties and  dangers  of  the  times  rendered  it  in 
a  great  degree  impracticable  for  Messrs.  Spencer 
and  Brainerd  to  answer  the  end  of  their  appoint- 
ment to  the  southward,  and  for  that  reason  said 
appointments  were  not  fulfilled.''   The  difficulties 
were  those  which  arose  from  the  French  and  In- 
dian incursions.     At  the  same  session  ''  the  Sy- 
nod  agree  that  an  address  be  prepared  and  pre- 
sented to  Lord  Loudoun,  Commander  in  Chief 
of  all  His  Majesty's  forces  in  JNTorth-America, 
and  they  do  appoint  Messrs.  Aaron  Burr,  Elihu 
Speucer,  David  Bostwick,  and  Caleb  Smith,  or 
some  one  of  them,  to  prepare  and  present  it,  in 
the  name  of  this  Synod,  on  the  first  proper  op- 
portunity." 


Chaplaincy.  215 


In  1756  iMr.  Spencer  was  released  from  Eliza- 
bethtown,  having  accepted  an  invitation  from 
the  church  at  Jamaica,  Long  Island,  in  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Suffolk,  vacant  by  the  removal  of  Mr. 
Bostwick  to  New-Yoik.  After  a  ministry  of 
about  two  years  there,  as  stated  supply,  he  em- 
braced an  offer  from  Governor  Delancey,  of  New- 
York,  of  a  chaplaincy  to  the  troops  of  the  Prov- 
ince then  detailing  for  the  French  war.  The 
Synod  made  provision  for  the  Jamaica  pulpit, 
"  in  case  Mr.  Spencer  shall  go  out  as  chaplain 
with  the  New- York  forces."  I  do  not  know  the 
nature  or  duration  of  his  services  in  this  connec- 
tion, but  "  Jamaica,  July  2,  1759,"  is  the  date 
of  a  published  letter  of  his  to  Dr.  (afterwards 
President)  Ezra  Stiles,  on  "  the  state  of  the  dis- 
senting interest  in  the  Middle  Colonies  of  Amer- 
ica ;"  and  "  Shrewsbury,  November  3,"  of  the 
same  year,  is  the  date  of  a  postscript  added  to  it. 
In  May,  1761,  he  was  received  by  the  Presby- 
tery of  New-Brunswick  from  the  Suffolk  Presby- 
tery, and  was  clerk  at  another  meeting  in  the 
same  month  in  Princeton,  and  in  Auofust  in 
Trenton.  In  October  he  was  appointed  to  sup- 
jAj  three  Sabbaths  at  Amboy  Southward,  Mid- 
dletown  Point,  and  neighboring  places  ;  in  April, 


2i6  Spencer. 

1762,  the  same  places,  "as  much  as  he  can;" 
in  October,  1762,  and  May,  1763,  one  fourth  of 
his 'time  at  South- Amboy  ;  and  in  Aj)ril,  1764, 
four  Sabbaths  along  the  sea-shore  towards  Egg 
Harbor.  1 

The  day  on  which  the  Synod  of  New- York 
provided  for  Mr.  Spencers  absence  with  the  I 
army,  (May  27,  1758,)  w\as  the  last  but  one  of  ' 
the  separation  or  schism.  The  two  bodies  as- 
sembled in  Philadelphia,  May  29,  and  constitut- 
ed "  The  Synod  of  New- York  and  Philadelphia."  | 
The  number  of  our  ministers  in  all  the  Colonies 
was  then  nearly  one  hundred.  Mr.  Spencer  first 
appeared  in  the  new  organization  in  May  of  the 
next  year,  when  he  was  again  put  on  the  Synod- 
al Commission.  In  the  session  of  1761  he  was 
Moderator,  and  was  added  by  the  house  to  a 
committee  appointed  to  devise  means  for  obtain- 
ing funds  to  support  John  Brainerdin  his  Indian 
mission.  As  has  been  already  stated  in  the  no- 
tice of  his  predecessor,  it  was  Mr.  Kirkpatrick 
who  reported  an  overture  from  this  committee, 
upon  which  it  was  determined  to  raise  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  pounds  for  the  maintenance  of  Mr. 
Brainerd  another  year.  Mr.  Spencer  opened  the 
sessions  of  1762,  in  the  First  Church,  Philadel- 


Mission  in  Carolina.  217 


phia,  with  a  sermon  from  Acts  20  :  28.  The 
matter  of  tlie  Rev.  Mr.  Barker's  heretical  opin- 
ions, the  issue  of  which  has  been  mentioned  in 
the  course  of  our  notice  of  Mr.  Kirkpatrick, 
came  before  this  meeting,  in  consequence  of 
Harker's  having,  "  without  the  approbation  of 
the  Synod,  printed  a  book  containing  his  prin- 
ciples," and  Mr.  Spencer  was  first  on  a  committee 
to  examine  and  report  on  the  publication,  which 
was  next  year  condemned. 

"We  have  seen  that  Dr.  Macwhorter  was  asso- 
ciated with  Mr.  Kirkpatrick  in  college;  that 
they  were  candidates  and  licentiates  together, 
and  with  Mr.  Latta  were  commissioned  to  itin- 
erate in  Virginia  and  North  -  Carolina.  The 
same  excellent  man  was  also  connected  with 
Mr.  Spencer  on  another  important  mission.  The 
Synod  meeting  in  Elizabethtown  in  May,  1764, 
learning  that  many  congregations  in  the  South, 
particularly  in  North-Carolina,  needed  a  proper 
organization,  deputed  Messrs.  Spencer  and  Mac- 
whorter to  visit  that  region,  as  general  overseers 
and  counsellors  for  the  welfare  of  the  Church. 
They  were  to  form  and  regulate  congregations, 
adjust  their  bounds,  ordain  elders,  administer  the 
sacraments,   instruct    the   people   in   discipline, 

11 


2i8  Carolina. 


direct  them  how  to  obtain  the  stated  ministry, 
and  do  all  things  which  their  inchoate  or  feeble 
condition  required  ;  not  failing  to  assure  the  peo- 
ple every  where  of  the  Synod's  interest  in  them, 
as  the  highest  judicatory  of  the  Church,  and  its 
readiness  to  do  all  in  its  power  for  their  assist- 
ance. Under  the  date  of  May  16, 1Y65,  we  have 
the  Synod's  record  as  follows :  "  Messrs.  Spencer 
and  Macwhorter  fulfilled  their  mission  to  the 
southward.  Mr.  Macwhorter's  pulpit  was  suj^- 
plied  during  his  absence,  and  the  Presbytery  of 
Brunswick  were  satisfied  with  the  care  taken  to 
supply  Mr.  Spencer's  people."  Mr.  Macwhorter 
contracted  a  disease  during  this  journey,  from 
which  he  did  not  fully  recover  for  two  years. 
A  journal  of  this  apostolic  tour  would  be  of 
o^reat  interest  and  value.  The  influence  of  two 
ministers  of  such  piety,  prudence,  and  talents 
must  have  been  as  happy  as  it  was  welcome. 
The  efi:ects  of  their  visit  are  partly  developed  in 
the  proceedings  of  their  Presbyteries  and  Synod 
after  their  return.  In  Synod  a  committee,  at 
the  head  of  which  were  Doctors  Alison  and  Fin- 
ley,  were  appointed  to  converse  with  the  two 
missionaries,  not  only  with  reference  to  their  ex- 
penses, which  Synod  had  assumed,  but  "for  the 


Carolina.  219 


settlement  of  Gospel  ministers  in  Carolina."  At 
a  meeting  lield  by  the  Presbytery  during  the 
same  session  of  Synod  at  which  they  made  their 
report  a  call  was  presented  for  Mr.  Spencer  from 
the  people  of  Hawfields,  Eno,  and  Little  Run, 
in  North-Carolina ;  but  "  upon  the  whole  he  de- 
clared he  could  not  see  his  way  clear  to  accept 
of  it,  and  returned  it  to  the  commissioner."  Im- 
mediately another  call  was  presented  from 
Cather's  (afterwards  Thyatira)  and  Fourth- 
Creek  settlements,  in  JSTorth-Carolina,  for  Mr. 
Spencer,  and  to  this  he  returned  the  same  un- 
favorable answer.^  It  appears  that  the  same 
calls  were  introduced  into  Synod  by  the  commit- 
tee for  overtures,  who  also  reported  a  supplica- 
tion for  supplies  from  the  inhabitants  between 
the  Yadkin  and  Catawba  rivers ;  "  particularly 
for  the  removal  of  Mr,  Spencer  and  Mr.  Mac- 

*  The  Church  at  Hawfields  became  distinguished  in  the  rehgious  his- 
tory of  North-Carolina,  in  the  end  of  the  last  century  and  the  beginning 
of  the  present,  by  the  efficient  ministries  of  its  successive  pastors,  James 
McGready  and  William  D.  Paisley,  The  latter  died  in  Greensborough, 
March,  1857,  in  his  87 th  year.  "The  first  camp-meeting  held  in  the 
South  was  held  at  Hawfields,  in  October,  1802,  and  grew  out  of  the 
necessity  of  the  case."  "Fourth-Creek  Church  was  organized  by  Mr. 
Elihu  Spencer,  and  embraced  the  inhabitants  between  the  South-Yadkin 
and  the  Catawba  rivers."  Foote's  North-Carolina,  chap.  xvi.  xxiv., 
where  will  also  be  found  a  history  of  the  churches  of  the  Haw  and  p]no. 


220  Carolina. 


wliorter  to  settle  among  tliem ;"  two  other  sup- 
plications for  supplies  from  Betliel  and  Poplar 
Tent,  in  Mecklenburg  county ;  tlie  same  from 
ISFew-Proviclence  and  Six-mile  Spring ;  a  call  for 
Macwliorter  from  Hopewell  and  Centre  con- 
gregations ;  and  suj)plications  from  Long-lanes, 
in  Soutli-Carolina.  The  Synod  proceeded  to 
meet,  as  far  as  was  in  tlieir  power,  the  numer- 
ous opj)ortunities  opened  through  their  judi- 
cious measures,  by  appointing  six  ministers  to 
visit  North-Carolina,  and  each  of  them  to  tarry 
half  a  year  in  the  most  destitute  neighborhoods. 
Next  year  Sugar  Creek,  Fishing  Creek,  Bethel, 
the  Jersey  Settlement,  Centre  congregation.  Pop- 
lar Tent,  and  Eocky  River  united  in  a  petition 
"  for  one  or  more  of  the  Pev.  Messrs.  Spencer, 
Lewis,  Macwhorter,  and  James  Caldwell  to  be 
sent  there,  promising  that  the  sum  of  eighty 
pounds  be  paid  by  any  of  these  congregations  in 
w^hich  he  shall  choose  to  spend  half  of  his  time, 
and  another  eighty  pounds  by  the  vacant  con- 
gregations he  shall  supj^ly."  The  record  pro- 
ceeds :  ''  This  petition  being  read,  the  several 
gentlemen  mentioned  in  it  were  interrogated 
whether  they  would  comply  with  this  request,  to 
which  each  of  them  returned  a  negative  answer." 


Carolina.  22t 


Petitions  for  supplies  were  poured  in  at  the  same 
meeting  from  various  sections  of  Virginia,  tlie 
Carolinas,  and  Georgia,  but  all  tlie  Synod  could 
do  was  to  nominate  seven  ministers  to  make 
journeys  throughout  those  districts,  as  their 
other  engagements  would  permit. 

In  his  notes  on  this  mission  of  the  Synod,  Mr. 
Foote,  after  mentioning  that  the  report  of  the 
two  deputies  has  not  been  preserved,  remarks : 

"  We  are  not  left  at  a  loss  for  the  names  of  part  of  the 
congregations  whose  bounds  they  adjusted,  as  in  that 
(1765)  and  the  succeeding  year,  calls  were  sent  in  for 
pastors  from  Steele  Creek,*  Providence,  Hopewell,  Centre, 
Rocky  River,  and  Poplar  Tent,  Avhich  entirely  surround- 
ed Sugar  Creek,  besides  those  in  Rowan  and  Iredell. 
These  seven  congregations  were  in  Mecklenburg,  except 
a  part  of  Centre  which  lay  in  Rowan,  (now  Iredell,)  and 
in  their  extensive  bounds  comprehended  almost  the  entire 
county."  "  This  mission  was  fulfilled  to  such  entire  sat- 
isfaction, that  these  gentlemen  were  importuned  to  settle 
in  Carolina ;  and  Mr.  Macwhorter  was  ultimately  chosen 
President  of  the  College  erected  at  Charlotte.  From  the 
term  of  this  visit  we  may  consider  the  bounds  of  the  old 
churches  in  Orange  and  Concord  Presbyteries  as  settled, 

*  "  It  is  probable  that  the  church  on  Steele  Creek  was  organized  by 
Messrs.  Spencer  and  Macwhorter."  Foote,  chap,  sxviii.  The  same  is 
said  of  Poplar  Tent.  Chap,  xxx.  It  was  called  Tant  from  the  temporary- 
shelter  used  before  a  church  was  built.     11. 


222  Spencer  and  Rodgers. 


and  the  sessions  as  generally  duly  organized.  Previous 
to  this,  the  settlements  acted  independently  in  their  reli- 
gious matters."'^ 

lu  January,  1765,  tlie  Rev.  John  Rodgers,  the 
pastor  at  the  town  of  St.  George's,  Delaware, 
accejDted  a  call  from  the  first  church  in  the  city 
of  New- York.  Both  Mr.  Rods^ers  and  the  con- 
giegation  appear  to  have  considered  Mr.  Spen- 
cer as  a  desirable  successor  ;  for  in  Synod  on  the 
20th  of  May,  1765,  "at  the  request  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Rodgers,  and  of  the  congregation  of  St. 
George's,  Mr.  Spencer  is  apj)ointed  to  suj)ply 
tha.t  congregation  four  weeks  before  Mr.  Rodg- 
ers removes  from  them."  In  the  following  Sep- 
tember, the  proper  steps  having  been  first  taken 
in  the  Presbytery  of  Lancaster,  to  which  St. 
George's  belonged,  that  congregation  and  Ajdo- 
quiminey,f  which  was  connected  with  it  under 
Mr.  Rodgers,  presented  their  call,  and  upon  Mr. 
Spencer's  expressing  his  acceptance,  he  was  trans- 
ferred from  New-Brunswick  to  Newcastle — the 

*  Foote :  North-Carolina,  ch.  xiv.  xxiv. 

f  "Apoquiminey  is  the  corporate  name  of  the  Forest  Church,  now 
called  Middletown.  It  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  the  old  church  of 
Apoquiminey  from  which  it  broke  off  in  the  great  revival,  and  which  is 
now  called  Drawjers."     MS.  letter  of  late  Rev.  C.  Webster,  1848. 


Finley's  Death.  223 


bounds  of  Newcastle  and  Donegal  Laving  been 
changed  for  a  single  year,  and  the  names  of  Lan- 
caster and  Carlisle  substituted,  but  the  original 
ones  being  now  restored.  On  the  seventh  Jan- 
uary, 1Y66,  Spencer  was  received  by  Newcastle, 
and  took  his  seat,  together  witli  Mr.  Valentine 
Dushane  as  the  elder  of  St.  George's.  On  the 
seventeenth  of  the  following  April  he  was  install- 
ed over  the  united  congregations. 

Mr.  Spencer  was  one  of  the  witnesses  of  the 
serene  and  haj^py  close  of  the  life  of  President 
Finley,  which  took  place  in  Philadelphia,  July 
IT,  1766.  On  the  day  before  that  event,  Mr. 
Spencer  said  to  him :  "  I  have  come  to  see  you 
confirm  by  facts  the  Gospel  you  have  been 
preaching."  In  reply  to  his  friend's  inquiries, 
the  dying  minister  said  he  felt  full  of  triumph  : 
"  I  triumph  through.  Christ.  Nothing  clips  my 
wings  but  the  thoughts  of  my  dissolution  being 
prolonged.  Oh  !  that  it  were  to-night !  My  very 
soul  thirsts  for  eternal  rest."  Mr.  Spencer  asked 
him  what  he  saw  in  the  future  to  excite  such 
strong  desires.  "  I  see,"  said  he,  "  the  eternal 
love  and  goodness  of  God  ;  I  see  the  fullness  of 
the  Mediator.  I  see  the  love  of  Jesus.  Oh  !  to  be 
dissolved,  and  to  be  with  him !     I  long  to  be 


224  Presbytery  of 


clotlied  with  tlie  complete  righteousness  of 
Christ."  At  his  request  Mr.  Spencer  prayed: 
"  Pray  to  God,"  said  he,  "  to  preserve  me  from 
evil — to  keep  me  from  dishonoring  his  great 
name  in  this  critical  hour,  and  to  supj)ort  me 
with  Lis  presence  in  my  passage  through  the 
valley  of  the  shadow  of  death." 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Dubois,  the  present  Clerk  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Newcastle,  has  kindly  furnished 
me  with  the  annexed  notes  from  the  books  in  his 
charge. 

"Between  April  16,  1766,  and  March  22,  1769,  there 
are  a  number  of  long  minutes,  the  substance  of  which  is 
that  overtures  were  made  to  have  the  con2:re2:ations  of 
Drawyers  and  Pencader  united  wdth  St.  George's  and  the 
Forest;  that  the  Presbytery  seeing  that  this  would  re- 
quire too  much  labor  for  one  minister,  agreed  to  it  on  con- 
dition that  they  would  procure  an  associate  pastor,  to 
which  they  all  consented.  But  either  a  suitable  associate 
could  not  be  found,  or  the  plan  did  not  work  well,  and 
accordingly,  at  the  suggestion  of  Drawyers  and  Pencader 
that  '  the  said  union  was  not  for  the  edification  of  the 
Church,'  and  '  the  people  of  St.  George's  and  the  Forest 
makmg  no  objection  against  having  said  union  dissolved,' 
it  was  dissolved,  March  22,  1769. 

"  The  same  day — '  A  petition,  by  a  representative  from 
the  Forest  congregation,  under  the  care  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Spencer,  was  made  to  the  Presbytery,  requesting  that 


Newcastle.  225 


they  would  confirm  a  line  lately  drawn  between  them  and 
the  congregation  of  St.  George's,  and  also  give  the  people 
of  the  Forest  congregation  leave,  according  to  terms  stip- 
ulated in  their  subscription  for  the  Rev.  Mr.  Spencer,  to 
try  to  raise  their  subscription,  in  order  to  obtain  more  of 
the  labors  of  their  minister ;  the  Presbytery  grant  the 
petition,  so  far  that  the  Forest  congregation  may  trj^  their 
strength,  according  to  said  line,  and  that  both  they  and 
St.  George's  lay  their  subscriptions  before  this  Presbytery 
at  their  next  meeting,  at  which  time  the  Presbytery  will 
more  fully  judge  of,  and  settle  the  whole  affair.'  " 

"  This  is  not  referred  to  again,  and  seems  not  to  have 
been  done,  but  soon  after  comes  this  minute : 

"  Oct.  19,  1769.  '  The  Rev.  Elihu  Spencer  informs  the 
Presbytery  that  the  i)lace  where  he  now  lives  does  not 
agree  with  his  own  and  his  family's  constitution,  so  that 
his  health  has  been  much  impaired,  and,  should  he  con- 
tinue there,  is  likely  to  be  wholly  destroyed  ;  therefore  he 
is  under  the  disagreeable  necessity  of  requesting  a  dissolu- 
tion of  his  pastoral  relation  to  the  congregations  of  St. 
George's  and  the  Forest.  A  commissioner  from  St. 
George's  agrees  with  Mr.  Spencer  resj^ecting  the  neces- 
sity of  his  request;  upon  the  whole,  the  Presbytery  judge 
that  they  have  clearness  to  dissoWe  Mr.  Spencer's  pastoral 
relation  to  the  aforesaid  congregations,  and  hereby  do 
dissolve  it.' 

"  After  this  he  was  not  present  at  any  of  the  meetings, 
and  I  can  find  no  mention  of  him,  until  at  a  meeting  in 
Philadelphia,  during  the  sessions  of  the  Synod,  he  was 
present,  and  this  minute  occurs  : 

"  May  16,  1771.     *Mr.  Spencer,  having  removed  out  of 


226  Call  to  Trenton. 


the  bounds  of  this  Presbytery  into  the  bounds  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Xew-Brunswick,  requests  a  dismission  from 
us  in  order  to  join  them,  which  is  granted.'  " 

In  a  Pliilaclelpliia  newspaper  of  the  clay,  it  is 
mentioned  that  Mi\  Spencer  preached  at  the 
funeral  of  the  wife  of  the  Rev.  Joseph  Mont- 
gomery, of  Kent  county,  Maryland,  March,  1769, 
in  the  Presbyterian  church,  Georgetown. 

It  was  on  the  eighteenth  October,  1769  — 
the  day  before  his  separation  from  Delaware — 
that  the  congregations  of  Trenton  and  Maiden- 
head obtained  permission  from  their  Presbytery 
to  call  Mr.  Spencer ;  and  although  he  was  not 
dismissed  by  Newcastle,  nor  received  by  New- 
Brunswick,  until  the  spring  of  1771,  he  was 
elected  a  Trustee  of  the  Trenton  church  and 
President  of  the  Board,  May  7,  1770.  His  sal- 
ary was  fixed  to  begin  from  October  17,  1769, 
which  was  probably  the  time  of  his  taking 
charge  of  the  congregation. 

Until  his  actual  reception  in  Presbytery  he  is 
only  "  requested"  to  open  a  subscription  for  the 
college  in  Trenton,  Hopewell,  and  Cranbury. 
After  that  he  is  "  ordered"  to  do  it.  From  the 
year  1752,  till  his  death,  Mr.  Spencer  was  a 
Trustee  of  the  College  of  New- Jersey.     He  was 


James  F.  Wilson.  227 


on  the  committee  in  tlie  first  year  of  Jiis  office  to 
negotiate  witli  the  people  of  Princeton  in  view 
of  establishing  the  College  there.  The  short 
distance  between  Princeton  and  Trenton,  and 
his  relation  to  the  College,  often  secured,  as  in 
the  case  of  his  predecessor,  Cowell,  and  succes- 
sor, Armstrong,  exchanges  of  pulpit  services. 
The  record  of  one  such  visit  is  preserved  in  the 
blessing  it  was  instrumental  in  bringing  to  a 
student  who  became  an  eminent  minister.  This 
was  James  Feuilleteau  Wilson,  who  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  College  in  17 1 2,  when  there  was  a 
general  awakening  on  the  subject  of  religion 
among  the  students.  Wilson  for  some  time  de- 
cidedly, and  even  rudely,  resisted  every  effort  to 
draw  his  attention  to  his  spiritual  condition,  and 
was  the  more  averse  in  consequence  of  his  pre- 
judices as  a  member  of  the  Church  of  England. 
But  it  was  one  evening  while  Mr.  Spencer  was 
preaching  in  the  College  Hall,  that  his  con- 
science became  deeply,  and  for  a  time,  hopeless- 
ly affected.  After  gaining  relief,  he  became  an 
humble,  zealous  Christian.  Upon  his  graduation, 
in  1773,  he  went  to  London,  where  his  father 
resided,  intending  to  take  orders  in  the  English 
Church,  but  farther  reflection  and  inquiry  led 


228  James  F.  Wilson. 


him  to  return  to  Princeton,  and  to  the  study  of 
theology  under  Dr.  Witherspoon.  After  the  in- 
terruption of  his  course  by  the  war,  during  part 
of  which  time  he  studied  and  practised  medicine, 
he  was  licensed  by  the  Presbytery  of  Orange, 
and  became  pastor  of  Fourth  Creek  (the  church 
established  by  Mr.  Spencer)  and  Concord,  in 
North-Carolina.  He  died  in  1804.  Two  of  his 
sons  were  in  the  ministry."^ 

*  Foote's  North-Carolina,  chap.  xxv. 


I 


De.    Spencer's    Congeegation. 

1769— 1773. 

The  town  and  country  congregations  of  Tren- 
ton still  j)reserved  their  nnion.  The  people  of 
Maidenhead  had  their  distinct  corporation,  but 
shared  the  services  of  the  same  pastor  with  Tren- 
ton. Each  of  the  Trenton  houses  had  its  own 
spiritual  officers.  Thus  May  6,  I'T'Tl,  Samuel 
Hill  and  Ebenezer  Co  well  were  chosen  "  Elders 
for  the  town ;"  Jacob  Carle,  John  Howell,  and 
Timothy  Hendrickson,  "  for  the  old  house,"  and 
Benjamin  Smith  "  a  deacon  for  Trenton."  The 
Trustees  acted  for  both.  Thus,  at  the  meeting 
just  mentioned,  it  was  "  ordered  by  the  Board 
that  the  Treasurer  pay  eight  pounds  out  of  the 
interest  due  on  the  fifty  pounds  left  to  the  con- 
gregation by  the  Bev.  Mr.  Cowell,  deceased,  to 
the  Bev.  Mr.  Spencer,  to  make  uj)  the  Old 
House  subscription  for  the  year  1^770,  and  that 
the    members  belonging   to   Trenton   meeting- 

18 


230  Agreement. 

house  Lave  liberty  to  apply  the  like  sum  out  of 
the  interest  aforesaid,  on  the  like  occasion." 

The  subjoined  document  will  show  the  rela- 
tion in  which  Mr.  S^^encer  stood  to  the  three  con- 
gregations. The  signatures  will  serve  to  record 
the  names  of  the  heads  of  the  families  in  the 
town  charge  as  they  existed  in  November,  1769, 
and  a  few  years  afterwards. 

"  Whereas  it  is  mutually  agreed  between  tlie  townships 
of  Trenton  and  Maidenhead,  to  raise  one  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds  as  the  annual  salary  of  the  Kev.  Mr.  Elihu 
S2:)encer,  during  such  time  as  he  shall  be  and  remain  as  their 
settled  minister,  and  to  preach  one  Sabbath  in  the  town 
meeting-house,  one  Sabbath  in  Maidenhead  meeting-house, 
and  every  third  Sabbath  at  the  old  house  in  the  upper 
part  of  the  township  of  Trenton,  and  so  to  continue  one 
third  part  of  the  time  at  each  meeting-house  ;  and,  where- 
as, the  congregation  belonging  to  each  of  the  meeting- 
houses aforesaid,  have  agreed  to  raise  by  way  of  subscrip- 
tion, the  sum  of  fifty  pounds,  as  their  part  and  share  of 
the  annual  salary  aforesaid,  we,  the  subscribers,  being  de- 
sirous to  encourage  and  support  the  ministry  of  the  Gospel, 
and  as  members  of,  and  belonging  to  the  meeting-house  in 
the  town-spot  of  Trenton,  do  hereby  severally  promise  and 
engage  to  pay  unto  the  Trustees  of  the  Presbyterian  con- 
gregation of  Trenton  the  sums  by  us  herein  resj^ectively 
subscribed  ;  to  be  paid  half-yearly,  in  two  equal  payments 
during  each  and  every  year  the  said  Mr.  Spencer  shall  be 
and  remain  their  settled  minister,  and  preach  alternately 


Signers. 


231 


one  third  jiart  of  his  time  at  each  house  as  aforesaid.  In 
testimony  Avhereof  we  have  hereunto  set  our  hands  with 
the  several  sums  subscribed  this  eighteenth  day  of  No- 
vember, Anno  Dom.,  1V69  : 


Samuel  Tacker. 
Alexander  Chambers, 
Benjamm  Smith, 
John  Chambers, 
Ebenezer  Cowell, 
William  Tucker, 
Benjamin  Yard, 
Elijah  Bond, 
William  Bryant, 
A.  [Abigail]  Coxe, 
Archibald  Wm.  Yard, 
David  Pinkerton, 
James  Paxton, 
Abraham  Cottnam, 
Hezekiah  Howell, 
Isaac  Decow, 
Micajah  How, 
Mrs.  [Jean]  Cumin es, 
Dunlap  Adams, 
Joseph  Higbee, 
Hannah  Merseilles, 
Isaac  Smith, 
Isaac  Pearson,  (17V0,) 
Daniel  Coxe, 
John  Wigton, 
David  Bright, 


Samuel  Bellerjeau, 

Richard  Collier, 

Richard  Tennent, 

William  Reeder, 

Samuel  Ellis, 

James  Wilson, 

William  Smith, 

Robert  Booth, 

Elizabeth  Bell, 

George  Brown, 

Godfrey  Wimei', 

Lott  Dunbar, 

Hugh  Campbell, 

John  Reeder, 

Wilham  Yon  Yeghter, 

Samuel  Anderson, 

Richard  Howell, 

Benjamin  Woolsey, 

James  Mathis 

William  Pido-eon, 

George  Creed,  (June,  1770,) 

R.  L.  Hooper,  (Sept.  1770,) 

Jeremiah  Anderson, 

Samuel  Hill, 

Robert  Singer,  (Sept.  1771,) 

Job  Moore,  (1770,) 


232  Carle. 

John  Courtnay,  (1771,)  John  Cknm, 

John  Chambers,  Jr.,  Henry  Drake, 

John  Ely,  James  Ashmoor, 

Lewis  Case,  John  Fitch, 

Abraham  Hunt,  (1772,)  Mrs.  Livesey, 

Craghead  Ryle,  (1773,)  Joseph  Brittain, 

Joseph  Cknm,  Samuel  Henry, 

Andrew  Wilson,  Andrew  Reed, 

Hugh  Runyon,  John  Yard, 

John  James,  Stephen  Lowrey." 

The  Trustees  at  tlie  date  of  this  agreement 
were  Charles  Clark,  Alexander  Chambers,  Abra- 
ham Hunt,  JosejDh  Keed,  Jr.,  Samuel  Tucker, 
Obadiah  Howell,  and  Daniel  Clark. 

Of  the  names  thus  brouGfht  before  us,  which 
have  not  already  been  the  subject  of  notice,  I 
proceed  to  give  such  particulars  as  I  have  been 
able  to  find,  and  as  are  consistent  with  the  gen- 
eral purpose. 

Jacob  Caele  (elder  in  1771)  died  on  his  farm 
in  1800.  He  left  sons,  John  and  Israel;  a  grand- 
son, Jacob ;  daughters,  Hannah,  wife  of  Aaron 
Vancleve,  and  Elizabeth,  wife  of  John  Van  Ma- 
ter. In  a  minute  of  the  Trustees,  March  31, 1787, 
it  was  "  agreed  that  Mr.  Jacob  Carle,  or  his  son, 
Captain  Israel  Carle,  attend  Mr.  Armstrong  to 
the  Presbytery."     In  the  church-porch  is  a  stone 


Cowells — Tuckers.  233 


marking  tlie  deatli  of  Eliza,  wife  of  Israel  Carle, 
Marcli  12,  1790,  aged  29  years.  Carle  is  a 
Huguenot  name  ;  Jean  Carle  "was  minister  of  the 
French  Protestant  church  in  the  city  of  New- 
York  in  1763.'' 

Benjamin  Smith's  name  will  be  commemorat- 
ed in  a  future  chapter. 

*  Ebenezer  Co  well  was  a  brother  of  the  j^astor, 
and  his  residuary  legatee.  He  was  chosen  an 
elder  for  the  town  church,  May  6,  1771.  In 
1782-4  he  was  a  member  of  the  "  Committee  of 
the  West-Jersey  Proprietors,"  with  Joseph  Reed, 
Jr.,  Jonathan  D.  Sergeant,  Clement  Eiddle,  and 
Daniel  Ellis.  He  died  May  4,  1799.  His  wife 
Sarah  died  in  1774.  His  children  were  John, 
Ebenezer,  Joseph,  Robert,  Eunice,  and  Sarah, 
(Bowlsby.)  The  eldest  of  these  was  a  physician, 
and  died  in  1789.  A  "Robert  Cowell"  died 
very  suddenly,  July  5,  1808 ;  and  a  "  Joseph 
Cowell"  died  September  30, 1808,  aged  63  ;  and 
at  Broadway,  Warren  county,  July  30,  1829, 
died,  "  Eunice  Cowell,  at  an  advanced  age,  form- 
erly of  Trenton." 

AYiLLiAM    Tucker    was    brother    of  Samuel 

*  Documentary  History,  vol.  iii.  p.  489. 
18* 


234  Bond. 

Tucker,  the  trustee,  and  died  January  16,  1Y90 ; 
aged  55.  His  wife's  name  was  Mercy  ;  liis  sons 
William  and  Ellet;  his  daughter  Mary,  who 
was  married  to  James  B.  Machett,  a  native  of 
Trenton,  and  a  member  of  the  congregation. 
Mrs.  Machett  died  at  St.  Charles,  Missouri,  July 
20,  1833,  in  her  71st  year ;  Mr.  Machett,  at  the 
same  place,  August  1,  1833,  in  his  80th  year. 

Elijah  Bois'd  was  probably  an  Episcopalian, 
but  one  of  a  number  who  had  pews  in  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  as  w^ell  as  their  own.  By  his 
will,  proved  in  178G,  he  bequeathed  ^ve  hun- 
dred pounds  to  St.  Michael's  Church,  the  interest 
of  which  was  to  be  paid  to  the  minister,  in  addi- 
tion to  his  salary,  provided  one  should  be  ap- 
pointed and  should  officiate  within  seven  years 
after  his  decease. 

In  the  Trenton  Gazette  of  June,  1784,  Elijah 
Bond  advertises  at  public  sale  a  farm  on  which 
Major  Willian  Trent  had  lately  resided,  within 
two  miles  of  Trenton,  and  containing  about  seven 
hundred  acres.  This  property  is  in  the  vicinity 
of  Lamberton,  and  was  purchased  by  Barnt  De 
Klyn,  and  in  November,  1785,  the  mansion  was 
destroyed  by  fire.  It  is  not  much  out  of  place 
in  this  connection  to  mention  that  Mr.  De  Klyn,* 


Bryant.  235 

wlio  was  a  member  of  our  cliurcli,  was  of  a 
Huguenot  family,  born  in  Boston,  October  31, 
1745,  and  died  on  bis  farm,  September  1,  1824. 
A  daughter  of  Mr.  De  Klyn  —  the  widow  of 
General  John  Beatty — is  among  the  living  mem- 
bers of  our  church.  In  October,  1857,  this  ven- 
erable lady,  "  as  a  memorial  of  love  to  this 
church,"  presented  a  valuable  silver  flagon,  in- 
herited from  her  parents,  which,  according  to  her 
desire,  the  session  accepted  for  the  use  of  the 
communion-table,  and  to  be  kept  without  alter- 
ation. 

WiLLiA:\r  Beyais^t  was  a  physician,  and  in  his 
more  advanced  years,  associated  with  him  in 
practice  the  well-remembered  Dr.  Belleville. 
Dr.  Bryant  was  a  son  of  Captain  William  Bry- 
ant, of  Perth  Amboy,  whose  tombstone  in  that 
town  records  that  he  made  fifty-five  voyages  be- 
tween New-York  and  London,  and  died  in  1772, 
at  the  ao^e  of  88.  His  wife  survived  him.  "  It 
is  presumed,"  says  Mr.  Whitehead,  "that  they 
left  tyj(o  children — one  son.  Dr.  William  Bryant, 
who  was  living  at  Trenton  in  1776,  and  thence 
supplied  his  mother's  wants  ;  and  one  daughter, 
Mary,  who  crossed  the  Atlantic  with  her  father 
in  early  life,  and  resided  some  time  in  London, 


236  Yards — Coxes. 


wliere  slie  became  acquainted  with  the  Eev.  Dr. 
Watts,  under  whose  instructions  she  received 
those  religious  impressions  which  in  after  life 
'  brought  forth  fruit  abundantly,'  being  eminent 
for  her  piety  and  benevolence.  She  became  the 
wife  of  the  Hon.  Wm.  Peartree  Smith,  of  New- 
York,  and  subsequently  of  New-Jersey — a  scho- 
lar a,nd  a  Christian."^ 

Archibald  William  Yard  was  one  of  the  sons 
of  Joseph  Yard  the  Trustee,  He  died  March  8, 
1810,  at  the  age  of  Y8.  BEN"JA]\riT^,  another  sub- 
scriber, was  Joseph's  brother. 

Mrs.  Abigail  Coxe  and  Daniel  Coxe  were  of 
the  family  of  that  name  which  was  one  of  the 
earliest  and  most  respectable  among  the  large 
land-owners.  Their  more  immediate  membership 
was  with  the  Church  of  England,  and  their  loy- 
alty to  the  mother-country  survived  the  Kevolu- 
tion.  In  the  case  of  Coxe  vs.  Gulick,  in  1829,  it 
was  contended  that  on  the  third  July,  1776,  Daniel 
Coxe,  residing  in  Trenton,  was  a  subject  of  Great 
Britain,  that  he  withdrew  from  the  State  in 
1777,  at  the  time  of  his  decease  lived  under  the 

*  History  of  Perth  Amboj,  p.  145. 


Pinkerton — Paxton.  237 

British  Government,  and  never  acknowledged 
allegiance  to  New- Jersey."^ 

David  Pinkerton  is  supj)osed  to  have  died  in 
1781,  leaving  a  family  of  children  named  David, 
Jane,  Ann,  John,  Samuel,  Joseph,  William,  and 
Mary,  to  whom,  with  his  wdfe,  he  bequeathed  his 
"  shop-goods,  cows  and  horses,"  dwelling-house  and 
lot,  "  with  my  two  orchard  lots  and  meadow  lot, 
and  my  little  farm  where  Joseph  Roberts  lives.  .  . 
I  thus  take  my  leave  of  a  troublesome  world." 
The  witnesses  of  his  will  were  three  of  his  co- 
signers in  the  congregation — Howe,  Moore,  and 
Woolsey.  Another  of  them,  Decow,  was  an  ex- 
ecutor, and  a  fifth,  Paxton,  was  the  Surrogate 
before  whom  it  was  brought  to  probate.  Mr. 
Pinkerton's  son  and  namesake  w^as  a  clerk  in  the 
Trenton  Bank,  and  is  remembered  for  his  passion 
for  fishing  in  the  Delaware  after  bank-hours. 
The  only  stone  in  our  yard  that  bears  the  name 
of  Pinkerton  is  that  of  a  child  (John)  who  died 
February  9,  1769.  In  August,  1794,  there  was 
a  John  Pinkerton,  Jr.,  "  intending  shortly  to  re- 
move to  Philadelphia." 

Joseph  Paxton  was  the  Surrogate  just  named. 

*  Halsted's  Reports,  v.  328.    Sabine's  American  Loyalists,  p.  232. 
Whitehead's  Perth  Amboy,  p.  201.     Field's  Provincial  Courts,  p.  185. 


238  Cottnam. 


In  the  portico  of  tlie  cliurcli  are  meniorials  of 
Paxtons,  namely :  Joseph  Paxton,  who  died  Sept. 
15,  1Y50;  aged  48.     (The  Kev.  Mr.  Cowell  was 
one  of  his  executors.)  Jane  PaxtoD,  June  1, 1768  ;   ' 
27  years.     Children  of  Paxtons  1Y47-8. 

Abraham  Cottnam  was  a  magistrate.  In 
April,  1778,  his  executors  (Robert  Hoops,  his  son- 
in-law,  and  George  Cottnam,  his  son,)  advertise 
for  the  recovery  of  his  dockets,  taken  from  the 
o:Sce  of  Ebenezer  Cowell,  Esq.,  when  the  enemy 
were  in  Trenton.  They  offer  for  sale  what  had 
probably  been  the  testator's  residence,  "  Dows- 
dale,  near  Trenton,  on  the  Hopewell  road." 
His  will,  which  was  proved  in  February, 
1776,  directs  his  body  to  be  "laid  in  Trenton 
church-yard,  as  near  to  my  first  wife  and  child- 
dren  as  may  be  convenient,  ....  with  as 
little  expense  as  possible,  consistent  with  de- 
cency." Robert  Lettis  Hooper  and  Benjamin 
Smith  were  two  of  the  witnesses  of  his  will,  and 
Hon.  Daniel  Coxe  was  an  executor.  He  desired 
and  entreated  his  friend,  William  Pidgeon,  Esq., 
to  assist  the  executors  vf ith  his  advice.  His  wife 
was  a  daughter  of  Joseph  Warrell,  Sen.  He  gave 
to  his  son,  Warrell  Cottnam,  all  his  law-books, 
including  those  which  he  claimed  under  the  will 


Warrells.  239 


of  Joseph  Warrell,  Esq.,  tlie  elder,  and  to  the 
same  "  his  mother's  family-pedigree  roll  by  her 
mother's  side,  being  of  the  Bradshaw  family." 

The  senior  Warrell  here  alluded  to,  was  Attor- 
ney General  in  the  administration  of  Governor 
Morris,  and  died  in  1758.  He  left  his  own  pedi- 
gree-roll to  his  son,  his  wife's  to  Mrs.  Cottnam. 
David  Cowell  and  Peter  Kemble  were  witnesses 
to  the  will. 

Joseph  Warrell,  Jr.,  died  in  Trenton  in  1775. 
His  will  directed  that  his  body  be  bmied  as  near 
as  possible  to  his  parents,  in  the  Trenton  church- 
yard, but  if  he  should  happen  to  die  a  consid- 
erable distance  from  Trenton,  "  I  will  that  by 
no  means  my  estate  shall  be  put  to  the  expense 
of  a  conveyance  thither."  His  grave  is  in  our 
ground,  near  the  church,  and  is  thus  inscribed  : 

"  In  the  memory  of  Josepli  "Warrell,  Esq.,  who  departed 
this  life  March  6th,  1775  ;  aged  36  years.  This  stone  is 
erected,  not  from  pomp,  or  pageantry,  but  from  true 
affection. 

"  For  other  thoughts  employ  the  widowed  wife  ; 
The  best  of  husbands,  loved  in  private  life, 
Bids  her  with  tears  to  raise  this  humble  stone, 
That  holds  his  ashes,  and  expects  her  own." 


240  Howell — Decow — How. 


Hezekiah  Howell.  "  An  aged  and  respect- 
able inhabitant,"  of  tliis  name,  died  October  15, 
1800. 

Isaac  Decow  was  for  a  time  the  High  Sheriff 
of  Hunterdon.  Isaac  Decow,  Alderman,  died 
Jnne,  1795,  and  was  buried  in  the  Friends'  Meet- 
ing ground.  PerhajDs  it  was  an  ancestor  of  the 
family,  of  whom  Dr.  Franklin's  Autobiography 
makes  mention,  when  he  says  that  among  the 
principal  people  of  JS'ew-Jersey,  with  whom  he 
made  acquaintance  in  1727,  when  he  was  print- 
ing paper-money  for  the  Province,  was  "  Isaac 
Decow,  the  Surveyor  General,  ...  a  shrewd, 
sagacious  old  man,  who  told  me  that  he  began 
for  himself  when  young  by  wheeling  clay  for  the 
brick-makers,  learned  to  write  after  he  was  of 
age,  carried  the  chain  for  surveyors,  who  taught 
him  surveying,  and  he  had  noAv  by  his  industry 
acquired  a  good  estate;  '  and,' said  he,  'I  fore- 
see that  you  will  soon  work  this  man  [Keimer] 
out  of  his  business,  and  make  a  fortune  in  it  at 
Philadelphia.'  He  had  then  not  the  least  inti- 
mation of  my  intention  to  set  up  there  or  any 
where." 

Mica  J  AH  How  was  the  second  who  bore  the 
name  of  the  old  prophet.      The  first,  a  shoe- 


Higbee.  241 

maker,  died  in  1*740,  wlio  had  a  son  Samuel,  and 
a  kinsman,  Israel  Hewlings.  Of  tliis  family  was 
the  Rev.  Thomas  Yardley  How,  for  a  time  Rec- 
tor of  Grace  Church,  (Episcopal,)  New-York, 
who  had  a  share  in  the  celebrated  church  contro- 
versy with  Hobart,  Linn,  Beasley,  Mason,  Miller, 
and  others  in  the  early  part  of  the  present  century. 
The  Trenton  newspaper  of  January  14, 1Y99,  an- 
nounces the  death  of  Micajah  How,  Esq.,  formerly 
Sheriff  of  the  county  of  Hunterdon,  and  one  of 
the  Judges  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  the 
County.  In  July,  1807,  Dr.  William  Innesly,  of 
Chester  county,  Pennsylvania,  was  married  to 
"Mary,  daughter  of  the  late  Micajah  How,  Esq., 
of  this  place."  January  1,  1831,  died,  "  Mary, 
wife  of  Dr.  Inslee^  and  daughter  of  Micajah 
How,  Esq.,  deceased,  formerly  of  Trenton." 

Six  of  the  subscribers  seem  to  have  lived  in 
the  same  neighborhood  in  February,  1772,  as  at 
that  time  a  fire  broke  out  in  the  house  of  Dun- 
lap  Adams,  and  spread  to  those  of  Merseilles, 
Cumiugs,  Moore,  Pinkerton,  and  How. 

Joseph  Higbee  died  in  1796,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-six.  Another  of  the  name  died  Decem- 
ber 12,  1829,  in  his  sixty-fifth  year. 

Merseilles  is  a  French  family  which  has  had 

19 


242  Merseilles. 


its  representatives  witli  us  for  a  century.  Peter 
Mersellis — as  the  name  is  on  his  grave-— died 
June  25, 17G4,  set.  forty-three.  He  was  a  carpenter. 
His  wife  was  Hannah,  and  he  had  a  son  Edin,  Eden, 
Edon,  Edow,  or  Edo,  according  to  the  whim  of  the 
scrivener  or  copyist — perhaps,  after  all,  a  French 
termination  attempted  in  English,  like  Eudaug 
and  Udang  for  Houdin,  the  rector  of  St. 
Michael's.^"  Edin  or  Edo  Merseilles'  will  was 
proved  in  April,  1800 ;  he  was  then  residing  in 
Prekness,  Bergen  county,  and  his  wife's  name  is 
given  as  Aurenche  and  Arreanche.  He  left  sons 
Peter,  Edo,  Cornelius,  John,  and  Garret.  His 
sisters  were  Rachel,  Mary,  and  Elizabeth.  His 
daughters,  Anna,  Caty,  Arreanche,  and  Jenny : 
a  oTandsou,  Adrian  Van  Houten.  An  Eden 
Merseilles,  merchant,  died  at  Bridgeton,  January 
13, 1808,  in  his  forty-ninth  year.  "  He  had  been  in 
business  longer  than  any  other  person  in  town." 
Henry  Marsd^s  was  a  brev>^er  in  Trenton  until 
his  death,  in  1753.  His  will  mentions  a  sister 
Catherine,  and  brothers  Peter  and  John.     There 

*  None  of  these  blunders  are  so  remarkable  as  one  upon  a  marble  now 
standing  in  Northampton,  Massachusetts,  on  the  grave  of  a  "  daughter 
of  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards,  President  of  Prenceia  College,  New- 
Jersej."  Nor  does  this  equal  a  professed  quotation  from  a  ^-ermon  of 
Edward  Irving,  in  a  work  of  Mr.  Wilks,  London,  1854,  where  the  Pres- 
byterial  exegesis  is  called  an  *'  ecce  Jcsum^'' ! 


Isaac  Smith.  243 


was  a  John  Merseloiis^  of  Hopewell,  whose  will, 
in  1784,  requires  that  fifteen  geese  should  be 
kept  on  the  farm  to  supply  feathers  for  the  beds 
which  he  bequeathed  to  his  daughters.  He  had 
a  son,  John  Holder. 

Isaac  S:\riTH  was  at  first  a  ph^^siciau,  and  per- 
haps never  wholly  relinquished  the  profession ; 
but  at  a  time  v/hen  the  constitution  of  the  high- 
est judiciary  department  of  the  State  allowed  of 
lay-judges,  Mr.  Smith  was  placed  on  the  Supreme 
Court  bench,  (February  15,  1777.)  Hence, 
when  he  was  elected  a  trustee  of  the  congrega- 
tion, Marcli  12,  1788,  his  name  is  entered  as 
"Doctor  Isaac  Smith,  Esc[uire."  His  titles  might 
have  been  extended ;  for  he  was  Colonel-Com- 
mandant of  the  militia  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Trenton  in  the  campaign  of  1776.  He  was  the 
first  President  of  the  Trenton  Banking  Company, 
having  been  elected  to  that  post  on  the  institu- 
tion of  the  Bank,  February  13,  1805,  and  con- 
tinued in  it  until  his  deatk.  He  served  eighteen 
years  on  the  bench,  "  during  whick  time,"  ac- 
cording to  his  obituary,  "  ke  was  also  elected  by 
tke  suffrages  of  tke  people  of  New-Jersey,  at  a 
general  State  election,  to  tke  konorable  station 
of  a  member  of  tke  House  of  Representatives  of 


244  Smiths. 

the  United  States,  where  his  high  character  for 
political  wisdom  and  tried  integrity  was  known 
and  duly  appreciated  by  all  his  co-patriots,  and 
particularly  by  the  illustrious  "Washington  and 
Adams,  with  whom  he  enjoyed  the  intimacy  of 
particular  friendshijD."     His  epitaph  is  : 

"Isaac  Smith,  Esq.,  died  August  29th,  180V,  in  the 
sixty-eighth  year  of  his  age.  With  integrity  and  honest 
intentions,  as  a  physician  and  a  judge,  to  the  best  of  his 
abiUty,  he  distributed  health  and  justice  to  his  fellow-men, 
and  died  in  hopes  of  mercy  through  a  Redeemer." 

Of  his  wife,  who  died  in  1801,  the  comprehen- 
sive character  is  graven  on  an  adjoining  stone : 

"  She  was  what  a  woman  ought  to  be." 

It  appears  by  other  inscriptions  that  three  sons 
preceded  their  pa^rents  to  the  grave :  Edward,  lost 
at  sea,  in  1791,  at  the  age  of  twenty-five ;  John 
Pennington,  in  1797  ;  and  Charles,  Lieutenant  of 
the  first  United  States  Kegiment,  in  1800,  aged 
thirty-two.  One  of  the  bec[uests  of  Dr.  Smith's  will 
was  as  follows :  "  To  the  Trustees  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  city  of  Trenton,  one  hun- 
dred dollars,  with  the  interest  that  may  arise 
thereon,  to  be  applied  towards  building  a  new 
church ;  and  provided,  also,  that  they  keep  the 


Bellerjeaus  and  others.  245 


tombstones  of  myself  and  family  in  good  repair. 
I  liave  no  descendants  to  perform  tliis  duty.'- 
His  executors  were  Lydia  Imlay  of  Trenton, 
Kichard  Stockton  of  Princeton,  and  Edward 
Pennington  of  Philadelphia. 

Samuel  Belleejeau  was  a  nephew  of  Samuel 
Tucker.  His  wife  was  Achsah  ;  daughters,  Han- 
nah Gee  and  Sarah  Brearley  ;  sons,  Henry,  Ben- 
jamin, John,  Samuel,  Thomas,  and  Daniel.  He 
died  July  8,  1795,  at  the  age  of  fifty-six,  and  his 
grave-stone  is  one  of  those  that  pave  the  portico 
of  the  present  church. 

Godfrey  Wimer.  I  find  no  more  than  that  a 
person  of  this  name  died  in  ISTottingham  town- 
ship, June  5,  1801. 

Bell.  The  only  traces  of  this  family  are  in 
the  church-yard :  James  Bell,  (probably  the 
signer  of  Mr.  Cowell's  call,)  September  10, 
1747  ;  age,  seventy.  John  Bell,  November  10, 
1788 ;  age,  forty-six. 

Vo:^  or  Vait  Vegkten  and  Vegute  occur  fre- 
cpiently  in  the  Dutch  churches  of  Somerset 
county,  as  commemorated  in  the  "  Pastor's  Me- 
morial "  of  the  llev.  Dr.  Messier,  of  Somerville, 
(1853.) 

WooLSEY  has  long  been  a  highly  respectable 

19* 


246  Mathis — Pidgeon. 


family  in  the  township  and  town.  Benjamin  was 
elected  elder  in  1797,  but  declined.  Dr.  Jeremiah 
Woolsey,  "  formerly  of  Trenton,"  died  in  Cincin- 
nati, February  9,  IS 34,  in  his  sixty-fifth  year. 

Mathis,  sometimes  Mathias,  and  probably 
also  Mathews.  The  house  of  Captain  James 
Mathis,  deceased,  at  Lamberton,  was  advertised 
for  sale  in  1796. 

Wn^LTAM  PiDGEOiT,  already  named  in  the  no- 
tice of  Mr.  Cottnam,  died  at  Stafford,  Monmouth 
county,  January  5,  1780.  Elizabeth  Cottnam 
appears  in  his  will,  among  his  relatives.  He  left 
fifty  pounds  to  the  Methodist  Society  of  Trenton, 
"  for  the  repair  of  their  meeting-house."  He  also 
put  three  thousand  pounds  at  the  discretionary 
disposal  of  his  executors,  for  charitable  purposes, 
and  "  for  the  relief  of  my  negroes  as  they  may 
merit  it."  To  the  registration  of  his  will  is  ap- 
pended this  paragraph  :  "  Note,  that  the  within 
named  William  Pidgeon  was  so  burnt  by  getting 
out  of  his  house  when  on  fire,  that  he  could  not 
hold  a  pen  to  write  his  name,  but  a  mark  as  above, 
and  escaped  in  his  shirt."  From  the  testimony 
before  the  Surrogate,  and  from  the  newspapers, 
it  appears  that  two  children  of  Captain  Isaac  An- 
drews, two  men-servants,  and  a  hired  man,  were 


Creed — Hooper.  247 


burnt  to  death  at  this  time,  and  that  the  Sre  was 
the  cause  of  the  fatal  illness  of  Pidgeon  himself. 

Geoege  Creed  was  a  physician.  He  removed 
to  New-Jersey  from  Jamaica,  Long  Island,  of 
which  town  William  Creed  was  one  of  the  pa- 
tentees in  1686.  Dr.  Creed  was  born  in  Jamaica, 
October  1,  1735,  and  resided  for  some  time  in 
Flemington,  before  coming  to  Trenton.  He 
married  Susanna  Coleman,  of  Maidenhead,  in 
1762,  who  died  in  Trenton,  September  24,1835, 
in  her  ninety-fourth  year.  Dr.  Creed  died  sud- 
denly, of  apoplexy,  on  a  visit  to  Jamaica,  about  the 
year  1775.  His  daughter,  Mrs.  Abigail  Creed 
Eyall,  still  survives,  (1859,)  in  the  ninety-first  year 
of  her  age,  having  been  a  communicant  of  our 
church  for  about  sixty-three  years. 

Robert  Lettis  Hooper.  The  first  person  of 
this  name  was  Chief- Justice  of  the  Province  from 
1724  to  1728,  and  again  from  1729  till  his 
death  in  1739.  In  an  advertisement  of  February 
18,  1752,  occurs  the  name  of  "Robert  Lettis 
Hooper,  now  living  at  Trenton ;"  and  that  of  his 
son,  Reynald,  is  in  the  lottery  j)rospectus  of  1753, 
copied  in  our  Sixth  Chapter.  Robert  L.  Hooper, 
Jr.^  had  a  store  in  Philadelphia,  in  December, 
1762;  was  Deputy  Quarter  Master  General  in 


248  Hoopers. 

1778  ;  and  was  a  Judge  of  the  Common  Pleas  of 
Hunterdon  in  1784.     Kobert  Lettis  Hooper  died 
April  25,  1785,  in  his  seventy-seventh  year,  and 
was  buried  in  the  Episcopal  ground  in  Trenton. 
In  Aicgu-st^  of  the  same   year,  the  death  of  a 
stranger  (Ebenezer  Erskine)  is  announced  "  at 
the  seat  of  Eobert  Lettis  Hooper,  near  Trenton," 
and  Mr.  Hooper  was  one  of  his  acting  executors. 
A  paper  of  Xovember  7,  1785,  says  :  "Since  our 
last  the  Hon.  Robert  Lettis  Hooper,  Esq.,  has 
been  elected  Vice-President  of  the  Legislative 
council,  in  the  room  of  John  Cleves  Symmes, 
appointed   to   Congress."     In   1796,    "  Died  at 
Belville,  near  Trenton,  Mrs.  Elizabeth,  wife  of 
Robert  L.  Hooper,  Esq."     July  30,  1797,  died 
"  the  Hon.  Robert  Lettice  [so  spelled  sometimes] 
Hooper,  formerly  Vice-President  of  this  State, 
in  his  sixty-seventh  year."     Soon  afterwards  is 
advertised  for  sale  "  that  elegant  seat  called  Bel- 
ville, late  the  residence  of  R.  L.  Hooper,"  on  the 
Delaware,  and  containing   one  hundred   acres. 
Belville  was  the  Sinclair  and  Rutherford  country- 
seat  already  mentioned.     It  is  advertised  in  Sep- 
tember, 1806,  by  John  Rutherford,  as  "  the  sum- 
mer residence  of  the  subscriber  in  the  city  of 
Trenton,"    having   three   hundred    and    tliirty 


Singer — Cluims.  249 


acres  on  botli  sides  of  the  river,  and  one  of  the 
lots  between  the  new  street  and  Colhoun's  Lane, 
including  "  Prospect  Hill."  This  exhausts  my 
memoranda  of  this  name  in  the  list  of  the  con- 
tributors to  Mr.  Spencer's  salary. 

