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FIRST CHURCH IN NEWARK. 
 
 HISTORICAL DISCOURSES, 
 
 RELATING TO THB 
 
 $int Jm&stman Cjmrtfr m UMark ; 
 
 ORIGINALLY DELIVERED TO THE CONGREGATION OF THAT CHURCH DURING THE 
 MONTH OF JANUARY, 1851. 
 
 /A 
 
 BY JONATHAN F. STEARNS, D. D., 
 
 PASTOR OP TnE CHCRCH, 
 
 WITH NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 NEWARK : 
 
 PRINTED AT THE DAILY ADVERTISER OFFICE. 
 1853. 
 

 
 & 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress A. D. 1853, by Jonathan F. Stearns, 
 in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the United States, in and for 
 the State of New Jersey. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 These Discourses were prepared, originally, without 
 the remotest reference to publication ; indeed, the 
 writer had no intention, at the beginning, beyond the 
 preparation of a single practical discourse, founded on 
 a slight glance at the history of the congregation, the 
 early part of which he then supposed had been traced 
 with sufficient minuteness and accuracy by another 
 hand. But this supposition was soon found to be 
 erroneous ; and, as he proceeded, the materials so grew 
 upon his hands that he was insensibly led to extend 
 his narrative to the space of four pulpit discourses. 
 In preparing them for the press, it seemed necessary 
 to pay more regard to completeness and accuracy than 
 had entered into the original plan. In order to this, 
 much must be added, and many obscure points care- 
 fully re-examined. The labor incident to such inqui- 
 ries no one knows who has not tried the experiment. 
 The materials must be collected from the widest 
 spaces, and brought into true connection with each 
 
VI PEEFACE. 
 
 other by the most careful consideration of times and 
 circumstances. The determination of a date may often 
 require to be pursued through volumes, pamphlets, 
 records and obscure manuscripts, the examination of 
 which will cost days of toil, and access to them be ob- 
 tained only by the tardy process of correspondence, or 
 by visiting in person remote places. And after all, 
 perhaps, the result is one which the ordinary reader 
 will either not notice, or regard as a mere matter of 
 course. 
 
 In the pursuit of these objects, most of the discourses 
 have been entirely re-written. Some of them have 
 been extended to a length manifestly incompatible 
 with their original design. Details have been de- 
 scended to, which, however valuable in a local history, 
 as contributing to complete the picture of the men 
 and the times, seem hardly suitable to the dignity and 
 sacredness of the pulpit. And as scarcely a third of 
 the matter now presented was contained in the dis- 
 courses as delivered, the writer has hesitated whether 
 he should not abandon the original plan, and give the 
 work the form of a continuous narrative. But, besides 
 the necessity of re-casting the whole, should that 
 change be adopted, the present form seems to have 
 some advantages, at least for the people specially con- 
 cerned ; and he has concluded to let it stand as it is. 
 
PKEFACE. vii 
 
 The sources from which the facts have been drawn 
 are generally indicated by foot-notes, especially in the 
 earlier periods. Besides various well-known histories, 
 genealogical publications, pamphlets, &c, which need 
 not be mentioned here; the original records of the 
 town of Newark ; the printed minutes of the old Pres- 
 bytery of Philadelphia and the Synods prior to the 
 formation of the General Assembly; the records of 
 the various Presbyteries with which the Church has 
 been connected, from the year 1774 to the present 
 time ; the records of the Church as far as they extend ; 
 the records of the Board of Trustees, and various 
 packages of old deeds, wills, letters, <fcc, <fcc, have 
 been carefully examined. It is much to be regretted 
 that the records of the Church, extending from the 
 year 1696 to the time of the Revolutionary war, were 
 destroyed when the British troops had possession of 
 the town in 1776, and those which remain date back 
 only to August, 1781, after Dr. Macwhorter's return 
 from the South. 
 
 It seems necessary to say a word respecting the ef- 
 forts of this venerable pastor to preserve the Church's 
 history, when it seemed passing into hopeless oblivion. 
 Dr. Macwhorter's Century Sermon has been the author- 
 ity for most of the statements which have been made 
 since his time. Besides this, however, he wrote two 
 
viii PREFACE. 
 
 other sketches — one in the introduction to the first 
 volume of the Sessional Records, and the other in re- 
 sponse to a call from the General Assembly for mate- ■ 
 rials for a History of the Presbyterian Church. This 
 last is the one quoted by Dr. Hodge in his " Constitu- 
 tional History," under the title of " Manuscript History 
 of Dr. Macwhorter," and is referred to in this narrative 
 under the same name. All these sketches contain 
 material errors. Dr. M., as he informs us, relied for 
 his authority chiefly upon tradition. "All I can say," 
 says he, " must consist of a few brief hints, as I possess 
 no documents or written materials whence even those 
 hints are derived, except what have been taken from 
 the relations of old people to me in former times. 
 Therefore it must not be expected that they will be 
 very accurate, nor will I vouch for the perfect truth of 
 all that may be said." As a specimen of this inaccur- 
 acy, I may refer to what he says of the influence of 
 the Saybrook Platform in shaping the affairs of this 
 Church, years before that platform was framed ; or to 
 the case of the Rev. Mr. Bowers, whom he represents 
 as having been dismissed for reasons not now known, 
 and to have died in 1721, in his thirty-fourth year; 
 whereas his tomb-stone shows that he died in the year 
 1*716, in his forty-third year, and the records of the 
 town plainly indicate that he retained the pastoral 
 
PKEFACE. ix 
 
 office till liis decease. Dr. Macwhorter's narratives 
 are valuable, but of course cannot be relied upon, 
 wherever unquestionable documents contradict their 
 statements. 
 
 In preparing these discourses, the writer has received 
 valuable assistance from William A. Whitehead, Esq., 
 Dr. S. H. Pennington, Mr. James Ross, Rev. William 
 E. Schenck, Rev. James Richards, D. D., Rev. Richard 
 Webster, Rev. Stephen Dodd of East Haven, Rev. 
 Lyman Atwater, D. D., of Fairfield, Conn., and Rev. 
 Samuel Sewall of Burlington, Mass. ; but especially from 
 Mr. S. H. Congar, the indefatigable antiquarian of New- 
 ark. The map and its explanations are Mr. Cougar's. 
 His thanks are due to Rev. Dr. Hodge, for the use of 
 manuscripts belonging to him as historian of the 
 Presbyterian Church, and to Rev. Dr. James W. Alex- 
 ander, for the use of letters respecting Rev. Aaron 
 Burr, and the Latin oration of the learned President, 
 to which reference has been made in these pages. 
 
 It can hardly be presumed that perfect accuracy has 
 been secured amidst so many minute particulars. But, 
 accidental errors excepted, the statements, it is believed, 
 will be found reliable. Wherever an opinion has been 
 expressed, it has been introduced distinctly as an opin- 
 ion, and will pass for what it is worth. Where tradi- 
 tionary statements have been made, their source has 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 been indicated. In general, wherever any doubt has 
 existed respecting any fact or representation, the 
 authority has been referred to, that the reader may 
 weigh it for himself. 
 
 With these explanations, the following pages are 
 committed to the judgment of the candid. If the 
 result shall be to preserve the memory of a most 
 worthy race "of men, and the early fortunes of a most 
 useful Christian organization ; if the spirit of the fa- 
 thers may thereby be transferred to the children, not 
 only of this but of succeeding generations, and thus a 
 benefit conferred on a beloved Church, for whose 
 spiritual good it is the writer's pleasure to labor, his 
 efforts will be more than compensated. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 DISCOURSE I. 
 
 Introduction. Relations of Church and Town. Causes of the settlement 
 of Newark. Affairs in New Haven and Connecticut. State of the Province 
 of New Jersey. The Concessions. Purchase of Newark Township. " Fun- 
 damental Agreement." Object of the settlers. Internal Regulations. The 
 name "Newark." Origin of the Church. Ministry of Abraham Pierson, 
 senior. His origin, and Missionary labors. Character of the leading men 
 in the Settlement. Wholesome Regulations. The Civil and Divine Right. 
 Prompt payment of quit-rents. Collision with the Proprietary Government 
 of New Jersey. Defence of Rights against Proprietary Encroachment. 
 Conquest of the Province by the Dutch. Usurpation of Andros. Treat- 
 ment of the Indians. First Meeting-house erected. Death of Abraham 
 Pierson, senior. Ministry of Abraham Pierson, junior. Glimpse of the 
 Congregation. Meeting-house fortified, and the worshippers armed. Death 
 of many of the first settlers. Dismission of Abraham Pierson, junior. His 
 Character. Conclusion, (pp. 1-93.) 
 
 DISCOURSE II. 
 
 Introduction. Second generation of the men of Newark. Ministry of 
 John Prudden. His origin and settlement. His dismission and retirement 
 from the Ministry. Origin of the Parsonage property. Ministry of Jabez 
 Wakeman. His character and early death. Samuel Whittlesy is invited to 
 become Pastor, and declines. Oppressive and vexatious conduct of Lord 
 Cornbury. Rev. Francis Makemie finds sympathizers in Newark. Minis- 
 try of Nathaniel Bowers. Erection of the second Meeting-house. First 
 Church in Orange organized. Ministry of Joseph Webb. Introduction of 
 Presbyterianism. The Church joins the Presbytery of Philadelphia. State 
 of the Presbyterian Churches. Difficulties about candidates for the Minis- 
 try. About Government. The "Adopting Act." Modifications and ex- 
 planations of that Act. Presbytery of East Jersey. Dutch Congregation 
 at Belleville gathered. Introduction of Episcopacy in New Jersey. Trinity 
 Church organized. Col. Josiah Ogden's relations with it. Episcopal con- 
 troversy. Mr. Webb's dismission. His death and character. Concluding 
 remarks, (pp. 05-149.) 
 
Xll TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 DISCOURSE III. 
 
 Ministry of Aaron Burr. His origin, early education and conversion. His 
 call and settlement. Revival of religion in his congregation. Whitefield's 
 first visit. Burr's character as a Preacher and Pastor. His call to New 
 Haven. Ordination of David Brainerd as Missionary to the Indians of New 
 Jersey. Presbytery of New York formed. The Great Schism in the Pres- 
 byterian Church. Causes of it. Attempts at mediation. Remonstrance of 
 the Presbytery of New York. Separation. Formation of the Synod of 
 New York. " Old side" and "New side." College of New Jersey founded. 
 Its first Charter and beginnings at Elizabethtown. Temporary suspension 
 of the Enterprise. New Charter obtained. College founded anew. Opened 
 at Newark. Burr appointed its President. Its first Commencement. Pros- 
 perity of the College under President Burr. Mr. Burr's marriage. Char- 
 acter of Mrs. Burr. Trustees of the Church incorporated. Prosperity of 
 the Synod of New York. Mr. Burr's influence in it. Secular prosperity of 
 Newark. Mr. Burr's dismission, and the removal of the College to Prince- 
 ton. Death of President Burr. Ministry of John Brainerd. Uncertainty 
 about it. Ministry of Alexander Macwhorter. His early life and education. 
 His entrance on the Ministry. His call and settlement in Newark. Con- 
 tentions about Parsonage property. Disposition of the question in dispute. 
 Macwhorter's early Ministry. Attachment of the people to him. His mis- 
 sionary excursions, His estimation with his brethren. American Revolu- 
 tion. Day of Fasting and Thanksgiving. Army in Newark. Macwhorter 
 follows the army. Parsonage house rifled by the enemy. Macwhorter's 
 removal to North Carolina. His return and rc-scttlement. Newark recov- 
 ers its prosperity. Revival of 178J-. Improvement in Church Discipline. 
 State of the Congregation. House of worship repaired. Present house of 
 worship erected. New mode of electing Trustees. Church in Bloomfield 
 gathered. Dr. Macwhorter's standing in the Church at large. General As- 
 sembly of the Presbyterian Church formed. Baptist and Methodist Denom- 
 inations introduced into Newark. Character, Last Days and Decease of Dr. 
 Macwhorter. His Funeral and Epitaph, (pp. 151-261.) 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. 
 
 Introduction. Ministry of Edward Dorr Griffin. Mr. Griffin's Origin, 
 Education and Conversion. His Licensure ; Ordination in New Hartford, 
 Conn. ; Marriage ; Temporary Labors in Orange, N. J., and Settlement in 
 Newark. Griffin's early views. His animating presages. His early reli- 
 gious experiences. His early Interview with Mr. Richards. New Parson- 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. Xlll 
 
 age House built. Revival of 1807. Dr. Griffin's Dismission. Subsequent 
 life, and Character. James Richards. His early life. Ministry at 
 Morristown. Removal to Newark. Presbytery of Jersey. Plan for new 
 Churches. Second Presbyterian Church. First Sabbath School. Revivals. 
 Prevalence of Intemperance. Discouraging appearances. Removal of Dr. 
 Richards. His character. Parallel between Griffin and Richards. Synod 
 of New Jersey. William T. Hamilton's ministry. Third Presbyterian 
 Church formed. Final settlement of Church Property. Presbytery of 
 Newark. Revival of 1832. New Churches. Ansel D. Eddy's ministry. 
 Synod of Newark. Synod of New York and New Jersey. New Churches. 
 Statistical Summary. Concluding Remarks. Appendix, (pp. 262-311.) 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Page 12, note, line 2, for "Pan," read Pau. 
 
 " 17, line 8, for "friends," should probably be read freemen., though it 
 is "friends" in the manuscript copy of the Town Records. 
 
 " 17, line 12, the word "determine" closes the quotation. 
 
 " 19, for "1767," read 1677. 
 
 " 20, note, line 4, for "north-west" read north-east. 
 
 " 32, note, 2d column, line 3, for " his," read whose ; and line 4, before 
 " married," insert was. 
 
 " 36, note, 1st column, line 26, for " Milford," read Branford. 
 
 " " " " lines 27 and 28, for " Turner," read turner. 
 
 " 73, title, for " Mornings," read morning. 
 
 " 146, note, 2d column, line 7, "Memento Mori" is to be enclosed in 
 marks of quotation, as a part of the inscription. 
 
 " 286, title, for "Prespyterian," read Presoyterian* 
 
HISTORICAL DISCOURSES. 
 
 DISCOURSE NUMBER I. 
 
 Ecclesiastes, i : 4. One generation passeth away and another generation conieth. 
 
 There are certain marked periods in the progress of 
 human affairs, when it specially becomes the voyager 
 to consult his chart, take an observation and consider 
 whither he is going, and how far, and with what suc- 
 cess, he has proceeded ; and this is true equally of 
 communities as of individuals. Such a period may the 
 present be regarded in the history of this congrega- 
 tion. 
 
 Without discussing the much disputed question, 
 whether, in numbering the years of a century, we 
 count one when the first year begins, or not till the 
 clock of time has struck one, and the first annual pe- 
 riod is completed, it is enough for our purpose, that 
 the beginning of the present year completes half a 
 century, since the history of this Church was last 
 traced, in a century discourse by the venerable Mac- 
 whorter, and just sixty years since the house where we 
 are now assembled was first opened for public worship. 
 Such an occasion I am unwilling to let slip, without 
 at least reminding you that there is a Past to be re- 
 viewed with interest and gratitude, though on many 
 
2 RELATIONS OF CHURCH AND TOWN. 
 
 points, I can scarcely do more than refresh the memo- 
 ries of the old, and stimulate the inquiries of the young 
 respecting matters better known to most of you than 
 they are or can be to me. 
 
 The fortunes of this venerable Church were, for 
 many years, almost identical with that of the commu- 
 nity in the midst of which it has so long flourished. 
 Whoever writes the history of the city of Newark, 
 must begin, if he will do any justice to his subject, 
 with tracing the early history of this congregation ; 
 and in undertaking to give any thing like a correct 
 view of the latter, it will be necessary to detail and 
 explain many things, which may seem to belong more 
 appropriately to the former. Indeed, although, theo- 
 retically, there was a distinction made from the begin- 
 ning between civil and ecclesiastical affairs, yet in prac- 
 tice, it would be difficult to describe the line, between 
 at least the temporalities of the Church, and the ordi- 
 nary business of the body politic. During the first 
 seventy years, the town transacted all the busi- 
 ness of the congregation ; and the seventh minister, 
 as were all his predecessors, was called to the office and 
 had his salary fixed, by a vote of the town in town 
 meeting. This Church is aniong the very oldest of our 
 local institutions — perhaps the oldest of all. It was to 
 establish it, and establish, under its fostering influence, 
 a system of social order, of which its members should 
 have the sole direction, that the fathers of this city 
 came and planted themselves here in the wilderness. 
 
 The original settlement of Newark was made, by a 
 
POLICY OF NEW HAVEN COLONY. 3 
 
 colony from what is now the State of Connecticut, then 
 recently erected into a single Province, by a royal 
 charter, uniting the two Colonies of Connecticut and 
 New Haven. 
 
 To a large portion of the people of New Haven 
 Colony, this union was exceedingly offensive. Besides 
 being brought about in a very arbitrary manner, with- 
 out due consultation with them, and, in the first in- 
 stance, against their consent, it involved the abandon- 
 ment of some of their favorite principles. They had 
 commenced their settlement in the wilderness, full of 
 the spirit of that animating vision, which continually 
 floated before the mind of the Puritan emigrant, to 
 found a Church upon pure principles, and a' State 
 which, though separate in its jurisdiction, should act 
 in perfect harmony with the Church, and be governed 
 in all its procedure by the rules of God's Holy "Word. 
 They seem to have supposed, that by bringing up their 
 children in the fear of God, and excluding from the 
 exercise of power among them those who were not 
 governed by the same principles, they might continue 
 to be of one heart from generation to generation ; and 
 " seeing they were free to cast themselves into that 
 mould and form of commonwealth which appeared 
 best for them, in reference to securing the peace and 
 peaceable improvement of all Christ's ordinances in 
 the Church," * it is scarcely strange that they adopted 
 as a fundamental rule, after long deliberation, with not 
 a single dissenting and only one questioning voice 
 among them, " that Church members only shall be free 
 
 * Trumbull, vol. 1, p. 504. t 
 
4 POLICY OF CONNECTICUT COLONY. 
 
 burgesses ; and that they only shall choose magistrates 
 and officers among themselves, to have power of trans- 
 acting all public and civil affairs of this plantation." 
 For the government of a great State or nation, em- 
 bracing men of every class and character, and offering 
 to all the best privileges and the largest liberty, this 
 exclusive policy would be doubtless unwise ; but for 
 an infant colony, where all were of one mind, and 
 which might afterwards grow into a State, if hostile 
 influences could be long enough averted, for the body 
 to acquire strength, we ought to think long before we 
 condemn it. Beyond a question, it was the only means 
 by which the colonists could hope to realize their fa- 
 vorite object ; and if that object itself must now be 
 pronounced chimerical, all good men must agree, that 
 it was noble in purpose, and worthy of being fairly 
 tried, by those who had confidence in it, under the 
 only circumstances which could justify the experiment. 
 The people of Connecticut Colony, though they had 
 not abandoned at all the same general object, had 
 adopted, in their Constitution, a more liberal policy. 
 Had they gone a step further, and, besides allow- 
 ing men not connected with the Church to vote in civil 
 affairs, prohibited the civil authority from interfering 
 in any manner with the affairs of the Church, a com- 
 parison must have been made in their favor under the 
 light which modern experience has thrown upon mat- 
 ters of this kind. But through neglect of this precau- 
 tion, they not only left the religious character of the 
 State to its own risks, but seriously endangered the 
 Church's purity : a hazard which their more cautious 
 
EFFECT OF UNITING THE COLONIES. 5 
 
 neighbors of New Haven might well appreciate, when 
 they found the General Court of that Colony both 
 leading the way for the convening of an ecclesiastical 
 Council,* against their strenuous remonstrances, and 
 combining its influence with that of other secular 
 bodies to procure the adoption of innovations in eccle- 
 siastical order and discipline, which, as time has since 
 proved, were of dangerous, not to say pernicious, ten- 
 dency. The accomplished Wintheop was doubtless 
 a better statesman, in the ordinary sense, than the pa- 
 triarchal Davenport ; but having the same professed 
 end in view — the establishment of a Christian Com- 
 monwealth — he ought to have perceived that the 
 omission of the restriction in question would require, 
 some corresponding measure of protection for the 
 Church's interests. If the civil authority must be al- 
 lowed to interfere in matters of religion, we cannot 
 wonder that the fathers of the Church looked with 
 jealous eye on the admission of merely worldly men, and 
 perhaps among them the intolerant advocates of the 
 ecclesiastical policy from whose abuses they had fled, 
 to participate in such authority. Indeed, if this were 
 the only alternative which the times afforded, we of 
 the present day can hardly refrain from giving our ver- 
 dict in favor of these same stern old adherents to the 
 ancient way. 
 
 It was manifest that the union of the two Colonies, 
 in the existing circumstances, must have the effect to 
 compel the people of New Haven to abandon without 
 further trial this their cherished principle. It likewise 
 
 * The Council convened at Boston 1657. Trumbull's Hist. Conn., vol. 1, pp. 300, 308. 
 
STATE INTERFERENCE WITH RELIGION. 
 
 involved a virtual assent to the proceedings of the re- 
 cent Synod,* called by the authorities of a neighboring 
 Province, but highly approved and likely to be recog- 
 nised as authority by the Government of Connecticut, 
 in which, among other innovations, the "half-way 
 covenant," as it was termed, had been adopted — that 
 is, the extension of a part of the privileges of church- 
 membership to those who were not, and by their want 
 of personal piety, could not become members in full 
 communion : an expedient to which the Churches of 
 New Haven Colony were from the beginning stren- 
 uously opposed. Already had the General Court of 
 Connecticut given its sanction to the offensive measure ; 
 and it may serve to illustrate both the temper of the 
 times and the grounds on which the union of the two 
 Colonies was opposed by the people of New Haven, 
 that in the year 1664, in the very midst of the dispute 
 on this subject, this same General Court " came to a 
 resolve, with a view to enforce the resolution of the 
 Synod" respecting the terms of church-membership, in 
 the Churches within the bounds of their jurisdic- 
 tion.f 
 
 It was mainly the dissatisfaction arising out of this 
 course of measures, which led to the settlement of the 
 town of Newark. There were, among the emigrants, 
 those who might have been disposed to favor the union 
 on general grounds. Jasper Crane, one of the fathers 
 of New Haven Colony, who, in the year 1639, sub- 
 scribed its original Constitution in Mr. Newman's 
 
 * The Synod of 1662, Trumbull's Hist. t Trumbull, vol. 1, p. 311. 
 Conn., vol. 1, p. 810 
 
DISCONTENT IN NEW HAVEN COLONY. 7 
 
 barn, and had for several successive years served as one 
 of its magistrates, was, in the year 1663, chosen to the 
 same office in both the Colonies, and, when the union 
 was effected in the year 1665, received the same token 
 of confidence under the new charter. Matthew Cam- 
 field and Obadiah Bruen were among the nineteen 
 persons named in the charter itself. Robert Treat, 
 the pioneer of the new settlement, refused to accept 
 office under the falling government of his own 
 Colony in the year 1664, and, in the following year, 
 acted as a committee to consummate the union. 
 Had proper regard been paid in the beginning to 
 the rights of the smaller Colony, and proper time been 
 taken for the adjustment of the points of difference, 
 there is little doubt that the union might have been 
 effected amicably. But when, against the remon- 
 strances, and in violation of the sacred pledges of the 
 illustrious Winthrop, the people of Connecticut be- 
 gan to assume a tone of authority toward their neigh- 
 bors, insisted upon their accession to the union, sent 
 magistrates to obstruct the execution of the laws, and 
 received under their own jurisdiction such of the in- 
 habitants as were disposed to join them — thus dis- 
 membering the little Colony and putting power into 
 the hands of its internal enemies, " as if," say the ag- 
 grieved, "you were in haste to make us miserable," 
 bitter resistance was the inevitable result.* And though 
 most of them yielded to what had now become a plain 
 matter of necessity, and for the general good, they 
 yielded as men who had in mind a better and more 
 
 * Trumbull, vol. 1, chap, xii ; see Winthrop's Letter, p. 520. 
 
8 INVITING ASPECT OF NEW JEKSEY. 
 
 peaceful way to rid themselves of all grievances, and 
 were soon found making their plans to depart, with all 
 their families and goods, out of the jurisdiction. 
 
 It so happened, that just at this juncture, the Pro- 
 vince of New Jersey was opening an inviting field, and 
 seeking for settlers from the Colonies of New Eng- 
 land. The Duke of York, afterwards James II of Eng- 
 land, having received a grant from his royal brother, 
 Charles II., of all the land comprehended between 
 the rivers Connecticut and Delaware, claimed by 
 him in the right of discovery, but most of which was 
 then in the possession of the Dutch, had dispatched 
 Col. Richard Nichols, whom he invested with the 
 powers of government, to take forcible possession of 
 it in his name ; and shortly afterwards, before posses- 
 sion was actually acquired, sold, and by deed conveyed 
 to John Lord Berkley and Sir George Carteret all his 
 interest in that part of his royal grant comprehended 
 within the present limits of the State of New Jersey. 
 Immediately the new Proprietors took measures to se- 
 cure the settlement of their new domains. Proposals 
 were drawn up and signed by them, entitled " The Con- 
 cession and Ageeement of the Lords Proprietors of the 
 Province of New C^esaeea or New Jeesey, to and 
 with all and every the Adventurers, and all such as shall 
 settle or plant there ;" and Philip Carteret, a brother 
 of Sir George, was by them constituted Governor of 
 the Province, and sent hither with instructions to carry 
 into effect [the provisions of the Concessions. Mean- 
 while, however, Col. Richard Nichols, having received 
 a surrender from the Dutch, had granted lands to a 
 
THE CONCESSIONS. 9 
 
 few intended settlers, in the name of the Duke of 
 York, and hence a conflict of titles subsequently arose, 
 especially in Elizabethtown, where a few families, at 
 most four in number, had actually settled. Philip 
 Carteret, accompanied with thirty men, gentlemen 
 and their servants, landed at Elizabethtown in the 
 month of August, 1665 ; and having made such agree- 
 ments with the settlers then in possession, as were prob- 
 ably satisfactory to all parties, and supposed to be 
 within the limits of his authority, purchased the claim 
 of one of them, and became himself a settler. Soon 
 after this — it does not appear how soon — the Governor 
 sent messengers to New England to publish the Con- 
 cession and Agreement of the Proprietors, and invite 
 new settlers to his Province. 
 
 The Concessions, which became in fact the funda- 
 mental Constitution of the Province, contained provis- 
 ions highly congenial to the spirit of New England 
 men. The largest liberty of conscience was guaran- 
 teed, with the assurance that the settlers should never 
 be disturbed or disquieted for any difference in opinion 
 or practice in religious concernments, " any law, usage 
 or custom in the realm of England to the contrary not- 
 withstanding." * A General Assembly was provided 
 for, one branch of which was to consist of representa- 
 tives chosen by the inhabitants in their respective par- 
 ishes or districts, empowered to appoint their own 
 time of meeting, constitute Courts, levy taxes, build 
 fortresses, make war, offensive and defensive, natural- 
 ize strangers, allot lands to settlers, provide for the 
 
 * Grants, Concessions, &c, pp. l-i-24. 
 
10 DETERMINATION TO EMIGRATE. 
 
 support of the Government, and ordain all laws for the 
 good of the Province, not repugnant to the laws of 
 England, nor against the Concessions of the Proprie- 
 tors and their interest. Liberal offers were also made 
 of lands for settlement, proportionate to the numbers 
 of those who should come and occupy them, with only 
 the reserve of a small quit-rent of a half-penny per 
 acre, to be paid annually on and after the twenty-fifth 
 day of March in the year 1670.* The climate, moreover, 
 was mild in comparison with their own, and the lands 
 were represented as fertile. 
 
 Hither, therefore, did a considerable number of the 
 disaffected from the towns of Milford, Branford, Guil- 
 ford and New Haven, all within the limits of the for- 
 mer Colony of New Haven, with individuals from other 
 towns, determine to remove. Accordingly, very early 
 in the following Spring, or perhaps earlier, a commis- 
 sion, of whom Robert Treat was one,f came and made 
 preparations for the settlement of a tract of land on 
 the Passaic river ; and before the end of May in that 
 same year, a company, amounting, it is said, to thirty 
 families, J "from Milford and other neighboring plant- 
 ations thereabouts,"§ were already on the ground, and 
 busily engaged in laying plans for their future perma- 
 nent abode. 
 
 Meanwhile, however, a new class of claimants to the 
 lands made their appearance. Treat had supposed 
 that, in accordance with the instructions of the Pro- 
 prietors, given to their Governor at his appointment, 
 
 * Grants, Concessions, Ac, pp. 14-24. J Whitehead, p. 45. 
 
 + Bill in Chancery, p 118. Robert § Newark Town Records. 
 Treat's affidavit. 
 
PURCHASE FROM THE INDIANS. 11 
 
 " not in anywise to grieve or oppress" the native in- 
 habitants, " but treat them with all humanity and 
 kindness," measures had been taken already to satisfy all 
 their demands, and give to him and his associates quiet 
 possession. But this, though promised as he alleges, 
 was not done ; and hence no sooner had the company 
 arrived and landed some of their goods, than a party of 
 the Hackinsack Indians warned them off the ground, 
 saying the land was theirs and it was unpurchased.* 
 Determined at all events not to invade any of the 
 rights of their savage predecessors — a rule to which 
 their mother Colony had always adhered as fundamen- 
 tal — the new comers put their goods immediately back 
 into the vessel which brought them, and were on the 
 point to return ; when, being dissuaded by the Gover- 
 nor, and the Indians showing a disposition to sell the 
 lands, they concluded they would make a fair purchase 
 of the Indian title, and took a " bill of sale" under the 
 Governor's advice and approbation. The amount paid 
 cannot now be exactly estimated, but it was of suffi- 
 cient importance to be distributed to each settler in 
 exact proportions to the land occupied, and to be men- 
 tioned in all the grants and conveyances of land for 
 several years afterwards.f 
 
 * See Treat's affidavit, Bill in Chancery, davits of Treat and Edsal, Bill in Chance- 
 
 p. 118. ry, pp. 117-18.) The bill of sale bears 
 
 t The purchase was made in the first date July 11th, 1667, and is signed by 
 
 instance in the year 1666, by Robert Treat Obadiah Bruen, Michael Tompkins, Sam- 
 
 and Samuel Edsal, as agents for the town, uel Kitchel, John Brown and Robert 
 
 John Capteen, a Dutchman, acted as in- Denison on the part of the town, and Wa- 
 
 terpreter, and the principal Sagamore pamuck, Harish, Captamin, Sessom, Mam- 
 
 who negotiated the bargain was Perro, ustome, Peter, Wamesane, Wekaprokikan, 
 
 who acted with the consent and approba- Cacnackque and Perawae on the part of 
 
 tion of an aged Sagamore named Oraton, the Indians. The witnesses were Samuel 
 
 at that time unable to travel. (See affi- Edsal, Edward Burrowes, Richard Fletch- 
 
12 FIRST TOWN MEETING. 
 
 The preliminary town meeting, the first of which 
 there is a record, was held on the 21st of May, 1666, 
 when " friends from Milford and the neighboring 
 plantations thereabout" were the actual inhabitants ; 
 and agents sent from Guilford and Branford met 
 them " to ask, on behalf of their undertakers and 
 selves, with reference to a township" to be occu- 
 pied together by the two parties. At this meet- 
 ing the grand object of the settlement was distinctly 
 recognised. "It was agreed upon mutually, that the 
 aforesaid persons from Milford, Guilford and Branford, 
 together with their associates being now accepted of, 
 do make one township ; provided, they send word so to 
 be any time between this and the last of October next 
 ensuing, and according to fundamentals mutually 
 agreed upon, do desire to be of one heart and consent, 
 [that] through God's blessing, with one hand, they may 
 endeavor the carrying on of spiritual concernments, as 
 also of civil and town affairs, accokding to God and a 
 Godly Government there to be settled by them and 
 their associates."* Then they chose a committee of 
 eleven men, taken from both companies, viz : Captain 
 
 er, Classe and Pierwim the Sachem of without it. However, by a subsequent 
 Pan. This purchase extended to the foot deed, dated March 13, 1677-8, the limits 
 of the mountain, and the price paid for it were extended to the top of the mountain 
 was in articles as follows : "Fifty double for " two guns, three coats, and thirteen 
 hands of powder, one hundred bars of cans of rum." The agents chosen by 
 lead, twenty axes, twenty coats, ten guns, the town to make this purchase were Mr. 
 twenty pistols, ten kettles, ten swords, Ward, Mr. Johnson, Samuel Harrison, and 
 four blankets, four barrels of beer, ten [Thomas] Richards ; and John Curtis and 
 pair of breeches, fifty knives, twenty hoes, John Treat were chosen to run the west 
 eight hundred and fifty fathom of warn- line with the Indians and to meet with 
 pum, twenty ankers of liquors or some- Edward Ball and Daniel Dod, who were 
 thing equivalent, and three troopers' also chosen to run the north line with the 
 coats." It seems plain from the words Indians and meet with the others on the 
 •'something equivalent" that the pur- mountain. See Whitehead, p. 43. E.J. Re- 
 chasers did not intend to pay any part in cords. Newark Town Records, pp. 66, 69. 
 liquors if they could satisfy the Indians * Newark Town Records, p. 1. 
 