Robert  Singer  was  at  one  time  connected  in 
merchandise  with  Bernard  Hanlon,  and  at  an- 
other in  the  auction  business  with  Francis  Witt. 
Witt  kept  a  public  house ;  at  one  time  "  the 
Blazing  Star,"  at  another,  "  an  ordinary  at  the 
sign  of  Dr.  Franklin,  near  the  market."  The 
Trustees  sometimes  held  their  meetings  at  his 
inn. 

John  Clunn  lived  in  Lamberton.  In  August, 
1781,  the  Gazette  mentions  the  death  of  the 
widow  of  John  Clunn,  aged  eighty-three,  "  and  in 
the  evening  of  the  same  day,  the  w^eather  being 
very  warm,  her  remains  were  interred  in  the 
(Episcopal)  church  burying-place." 

Joseph  Clunn  ap^^ears  in  the  Be  volution  as 
"  Captain  in  the  State  Begiment."  In  1785 
"  Captain  Clunn"  kept  an  inn  which  bore  the 
sign  of  Alexander  the  Great.  In  the  Episcopal 
ground  are  the  graves  of  Joseph  Clunn,  Sen., 
who  died  in  1798,  aged  fifty-nine;  and  of  John 
H.  Clunn,    1798,   aged  twenty-eight.     In  the 


250  John  Fitch. 


Presbyterian   ground   is    the    grave    of  Amey 
Clunn,  December  12,  1834 ;  aged  seventy-six. 

John  Fitch  is  one  of  the  historical  names  of 
America,  in  connection  with  the  invention  or 
introduction  of  navigation  by  steam.  He  was  a 
native  of  Connecticut,  where  his  father  was  ''  a 
most  strenuous  Presbyterian."  In  May,  1769, 
he  came  to  Trenton,  and  Matthew  Clunn,  a  tin- 
man, employed  him  in  the  manufacture  of  brass 
buttons.  He  also  picked  up  some  knowledge  of 
the  watchmaker's  trade.  Clunn's  next  door 
neicrhbor  was  James  AVilson,  a  silversmith,  who 
employed  Fitch  as  a  sort  of  apprentice ;  but  in 
a  short  course  of  time  Wilson  ftiiled,  and  became 
Fitch's  journeyman.  One  of  his  biographers  says : 

"  His  skill  and  perseverance  soon  enabled  him  to  master 
the  difficulties  of  his  calling,  and  money  began  to  flow  in- 
to his  pockets.  When  the  war  of  the  American  Revolution 
commenced,  he  was  w^ell  established,  doing  an  extensive 
business.  The  faculty  of  acquiring  property  appears  to 
have  been  in  him  as  strong  as  his  disposition  to  spend 
it  when  acquired.  His  shop  and  its  contents  were  esti- 
mated at  three  thousand  dollars  when  the  British  army 
entered  the  village  of  Trenton.  The  troops  were  attract- 
ed to  it,  because  he  had  large  contracts  for  the  repair  of 
American  arms.  They  proceeded  to  burn  the  establish- 
ment, and  destroy  the  tools  and  all  his  visible  property." 


John  Fitch.  251 


When  the  first  military  company  was  formed 
at  Trenton,  in  support  of  the  Revolution,  Fitch 
was  one  of  the  lieutenants,  and  had  that  rank 
in  the  cantonment  at  Valley  Forge.  The  Com- 
mittee of  Safety  afterwards  made  him  their  gun- 
smith, or  armorer,  and  he  was  expelled  from  the 
"Methodist  Society"  for  working  at  that  busi- 
ness on  the  Sabbath.  He  had  a  quarrel  with 
Alexander  Chambers,  in  the  Commissary  de- 
partment, and  with  John  Yard,  about  military 
rank.  When  the  enemy  entered  Trenton,  in 
December,  1776,  Fitch  removed  to  Bucks  county. 
He  attended  the  Presbyterian  church  of  ISTe- 
shamony,  of  which  the  Rev.  Nathaniel  Irwin 
was  for  many  years  the  minister,  and  who  ap- 
pears to  have  taken  much  notice  of  his  ingenuity. 
It  was  on  his  return  afoot  from  that  church, 
lame  with  rheumatism,  that  the  passing  of  vehi- 
cles caused  him  to  feel  the  contrast  with  his  own 
difficult  locomotion,  and  suggested  the  idea  of 
"gaining  a  force  by  steam,"  that  would  relieve 
pedestrians  of  their  disadvantage.*     After  mak- 


*  "  I  do  certify  that  I  was  returning  with  John  Fitch  from  the  Ne- 
shaminey  meeting,  some  time  in  Agril,  1*785,  as  near  I  can  recollect  the 
time,  when  a  gentleman  and  his  wife  passed  by  us  in  a  riding-chair ;  he 
immediately  grew  inattentive  to  what  I  said.     Some  time  after  he  in- 


2C2  John  Fitch. 


ing  the  first  draft  of  a  steam-power,  Mr.  Irwin 
showed  him,  in  "  Martin's  Philosophy,"  that  the 
steam-engine  had  been  already  invented,  and 
that  the  desideratum  was  to  apply  it  to  naviga- 
tion. It  was  to  the  Neshamony  pastor  that  Fitch 
addressed  his  autobiography,  which  was  deposit- 
ed under  seal  in  the  Philadelphia  library,  with  in- 
junctions that  it  was  not  to  be  opened  until  thirty 
years  after  the  inventor's  death.  Stacy  Potts 
was  one  of  the  company  formed  to  assist  Fitch 
in  his  experiments,  and  he,  with  Isaac  Smith, 
Robert  Pearson,  Jr.,  Samuel  Tucker,  Abraham 
Hunt,  and  Rensselaer  Williams,"^  John  and 
Charles  Clunn,  and  others  of  Trenton,  gave  their 
names  to  the  application  to  the  Legislature  of 
1790,  whicli  obtained  for  him  fourteen  years'  ex- 


formed  me  that  at  that  instant  the  first  idea  of  a  steamboat  struck  his 
mind.  Ja^ies  Ogilbee."  (Fitch's  Pamphlet,  Philadelphia,  1788;  re- 
printed in  Documentary  History  of  New- York,  vol.  ii.) 

*  Rensselaer  Williams  was  a  Justice  of  the  Peace.  In  1781  he  was 
Librarian  of  the  "  Trenton  Library  Company."  He  was  one  of  the  found- 
ers, in  that  year,  of  the  "  Trenton  School  Company,"  or  Academy.  He 
■was  found  dead  in  the  street,  opposite  the  State  House,  December,  1796. 
His  grave  is  ia  the  Episcopal  ground,  where  his  age  is  given  at  sixty- 
four.  Adjoining  it  is  the  grave  of  Rensselaer  WUliams,  Jr.,  who  died  at 
»♦  the  house  of  Abraham  Hunt,  in  1801 ;  aged  thirty-three  years.  He  was 
in  mercantile  business  in  Cooperstown,  New^-Tork. 


Fitch's  Map  and  Boat.  253 


elusive  privilege  on  tliis  side  of  tlie  Delaware. 
His  boat  Perseverance  made  several  ti'ips  be- 
tween Philadelphia  and  Trenton  in  that  year.'^' 

Fitch  visited  the  Western  States,  and  was  for 
some  time  in  captivity  among  the  Indians.  In 
Collins's  Trenton  Gazette^  of  July,  1785,  is  the 
followino:  advertisement : 

"  John  Fitcli  liaiiag  traversed  the  country  north-west  of 
the  Ohio,  in  the  several  capacities  of  a  captive,  a  surveyor, 
and  a  traveller,  as  the  result  of  his  labors  and  remarks  has 
completed,  and  now  wishes  to  sell,  a  new,  accurate  Map  of 
that  country,  generally  distinguished  by  the  Ten  i^ew 
States,  including  Kentucky,  which  opens  immense  sources 
of  wealth  and  advantageous  speculation  to  the  citizens 
of  the  United  States,  and  therefore  is  an  object  of  general 
attention.  Having  performed  the  engraving  and  printing 
himself,  he  is  enabled  to  sell  at  the  very  small  price  of  a 
French  crown. 


*  It  was  one  of  Fitch's  or  Rumsey's  experiments  that  j'ranklin  wrote 
of  in  Philadelphia,  October,  1788 :  "  We  have  no  philosophical  news 
here  at  present,  except  that  a  boat,  moved  by  a  steam-engine,  rows  itself 
against  tide  in  our  river,  and  it  is  apprehended  the  construction  may 
be  so  simplified  and  improved,  as  to  become  generally  useful."  (Sparks's 
Franklin,  x.  363.)  I  have  seen  a  letter  of  Fitch  to  Stacy  Potts,  Philadel- 
phia, July  28,  1786,  in  which  he  expresses  the  greatest  satisfaction  in 
his  prospects.  "  We  have  now  tried  every  part,  and  reduced  it  to  as  cer- 
tain a  thing  as  can  be,  that  we  shall  not  come  short  of  ten  miles  per 
hour,  if  not  twelve  or  fourteen.     I  will  say  fourteen  in  theory  and  ten  in 

practice." 

20 


\ 


254  John  Fitch. 


"  IsT.  B. — They  are  also  to  be  sold  by  Enos  Kelsey,  in 
Princeton,  and  by  tlie  printer  hereof." 

It  is  said  that  this  map,  projected  and  engrav- 
ed by  himself,  was  printed  also  by  him  in  a 
Bucks  county  cider-press.  In  May,  1785,  he 
wrote  to  his  patron,  Potts,  from  Bucks,  that  his 
map  is  so  far  formed  that  he  "  shall  want  paper 
for  it  thirty  inches  by  twenty-three,  and  would 
wish  to  see  you  on  the  occasion,  but  am  so  en- 
gaged that  I  can  not  sj)are  the  time  to  go  over 
to  Trenton." 

In  ISTovember,  1785,  Fitch  gave  to  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Virginia  (Patrick  Henry)  a  bond  for 
three  hundred  and  iifty  pounds,  "  conditioned  for 
exhibitiuij:  his  steamboat"  on  the  waters  of  that 
State,  "  when  he  receives  subscriptions  for  one 
thousand  of  his  maps,  at  Qs.  Sd.  each. 

From  the  Methodists  and  Presbyterians,  Fitch 
went  over  to  the  Universalists.  One  of  his  bio- 
graphers says  he  was  "a  drinking  man"  in 
his  later  years,  "  but  it  is  believed  he  was  not  a 
drunkard."  Another  says  he  was  "  a  man  of 
extremely  temperate  habits  for  that  time."  The 
latter  writer  attributes  his  death  to  "  gradual 
suicide"  by  the  use  of  spirituous  liquors,  and  says 


Wilson — Smith.  255 


that  he  ''  foretold  the  length  of  time  that  his  con- 
stitution would  survive,  by  a  mathematical  ratio 
of  debility."^*  But  the  version  of  the  other,  and 
latest  author,  is  that  being  ill,  he  purposely  made 
one  dose  of  twelve  opium  pills,  which  had 
been  directed  to  be  taken  at  intervals.f  He 
died  at  Bardstown,  Kentucky,  in  IYO8.  "  Will 
a  delay  of  half  a  century,"  asks  his  biograplier 
of  1847,  ''  in  rendering  public  justice  to  the 
watch-maker  and  gunsmith  of  Trenton,  weaken 
the  obligations  of  his  countrymen  to  admire  his 
genius  ?" 

James  Wilson  was  probably  the  silversmith 
mentioned  in  the  preceding  article.  His  father 
had  prospered  in  Perth  Amboy;  and  AYilson, 
having  some  patrimony,  neglected  his  trade  and 
became  intemperate.  It  was  upon  his  becoming 
involved  in  some  responsibility  in  Wilson's  busi- 
ness, that  Fitch  undertook  to  pay  the  debt,  by 
taking  his  tools,  when  the  master  and  journey- 
man exchanged  places. 

WiLLiA^r  Smith  was  the  name  of  the  landlord 


*  Memoir  by  Charles  Whittlesey,  in  Sparks's  Library  of  Americari 
Biography,  vol.  svi.  184t. 

f  Life,  drawn  from  his  Autobiography  in  the  Philadelphia  Library : 
by  Thompson  Westcott,  185*7. 


256  Brittain. 


of  whom  Fitcli  hired  a  room  in  Trenton  where 
he  cairied  on  the  manufacture  of  silver  and  brass 
"buttons  for  peddling.  The  only  place  in  which 
I  find  the  name  is  in  an  inscription  in  the  grave- 
yard, the  age  of  the  suljject  of  which  is  rather 
too  youns:  for  a  subscriber  in  1770. 

"  In  affectionate  remembrance,  from  a  bereft  consort 
and  fatherless  offspring  of  'William  Smith,  who  died  April 
11th,  1799,  aged  forty  years." 

Joseph  Beittai]^  was  a  shoemaker,  and  a  man 
of  property.  He  was  the  principal  owner  of  the 
lot  on  which  the  State  House  is  built.  In  Jan- 
nary,  1792,  he  conveyed  two  and  a  quarter  acres 
to  the  Commissioners  of  the  State  for  the  nom- 
inal price  of  iive  shillings,  and  in  February,  of 
the  same  year,  three  quarters  of  an  acre  for  six- 
ty-seven pounds  and  ten  shillings.^  Mr.  Brit- 
tain was  a  member  of  this  church  from  1809  to 
1813,  w^hen  his  connection  ceased  in  consequence 
of  his  havins:  embraced  doctrines  too  much  at 
variance  wdth  those  of  our  communion  for  his 
comfortable  continuance. 

*  On  the  same  day  William  Keeder  (which  name  is  also  among  the 
signatures)  conveyed  one  quarter  of  an  acre  for  the  same  purpose,  at  the 
price  of  sixty-two  pounds  ten  shillings ;  and  George  Ely  half  an  acre  for 
one  hundred  and  twenty  pounds. 


Henrys. 

Samuel   Henky  was  a  large  owner  of  real 
estate  in  Trenton  and  elsewhere.     He  devised  to 
his  cliildren  extensive  tracts  in  Nottingham  and 
Trenton,  including  ''  the  old  iron- works,"  and  in 
Pennsylvania.     His  children  (mentioned  indivi- 
dually as  son  or  daughter  of  "  Mary  Ogilbee") 
were  George,  Samuel,  Frances,  and  Mary.     He 
left  a  property  in  Trenton  to  Maiy  Yard,  daugh- 
ter of  William  Yard,  on  condition  of  her  keeping 
it  as  a  comfortable  home  for  his  children  during 
their  minority  ;  making  special  reference  to  the 
vacations  of  his  sons  when  they  should  be  students 
at  Princeton  College.     Their  names,  however,  are 
not  on  the  Catalogue.     Mr.  Henry  had  a  brother 
Alexander  in  Ireland,  whose  son  Arthur  H.  is  pro- 
minent as  the  first  legatee  in  his  will,  but  is  dis- 
posed of  Yfith  ^ve  shillings.     He  left  a  contingent 
legacy  of  three  hundred  pounds  "  to  the  Trustees 
or  managers  of  the  English  Church  in  Trenton,  for 
the  maintenance  and  support  of  an  orthodox  min- 
ister."   In  the  yard  of  that  church  are  the  tomb- 
stones of  Samuel  Henry,  January  9, 1795,  twenty- 
four  years ;  Samuel  Henry,  May  10,  1781,  sixty- 
seven  years;    George  Henry,  October  23,  1846, 
seventy-six  years.     The  wives  of  George  Henry 
and  Aaron  D.  Woodruff,  Attorney  General,  were 


258  Runyon — Lowrey. 

sisters — Mary  and  Grace,  claiigliters  of  Thomas 
Lowrey.  Tliere  is  a  fourtli  stone  in  tlie  group, 
marked  Mrs.  Mary  Henry,  January  23,  1804; 
twenty-nine  years.  There  died  in  Bloomsbury, 
January  5,  1832,  "  Katy  Willis,  a  native  of 
Africa,  aeed  one  hundred  and  twelve  years. 
She  was  formerly  a  domestic  in  the  family  of 
Samuel  Henry,  Sen.,  of  Trenton." 

Hugh  Runyoi^,  or  Runyan,  built  one  of  the 
few  good  houses  now  standing  in  Lamberton, 
lately  of  the  estate  of  John  E.  Smith,  probably 
included  in  fifty  acres  in  Nottingham  township, 
which  Runyon  conveyed  to  Elijah  Bond  in  1777. 
He  removed  to  King  wood,  and  died  there.  I 
have  seen  a  deed  of  1799,  in  which  he  conveyed 
land  to  his  son,  Daniel  C.  Runyon,  of  Nottingham. 

Stephen  Loweey  married  Sarah,  daughter  of 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Spencer.  He  had  been  a  merchant 
in  Maryland,  but  after  his  marriage  in  Trenton 
resided  there,  and  for  some  time,  at  least,  at  the 
parsonage  ;  as  there  are  advertisements  of  "  Ste- 
phen Lowrey,  at  the  Rev.  Mr.  Spencer's,"  ofi:er- 
iug  "  the  highest  price  for  loan  office  bills  on 
the  Commissioners  in  France."  He  appears  also 
to  have  been  connected  with  the  Commissariat 
Department  in  the  Revolution  ;  as  in  November, 


Unity.  259 

1YY9,  he  offered  a  reward  of  a  tliousand  dollars 
(Continental  currency)  for  nine  barrels  of  ilonr 
stolen  from  "  the  Continental  store-house  at 
Trenton."  Mrs.  LoAyrey's  grave  is  next  to  that 
of  her  fiither.  Elsewhere  in  the  church-yard  is  a 
stone  marked  Thomas  Lowrey,  Jr.,  March  11, 
1803;  age,  thirty-one. 

Of  this  sort  was  the  congregation  to  which 
Mr.  Spencer  came  to  minister.  At  a  time  when 
neither  the  Episcopalians  nor  Presbyterians 
were  strong  enough  to  maintain  pastors  for  the 
exclusive  service  of  their  town  churches,  a  num- 
ber were  accustomed  to  hold  pews  in  both,  that 
they  might  have  the  opportunity  of  worship  in 
one  or  the  other  place  every  Lord's  day.  There 
seems  to  have  been  no  difficulty  even  in  holding- 
offices  alternately  in  both.  Of  the  subscribers 
to  the  agreement  when  Mr.  Spencer  was  called, 
the  names  of  Pidgeon,  Bond,  Coxe,  Hooper, 
Cottnam,  How,  Decow,  Singer,  Witt,  Clunn,  and 
Adams  are  to  be  found  amons^  the  Wardens  and 
Vestrymen  of  St.  Michael's  between  1755  and 
1783.  From  July  7,  1776,  to  January  4,  1783, 
that  church  was  not  opened  at  all  for  divine 
service. 


Dk.  Spencer's   Ministey. — Revolutionaky 
Incidents  in  Trenton. 

ms— 1780. 

In  the  year  1773  there  appears  to  have  "been 
a  rearraDgement  of  the  pew-holding,  probably 
in  consequence  of  some  addition  to  the  number 
of  pews.  A  meeting  of  the  congregation  took 
place  on  the  seventeenth  May,  ''  for  regulating 
and  granting  seats  and  pews  in  the  meeting- 
house." Certain  pews — from  one  to  twenty-four 
— are  directed  to  be  ''  numbered,"  and  they  are 
"rated,"  from  £1  106".  in  the  gallery,  to  £3  106*, 
below.     It  was  ordered  that 

"Every  person,  or  persons,  entitled  to  a  pew  by 
original  purchase  or  grant,  be  continued  in  their  right, 
on  his  or  their  paying  their  annual  subscription  or  rate, 
in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  pew  such  person  may  pos- 
sess ;  not  inider  forty  shillings,  nor  exceeding  three  pounds 
ten  shillings."  "  William  Patterson  made  application  for 
one  half  of  any  pew  below  stairs."     "  James  Peak  applied 


Spencer.  261 

for  one  half  of  Mr.  Piclgcon's  pew  in  the  gallery :  in  case 
Mr.  Pidgeon  should  give  it  up,  he  would  give  iifteen  shil- 
lings per  annum  for  the  half." 

There  is  no  record  to  show  wlien,  if  at  all,  Mr. 
Spencer  was  installed  in  Trenton.  At  his  recep- 
tion by  tlie  Presbytery,  in  17Y1,  it  was  without 
the  mention  of  any  particular  charge.  One 
cause  that  prevented  this,  may  have  been  the 
confusion  and  uncertainty  arising  out  of  tlie 
state  of  public  affairs  in  colonies  approaching  a 
revolution.  His  patriotic  sj)irit  may  have  fore- 
tliousrht  that  he  should  be  called,  if  not  like  his 
co-presbyter,  Witherspoon,  to  the  public  councils, 
yet  to  a  return  to  liis  chaplaincy  in  the  army.  In 
1775  such,  an  opportunity  of  serving  both  his 
country  and  Church  was  presented,  and  it  ori- 
ginated in  the  impressions  made  during  his  mis- 
sionary visit  to  North-Carolina."^  In  December 
of  that  year  a  sjoecial  meeting  of  the  Presbytery 
was  summoned  at  Princeton,  to  hear  an  applica- 
tion from  him.  He  then  stated  that  in  conse- 
quence of  a  resolution  of  Congress,  he  had  been 

*  The  Provincial  Congress  of  New- Jersey,  which  sat  from  October 
4tli  to  28th,  ]715,  had  their  daily  sessions  opened  with  prayer.  Mr. 
Spencer  was  the  first  to  officiate  as  chaplain. 


262  Patriotic  MifTion 


invited  by  tlie  vlelegates  of  l^ortli-Carolina  to 
take  a  journey  tliitlier,  "and  preach  and  con- 
verse for  some  time  among  those  people,  as  their 
case  is  extremely  critical."  Dr.  Witherspoon 
was  Moderator  of  the  meeting ;  and  the  minute 
is  that  "  the  Presbytery  most  cheerfully  acquiesce 
with  the  motion,  and  appoint  Mr.  Spencer  to 
comply  with  the  request ;  and  appoint  supplies 
for  his  several  cono^resrations  durins:  his  absence ; 
and  ordered  that  the  Moderator  furnish  Mr. 
Spencer  with  proper  testimonials  to  the  churches 
of  Christ  in  North-Carolina." 

In  the  Journal  of  the  Continental  Confess,  of 
December  20,  1775,  is  this  minute: 

"  Resolved,  That  orders  be  dra^va  on  the  Treasurers, 
in  flwor  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ehliii  Spencer  and  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Alexander  Mncwhorter,  who  have  undertaken  to  go  to 
l!^orth-Caroliua,  for  the  sum  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
dollars  each,  being  three  months'  advance,  they  to  be 
accountable." 

The  late  Mrs.  Biddle,  of  Carlisle,  Pennsyl- 
vania, a  daughter  of  Dr.  Spencer,  who  survived 
him  until  1S58,  gave  to  me  in  1841  the  follow- 
ing memorandum  of  this  mission  : 

"  In  the  beginning  of  the  Revolutionary  contest  my 


to  the  South.  263 


father  and  Dr.  Macwhorter,  of  Newark,  were  appointed 
by  Congress  to  visit  the  more  remote  parts  of  Virginia, 
Georgia,  IsTorth  and  Soutli-Carolina,  for  the  purpose  of  in- 
forming the  settlers  there,  who  were  at  the  time  exceed- 
ingly ignorant,  of  the  cause  of  the  Revolution  and  the  neces- 
sity of  standing  forth  in  defense  of  their  right  and  country. 
This  circumstance  made  my  father  very  obnoxious  to  the 
British,  who  suifered  his  library  with  all  the  writings  of 
his  whole  life  to  be  burnt  and  entirely  destroyed." 

A  daughter  of  Mrs.  Bid  die  has  since  written 
to  me  thiit  she  has  frequently  heard  her  mother 
relate  the  incidents  of  that  period,  and  their  seri- 
ous consequences  to  the  zealous  advocate  of  In- 
dependence, after  his  return  to  Trenton,  which 
was  soon  in  the  centre  of  warfare.  His  inter- 
ference was  considered  rebellion,  and  the  author- 
ities of  the  royal  government  offered  a  rev/ard 
of  a  hundred  guineas  for  his  head. 

*'  This  was  known,"  says  my  correspondent,  "  to  the 
American  officers,  and  one  of  them  (I  think  General  Mer- 
cer) sent  a  messenger  to  him  in  the  night  to  say  that  the 
British  army  were  near,  and  that  he  must  fly  for  his  life. 
My  mother  was  about  nine  years  old,  and  recollects  per- 
fectly the  panic  and  flight  in  the  middle  of  the  night. 
They  went  to  St.  George's,  in  Delaware,  where  they  were 
treated  with  the  utmost  kindness  and  affection.  My 
grandfather  preached  there  until  it  was  safe  to  return  to 


264  Loffes. 

Trenton.  On  tlie  return  of  the  family  they  found  their 
furniture,  books,  and  j^apers  destroyed,  and  the  house 
itself  so  much  injured  that  it  was  scarcely  habitable.  My 
mother  has  often  told  me  that  her  father  was  so  discour- 
aged by  the  loss  of  his  papers,  that  from  that  time  he 
never  wrote  another  sermon ;  preaching  merely  from 
short  notes." 

In  1781  the  Legislature  of  Xew- Jersey  ap- 
pointed Commissioners  to  ''  procure  an  estimate 
of  the  damages  sustained  by  the  inhabitants 
of  this  State  from  the  waste  and  spoil  com- 
mitted by  the  trooj)s  in  the  service  of  the 
enemy,  or  their  adherents."  Peter  Gordon, 
Sidney  Berry,  and  Joseph  Phillips  were  the 
Commissioners  for  Hunterdon  county.  From 
their  report  we  can  ascertain  minutely  the  loss 
suffered  by  Dr.  Spencer,  and  also  that  of  the 
Church  corporation.  In  the  return  of  the  former 
are  given,  "  five  hundred  and  twenty-four  panel 
fence,  four  rails  with  post ;"  "  one  hundred  and 
sixty-seven  panel  of  red  cedar  post  and  rail- 
fence,  good  as  new;"  agricultural  implements, 
wheat  in  the  stalk  and  in  the  ground,  cattle,  fur- 
niture, maps,  clothing,  china,  glass,  three  spin- 
ning-wheels, provisions ;  "  stable  totally  destroy- 
ed."    To  this  inventory  Dr.  Spencer  adds : 


Lofses.  265 


"  A  large  chest  and  barrel  of  books,  packed  close,  but 
the  particular  volumes  I  can  not  remember  or  fully  recol- 
lect. Araons:  them  were  all  the  school-books  and  classics 
in  Greek  and  Latin  ;  a  large  collection  of  Hebrew  books, 
French  dictionary,  grammar,  and  Bible,  and  several  other 
books  in  French ;  Pool's  Annotations  on  the  Bible,  Bates' 
Works  m  large  folio,  AVillard's  Works,  with  his  Body  of 
Divinity ;  six  large  volumes  of  Caryl  upon  J  ob  ;  Pope's, 
Swift's,  and  Addison's  Works  ;  Mr.  Edwards's  Works,  of 
Northampton,  with  a  number  of  mathematical  and  philo- 
sophical books  ;  Dr.  Witherspoon's  Works,  a  good  many 
of  Wall's  Works,  several  volumes  of  Doddridge's  Works, 
besides  his  Family  Expositor,  and  a  great  number  of  vol- 
umes on  different  subjects,  which  I  can  not  recollect.  The 
estimate  of  these  books  I  leave  to  the  discretion  of  the  Com- 
missioners, not  being  able  to  give  a  more  particular 
account,  but  beg  leave  to  say,  I  have  always  estimated 
the  loss  of  the  library  to  be  one  hundred  pounds  at  the 
least." 

His  affidavit  was  made  September  6,  1783. 
Putting  the  books  at  eighty  pounds,  the  total 
of  the  Commissioners'  appraisement  was  £oSl 
17s.  9d. 

The  parsonage  was  used  by  the  Hessians  for 
an  hospital.  The  communion  plate  was  plun- 
dered. The  particulars  of  the  loss  sustained  are 
given  as  follows : 

"  An  inventory  of  damages  done  to  the  Presbyterian 

21 


266  Damages. 


Ohurcli  in  Trenton,  and  public  property  destroyed  by  the 
enemy  in  December,  1776  : 

"  303  feet  of  board  fence  three  feet  high,  45 

romid  posts  and  rails,  which  was  romid  the 

burying-gronndj 
11  panel  post  and  4  rail  fence,  .  . 

140  panes  glass,     .... 
Large  gates,  hooks,  and  hinges, 
A  silk  damask  curtain  and  hangings, 
A  silver  can  Vv'ith  two  handles,  and  large  plate, 
Damages  done  to  the  parsonage  house  whilst  an 

Hessian  hospital,  (app'd  by  Miss  Axford,)    . 
1400  feet  of  boards  stript  oiFthe  stable, 
310  feet  board  fence,  five    feet  high,  40  posts 

and  rails,  rounds  the  parsonage  garden,  . 
2  large  front  gates,  hooks,  and  hinges, 
1  well-curb,  bucket,  and  chain,     . 
1  table-cloth  and  about  ten  yards  diaper, 

£80  10  0 

"  Alexander  Chambers  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and 
says,  that  the  within  inventory  is  just  and  true,  to  the 
best  of  his  knowledge,  and  that  no  pay  or  compensation 
hath  been  received  for  the  same  or  any  part  thereof. 

"  In  behalf  of  the  congregation, 

"  Alexander  Chambeks,  Trustee." 

*'  Sworn  this  seventh  day  of  September,  1782, 

"  Jos.  Phillips." 

On  the  second  January,  1777,  Cornwallis  en- 


6 

0  0 

1 

2  0 

4 

1    8 

1 

10  0 

12 

0  0 

20 

0  0 

19 

5  0 

5 

5  0 

6 

16  4 

1 

0  0 

1 

10  0 

2 

0  0 

Rosborough.  267 


tered  Trenton.  One  of  tlie  members  of  our 
Presbytery  was  a  victim  to  the  barbarity  of  tlie 
troops  under  bis  command.  This  was  the  Eev. 
eTohn  Rosborough,  pastor  of  Allentowu,  Pennsyl- 
vania, who  was  received  as  a  candidate  May  2?, 
1Y62  ;  licensed  a  probationer,  August  16,  17G3, 
and  ordained  December  11,  1764.  He  was 
Moderator  of  the  Presbytery  in  1776.  Accord- 
ing to  the  report  made  to  Synod,  he  was  "  bar- 
barously murdered  by  the  enemy  at  Trenton  on 
January  second."  In  a  letter  to  Richard  Henry 
Lee,  of  January  14,  Dr.  Rush  wrote :  "  The  sav- 
ages [Hessians]  murdered  a  clergyman,  a  chap- 
lain to  a  battalion  of  militia,  in  cold  blood,  at 
Trenton,  after  he  had  surrendered  himself  and 
begged  for  mercy.  His  name  was  Rosborough."* 
It  ought,  however,  to  be  mentioned  that  before 
he  was  commissioned  as  chaplain,  Mr.  Rosborough 
had  united  with  his  neighbors  in  forming  a  com- 
pany to  recruit  Washington's  forces  on  their  re- 
treat through  New-Jersey,  and  from  a  sentence 
in  a  letter  to  his  vrife,  a  few  days  before  his 
capture,  it  seems  probable  that  he  was  even  then 
''  ridins:  with  a  French  fasee  sluno:  at  his  back." 

*  Memoirs  of  R.  IT.  Lee,  vol.  ii,  1  Go. 


268  Rosborough's  death. 


The  particulars  of  the  outrage  are  given  by 
Dr.  Sprague  as  follows  : 

"  Mr.  Rosborough  proceeded  with  his  company  to 
Trenton ;  and,  as  he  was  going  towards  the  river  in 
search  of  his  horse,  he  was  met  "by  a  company  of  Hessians 
imder  British  command.  He  immediately  gave  himself 
up  as  a  prisoner,  but  begged,  for  the  sake  of  his  wife  and 
children,  that  they  would  spare  his  life.  He  quickly 
found,  however,  that  his  request  was  to  be  denied,  and 
that  the  bloody  deed  Avas  to  be  performed  without  de- 
lay. He  instantly  knelt  down,  and,  in  imitation  of  his 
blessed  Master,  prayed  for  the  forgiveness  of  his  murder- 
ers, and  scarcely  had  this  prayer  passed  from  his  lips  be- 
fore a  deadly  weapon  pierced  his  body,  and  he  lay  strug- 
gling in  death.  They  tben  took  his  watch,  and  part  of 
his  clothing,  and  left  him  weltering  in  his  blood.  The 
wretched  creature  who  had  committed  the  act,  or  had  had 
a  principal  part  in  it,  vrent  immediately  after,  with  the 
fury  of  a  madman,  into  one  of  the  hotels  in  Trenton,  and 
profanely  boasted  to  the  woman  who  kept  it,  that  he  had 
killed  a  rebel  minister,  and  showed  her  his  watch  ;  but  he 
added  that  it  was  too  bad  he  should  have  been  praying 
for  them  when  they  vrere  murdering  him.  A  young  man 
by  the  name  of  John  Hayes,  of  Mr.  Rosborough's  congre- 
jzation,  took  char  ore  of  the  corpse,  and  buried  it  the  next 
day  in  an  obscure  place  in  Trenton.  The  Rev.  George 
Duffield,  of  Philadelphia,  having  heard  of  the  sad  event, 
took  measures  to  have  the  body  removed  to  the  church- 
yard for  its  final  interment."* 

*  Annals,  vol.  iii.  254.     I  am  sorry  to  say  that  there  is  no  trace  of  tlio 

chaplain's  grave  in  onr  grounds. 


Dullield.  269 

Mr.  (afterwards  Dr.)  Daffield,  mentioned  in 
this  extract,  was  one  of  tlie  cliaplains  of  the 
First  Cono:ress.  He  would  occasionally  leave 
his  conoTeo^ation  for  a  short  time  to  serve  as  a 
missionary  to  the  troops  when  they  were  within 
easy  reach.  It  was  probably  during  such  an 
errand  as  this  that  he  became  acquainted  with 
Mr.  Rosborough's  death  ;  for,  according  to  the 
annalist  just  quoted  : 

"He  Yras  with  the  army  in  their  battles  and  retreat 
through  Jersey,  and  was  ahiiost  the  very  last  man  that  cross- 
ed the  bridge  over  the  stream  immediately  south  of  Trenton, 
before  it  was  cut  down  by  order  of  the  American  General. 
For  this  preservation  he  was  indebted  to  a  Quaker  friend, 
whom  he  had  essentially  aided  in  his  hour  of  trial — though 
of  politics  opposed  to  his  own — and  whose  deliverance  lie 
had  been  the  means  of  securing.  The  British  officers  had 
put  a  price  upon  his  head,  and  were  particularly  anxious 
to  destroy  him,  because  of  the  influence  he  exerted  among 
the  soldiers  of  the  American  army.  After  the  retreat  from 
Princeton,  he  had  retired  to  a  private  house  in  Trenton  to 
seek  repose,  and  was  not  aware  that  the  American  army 
had  taken  up  their  line  of  march,  and  had  nearly  all  crossed 
the  bridge,  until  his  Quaker  friend  sought  him  out  and 
gave  him  the  alarm,  just  in  time  for  him  to  escape,  before 
the  bridge  was  destroyed  by  the  retreating  army  of 
Washington."* 

*  Aonalf,  vol  iii.  191.    From  the  same  authority  I  find  that  the  Rev. 

21^ 


270  Rahl. 

From  the  "blanks  in  the  minutes  of  the  Trus- 
tees, it  appears  that  there  was  no  meeting  of  the 
Board  in  1T76.  In  that  eventful  year  the 
Presbytery  hehi  five  sessions  :  at  Boundbrook  in 
April,  at  Philadelphia  (during  Synod)  in  May, 
at  Princeton  in  June,  (to  receive  Mr.  Armstrong 
as  a  candidate,)  at  Am  well  in  July,  at  Basking- 
I'idsre  in  October.  The  State  was  the  seat  of 
w^ar.  In  the  beginning  of  December  Washing- 
ton and  a  large  body  of  troops  were  at  Trenton. 
Later  in  the  month  a  brigade  of  three  Hessian 
regiments,  one  of  them  Colonel  Rahl's,  was  sta- 
tioned here.  The  Colonel  kept  the  town  in 
commotion,  even  before  he  thought  of  being 
attacked. 

"  The  cannon,"  said  one  of  his  lieutenants  in  his  jour- 
nal, "  must  be  drawn  forth  every  day  from  their  proper 
places,  and  paraded  about  the  town,  seemingly  only  to 
make  a  stir  and  uproar.  There  was  a  church  [the  Episco- 
pal] close  by  his  quarters,  surrounded  by  palings  ;  the  of- 
iicer  on  guard  must  march  round  and  round  it,  with  his 
men  and  musicians,  looking  like  a  Catholic  procession, 
wanting"  only  the  cross,  and  the  banners,  and  chaunting 


Mr.  Macwhorter  was  in  the  camp  of  Washington,  opposite  Trenton,  at 
the  time  of  the  battle  of  1776:  and  that  Wilham  Paxton  (afterwards 
D.D.)  was  in  the  ranks  on  that  occasion,  iii.  210,  rjr>4. 


Battle  of  Trenton.  271 


choristers.     The  hautboys — he  could  never  have  enough 
of  them."* 

On  tlie  twenty-sixtli  was  tlie  famous  battle. 
Rabl  was  carried  mortally  wounded  to  his  quar- 
ters in  Warren  streetf — tlie  residence  of  Stacy 
Potts.  J 

The  journal  of  his  Lieutenant,  as  translated  in 
Mr.  Irving's  work,  says  : 

"  He  died  on  the  following  evening,  and  lies  buried  in 
this  place  which  he  has  rendered  so  famous,  in  the  grave- 


*  Irving's  Life  of  Washington,  ch.  xliii. 

f  Then  King  street,  as  the  present  Greene  was  Queen.  The  former 
was  also  famiharly  called  Front,  and  the  latter  Back  street.  The  "Fed- 
eral Post  or  Trenton  Weekly  Mercury,"  was  printed  in  1788,  by  Que- 
quelle  and  Wilson,  "  on  the  north  side  of  Front  St.,  opposite  the  Eng- 
lish Church,"  the  neighborhood  of  Rahl's  death. 

:|:  This  house  is  advertised  for  rent  in  the  Trerdon  Gazeiie,  December, 
1784,  where  it  is  said  to  have  been  lately  occupied  by  the  President  of 
Congress.  It  was  provided  for  his  use  by  James  Evving,  Moore  Furman, 
and  Conrad  Kotts,  by  the  direction  of  the  Legislature,  (August  25,  1784) 
The  lease,  which  is  before  me,  stipulates  also  for  "  the  hay-house  nearly 
full  of  very  good  hay,  with  the  stables  on  each  side  thereof,  together  with 
a  tenplate  stove  belonging  to  the  front  part  of  the  said  house,"  but  "re- 
serving the  use  of  the  road  as  it  now  goes  to  the  tan-yard,  and  so  much 
of  the  lot  as  Samuel  Phillips  may  have  occasion  for,  adjoining  his  shop." 
The  lease  was  for  one  year  from  October  30,  1784,  at  one  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds  in  gold  or  silver,  (four  hundred  dollars.)  The  house  was 
the  residence  of  Stacy  Potts,  and  not  a  tavern,  as  is  stated  in  Lossing's 
♦'Field  Book."     It  was  taken  down  in  1857. 


2^2  Battle  of  Trenton. 


yard  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Sleep  well !  dear  com- 
mander !  The  Americans  will  hereafter  set  up  a  stone 
above  thy  grave  with  this  inscription  : 

"  Hier  liegt  der  Oberst  Rahl, 
Mit  ihm  ist  alles  all  !"* 

The  first  mention  of  celebrating  the  anniver- 
sary of  the  battle  of  Trenton  which  I  have  found 
is  in  1806,  December  26,  when  the  Trenton 
Light  Infantry  had  a  parade  and  a  dinner,  and 
in  the  evening  the  Eev.  Mr.  Stamford  preached 
in  the  Baptist  Church,  from  the  text,  "  I  was 
free-born."  The  observance  afterwards  degene- 
rated into  an  annual  sham-fight. 

Mr.  Spencer  was  present  at  the  election  of 
Trustees  of  the  congregation,  September  2, 1111^ 
"  at  the  house  of  Mr.  John  Chambers."  He  at- 
tended the  sessions  of  Synod  and  Presbytery  in 
Philadelphia,  May,  1776,  and  of  Presbytery,  at 
Amwell,  July  31,  on  vvKich  day  he  presided  and 
preached  at  the  ordination  of  Mr.  Warford,  and 
his  installment  over  the  congregation  of  Amwell. 
In  April,  1782,  this  minute  is  found  : 


*  "  Here  lies  Colonel  Eahl ;  all  is  over  with  bim."  The  Americans 
have  delayed  the  fulfillment  of  the  prediction  until  it  has  become  impos- 
sible to  identify  the  "  hier''  for  the  epitaph. 


Lois  of  Papers.  273 

"  The  Presbytery  thinks  it  proper  here  to  note,  that  the 
trouble  occasioned  by  the  war  has  been  the  general  rea- 
son why  the  members  of  Presbytery  have  attended  with 
so  little  punctuaUty  for  a  number  of  years  past  —  this 
State  having  been  either  the  seat  of  war,  or  contiguous  to 
it,  since  the  year  1776." 

To  the  ravages  of  war  is  probably  owing  the 
order  of  the  Trustees  in  August,  1780,  that  "  a 
subscription  be  opened  in  town  and  country  for 
repairing  the  parsonage-house,  which  at  present 
is  in  a  ruinous  condition."  A  committee  of  1792, 
to  search  for  missing  records,  reported  "  that 
none  were  to  be  found,  and  that  there  is  much 
reason  to  believe  that  those  minutes  were  lost 
during  the  late  Revolution,  among  the  papers  of 
Dr.  Spencer  and  Mr.  Halsey."  And  in  their 
reply,  through  the  Rev.  Mr.  Armstrong,  to  the 
requisition  of  the  General  Assembly  for  histori- 
cal materials,  the  Presbytery  of  April,  1793, 
report :  "  They  labor  under  peculiar  difficulties, 
in  this  respect,  from  the  extent  of  the  ravages  of 
the  enemy  in  the  State  of  New-Jersey  during  the 
late  war.  The  minutes  of  the  Presbytery  have 
been  lost  with  the  papers  of  the  late  Dr.  Spen- 
cer, down  to  a  late  date."  As  early  as  1779,  Mr. 
Spencer  himself. 


274  Mr.  Tucker's 


"As  Standing  Clerk,  is  requested  to  collect  all  the 
papers  belonging  to  this  Presbytery,  from  the  several 
members  or  others  in  whose  hands  they  may  have  been 
heretofore  deposited ;  to  be  complied  with  by  our  next 
Presbytery." 

Nine  years  after  Spencerls  death, 

"  Mr.  Woodhull  informed  the  Presbvterv  that  the  old 
minutes,  [prior  to  1771,]  so  long  searched  for  in  vain, 
were  known  to  be  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Warford,  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Albany,  and  it  was  ordered  that  Mr.  Wood- 
hull  take  suitable  measures  to  procure  them,"  (September 
18,  1793.) 

As  a  further  illustration  of  tlie  hazards  of 
ecclesiastical  records  of  tlie  times,  and  a  proba- 
ble explanation  of  the  fate  of  many  documents  of 
the  Trenton  congregation,  I  produce  the  sub- 
stance of  an  affidavit  presented  to  the  New- Jer- 
sey Legislature,  in  February,  1777,  by  Samuel 
Tucker,  who  was  both  a  Trustee  and  Clerk  of  the 
Board.  As  Treasurer  of  the  State  he  had  a  large 
amount  of  the  paper  currency,  and  other  valuable 
public  property  in  his  custody.  Hearing  that 
the  British  army  under  Howe  was  likely  to  pass 
through  Trenton,  he  removed  his  effects  to  the 
house  of  John  Abbott,  fiYQ  miles  off.  Howe 
arrived  in  Trenton  December  8,  1776,  and  next 


Adventures.  275 


day  Lieutenant  General  Abercrombie  sent  Lieu- 
tenant Hackshaw  witli  a  detachment  to  Abbott's 
under  the  guidance  of  one  Mary  Pointing,  where 
they  captured  Tucker's  property  and  carried  it  to 
New-Brunswick.  On  the  14th  December,  Tucker, 
on  his  way  to  Trenton,  was  met  near  Crosswicks  by 
a  party  of  horsemen,  w^ho  took  him  prisoner,  and 
detained  him  until  a  protection  was  obtained 
from  the  Hessian  Colonel  Rahl.  He  lost  all  the 
papers,  public  and  private,  which  were  thus  re- 
moved. This  statement  of  Tucker's  was  the 
cause  of  a  controversy  between  him  and  Govern- 
or Livingston,  (who  wrote  under  the  signature 
of  "  Scipio,")  in  the  New- Jersey  Gazette  of  1784. 

I  suppose  they  were  our  pastor  and  trustee 
whose  names  occur  in  the  diary  of  John  Adams, 
September  19,  17YY,  when  Congress  were  with- 
drawing from  Philadelphia  on  the  approach  of 
the  enemy.  He  says :  "  We  rode  to  Trenton, 
where  we  dined.  Drank  tea  at  Mr.  Spencer's ; 
lodged  at  Mr.  S.  Tucker's,  at  his  kind  invitation." 

The  journal  of  the  next  day  may  have  its  local 
interest  for  some  of  ray  readers  : 

"20tli.  Breakfasted  at  Mrs.  J.  B.  Smith's.  The  old 
gentleman,  his  son  Thomas,  the  loan  officer,  were  here, 
and  Mi*s.  Smith's  little  son  and  two  dauQ-hters.     An  ele- 


276  John  Adams. 


gant  breakfast  we  had,  of  fine  Hyson,  loaf-sugar,  and 
coffee,  etc.  Dined  at  Williams's,  the  sign  of  the  Green 
Tree  ;  drank  tea  with  Mr.  Thomson  [Charles  Thomson  ?] 
and  his  lady  at  Mrs.  Jackson's  ;  walked  with  Mr.  Duane 
to  General  Dickinson's  house,  and  took  a  look  at  his  farm 
and  gardens,  and  his  green-house,  which  is  a  scene  of 
desolation  ;  the  floor  of  the  green-house  is  dug  up  by  the 
Hessians  in  search  for  money.     Slept  again  at  Tucker's." 

Mr.  Adams's  first  sio-lit  of  Trenton  was  in  Au- 
gust,  1774,  when  his  diary  records  : 

"  Rode  to  Trenton  [from  Princeton,  where  he  heard 
Dr.  TVitherspoon  preach]  to  breakfast.  At  AYilliams's  the 
tavern  at  Trenton  ferry,  we  saw  four  very  large  black- 
walnut  trees,  standing  in  a  row  behind  the  house."^  The 
town  of  Trenton  is  a  pretty  village.  It  appears  to  be  the 
largest  town  we  have  seen  in  the  Jerseys.  We  then  cross- 
ed the  ferry  over  the  Delaware  river  to  the  province  of 
Pennsvlvania." 

*  Williams's  tavern  is  also  mentioned  by  the  Marquis  de  Chastellux, 
at  the  time  of  whose  visit  an  addition  seems  to  have  been  made  to  the 
emblems  of  its  sign  ;  for  he  says  it  represented  a  beaver  at  work  "with 
his  teeth  to  bring  down  a  large  tree,  and  had  the  motto  ^'Ferseverando.^^ 
{Travels  in  North- America^  1780-2.)  The  tree,  beaver,  and  legend  con- 
stituted one  of  the  devices  printed  on  the  Continental  currency  of  1776  ; 
the  money  which  fell  so  much  below  the  promise  on  its  face,  that  in  the 
Trenton  advertisements  of  1780  may  be  found  ofiers  of  a  thousand  dol- 
lars reward  for  an  absconding  servant — fifteen  hundred  for  a  stolen 
mare — ten  thousand  for  the  detection  of  the  incendiary  of  a  barn.  The 
subscription  of  the  Weekly  Gazette,  of  that  year,  was  fourteen  dollars  by 
the  quarter. 


Debow's  Complaint.  277 


In  the  Presbytery  of  August,  1776,  a  singular 
complaint  was  presented  against  Mr.  Spencer, 
arising  out  of  his  visit  to  North-Carolina.  Mr. 
John  Debow,  who  had  iust  been  called  to  Eno 
and  Hawfields,  submitted  a  letter  from  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Orange,  in  North-Carolina,  complain- 
ing that  Mr.  Spencer  had  baptized  a  child  of  the 
Eev.  Mr.  Lisle,  a  minister  from  Scotland,  who, 
without  joining  the  Presbytery,  was  preaching 
in  some  of  their  vacant  congregations,  and  gath- 
ering a  nevv^  parish  out  of  them.  The  minutes 
proceed  to  narrate  that, 

"  After  diligent  inquiry  of  Mr.  Debow,  concerning  what 
he  knew  of  the  life  and  conversation  of  Mr.  Lisle,  and  hav- 
ing received  all  the  light  he  was  able  to  give  them,  the  Pres- 
bytery judge  that  Mr.  Lisle  hath  a  right  to  Church  priv- 
ileges, and  that  Mr.  Spencer,  in  baptizing  his  child,  has 
done  no  more  than  what  the  laws  of  charity  and  church- 
fellowship  required  of  him,  and  that  the  complaint  against 
him  is  without  foundation." 

The  States  were  divided  into  three  military 
departments.  The  middle  department  com- 
prised New- York,  New-Jersey,  Pennsylvania, 
the  lower  counties  on  the  Delaware,  (now  the 

State  of  Delaware,)  and  Maryland.     In  October, 

22 


278  Committe 


1776,  William  Shippen,  Jr.,  was  directed  to  pro- 
vide and  superintend  an  hospital  for  tlie  army 
in  ISTew- Jersey,  and  on  October  20,  1777, 

"  Congress  proceeded  to  the  election  of  a  chaplain  for 
the  hospital  in  the  middle  department,  and  the  ballots  be- 
ing taken,  the  Rev.  Eliliu  Spencer  was  elected." 

In  May,  1780,  Mr.  Spencer  was  aiSicted  by  the 
death  of  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Sarah  Lowrey,  in 
her  twenty-fifth  year.  She  was  buried  from  her 
father's  house.  She  was  one  of  the  ladies  of 
Trenton  who  sympathized  in  the  measures  which 
originated  in  Pennsylvania,  for  the  relief  of  the 
suffering  troops  by  raising  contributions  to  add 
to  their  slender  wages.  Active  measures  were 
taken  here  on  the  fourth  of  July  of  that  year,  to 
effect  this  object.  A  general  committee  was  then 
appointed,  composed  of  Mrs.  Coxe,  Mrs.  Dickin- 
son, Mrs.  Furman,  and  Miss  Cadwalader,  and  an- 
other committee  for  each  county.  That  for 
Hunterdon  consisted  of  "  Mrs.  Vice-President 
Stevens,  Mrs.  Judge  Smith,  Mrs.  Charles  Coxe, 
Mrs.  E.  Stevens,  Mrs  Hanna,  Mrs.  T.  Towrey, 
Mrs.  J.  Sexton,  Mrs.  B.  Vancleve,  Mrs.  Colonel 
Berry,  Mrs.  Doctor  Burnet."  Mrs.  Moore  Fur- 
man  was  Treasure]',  and  Miss  Mary  Dagworthy, 


of  Ladies.  279 


Secretary.  A  letter  is  preserved  in  Washing- 
ton's correspondence,  from  Miss  Dagworthy,  dat- 
ed at  Trenton,  July  17,  1780,  whicli  transmitted 
to  tlie  Chief  the  sum  of  815,488 — allowiug  for 
the  depreciated  currency,  actually  about  §390.* 

*  Sparkfe's  "Writings  of  "Washiugton,  vol.  vii.  Qo. 


Close  of  De.  Spexcek's  Ministry — His  Death. 

ITSO— 1Y84.     • 

Throughout  the  years  of  Mr.  Spencer's 
ministry  in  Trenton  lie  was  a  prominent  mem- 
ber of  the  different  church-courts,  and  often 
served  as  Moderator,  Clerk,  Treasurer,  and  Com- 
mittee-man. AYhen  the  Synod  (1769)  regarded 
the  College  of  New-Jersey  so  much  of  a  church 
institution  as  to  divide  themselves  into  commit- 
tees for  collecting  donations  from  all  parts  of 
their  territory,  Mr.  Spencer  and  Mr.  McDowell 
had  Chester  and  parts  of  Lancaster  county,  in 
Pennsylvania,  assigned  to  them.  In  1770  and 
the  ^ve  consecutive  years  Spencer  w^as  a  delegate 
from  the  Synod  to  the  Congregational  and  Pres- 
byterian Convention  which  met  alternately  in 
Connecticut  and  JSTew-Jersey.  He  was  frequent- 
ly called  to  take  part  in  collecting  and  disburs- 
ing the  Students'  Fund,  and  Widows'  Fund,  and 


Doctor's  Degree.  281 


was  an  official  visitor  of  Mr.  BrainercVs  Indian 
School.  In  the  absence  of  the  Moderator  he 
opened  the  Synod  of  1782  with  a  sermon.  His 
name  then  appears  for  the  first  time  v/ith  the 
title  of  Doctor  of  Divinity,  which  degree  was 
given  him  by  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  in 
March,  1782,  at  the  same  time  with  the  Rev. 
William  White,  who  was  afterwards  so  distin- 
guished as  a  Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church.^^ 

In  1782  Dr.  Spencer  was  associated  with  Dr. 
Witherspoon  and  Joseph  Montgomery,  in  a 
committee  "  to  prepare  an  address  to  the  Minis- 
ter of  France,  cono^ratulatinsf  him  on  the  birth  of 
a  Dauphin,  son  and  heir  to  the  crown  of  his 
royal  master  ;  expressing  the  pleasure  the  Synod 
feel  on  this  happy  event.^f  The  last  office 
assigned  to  him  by  the  Synod  was  in  1784,  the 

*  In  the  minutes  of  the  Trustees  of  the  University,  Mr.  Spencer  is 
called  Elisha.  The  same  mistake  is  made  in  the  first  edition  of  Thomp- 
son's History  of  Long  Island,  where  also  his  great-grandfather  Jared  is 
called  Gerard. 

f  The  Minister  was  the  Chevalier  de  la  Luzerne.  The  Dauphin  was 
son  of  Louis  XVI.  and  Marie  Antoinette,  and  died  in  childhood.  The 
birth  was  formally  announced  to  Congress,  and  by  Congress  to  the  G-ov- 
ernors  of  the  States.  It  was  celebrated  in  Trenton,  May  24,  1782,  when 
the  "town  artillery  paraded  at  the  market-place,"  and  a  dinner  was  at- 
tended by  the  officers  of  the  State  at  "  the  French  Arms." 


282  Minutes  of 


year  of  his  deatli,  when  lie  was  made  one  of  the 
committee  of  conference  and  correspondence  with, 
the  Synod  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church. 

There  being  extant  no  record  of  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  Session  during  Dr.  Spencer's  minis- 
try, nor  any  registry  of  the  communicants  of 
that  period,  it  is  not  in  my  power  to  furnish  such. 
statistics  as  might  show  the  progress  of  the  three 
churches  in  those  relations.  The  minutes  of  the 
Trustees  have  been  preserved,  but  are  meager  in 
their  details.  The  following  persons  were  mem- 
bers of  the  Board  during  Dr,  Spencer's  incum- 
bency : 

Charles  Clark,  Obadiah  Howell, 

Alexander  Chambers,  Daniel  Clark 

Abraham  Hunt,  Joseph  Tindal, 

Joseph  Reed  Jr.,  Nathaniel  Furman,* 

Samuel  Tucker,  Moore  Furman. 

These  Trustees  served  for  the  country  and  town 
congregations,  but  not  for  Maidenhead.  Their 
meetings  were  held  in  town,  and  either  at  the 
church  or  parsonage.     Mr.  Chambers  was  uni- 

*  Mr.  FuRiiAN  was  in  the  Board  from  1780  to  1788.  I  suppose  that 
it  is  his  death  which  is  published  as  haviag  taken  place  April  27,  1831, 
in  his  eighty-eighth  year.  Mr.  Tindal's  is  an  old  and  respectable  fami- 
ly.    The  other  Trustees  are  spoken  of  in  detail  in  other  chapters. 


Trustees.  283 


formly  chosen  Treasurer,  Mr.  Tucker,  Clerk,  and 
Mr.  Spencer,  President,  until  May,  1783,  when 
he  ceased  to  be  a  Trustee,  and  Mr.  Chambers 
was  both  President  and  Treasurer.  The  pro- 
ceedin  were  not  of  much  greater  importance 
than  to  build  "  a  shed  between  the  parsonage- 
house  and  the  stable,  out  of  the  six  pounds  rent 
put  at  interest ;''  "  to  repair  the  roof  of  the  sta- 
ble," "  to  rent  out  and  agree  for  the  several  pews 
that  at  this  time  are  vacant,  and  get  the  two 
long  seats  made  into  four  small  pews,  and  rent 
them  out  also  ;"  to  order  "  that  all  the  pews  shall 
pay  the  annual  assessment  as  they  may  be  stat- 
ed—  not  under  forty  shillings  per  annum  the 
smallest." 

The  heirs  of  Daniel  Howell  and  Joseph  Green 
claimed  a  right  to  the  pews  "  built  by  their  an- 
cestors, v/ithout  being  liable  to  pay  the  annual 
assessment ;"  on  this  question  the  yeas  and  nays 
were  called  at  two  different  meetings,  and  both 
times  the  claim  was  refused  by  the  casting  vote 
of  the  President.  The  salary  accounts  of  the 
two  churches  were  separate  :  "  Ordered,  that  the 
Treasurer  do  pay  the  Eev.  Mr.  Spencer  fifty-five 
shillings  towards  the  deficiency  of  his  salary  for 
last  year  for  Trenton,  and  fifteen  shillings  towards 


284  Nev/  Charter. 


the  salary  for  the  last  year  for  the  old  meet- 
iDg-hoLise."  There  were  "  collectors"  for  each 
house. 

On  the  sixth  of  June,  1Y81,  it  was  resolved, 

"  To  petition  the  Legislature  to  confirm  by  law  the  char- 
ter granted  by  Governor  Belcher ;  a  memorial  was  accord- 
ingly drawn  and  signed  by  the  President  and  all  the  Trus- 
tees. The  President  being  desired,  readily  agreed  to  wait 
on  the  Legislature,  and  took  with  him  the  original  charter 
to  lay  before  them." 

On  the  twenty-fifth  March,  1782, 

"  The  President  informed  the  Board  that  agreeably  to 
the  order  of  this  Board,  of  the  sixth  of  June,  1781,  he 
waited  on  the  Legislature,  and  took  with  him  the  original 
charter,  which  he  has  since  returned  to  the  Clerk,  which 
was  laid  before  the  Board  this  day,  and  that  the  Legisla- 
ture told  him  they  did  not  think  proper  to  take  the  same 
into  their  consideration  at  present." 

I  do  not  find  any  note  of  this  application  in  the 
Journals  of  either  branch  of  the  Legislature,  On 
the  seventh  June,  1781,  an  act  incorporating  the 
Second  Presbyterian  Church  of  Newark,  which 
had  passed  the  Assembly,  was  brought  into  the 
Council,  and  after  a  second  reading,  was  postponed 
until  the  next  sitting ;  immediately  after  which  it 


Legacies.  285 

was  "  Ordered  that  Mr.  FreliDghuysen  and  Mr. 
Caldwell  be  a  committee  to  prepare  and  bring  in 
a  bill  upon  a  general  plan  for  incorporating  reli- 
gious societies."  On  tlie  next  day,  a  petition 
from  the  Baptist  Churcli  of  Pittsgrove,  Salem 
county,  was  read,  "  praying  a  law  to  incorporate 
them  as  well  as  all  other  religious  societies,"  which 
was  referred  to  yesterday's  committee.  The 
general  law  was  not  passed  until  March  16, 
1786,  when  it  was  adopted  under  the  title  of 
"  an  act  to  incorporate  certain  persons  as  trus- 
tees in  every  religious  society  or  congregation  in 
this  State,  for  transacting  the  temporal  concerns 
thereof." 

As  the  Treasurer  was  directed  in  1771  to 
fund  and  loan  any  sums  that  might  come  into  his 
hands,  it  looks  as  if  there  were  occasionally  some 
receipts  beyond  the  pew-rents,  of  which  there 
was  certainly  no  surplus  for  investment.  Seve- 
ral small  legacies  were  realized  besides  those 
already  mentioned.  By  the  will  of  Jethro  Yard, 
proved  February  16,  1761,  seven  pounds  were 
left  "  to  the  Presbyterian  Congregation  of  Tren- 
ton, to  be  paid  to  the  overseers  of  the  poor  of 
said  town."  In  1780,  John  Howell,  one  of  the 
executors  of  his  brother  Daniel,  gave  notice  that 


280  Public  Occasions. 


the  testator  had  given  twenty  pounds  for  the 
use  of  the  congregation."^^ 

Dr.  Spencer's  name  is  usually  found  in  connec- 
tion with  such  patriotic  demoustrations  of  his 
times  as  were  consistent  with  his  profession. 
When  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis  was  celebrat- 
ed in  Trenton,  October  27,  1781,  the  Governor, 
Council,  Assembly,  and  citizens,  went  in  proces- 
sion to  the  Presbyterian  Church,  vv^here  Dr. 
Spencer  delivered  a  discourse.  On  the  fifteenth 
April,  1783,  similar  ceremonies  were  observed 
upon  the  conclusion  of  peace  v/ith  Great  Britain. 
The  Governor,  Vice-President  of  the  State,  Mem- 
bers of  the  Legislature,  Judges,  and  other  pub- 
lic officers  met  at  Williams's  hotel ;  the  Trustees, 
teachers,  and  students  of  the  Academy  joined 
them  there,  and  proceeded  to  the  Court-house, 
where  the  Governor's  proclamation  of  the  cessa- 
tion of  hostilities  was  read.  At  noon  divine 
service  w^as  attended,  when  a  discourse  was  deliv- 

*  Daniel  Howell's  will  was  proved  in  1118;  the  legacy  was  payable 
in  two  years.  He  was  brother  of  Hezekiah,  John,  Abigail,  Eunice, 
(Phillip?,)  and  Phebe,  (PhOlips.)  His  children  were  Ehoda,  Sarah,  and 
Elizabeth.  A  relative  of  his,  David  Howell,  died  in  1785,  leaving  three 
daughters — Prudence,  Patience,  Charity. 

Jethro  Yard,  (as  I  gather  from  his  will,)  was  a  carpenter.  He  was 
a  son  of  William  Yard. 


Dr.  Spencer's  Death.  287 


ered  by  Dr.  Spencer.  Public  dinners  followed 
at  Witt's,  Williams's  and  Cape's  hotels.  A  few 
days  afterwards,  when  the  Governor  (Living- 
ston) was  about  to  leave  the  capital  for  his  resi- 
dence at  Elizabethtown,  Dr.  Spencer's  name  was 
at  the  head  of  a  committee  of  citizens  who  pre- 
sented him  a  valedictory  address."^ 

Dr.  Spencer  preached  at  the  opening  of  Pres- 
bytery at  Freehold,  October  21,  1783.  Pie  was 
present  in  that  court  for  the  last  time,  in  Pen- 
nington, June  15,  1784,  when  he  was  appointed 
to  preach  at  the  ordination  and  installment  of  Mr. 
William  Boyd,  at  Bedminster,  on  the  nineteenth 
October.  This  proved  to  be  within  a  few  weeks 
of  his  decease,  but  his  failure  to  take  the  part 
assigned  to  him  was  not  owiug  to  his  final  ill- 
ness, for  that  was  an  inflammatory  fever  of  a  few 
days'  continuance.  He  died  December  27,  1784, 
in  the  full  support  of  the  Christian  hope.  His 
remains  lie  on  the  western  side  of  the  church- 
yard under  a  tomb  inscribed  as  follows  : 

*  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  his  Autobiography,  says  :  "I  left  home  on  the  six- 
teenth of  October,  [1783,]  arrived  at  Trenton,  ivTiere  Congress  was  sit- 
ting, on  the  third  of  November,  and  took  my  seat  on  the  fourth,  on  which 
day  Congress  adjourned,  to  meet  at  Aunapohs  on  the  tv/enty-sixth." 
This  statement  has  been  followed  by  his  biographers.  Tucker  and  Ean- 
dall,  but  Congress  was  sitting  at  Princeton,  not  Trenton. 


288  Epitaphs. 


"  Beneath  this  stone  lies  the  body  of  the  Rev.  Elihu 
Spencer,  D.D.,  Pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Trenton,  and  one  of  the  Trustees  of  the  College  of  New- 
Jersey,  who  departed  this  life  on  the  tw^enty-seventh  "of 
December,  1'784,  in  the  sixty-fourth  year  of  his  age. 

"Possessed  of  fine  genius,  of  great  vivacity,  of  emi- 
nent and  active  piety,  his  merits  as  a  minister  and  as  a  man 
stand  above  the  reach  of  flattery. 

"  Having  long  edified  the  Church  by  his  talents  and  ex- 
ample, and  finished  his  course  with  joy,  he  fell  asleep  full 
of  faith,  and  waiting  for  the  hope  of  all  saints. 

"  Mrs.  Joanna  Spencee, 
"Relict  of  the  above,  died  November  1st,   1791,  aged 
sixty-three  years. 

"  From  her  many  virtues  she  lived  beloved  and  died 
lamented.  The  cheerful  patience  with  which  she  bore  a 
painful  and  tedious  disease  threw  a  lustre  on  the  last 
scenes  of  her  life,  and  evinces  that  with  true  piety  death 
loses  its  terrors." 

The  late  J3r.  Miller  declares  that  the  eulogy 
of  Spencer's  epitaph  is  not  exaggerated : 

"  His  piety  was  ardent,  his  manners  polished,  attractive, 
and  full  of  engaging  vivacity  ;  his  public  spirit  and  activ- 
ity in  doing  good  indefatigable,  and  his  character  as  a 
preacher  singularly  prompt,  popular,  and  impressive.  To 
all  this  may  be  added  that  in  the  various  relations  of  life 
he  was  peculiarly  amiable,  exemplary,  and  beloved." 

The  venerable   father  who  wrote  these   sen- 


Dr.  Spencer's  Family.  289 

tences  was  connected  by  marriage  with  Dr. 
Spencer's  family  ;  for  tlie  widow  of  Dr.  Miller  is 
the  granddaughter  of  Dr.  Spencer,  by  the  mar- 
riage of  the  Hon.  Jonathan  Dickinson  Sergeant 
to  Margaret  Spencer.  The  late  Hon.  John  Ser- 
geant, the  Hon.  Thomas  Sergeant,  and  the  late 
Elihn  Spencer  Sergeant,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia, 
were  children  of  the  same  marriage.  Dr.  Spen- 
cer's ancestors  came  from  England  to  Massa- 
chusetts early  in  the  seventeenth  century.  Of  the 
^ve  brothers  who  established  the  family  there, 
one  was  a  forefather  of  the  late  Chief-Justice 
Ambrose  Spencer,  of  New- York;  from  another 
brother  was  descended,  in  the  seventh  generation, 
the  late  Eev.  Ichabod  Smith  Spencer,  D.D.,  of 
Brooklyn ;  and  General  Joseph  Spencer,  whose 
name  often  occurs  in  the  Eevolutionary  history, 
was  an  elder  brother  of  our  pastor. 

Dr.  Spencer  bequeathed  to  his  -^ve  survivino* 
daughters,  and  the  children  of  a  deceased  one, 
three  thousand  acres  of  land  in  Saltash,  Vermont 
and  to  his  son,  John  Eaton,  one  thousand  acres 
in  Woodstock,  Vermont.  There  still  remaics 
in  the  possession  of  his  descendants  a  lot  of 
ground  in  the  city  of  Trenton,  which  has  in  the 
lapse  of  time  become  more  valuable  than  all  the 
Vermont  acres.  23 


290  Governor  Livingston, 


NOTES. 
I. 

GovEKXOR  William  Liyixgstox  resided  three  years 
in  Trenton,  and  was,  undoubtedly,  a  regular  attendant 
on  Dr.  Spencer's  ministry.  His  j^reyious  life  had  brought 
hini  into  prominence  as  an  ecclesiastical  controvertist. 
His  ancestors  were  of  the  Dutch  Church  in  ^^ew-York, 
but  the  Governor  had  early  united  with  the  party  which, 
for  the  sake  of  having  English  preaching,  had  merged  into 
the  Presbyterians.  The  dispute,  which  arose  in  1751,  be- 
tween the  adherents  of  the  Church  of  England  and  the 
other  churches  in  reference,  at  first,  to  the  claims  of  the 
former  to  have  the  College  (then  King's,  now  Columbia,) 
which  was  founded  in  that  year,  under  their  control,  was 
warmly  espoused  by  Mr.  Livingston  in  defense  of  those 
who  were  threatened  with  exclusion.  He  wrote  largely 
and  vehemently  for  his  side  in  "The  Independent  Reflec- 
tor" and  "  The  Watch-tower."  He  entered  into  the  sub- 
sequent controversy  on  the  attempt  to  establish  the  Eng- 
lish episcopacy  in  America,  and  in  1768  pubhshed  a  let- 
ter to  the  Bishop  of  LlandaiF,  which  was  rej)rinted  in 
London.  His  opposition,  it  should  be  noted,  was  not  to 
the  liberty  of  any  church,  but  to  the  proposal  to  establish 
a  particular  denomination  in  the  Colonies,  as  in  England. 
Mr.  Livingston  must  have  departed  from  his  habits  in 
those  days,  if  he  were  not  punctual  in  his  pew  at  Trenton  ; 
for,  according  to  his  biographer  : 

"Actively  engaged  during  the  week,  in  discharging  the 
duties  of  a  laborious  profession,  [the  law,]  or  in  an  angry 


Dr.  Cowell.  291 


warfare  in  defense  of  his  civil  and  religious  rights,  three 
times  on  every  Sabbath,  surrounded  by  his  numerous  fami- 
ly, he  went  up  to  that  church,  [Wall  Street,]  formerly 
contemned  and  oppressed,  but  for  which  his  exertions  had 
procured  respect ;  of  which  he  was  one  of  the  brightest 
ornaments  and  chief  supports."* 

In  his  first  address  to  the  Legislature,  as  Governor,  (Sep- 
tember 13,  1*776,)  Mr.  Livingston  had  used  the  expres- 
sion, "  setting  our  faces  like  a  flint  against  that  dissolute- 
ness of  manners  and  political  corruption  which  will  ever  be 
the  reproach  of  any  people."  From  this  phrase  and  the 
religious  tone  of  the  whole  passage,  the  Governor  was  for 
some  time  nicknamed  "  Doctor  Flint."  This  gave  rise  to 
an  amusing  contreUm^js  at  a  dinner-table  in  New- York, 
when  Fislier  Ames,  addressing  Livingston,  said  uncon- 
sciously :  '•^Doctor  Flinty  is  the  town  of  Trenton  well  or 
ill-disposed  to  the  new  Constitution  ?  "f 

II. 

Li  December,  1783,  died  Dayid  Cowell,  M.D.,  who 
has  been  mentioned  in  a  previous  chapter  as  a  student  in 
Princeton  College  at  the  time  of  the  death  of  his  uncle, 
the  pastor,  who  bequeathed  him  an  annuity  of  twenty 
pounds  for  three  years.  Upon  his  graduation,  in  1763, 
he  studied  medicine  in  Philadelphia,  took  his  degree  and 
came  to  Trenton,  where  he  practised  until  his  death.  For 
two  years  he  was  senior  physician  and  surgeon  in  military 
hospitals.  Dr.  Cowell  undertook  to  draft  an  outline  of 
his  will  while  sufleriug  under  an  attack  of  quinsy,  and 

*  Sedgwick's  Memoir  of  Livingston,  chap.  iv. 
f  Sedgwick,  chap.  vii. 


292  Dr.  Cowell's  Will. 


Yv'itliin  a  few  hours  of  its  fatal  termination.  Unable  to 
articulate,  be  bastened  to  make  a  rougb  outline  of  bis  in- 
tentions, wbicb  be  doubtless  boped  to  bave  bad  put  into 
form  by  anotber  band ;  but  be  was  compelled,  by  tbe 
force  of  tbe  disease,  to  bave  tbe  paper  copied  in  tbe  in- 
complete terms  in  wbicb  be  bad  drat^m  it.  It  began :  "  I, 
Doctor  David  Co  well,  being  of  sound  judgment,  but  not 
able  to  talk  mucb."  One  of  tbe  first  items  was,  "my 
negro  man,  Adam,  and  tbe  wbole  aiiair  to  tbe  Presbyte- 
rian Congregation."  In  equally  brief  and  informal  pbrases 
stood  a  bundred  pounds  to  "tbe  Grammar  Scbool  in 
Trenton" — tbe  same  amount  to  tbe  Colleofe  of  New-Jer- 
sey,  and  "to  tbe  Congress  of  tbe  United  States  of  Ameri- 
ca, one  bundred  pounds,  if  tbey  settle  tbemselves  at  Lam- 
berton."*  He  appointed  Major  William  Trent  one  of  bis 
executors,  and  made  Jobn  Trent,  probably  a  son  of  tbe 
Major,  bis  residuary  legatee.  As  be  drew  towards  tbe 
close  of  bis  painful  task  be  tbrows  in  tbe  burried  remark  : 
"  Had  not  I  been  on  many  public  matters,  it's  likely  I 
sbould  bad  a  more  particular  will  before  tbis  time."  By 
tbe  time  tbe  copy  was  ready  for  bis  signature,  be  must 
bave  felt  unable  to  write,  for  it  was  subscribed  by  bis 
"  mark."  But  baving  tbe  pen  in  band,  be  seems  to  bave 
made  a  last  effort,  and  baving  made  tbe  customary 
cross  between  bis  Christian  and  surname,  scribbled  tbe  in- 
coherent or  illesjible  sentence  :  "  But  I  believe  I  am  not 
quite  so  clear  to  me  as  my  own  D.  C.  our  connection  is 

*  I  hope  to  find  room  in  an  Appendix  to  this  volume,  for  a  notice, 
somewhat  in  detail,  of  the  proceedings  of  Congress  that  had  reference  to 
making  Trenton  or  its  vicinity  the  national  capital. 


Adam.  293 

now  dissolved."  Ebenezer  Cowell,  Jr.,  entered  a  caveat 
against  the  probate  of  the  will,  but  after  taking  evidence, 
the  Siirroorate  admitted  it.  The  documents  of  the  Trustees 
do  not  discover  whether  the  legacy  of  the  negro  became 
available.  "  The  whole  aifair"  appended  to  it  was  prob- 
ably a  law-point ;  for  in  the  Neio  Jersey  Gazette  of  1780, 
there  are  inserted,  first,  an  advertisement  by  Dr.  Cowell, 
of  a  negro  man  to  be  sold,  or  exchanged  for  a  boy ;  and 
immediately  under  it,  another,  cautioning  all  persons 
against  making  any  such  purchase  or  exchange,  as  the 
man  was  entitled  to  his  freedom,  and  ending  with  an  ex- 
pression of  his  hope  for 

"  That  freedom,  justice,  and  protection  which  I  am  en- 
titled to  by  the  laws  of  the  State,  although  I  am  a  negro. 

"Ada:\i." 

These  missives  are  followed  by  the  Doctor,  with  a  denial 
of  Adam's  averment;  and  this  by  a  rejoinder  in  Adam's 
name,  which  in  turn  is  answered  by  Cowell,  who  alleges 
that  the  negro  is  acting  under  the  instigation  of  two  very 
respectable  citizens,  whom  he  names. 

The  New-Jersey  Gazette  of  the  week  announces  Dr. 
Cowbell's  death  as  having  taken  place  early  in  the  morning 
of  December  18, 1783,  and  his  burial  on  the  following  day, 
in  the  Presbyterian  church-yard,  attended  by  the  "  Trus- 
tees, tutors,  and  students  of  the  Academy  in  procession, 
and  a  very  large  concourse  of  respectable  inhabitants." 
An  address  was  made  at  the  grave  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Spen- 
cer. After  mentioning  the  legacy  to  the  Government,  the 
Gazette  adds  :  "  The  above  is  the  first  legacy  we  recollect 
to  have  been  given  to  the  United  States,  and  is  respect- 

23* 


294  Cowells. 


able  for  a  person  of  moderate  fortune."  In  the  same 
paper  Dr.  John  Cowell  advertises  that  he  has  been  pre- 
vailed upon  by  the  friends  of  his  deceased  brother  to 
establish  himself  in  Trenton  as  a  physician.  But  he  had  a 
short  time,  as  his  gravestone  marks^  his  death  "  January 
30,  1789,  in  the  thirtieth  year  of  his  age." 


The   Rey.    James    Feakcis    Ar:\istrong — Pre- 
vious History  a^d  Settlemei^t. 

1750—1790. 

Dr.  Spexcer's  successor  in  tlie  Trenton 
cliurclies  was  the  Rev.  James  Feais^cis  Aem- 
STEOxa,  and  the  liistory  of  liis  pastorate  will  be 
introduced  by  a  sketch  of  his  previous  life. 

Mr.  Armstrong  was  born  in  West-Notting- 
ham, Maryland,  April  3,  1Y50.  His  father, 
Francis  Armstroner,  was  an  elder  of  the  church 
in  that  place.  Part  of  his  education  was  receiv- 
ed at  Pequea,  but  his  chief  training  was  at  the 
celebrated  school  founded  by  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Blair,  at  Fagg's  Manor,  or  New-Londonderry, 
Chester  county,  Pennsylvania,  where  President 
Davies,  Dr.  Rodgers,  and  Dr.  Finley  had  preced- 
ed him  as  pupils.  When  Mr.  Armstrong  w^as  in 
the  school  it  was  under  the  Rev.  John  Blaii^,  a 
younger  brother  of  its  founder,  afterwards  chosen 


296  At  College. 


as  Vice-President  and  Professor  of  Theology  in 
Princeton  College. 

In  tlie  autumn  of  1Y71,  Armstrong  entered 
tlie  junior  class  at  Princeton,  and  had  the  ad- 
vantage of  residing  in  the  family  of  President 
Witherspoon.  Several  of  his  classmates  are 
now  known  from  the  public  stations  they  were 
called  to  fill;  such  as  Governor  Henry  Lee  of 
Virginia,  Governor  Morgan  Lewis  of  New- York, 
Governor  Aaron  Ogden  of  Kew- Jersey,  President 
Dunlapof  Jefferson  College,  President  Macknight 
of  Dickinson,  President  John  Blair  Smith  of 
Hampden  Sidney  and  Union,  and  President  Wil- 
liam Graham  of  Liberty  Hall,  (Washington  Col- 
lege,) Virginia.  Aaron  Burr,  the  unworthy  son  of 
the  Princeton  President,  was  one  of  his  contempo- 
raries in  College.  Of  the  twenty-nine  graduates  of 
Mr.  Armstrong's  class,  all  but  three  became  clergy- 
men. He  himself  had  the  ministry  in  view  when 
he  entered  college,  and  accordingly,  upon  his  grad- 
uation in  the  autumn  of  1773,  he  commenced  a 
theological  course  under  Dr.  Witherspoon.  On 
the  sixth  June,  1776,  he  was  recognized  by  the 
Presbytery  of  ISTew-Brunswick  as  a  candidate  for 
the  ministry.  It  was  not  easy  at  that  period  of 
American  history  for  Presbyteries  to  assemble  in 


A  Candidate.  297 

full  number,  and  the  only  members  present  at 
tills  meeting:,  wbicli  was  held  in  Princeton,  were 
President  Witberspoon,  Eev.  William  Tennent, 
Rev.  Elibu  Spencer,  and  Mr.  Baldwin,  an  elder 
of  tbe  Princeton  Cbnrcb.  The  subject  assigned 
for  Mr.  Armstrong's  exegesis  was,  "  De  veritate 
Christiance  religionist"'  and  1  Timotby  1:15  tbe 
text  for  a  sermon.  On  tbe  first  of  tbe  following 
August,  at  Amwell,  tbose  exercises  were  beard 
and  sustained.  His  trials  were  continued  at 
Baskingridge  in  October,  wben  be  passed  tbe  ex- 
amination on  scbolarsbip  and  tbeology,  and  was 
directed  to  prepare  a  sermon  on  Eomans  12 :  2, 
to  be  delivered  at  tbe  next  meeting,  wbicb  was 
appointed  to  be  beld  in  Shrewsbury,  in  Decem- 
ber."    But  great  events  happened  between  tbe 

*  A  candidate  who  had  been  examined  wilh  Mr.  ArmstroDg,  up  to 
this  point,  was  not  so  successful ;  and  for  the  sake  of  illustrating  the 
proper  care  of  a  Presbytery  in  the  matter  of  licensure,  and  the  manner 
in  which  it  is  performed,  I  copy  the  minute  in  this  case  : 

"The  Presbytery  then  proceeded  to  consider  Mr.  W.'a  examination 
and  sermon ;  and  after  the  most  mature  deliberation  are  unanimously  of 
opinion  that  they  can  not  sustain  either  his  examination  or  his  sermon  as 
parts  of  trial,  inasmuch  as  in  his  examination,  although  he  manifested  a 
competent  skill  in  the  languages,  yet  he  appeared  almost  wholly  unac- 
quainted with  several  of  the  most  important  of  the  liberal  arts  and  scien- 
ces, and  also  greatly  deficient  in  his  knowledge  of  divinity ;  and  although 
his  sermon  contained  some  jast  and  pious  sentiments,  yet  there  appeared 
in  it  such  confusion  in  the  arrangement  of  the  thoughts,  such  obscurity  in 


298  The  War. 


June  and  the  December  of  17 76.  Accorclins:  to 
the  minutes,  the  "  appointment  could  not  be  ful- 
filled, as  the  enemy  were  on  their  march  through 
this  State."  Another  minute  of  the  same  session 
(April  23,  1777)  postpones  the  prosecution  of  a 
plan  for  the  education  of  poor  and  pious  youth, 
on  account  of  ''  the  great  difficulties  of  the  times, 
arising  from  the  ravages  of  the  British  army 
within  our  bounds."  In  consequence  of  this  con- 
fusion, the  regularity  of  Mr.  Armstrong's  pro- 
gress as  a  candidate  was  interrupted,  and  acting 
upon  the  best  advice,  he  was  transferred  to  an- 

expressioD,  and  inaccuracy  in  many  of  the  sentiments,  that  they  can  not 
consider  it  as  an  evidence  of  his  capacity  to  be  useful  as  a  public  teacher 
in  the  Church  of  Christ. 

"Therefore  the  Presbytery  agreed  to  recommend  to  Mr.  W.,  if  he 
choose  to  prosecute  his  trials  further  with  a  view  to  the  Gospel  ministry, 
that  he  apply  himself  diligently  to  the  study  of  logic,  natural  and  moral 
philosophy,  and  divinity,  for  one  year  from  this  time,  as  in  these  branches 
he  appeared  to  be  most  deficient;  also  that  he  study  composition  with 
care,  and  labor  to  acquire  a  more  clear  and  perspicuous  method  of  com- 
municating his  ideas.  And  as  they  entertain  a  favorable  opinion  of 
Mr.  W.,  for  his  modest,  decent,  and  humble  deportment,  will  always  be 
ready  to  give  him  all  due  encouragement,  provided  he  make  such  im- 
provement in  the  above  articles  as  shall  remove  the  difficulties  that  now 
lie  in  the  way  of  their  admitting  him  into  the  ministry." 

The  candidate  probably  withdrew  from  this  Presbytery  ;  but  he  must 
have  found  some  way  to  licensure,  as  in  1784  the  Presbytery  of  New- 
castle began  to  call  him  to  account  for  neglecting  to  preach,  and  in  1785 
dropped  him  as  their  probationer,  on  evidence  that  he  had  devoted  him- 
self to  a  secular  life. 


A  Probationer.  299 


other  Presbytery,  in  tlie  manner  stated  as  fol- 
lows : 

"  The  Presbytery  [of  Kew-Brunswick]  is  informed  by 
one  of  the  members  present,  that  in  November  last,  about 
the  time  that  the  British  army  made  an  irruption  into 
New-Jersey,  Dr.  Witherspoou  gave  Mr.  Armstrong  a  let- 
ter of  introduction  to  the  Presbytery  of  Newcastle,  in- 
forming them  of  the  progress  he  had  made  in  his  trials, 
and  of  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  the  Presbytery's  meet- 
ing to  receive  his  popular  sermon  in  December  last,  ac- 
cording to  appointment ;  in  consequence  of  which  letter 
the  Presbytery  of  Newcastle  admitted  him  to  finish  his 
trials  before  them,  and  licensed  him  to  preach  as  a  candi- 
date for  the  Gospel  ministry." 

He  received  his  license  as  a  probationer  in 
January,  17  77. 

Even  before  that  date  (which  was  the  month 
of  the  battle  of  Princeton)  the  war  h  ad  apjDroach- 
ed  so  near  the  region  of  his  residence,  that  Mr. 
Armstrong  thought  it  to  be  his  duty  to  unite 
with  its  armed  defenders,  and  took  a  musket  in 
a  company  of  volunteers  commanded  by  Peter 
Gordon,  Esq.,  afterwards  an  elder  with  him  in 
the  session  of  the  Trenton  Church.  This  was,  jDro- 
bably,  only  for  an  emergency  ;  but  he  felt  that 
his  patriotic  ardor  could  be  indulged  in  a  better 
consistency  with  his  duties  as  a  Christian  minis- 


goo  Ordination. 


ter,  by  serving  as  a  cliaplain  in  tlie  American 
army.  With  that  view  the  Newcastle  Presby- 
tery admitted  him  to  ordination  in  Januar}^, 
1778.  When  this  was  reported  to  the  Synod  in 
May,  the  higher  court  hesitated  about  approving 
an  ordination  which  appeared  to  be  sine  titulo^ 
that  is,  before  his  being  called  to  some  parti- 
cular charge.  The  misapprehension  arose  from 
the  absence  of  the  official  records ;  upon  the  pro- 
duction of  which,  in  May,  1779,  (when  Mr.  Arm- 
strong took  his  seat,)  the  Synod  made  this  min- 
ute : 

"  By  the  report  now  made  by  the  Newcastle  Presby- 
tery, it  appears  that  there  was  a  mistake  m  the  report  of 
last  year  respecting  Mr.  Armstrong's  ordination  ;  that  he 
was  not  ordained  sine  tltulo,  but  in  consequence  of  his 
having  accepted  a  chaplaincy  in  the  army."* 

*  "Sine  titulo,"  "ia  retentis,"  "pro  re  cata,"  "sederunt,"  "  non 
liquet,"  "nemine  contradicente,"  "ad  futuram  rei  memoriam,"  "inter- 
loquitur,"  "pro  tanto,"  "in  defenso,"  "in  hoec  verba,"  "  de  novo," 
and  other  Latin  substitutes  for  plain  English,  (sometimes  even  "  Janitor" 
for  Sexton,)  are  freely  used  in  the  ecclesiastical  records  of  the  last  cen- 
tury. The  old  Presbyteries  and  Synods  used  to  date  their  sessions  in 
Latin  :  "  Die  Jovis,^^  "  Die  Saturni,'^  "  Fast  Ilerid.  Stssione  5ta.  Precib'os 
peraciis.^^  They  habitually  employed  the  learned  tongue  to  say  that 
after  prayer  the  members  named  took  their  seats.  Some  of  the  Xew- 
Brunswick  clerks  ventured  on  writing  "present  after  prayer,"  and 
"present  as  before,"  but  in  April,  1198,  this  innovation  was  checked  by 
the  fcUowing  direction :   "  Resolved,  that  tlie  Presbytery  in  future,  for 


Chaplaincy.  301 

The  Newcastle  records,  as  furnish ed  nie  by 
their  obliging  clerk,  the  Eev.  Mr.  Duhois,  are  as 
follows : 

"  December  2,  lYv  7,  Mr.  James  Armstrong,  a  probation- 
er of  this  Presbytery,  being  chosen  chaplain  for  General 
Sullivan's  brigade  or  division,  applied  for  ordination  to 
the  work  of  the  Gospel  ministry,  having  produced  a  certi- 
ficate of  his  moral  conduct  frq^n  General  Sullivan.  The 
Presbytery,  after  examining  Mr.  Armstrong  at  some 
length  upon  experimental  and  systematic  divinity,  were 
satisfied  with  his  answers,  and  having  had  a  good  report 
of  his  labors,  appointed  Mr.  Armstrong  to  deliver  a 
discourse  at  our  next  meeting,  with  a  view  to  his  ordi- 
nation." 

The  ordination  took  place  at  Pequea,  the 
place  of  his  early  education,  January  14,  l'r'78, 
and  the  official  record  of  it  gives  these  particu- 
lars : 

the  sake  of  greater  uniformity,  make  use  of  the  old  technical  terms  ubi 
-post  preces  sederunt,  in  recording  the  first  session  of  their  meetings,  and 
at  any  subsequent  session,  post  preces  sederunt  qui  supray  It  was, 
however,  considered  lawful  to  give  only  the  initials  of  the  formula,  and 
many  a  clerk  spent  more  time  and  room  in  an  elaborate  execution  of  the 
capitals  U.  P.  P.  S.  and  U.  P.  P.  S.  Q.  S.,  than  would  have  answered  for 
the  words  in  fall.  The  act  of  the  Presbytery  was,  perhaps,  a  testi- 
mony against  the  course  adopted  by  the  Synod  of  1795,  when  it  "  Resolv- 
ed, that  the  Synod  will  discontinue  the  use  of  Latin  terms  in  their  records 
to  express  the  opening  of  their  session,  and  their  attendance  on  prayer, 
and  that  the  same  in  future  be  expressed  in  English." 

24 


302 


Ordination. 


"  Mr.  Armstrong  Imviiig  accepted  the  Westminster 
Confession  of  Faith  and  Catechisms,  as  received  in  onr 
Church,  as  th.e  confession  of  his  faith,  and  the  Directory 
for  Discipline,  Worship,  and  Government  as  the  plan  for 
substance  constituted  by  Christ ;  and  given  satisfactory 
answers  respecting  his  views  in  entering  upon  the  Gospel 
ministry,  and  to  other  questions,  the  Presbytery  conclude 
that  we  have  clearness  to  set  him  apart  to  the  work  of  the 
ministry.  And,  accordingly,  after  a  sermon  preached, 
suitable  to  the  occasion,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Robert  Smith, 
he  was  solemnly  set  apart  to  the  Gospel  ministry,  with 
fasting,  prayer,  and  imposition  of  hands.  The  charge  was 
given  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Foster,  and  Mr.  Armstrong  now 
becomes  a  member  of  Presbytery,  and  having  received 
the  right-hand  of  fellowship,  takes  his  seat." 

In  consequence  of  the  unsettled  life  into  whicli 
he  was  thrown  by  the  duties  of  the  chaplaincy, 
and  by  other  incidents  of  the  state  of  the  coun- 
try, it  was  not  in  Mr.  Armstrong's  power  to 
maintain  the  punctual  corresjiondence  with  his 
Presbytery,  recjuired  of  all  its  members.  In 
1Y84  official  inquiry  was  made  of  him  on  this 
account,  and  his  reasons  were  received  as  satis- 
factory. He  retained  his  connection  with  the 
ISTewcastle  Presbytery  until  his  dismission  to  that 
of  Kew-Prunswick,  April  26,  1786. 

The  minute  of  his  appointment  appears  in  the 
Journal  of  Congress,  of  July  17,  1778 : 


On  a  Campaign.  303 


"  111  consequence  of  a  recommendation,  resolved,  that 
the  Rev.  James  Francis  Armstrong  be  appointed  chaplain 
of  the  Second  Brigade  of  Maryland  forces." 

Before  receiving:  Lis  commission  lie  bad  accom- 
paniecl  the  troops  on  tlie  Southern  campaign, 
and  probably  remained  in  the  service  until  the 
decisive  victory  of  Yorktown,  October,  1781. 
During  this  period  Mr.  Armstrong  communicat- 
ed to  the  New- Jersey  delegates  in  Congress  his 
observations  of  current  events,  and  from  a  few 
of  those  addressed  to  the  Hon.  Wm.  Churchill 
Houston,  I  introduce  ?ome  passages,  showing  at 
once  a  glowing  and  intelligent  interest  in  the 
cause  of  his  country,  and  a  strong  abhorrence  of 
the  evils  of  the  raost  justifiable  war. 

"  WllcocJc's  Iron  WorJcs^  Deep  Miver^  ITortli-  Carolina^ 
July  8,  1*780.  We  have  marched  five  hmidred  miles  from 
Philadelphia,  ignorant  as  the  Hottentot  of  the  situation  or 
numbers  of  the  enemy.  Though  it  was  long  known  that 
we  were  marching  to  the  assistance  of  the  South,  not  the 
least  provision  was  made  to  hasten  or  encourage  our 
march.  Wagons  to  transport  the  baggage,  and  provi- 
sions to  subsist  the  troops,  have  both  been  w^anting.  We 
have  for  some  time  depended  upon  the  precarious  and 
cruel  practice  of  impressing  horses  from  post  to  post. 
We  have  also  been  driven  to  the  disao-reeable  alternative 
of  permitting  the  men  to  murmur  and  languish  for  the 


304  Letters  during 


want  of  meat,  or  seizing  cattle  on  the  march;  not  know- 
ing whose  property  they  were  imless  the  owners  came  to 
camp  to  comjilain  of  the  injury.  Horrid  war  !  Heaven's 
greatest  curse  to  mankind  !  We  are  told  things  will  grow 
better,  the  further  we  proceed  south  ;  but  the  hope  must 
be  precariously  founded  which  depends  upon  the  com- 
plaisance of  Gen.  Lord  Cornwallis.  I  would  not  write 
such  plain  truths,  did  you  not  know  that  I  am  not  given 
to  despondency ;  and  I  have  the  same  providence  to  call 
forth  my  hopes,  which  exerted  itself  so  miraculously  when 
Howe  was  in  IsTew-Jersey." 

'''' River  Peedee^  Masque's  Ferry ^  August  3, 1780.  "What 
the  troops,  officers,  as  well  as  privates  have  suifered  is  be- 
yond description.  The  corporal  of  Gen.  Gift's  guard  has 
returned  for  the  second  time  to-day  from  the  commissary's 
w^ithout  being  able  to  draw  any  provisions,  and  declares 
to  me  that  for  seven  days  they  have  only  drawn  two 
days'  beef,  but  not  a  particle  of  meal  or  flour.  The  eye  of 
the  most  rigid  justice  must  wink  at  plunder  in  such  cir- 
cumstances ;  and  such  is  the  scarcity  which  reigns  upon 
the  Peedee,  that  provisions  can  not  be  obtained  even  by 
unjustifiable  methods.  Ai^ples  have  been  the  only  sup- 
j)ort  of  the  troops  for  several  days  at  a  time.  Indeed  I 
thought  it  impossible  for  human  nature  to  have  subsisted 
so  long  as  I  have  known  it  to  do  upon  green  fruit.  For- 
tunately green  corn  has  succeeded  apples,  but,  without 
some  less  precarious  and  more  substantial  supplies,  the 
effect  must  be  dreadful.  The  hopes  of  final  success  never 
forsake  me  for  a  moment,  but  every  thing  discouraging 
dwells  around  our  little  army.  We  have  not  much,  I  be- 
lieve, to  fear  from  the  enemy,  but  troops  must  be  more  or 
less  than  men  who  can  long  endure  what  we  now  suffer." 


the  Campaign.  305 


He  wrote  as  follows  of  the  panic  then  prevail- 
ing in  tlie  Southern  States,  and  the  injury  done 
to  the  American  cause   by  the  conduct   of  the 

militia : 

•" 
"  The  march  of  Howe  througli  Jersey  spread  not  half 
the  terror  which  has  been  inspired  by  our  defeats  at  the 
South.  Those  who  escaped  spread  universal  terror.  All 
was  conquered,  ruined,  undone  !  Even  the  dominion  of 
Virginia  must  fail !  And,  by  the  by,  had  Clinton  entered 
it  with  his  army,  they  must  have  made  a  temporary  sub- 
mission, at  least  until  our  array  could  have  marched  to 
their  assistance.  "We  scarcely  meet  a  man  who  has  not 
taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  his  majesty  of  Britain,  or 
given  his  parole  that  he  would  be  neuter,  and  give  him- 
self up  a  prisoner  when  called  upon.  The  common  peo- 
ple of  the  Carolinas  are  not  to  blame.  Looking  upon 
every  thing  as  lost,  what  could  they  do  ?  The  appearance 
of  an  army  with  lenity  would,  in  a  short  time,  have  called 
all  such  to  the  American  standard,  vrere  they  not  pre- 
vented by  the  militia,  vv'ho  take  them  prisoners,  use  them 
unmercifully,  plunder  and  destroy  their  effects,  and  leave 
their  helpless  women  and  children  in  the  utmost  distress  ; 
so  that  many  of  them  have  left  their  families  and  carried 
off  their  negroes  and  cattle,  some  to  the  enemy  and 
some  to  escape  the  route  of  our  army.  We  have  passed 
whole  neighborhoods  deserted  by  the  inhabitants,  and  the 
few  who  remain  trembling  alive  from  the  horrid  accounts 
w^hich  have  been  spread  of  our  army  as  a  number  of  ban- 
ditti, plundering  all  before  them,  and  hanging  forty  or 

24* 


306  Letters  during 


fifty  at  a  tiroe  of  those  wlio  Lad  taken  the  oath  to  the 
King  :  though  false,  very  laughable." 

A  letter  dated  at  Hillsborough,  tlie  head- 
quarters '^of  the  army,  October  16,  1Y80,  is  re- 
sumed after  a  few  lines,  on  the  thirty-first  of  the 
same  month.  The  explanation  of  the  interval 
fixes  the  beginning  of  the  disorder  which  afflict- 
ed Mr.  Armstrong  during  the  remainder  of  his 
life: 

"  The  blank  between  the  dates  has  been  filled  up  with 
the  most  violent  pains  through  my  bones.  To  what  spe- 
cies they  belong,  I  can  find  no  one  wise  enough  to  inform 
me.  They  have  at  times  been  so  violent,  that  insensibil- 
ity by  the  use  of  opium  has  been  my  only  resource  for 
rest.  They  seem  to  be  pretty  well  removed,  but  an  at- 
tempt to  ride  on  horseback  has  once  or  twice  brought 
them  back  again,  which  makes  me  unwilling  to  renew  the 
experiment  until  their  light  flying  parties  comj^letely  take 
themselves  off." 

"1  am  highly  delighted,"  he  remarks  to  his 
correspondent,  "  with  your  sentiments  on  uni- 
versal liberty.  They  have  long  been  mine.  I 
was  instructed  in  them  before  I  could  reason." 

The  last  letter  of  the  campaign  which  is  ex- 
tant, is  dated  at  Charlotte,  December  8,  1780, 
when  Gen.  Greene  had  just  taken  the  chief  com- 
mand.    In  it  he  says  : 


the  Campaign.  307 


"  There  is  not  a  single  department  of  our  army  which 
has,  for  some  time  past,  maintained  the  least  regularity, 
unless  we  are  permitted  to  call  it  regular  confusion. 
Think  then  what  must  be  the  situation  of  our  present 
Commander  in  Chief,  with  few  regulars,  and  those  in  such 
circumstances  as  often  to  stagger  my  faith  whether  deser- 
tion be  a  crime,  especially  in  a  person  of  no  more  refined 
sentiments  than  a  soldier  of  the  common  level,  and  with 
militia  whose  conduct  has  been  one  cause  of  our  common 
disasters.  The  Y\'ant  of  provision,  which  lays  the  founda- 
tion for  the  distressing  necessity  of  permitting  the  troops 
often  to  cater  for  themselves,  has  prostrated  every  idea  of 
discipline,  and  given  the  reins  to  the  most  licentious  conduct. 
An  unremitting  supply  of  food  alone  can  restrain,  and  in 
time  correct  our  dangerous  manners.  Gen.  Greene  has 
already  taken  measures  which  promise  every  thing.  The 
heads  of  the  Roanoke,  Dan,  Catawba,  and  the  Rocky 
river,  which  have  hitherto  been  considered  as  useless  in 
the  creation,  are  to  transport  our  provisions  from  Vir- 
ginia." 

"  I  have  made  an  observation  since  I  came  South  which 
I  did  not  advert  to  before.  The  inhabitants  of  a  State 
necessary  for  its  defense  in  time  of  war,  or  even  on  a  sud- 
den invasion,  must  treble  or  quadruple  the  number  im- 
mediately necessary  for  the  field.  Without  establishing 
this  proportion,  when  those  necessary  to  cultivate  the 
land,  the  timorous,  the  disaflected,  and  delinquents  of  all 
orders,  whom  it  is  out  of  the  power  of  government  to 
bring  to  the  field,  are  laid  aside,  no  coimtry  can  defend 
itself  This  appears  to  me  to  be  the  condition  of  Virginia 
and  North-Carolina,  unless  the  blacks  are  called  in  to  their 


3o8 


Wm.  C.  Houston. 


assistance.  I  really  pity  the  gentlemen  of  Virginia,  of  en- 
larged and  liberal  minds.  They  are  as  good  theoretic 
politicians  as  any  on  the  continent ;  but  when  they  meet 
in  Assembly  and  make  the  best  laws  in  the  world  for  the 
defense  of  a  State,  there  are  not  white  subjects  sufficient 
in  the  State  for  the  laws  to  operate  upon."* 

We  find  Mr.  Armstrons:  returned  to   Xew- 
Jersey  in   1782,  as  in  the  June  of  tliat  year  he 

*  "^"iLLiAM  CnuRCHn-L  HOUSTON,  Mr.  Armstrong's  correspondent,  and 
afterwards  a  parishioner  in  Trenton,  was  a  native  of  South-Carolina. 
After  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  entered  Princeton  College  as  a  Freshman  : 
while  himself  a  student  he  assisted  in  teaching  the  Grammar-School. 
He  graduated  1768.  In  11Q9,  being  then  Master  of  the  School,  he  was 
elected  Senior  Tutor  of  College,  and  in  1171,  Professor  of  Mathematics 
and  Natural  Philosophy.  He  resigned  the  chair  1783,  at  which  time 
he  was  also  Treasurer  of  the  Trustees.  Two  years  before  his  resignation 
he  had  been,  after  the  requisite  course  of  study,  admitted  to  the  bar.  He 
removed  to  Trenton,  and  had  a  large  practice,  notwithstanding  his  rigid 
adherence  to  the  determination  that  he  would  never  undertake  a  cause 
which  he  did  not  believe  to  be  just.  Mr.  Houston  held  several  public 
ofiBces,  such  as  Receiver  of  Continental  taxes,  (1782-5,)  and  Clerk  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  (1781-8.)  He  was  five  times  (first  in  17*79)  elected  to 
the  Congresses  of  the  Confederation.  He  was  one  of  the  three  delegates 
of  New-Jersey  to  the  body  of  Commissioners  which  met  at  Annapolis, 
(1786,)  which  resulted  in  suggesting  the  Convention  which  formed  iLe 
Constitution.  He  was  appointed  a  member  of  that  Convention,  but  de- 
clining health  seems  to  have  prevented  his  attendance.  In  1788  he  left 
Trenton  to  try  the  benefit  of  his  native  climate,  but  before  he  reached 
Philadelphia  illness  compelled  him  to  stop,  and  he  died  at  an  inn  in  the 
village  of  Frank  ford.  His  body  was  taken  for  burial  to  the  ground  of 
the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  in  Philadelphia.  For  most  of  these 
particulars  I  am  indebted  to  a  notice  commuaicated  by  my  friend,  Wil- 
liam C.  Alexander,  Esq.,  to  the  Neiv-YorJc  Observe?'  of  March  18,  1858. 


Call  to  Trenton.  309 


began  to  supply  the  cliurcli  of  Elizabethtown, 
made  vacant  by  the  assassination  of  the  Kev. 
James  Caldwell.  In  the  month  of  August  he 
was  married,  by  Dr.  Witherspoon,  to  Susannah 
Livingston,  a  daughter  of  Robert  James  Living- 
ston, whose  widow,  Mrs.  Armstrong's  mother, 
was  residing  at  Princeton  for  the  education  of  her 
sons,  three  of  whom,  William  Smith,  Peter  K., 
and  Maturiu,  graduated  at  that  College.  Mr. 
Armstrouo:'s  service  at  Elizabethtown  was  ter- 
minated  in  1783,  by  an  illness  which  recjuired. 
him  to  suspend  his  labors. 

LTpon  Dr.  Spencer's  death  in  Trenton,  in  De- 
cember 1Y84,  Mr.  Armstrong  preached  his  fune- 
ral sermon,  and  afterwards  frequently  supplied 
the  vacant  pulpit.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Trustees^ 
October  17,  1785,  they  "  agreed  to  present  a  call 
to  the  Presbytery  at  Pennington,  to-morrow  for 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Armstrong  to  settle  in  this  congre- 
gation, and  appointed  Mr.  Benjamin  Smith  [one 
of  the  elders]  to  present  the  call  to  the  Presby- 
tery." It  is  probable  that  there  had  been  a  pre- 
vious election  by  the  congregation,  at  which  the 
Trustees  were  empowered  to  take  the  regular 
steps  for  effecting  the  call.  The  minutes  of  the 
meetins:   at   Pennino^toa  were   never   recorded. 


310  Transferred  to 


When  tlie  Presbytery  met  in  Trenton,"^  April 
25,  1786,  Mr.  Armstrong  being  present  as  a  cor- 
responding member,  it  is  recordedt : 

"  On  the  call  offered  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Armstrong  at  tlie 
last  meeting  of  Presbytery,  Mr.  A.  informed  the  Presby- 
tery that  several  steps  have  been  taken  towards  obtain- 
ing his  dismission  from  the  Presbytery  of  Newcastle,  and 
preparing  the  way  for  his  settlement  in  the  congregation 
of  Trenton  ;  and  that  he  hoped  soon  to  give  his  final 
answer." 

On  the  day  he  made  this  statement  the  New- 
castle Presbytery  complied  with  his  request,  and 
on  the  seventeenth  October,  his  name  appears 
among  the  members  of  the  New-Brunswick  Pres- 
bytery, without  any  preceding  ]  ecord  of  his  form- 
al reception.     The  question  of  the  call  being  up  : 

"  Mr.  Armstrong  being  not  yet  prepared  to  accept  this 
call  from  the  congregation  of  Trenton,  requested  longer 
time  to  consider  the  matter,  which  was  granted." 

The  iniDediment  seems  to  have  been  indefinite- 
ness  as  to  the  salary.    Mr.  Armstrong  was,  how- 

*  For  several  years  the  Presbytery  met  at  Xew-B  runs  wick,  Prince- 
ton, and  Trenton  in  rotation.  The  efforts  to  repeal  the  rule  were  not 
successful  until  April,  1801. 


New  Brunswick  Presbytery.  311 


ever,  considered  so  far  committed  to  the  congre- 
gation that  as  early  as  February  14,  1786,  bis 
name  appears  in  tbeir  minutes  as  present  as  "  tbe 
minister,"  wbo,  according  to  tbe  cbarter,  was  unit- 
ed witb  "  tbe  eMers  and  deacons"  in  tbe  election 
of  Trustees.'''*  It  was  not  until  April  26,l78Y,tbat, 

"  The  congregation  of  Trenton  having  informed  Pres- 
bytery of  the  sum  annexed  to  their  call,  presented  to  Mr. 
Armstrong  some  time  ago,  and  having  given  written  obli- 
gation for  his  support,  Mr.  Armstrong  accepted  of  their 

call." 

Tbere  is  no  record  of  tbe  installation. 

From  tbe  earliest  date  of  bis  residence  bere, 
tbe  cburcb  was  open  for  tbe  commemoration  of 
tbe  national  anniversary,  and  otber  acknowledg- 
ments of  tbe  divine  providence  in  public  affairs. 
In  tbe  Gazette  of  July,  1786,  it  is  publisbed  tbat 
on  tbe  fourtb  instant  tbe  inbabitants  at  eleven 
o'clock  attended  tbe  Presbyterian  Cburcb,  wbere 
tbey  beard  "  an  animated  address  by  tbe  Rev. 
Mr.  Armstrong ;   after  wbicb  tbey  met  at  tbe 

*  The  business  meetings  were  not  always  held  in  sacred  place?.  This 
one  was  "  at  the  house  of  Francis  Witt,  in  Trenton."  At  the  next  stat- 
ed meeting  of  the  Trustees,  "  the  weather  being  severe,  they  adjourned 
to  the  house  of  Francis  Witt,  inn-keeper."  At  other  times  the  place 
was  "  the  house  of  Henry  Drake,  inn-keeper." 


312  Salary. 

house  of  Mr.  Drake,  partook  of  a  cold  collation, 
and  retired  to  their  several  employments." 

In  August,  1786,  a  subscription  of  one  hun- 
dred pounds  was  directed  to  be  undertaken  for  the 
repairing  of  the  parsonage  for  the  new  pastor.* 
Two  thirds  of  the  sum  were  assessed  on  the  town 
church,  and  the  other  third  on  the  country  church, 
and  in  this  proportion  the  two  divisions  of  the 
congregation  were  to  receive  tlie  Sabbath  servi- 
ces of  their  minister.  The  salary  was  two  hun- 
dlred  pounds,  payable  in  the  same  ratio.  In  April, 
I'-YS'T,  "the  old  house  congregation"  informed 
tL-e  Board  of  Trustees  that  they  could  not  raise 
their  ij^rd  of  the  salary  for  only  a  third  of  the 
pastor's  tiiii^^e  ;  whereupon  the  town  congregation 
offered  to  p^^ay  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  sal- 
j'y,  and  hav  e  the  exclusive  services  of  the  minis- 
ter. In  the-  following  October  a  motion  was 
made  in  t^^e  Board, 

'V'By  Mr.  William  Burrouglis,  Mr.  Jolin  Howell,  and 
]^.»Ir.  Ebenezer  Rose,  for  a  separation  ;  and  that  we  join 
with  the  country  part  to  give  up  the  present  charter,  and 
endeavor  to  get  each  a  separate  charter,  and  divide  the 
property  belonging  to  the  present  congregation  ;  which 
was  postponed  for  further  consideration." 

*  The  actual  cost  exceeded  the  estimate  by  seventy-five  pounds. 


New  Charter.  313 


When  the  Board  met,  March  12,  1788, 

"  The  gentlemen  of  the  country  j^art  of  the  congrega- 
tion agree  to  give  their  answer  on  Wednesday  next,  the 
nineteenth  instant,  what  they  can  and  will  do  with  the 
town  part." 

On  that  day,  it  being  reported  to  tlie  Board 
that  "  fifty  pounds  can  not  be  raised  in  the  coun- 
try part  of  tlie  congregation  belonging  to  the 
Old  House,"  a  new  modification  was  su2:o*ested, 
namely,  that  "  the  congregation  of  Trenton" 
should  pay  the  pastor  one  hundred  dollars  year- 
ly for  one  half  of  his  time,  and  consent  ''  that  he 
may  dispose  of  the  other  half  between  Maiden- 
head and  the  Old  House,  as  he  and  they  may 
agree." 

By  an  Act  of  March  16,  1786,  the  Legislature 
of  New-Jersey  changed  the  law  of  corporations 
(which  had  hitherto  required  a  special  applica- 
tion for  each  new  charter)  so  that  any  Christian 
society,  numbering  at  least  thirty  families,  upon 
the  election  of  trustees,  and  their  qualification  by 
oath,  and  the  filing  of  a  certificate  to  that  effect 
with  the  County  Clerk,  should,  by  that  process,  be 
admitted  to  be  fully  incorporated.   The  town  part 

25 


3i4  Seal. 

of  the  Trenton  con^Te^ation  soon  took  aclvantao^e 
of  this  provision  to  obtain  a  charter  to  supersede 
that  of  George  II. ;  and  for  which  they  had  inef- 
fectually applied  to  the  Legislature  of  1Y81, 
through  Dr.  Spencer.  The  congregation  met 
May  4,  1Y88  ;  "  haviug  previously  agreed  to  ad- 
mit and  receive  the  inhabitants  of  Lamberton, 
and  those  between  that  and  Trenton,  who  may 
at  any  time  join  said  congregation,  as  entitled  to 
all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  their  Act  of  In- 
corporation ;"  and  elected  as  their  Trustees, 
Alexander  Chambers,  Samuel  Tucker,  Abraham 
Hunt,  Moore  Furman,  Isaac  Smith,  Bernard 
Hanlon,  and  Hugh  Eunyon.  The  corporate 
title  assumed  was,  "  The  Trustees  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  of  Trenton."  The  device  adopted 
for  the  seal  (1790)  was  an  open  Bible  with  a 
burning  lamp  suspended  over  it,  and  the  motto, 
"  Light  to  my  path."  Around  the  edge  is, 
"  Presbyterian  Church  of  Trenton." 