BEANFOED EMIGRANTS. 13 
 
 Kobert Treat, Lieut. Samuel Swaine, Mr. Sauiuel 
 Kitcliel, Michael Tompkins, Mr. [Thomas] Morris, Ser- 
 geant Richard Berkly, Richard Harrison, Thomas 
 Blatchley, Edward Riggs, Stephen Freeman and Thomas 
 Johnson, " for the speedier and better expedition of 
 things there emergent to be done," of whom any six 
 or more, if there should be so many on the ground, or 
 at the least not less than five, might act for the settle- 
 ment of the place until another like committee should 
 be chosen. 
 
 The agents from Guilford and Branford having re- 
 turned and made report of their commission, a large 
 number of the people of Branford held a meeting on 
 the 30th of October, 1666, " touching of the intended 
 design." These men had been among the most deter 
 mined opposers of the union of the Colonies, and their 
 hearts were still set upon the favorite scheme of found- 
 ing a pure Church and a Godly Government in the wilds 
 of America. A portion of them, with their most en- 
 terprising and truly apostolic pastor had once begun 
 the experiment twenty years before,* on the eastern 
 shores of Long Island, where after a few years of 
 hopeful effort, they had left their homes and come to 
 Branford, for the same reasons which now seemed to 
 call for a new removal; and it was just like that 
 sturdy old Puritan, Abraham Pierson, not to abandon 
 a purpose which he believed wise and capable of good, 
 so long as there was land enough unoccupied, in all the 
 wilderness on which to complete the experiment. Ac- 
 cordingly, at this meeting two articles were adopted, 
 
 * Thompson's Hist. L. I., vol. 1, p. 336. Trumbull's Hist. Conn., vol. 1, pp. 143, Hi 
 
14 FUNDAMENTAL AGREEMENT. 
 
 and received the signature of twenty-three principal 
 men of the town, as " the fundamental agreement" 
 on which they would engage in the new settlement — 
 of which one was a promise " to provide with all care 
 and diligence, for the maintenance of the purity of 
 religion," and the other carefully restricted all civil 
 power to those who should be members of some one 
 or other of the Congregational Churches. When the 
 report of this procedure reached the new settlement 
 in November following, it was unanimously assented 
 to by the inhabitants ; and at a public meeting, held on 
 the 24th of June, in the year 1667, about the time, prob- 
 bably, of the arrival of the Branford company, they all 
 subscribed their names to the agreement, to the number 
 of forty, making in the whole, with those who had 
 subscribed before, sixty-three.* 
 
 * This venerable document deserves a others admitted to be planters, have right 
 
 permanent memorial in connection with to their proper inheritances, and do and 
 
 the history of this Church. It stands as shall enjoy all other civil liberties and 
 
 follows, with the signatures attached, on privileges according to all laws, orders, 
 
 the Records of the Town of Newark. 'grants which are, or shall hereaf'er be 
 
 made for this town. 
 
 October 80, 1666. 2 . We shall, with care and diligence, 
 
 At a meeting touching the intended de- provide for the maintenance of the purity 
 
 sign of many of the inhabitants of Bran- of religion professed in the Congregational 
 
 ford, the following was subscribed : Churches. 
 
 Deut. i. 13; Exod. xviii. 21; Deut. xvii. Whereunto subscribed the inhabitants 
 
 1 5; Jerem. xxxvi. 21. from Branford— 
 
 1. That none shall be admitted freemen or Jasper Crane, Abra. Pierson, Samuel 
 
 *ree Burgesses within our town upon Pas- Swaiue, Laurence Ward, Thomas Blacth- 
 
 saic river, in the Province of New Jersey, i y> Samuel Plum, Josiah Ward, Samuel 
 
 but such planters as are members of some Rose, Thomas Pierson, John Ward, John 
 
 or other of the Congregational Churches, Catling, Richard Harrison, Ebenezer Can- 
 
 nor shall any but such be chosen to mag- field, John Ward, Sen., Ed. Ball, John 
 
 istracy, or to carry on any part of civil ju- Harrison, John Crane, Thomas Hunting- 
 
 dicature, or as deputies or assistants to ton, Delivered Crane, Aaron Blachthly, 
 
 have power to vote in establishing laws, Richard Laurence, John Johnson, Thom- 
 
 and making or repealing them, or to any as Lyon, [his L. mark], 
 
 chief military trust or office; nor shall And upon the reception of these letters 
 
 any but such church members have any and subscriptions, the present inhabitants 
 
 vote in any such elections; though all in November following, declared their 
 
PUKPOSE OF THE SETTLEES. 15 
 
 The settlement of Newark, in the years 1666 and 
 1667, was probably the last attempt to realize the 
 noble dream of the old Puritan emigrants.* The re- 
 strictions they adopted, with all their measures con- 
 sequent thereon, betray no particle of the spirit of 
 bigotry and fanaticism. They were measures, not of 
 oppression, but of simple self-protection; and as we 
 hear of no dissentient voices in the whole band, it may 
 fairly be presumed that they were equally in accord- 
 ance with the views of those who were excluded from 
 the power of government, as of those who were in- 
 cluded. The simple design of their authors, was to 
 prevent an enterprise on which they had set their 
 hearts, and for whose success they were willing to 
 make large sacrifices, from being frustrated in the 
 beginning, by passing under the control of those who 
 
 consent and readiness to do likewise, and phen Bond. See Newark Town Records, 
 
 at a meeting, the 24th of the next June p. 2, 
 
 following, in 1667, they also subscribed * What Cotton Mather says, in his 
 with their own hands unto the twofunda- quaint way, of the object of Pierson and 
 mental agreements expressed on the other his associates in their first enterprise at 
 side their names, as follows: Southampton, may serve to illustrate the 
 Robert Treat, Obadiah Bruen, Matthew views and hopes with which he and his 
 Camfield, Samuel Kitchell, Jeremiah Peck, church came to Newark. After mention- 
 Michael Tompkins, Stephen Freeman, ing that they formed themselves into a 
 Henry Lyon, John Browne, John Rogers, body politic, before they left Massachu- 
 Stephen Davis, Edward Rigs, Robert setts, " for the maintaining of government 
 Kitchell, John Brooks, [his B mark], among themselves" in their new home, he 
 Robert Lymens, [his V mark], Francis adds, " thus was there settled a church at 
 Linle, [his F ^ark], -Daniel Tichenor, Southampton, under the pastoral charge 
 John Bauldwin, Sen., John Bauldwio, Jr., of this worthy man, where he did, with 
 Jona. Tomkins, George Day, Thomas laudable diligence, undergo two of the 
 Johnson, John Curtis, Ephraim Burwell, three hard labors, Diocentiset Regentis,to 
 Robert Denison, [his R mark], Nathan- make it become what Paradise was called, 
 iel Wheeler, William Camp, Joseph Wal- an Island of the Innocent !" Without 
 ters, Robert DalgTesh, Hans Albers, supposing that these views were realized, 
 Thom. Morris, Hugh Roberts, Ephraim either there or here ; this we may say, 
 Pennington, Martin Tichenor, John few communities have approached nearer 
 Browne, Jr., Jona. Seargeant, Azariah to the mark, than did the town of Newark 
 Crane, Samuel Lyon, Joseph Riggs, Ste« during the continuance of that same old 
 
 Puritan regime. 
 
16 PENALTIES FOR THE REFRACTORY. 
 
 could have no sympathy with its aims. Hence, while 
 they confined the power of office, and even the elective 
 franchise to church-members, they added in the very 
 same instrument, "though all others, admitted to be 
 planters, have right to their proper inheritances, and 
 do and shall enjoy all other civil and religious privi- 
 leges." 
 
 As to any who might be refractory, the bill of pains 
 and penalties in force among them, shall be allowed 
 to tell its own story. It is as follows : — " It is 
 agreed upon, that in case any shall come in to us, or 
 arise amongst us, that shall willingly or wilfully dis- 
 turb us in our peace and settlements, and especially 
 that would subvert us from the true religion and wor- 
 ship of God, and cannot or will not keep their opinion 
 to themselves, or be reclaimed after due time and 
 means of conviction and reclaiming hath been used ; it 
 is unanimously agreed upon, and consented unto, as a 
 fundamental Agreement and Order, that all such per- 
 sons so ill-disposed and affected, shall" — O what ! — 
 some direful penalty may be anticipated ! — visions of 
 fines, and prisons, and stocks, and whipping-posts rise 
 before us! but let us hear — "shall, after due notice 
 given them from the town, quietly depart the place 
 seasonably, the town allowing them such valuable 
 considerations for their lands or houses as indifferent 
 men shall price them, or else leave them to make the 
 best of them to any man the town shall approve of." 
 
 The fundamental agreements, in both articles, every 
 man who took up land within the Newark purchase, 
 must first subscribe, with this additional one, equally 
 
LAW AMONG THEMSELVES. 1*7 
 
 characteristic of the men who made it, " as their joint 
 covenant one with another," and that at a time when 
 there had been no legislative assembly convened, and 
 of course no laws "settled in the Province;" that 
 " they Avill from time to time all submit one to another 
 to be led, ruled and governed by such magistrates and 
 rulers in the town, as shall be annually chosen by the 
 friends, from among themselves ; with such orders and 
 laws whilst they are settled here by themselves, as 
 they had in the place whence they came ; under such 
 penalties as the magistrates upon the nature of the 
 offence shall determine. 
 
 It may be asked whether the settlers had the au- 
 thority to establish such rules in regard to the terms 
 of office and suffrage. In answer to this question it 
 must be remembered, that they had purchased their 
 lands at a fair price of the aboriginal claimants, and 
 obtained as full a title as those claimants were capable 
 of giving. They had also commenced their settlement 
 with the approbation of the Proprietors' government, 
 and held themselves obligated to the discharge of all 
 their legal demands. True it is that purchase does 
 not give the right of government, and the Concessions 
 whose validity as law they did not dispute, make no 
 mention of such authority. But neither do they mention 
 the authority to establish Town Courts* which however 
 the inhabitants erected, nor again to enact laws for the 
 
 * Town Meeting, January 1, 1668-9— diet of a jury of six men; and one of the 
 
 " Item. The town hath agreed that there times is to be the last fourth day of the 
 
 shall be two Courts in our town yearly, to week, commonly called Wednesday, in 
 
 hear and try all causes and actions that the month of February ; and the other is 
 
 shall be necessary and desired within our the second Wednesday of the next follow- 
 
 compass, and according to our articles ; ing month of September." Newark Town 
 
 and that the same shall pass by the ver- Records, p. 11. 
 
 2 
 
18 THE ARTICLES. 
 
 regulation of their own internal affairs, which yet they 
 did enact constantly. 
 
 The truth is, that besides the Concessions, there 
 were in the "beginning, distinct articles of agree- 
 ment between the government and the settlers in 
 the different towns* Those with Woodbridge and 
 Piseataway are still extant, and contain several 
 of the same special privileges which Newark is 
 known to have exercised. Those with Newark, fifteen 
 in number, have long since been lost, but there is evi- 
 dence sufficient that they once existed, and were en- 
 tered into by the parties about the time of the arrival 
 of the first company.f These articles the people of 
 Newark constantly referred to as the basis of their 
 rights, J and, from the history of their formation, only 
 one thing appears to have been asked by the settlers 
 and denied by the Governor, and that was some abate- 
 ment in the required quit-rents. In this, he said, he 
 was not authorized to vary from the Concessions. Ac- 
 cordingly the quit-rents never were refused by New- 
 ark ; but who can doubt that, while they yielded this 
 pecuniary claim, the firm and honest old puritans took 
 care to insert an article, indulging them at least, in the 
 
 * At a town meeting in January, 1669, the Concessions, and that one alteration 
 
 70, these articles were ordered to be "co- proposed, was concerning the quit-rent of 
 
 pied out at a town charge." See Newark a half-penny sterling per acre, to which 
 
 Town Records, p. 24. Governor Carteret answered, ' I cannot 
 
 t In a statement of the Council of the grant any exemption from the payment 
 
 Proprietors, made Sept. 14, 1747, that body of the half-penny per acre, it being all the 
 
 pledge themselves to prove the existence advantage that the Lords Proprietors re- 
 
 of these articles, and say of them, that serve to themselves,' &c. To another al- 
 
 they " were settled with long thought and teration he said, 'as for the purchasers 
 
 deliberation, and corrections and altera- being out of purse, I cannot help them 
 
 tions mutually made, proposed and agreed therein,' " &c. (See Appendix to Bill in 
 
 tointhem; andthat Captain Treat and Mr. Chancery, p. 81.) 
 Gregory, theii agents in this afi'air, did read X Newark Town Records, passim. 
 
DISTRIBUTION OF LAND. 19 
 
 execution of their "fundamental agreement?" How 
 otherwise shall we account for the fact, that they still 
 continued to practice on that agreement directly 
 under the eye of the Governor, and never had their 
 authority to do so called in question ? The truth is 
 that in the religious liberty guaranteed by the Con- 
 cessions, "avarice," as it has been justly said, "paid its 
 homage to freedom."* But then the avarice, getting its 
 own ends fully answered, cared but little it is proba- 
 ble beyond that, how the freedom might be exercised. 
 
 It may be proper however to add here, that the 
 restriction referred to does not seem to have been kept 
 in force much beyond the life of the oldest men then 
 on the stage ; nor was it long before all parties seem 
 to have been convinced that such a restriction could 
 not be of permanent utility, f 
 
 The next thing to be agreed upon was the assign- 
 ment to the several settlers of their respective places of 
 residence, for, it seems, almost all affairs were con- 
 ducted by " agreements," among this rigid and exclusive 
 band of Puritan sectaries. They had come chiefly 
 from two pairs of contiguous towns, lying on opposite 
 sides of a small bay and river, and their exclusiveness 
 
 * Bancroft's Hist. U. S., vol 1, p. the Clerk is to set their names in a list 
 t The first indication of a departure and call them as others are called." Yet, 
 from it is to be found in the record of a after this, I find the fundamental agree- 
 town meeting held March 1, 1777-3, a few ment recognized as if still in force, or 
 months before the death of the elder not formally abrogated ; for in the month 
 Pierson, which is as follows: " It is voted, of August, 1685, "William Camp and 
 as a town act, that all and every man that John Baldwin, Jr., are chosen to go from 
 improves lands in the town of Newark house to house of those as have not sub- 
 shall make their appearance at town meet- scribed to our fundamental covenant, and 
 ings, and there attend to any business that return their answer to the town." (See 
 shall be proposed, as any of the planters Newark Town Records, pp. 63, 105.) This 
 do, and be liable to any fine as others, in is ^the latest recognition of it which I 
 case of their absence, &c, and also that have been able to discover. 
 
20 NEIGHBOELY AFFECTION. 
 
 here found a curious manifestation ; for having tasted 
 of the sweets of good neighborhood in the old mother 
 Colony, they were not ready yet to forego its special 
 privileges in their new wild home. So it stands on 
 record, that the one company " desired liberty to take 
 up their home lots and quarters in a quarter together, 
 for their better security and neighborhood," " which 
 motion of theirs" the other company immediately " as- 
 sented to." Then the lines having been drawn for the 
 two broad streets, crossing each other at right angles 
 in the centre of the town, it was again agreed that 
 each party of " neighbors" should take up their home 
 lots in the quarters where, as chance was, they had 
 already begun to occupy. But first of all, in testimony 
 of their respect and gratitude to the gallant leader of 
 the little Colony, " the neighbors of Milford and New 
 Haven," to which party he belonged, " freely gave way, 
 that Captain Robert Treat should choose his lots" be- 
 fore the rest made any division. This done, and eight 
 acres being assigned to him as his home lot, whereas 
 the rest had six, the remainder of the party cast lots 
 for their several portions, " after due preparation and 
 solemnization," the matter having been first " submitted 
 to the Lord for His guidance."* 
 
 The name of the town appears to have been at first 
 Milford,f but was soon changed to Newark, in honor, 
 
 * Newark Town Records, pp. 3, 4. Mr. on the south, was that of the elder Pier- 
 Treat's home lot was on the south-east son. (See Town Book of Surveys.) 
 corner of Broad and Market streets ; op- f Scott's " Model of the Government," 
 posite him, on the north-west corner, Whitehead p. 274. In Smith's History of 
 was Deacon Ward's, afterwards pur- New Jersey, Second River is called Mil- 
 chased, and probably occupied by Rev. ford or Newark River, p. 159. 
 Abraham Pierson, Jr., and adjoining him, 
 
THE NAME NEWARK : FIRST CHURCH. 21 
 
 as is supposed, of its first minister, who preached for a 
 time in Newark in England, before he came to this 
 country. Its etymology is New- Work, not New-Ark, 
 as seme have supposed ; the former being a simple Eng- 
 lish translation of the Latin words Novum opus, by 
 which the founder of Newark Castle chose to distin- 
 guish his then new enterprise.* 
 
 The First Church in Newark appears to be the old- 
 est fully organized Church of Christ of any denomina- 
 tion within the State of New Jersey. There were 
 small Swedish Churches on the banks of the Dela- 
 ware, but these were on the west side of the river, 
 within the boundaries of Delaware and Pennsylvania. 
 A few Dutch congregations may have existed tempo- 
 rarily in some parts of the State, but except the old 
 First Dutch Church in Bergen, I cannot learn that 
 any remnants of them now survive ; and that, though 
 justly claiming the priority by a few years over all 
 others, in the occupancy of this ground, had no minis- 
 ter, and of course but an incomplete organization until 
 after the lapse of several generations.f The settle- 
 
 * See McCulloch's Gazetteer article, nished me by the Rev. Benjamin C Taylor, 
 
 "Newark." It may be observed, in con- D. D., its present pastor. " The Reformed 
 
 tirmation of this etymology, that, in tbe Dutch Church at Bergen, New Jersey, was 
 
 old manuscript volume called "Town constituted, as nearly as can be ascertained, 
 
 Book," which is believed to be an original about the year A. D. 1663, perhaps a little 
 
 record iu the hand-writing of Robert before that date. The writer has seen a 
 
 Treat and other first settlers, the last syl- certificate (still in the possession of a de- 
 
 lable of the name is always written with scendant of the family,) of the moral and 
 
 an o, Neworke or Rework. New- Ark and religious character, and ecclesiastical stand- 
 
 Nova-Arca must be regarded as an affect- ing of one of the early settlers of the town, 
 
 ation of more modern times. It first ap- by the Burgomasters of the city of Wagen- 
 
 pears, I think, about the time of Dr. Mac- ing, in Holland, dated November 27th, 
 
 whorter. 1660; and is credibly informed that a re- 
 
 t Of this first Christian light-bearer on cord exists in the Dutch language, in the 
 
 the soil of New Jersey, I extract the fol- office of the Secretary of State of the State 
 
 lowing account from notices kindly fur- of New York, in which the then Governor 
 
n 
 
 EARLY CHURCHES. 
 
 merits of Shrewsbury, Middletown and Piscataway, 
 though nearly contemporary with that of Newark, had 
 no churches till a much later period. 
 
 The only organization for divine worship in the 
 English language, which could bear a comparison with 
 this in point of age, is the venerable sister Church of 
 Elizabethtown. But this can furnish no historic proofs 
 of its existence prior to the year 1682, when the Church 
 in Newark had erected and completed its house of wor- 
 ship, and been in full operation with its pastor and 
 other officers — indeed most of the time with two pas- 
 
 of the Prorince, reported to the States- 
 General of Holland, that the inhabitants of 
 Bergen, in the Colony of New Jersey, had 
 consented to be taxed for the building of 
 a house of worship. The document refer- 
 red to is dated A. D. 1663. In 1664, the 
 registers now in possession of the pastor 
 commence. At that date there were nine 
 male and eighteen female members in full 
 communion, whose names are recorded. 
 It is believed to be almost certain that this 
 is the fifth duly organized Reformed Dutch 
 Church in the United States, and the first 
 Christian Church in the present State of 
 New Jersey. 
 
 "From 1664 until 1680, the public wor- 
 ship of God was conducted in a log edifice. 
 During the period of sixteen years, the 
 means of grace seem to have been greatly 
 blessed, in which time one hundred and 
 twenty-four were added to the communion 
 of the Church. In 1680 the congregation 
 erected their first church edifice, and the 
 people as before continued to have the 
 preaching of the Gospel and administration 
 of the ordinances, principally by the clergy 
 of the Reformed Dutch Church at New 
 York/whose names are recorded as present 
 when members were admitted to full com- 
 munion. And I have seen a letter dated in 
 1682, from one of the early pastors of the 
 Church in New York, in which he states 
 the administration of the ordinance of the 
 Supper was always on Monday, the duties 
 
 of the pastorate in the city not admitting 
 of Sabbath absences. So that but seldom 
 on the Sabbath could the Word be preach- 
 ed to them. Nevertheless, the stated Sab- 
 bath services were maintained. The clerk 
 of the Church, as he was called, (or the 
 chorister,) read the prayers in the Liturgy 
 of the Church, and some appropriate ser. 
 mon selected for the occasion — of course 
 all in the Dutcli language. This system 
 of public service continued for at least 
 eighty-seven years, doubtless because of 
 the difficulty of obtaining a pastor who 
 could preach in the Dutch language, the 
 number of such in the country being very 
 small. 
 
 "In 1750, a call was presented to Mr. 
 William Jackson, then prosecuting pre- 
 liminary studies under the direction of 
 Rev. John Frelinghuysen, of Raritan, (now 
 Somerville,) and he was sent to Holland to 
 complete his education, and receive ordi- 
 nation from the Classis of Amsterdam." 
 Then with a true Dutch quietude, hardly 
 surpassed in the best days of the renowned 
 Wouter Van Twiller, did this worthy peo- 
 ple patiently wait four years and threr 
 months for their pastor elect, who was 
 greeted by them on his return, and duly 
 installed in Sept. 1757, by a committee 
 appointed by the Classis, ninety-four years 
 after their organization as a Christian 
 Church. 
 
CHUECH IN ELIZABETHTOWN. 23 
 
 tors, a senior and a junior — during a period of fifteen 
 years.* 
 
 It is true the settlement of Elizabethtown was com- 
 menced somewhat earlier than that of Newark, but it 
 was commenced and carried on in circumstances much 
 less advantageous for the speedy establishment of 
 religious institutions. It must be remembered, that 
 up to the month of August, 1665, only four families, if 
 so many, some say only two,f had found a residence 
 there, and the next accession to their numbers was 
 that of Governor Philip Carteret, and his thirty Eng- 
 lish gentlemen and servants — a company not likely to 
 coalesce readily with the first four in the establishment 
 of Puritan worship and ordinances. It is only nine 
 months after this arrival that we find thirty families, 
 all New England Church-members from the same 
 neighborhood, already settled, and met to devise plans 
 for the carrying on both of civil and ecclesiastical af- 
 fairs, in common with another party of the same char- 
 acter, who were ready to come and join them for the 
 
 * The earliest notice of ecclesiastical expressly charge, that no other Christian 
 affairs in Elizabethtown, yet discovered, is person whatsoever was settled on any 
 to be found in the East Jersey Proprietary part of the lands in question, than John 
 Records, viz : that " Rev. Seth Fletcher, Ogden and Luke Watson, before Governor 
 minister of the gospel at Elizabethtown," Carteret's arrival." (p. 66) This may be 
 died in the month of August, 1682. His regarded as a partizan statement; but the 
 marriage contract with Mrs. Mary Pier- defendants in their reply, without contra- 
 son, of South Hampton, in the East Riding dieting it, content themselves with stating 
 of Yorkshire, Long Island, is dated May what they have heard and believe took 
 30, 1681. (Mr. Whitehead.) The next place " at or soon after the arrival of Gov- 
 minister, Rev. John Harriman, could not ernor Carteret." It seems probable, there- 
 have been settled earlier than 1684. fore, that they could point to no memorials 
 
 t "Four families, if so many," is the proving a more extensive settlement prior 
 
 expression used in the Bill in Chancery, to that period. Dr. Murray, in his Notes 
 
 and the complainants in that bill add, that on Elizabethtown, p. 22, says " there were 
 
 from "memorials" then recently discov- here but four houses, and those but log 
 
 ered, " they have reason to believe, and do huts." 
 
24 CHUECH IN NEWAEK. 
 
 same purposes, on the banks of the Passaic. Mean- 
 while, however, and probably about the same period 
 with the emigration to Newark, came other companies 
 and individuals in considerable numbers, from the 
 same region, and took up their abode at Elizabeth- 
 town. But these emigrants found the ground there 
 pre-occupied ; and other influences than theirs having 
 already acquired prevalence — influences with which 
 they found themselves in conflict for many years after- 
 wards — they must have been subject to serious embar- 
 rassment in attempting to realize their best religious 
 purposes. The probability that a regularly organized 
 Church could have existed there as soon as in Newark 
 is, therefore, exceedingly small. 
 
 It was the good fortune of this community, to have 
 become a Church almost as soon as it became a settle- 
 ment. The settlers were perfectly homogeneous,* 
 both in the beginning and for many years afterwards, 
 and were banded together before they came, for the 
 support of religious institutions. Indeed, the old 
 Church in Branford, organized there twenty years ear- 
 lier, was probably transported bodily, with all its cor- 
 porate privileges and authorities. Its old pastor was 
 conveyed hither at the expense of the town ; its dea- 
 con continued his functions without any signs of re-ap- 
 pointment;! its records were transferred, and it im- 
 
 * I find but two names among the first early as 1645. (See list published by Lam- 
 company which indicate a different origin bert, p. 90.) 
 
 from the rest. Robert Dalglesh, or Dou- f I have no positive proof that Dea- 
 
 glass, according to Dr. Macwhorter was a con Ward was a deacon before he came 
 
 Scotchman, and Hans, Hants, or Hauns hither, but infer it from the fact that he is 
 
 Albers, though probably of Dutch extrac- so denominated immediately after, 
 tion, was a settler in Milford, Conn., as 
 
ORIGIN OF THE CHURCH. 25 
 
 mediately commenced " Cliurcli work," and its pastor 
 was invested with his office and salary on the new 
 spot, without any ceremony of organization or installa- 
 tion. It is true that several of its members were left 
 behind, but they no longer claimed to be a Church ; 
 and hence there was no Church in Branford after the 
 removal, till a new one was organized there several 
 years subsequent.* The settlers who came hither from 
 other towns, probably transferred their ecclesiastical 
 relations to this pre-existing organization, and the 
 Church of Branford being thus transplanted to a new 
 locality, and having received an accession of new con- 
 stituent elements, became, after the example of the 
 Church in Hartford and several others in New England, 
 the First Church of Newark, and thereupon started 
 forth upon a new, and as it since has proved by far the 
 largest portion of its career. This Church may, there- 
 fore, be regarded as having had two beginnings, the 
 first in Branford, in the year 1644, which is its proper 
 organic origin ; and the second, when it became fairly 
 removed to Newark, and its pastor resumed his func- 
 tions here in the beginning of October, 1667.f 
 
 * Trumbull's Hist. Conn, vol 1, p. 277. debating to get wisdom" for tbeir intended 
 
 + It is scarcely to be doubted that reli- work. Meanwhile, " the town was cast 
 
 gious worship was statedly maintained in into several private meetings, wherein 
 
 Newark from the beginning of the settle- they that dwelt most together, gave their 
 
 ment. The number and character of the accounts one to another of God's gracious 
 
 settlers sufficiently indicate this. But the work upon them, and prayed together, and 
 
 disposition of the early Puritans to carry conferred to mutual edification." See Ba- 
 
 with them wherever they came, " the con's Hist. Disc, p. 19. That the Church 
 
 Church and the godly minister," gives in Newark was able to complete its organ- 
 
 us no sure evidence of the precise date of ization so soon after the commencement of 
 
 the organization of their permanent con- the settlement, and so much earlier than 
 
 gregations. In the old mother Colony of its sister Churches in this Province, must 
 
 New Haven, the people waited fourteen doubtless be attributed to the peculiarly 
 
 months, " praying, fasting, inquiring and favoring circumstances above detailed. 
 
26 ABRAHAM PIERSON, SENIOR. 
 
 The first pastor of this Church., as we have already 
 intimated, was the Rev. Abraham Pierson. He was 
 born in Yorkshire, England, graduated at the Univer- 
 sity, of Cambridge, in the year 1632, and having been 
 ordained, as is supposed episcopally,* and preached for 
 some years in his native country, came to Boston 
 in the year 1639, and joined the Church there. In 
 the year 1640, a portion of the inhabitants of Lynn, 
 near Boston, where he seems for a short time to have 
 resided, "finding themselves straitened," as Governor 
 Winthrop represents the case, determined to remove 
 to Long Island, and calling Mr. Pierson to become 
 their minister, they were organized into a Chnrch state 
 before they left Lynn, and after an ineffectual attempt 
 to settle on the west end of the island, removed to the 
 east end, and became the first settlers of the town of 
 Southampton. In the year 1644, being dissatisfied 
 with the annexation of his little Colony to the juris- 
 diction of Connnecticut,f he removed, as I have already 
 said, after a ministry of about four years, with a por- 
 tion of his Church to the town of Branford, J and there 
 
 * See Dr. Macwhorter's Century Ser. who had heen ordained by bishops before 
 mon, p. 8, Trumbull's Hist. Conn., vol. 1, coming to New England, though the va- 
 p. 280. The following notice of Mr. Pier- lidity of their episcopal ordination was not 
 son, is taken from a memoir of Hugh Pe- called in question, were subjected to an 
 ters, by Joseph B. Felt, published in the additional form of setting apart usually 
 New England Hist, and Geneal. Register, denominated ordination, on their taking 
 April, 1851, p. 233. "November, 1640, he charge of a Congregational Church. (See 
 (Peters) attends the formation of a Church Felt's Annals of Salem, p. 574.) 
 at Lynn, composed of individuals who had t Cotton Mather says, "It was after- 
 emigrated thence and settled on Long Is- wards found necessary for this Church to 
 land. On the same occasion he takes part be divided. Upon which occasion Mr. 
 in the ordination of Abraham Pierson, as Pierson referring his case to Council, his 
 their guide in the spread of Gospel knowl- removal was directed into Branford over 
 edge and influence." N. B. There is no the main." (Magnalia Book iii, ch. 8.) 
 contradiction between this statement and t Trumbull's Hist. Conn., vol. 1, p. 
 that given above, since those ministers 148. 
 
PIERSON AS MISSIONARY. 27 
 
 uniting with others from the town of Weathersfield, 
 organized a new Church, of which he was the pastor 
 in that place about twenty-three years. 
 
 During his residence in Branford, he was distin- 
 guished by his great zeal and success in the instruction 
 and conversion of the native Indians. The Conmiis- 
 sioners for the United Colonies of New England, a con- 
 federation formed at New Haven in 1643, in co-opera- 
 tion with a society in England incorporated by act of 
 Parliament six years later " for carrying on and promot- 
 ing the Gospel of Christ in New England," were in pur- 
 suit of vigorous measures for this object. Among the 
 missionaries whom they employed, the names of the 
 gentleMayhew and the apostolic Eliot have acquired an 
 almost world-wide renown. To these, that of Abraham 
 Pierson eminently deserves to stand next. What they 
 were in Massachusetts, such was he in the regions of 
 Connecticut. As early as the year 1651, we find him 
 spoken of as studying the language and " continuing 
 with much seriousness therein," that he may the better 
 be able to treat with the ignorant children of the 
 forest " concerning the things of their peace." Shortly 
 after, we hear of him, not only as preaching to the 
 Indians, but preparing a catechism for them in their 
 native language. It was first written in English ; and 
 under date of September 17, 1656, we find the follow- 
 ing notice of it in the proceedings of the Commission- 
 ers for the Colonies : " A letter from Mr. Pierson of 
 Branford, dated the 25th of August, was read; and 
 some part of a catechism by him framed and pro- 
 pounded to convince the Indians by the light of na- 
 
28 INDIAN CATECHISM. 
 
 ture and reason that there is only one God who hath 
 made and governed all things, was considered. And 
 the Commissioners advised that it Ibe perfected and 
 turned into the Narragansett or Pequot language, that 
 it may be the better understood by the Indians in all 
 parts of the country ; and for that purpose they spoke 
 with and desired Thomas Stanton" — a young man 
 whom they had trained at Cambridge to fit him for an 
 interpreter in the Indian service — " to advise with Mr. 
 Pierson about a fit season to meet and translate the 
 same." This catechism was designed for the special 
 benefit of the natives of the south-west portions of 
 New Eugland ; Mr. Eliot's, which was prepared a 
 short time earlier, having been intended for those of 
 Massachusetts, whose dialect was somewhat different. 
 It was intended at first to send the manuscript to Eng- 
 land for publication, but on conference with the society 
 there, it was thought best that the work should be 
 done in America. It was printed in the year 1660, by 
 Mr. Green, to whom the Commissioners paid forty 
 pounds for that service. Mr. Pierson had a regular 
 salary for his labors in the Indian department from 
 the Commissioners, in the same manner as Eliot and 
 Mayhew and some others. At first it was £15, then 
 £20, afterwards £30 ; and it was not till the year but 
 one before he left Branford that we find it " abated," for 
 some cause not given, to £15. The proceedings and 
 correspondence of the Commissioners contain abund- 
 ant evidence of the high estimation which both they 
 and the Society in England entertained of his labors. 
 Twice, in the early part of his course, they made ap- 
 
pieeson's character. 29 
 
 propriations of money to aid hi in in his preparations 
 for the work ; and more than once we find special ap- 
 propriations awarded to him for his extraordinary 
 pains.* 
 
 Mr. Pierson's character, both personal and ministe- 
 rial appears to have been of a high order. He 
 exerted no small influence, not only over his own flock, 
 but among the people generally in the Colony of New 
 Haven. The elder Wintkrop, a personal acquaintance, 
 and the best of authorities on such a point, pronounces 
 him a " godly learned man." Cotton Mather says of 
 him, " Wherever he came he shone."f We may perhaps, 
 form some notion of his habits of study from the ex- 
 tent of his library, which appears, from the inventory 
 of his estate still in existence, to have contained four 
 hundred and forty volumes, valued at one hundred 
 pounds, or about one-eighth of his entire estate. J 
 
 The salary assigned to this good old man, on his 
 coming to Newark, was ample for the times, and marks 
 
 * Hazard's State Papers, vol. ii, pp. 178, shine like a torch. If it be a fable, yet let. 
 1S6, 303, 313, 321, 326, 366, 378, 390, 392, the tongue of a minister be the moral of 
 403,404,414,431,442,443,458. Trumbull that fable. Now such an illuminating 
 says, Hist. Conn., vol. 1, p. 464. " The tongue was that of our Pierson." (Mag- 
 Rev. Mr. Pierson, it seems, learned the nalia, B. iii. ch. 8. 
 
 Indian language, and preached to the % The uett value of his estate, as ap- 
 Connecticut Indians. A considerable sum pears from the inventory at his decease, 
 was allowed him by the Commissioners of was £822. When he came to Newark it 
 the United Colonies," &c. In the year was estimated at £644, the largest in the 
 1653, when an agreement was to be made company except Eobert Treat's, which was 
 with the aboriginal inhabitants, " Mr. Pier- £660. The library, with the exception of 
 son and his Indians were employed as in- a few volumes, given as tokens of love to 
 terpreters, and Mr. Pierson and John his other sons, was bequeathed at Mr. Pier- 
 Brocket witnesses to the mutual covenant, son's death, to his eldest son, Abraham 
 (See Bacon's Hist. Disc. p. 347.) Pierson, Jr., and may have contained a 
 
 + Mather's account of him commences portion at least of the volumes afterwards 
 thus : " 'Tis reported by Pliny, but per- contributed by the latter to found the col- 
 haps 'tis but a Plinyism, that there is a lege at New Haven. (See Trumbull, vol. 
 fish called Lucerna, whose tongue doth 1. p. 473. 
 
30 
 
 the pious faithfulness and liberal spirit of the men who 
 brought him here, and still adhered to him to the end 
 of his life. Besides receiving his proportion of the lands 
 as other planters, the sum of eighty pounds was given 
 him the first year for the erection of his house,* together 
 with the expenses of his transportation, and " the dig- 
 ging and finishing of his well ;" and thenceforth he 
 was to receive eighty pounds annually, in two semi- 
 annual instalments,f and to be free from all ordinary 
 taxes during life, except the proportion charged on his 
 estate " for ways and drainings in the meadows," and 
 the never-to-be-forgotten Lords' half-penny.J 
 
 It would be pleasant, could we summon to our view 
 the persons and characters of the active men who then 
 stood round their aged pastor, and sustained him with 
 their prayers and sympathies, and received the bread 
 of life here at his hands — the men who laid out these 
 
 * A house which cost £80, must have try houses, though there were a few built 
 
 been one of superior elegance as the times of brick or stone. But such houses could 
 
 were. Samuel Groome, writing from Eliz- not have cost £80. Governor Winthrop's 
 
 abethtown in 1683, says, "The houses at house in New Haven, in 1G57, was sold for 
 
 Amboy," viz., three which he had recently £100, and " it was one of the best in the 
 
 built to begin a great city, which was then town," says Dr. Bacon, " distinguished as 
 
 to be built there, " are thirty feet long and it was for ' fair and stately houses.' " 
 sixteen feet wide; ten feet between joint -f Dr. Macwhorter says in his Century 
 
 and joint : a double chimney made with Sermon, " The common salary which they 
 
 timber and clay, as the manner of the allowed their minister, was about £30 a 
 
 country is to build : will stand in about year, and this was frequently raised with 
 
 £50 a house." (Smith's N; J., p. 175. great difficulty, and ill paid." This is 
 
 Gawen Lawrie, writing to a friend in Lon- certainly a mistake, either of the writer 
 
 don, says, " A carpenter with a man's own or the printer. The smallest salary ever 
 
 servants, builds a house. They have all given to a settled pastor, was Mr. Prud- 
 
 materials for nothing except nails. The dens, of £50. None of the rest fell short 
 
 poorer sort set up a house of two or three Of the sum above named, 
 rooms after this manner. The walls are J It is added in the agreement, that he is 
 
 of cloven timber, about eight or ten inches to have " a pound of butter for every milch 
 
 broad, like planks, set one end to the cow in the town." This has been stated 
 
 ground and the other nailed to the rais- by some as an additional perquisite. But 
 
 ing, which they plaster within." This, it seems to have been only one of the 
 
 we are told by another writer of the same " species" in which the sum of £80 was to 
 
 period, was the style of most of the coun- be paid. (Newark Town Records, p. 8.) 
 
DEACON WAED JASPER CRANE. 31 
 
 broad streets* and gave us these beautiful parks,f and 
 whose spirit still lives in institutions to which they 
 gave the first impulse. But of most of them, their 
 names and the general spirit of their corporate acts is 
 nearly all that we can rescue from oblivion. 
 
 There was Lawrence Ward, the first deacon of the 
 Church — an old man, probably — whose name appears 
 among the original settlers of the town of New Haven, 
 and who came to Newark from Branford with the 
 Church of which he was an officer ; a plain, unpretend- 
 ing man, as I imagine, possessing a moderate estate, and 
 useful to the new Colony in various services requiring 
 trust-worthiness and discretion. He died sometime in 
 the year 1669. 
 
 There was Jasper Crane — also an original settler of 
 New Haven, and a member of the Church in Branford 
 — Avhose name heads the list of subscribers to the 
 Fundamental Agreement, and who figures largely in 
 
 * John Barclay and others, (see Smith's that in the rear of them ; together with 
 
 New Jersey, p. 187,) writing to the Pro- that which lyeth In the middle street 
 
 prietors in Scotland, in 1684, says of the towards the landing place, and that which 
 
 towns in this region, "Their streets are lies against Aaron Blatehley's, and John 
 
 laid out too large, and the sheep in the Ward's, and Robert Dalglesh's; which is 
 
 towns are mostly maintained in them ; to be and remain as Town Commons." 
 
 they are so large that they need no trouble (Newark Town Records, p 24.) 
 
 to pave them." There may have been no N. B. The land before William Camp's, 
 
 need once, but times change. is now a part of the South Park. 
 
 t At a general town meeting, 25th and That towards the landing place in the 
 
 26th Jan., 1669-70. " Item. It is by a middle street, is the Park or Military 
 
 full consent of all agreed upon, that none Common. 
 
 of the common lands lying within our That against Aaron Blatehley's and John 
 
 town or highways, so far as our articles Ward's, is Washington Park, formerly 
 
 will allow of, shall at any time be given Market Place, 
 
 or disposed of to any man's propriety, That against Robert Dalglesh's, is the 
 
 without the consent of every freeholder old " watering place" on the south side of 
 
 or received inhabitant of the town ; as the Market street, near the Court House, 
 
 land about the frog pond or training place ; The old or first training place was the 
 
 the land before William Camp's towards spot on which the first meeting-house 
 
 the end in the front of those lots, as also stood, near the frog pond. 
 
32 ROBERT TREAT. 
 
 all the transactions of the town of Newark during the 
 first fourteen years ; its magistrate, the president of its 
 town court, and chosen regularly every year for the 
 first five or six years, as first on its list of deputies to 
 the General Assembly. He was an active, energetic, 
 and perhaps restless man, who had aided already in 
 the commencement of two or three new settlements, 
 and, as early as the year 1651, had been only prevent- 
 ed by the "injustice and violence of the Dutch" (so he 
 thought it) from establishing yet another on the banks 
 of the Delaware, whereby " the gospel," he said, 
 " might have been published to the natives, and much 
 good done, not only to the Colonies at present, but to 
 posterity." * 
 
 Next comes Robert Treat — the flower and pride of 
 the whole company — who came to the Colony of New 
 Haven when a young man, and was early advanced to 
 posts of influence and trust. To his wise energy New- 
 ark owes much of its early order and good manage- 
 ment. Having served the town in various capacities — 
 as its Clerk, and, with Jasper Crane, as one of its magis- 
 trates and deputies to the Assembly — he left several of 
 his children here as a most acceptable donation to the 
 new settlement^ and returned in the year 1672 to Con- 
 
 * Trumbull, vol. 1, p. 197. The leaders + "The children of Robert Treat, who 
 
 in the enterprise were Jasper Crane and settled in Newark, were John, who died 
 
 William Tuttle. This is probably the set- August 1, 1714, aged 65 ; his daughter 
 
 tlement near Cape May, of which Dr. Sarah married t» Jonathan Crane, Esq., 
 
 Macwhorter speaks. (Century Sermon, a - son of Jasper Crane, Jr. ; and his 
 
 p. 8.) The people of New Haven Colony daughter Mary, the wife of Deacon Aza- 
 
 had purchased land of the Indians on both riah Crane. On the home-lot of Gover- 
 
 sides of Delaware bay and river, and had nor Treat, which was occupied by the 
 
 agents and a trading house there; but descendants of his daughter until the 
 
 I have seen no evidence that they sue- commencement of the present century, 
 
 ceeded in actually commencing a settle- now stands the house of" worship of the 
 
 nient. See Hazard's State Papers, vol. ii. First Presbyterian Church,"— S.KCongar. 
 
SAMUEL SWALNE. 
 
 33 
 
 necticut. There at once he was advanced to the magis- 
 tracy of the Province. Becoming a Major of militia, he 
 distinguished himself in various military operations 
 against the Dutch and Indians ; and, at the battle of 
 "Bloody Brook," when the "Flower of Essex" fell, 
 turned the tide of success at a desperate moment, and 
 saved the colonists from being overrun and destroyed 
 by a savage foe. He was the Governor of Connecti- 
 cut for many years, and his name is one of the bright- 
 est on her early rolls.* 
 
 Samuel Swainef deserves notice as having been con- 
 
 * See Trumbull's Hist. Conn., vol. 1, p. 
 341, &c, Everet's Orations, ("Battle of 
 Bloody Brook.") " It is the tradition," 
 says Trumbull, "that Major (afterwards 
 Governor) Treat received a ball through 
 the brim of his hat, and that he was the 
 last man who left the Fort in the dusk of 
 the evening, commanding the rear of the 
 army." " He that commanded our forces 
 then and now vs," say the Legislature of 
 the Colony, "made no less than seven- 
 teen fair shots at the enemy, and was 
 thereby as oft a fair mark for them." 
 
 Gov. Treat was in the Chair when, Sir 
 Edmond Andros attempting to seize the 
 charter of the Colony, the people extin- 
 guished the lights in the Assembly room, 
 and Capt. Wadsworth secretly conveyed 
 the precious instrument of liberty to a 
 place of security in a hollow tree, since 
 called from that circumstance the " Char- 
 ter Oak." He was at a very advanced age 
 when he retired from public life. Trum- 
 bull gays of him, (vol. 1, p. 432,) "He had 
 been three years a magistrate, and thirty- 
 two years Governor or Deputy-Governor 
 of the Colony. He was elected magis- 
 trate, May, 1673, Deputy-Governor, 1676, 
 and Governor, 1683. To this office he 
 was annually elected fifteen years until 
 1698. He was then chosen Deputy-Gov- 
 ernor until the year 1708. He died about 
 two years after, July 12, 1710, in the 85th 
 year of his age. Few men have sustained 
 
 a fairer character or rendered the public 
 more important services. He was an ex- 
 cellent military officer ; a man of singular 
 courage and resolution, tempeied with 
 caution and prudence. His administra- 
 tion of Government was with wisdom, 
 firmness and integrity. He was esteemed 
 courageous, wise and pious. He was ex- 
 ceedingly beloved and venerated by the 
 people in general, and especially by his 
 neighbors at Milford where he resided." 
 He married Jane, daughter of Edmund 
 Tapp, one of the "seven pillars" on 
 which the Church at Milford laid its 
 foundation work. (See Lambert's Hist. 
 Col. New Haven, pp. 100, 137.) 
 
 t Not Sicarne, as all the histories have 
 it. " Samuel Swaine's daughter Elizabeth 
 was the wife of Josiah Ward, and subse- 
 quently of David Ogden, who left four 
 sons, David, John, Josiah and Swaine. 
 Col. Josiah (who went over to Episcopacy) 
 was the ancestor of the late David B. Og- 
 den, Esq. The lamented Mrs. Caldwell, 
 of Elizabethtown, was a descendant of 
 David Ogden. Joanna, another daugh- 
 ter of Lieut. Swaine, married Jasper Crane, 
 Jr., and hence, though the names ef Treat 
 and Swaine may not be found in our City 
 Directory, their representatives are very 
 numerous." — 8. M. Gongar. 
 
 It is not improbable that Col. Josiah 
 owed his name to the affection of his mo- 
 
34 
 
 THE OLD CORN MILL. 
 
 stantly chosen for " the third man" among the deputies 
 to the General Assembly to supply the place of either 
 of the others who might fail, and as such having repre- 
 sented the town instead of Jasper Crane in the first 
 General Assembly ever held in the Province. He was 
 a mill-wright by trade,* and a Lieutenant by office, and 
 
 ther for the memory of her deceased hus- 
 band. 
 
 There is a tradition that Elizabeth 
 Swaine was the first to land on the shore 
 of Newark, having been merrily handed 
 up the bank by her gallant lover, in his 
 ambition to secure for her that mark of 
 priority. She was then, says the same 
 tradition, nineteen years of age, which 
 corresponds, as Mr. Congar informs me, 
 to the record of her baptism. 
 
 * The old corn mill situated on "Mill 
 Brook," near the present Stone Bridge, 
 and erected by Lieut. Swaine's skill, de- 
 serves a passing notice as among the 
 primitive ^"'/'''V institvMons of "our town 
 upon Passaic river." It was the next 
 considerable undertaking after the meet- 
 ing house, and liberal offers were at first 
 made to any who would volunteer in the 
 work, "for the supply of the town with 
 good grinding." But "none appearing 
 to accept the town's motion and encour- 
 agement," the next step was " to set upon 
 it in a general way ; and moving to Lieut. 
 Swaine about the matter, he made some 
 propositions to the town," and they final- 
 ly came to an agreement to give him for 
 his services, "twenty shillings by the week 
 and three pounds over for his skill," unless, 
 as the agreement ran, " he shall see cause 
 to abate it, which, if he should see cause 
 to do, the town will take it thankfully." 
 On these conditions did the worthy func- 
 tionary engage " to improve his time and 
 skill to the best advantage," "give his 
 best advice about the building of the 
 dam and leveling the ground as the town 
 shall need him," and, with the aid of Mr. 
 Robert Treat, Henry Lyon, John Brown 
 and Stephen Davis, made choice of as the 
 town's committee "to appoint and oversee 
 ihe work, and that, as near as they can, in 
 
 an equal and proportionate way, and to 
 keep a clear and distinct account of each 
 man's work and layings out about the 
 work ;" together with that of Thomas 
 Pierson and George Day, appointed " to 
 call forth the men to labor" at the proper 
 times, "as the committee shall agree 
 upon," carry the whole work " on to an 
 end" as soon as conveniently he can. 
 Forth goes, moreover, a trusty commis- 
 sion at the town's command " upon the 
 discovery, t« see if they can find any suita- 
 ble stones for mill-stones," and, the whole 
 body politic being thus fairly enlisted, a 
 speedy completion of the work was no 
 doubt confidently anticipated. But pri- 
 vate enterprise was after all found more 
 reliable; and at the end of one year, the 
 work still lingering, a bargain was made 
 with Robert Treat and Sergeant Richard 
 Harrison to build the mill and all its ap- 
 purtenances, keep it in repair, furnish the 
 same with a good miller, and for a fixed 
 rate of tolls "grind all the town's grists 
 into good meal." For their encourage- 
 ment the exclusive right to all mill privi- 
 leges on that brook were guarantied, 
 " with all the town's grists from 
 time to time, all stones capable of mill- 
 stones in the town's utmost limits and 
 bounds," the timber which before had 
 been prepared, all the lands formerly 
 granted and " entailed to the mill" in all 
 respects as their own lands, thirty pounds 
 in current articles, and " two days work of 
 every man and woman that holds an al- 
 lotment in the town." With this encour- 
 agement the work went on apace; the 
 thirty pounds were gathered by a rate 
 " in like manner as the rate for Mr. Abra- 
 ham Pierson," and Saturday and Monday 
 of each week being agreed upon as 
 " grinding days," the sturdy planters' 
 
DEACONS TOMPKINS AND LAWRENCE. 35 
 
 was raised to the captaincy of the Newark forces in 
 1673, shortly after Captain Treat returned to Connect- 
 icut. 
 
 Michael Tompkins* and Richard Lawrence,f who 
 
 boys, each mounted on horseback with 
 sacks of grain en croupe, may at length 
 be imagined wending their cheerful way 
 from either extremity of the settlement 
 to where the huge timbers of the rude 
 edifice groaned to the rushing waters and 
 whirling mill-stones; and the miller, full 
 of bustle and importance, was seeking to 
 fulfill his promise " to attend to his grind- 
 ing" and " do as for himself to secure 
 every man's grist" from harm or loss "till 
 it be closed under lock and key," when 
 his responsibility was to be ended. Thir- 
 teen years later, Robert Treat having re- 
 turned to Connecticut, and Sergeant Har- 
 rison perhaps growing old, the right to 
 the mill was conveyed, with the town's 
 consent, to the three younger Harrisons — 
 Samuel, Joseph and George — who as- 
 sumed all the attendant obligations and 
 responsibilities as mentioned in the "cov- 
 enant" made between the town and their 
 father. Further than this, concerning the 
 fate of the old corn mill, this deponent saith 
 not. (Town's Records, pp. 13, 14, 15, 29, 
 37, 45.) 
 
 * The following notices of the Tomp- 
 kins family were gathered by Mr. S. H. 
 Congar from the Milford Church records : 
 " Michael and Mary Tomkins were re- 
 ceived as church members 12th Decem- 
 ber, 1643 ; Seth, son of Michael Tomkins, 
 was baptized in 1649 ; Micah, " son of 
 brother Tomkins," was baptized at New 
 Haven in 1660. Mr. C. adds : " I have no 
 doubt that Michael Tomkins was the 
 man who hid the Judges in Milford. 
 Tomkins's name does not appear in Mil- 
 ford books after the settlement of New- 
 ark, that I can find." The story of the 
 hiding of the regicide Judges is pleasant- 
 ly told by President Stiles in his " His- 
 tory of the Three Judges of King Charles 
 I, viz: Major Generals Goffe and Whal- 
 
 ley and Col. Dixwell," pp. 88, 89. " From 
 their lodgment in the woods the Judges 
 removed and took up an ayslum in the 
 house of Mr. Tomkins in the centre of 
 Milford, thirty or forty rods from the 
 meeting house. 1 have frequently been 
 in this house of Tomkins's. It was 
 standing since 1750, and perhaps to 1770. 
 In this house the two Judges resided in 
 the most absolute concealment, not so 
 much as walking out into the orchard for 
 two years." Mr. Treat, he adds, was in 
 the seeret, and a few others. The house 
 is thus described : " It was a building, say 
 twenty feet square, and two stories ; the 
 lower room built with stone wall and con- 
 sidered as a store ; the room over it with 
 timber and wood, and used by Tomkins's 
 family as a work or spinning-room." 
 " The family," he adds, " used to spin in 
 the room above, ignorant of the Judges 
 being below. Judge Buckingham tells 
 me this story, the only anecdote or notice 
 I could ever learn from a Milford man 
 now living. While they sojourned at 
 Milford, there came over from England 
 a ludicrous cavalier ballad, satirizing 
 Charles's Judges, and Gofle and Whalley 
 among the rest. A spinstress at Milford 
 had learned to sing it, and used some- 
 times to sing it in the chamber over the 
 Judges ; and the Judges used to get 
 Tomkins to set the girls to singing the 
 song for their diversion, being humored 
 and pleased with it, though at their own 
 expense, as they were the subjects of the 
 ridicule. The girls knew nothing of the 
 matter, being ignorant of the innocent 
 device, and little thought that they were 
 serenading angels." Deacon Tompkins is 
 first mentioned as Deacon in the Town 
 Records, Dec. 29, 1670. (Rec, p. 31.) 
 
 t Deacon Lawrence first appears by that 
 title in the Records, Jan. 2, 1670-1. (Rec.., 
 
36 
 
 FIRST SETTLERS. 
 
 succeeded Lawrence Ward in the office of deacon, and 
 were probably elected about the time of his decease, 
 appear to have been men of true worth and considera- 
 ble influence in the community. 
 
 Besides these, there were Matthew Camfield* and 
 Obadiah Bruen, Robert Kitchell, formerly one of the 
 " seven pillars" of the Church in Guilford, and his son 
 Samuel, married to Grace, daughter of Abraham 
 Pierson, senior, f John Curtis, and Jeremiah Peck, and 
 Thomas Morris, and Thomas Luddington. There were 
 other Piersons, Cranes, TompkinsesJ and Wards.§ 
 There were Baldwins,] and Burwells,^" and Blatch- 
 
 p. 32.) He was oue of the Branford party, 
 as was Tompkins of the Milford. Proba- 
 bly both were appointed at the same 
 time. 
 
 * Matthew Camfield is said to have 
 come from Norwulk. He had four sons, 
 Samuel, Ebenezer, Matthew and Jonathan. 
 Jonathan died Nov. 26, 1688, and left his 
 property to his two brothers. Samuel 
 Camfield settled in Norwalk, and received 
 his portion of his father's estate there. The 
 will says : " He shall have nothing here." 
 
 t She was, it is said, his second wife. 
 His first wife was Elizabeth Wakeman, 
 married in 1651. 
 
 \ Seth Tompkins, son of Michael, does 
 not appear among the first subscribers, 
 but soon after. He must have been only 
 17 years of age when the first party arrived. 
 His wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel 
 Kitchel. The name of Jonathan Tomp- 
 kins appears among the original subscri 
 bers. 
 
 § Two John Wards, whose names ap- 
 pear among the original subscribers, be- 
 longing to the Milford party, were usually 
 distinguished as John Ward, senior, or 
 Sergeant Ward, and John Ward Turner 
 or Dishturner. John Ward Turner was 
 a nephew of Deacon Lawrence Ward and 
 
 a cousin of John Catlin. There were two 
 of the same name and profession subse- 
 quently, probably the latter a son of the 
 former. (Town Book of Surveys, &c, pp« 
 1, 13, 54.) 
 
 | Two Baldwins were among the origi- 
 nal subscribers— John, senior, and John, 
 junior. Benjamin Baldwin was also among 
 the first settlers. John Baldwin, senior, 
 was among those who had special grants 
 made them by the town " for staying on 
 the place so much the first summer." 
 In 1673, he with three others had deter- 
 mined to remove to what was called 
 " Barbadoes Neck," then recently pur- 
 chased of the Dutch, but they were pre- 
 vented from remaining there by a defect in 
 the title. John Baldwin, junior, became 
 prominent in the affairs of the town 
 after a few years, and was chosen to the 
 highest offices. They were both men of 
 moderate estate. Benjamin Baldwin was 
 a weaver. (Town Records.) 
 
 IT Only one Bur well appears among the 
 original subscribers, viz : Ephraim. But. 
 Zechariah was also among the first set- 
 tlers. Zechariah and Elizabeth Burwell 
 had numerous children, who were con- 
 nected by marriage with several promin- 
 ent Newark families. 
 
FIKST SETTLEKS. 
 
 37 
 
 leys, and Harrisons, and Johnsons* and Lyons.f 
 There were Penningtons J — Ephraim and his two young 
 sons, Ephraim and Judah. There were Riggses — 
 Sergeant Edward, and his two sons, Edward and Jo- 
 seph. There were Dods,§ and Browns, || more than 
 one. There was a Ball and a Bond, a Camp and a 
 Catlin, a Davis and a Day, a Freeman and a Hunting- 
 ton, a Lyman and a Linle, a Rose and a Plum. There 
 was Robert Denison with " his mark," and John Brooks 
 with " his mark." There was Hugh Roberts, and Hans 
 Albei^ and Robert Dalglesh, and Jonathan Sargeant,!" 
 and Martin and Daniel Tichenor, and Joseph Walters, 
 and Nathaniel Wheeler, and John Rogers — in all, 
 sixty-three at the beginning, and more afterwards, 
 
 * There were two Johnsons among the 
 the original subscribers — John and Thom- 
 as; the former of the Branford and the 
 latter of the Milford party. Thomas 
 Johnson became one of the most promin- 
 ent men in the settlement. He was one 
 of the committee of eleven chosen at the 
 preliminary town meeting, and during his 
 life occupied successively almost every 
 gradation of office. His residence was 
 on the north-east corner of Broad and 
 Walnut streets, the site now occupied by 
 Grace Church. 
 
 t Henry Lyon removed after a few 
 years to Elizabethtown, but seems to have 
 been unwilling to lose his Church privi- 
 leges here ; for under date of July 24, 1680, 
 we find the following : " It is voted that 
 Henry Lyon hath a right to, and shall 
 have a seat in the meeting house, paying 
 proportionably with his neighbors." — 
 (Town Records, p. 80.) He was the first 
 Town Treasurer of Newark. There was 
 also a Samuel Lyon, and a Thomas, who 
 made "his mark" among the Branford men. 
 
 % Ephraim Pennington was a young 
 man, married at Milford, Oct. 25, 1667, to 
 Mary Brocket. Ephraim and Judah must 
 have been born in Newark. Lands were 
 
 surveyed to them in the right of their 
 father, after his decease, as appears by 
 the Town Book of Surveys, " half to 
 Ephraim and half to Judah." 
 
 § The Dods were all minors when they 
 came to Newark, their father, Daniel D., 
 having died in Branford in 1664-5. But 
 the eldest, Daniel, became of age soon af- 
 ter, and his name appears in the " sure 
 list" by which the lands were divided, 
 though not among the first signers of the 
 fundamental agreements. His sister 
 Mary was the wife of Aaron Blatchly , 
 married before they came to Newark. 
 (See Dod's East Haven Register, Appen- 
 dix, p. 13.) 
 
 || John Brown, seniorand junior, were 
 among the subscribers of the fundamen- 
 tal agreement, and both of the Milford 
 party. When Mr. Treat returned to Con- 
 necticut, John Brown, Jr., was chosen to 
 succeed him in the office of Town Clerk. 
 
 If Jonathan Sargeant was the ancestor 
 of the Rev. John Sargeant, father and son, 
 missionaries to the Indians, and of the 
 Hon. John Sargeant, late of Philadelphia. 
 In 1669 he had lands assigned him on con- 
 dition that he would " abide in the town 
 and follow his trade." Town Rec., p. 27. 
 