In  September,  1788,  "the  Board  of  Trustees 
from  the  countrv,"  met  with  the  town  Board, 
for  the  purpose  of  an  equitable  division  of  the 
bonds  and  other  securities  of  the  old  corporation ; 
and  in  April,  1790,  the  town  church  bought  the 


Parsonage.  815 

third  of  the  parsonage  of  their  late  co-partners? 
for  one  hundred  pounds/''' 

On  the  twenty-third  April,  1790,  the  congre- 
gation were  called  together  in  reference  to  a 
proposal  from  the  Maidenhead  church ;  the  re- 
sult of  which  is  seen  in  the  proceedings  of  the 
Presbytery  of  the  twenty-eighth  April : 

"  A  call  from  the  congregation  of  Maidenhead,  in  due 
form,  signed  by  their  Trustees,  stipulating  the  payment  of 
one  hundred  pounds  in  gold  or  silver,  in  half-yearly  pay- 
ments, for  half  of  the  ministerial  labors  of  the  Rev  James 
F.  Armstrong,  accompanied  with  a  certificate  from  the 
congregation  of  Trenton,  of  their  willingness  that  he 
should  accept  of  it,  was  laid  before  Presbytery,  and  the 
Presbytery  having  presented  the  said  call  to  Mr.  Arm- 
strong, he  declared  his  acceptance  thereof." 

This  arrauo^ement  continued  until  1806  ;  the 
pastor  residing  in  Trenton  and  giving  his  attend^ 
ance  on  the  Lord's  day  alternately  at  the  two 

*  The  parsonage  deeds  may  be  found  in  Book  AT.  103,  106.  The 
Trustees  of  "the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Trenton,"  which  was  the 
title  taken  by  the  country  church  upon  the  separation,  w^ere  Daniel 
Scudder,  John  Howell,  Ebenezer  Rose,  Timothy  Howell,  William  Green, 
James  Burroughs,  and  Benjamin  Johnston.  Mr.  Kirkpatrick  was 
probably  the  first  occupant  of  the  parsonage.  In  l'768-'70,  "  Mrs.  S^rah 
Trent"  was  credited  for  the  rent.  The  Rev.  Dr.  How  (1816-21)  was  the 
last  of  the  pastors  who  resided  in  it  before  it  was  sold. 


3l6  Erfkines. 


churclies.  In  assenting  to  the  plan,  the  Trenont 
people  stipulated  for  "  the  privilege  of  present- 
ing a  call  at  some  future  time  to  Mr.  Armstrong 
for  the  whole  of  his  labor,  if  Providence  should 
continue  him  in  this  part  of  his  vineyard." 


NOTE. 

In  August,  1785,  the  Trenton  Gazette  announced  the 
death  of  ''  Ebexezer  Eeskine,  nephew  to  the  late  Robert 
Erskme."  He  died  "  at  the  seat  of  Robert  Lettis  Hooper, 
near  Trenton,  and  was  hiterred  in  the  Presbyterian 
ground."  In  his  will,  made  in  his  last  illness,  he  describes 
himself  as  "  late  of  the  city  of  Glasgow,  in  Scotland." 
"  Being  weak  in  his  hand,  he  had  not  strength  to  write 
his  Christian  name,"  but  after  a  legacy  to  a  poor  boy  at 
the  Iron  Works  in  Newfoundland,  Morris  county,  he  be- 
queathed his  property  to  his  sister,  ^N'ancy  Erskine,  of 
Edinburgh.  Mr.  Hooper  and  Samuel  W.  Stockton  were 
his  executors. 

The  will  of  the  uncle,  Robert  Erskine,  is  somewhat  of 
an  autobiography.  It  was  made  in  iSTew-York,  Ring- 
wood,  and  Philadelphia  in  1776-9,  and  proved  at  Glou- 
cester, iS".  J.,  November  21,  1780.  It  begins:  "I,  Rob- 
ert Erskine,  son  of  the  Rev.  Ralph  Erskine,  author  of  the 
Gospel  Sonnets,  etc.,  by  the  providence  of  God  at  present 
in  America  for  the  purpose  of  directing,  conducting,  and 
taking  charge  of  several  Iron  Works,  and  other  lands  and 
property  belonging  to  gentlemen  in  England,  who  style 


Erlkines.  317 


themselves  the  Proprietors  of  the  New-York  and  New- 
Jersey  Iron  Works."  It  further  transpires  through  his 
w^ill,  that  the  testator,  having  sunk  his  patrimony  in  his 
London  trade,  became  a  surveyor  and  engineer,  and  was 
the  author  of  several  inventions,  especially  of  a  centrifugal 
engine,  of  the  success  of  which  he  was  so  sanguine  as  to 
leave  detailed  directions  how  his  widow"  should  share  the 
profits  with  his  old  creditors.  Mr.  Hooper  was  connected 
with  these  Iron  Works.  Advertisements  in  1782-3, 
signed  by  him,  in  behalf  of  "  the  American  lihigwood 
Company,"  in  Bergen  county,  refer  to  Ebenezer  Erskine 
as  on  the  premises  at  Ringwood,  and  to  Robert  Erskine 
as  "  the  late  agent  for  said  Company." 

In  the  Trenton  Gazette  of  October  18,  1780,  is  this 
notice :  "  Died  the  second  instant,  at  his  house  at 
Ringwood,  Robert  Erskine,  F.R.S.,  and  Geographer  to 
the  Army  of  the  IJnited  States,  in  the  forty-sixth  year  of 
his  age."  Some  of  the  military  maps  in  Mr.  Irving's  Life 
of  Washington  give  credit  for  their  origin  to  Mr.  Erskine's 
manuscripts,  which  are  now  in  the  possession  of  the  New- 
York  Historical  Society. 

The  memoir  prefixed  to  the  two  great  folios  of  the 
Glasgow  edition  (1764)  of  the  Rev.  Ralph  Erskine's 
Works,  opens  thus  :  "  The  Rev.  Mr.  Henry  Erskine,  the 
author's  father,  was  amongst  the  younger  of  the  thirty - 
three  children  of  Ralph  Erskine,  of  Shielfield."  The  cele- 
brated sonnetteer  had  three  sons  in  the  ministry :  "  his 
only  son  now  in  life  is  Robert,  a  merchant  in  London," 
wdio  died  in  New-Jersey,  as  stated  above.  Lord  Camp- 
bell, (himself  a  son  of  the  celebrated  Presbyterian  divine, 
Dr.  George  Campbell,  of  Aberdeen.)  in  his  Life  of  Lord 


3i8  Erfkines. 


Chancellor  Erskine,  says  :  "  The  Earl's  [Buchan,  the 
Chancellor's  father]  great -grandfather  had  suffered  in  the 
Covenanting  cause  in  the  preceding  century ;  and  those 
pious  men,  Ralph  and  Ebenezer  Erskine,  who  had  recently 
seceded  from  the  establishment,  and  whose  sentiments 
have  been  adopted  and  acted  upon  by  the  Free  Church  of 
Scotland,  were  his  '  far-away  cousins.'  "  {Lives  of  the 
Lord  Chancellors^  chap,  clxxvi.) 


The  General  Assembly — New  Constitution  of 

THE  Church — !N"otes. 

1T85— 1790. 

Mr.  Armstrong  was  active,  both  in  Synod  and 
Presbytery,  in  the  measures  which  resulted  in 
the  formation  of  the  General  Assembly. 

In  the  year  1785  the  Synod  of  New- York  and 
Philadelphia  was  the  Supreme  Judicatory  or 
Court  of  our  whole  Church  in  the  United  States. 
It  comprised  fourteen  Presbyteries ;  namely, 
Suffolk,  Dutchess,  New-York,  New-Brunswick, 
First  Philadelphia,  Second  Philadelphia,  New- 
castle, Donegal,  Lewes  or  Leweston,  Hanover, 
Abington,  Orange,  Redstone,  and  South-Caro- 
lina. Every  minister  and  one  ruling  elder  from 
each  session  were  then,  as  now,  entitled  to  seats 
in  the  Synod ;  but  the  list  shows  how  distant 
were  the  extremes  of  its  bounds,  and  the  roll  of 
that  year's  session  in  the  central  city  of  Phila- 
delphia, shows  how  this  distance  prevented  a  full 


320  The  General 


representation  ;  for  on  the  first  day  there  were 
thirty  ministers  present  and  sixty-eight  absent, 
not  counting  six  entire  Presbyteries  Vv^ithoiit  a 
single  commissioner.  There  were  only  six  elders  ; 
and  during  the  session  no  more  ^han  twelve  of 
both  orders  dropped  in.  The  overture  was  there- 
fore timely  which  was  then  presented,  proposing 
a  division  of  the  existing  Synod  into  several,  and 
the  formation  of  a  new  delegated  body,  as  a 
General  Synod,  Council,  or  Assembly,  out  of  the 
whole.  The  subject  being  deferred  until  the 
session  of  IY86,  a  resolution  was  in  that  year 
j)assed  in  favor  of  the  overture,  and  a  committee 
appointed  to  report  a  plan  of  division.  Their 
report  recommended  a  new  arrangement  of  the 
bounds  of  the  Presbyteries  and  the  formation  of 
four  Synods,  to  be  subordinate  to  a  General  As- 
sembly. The  proposed  alterations  in  the  Pres- 
byteries were  adopted,  and  the  remaining  sug- 
gestions postponed  for  another  year.  At  the 
same  session  a  committee  was  raised  to  digest  a 
system  of  government  and  discipline,  which  was 
to  be  printed  and  distributed  among  the  Presby- 
teries for  their  opinion.  This  pamphlet  was  in- 
troduced into  the  New-Brunswick  Presbytery 
April  25, 1 787,  when  it  was  referred  for  examina- 


Afsembly.  321 

tion  to  Dr.  Witberspoon  and  Mr.  Armstrong, 
together  with  James  Ewing,  Esq.,  an  elder  of  the 
Trenton  Church,  and  Mr.  Longs treet,  an  elder  of 
the  Princeton  Church,  to  report  in  the  next 
month ;  but  the  elders  not  attending  the  com- 
mittee, the  clerical  members  did  not  offer  any 
report.  On  the  seventeenth  May,  1787,  the  com- 
mittee of  Synod  reported  the  draught  of  the 
government  and  discipline,  and  it  was  daily  dis- 
cussed by  paragraphs  until  the  twenty-eighth, 
when  a  thousand  copies  of  the  work,  as  amend- 
ed, were  ordered  to  be  distributed  before  final 
action.  The  same  committee  were  directed  to 
revise  the  Westminster  ''Directory  for  Public 
"Worship,"  and  add  it  to  the  printed  volume  to 
be  submitted  to  the  judgment  of  the  churches. 

The  last  meeting  held  by  the  Synod  of  New- 
York  and  Philadelphia  was  opened  in  Philadel- 
phia, May  21,  1788.  Mr.  Armstrong  was  Clerk, 
and  was  one  of  a  committee  to  select  and  pub- 
lish the  most  important  proceedings  of  the  two 
closing  sessions  of  the  Synod,  with  certain  statis- 
tics of  the  churches.  On  the  twenty-third  the 
draught  of  the  new  system  came  up  for  consider- 
ation, and  on  the  twenty-sixth  it  was  completed. 
On  the  twenty-eighth  it  was  ratified  and  adopt- 


322  Standards. 


ed  as  "  the  Constitution  of  the  Presbyterian 
Chiircli  in  Am  erica."  A  correct  coj)y  was  order- 
ed to  be  printed,  together  with  the  "  Westmins- 
ter Confession  of  Faith,  as  making  a  part  of  the 
Constitution." 

The  Synod  proceeded  to  consider  the  draught 
of  the  "  Directory  for  the  Worship  of  God,"  con- 
tained, like  the  basis  of  the  parts  ah-eady  adopt- 
ed, in  the  standard  books  of  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land, and  after  revision  this  was  adopted.  The 
Westminster  Larger  and  Shorter  Catechisms 
were  then  sanctioned  as  they  stood,  excepting  a 
slight  amendment  of  the  former  on  a  point  re- 
ferring to  civil  government,  and  were  ordered  to 
be  inserted  in  the  same  volume  with  the  confes- 
sion, form  of  government,  and  discipline — the 
whole  to  be  considered  "  as  the  standard  of  our 
doctrine,  government,  discipline,  and  worship." 

Dr.  Duffield,  Mr.  Armstrong,  and  Mr.  Ashbel 
Green^  were  made  the  committee  to  superintend 
the  publication  of  the  whole  work.     Mr.  Arm- 

*  This  name  has  become  so  venerable  and  familiar  that  it  strikes  one 
with  surprise  to  find  that  in  the  sermon  preached  by  Provost  Ewiag  at 
his  ordination  and  installment,  (May  15,  1787,)  it  is  given  both  on  the 
title  page  and  in  the  resolution  of  the  corporation  of  the  Second  Church 
calling  for  its  publication,  as  Ashhald  Green. 


New  Synod.  323 


strong  was  also  associated  at  this  time  with  Dr. 
Witberspoon,  Dr.  S.  S.  Smith,  and  others  on  a 
delegation  to  the  convention,  with  corresponding 
delegates  from  the  Synods  of  the  Associate  Ee- 
formed  and  the  Reformed  Dutch  Churches,  which 
had  been  already  holding  several  conferences  with 
a  view  to  some  systematic  intercourse  of  those 
three  Presbyterian  bodies. 

On  the  twenty-ninth  day  of  May  the  Synod 
was  dissolved.  It  had  then  one  hundred  and 
seventy-seven  ministers,  eleven  jDrobationers,  and 
four  hundred  and  nineteen  congregations.  Fif- 
teen ministers  and  twenty-six  congregations  were 
in  the  Presbytery  of  New-Brunswick. 

By  the  new  arrangement  the  Presbyteries  of 
Dutchess,  Suffolk,  New- York,  and  New-Bruns- 
wick constituted  the  "  Synod  of  New- York  and 
New-Jersey."  It  held  its  first  meeting  in  New- 
York,  October  29,  1788,  when  Mr.  Armstrong 
was  one  of  the  clerks.  The  Synod  taking  "into 
consideration  the  distressed  state  of  the  peo|)le 
of  the  Presbyterian  denomination  on  the  fron- 
tiers," resolved  to  send  missionaries  among  them 
the  next  summer,  and  appointed  Dr.  Macwhorter 
and  Mr.  Armstrong  to  spend  three  months  in 
this  service.     For  satisfactory  reasons  the  first 


324  Firfl  General 


appointment  was  not  carried  into  effect,  but  for 
several  sessions  an  annual  delegation  of  mission- 
aries was  made.  In  1794  the  Synod  resolved  to 
establisli  "  a  standino^  and  continued  mission  on 
the  frontiers  of  New- York,''  and  Mr.  Armstrong, 
who  was  the  Moderator  of  that  year,  was  by  the 
house  placed  upon  a  committee  to  initiate  it.* 

The  three  other  Synods  into  which  the  parent 
body  was  divided  were  named  Philadelphia,  Vir- 
ginia, and  the  Carollnas.  "  The  General  Assem- 
bly of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America,"  which  was  the  style  given 
to  the  chief  judicatory,  was  required  to  be  com- 
posed of  delegates  from  each  Presbytery,  in  pro- 
portion to  their  numbers.  The  first  Assembly 
met  in  the  Second  Church  (Arch  Street)  of 
Philadelphia,  on  "  the  third  Thursday  of  May," 
(twenty-first,)  1789. 


*  The  region  of  Xew-Tork  around  the  Cayuga  and  Seneca  lakes  was 
named,  sixty  years  since,  "the  north-western  frontiers"  of  our  Church. 
In  1798  Mr.  George  Scott,  of  the  Presbytery  of  New-Brunswick,  was 
sent  to  that  region  to  "  itinerate  for  at  least  five  months  as  a  missioner." 
The  minutes  of  1805  contain  an  interesting  historical  document  in  a 
"  general  report  concerning  those  districts  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Synod  of  New- York  and  New-Jersey,  which  most  particularly  require 
the  labors  of  missionaries  and  the  distribution  of  pious  tracts  among  the 
people." 


Afsembly.  325 

Tlie  first  ratio  of  representation  in  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly  was  one  minister  and  one  elder, 
where  a  Presbytery  consisted  of  not  more  than 
six  ministers ;  double  the  number  where  it  con- 
sisted of  more  than  six,  but  not  more  than 
twelve,  and  so  on.  New-Brunswick,  consisting 
of  fifteen  ministers,  was  entitled  to  three  com- 
missioners of  each  order,  and  their  first  repre- 
sentatives in  the  Assembly  were  Dr.  Wither- 
sjDOon,  Dr.  S.  S.  Smith,  and  Mr.  Armstrong,  with 
elders  John  Bayard  of  New-Brunswick,  John 
Carle  of  Baskingridge,  and  Nehemiah  Dunham 
of  Bethlehem. 

Mr.  Armstrong's  associations  with  the  Presi- 
dents Witherspoon  and  S.  Stanhope  Smith  were 
those  of  neighbors  and  strong  personal  friends. 
The  names  of  the  three  constantly  occur  on  the 
same  committees  of  the  ecclesiastical  bodies  of 
which  they  were  fellow-members.  The  ancient 
custom  of  making  a  formal  acknowledgment  of 
the  civil  authority  was  continued,  for  some  time 
after  the  Eepublic  was  founded;  and  in  1790 
the  three  friends  were  part  of  a  delegation  of 
Presbytery  to  present  a  congratulatory  address 
to  Governor  Patterson  on  his  accession.  In  1799 
Smith,  Hunter,  and  Armstrong  were  appointed 

26 


326  Trenton 

to  report  on  a  recommendation  from  the  superior 
judicatories  favoring  tlie  formation  of  societies 
to  aid  tlie  civil  magistrate  in  the  suppression  of 
vice.  The  next  year  a  majority  of  the  commit- 
tee reported  adversely  to  the  proposition,  on  the 
ground  that  the  civil  and  religious  institutions  of 
our  republic  being  totally  separate,  the  best  way 
left  for  ecclesiastical  bodies  and  men  to  aid  the 
laws  is  fidelity  in  pastoral  duties  and  in  strength- 
ening moral  and  religious  principles  by  the  ex- 
tension of  religious  knowledge.  Mr.  Armstrong- 
entered  his  dissent,  not  from  the  principles  of  the 
report,  but  because  he  regarded  it  as  contraven- 
ing the  recommendations  of  Synod  and  Assem- 
bly. 

In  the  classical  Academy  which  was  founded 
by  the  "  Trenton  School  Company"  in  1781,  Mr. 
Armstrono'  took  an  active  interest.     In  1786  he 

o 

furnished  the  trustees  with  a  draught  of  laws  for 
the  government  of  the  schools.  In  June,  1787, 
he  was  engaged,  on  a  salary,  to  take  the  general 
superintendence  of  the  Academy,  giving  direc- 
tion to  the  studies  and  discipline,  attending  in 
person  as  occasion  required,  and  employing  a 
master.  This  plan  was  relinquished  in  Septem- 
ber, 1788,  but  resumed  in  March,  1789,  and  con- 


Academy.  327 

tinued  until  Ms  resignation  in  January,  1791. 
Upon  his  withdrawal  the  Trustees  granted  him 
the  privilege  of  sending  two  of  his  children  to 
the  school ;  and  in  the  newspaper  of  January  6, 
1797,  is  printed  an  oration  delivered  at  a  late 
public  examination  of  the  Academy  by  his  son, 
Eobert  Livingston  Armstrong. 

NOTES. 
I. 

"TAe  Trenton  School  Compo.ny''''  originated  in  a  meet- 
ing of  citizens,  held  February  10,  lYSl.  The  original 
capital  was  seven  hundred  and  twenty  dollars,  divided  into 
thirty-six  shares.  Part  of  the  lot  still  occupied  by  the 
Academy  in  Hanover  (then  Fourth)  street  was  purchased, 
and  a  stone  building  erected,  one  story  of  which  was 
occupied  in  1782.  The  next  year  it  wa?  enlarged,  and  the 
endowment  increased.  In  17 85  it  was  incorporated,  and 
in  1794  its  funds  were  aided  by  a  lottery.  In  1800  the 
girls'  school  of  the  Academy  was  removed  to  the  school- 
house  belonging  to  the  Presbyterian  Church.  The  gram- 
mar-school attained  a  high  reputation  under  a  succession 
of  able  masters.  The  public  quarterly  examinations  were 
usually  closed  with  exercises  in  speaking  in  the  church. 
JThe  newspapers  tell  of  the  "  crowded  and  polite  audi- 
ences" which  attended,  usually  including  the  Governor, 
Legislature,  and  distinguished  strangers.  Among  the 
latter,  in  1784,  were  the  President  of  Congress,  the  Baron 


328  Isaac  Collins. 


Steuben,  and  members  of  the  Congress  and  Legislature. 
A  fall  history  of  the  Academy  down  to  1847  may  be 
found  in  ten  successive  numbers  of  the  &tate  Gazette  of 
April  and  May  of  that  year. 

II. 

One  of  the  most  useful  and  worthy  citizens  of  Trenton 
in  this  part  of  its  annals  was  Isaac  Collins,  a  member  of 
the  Society  of  Friends,  and  an  enterprising  printer.  He 
came  from  Burlington  to  Trenton  in  ITYS,  and  resided 
here  until  his  removal  to  Xew-York  in  1786.  His  wife, 
Rachel  Budd,  was  great-grandaughter  of  Mahlon  Stacy, 
the  original  proprietor  of  the  land.  Mr.  ColUns  was  one 
of  the  active  founders  of  the  Academy,  and  although  nine 
of  his  children  were  pupils,  he  would  not  take  adA^antage 
of  his  rio'ht  as  a  stockholder  to  have  them  instructed 
without  further  charge.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact  in  the 
history  of  his  family  of  fourteen  children,  that  after  the 
death  of  one  in  infancy,  there  was  no  mortality  for  the 
space  of  fifty  years.  His  eldest  daughter  (still  surviving, 
1859)  was  the  wife  of  Stephen  Grellet,  whose  singular 
career  as  a  convert  from  the  faith  of  Rome  and  the  posi- 
tion of  body-guard  of  Louis  XVI.,  to  a  devoted  Quaker 
minister  and  missionary,  has  been  commemorated  in  a 
printed  discourse  by  Dr.  Van  Rensselaer.  The  first  news- 
paper in  this  State,  *'  the  Xew- Jersey  Gazette,"  was 
issued  by  Mr.  Collins  at  Burlington,  December  5,  1777. 
It  was  tben  transferred  to  Trenton,  and  published  there 
from  February  25,  1778,  to  November  27,  1786,  (except- 
ing a  suspension  of  nearly  five  months  in  1783,)  when 


Collins's  Gazette.  329 

it  was  discontinued.  Mr.  Collins  was  the  conductor  as 
well  as  proprietor  of  the  paper.  Indeed  the  title  of 
editor  had  not  then  superseded  that  of  "  the  printer." 

Collins's  paper  was  established  to  counteract  the  anti- 
republican  tendency  of  Rivington's  "  Royal  Gazette"  in 
New- York.  Governor  Livingston  was  a  correspondent  of 
the  Trenton  Gazette  as  long  as  it  remained  in  Collins's 
hands.* 

The  publication  of  the  entire  Bible  was,  at  that  period, 
so  adventurous  an  undertaking  for  the  x\merican  press 
that  it  was  necessary  to  secure  extraordinary  encourage- 
ment in  advance ;  and  the  first  edition  of  the  Scriptures, 
that  of  John  Aitken,  was  recommended  to  the  country  by 
a  resolution  of  Congress.  This  was  on  September  12, 
1782,  just  five  years  after  the  report  of  a  committee  on  a 
memorial  had  stated  that  to  import  types  and  print  and 
bind  thirty  thousand  coj^ies  would  cost  £10,272  IO5.,  and 
therefore  recommended  the  importation  of  twenty  thou- 
sand Bibles,  which  was  adopted. 

In  1788  Isaac  Collins  issued  proposals  to  print  a  quarto 
edition  of  the  Bible  in  nine  hundred  and  eighty-four  pages, 

*  Sedgwick's  Life  of  LivingstoD,  ch.  vii.  viii.  The  Legislature  (Dec.  9, 
1717,)  exempted  Mr.  Collins  "and  any  number  of  men,  not  exceeding 
four,  to  be  employed  by  him  at  his  printing  office,"  from  militia  service 
during  the  time  they  were  occupied  in  printing  the  laws  or  the  weekly 
newspaper.  The  pacific  but  courageous  printer  vindicated  the  liberty  of 
the  press  by  refusing  to  give  the  name  of  a  political  correspondent  (1779) 
on  the  demand  of  the  Legislative  Council.  "In  any  other  case,  not  in- 
compatible with  good  conscience,  or  the  welfare,  of  my  country,  I  shall 
think  myself  happy  in  having  it  in  my  power  to  oblige  you."  {Selections 
from  Corres])ondence  of  Executive^  1776-86  published  ly  Legislature  in 
184.8,  p.  199.) 

26* 


330  Collins's 


at  the  price  of  "  four  Spanish  dollars,  one  dollars  to  be 
paid  at  the  time  of  subscribing."  The  Synod  of  New- 
York  and  New-Jersey  (Nov.  3,  1788,)  earnestly  recom- 
mended the  undertaking,  and  appointed  Dr.  Witherspoon, 
President  S.  S.  Smith,  and  Mr.  Armstrong,  to  concur  with 
committees  of  any  other  denominations,  or  of  our  own 
Synods,  to  revise  the  sheets,  and,  if  necessary,  to  assist  in 
selecting  a  standard  edition.  This  committee  was  author- 
ized to  agree  with  Mr.  Collins  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  (on  which  was  Mr.  Arm- 
strong) to  lay  Mr.  Collins's  proposals  before  their  respect- 
ive Presbyteries,  and  to  recommend  that  subscriptions 
be  solicited  in  each  congregation,  and  report  the  number 
to  the  next  Assembly.  The  recommendation  was  reiter- 
ated in  1790  and  in  1791. 

Thus  sustained,  the  quarto  edition  (five  thousand  copies) 
was  published  in  1791.*  Ostervald's  "  Practical  Observa- 
tions," which  added  one  hundred  and  seventy  pages  of 
matter,  were  furnished  to  special  subscribers,  Collins's 
Bible  was  so  carefully  revised  that  it  is  still  a  standard. 

*  The  American  historiographer  of  printing  makes  no  mention  of  this 
edition,  but  speaks  only  of  Collins's  odo.vo  New  Testament  of  1788,  and 
Bible  of  1793-4.  {Tliomas's  History,  ii.  124.)  Collins  printed  in  Trenton 
two  thousand  copies  of  Sewel's  History  of  the  Quakers,  of  neariy  a 
thousand  pages  folio;  Ramsay's  South- Carolina,  two  volumes,  and  other 
large  works. 

In  1848  the  surviving  family  of  Mr.  Collins  printed  for  private  use  a 
memoir  of  their  venerated  parents,  for  the  help  of  which  I  am  indebted 
to  my  friend,  Isaac  Collins,  of  Philadelphia.  See  also  Blake's  Biogru' 
phiccU  Dictionary,  I3t?i,  edition. 


Bible.  331 

Himself  and  his  children  read  all  the  proofs ;  and  it  is 
stated  in  the  Preface  of  a  subsequent  edition,  after  men- 
tioning the  names  of  several  clergymen  who  assisted  the 
publisher  in  1791,  "some  of  these  persons,  James  F. 
Armstrong  in  particular,  being  near  the  press,  assisted  also 
in  reading  and  correcting  the  proof-sheets." 

As  an  instance  of  the  weight  which  the  most  incidental 
acts  of  the  Assembly  carried  at  that  early  period  of  its  exist- 
ence, 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.  Armstrong,  as  Clerk  of  the  As 
sembly,  a  notification  of  the  action  in  reference  to  the  Col- 
lins Bible,  he  had  procured  the  calling  of  a  special  meeting 
of  the  Transylvania  Presbytery,  "  that  Ave  might  be  in  a 
capacity  to  obey  the  order  of  the  General  Assembly." 
"  Such  is  our  dispersed  situation,"  that  it  was  some  weeks 
before  the  meeting  could  convene.  "  After  two  days' 
dehberation  on  the  subject,"  they  found  that  a  com- 
pliance was  impracticable,  and  on  Mr.  Rice  was  devolved 
the  office  of  explaining  the  cause  of  the  delinquency.  One 
of  the  difficulties  was  that  of  sending  a  messenger  to  Phil- 
adelphia 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."* 

There  was  a  paper-mill  in  Trenton  before  the  time  of 
the  publication  of  Collins's  Bible.  In  December,  1788,  it 
was  advertised  by  its  proprietors,  Stacy  Potts  and  John 

*  Green  and  Hazard  MSS. 


332  Rags. 


Reynolds,  as  "  now  nearly  completed."  The  manufac- 
turers 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,  or  the  Trenton  Weekly  Mer- 
cury," printed  by  Quequelle  and  Wilson,  was  obliged  to 
have  its  size  reduced  "  on  account  of  the  scarcity  of  demy 
printing-paper." 


Public  Occasions  m  Tre:^ton — Notes. 

1789—1806. 

The  twenty-first  of  April,  1789,  was  a  me- 
morable clay  in  the  history  of  Trenton.  On  his 
journey  from  Mount  Vernon  to  New- York,  for 
the  purpose  of  being  inaugurated  as  the  first 
President  of  the  United  States,  General  Wash- 
ington rode  through  the  town,  and  was  received 
at  the  Assanpink  bridge  in  the  manner  which 
has  become  too  familiar  to  require  repetition 
here."^  In  the  procession  of  matrons  who  met 
the  President,  was  the  wife  of  Mr.  Armstrong ; 
and  one  of  "  the  white-robed  choir"  who  sang 
the  ode  was  their  daughter,  afterwards  the  wife 
of   Chief  Justice   Ewing.      Washington's   note 


*  Marshall's  Life  of  Washington,  vol  v.  ch.  3.  Sparks's  Writings  of 
Washington,  vol.  xii.  p.  150.  Irving's  Washington,  vol.  iv.  chap.  3*7. 
Mr.  Irving  says  of  the  incident  at  Trenton :  "  We  question  whether 
any  of  these  testimonials  of  a  nation's  gratitude  afifected  Washington 
more  sensibly  than  those  he  received  at  Trenton," 


334  ^i^^  Company. 


acknowledging  the  compliment  was  first  deliver- 
ed to  Mr.  Armstrong,  and  read  to  a  company  of 
ladies  at  tlie  lionse  of  Juds^e  Smitli.  Tlie  auto- 
graph  is  nov/  in  possession  of  the  family,  who 
also  preserve  the  relics  of  the  arch  or  arbor  under 
which  the  illustrious  traveller  was  received. 

It  was  formerly  required  that  the  names  of  all 
persons  duly  proposed  as  candidates  for  Con- 
gress, should  be  advertised  by  the  authority  of 
the  Governor.  In  the  list  of  1792  is  the  name 
of  Mr.  Armstrong ;  but  from  what  nomination 
or  whether  with  his  consent,  I  have  no  informa- 
tion. 

On  the  seventeenth  June,  1795,  Mr.  Arm- 
strong preached  in  BaskiDgridge,  at  the  ordina- 
tion of  Robert  Finley  and  Hollolvay  W.  Hunt, 
when  the  former  was  installed  minister  of  that 
congregation.  In  August  of  that  year  we  find 
Mr.  Armstrong  taking  a  prominent  j^art  in  a  pub- 
lic meeting  in  reference  to  an  expression  of  popu- 
lar opinion  on  the  recent  treaty  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain.  There  were, 
indeed,  fev^^  objects  of  public  interest,  whether 
political  or  philanthropical,  with  which  his  name 
was  not  found  connected.  It  even  stands  on  the 
roll  of  the  "Union  Fire  Company,"  (instituted 


Library  Company.  335 


February  8,  1747,)  which  included  the  most  re- 
spectable citizens  among  its  working  members. 
The  few  minutes  that  are  extant  (1785-94)  show 
that  the  clergyman's  membership  was  more  than 
nominal.*'^ 

When  the  "  Trenton  Library  Company"  was 
founded,  in  May,  1797,  Mr.  Armstrong  was  im- 
mediately among  its  supporters  and  directors. 
The  same  interest  was  evinced  by  him  in  the 
"  Christian  Circulating  Library,"  established  by 
the  excellent  Daniel  Fenton,  in  1811. 

The  third  General  Assembly  (1791)  began  to 
take  measures,  through  the  Presbyteries,  for  col- 
lecting materials  for  a  history  of  our  Church  in 
North-America.  The  New-Brunswick  Presby- 
tery directed  each  of  its  pastors  to  furnish  the 
history  of  his  own  parish,  and  assigned  that  of 
the  vacant  congregations  to  committees.  Mr. 
Armstrong  was  appointed  the  collector  for  Am- 
well. 

*  "  Ordered,  that  Mr.  Armstrong,  Mr.  Singer,  and  Mr.  Taylor  work 
the  large  engine  in  time  of  fire,  and  that  Conrad  Kotts  and  Isaac  Barnes 
work  the  small  engine."  "  Ordered,  that  Mr.  Armstrong  and  Mr.  Tay- 
lor be  a  committee  to  have  good  trail  ropes  put  to  both  engines,  and  a 
necessary  harness  for  one  horse  for  the  large  engine."  The  members 
being  at  one  time  required  to  give  account  whether  they  had  done  their 
duty,  it  is  entered  that  "Mr.  Armstrong,  ladder-man  No.  1,  attended, 
and  brought  forward  his  ladder  and  hook  to  the  late  fire."' 


336  Hiftory. 

In  1Y92  Dr.  "Witherspoon  and  three  others 
were  appointed  to  write  the  history  of  the  Pres- 
bytery ;  in  April,  1793,  (before  the  discovery  of 
the  old  minutes,)  Mr.  Armstrong  reported  that, 
"  either  through  inattention  in  the  first  minis- 
ters and  congregations,  or  the  loss  of  records 
during  the  Avar,  no  documents  are  to  be  found 
from  which  to  furnish  materials  respecting  the 
first  formation  of  congregations,  or  the  early  set- 
tlement of  ministers."  The  order,  however,  was 
renewed,  and  the  historical  committee  continued. 
In  1801— 

"  The  Presbyteries  of  ISTew-Brnnswick  and  Ohio  report- 
ed that,  agreeably  to  order,  they  had  drawn  up  histories 
of  their  respective  Presbyteries,  which  were  produced  and 
laid  on  the  table."* 

On  the  eleventh  of  May,  1794,  Mr.  Armstrong 
preached  at  the  first  opening  of  the  new  church  at 
Flemington.  In  1797  he  was  on  the  Assembly's 
delegation  to  the  General  Association  of  Con- 
necticut, which  met  at  Windham ;  and  again  in 
1806  to  the  same  body  at  Wethersfield. 

The  enthusiasm  of  the  Revolutionary  soldier 

*  I  have  looked  in  vain  for  the  New-Brunswick  history  in  the  archives 
of  the  Assembly. 


Fourth  of  July.  337 


and  chaplain  was  never  wanting  on  the  public 
occasions  which  appealed  to  it.  The  New- Jersey- 
branch  of  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  of  which 
Mr.  Armstrong  was  a  member,  (and  for  a  time 
Secretary,)  usually  made  it  a  part  of  their  cele- 
bration of  the  Fourth  of  July  to  hear  the  Decla- 
ration read  at  his  Church,  in  connection  with 
devotional  services.  On  the  anniversary  of  1794, 
according  to  the  Gazette  of  the  week,  that  Soci- 
ety proceeded  to  the  Church, 

"  where  an  elegant  and  well-adaj^ted  discourse  was  de- 
livered by  the  Rev.  James  F.  Armstrong,  in  which  the 
citizen,  the  soldier,  and  his  brethren  of  the  Cincinnati 
were  addressed  in  a  strain  truly  animated  and  pathetic, 
as  the  friends  of  freedom,  of  government,  and  of  neu- 
trality." 

A  fast-day  was  observed,  by  appointment  of 
President  Adams,  in  May  1798,  on  account  of 
the  warlike  aspect  of  our  relations  with  the 
French  Kepublic.  The  Trenton  pastor  appears 
to  have  aroused  his  audience  on  the  occasion  to 
a  mode  of  response  not  common  in  our  churches. 
According  to  the  newspaper  report,  the  sermon, 

"  while  it  deprecated  the  miseries  of  war,  yet  unequi- 
vocally showed  that  our  existence  and  prosperity  as  a 
nation,  depended,  under  God,  on  the  union  of  our  citizens, 

27 


338  Responses. 


and  their  full  confidence  in  the  measures  adopted  by  our 
government ;  to  which  all  the  congregation,  rising  with 
him,  said.  Amen  !  " 

A  few  montlis  later  there  was  a  still  more  vo- 
ciferous demonstration  in  the  same  place.  I  take 
the  account  of  it  from  "  The  Federalist  and 
ISTew-Jersey  Gazette"  of  July  9,  1798: 

"  "We  should  do  injustice  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Armstrong, 
orator  of  the  day,  [Fourth  of  July,]  were  we  to  pass  in 
silence  the  universal  approbation  with  which  was  received 
his  animated,  patriotic,  and  elegant  address,  delivered 
before  the  Order  of  Cincinnati,  and  the  most  crowded  audi- 
ence we  ever  remember  to  have  seen  on  any  former  occa- 
sion in  this  place.  One  circumstance  demands  our  pecu- 
liar attention  :  the  orator,  in  closing  his  address,  observed 
in  substance,  that  as  in  defense  of  the  American  Revolu- 
tion they  had  pledged  their  honors,  their  lives  and  for- 
tunes, to  defend  the  American  cause,  it  might  be  expect- 
ed that  the  Government  would  again  solicit  their  aid  to 
preserve  and  defend  her  from  tributary  vassalage  ;  and 
then  called  on  his  brethren  of  the  Society  again  to  join 
him  in  pledging  their  sacred  honors,  lives,  and  fortunes 
to  defend  the  government  and  laws  of  their  country. 
With  animated  firmness  and  glow  of  patriotism  the  orator 
then  pronounced,  '  I  resolve  to  live  and  die  free  y '  to 
which  the  whole  Society,  as  with  one  voice,  made  the  re- 
sponse ;  and  three  animated  cheers  heightened  the  scene 
of  sublimity  and  grandeur,  far  better  to  be  conceived  than 
expressed."         , 


Ill  health.  339 


It  appears  from  another  column  that  the  Cin- 
cinnati repeated  the  emphatic  sentence  after  the 
orator,  and  that  "  the  whole  military  and  audi- 
ence" joined  in  the  cheers,  and  afterwards  in 
singing  the  chorus  of  "  Hail  Columbia." 

Two  days  after  this  celebration  Mr.  Armstrong, 
with  Generals  Dayton,  Bloomfield,  Beatty,  and 
Giles,  as  a  committee  of  the  Cincinnati,  presented 
to  President  Adams,  in  Philadelphia,  an  address 
appropriate  to  the  politics  of  the  day.* 

In  1799  and  several  subsequent  years  Mr. 
Armstrong's  health  was  so  much  impaired  that 
he  was  obliged  to  ask  for  supplies  for  his  two 
pulpits.  There  were  intervals  in  which  he  was 
able  to  officiate,  but  during  the  remainder  of  his 
life  he  suffered  severely  from  the  rheumatic  dis- 
order contracted  during  his  service  in  the  camp, 
and  he  was  frequently  deprived  of  the  free  use  of 
his  limbs.  Among  those  often  appointed  in  these 
emergencies  were  President  Smith,  Dr.  John 
Woodhull,  Geo.  Spafford  Woodhull,  Robert  Fin- 

*  At  that  time,  and  for  many  years,  the  custom  obtained  in  Trenton 
of  adorning  the  windows  and  fronts  of  the  houses  on  the  Fourth  of  July 
with  flowers  and  evergreens,  instead  of  the  former  practice  of  ilhimina- 
tion.  It  was  also  a  custom  to  spend  the  evening  at  the  State  House, 
where  the  usual  entertainments  of  an  evening  party  were  provided  by 
the  ladieF. 


340  Death  of  Washington. 

ley,  Andrew  Hunter,  David  Comfort,  Samuel 
Snowden,  Matthew  L.  Perrine,  Joseph  Rue,  John 
Hanna.  In  a  written  exhortation  sent  to  the 
people  during  one  of  these  illnesses,  Mr.  Arm- 
strono-  after  enumeratino;  some  of  the  reasons  for 
their  gratitude,  said  : 

"  Added  to  this,  if  variety  of  faithful  jDreaching  is  to  be 
esteemed  an  advantage,  you  have  enjoyed  it  in  a  signal 
degree.  Though  I  am  bold  to  say  that  no  congregations 
were  less  nesrlected  in  the  stated  administrations  of  the 
Gospel  ordinances  while  I  was  well,  so  also  during  the 
many  years  of  sickness  and  inability  to  preach,  you  have 
enjoyed  the  abundant  labors  of  love  and  of  friendship  of 
my  brethren  in  the  ministry,  with  all  that  variety  of  faith- 
ful preaching  with  which  the  best-informed  mind  or  the 
most  curious  ear  could  wish  to  be  indulged.  Paul  has 
planted — ApoUos  watered." 

The  newspaper  of  Monday,  December  30, 
1799,  preserves  another  instance  of  a  communi- 
cation made  by  Mr.  Armstrong  to  the  people  on 
one  of  the  Sabbaths  in  which  he  must  have  pecu- 
liarly lamented  his  inability  to  be  in  the  pulpit  : 

"The  Rev.  Mr.  Hunter,  who  officiated  yesterday  for 
Mr.  Armstrong,  after  reading  the  President's  proclama- 
tion respecting  the   general  mourning  for  the  death  of 


Dr.  Hunter.  341 


General  Washington,  gave  the  intimation,  in  substance  as 
follows,  by  the  particular  request  of  Mr.  Armstrong  ••  * 

"  '  Your  pastor  desu-es  me  to  say  on  the  present  mourn- 
ful occasion,  that  while  one  sentiment  —  to  mourn  the 
death  and  honor  the  memory  of  General  Washington — 
penetrates  every  breast,  the  proclamation  which  you  have 
just  heard  read,  he  doubts  not,  will  be  duly  attended  to  ; 
yet  believing,  as  he  does,  that  he  but  anticipates  the 
wishes  of  those  for  whom  the  intimation  is  given,  Mr. 
Armstrong  requests  the  female  part  of  his  audience  in  the 
city  of  Trenton  and  Maidenhead,  as  a  testimony  of  respect 
for,  and  condolence  with  Mrs.  Washington,  to  wear  for 
three  months,  during  their  attendance  on  divine  service, 
such  badges  of  mourning  as  their  discretion  may  direct.'  "f 


*  The  Rev.  Andrew  Hunter,  D.D.,  (already  mentioned  on  p.  185,) 
"was  a  personal  friend,  and  in  the  pulpit  a  frequent  assistant,  of  Mr.  Arm- 
strong. He  graduated  at  Princeton  1772  ;  was  chaplain  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary army  ;  taught  a  classical  school  at  Woodbury  ;  cultivated  a  farm 
on  the  Delaware  near  Trenton  ;  was  professor  of  Mathematics  and  As- 
tronomy in  Princeton,  1804-8 ;  head  of  an  Academy  in  Bordentown, 
1809  ;  afterwards  a  chaplain  in  the  "Washington  Navy  Yard,  and  died 
in  Burlington,  February  24,  1823.  His  second  wife  was  Mary,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Richard  Stockton,  signer  of  the  Declaration.  Dr.  Hunter  had  an 
uncle  who  was  also  the  Rev.  Andrew  Hunter,  and  was  pastor  in  Cumber- 
land county,  N.  J.,  (about  1746-1760.)  He  married  Ann,  a  cousin  of 
Richard  Stockton,  the  signer.  He  died  in  1775.  His  widow  was  buried 
in  the  Trenton  church-yard,  October,  1800,  and  the  funeral  sermon  was 
by  President  Smith. 

f  In  this  year  the  national  offices  were  removed  to  Trenton  for  some 
weeks,  in  consequence  of  the  prevaleace  of  the  yellow  fever  in  Philadel- 
phia. The  Secretary  of  the  Navy  urged  the  President  (Adams)  to  fol- 
low his  Cabinet,  remarking  that  "the  officers  are  all  now  at  this  place, 

27* 


34^  Politics. 


Mr.  Armstrong's  ill  health  now  often  inter- 
rupted Ms  habitual  punctuality  at  the  church 
courts  ;  but  he  continued  to  take  an  active  part 
in  their  work  whenever  present.  He  was  one  of  a 
committee  that  endeavored  in  vain  from  1803  to 
1812,  to  obtain  a  charter  of  incorporation  for  the 
Presbytery  —  a  measure  that  was  desirable  in 
consequence  of  two  legacies  (Miller's  and  Patter- 
son's) that  had  been  left  to  the  Education  Fund."^ 


and  not  badly  accommodated."  The  President  was  reluctant  to  come. 
He  had  written  in  1797  of  the  "  painful  experience"  by  which  he  had 
learned  that  Congress  could  not  find  "  even  tolerable  accommodation" 
here.  However,  he  promised  to  go  by  the  middle  of  October,  submis- 
sively assuring  his  correspondent,  "  I  can  and  will  put  up  with  my  pri- 
vate secretary  and  two  domestics  only,  at  the  first  tavern  or  first  private 
house  I  can  find."  He  arrived  on  the  tenth,  and  on  the  next  day  was 
greeted  with  fire-works.  He  found  "  the  inhabitants  of  Trenton  wrought 
up  to  a  pitch  of  political  enthusiasm  that  surprised  him,"  in  the  expecta- 
tion that  Louis  XVIII.  would  be  soon  restored  to  the  throne  of  France. 
{Works  of  John  Adanvs,  vols.  ii.  vii.  ix.)  Adams  had  at  this  time  a  con- 
ference of  six  days  with  Hamilton  and  other  members  of  his  Cabinet  be- 
fore they  could  agree  on  the  French  business.  {RandaWs  Life  of  Jeffer- 
son, vol.  iL  496-8.) 

*  Three  columns  of  the  "True  American,"  of  Trenton,  for  November 
23,  1807,  are  filled  with  the  Presbytery's  petition  to  the  Legislature  of 
that  year,  in  which  the  two  objections  to  former  applications  are  ably 
met,  namely,  that  the  incorporation  would  endanger  civil  liberty,  and 
that  it  would  be  granting  an  exclusive  privilege.  The  political  prejudi- 
ces of  the  times  had  probably  more  to  do  with  the  refusal  than  these 
pleas.  The  democratic  newspapers  of  the  day  contain  many  bitter 
articles  against  the  Presbyterian  clergy,  who  were  generally  Washing- 


Mr.  Armstrong,  Moderator.  343 


la  1805  lie  was  appointed  to  receive  from  the 
Assembly's  Committee  of  Missions  the  Presby- 
tery's share  of  certain  books  and  tracts  for  dis- 
tribution on  the  seaboard  of  the  State,  and  in 
the  counties  of  Sussex,  Morris,  and  Hunterdon. 
In  June,  1804,  he  preached  at  the  installation  of 
the  Kev.  Henry  Kollock  in  Princeton,  and  in 
1810  presided  at  the  ordination  and  installation 
of  the  Rev.  William  C.  Schenck  in  the  same 
church.  He  sat  as  a  Commissioner  in  most  of 
the  General  Assemblies  from  the  first  in  1789  to 
that  of  1815.  In  1804  he  was  elected  to  the 
chair  of  Moderator,  and,  according  to  rule,  open- 
ed the  sessions  of  the  following  year  with  a  ser- 
mon. The  text  was  John  14  :  16.  He  also 
preached  the  sermon  at  the  opening  of  the 
Assembly  of  1806,  in  consequence  of  the  absence 
of  Dr.  Richards,  the  last  Moderator.  On  that 
occasion  his  text  was  John  3  :  16,  1^7. 

Mr.  Armstrong  was  elected  a  Trustee  of  the 
College  of  New- Jersey  in  1799,  and  Dr.  Miller 
observed  at  his  funeral  that,  "  few  of  the  mem- 
bers of  that  Board,  as  long  as  he  enjoyed  a  toler- 

ton  Federalists.  Among  other  delinquencies  they  were  charged  with 
omitting  to  pray  for  President  Jefferson.  In  February,  1813,  the  Pres- 
bytery received  a  charter  for  ten  years. 


344  Mock  Funeral. 


able  share  of  health,  were  more  punctual  in  their 
attendance  on  its  meetings,  or  more  ardent  in 
their  zeal  for  the  interests  of  the  institution." 

NOTES. 
I. 

A  public  commemoration  of  the  death  of  Washington 
was  observed  in  Trenton  on  the  fourteenth  January,  1800. 
By  invitation  of  the  Governor  and  Mayor,  with  the  Rev. 
Messrs.  Hunter,  "Waddell,  and  Armstrong,  on  behalf  of 
the  citizens,  President  Smith  delivered  the  oration,  and  it 
was  published.  The  late  Dr.  Johnston,  of  Newburgh, 
who  was  then  in  college,  relates  in  his  Autobiography 
(edited  by  Dr.  Carnahan,  1856)  that  a  large  number  of 
students  walked  from  Princeton  to  hear  the  oration.  A 
procession  was  formed  opposite  the  Episcopal  Church, 
from  which  a  bier  was  carried,  preceded  by  the  clergy, 
and  all  passed  to  the  State  House,  where  the  ceremonies 
were  performed.  At  a  certain  stanza  in  one  of  the  elegiac 
songs,  "  eight  beautiful  girls,  of  about  ten  years  of  age, 
dressed  in  white  robes  and  black  sashes,  with  baskets  on 
their  arms  filled  with  sjorigs  of  cypress,  rose  from  behind 
the  speaker's  seat,"  and  strewed  the  cypress  on  the  mock 
cofiin. 

II. 

Some  idea  of  the  appearance  and  condition  of  Trenton 
at  the  date  of  this  chapter  may  be  formed  from  the  obser- 
vations of  passing  travellers. 


Brilsot — Wansey.  345 


Brissot,  the  Girondist,  who  died  by  the  guillotine  in 

1793,  was  here  in  1788.  "  The  taverns,"  he  writes,  "are 
much  dearer  on  this  road  than  in  Massachusetts  and  Con- 
necticut. I  paid  at  Trenton  for  a  dinner  Ss.  6cl  money 
of  Pennsylvania.  We  passed  the  ferry  from  Trenton  at 
seven  in  the  morning.  The  Delaware,  which  separates 
Pennsylvania  from  ISTew-Jersey,  is  a  superb  river.  The 
prospect  from  the  middle  of  the  river  is  charming.  On 
the  right  you  see  mills  and  manufactories  ;  on  the  left  two 
charming  little  towns  which  overlook  the  water.  The 
borders  of  this  river  are  still  in  their  wild  state.  In  the 
forests  which  cover  them  there  are  some  enormous  trees. 
There  are  likewise  some  houses,  but  they  are  not  equal, 
in  point  of  simple  elegance,  to  those  of  Massachusetts."* 

In  1794  an  EngHsh  tourist  says  of  our  town:  "The 
houses  join  each  other,  and  form  regular  streets,  very 
much  like  some  of  the  small  towns  in  Devonshire.  The 
town  has  a  very  good  market,  which  is  well  supplied  with 
butcher's  meat,  fish,  and  poultry.  Many  good  shops  are 
to  be  seen  there,  in  general  with  seats  on  each  side  the 
entrance,  and  a  step  or  two  up  into  each  house."  The 
market  prices  on  the  day  of  this  visit  were,  beef  Scl.,  mut- 
ton 4c/.,  veal  4c?.  "  This  was  dearer  than  common  on  two 
accounts  ;  the  great  quantity  lately  bought  up  for  expor- 
tation upon  taking  off  the  embargo,  and  the  Assembly  of 
the  State  being  then  sitting  at  Trenton.  Land  here  sells, 
of  the  best  kind,  at  about  ten  pounds  [twenty-seven  dol- 
lars] an  acre."! 

*  Nouveau  Voyage  dans  les  Etats-unis,  fait  en  1188.    J.  P.  Brissot  de 
Warville.     i.  148. 
f  Journal  of  an  Excursion  to  the  United  States  in  the  summer  of 

1794,  by  Henry  TVansey,  F.A.S.     A  Wiltshire  clothier. 


34^  Rochefoucault — Michaux. 


The  Duke  de  la  Rochefoucault,  about  the  same  time, 
makes  this  entry  in  his  journal :  "  About  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  beyond  Trenton  is  the  passage  over  the  Delaware  by 
a  ferry,  which,  though  ten  stage-coaches  daily  pass  in  it, 
is  such  that  it  would  be  reckoned  a  very  bad  ferry  in 
Europe.  On  the  farther  side  of  the  river  the  retrospect 
to  Trenton  is,  in  a  considerable  degree,  pleasing.  The 
ground  between  that  town  and  the  Delaware  is  smooth, 
sloping,  decorated  with  the  flowers  and  verdure  of  a  fine 
meadow.  In  the  environs  of  the  town,  too,  are  a  number 
of  handsome  villas  which  greatly  enrich  the  landscape."* 

The  celebrated  French  naturalist,  F.  A.  Michaux,  son 
of  A.  Michaux,  sent  over  by  Louis  XVI.  for  botanical  re- 
search, passing  in  1802, gives  us  this  paragraph  :  "Among 
the  other  small  towns  by  the  roadside,  Trenton  seemed 
worthy  of  attention.  Its  situation  upon  the  Delaware,  the 
beautiful  tract  of  country  that  surrounds  it,  must  render 
it  a  most  delightful  place  of  abode."t 

*  Travels  in  1795-Y,  vol,  i.  549.  In  April,  1795,  Peter  Howell  ad- 
vertised a  "two-horse  coachee"  to  leave  Trenton  for  Philadelphia 
every  Wednesday  and  Saturday,  at  eleven  o'clock.  Fare  for  a  passen- 
ger, 125.  Qd. ;  fourteen  pounds  of  baggage  allowed. 

\  Travels  of  Francois  Andre  Michaux.  By  act  of  March  3,  1786,  the 
Legislature  granted  Andre,  the  traveller's  father,  permission  to  hold 
land,  not  exceeding  two  hundred  acres,  in  any  part  of  the  State  for  a 
botanical  garden.  There  is  a  Memoir  of  Francois  (who  was  the  author 
of  the  "North  American  Sylva")  in  the  Transactions  of  the  American 
PliHosoplikal  Society,  vol.  si.  Three  years  before  the  above-mentioned 
act,  the  French  Consul  for  New-Jersey  offered  in  the  King's  name  all 
kinds  of  seeds  whenever  a  botanical  garden  should  be  established.  The 
Legislature  (Dec.  10,  1783)  made  the  ingenious  reply  that  as  soon  as 
they  estabhshed  such  a  garden  they  should  be  glad  to  receive  the  seeds. 


SutclIfF— Castiglioni.  347 


The  situation  of  the  town  seems  to  have  something  that 
takes  the  French  eye.  In  1805  General  Moreau  establish- 
ed his  residence  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river,  and 
Joseph  Bonaparte  was  disappointed  in  the  purchase  of  a 
site  adjoining  (now  in)  the  town,  before  he  settled  a  few 
miles  below.*  It  may  have  been  the  reputation  of  the 
river  scenery  that  gave  the  hint  to  the  wits  of  Salmagundi, 
in  the  journal  of  an  imaginary  traveller :  "  Trenton — 
built  above  the  head  of  navigation,  to  encourage  com- 
merce— capital  of  the  State — only  wants  a  castle,  a  bay, 
a  mountain,  a  sea,  and  a  volcano,  to  bear  a  strong  resem- 
blance to  the  bay  of  Naples."f 

An  Englishman  found  nothing  to  remark  of  Trenton  in 
1805,  than  an  exemplification  of  what  he  calls  the  Ameri- 
can "predilection  for  wearing  boots."  "At  Trenton  I 
was  entertained  with  the  sight  of  a  company  of  journey- 
men tailors,  at  the  work-board,  all  booted  as  if  ready  for 
mounting  a  horse."J; 

An  Italian  savant,  crossing  the  State,  takes  time  only  to 
say :  "Although  Trentown  is  not  very  large,  nor  very  pop- 
ulous, it  is  to  be  regarded  as  the  capital,  where  the  Council 
and  the  Assembly  convene."§ 

*  Moreau's  mansion  was  burnt  down  on  Christmas  day,  1811.  The 
stable  is  now  a  manufactory.  Upon  his  first  arrival  the  General  resided 
•'  at  the  seat  of  Mr.  Le  Guen,  at  Morrisville."  By  virtue  of  an  act  of 
Legislature  (March  5,  1816)  the  estate  of  one  hundred  and  five  acres 
was  sold  by  Moreau's  executor,  three  years  after  his  fall  at  Dresden. 

f  Salmagundi,  by  Irving,  Paulding,  etc.     1807. 