38 CHARACTER OF THE SETTLERS. 
 
 whose virtues served their generation, and whose 
 faults, if any they had, have long since passed into ob- 
 livion.* 
 
 But though there is little left now by which to indi- 
 vidualize these venerable men, the records of their 
 corporate acts and the works they accomplished, point 
 them out as men of no ordinary excellence. Strict 
 Puritans we have already called them ; and they seem 
 to have possessed all the virtues of the Puritan, with 
 scarcely one of the faults alleged against that ancient 
 race.f 
 
 It would be difficult to find a more perfectly well- 
 regulated community anywhere, than that which they 
 established here on the banks of the Passaic. All 
 their affairs were conducted on the most perfect sys- 
 tem. The public burdens were carefully distributed 
 among the settlers, In proportion to their estates ; and 
 where services were to be performed in common, every 
 man under their several leaders had his place fixed and 
 assigned him, that there might be no neglect, delay or 
 interference. Whether the work were to clear the 
 highways of the obtruding vegetation, J make or re- 
 
 * Besides the names above mentioned, t As to the puritan rigidity of the peo- 
 
 the " sure list" of every man's estate pie, take the following testimony of a 
 
 made iu 1607, contains those of John Scotchman, lately came among them in 
 
 Bostwick, Thomas Staples and Alexander 1684: "Most part of the first settlers 
 
 Munrow Another list, made the same came out of New England, very kind and 
 
 year, contains those of Benjamin Fenn, loving people ; kinder than in Scotland or 
 
 Mr. Leete, John Gregory, Eleazer Rogers England." (See Peter Watson's letter, 
 
 and John Rockwell. Mr. being then a Whitehead, p. 302.) 
 title of distinction, is applied in these 
 
 lists to eleven persons, viz : Messrs. Ab. % " Stubbing the highways in the 
 
 Pierson, senior and junior, Robert and town," is the expression used in the Rec- 
 
 Samuel Kitchel, Jeremiah Peck, ords. In this work all men from 16 to 60 
 
 Morris, Jasper Crane, Robert Treat, years of age were required to labor as they 
 
 — Leete, Matthew Camfield and Obadiah were called out. Records, p. 51. 
 Bruen. Others had military titles. 
 
DISTRIBUTION OF BURDENS. 
 
 39 
 
 pair the fences, ditch the meadows,* burn the woods,f 
 use the common lands for the pasturing of cattle, pay 
 the public charges, or carry Mr. Pierson's wood to his 
 door J — all was regulated with the precision of a mili- 
 tary manoeuvre, and each man knew his part and his 
 time. Only one service seems to have been performed 
 with great reluctance, and that was the attendance 
 upon town meetings ; and here, in spite of fines over 
 and over imposed on the delinquents, the voters seem 
 to have continued long to disregard their high privi- 
 leges and franchises.§ 
 
 * A curious order about ditching the 
 meadows is recorded at length in the 
 Town Records, pp. 17, 18, under date of 
 June 10, 1669. Every man is required 
 to work one day for each £200 of 
 estate. Two rods in length is to be taken 
 for a day's work. The planters are di- 
 vided into two companies, of which Ser- 
 geant Riggs is to command the one, and 
 Sergeant Harrison the other, and every 
 man must set up stakes marked with the 
 two first letters of his name at each end 
 of his work, so that the Surveyor may 
 know whether he has done his part, and 
 how he has done it. The men are to 
 come out and work in succession as they 
 are called by their leaders, notice having 
 been given the day previous. 
 
 t The burning of the woods seems to 
 have been a very serious operation. Every 
 year a committee was appointed and 
 clothed with power to say when and only 
 when the work should be undertaken. 
 On the appointed day, at beat of drum, 
 every planter was required, on penalty of 
 a fine, to present himself at "the com- 
 mon place of meeting, and then and there 
 come to an agreement with his neighbors 
 as to the best manner of proceeding for 
 the best good of the town," and neither 
 in woods nor meadows nor about the 
 fences was any fire to be set until at 
 early morning hour the beating of the 
 drum from Thomas Johnson's up to Ser- 
 
 geant Ward's should give the required 
 notice to begin. In this work, likewise, 
 every man from 10 years to 60 was to work 
 his day. (Town Records, pp. 13, 46, 74, 
 138.) 
 
 \ The following extracts from the Town 
 Records shows the habits of the people in 
 this particular : 
 
 " Nov. 24, 1679.— It is agreed that two 
 men in each quarter shall be appointed to 
 look after the carrying in Mr. Pierson's 
 wood this year,and take care that it is done 
 seasonably, and also to see that every one 
 as is yet behind for the last year do first car- 
 ry their load of wood ; and for their pains 
 and care shall be exempted from their 
 load of wood. Mr. Johnson and George 
 Day for their quarter, and Mr. Kitehel 
 and David Ogden for their quarter, Deacou 
 Lawrence and John Ward Turner for 
 their quarter, and John Walters and 
 Thomas Pierson, junior, for their quarter 
 are chosen ; every quarter to go out when 
 the men see cause to call." Rec, p. 76. 
 
 § It is a curious fact that the privilege 
 of voting in public affairs, exclusive as it 
 was, should have been so little valued. 
 We do not hear of any fines imposed by 
 these same rigid Puritans for neglect to 
 attend public worship; but absence from 
 town meetings was treated as a very se- 
 rious offence. After various attempts to 
 remedy the evil, without success, an or- 
 der was adopted in the year 1676, to this 
 
40 LOVING AGKEEMENT. 
 
 Differences there were from time to time between 
 man and man, but they were generally soon set- 
 tled by means of mutual agreements, or at worst by a 
 Committee specially appointed for that purpose. Of 
 this a beautiful example is to be seen in the adjustment 
 of the boundary between the towns of Newark and Eliz- 
 abethtown. It stands on record, that Jasper Crane, 
 Robert Treat, Matthew Camfield, Samuel Swaine and 
 Thomas Johnson, commissioned with full powers from 
 the town of Newark, met with John Ogden, Luke 
 Watson, Robert Bond and Jeffrey Jones, bearing a 
 similar commission from the sister settlement, on a lit- 
 tle round hill named thenceforth Divident Hill.* 
 There, it is said on the authority of an old man who 
 testified on oath that he received the account from one 
 of the parties, Robert Treat first led them in prayer 
 " that there might be good agreement between them ;" 
 and when their task was ended, " John Ogden prayed 
 among the peoj)le, and gave thanks for their loving 
 agreement."! Nor is it strange that the devout and 
 
 effect : Town meetings may be called by offences had to be passed more than once, 
 the townsmen, and 24 hours shall be ac- so prevailing was the disposition to be de- 
 counted legal warning. "The drum is to linquent. (Town Records, pp. 9, 36, 50, 
 be beaten twice in fair weather; the first 59, 98, 114.) 
 
 drum is to be beaten as far as Sergeant * Not " Dividend," as it has been called 
 
 Harrison's gate, and the second at the subsequently. The word seems to have 
 
 meeting house about half an hour after, at been coined from the Latin dividens, and 
 
 which time every planter shall be at the means dividing. The line there drawn 
 
 place of meeting to answer to his name." was called "the divident line," and the 
 
 The fines imposed weie six-pence for tar- hill, for the same reason, the "Divident 
 
 diness, fifteen shillings for a half day's Hill." Dividend would carry a different 
 
 absence, half a crown for a M'hole day, meaning, and is not used in the Record, 
 
 and two shillings for going away before See Newark Town Records, p. 8. 
 the meeting was dismissed. Absence for f Answer to Bill in Chancery, p. 47 — 
 
 any part of the day incurred the loss of a If any spot in this vicinity deserves a 
 
 man's vote. This order was renewed monument it is the "little round hill called 
 
 with great unanimity in 1680, 1683 and Divident Hill," where the pious fathers 
 
 and 1690. But acts of indemnity for past of Newark and Elizabethtown made and 
 
PRESERVATION OF ORDER. 
 
 41 
 
 chivalrous magistrate should have thought the work 
 done "in so loving and solemn a manner" that the 
 boundary then and there set ought never to be re- 
 moved ; although, alas for human frailty, we find the 
 same boundary made the subject of less loving alterca- 
 tion many years afterwards. 
 
 For the preservation of internal order, the measures 
 which these worthy men employed, seem to have been 
 strict, yet not severe. A single man, of approved 
 character, was appointed to keep an ordinary, or public 
 house " for the entertainment of travelers and stran- 
 gers,"* and he alone was allowed to retail ardent 
 
 solemnized " their loving agreement." 
 The pagans of classic days would have 
 been sure to erect there a splendid temple 
 of Concord. The following beautiful lines 
 by Mrs. E. C. Kinney, wife of Hon. Wm. 
 B. Kinney, American Charge d'Aifaires at 
 Turin, area worthy tribute : 
 
 Pause here, O Muse ! that Fancy's eye 
 
 May trace the footprints still 
 Of men that, centuries gone by, 
 
 With prayer ordained" this hill : 
 As lifts the misty veil of years, 
 
 Such visions here arise 
 As when the glorious Past appears 
 
 Before enchanted eyes. 
 
 I see from midst the faithful few 
 
 Whose deeds yet live sublime — 
 Whose guileless spirits, brave, as true, 
 
 Are models 'for all time,' 
 A group upon this height convened — 
 
 In solemn prayer they stand — 
 Men, on whose sturdy wisdom leaned 
 
 The settlers of our land. 
 
 In mutual love the line they trace 
 
 That will their homes divide, 
 And ever mark the chosen place 
 
 That prayer hath sanctified : 
 And here it stands — a temple old, 
 
 Which crumbling Time still braves; 
 Though ages have their cycles rolled 
 
 Above those patriots' graves. 
 
 As Christ transfigured on the height 
 
 The three beheld with awe, 
 And near his radiant form, in white, 
 
 The ancient prophets saw; 
 
 So, on this summit I behold 
 
 With beatific sight, 
 Once more our praying sires of old, 
 
 As spirits clothed in light. 
 
 A halo crowns the sacred hill, 
 
 And thence glad voices raise 
 A song that doth the concave fill — 
 
 Their prayers are turned to praise ! 
 Art may not for these saints ot old 
 
 The marble urn invent ; 
 Yet here the Future shall behold 
 
 Their Heaven-built monument. 
 
 * The first person designated to this 
 office was Henry Lyon, the town Treas- 
 urer, who, at the town meeting in Jan'y, 
 1668-9, is recorded as having been chosen, 
 and directed " to prepare for it as soon as 
 he can." Two years later, "the town 
 chose Thomas Johnson" for the keeper of 
 the ordinary, " and prohibited all others 
 from selling any strong liquors by retail 
 under a gallon, unless in case of necessity, 
 and that by license from, the toion magis- 
 trate." Again, two years after this, it is 
 on record, that " Mr. Crane having liquors 
 for six shillings a gallon, and Is. 6d. a 
 quart, they paying wheat for it, hath lib- 
 erty to sell liquors in the town till the 
 country order alter it." Such was the old 
 "license law" and its operation in the 
 town of Newark in Puritan times. A still 
 stricter law was enacted by the Asembly 
 in 166S, but its authority had probably ex- 
 pired. Newark Town Records. 
 
42 PRESERVATION OF ORDER. 
 
 spirits except by a special license. To secure the 
 settlement against the annoyance of evil-minded per- 
 sons, who might be disposed to intrude upon it, it was 
 determined, among the original agreements on the 
 basis of which the lands were taken up, that whoever 
 should desire to become a settler must, if a stranger, 
 bring a certificate of good character "from the chief 
 of the place" whence he came, and then be received 
 into the community by a vote of the town. Nor was 
 any land allowed to be alienated, except in case of in- 
 heritance, without the town's consent. Hence we find 
 in their early proceedings, repeated notices of permis- 
 sion given to individuals to purchase real estate of such 
 and such persons. And should lands be sold contrary 
 to this regulation the sale was void, and the land, not 
 confiscated to the town's use, but returned into their 
 hands, " they paying the owner or possessor of it valua- 
 able consideration as indifferent men shall appraise it."* 
 " To prevent the disorderly meeting of young persons at 
 unseasonable times," a law was made that no master of a 
 family should allow such meetings on his premises in the 
 
 * Newark Town Records, pp. 3, 5, &c. or otherwise, sell, give nor any way alien- 
 
 This may serve to account for an order ate or pass on lease, or let any house or 
 
 very stringent in its aspect, which was house lot, or any part or parcel of them, 
 
 passed by the town in the year 16S1, when or any land of what kind or quality soever 
 
 the settlement began to be troubled with to any such person ; nor shall any planter 
 
 undesirable visitors. It is as follows : or inheriter permit any such person or 
 
 " To prevent sundry inconveniences which persons so coming and resorting, to stay 
 
 may grow to this town of Newark, by the or abide above one month, without license 
 
 inconsiderate receiving and entertaining from those the town shall appoint for that 
 
 of strangers among us, it is voted that purpose, under the penalty of five pounds 
 
 henceforward no planter belonging to us, for every such defect, besides all damages 
 
 or within our bounds or limits, receive or that may grow by such entertainment." 
 
 entertain any man or woman, of what age Town Records, p. 84. The whole race de- 
 
 or quality soever, coming or resorting to nominated loafers, it seems, used to find 
 
 us, to settle upon their land; nor shall little quarter in "our town upon Passaic 
 
 any person that hath been received as a river," in the days of the Puritans, 
 planter among us by right of inheritance 
 
SCHOOL QUIT RENTS. 43 
 
 night after nine o'clock, " extraordinary occasions ex- 
 cepted," nor under any circumstances should he permit 
 such persons " to spend their time, money or provis- 
 ions inordinately, in drinking, gaming and such like," 
 nor in " any carriage, conference or council which tends 
 to corrupt one another." The penalty for transgress- 
 ing this law was to be " such fines as the authorities 
 shall see fit." 
 
 The first school law enacted in the Province, was in 
 the year 1693. But long before this, as early as 1676, 
 " the schoolmaster was abroad" here, and the town's 
 men authorized by vote to perfect the bargain with 
 him on condition that he " do his faithful, honest and 
 true endeavor," to teach the children or servants read- 
 ing, writing and arithmetic* 
 
 In the management of their relations with the Pro- 
 prietors, the people of this town appear to have acted 
 with great discretion and fidelity. When the time ap- 
 proached for the first payment of the annual quit-rents, 
 some of the settlements were in great commotion — the 
 claims of the Proprietors were denied, and the arrival 
 of the 25th of March, 1670, "caused the suppressed 
 passions of those inimical to the existing government, 
 to break forth at once in decided and violent opposi- 
 tion.'^ But no such scenes took place on the banks 
 of the Passaic. The Governor fearing, perhaps, there 
 might be some reluctance, wrote to the people here 
 
 * Newark Town Records, p 64. In a freeholder on condition of setting his 
 
 1671 we find a notice that "Richard ," name to our agreements, and he hath 
 
 probably either Richard Fletcher or Rich- promised to set about learning to read, 
 
 ard Hore, who seems to have had the mis- which was an encouragement to them 
 
 fortune afterwards, of becoming the first herein." p. 37. 
 pauper in the settlement, " is admitted as t Whitehead, p. 54. 
 
44 CIVIL AND DIVINE EIGHTS. 
 
 more than a month before the payment became due. 
 Their prompt reply, spiced it may be with a little just 
 indignation at being even suspected, and showing suf- 
 ficient resolution to defend their own rights from arbi- 
 trary encroachments, while they freely yielded all that 
 belonged to others, deserves special notice as a speci- 
 men of character. It is on record* that " the Gover- 
 nor's writing was read, and after some debate upon it, 
 they agreed as follows : ' After all due salutations, pre- 
 sented by the constable, to our worshipful Governor, 
 we, the inhabitants and freeholders of the town of 
 Newark, do, by him, make returns to the said Gover- 
 nor's writing, as followeth, viz. : That they do hold 
 and possess their lands and rights in the said town, 
 both by a civil and a divine right, as by their legal 
 purchase and articles doth and may show.' "f That is 
 to say, they had acquired a divine right by a fair pur- 
 chase from the natives, to whom in their esteem, God 
 
 * Newark Town Records, p. 27. New World." But, however that may 
 
 t It has heen inferred, from the fact have been, the Newark Puritans were de- 
 
 that the people made so much of their Indi- termined to maintain no controversy of 
 
 an titles, that they were disposed to disown doubtful issue with either the lawyers or 
 
 those given by the Proprietors, and repu- their own private consciences ; and with 
 
 diate their own corresponding obligations, a magnanimity scarce paralleled except 
 
 Nothing could be further from the truth, among their brethren of the same noble 
 
 as far as respects the people of Newark, race, both purchased of the Indians, pay- 
 
 Their Indian titles they regarded as the ing them to their full satisfaction, and 
 
 basis of their moral rights, and kept them took legal titles from the Proprietary 
 
 carefully to be filed in at the court of claimants, discharging promptly and 
 
 Heaven. But their titles from the Pro- cheerfully their whole demand for every 
 
 prietors, both before and after they took inch of land of which they claimed to 
 
 patents, were preserved by them as the be owners. This is what I understand 
 
 basis of their civil rights, in virtue of by the words " you assuring them to us," 
 
 which they claimed of the Proprietary and the demand repeatedly made by them 
 
 Government protection and defence to be protected in the peaceable enjoyment 
 
 against the pretensions of all other civil- of "our right and title to the land we 
 
 ized claimants. " The Puritans and the bought of the heathen." Town Records, 
 
 lawyers," says Mr. Bancroft, " differed pp. 27, 101. 
 widely on the subject of real estate in the 
 
QUIT-RENTS PAID PROMPTLY. 
 
 45 
 
 had given a just claim to this country, and a civil right 
 by an agreement with the Lords Proprietors, by whom 
 they claimed to be defended in the peaceable posses- 
 sion of what they had so acquired. " And as for the 
 payment of the half-penny per acre for all our allotted 
 lands," they add, " according to our articles, and inter- 
 pretations of them, you assuring them [the lands] to 
 us, we are ready, when the time comes, to perform our 
 duty to the Lords or their assigns." Accordingly, 
 when the time came, or rather the day previous, a 
 vote was passed that every man bring in to the ap- 
 pointed receivers, "his just share and proportion of 
 wheat for his lands ;" and that on " the next day," the 
 25th of March, 1770, the day fixed by the Concessions, 
 the said receivers " should carry it to Elizabethtown, 
 and make a tender of it to the Governor upon the ac- 
 count of the Lords Proprietors' rent."* Year by year, 
 
 * Town Records, p. 29. That individ- 
 uals in the community may have been de- 
 linquent or tardy in their discharge of pe- 
 cuniary obligations is very likely ; but how 
 far it is possible to fix such a charge upon 
 the people of Newark, as a community, 
 let the following extracts from the Town 
 Records tell. Quit-rents first became due 
 March 25, 1670. 
 
 "Town meeting, March 24, 1669-70, it 
 was by their joint vote agreed that Henry 
 Lyon [the treasurer] and Thomas Johnson 
 [the constable] should take and receive 
 every man's just share and proportion of 
 wheat for his land, the summer wheat at 
 4s. per bushel, and winter wheat at 5s., 
 according to the order and time prefixed to 
 them, to bring it to Johnson's house before 
 the day be over ; or else if they fail they 
 are to double the quantity; which corn 
 the said Lyon and Johnson are to-morrow 
 to carry to Elizabethtown and make a ten- 
 der thereof to the Governor upon the ac- 
 count of the Lords Proprietors' rent for 
 
 the lands we make use of according to 
 articles March 25, 1670."— pp. 28-9. 
 
 " Town meeting, 20 March,1670-1. Item 
 — It was agreed that Henry Lyon and 
 Thomas Johnson shall go to our Governor 
 in behalf of the town and make a tender to 
 him in good wheat for the payment of their 
 halfpenny per acre to him for the Lords 
 Proprietors in like manner as they did the 
 last year, at the day appointed, in case he 
 will accept of the same. That then they 
 are fully empowered to give notice by the 
 wamers of the town for every one to bring- 
 in his proportion of corn to the constable's 
 house the morning of the day appointed, by 
 seven or eight o'clock, that they may send 
 it to their Governor and take a discharge 
 of him for the same ; and they are at least 
 to bring in as much as they did last year, 
 and more if they [the officers] see cause." 
 N. B.— The doubt seems to have been 
 whether the Governor would accept the 
 quit-rents in wheat, as they had no money, 
 —p. 33. 
 
46 LAW AND ORDER. 
 
 through all that early period, and notwithstanding 
 what was done to the contrary elsewhere, this order 
 was regularly renewed. ; and it is no small compliment 
 to the town, that the Proprietors, three quarters of a 
 century after, make the declaration that so far as they 
 know, neither they nor their predecessors, " from the 
 first settlement of the Province to this day, ever had 
 any controversy in law or equity with the people of 
 Newark."* 
 
 The early settlers of Newark were eminently a law- 
 loving and law-abiding people. When they arrived, 
 no laws had been established in the Province. There- 
 fore we found them re-establishing, for a temporary 
 purpose, those which had been in force in the old col- 
 ony, and covenanting one with another to submit 
 cheerfully to the authority of such magistrates as 
 should be chosen from among themselves. It was 
 well that they made this agreement, for in the stormy 
 and unsettled times which ensued, they would have 
 been left almost without government but for this 
 voluntary civil compact, on which they found occasion 
 more than once to throw themselves back.f 
 
 The orders for the two years following emn agreement to submit to law and au- 
 
 the above will be quoted on another page: thority among ourselves, till it be settled 
 
 They are equally strict. After that, the in the Province. Its record, fol. 8." [It 
 
 Dutch came into power, and the Proprie- is recorded, p. 3.] Town Records, p. 32. 
 
 tary rights were suspended. Another instance equally noticeable oc- 
 
 * Appendix to Bill in Chancery, p. 36. curs March 25, 1689-1)0, a few months 
 
 t An instance of this sort occurs under after the Deputy-Governor " Hamilton left 
 
 date of Jan. 2, 1670-1, during the period East Jersey for Europe, in August, 1689, 
 
 in which Governor Philip Carteret was and the inhabitants were left to the guar- 
 
 struggling vainly to govern the people diauship of their county and town officers 
 
 without an Assembly ; the laws enacted from that time until 1692." (Whitehead, 
 
 in 1668 having expired by limitation, un- p. 129.) It is as follows : "It is voted that 
 
 less they had been formally confirmed by there shall be a committee chosen to order 
 
 the Proprietors in England, of which I all affairs in as prudent a way as they can, 
 
 am not aware that there is any evidence, for the safety and preservation of our- 
 
 The record is, " We renew all of our sol- selves, wives, children and estates, accord- 
 
DISSATISFACTION WITH THE GOVERNMENT. 4 7 
 
 But though gifted with more than an ordinary skill 
 in governing themselves, we find in their proceedings, 
 little evidence of a reluctance to submit to higher 
 authority when legally established. It has been al- 
 leged indeed, that once, in the year 1672, their repre- 
 sentatives united with those of other towns in an 
 illegal General Assembly, which deposed the Gover- 
 nor, appointed another in his stead, and took the reins 
 of government into their own hands.* It may be so. 
 Yet I must crave the privilege to doubt whether the 
 true spirit of that transaction has been fully under- 
 stood. The reason ordinarily assigned for it is an un- 
 willingness on the part of the people to pay the quit- 
 rents. But it is capable of proof that no such motives 
 could have actuated the people of Newark ; since, 
 at the beginning of that very year, the town distinctly 
 recognized the obligation, and made provision for the 
 payment; and at the close of it, in view of the ap- 
 proaching pay-day, gave a peremptory order that the 
 whole should be seasonably collected, and authorized 
 
 ing to the capacity we are in. -Mi'. Ward, Receiver General, and others, and obliged 
 Mr. Johnson, Azariah Crane, William Governor Carteret to fly to England to com- 
 Camp, Edward Ball and John Brown are plain of these proceedings," &c. " They, 
 chosen to join with those in military ca- with the inhabitants of sundry other 
 parity." Town Records, p. 114. towns, prevailed on James Carteret, a 
 * Bill in Chancery, pp. 67, 68. " It ap- weak and dissolute youth, son of Sir 
 pears that in the year 1672, not only the George Carteret, one of the Proprietors, 
 inhabitants of Elizabethtowu, but also to assume upon him the actual exercise 
 those of Newark, Woodbridge and Piscat- of the government of IS ew Jersey, as by 
 away did, contrary to the very agreements their election, who not only pretended 
 upon which they had settled and were ad- that title to the government, but also as 
 nutted inhabitants, pretend to the right Proprietor by grant of his father to him," 
 both of soil and government, by Nichols's &c. p. 35. See also an address to Berk- 
 grant aforesaid, and by their own author- ley and Carteret by the Council in 1672. 
 ity elected James Carteret, son of Sir E. J. Records. Graham, p. 466. White- 
 George Carteret as their President and ead, pp. 55, 56. 
 Governor, imprisoned the Secretary and 
 
48 ALLEGED EESISTANCE. 
 
 the constable to distrain for the amount in case any 
 persons should prove themselves delinquent.* 
 
 Dissatisfaction with the course of the Proprietary 
 Government we often find in them. Probably both 
 they and the neighboring settlements had more occa- 
 sion for it than can now be proved. Their petitions 
 for redress of grievances, and their negociations for 
 the security of what they deemed their just rights are 
 to be seen all along the history of their procedure. 
 But of resistance to lawful authority in its lawful exer- 
 cise, I find no satisfactory evidence. 
 
 As the transaction in question may be thought to 
 affect the character of some of the leading men of the 
 community at that time, I may be justified in giving 
 it a more extended consideration than would otherwise 
 be suitable to an ecclesiastical narrative. The allega- 
 tion referred to, it must be observed, rests chiefly on 
 the authority of the Proprietary party, while it is per- 
 emptorily denied by their opponents,f and it is agreed 
 I believe, on all hands, that no little obscurity hangs 
 over the whole matter. 
 
 * Newark Town Records, pp. 39, 41, 45. must distrain for it." In the month of 
 Under date of Nov. 14, 1671, it is recorded May following, the disturbances above al- 
 as follows: "Concerning rates it was luded to took place. Under date of Jan. 
 agreed that all rates that shall be levied 31, 1672-3, it is recorded as follows; "It 
 this present year, (except the Lord rent and was agreed and voted that the rate for tlie 
 the surveying of land) should be made half -penny an acre shall be brought in to the 
 
 and levied by persons," &c. — and constable's house, by the third day of Feb- 
 
 concerning the Lords' rent and surveying of ruary next ; and in case it be not brought 
 lands, the charges thereof should be levied in by or on that day, the constable shall 
 by lands only." Further ou, under the have liberty to distrain for it, and those 
 same date, we find the following : " The that are the occasion of it shall bear all 
 rates made for the town were read and the charges about it." 
 published ; and it is agreed, that every t See Answer to the Bill in Chancery, 
 man should pay in his proportion to the pp. 24-5. " And these defendants further- 
 treasurer, between this and the 10th of Feb- answering do deny that they, or those un- 
 ruary next, or else the constable by order der whom they claim, did ever apply to 
 
GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 49 
 
 The circumstances, as far as I can gather them, 
 seem to be nearly as follows : The . Concessions had 
 secured to the'people the privilege of an annual Gen- 
 eral Assembly, with power to appoint its own time 
 and place of meeting, and adjourn its sessions from 
 time to time, " as they should think convenient."* But 
 before the close of the first meeting, the Governor and 
 Council came into collision with the representatives, 
 on the question whether the two branches should sit 
 together or in separate chambers,f a question not set- 
 tled in the terms of the Concessions, but by a very 
 natural construction, determinable in favor of the peo- 
 ple's views. $ On this dispute the Assembly was broken 
 up, with an implied threat on the part of the Govern- 
 ment, that the people would get the worst of the 
 bargain. And so it proved. For the Governor and 
 Council seem to have taken the responsibility after 
 this, of governing the country for the most part with- 
 out a General Assembly.§ Meanwhile, suspicions were 
 
 James Carteret, in the Bill mentioned, to way rather to break up our meeting, see- 
 prevail on him to assume the powers of ing the order of the Concessions cannot be 
 government, as in and by the said bill of attended to." Grants and Concessions, p. 
 complaint is, as they believe most untruly 90. Whitehead, p. 190. 
 suggested." \ The requirement that the Governor 
 
 * The privilege of an annual General should preside in the Assembly, seems 
 
 Assembly, was one of the chief safeguards to imply that there was to be but one 
 
 of the people's rights, and probably one of body. So does the manner of stating the 
 
 the chief inducements for the settlers to required quorum. (Grants and Conces- 
 
 remove hither from New England. Its sions, p. 15.) 
 
 first session was held fifteen j'ears in ad- § It has been stated that no Assembly 
 vance of any similar body in New York ; met after this for seven years. This 
 where the notions of the Governor re- must be a mistake. Smith states (Hist, 
 specting taxation, &c, are a sufficient il- New Jersey, pp. 69, 70,) that an extra- 
 lustration of the value of such a provision, ordinary Council was held in New York 
 (See Bancroft, vol. ii, p. 321, 1st ed.) in Sept. 1671, between the Governors of 
 
 t The representatives complained also New York and New Jersey and others, in 
 
 that the Concessions were not observed relation to some depredations by the In- 
 
 on the part of the Governor and Council, dians, in which, among other measures 
 
 "And therefore," say they, "we think our for chastising the offenders, it was agreed 
 
 4 
 
50 AEBITEAEY EULE. 
 
 afloat that the Governor was strengthening himself 
 against the people, by seeretly accumulating arms in 
 his own possession, and weakening their strength by 
 interfering with the training of their militia.* There is 
 no doubt that the people feared their liberties and 
 rights were exposed to peril. And what was to be 
 done ? The laws enacted in 1668 had probably ex- 
 pired by limitation ; and there were now no laws 
 rightfully established in the Province.f Meanwhile 
 questions of exciting interest were agitating the minds 
 of the people in some parts of the Province, and 
 prompting to rebellion and violence. The Governor, 
 struggling to maintain authority without law, was re- 
 sorting to a variety of expedients, erecting courts by 
 his own arbitrary mandates, or what is the same in ef- 
 fect, extending the jurisdiction of existing local courts 
 in violation of the express provisions of the Conces- 
 sions. £ The people who had come hither and em- 
 barked their dearest interests in the settlement of the 
 
 "that the Governor of New Jersey and from Smith, that Sir George's dissolute 
 
 Captain James Carteret (then present) son had been allowed to exercise some 
 
 should expeditiously order a General As- authority in the Proprietary Government 
 
 sembly to be called in that Government (ac- before the people drew him out of obscur- 
 
 cording to their custom upon all emergent ity for their own purposes, 
 
 occasions) to know the people's strength * Whitehead, p. 57, note. E. J. Kecords. 
 
 and readiness, and how far they were t The Concessions, in giving authority 
 
 willing to contribute towards the prosecu- to the Assemby to enact laws, provided 
 
 tion of a war against the Indians." That that these laws should " be enforced for 
 
 this General Assembly was actually or- the space of one year and no more," with- 
 
 dered, appears from the Newark Town Re- out a formal confirmation by the Proprie- 
 
 cords, where, under date of Sept. 29, 1671, tors. Several incidental notices in the 
 
 we find Jasper Crane and Robert Treat, .Newark Town Records, indicate that those 
 
 chosen " as deputies for the service of the enacted in 1668 were not so confirmed, 
 
 Assembly, to meet October 3d, according perhaps not presented for confirmation; 
 
 to the Governor's warrant." There was and if not, there were at this time no laws 
 
 also an Assembly in session June 13th, in the province, except such local laws as 
 
 1673. (See Bill in Chancery, p. 7.) N. towns might be authorized to enact. 
 
 B. — It would seem, from the above extract X See Whitehead, p. 55 ; also East Jer- 
 
MEASUKES OF SELF PEOTEOTION. 51 
 
 Province, under the express assurance that law and 
 order should be maintained on the principles of a free 
 Constitution, saw themselves becoming the victims of 
 anarchy on the one hand, and of a power to whose 
 progressive encroachments they could assign no limits 
 on the other. It was very plain that the time had 
 come to do something, as the people of Newark very 
 pertinently expressed the case, " to order matters for 
 the safety of the country."* 
 
 In these circumstances two courses were open to 
 them ; the one was to petition the Proprietors in Eng- 
 land ; but that was a slow process, and of uncertain 
 issue. The other was to avail themselves of the first 
 opportunity to restore, in some legal way, that best of 
 safeguards, a Legislative Assembly.f 
 
 sey Records, where the orders given to chosen on this occasion, were Eobert 
 extend the jurisdiction of the courts of Treat and Jasper Crane, principals, and 
 Bergen and Woodbridge are to be found. Samuel Swaine, 'third man.' But before 
 Compare Grants and Concessions, p. 16, the meeting took place Treat was pre- 
 where the power to "constitute all courts paring to return to Connecticut, therefore 
 together with the limits, powers, and ju- Swaine took his place, 
 risdictions of the same" is conferred on f During all the period in which no As- 
 the General Assembly. sembly had been convened, regularly as 
 * Newark Town Records, p. 43. These the year came round, Newark had her 
 are the terms of the commission given to deputies chosen, principals and substi- 
 the representatives from Newark, the day tutes, so that wherever else the fault may 
 before the meeting of the Assembly at have been, there was no failure on her 
 which the transactions complained of took part in carrying out this fundamental pro- 
 place. Prior to this, January 22, 1671-2, vision of the Constitution. There is no 
 " Mr. Treat and Lieut. Swaine are deputed notice in the Town Records of an appoint- 
 to take the first opportunity to advise with ment of deputies to the Assembly of 1668, 
 Mr. Ogden, (John Ogden of Elizabeth- but we learn from other documents that 
 town,) or any other they shall see cause, the town was represented by Robert 
 what may be the safest and best course Treat and Samuel Swaine at the first 
 to be taken for the town, about our lands meeting in the Spring, and by Jasper 
 and settlements here." But now, "May Crane and Robert Treat at the adjourned 
 13, 1672, Mr. Crane and Lieut. Swaine, meeting in November. We may there- 
 that were chosen representatives for the fore assume that the appointment for that 
 town, are desired by the town to consult year was the same as in the years imme- 
 with the rest of the representatives of the diately subsequent, and shall have the 
 country, to order matters for the safety following as the appointments of deputies 
 of the country." The representatives 
 
52 
 
 SPECIAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 
 
 They chose the latter. In an emergency requiring 
 supplies to be furnished by the people, the Governor 
 was induced to issue writs for the convening of a spe- 
 cial General Assembly, early in the month of October, 
 1671* At this Assembly, Newark took care to be 
 represented by two of her best men — Messrs. Treat 
 and Crane — and it seems probable that during 
 its sessions the Assembly which met in the follow- 
 ing Spring was agreed upon. The Governor com- 
 plained that the latter body was convened without 
 writs from him; and moreover, what appears to be 
 the head and front of offending, it was alleged that the 
 representatives had before " taken the liberty to differ 
 from the Governor and Council in establishing matters 
 for the settlement of the people."f Very likely 
 
 to the General Assembly during the first 
 eight years : 
 
 1667-8.— Jasper Crane, Robert Treat 
 and Samuel Swaine, as third man. 
 
 1 Jan., 1668-9. "Mr. Crane and Mr. 
 Treat are chosen deputies or burgesses 
 for the General Assembly for the year en- 
 suing, and Lieut. Swaine is chosen a third 
 man in case of either of the others fail- 
 ing." Town Records, p. 10. 
 
 1 Jan., 1669-70. "Mr. Crane and Mr. 
 Treat are chosen deputies to the General 
 Assembly, if there shall be any." p. 21. 
 
 2 Jan., 1670-1. " Mr. Crane and Mr. 
 Treat are chosen deputies for the General 
 Assembly, and Lieut. Swaine as the third 
 man." p. 32. 
 
 29 Sept., 1671. "Mr. Jasper Crane and 
 Robert Treat are again chosen deputies in 
 our town for the service of the Assembly 
 on the 3d Oct., ensuing the date, accord- 
 ing to the Governor's warrant." p. 38. 
 
 1 Jan., 1671-2. " Mr. J. Crane and Mr. 
 Robert Treat are chosen deputies for the 
 General Assembly for the year, and Sam- 
 uel Swaine is chosen the third man." p. 
 40. 
 
 1 Jan., 1672-3. "Mr. Crane and Mr. 
 Bond are chosen deputies for the General 
 Assembly, for the year ensuing, and Lieut. 
 Swaine the third man." p. 45. 
 
 The Dutch came into power July 30th, 
 1673. Philip Carteret returned and re- 
 sumed his authority Nov. 6, 1674. 
 
 "Nov. 7, 1674. Mr. Ward and Mr. 
 Kitchel are chosen as deuputies to go over 
 to Bergen to hear what the Governor hath 
 to say according to his warrant." p. 53. 
 
 Jan. 1, 1675-6. "It is voted that the 
 deputies for the General Assembly in 
 April shall be chosen by vote with hands. 
 Lieut. Ward and Thomas Johnson are 
 chosen to attend to that business, and 
 Capt. Samuel Swaine is the third man." 
 p. 56. 
 
 * See note, p. 49. Smith's Hist. N. J., 
 p. 69, 70. In recording the appointment 
 of deputies, Mr. Recorder Treat took care 
 to have no mistake as to the authority by 
 which they were summoned in this in- 
 stance. Hence, perhaps, the significance 
 of the words : "According to the Governor's 
 warrant." — p. 38. 
 t East Jersey Records. 
 
THE PEOPLE APPOINT AN ASSEMBLY. 53 
 
 these representatives, being most of them New 
 England men, had taken the fancy that popular legis- 
 lators have the right to differ from Governors in such 
 matters when they see occasion ; and as no writs had 
 been issued for a long time previous, nor were likely 
 to be in time to come, they may have supposed them- 
 selves justified, now they were lawfully together, in 
 appointing time and place for another meeting.* How- 
 ever that may be, it appears that they did meet, both 
 in the months of March and May following, though 
 the laws which they enacted at the former date are 
 not on record, the Deputy Secretary having run away 
 with the minutes.f 
 
 And now what were the transactions ? The current 
 account is, that at the meeting in May, the people de- 
 posed the rightful Governor, and appointed James 
 Carteret in his stead. But it is worthy of remark that 
 the Governor and Council themselves, at the time, 
 made a different representation. They charged the 
 
 . * It is worthy of remark, that in the cording to the "declaration," is this: "As 
 abridgement of the Assembly's powers by to the General Assembly, that it shall be 
 the Proprietors, consequent on the trans- in the power of the Governor and his 
 action in question, this right of appointing Council to appoint the times and places 
 time and place for its own meetings was of meeting of the General Assembly, and 
 transferred from that body to the more to adjourn and summon them together 
 friendly hands of the Governor and Coun- again when and where he and they shall 
 cil. The instrument by which this was see cause." On the whole, we can hardly 
 done, is entitled, " A declaration of the regard it as surprising, that before the 
 true intent and meaning of us, the Lords " declaration" was promulgated, the peo- 
 Proprietors, and explanation of their pie should have failed to divine this same 
 Concessions made to the Adventurers and "true intent and meaning," and that mis- 
 Planters of New Ccesarea or New Jersey." understandings and collisions should have 
 The terms of the Concessions were as fol- arisen in consequence, even in the most 
 lows : " Which Assembly are to have loyal community. (See Grants and Con- 
 power, First, to .appoint their own time of cessions, pp. 15-38.) 
 meeting, and to adjourn their sessions f East Jersey Records. The person re- 
 from time to time to such places as they ferred to above, was William Pardon, for 
 shall think convenient." But the " true whose arrest James Carteret issued a war- 
 intent and meaning" of these terms ac- rant, May 25, 1672, requiring him to be 
 
54 PRESIDENT APPOINTED. 
 
 Assembly with appointing James Carteret, not as their 
 Governor, but as their President. Now such an officer 
 the Concessions authorized the Assembly to appoint in 
 certain contingencies, and the right to do so contained 
 an important safeguard of their liberties. That in- 
 strument provides that the Governor or his deputy shall 
 be present in the deliberations of the General Assem- 
 bly, " unless they shall wilfully refuse, in which case 
 they [the Assembly] may appoint themselves a Presi- 
 dent during the absence of the Governor or Deputy 
 Governor."* 
 
 Acts of apparent violence have been charged on 
 this Assembly. " They imprisoned," it is said, " some 
 of the officers of the Government, and confiscated their 
 estates."f But what are the facts ? One William 
 Pardon, recently appointed Deputy Secretary of the 
 Province, was arrested on a writ issued in his Majesty's 
 name, probably by a Justice of the Peace; and he 
 having twice escaped from the constable, other writs 
 
 kept in custody " till he deliver up the a fly leaf of the Newark Town Records, 
 
 acts of laws made by the General Assem- However, the Proprietors rewarded him 
 
 bly at their sitting the 26th of March last, for the use they made of him, by a grant 
 
 the which laws the said William Pardon of five thousand acres of land, and the of- 
 
 now refuseth to deliver." On the 25th of fice of Receiver General, after his return 
 
 June following, Pardon having twice es- from England. (See Whitehead, p. 56, 
 
 caped from the constable, John Ogden note. 
 
 gave an order for the attachment of his * Grants and Concessions, p. 15. The 
 goods, speaking of the laws in question, constitution of Connecticut, besides con- 
 as " committed to the said Pardon, to take taining a similar provision, empowered 
 a copy of them by order of the General the people to call a General Assembly 
 Assembly, which he hath neglected and through the constable, if the Governor 
 refuseth to do, and also to deliver up the and magistrates should refuse to doit. See 
 said laws unto the Assembly at the next Trumbull, Hist, Conn., p. 102. Had the 
 sitting, by whom they were demanded.'' Concessions contained this latter provis- 
 East Jersey Records. This William Par- ion, the people of Newark, it is presumed, 
 don seems to have been a man of various would not have regularly appointed their 
 troubles, domestic as well as civil, if we representatives three years in succession 
 may judge from his valorous proclamation f° r nothing, 
 against his disloyal wife, still extant on t Bill in Chancery, pp. 35, 63. 
 
CHANGE OF GOVERNMENT. 55 
 
 were issued, on similar authority, for the attachment and 
 detention of his property. But what was the object? 
 Why, simply to recover possession, for the Assembly, 
 of their own records, which that functionary had ab- 
 stracted and refused to surrender. The papers are ex- 
 tant, and can tell their own story.* 
 
 What other acts of alleged violence or usurped au- 
 thority may have been committed, I know not. No 
 others are specified. The Governor left the country 
 and went to England shortly after, by advice of his 
 Council, to complain to the Proprietors ; and James 
 Carteret may have been, as some histories represent the 
 case, thereupon acknowledged as Governor.! But his 
 proceedings, as the Council at the time state explicit- 
 ly, were not based simply on the authority conferred 
 upon him by the people. He acted under a pretended 
 grant from his father, Sir George Carteret, and right 
 as Proprietor, which empowered him to remove the 
 Governor at his own pleasure.^ 
 
 * John Ogden, who issued the warrant ber 14, 1672, we find the following niin- 
 for attaching his goods was, or had been a ute : " There was a full vote, passed Au- 
 justiee of the peace, and it is not unnatural gust 10, 1G72, that is not here recorded, 
 to suppose Capt. James Carteret might but it is recorded fol. 36." Three or four 
 have had a similar commission. The con- years later, when after a temporary sus- 
 stable to whom the warrant was issued, pension of its power by the Dutch con- 
 was William Meeker, of Elizabethtown, quest, the Proprietary Government was 
 whom the people indemnified for his losses restored with increased authority, it was 
 several years afterwards. Newark Town deemed expedient to subject this vote to 
 Kecords, p. 62. the expunging process, and we find under 
 
 t Grahame says, p. 466, "He," i.e. date of Feb. 25, 1675-6, the following: "It 
 
 Philip Carteret, "was compelled to return is voted, that the vote which was passed 
 
 to England, stripped of his functions, the 10th of August, 1672, and recorded in 
 
 which the Colonists forthwith conferred fol. 36, concerning the government, shall 
 
 on a natural son of Sir George Carteret, be obliterated by the clerk." 
 
 November 1672, by whom their preten- J " All these proceedings he carried on 
 
 sions were abetted." Chalmers makes a with pretence that he hath power suffi- 
 
 similar statement, p. 616. In the New- cient, he being Sir George Carteret's son, 
 
 . ark Town Kecords, under date of Novem- that he is a Proprietor, and can put out 
 
56 PETITION FOR REDRESS OF GRIEVANCES. 
 
 No doubt a change of Government was for a time ef- 
 fected, and possibly the pretence which this unworthy, 
 but privileged personage, set up, that he had private 
 authority from the superior powers — a pretence which 
 must have gained some color from the fact that he had 
 before been allowed to exercise a kind of joint author- 
 ity with his uncle, Philip Carteret,* was yielded to by 
 the people more readily than it would have been un- 
 der less pressing circumstances. Certain it is that the 
 people did not consider themselves as disowning the 
 authority of the Proprietors, since they proceeded im- 
 mediately to make their appeal to them in a petition 
 for redress of grievances. 
 
 What their own statement of these grievances was 
 we do not know. Their opponents were on the 
 ground, and had the ear both of the Proprietors 
 and of the King, while they could only speak 
 from a distance. The Proprietors, in their reply, 
 literally scolded them like naughty children, and seized 
 the first opportunity to abridge their privileges. But 
 had we before us their own statements, we should 
 doubtless see even more clearly than we can at pres- 
 ent, that there were at least two sides to the question.f 
 
 the Governor as he pleases." (Extract care we have of your pretended griev- 
 
 from the Address to Berkley and Carteret ances and complaints have examined some 
 
 by the Council. East Jersey Records ) particulars thereof, the Governor and Mr. 
 
 * See note, p. 49. Also Smith's Hist. Bollen being now in town ; yet we are 
 
 New Jersey, p. 70. ready to do you all the justice you can ex- 
 
 t The words of the reply are as follows: pecfc, though you have been unjust to us, 
 
 Grant and Concessions, p. 40. by which means you have brought a trou- 
 
 "To the pretended representatives of ble upon yourselves ; and if you will send 
 
 EhV.abethtown, Newark and New Piscata- over any person to make good your alle- 
 
 way, and all others whom it may concern : gations in your petition, (while the Gov- 
 
 " We have received a long petition from ernor is here,) we shall be ready to hear 
 
 you and of no date, yet out of a tender all parties and incline to do you right, al« 
 
DEFENCE OF EIGHTS NOT INSUEEECTION. 57 
 
 One thing at least is certain, and capable of proof. 
 The fathers of Newark, in the transactions referred to, 
 were no band of lawless anti-renters, seeking to de- 
 fraud the legal proprietors by setting up titles to the 
 soil, adverse to theirs. It was not Indian purchases, it 
 was not Nichols' grants, it was not repugnance to quit- 
 rents which, on their part, formed the occasion for dis- 
 turbances, which have been too incautiously set down 
 in history as insurrection. It was a contest for liber- 
 ties, for solemnly guarantied rights. Some portion of 
 the blood of 17 7 6 was creeping quietly in the ancestral 
 veins of these worthy men. And, if it be true that 
 Robert Treat, Jasper Crane, Samuel Swaine and their 
 associates, did in any respect transcend the forms of 
 law, as, however, has not been proved, we may be sure 
 that they did it not without good reason, and because 
 what they believed to be their sacred rights, seemed 
 in imminent peril.* 
 
 though you have not had such a tender Gawen Lawrie, the first Governor ap- 
 
 regard of our concerns in those parts as pointed under the twenty-four Proprie- 
 
 in justice you ought to have had ; and we tors who purchased the Province a few 
 
 do likewise expect for the future you will years later, gave this testimony to the 
 
 yield due obedience to our government character of the settlers of East Jersey. 
 
 and laws within the province of New Cae- " The people are generally a sober, pro- 
 
 sarea or New Jersey, and then we shall fessing people, wise in their generation, 
 
 not be wanting to manifest ourselves ac- courteous in their behaviour, and respect- 
 
 cordiug to your deportment. Dated this ful to us in office." On which Grahame, 
 
 11th day of December, 1672." who had probably formed his judgment 
 
 * It may be that a more full investiga- chiefly from the representations of the 
 
 tion would put a different complexion Proprietary party, remarks very justly, 
 
 upon some features of the case from that "If we might rely implicitly on the opin- 
 
 which I have given them in the text; but ion of this observer, we should impute 
 
 from a careful comparison of all the docu- the dissensions that had previously oc- 
 
 ments and statements of historians within curred in the Province, to the folly and 
 
 my reach, especially the Newark Town mismanagement of Carteret and his asso- 
 
 Records, the impression has been strong- dates in the government." p. 4S1. Could 
 
 ly made upon my mind, that the people this candid historian have seen the rec- 
 
 were far less censurable in those dis- ords of the people in their local communi- 
 
 orderly transactions than their rulers, ties, at least in this community, he would 
 
58 DUTCH CONQUEST. 
 
 Nor did they stop here. Still confident in the justice 
 of their cause, and notwithstanding the reception their 
 petition had met with, the men of Newark made another 
 attempt to obtain justice at the hands of the Proprie- 
 tors.* From the Newark Town Kecords it appears that 
 a second petition for redress was ordered to be sent 
 to England in the month of July, 1673, and five prin- 
 cipal men of the town were appointed to consult with 
 messengers from other towns in preparing and sending 
 it. But meanwhile, the difficulties still remaining un- 
 settled, and war between England and Holland having 
 broken out, the Dutch took armed possession of the 
 Province, and the Proprietary Government was dis- 
 placed. Nor can we wonder much, considering the cir- 
 cumstances, that smarting as they were with their sup- 
 posed grievances, the colonists should have made some 
 haste in trying what might be hoped for from their 
 new masters. It appears by the record, that but five 
 days had elapsed after the surrender of New York, be- 
 fore the people of Newark ordered a petition for privi- 
 leges to be sent to the " Generals at New Orange ;" and 
 again, ten months later, that they petitioned the same au- 
 thorities "for the obtaining a confirmation of our bought 
 and paid for lands." But peace returned ; the Pro- 
 prietary Government was restored with new powers ; 
 the Concessions, qualified by a so-called " declaration 
 
 have seen less occasion than he supposed ter a little fire kindleth, and being desi- 
 
 for qualifying that inference with an if. rous, and also sensible that it is the duty 
 
 * Deputy Governor Berry seems about as well to endeavor peace and friendship 
 
 this time to have had some doubts con- among the neighbors, as to administer 
 
 cerning the wisdom of the course pursued justice." Proclamation forbidding re- 
 
 by the government; " having had sad ex- proachful words, &c. E. J. Records, 
 perience," as he said, " how great a mat- 
 
AUTHORITY UNCERTAIN. 
 
 59 
 
 of their true intent and meaning," which greatly abridg- 
 ed the privileges conferred by them, were rigidly en- 
 forced ; the " Articles" seem to have become a nullity, 
 and the people had no choice but to submit to uncon- 
 trollable circumstances.* They did submit ; and the 
 leading men of this town at least, took patents for 
 their lands, after some attempts at negotiation, on the 
 terms prescribed.f 
 
 The position of the early settlers of this Province, 
 as loyal men, was attended with no little embarrass- 
 ment. Amidst the doubtful and sometimes conflicting 
 claims of their superiors, it was often difficult to deter- 
 mine whose was the ♦ightful authority 4 The Duke of 
 York, who had released the soil and goverment to 
 
 * As the original Concessions reserved 
 no right of alterations, at least so far as 
 such alterations might prejudice the rights 
 of those who should have settled before 
 they were made ; the people, as might 
 have been supposed, submitted very re- 
 luctantly to a long bill of professed "ex- 
 planations," which took away some of the 
 best privileges expressly insured to 
 them. They pronounced the " Declaration 
 of the true intent and meaning of the 
 Lords Proprietors, and explanation of the 
 Concessions" to be " a breach of the Con- 
 cessions." The two, they say, are "con- 
 tradictory one with the other." See a 
 synopsis of a correspondence between the 
 representatives and the Council in 16S1, 
 which ended in the Governor's dissolving 
 the Assembly. Whitehead, p. 193. The 
 candid reader, I think, will readily come 
 to the same conclusion with the represen- 
 tatives. Nor is it strange that seeds o* 
 discontent thus sown, ripened at length 
 into such power, that the Proprietors 
 were obliged to relinquish into other hands 
 the reins of government. Alas ! avarice, 
 
 that once paid its court to freedom, and 
 seemed so graceful in it, began, now that 
 its first ends were gained, and the waste 
 lands settled, to deem a little tyranny 
 more suitable to its ulterior designs ! 
 
 t Tokens of their reluctance are very 
 manifest in the Town Records. At first 
 they replied to the summons from the 
 Governor, that " they see not their way 
 clear to patent on the terms proposed ;' 
 then, in order that their rights might be 
 satisfactorily set forth, a committee of 
 three principal men were sent to Eliza- 
 bethtown with a statement and petition ; 
 in preparing which, the services of both 
 the ministers were put in requisition. 
 Town Records, pp. 54-G. 
 
 X An amusing instance of this uncer- 
 tainty appears on the Town Records, un- 
 der date of July 28th, 1669, viz. : " The 
 town made choice of Mr. Crane and Mr. 
 Treat to take the first opportunity to go 
 over to York to advise with Col. Lovelace 
 concerning our standing, whether we are 
 designed to be a part of the Duke's Colony 
 or no." p. 19. 
 
60 USURPATION OF ANDROS. 
 
 Berkley and Carteret, seems to have meditated for a 
 long time the recovery of both. At least, the right of 
 government on their part was on some occasions vio- 
 lently contested by his officers. When, in the year 
 1679, Sir Edmond Andros, relying, it is supposed, on 
 the co-operation of a party disaffected towards the Pro- 
 prietary title, undertook to seize the reins of govern- 
 ment in the name of the Duke, and with that purpose 
 "issued a proclamation abrogating the government 
 of Carteret, and requiring all persons to submit forth- 
 with to the King's authority as embodied in himself,"* 
 the spirited answer of the men of Newark shows 
 that they, at least in this instance, ^ere not wanting in 
 fidelity to the existing authorities. It is on record 
 that " the town being met together, give their positive 
 answer to the Governor of York's writ, that they have 
 taken the oath of allegiance to the King and fidelity 
 to the present Government, and until we have sufficient 
 order from his Majesty, we will stand by the same."f 
 But scarcely had they made this demonstration, be- 
 fore Governor Carteret, yielding to violence, had by 
 his own act demitted his authority, and " the powers 
 that be " were for the present no longer the same. J In 
 all these difficulties, candor obliges us to confess, the 
 fathers of Newark conducted themselves with rare 
 wisdom and uprightness. 
 
 Equally just and liberal were their transactions with 
 the savage aborigines. The testimony of an aged In- 
 
 * Whitehead, p. 72. mitted to Andros, till contrary orders 
 
 t Newark Town Records, p. 78. came from England. See Answer to Bill 
 
 % Whitehead, p. 74. It appears that in Chancery, p. 11. 
 after this, the people of the Province sub- 
 
TREATMENT OF THE INDIANS. 61 
 
 dian, given in the year 1832, concerning the people of 
 the State generally, belongs in an eminent degree to 
 their puritan fathers in this settlement. " Not a drop 
 of our blood have you spilled in battle — not an acre 
 of our land have you taken but by our consent."* 
 Taught by their experience of former perils, they pre- 
 pared themselves for defence, and took especial care to 
 guard against surprises ; but taught also by the same 
 experience to understand the Indian character better 
 than it was understood in New England at an earlier 
 day, they succeeded by their fair and kind treatment in 
 avoiding all occasion for violence. 
 
 The settlers of Newark were an eminently indus- 
 trious^ enterprising, public-spirited race ; firm, without 
 bigotry ; gentle and affectionate, without weakness ; 
 very kind and loving people, as the plain Scotch- 
 
 * See Field's Provincial Courts, p. 5, his encouragement to settle in the town 
 note. Grahame, p. 465, attributes the and follow his trade."— Records, pp. 26, 
 purchasing of all the lands to be occupied 30. In 1673-4 it was "agreed that the 
 by the inhabitants from the aboriginal weavers, Thomas Pierson and Benjamin 
 claimants, to the prudence and equity of Baldwin should be considered by the sur- 
 Philip Carteret, to which the Proprietors veyors." So in 1680, Samuel Whitehead 
 acceded. But it was certainly no sugges- was permitted to become a settler on con- 
 tion of Philip Carteret that led to the pur- dition of "his supplying the town with 
 chase of the Newark tract, for he abso- shoes." Among the reservations of land 
 lutely refused to have any thing to do with at the beginning, there was a miller's lot, 
 the matter. Indeed, the Elizabethtown a tailor's lot, a boatman and a seaman's 
 tract was purchased in like manner, be- lot. Rockwell, the boatman, was admit- 
 fore the Proprietors came into possession, ted to town privileges in March, 1668, 
 It was the Puritans who first adopted the upon condition " that he doth this very 
 equitable rule. Grahame probably refers spring season come and settle here in our 
 to a rule subsequently adopted, the object town, and maintain this or such like 
 of which was to prevent any but the Pro- sufficient boat for the use of the town, or 
 prietors from purchasing, and thereby particular persons in the town, on [such] 
 laying claim to a legal title irrespective considerations for his boat as he or they 
 of them. [shall] agree, so long as the Lord shall 
 
 t The encouragement which they gave enable him therefor." Shortly after, Az- 
 
 to manufactures has often been remarked ariah Beech was admitted on similar con- 
 
 upon. In 1669, and again in 1670, Jona- ditions. Town Records, pp. 15, 17. 
 than Sargeant had lands granted him "for 
 
62 THE CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL. 
 
 man's observation taught him to regard the Puritan 
 race generally in East Jersey ; and yet bold defenders 
 of their rights. The same promptness, energy and 
 good management marks their entire, procedure, and 
 the same fidelity to all the claims of justice, and 
 religion. The men who, in conjunction with their 
 worthy pastor, laid the foundations of this ancient 
 Church, have shown by all the traces of them which 
 remain, that they were men who united strong practi- 
 cal common sense with the purest morals and devoted 
 piety. 
 
 But it js time for us to pass to matters more strictly 
 ecclesiastical. The Church, organized as we have seen 
 in Branford, Conn., in the year 1644, and transferred 
 to Newark in 1667, was unquestionably at this period 
 settled in the Congregational order, and that of the 
 most primitive and distinguishing type. The ministers 
 of New Haven Colony, who were present at the 
 framing of the Cambridge Platform, adhered to that 
 foundation, and were averse to any material deviation 
 from its provisions. What were the methods of public 
 worship and religious instruction pursued in Newark, 
 besides the regular services of the Sabbath and a 
 stated lecture, we are not informed. Had we their rec- 
 ords, we should doubtless learn that, as in the Church- 
 es of the mother Colony, the people " were strict in 
 their admission of members to full communion," and 
 " those who were admitted generally made a public re- 
 lation of their Christian experiences, by which they 
 gave satisfaction to the Church of their repentance, 
 
HOUSE OF WORSHIP ERECTED. 63 
 
 faith, and sincere friendship to the Redeemer."* It 
 was their purpose to appoint a ruling elder, and with 
 that view a lot of ground was set apart for his use. 
 But as we find no other traces of such an officer, and 
 the land after a few years was granted piece by piece 
 to other settlers, it is probable that that feature of an- 
 cient Congregationalism was never adopted in New- 
 ark.f 
 
 The first movement towards the erection of a 
 house of worship was made on the 10th of September, 
 1668, when the town voted to " build a meeting-house, 
 as soon as may be ;" and, " for the better carrying it to 
 an end," made choice of five men, namely, Deacon 
 Ward, Sergeant Harrison and his son John, Sergeant 
 Edward Riggs and Michael Tompkins, " with full 
 power for the management of the building," promising 
 " to lend them their best help according to their pro- 
 portions," whenever due warning should be given, and 
 requiring each man to work at least two days, if called 
 out, or give satisfactory reason to the contrary. Pres- 
 ently after this, a bargain was made with three of the 
 men — Deacon Ward, Sergeant Harrison and Sergeant 
 Riggs — to build the house for a certain sum, and build 
 it soon and well, " with some abatement in the price if 
 
 * Trumbull, Hist. Conn., vol. i, p, 313. vol. i, p. 283. "This power of govern- 
 
 t "The business of the ruling elder was ment in the elders," says the Cambridge 
 
 to assist the pastor in the government of Platform, " doth not in any wise prejudice 
 
 the Church. He was particularly set the power of privilege in the brotherhood; 
 
 apart to watch over all its members, to as neither the power of privilege in the 
 
 prepare and bring forward all cases of brethren doth prejudice the power of gov- 
 
 discipline, to visit and pray with the sick, erument in the elders; hut they may sieeet- 
 
 and in the absence of the pastor and Ij agree together" "No Church act can 
 
 teacher, to pray with the congregation be consummated without consent of 
 
 and expound the Scriptures." Trumbull, both." 
 
64 ASSISTANT PASTOE. 
 
 they can afford it." The building was to be of very 
 humble dimensions, 36 feet in length, 26 in breadth, 
 and 13 feet between the joints, " with a lenter to it all 
 the length, which will make it 36 feet square." * By 
 the 12 th of March following, the timber was cut and 
 hewn and the frame of the house ready to be raised ; 
 and Thomas Luddington and Thomas Johnson were 
 contracted with, for five pounds, to accomplish that 
 part of the work, with the town's help. Then a supply 
 of nails must be provided "for the closing in of the 
 meeting house," and this they determined to do by 
 joint contributions, each man being required to say 
 how many he would undertake to furnish. The whole 
 business was now put into the hands of the " towns- 
 men ;" but it was not till more than a year and a half 
 later, that the house was ready to receive a permanent 
 floor, and even then it seems to have been but partially 
 completed.! 
 
 Meanwhile, the venerable pastor was becoming ad- 
 vanced in years, and his eldest son, a young man of 
 great promise, having finished his studies in College, 
 
 * That every one may form his own and be sure of the punctuation in this ex- 
 notion of the shape of this primitive edi- tract, it might be easy to describe the 
 fice, I transcribe the following from the form of the house very exactly. As it is, 
 Town Record: "Item. The town hath much must be left to conjecture, p. 10. 
 bargained with Deacon Ward, Sergeant t The flooring was to be done in a very 
 Richard Harrison and Sergeant Edward substantial manner. "The town agreed 
 Riggs, for the sum of seventeen pounds, to with Thomas Johnson about his flooring 
 build the same meeting house according half the meeting house for four pounds; 
 to the dimensions agreed upon, (i. e. those of good chestnut or oak, of two inches and 
 already stated,) with a lenter to it all the • a-half plank, and they are to find and do 
 length, which will make it thirty-six foot all, to edge and lay down the floor on 
 square with the doors and windows and seven good sleepers; and in like manner 
 flue boards on the gable ends." Could they have bargained with John Brown, 
 we ascertain the precise angle of the root, Mr. Burwell, John Baldwin and Joseph 
 determine what are meant by flue boards, Riggs, to do the other half." Records, 
 
 p. 82. 
 