:}:  Travels  in  some  parts  of  North-America  in  1804-6,  by  Robert 
Sutcliff. 

%Viaggio negli  Staii  Uniti^  1785-7.    Da  Luigi  Castiglioni,  Milan,  1790. 


348  Rutherford  and 


III. 

In  the  Trenton  newspaper  of  July,  1*799,  is  an  advertise- 
ment by  Mr.  Armstrong,  relative  to  a  suit  in  the  English 
courts,  the  latest  report  of  the  progress  of  which  is  given 
as  follows  in  the  London  papers  of  May,  1856  : 

EQUITY  COrRT,  LOXDOIST,  MAY  7. 

Before  'Vice- Chancellor  Kindersly. 

PARKIXSON  VS,  EEYXOLDS. 

"About  the  middle  of  last  century  there  lived  in  the 
north  of  Ireland  a  family  of  the  name  of  Rutherford.  Be- 
tween the  sons  a  quarrel  arose,  and  the  father,  conceiving 
that  the  younger,  Robert,  was  in  fault,  chastised  him. 
Robert  Rutherford  thereupon  quitted  his  father's  house, 
and  shortly  afterwards  enlisted  in  Ligonier's  troop  of 
Black  Horse.  After  a  time  he  came  to  England,  but  he 
soon  quitted  the  Kingdom  and  settled  at  the  village  of 
Trenton,  in  the  United  States,  where  he  opened  a  tavern, 
which  he  called  '  The  Ligonier  or  Black  Horse.'  In  the 
course  of  his  migrations  he  had  married,  and  the  year 
1770  found  him  settled  at  Trenton,  at  the  '  Black  Horse,' 
with  a  family  consisting  of  one  son  and  four  daughters. 
About  that  period  there  one  day  drove  up  to  the  tavern, 
in  a  carriage  and  four,  an  English  officer,  by  name  Colonel 
Fortescue.  Colonel  Fortescue  dined  at  the  tavern,  and 
after  dinner  had  a  conversation  in  private  with  one  of 
Rutherford's  daughters.  Within  two  hours  after  this  con- 
versation Frances  Mary  Rutherford  had,  notwithstanding 
her  sister's  entreaties,  quitted  her  father's  house  in  com- 
pany with  Colonel  Fortescue.     With  him  she  went  to 


Fortescue.  349 


Paris,  where  after  a  few  years  he  died,  leaving  her,  it  is 
supposed,  a  considerable  sum  of  money.  On  his  death  she 
quitted  Paris  and  came  to  England ;  and  here  she  married 
a  gentleman  of  considerable  property,  named  Shard.  In 
1798  Mrs.  Shard  had  a  great  desire  to  discover  what  had 
become  of  her  father's  family,  whom  she  had  quitted  near- 
ly thirty  years  previously,  and  through  her  confidential 
solicitor  inquiries  were  made  of  Mr.  Armstrong,  the  Pres- 
byterian minister  at  Trenton.  The  inquiries  were  fruit- 
less— her  brother  and  all  her  sisters  were  dead  ;  it  appear- 
ed hopeless  to  expect  to  find  a  Rutherford,  and  the  mat- 
ter was  dropped.  Mr.  Shard  died  in  the  year  1806,  and 
in  1819  Mrs.  Shard  died  a  widow,  childless  and  intestate. 
No  next  of  kin  appearing,  the  Crown  took  possession  of 
the  property.  In  1823  an  attempt  was  made  to  set  up  a 
document  as  the  will  of  Mrs.  Shard,  but  it  was  declared  a 
forgery.  In  1846  the  present  plaintiff  made  a  claim  to  the 
property,  setting  up  that  claim  through  a  Mrs.  Davies, 
who  was  alleged  to  be  first  cousin  of  the  deceased.  It 
turned  out  that  Mrs.  Davies  was  not  first  cousin ;  but  fur- 
ther evidence  having  been  procured,  the  claim  was  again 
made,  through  the  same  Mrs.  Davies,  who  was  now 
alleged  to  be  a  second  cousin  of  the  deceased. 

The  Vice  Chancellor  now  delivered  judgment,  and 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  as  between  the  Crown  and 
the  claunant  the  latter  made  out  a  case.  It  was  sufiicient- 
ly  proved  that  Mrs.  Davies  was  a  second  cousin  of  the 
deceased  Mrs.  Shard  ;  but  as  it  did  not  follow  that  there 
might  not  be  a  still  nearer  relative  than  the  claimant  in 
existence,  and  as  the  evidence  on  this  latter  point  was  not 
conclusive,  the  matter  must  go  back  to  chambers  for  fur- 
ther inquiries."  28 


350  Thomas  Paine. 


IV. 

Public  morals  were  in  such  a  low  state  in  Trenton  in 
1804,  that  on  the  third  of  August  a  public  meeting  was 
held  to  consider  measures  for  reform.  Intemperance, 
obscenity,  noisy  assemblages  on  the  Lord's  day,  brawling, 
fighting,  and  throwing  stones  in  the  streets  were  named 
among  the  signs  of  disorder.  The  causes  assigned  were 
the  unlicensed  selling  of  spirituous  liquors,  especially  on 
Sunday,  and  "  the  relaxation  of  discipline  in  family  govern- 
ment."  In  August  1806,  Stacy  Potts,  the  Mayor,  pub- 
licly solicits  Christians  of  all  denominations,  who  as  par- 
ents, guardians,  masters  or  mistresses  have  charge  of  the 
young,  to  restrain  them  from  vice  and  temptation.  The 
same  officer  made  a  similar  apj)eal  to  "  the  serious  and 
prudent  inhabitants  of  Trenton,"  in  April  1810,  and 
trusts  that  the  public  authorities  may  be  so  assisted  by 
the  citizens  "  that  religious  people  abroad  may  no  longer 
be  deterred  from  jDlacing  their  children  ai^prentices  in  this 
city,  lest  they  become  contaminated  with  the  vicious 
habits  which  have  too  much  prevailed  among  the  rising 
generation  in  the  city  of  Trenton." 

V. 

Half  a  century  ago,  as  now,  political  animosity  was 
ready  to  take  any  handle  to  create  prejudice  against  an 
opponent.  Thomas  Paine  was  a  strong  partisan  of  Jeffer- 
son. Having  rode  up  (Feb.  28,  1803)  from  his  residence 
in  Bordentown  to  Trenton,  to  take  the  stage  for  N"ew- 
York,  the  proprietors  of  both  the  stage  offices,  being 
Federalists,  refused  with  strong  oaths  to  give  a  seat  to  an 


Mrs.  Washington.  35'! 


infidel.  When  he  set  out  in  his  own  chaise,  accompanied 
by  Col.  Kirkbride,  a  mob  surrounded  him  with  insulting 
music,  and  he  had  difficulty  in  getting  out  of  town.  The 
author  of  "  Common-sense "  showed  neither  fear  nor 
anger,  and  "  calmly  observed  that  such  conduct  had  no 
tendency  to  hurt  his  feelings  or  injure  his  fame,  but  rather 
gratified  the  one  and  contributed  to  the  other." 

Mr.  Lyell,  the  geologist,  gives  a  better  account  of  the 
temper  of  Trenton  politicians  as  he  saw  it  in  the  proces- 
sions of  October,  1841.     {Travels^  1841-2,  vol.  i.  p.  82.) 


VI. 

The  incidental  reference  to  Mrs.  Washington  on  p.  341, 
may  recall  a  record  in  the  Trenton  newspaper  of  Decem- 
ber 29,  1779:  "Yesterday  Mrs.  Washington  passed 
through  this  town  on  her  way  from  Virginia  to  Head 
Quarters  at  Morris-Town  ;  when  the  Virginia  troops  pre- 
sent (induced  through  respect)  formed  and  received  her 
as  she  passed,  in  a  becoming  manner," 


The   New    Brick    Chuech  —  ISTotes. 

1804—1806. 

The  Trenton  congregation,  wliich  had  so  long 
felt  obliq'ed  to  associate  itself  witli  one  or  other 
of  its  neighbors  for  the  support  of  a  pastor,  at 
length  found  itself  able  to  assume  an  indepen- 
dent position.  According  to  the  understanding 
which  was  had  with  the  Maidenhead  Church, 
when  Mr,  Armstrong  divided  his  care  between 
it  and  Trenton,  he  became  the  exclusive  pastor 
of  the  latter  in  October,  1806.  About  the  same 
time  that  congregation  accomplished  the  erection 
of  a  neYi  house  of  worship. 

The  stone  building  then  in  use  was  nearly 
eighty  years  old.  The  want  of  a  better  edifice 
had  long  been  felt.  In  1769  there  v\\as  a  sub- 
scription for  repairs.  It  v/as  probably  with  a 
view  to  rebuildinn^  or  enlarsrement  thcit  the  Trus- 
tees,  in  1773,  proposed  to  the  vestry  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  a  joint  application  to  the  Le- 


Lotteries.  353 


gislature  for  a  lottery.  The  vestry  appointed  a 
committee  of  conference  on  the  lottery,  "  and  to 
be  managers  thereof,"^  but  the  project  seems  to 
have  dropped  until  1791,  (Nov.  18-23,)  when 
"  an  act  to  empower  the  Trustees  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  and  the  minister,  wardens,  and 
vestry  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  Trenton  to 
have  a  lottery  for  the  purpose  therein  noticed," 
after  passing  the  Council  and  being  ordered  to  a 
third  readinsr  in  the  House,  was  lost.  Another 
experiment  in  this  line  was  attempted  in  Decem- 
ber, 1793,  when  the  Trustees  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  unite  with  the  Episcopalians  in  a  lot- 
tery for  the  benefit  of  the  two  congregations  ; 
but  nothing  further  is  said  on  the  subject. 
However  unequivocal  the  immorality  of  such 
an  expedient  may  seem  to  us,  the  lottery  has  been 
a  frequent  resource  of  churches,  as  well  as  other 
institutions,  even  less  than  sixty  years  ago.  At 
the  same  meeting  in  which  the  last  lottery  sug- 
gestion was  made,  Maskell  Ewing  and  Alexander 
Chambers  were  appointed  "  to  take  about  a  sub- 
scription paper  for  the  purpose  of  raising  money 
to  build  a  new  Presbyterian  Church  in  Trenton." 

*  Minutes  of  Vestry  of  St.  Michael's,  February  28,  17*73. 
28* 


354  Corner-stones. 


In  1796  the  price  of  building  materials  was  so 
high  that  the  design  was  abandoned.  It  was 
not  until  May,  1804,  that  the  successful  measures 
were  taken.  The  building  was  now  represented 
to  be  "  in  so  ruinous  a  state  that  it  can  not  long 
continue  to  accommodate  those  who  worship 
there,  in  a  comfortable  manner."  The  subscrip- 
tion was  headed  by  four  names  giving  two  hun- 
dred dollars  each.  By  the  twenty-fourth  August 
nearly  four  thousand  dollars  had  been  subscribed, 
and  it  was  determined  to  build  in  the  ensuing 
spring."  The  corner-stone  was  laid  April  15, 
1805  ;  the  old  house  having  been  first  taken 
down.     The  newspaper  of  the   time   has   this 

reijort : 

J. 

"  On  the  fifleenth  instant  were  laid  tlie  corner-stones  of 
tlie  foundation  of  a  new  Presbyterian  Chnrch  in  this 
city.  The  Elders,  Trustees,  and  Managers  of  the  building, 
with  a  respectable  number  of  the  citizens  attending,  an 
appropriate  prayer  was  made  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Armstrong, 
i-ninister  of  the  congregation.     The  scene  was  solemn,  im- 

*  Moore  Parman  and  Aaron  D.  Woodruff  were  appointed  to  obtain  a 
plan ;  Benj.  Smith,  John  Chambers,  and  Peter  Gordon  were  the  Building 
Committee  or  "  Managers."  It  v/as  determined  that  the  size  should  be 
forty-eight  by  sixty  feet,  in  the  clear ;  with  a  projection  or  tower  in 
front  of  four  by  ten,  with  a  cupola.  The  four  largest  contributors  were 
Abraham  Hunt,  Benj.  Smith,  Alex.  Chambers,  and  Moore  Purman. 


Dedication.  355 


pressive,  and  affecting.  A  plate  of  copper,  inscribed 
April,  1805,  with  the  minister's  name,  was  laid  between 
two  large  stones  at  the  foundation  of  the  south-east  cor- 
ner. The  foundation,  though  much  more  extensive,  is 
laid  nearly  on  the  site  of  the  old  church,  which  stood 
about  eighty  years." 

While  the  building  was  in  progress,  Mr.  Arm- 
strong preached  on  every  alternate  Sabbath  in 
the  Ej^iscopal  Church,  the  rector  of  which  (Dr. 
Waddell)  had  a  second  charge  at  Bristol,  as  Mr. 
Armstrong  had  at  Maidenhead. 

The  new  Church  was  opened  for  its  sacred 
uses  August  17,  1806.  The  pastor  conducted 
the  services  in  the  morning,  and  President  S.  S. 
Smith  in  the  afternoon.'^ 

The  pastor  preached  from  part  of  Solomon's 
prayer  at  the  dedication  of  the  temple  :  1  Kings 
8  :  22,  23,  27-30.  At  the  next  public  service  in 
which  he  officiated,  he  preached  on  the  conduct 
becoming  worshippers  in  the  house  of  God,  from 

Hebrews  10  :  25  and  Job  13:11.     This  subiect 

t) 

*  From  the  Trenton  "Federalist"  of  Monday,  August  11,  1806: 
"yoiice.  Divine  service  v^ill  be  performed  for  the  first  time  in  the 
new  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  place,  next  Lord's  day.  Service  will 
begin  at  eleven  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  and  three  in  the  afternoon.  Col- 
lections will  be  raised  after  each  service,  to  be  appropriated  for  the  ex-. 
penditures  incurred  in  finishing  the  house." 


35^  Mr.  Armstrong's 


was  pursued  in  a  third  discourse  on  public  wor- 
ship as  a  duty  to  God,  to  society,  to  ourselves.  ' 
For  the  services  of  the  dedication  Mr.  Armstrong 
pre]3ared  a  prayer ;  and  in  the  belief  that  on  its 
own  account,  as  well  as  for  its  historical  associa- 
tions, it  will  be  read  with  interest  and  benefit  by 
the  people  who  worship  in  a  house,  which, 
though  not  the  same  as  the  one  then  dedicated, 
was  included  in  the  references  of  its  supplica- 
tions, I  here  insert  it : 

PRAYER. 

"  Holy,  holy,  holy  Lord  God  Almighty.  There  is  no 
God  like  thee  in  heaven  above,  or  on  earth  beneath,  who 
keej)est  covenant  with  thy  servants  that  walk  before  thee 
with  all  their  heart.  Thou  art  our  God,  and  we  would 
praise  thee ;  our  fathers'  God,  and  we  would  exalt  thee. 

"  Thou  art  the  God  who  hearest  prayer.  Where  shall 
we  go  but  to  thee,  who  art  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the 
life? 

"  We  adore  thee  for  all  the  mercies  and  benefits  which 
thou  hast  conferred  on  us  through  our  lives.  But  espe- 
cially we  adore  thee  for  the  everlasting  Gospel,  and  those 
gracious  privileges  to  which  we  are  called  in  thy  Church 
on  earth,  and  m  thy  Church  in  heaven.  We  adore  thee 
that'thy  Church  is  founded  on  the  rock  Christ  Jesus,  and 
that  the  gates  of  hell  shall  never  be  able  to  prevail  against 
it.    We  adore  thee  for  the  promise  of  thy  presence  to  thy 


Prayer.  357 


Churcli  and  people,  that  where  two  or  three  are  met 
together  in  thy  name,  thou  wilt  be  with  them  to  bless 
them.  We  adore  thee,  O  Lord,  that  when  the  place 
where  our  fathers  had  long  worshipped  was  decaying  with 
age,  and  the  congregation  of  thy  people  needed  room  and 
accommodation  in  thy  house,  thou  didst  put  it  into  our 
hearts  to  build  a  house  for  thy  worship  and  service,  and 
where  thy  people  may  meet  and  enjoy  thy  presence.  We 
adore  thee  that  thou  hast  permitted  us  to  meet  to  set  it 
apart,  and  dedicate  it  to  the  Lord  our  God  by  preach- 
ing, prayer,  and  praise. 

"And  now,  O  Lord,  our  God,  we  thus  offer  this  house 
to  thee ;  that  thy  people  may  here  meet  for  purposes  of 
reading,  preaching,  and  hearing  thy  word ;  of  prayer  and 
praise  ;  of  fasting  and  thanksgiving ;  of  the  administra- 
tion of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper,  agreeably  to  the 
word  of  God  and  the  constitution  of  our  Church. 

"  And  now,  O  Lord,  make  this  house  continue  to  be 
the  habitation  of  the  God  of  Jacob  forever  ;  a  place  where 
prayer  shall  be  ever  made  to  thee,  and  where  Gospel 
worship  shall  be  fixed  and  stated  as  long  as  it  shall  last 
for  this  purpose ;  and  that  there  never  may  fail  a  people 
and  a  congregation  to  worship  thee  in  this  place  through- 
out all  generations. 

"  We  pray  that  thou  wilt  be  pleased  to  give  su  ccess  to 
the  labors  of  the  ministers  of  the  Gospel  in  this  place  ; 
accompanying  the  means  of  grace  with  divine  power  and 
energy,  making  the  administration  of  the  Gospel  effectual 
to  convince  and  convert,  establish  and  sanctify  thy  people. 

"  And  now,  O  Lord,  our  God,  make  it  good  for  us  that 
we  have  built  a  house  for  thy  worship.     But  as  the  most 


358  Mr.  Armstrong's 


sumptuous  works  of  our  liands  can  not  communicate  any 
holiness  to  the  worshipper,  make  it  good  for  us  to  draw 
near  to  God  in  the  assembling  of  ourselves  together  at  all 
commanded,  fixed,  and  proper  times  in  this  place.  Enable 
us,  thy  people  of  this  congregation,  and  all  who  may 
worship  with  us  in  this  place,  collectively  and  individual- 
ly, to  dedicate  ourselves  unto  the  Lord ;  to  present  our 
souls,  and  our  bodies,  and  our  spirits  unto  the  Lord  as 
living  sacrifices,  holy  and  acceptable,  which  is  our  reason- 
able service ;  to  consecrate  our  time,  our  talents,  our 
privileges,  and  opportunities,  with  all  we  have  and.  are,  to 
thy  service ;  that  each  of  us,  and  each  of  our  families, 
with  all  who  are  near  and  dear  to  us,  may  prepare  an 
habitation  in  our  hearts  and.  souls  for  God,  and  that  our 
bodies  may  be  the  temples  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

"  And  we  do  most  earnestly  pray  that  all  our  ofienses 
may  be  blotted  out ;  that  we  may  be  washed  in  the  blood 
of  Christ ;  that  the  vows  and  ofierings,  the  prayers  and 
the  praises  which  we  and  our  jDosterity  ofier  up  now,  and 
in  all  future  time,  may  be  accepted  through  the  merits 
and  intercession  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ, 
and  made  effectual  for  our  and  their  salvation. 

"Let  thy  grace  and  thy  Spirit,  O  Lord  our  God,  be 
with  us  to  direct,  assist,  and  strengthen  us  in  all  the 
prayers  and  supplications  that  we  now  and  in  future  may 
off*er  in  this  place.  Be  graciously  pleased  to  vouchsafe  us 
thy  presence  herein  continually.  Hearken,  O  Lord,  to 
the  prayers  and  suppHcations  of  me  thy  servant,  and  of 
these  thy  people,  in  all  times  and  in  all  circumstances,  and 
in  all  places  where  we  may  pray  in,  or  as  towards  this 
place ;  and  when  thou  hearest  answer  us  in  mercy. 


Prayer.  359 


"  If  we  sin — for  no  man  liveth  and  sinnetli  not — and 
turn  and  repent,  hear  and  forgive  our  sins,  O  Lord  ! 

"  If  the  love  of  thy  people  wax  cold ;  if  our  grace  lan- 
guish, faint,  and  be  ready  to  expire,  give  renewed  faith, 
grace,  and  love. 

"Hear  us,  O  Lord,  if  we  pray  to  be  delivered  from 
drought,  famine,  war,  pestilence,  disease,  or  death. 

"  Hear  us,  O  Lord,  if  we  pray  to  be  delivered  from 
blasting,  mildew,  and  whatsoever  might  threaten  to  pre- 
vent or  destroy  the  harvest. 

"  Hear  us,  O  Lord,  when  we  pray  for  all  schools,  col- 
leges, and  seminaries  of  learning  ; 

"  For  our  nation  and  country  ; 

"  For  all  who  bear  rule  and  authority  over  us ; 

"  For  peace  and  prosperity  ; 

"  For  all  missionaries  and  missionary  labors  throughout 
the  world ;  that  the  Jews  may  be  gathered,  and  the  full- 
ness of  the  Gentiles  may  come  in ;  that  the  land  of  Ethi- 
opia and  the  heathen  may  be  given  for  an  inheritance, 
and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  a  possession  to 
Christ  Jesus. 

"  Hear,  O  Lord,  and  hasten  the  time  when  all  the  fami- 
lies of  the  earth  shall  be  blessed  in  Christ  our  Lord,  and 
when  his  knowledge  and  his  righteousness  shall  cover  the 
earth  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea. 

"  Now,  therefore,  arise,  O  Lord  God,  into  thy  resting 
place,  thou  and  the  ark  of  thy  strength.  Let  thy  f)riests, 
O  Lord,  be  clothed  with  righteousness,  the  ministers  of 
thy  religion  with  salvation.  Let  thy  saints  shout  for  joy, 
and  thy  people  rejoice  in  goodness. 

"Blessed  be  the  Lord  God — Father,  Son,  and  Holy 


360  Church  of  1806. 


Ghost.  As  he  was  with  our  fathers,  so  let  him  be  mth  us. 
Let  him  not  leave  us  nor  forsake  us ;  and  incline  our 
hearts  to  do  all  things  according  to  his  holy  will. 

"  Pray  for  the  peace  of  Jerusalem ;  peace  be  within 
these  walls,  prosperity  within  this  place.  For  my  breth- 
ren and  companions'  sakes  I  will  now  say,  peace  be  within 
thee.  Because  of  the  house  of  the  Lord  our  God,  I  will 
seek  thy  good. 

"  The  Lord  bless  thee  and  keep  thee  ! 

*'  The  Lord  make  his  face  to  shine  upon  thee,  and  be 
gracious  unto  thee. 

"  The  Lord  lift  up  his  countenance  upon  thee,  and  give 
thee  peace. 

"  And  in  testimony  of  the  sincerity  of  our  desii'es,  and 
in  humble  hope  of  being  heard,  let  all  the  people  say, 
Amex." 

A  sketch  of  the  new  Church  was  made  from 
memory,  by  the  late  Dr.  F.  A.  Ewing,  who  wrote 
of  it: 

"  Elevation  seemed  to  be  the  great  object  to  be  attain- 
ed, and  so  the  walls  were  carried  up  to  a  height  which 
would  now  be  thought  excessive.  Its  galleries  were  sup- 
ported on  lofty  columns,  and  in  consequence  its  pulpit 
was  so  hicrh.  as  sometimes  to  threaten  dizziness  to  the 
preacher's  head.  Above  the  gallery  the  vaulted  ceiling 
afforded  almost  room  enough  for  another  church.  It  had 
its  tower,  its  belfry  and  bell,  still  sweet  and  melodious,* 

*  From  a  Trenton  newspaper  of  July  29,  180T  : 

"  On  Saturday,  the  twentieth  instant,  was  hung  in  the  steeple  of  the 


Church  of  1806.  361 


its  spire,  which,  had  it  been  proportioned  in  height  to  the 
tower  supporting  it,  would  have  ascended  needle-like 
almost  to  the  clouds.  With  all  its  architectural  defects, 
however,  it  was  a  fine  old  building,  well  adapted  to  the 
purposes  of  speaking  and  hearing ;  filled  an  important 
office,  both  to  the  congregation  and  on  public  occasions ; 
stood  for  years  the  chief  landmark  to  miles  of  surround- 
ing country,  and  at  last  resisted  sternly  the  efforts  of  its 
destroyers.  Its  site,  on  the  south-west  corner  of  the 
grave-yard,  is  well  defined  by  the  old  graves  and  tombs 
which  clustered  close  to  its  northern  and  eastern  sides, 
and  is  the  only  part  of  the  ground  divided  into  burial- 
lots." 

Alas!  before  this  manuscript  could  be  brought 
to  the  use  for  which  it  was  prepared,  the  body  of 
its  accomplished  writer  was  occupying  a  grave 
in  the  very  part  of  the  church-yard  described  in 
its  closing  sentence. 

The  building  was  of  brick,  and  cost  ten  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  twenty  dollars.  It  had 
seventy-two  pews  on  the  floor,  divided  by  two 
aisles,  and  thirty-six  in  the  gallery.  Forty-six 
were  put  at  the  annual  rent  of  twelve  dollars ; 

New  Presbyterian  Church  in  Trentoa,  a  new  bell,  weighing  four  hun- 
dred and  seventy-eight  pounds,  cast  by  George  Hedderly,  bell-founder 
and  bell-hanger  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  which  does  its  founder  much 
credit,  both  for  the  neatness  of  its  casting  and  its  melodious  tone. 

"  B.  Smith. 

^»  ) 
29 


B.  Smith,     )  ^^  „ 

P.  Gordon,  C  ^^^^gers." 


362 


Church  of  1806. 


eighteen  larger  ones  at  fourteen  dollars.  The 
gallery  pews  were  free,  and  one  side  was  reserv- 
ed for  colored  person s.^'"" 

*  The  salary  was  eight  hundred  dollars.  Mr.  Armstrong  was  suc- 
ceeded in  Maidenhead  by  the  Rev.  Isaac  Y.  Brown,  at  whose  ordination 
and  iDStallation  (June  10,  1S07)  he  gave  both  the  charges. 


Mafkell  Ewing.  363 


NOTES. 
I. 

Maskell  Ewixg,  named  in  this  chapter,  belonged  to 
what  is  now  the  wide-spread  family  of  Ewing  in  New- 
Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  and  Maryland.  Thomas  Mas- 
kell, of  England,  married  Bythia  Parsons  in  Connecticut, 
in  1658.  Thomas  Stathem,  of  England,  married  Ruth 
Udell,  in  New-England,  in  1671.  Maskell's  son  married 
Stathem's  daughter.  Their  daughter  was  married  in 
1720  to  Thomas  Ewing,  who  had  recently  come  to  Green- 
wich, West-Jersey,  from  Ireland.  Their  eldest  son  was 
Maskell,  (1721,)  who  was  at  different  times.  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  Clerk  and  Surrogate  of  Cumberland  county.  Sheriff, 
and  Judge  of  the  Pleas,  and  died  in  1796.  One  of  his  ten 
children  was  the  Maskell  Ewino^  of  Trenton.  He  was 
born  January  30, 1758  ;  in  his  youth  he  assisted  his  father 
in  the  clerkship  in  Greenwich,  and  before  he  was  twenty- 
one  was  elected  Clerk  of  the  State  Assembly.  This 
brought  him  to  Trenton,  and  he  filled  the  office  for  twenty 
years.  He  was  for  a  time  Recorder  of  the  city,  and  also 
read  law  in  the  office  of  William  C.  Houston.  In  1803  he 
removed  to  Philadelphia,  and  in  1805  to  a  farm  in  Dela- 
ware county,  Pennsylvania.  He  represented  that  county 
in  the  State  Senate  for  six  years.  He  died  on  a  visit  to 
Greenwich,  August  26,  1825.  His  son  Maskell  was  born 
in  1806,  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  army,  and  has  died  within 
a  few  years. 

Among  the  branches  of  the  Ewing  stock  was  the 
family  of  the  Rev.  John  Ewing,  D.D.,  Provost  of  the 


364  Moore  Furman. 

University  of  Pennsylvania,  (1779-1803,)  and  pastor  of 
the  First  Church  of  Philadelphia.  On  our  session  records 
of  September  17,  1808,  are  the  names  of  "  Margaret  and 
Amelia,  daughters  of  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Ewing,"  as  then 
admitted  to  their  first  communion,  and  May  6,  1808, 
"  Mrs.  Dr.  Ewing"  to  the  same. 

II. 

Xot  lono;  after  the  establishment  of  the  con srre oration  in 
their  new  house,  two  of  the  oldest  Trustees,  both  corpo- 
rators of  1788,  wxre  removed  by  death,  namely,  Mooee 
FcKMAN  and  Isaac  Smith.  A  notice  of  Mr.  Smith  has 
already  been  given. 

Mr.  Furmax  was  one  of  the  successful  merchants  of 
Trenton.  In  the  Revolution  he  served  as  a  Deputy  Quar- 
ter-Master General.  He  was  the  first  Mayor  of  Trenton, 
by  appointment  of  the  Legislature,  upon  its  incorpora- 
tion, in  1792. 

Mr.  Furman  was  elected  a  Trustee  June  12,  1760,  and 
Treasurer  in  1762.  Soon  after  that  year  he  removed  to 
Pittstown,  and  afterwards  to  Philadelphia.  He  returned 
to  Trenton,  and  was  reelected  to  the  Board  in  1783,  and 
continued  in  it  until  his  death,  March  16,  1808,  in  his 
eightieth  year.  His  grave-stone  is  in  the  porch  of  the 
present  church. 

Though  so  long  connected  with  the  temporal  afiairs  of 
the  congregation,  Mr.  Furman  was  not  a  communicant 
until  Xovember  1,  1806.  He  made  a  written  request  of 
Mr.  Armstrong  that  in  case  he  should  be  called  to  ofiiciate 
at  his  funeral  he  w^ould  speak  from  the  words:  "Into 
thine  hand  I  commit  my  spirit :  thou  hast  redeemed  me, 


Peter  Hunt.  365 


O  Lord  God  of  truth."  (Psalm  31.)  This  request  was 
fiiithfiilly  followed  in  the  body  of  the  discourse,  to  which 
the  Pastor  added  as  follows : 

"  This  congregation  well  know  his  long  and  faithful 
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  in- 
deed— in  offices  and  in  departments  the  most  profitable  and 
the  most  important.  When  bending  beneath  the  load  of 
years  and  infirmities,  how  did  it  gladden  his  soul  and  ap- 
pear 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  conse- 
cration, as  a  disciple  of  his  Redeemer  recognizing  his  bap- 
tismal 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.'  " 

III. 

One  of  the  Trustees  elected  to  supply  the  vacancies 
made  by  the  death  of  Moore  Furman  and  Isaac  Smith 
was  Peter  Hunt,  whose  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Fur- 
man.  Mr.  Hunt  had  a  large  store-house  at  Lamberton 
when  it  was  the  depot  for  the  trade  of  Trenton,  and  at 

29* 


366  Peter  Hunt. 


the  time  of  his  death  was  in  partnership  with  Philip  F. 
Howell.  He  resided  on  the  estate  now  occupied  by  his 
son,  Lieut.  W.  E.  Hunt,  of  the  navy.  General  Hunt  (he 
was  Adjutant  General)  died  at  Charleston,  S.  C,  March 
11,  1810,  at  the  age  of  forty-two,  having  spent  the  winter 
there  on  account  of  his  health.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Hollings- 
head  had  a  highly  satisfactory  conversation  with  him  on  the 
day  of  his  death,  when  he  said  :  "  He  had  no  reluctance  nor 
hesitation  to  submit  to  all  the  will  of  God  in  the  article  of 
death ;  freely  committed  his  soul  into  the  hands  of  his 
Redeemer,  and  left  his  surviving  family  to  the  care  of  a 
holy  and  gracious  Providence."*  He  was  buried,  with 
military  honors,  at  Charleston,  after  services  in  the  Circu- 
lar Church,  and  there  is  a  cenotaph  commemorating  him 
in  our  church-porch.f 

IV. 

The  newspapers  of  the  day  record  the  burial,  in  the 
Presbyterian  ground,  of  William  Roscoe,  who  died  Oct. 
9,  1805,  in  his  seventy-third  year,  "  a  first  cousin  of,  and 
brought  up  by  the  celebrated  Wm.  Roscoe,  of  Liver- 
pool, author  of  the  Life  of  Leo  X.,  etc.  In  the  Revolu- 
tion he  was  express-rider  to  Governor  Livingston,  and  for 
many  years  Sergeant-at-arms  to  the  Court  of  Chancery." 

*  Letter  from  Dr.  H.  in  Trenton  "True  American,"  March  26,  1810. 

f  Jonathan  Doan  (now  v/ritten  Doane)  having  contracted  to  erect  a 
State  Prison  at  Trenton,  Messrs.  Hunt  and  Furman  (1797)  conveyed  the 
ground  on  which  the  jail  (now  the  arsenal)  was  built.  The  measurement 
was  more  than  eight  and  one  quarter  acres  ;  the  consideration  £369  Is, 


Theological     Seminaey  —  Mr.    Armsteoi^g's 

Death — ISTotes. 

1807—1816. 

Mr.  Armstrot^g  Lad  the  happiness  of  seeing 
the  first  Theological  School  of  our  Church  estab- 
lished within  ten  miles  of  Trenton,  and  in  the 
village  so  much  associated  with  the  earlier  scenes 
of  his  academical  and  domestic  life.  He  was  in 
the  General  Assembly  of  1810,  which  agreed 
upon  the  policy  of  one  central  institution  ;  and 
in  that  of  1813,  which  established  it  at  Prince- 
ton. With  Dr.  Alexander  and  Dr.  Miller,  the 
first  Professors,  his  intercourse  was  intimate  dur- 
ing the  few  years  of  life  that  remained  to  him 
after  their  coming  into  the  neighborhood,  and 
both  of  them  frequently  supplied  his  pulpit  dur- 
ing his  protracted  infirmity.  It  was  an  addition- 
al mark  of  providential  favor  that  he  lived  to 
see  the  first  fruits  of  the  Seminary,  and  to  give 


368  Minutes  of  Seffion. 


his  voice  for  tlie  licensiDg  of  its  earliest  gradu- 
ates. The  last  time  he  appeared  in  Presbytery 
was  at  the  session  of  April,  1815,  which  was 
held  in  Trenton.  On  that  occasion  Messrs. 
Weed,  Parmele,  Stanton,  and  Kobertsou,  of  the 
first  class,  were  licensed.* 

The  records  of  each  Session  are  annually  re- 
viewed by  a  committee  of  Presbytery.  In  the 
meeting  of  April,  1813,  the  committee,  (Drs. 
Woodhull  and  Alexander,)  reporting  favorably 
on  the  Trenton  minutes,  add, 

"  That  in  one  particular  especially,  the  utmost  care  and 
attention  have  been  paid  to  the  purity  and  edification  of 
the  Church,  and  to  guard  against  errors  in  doctrine  and 
practice." 

This  commendation  refers  to  an  act  of  the  ses- 
sion excluding  from  church  privileges  a  member 
who  had  adopted,  and  was  promulgating  the 
Universalist  heresy,  vilifying  the  communion  to 

*  Dr.  Wm.  A.  McDowell's  name  is  first  in  the  catalogue  of  Alumoi, 
having  been  licensed  in  1813  by  the  New-Brunswick  Presbytery,  but  he 
had  entered  in  an  advanced  stage  of  his  studies.  The  first  three  students 
■were  Wm,  Blair,  John  Covert,  and  Henry  Blatchford.  The  Presbytery 
of  April,  1813,  which  sat  in  Trenton,  received  both  Drs.  Green  and 
Alexander,  from  Philadelphia ;  the  former  having  b^en  elected  President 
of  Princeton  College  in  1812. 


Anniverfaries.  369 


which  he  belonged,  and  refusing  to  attend  its 
worship.  In  April,  1816,  the  general  approval 
of  the  book  was  qualified  by  some  exceptions  as 
to  the  summary  measures  pursued  by  the  session 
in  suspending  one  of  their  own  number,  upon  his 
declining  to  take  their  advice  to  discontinue  his 
service  as  an  elder.  Upon  this  exception  the 
session  reversed  their  judgment,  and  the  elder 
withdrew  from  the  exercise  of  his  office  ;  but  he 
appears  afterwards  to  have  been  reinstated. 

When  the  New-Jersey  Bible  Society  was  or- 
ganized in  1810,  Mr.  Armstrong  was  elected  a 
manager.  In  1813  the  anniversary  of  the  Society 
was  held  in  his  church,  when  Dr.  Wharton,  the 
Episcopal  minister  of  Burlington,  preached,  and 
the  Bev.  Wm.  H.  Wilmer,  of  Virginia,  read  the 
liturgy.  This  courtesy  was  extended  in  conse- 
quence of  the  Episcopal  Church  being  under 
repair. 

On  the  anniversary  of  Independence,  in  1808, 
Mr.  Armstrong  was  again  the  orator  at  the  cele- 
bration by  the  Cincinnati,  and  citizens.  He  act- 
ed as  chaplain  on  that  day  in  1812,  when  the 
"Washington  Benevolent  Society  of  Trenton," 
made  their  first  public  appearance,  and  the  con- 
course in  the  church  was  swelled  by  the  mem- 


370  Meffages. 

bers  of  a  political  convention  opposed  to  tlie  war, 
whicli  was  then  meetins:  in  the  towD."^ 

The  suflPering,  and  incapacity  of  freely  moving 
his  limbs,  produced  by  his  tedious  disease,  were 
now  depriving  Mr.  Armstrong  of  the  prospect  of 
ever  resuming  his  pastoral  duties.  The  mere 
ascending  into  the  pulpit  cost  the  most  painful 
exertion.  He  suppressed,  as  far  as  possible,  the 
exhibition  of  his  anguish,  that  he  might  perform 
the  work  in  which  he  delio:hted ;  and  althouo:h 
the  act  of  writing  must  have  been  peculiarly  dis- 
tressing to  his  distorted  hands,  I  have  seen  more 
than  one  discourse  from  his  pen,  indorsed  as 
prej)ared  to  be  read  to  the  congregation  by  a 
substitute,  when  too  ill  to  leave  his  house.  One 
of  these  (not  dated)  begins  thus : 

"  Unable,  through  the  dispensation  of  Divine  Providence, 
to  address  you  in  public,  I  embrace  the  only  means  in  my 
power  to  convey  a  portion  of  that  instruction  which,  I 
trust,  has  often  been  administered  to  our  mutual  edifica- 

*  January  18,  1806,  a  public  dinner  was  given  in  Trenton  to  Capt. 
(afterwards  Commodore)  Bainbridge,  upon  his  return  from  Barbary.  The 
Commodore's  family  were  of  this  locality  and  church.  Edmund  Bain- 
bridge was  an  elder  from  the  united  churches  of  Trenton  and  Maiden- 
head in  the  Presbytery  of  October,  1794.  John  Bainbridge  was  one  of 
the  grantees  in  the  church-deed  of  1698,  (page  30,)  and  that  name  13 
still  visible  on  a  tombstone  in  a  deserted  burying-place  in  Lamberton» 
marked — "  Died  1732  ;  aged  seventy-five  years." 


David  Bifliop.  371 


tion.  During  the  space  of  many  years  I  have  not  for  any 
whole  day  been  free  from  pain.  Reduced  at  times  to 
the  borders  of  the  grave,  and  reviving,  contrary  to  all 
human  expectation,  I  have  ardently  desired  to  address 
you  as  one  rising  from  the  dead.  A  person  on  the  verge 
of  two  worlds,  contemplating  the  dread  realities  of  eter- 
nity, standing  equal  chances  to  be  the  next  hour  an  in- 
habitant of  time  or  eternity,  must  have  most  impressive 
sentiments  from  the  relations  which  they  bear  to  each 
other.  In  these  moments,  and  under  these  impressions,  I 
have  wished  for  strength  and  opportunity,  if  it  were  but 
for  once,  to  appear  in  the  assemblies  of  the  people  of  God, 
as  I  was  wont  to  do.  But  on  a  conscientious  review  of 
the  matter  and  the  manner  of  my  public  instructions,  I 
am  constrained  to  ask  Avhat  could  I  do  more  than  I  have 
done  ?  All  I  could  hope  for  would  be  that  your  sympa- 
thy, excited  by  my  long  and  painful  affliction,  and  heighten- 
ed by  an  unexpected  restoration  to  health,  might,  through 
the  aids  of  divine  grace,  awaken  a  more  lively  attention, 
and  give  a  more  impressive  solemnity  to  eternal  things." 

This  touching  preface  was  followed  by  an 
earnest  and  tender  apj^lication  of  the  lessons  of 
our  Lord's  parable  of  the  fig-tree  that  remained 
unfruitful  after  years  of  faithful  culture. 

In  Aj^ril,  1815,  the  congregation  authorized 
the  session  to  engage  an  assistant  minister,  and 
they  chose  Mr.  David  Bishop,  a  licentiate,  and  at 
that  time  a  teacher  in  the  Trenton  Academy — 


372  Laft  Service. 


afterwards  pastor  in  Easton.  In  the  summer  of 
that  year  Mr.  Armstrong  performed  his  last 
public  service,  and  many  still  remember  an  af- 
fecting incident  connected  with  it.  Though 
emaciated  and  worn  down  by  pain,  there  was 
no  reason  at  that  time  to  suppose  that  he  might 
not  yet,  as  for  years  past,  make  his  way  to  the 
pulpit  and  assist  in  the  services.  But  on  that 
Sabbath  it  was  noticed  that  the  only  psalm  used 
in  the  singing  was  the  third  part  of  the  seventy- 
first  ;  the  first  half  (or  to  the  "  pause")  being 
sung  at  the  beginning,  and  the  remainder  at  the 
close  of  the  devotional  exercises.  His  text  was 
"Woe  unto  me  if  I  preach  not  the  Gospel." 
There  could  not  have  been  many  unmoved 
hearts  as  the  feeble  pastor,  verging  on  three- 
score and  ten,  read — 

"  The  land  of  silence  and  of  deatli 
Attends  my  next  remove  ; 
Oh  !  may  these  poor  remains  of  breath, 
Teach  the  wide  world  thy  love. 

"  By  long  experience  have  I  known 
Thy  sovereign  power  to  save  ; 
At  thy  command  I  venture  down 
Securely  to  the  grave. 


Mr.  Armftrong's  Death.  373 


*'  When  I  lie  buried  deep  in  dust, 
My  flesh  shall  be  thy  care  ; 
These  withered  limbs  with  thee  I  trust, 
To  raise  them  strong:  and  fair." 


'o 


In  a  few  months  this  faith  was  realized,  and 
he  entered  on  his  rest,  January  19,  1816,  in  the 
sixty-sixth  year  of  his  age,  the  thirty-eighth  of 
his  ministry,  and  (counting  from  the  date  of  his 
call)  the  thirty-first  of  his  pastorship. 

On  the  twenty-second  the  remains  of  the  de- 
ceased pastor  were  followed  to  the  church  by  a 
large  concourse,  and,  before  they  were  commit- 
ted to  the  earth,  an  instructive  discourse  was  de- 
livered by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Miller.  The  preacher 
closed  as  follows : 

"  With  respect  to  the  character  and  the  success  of  his 
labors  among  you,  my  brethren,  there  needs  no  testi- 
mony from  me.  You  have  seen  him  for  nearly  thirty 
years  going  in  and  out  before  you,  laboring  with  assiduity, 
and  during  a  great  part  of  the  time  under  the  pressure  oi 
disease,  for  your  spiritual  welfare.  You  have  seen  him 
addressing  you  with  affectionate  earnestness,  when  his  en- 
feebled frame  was  scarcely  able  to  maintain  an  erect  pos- 
ture in  the  pulpit.  You  have  heard  him  lamenting,  in  the 
tenderest  terms,  his  inability  to  serve  you  in  a  more 
active  manner.  And  you  have  seen  him  manifesting  with 
frequency  his  earnest  desire  to  promote  vour  best  in- 

30' 


374  Funeral  Sermon. 


terest,  even  when  weakness  compelled  him  to  be  absent 
from  the  solemn  assembly. 

"  But  why  enlarge  on  these  topics  before  those  who 
knew  him  so  well  ?  or  why  dwell  upon  points  of  excel- 
lence in  his  character  which  all  acknowledged  ?  The 
warmth  of  his  friendship ;  his  peculiar  urbanity  ;  his  do- 
mestic virtues ;  his  attachment  to  evangelical  truth ;  his 
decided  friendliness  to  vital  piety;  his  punctuality,  as 
long  as  he  had  strength  to  go  abroad,  in  attending  on  the 
judicatories  of  the  Church ;  these,  among  the  many  ex- 
cellent traits  of  character  exhibited  by  the  pastor  of  whom 
you  have  just  taken  leave,  will  no  doubt  be  remembered 
with  respect  and  with  mournful  pleasure,  for  a  long  time 
to  come. 

"  More  than  once  have  I  witnessed,  during  his  weak- 
ness and  decline,  not  only  the  anxious  exercises  of  one 
who  watched  over  the  interests  of  his  own  soul  with  a 
sacred  jealousy,  but  also  the  aflectionate  aspirations  of  his 
heart  for  the  eternal  welfare  of  his  family  and  flock. 
Farewell!  afflicted,  beloved  man,  farewell !  We  shall  see 
thee  again  ;  see  thee,  we  trust,  no  more  the  pale  victim  of 
weakness,  disease,  and  death,  but  in  the  image  and  the 
train  of  our  blessed  Master,  and  in  all  the  immortal  youth, 
and  health,  and  lustre  of  his  glorified  family.  May  it 
then,  oh  !  may  it  then  appear  that  all  thine  anxious 
prayers  and  all  thine  indefatigable  labors  for  the  spiritual 
benefit  of  those  who  were  so  dear  to  thine  heart,  have 
not  been  in  vain  in  the  Lord."* 

*  Mrs.  Armstrong  survived  her  husband  until  February  13,  1851, 
when  she  peacefully  and  triumphantly  departed,  in  the  ninety-third  year 
of  her  age.     I  had  the  privilege  of  the  friendship  of  this  most  estimable 


Epitaph.  375 

The  epitaph  on  the  tomb  of  Mr.  Armstrong, 
in  the  church-yard,  was  written  by  President  S. 
Stanhope  Smith. 

"  Sacred  to  the  memory  of  the  Reverend  James  Fran- 
cis Armsteong,  thirty  years  pastor  of  the  church  at 
Trentdn,  in  union  with  the  chm-ch  at  Maidenhead.  Born 
in  Maryland,  of  pious  parents,  he  received  the  elements  of 
his  classical  education  under  the  Rev.  John  Blair ;  finish- 
ed his  collegiate  studies  in  the  College  of  New-Jersey, 
under  the  Rev.  Dr.  Witherspoon,  and  w^as  licensed  to 
preach  the  Gospel  in  the  year  1777.  An  ardent  patriot, 
he  served  through  the  war  of  Independence  as  a  chaplain. 
In  1790  he  was  chosen  a  Trustee  of  the  College  of  N"ew- 
Jersey.  A  w^arm  and  constant  friend,  a  devout  Christian, 
a  tender  husband  and  parent ;  steady  in  his  attendance  on 
the  judicatories  of  the  Church  ;  throughout  his  life  he  was 
distinguished  as  a  fervent  and  affectionate  minister  of  the 
Gospel,  and  resigned  his  soul  to  his  Creator  and  Redeemer 
on  the  nineteenth  of  January,  1816.  'Blessed  are  the 
dead  who  die  in  the  Lord.  Amen :  even  so  come  Lord 
Jesus.'  " 

lady  for  ten  years  after  becoming  pastor  of  the  church,  and  the  discourse 
deUvered  on  the  Sabbath  after  her  funeral  has  been  published  under  the 
title  of  "  The  Divine  Promise  to  Old  Age."  One  of  the  daughters  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Armstrong,  was  the  wife  of  Chief  Justice  Ewiug,  who  died 
in  Trenton,  July  4,  181G,  Their  son,  Robert  L.  Armstrong,  a  member  of 
the  bar  at  Woodbury,  died  in  Trenton,  September  22,  1836. 


376  Communicants. 


NOTES 


I. 


For  the  years  of  Mr.  Armstrong's  pastorate  before 
1806,  there  is  no  official  record  of  statistics.  In  a  memo- 
randum made  by  him,  he  says  that  when  he  first  came  to 
Trenton  "  the  nmnber  of  communicants  did  not  exceed 
perhaps  eight  or  nine  in  that  church,  exclusive  of  Maiden- 
head. The  numbers  increased  slowly  and  gradually.  At 
every  communion  season,  which  was  twice  a  year,  a  few 
were  added  ;  generally  of  such  as  had  been  under  serious 
impression  for  some  time  before  admission." 

In  1806  the  whole  number  of  communicants  in  Trenton 
was  sixty-eight.  Two  only  of  these  are  known  to  be  sur- 
viving in  1859.  At  the  two  communions  of  1808  seven- 
teen persons  made  their  first  profession  at  one,  and  thir- 
teen at  the  other.  In  1809  seventeen  more  were  received. 
Among  the  manuscripts  of  Mr.  Armstrong  is  a  series  of 
sermons  on  the  divine  being,  attributes,  and  perfections, 
marked  by  him  as  having  been  preached  "just  before  so 
many  were  added  to  the  church  in  1808  and  1809."  In 
1810  the  whole  number  of  communicants  was  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-four;  in  1815,  one  hundred  and  eleven. 


II. 

I  throw  into  this  note  some  miscellaneous  items  collect- 
ed from  the  books  of  the  Treasurer  and  Trustees  at  the 
close  of  the  last  century. 


Miscellaneous.  377 


The  windows  of  the  church  appear  to  have  been  ex- 
posed to  extraordinary  casualties,  as  there  are  constant 
entries  of  payments  for  glazing,  and  sometimes  subscrip- 
tions for  that  object.  Evening  services  were  only  occa- 
sional, as  we  learn  from  such  entries  as,  ''  1786,  March 
18,  paid  for  candles  when  Mr.  Woodhull  preached  in  the 
evening,  25.  6(i."  There  were  collections  on  every  Sab- 
bath;  their  amount  varied  from  25.  4:d.  to  £1  155.  2d. 
That  the  old  prescriptive  coin  was  freely  used  on  these 
occasions  is  revealed  in  such  entries  as,  "  By  old  coppers ;" 
"  to  amount  of  old  coppers  on  hand  that  won't  pass."  The 
collections  were  sometimes  for  other  than  church  pur- 
poses. "1788,  collection  for  Rev.  Samson  Occom."* 
"  1789,  collection  raised  for  a  poor  traveller,  275.  6f?.'' 
In  1792,  £2  Is.  6d.  were  collected  "  for  Lutherans  to  build 
a  church  at  Fort  Pitt."  In  1806,  five  mahogany  "poles 
and  [velvet]  bags  for  collecting  at  church,"  were  provid- 
ed, according  to  a  fashion  long  since  superseded  by  boxes. 
For  several  years  there  is  an  invariable  charge  of  I5.  Qd. 
for  "  sweeping  meeting-house,"  every  fortnight.  The 
supplies  for  the  pulpit,  and  the  expense  of  their  horses, 
seem  to  have  been  regularly  paid.  "  1779,  paid  Rev.  Mr. 
Grant,  as  a  sujjply,  being  a  young  man  unsettled,  £l  2s. 
6c?."  1785,  "  Supply  one  day  and  a  half,  455."  "  Half  a 
day,  155."  The  office  of  Deacon  was  performed  by  the 
pastor  and  elders  at  their  discretion,  out  of  funds  in  the 

*  Occom  was  a  Mohegan  (Connecticut)  Indian,  and  the  first  of  his  race 
educated  by  Dr.  Wheelock  at  Lebanon.  In  1766  he  collected  more  than 
£1000  in  England  for  the  Wheelock  School.  His  agency  is  mentioned 
in  the  celebrated  case  of  Dartmouth  College :  Wheaton's  Eeports,  vol. 
iv.    See  Sprague's  Annals,  vol.  iii.  192. 

30* 


378  Mifcellaneous. 


Treasurer's  hands.  "  Paid  Mr.  Armstrong  for  a  sick  wo- 
man at  Mr.  Morrice's."  "  Shirt  for ."  "  Re- 
lieving: her  distress."  "  Paid  Bell  that  was  scalded." 
"  Seth  Babbitt,  a  stranger  that  was  in  distress,  being  cast- 
away, as  he  said."  Fuel  was  often  distributed.  Decem- 
ber 20,  1799:  "Bill  for  sundries  to  put  the  pulpit  in 
mourning  for  G.  Washington,  and  Mrs.  Emerson  for  put- 
ting it  on."  The  expenses  of  Presbytery  were  sometimes 
borne  by  the  church  treasury.  "  To  Presbytery's  ex- 
penses at  Mr.  Witt's,"  one  of  the  hotels,  means  probably 
the  keeping  of  their  horses  ;  but  I  must  not  conceal  that 
in  1792  there  is  this  charge,  "for  beer  at  Presbytery, 
4:S.  10c?."  In  the  same  year  the  other  congregation  were 
more  liberal  in  their  entertainment,  as  appears  by  this 
entry  :  "  Bought  of  Abraham  Hunt,  for  the  use  of  the  con- 
gregation when  Presbytery  sat  in  Maidenhead, 

"  8  gal.  Lisbon  wine  at  Is.  6c?.,  ,  .  .  £3  0 
5       "     spirits,  95., 2  5 


£5  5 


Ten  years  before — "half  gallon  of  rum."  The  last, 
we  may  suppose,  was  for  the  use  of  workmen  about  the 
church,  according  to  the  custom  then  universal.  In  build- 
ing the  church  of  1805,  "spirits"  were  bought  for  this 
purpose  by  the  barrel.  The  churches  were  sometimes  re- 
paid for  this  branch  of  their  expenditures;  as  in  1798, 
Mr.  Bond,  (probably  a  magistrate)  divided  between  the 
Presbyterian  and  Episcopal  churches  a  fine  collected  by 
him  from  some  unlicensed  vender  of  SjDirituous  liquors. 

In  ISTovember,  1786,  the  purchase  of  "an  elegant,  large 
Bible  for  the  use  of  the  Trenton  Church,"  was  authorized. 


Notes.  379 

The  sexton's  fee  for  digging  a  grave,  inviting  to  the  fune- 
ral, and  tolling  the  bell,  was  fixed  at  two  dollars.  In  1799 
it  was  increased  to  three  dollars  and  a  half  As  late  as 
1842  it  was  the  custom  for  the  sextons  to  go  from  house 
to  house,  and  make  verbal  notice  of  funerals  at  the 
doors.  There  were  not  then,  as  now,  three  daily  news- 
papers to  supersede  the  necessity  of  publishing  notices  of 
this  kind  from  the  pulpit  or  otherwise. 

The  Trustees  appear  to  have  jDrovided  for  the  convey- 
ance of  the  pastor  to  the  places  of  the  meeting  of  the  Pres- 
bytery. At  one  time  it  was  "  agreed  that  Mr.  Jacob  Carle 
or  his  son,  Capt.  Israel  Carle  [neither  elder  nor  Trustee] 
attend  Mr.  Armstrong  to  the  Presbytery."  At  another 
time  (1787)  James  Ewing,  Esq.,  [then  in  no  church  office,] 
was  designated  to  this  service.  There  may  have  been 
that  deficiency  of  acting  elders  (at  least  in  the  town)  at 
this  time,  to  which  Mr.  Armstrong  refers  in  a  note  of 
1813,  in  which  he  speaks  of  his  having  had  charge  of  the 
charity-fund:  "  I  am  inclined  to  believe  before  there  were 
any  elders  in  the  congregation."  The  expenses  of  the 
session  in  attending  judicatories  were  paid  by  the  Trus- 
tees. 

The  j^ew-rents  in  town  were  received  by  a  collector  an- 
nually appointed  by  the  Trustees  out  of  their  own  num- 
ber, or  from  the  congregation.  Delinquents  were  some- 
times threatened  with  the  last  resort.  In  1788  it  was 
ordered,  "  that  no  horses  or  other  creatures  be  put  in  the 
grave-yard."  It  is  presumed  that  this  was  a  prohibition 
against  hitching  the  animals  there  on  the  Sabbath,  or  pas- 
turing them  at  any  time.  The  sexton,  however,  had 
"  leave  to  pasture  sheep  in  the  grave-yard." 