ASSISTANT PASTOR 
 
 65 
 
 and begun to preach, had been solicited unanimously 
 by the people of Woodbridge to become their minis- 
 ter.* Unwilling to lose the services of so desirable an 
 assistant, the town, immediately upon this, " by their 
 unanimous vote declared their freeness to desire and 
 call Mr. Abraham Pierson, junior, to be helpful to his 
 father, in the exercise of his gifts in the ministry, for 
 the space of a year ;" and, for his encouragement, al- 
 lowed him for the year the sum of thirty pounds. 
 This was done on the 28th of July, 1669 ; and the re- 
 sult was, that the proposals from Woodbridge were 
 not accepted, and Mr. Pierson continued to assist his 
 father, on the terms specified, a little more than two 
 years. On the 14th of November, 16*71, ten pounds 
 were added to his salary and lands allotted to him " on 
 condition that he settles and abides with us a consider- 
 able time, carrying on the work of the ministry." But 
 
 * By the favor of Wm. ■ A. Whitehead, 
 Esq., author of the "History of New Jersey 
 under the Proprietors," I am permitted to 
 insert the following extract from " Contri- 
 butions to the Early History of Perth Am- 
 boy and the Surrounding Country," yet in 
 manuscript, referring to Mr. Pierson : 
 
 " The first movement towards obtaining 
 the services of a clergyman [in Wood- 
 bridge] was on the 8th June, 1669, when 
 a Committee was appointed to go to New- 
 ark, as messengers from the town, to de- 
 clare to Mr. Pierson, junior, that the in- 
 habitants were all willing and desirous 
 that he would be pleased to come up to 
 them and help them in the work of. the 
 ministry ; and anticipating an acceptance, 
 Robert Dennis was appointed to enter- 
 tain him with "meat, drink and lodging," 
 and when on the west side of the Creek — 
 called in the records Papiack Creek — 
 similar accommodations were to be af- 
 
 forded by the constable, John Smith. The 
 application to Mr. Pierson was not, how- 
 ever, favorably considered by him. The 
 advanced age of his father, who was the 
 pastor of the Newark congregation, ren- 
 dered the services of an assistant neces- 
 sary, and measures were in progress to 
 secure the son in that capacity. The ap- 
 plication from Woodbridge probably 
 brought the matter to a conclusion, as the 
 ensuing month Mr. Pierson was regularly 
 employed as an assistant minister." 
 
 The settlement at Woodbridge was one 
 of the very oldest, and should have been 
 mentioned on p. 22, in connection with 
 other towns of nearly the same date. Men 
 from Newbury, Mass., purchased the tract 
 on the 11th of December, 1666, (See Bill 
 in Chancery, p. 121. Answer to Bill in 
 Chancery, p. 37,) and gave it the name of 
 their junior minister, Rev. John Wood- 
 bridge, a lineal ancestor of the writer of 
 this narrative. 
 
66 PAST0TC AND TEACIIEE. 
 
 by this time tlie work liad come to devolve chiefly upon 
 the junior minister, and it was thought desirable that 
 his relations to the people should be more close and 
 permanent. Accordingly, a vote was passed in the 
 town meeting, on the 4th of March, 1672, "that the 
 Church should call Mr. Abraham Pierson, junior, to be 
 joined with his father, in time convenient for the or- 
 derly effecting it ; and they have agreed," it is said, 
 " upon his taking office, he shall have and enjoy his 
 accommodations granted him," that is, his lands, &c, 
 " upon the same tenor and terms that other men in our 
 town generally hold the same."* And so, " upon good 
 experience of him," testifies one of his parishioners, 
 " he was called and ordained to be our teacher."f 
 
 During the space of seven years, the town main- 
 tained two ministers at an annual expense of one hun- 
 dred and twenty pounds, with the exception of one 
 year, in which, in consideration of hard times and 
 many expenses, the ministers agreed to remit twenty 
 pounds, and accept jointly the sum of one hundred. J 
 
 * We find it recorded under date of Jan- kneading trough, and two joint stools, for- 
 
 1, 1671-2, that " Mr. Pierson hath the con- merly belonging to the said Lawrence 
 
 sent of the town given him to buy the Ward, deceased." Query. Is this the 
 
 house, or any part of the lot, that belongs chair now preserved as a curious relic, in 
 
 to Elizabeth Ward."— Rec, p. 41. Turn- Yale College, and called Rector Pierson's 
 
 ing to the Town Book of Surveys, Deeds, chair? 
 
 &c, we find John Catlin and John Ward, + Obadiah Bruen. (See Memoirs of 
 turner, administrators of the estate of Matthias Bruen, p. 12.) . Primitive Con- 
 the late Deacon Lawrence Ward, convey- gregationalism made provision for two 
 ing to " Abraham Pierson, Jr., Clericus," ministers in each considerable Church — 
 " with consent of Elizabeth Ward, relict pastor and teacher — with distinct offices. 
 of Deacon L. Ward, the dwelling-house, Here the father seems to have been the 
 well, yard, barn, garden and orchard, pastor, and the son the teacher, 
 with one acre and three roods of land, % It is doubtful whether the reduction 
 contained by and adjacent to the same, here agreed upon ever took place, as the 
 according to a bill of sale beaiing date, town voted the next year that " the vote 
 Feb. 1, 1671-2, as also one great wain- made Feb. 6, 1676, concerning the minis- 
 scot chair, one chest, two hogsheads, one ters, shall be now void and of none effect." 
 
DEATH OF ABRAHAM PIERSON, SENIOR. 67 
 
 On the ninth day of August, 1678, the venerable 
 Abraham Pierson, senior, departed this life. He had 
 been emphatically a pilgrim, having no fixed abode 
 during most of his earthly life. Where he was born, 
 who were his parents, what was his early education, 
 when and in what circumstances he first gave his 
 heart to the Saviour, when and precisely where he was 
 set apart to the sacred office and began to preach the 
 everlasting Gospel, we are not informed. Precisely in 
 what spot his honored bones rest, no record tells us, 
 and no stone points out. But his life, full of piety to 
 God and service to his fellow men, has left behind it 
 precious memorials. As early as the 10th of August, 
 1671, he made preparation for his departure, by dis- 
 posing of worldly affairs, " being firmly persuaded," as 
 he said, " of the everlasting welfare of my soul's estate ; 
 and my body's resurrection to eternal life by Jesus 
 Christ, my dear and precious Eedeemer." His will 
 breathes throughout, the spirit of domestic affection 
 and fervent piety. Nor can we doubt that when the 
 last hour came, it found him still resting peacefully in 
 the same confidence. " He left behind him," says Cot- 
 ton Mather, "the character of a pious and prudent 
 man — a true child of Abraham — and now safely 
 lodged in Abraham's bosom."* His name deserves to 
 
 (Town Records, p. 66.) The occasion of pant, Capt. Sanford, was confiscated and 
 
 it seems to have been a severe loss, to sold during the continuance of the Dutch 
 
 which the people had just before been power, and afterwards restored by the 
 
 subjected, by purchasing from the Dutch Proprietary government, without remu- 
 
 authorities during the time of their sway, neration to the purchasers. See Town 
 
 the tract of land lying between the Records. 
 
 Passaic and Hackensack, called Barbadoes * Magnalia, B. hi., ch. 8, " In sinu Abra- 
 
 neck. This tract, for which they had hae," is the writer's own language. He 
 
 been before in negociation with the occu- adds the following " Epitaphium : Terris 
 
68 ABRAHAM PIERSON, JUNIOR. 
 
 be kept fragrant, and surely it will be as long as 
 Christian piety and holy energy and zeal are lit 
 estimation, and the Church, of which he was the 
 pastor, knows how to value her brightest ornamei 
 
 About seven weeks after nt, the town 
 
 and made arrangements for the permanent support of 
 their now sole pastor. The agf was made 
 
 great unanimity — "every planter being called upon 
 by name ;" and the salary, being fixed at eighty pounds 
 a year, with a supply of firewood, and freedom from 
 taxation, appears not to have been altered during the 
 remainder of Mr. Pierson 's ministry. 
 
 Abraham Pierson, junior, the second pastor of this 
 Church, was born in Lynn, Mass.,*)- in 1641, graduated 
 at Harvard College in 1668, and was called to be as- 
 sistant minister here on the 28th of July, 1669. His 
 term of service was a long one, amounting in all to 
 about twenty-three years ; nearly three years as 
 
 discessit suspirans gaudia coeli. Patriam Thomas Pierson, Jr. There was an Abra- 
 Piersonus scandit ad astra iuam." ham Pierson living on the allotment of 
 * Mr. Pierson married a daughter of Thomas, junior, who died in 1756, at 80 
 Rev. John Wheelwright, of Exeter, N. H., years of age, and was probably his son. 
 (see Thompson's Hist. L. I., vol. 1, p. 337,) Thomas Pierson, senior, was probably a 
 who was a brother of the famous Ann near relative. He was married to Mary 
 Hutchinson. They had four sons — Abra- Harrison, daughter of Richard Harrison, 
 ham, Thomas, Theophilus and Isaac — of at the same time and place with Abigail 
 whom the last two were to have each " one Pierson and Mr. Davenport. His name 
 half of the homestead." Four daughters appears among the original subscribers, 
 are mentioned in his will, and one had and from an old deed in the Town Book 
 probably died before him. They were Abi- as well as from the Records, we learn that 
 gail, married Nov. 27, 1662, at Branford, to he was a weaver by trade. (See Town 
 a son of Rev. John Davenport, and whom Book, p. 8.) His will was made in 1698, 
 he calls " my choice and precious daughter and proved in 1702. His sons were Sam- 
 Davenport ;" Grace, married to Samuel, u'el and Thomas. Samuel was admitted a 
 son of Robert Kitchel ; Mary, who is men- planter in January, 1686-7, on condition 
 tioned in the will by that name ; and Su- of " submitting to all wholesome town 
 sanna and Rebecca, whose names are to orders." (Town Records, p. 109.) 
 be found in the Branford Town Records. t Thompson's Hist. Long Island, 
 Thomas was called, by way of distinction, 
 
ABEAHAM PIEESON, JUNIOE. 69 
 
 ant to his father, six and a half as his father's col- 
 league, and a little less than fourteen as the sole pas- 
 tor. He was a regularly installed pastor of this Church 
 about twenty years. During the most of this period, 
 both before and after his father's death, great harmony 
 and affection seem to have marked the intercourse of 
 the minister and people. The annual appropriations 
 for his support were made without dispute, in the 
 same way as for other expenses of the town, and the 
 people spoke of him as following in the steps of his 
 honored father in godliness, and congratulated them* 
 selves, that though God had embittered their comforts 
 by taking their elder shepherd to Himself, He had not 
 left them destitute of spiritual enjoyments, but had 
 given them a faithful dispenser of the word of God — 
 " a young Timothy," a man after God's own heart, well 
 rooted and grounded in the faith, and one "with 
 whom they could comfortably walk in the doctrines of 
 the faith."* 
 
 * Town Records. Life of M. Bruen, p. God's own heart, well rooted and ground- 
 
 12. The following letter, written by ed in the faith, one with whom we can 
 
 Obadiah Bruen to his children deserves comfortably walk in the doctrines of the 
 
 notice, both as giving some facts relating faith. Praise to our God. 
 
 to the history of the Church, and as illus- " Upon good experience of him, he was 
 
 trating the character of the writer, who called and ordained to be our teacher, Mr. 
 
 was one of its most honored founders. Abraham Pierson, who follows in the steps 
 
 ,, „ „ „ of his ancient father in godliness. Praise 
 
 " Dear and loving Son and Daughter — . q , 
 
 " Hoping of your health, with yours, as "Loving son, I would entreat you when 
 
 we are at present Praise to our God. your own occasion serves going to New 
 
 "It hath pleased God hitherto to con- London, that you would make some in- 
 
 tinue our lives and liberties, though it hath quiry for me about some land I have in 
 
 pleased him to embitter our comforts by the General Neck, thirteen acres, and six 
 
 taking to himself our reverend pastor, acres in two parcels, both lying near to 
 
 Aug. the 7th, 1678, Mr. Pierson. Goodman Rogers, his farm. I am inform- 
 
 " Yet hath he not left us destitute ed Goodman Rogers his sons have made 
 
 of spiritual enjoyments, but hath giv- improvement of it before I heard any 
 
 en us a faithful dispenser of the Word thing of it, being far off. I know not 
 
 of God — a young Timothy — a man after what course to take in it ; it is an incivil 
 
TO GLANCE AT THE CONGREGATION. 
 
 Let us now cast a glance upon the little assembly, 
 as they were when the appurtenances of the house of 
 worship were completed, and the settlement in the full 
 tide of its youthful prosperity. We will select for the 
 purpose the year 1682, and take some bright Sabbath 
 morning early in June, when the strawberries are red 
 among the green grass, the birds singing in the mead- 
 ows in a full chorus, and the apple blossoms scarcely 
 yet fallen in the orchards, for which Newark had even 
 then become noted. On the west side of Broad street, 
 then as now the principal avenue through the town, 
 and nearly opposite the site of the present First Pres- 
 byterian Church, with an irregular marshy pond ex- 
 tending nearly to Market street on the north-west, and 
 a few graves marking a small burying-place on a little 
 eminence not far in the rear,* stood a low and somewhat 
 
 part, and an ill precedent ; jet for peace " Will you remember our respects to 
 
 and quietness's sake, if he will purchase Mr. and Mrs. Fitch, and love to all Chris- 
 
 both parcels I adhere thereunto. I esti- tian friends, as your opportunity will per- 
 
 mate both parcels at ten pounds. When mit, So praying for you, that your spir- 
 
 you know which of his sons it is, I pray itual and temporal comforts may be con- 
 
 you know of him how long he hath im- tinued to you and yours, I rest 
 
 proved it, and why he would deal so un- "Your loving father, 
 
 worthily, to make discord among friends. " Obadiah Bruen, 
 
 Know of him what he intends to do, and " and mother, 
 
 whether he means to hold it in such an "Sarah Bruen." 
 
 unrighteous way, or come to some com- "Extracted out of the original, under 
 
 position. When I hear from you, and Mr. Bruen's handwriting, 'per Ebenezer 
 
 understand the state of things rightly, I Hile, Recorder, July 2, 1681." 
 
 will accordingly apply myself to make N. B. The above is taken from the Life 
 
 some issue. of Rev. Matthias Bruen, and is said to 
 
 "It would much rejoice us to see you have been copied from the Records of 
 
 face to face, but Providence otherwise dis- New London, Conn. It is a full length 
 
 posing, I desire to hear from you as often portrait of the Newark Puritans, or rather 
 
 as opportunity will permit. Your brother, a daguerreotype likeness. Very kind 
 
 John Bruen, and his wife, desire remem. loving people, as worthy Peter Watson 
 
 brance of their dear love to you, also your declared, yet not unmindful of their tem- 
 
 sister Hannah and her husband desire the poral rights. 
 
 same. All in health, praise to our God, * The following description of the 
 
 with their children. Our dear love to you ground on which the Church stood, is given 
 
 both. by Dr. Macwhorter in his manuscript 
 
FIRST MEETING HOUSE. *71 
 
 singular looking wooden edifice, without chimney or 
 cupola, spreading out to the breadth of thirty-six feet 
 square on the ground, and at most sixteen feet high in 
 front beneath the eaves, and somewhat less in the rear ; 
 the roof sloping down the back side near to the 
 ground, and covering an appendage called a " lenter" 
 or lean-to, ten feet wide, after the manner of some of 
 the old farm houses, of which remnants may still be 
 found in the country. There it stood, with the gable 
 ends north and south, and the broad-side " nigh front- 
 ing on a square with the street," in the precise spot 
 which Mr. Pierson the elder, Deacon Ward and Mr. 
 Treat had assigned for it. It is ouk first meeting 
 house* — the place of worship and the place of busi- 
 ness — the theatre of all important transactions, civil, 
 military and religious, in the town of Newark, during 
 the first forty years of its existence. There the towns- 
 men " after lecture"f held their regular stated meetings, 
 
 history: " Behind it," that is, the Church, burying place, for what reasons not 
 
 " and between that and the hollow or now known, though a number of the first 
 
 swamp, upon the brow of the hill, was dead were buried there. This knoll is not 
 
 the old or first training ground. Beyond now so much as claimed by the Church, 
 
 the hollow or swamp was the burying though the swamp or pond, which divides 
 
 place, on a rising knoll or tongue of land, it from the next knoll, eastward, is." 
 
 which divided this from a greater swamp * The old Puritanical word " meeting- 
 
 or pond, westward of which the land rose house," is an almost literal translation 
 
 into another hill, then presently sunk into into plain Saxon English of the word 
 
 a flat and brook, called "the watering "synagogue" — the source from which the 
 
 place." This last hill was the original Christian Church derived the model of its 
 
 burying ground; but long since, more warship. It was preferred to the word 
 
 than one hundred years ago, it, some way, " Church," because the latter had been ap- 
 
 became private property, has been occu- propriated in our English Bible to desig- 
 
 pied and cultivated as such, and not a nate the body of Christian people, whether 
 
 trace of a cemetery there remains." general or local. 
 
 Again, he speaks of the same ground as t It is recorded, Jan. 1, 1676-7, that 
 " poor land, chiefly swamp, comprehend- " John Baldwin, junior, Thomas Pierson, 
 ing three small knolls of high and dry junior, Thomas Pierson, senior, John Cat- 
 land fit for a cemetery. The western knoll liu, William Camp, Azariah Crane and 
 of the three was early relinquished as a George Day are chosen townsmen for the 
 
Y2 FORTIFIED SANCTUARY. 
 
 and there, on any alarm, the brave soldiers of the little 
 community assembled with their arms at beat of 
 drum,* to defend their homes and altars, their little 
 ones and their wives. And now we notice two rudely 
 constructed appendages, at two corners of the sacred 
 edifice. They are called, in military phrase, "flankers" 
 made with palisades, or sharpened stakes, driven near 
 together in the ground, and so placed, that the sol- 
 diers sheltered behind them, may command the sides 
 of the house in every direction. They were construct- 
 ed in the year 1675, when Philip's war was raging in 
 New England, and the terror of Indian butcheries, so 
 appalling to the people of Massachusetts, Rhode Island 
 and Connecticut, could hardly fail to have communi- 
 cated an alarm to their friends and relatives, even in 
 this distant settlement. The house itself, as we shall 
 see on entering it, has been fitted for defence ; for at 
 the same period the town gave orders to have it lathed 
 and the walls " filled up with thin stone and mortar 
 as high as the girts" — a work on which all the men 
 of the town above sixteen years of age, in companies 
 of twelve, each day, wrought in their turns, carrying 
 their arms with them. as did the Israelites when they 
 re-built their temple, to be ready against sudden sur- 
 
 year ensuing. These townsmen are ap- date of March 22, 1679-80, we find the 
 
 pointed to meet every lecture day in the af- following: "It is agreed that the drum 
 
 ternoon." (Newark Town Records, p. 63.) being begun to be beaten at Joseph Riggs's 
 
 Accordingly we find a record commencing gate, and so all the way up the street as 
 
 thus : " After lecture the 1 st of May, 1678, far as Sergeant Harrison's gate ; and at the 
 
 it was thought meet to send two letters to ceasing of the beating of the drum, three 
 
 Holland, one to Anthony Colve, and the guns being distinctly fired off; it shall be 
 
 other to the Court of Admiralty," Ac. sufficient warning for all such as are in the 
 
 Do., p. 69. military list forthwith to meet at the meet- 
 
 . * Newark Town Records, p. 78. Under ing house in their arms." 
 
SABBATH MOENINGS. 73 
 
 prises.* The House of God was thus the house of re- 
 fuge for the people ; and there, had the savage foe 
 burst upon them, would the women and children of the 
 town have assembled for protection, close, by God's 
 holy altar. Smile not, if I apply, even to this rude and 
 lowly edifice, words used with reference to a more am- 
 ple and costly sanctuary. " Walk about Zion, and go 
 round about her ; mark ye well her bulwarks ; con- 
 sider her palaces, that ye may tell it to the generation 
 following." Though without either towers or palaces, 
 not Zion itself was more sacred. 
 
 The holy morning has now dawned. Nearly oppo- 
 site the Church, stands the residence of the late senior 
 pastor, now occupied, we may presume, by his aged 
 widow, with her two younger sons, Theophilusf and 
 Isaac, already grown to man's estate, who, having been 
 carefully taught, according to their father's direction, 
 " to read the English tongue and write a legible hand," 
 are employing diligently the sacred hours in studying 
 the " new English Bible," or perusing " the good Eng- 
 lish book out of his library," " such as they by the 
 
 * Newark Town Records, p. 57. "Town the women, children, provision and ammu- 
 
 meeting, Aug. 2S, 1675. — It is agreed that nition, in ease of imminent danger by the 
 
 the meeting-house shall be lathed and Indians. Mr. Whitehead observes, p. 78, 
 
 filled up with thin stone and mortar be- "It is doubtful if these were generally, if 
 
 tween the girts, and the charge hereof at all, provided." The people of Newark 
 
 shall be levied as the town shall agree. however responded at once by their actiom 
 
 " Item — It is also agreed for the better to this as to all other "laws of the Prov- 
 security of the town, all the men above 16 ince. The law was passed in November, 
 years of age, shall from day to day as their At a meeting eaily the next January, 
 turns come, attend this work about the " Capt. Swaine, Sergeant Johnson and Ser- 
 meeting-house till it be finished, and bring geant Harrison, are chosen by vote to 
 their arms with them. Twelve men are join with the commissioned officers to con- 
 appointed to appear in a day." sider about and contrive for the fortifica- 
 
 The General Assembly, in the year 1675, tious belonging to our town." (Rec. p. 59.) 
 ordered fortifications to be provided in eve- f Theophilus was born March 15, 1659, 
 
 ry town, and a house therein for securing and of course was now 23 years of age. 
 
74 ASSEMBLING FOE WOESHIP. 
 
 advice of tlieir mother" were to choose, as a special 
 legacy to them from that same venerable saint.* 
 
 All along up and down the street, stand, on either 
 side, at regular intervals, the quiet homes of the plant- 
 ers, and everywhere through the open windows, may 
 be heard the voice of prayer and psalm-singing at the 
 domestic altar, or the low hum of youthful voices 
 studying or reciting the much prized catechism. 
 
 The hour of public worship now approaches, and 
 the deep tones of the village drum, beaten along the 
 the broad grassy street by one of the young men, gives 
 the signal to make ready.f It beats again ; and now, 
 the doors opening, out come in every direction the 
 grave fathers and mothers of the community, the stur- 
 dy sons and comely daughters, with the cheerful and 
 yet sober little ones, all in their best attire, and such 
 as never sees the light except on Sabbath days* and 
 for the sake of decency in God's worship. Down 
 through the cross streets, and some on horseback from 
 the far distant Mountain, £ where the settlement was 
 already extending itself, they pour along in pleasant 
 family groups, and meet a united community at the 
 house of prayer. 
 
 Let us enter with them the sacred enclosure. Di- 
 
 * Abraham Pierson, senior's, will. mer as before, upon condition that he beats 
 
 + The custom of calling the worship- the first drum at least as far up as the saw 
 
 pers together on the Lord's day with a pit in the corner of Sergeant Harrison's 
 
 drum was so common among the early lot." (Newark Town Records, p. 32.) 
 
 settlers of New England, that there can % "Town meeting, December 12, 1681. 
 
 be little doubt that such was the practice It is voted that there shall be surveyors 
 
 here. The drummer seems to have risen chosen to lay out highways as far as the 
 
 to the dignity of a town officer, for we mountain if need be," &c. (Newark Town 
 
 read, under date of January 2, 1670, that Records, p. 89.) 
 " the town chose Joseph Johnson for drum- 
 
CONGREGATION SEATED. Y5 
 
 rectly opposite the street door stands the simple pulpit, 
 under the sloping roof of the low " lenter." * There 
 are no pews claimed as private property by families or 
 individuals, but seats ranged through the middle, and 
 along the sides of the house, and every man, woman 
 and child take the seats specially assigned to them by 
 the town's Committee, appointed for that purpose.f 
 We can hardly suppose there would be no inward 
 heart-burnings amongithese staid Puritans in regard to 
 the post of honor or obscurity which each person must 
 occupy. But the Committee are good and true men, 
 and, according to their best judgment, they have per- 
 formed the delicate task set them, and arranged the 
 whole congregation " according to office, age, estate, in- 
 firmity, and. descent or parentage." J In a seat below 
 the pulpit, facing the congregation, sit the two worthy 
 officers of the Church, Deacon Michael Tompkins and 
 Deacon Richard Lawrence ; for their venerable prede- 
 
 * I think there is little doubt that this "Feb. 19. — Item.— The town doth em. 
 
 was the arrangement of the pulpit. The power the committee already chosen to 
 
 Rev. Mr. Sewall, of Burlington, Mass., in- carry on the seating the meeting house 
 
 forms me that he remembers an ancient with as good prudence as they can." (p. 
 
 house of worship in his native town of 74.) "July, 1680. It is agreed that the 
 
 Marblehead, Mass., corresponding to that middle part of the meeting house, which 
 
 above described, and that the pulpit was is yet to be seated, shall have three seats 
 
 arranged under the roof of the lean-to. of a side." (p. 80.) 
 
 t The Town Records contain the fol- % " Town meeting, Feb. 18, 1679-80. 
 
 lowing notices of the process of preparing Concerning seating persons in the meeting 
 
 this portion of Sabbath conveniences, house, it was agreed that persons should 
 
 " Town meeting, Feb. 12, 1678-9. Item, be placed according to office, age, estate, 
 
 It is agreed that the meeting house shall infirmity, and descent or parentage. By 
 
 be seated in convenient time for our con- estate is meant that estate as persons pur- 
 
 venience in meeting together for God's chased and took up land by, together with 
 
 worship." "Item. — The townsmen, Thorn- the present estate, comparing all these to- 
 
 as Luddington, Captain Swaine and gether. Mr. Ward, Mr. Johnson, Deacon 
 
 John Brown, junior, are chosen to con- Tompkins, Richard Harrison, Stephen 
 
 trive for the most decent and convenient Davis, Thomas Huntington and John 
 
 way (as they think) to seat it ; also, as Brown, jr., are chosen a committee to this 
 
 near as they can, report what it will cost." work." (Newark Town Records, pp. 77, 
 
 pp. 71-2. 78.) 
 
76 SUPPRESSION OF DISORDER. 
 
 cessor, Deacon Ward, has been sleeping quietly now 
 these ten years in the little church-yard, where his old 
 pastor rests beside him, waiting for the glorious morn- 
 ing of the Resurrection. 
 
 The front seats are filled " as far as practicable with 
 men and women ;" for the youth and children must 
 not occupy the preferred places.* The youug people 
 of the congregation are ranged behind ; and since, 
 being separated from their parents and by their posi- 
 tion somewhat out of the reach of admonishing looks, 
 they are inclined sometimes to forget the sanctity of 
 the place, and " misbehave themselves in the time of 
 worship, by whispering, sleeping and the like," a special 
 officer appointed by the town — Azariah Crane, some 
 time after Deacon Azariah Crane,f is the nian for this 
 half year — has them in charge, with powers extending 
 likewise to any of larger growth who may be disposed 
 to offend, "to see that they do carry themselves rev- 
 erently" both in and about the House of God in the 
 time of worship. J 
 
 * " Town meeting, February the 24th, the Church of Christ in Newark aforesaid, 
 
 1681-2. Item. — It was agreed that the my silver bowl, to be used for the service 
 
 foremost seats in the meeting house shall of God forever, in the town of Newark 
 
 be occupied with men and women so far aforesaid." He had sons — Nathaniel, Aza- 
 
 forth as conveniency will admit." (Town riah, John and Robert. — S. H. Congar. 
 
 Records, p. 91.) For a time he seems to have resided on 
 
 t Azariah Crane, son of Jasper Crane, his out-lands at " the mountain." 
 
 senior, was probably elected to the office % Newark Town Records. Under date 
 
 of Deacon, on the decease of Deacon of Nov. 24, 1679, we find the following: 
 
 Tompkins or Deacon Lawrence, about the "Item — There being complaint that many, 
 
 year 1690 or '91. He married Mary, as are grown persons, as well as boys, do 
 
 daughter of Robert Treat, and resided on misbehave themselves on the Lord's day, 
 
 the home-lot of his father-in-law, on the in the time of public service, both in the 
 
 south-east corner of Market and Broad meeting house and without by the house 
 
 streets. He is supposed to have been the sides, also by sleeping, whispering and 
 
 last survivor of the original subscribers of the like ; wherefore the town hath chosen 
 
 the Fundamental Agreements. He died Thomas Pierson, jr., and Samuel Potter to 
 
 in 1730, aged 83. In his will, he gave " to use their best care and endeavor to restrain 
 
WORSHIPPERS ARMED. TY 
 
 The men are armed ; for the town voted, only a 
 short time before, that a watch should be kept in the 
 night and a ward on Sabbath days ; and gave direc- 
 tions, not as on other occasions, that " one-fourth of the 
 town shall carry arms to meeting on the Lord's day, 1 ' 
 but that " every soldier do bring his arms every day 
 of public worship, well fixed, and also his ammuni- 
 tion." Two warders and one sentry stand to guard 
 against surprises ; and the chief military officers, Cap- 
 tain Samuel Swaine* and Lieutenant John Curtis, have 
 the charge of the whole matter. 
 
 In the pulpit stands the reverend divine, with 
 whose name and history hitherto you are already fa- 
 miliar. In his person he is somewhat taller than the 
 middle stature, " a fleshy, well-favored and comely 
 looking man,"f and now arrived at the mature age of 
 thirty-seven years. You perceive in him one of the 
 best specimens of the first growth of the American 
 Colonies ; born in the country, educated at its own 
 University, and destined to perform an important part 
 in its literary and religious history. What were the 
 words of truth he then uttered, what the psalms they 
 sang, and what the prayers they offered, is now known 
 only to the Omniscient. The sweet odor of their sim- 
 ple worship has gone up as incense to the throne of 
 
 like disorder in time of public worship, * Capt. Swaine must have had vivid 
 
 by rebuking such persons as behave them- impressions of Indian atrocity — his own 
 
 selves irreverently, within or without the sister having been seized and carried off 
 
 the house; and if they are such grown by a fierce Pequot chief, at Weathersfield, 
 
 persons as will not be restrained by their many years before. (See Trumbull's Hist, 
 
 rebukes, then they are to present them to Conn., vol. 1, p. 115.) 
 the authority." p. 76. t Letter to President Stiles. 
 
Y8 PECULIAR PRIVILEGES. 
 
 Jehovah, and the instructions given left their traces 
 only on the hearts of the listeners. 
 
 Highly favored of the Lord seemed this little assem- 
 bly of devout worshippers. In all this region, God 
 had not dealt so with any people. There were a few 
 Christian congregations in the neighboring settlements, 
 indeed in every town occupied by New England emi- 
 grants " there was a meeting-house where they wor- 
 shipped publicly every week," and one or two of these 
 had had ministers, but they were dead ; and now, as 
 to their praise it is declared by a contemporary, 
 "the people meet together every Sabbath day, and 
 read, and pray, and sing psalms in their meeting- 
 houses." But more than one contemporary bears wit- 
 ness, that not a settled preacher is to be found in all 
 East Jersey who follows no other employment, save in 
 one town, Newark.* They love the Sabbath, they 
 love the sanctuary, they well appreciate, and regard 
 with honor and affection, their learned, pious, and 
 truly excellent mimister. And though, in coming to 
 this new settlement, and planting here, in a wilderness 
 
 * This was said in 1684, but was equally one town — Newark." Peter Watson, wri- 
 
 true two years earlier. A joint letter of ting to his brother John, in August of the 
 
 David Barclay, Arthur Forbes and Gawen same year, says : " There are here very 
 
 Laurie, written to the Proprietors in Scot- good religious people ; they go under the 
 
 land, March, 1684, says : " There be peo- name of Independents, but are most like 
 
 pie of several sorts of religion ; few very to the Presbyterians, only they will not 
 
 zealous. The people being mostly New receive every one to their society. We 
 
 England men, do mostly incline to their have great need of good and faithful min- 
 
 way ; and in every town there is a meeting isters, and I wish to God there would 
 
 house where they worship publicly every come some over here; they can live as well 
 
 week. They have no public law in the and have as much as in Scotland, and 
 
 country for maintaining public teachers, more than many get. We have none 
 
 but the towns that have them make way within all the Province of East Jersey, 
 
 within themselves to maintain them. We except one who is preacher in Newark." 
 
 know none that hath a settled preacher ("Model of the Government," see White- 
 
 that follows no other employment, save head, pp. 291, 302.) 
 
DEATH OF FIRST SETTLEES. T9 
 
 tenanted hitherto only with savages and wild beasts,* 
 the institutions of religion, they have been required to 
 make many sacrifices, and still, as their garrisoned 
 Church testifies, are subjected to some troubles and 
 fears, their blessings far outweigh all their disadvan- 
 tages, and praise to the Giver of all good, forms a large 
 part, both of their public and their private devotions. 
 But I must hasten to the close of this bright portion 
 of our early history. The ministry of the two Pier- 
 sons extended over just a quarter of a century, and all 
 the while time was working its gradual changes. A 
 few names of considerable note were early added to 
 the original settlers,f while some who appeared at first 
 among the number went back soon, or removed to 
 other settlements. J Meanwhile, death had been clos- 
 ing up the earthly account of the revered fathers of 
 
 * Wolves and bears must have caused hearing their yells about me, and telling 
 no little trouble to the settlers, especially that I was afraid of them, the country peo- 
 the former, if we may judge from the ef- pie laughed at it." The snakes, too, the 
 forts made to destroy them. One of the worthy Scotchman thought but a mere 
 earliest town acts was the offer of a bounty circumstance ; for, he continues, "nothing 
 for the killing of wolves. From fifteen to can come near them but they give warn- 
 twenty shillings was the reward for a mg with the rattling of their tails, so that 
 grown wolf, and five shillings for a bear people may either kill them or go by them 
 cub. There were 1 aws to the same effect as they please." ("The Model of the 
 made by the General Assembly. But as Government," see Whitehead, p. 298.) 
 to the town's bounty, the savage beast f Among the early additions to the set- 
 must be caught and killed within the tlement were Robert Bond, who came from 
 town's bounds, or else no pay was to be Elizabethtown probably in 1873, John 
 received for either wolf or bear. Sergeant Morris, Bartholomew Goodrich, David 
 Riggs seems to have exercised his martial Ogden, who came from Elizabethtown 
 prowess in this direction, and had a " wolf about 1677, John Gardner, Richard Fletch- 
 pit" somewhere within the bounds of the er, Matthew Williams, John Brown, jr., 
 settlement. (Town Records, pp. 5, 76, 91, Anthony Oleff or Olive, John Mackleson, 
 103.) James Johnstone, a Scotchman, John Cockburn, Samuel Potter, Patrick 
 writing to his friends at home, says the Falconer (merchant), John Wilkins, John 
 wolves " are nothing to be feared, neither Couch, Zophar Beach, (tailor), John Con- 
 are the country people afraid to be among dit. 
 
 them all night, in so much that I ofttimes % Among those whose names are men- 
 going wrong and lying out all night, and tioned as if intending to become settlers, 
 
DEATH OF FIKST SETTLI 
 
 ; i When Robert Treat returned to 
 
 Con in the year 1672, Deacon Ward, Sergeant 
 
 Riggs,* Robert Kitchel, and Hugh Roberts, were al- 
 dead. M Camfield, and prob- 
 
 Delivered Crane, departed this life during the 
 year following ; Stephen F» din 16*75; John 
 
 Harrison, son of Sergeant Richard, in 1676, and Josiah 
 Ward in or before 1677. All preceded their 
 
 aged senior pastor, and ■■. 'led by him 
 
 to the .. Jasper Crane, Son., Martin Tichenor, 
 
 George Day, Samuel Swaine, and Obadiah Bruen fin- 
 I their course, it is supposed, about the year 1681. 
 Sergeant Richard Harrison, John Ward Turner, Thom- 
 as Huntington, and John Rogers, about the years 
 1683 and '84. Joseph Walters died in 1688, and Jo- 
 seph Riggs in 1689. John Brown, senior, John Bald- 
 win, junior. Stephen Davis, Samuel Kitchel, f Michael 
 Tompkins, and Richard Lawrence, were among the 
 harvest which death reaped in the years 1690 and '91. 
 Patrick Falconer, a near neighbor and special friend 
 of ti: Abraham Pierson, fell in the prime of 
 
 but who either never came, or went back they at one time had in mind to establish 
 very soon, are Mr. Leet, Mr. Thomas Mor- on the basis of the Hopkins fund ?) 
 ris, Mr; Webster, Thomas and Aaron * Edward Riggs, Sen., or Sergeant Ed- 
 Blatchlev, John Bostwick, Eleazar Rogers, ward, died previous to January, 1670-71, 
 John Rockwell, Robert Lyman, Azariah when his second division of land was laid 
 Beech, John Gregory, John Brooks, out to his widow. Town Records, p. 35. 
 Thomas Harrison, Joseph Horton, and Edward and Joseph were his sons. 
 Goodman Cole. John Catlin sold his land + Samuel Kitchel died April 20th, 1690. 
 to Heury Lyon, about 1682. John Rogers, His children named in the will are, Sam- 
 senior, died in Mil ford, 1688 or '84. Jere- uel the eldest son, to whom he gave a dou- 
 miah Peck sold his lands to Mr. Wilson in ■ ble portion, Elizabeth, wife of Seth Tomp- 
 1674, and removed to Elizabethtown. kins, Abigal wife of John Ward, son of 
 {Query — Was this the Jeremiah Peck of Sergeant John; Mary, wife of a Josiah 
 whom Trumbull speaks, vol. 1, p. 292, as Ward ; Susanna, wife of Jonathan Bald- 
 having been selected by the people of New win, and Abraham, who seems to have 
 Haven for the teacher of the College which been a minor, afterwards Deacon Abraham 
 
 Kitchel of Whippany. 
 
DEATH OF FIRST SETTLERS. 81 
 
 life, in the year 1692,* a few months only before the 
 close of this period. John Ward, senior, Thomas John- 
 son^ Ephraim Pennington, Thomas Lyon, Ebenezer 
 Camiield, John Brown, junior, John Crane, and Ste- 
 phen Bond, stayed but a little longer, and were all 
 gathered to their rest, in and about the year 1694. 
 The virgin soil of the old burying ground, unbroken 
 by the hand of the husbandman, was now becoming 
 thick sown with the precious seed of the Resurrection ! 
 And how died they ? It were hardly to be expected 
 we should hear their departing testimony, since the me- 
 moir of none of them has been written, except as they 
 unconsciously chronicled their own. And yet we have 
 a specimen. Sweet is it to learn that so many of these 
 noble men died as they had lived, in the same faith 
 and holy devotion which had been the spring of their 
 worldly prudence and enterprise ; leaving to their pos- 
 terity, in the same instruments which conveyed the title 
 to their lands and houses, signed and sealed before 
 witnesses, with their own hands, the precious legacy of 
 their unshaken piety. 
 
 * Patrick Falconer is called a merchant. t The tomb-stone of this most active 
 
 In the old burying-ground there is a stone and useful settler is still standing, and 
 
 with this inscription : " Here lyeth the bears the following inscription : 
 
 body of Patrick Falconer, who died June " Here lyes the body of Mr. Thomas 
 
 27, 1692, aged 33 years. Johnson, who died November the 5, 1694, 
 
 aged 64." 
 
 "Here lyeth the reliques That of hig wife> who died three dayg 
 
 Of a real saint, before him, is also standing, and is in- 
 
 Who suffered much for Christ, scribed as follows : 
 
 And did not faint; « Here i ves the body of Mrg _ Ellena 
 
 And when his race was run, Johnson, who died November 2, 1694 
 
 Ending his story, aged 6L » 
 
 He sweetly past through death The body of their son Josepb) the drum . 
 
 To endless glory." mer> wbo died iQ im> at the advanced 
 
 (See Monumental Inscriptions by Dr. age of 83, lies not far off. 
 John S. Condit.) 
 
82 HOLY DYING. 
 
 On the 19th of March, 1672-3, old Matthew Cam- 
 field " sick and weak in body," records as his dying act 
 of self-devotion, "I give my body to the dust, and 
 soul to the Lord Jesus Christ." In early June follow- 
 ing, the green turf was already growing over the last 
 resting place of this venerable patriarch.* 
 
 Jasper Crane, senior, shrewd, enterprising, ever active 
 old Jasper, on the first day of October, 1678, perceiv- 
 ing that he had made his last earthly settlement, and 
 had but one remove more to be undertaken, thus de- 
 clares his determination to address himself to his dying 
 duties, " I, Jasper Crane, dwelling within the province 
 of New Jersey belonging to the town of Newark — 
 being aged in years and weak in body, yet well in un- 
 derstanding and memory — I do at this time think it 
 my Christian duty to set my house in order, and I do 
 dispose of all my worldly goods as followeth." Some 
 time between this date and the 28th of October, 1681, 
 this veteran pilgrim crossed the river on his way to 
 the land of spirits.f 
 
 Samuel Swaine, happening to be in New York, when 
 disease seized him, and death seemed to be not far, 
 thus testified the readiness of his spirit to answer the 
 last summons, "I, Samuel Swaine, being in perfect 
 
 * He died between the date given above, of October the same year, it is probable 
 
 and the 6th of June following. — & II. Con- that he died not far from the date of the 
 
 gar. inventory. Jasper Crane, Sen., had four 
 
 + October 28th, 1681, John Ward and sons Delivered, or Deliverance as it is 
 
 Thomas Pierson apprized the inventory sometimes written, Azariah, John, and 
 
 of his estate as presented to them Jasper, Jr., of whom the first three were 
 
 for that purpose by his son, Delivered original subscribers ; and the last became 
 
 Crane, and his son-in-law, Thomas hardly less distinguished than his father 
 
 Huntington. As his name appears in a in the affairs of the church and town, 
 
 list rendered in town meeting, by a com- Delivered Crane died early, and is said to 
 
 mittee previously appointed, on the 19th have left no issue. 
 
HOLY DYING. 83 
 
 sense and memory, not knowing how long the Lord 
 will continue the same mercy to me, being weak under 
 His good hand of Providence, and willing to be at His 
 dispose ; therefore, for life or death, do leave this as 
 my last will and testament."* 
 
 Next, Kichard Lawrence, perceiving that the infirm- 
 ities of age were now creeping over him, made his last 
 will and testament, Dec. 10th, 1686, acknowledging in 
 nearly the same words used by his old friend Crane, 
 the summons he had received from heaven, " to set his 
 house in order."f Old Michael Tompkins " being" he 
 said, "infirm in body, and subject to many changes, 
 and not knowing the time of my departure out of the 
 world," began on the 30th day of January, 1688-9, to 
 get his affairs in readiness. Before the end of March, 
 1691, both the good deacons had gone to their long 
 
 home. J 
 
 John Baldwin, junior,§ Joseph Biggs, | John Brown^f 
 
 * Samuel Swaine made his will in New § John Baldwin, Jr.'s, will is dated Dec. 
 York, the 17th of March, 1681-2. It may 21, 1688, and sworn to Nor. 28, 1689. His 
 be presumed perhaps that he died in that children mentioned in the will are, Han- 
 illness, as his name appears for the last nah Tichenor, and John, yet under age. 
 time on the records, in the 'list made in He mentions William Camp as his uncle. 
 1680. His wife Johanna died prior to Dec. The inventory of his estate bears date 
 5, 1690. Town Records, p. 87. Town Book, Jan 30, 1688-9. Town Book, p. 14. 
 p. 35. J Joseph Riggs's will bears date Jan. 1, 
 
 t Richard Lawrence's will is dated the 1688-9, and was sworn to Nov. 27, 1689. 
 
 10th of December, 1686, and sworn to His children being all minors were left ia 
 
 March 30th, 1691. His children mentioned the care of their mother, to whose use for 
 
 in the will are, Bethiah, wife of Stephen herself and them the whole estate was left 
 
 Bond, Mrs. Bruen, wife of John Bruen, and during their minority, except two guns 
 
 Sarah, to whom was left the dwelling and one sword. Their names are JohD 
 
 house and furniture.— Town Book, p. 10. Samuel, Zophar and Elizabeth. After 
 
 X Michael Tompkins made his will Jan. their mother's decease, John was to have 
 
 30, 1688-9, which was sworn to by his ex- the homestead Samuel and Zophar the 
 
 ecutors, Dec. 4, 1690. He must have died land at the mountain, and Elizabeth what- 
 
 prior to the latter date. His children men- ever her mother should choose to bestow, 
 
 tioned in his will are, Jonathan, Micab, The sword and hunting gun were be- 
 
 Seth, Mary Rose, Abigal Dalglesb, and queathed to John, and the other gun given 
 
 Elizabeth Bishop. (See Town Book, p. to Samuel. Town Book, p. 18. 
 
 14 -) *b John Browne's will is dated Decern- 
 
84 HOLY DYING. 
 
 and David Ogden,* all left behind tlieir dying testi- 
 mony in nearly the same words. " First, I bequeath 
 my soul nnto the hands of Almighty Grod, hoping for 
 salvation from the riches of His grace, by the alone 
 merits of Jesus Christ, and through faith in His blood. 
 Also, I commit my body to the earth, decently to be 
 buried, and there to rest until the resurrection of the 
 just." 
 
 Nor was that venerable veteran, Lieut. Ward, or 
 John Ward, senior, a soldier, not of his country only, 
 but of his Heavenly Captain, surprised without his 
 armor when the hour came for his last conflict. Nov. 
 21st, 1694, he left his dying testimony: "Imprimis. 
 I commit my soul immortal unto God who gave it, to 
 glorify Him, and to be glorified by Him for ever more. 
 I give my body to the dust, of which it was made, to 
 be decently and honorably buried, in hope of a better 
 resurrection by Jesus Christ, Who shall change this 
 vile, frail, and corruptible body of mine into the like- 
 ness of His own glorious body, according to the work- 
 ing whereby He is able to subdue all things to Him- 
 self, that so I may be ever with the Lord, which is far 
 best of all."f 
 
 Thus calmly, confidently and holily did the patri- 
 
 ber 17, 1689. He died November 5, 1690. Children mentioned are David, the eldest, 
 
 The children named are, eldest son John, Josiah, and Swaine. His wife, Eliz- 
 
 John, Joseph, Thomas, Daniel who was abeth is appointed executrix. Town Book, 
 
 to have the homestead, Esther, Mary p. 16. 
 
 Pierson, Hannah Riggs, Phebe Dod, and + John Ward, Sen., or Sergeant Ward, 
 
 Elizabeth Freeman. His loving brother, afterwards Lieut. Ward, when in the 
 
 Ephraim Burwell, is one of the appointed year 1672 Lieut. Swaine was promoted to 
 
 overseers. See Town Book, p. 20. the captaincy, probably died not far from 
 
 * David Ogden's will is dated Dec. 26, Nov. 20, 1694, the date of his will. (Rec- 
 
 1691, and sworn to Feb. 27th, 1691-2. ords at Trenton, copied by Mr. Congar.) 
 
SACRED GROUND. 85 
 
 arclis of this conimunity pass away from the turmoils 
 of the world. Fit epilogue for such a drania as they 
 had been euacting ! Fit end for such a life as theirs ! 
 
 "So fades a summer's cloud away, 
 So sinks the gale when storms are o'er ; 
 So gently shuts the eye of day, 
 So dies a wave along the shore." — Mrs. Barbauld. 
 
 The wastes of time have not left us the departing 
 words of most of the others ; but doubtless what we 
 have here is but a sample of the entire community. 
 Dear, honored sires ! No costly monument crowns 
 the turf where they slumber, and no pretentious pan- 
 egyric has applauded their merits. All unconsciously, 
 and only in the records of their ordinary business 
 transactions, they wrote from day to day their own 
 memoirs, epitaphs and eulogy. Thrice hallowed be 
 the spot where their honored dust moulders. Some 
 old mortality come yearly and with pious care remove 
 the gathering moss from their headstones. Let the 
 turf be green, and the choicest foliage wave its shad- 
 ows above it. Let it be sacred to piety and filial 
 reverence, and no unhallowed foot intrude within its 
 enclosure. Let the ground be made the most beauti- 
 ful and attractive in our city, as it is the most replete 
 with holy memories ; and let the generations, as they 
 rise, learn to hold in special honor and affection, the 
 old graveyard where the fathers lie waiting for the 
 resurrection of the just ! 
 
 But I am perhaps dwelling too long on these pathetic 
 memorials. It only remains that I record the closing 
 event of this period, the dissolution of the pastoral 
 
86 
 
 DISMISSION OF THE MINISTER. 
 
 relations of the Rev. Abraham Piersou, junior. The 
 removal of so many of the first settlers had doubtless 
 operated to change in some degree, the public senti- 
 ment of the community, and meanwhile a new race 
 had sprung up, and new elements from abroad come 
 in to modify it still further. But however that may 
 be, dissatisfaction arose at length between the people 
 and the pastor, out of some differences of views respect- 
 ing Church government, the precise nature and merits 
 of which cannot now be determined. Mr. Pierson, it 
 seems, was not pleased with the strictly Congregational 
 plan on which the Church had been settled, but pre- 
 ferred a moderate form of Presbyterian government* 
 
 * Dr. Macwhorter says, in his manu- 
 script history, that Mr. Pierson, after his 
 father's death, "was for introducing more 
 rigid Presbyterianism into Newark, in 
 which he was encouraged by four men from 
 Scotland, who had fled from the persecu- 
 tions and troubles there under Charles II. 
 Their names were Young, Nesbit, Clisby, 
 and Douglass, who for their zeal and piety 
 had been admitted by the first settlers to 
 great privileges in the town. Meanwhile," 
 he adds, "in the progress of the settle- 
 ment, many had come to the place from 
 Connecticut, with strong habits in favor 
 of the Saybrook platform, from whence 
 arose an opposition to Mr. Abraham Pier- 
 son, and his measures and party, so that 
 he finally thought it expedient to leave 
 the town, and remove." Several errors 
 are to be noticed in this statement. 
 
 In the first place, Presbyterianism 
 in New England at that day did not 
 stand related to Congregationalism, as 
 the more rigid, but as the less rigid 
 system. The party who were accused 
 of Presbyterian leanings, were those 
 who opposed the Puritan plan of restrict- 
 ing the privileges of baptism and church 
 membership. Such was the case with 
 Mr. Stone of Hartford, and Mr. Russel of 
 
 Weathersfield, both of whom led the way in 
 calling the Council of 1657, with which the 
 New Haven men were so much displeased ; 
 while, on the other hand, those who 
 strenuously insisted on the restrictions re- 
 ferred to, among whom in Connecticut 
 were Governor Webster and the other ag- 
 grieved brethren of Mr. Stone's church 
 pursued their opposition in the name of 
 strict and original Congregationalism. It 
 is in accordance with this view that we 
 find a Scotchman writing to his friends 
 from New Perth, in 1664, commending 
 the people of East Jersey, as very much 
 like the Presbyterians, "only," he says 
 " they will not receive every one into 
 their society." 
 
 In the next place, those who came from 
 Connecticut prior to Mr. Pierson's dismis- 
 sion, in 1692, could not have come "with 
 strong habits in favor of .the Saybrook 
 Platform/' since that Platform did not 
 come into being till 1708, sixteen years 
 later; nor, if it had, would those who 
 were inclined to favor it, have been op- 
 posed to Mr. Pierson's innovations on that 
 account, as the Saybrook Platform was 
 nearer to his views than the previous 
 practice. 
 
 There is, furthermore, some apparent 
 
CAUSES OF DISSATISFACTION-. ■ 87 
 
 Unquestionably he was not extreme in these prefer- 
 ences, as his whole character and subsequent life indi- 
 cate. Where the blame lay we are not competent to 
 determine. Dr. Macwhorter throws it chiefly on the 
 pastor, though the merciless edge of his sarcasm does 
 not spare the people. " Matters were peaceable in the 
 town," he says, "and went well in the Church while 
 the father lived, but soon after his death some became 
 uneasy with the young man. His abilities, and the 
 pride of directing were far beyond any thing that the 
 congregation had been accustomed to witness."* But 
 Mr. DicSenson, of Elizabethtown, who undoubtedly 
 knew the' facts, as he was a pupil of Mr. Pierson in 
 Yale College, and graduated under his presidency, as- 
 cribes it to an unreasonable jealousy on the part of 
 the people. In reply to some reflections on the conduct 
 of the Presbyterians by an Episcopal minister, after 
 
 misapprehension in Dr. Macwhorter's ter's statement respecting the meeting of 
 
 statement respecting the emigrants from two contradictory elements — from the old 
 
 Scotland. Excepting Douglass, none of hive in Connecticut on the one hand, and 
 
 the names mentioned appears in any from Scotland on the other, and its in- 
 
 list of settlers, or in any town trans- fluence in producing division and dissatis- 
 
 actions, until about the time of Mr. faction in the Church— is substantially 
 
 Pierson's dismission. The name of Rob- correct, notwithstanding the errors of its 
 
 ert Young first appears in the records details. 
 
 in 1690. James Clisby was admitted a * Century Sermon, p. 10. The spirit of 
 
 planter in March, 1693-4. Dr. M.'s Cen. this statement is manifestly incorrect. Mr. 
 
 tury Sermon gives 1670 as the date of Pierson was neither as far superior in abil- 
 
 their arrival in Newark ; but if they were ities to his father, nor as far inferior in 
 
 here so soon, they certainly could not have other respects as this would imply. Nor 
 
 been " admitted to great privileges in the was he at this time entitled to be called a 
 
 town" till a much later day. None of their young man, having reached the mature 
 
 names, except that of Douglass, appear age of 37 years when his father died, and 
 
 among the signers of the agreement to that of fifty-one or two at the time of his 
 
 pay Mr. Pierson's salary, when there was dismissal. Dr. M. is mistaken, too, in 
 
 a difficulty respecting that matter in 1688. supposing him to have been dismissed 
 
 Scotchmen however were here, and one of soon after his father's decease. During 
 
 them, probably, viz., John Cockburn, was at least ten years of his sole pastorate we 
 
 among those signers. On the whole, how- hear not a note of disturbance or disaffec- 
 
 ever, it seems probable that Dr. Macwhor- tion. 
 
88 CAUSES OF DISSATISFACTION. 
 
 speaking of the harmonious co-operation of Congrega- 
 tionalists and Presbyterians in New England, "who 
 have always," he says, " lived together as united 
 brethren," he thus refers to the case now before us : 
 " Some of the people of Newark have, indeed formerly, 
 been culpable for managing a controversy with their 
 worthy minister upon these points, and I hope your 
 putting them in mind of it, may conduce to their hu- 
 miliation, if there be any of them yet living. But 
 then they did not imitate the disposition of the people 
 of New England in this opposition to that worthy gen- 
 tleman, who removed from their abuses to New Eng- 
 gland, was there received with great kindness and 
 love, and advanced to the rectoral charge of their col- 
 lege, in which he lived and died in the highest honor 
 and esteem among them all, notwithstanding his Pres- 
 byterian principles. In a word, as both Presbyterians 
 and Congregationalists were from the beginning em- 
 barked upon the same bottom, so have they yet reason 
 to conclude, notwithstanding their lesser trifling differ- 
 ences in their sentiments, that they have all the same 
 common interests to pursue." 
 
 It is not improbable that the truth lay somewhere 
 between these two apparently opposite judgments. 
 The people were liable, from their early history to be 
 too strenuous on points of ecclesiastical government ; 
 and the minister may have erred in attempting to in- 
 troduce in such a community, modifications for which 
 the body of the people were not prepared. 
 
 Traces of the dissatisfaction may perhaps be detected 
 in the records of the town, wherein it appears that on 
 
CAUSES OF DISSATISFACTION. 89 
 
 one .occasion the usual vote to collect the pastor's sal- 
 ary " by a rate," was afterwards " desisted from," and 
 recourse had to a voluntary contribution; and that 
 during the last two years of his ministry, the amount 
 agreed upon was not collected in any way * It is due, 
 however, to the honor of the town to add, that not- 
 withstanding this temporary stopping of the supplies, 
 all arrearages were collected and paid in full after his 
 dismission.f 
 
 * " Jan. 2, 1687-8. Item— The way of 
 rating as formerly, which was after desist- 
 ed from, and -agreed to pay the minister 
 by contribution for the year 1687." 
 
 "Jan. 9, 1687-8. It is fully and unani- 
 mously consented unto by every planter 
 now present, all being called by name, 
 that they will from time to time pay or 
 cause to be paid yearly, in their full pro- 
 portion, equally, in a rate that may be 
 agreed on by the major part of the town, 
 to the maintenance and allowance now 
 agreed upon for the upholding and preach- 
 ing of the Word in our town, and eighty 
 pounds by the year is agreed upon to be 
 allowed to the present minister, with his 
 fire- wood, and to be rate free. Note — It is 
 to be understood that every man that doth 
 now subscribe to this agreement, he pay- 
 ing his proportion in the rate, shall not be 
 liable to be prosecuted to make payment 
 for any that may be deficient in non-pay- 
 ment. In confirmation whereof, we have 
 hereunto set our names. John Ward, sen., 
 John Bruen, Thos. Johnson, Samuel Free- 
 man, John Curtis, John Baldwin, jr., Seth 
 Tompkins, Micah Tompkins, Sam'l Tiche- 
 nor, Edw. Ball, Edw. Riggs, Sam'l Kitchel, 
 John Cockburn, Anthony OlifF, Joseph 
 Riggs, Theophilus Pierson, Azariah Crane, 
 • Samuel Harrison, Daniel Dod, Stephen 
 Davis, Samuel Plum, sen., John Crane, 
 Nathaniel Ward, John Browne, sen., Zech- 
 ariah Burwell, Ephraim Burwell, Thomas 
 Browne, John Tichenor, Joseph Browne, 
 John Browne, jr., Joseph Walters, Eben- 
 ezer Camfield, Matthew Camfield, Robert 
 
 Dalglesh, Francis Lindly, Samuel Pierson, 
 Jasper Crane, Joseph Harrison, Thomas 
 Pierson, Samuel Dod, George Harrison, 
 Samuel Lyon, Thomas Richards, David 
 Ogden, Samuel Rose, Richard Lawrence, 
 Jonathan Sargeant, John Baldwin, sen., 
 Hans Albers, Jonathan Tompkins, Joseph 
 Johnson." 
 
 "Town meeting, April 2, 1692. It is 
 voted that Mr. Pierson shall be paid his 
 salary for that time which no rates have 
 been made proportionable to the rate 
 made for two years together, viz. : '88 and 
 '89." Town Records, pp. Ill, 112, 116. 
 
 t The period above referred to was one 
 of great political disorder. Sir Edmund 
 Andros had received a commission as 
 Governor of all New England, including 
 New York and New Jersey. He assumed 
 the government of this Province in 1688, 
 the Proprietors having made a formal sur- 
 render of their patent to King James on the 
 condition that their rights to the soil should 
 be respected. Of this event several old 
 deeds and wills of the Newark people 
 bear witness, by being dated at "Newark, 
 in the government of New England." 
 (See Newark " Town Book.") But the 
 Revolution in England had led to the 
 seizure of Andros, and the subversion of 
 his offensive government in New Eng- 
 land. Deputy Governor Hamilton doubt- 
 ing about his powers, had gone to England 
 for instructions. Governors were appoint- 
 ed whom the people "scrupled to obey," 
 and during several years, viz., from 1689 
 to 1692, they were left without any gov- 
 
90 CHARACTER OF ABRAHAM PIERSON", JUNIOR. 
 
 The date of this event was somewhere between the 
 23d of January,* and the 2d of April in the year 
 1692. Immediately afterwards, Mr. Pierson sold his 
 house and lands in Newark, and returned to Connecti- 
 cut, where he settled as pastor of the Church in Kil- 
 lingworth, in the year 1694. A few years later, on 
 the institution of Yale College, he was appointed its 
 first rector, and his people being unwilling to part 
 with him, the trustees established the college tempora- 
 rily at Killingworth, where he -continued in the exer- 
 cise of both offices till his death, which took place on 
 the 5th of March, 1707, in the sixty-sixth or sixty- 
 seventh year of his age.f 
 
 The character of Mr. Pierson seems to have fallen 
 in no respect behind that of his excellent father. 
 Trumbull says of him — " He had the character of a 
 hard student, a good scholar, and a great divine. In 
 his whole conduct he was wise, steady and amiable. He 
 was greatly respected as a pastor, and he instructed 
 and governed the College with general approbation." 
 There is no doubt that he was a thorough Calvinist, 
 or he would not have been appointed as the first Pres- 
 ident or Rector of Yale College. An early tradition 
 
 eminent whatsoever, except that of their the following : " It is voted, that the sol- 
 own local authorities. Of the troubled diers be paid their wages for the time 
 state of affairs the Newark Town Records they were out." How much influence 
 show tokens in the vote of March 25th, these disorders may have had in discour- 
 1689-90, already referred to, appointing a aging the people in their ecclesiastical af- 
 committee "to order all affairs in as pru- fairs, must be left to conjecture. '(See 
 dent a way as they can for the safety of Whitehead, pp. 112-181. Newark Town 
 ourselves, wives, children and estates, ac- Book. Newark Town Records.) 
 cording to the capacity we are in ;" and at * See Patrick Falconer's will. 
 the beginning of the next year, we find f Trumbull, vol. 1, p. 488. 
 
CONCLUSION. 91 
 
 represents him as an excellent preacher, and an ex- 
 ceedingly pious and good man ; and particularly as 
 " very kind and charitable to the poor and indigent, 
 who in a special manner lamented his death."* 
 
 Such were the beginnings, and such the men who 
 made the beginnings of this ancient Church and con- 
 gregation. It was my intention to pursue the sketch, 
 and bring it down near to the present time. But the 
 matter has so grown upon my hand, that I shall be 
 obliged to defer the rest to some other opportunity. 
 
 Let me close to-day with one or two reflections sug- 
 gested alike by the text, the subject of discourse, and 
 the present occasion. 
 