380  Potter's  Field. 


In  1*788,  "the  present  meeting  taking  into  considera- 
tion the  great  defect  in  public  worship  in  the  congrega- 
tion, by  want  of  a  regular  clerk,  and  Mr.  John  Friend,  a 
member  of  the  congregation,  having  voluntarily  offered 
himself  steadily  to  supply  that  office,  the  congregation  ac- 
cepted of  his  offer  and  desire  the  Trustees  to  make  any 
agreement  they  may  think  proper  with  ,^said  Friend  on 
that  subject." 

In  1799,  (at  a  congregational  meeting,)  "  whereas  ap- 
plications are  often  making  for  the  burial  of  strangers  in 
the  ground  belonging  to  this  congregation,  by  which 
means  it  is  filling  up  very  fast,  therefore  it  is  ordered  that 
no  stranger  be  permitted  to  be  buried  in  said  ground 
hereafter,  without  paying  what  may  be  agreed  upon  by 
the  Trustees  of  said  church  ;  and  for  relief  in  the  premises 
it  is  agreed  that  proposals  he  made  to  the  other  societies 
of  Christians  in  this  place,  and  to  the  inhabitants  in  gen- 
eral, to  open  and  promote  subscriptions  for  the  purpose  of 
purchasing  a  piece  of  ground  for  a  Potter's  field."  The 
Trenton  "  Potter's  field"  is  on  the  IsTew-Brunswick  road, 
and  was  probably  purchased  by  the  town  about  1802. 
One  of  the  graves  is  designated  as  follows :  "  Sacred  to 
the  memory  of  Judy,  wife  of  William  Field  ;  faithful  and 
favorite  Christian  servants  of  the  late  Robert  Finley, 
D.D.,  of  Baskingridge,  New- Jersey.     Erected  1839." 

In  1*799  the  Trustees  "  ordered  that  the  minutes  and 
proceedings  of  the  congregation  and  Trustees  be  read  by 
the  minister  or  clerk  of  the  church  the  next  Sabbath,  or 
as  soon  as  convenient  after  their  meetings,  in  order  that 
it  be  generally  known  how  the  business  of  the  Society  is 
conducted." 


Dubois.  381 

Some  precedence  seems  to  have  been  accorded  to  the 
Governor  of  the  State.  He  was  allowed  the  first  choice 
of  a  pew  in  the  new  church  of  1806.  The  incumbent  at 
that  time  was  Joseph  Bloomfield,  known  by  the  titles 
both  of  Governor  and  General.  He  resided  in  Trenton 
during  the  successive  terms  of  his  administration,  (1801- 
12.)  Mrs.  Bloomfield  was  a  communicant  of  the  church, 
and  her  nei^hew,  Bishop  McBvaine,  remembers  the  visits 
of  his  childhood  to  the  then  new,  but  now  demolished 
church. 

In  the  earlier  part  of  Mr.  Armstrong's  ministry  he  con- 
formed to  the  custom,  then  common  in  our  pulpits,  of 
wearing  a  gown  and  bands.  The  practice  seems  to  have 
fallen  gradually  into  disuse,  more  from  its  inconveniences 
than  from  any  rise  of  scruples.  The  variety  of  English 
academical  gowns  seems  to  have  been  known  in  our  State 
as  late  as  1800,  for  in  that  year  a  Burlington  tailor  adver- 
tises in  the  Trenton  Gazette  :  "  D.D.,  M.A.,  and  other 
clerical  robes  made  correctly." 


III. 

In  1815  the  church  lost  one  of  its  ruling  elders.  His 
epitaph  is : 

"  In  memory  of  Nicholas  Dubois,  many  years  teacher 
of  the  Young  Ladies'  Academy,  and  an  elder  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  of  this  place.  Died  November  4,  1815. 
An.  83t.  forty-four.  A  man  amiable,  pious,  and  exem- 
plary ;  a  teacher,  able,  zealous,  and  faithful ;  an  elder 
ardently  devoted  to  the  welfare  of  his  Father's  flock." 


382  The  Firft 


IV. 

The  interval  between  Mr.  Armstrong  and  bis  successor 
is  marked  in  our  history  by  the  commencement  of  the 
Sunday-school  of  the  church.  The  earliest  school  of  this 
description  was  instituted  by  members  of  the  Society  of 
Friends,  for  the  instruction  of  colored  persons.  It  was 
called  the  "  Trenton  First-day  School,"  and  the  primary 
meeting  of  the  Society  was  called  for  "  the  second  second- 
day  of  the  second  month,"  1809.  This  failed,  as  it  would 
appear,  from  want  of  means  to  pay  a  teacher ;  and  in 
May,  1811,  a  society  of  all  denominations  foraied  "  a  first- 
day,  or  Sunday-school,  for  the  instruction  of  the  poor  of 
all  descriptions  and  colors."  I  am  indebted  to  John  M. 
Sherrerd,  Esq.,  of  Belvidere,  for  the  following  interesting 
memoranda  as  to  the  introduction  of  the  more  strictly  re- 
ligious, or  church  Sunday-school : 

"  While  a  student  of  law  in  the  office  of  the  late  Chief 
Justice  Ewing,  in  the  winter  of  1 815-16, 1  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Trenton  church,  under  the  preaching  of  Dr. 
Alexander,  who  chiefly  supplied  the  pulj)it  after  the  death 
of  Mr.  Armstrong.  There  was  some  awakening  among 
the  churches  in  that  winter.  We  held  a  union  prayer- 
meeting,  weekly,  for  some  time,  and  at  one  of  these  it 
was  mooted  whether  we  might  not  do  good  by  starting  a 
Sunday-school.  Several  of  us  had  read  about  such  schools 
in  England,  and  heard  that  they  had  been  begun  in  Phila- 
deljDhia,  but  none  of  us  had  ever  seen  one.*     Our  j)rayer- 

*  The  '-Narrative"  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1811  mentions  the 
establishment  of  a  Sabbath-school  for  poor  children  in  New-Brunswick. 


Sunday-Schools.  383 


meeting  was  composed  of  about  a  dozen  young  men  who 
had  just  united  with  the  different  churches,  and  a  few  others 
who  were  seriously  disposed.  I  recollect  the  names  of  Ger- 
shom  Mott,  John  French,  and  Mr.  Bowen,  Baptists  ;  John 
Probasco,  a  Methodist ;  Lewis  Evans,  who  was  brought 
up  a  Friend.  At  first  I  was  the  only  Presbyterian,  but 
others  soon  joined  me.  I  was  appointed  to  visit  the 
schools  in  Philadelphia,  and  accordingly  spent  a  Sabbath 
there,  during  which  I  visited  the  old  Arch  Street,  Christ 
Church,  and  St.  John's  Schools,  which  were  all  I  could 
find.  The  teachers  furnished  me  with  all  the  desired  in- 
formation, and  gave  me  specimens  of  tickets,  cards,  books, 
etc.  On  my  return  we  determined  to  make  the  experi- 
ment, and  obtained  the  use  of  the  old  school-room  over 
the  market-house  on  Mill  Hill,  which  then  stood  nearly 
opposite  the  present  Mercer  court-house,  and  eight  o'clock 
on  the  next  Sunday  morning  found  us  assembled  there — 
six  teachers  and  twenty-six  scholars. 

"  We  kept  up  our  weekly  prayer-meeting  at  different 
places,  in  the  Baptist,  Presbyterian,  and  Methodist  con- 
nection —  chiefly  in  the  first  two.  Every  Sunday  the 
school  was  dismissed  in  time  to  attend  the  three  churches, 
on  alternate  days,  each  teacher  accompanying  his  class  and 
occupying  a  part  of  the  gallery.  We  seldom  failed  of 
having  a  word  of  encouragement  from  the  officiating  min- 
ister, and  I  well  remember  the  address  of  Dr.  Alexander, 
the  first  Sabbath  we  met  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  At 
the  end  of  three  months,  the  room  becoming  too  small  for 
us,  we  formed  a  school  in  each  of  the  three  churches,  and 
each  soon  became  as  large  as  the  original  one.  The  Pres- 
byterian was  held  in  the  school-building  on  your  church- 


384  Sunday-Schools. 


lot.  The  others  in  the  Baptist  Church  and  Trenton 
Academy.  I  continued  there  about  nine  months,  and 
until  I  left  Trenton,  during  which  time  we  kept  up  our 
union  prayer-meeting,  and  the  visits  of  all  the  schools  al- 
ternately at  the  different  churches  on  Sunday  mornings. 
Towards  the  last  they  almost  filled  the  gallery  of  each 
church.  After  the  separation  on  Mill  Hill  female  teachers, 
for  the  first  time,  took  part.  We  followed  the  old  plan  of 
each  scholar  committing  as  much  as  he  could  during  the 
week — receiving  tickets,  redeemed,  at  a  certain  number, 
with  books.  One  factory  boy,  I  remember,  who,  although 
twelve  hours  at  work  daily,  committed  so  many  verses 
that  I  could  not  hear  him  in  school-hours,  but  took  the 
time  for  it  after  church." 

From  a  document  in  a  Trenton  newspaper  (August  8, 
1817)  it  appears  that  the  three  schools  mentioned  by  Mr. 
Sherrerd  were  organized  under  the  title  of  "  The  Trenton 
and  Lamberton  Sunday  Free-School  Association."  The  date 
of  its  beginning  is  there  given  as  March  9,  1816.  "From 
April  to  October  the  school  consisted  of  ninety  scholars. 
On  the  twenty-seventh  October  it  wasdivided  into  three." 
"  It  is  with  peculiar  pleasure  the  Association  notice  those 
two  nurseries  of  mercy,  the  Female  and  African  Sunday- 
schools,  which  have  arisen  since  the  establishment  of  their 
own."  A  column  of  a  newspaper  of  Oct.  4,  1819,  is  occu- 
pied with  a  report  of  the  "  Trenton  Sabbath-day  School," 
which  opens  with  saying,  "  Nine  months  have  now  elapsed 
since,  by  the  exertions  of  a  few  gentlemen,  this  school  was 
founded."  The  report  is  signed  by  James  C.  How,  after- 
wards the  Rev.  Mr.  How,  of  Delaware,  a  brother  of  the 
Presbyterian  pastor.     In  February,  1821,  the  same  Socie- 


Teachers.  385 


ty  reports  that  it  had  four  schools,  the  boys',  the  gh'ls',  the 
African,  and  one  at  Morris ville.  The  last  school  had,  in 
November,  1819,  eleven  teachers  and  one  hundred  and 
sixteen  scholars.  The  "  Female  Tract  Society"  furnish- 
ed tracts  monthly  to  the  schools,  and  the  "  Juvenile  Dorcas 
Society"  supplied  clothing  to  the  children. 

Six  female  members  of  our  congregation  (Ellen  Bur- 
ro wes,  Mary  Ann  Tucker,  Mary  A.  Howell,  Hannah  E. 
Howell,  Eliza  R.  Chambers,  and  Hannah  Hayden)  origin- 
ated "The  Female  Sabbath  Association,"  Oct.  4,  1816. 
To  these  were  soon  added  Sarah  M.  Stockton,  (afterwards 
wife  of  Rev.  W.  J.  Armstrong,)  Rosetta  C.  Hyer,  Jai^e 
Lowry,  Eliza  C.  Palmer,  Lydia  Middleton,  (afterwards 
wife  of  Rev.  Henry  Woodward,)  Ellen  E.  Burrowes,  (Mrs. 
Stacy  G.  Potts,)  Catherine  Schenck,  Mary  Creed,  Abigail 
Ryall,  Juliette  Rice,*  Susan  Armstrong,  Anna  Jackson, 
(wife  of  Rev.  Jos.  Sanford.f)  The  session  granted  the  use 
of  the  gallery  of  the  church,  as  a  place  of  teaching.  The 
school  was  opened  Oct.  20,  and  was  held  for  an  hour  and 
a  half  in  the  afternoon.  A  boys'  school  was  afterwards 
formed,  of  which  Mr.  James  C.  How  was  the  first  Super- 
intendent. There  are  eight  hundred  and  twenty-two 
names  on  the  roll  of  female  pupils  from  1822  to  1839. 

*  Miss  Rice  maintained  her  active  interest  in  the  School  until  her 
death  in  May,  1855,  She  served  the  general  cause  as  a  writer.  Two  of 
her  books,  "  Alice  and  her  Mother,"  and  "  Olive  Smith,"  were  published 
by  the  American  S.  S.  Union ;  three  others,  "  Consideration,  or  the 
Golden  Rule,"  "Florence  Patterson,"  and  "Maria  Bradford,"  by  the 
Massachusetts  S.  S.  Society. 

f  Miss  Jackson's  name  and  Trenton  associations  frequently  occur  in 
the  Memoir  of  Mr.  Sanford,  by  Dr.  Baird,  pp.  28,  63,  G6,  86,  97,  118,  121. 

31 


386  Benjamin  Smith. 


V. 

Ill  tlie  minutes  of  the  Trustees,  March  19,  1814,  is  this 
entry : 

"  Benjamin  Smith,  Esq.,  who  has  for  a  long  time  been 
a  Trustee  and  President  of  the  Board,  as  also  Treasurer 
for  the  church,  all  which  offices  he  has  filled  with  faithful- 
ness, but  expecting  shortly  to  remove  to  Elizabethtown, 
and  make  that  his  final  place  of  abode,  begged  for  said 
reason  to  resign  his  trusteeship." 

Mr.  Smith  was  elected  "  a  Deacon  for  Trenton,"  May 
6,  1777,  and  was  an  elder  in  1806,  and  probably  for  some 
years  before.  He  died  in  Elizabethtown,  October  23, 
1824,  and  a  sermon  was  preached  at  his  funeral  by  his 
pastor,  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  McDowell,  from  the  words  : 
"  Lord,  I  have  loved  the  habitation  of  thy  house,  and  the 
place  where  thine  honor  dwelleth."  This  text  had  been 
selected  by  himself  for  the  purpose,  and  his  will  directed 
the  same  to  be  inscribed  on  his  tomb.  By  the  kmdness 
of  Dr.  McDowell  I  am  enabled  to  present  a  copy  of  the 
statements  in  the  funeral  discourse,  which  show  how  ap- 
plicable was  its  inspired  motto. 

"  Our  departed  friend  loved  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and 
he  has  told  the  speaker  that  this  evidence  has  often  en- 
couraged and  comforted  his  soul,  when  he  could  get  hold 
of  scarcely  any  other.  His  conduct  in  this  respect  corre- 
sponded with  his  profession.  Through  a  long  life  he 
manifested  that  he  loved  the  Lord's  house.  It  was  tauo^ht 
him,  I  have  understood,  from  his  childhood.  At  an  early 
age  he  became  the  subject  of  serious  impressions,  and 


The  Smith  Scholarfhip.  387 


hopefully  of  divine  grace.  He  was  first  received  into  this 
church  under  the  ministry  of  the  Rev.  James  Caldwell,  in 
the  year  1765,  when  he  was  about  eighteen  years  old. 
He  afterwards  removed  to  Trenton,  and  connected  him- 
self with  that  church,  where  he  spent  most  of  his  days. 
There  he  long  acted  in  the  office  of  ruling  elder.  During 
the  latter  part  of  the  time  of  his  residence  in  Trenton,  the 
congregation  erected  a  new  house  of  worship.  In  this  he 
took  a  deep  and  active  interest.  Pie  bestowed  much  of 
his  time,  contributed  liberally  of  his  means,  and  went 
abroad  soliciting  aid  for  its  completion.  About  ten  years 
since  he  i-emoved  to  this  town,  and  in  the  decline  of  life 
agam  connected  himself  with  this  church.  He  was  soon 
elected  a  ruling  elder,  which  office  he  executed  with 
fidelity  until  his  decease,  in  the  seventy-ninth  year  of  his 
age.  He  manifested  his  love  to  the  house  of  God  by  his 
constant  attendance  on  its  worship  until  his  last  short  ill- 
ness ;  and  he  manifested  it  in  his  will,  by  leaving  a  be- 
quest for  the  support  of  its  worship,  and  remembering 
other  conoTesrations  in  the  town.  His  last  words  w^ere  : 
'  Welcome  sweet  day  of  rest.' 


5  5? 


Araon^r  the  lesjacies  of  Mr.  Smith's  will  was  one  of 
twenty-five  hundred  dollars  for  the  endowment  of  a  scho- 
larship in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,  which 
was  realized  in  1839,  upon  the  decease  of  his  widow.  It 
stands  the  twenty-sixth  on  the  list  of  scholarships,  and 
bears  the  name  of  its  founder. 


Samuel  B.  How,  D.D.-— William  J.  Aemsteo^^g, 
D.D. — The  Rev.  Joh:n"  Smith. — Notes. 

1816—1828. 

O]^  the  nineteenth  of  August,  1816,  the  con- 
gregation met  and  elected  for  their  pastor  the 
Kev.  Samuel  Blanchaed  How. 

Mr.  (now  Dr.)  How,  a  native  of  Burlington, 
graduated  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
(1811 ;)  was  tutor  for  a  short  time  in  Dickinson 
College ;  then  a  master  of  the  Grammar  School 
of  his  University ;  was  licensed  by  the  Presby- 
tery of  Philadelphia  in  1813  ;  then  passed  a  ses- 
sion at  the  Princeton  Seminary,  and  on  ISTovem- 
ber  10,  1814,  was  ordained  and  installed  pastor 
at  Solebury,  Bucks  county. 

Mr.  How  ^as  installed  over  the  Trenton  con- 
gregation December  17,  1816,  on  which  occasion 
Dr.  Miller  presided.  Dr.  Alexander  ])reachecl, 
(2  Cor.  3  :  16.)  Dr.  Miller  gave  the  charge  to 
the  pastor,  and  the  E,ev.  I.  V.  Brown  the  charge 
to  the  congregation.     This  pastorship  was  hap- 


Dr.  How.  389 

pily  and  usefully  continued  until  April,  1821, 
when  a  call  from  the  First  Church  of  New- 
Brunswick  was  laid  before  the  Presbytery,  and 
he  was  installed  in  that  city  in  the  following 
June.^'*  The  additions  to  the  communion  of  the 
church  in  these  five  years  were  fifty-six  on  their 
first  profession,  and  thirty  on  certificates  from 
other  churches. 

Dr.  How  was  followed  by  the  late  William 
Jessup  Ap.mstrojs^g,  D.D.,  son  of  the  Kev.  Dr. 
Amzi  Armstrong:,  of  Mendham  and  Bloomfield. 
Mr.  Armstrong  graduated  at  Princeton  College 
in  1816  ;  studied  theology  under  his  father,  and 
for  a  year  in  the  Piinceton  Seminary ;  and  upon 
his  licensure  in  1819  (by  the  Presbytery  of  Jer- 
sey) entered  on  two  years'  service  of  the  Board 
of  Missions  in  Virginia,  in  the   course  of  which 
he  founded  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Char- 
lottesville.    Mr.  Armstrong  returned  to   ^ew- 
Jersey  in   1821,  and  on  the  twenty-eighth  Sep- 
tember he  w^as  unanimously  elected  pastor  of 
Trenton.     On  the  twenty-seventh  November  the 

*  In  October,  1823,  Dr.  How  became  pastor  of  the  Independent  Pres- 
byterian Church  of  Savannah;  in  1830  President  of  Dickinson  College  ; 
and  subsequently  returned  to  New-Brunswick  upon  a  call- to  take  the 
pastoral  charge  of  the  First  Reformed  Dutch  Church  in  that  city,  which 

position  he  still  occupies. 

81* 


390  Dr.  W.  J.  Armftrong. 


Presbytery  of  New-Brunswick,  meeting  in  Tren- 
ton, the  session  was  opened,  according  to  a  cus- 
tom tlien  prevailing,  witli  Mr.  Armstrong's  trial 
sermon  for  ordination.  On  the  next  day, 
too^ether  with  Charles  rlodo^e  and  Peter  O.  Stud- 
diford,  he  was  ordained,  and  himself  installed."^ 
At  this  service  Dr.  Miller  presided  ;  E-ev.  George 
8.  Woodhull  preached,  (2  Tim.  4:12;)  Eev.  E. 
F.  Cooley  gave  the  charge  to  tlie  ministers,  and 
Pev.  D.  Comfort  that  to  the  congregation.  The 
date  of  Mr.  Armstrong's  actual  entrance  upon  the 
duties  of  the  pastorate  is  October  20,  1821. 

During  his  short  residence  of  about  two  and  a 
half  years,  fifty-three  new  communicants  were 
received  on  their  profession,  and  fourteen  on  cer- 
tificate. 

While  residinof  here  Mr.  Armstrono^  was  mar- 
ried  to  Sarah  Milnor,  daughter  of  Lucius  Hora- 
tio Stockton. 

When  Dr.  John  H.  Rice  w^as  called  to  relin- 
quish the  church  at  Richmond,  Vii'ginia,  he  re- 

*  It  is  pleasant  thus  to  meet  with  names,  now  well  known,  while 
in  the  uncertainties  of  their  novitiate.  Mr.  Armstrong  preached  at  the 
•ordination  of  "  C.  C.  Beatty,"  in  1822;  and  at  the  same  meeting  of 
Presbytery  trials  were  assigned  to  "Mr.  Albert  Barnes."  "Mr.  Francis 
McFarland"  preached  his  trial  sermon,  and  was  ordained.  "Messrs. 
Robert  Baird  and  John  Breckinridge"  were  licensed. 


Dr.  Armftrong.  391 


commended  Mr.  Armstrong:  as  Lis  successor,  and 
a  call  from  that  congregation  was  put  into  his 
hands  February  3,  1824 — the  same  day  on  which 
one  of  bis  successors  in  Trenton  (James  W.  Alex- 
ander) was  received  by  the  Presbytery  as  a  can- 
didate for  the  ministry.  At  the  following  April 
meeting  the  j)astor  read  to  the  Presbytery  a 
statement  he  had  previously  made  to  the  Tren- 
ton parish,  of  the  reasons  of  his  favorable  inclina- 
tion to  the  Richmond  call.  The  Rev.  Jared  D. 
Fyler  (then  residing  in  Trenton)  and  Joshua 
Anderson,  one  of  the  elders,  presented  a  written 
statement  of  the  views  of  the  people,  expressive 
of  their  reluctant  submission  to  the  wishes  of 
their  pastor  in  the  matter,  and  accordingly  the 
dissolution  took  place. 

Dr.  Armstrong  remained  ten  years  in  Rich- 
mond, v/hen  he  en  tred  the  service  of  the  Amer- 
ican Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Mis- 
sions, first  as  agent,  then  as  secretary ;  and  it 
was  on  his  passage  from  Boston  to  New- York,  on 
tlie  business  of  the  Board,  that  he  was  wrecked 
in  the  steamboat  Atlantic,  November  2Y,  1846. 
The  last  scene  of  that  catastrophe  of  which  there 
is  any  account,  presents  him  reading  the  Gospel, 
praying  with,  exhorting,  and  comforting  his  fel- 


392  Dr.  Armftrong. 


low-passengers,  so  long  as  the  fatal  event  was 
delaying. 

The  characteristics  of  Dr.  Armstrong's  preach- 
ing have  been  stated  by  two  good  judges.  The 
Rev.  Dr.  James  W.  Alexander  wrote  to  the  com- 
piler of  his  Memoir : 

"  While  he  was  at  Trenton  I  often  listened  to  his  ser- 
mons, and  there  was  no  man  whom  at  that  day  I  heard 
with  more  impression.  His  sermons  were  carefully  pre- 
pared, and  were  pronounced  with  a  degree  of  w^armth 
and  emotion  which  are  quite  unusual.  My  recollection  is 
vivid  of  his  appeals  to  the  heart,  as  being  of  a  high  order. 
When  at  a  later  period  I  was  called  to  labor  among  the 
same  people,  I  found  that  he  had  left  that  good  name  which 
is  '  better  than  precious  ointment.'  There  were  manifest 
tokens  of  his  faithfulness  in  public  and  in  private." 

Mr.  Theodore  Frelinghuyseu,  now  President  of 
Rutgers  College,  then  a  member  of  the  bar,  says 
in  a  letter  in  1851 : 

"  I  very  often  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  hearing  him 
while  he  was  a  stated  minister  at  Trenton,  and  the  im- 
pression made  upon  my  mind,  deep  and  unfading,  was 
that  of  uncommon  earnestness,  sincerity,  and  power.  He 
commenced  in  his  calm  and  solemn  manner ;  he  rose  with 
his  subject ;  his  mind  kindled  and  his  heart  warmed  as  he 
discoursed  ;    and  towards  the  conclusion  he  poured  his 


Rev.  John  Smith.  393 


whole  soul  into  it,  as  if  he  thought  he  might  never  speak 
again,  and  as  if  some  impenitent  friend  before  him  might 
never  hear  ao-ain  the  voice  of  warninsr  and  the  invitations 
of  mercy."* 

The  Kqv.  J.  C.  Smith,  of  Washington  City, 
says :  "  One  of  our  own  elders  knew  him  as  a  pas- 
tor in  Trenton,  and  he  blesses  God  that  through 
him  he  was  converted  to  God."f 

The  congregation  was  without  a  settled  pastor 
for  about  twenty  months,  when  having  united  in 
the  choice  of  the  Eev.  Jopin  Smith,  of  Connecti- 
cut, that  minister  began  to  supply  the  pulpit 
regularly  in  December,  1825.  He  was  not  re- 
ceived by  the  Presbytery  until  the  following  Feb- 
ruary ;  and  on  the  eighth  March  he  was  both  or- 
dained and  installed  in  Trenton.  In  that  service 
Dr.   Carnahan   presided.  Dr.  Hodge   preached, 

*  Memoir  and  Sermons,  edited  by  Eev.  Hollis  Read,  1853,  pp.  31 
and  104.  A  visitor  in  Trenton  thus  wrote,  November  4,  1822 :  "  I 
heard  Mr.  Armstrong  preach  a  most  eloquent  sermon  yesterday  morning. 

He  is  one  of  my  favorites.     At  night  Mr.  L ,  the  Methodist,  a  very 

good  preacher ;  the  coolest  Methodist  I  ever  heard.  The  Trentonians 
say  that  the  Presbyterians  have  got  the  Methodist  preacher,  and  the 
Methodists  the  Presbyterian." 

•{■  The  excellent  man  here  referred  to,  was  Mr.  John  Voorhees,  who 
was  admitted  to  the  communion  in  Trenton  in  April,  1822  ;  and  elected 
a  ruling  elder  in  1829.  He  emphatically  discharged  the  duties  of  his 
office  "  well,"  until  the  removal  of  his  residence  to  Washington,  in  1843, 
where  he  died  October  28,  1849. 


394  Lalor. 

(1  Cor.  1:21,)  and  both  tlie  charges  were  given 
by  the  Kev.  E.  F.  Cooley.  Mr.  Smith  was  a  na- 
tive of  Wethersfield  ;  a  graduate  of  Yale  College 
(1821)  and  of  the  Andover  Theological  Semina- 
ry, and  a  licentiate  of  the  Congregational  Associ- 
tion  of  East-Fairfield. 

Mr.  Smith  continued  in  this  charge  less  than 
three  years,  but  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  afterwards  entered  the  ministry, 
namely,  Mr.  George  Ely,  pastor  of  Nottingham 
and  Dutch-Neck,  who  died  August  14, 1856,  and 
George  Burrowes,  D.D.,  pastor  of  Kirkwood,  in 
Maryland ;  Professor  in  Lafayette  College,  and 
now  pastor  in  Newtown,  Pennsylvania.  One  of 
eleven  new  communicants  in  April,  1828,  is  com- 
memorated in  the  following  inscrij)tion  in  our 
church-vard : 

"  Here  lie  tlie  remains  of  jEREiiiAH  D.  Lalor,  who  de- 
parted this  life  March  8th,  A.D.  1845,  aged  thirty-two 
years.  To  those  who  knew  him  the  remembrance  of  his 
virtues  is  the  highest  eulogy  of  his  character.  He  had  de- 
voted himself  to  the  service  of  God  in  the  ministry  of  re- 
conciliation, and  when  just  u2:>on  the  threshold  of  the 
sacred  office  was  removed  by  death  from  the  brightest 


Rev.  John  Smith.  395 


prospects  of  usefulness,  to  serve   his  Maker   iii   another 
sphere." 

Some  confusion  was  created  during  Mr.  Smith's 
ministry  by  the  indiscreet,  however  sincere,  zeal 
in  what  they  called  the  cause  of  Christ,  of  two  or 
three  superserviceable  ministers  and  candidates, 
who  wished  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  congregation,  and 
separate  meetings  were  held  for  a  time,  and 
even  a  small  building  erected,  which  was  j^ut 
into  connection  with  the  German  Reformed 
Church ;  but  the  Presbyterians  gradually  return- 
ed, and  no  effort  was  made,  or  probably  design- 
ed, to  produce  a  schism.  Mr.  Smith,  however, 
in  August,  1828,  requested  a  dissolution  of  the 
pastoral  relatiou,  which  was  granted  by  the  Pres- 
bytery, and  in  February  of  the  next  year  he  was 
detacbed  from  that  body  and  took  charge  of  a 
Congregational  Church  in  Exeter,  ]N"ew-Hamp- 
shire.  He  has  since  exercised  his  ministry  in 
Stamford  and  other  towns  of  Connecticut,  and 
larsre  numbers  have  become  united  with  the 
churches    he    has   served.      "While   resident   in 


39^)  Societies. 


Trenton.  Mr.  Smitli  was  married  to  a  dauofliter 
of  the  late  Aaron  D.  Woodruff,  Attorney  Gen- 
eral of  tlie  State. 


NOTES, 
I. 

Durinsj  Dr.  How's  residence  in  Trenton  several  useful 
public  enterprises  were  undertaken,  in  wliicii  he,  together 
with  the  other  ministers  of  the  town,  participated.  In 
January,  1817,  he  was  of  the  committee  (with  Colonels 
Beatty,  Bayard,  and  Frelinghuysen,  and  Mr.  Wm.  Coxe) 
to  prepare  a  constitution  for  the  ]*^ew-Jersey  Colonization 
Society,  then  formed.  In  1820,  the  Presbyterian  and 
Episcopal  clergymen  were  associated  with  Samuel  L. 
Southard,  George  Sherman,  Charles  Ewing,  and  other 
philanthropic  citizens,  in  encouraging  the  institution 
of  a  Savings  Bank.  The  same  persons  were  active  in 
founding  the  Apj^rentices'  Library  in  April,  1821,  and 
Mr.  Ewing  delivered  a  discourse  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church  on  the  last  day  of  that  year,  in  view  of  the  open- 
ing of  the  Library  on  the  following  day.  In  1816  "  The 
Female  Tract  Society  of  Trenton"  began  the  useful  minis- 
try which  it  still  continues.  In  1822  the  ladies  of  the  con- 
gregation formed  a  "  Missionary  and  Education  Society," 
which  met  once  a  fortnight  to  provide  clothing  for  theolo- 
gical students  and  for  children  at  mission  stations. 
Whilst  the  work  of  the  hands  was  going  on,  one  of  the 


Aaron  D.  Woodruff.  397 

ladies  read  missionary  intelligence.  Two  associations  for 
the  circulation  of  the  Scriptures  were  formed  in  1824  ;  in 
May  "  The  Aj^prentices'  Bible  Society,"  of  which  Wm. 
P.  Sherman  was  Secretary,  and  in  August  "  The  Bible 
Society  of  Delaware  Falls,  Auxiliary  to  the  American 
Bible  Society."  The  latter  was  organized  in  the  State 
House,  and  among  the  speakers  were  the  late  Rev.  Dr. 
JVIilnor,  of  New- York,  and  "  Mr.  Bethune,  a  theological 
student." 

On  the  twenty-fourth  June,  1817,  died  Aaron  Dickin- 
son Woodruff,  who  had  been  a  Trustee  from  May  4, 
1789.  He  was  born  September  12,  1762;  delivered  the 
Valedictory  at  the  Princeton  Commencement  of  1779; 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  1784  ;  was  made  Attorney  Gen- 
eral of  the  State  in  1793,  and  annually  reelected,  except 
in  1811,  until  his  death.  He  also  served  in  the  Legisla- 
ture, and  was  influential  in  having  Trenton  selected  for 
the  State  capital.  He  was  buried  in  the  Trenton  church- 
yard, where  his  epitaph  records  that, 

"  For  twenty-four  years  he  filled  the  important  station 
of  Attorney-General  with  incorruptible  integrity.  Ad- 
verse to  legal  subtleties,  his  professional  knowledge  was 
exerted  in  the  cause  of  truth  and  justice.  The  native  be- 
nevolence of  his  heart  made  him  a  patron  of  the  poor,  a 
defender  of  the  fatherless  ;  it  exulted  in  the  joys,  or  par- 
ticipated in  the  sorrows  of  his  friends." 

Mr.  Woodruff's  successor  was  Samuel  L.  Soutkaed, 
who  signed  the  triple  oath  required  by  the  charter,  (of 
allegiance  to  the  State,  to  the  United  States,  and  of  fideli- 

32 


398  Lucius  H.  Stockton. 


ty  as  a  trustee,)  May  11,  1818.  Until  called  from  Tren- 
ton, in  1823,  to  the  cabinet  of  President  Monroe,  he  was 
one  of  the  most  punctual  and  active  officers  of  the  congre- 
gation. He  was  a  Manager  and  Vice-President  of  the 
"  Education  Society  of  the  Presbytery  of  Xew-Bruns- 
wick,"  formed  in  1819,  and  a  Vice-President  in  the  Board 
of  Trustees  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton. 
Mr.  Southard's  public  life  as  Legislator,  Judge,  Attorney- 
General,  and  Governor  in  his  own  State,  and  as  Senator, 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  President  of  the  Senate  at 
Washington,  needs  no  record  here.  He  died  in  Frede- 
ricksburg, A^irginia,  June  26,  1842,  at  the  age  of  fifty-five. 
The  name  of  Lucius  Horatio  Stockto:n^  having  occur- 
red in  this  chapter,  it  deserves  commemoration  as  that  of 
a  prominent  member  of  the  congregation  and  church. 
He  was  a  son  of  Richard  Stockton,  the  signer  of  the  De- 
claration of  Independence,  and  a  nephew  of  Ehas  Boudi- 
not.  Mr.  L.  H.  Stockton  was  for  some  time  District -At- 
torney of  Xew-Jersey,  and  his  nomination  to  be  Secretary 
of  War,  within  a  few  weeks  (Jan.  1801)  of  the  close  of 
the  administration  of  President  Adams,  was  one  of  the 
causes  of  umbrage  to  Mr.  Jefferson.  He  died  at  Trenton, 
May  26,  1835.  Mr.  Stockton  was  eccentric,  and  a  very 
earnest  politician,  but  did  not  deserve  to  be  called  "  a 
crazy,  fanatical  young  man,"  as  Wolcott  wrote.*  In  a 
long  series  of  articles  in  the  Trenton  Federalist  of  1803, 

*  Gibbs's  Federal  Administrations,  ii.  468.  In  Mr.  Jeremiah  Evarts's 
journal,  of  April  18,  1827,  he  mentions  a  meeting  in  the  Theological  Sem- 
inary at  Princeton  on  the  subject  of  Foreign  Missions,  when  Dr.  Alex- 
ander "  was  followed  by  Mr.  Stockton,  a  lawyer  of  TrentoD,  -who  spoke 
with  great  feeling."     {Ti-acy's  Life  of  Evarts.) 


Samuel  W.  Stockton.  399 


Mr.  L.  H.  Stockton  defends  himself  and  his  deceased  uncle, 
Samuel  Witham  Stocktois^,  from  attacks  in  the  Demo- 
cratic True  American.  Mr.  S.  W.  Stockton  went  to 
Europe  in  1774,  and  was  Secretary  of  the  American  Com. 
mission  to  the  courts  of  Austria  and  Prussia.  He  nego- 
tiated a  treaty  with  Holland,  and  returned  to  Kew-Jersey 
in  1779,  where  he  held  various  public  offices.  In  1792  he 
was  an  Alderman  of  Trenton  ;  in  1794  Secretary  of  State  ; 
and  his  monument  in  our  church-yard  records  that  he 
died  June  27,  1795,  (in  his  forty-third  year,)  in  conse- 
quence of  being  "  thrown  from  his  chaise."*  The  Rev. 
James  F.  Armstrong,  who  was  "  long  on  the  most  friendly 
and  intimate  terms  with  him,"  preached  at  his  funeral  from 
1  Sam.  20  :  3. 

While  Dr.  How  was  pastor  another  of  the  prominent 
citizens  of  Trenton  and  members  of  this  church  was  re- 
moved by  death.  Samuel  Leake  was  born  in  Cumber- 
land county,  Nov.  2,  1747.  He  received  his  prej^aratory 
training  in  the  two  celebrated  schools  of  Fagg's  Manor 
and  Pequea.  The  Rev.  John  Blair,  Dr.  R.  Smith,  and 
Enoch  Green  gave  him  certificates,  1767-9,  of  proficiency 
in  different  branches,  and  of  his  high  religious  charac- 
ter. After  teaching  three  years  in  iSTewcastle,  he  received 
(May  1772)  testimonials  from  Thomas  McKean  and  George 
Read,  (two  of  the  three  Delaware  signers  of  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,)  George   Monro,  John  Thompson, 

*  Not  many  steps  from  this  monument  are  those  of  two  brothers, 
(Douglass  and  Philip  P.  Howell,)  on  one  of  which  it  is  said  that  the  de- 
ceased "lost  his  life  by  a  fall  from  his  horse,"  (1801,)  and  on  the  other 
that  the  deceased  was  "thrown  from  hid  gig,  and  died  in  a  few  minutes," 
(1833.) 


400  Samuel  Leake. 


and  the  Rev.  Joseph  Montgomery.  He  then  entered 
Princeton  College,  and  took  his  Bachelor's  degree  in 
September,  1774.  In  the  following  March  President 
Withers230on  gave  a  written  certificate  of  his  qualifications 
to  teach  Greek,  Latin,  and  mathematics,  to  which  he  ap- 
pended :  "  I  must  also  add  that  he  gave  particular  atten- 
tion to  the  English  language  while  here,  and  is  probably 
better  acquainted  with  its  structure,  propriety,  and  force 
than  most  of  his  years  and  standing  in  this  country." 

Mr.  Leak,  however,  did  not  resume  the  employment  of 
teaching,  but  entered  upon  the  study  of  the  law,  first  with 
Richard  Howell,  Esq.,  afterwards  Governor  of  the  State, 
and  then  with  Charles  Pettit,  Esq.,  of  Burlington,  and 
with  their  certificates,  and  that  of  Thomas  McKean,  (af- 
terwards Governor  of  Pennsylvania,)  he  was  licensed  as  an 
attorney  in  November,  1776.  He  began  practice  in  Salem, 
but  in  October,  1785,  removed  to  Trenton,  where  he  pur- 
sued his  profession  so  successfully  as  to  be  able  to  retire 
before  he  was  enfeebled  by  age.  He  paid  unusual  atten- 
tion to  the  students  in  his  oflice ;  regularly  devoting  one 
hour  every  day  to  their  examination.  I  have  before  me 
an  example  of  his  systematic  ways,  in  a  document  engross- 
ed in  a  large  hand,  beginning  thus : 

"  I.  Be  it  remembered  that  Samuel  Leake,  on  Sunday, 
the  thirteenth  day  of  October,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  eleven,  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Trenton,  received  the  Lord's  Supper ;  James 
F.  Armstrong  then  being  mmister  of  the  Gospel,  and  ad- 
ministering the  Supper  in  that  church." 


Epitaph.  401 


Entries  in  the  same  form,  with  the  proper  dates,  follow 
as  to  each  of  the  semi-annual  communions  until  October  1, 
1815,  when  the  record  is  that,  "Dr.  Miller  preached  the 
Action  Sermon  ;  Dr.  Alexander  administered  the  ordiance, 
Mr.  Armstrong  was  sick  and  absent."  The  paper  con- 
tinues to  make  a  formal  register  of  each  attendance  at  the 
Lord's  supper  until  it  closes  with  that  on  January  2, 1820, 
two  months  before  his  decease.  He  prepared  similar  docu- 
ments for  each  of  his  daughters  as  they  became  communi- 
cants. Mr.  Leake  died  on  the  eighth  of  March,  1820,  in 
his  seventy-third  year.  The  Supreme  Court  being  in  ses- 
sion at  the  time,  the  bar  not  only  resolved  to  attend  the 
funeral,  but  recommended  to  their  brethren  throughout 
the  State  to  wear  the  customary  badge  of  respect.  His 
epitaph  is  as  follows  : 

"Sacred  to  the  memory  of  Samuel  Leake,  Esquire, 
Sergeant  at  Law.  Died  eighth  March,  A.D.  1820.  A.E. 
V2.  Educated  to  the  Bar  he  attained  the  highest  degree 
of  eminence ;  Distinguished  for  candor,  integrity,  zeal 
for  his  chents,  and  profound  knowledge  of  jurisprudence, 
he  fulfilled  the  duties  of  his  station  with  singular  useful- 
ness, '  without  fear  and  without  reproach.'  Deeply  versed 
in  human  literature,  and  devoutly  studious  of  the  words 
of  sacred  truth  ;  he  lived  the  life  of  a  Christian,  and  died 
the  death  of  the  righteous." 


II. 

In  the  term  of  Dr.  Armstronof's  ministrv  the  session  and 
church  were  painfully  concerned  with   a  public  affair  in 

32* 


402  Gordon — Hayden. 


which  one  of  their  members  was  implicated.  Peter  Gor- 
Dox,  Esq.,  (who  was  elected  an  elder  in  March,  1797,  and 
a  Trustee  in  September,  1804,)  after  eighteen  years'  tenure 
of  the  office  of  State  Treasurer,  was  found  to  be  in  default. 
While  the  matter  was  in  course  of  investigation  by  the 
Legislature  (1821-2)  Mr.  Gordon  voluntarily  withdrew 
from  the  communion,  and  from  his  place  in  the  session, 
but  was  restored  in  June,  1825,  and  the  next  month  took 
a  certificate  of  dismission  to  New-York. 


III. 

During  the  time  of  the  Rev.  John  Smith,  two  of  the 
elders  of  the  church  died. 

Benjamin  Hayden  was  in  the  session  in  September, 
1806 — how  long  previously  to  that  date  can  not  be  ascer- 
tained. He  was  also  a  Trustee  from  September,  1811,  tiU 
his  death,  which  took  place  February  28,  1827,  in  his 
seventy-fourth  year.  This  venerable  and  excellent  man 
left  a  son  of  the  same  name,  who  died  a  member  of  this 
church,  April  11,  1858,  in  his  eighty-fifth  year. 

John  Beatty  was  a  son  of  the  Rev.  Charles  Beatty,  the 
successor  of  Wm.  Tennent,  at  Neshamony.  His  mother 
was  a  daughter  of  Governor  Reading,  and  his  grand- 
mother was  of  the  family  of  Clinton,  so  distinguished  in 
the  history  of  New-York.  Mr.  Beatty  was  a  native  of 
Bucks  county;  graduated  at  Princeton  1769;  was  educated 
in  medicine  under  Dr.  Rush,  but  entered  the  army  of  the 
Revolution,  where  he  soon  became  a  Lieutenant  Colonel. 
He  was  among  the  captured  at  Fort  Washington,  on  the 
Hudson,  and  afterwards  rose  to  the  rank  of  Major,  and 


General  Beatty.  403 


was  Commissary  General  of  prisoners.*  After  the 
peace  he  practised  medicine  in  Princeton,  and  was  Secre- 
tary of  the  New- Jersey  Medical  Society;  but  in  1783  and 
other  years  was  in  Congress;  in  1789  was  Speaker  of  the 
State  Assembly;  and  from  1795  to  1805  was  Secretary  of 
State.  From  May,  1815,  until  his  death,  he  was  Presi- 
dent of  the  Trenton  Banking  Company.  He  was  Presi- 
dent of  the  company  which  built  the  noble  bridge  that 
unites  Trenton  to  his  native  county  in  Pennsylvania.! 
General  Beatty  was  a  Trustee  of  the  church  from  1799  to 
1804,  and  again  from  1822  till  his  death.  He  was  received 
to  the  communion  May,  1808;  ordained  to  the  eldership 
September,  1817,  at  the  same  time  with  James  Ewing. 
Robert  McISTeely,  and  Joshua  Anderson.  Chief  Justice 
Ewing  wrote  his  epitaph  : 

"  Sacred  to  the  memory  of  General  John  Beatty ;  born 

*  Major  Beatty  is  mentioned  by  "Washington  in  a  letter  of  May,  1*788, 
and  there  are  letters  from  the  Commander  in  Chief  to  him,  of  1779,  in 
Sparks's  Writings  of  Washington^  v.  393,  vi.  295,  351. 

f  The  foundation  stone  of  the  first  pier  was  laid  by  General  Beatty, 
May  21,  1804,  and  on  the  thirtieth  January,  1806,  the  completion  of  the 
bridge  was  formally  celebrated  with  a  procession,  an  address  by  the 
President,  and  a  dinner.  The  Duke  of  Saxe-Weimar  (1825)  was  "  sorry 
for  the  great  hurry"  in  which  he  had  to  take  the  boat  for  Philadelphia, 
"  because  I  should  have  liked  to  have  examined  Trenton;  it  is  a  very 
handsome  place.  .  .  .  There  is,  moreover,  at  Trenton  a  remarkable  bridge 
crossing  the  Delaware.  It  consists  of  five  great  suspended  wooden 
arches,  which  rest  upon  two  stone  abutments  and  three  stone  piers.  The 
difference  between  this  bridge  and  others  consists  in  this,  that  in  com- 
mon bridges  the  road  runs  over  the  tangent,  but  in  this  bridge  the 
roads  form  the  segment  of  the  arch."  (Travels  through  North-America^ 
vol.  i.  136.) 


404  Summerfield. 


December  10,  1749  :  died  May  30,  1826.  Educated  as  a 
physician,  he  became  early  distinguished  for  benevolence, 
assiduity,  and  skill.  In  the  war  of  Independence,  in  im- 
portant military  stations,  he  faithfully  served  his  country. 
By  the  public  A^oice  he  was  called  to  the  discharge  of  emi- 
nent ci\dl  offices.  In  the  State  and  national  Legislatures 
repeatedly  a  representative,  always  active  and  influential. 
For  many  years  a  ruling  elder  of  this  church.  In  every 
walk  of  life  amiable,  honorable,  and  useful.  He  crowned 
the  virtues  of  the  man,  the  patriotism  of  the  soldier,  and 
the  sagacity  of  the  statesman  by  the  pure  piety  and  sin- 
cere relio'ion  of  the  devout  and  humble  Christian." 

Colonel  Erkuries  Beatty,  of  Princeton,  was  a  brother  of 
Gen.  Beatty,  and  father  of  C.  C.  Beatty,  D.D.,  of  Steu- 
benviile. 

IV. 

In  the  summer  of  1821  the  Rev.  John  Summerfield,  the 
English  Methodist  preacher  whose  visit  to  this  country 
produced  an  impression  still  vividly  retained  by  many  of 
his  hearers,  passed  a  few  days  in  Trenton,  and  occupied 
the  Presbyterian  pulpit  for  two  successive  evenings.  Ab- 
stracts of  both  his  sermons  are  given  by  his  latest  biogra- 
pher, who  was  one  of  the  large  audience  that  crowded  the 
church.  He  says  :  ''  Mr.  Summerfield  received  the  most 
marked  attention  from  every  class  during  his  brief  stay  in 
Trenton ;  and  though  suffering  all  the  while  from  sickness, 
(for  he  was  attacked  the  day  after  his  arrival,)  he  strove  to 
entertain  and  edify  the  various  company  that  sought  his 
society."  "^  Neio  Life  of  S>ummerfield^  by  WilUam  W. 
Willett."     Philadelphia,  1857. 


James  Ewing.  405 


The  most  notable  public  event  of  1824  was  the  visit  of 
General  Lafayette  to  the  United  States.  In  his  tour  he  ar- 
rived in  Trenton  on  Saturday,  the  twenty-fifth  of  Sep- 
tember. Next  morning  he  attended  public  worship  in  our 
church  ;  afterwards*  he  visited  Joseph  Bonaparte  at  Bor- 
dentown,  and  returned  to  spend  the  night.  He  break- 
fasted here  again  July  16,  1825. 

President  Monroe,  (who  was  wounded  in  the  battle  of 
Trenton,)  on  his  tour  of  1817,  arrived  here  on  Saturday, 
June  seventh,  and  attended  worship  the  next  day  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church. 

V. 

James  Ewing,  father  of  the  Chief  Justice,  and  the  tenth 
child  of  Thomas  and  Mary  Ewing,  (p.  363,)  first  came  to 
Trenton  as  a  representative  of  Cumberland  county,  in  the 
Legislature  in  1774,  and  removed  his  residence  there  in 
1779.  He  was  afterwards,  under  Congress,  Auditor  of 
Public  Accounts,  Commissioner  of  the  Continental  Loan 
Office  for  N"ew-Jersey,  and  Agent  for  Pensions.  He  was 
Mayor  of  Trenton,  1797-1803.  For  some  years  he  was  a 
partner  of  Isaac  Collins  (p.  328)  in  merchandise,  and  there 
is  a  letter  of  condolence  from  him  to  Mr.  Collins,  on  the 
death  of  his  wife,  in  the  Memoir  of  Mr.  C.  He  was  one 
of  the  founders  of  the  Library  and  the  Academy.  He 
was  a  corporator,  commissioner,  and  secretary  of  the 
Society  incorporated  March  15,  1796,  to  make  the  Assan- 
pink  navigable  from  the  "  Trenton  Mills  "  to  *'  the  place 
where  it  intersects  the  stage  road  from  Burlington  to 

*  "  Apres  I'office  divin  que  nous  entendimes  dans  I'eglise  Presbyte- 
rienne."    Levassmfs  Lafayeiie  en  VAmerique. 


4o6  Jofeph  Lancafter. 


Amboy ;"  and  doubtless  was  in  the  company  wbo  on  the 
third  February,  1797,  descended  the  creek  in  the  boat 
Ho23e,  from  ''  Davidstown,"  where  the  upper  lock  was 
situated,  to  Trenton,  in  three  hours,  and  so  opened  one 
half  of  the  proposed  line  of  navigation.*  Mr.  Ewing  was 
elected  a  Trustee  of  the  church  September  5,  1808,  and 
ordained  an  elder  September  21,  1817.  He  continued  in 
both  offices  until  his  death,  which  took  place  October  23, 
1823.  In  accordance  with  his  known  objections  to  the 
practice,  no  stone  was  placed  to  mark  the  spot  of  his  in- 
terment, which  was  in  our  church-vard. 

VI. 

It  may  be  placed  among  the  miscellaneous  items  of 
1828,  that  on  the  fourteenth  July  the  church  was  struck 
with  lightning ;  but  the  conductor  answered  its  purpose 
so  well  that  no  mischief  was  done  beyond  the  shattering 
of  a  few  panes  of  glass. 

In  October,  1827,  the  celebrated  Joseph  Lancaster 
established  his  residence  here,  and  opened  a  school.  In 
the  next  year  a  girls'  school  was  taught  by  Mrs.  Lancas- 
ter. For  a  quarter  the  public  schools  were  under  their 
joint  direction.  Their  contract  was  to  teach  eighty  child- 
ren for  one  year,  and  supply  books  and  stationery,  for  two 
hundred  and  seventy-fiye  dollars. 

In  October,  1828,  the  Synod,  meeting  in  Trenton,  unit- 
ed in  a  general  convention,  which  assembled  in  the  church, 

^  It  may  have  been  a  revival  of  this  scheme  that  was  contemplated  in 
November,  1814,  when  a  public  meeting  was  called  to  form  an  associa- 
tion "  to  supply  the  town  with  fire-wood  by  water." 


Mrs.  Mary  Dunbar.  407 


Chief  Justice  Kirkpatrick  presiding,  and  the  present  Chief 
Justice  Green  being  Secretary.  A  project  for  raising  forty 
thousand  dollars  in  two  years,  for  erecting  school-houses 
and  supplying  teachers  and  missionaries  through  the 
State,  was  recommended,  as  were  also  the  objects  of  the 
"  General  Sabbath  Union,"  the  American  Temperance 
Society,  and  the  Sunday-school  enterprise.  In  Novem- 
ber, 1817,  a  convention  met  at  Trenton  and  formed  a  State 
Society  for  the  supjjression  of  vice  and  the  promotion  of 
good  morals,  principally  by  aiding  the  civil  authorities  in 
executing  the  laws,  and  by  diffusing  a  knowledge  of  the . 
statutes  and  their  penalties. 

immjr:m^ — 

VII. 

Copy  of  an  inscription  on  a  stone  in  the  pavement  of 
the  church-porch  : 

"  To  2^erpetuate  the  memory  and  the  modest  worth  of 
Mrs.  Mart  Du^stbar,  this  marble  is  placed  over  her  grave, 
a  tribute  of  the  grateful  and  affectionate  remembrance  of 
her  pupils,  whom  for  three  successive  generations  as  school- 
mistress she  had  taught  in  this  city.  Ever  attentive  to 
the  pious  nurture  of  her  pupils  in  private,  and  to  the  du- 
ties of  religion  in  public,  she  closed  an  exemplary  and 
useful  life,  December  9,  A.D.  1808  :  aged  1Q  years." 


James  W.    Alexander,  D.D. — John  W.  Yeo- 
MANS,  D.D. — John  Hall,  D.D. 

1829—1859. 

The  successor  of  Mr.  Smith  was  the  Rev. 
James  Waddel  Alexander  ;  who  graduated  at 
the  Princeton  College  in  1820 ;  entered  the 
Seminary  1821 ;  was  licensed  1825  ;  installed  at 
Charlotte  Court  House,  Virginia,  1827,  and  over 
the  Trenton  Church,  February  11,  1829.  On 
the  last  occasion  Dr.  A.  Alexander  presided.  Dr. 
Miller  preached,  (Matt.  4:19,)  Kev.  Eli  F.  Cooley 
and  Henry  Perkins  gave  the  charges. 

The  services  of  this  pastorship  began  January 
10,  1829,  and  terminated,  October  31,  1832  ; 
during  which  period  iifty-one  new  communicants 
were  received,  and  thirty  others  on  certificate. 
Dr.  Alexander  having  complied  with  a  request 
which  I  made  of  all  the  ex-pastors  surviving  at 
the  time  of  preparing  this  volume,  for  such  remi- 
niscences of  their  residence  here  as  would  come 


Dr.  Alexander's  Letter.  409 


witliin  the  scope  of  my  work,  I  gladly  incorporate 
his  letter  in  this  stage  of  the  narrative.^^ 

"I^EW-YoRK,  February  10,  1859. 

"  My  Dear  Friexd  :  Tlie  retrospect  of  my  ministe- 
rial life  brings  to  view  so  many  defects,  and  such  unfruit- 
fulness,  that  I  have  never  been  able  to  take  pleasure  in 
numbering  up  sermons  preached,  visits  made,  and  mem- 
bers added ;  nor  have  I  any  anniversary  or  autobiographi- 
cal discourses  to  which  I  could  refer.  At  your  request, 
however,  I  can  not  refuse  to  give  you  a  few  reminiscences 
of  my  connection  with  the  church  of  which  you  are  the 
pastor. 

"A  great  intimacy  subsisted  between  my  father  and  our 
predecessor,  the  Rev.  James  F.  Armstkoxg,  and  the 
friendship  between  their  respective  descendants  continues 
to  this  day.  Mr.  Armstrong  had  been  the  friend  of  With- 
er spoon,  Smith,  and  KoUock.  He  was  laid  aside  from 
preaching,  by  a  disabling  and  distressing  rheumatism,  be- 
fore I  ever  entered  his  delightful  and  hospitable  house — 
rich  in  good  books,  good  talk,  and  good  cheer — where  old 

*  The  ruling  elders  during  Mr.  Alexander's  term  were :  1.  Nathaniel 
BURROWES ;  first  an  elder  in  Pennington,  and  received  into  the  Trenton 
session  December  24,  1815,  His  monument  is  inscribed  :  "  A  memorial 
of  Nathaniel  Burrowes,  who  died  January  29,  1839,  aged  seventy-one 
years.  An  elder  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  for  forty  years."  2.  Egbert 
McNeely,  who  came  to  Trenton  in  1791,  was  ordained  to  the  elder- 
ship 1817;  died  January  27,  1852,  in  his  eighty-fifth  year.  He  was  for 
eighteen  successive  years  annually  elected  Mayor  of  Trenton.  3.  John 
VoORHEES,  who  is  mentioned  in  the  preceding  chapter.  4,  Samuel 
Brearley,  elected  with  Mr.  A^oorhees  in  1829,  and  died  May  27,  1848- 

33 


4io  Reminiscences. 


and  young  were  alike  made  welcome  and  happy.  Bat 
this  brought  me  acquainted  with  Trenton,  with  that  fami- 
ly, and  especially  with  Chief  Justice  Ewixg,  by  whose 
means  and  influence,  more  than  any  other,  I  was  after- 
wards led  to  settlement  among  them.  The  family  of  Mr., 
afterwards  Judge,  Ewing,  was  the  home  of  my  childhood 
and  youth ;  vvhich  led  that  distinguished  and  excellent 
man  to  look  upon  my  early  performances  in  the  pulpit 
with  undue  partiality.  By  him,  and  by»the  late  General 
Samuel  R.  Hamilto^s^,  who  was  a  Princeton  man,  my 
name  was  broug-ht  before  the  con o;r eolation,  and  I  was  in- 
stalled  as  their  pastor,  by  a  committee  of  Presbytery,  on 
the  eleventh  day  of  February,  1829.  I  had,  however,  be- 
gun my  labors  with  them  on  the  tenth  of  January,  when  I 
preached  from  1  Cor.  11  :  28.  My  strictly  pastoral  labors 
ended  on  the  last  day  of  October,  1832,  when  I  preached 
from  Ezekiel  16  :  61,  62  ;  though  I  continued  to  supply 
the  pulpit  until  the  end  of  the  year.  My  term  of  settle- 
ment may  therefore  be  called  four  years.  The  records 
of  the  Church-session  will  show  the  number  of  accessions 
to  the  communion  of  the  church  ;  these  were  few.  There 
was  nothing  like  a  revival  of  religion  during  my  contin- 
uance with  them,  and  it  was  cause  of  painful  thought 
to  me  that  my  labors  were  so  little  owned  to  the  awaken- 
ing of  sinners.  IsTeither  am  I  aware  that  there  was  any 
remarkable  addition  to  the  number  of  hearers.  But  the 
people  were  forbearing  and  affectionate  towards  their 
young  and  inexperienced  minister,  who  for  most  of  the 
time  was  feeble  in  health,  and  was  subjected,  as  you  know, 
to  some  unusual  afflictions  in  regard  to  his  early  children. 
"  In  those  days  we  worshipped  in  the  old  church,  which 


Elders.  411 


was  sufficiently  capacious,  with  one  of  the  old-time  high 
pulpits.  The  congregation  had  been  trained  to  habits  of 
remarkable  punctuality  and  attention.  Notwithstanding 
some  inroads  of  new  measures  during  the  previous  period, 
under  the  labors  of  a  so-called  Evangelist,  the  church  was 
as  sound  and  staid  a  Presbyterian  body  as  I  have  ever 
seen.  It  comprised  some  excellent  and  experienced 
Christians,  and  among  these  the  valued  elders  whose 
names  you  have  recorded.  Good  Mr.  Mcl^eely  was  slow 
but  sure ;  an  upright  man,  of  more  kindness  than  appear- 
ed at  first ;  of  little  vivacity,  and  no  leaning  towards  risks 
or  innovation.  Mr.  Voorhees  and  Mr.  Samuel  Brearlcy 
came  later  into  the  session  ;  both,  in  my  judgment,  judi- 
cious and  godly  men.  Mrs.  Armstroxg,  the  venerable 
relict  of  the  pastor  first  named,  does  not  belong  particu- 
larly to  my  part  of  the  narrative,  except  that  she  chose  to 
treat  me  with  the  regard  of  a  mother  for  a  son.  She  was 
then  in  health  and  strength,  and  lived  to  exhibit  a  digni- 
fied, serene,  and  beautiful  old  age.  Having  come  of  a 
distinguished  family,  the  Livingstons  of  ISTew-Tork,  she 
never  ceased  to  gather  around  her  fireside  some  of  the 
most  elegant  and  cultivated  society.  Her  conversation, 
though  quiet,  was  instructive,  turning  often  upon  the 
heroes  of  the  Revolution.  She  was,  I  think,  at  Princeton 
during  the  battle ;  indeed  she  was  a  native  of  that  town. 
From  that  excellent  family  I  received  support  and  encour- 
agement of  the  most  useful  and  delicate  kind,  during  a  time 
of  manifold  trials.  My  term  of  seiwice  was  marked  by  no 
striking  external  events,  no  great  enlargement,  excitement, 
or  disaster.    The  longsuffering  of  God  was  great  towards  a 


412  James  Pollock. 


timid  and  often  disheartened  servant,  who  remembers  the 
period  with  mingled  thankfulness  and  humiliation. 

"  At  this  time  the  Trenton  church  contained  some  ex- 
cellent specimens  of  solid,  instructed,  old  school  Presby- 
terianism.  I  shall  never  forget  the  lessons  which  it  was 
my  privilege  to  receive  from  aged  and  experienced  Christ- 
ians, who  must  often  have  looked  with  wonder  and  pity 
on  the  young  minister  who  undertook  the  responsible  task 
of  guiding  them.  The  dying  scenes  which  a  pastor  be- 
holds in  his  early  years  make  a  deep  impression  ;  and  I 
recall  some  which  were  very  edifying,  and  which  attested 
the  power  of  the  doctrines  which  had  been  inculcated. 
Among  my  most  valued  parishioners  was  a  man  in  humble 
life,  who  has  lately  gone  to  his  rest,  I  mean  James  Pol- 
lock. At  a  later  day  he  was  most  wisely  made  an  elder. 
At  that  time  he  lived  in  a  small  house  on  Mill  Hill,  and 
worked  as  a  dyer  in  one  of  the  woollen-factories  on  the 
Assanpink.  His  figure  was  somewhat  bent,  and  his  hands 
were  always  blue,  from  the  colors  used  in  his  trade.  But 
his  eye  was  piercing  and  eloquent ;  his  countenance  would 
shine  like  a  lantern  from  the  light  within  ;  and  the  flame 
of  his  strong  and  impassioned  thought  made  his  discourse 
as  interesting  as  I  ever  heard  from  any  man.  He  had  the 
texts  of  Scripture,  as  many  Scotchmen  have,  at  his  finger" 
ends,  and  could  adduce  and  apply  passages  in  a  most  un- 
expected manner. _  The  great  Scottish  writers  were  fami- 
liar to  him.  I  think  his  favorite  uninspired  volume  was 
Rutherford's  "  Christ  Dying  and  Drawing  Sinners  to 
Himself."  I  lent  him  CaMn's  Institutes,  which  he  re- 
turned with  expressions  of  high  admiration  for  3Ir.  Caul- 


Pollock.  413 


vin.     His  acquaintance  with  the  reformation  history  of 
his  native  land,  in  both  its  great  periods,  was  remarkable, 
being   such   as  would   have  done  credit  to  any  learned 
clergyman.     Unlike  many  who  resembled  him  in  attain- 
ment, Mr.  Pollock  was  inwardly  and  deeply  affected  by 
the  truths  which  he  knew.     His  speech  was  alu^ays  sea- 
soned with  salt,   and  I  deemed  it  a  means  of  grace  to 
listen  to  his  ardent  and  continuous  discourse.     He  was 
certainly  a  great  talker,  but  without  assumption  or  any 
wearying  of  competent  hearers.     His  dialect  was  broad, 
w^est-country  Scotch,  for  he  was  from  Beith,  in  Ayrshire; 
and  while  I  was  resident  his  sense  of  the  peculiarity  kept 
him  from  praying  in  the  meetings,  though  none  could 
otherwise  have  been  more  acceptable.     Having  from  my 
childhood  been  used  to  Scotch  Presbyterians,  and  know- 
ino-  how  some  of  the  narrower  amoncj  them  will  stickle  for 
every  pin  of  the  covenanted  tabernacle,  and  every  shred 
and  token,  as  if  ordained  in  the   decalogue,  I  was  both 
surprised  and  delighted  to  observe  how  large-minded  Mr. 
Pollock  was,  in  respect  to  every  improvement,  however 
diiferent  from  the  ways  of  his  youth.     I  have  witnessed 
his  faith  during  grievous  illnesses,  and  I  rejoice  to  know 
that  he  was  enabled  to  give  a  clear  dying  testimony  for 
the  Redeemer  whom  he  loved.     Such  are  the  men  who 
are  the  glory  of  our  Presbyterian  churches. 

"  During  the  term  of  my  incumbency  it  is  remarkable 
that  the  two  persons  who  had  most  influence  in  congre- 
gational aftairs  were  not  communicants,  though  they  were 
closely  connected  with  all  that  occurred  in  the  church ; 
these  were  Chief  Justice  Ewixg  and  Mr.  Southard,  after- 
wards Secretary  of  the  [N'avy.     It  deserves  to  be  noted, 

OtJ 


4H  Chief-Juftice  Ewing. 


among  the  traits  of  a  Presbyteriauism  which  is  passing 
away,  that  Judge  Ewing,  as  a  baptized  member  of  the 
chm'cli,  always  pleaded  his  rights,  and  once  in  a  public 
meeting  declared  himself  amenable  to  the  discipline  of 
chm-ch  courts.  (Discipline,  chajx  i.  §  6  page  456.)  There 
is  good  reason  to  believe  that  he  was  a  subject  of  renew- 
ing grace  long  before  his  last  illness  in  1832.  During  this 
brief  period  of  suffering  he  made  a  distinct  and  touching 
avowal  of  his  faith  in  Christ. 

"  Judge  Ewmg  is  justly  reckoned  among  the  greatest 
ornaments  of  the  Xew- Jersey  bar.     His  acquaintance  with 
his  own  department  of  knowledge  was  both  extensive  and 
profound,  closely  resembling  that  of  the  English  black- 
letter  lawyers,  who  at  this  moment  have  as  many  imita- 
tors at  the  IS^ew-Jersey  bar  as  any  where  in  America.     He 
was  eminently  conservative  in  Church  and  State  ;  punctu- 
al in  adherence  to  rule  and  precedent,  incapable  of  being 
led  into  any  vagaries,  sound  in  judgment,  tenacious  of 
opinion,  indefatigable  in  labor,  and  incorruptibly  honest 
and  honorable,  so  as  to  be  proverbially  cited  all  over  the 
State.      In  a  very  remarkable  degree  he  kept   himself 
abreast  of  the  general  hterature  of  the  day,  and  was  even 
lavish  in  regard  to  the  purchase  of  books.     He  was  a  truly 
elegant  gentleman,  of  the  old  school ;  an  instructive  and 
agreeable  companion,  and  a  hospitable  entertainer.     He 
deserves  to  be  named  in  any  record  of  the  church,  for  I 
am  persuaded  that  there  was  no  human  being  to  whom  its 
interests  were  more  dear.     As  the  warm  and  condescend- 
ing friend  of  my  boyhood  and  youth,  he  has  a  grateful 
tribute  from  my  revering  affection. 

"  In  one  particular  the  people  of  Trenton  were  more 


Dr.  F.  A.  Ewing.  415 


observant  of  our  Form  of  Government  (see  chap,  xxi.)  than 
is  common.  When  from  anv  cause  there  was  no  one  to 
preach,  the  service  was  nevertheless  carried  on  by  the 
elders,  according  to  the  book,  and  a  sermon  was  read. 
The  reader  on  these  occasions  was  always  Mr.  Ewing,  and 
the  discourse  which  he  selected  was  always  one  of  Wither- 
sj^oon's ;  the  choice  in  both  cases  being  significant.  I 
have  often  been  led  to  consider  how  much  better  this  is, 
for  instance  in  country  congregations,  than  the  rambling 
away  to  hear  some  ignorant  haranguer,  perhaps  of  an 
erroneous  sect,  or  the  listening  to  a  frothy  exhortation 
from  some  zealous  and  forward  brother,  without  gifts  and 
without  authority. 

"  The  name  of  Dr.  Feaxcis  A.  Ewixg,  son  of  the  Chief 
Justice,  naturally  occurs  to  our  thoughts  here.     Space  is 
not  allowed  for  that  extended  notice  which  mio-ht  else- 
where  be  proper,  for  the  Doctor's  was  a  character  well  de- 
serving close  study.     Though  a  professional  man  by  title, 
he  was  in  fact  and  of  choice  much  more  a  man  of  letters 
and  a  recluse  student  of  science.     His  attainments  were 
large  and  accurate,  though  made  in  an  irregular  way,  and 
though  he  never  seemed  to  others  to  be  studying  at  all. 
In  the  classical  languages,  in  French,  in  the  natural  scien- 
ces, and  in  all  that  concerns  elegant  literature  and  the  fine 
arts,  he  was  singularly  full  and  accurate.     In  matters  of 
taste  he  was  cultivated,  correct,  and  almost  fastidious. 
Music  was  his  delight,  and  he  was  equally  versed  in  the 
science  and  the  art.     It  was  after  the  term  of  my  pastor- 
ship that  he  developed  his  skill  as  an  organist,  but  at  a 
much  earlier  day  he  devoted  himself  for  years  to  the  gra- 
tuitous instruction  of  the  choir  ;  and  though  I  have  heard 


4i6  Samuel  L.  Southard. 


many  noted  precentors,  I  can  remember  none  who  had 
greater  power  of  adaptation  and  expression.  Though  his 
own  voice  was  slender  and  uninviting,  he  long  made  his 
influence  felt  in  rendering  all  that  was  musical  subservient 
to  the  spirit  of  worship. 

"  Dr.  Ewing  professed  his  foith  in  Christ  during  my 
years  of  ministry.  His  early  religious  exercises  were  very 
deep  and  searching,  and  the  change  of  his  affections  and 
purposes  was  marked.  He  had  peculiarities  of  tem- 
per and  habit  which  kept  him  much  aloof  from  general 
society,  and  thus  abridged  his  influence.  His  likes  and 
dislikes  were  strong,  and  if  he  had  more  readily  believed 
the  good  will  of  others  towards  himself,  he  would  have 
been  more  useful  and  more  happy.  I  should  sin  against 
truth  if  I  did  not  say  that  towards  me  he  was  for  forty 
years  a  warm,  forbearing,  tender,  and  at  times  most  effi- 
cient friend.  I  have  been  with  him  at  junctures  when  it 
was  impossible  not  to  detect,  through  all  his  extraordina- 
ry reserve,  the  workings  of  a  heart  agitated  and  swayed 
by  gracious  principle. 

"  Samuel  L.  Southaed  was  also  a  member  of  the  con- 
gregation, and  a  friend  of  all  that  promised  its  good. 
More  sprightly  and  versatile  than  Mr.  Ewing,  he  resembled 
a  tropical  tree  of  rapid  growth.  Few  men  ever  attained 
earlier  celebrity  in  Xew- Jersey.  This  perhaps  tended  to 
produce  a  certain  character  which  showed  itself  in  good- 
natured  egotism.  Mr.  Southard  was  a  man  of  genius  and 
eloquence,  who  made  great  impressions  on  a  first  inter- 
view, or  by  a  single  argument.  He  loved  society,  and 
shone  in  company.  His  entertainments  will  be  long  re- 
membered by  the  associates  of  his  youth.     It  is  not  my 


Elders.  417 


province  to  speak  of  his  great  efforts  at  the  bar ;  he  was 
always  named  after  Stockton,  Johnson,  and  Ewiug,  and 
with  Frehnghuysen,  Williamson,  Wood  and  their  coevals. 
Having  been  bred  under  the  discipline  of  Dr.  Finley,  at 
Baskingridge,  he  was  thoroughly  versed  in  Presbyterian 
doctrine  and  ways ;  loving  and  preferring  this  branch  of 
the  Church  to  the  day  of  his  death.  Defection  from  its 
ranks  gave  him  sincere  grief,  as  I  am  ready  more  largely 
to  attest,  if  need  be.  In  those  days  of  his  prime,  Mr. 
Southard  was  greatly  under  the  salutary  influence  of 
the  Chief  Justice,  who  was  his  Mentor  ;  I  think  he  felt 
the  loss  of  this  great  man  in  some  important  points.  So 
earnestly  and  even  tenderly  did  he  yield  himself  to  divine 
impressions,  that  his  friends  confidently  expected  that  he 
would  become  a  communicant.  During  this  period  he 
was  an  ardent  advocate  of  the  Temperance  Society,  then 
in  its  early  stage.  I  remember  attending  a  meeting  at 
Lawrenceville,  in  company  with  my  learned  friend,  the 
present  Chief  Justice,  where  Mr.  Southard,  following  Mr. 
Frelinghuysen,  made  an  impassioned  address  in  favor  of 
abstinence  and  the  pledge.  In  regard  to  religious  things, 
the  change  to  Washington  did  not  tend  to  increased 
solemnity  or  zeal.  I  have  been  informed  that  Mr.  South- 
ard felt  the  deep  impression  of  divine  truth  at  the  close 
of  his  days.  As  a  young  minister,  I  received  from  him 
the  affectionate  forbearance  of  an  elder  brother,  and  I 
shall  always  cherish  his  memory  with  love. 

"  Before  closing  this  hurried  letter  of  reminiscences,  let 
me  note  that  the  ruling  elders  during  my  day  were 
Robert  McISTeely,  Nathaniel  Burrowes,  John  Voorhees, 
and  Samuel  Brearley,  all  good  and  believing  men,  and  all 


41 8  The  Rices. 


gone  to  the  other  world.  The  Trustees  were  Messrs. 
Rose,  Chambers,  Ewing,  Burroughs,  and  Fish ;  of  whom 
likewise  all  are  gone,  except  my  esteemed  friends,  Messrs. 
Burroughs  and  Fish. 

"  Before  taking  my  pen  from  the  paper,  let  it  be  per- 
mitted to  me  to  give  expression  to  a  feeling  of  personal 
regard  to  the  late  Mrs.  Rice  and  her  family,  under  whose 
roof  my  years  of  early  ministry  in  Trenton  were  passed. 
She  was  a  woman  of  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit,  and  was 
honored  and  beloved,  during  a  long  life,  for  the  benignity 
of  her  temper  and  the  kindliness  of  her  words.  Juliette 
Rice,  her  daughter,  was  a  person  who  in  some  circum- 
stances would  have  become  distinguished.  To  sincere 
piety  she  added  more  than  usual  cultivation,  delicacy  of 
taste,  refinement  of  manners,  and  a  balance  of  good  quali- 
ties which  elevated  her  to  a  place  among  the  most  accom- 
plished and  even  the  exclusive.  Under  the  disadvantage  of 
a  deafness  almost  total,  and  a  pulmonary  disease  which 
slowly  wasted  her  away,  she  manifested  a  sweet,  uncom- 
plaining disposition,  and  a  steady  faith  in  Christ.  Amidst 
the  kindnesses  of  these  good  people  I  spent  the  first  months 
of  my  married  life,  and  welcomed  the  tender  mercies  of 
God  in  our  first-born  son,  long  since  taken  to  be  with  the 
Lord. 

"Thus  I  end  my  rambling  letter,  (which,  by-the-by,  is 
only  the  last  article  of  an  epistolary  series  extending 
through  forty  years.)  and  am,  as  always, 

"  Your  faithful  friend, 

"  James  W.  Alexaxdee. 

"  The  Rev.  Dr.  Hall." 


Dr.  Yeomans.  419 


For  neai'ly  two  years  after  Mr.  Alexander's 
removal  tlie  pulpit  was  siij)plied  by  transient 
ministers.  Amono:  tliose  who  were  most  fre- 
quently  engaged  were  tlie  Rev.  Asahel  Nettle- 
ton  and  Truman  Osborn.  The  minutes  of  Pres- 
bytery for  1834  and  1835  show  that  efforts  were 
then  proposed  by  some  of  the  congregation  for 
enlarging  the  means  of  religious  instruction, 
either  by  employing  an  Evangelist  or  the  erec- 
tion of  a  Free  Church.  An  "  Evan^^elical  Socie- 
ty"  had  been  formed  which  sustained  Mr.  Os- 
born as  a  missionary  in  Trenton,  Morrisville,  and 
Millham,  but  after  his  departure,  and  the  settle- 
ment of  a  pastor,  things  gradually  returned  to 
their  old  channel. 

On  the  sixteenth  March,  1834,  the  Rev. 
Symmes  C.  Henry,  of  Cranbury,  was  chosen 
pastor,  but  he  declined  the  call.  On  the  sixth 
of  June  following,  the  Rev.  John  William  Yeo- 
mans was  elected,  being  then  pastor  of  a  Con^n^e- 
gational  Church  in  Pittsfield,  Massachusetts. 
Dr.  Yeomans  is  a  graduate  of  "Williams  College, 
(1824,)  and  of  the  Andover  Seminary.  He  was 
duly  received  by  Presbytery,  and  on  the  seventh 
October,  1834,  was  installed.  In  that  service 
the  Rev.  David  Comfort  presided,  the  Rev.  J. 


420  Church  of  1840. 


W.  Alexander  preached,  (from  1  Cor.  11  :  1,) 
and  Drs.  B.  H.  Kice  and  A.  Alexander  gave  the 
charges.  The  actual  ministry  of  Dr.  Yeomans 
is  to  be  dated  from  September  11,  1834,  to  June 
1,  1841,  when  he  entered  on  the  Presidency  of 
Lafayette  College,  Pennsylvania.  To  his  energy 
and  influence  not  less  than  to  the  enterprise  of 
the  congregation  is  owing  the  erection  of  the 
commodious  church  which  is  now  occupied  by 
the  cou2:re2:ation.  The  corner-stone  of  the  new 
building  was  laid  May  2,  1839,  and  services  were 
held  for  the  first  time  on  the  Lord's  day,  Jan- 
uary 19,  ISIO."^'  On  the  afternoon  of  that  day 
Dr.  How  preached,  and  Dr.  A.  Alexander  admin- 
istered the  Lord's  Supper.  On  that  occasion  also 
three  elders  and  three  deacons  were  ordained.f  In 
the  evening  the  Eev.  J.  W.  Alexander  j^reached. 

"**  The  preceding  structures  stood  upon  the  western  part  of  the  church 
lot.  The  present  one  was  placed  in  the  central  part.  The  dimensions 
are  one  hundred  and  four  feet  length ;  sixty-two  feet  breadth  ;  steeple  one 
hundred  and  twenty  feet.  Dr.  Yeomans'  dedication  sermon  was  published. 
For  the  very  accurate  and  artistic  sketch  of  the  church  from  which  the 
frontispiece  was  engraved,  I  am  indebted  to  the  kindness  of  Mr.  J. 
Fletcher  Street,  of  the  Normal  School. 

f  The  elders  were  James  Pollock,  Aarox  A.  Hutchinsox,  and 
Fraxcis  a.  Ewing,  M.D.  The  deacons  were  Johx  A.  Hutches'sox, 
Bexjamin  S.  Disbrow,  and  Joseph  G.  Brearlet, 

In  the  year  1836  Thomas  J.  Stryker  and  Stacy  G.  Potts  were 
elected  and  ordained  elders. 


Rev.  Dr.  Webfter.  421 


In  the  April  of  1837  a  church  was  organized 
by  a  committee  of  Presbytery  in  Bloomsbury, 
then  a  suburb  of  Trenton,  and  the  place  of  wor- 
ship was  the  building  erected  by  those  who  fol- 
lowed the  Rev.  Wm.  Boswell  in  his  secession 
from  the  regular  Baptist  denomination,  and 
which  was  vacated  upon  his  death  in  1833. 
This  mission  was  diligently  conducted  for  a  year 
by  the  Rev.  Charles  Webster,''^*  beginning  on  the 
second  Sabbath  of  1837,  and  was  then  suspend- 
ed until  the  present  "  Second  Church  "  of  Tren- 
ton was  formed  there. 

Dr.  Yeomans  had  a  seat  in  the  General  As- 
sembly of  1837,  when  the  decisive  acts  were 
adopted  which  resulted  in  the  division  familiarly 
known  as  the  Old  School  and  New  School — the 
latter  portion  forming  a  distinct  organization. 
]N^o  disturbance  was  produced  in  the  Trenton 
congregation  by  this  revolution ;  with  entire 
unity  it  remained  in  the  ancient  fraternity  of 


*  "I  preached  in  the  church,"  says  Mr.  Webster  in  a  letter  written  at 
my  request,  "in  the  morning  and  evening;  in  the  afternoon  attended 
the  Sabbath-school.  Once  a  month  I  took  my  turn  of  preaching  in  the 
State  prison  and  visiting  the  cells.  One  evening  in  the  week  I  lectured 
at  private  houses  in  Bloomsbury,  Lamberton,  or  Mill  Hill,  and  occasion- 
ally at  Morrisville  (on  the  Pennsylvania  side  of  the  Delaware)  in  the 
afternoon." 

34 


422  Dr.  Yeomans'  Letter. 


tlie  cliurclies  of  the  New-Brunswick  Presbytery. 
In  tlie  letter  written  at  my  solicitation,  Dr.  Yeo- 
mans,  after  mentioning  separately  tlie  elders 
already  introduced  in  this  chapter  as  composing 
the  session  of  his  time,  thus  proceeds : 

"  As  then  constituted,  the  session  was  in  all  respects  the 
most  interesting  one  I  have  ever  known.  It  was  a  great 
pleasure  and  benefit  to  be  with  them  in  our  frequent 
meetings,  (sometimes  held  every  week.)  I  remember 
those  brethren  with  grateful  respect  and  love,  and  for 
their  services  in  the  Church  can  commend  them,  as  I  have 
always  done,  for  an  example. 

"  The  erection  of  the  new  house  of  worship  was  an  in- 
teresting occasion  for  that  congregation.  The  whole  pro- 
cess was  conducted  in  a  manner  and  spirit  unusually  com- 
mendable. The  congregation  felt  the  awakening  enter- 
prise of  their  venerable  city,  and  the  moment  the  business 
of  the  place  showed  signs  of  revival,  they  were  ready  to 
conduct  the  motion  into  their  measures  for  religious 
improvement.  The  building  of  the  church  fairly  led  the 
way  to  the  construction  of  tasteful  architecture  in  the 
place.  The  Court-House  was  built  at  the  same  time,  but 
the  draft  of  the  Church  helped  to  determine  the  form  of 
that ;  and  the  row  of  cottages  beyond  the  canal,  and  some 
other  handsome  dwellings  which  followed  in  the  course  of 
improvement,  were  built  by  the  men  who  came  there  to 
build  the  church. 

"  I  shall  never  forget  the  cordial  and  earnest  way  the 


Reminiscences.  423 

Trustees  and  others  of  the  congregation,  and  indeed  the 
whole  body,  engaged  in  the  work.  I  have  scarcely 
known  a  people  who  resolved  to  appropriate  so  much  to 
the  erection  of  a  house  of  worship  in  proportion  to  their 
means  at  the  time.  They  went  through  the  work  with- 
out one  case  of  personal  disaffection  arising  out  of  their 
proceedings,  and  their  zeal  and  labor  have  since  proved  a 
great  blessing  to  them  and  to  others.  It  is  also  a  gratifi- 
cation to  remember  the  harmony  and  energy  with  which, 
when  they  got  ready,  they  paid  off  the  debt ;  and  with 
what  liberality  they  have  supported  their  minister,  and 
contributed  to  the  extension  of  Christian  influence  in  their 
growing  and  important  city.  I  consider  the  history  of 
that  house  of  worship,  from  first  to  last,  a  very  great 
credit  to  the  conoTCg-ation. 

"  We  had  during  my  ministry  there  no  occasion  which 
was  signalized  as  a  revival.  The  accessions  to  full  com- 
munion were,  if  I  rightly  remember,  more  or  less  at  every 
sacramental  celebration  of  the  Supper.  Sometimes,  per- 
haps the  records  will  show,  twenty  or  thirty  in  a  year ; 
perhaps  even  on  a  single  occasion  twenty.* 

"  It  was  probably  one  of  the  defects  in  my  labors  there, 
that  they  were  attended  with  so  few  striking  results. 
But  many  are  far  more  decisive  than  I  am  inclined  to  be, 
in  aiming  at  the  kind  of  awakenmgs  which  are  frequent 
in  some  parts  of  the  Church,  and  pubUshed  with  so  much 
avidity  in  the  papers.  But  the  fact  in  the  history  of  my 
ministry  in  Trenton  is  as  stated  above.     The  duties  of  the 


*  The  total  additions  to  the  communion  in  Dr.  Teomans'  pastorate 
were  seventy-two  on  examination,  eighty-five  on  certificate. 


424  Calls. 

pulpit,  thougli  very  imperfect,  were  performed  with  very 
few  interruptions  through  the  period ;  and  the  excellent 
spirit  and  active  cooperation  of  the  session  were  a  great 
help  to  the  efficacy  of  the  divine  ordinances. 

"Among  the  signs  of  imjDrovement  which  appeared 
during  that  term,  was  that  of  increased  attention  to  the 
baptism  and  religious  training  of  children.  The  subject, 
when  brought  up  in  public  instruction  and  private  conver- 
sation, appeared  acceptable  and  j)rofitable.  In  following 
up  the  labors  of  Brother  Alexander  there,  I  recollect  no 
evidence  of  imi^rovement  with  more  interest  than  that. 
As  to  general  progress,  the  growing  activity  and  intelli- 
gence of  the  leading  members  of  the  congregation,  to- 
gether with  the  increase  of  their  number,  would  enable 
any  discerning  observer  to  foresee  the  progress  made 
there  since,  under  the  incitements  of  a  growing  popula- 
tion, and  of  expanding  business,  and  the  impulse  and  guid- 
ance of  a  faithful  and  effective  ministry." 

On  tlie  third  May,  1841,  the  congregation 
unanimously  resolved  to  recall  Dr.  Alexander, 
who  was  still  in  the  professorship  in  the  College 
at  Princeton,  to  which  he  had  been  transferred 
from  his  charge  in  Trenton ;  but  upon  being 
assured  that  it  would  not  be  in  his  power  to 
comj^ly,  it  was  prosecuted  no  further.  A  new 
election  on  the  last  day  of  May  resulted  in  the 
choice  of  Mr.  John  Hall,  of  Philadelphia,  who 
immediately  took  charge  of  the  congregation, 


Present  Statiftics.  425 


and  was  both  ordained  and  installed  August  11, 
1841.  The  Eev.  Dr.  Cooley  presided,  Dr.  Yeo- 
mans  preached,  (Ephesians  4  :  11,'^)  Dr.  J.  W. 
Alexander  and  Dr.  S.  C.  Henry  gave  the  charges. 

The  incidents  of  the  last  eighteen  years'  his- 
tory of  the  Church  in  Trenton  must  be  despatch- 
ed in  a  few  particulars. 

The  statistics  are  as  follows : 

Communicants  received  on  examination,         .  .       217 

"                   "         by  certificate,        .         .  262 

Present  number  of  communicants,          .         .  .       312 

Infants  baptized,          ......  290 

Adults         " 114 

Funerals, 335 

Marriages,       .         .         .         .         .         .         .  .216 

The  Brick  Church,  already  spoken  of  as  once 
occupied  by  Mr.  Boswell's  congregation,  was 
purchased,  refitted,  and  opened  for  public  wor. 
ship  with  a  sermon  by  Professor  Albert  B.  Dod, 
July  24, 1842.  The  Second  Presbyterian  Church 
was  organized  there  November  15,  1842,  and 
the  Rev.  Baynard  R.  Hall  was  its  first  stated 
supply.     The  Rev.  Daniel  Deruelle,  of  Pennsyl- 

*  The  substance  of  the  sermon  (on  "  the  pastoral  ofSce")  appeared  in 
the  Biblical  Eejpertory  for  January,  1842. 

34* 


426  Second  Church. 


vania,  was  installed  its  pastor  May  21, 1843.  In 
September  of  the  same  year  a  small  lecture- 
room  was  built  adjoining  that  church.  Mr. 
Deruelle's  pastoral  relation  was  dissolved  Feb- 
ruary 1,  1848,  and  on  the  ninth  October  the 
Rev.  Ansley  D.  White,  of  Indiana,  was  installed. 
In  1851  the  church  was  enlarged  to  twice  its 
original  size,  and  was  reopened  September  27. 
In  1857  a  spacious  building  was  erected,  of  two 
stories,  for  a  lecture-room  and  Sunday-schools. 
The  church  was  organized  with  eleven  members 
from  the  First  Church ;  the  present  number  of 
communicants  is  two  hundred  and  sixty-five. 

In  the  year  1846  there  remained  a  debt  of 
six  thousand  seven  hundred  dollars  for  the  build.- 
ing  of  the  First  Church.  By  a  general  subscrip- 
tion in  the  cono:reo:ation  at  the  close  of  that 
year,  the  entire  sum  was  at  once  obtained,  and 
all  obligations  cancelled. 

In  April,  1849,  thirteen  communicants  of  the 
First  Church,  and  four  from  other  churches, 
were  organized  as  the  Third  Church.  Twenty- 
five  others  from  the  parent  body  were  soon 
afterwards  added.  The  new  congregation  first 
met  for  public  worship  June  17,  1849.  The 
Kev.  Theodore  L.  Cuvler  was  installed  pastor 


Third  Church.  427 


October  3,  1849,  and  their  house  of  worship 
was  opened  November  7,  1850.  Mr.  Cuyler  re- 
signed the  charge  April  27,  1853,  and  the  Rev. 
Jacob  Kirkpatrick,  Jr.,  was  ordained,  and  in- 
stalled November  3, 1853.  The  decline  of  his 
health  compelled  his  resignation  February  2, 
1858.  The  communicants  then  numbered  about 
two  hundred.  A  parsonage  was  provided  dur- 
ing Mr.  Kirkpatrick's  incumbency.  On  the 
eighth  of  February,  1859,  the  Rev.  Henry  B. 
Chapin,  of  Ohio,  was  installed  as  pastor. 

A  mission  chapel,  built  (at  the  cost  of  twenty- 
two  hundred  dollars)  in  the  northern  extrem- 
ity of  the  city,  on  ground  given  by  Mr.  John 
S.  Chambers,  was  opened  for  religious  services 
January  8,  1854,  and  a  Sunday-school  organ- 
ized. Worship  was  conducted  on  the  after- 
noons of  the  Sabbath  by  the  pastor  of  the  First 
Church,  with  occasional  assistance,  until  May, 
1856,  when  Mr.  John  H.  Sargent  served  statedly 
as  the  chaplain  for  one  year.  No  successor  has 
yet  been  found. 

In  1853  the  First  Church  was  extensively  im- 
proved by  the  building  of  an  iron  fence  and  lay- 
ing a  stone  pavement  along  the  entire  front  of  the 
lot,  introducing  gas,  painting  the  interior  walls, 


428  Fourth  Church. 


and  other  repairs,  at  a  cost  of  thirty-four  hundred 
dollars,  mostly  defrayed  by  jDrivate  subscription. 
While  the  work  was  in  progress,  the  congrega- 
tion worshipped  with  the  Third  Church,  then 
without  a  pastor. 

On  the  sixth  November,  1858,  the  Foueth 
Church  was  organized,  with  a  few  members  from 
the  First,  and  sixty  from  the  Third  Church.  On 
the  twenty-fifth  February,  1859,  the  Rev.  En- 
WAED  D.  Yeomans,  son  of  Dr.  John  W.  Yeo- 
mans,  was  installed  their  pastor. 

The  followino:  rulino:  elders  have  been  elected 
and  ordained,  in  the  First  Church,  during  the 
present  pastorate : 

Samuel  Roberts,  )  t  1  ^    1  o  ^  r. 

Jonathan  Fisk,     [  J=*°"^'7  16,  1846. 

George  S.  Green,        )  y        /.    lo^o 
Augustus  G.  Richey,  [  ^^"^^  ^'  ^^'^' 

NOTES. 
I. 

N^iCHOLAs  Jacques  E^^iaxuel  de  Belleville  was  born 
at  Metz,  France,  in  1753;  studied  medicine  under  his 
father  ;  passed  seven  years  in  the  schools  and  hosj^itals  of 
Paris,*  and  came  to  Trenton  under  the  circumstances  re- 

*  Dr.  Belleville  was  in  Paris  iu  llli,  when  Louis  XYI.  came  to  the 
throne,  and  used  to  tell  of  his  hearing  the  populace  cry,  (in  allusion  to 


Dr.  Belleville.  429 


lated  in  the  following  note  furnished  to  me  by  Philemon 
Dickinson,  Esq.,  as  heard  from  the  Doctor's  lips  : 

"  He  happened  to  be,  in  the  spring  of  1777,  on  a  visit 
to  a  gentleman,  an  acquaintance  of  his  father,  who  lived 
in  the  south  of  France,  whither  he  usually  repaired  in  the 
winter  season,  on  account  of  the  delicate  state  of  his  health. 
He  there  met  and  was  introduced  to  Count  Pulaski,  who 
had  just  come  from  Italy,  where  he  had  been  obliged 
to  take  refuge  on  account  of  the  active  part  he  bore  in 
the  well-known  attempt  to  restore  the  liberties  of  Poland. 

"  The  Count  was  then  on  the  eve  of  his  departure  for 
this  country,  and  having  taken  a  liking  for  the  Doctor, 
invited  him  to  accompany  him.  For  some  time  he  hesi- 
tated, by  reason  of  his  want  of  money,  but  the  gentleman 
at  whose  house  he  was,  when  informed  of  this  fact,  told 
him  if  a  hundred  guineas  would  be  sufficient  for  his  pur- 
pose he  would  supply  him,  and  that  his  father  could  re- 
imburse him.  He  further  supplied  him  with  every  thing 
necessary  for  the  voyage,  and  on  the  last  day  of  May, 
1777,  he  left  Paris,  and  embarked  at  ISTantes  on  the  ninth 
of  June,  for  the  United  States. 

"  The  vessel  in  which  he  sailed  was  a  sloop-of-war, 
mounting  fourteen  guns,  with  a  crew  of  one  hundred  and 
five  men.  She  had  on  board  about  sixteen  hundred  stand 
of  arms  for  the  American  troops.  On  the  twenty-sec- 
ond July  they  arrived  in  Massachusetts,  and  the  first 
town  he  entered  was  Salem,  where  he  staid  some  days 
and  afterwards  went  to  Boston. 

the  tradition  of  Henry  lYtli's  wish  that  every  peasant  might  have  a  fowl 
for  his  pot-pie,)  '■^  Poule-au-pot !  x>oule-au-pot  P"* 


430  Dr.  Belleville. 


"  He  attended  the  Count,  in  the  capacity  of  surgeon,  in 
the  different  parts  of  the  country  to  which  he  went  for 
the  purpose  of  recruiting  a  legion,  which  the  Count  was 
authorized  to  raise  by  the  Provincial  Congress. 

"  Pulaski  remained  some  time  at  Trenton  for  that  pur- 
pose, where  Belleyille  became  acquainted  with  Dr.  Bry- 
ant, a  physician  of  eminence,  who  took  a  fancy  to  him, 
treated  him  kindly,  and  endeavored  to  jDcrsuade  him  to 
give  up  the  army  and  settle  in  Trenton  ;  offering  to  do  all 
in  his  power  to  introduce  him  into  practice.  Dr.  Belle- 
ville, however,  attended  Pulaski  to  the  South,  and  while 
stationed  there  he  received  a  pressing  letter  fi'om  his  friend. 
Dr.  Bryant,  repeating  his  offer,  and  urging  his  leaving  the 
army ;  representing  the  improbability  of  his  succeeding 
there  so  well  as  by  settling  down  to  the  practice  of  his 
profession.  This  letter  he  showed  to  Pulaski,  who  told 
him  it  was  not  his  wish  to  stand  in  the  way  of  his  advance- 
ment, and  if  he  thought  he  could  do  better,  to  accept  the 
offer  of  Dr.  Bryant.  He  did  so,  and  in  the  fall  of  1778 
took  up  his  residence  in  Trenton,  where  he  remained  until 
his  death." 

Dr.  Belleville  was  eminent  in  his  profession,  and  highly 
esteemed  for  his  social  qualities.  He  was  sometimes  called 
to  attend  the  exiled  King  of  Spain  at  Bordentown,  and 
was  his  almoner  on  at  least  one  occasion,  (February  5, 
1831,)  when  the  Female  Benevolent  Society  of  Trenton 
acknowledged  fifty  dollars  "  from  the  Count  de  Survil- 
liers,  by  Dr.  Belleville."  Mrs.  Belleville  was  a  communi- 
cant ;  the  Doctor  was  a  pew-holder  and  occasional  attend- 
ant, but  was  too  fond  of  his  elegant  edition  of  Voltaire  to 


Chief- Justice  Ewine.  431 


'to* 


relish  the  Gospel.  He  was  buried  in  our  church-yarcl,  and 
one  of  his  pupils,  Dr.  F.  A.  Ewing,  in  addition  to  a  dis- 
criminating obituary  in  the  State  Gazette  of  Dec.  24, 
1831,  furnished  the  inscription  for  his  tomb  : 

"  This  stone  covers  the  remains  of  Dr.  Nicholas  Belle- 
ville. Born  and  educated  in  France  ;  for  fifty-four  years 
an  inhabitant  of  this  city.  A  patriot  warmly  attached  to 
the  principles  of  liberty ;  a  physician  eminently  learned 
and  successful ;  a  man  of  scrupulous  and  unblemished  in- 
tegrity. On  the  seventeenth  day  of  December,  A.D. 
1831,  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine  years,  he  closed  a  life 
of  honor  and  usefulness ;  by  all  respected,  esteemed, 
lamented." 

II. 

For  a  more  extended  notice  01  Chief  Justice  Charles 
Ewing,  than  I  can  find  room  for  now,  I  must  refer  to  the 
eulogy,  pronounced  in  the  church  at  the  united  request  of 
the  Council  of  Trenton  and  the  bench  and  bar  of  the  State, 
by  his  intimate  friend.  Governor  Southard,  and  to  the 
memoir  furnished  by  the  same  hand  to  Longacre's  "  Na- 
tional Portrait  Gallery."*  He  was  born  July  8,  1780; 
prepared  for  college  at  the  Trenton  Academy,  when  it 
was  under  Mr.  Armstrong's  direction  ;  took  the  first  honor 
at  Princeton  College  at  his  graduation  in  1798;  read  law 
under  Mr.  Leake,  (p.  399,)  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  1802.  The  next  year  he  was  married  to  a  daughter  of  the 
Rev.  James  F.  Armstrong.   He  was  appointed  Chief  Justice 

*  There  is  also  an  extended  notice  of  his  character  in  an  address  by 
Lucius  H.  Stockton,  published  in  the  New-Jersey  Gazette,  Sept.  15,  1832^ 


432  Epitaph. 

in  October,  1824,  and  reappointed  in  1831.  He  died  of 
cholera,  August  5,  1832.  Mr.  Ewing  was  a  jDunctual  and 
leading  member  of  the  board  of  Trustees,  and  of  the  con- 
gregation, from  his  election,  April,  1814,  till  his  sudden 
death.  Mr.  Southard  declared  in  his  public  discourse  that 
he  was  in  the  habit  of  holding  up  the  entire  character  of 
the  Chief  Justice  as  a  model  for  aspirants  after  profession- 
al honors,  and  said  that  "  his  exposition  of  the  system  of 
jury-trial,  before  the  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society 
of  New- Jersey,  [Jan.  28,  1826,]  is  the  most  finished  and 
beautiful  exhibition  of  its  merits  which  is  to  be  found,  in 
the  same  compass,  in  our  language."  He  drew  his  friend's 
character  in  the  following  terms,  as  they  are  now  read  on 
his  monument : 

"  Beneath  this  marble  rest  the  mortal  remains  of 
Charles  Ewixg,  LL.D.,  Chief  Justice  of  the  State  of 
N'ew-Jersey. 

"  In  intellect,  vigorous  and  discriminating.  In  indus- 
try, assiduous  and  persevering.  In  integrity,  pure  and 
incorruptible.  In  manners,  affable,  dignified,  and  polish- 
ed. In  morals,  spotless.  A  profound  jurist  and  upright 
magistrate.  An  accomplished  scholar,  and  patron  of  lite- 
rature and  science.  The  advocate  and  supporter  of  be- 
nevolent institutions.  He  won,  in  an  eminent  degree,  the 
respect,  the  love,  and  confidence  of  his  fellow-citizens. 
Happy  in  his  domestic  relation,  home  was  the  theatre  of 
his  most  endearing  virtues,  and  the  sphere  in  which  he 
loved  to  move.  He  reverenced  the  doctrines  and  prac- 
tised the  precepts  of  the  Christian  religion.  In  the  vigor 
of  his  mental  and  bodily  powers,  surrounded  by  blessings, 
cheered  by  the  approbation  of  his  fellow-men,  with  an  ex- 


Boswell — Allison.  433 

tended  prospect  of  service  and  usefulness  before  him,  lie 
"Was  attacked  with  a  violent  disease,  which  suddenly  ter- 
minated his  life  on  the  fifth  day  of  August,  A.D.  1832,  in 
the  53d  year  of  his  age." 

III. 

The  Rev.  Wm.  Boswell  had  been  for  sixteen  years  pas- 
tor of  the  Baptist  congregation  of  Trenton  and  Lamber- 
ton,  when  (1823)  he  issued  an  address  to  its  members,  on 
account  of  his  adoption  of  some  new  tenets,  which  leaned 
to  Swedenborgianism.  His  address  was  answered  by  a 
longer  letter  from  the  Rev.  John  Burtt,  (first  editor  of 
"  The  Presbyterian "  in  Philadelphia,)  who  was  then 
preaching  in  Trenton.  Mr.  Boswell  died  June  10,  1833, 
at  the  age  of  fifty-seven.  His  grave  is  in  the  rear 
of  the  building  where  he  last  preached — now  the  Second 
Presbyterian  Church.  Near  to  it  is  that  of  another  prom- 
ment  Baptist  minister,  the  Rev.  Buegess  Allison,  D.D., 
who  died  on  a  visit  to  Trenton,  February,  20,  1827. 

The  First  Baptist  Church  of  Lamberton  was  opened 
November  26,  1803;  when  the  sermon  was  preached  by 
Dr.  Staughton. 

Mr.  Bosw^ell's  was  called  "  The  Reformed  General  Bap- 
tist Meeting-House."  It  was  built  (of  brick)  in  eleven 
weeks,  and  was  opened  October  19,  1823.  The  dimen- 
sions were  fifty-four  feet  by  forty. 

IV. 

Thomas  Wilsox,  an  intelligent  colored  man,  was  re- 
ceived to  our  communion  on  certificate  from  New- York, 
November,  1839.     He  was  a   shoemaker,  but  was  bent 

35 


4 '^4  Wilson — Lowry. 


upon  becoming  qualified  as  a  missionary  in  Liberia.     For 
this  purpose  lie  removed  to  Easton,  and  studied  under 
the  direction    of  his   late  pastor,  the    President  of  the 
College.      He  sailed   for  Africa,  as  a  missionary  of  our 
Board,  in  April,   1843.     His  wife    and  infant    died  soon 
after   their   arrival,  and   a   second   child  not  long  after- 
wards.    Wilson's  station  was  Sinoe,  where  he  opened  a 
day-school  and  Sunday-school,  and  preached  every  week. 
In  1845  he  opened  a  small  building  as  a  church,  and  under- 
took to  teach  a  school  of  native  children  in  a  neighboring 
town,  and  an  evening  school  of  adult  colonists.     He  per- 
severed manfully  through  great  hardships  till  September 
8,  1846,  when  he  died  of  an  illness  of  a  few  days.     In  the 
•artless  language  of  one  of  his  children  who   sent  me  the 
intelligence  :  "  I  hope  he  is  resting,  for  when  he  did  labor 
he  labored  hard,  and  suffered  much  from  want  of  food 
and  clothing."     The  Annual  Report  of  the  Board  in  the 
next  year,  says  :  "  His  death  is  a  great  loss  to  the  Church 
and  to  Africa.     His  experience  and  knowledge,  his  indus- 
try and  perseverance,  fitted  him  for  usefulness  in  this  im- 
portant sphere  of  labor." 

Another  colored  member  of  our  church,  Elymas  P. 
RoGEES,  was  ordained  by  our  Presbytery  March  6,  1845, 
and  is  now  pastor  of  a  large  congregation  in  Xewark. 

V. 

By  the  will  of  Miss  Jaxe  Lowey,  who  died  Novem- 
ber, 1851,  the  sum  of  two  hundred  dollars  and  her  pew 
were  bequeathed  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor  of  the  church. 
By  the  will  of  Mr.  James  Brearley,  who  also  died  Novem- 
ber, 1851,  the  sum  of  five  hundred  dollars  was  left  to  the 
Trustees,  without  specific  directions. 


APPENDIX. 


History  of  the  Pkoposal  to  make  Trenton  the  Capital  of  the 

United  States. 

In  the  notice  of  Doctor  Cowell's  will,  on  page  292,  it  was  stated 
that  one  of  his  legacies  was  to  the  United  States,  in  case  Congress 
should  make  Lamberton — then  a  precinct  of  Trenton — the  seat  of 
the  National  Government.  Although  this  gives  the  subject  a  very- 
slender  connection  with  the  title  of  this  volume,  I  depend  on  the 
local  interest  it  possesses,  to  make  acceptable  what  I  have  digested 
from  the  Journals  of  the  Congress  of  the  Confederation. 

The  Congresses  before  the  Constitution  held  their  sessions  in 
different  places,  but  principally  in  Philadelphia  and  New- York. 
In  June,  1783,  preparation  was  begun  to  select  what  was  called  a 
"  permanent  residence"  for  Congress,  by  appointing  the  first 
Monday  of  the  following  October,  to  take  into  consideration  such 
offers  as  might  be  made  from  the  places  that  aspired  to  that  dis- 
tinction. In  the  same  month  in  which  the  resolution  was  passed 
by  Congress,  the  Legislature  of  New-Jersey  agreed  to  offer  to 
yield  to  the  United  States,  jurisdiction  over  any  district  to  the  ex- 
tent of  twenty  miles  square,  and  to  grant  £30,000  in  specie  for 
the  purchase  of  lands  and  the  erection  of  buildings. 

On  the  sixth  of  October,  1783,  the  question  was  taken,  "  In 
which  State  buildings  shall  be  provided  and  erected  for  the  resi- 
dence of  Congress ;  beginning  with  New-Hampshire,  and  proceed- 
ing in  the  order  in  which  they  stand."  Upon  this  vote  all  the 
States  were  successively  negatived.  On  the  next  day  a  motion 
was  made  by  Mr.  Gerry,   "  That  buildings  for  the  use  of  Congress 


43^^  Capital  of 


be  erected  on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware,  near  Trenton,  or  of  the 
Potomac  near  Georgetown,  provided  a  suitable  district  can  be  pro- 
cured on  one  of  the  rivers  aforesaid,  for  a  federal  town."  By 
amendment  the  names  of  the  towns  were  stricken  out,  and  the 
rivers  left ;  and  it  was  finally  resolved  on  that  day,  first,  that  the 
federal  town  should  be  erected  on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware  ;  and 
then,  that  the  site  should  be  "near  the  falls,"  that  is,  near  Tren- 
ton on  the  New-Jersey  side,  or  in  Pennsylvania  on  the  opposite. 
A  committee  of  five  was  appointed  to  view  the  respective  situa- 
tions, and  report. 

The  question  of  locality  how  became  a  subject  of  agitation  be- 
tween the  North  and  the  South.  On  the  day  after  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  Committee,  a  motion  was  made  to  reconsider  the  pro- 
ceedings, "  in  order  to  fix  on  some  other  place  that  shall  be  more 
central,  more  favorable  to  the  Union,  and  shall  approach  nearer  to 
that  justice  which  is  due  to  the  Southern  States."  This  failed. 
On  the  tenth,  a  motion  of  Mr.  Williamson,  of  North- Carolina, 
was  unsuccessful,  which  proposed  that  the  present  Congress 
(then  in  session  at  Princeton)  should  adjourn  at  once  to  Philadel- 
phia, sit  there  till  June,  and  then  adjourn  to  Trenton.  A  motion 
of  Mr.  Duane,  of  New- York,  also  failed,  which  called  for  an  imme- 
diate adjournment  to  Trenton.  On  the  eleventh,  Mr.  Ellery,  of 
Rhode  Island,  moved  for  an  adjournment  to  Annapolis  till  June, 
and  then  to  meet  at  Trenton,  The  latter  clause  was  stricken  out, 
and  the  words,  "  for  the  place  of  their  temporary  residence,"  were 
joined  to  "Annapolis  ;"  but  the  amended  motion  was  lost.* 

The  selection  of  Trenton,  or  its  immediate  vicinity,  seemed  now 
to  be  most  probable ;  but  the  minority  against  the  Delaware  loca- 
tion was  so  large  and  influential,  that  Mr.  Gerry  proposed  as  a 
compromise  that  Congress  should  have  two  residences,  to  be  occu- 

*  "  Trenton  was  next  proposed,  on  which  question  the  votes  were  divided  by  the 
river  Delaware."    "  The  vicinity  of  its  falls  is  to  become  the  future  seat  of  the  Feder- 
al Government,  unless  a  conversion  of  some  of  the  Eastern  States  can  be  effected." 
Madison  to  Randolph,  October  13, 17SS.     Madison  Papers,  vol.  i.  576.) 


the  United  States.  ^  437 


pied  alternately ;  the  one  to  be  on  the  Delaware,  as  already 
determined,  and  the  other  on  the  Potomac,  at  or  near  George- 
town. On  the  twentieth,  Mr.  Gerry  further  proposed,  that 
until  the  buildings  on  the  Delaware  and  Potomac  were  pre- 
pared, the  residence  of  Congress  should  be  alternately  in  Trenton 
and  Annapolis.  On  the  twenty-first,  Mr.  Gerry's  entire  motion 
was  adopted.* 

In  December,  1783,  Congress  met  at  Annapolis,  and  the  ques- 
tion of  the  Federal  city  was  reopened.  Mr.  Jefferson  and  Mr. 
Monroe  endeavored  to  have  Alexandria  substituted  for  George- 
town, as  the  Southern  capital,  but  Virginia  was  the  only  State 
that  voted  aye.t 

Congress  met  in  Trenton,  November  1,  I78i.  On  the  tenth 
December,  South-Carolina  moved  that :  "  It  is  expedient  for  Con 
gross  to  adjourn  from  their  present  residence."  This  was  nega- 
tived on  the  eleventh,  and  on  the  twentieth  it  was  resolved  to 
take  measures  for  procuring  suitable  buildings  for  national  pur- 
poses, and  a  sum,  not  exceeding  $100,000,  was  appropriated  for 
that  object.  It  was  also  determined  to  be  inexpedient  to  erect 
such  buildings  at  more  than  one  place  at  that  time.  Mr.  Pinck- 
ney  made  an  unsuccessful  motion  to  have  the  arrangements  for 
alternate  sessions  at  Trenton  and  Annapolis  repealed,  and  on  the 
twenty-third  December  an  ordinance  was  introduced,  providing 
for  the  appointment  of  three  commissioners,  to  lay  out  a  district  of 
not  less  than  two,  nor  exceeding  three  miles  square,  on  the  banks 
of  either  side  of  the  Delaware,  not  lower  than  Lamberton,  nor 
more  than  six  miles  above  it,  for  a  Federal  town. 

The  whole  discussion  was  renewed  on  a  motion  for  the  appro- 

*  This  act  was  the  occasion  of  one  of  Judge  Francis  Hopkinson's  humorous  publica- 
tions, in  which,  under  the  title  of  "  Intelligence  Extraordinary,"  he  described  the 
new  mechanism  of  government  as  a  pendulum  vibrating  between  Annapolis  and 
Trenton.    {Hopkinson's  Works,  vol.  i.  178.) 

t  August  22,  1784,  a  memorial  was  presented  to  the  New-Jersey  Senate  from  John 
Cox  and  others,  citizens  of  New-Jersey  and  Pennsylvania,  praying  that  the  ten  miles 
square  might  be  laid  out  on  the  Delaware,  and  furnishing  the  draft  of  such  a  tract. 

35* 


438  Capital  of 


priation.  An  effort  was  made  to  substitute  Georgetown  for  Lam- 
berton,  but  the  ordinance  was  finally  adopted  that  the  Commis- 
sioners, without  delay,  should  have  the  Federal  city  laid  out  in 
some  district  not  more  than  eight  miles  above  or  below  the  lower 
falls  of  the  Delaware ;  and  enter  into  contracts  for  erecting  and 
completing,  "in  an  elegant  manner,"  a  Capitol,  houses  for  the 
President  of  Congress,  and  principal  officers  of  the  government, 
with  a  "  due  regard  to  the  accommodatipn  of  the  States  with  lots 
for  houses  for  the  use  of  their  delegates  respectively,"  and  that 
Congress  should  hold  its  sessions  in  New- York  until  the  public 
buildings  were  ready  for  their  reception.  The  immediate  outlay 
of  the  Commissioners  was  not  to  exceed  $100,000.  Congress  ad- 
journed on  the  day  after  the  decision,  after  acknowledging  the 
attentions  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State,  and  the  exertions  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  town  in  providing  the  members  with  accommo- 
dations.* 

The  order  of  the  day  for  February  8,  1785,  was  to  elect  Com- 
missioners under  the  ordinance  of  December  23,  1784.  Various 
efforts  were  made  by  the  Southern  delegates  to  delay  the  progress 
of  the  measure,  but  the  majority  persevered,  and  Philip  Schuyler, 
Philemon  Dickinson,  and  Robert  Morris  were  elected  Commission- 
ers, and  upon  Mr.  Schuyler's  declining,  John  Brown  was  put  in 
his  place.  None  of  these  were  members  of  Congress.  Mr.  Dick- 
inson was  an  inhabitant  of  Trenton,  and  Mr.  Morris  had  an  estate 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Delaware,  now  the  town  of  Morrisville.f 

*  The  lanrlholders  near  the  falls  were  not  insensible  to  their  opportunity.  In  the 
New-Jersey  Gazette  of  May,  17S5,  and  many  following  months,  Joseph  Higbee  offers 
for  sale  "  a  valuable  tract  of  land,  containing  three  hundred  acres,  situate  within 
three  miles  of  Trenton,  in  the  county  of  Burlington  and  township  of  Nottingham, 
and  within  a  mile  of  Lamberton,  where  it  is  expected  the  Federal  town  will  be  built." 

t  Washington  foresaw  the  disadvantages  of  Lamberton.  On  the  day  of  the  above 
resolution,  he  wrote  from  Mount  Vernon,  to  the  President  of  Congress,  in  a  private 
letter  :  "  Ey  the  time  your  Federal  buildings  on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware,  along  the 
point  of  a  triangle,  are  fit  for  the  reception  of  Congress,  it  will  be  found  that  they 
^re  very  improperly  placed  for  the  seat  of  the  empire,  and  will  have  to  undergo  a 
second  erection  in  a  more  convenient  one."    (  Writings,  vol.  ix.  95.) 


the  United  States.  439 


! 


When  the  first  appropriation  to  tlie  Commissioners  was  called 

for  by  the   Committee  of  Supplies,  (April  5,  1Y85,) — "Federal 

buildings,  $30,000" — Mr.  Grayson,  of  Virginia,  moved  its  refusal, 

but  he  was  overruled.     Then,  on  motion  of  j\Ir.  Pinckney,  that 

vote  was  reconsidered,  and  the  report  was   recommitted.     Here 

the  matter  rested  until  the  twenty-second  September,  when  the 

appropriation  of  $30,000  coming  before   the   house,  Mr.   Gerry 

loved  to  make  it  the  whole  sum  of  $100,000,  but  none  of  the 

'^States  except  Massachusetts  and  New-Jersey  voted  for  it ;  upon 

rwhich,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Hardy,  of  Virginia,  the  item  was   en- 

Vtirely  stricken  out  of  the  bill,  which  was  a  virtual  repeal  of  the 

prdinance. 

'^  The  question  of  location  was  not  revived  after  this  until  May 
^10,  1787,  when  Mr.  Lee,  of  Virginia,  moved  that  the  Treasury 
•Board  take  measures  for  erecting  public  buildings,  for  the  accom- 
jjmodation  of  CongTess,  at  Georgetown  on  the  Potomac.  This  was 
/ost. 

J  In  a  few  months  (September,  1787)  the  Constitution  of  the 
XTnited  States  was  adopted,  and  the  Congress  of  the  Confederation 
'g3xpired.  The  Constitution  contained  a  provision  implying  that  the 
'^eat  of  Government  should  be  placed  in  a  district  "  not  exceeding 
jten  miles  square,"  which  should  be  ceded  to  the  exclusive  legisla- 
tion of  Congress.  Offers  came  in  from  all  quarters.  The  Convention 
■,t)f  New-Jersey,  which  ratified  the  Constitution,  recommended  to 
ithe  Legislature  to  enter  into  the  competition  for  the  Capital,  which 
'^hey  did  by  a  vote,  September  9,  1788,  offering  the  requisite  ter- 
ipitory. 

j}  In  September,  1789,  Mr.  Boudinot,  in  the  House  of  Representa 
■'^ives,  once  more  proposed  "the  banks  of  either  side  of  the  river 
iPelaware,  not  more  than  eight  miles  above  or  below  the  lower 
■ialls,"  but  it  failed  by  a  vote  of  four  to  forty-six ;  and  so  Dr. 
'^IJowell's  legacy  to  the  United  States  lapsed. 
I  I  may  close  the  history  by  stating  that  the  main  question  was 
.iifinally  settled  by  a  compromise  between  the  North  and  the  South. 


440  Deed  oi 


The  Northern  States  being  anxious  for  the  assumption  of  the  debts 
of  the  several  States  by  the  General  Government,  and  the  Southern 
States  being  opposed  to  that  measure,  and  the  two  sections  being 
in  like  manner  on  opposite  sides  as  to  the  locality  of  the  Capital, 
there  was  a  mutual  bargaining  of  votes.  The  scheme  is  said  to 
have  originated  with  Robert  Morris  and  Alexander  Hamilton, 
(Secretary  of  the  Treasury,)  and  consummated  at  the  dinner-table 
of  Mr,  Jefferson  (Secretary  of  State)  by  Messrs.  White*  and  Lee 
of  Virginia,  who  agreed  to  change  their  votes  on  the  assumptior' 
question,  in  consideration  of  Morris  and  Hamilton  undertaking  tc 
effect  a  corresponding  change  in  the  Northern  votes  for  the  Capi- 
tal ;  accordingly,  the  Assumption  measure  passed  the  House  by  a 
vote  of  thirty-four  to  twenty-eight,  and  the  Potomac  site  bj' 
thirty-two  to  twenty-nine.f  In  July,  1790,  it  was  determined  t( 
have  the  seat  of  Government  on  the  Potomac,  and  in  1791,  "Wash- 
ington selected  the  spot  which  now  bears  his  name.  According  to 
the  terms  of  the  act,  Congress  remained  in  Philadelphia  until  De- 
cember, 1800.  J 


DEED  OF  BASSE  AND  REVEL. 

EEFEEKED  TO  ON    PP.  29-30. 

To  all  people  to  whom  these  Presents  shall  come  : 
The  Honorable  Jeremiah  Basse,  Esq.,  Governor  of  the  Province 
of  East  and  West-Jersey,  and  Thomas  Revel,  of  the  town  and- 

I 

*  "  With  a  revulsion  of  stomach  almost  convulsive,"  says  JeflFerson  in  his  Ana.  I 
t  HUdretli's  United  States,  vol  iv.  210-21G.  Mr.  Jefferson  said  in  ISIS  that  he| 
was  "  most  ignorantly  and  innocently  made  to  hold  the  candle"  in  this  game,  (Ana.,j 
Works,  vol.  ix.  p.  92 ;)  and  again,  "  I  was  duped  into  it  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Trea-i 
sury,  and  made  a  tool  for  forwarding  his  schemes,  and  of  all  the  errors  of  my  politi- 
Cil  life,  this  has  occasioned  me  the  deepest  regret."  (Letter  quoted  inHildreth,  vol. 
iv.  363.) 

X  "  We  are  to  remove  before  the  first  of  December  to  Philadelphia,  and,  if  we  livej 
so  long,  in  ten  years  to  the  Indian  place  with  the  long  name  on  the  Potomac.*'! 
[Conococheague.]  {Oliver  Wbleotf,  July  23,  1T90.  Gihhs'  Federal  Administra- 
tions^ ch.  il) 


Bafse  and  Revel.  441 


county  of  Burlington,  in  the  Province  of  West  New-Jersey, 
Gentleman,  Agents  for  the  Honorable  the  "West-Jersey  Society  in 
England,  send  greeting : 

Know  ye  that  we,  the  said  Jeremiah  Basse  and  Thomas  Revel, 
(as  agents  as  aforesaid,)  for  the  accommodation  and  service  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  township  of  Maidenhead,  within  the  liberties  or 
precincts  of  the  said  county  of  Burlington,  and  the  inhabitants 
I  near  adjacent,  (being  purchasers  of  the  said  Society's  lands  there,) 
'  or  the  erecting  of  a  meeting-houSe,  and  for  burying-ground  and 
,  fcSchool-house,  and  land  suitable  for  the  same,  for  and  in  considera- 
-cion  of  five  shillings  to  them,  the  said  agents,  or  one  of  them  in 
Ipand  paid  for  the  use  of  the  said  Society  by  Ralph  Hunt  and' 
{John  Bainbridge,  of  Maidenhead  aforesaid,  as  well  for  themselves 
^a,s  by  the  appointment  and  on  the  behalf  of  the  rest  of  the  inhab- 
i'.tants  of  said  township,  at  or  before  the  sealing  hereof,  whereof 
rind  wherewith  the  said  agents  do  hereby  acknowledge  themselves 
-fully  satisfied  and  paid  on  behalf  aforesaid,  they,  the  said  Jeremiah 
(Basse  and  Thomas  Revel,  have  given,  granted,  and  sold,  aliened, 
•bnfeoffed,  and  confirmed,  and  by  these  presents,  on  behalf  of  the 
paid  Society,  do  fully  and  absolutely  give,  grant,  and  sell,  alien, 
■enfeoif,  and  confirm  unto  the  said  Ralph  Hunt,  and  John  Bain- 
Ibridge,  and  Johannes  Laurenson,  Wm.  Hixson,  John  Bryerly, 
jSamuel  Hunt,  Theoph.  Phillips,  Jonathan  Davis,  Thos.  Smith, 
«cXasper  Smith,  Thos.  Coleman,  Benjamin  Hardin,  Wm.  Akers, 
^Robert  Lannen,  Philip  Phillips,  Joshua  Andris,  Samuel  Davis, 
^i:lnathan  Davis,  Enoch  Andris,  Cornelius  Andris,  James  Price, 
»Vohn  Runion,  Thos.  Runion,  Hezekiah  Benham,  Benjamin  Maple, 
"jLawrence  Updike,  Joseph  Sackett,  and  Edward  Hunt,  all  of  Maid- 
( enhead  aforesaid,  one  hundred  acres  of  land,  already  taken  up, 
Ijaid  forth,  and  surveyed,  within  said  Society's  tract  of  land  above 
t^he  falls,  commonly  called  the  fifteen  thousand  acres,  in  the  town- 
ship of  Maidenhead  aforesaid,  for  the  use  aforesaid ;  together  with 
.'rill  and  every  the  ways,  easements,  profits,  commodities,  hercdita- 
■  ments,  and  appurtenances  to  the  said  one  hundred  acres  of  land 


442  Deed. 


belonging  or  appertaining,  and  all  the  estate,  liglit,  title,  interest, 
possession,  property,  claim,  and  demand  whatsoever,  as  well  of 
the  said  Jeremiah  Basse  and  Thomas  Revel  (as  agents  as  afore- 
said) as  of  the  said  Society  in  law  and  equity,  and  either  of  them 
of,  in,  or  unto  the  said  one  hundred  acres  of  land  and  granted 
premises  belonging  or  appertaining  ;  and  the  reversion  and  rever- 
sions, remainder  and  remainders  of  the  same  and  of  every  part 
thereof     To  have  and  to  hold  the  said  one  hundred  acres  of  land 
aid  granted  premises,  and  every  part  and  parcel  thereof,  with  the 
appurtenances,  unto  the  aforesaid  persons  particularly  mentioned, 
and  to  their  heirs  and  successors  forever,  as  well  to  the  only  pro 
per  use  and  behoof  of  them  the  said  persons  particularly  mentioned 
as  abovesaid,  as  to  all  and  every  other,  the  inhabitants  of  thc'i 
said  township  aforesaid,  and   parts  adjacent,   who  are  or  shall  - 
be  purchasers  of  the  aforesaid  Society's  lands,  and  to  the  heirs,' 1 
assigns,  and  successors  of  them  and  every  of  them  forevermore  ■^ . 
to  be  holden  for,  by,  and  under  the  quit  rents  thereout  issuing' 
unto  our  Sovereign  Lord,  the  King,  and  his  heirs  and  successors, 
and  the  arrears  thereof,  (if  any  be.) 

In  witness  whereof  the  said  Jeremiah  Basse  and  Thomas  Revel, 
in  the  name  and  on  the  behalf  of  the  said  Society,  have  hereuntoj 
set  their  hands  and  seals  the  eighteenth  day  of  March,  Anno  Dom.j 
169f,  Annoq.  R.  R.  Gulielm.  tertii  Angl.  etc.,  undecimo. 

J.  Basse,  (L.S.) 

Thos.  Revel.     (L.S.) 

Sealed  and  delivered  in  the  presence  of 

Jxo.  Tatham, 

Nath.  Cortland,  Justice.    1 

Joseph  Revel. 

A  true  copy  of  a  deed  recorded  in  liber  B,  No.  2,  page  655. 

Thos.  S.  Allison,  '• 

Sec.  of  State.    |; 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  above  that  the  name  of  Blnathan  Davu}. 

\\ 

was  omitted  on  p.  80.  ' 


Trenton  and  Falls.  443 


ADDITIONAL    NOTES. 

Page  24.     Smith's  language,  when  he  mentions  the  death  of 

Wm.  Trent,  Dec.  29,  1T24,  is  :   "Being  a  large  trader  at  Trenton  , 

w\    n  that  place  was  laid  out  for  a  town,  it  from  him  took  its 

If  lat  J,  being  before  significantly  called  Little-Worth."     (History 

(    f  New-Jersey,  chap,  xxii.) 

In  1726  the  Legislature  granted  to  James,  son  of  ^Ym.  Trent 
the  exclusive  use  of  the  Delaware  for  a  ferry,  "  two  miles  above 
and  two  below  the  falls." 

Smith's  History,  under  date  of  1765,  says :  "  The  courts  are 
.held  at  Trenton,  a  place  of  concourse  and  lively  trade.  It  stands 
;at  the  head  of  the  tide,  and  in  a  high,  pleasant  situation.  The  in- 
habitants have  a  public  library.  Of  places  of  worship,  [in  Hun- 
terdon county,]  the  Presbyterians  are  nine,  the  Low  Dutch  do. 
one,  German  do.  one.  Episcopalians  three,  Quakers  two.  Baptists 
two." 

In  a  letter  from  Wm.  Franklin  (afterwards  Governor)  to  his 
father,  Burlington,  June  10,  1767,  he  says  :  "  Governor  Went- 
worth  [of  New-Hampshire]  visited  me  on  his  journey  home,  and 
lay  a  night  at  my  house.  I  next  morning  accompanied  him  as 
far  as  Trenton  Falls,  where  we  spent  the  day  a  fishing,  and 
supped  together."     {FranMhCs  Correspoiidence.,  ly  Duane,  p  35.) 

"  The  first  falls  in  Delaware  river  in  Trent  Town  are  opposite 
to  the  forty-seventh  mile  of  this  divisional  line" — that  is,  Law- 
rence's line  between  East  and  West-Jersey,  run  in  1743,  and  start- 
Ino-  from  Little  Egg  Harbor.     {Douglass'  Summary,  ii.  282.) 

Page  27.  The  statement  at  the  beginning  of  this  page  would 
be  more  exact  by  inserting,  that  by  act  of  Assembly  Jan.  22, 
1709-10,  Burlington  county  was  made  to  include  Maidenhead, 
Hopewell,  and  Amwell.  The  portion  of  Trenton,  now  above  the 
Assanpink,  was  then  in  Hopewell.  Hunterdon  county,  as  set  off 
in  March,  1713-14,  included  what  are  now  the  counties  of  Morrit*, 


444  Notes. 


Sussex,  Warren,  and  Hunterdon,  and  the  present  townships  of 
Trenton,  Ewing,  Lawrence,  and  Hopewell,  in  Mercer  county. 

Pages  30  and  870.  The  inscription  on  Bainbridge's  grave 
stands  thus : 

"In  memory  of 

i 

lohn  Banbridge  who  di'd  Febry. 
the  14^^^-  1732.     In  y"  75^^^  Year  of  his  Age." 

The  first  i  in  his  name  was  inserted  after  the  name  had  been 
cut.  The  family  name  in  England  had  another  variety,  as  is 
found  in  an  epigram  quoted  in  Bayle's  Dictionary,  beginning — 

"  Doctor  Banibridge  came  from  Cambridge."  {Art.  on  John 
Bairibridge  ;  5(?7Vi  1582.) 

Page  33.  Kichard  Eayre.  This  is  probably  the  same  family 
that  has  since  been  better  known  as  Eyres  and  Eyre.  In  our 
church-yard  is  the  grave  of  "  Sophia,  relict  of  Capt.  Richard 
Eyres,  formerly  of  Philadelphia ;"  February  9,  1801 :  aged  60. 

Page  51.     For  "  «?if?  Pennington"  read  "«^  Pennington." 

Page  66.  "A  letter  from  the  people  of  Trenton,  desiring  care 
to  be  taken  to  procure  a  minister  for  them,  was  read  ;  but  nothing 
was  or  could  be  done  to  purpose  about  it  at  that  time."  Minutes 
of  Presbytery  of  PMladelpTiia.,  September  19,  1734. 

Page  76.  In  a  letter  of  Gov.  Belcher,  June  8,  1751,  it  is  said 
that  "  Mr.  Thomas's  interest  in  Trenton  had  been  bought  by 
Robert  Lettice  Hooper,  for  £2900  sterling — thought  a  good  sale." 
(  WhitelieacVs  Analytical  Index^  p  273.) 

Page  83.  For  the  records  and  documents  relative  to  the  Schism, 
see  Baird's  Assembly's  Digest^  pp.  592-617.     (Second  edition.) 

Pages  95  and  280.  The  "Analytical  Index"  gives  the  heads 
of  several  communications  that  passed  between  Governor  Franklin 
and  the  royal  authority  in  England,  in  reference  to  a  petition  of 
the  Presbyterian  clergy  in  New-Jersey,  for  a  charter  for  the 
Widows'  Fund.  See  Index  under  dates  of  May  11,  1772,  Feb. 
27,  April  10,  June  2,  Oct.  18,  1773.     The  charter  was  granted. 


Notes.  445 


Page  111.  Wm.  Morris  and  Richard  Salter  were  Justices  of 
the  Peace  at  Trenton.  Gov.  Belcher  (Dec.  1755)  disapproved  of 
their  course  in  committing  a  number  of  Susquehannah  and  Dela- 
war3  Indians  to  jail,  as  they  belonged  to  Pennsylvania.  An. 
Ifidex,  p.  830.  See  also  p.  280.  Nov.  2.  Saltar  was  the  name  of 
the  Treasurer  of  the  State  who,  in  October,  1803,  was  seized  in 
his  house  in  Trenton,  and  robbed  of  the  public  funds  to  the  amount 
of  eleven  thousand  dollars. 

Page  163.  The  date  of  1757,  as  that  of  the  removal  of  the  Col- 
lege, is  incorrect.     The  explanation  is  on  page  124. 

Page  171.  "  Trenton,  June  21,  1761,"  is  the  date  of  a  letter, 
from  John  Brainerd  to  the  Rev.  Enoch  Green,  written  "in  a 
minute  or  two,  as  I  passed  through  town" — ^printed  in  the  Presby- 
tericm  Magazine^  Oct.  1852. 

Page  200.  The  Commissioners  held  their  court  at  Trenton 
from  November  12th  to  December  30th,  1782.  Their  decision, 
which  was  in  favor  of  Pennsylvania,  is  known  as  "  the  Trenton 
decree."  (ITollister^s  History  of  the  Lackawanna  Valley^  p.  59.) 
The  Commissioners  were  TVm.  Whipple,  Welcome  Arnold,  David 
Brearley,  William  C.  Houston,  and  Cyrus  Griffin.  The  Agents  for 
Pennsylvania  were  Joseph  Reed,  Wm.  Bradford,  James  AVilson,  and 
Jona.  D.  Sergeant.  Those  for  Connecticut  were  Eliphalet  Dyer, 
Jesse  Root,  and  Wm.  Samuel  Johnson.  Henry  Osborne  was 
Solicitor. 

Page  223.  May  30,  1766,  Mr.  Spencer,  as  Moderator,  signed 
the  Synod's  Pastoral  Letter  upon  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act. 
The  letter  is  given  in  Baird's  Digest^  p.  836. 

Pages  229  and  231.  The  name  of  Samuel  Hill  is  in  the  grave- 
yard;  "born  September  14.  1716:  Died  May  5.  1785."  An 
adjoining  stone  is  marked  "Smith  Hill:  Died  January  9.  1822, 
aged  71  years." 

Page  338.  The  result  of  the  experience  of  such  uses  of  the 
Church  as  are  related  on  this  and  other  pages,  was  given  by  Mr. 
Armstrong  in  his  sermon  at  the  opening  of  the  new  church  in 

3G 


]  1 6  Officers  (){ 


1806.  The  position  taken  by  him  in  the  annexed  paragraph  is 
now  an  established  rule  of  our  Trustees.  "  I  know,"  said  the 
preacher,  "  that  superstition  has  often  conferred  upon  churches 
a  degree  of  sanctity  which  can  only  belong  to  the  object  of  all  reli- 
gious worship.  But  I  know  also  that  in  the  attempt  to  wipe  out 
this  vestige  of  superstition,  too  many  have  swept  away  with  it 
that  respect  and  veneration  which  we  ought  to  cultivate  for  places 
where  God  has  promised  his  presence  to  his  people.  The  use  of  i 
churches,  for  purposes  not  immediately  connected  with  religious 
exercises,  though  innocent  in  itself,  must  have  a  tendency  to 
weaken  our  respect  and  veneration  for  them.  Civil,  political,  or 
literary  scenes  and  exhibitions,  mingled  at  intervals,  though  not 
on  the  Lord's  day,  will  more  or  less  weaken  a  sense  of  that  serious- 
ness and  solemnity  which  is  associated  with  a  house  set  apart  for 
the  worship  of  God.  Nothing,  therefore,  but  urgent  and  unavoid- 
able necessity  should  open  the  doors  of  our  sanctuaries  for  exer- 
cises which  are  not  immediately  subservient  to  the  purposes  of  reli- 
gion or  devotion." 

Page  425.     Add  to  the  statistics  that  in  the  time  included,  262 
communicants  were  dismissed  by  certificate. 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  TRENTON  CHURCH. 


PASTORS. 


1736-60 
1161-66  . 
1169-84 
1786-1816 
1816-21 
:» 32 1-24  . 
1825-28 
1829-33  . 
1834-41 


David  Co  well. 

William  Kirkpatrick,  (Supply.) 

Elihu  Spencer. 

James  F.  Armstrong. 

Samuel  B.  How. 

William  J.  Armstrong. 

John  Smith. 

James  W.  Alexander. 

John  W.  Yeomans. 


1841-       ....  John  Hall. 


Trenton  Church. 


447 


ELDERS    AND    DEACONS. 


1760  John  Chambers, 

1806  Nicholas  Dubois.f 

John  HendricksoQ, 

1815  Nathaniel  Burrowes. 

Stephen  Rose. 

1817  JohnBeatty, 

1764  Joseph  Green. 

James  Ewing, 

1765  Benjamin  Yard, 

Robert  McNeely, 

Hezekiah  Howell, 

Joshua  S.  Anderson.:}: 

William  Tucker. 

1829  John  Voorhees, 

1771  Samuel  Hill,           )     *' Elders 
Ebenezer  Co  well.  ^  for  town.' 

Samuel  Brearley. 

'1836  Thomas  J.  Stryker, 

Jacob  Carle, 

Stacy  G.  Potts. 

John  Howell, 

"  For  the 

1840  James  Pollock, 

Timothy  Hen- 

Old  House." 

Francis  A.  Ewing, 

drickson. 

Aaron  A.  Hutchinson, 

Benjamin  Smith.     "  Deacon 

John  A.  Hutchinson, ") 

for  Trenton.' 

'           Benj.  S.  Disbrow,      >■  ^^^' 

1777   Wm.  Green,       ) 

Joseph  Green,     f  beacon?. 

Joseph  G.  Brearley.  )      ^^^^' 
1846  Samuel  Roberts, 

1782  John  Howell.     Deacon. 

Joseph  G.  Brearley, 

1787  Alexander  Chambers, 

Jonathan  Fisk, 

Jacob  Carle, 

Stanhope  S.  Cooley, )  Dea- 
B.  Wesley  Titus.       )        con? 

Isaac  Smith, 

Benjamin  Smith, 
Nathaniel  Furman, 

1856  Andrew  R.  Titus,  ) 

William  J.  Owens  j^^^^°^^- 

Ogden  Woodruff.* 

1858  George  S.  Green, 

1797  Peter  Gordon. 

Augustus  G.  Richey. 

1806  Benjamin  Hayd 

en,t 

*  After  several  years'  service,  Mr.  Woodrufif  was,  at  his  own  request,  excused  from 
acting  ;  but  at  the  wish  of  the  Session  he  resumed  his  place  Jan.  1, 1S09.  There  was 
another  suspension  of  his  services  in  1S15-1G,  but  he  again  took  his  seat  and  acted 
until  his  death,  Nov.  4, 1821. 

t  Time  of  election  is  uncertain, 

X  Mr.  Anderson's  name  appears  in  the  Records  of  Session  until  1828;  after  this  he 
removed  to  Philadelphia,  where  he  resided  for  some  years,  but  returned  to  Trenton  , 
and  died  here  in  June,  1S40,  in  his  sixtieth  year. 


448 


Officers  of"  Trenton,  Ewing, 


TRUSTEES. 


n56  David  Cowell,  1789 

Charles  Clark. 

Andrew  Reed, 

Arthur  Howell,  1799 

Joseph  Yard, 

William  Green, 

Alexander  Chambers.  180-4 

17  GO  Moore  Furman,  vice  Reed.        1808 
1762  Obadiah  Howell,  v.  Cowell. 
1764  Wm.  Kirkpatrick,  J  v.A.How- 1811 

James  Cumine,      >  ell,  Yard, 

Abraliam  Hunt.    3  and    Fur- 1818 

[man.     1822 
1766  Joseph  Reed,  Jr.,  ^  v.  Cumine,  1823 

Samuel  Tucker,    >    Kirkpa-     1825 

Daniel  Clark.        3  trick,  and 

[Green. 

1770  Elihu  Spencer,  v.  Reed. 

1771  Joseph  Tindal,  v.  0.  Howell. 
1777  Benjamin  Clark,  v.  C.  Clark. 
1780  Nathaniel  Furman  ?;.  Tindal. 
1783  Moore  Furman,  v.  Spencer. 
1786  Daniel  Scudder,  v.  B.  Clark. 

1788  Isaac  Smith,  v.  M.  Furman.      1838 
1788  Bernard  Hanlon,  ^  v.  D,  Clark, 
Hugh  Runyon,    >  N".  Furman, 
Moore  Furman,  )  &  Scudder,  1856 


Aaron  D.  "Woodruff, 
Benjamin  Smith, 


I  V.  Tuck- 
\   er,  and 
[Runyon. 
V.  Hanlon, 
&  A.  Cham- 
bers, Sen. 


1826 
1833 


John  Beatty, 
Alex.  Chambers, 

Jr., 

Peter  Gordon,  v.  Beatty. 
James  Ewing,  \  v.  I.  Smith  & 
Peter  Hunt,     )  M.  Furman. 
Benj.  Hayden,  v.  P.  Hunt. 
Charles  Ewing,  v.  B.  Smith. 
S.  L.  Southard,  v.  Woodruff. 
John  Beatty,  v.  A.  Hunt. 
John  S.  Chambers,  v.  J.  Ewing. 
Amos  Hartley,       ^  v.  Gordon, 
Ebenezer  P.  Rose,  >  Southard, 
Benjamin  Fish,       )  and  A. 

[Chambers. 
Charles  Burroughs,  v.  Hartley. 
Henry  W.  Green,  ^  v.  C.  Ew- 
Armitage  Green,  v  ing,  Hay- 
Thos.  J.  Stryker.  )  den,     and 

[Beatty. 


Sam'l  R.  Hamilton 
X.  J.  Maynard, 


)  b( 


Geo.  S.  Green, 
Wm.  G.  Cook. 


Cham- 
bers and 
[Rose. 
V.  A.    Green 
&  Maynard. 


PASTORS    OF    EWING, 

(or  trexton  first  church,)  ses'ce  separaton  from  town  church. 

1789-1821  Joseph  Rue.  1858-A.  P.  DeYeuve. 

1823-1858  Eli  F.  Cooley. 


Lawrenceville  and  Pennington.         449 


PASTORS  OF   LAWRENCEVILLE, 

(since  separation.) 

1807-28  Isaac  Y.  Brown.  1836-48  Joseph  Mahon. 

1830-35  Henry  Axtell.  1851-      Abraham  Gosman. 

PASTORS     OF    PENNINGTON, 

(or   first    church    of   HOPEWELL.) 

1731-85       John  Guild.  1826-38  Benjamin  Ogden. 

1785-1826  Joseph  Rue.  1838-      George  Hale. 


ELDERS  OF 

(fro3i  the  beginning 

Enoch  Armitage, 
Reuben  Armitage, 
Ephraim  Titus, 
Thomas  Baldwin, 
Joseph  Titus,  (Sen.,) 
Nathan  Hunt, 
John  Smith, 
Abraham  Pittenger, 
John  Hunt, 
John  Muirheid, 
John  Carpenter, 
Jesse  Christopher, 
Nathaniel  Burro wes, 
Charles  "Welling, 
Stephen  Burro  wes, 
Jacob  Hoff, 
Israel  Hart, 
John  Hoflf, 


PENNINGTON, 

to  the  present  time.) 

Enos  Titus, 
Daniel  G.  Howell, 
Aaron  Hart, 
Enoch  Ketcham, 
Theophilus  Furman, 
Joab  Titus, 
Edmund  Roberts, 
Isaac  Welling, 
Joseph  Titus, 
Nathaniel  R.  Titus, 
John  Guild  Muirheid, 
Azariah  Hunt, 
John  Smith  Hunt, 
Benjamin  S.  Holt, 
John  Ellis  Burd, 
Enoch  Armitage  Titus, 
"Wilson  Black  well. 


DEACONS  OF  PENNINGTON. 


Titus  Hart, 
Solomon  Titus, 
Edmund  Roberts,  (Sen.,) 


John  Davison, 
Jacob  Hoff, 
Daniel  G.  Howell, 


450 


Officers  of  Pennington 


Aaron  Hart, 
Enoch  Ketcham, 
Eenjamin  Hoffj 
Andrew  Titus, 
Reuben  Titus, 


Daniel  H.  Hart, 
George  Woolsey, 
James  Burroughs, 
Jonathan  Smith  Hart. 


TRUSTEES. 

The  earliest  record  of  a  meeting  of  the  congregation  of  "The 
First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Hopewell,"  bears  date  September 
30th,  1786  ;  when  the  seven  following  were  elected  Trustees, 
namely : 


John  "Welling,  Jr., 
John  Smith, 
John  Price  Hunt, 
Amos  Moore, 


Stephen  Burro wes,  Jr. 

Nathaniel  Hart, 

Dr.  Hezekiah  Stiles  Woodrufif, 


Subsequently,  at  various  times,  those  named  below  have  been 
elected : 


Henry  Baker, 
John  Muirheid, 
John  Yancleve, 
Ephraim  "Woolsey,  (Sen  ,) 
Enoch  Hunt, 
Stephen  Titus, 
Jesse  Hunt, 
Jesse  Moore, 
Stephen  Hunt, 
John  Carpenter, 
James  Stevenson, 
Enoch  Ketcham, 
Edmund  Roberts, 
Charles  "Welling, 
George  Muirheid, 
Samuel  Moore, 


Aaron  Hart, 
Josiah  Hart, 
Andrew  Titus, 
Joseph  Titus, 
John  Guild  Muirheid, 
Garret  J.  Schenck, 
Christopher  L,  'Wynkoop, 
George  Woolsey, 
Asa  Hunt, 
Stephen  B.  Smith, 
"William  D.  Blackwell,       , 
Jonathan  S.  Hart, 
George  R.  Cook, 
Ephraim  Woolsey, 
John  Ellis  Burd. 


and  Titusville. 


451 


TITUSVILLE 


The  Presbyterian  congregation  of  Titusville  was  formed  by  a 
colony  from  the  Pennington  Church,  consisting  of  thirty-five 
families,  with  eighty-five  church-members.  The  church  was 
organized  on  the  tenth  of  January,  1844.  The  first  pastor,  the 
Eev.  Garret  Van  Artsdalen,  was  ordained  and  installed  May  22d, 
1844.  His  pastoral  relation  was  dissolved  February  3d,  1852. 
On  the  fourteenth  of  September,  1852,  the  Rev.  Jesse  B.  Davis 
was  installed  pastor,  and  still  continues. 

The  names  of  the  ofiicers  of  this  church  and  congregation  are  as 
follows : 


ELDERS 


Joseph  Titus, 
Edmund  Roberts, 
Theophilus  Hunt, 


John  TV.  Burroughs, 
John  Welling, 
Theodore  HofF. 


DEACON. 

Isaac  S.  Nevius. 


TRUSTEES 


Joseph  Titus, 
Theodore  Hoff, 
John  Welling, 


Philip  T.  Hunt, 
John  Johnson, 
Isaac  Parley. 


FIRST  MEMBERS  OF  NEW-BRUNSWICK  PRESBYTERY. 

At  the  end  of  the  fifth  volume  of  the  Records  of  the  Presbytery 
of  New-Brunswick,  is  "  A  Catalogue  of  Ministers  and  Candidates 
who  have  been  members  of,  or  belong  to,  the  Presbytery  since 
the  time  of  its  first  constitution,  August  8,  1738."  This  Cata- 
logue is  arranged  to  give  to  each  name  the  dates  of  license,  ordina- 
tion, and  reception  by  Presbytery,  from  whence  received,  the 
pastoral  charge,  changes  of  charge,  date  of  dismission,  to  what 
body  dismissed,   date  of  death,  and  miscellaneous  items.     The 


45^ 


First  Members 


Catalogue  continued  to  February  1,  1859,  numbers  about  five 
hundred  and  eighty.  The  "  Candidates"  on  the  list  appear  to  be 
only  such  as  were  in  due  time  licensed  by  this  Presbytery.  I 
wish  I  had  room  for  the  entire  document,  but  must  be  satisfied 
with  transcribing  the  first  one  hundred  and  seventeen  names, 
(which  embrace  all  to  the  year  1800,)  with  the  date  of  ordination 
as  far  as  given.  The  first  five  were  the  original  members  from  the 
Presbytery  of  New- York  : 


Gilbert  Tennent, 
John  Cross, 
Eleazar  Wales, 
"William  Tennent, 
Samuel  Blair, 
John  Rowland,  1739, 
James  McCrea,  1741, 
Wm.  Robinson,  1741, 
James  Campbell,  1742, 
Samuel  Finley,  1742, 
Wm.  Tennent,  Sen., 
Richard  Treat, 
Samuel  Sackett,  1742, 
David  Youngs,  1742, 
Charles  McKnight,  1744, 
Charles  Beatty,  1743, 
Wm.  Dean, 
Joseph  Lamb, 
Andrew  Hunter,  1746, 
Daniel  Lawrence,  1747, 
James  Davenport, 
Job  Pruddeo,  1757, 
Thomas  Lewis, 
John  Campbell,  1750, 
Timothy  Allen, 
Benjamin  Chesnut,  1751, 
Israel  Reed,  1750, 


Samuel  Kennedy,  1751, 
John  Todd,  1751, 
Eliab  Byram, 
Samuel  Harker,  1752, 
Henry  Martin, 
Conradus  Wortz,  1752, 
Benjamin  Hait,  1755, 
Jeremiah  Halsey,  1767, 
David  Cowell, 
John  Guild, 

Wm.  Kirkpatrick,  1759, 
Alex.  Macwhorter,  1759, 
Samuel  Davies, 
John  Carmichael, 
John  Clark,  1761, 
John  Hanna,  1761, 
Wm.  Mills,  1762, 
James  Caldwell,  1760, 
James  Hunt,  1760, 
Joseph  Treat,  1762, 
Amos  Thompson,  1763, 
Samuel  Parkhurst,  1762, 
Thomas  Smith, 
Elihu  Spencer, 
Wm.  Tennent.  Jr.,  1762, 
Enoch  Green,  1762, 
Jacob  Ker,  1763, 


of  New-BrunswiciC  Presbytery.  453 


James  LyoQ,  1764, 
Nathan  Ker,  1763, 
David  Caldwell,  1TG4, 
John  Rosbrough,  1764, 
Francis  Peppard, 
Simon  "Williams, 
Alexander  Mitchel, 
Jonathan  Edwards,  Jr, 
James  Thompson, 
John  Blair, 

Jacob  Vanartsdalen,  17*71, 
John  "Witherspoon,  1745, 
John  Simpson, 
Wm.  Schenck,  1771, 
Alexander  McLean, 
Caleb  Wallace, 
Moses  Allen, 
John  Debow,  1775, 
Oliver  Reese, 
James  Gourlay, 
Philip  Stockton,  1778, 
Hugh  White, 
John  Warford,  1776, 
George  Faitoute,  1779, 
John  Woodhull,  1770, 
Samuel  S.  Smith, 
Peter  Willson,  1784, 
Joseph  Rue,  1784, 
Joseph  Clark,  1784, 

Russel, 

Wm.  Boyd,  1784. 


Ira  Condict,  1787. 

James  Muir, 

Asa  Dunham,  1787, 

Walter  Monteith,  1786, 

James  F.  Armstrong, 

Ashbel  Green, 

Thomas  Grant,  1791, 

Daniel  [or  Darius]  0.  Gillct, 

Gilbert  T.  Snowden,  1790, 

Adam  Ramsay, 

Cyrus  Gildersleeve,  1792, 

John  J.  Carle, 

Charles  D.  Green, 

Stephen  Yoorhees, 

Samuel  F.  Snowden,  1795, 

David  Barclay,  1794, 

Thomas  Hickman, 

Robert  Finley,  1795, 

Hollo  way  Hunt,  1795, 

Robert  Russell, 

Joseph  Caldwell, 

George  Scott,  1798, 

Wm.  B.  Sloan,  1789, 

Andrew  Hunter, 

Geo.  Spafford  Woodhull,  1798, 

Ebenezer  Grant,  1800, 

David  Comfort,  1800, 

M,  Lerue  Perrine,  1800, 

John  Cornell,  1800, 

Nathaniel  Harris. 


INDEX 


TO      SUBJECTS,     AND       TO       BOOKS      CITED. 


»  ♦  » 


-Academy,  121,  326,  32t 

"Adam,"  292 

Adams'  Life  and  Works,  199,  2 to, 

339,  341 
Aitken's  Bible,  329 
Akers,  30 
Alexander,  A..  367,  383,  388,  401, 

408,  420 
Alexander,  J.  W.,  391,  392, 408, 420, 

424 
Allison,  433 
Amwell,  184,  IST,  189 
Anderson,  (or  Andris,)  Joshua,  30, 

54 
Anderson,  Cornelius,  30,  35 
EUakim,  76, 
Enoch,  80,  36,  54,  56 
History       of     Colonial 

Church,  107 
Andrews,  Jedediah,  31,  73,  75 
Arch  Street  Church,  89 
Armitage,  E.,  43,  44,  49,  87,  109, 

112,  147 
Armitage,  R.,  43 
Armstrong,  J.  F.,  58,  295,  409 
"  "        Mrs.,  347,  411 

"         W.  J.,  389 
Arnold,  92 
Assanpink,  24 

"  Navigation,  405 

Bailey's  Travels,  23 
Bainbridge,  30,  370,  444 
Baird,  385,  390 

"        Digest,  444,  415 


Baldwin,  43 
Bancroft's  History,  18 
Bank,  243,  403 
Barclay,  19 
Barnes,  390 
Barracks,  101 
Basse's  Deed,  29,  55,  440 
Battle  of  Trenton,  243,  403 
Bayle's  Dictionary,  444 
Beakes,  53,  176 
Beatty,  John,  235,  402 
"       C.  C,  390,  404 
"       Erkuries,  404 
Belcher,  117,  213 
Bell,  245 
Bellamy,  165 
Bellerjeau,  73,  245 
Belville,  248 
Belleville,  64,  428 
Bethune,  397 
Bible  Printing,  329 

"     Societies,  22,  397 
Biddle,  262 
Bishop,  371 
Blairs,  295 

Blake's  Biog.  Dictionary,  330 
Bloomfield,  381 
Bolton's  History,  107 
Bonaparte,  347,  430 
Bond,  113,  234 
Bonham,  30 
Boswell,  421,  433 
Boyd,  20,  287 
Braduer,  41 
Brainerd,  171,  208,  415 


ii         Index  to  Subjects,  and  to  Books  cited. 


Brearley,  409,  411,  420,  434 
Bridge,  403 
Brissot's  Travels,  345 
Brittain,  256 
Brown,  I.  V.,  362 
Bryant,  235,  430 
Bryerly,  30 

Burnaby's  Travels,  100,  101 
Burr,  117,  123,  163 
Burroughs,  35,  36 
Burro wes,  394,  409 
Burt,  206 

Cadwalader,  9V,  112 

Call,  67 

Campaign,  Southern,  303 

Campbell's  "Chancellors,"  318 

Candidates,  297 

Carle,  229,  232 

Carnahan,  393 

Capital,  U.  S.,  292,  435 

Castiglioni,  347 

"Cato,"  191 

Chalkley's  Journal,  202 

Chambers  Family,    121,  158,  160, 

427 
Chapin,  427 
Chaplaincies,   170,    215,   267,   278, 

300,  303 
Charter,  154,  284,  313 
Chastellux,  Travels,  276 
Cincinnati,  The,  337,  338 
Clarks,  76,  155,  156 
Clarkson,  122 
Cleayton,  35 
Cliosophic  Society,  118 
Clunns,  249 
Coleman,  30 
College  of  Xew-Jersey,  116,  121, 

188,  280 
Collins,  328 
Commission,  93 
Congress,   Journals   of,    262,   278, 

435 
Constitution,  322 
Convention.  187 
Cooley,  24,  390,  408,  425 
Coppers,  377 


Corner-stone,  354 
Cornwallis,   266,  286 
Corn  well,  43 
Cosby,  152 
Cottnam,  238,  248 
Cowell,  Rev.  D.,  67 

"         Dr.,  291 

"        Ebenezer,  233,  238 

"         John,  294 
Coxe,  236 
Craighead,  94 
Cranbury,  34 
Creed,  Dr.,  247 
Crookshank's  History,  15 
Cumines,  194 
Cujler,  426 

Dagworthy,  35,  76,  111,  146,  196 

Damages,  264 

Dauphin,  281 

Davies,  90,  122,  126,  128,  131,  133, 

137,  170,  213 
Davis,  30,  33,  36 
Deane,  36 
Debow,  277 
Decow,  240 
Dedication,  355 
Deeds,  29,  33,  35,  55,  440 
Deklyn,  234 
Delaware  Falls,  22,  443 
Deruelle,  426 
Dickinson,  M.,  43,  47 

"  P.,  429,  438 

Dockwra,  11 
Dod,  425 

Douglass's  Summary,  23,  104,  444 
Dubois,  63,  224,  301,  384 
Dufiaeld,  269 
Dunbar,  407 
Dutch  Colonists,  9 

East- Jersey  Presbytery,  49 
Eayre,  33,  444 
•' Ecce  Jesum,"  242 
Edmundson's  Travels,  20 
Edwards,  Sr.,  125,  210 
"        Jr.,  204  ■ 


Index  to  Subjects,  and  to  Books  cited.        iii 


Edwards'   Life   of    Brainerd,    208, 

209 
Ely,  394 

Episcopal  Church,  103.  290 
Epitaphs,    20,   144,   189,   190,   203 

239,    244,    256.    288.    375,  386, 

394,    397,    401,   40S,   407,    409, 

431,432 
Erskines,  248,  316 

"  Works,  317 

Evans,  41 
Everiit,  43 
Ewing  Church,  28,  35,  37,  448 

'•       Jame?,  405 

"       Charles,  396,  413,  431 

"       Fraijcis   A.,   59,    360,    415.  i 

420,  431 
Ewing,  John,  363 

"     Sermon,  322 
Maskell,  363 
Examinations,  297 
Execution,  91,  149 
Exegesis,  169,  242 


Ealls  of  Delaware,  22,  62,  443 
Farley,  36 
Fast -day,  337 
Field's  Miuutes,  187 

"       Provincial  Courts,  201,  237 

"       on  Tennent,  96 
Finley,  82,  129,  131,  175,  183.  223, 

334,  380 
Fire  Company,  334 
Fitch,  250 
Flemington,  336 
"Flint,  Dr.,"  291 
Foote's  North-Carolina,    219,    221, 

228 
Foote's  Virginia,  122,  213 
Fortescue.  348 
Fourth  Church,  428 
Franklin's   Life    and  "Wriiings,  89, 

240,  253 
Franklin's  CorrespondeLce,  443 
Freeman,  151,  lf>3 
Frelinghuysen.  392 
Funerals,  145 


Furraan,  43,    113,    146,    162.   194. 
282,  364 

General  Assembly,  319 

Gibbs's    Federsl    Administrations, 
398,  440 

Giffing,  73 

Gillies's  Collections,  87 

Gordon,  264,  299,  402 

Gospel   Propagation   Society,  His- 
tory, 103 

Gospel    Propagation    Society;    ab- 
stracts, 105 

Gould,  109,  202 

Gowns,  381 

Grave-yard,  34,  370,  379 

Green,  158 

"       Dr.  A..  89,  322,  368 

'*       His  Auto-memoir,  89 

"       Notes  and  Discourses,  116. 

118 

Grellet,  328 

Griffin  Funeral  Sermon  by,  124 

Guild,  51,  95,  134 

Hale,  29,  44,  46. 
Hall,  424,  425 

"     B.  R.  H.'s  Oration,  118 
Halsted's  Reports.  237 
Hamilton,  410 
Hanlon,  249 
Hardin,  30 
Harker,  178,  217 
Hart,  31,  76,  201 
Hayden,  402 
Heath,  33 

Henry,  257,  419,  425 
Heston,  or  Hasten,  33 
Higbee,  241,  438 
Hildreth's  History,  10,  440 
Hill,  229,  231,  445 
History,  Church,  335 

*'       Documentary  of  N.  Y.,  107, 

210,  23.3,  252. 
Historical  Collections  of  N.  J..  78, 

96 
Historical  "  Penn.,  10'.^ 

*•  Mass.,  210 


iv  Index  to  Subjects,  and  to  Books  cited. 


Hixon,  30 
Hodge,  390,  393 

"  '      liistory,  82,  83 
HoUister's  History,  445 
Home,  or  Hume,  150,  151 
Hook,  12 

Hooper,  102.  114,  247.  316,  444 
Hopewell,  26,  28,  32 
HopkinsoD's  Works,  437 
Hospitul  278 
Houdin,  105,  242 
Houston,  303,  308,  445 
How,  240,  384.  388,  420 
Howell,   36,    157,    158,    162.    194. 

240,  286 
Hubbard,  65 

Humphrey's  History,  103,  104 
Hunt,  30,  43.  76,  195,  365 
Hunter,  185.  341 
ilunterdon,  27,  444 
Hutchinson,  33,  420 

Ice  House,  102 

Incorporation  of  Presbytery,  342 

Indian  Missions,  211 

Irish  Colonists,  9,  17 

Irving's   Life  of  Washington,   271, 

333 
Irwin,  251 

Jefferson's  Life  and  Works,  287, 440 
Randall's,  287.  342 
Tucker's,  287 

Jersey.  East,  9 

Johnston's  Autobiography,  344 

July  Fourth,  337 

Kalm's  Travels  23,  97,  146 

Kent,  44 

Kmgsbury,  76 

Kirkpatrick,    135,    163,    190.    191, 

427 
KoUock.  343,  409  I 

Ladies'  Committee,  278 
Lafayette,  404 
Lalor,  394 
Lancaster,  406 


Lanning,  or  Lannen,  30,  75 

Latin,  300 

Lawrenceville,  27,  28,  32 

Lawrenson,  30 

Lawrie,  11 

Leake,  64.  399 

Legacies,  149,   156,   159,  194.  196, 

202,  244,  285,  286,  292,  434 
Levasseur's  Travels,  405 
Lee,  Memoirs  of  R.  H.,  267 
Library,  335 
Lightning,  406 
Littlewortb,  24,  443 
Livingston,  275,  287,  290,  309,  329 
Lock  art,  35 
Log  College,  by  Alexander,  83.  86, 

164 
Longacre'a  Gallery,  431 
Lossing's  Field  Book,  196,  271 
Lott,  71 

Lotterie.s  105,  113,  120,353 
Lowrey,  258,  278 
Lowry,  434 
Ly ell's  Travels,  351 
Lyon,  182 

Macaulay's  History,  11,  13 
Macwhorter,    164.   167.    169.    217. 

270 
McDowell,  386 
McKnight,  203 
McNeely,  409,  411 
Madison  Papers,  436 
Maidenhead,  26,  27,  31 
Map.  26 
Maple,  30 

Marshall's  Washington,  332 
Mather,  46 

Mathis,  or  Mathias,  246 
Meditations,  44 
Medium,  175 
Melish's  Travels,  101 
Merseilles,  241 
Messler's  Memorial,  245 
Michael's,   St.,   33.    34,    103,    106, 

107,  259 
Michaux,  346 
MiUer,  288,  367,  373,  390,  401,  408 


Index  to  Subjects,  and  to  Books  cited. 


Monroe,  406 
Montgomery,  226 
Moore,  42 
Moreau,  347 
Morgan,  45 
Morris,  29,  76,  438 

"       Papers   of  Lewis,    29,    74, 
78,  151 
Murray's  Elizabethtown,  155 

Nassau  Hall,  1 1 7 
Neshamony,  19,  86,  181,  251 
New- Jersey,  9,  70 

"  Legislature.  201,  284, 

302,  329 
New-Jersey  Executive  Correspoud- 

ence,  329 
Neltleton,  419 
Newspapers,  108 
North-Carolina,  167,  213,  iil7,  221, 

261 
Nottingham  Sermon,  88 

Occom,  377 

Officers,  446 

"  Old  Church,"  26,  33 

Old  and  New  Sides,  89 

Oldmixon's  History,  11,  12,  104 

Orme's  Life  of  Baxter,  14 

Orr,  41 

Osborn,  419 

Paine,  350 
Paper  mill,  331 

Parsonages,   32,  50,  176,  312,  316 
Pastors,  446,  448,  449,  451 
Paxlon,  237,  270 
Pemberton's  Serraou,  94 
Pennington,  28,  42,  449 
Persecution,  13 
Pettit,  197 
Pews,  260 

Philadelphia  Churches,  19,  89,  199 
"  Newspapers,    93.    94, 

108,  118,  120,  153,  199 
PhiUips,  30 
Pidgeon,  238,  246 
Pine  Street,  198,  199 


Pinkerton,  237 

Poem,  38 

Pollock,  412,  420 

Porterfield,  64,  72 

Post  Office,  109 

Potter's  field,  380 

Potts,  250,  254,  350 

Prayer,  356 

Prenceta,  242 

Presbyterian  Magazine,  46,  445 

Presbytery,  Members  of,  ^51 

Presbyteries,  40,  48,  49.  85   88 

Price,  30 

Priest's  Travels,  22 

Proprietors,  10 

Prout,  36,  75,  109 

Pula.ski,  429 

Puritans,  9 

Quakers,  9,  10 
Quincy's  History,  69 

Hah),  196,  270 

Ramsey,  185 

Read's  Memoir,  393 

Records  of    Presbyterian    Church, 

41,  49,  50,  82,  181,  184,  212 
Reed,   36,   74,   75,   110,   111,    113, 

157,  163,  196,  445 
Reed,  Life  and  Correspondence,  197 

"     Memoir,  197 

"     Mrs.,  Life  of,  197 
Reeder,  35,  256 
Revel,  29,  440 
Revival,  83 
Riddel,  14,  15 
Rice,  331,  385,  418 
Riker's  Annals,  35,  36 
Ringo,  42,  71,  110 
Rochefoucault's  Travels,  101.  346 
Rodgers,  222 
Rogers,  434 
Rosborough,  267 
Roscoe,  366 

Rowland,  84,  86,  87,  96 
Rue,  51 
Ruuyon,  30,  258 


vi        Index  to  Subjects,  and  to  Books  cited. 


Rutherford,  346 
Ryall,  247 

Sabine's  Loyalists,  237 

Sacket,  80,  '36,  40 

St.  George's,  222 

Salary,    173,    175,  191,    205,    230, 

313 
Salmagundi,  347  ! 

Sanford's  Life,  385 
Sargent,  427 

'•        History,  102 
Saxc-"Weiraar's  Travels,  4(i3 
Schism,  83 
School,  120 
Scot,  13 

Scot's  Model,  15 
Scotch  Colonists,  9 
Scudder,  35,  73,  74,  75 
Seal,  314 

Second  Church,  421 
Sedgwick's  Life  of  Livingston,  201, 

202,  291,329 
Sergeant,  289 

Settlement  of  New-Jersey,  9 
Severos,  or  Severance,  or  Siferons, 
36 

Shard,  349 

Sherman,  396,  397 

Sherrerd,  382 

Shippen  Papers,  102 

Sinclair,  or  St.  Clair,  101, 102 

Singer,  249 

Smith,  30.  32,  36,  42,  64,  243,  255, 
386,  393 

Smith's  History,  24,  443 

Southard,  397,  416,  431 

Sparks's  Library,  255,  (See  Frank- 
lin and  Washington) 

Spencer,  122.  135.  207,  208,  445 

Sprague's  Annals.  212.  268,  269.  377 

Sproat,  199 

Stacy.  24,  54 

Standards,  322 

Stamford,  272 

Staughion,  433 

Stearns's  Newark,  165 

Stirling,  102 


Stockton,  390,  398,  399 
Stone  Church,  59 
Strong,  209 
Siuddiford,  390 
Sammerfield,  404 
Sunday- Schools,  382 
SutclifTs  Travels,  347 
Synods,  89,  95,  216,  313 

Tennents,  43,  79,  84,  96,  122,  169 
"         Sermons,  164 

Tennent  Church,  20 

Theological  Seminary,  367 

Third  Church,  426 

Thomas's  History  of  Printing,  330 

Thompson,  206  ' 

"  Long  Island,  281 

Tindal,  282 

Tinicum,  (Tohikan,)  167 

Tracy's  Life  of  Evarts,  398 

Trent,  35,  52,  443 

Trenton,  29,  53,  66,  73,  97,  98,  108 
Decree,  445 
Newspapers  passim 

Trustee.^,  154,  180,  447 

Tucker,  34,  200,  203,  234,  274 

"Udang,"  106 

Ulster,  17 

Union  Fire  Company,  334 

Updike,  30 

"  U.  P.  P.  S.  Q.  S.,"  301 

Van  Vleck,  47 
Vault,  Qi,  151 
Von  Veghten,  245 
Voorhees,  393,  409,  411 

Waddell,  355 

"Wansey's  Travels,  -^3,  345 
Warford.  190,  272 
Warrell,  111,  114.  239 
Washingtjn,  333,  341,  344.  378 
Mrs.,  341,  351 
Writings,     279.     333, 

403,  438 
Washington    Benevolent    Society, 

369 


Index  to  Subjects,  and  to  Books  cited.       vii 


•Vatson's  Anuals,  52 

"  Memoirs,  101 

Webster,  222,  421 

"  History,  66 

Weld's  Travels,  101 
Westcott's  Life  of  Fitch,  255 
Wharton.  369 
Wheaton's  Reports,  277 
While,  281,  426 
Whiteiield,  84 

"  Journal?,  91,  92 

Whitehead's  East-Jersey,  16 
"  Perth  Amboy,  92, 

236 


100, 


Whitehead's  Analytical  Index,  444 

Whittlesey's  Life  of  Fitch,  255 

Widows'  Fund,  95,  280,  444 

Willett's  Life  of  Summertield,  404 

Williams,  252 

Wilson,  66,  227,  255,  433 

Wimer.  245 

Witt  249 

Wod row's  History,  14 

Woodruff,  396,  397 

Woolsey,  46,  245 

Yard,  40.  US,  121,  151,  157,  23'6 

Yale  College,  43.  46, 

Yeomans,  419,  422,  425,  428 


r 


I 


JUL   ;h1  1931