 " One generation passeth away." So we find it. 
 " The fathers" of this Church, " where are they, and its 
 prophets, do they live for ever ?" All who shared . in 
 its early toils have been done with earth more than a 
 century, and their memories we are able to restore 
 only from obscure vestiges. Even the generation 
 which stood here when the aged Macwhorter sum- 
 moned his flock fifty years ago, to " consider the days 
 
 * In a letter, said to have been written bers that he was a very kind, charitable 
 to President Stiles of Yale College, in 1788, man to the poor and indigent, who in a 
 " by Abr'm Pierson, son of Ab'm Pierson, special manner lamented his death. She 
 son of Rector Pierson, son of Abr'm Pier- also remembers his having care of a col- 
 son, pastor of a Church on L. I.," it is lege." Lambert says, p. 151, "After Mr. 
 said, "that an aged woman of ninety states Pierson graduated, and before he settled 
 that she has seen said Mr. Abraham Pier- in Newark, he resided for some months in 
 son, and heard him preach often. He was Milford, and it is thought pursued his the- 
 something taller than a middle size, a ological studies with Mr. Newton. He 
 fleshy, well formed and comely looking married while in Milford, Abigal Clark, 
 man ; and she remembers that the people daughter of George Clark, farmer, and 
 set very much by him, and esteemed him sister of Sarah, the mother of Governor 
 an exceeding pious good man, and an ex- Law." 
 cellent preacher. Particularly she remem- 
 
92 CONCLUSION. 
 
 of old and the years of ancient times," where are they 
 now ? Almost all gone ! And is the generation of 
 which we form a part destined to a different lot ? The 
 dying of another year, another half century, speaks to 
 us of dying time, dying opportunities, a dying life ! 
 We are all going, and if not prepared for our depart- 
 ure soon, it is very certain that we never shall be. 
 
 But we are reminded also by the same sacred Word 
 that "another generation cometh." The world will 
 not cease its course because we are gone. Other forms 
 will occupy this house of prayer, other voices will 
 sound the praises of the sanctuary, and another tongue 
 will speak of the love of Jesus, and point the way to 
 heaven in this pulpit. At least so we trust it may be. 
 
 So it will be, through God's grace and Providence, 
 if we are faithful in the work assigned us. Even now 
 we see the young plants scattered among us, who will 
 nourish as we trust, when we are removed, strong, 
 healthful, fair and fruit producing trees in the garden 
 of our God. Another generation cometh! Alas, 
 many of the present race of men have had the offer of 
 salvation and rejected it; and even the professed chris- 
 tians of the present age are far below the true mark, 
 both in the intensity and the completeness of their 
 piety. Let them pass away then, if it must be so, and 
 a new and better era dawn upon the Church and the 
 world. Another generation cometh ! O yes, and we 
 will take courage, as we see their glowing counte- 
 nances intent on listening to the Word of Life in the 
 sanctuary, in the Sabbath school, and at the family 
 altar, in the hope that they will prove themselves a 
 
CONCLUSION. 93 
 
 purer, holier, more completely Christian race of men 
 than were any of their fathers. So shall the promise 
 be secured to us, "The glory of this latter house shall 
 be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of 
 
 Hosts." 
 
DISCOURSE NUMBER II. 
 
 Ecclesiastes, i : 4. One generation passeth away and another generation cometh. 
 
 Some may ask, where is the propriety of inquiring 
 so minutely into the experience of long buried gene- 
 rations. Since " their love, and their hatred, and their 
 envy have now perished, neither have they any more 
 a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the 
 sun," why not let their names and their history too 
 pass into oblivion ? 
 
 We reply, the seeds of the present are to be found 
 in the past. The world, with all its circumstances^ 
 opinions, customs, laws, ruling our present condition 
 and shaping our future destiny, are what they are in 
 consequence of the actions and characters of those who 
 have gone before us. We ourselves are what we are, 
 because of influences which have distilled upon us, like 
 the silent dew, through the atmosphere of a thousand 
 generations. In the past therefore we have a practical 
 interest, and must look narrowly at its characters and 
 events, in order to understand well either our circum- 
 stances or ourselves. 
 
 In the former discourse we traced the history of this 
 
96 SECOND GENEKATION. 
 
 congregation through the first quarter of a century of 
 its existence. We come now to a period in which the 
 means of information are less abundant, and the evi- 
 dence of prosperity in the congregation less steady and 
 unequivocal. The generation of the first settlers was 
 fast passing away. A few names already familiar to 
 us, are still found among the leaders of the commu- 
 nity,* but its affairs have chiefly fallen into the hands 
 of the children, or of those who, when the settlement 
 was begun, were recorded under the designation of 
 " young men."f Azariah Crane, only twenty years of 
 age when he signed the fundamental agreement, was 
 now, I suppose, the deacon of the Church ; and his broth- 
 er, Jasper, then too young to be mentioned in the pub- 
 lic affairs, had become one of the most active citizens. 
 John Treat, son of the chivalric Captain Robert, and 
 brother-in-law of Deacon Crane, then only seventeen 
 years of age, was now prominent among the " towns- 
 men," and with Jasper Crane, junior, serving from year 
 to year as a representative of the town in the Provin- 
 cial Legislature. John Curtis, who was twenty-five 
 years old at that time, had become one of the most re- 
 spected fathers of the community. Jonathan Sargeant 
 and Daniel Dod, then likewise among the " young men" 
 
 * Among the old men who still took " the town agreed that a rate of £80 should 
 
 part in public affairs at the beginning of be made for the minister forthwith for the 
 
 this period, were Mr. Ward, who died year past by Deacon Ward and Mr. Samuel 
 
 soon after, Mr. Thomas Johnson, Thomas Kitchell," direction was given to the same 
 
 Luddington, Zechariah and Ephraim Bur- official worthies that they should " speak 
 
 well, Thomas Richards, Edward Ball, Ben- to the young men in our town that are for 
 
 jamin Baldwin, William Camp, andThom- themselves, and to see what they will vol- 
 
 as Pierson, senior. untarily pay to the minister." —Records, 
 
 t When the salary of good old Abraham p. 9. Among the number so designated 
 
 Pierson, senior, was fixed in 166S, and were several of the names above men- 
 tioned. 
 
REV. JOHN PRUDDEN. 97 
 
 were now high, in office and influence ; and the frequent 
 recurrence in all important matters, of the names of 
 Samuel and Joseph Harrison, Theophilus Pierson, Jo- 
 seph Johnson, Seth Tompkins, Nathaniel Ward, Jabez 
 Rogers, reminds us of the prophetic promise, " instead 
 of thy fathers shall be thy children." In the progress 
 of this history we shall have less occasion hereafter to 
 speak either of individuals, or of the community in its 
 civil and social relations. 
 
 The next minister was the Rev. John Prudden, who 
 was called to the office by a vote of the town, and sig- 
 nified his acceptance of the invitation with its terms, 
 at the town meeting, August 23, 1692. The choice 
 appears to have been unanimous and cordial. " It was 
 consulted, consented and unanimously agreed," says the 
 record, " that Mr. John Prudden should be called to be 
 their minister," and in testimony of their disposition to 
 show all due respect to the sacred office, notwithstand- 
 ing any adverse inferences which might be drawn from 
 the untimely dissolution of the former ministerial con- 
 nection, the people covenanted that " in case he should 
 come and settle among them in that work, they would 
 freely and readily submit themselves to him and to his 
 dispensations and administrations, from time to time, in 
 the discharge of his ministerial office, as God should 
 assist and direct him therein by His Word and Spirit, 
 for their spiritual good and edification."* 
 
 Mr. Prudden was a College classmate of his imme- 
 diate predecessor, Abraham Pierson, junior, and a 
 
 * Town Records, pp. 116, 17. 
 
98 EEV. JOHN PRUDDEN. 
 
 fellow townsman, and doubtless an intimate compan- 
 ion, in his boyhood, of a large portion of the original 
 inhabitants of Newark.*"* His father was the Rev. Pe- 
 ter Prudden, a genuine Puritan, born and educated in 
 England, where he began to preach ; and, about three 
 years after his arrival in this country, having declined 
 several invitations to settle hi Massachusetts, was or- 
 dained as the first pastor of the Church in Milford on 
 the 18th of April, 1640. Trumbull says of him, that 
 " his ministry was attended with uncommon success ; 
 and when he came to this country it seems that many 
 good people followed him, that they might enjoy his 
 ministrations. He had the character of a most zealous 
 preacher and a man of most excellent spirit. He had 
 a singular talent for reconciling contending parties, 
 and mantaining peace among brethren and neigh- 
 bors."f 
 
 The younger Prudden was the second son in a nu- 
 merous family J — born at Milford, Nov. 9, 1645, and 
 left an orphan by the death of his excellent father, at 
 the early age of 11 years. Graduating at Harvard 
 College in the year 1668, he was invited, in the Spring 
 of 1670, to preach for the term of one year in Jamaica, 
 Long Island, where " a convenient pew" was ordered 
 by the town to be built for him to preach in. There 
 he remained, officiating under a temporary arrange- 
 ment, till January 1674, when, regarding himself as 
 under no obligation to continue his services, he quietly 
 
 * See Harvard College Catalogue; also J Thompson's Hist. Long Island, vol. ii, 
 Lambert Hist. Col. New Haven, p. 162. p. 102. 
 + History of Conn., vol. i, p. 294. 
 
EEV. JOHN PKUDDEN. 99 
 
 told the people lie was engaged to another congrega- 
 gation, and took his leave.* After an absence of 
 about two years, more effectual and permanent provis- 
 ions having been made for his support, he resumed his 
 labors and continued in the service of the Church in 
 Jamaica till 1691, a short time before his removal to 
 Newark. 
 
 It has been said that on his coming to this place, 
 perhaps in consequence of it, " the town received an- 
 other large accession of people from Milford."f The 
 records of Newark show, that not long after this 
 event, a company of eleven men — one of whom, James 
 Clisby, was a Scotchman, and four others Dutchmen, 
 if we may judge from their names — were on the same 
 day admitted as planters. J 
 
 About this time the old meeting-house, constructed 
 originally, as we must suppose, in not the most durable 
 manner, was needing considerable repairs. As early 
 as November, 1688, the townsmen had received direc- 
 tions to get it repaired, so as " to keep out the wet and 
 cold for the present, and also to repair the seats and 
 provide cedar shingles to cover it, when the Spring 
 comes suitable." But, it is very likely, that when the 
 
 * Prime's Hist. Long Island, p. 313. 1693. John Cooper first appears in J694; 
 
 t Lambert's Hist. New Haven, p. 152. James Nutman in 1695 ; Thomas Hayes 
 
 % Mar. 5,1693-4. Newark Town Records, in 1696 ; Samuel Ailing, called afterwards 
 
 p. 120. The persons above referred to are Lieut. Samuel Ailing, or Samuel Ailing, 
 
 Joseph Wood, Caleb Ward, Hendrick Esq., father of the Deacon of the same 
 
 Hendrickson, Tunis Johnson, Hans Hen- name, came in 1798 ; Joseph Peck in 1699 ; 
 
 drickson, Bostyan Vangiese, Garret Lay- John Medlis in 1700. The Tuttles— Ste- 
 
 dicker, Eleazar Lampson, James Clisbe, phen, Joseph and Timothy, children of 
 
 Jonathan Tichenor and William Brant. Stephen Tuttle, of Woodbridge — appear 
 
 Other prominent individuals were added in Newark in the year 1725. — 8. If. Cougar. 
 about the same period. Robert Young I find nothing in the Records to sub- 
 had leave given him to purchase land in stantiate the above statement of Lambert. 
 
100 REV. JOHN PRUDDEN. 
 
 Spring came, the pressing necessity was less felt ; for 
 it is not till after the lapse of four years, when the 
 settlement of a new minister may have given a new 
 spring to parochial enterprise, that the actual procur- 
 ing of seven hundred shingles for the purpose, gives 
 the first token that the work is to be performed in 
 good earnest.* 
 
 The salary assigned to Mr. Prudden was much 
 smaller than that of either of his predecessors, and de- 
 notes either a decay of pecuniary means, or of the spirit 
 of liberality and love for the institutions of the gospel, 
 on the part of the people.f It was fifty pounds an- 
 nually, and " his firewood free." However, the town 
 took care to pay the expenses of his transportation, 
 and provided for him " accommodations ;" that is, as 
 the word was then understood, a dwelling-house, with 
 its appurtenances, and the lot of land occupied by it. 
 These were given him, on certain easy conditions, as 
 his own property ; and " a rate" having been ordered, 
 to raise the sum necessary for the purpose, two com- 
 mittees were appointed, the one to put him in posses- 
 sion of the before named accommodations, and the 
 other, consisting of two divisions, corresponding to the 
 two ends of the town, north and south, " for to see af- 
 ter the bringing of the wood to Mr. Prudden, and for 
 
 * Town Recoi'ds, pp. 118, 118. "Thorn- hath liberty to set up a sawmill, with 
 
 as Brown 500, Jasper Crane 200 of shin- liberty to bave use of timber in any com- 
 
 gles for the meeting house." mon lands, provided he shall let any of the 
 
 t That the spirit of self-interest was in inhabitants have boards a* cheap as others, 
 
 pretty vigorous exercise about this period, and before strangers." Town Records, p. 
 
 take the following indication: "Town 121. 
 meeting, June 19, 1695. Thomas Davis 
 
REV, JOHN PRUDDEN. 
 
 101 
 
 to call out the people for that purpose whenever there 
 is need for his supply therein."* 
 
 The ministry of Mr. Prudden was short — only seven 
 years — though he continued to preach to the people 
 several months longer. He was not a young man 
 when he came to Newark — having already served in 
 
 * The following extracts from the Rec- 
 ords may serve to illustrate the method of 
 conducting affairs of this sort at the pe- 
 riod iu question : 
 
 " It is also consulted, voted, and con- 
 sented to and agreed by the said inhabit- 
 ants then convened, for Mr. John Prudden's 
 encouragement to come and settle among 
 us, and that he may the better attend 
 upon the work of the ministry as his busi- 
 ness, and for the more comfortable susten- 
 ance of his family in his attendance there- 
 on, that lie shall have fifty pounds per 
 annum and his firewood free, to be paid 
 yearly, according to several contributions 
 voluntarily subscribed by them, to Mr. 
 Prudden or his order, so long as he shall 
 continue with them employed in the min- 
 istry. It is moreover voted and agreed, 
 that Mr. Prudden shall have and hold 
 such a propriety and other conveniences, 
 for his accommodations in the town, as 
 shall be agreed upon between him and the 
 committee appointed to treat with him, 
 viz : Mr. Ward, Mr. Johnson, John Curtis, 
 Azariah Crane, Jasper Crane, Thomas Lud- 
 dington and Stephen Bond, nominated and 
 empowered for that purpose." — p. 116. 
 
 "Aug. 23, 1692. The result of a treaty 
 between Mr. John Prudden and a com- 
 mittee chosen, constituted and empowered 
 by the inhabitants and freeholders of 
 Newark to act in their behalf, is as foliow- 
 eth, viz : It is concluded and agreed by 
 the said committee, that Mr. Prudden 
 shall have and hold the accommodations 
 purchased of Mrs. Falconer [the widow of 
 Patrick Falconer] for his owu propriety, to 
 him and his heirs forever, he paying or 
 causing to be paid the two last payments, 
 indented for with Mrs. Falconer, except- 
 ing only five pounds, which the town is to 
 
 discharge, beside what is already done in 
 prime bill of debt made to the said Mrs. 
 Falconer, as witnesseth our hands sub- 
 scribed, Mr. John Prudden. Committee in 
 behalf of themselves and their neighbors : 
 Mr. John Ward, Mr. Johnson, John Cur- 
 tis, Azariah Crane, Jasper Crane, Thomas 
 Luddington, Stephen Bond." Records, p. 
 117. 
 
 " Town meeting, Oct. 1G92. It was voted 
 whether the charges for purchasing that 
 accommodations that was Mrs. Falconer's, 
 and the charge of transporting Mr. John 
 Prudden should be equally levied on every 
 person's estate, and it was agreed, with a 
 unanimous consent, that it should be so. 
 Secondly, it was also voted that the charge 
 for the payment and transport should be 
 charged by a rate according to our own 
 agreement formerly made, that is, by 
 heads and stock." Query— was this the 
 agreement of January 9, 1687-8 ? " Third- 
 ly, it was voted that Mr. Johnson and Jas- 
 per Crane should give Mr. Prudden pos- 
 session of the accommodations that was 
 purchased of Mrs. Falconer." — p. 117. 
 
 " It was voted that Zechariah and 
 Ephraim Burvvell, for the south end of our 
 town, and Samuel Harrison and Nathaniel 
 Ward for the north end, [be a committee] 
 for to see after the bringing the wood for 
 Mr. Pierson, and for to call out the people 
 for that purpose, when there is need for 
 his supply therein."— p. 117. 
 
 " Town meeting, Jan. 2, 1692-3. Benja- 
 min Baldwin, Jabez Rogers, William 
 Camp and Seth Tompkins are chosen to 
 collect the money that is gathered by the 
 subscriptions in Newark for the mainten- 
 ance of the ministry iu the year 1692." — p. 
 117. 
 
102 mr. prudden's dismission. 
 
 the ministry more than twenty years, and, having a 
 large property, which freed him from the necessity of 
 labor, he may have begun to find the cares of office in 
 so large a congregation too heavy for him, and desired a 
 release* Several months before he resigned his charge, 
 measures were taken to procure for him an assistant, 
 and an unusually large sum of money was raised in 
 order to meet the additional expense.f 
 
 Difficulties, however, of some kind, undoubtedly ex- 
 isted in the congregation at this time ; and an eccle- 
 siastical council was convened, the result of whose de- 
 liberations was so far satisfactory, that " the town did 
 vote their full compliance with and acquiescence in 
 that issue ;" withal signifying that they would " take 
 sufficient care to defray the whole charge of this their 
 journey and trouble till they return.' 5 J That these 
 difficulties were not such as seriously to disparage Mr. 
 Prudden in the eyes of his people, may be inferred 
 
 * The elder Prudden had an estate in and Jasper Crane are chosen for to treat 
 
 the country, valued at £924, and left a and agree with Mr. Wakeman and Mr. 
 
 landed interest in England of £1,300 ster- Prudden, and if Mr. Wakeman will not 
 
 ling. (See Trumbull's Hist. Conn., vol. come, then some other for a year." — p. 
 
 i, p. 294, note.) Lambert says: "The 126. 
 
 Pruddens in New Jersey shared half of X " Town meeting, June 9, 1699. " Item 
 
 the interest money received from the —It is agreed upon by vote that we will 
 
 Prudden estate in England." (See Lam- send for the Hon'd and Rever'd Council of 
 
 bert's Hist. Col. New Haven, p. 151, note.) Elders, and [request them] to favor us 
 
 t The following is the record bearing with a sight of those papers wherein the 
 
 on this point, viz: "Town meeting, Jan. issue of the late difficulties so far is con- 
 
 2,1698-9. Item — It is agreed by vote that tained. Item — The town did vote their 
 
 the town will raise £100 in a way of a rate full compliance with and acquiescence in 
 
 for the upholding of the worship of God that issue. Item — The Rev. Mr. Prudden 
 
 amongst us for a year. Item — It is voted and Mr. John Brown are chosen by vote 
 
 for to know whether the town would have to return our thanks to the Rever'd Coun- 
 
 Mr. Wakeman, if he could be obtained, cil for their faithful and painful services 
 
 for to join with Mr. Prudden in helping him for our settlement, signifying that we will 
 
 to carry on the work of the ministry ; and take sufficient care to defray the whole 
 
 if he cannot be obtained, then some other, charge of this their journey and trouble 
 
 Item— Mr. Pierson, Mr. Treat, Mr. Curtis, till they return." Town Records, p. 127. 
 
MR. pkudden's dismission. 103 
 
 from the fact that they made choice of him, with one 
 other, to convey their vote of thanks to the Reverend 
 Council " for their faithful and painful services ;" and 
 at the same town meeting commissioned three of their 
 most prominent men to express to him their thanks for 
 his past services, and their desire, testified by a very 
 full vote, for his continuance among them, and his ser- 
 vice in preaching to them, till God should favor them 
 with some other supply. This vote was passed June 
 9, 1699. 
 
 Never was a pastoral connection dissolved with 
 greater manifestations of kindness and good under- 
 standing between the parties. His full salary was 
 continued to him as long as he should continue to 
 preach ; and an order made " that all persons from 
 sixteen to sixty, years of age shall give to Mr. Prudden 
 each of them one load of wood for the year ensuing, 
 whether he serve the town in the ministry another 
 year or no."* But Dr. Macwhorter intimates that his 
 ministry had not been an easy one, owing to the dis- 
 satisfaction of the minority with his views and those 
 of the " predominant party" in respect to ecclesiasti- 
 cal government ; and as he is represented " not to 
 
 * Newark Town Records. Item — God shall furnish us with some other sup- 
 
 Capt. Curtis, Mr. Treat, Mr. Pierson and ply. Item — It is agreed that we will al- 
 
 Thomas Richards are chosen by a full low him for his further ministry according 
 
 vote to return our thanks to the Reverend to what he formerly had in proportion to 
 
 Mr. Prudden for his hitherto services the time we have occasion to use him as a 
 
 amongst us, with a signification that we minister. Item — It is voted that all per- 
 
 will speedily pay off our arrears due to sons from 10 to 60 years of age shall give 
 
 him by our particular subscriptions, and Mr. Prudden each of them one load of 
 
 by a full vote declare our desire of his con- wood for the year ensuing, whether he 
 
 tinuance among us, and his services at serve the town in the ministry another 
 
 present in preaching the Word to us till year or no." Records, pp. 127-8. 
 
104 PAKSONAGE LANDS. 
 
 have been a popular preacher," it is possible that a de- 
 cline of interest in his preaching, on the part of the 
 people, may have been among the causes of his resig- 
 nation. 
 
 It is to the period of Mr. Prudden's ministry that 
 the origin of the Church property, or title to the " par- 
 sonage lands," is usually referred. The original Pro- 
 prietors, in their Concessions, while they engaged never 
 to exercise the " right of patronage and power of ad- 
 vowson," granted by his Majesty to the Duke of York, 
 and by him transferred to them, " thereby to infringe 
 the general clause of liberty of conscience," empowered 
 the General Assembly of the Province by their act to 
 appoint as many ministers or preachers as they should 
 see fit, and establish their maintenance ; at the same 
 time giving liberty beside, to any person or persons to 
 keep and maintain what preachers or ministers they 
 should please. 
 
 This power seems never to have been exercised by 
 the General Assembly; and at a subsequent period, 
 namely in the year 1672, when, disagreements having 
 arisen, it was thought proper to abridge the powers of 
 that body, the Lords Proprietors, in the instrument al- 
 ready referred to, which purports to be an " Explana- 
 tion of their Concessions," and a " Declaration of the 
 true intent and meaning" of the Proprietors in making 
 them, transferred this authority from the General As- 
 sembly to the Governor and Council, subject however 
 to the previous nomination and choice of the people 
 in the several corporations.* In furtherance of their 
 
 * Grants, Concessions, &c, pp. 12-34. 
 
PAKSONAGE LANDS. 105 
 
 design, to see that religious institutions should be 
 maintained on the freest practicable terms, a grant of 
 two hundred acres of land was made in the beginning 
 "to each parish for the use of their ministers," free 
 from all rents and other charges whatsoever. The 
 people of this congregation being then the only parish 
 in the town, early availed themselves of this grant. 
 
 In the month of October, 1676, a warrant was taken 
 out for the survey of two hundred acres of land and 
 meadow in proportion, for the purposes of a parsonage, 
 and " also so much as shall be convenient for landing 
 places, school house, town house, meeting house, market 
 places, <fcc. ; in pursuance of which warrant, two hundred 
 and twelve acres were surveyed the same year, includ- 
 ing three acres for a burying place, three for a market 
 place, and six for a training place.* I find no evidence 
 that any use was made of these lands for religious pur- 
 poses, except the erection of a house of worship and 
 the burial of the dead on one of the smaller tracts, 
 until after December 10th, 1696, when a deed was ex- 
 ecuted by the Proprietors, conveying all the above 
 named reservations, with their appurtenances, to John 
 Curtis, John Treat, Theophilus Pierson and Robert 
 Young, their heirs and assigns for ever, " to the only 
 proper use, benefit and behoof of the old settlers of 
 the town of Newark, their heirs and assigns for ever," 
 to be for the several uses expressed in the deed, and 
 for " no other use or uses whatsoever," they paying 
 annually "six pence sterling money of England, on 
 every five and twentieth day of March, for ever here- 
 
 * Bill in Chancery, pp. 91-93. 
 
106 REV. JABEZ WAKEMAN. 
 
 after." It is under the title conveyed by this deed, if 
 I am rightly informed, that all that part of the church 
 property which came from the original settlers of the 
 town has been held ever since. 
 
 Mr. Prudden continued to reside in Newark after his 
 dismission, as long as he lived. He never assumed 
 another pastoral charge, but lived on the best of terms 
 with his former parishioners, preaching for them, at 
 their request, whenever they had no stated minister, 
 and fulfilling important trusts connected with their re- 
 ligious and secular interests. He died in the year 1*725, 
 at the advanced age of eighty years, having outlived 
 two, and sat under the ministry of three of his succes- 
 sors in the sacred office ; and his remains lie in the bu- 
 rying ground in the rear of this church, to which they 
 were removed from their original resting place a few 
 years ago.* 
 
 The fourth pastor was the Rev. Jabez Wakernan, a 
 younger son of the Rev. Samuel Wakeman, who was 
 installed as pastor of the Church in Fairfield, Conn., in 
 the year 1665, and removed by death between March 
 and October, 1692.f Jabez Wakeman was about 
 fourteen years of age when his father died, and in the 
 will, direction is given that he be kept at school, and 
 enter college the next August. The delay of a year 
 however, seems to have occurred, for we find by the 
 catalogue of Harvard College — "the college," as the 
 
 * The following is the inscription on the parted this Life Dec. 11th, 1725, Aged SO 
 
 tombstone of Mr. Prudden— but whose yrs. 
 
 muse presided at its composition lam not " Nor grace nor favour fill my reins. Loe 
 
 informed. room for y° there yet remains." 
 
 " Here lyes y e Body of y e Rev d Mr. John j Trumbull, Hist. Conn. 
 Prudden, Minister of y e Gospel, who de- 
 
mr. wakeman's settlement. 10 7 
 
 will denominates it, that he was graduated in the year 
 1697. About a year and four months after this date, 
 the people of Newark wishing to obtain an assistant 
 for their worthy pastor, had their attention turned 
 towards this young graduate, and appointed a commit- 
 tee to treat with Mr. Wakeman and Mr. Prudden for 
 that purpose. But the resignation of Mr. Prudden, 
 which took place early in June following, gave a new 
 aspect to affairs, and shortly afterwards, measures were 
 adopted to secure Mr. Wakeman's services as a candi- 
 date for the pastoral office. He was first engaged to 
 preach in that capacity for a year, but scarcely was 
 the year half out, before the ardor of the people pressed 
 the question to an issue, and at a meeting held on the 
 15th of April, 1700, "it was particularly inquired of 
 every person, whether they desired Mr. Jabez Wake- 
 man to be called to the pastoral office in this town, and 
 they every one manifested their willingness thereto, 
 and also voted the same."* 
 
 In the preliminary arrangements for the settlement 
 of Mr. Wakeman, we discover the first evidence of 
 separate concurrent action of the Church and town in 
 religious affairs. On the dismission of Mr. Prudden, 
 the town appointed a committee of three men, "to join 
 with such as the Church shall appoi?it, in speedily look- 
 ing out for another person to be on trial, in order to 
 settlement in the pastoral office," and again, shortly 
 after, another committee "to join with the Church 
 committee, to treat with Mr. Jabez Wakeman about 
 
 *Town Records, p. 131. 
 
108 CHARACTER OF MR. WAKEMAN. 
 
 his taking the office of pastor upon him." This was in 
 the years 1699 and 1700. 
 
 The salary of Mr. Wakeman was, at first, £60, but 
 it was soon after raised to £80, the same with that of 
 the two Piersons ; and whereas Mr. Prudden's had been 
 paid " according to several contributions voluntarily 
 subscribed," the people now returned to the old prac- 
 tice, and agreed that the above named sum should " be 
 raised by way of a rate."* A subscription was also 
 raised to procure for him a "settlement," that is a 
 homestead or " accommodations," as in the case of his 
 predecessor; in pursuance of which, a house and its 
 appurtenances were purchased, and presented to him, 
 by a deed of gift, " as the town's act and deed."f 
 
 Mr. Wakeman became the sole pastor of this con- 
 gregation at the early age of about twenty-one years. 
 He was a young man of great promise, amiable, ac- 
 complished, and remarkably popular in the pulpit. 
 The attachment of the people to their young and 
 talented pastor, appears to have been deep and tender. 
 Under his ministry the congregation became so much 
 increased, that additional accommodations were re- 
 quired for public worship, and the town ordered a 
 gallery to be built across the north end of the meeting 
 
 * Upon closer examination, I am satis- plan, it was voted that the way of rating 
 fied that the rate referred to was levied for the salary " should be as the major part 
 only on the estates of those who had vol- of the subscribers should agree upon." I 
 untarily agreed to be taxed for the pur- find no evidence of a tax levied indiscrim- 
 pose. The record is very explicit respect- inately and without consent of parties for 
 ing the "settlement," that though the deed the support of the minister, after the first 
 of gift was to be delivered to Mr. Wake- deviation from the original practice iu the 
 man as the town's act and deed, the money case of Abraham Pierson, junior, in the 
 to procure it should " be raised by way of the year 1687. Town Records, p. 133. 
 rate upon the estates of the subscribers.'" t Besides the accommodations mention- 
 In apparent accordance with the same ed above, we find the following under date 
 
ME. WAKEMAlf's DEATH. 109 
 
 house * But the hopes of the people and the fair 
 earthly prospects of the young minister and his family, 
 were destined to an early reverse. In the autumn of 
 the year 1*704, that fearful malady, the dysentery, pre- 
 vailing in a fatal form among the people, invaded his 
 family. His little son, Samuel, a child of two years 
 old, and an only one, died on the 29th of October; and 
 only nine days later, the father followed, leaving a 
 childless widow, and a disappointed flock to shed their 
 tears over his early grave.f 
 
 Mr. Wakeman died on the 8th day of October, 1*704, 
 in the twenty-sixth year of his age, after a short min- 
 istry of between four and five years. In his will, dated 
 four days before his death, in which he speaks of him- 
 self as " brought very low under the afflicting hand of 
 God," and not knowing how soon my change and dis- 
 solution may happen," he disposes of his " house and 
 homestead," in case of his wife's decease without issue 
 or re-marriage, " to the use and benefit of the town of 
 Newark," in the hands of seven named trustees, or 
 their surviving substitutes, and manifests his attach- 
 ment to the sacred office, by the following item : " My 
 
 of Nov. 11th, 1701 : " Item.— It is agreed \ During the ministry of Mr. Wakeman, 
 
 upon by vote, that Mr. Wakeman shall or about the time of his decease, theie died 
 
 have laid out to him sixty acres of upland, of the old settlers, Samuel Plum, June 13, 
 
 and ten acres of meadow, in the bounds 1703-4, aged 79 ; Captain John Curtis, 
 
 of Newark, if it can be found, if he settle September 17, 1708, aged 62 ; (See Dr. 
 
 among us to be our minister, and Mr. John J. S. Condit's Monumental Inscriptions,) 
 
 Curtis is chosen to lay out the land above Samuel Kose, 1700 ; Jonathan Tomp- 
 
 said. kins, in or before 1700 ; Thomas Pierson, 
 
 * The building of the gallery was first senior, and John Baldwin, senior, 1702- 
 
 ordered by vote, Nov. 1702, but as late as Henry Lyon, Francis Linle and William 
 
 March, 1703-4, a committee was appointed Camp, 1703 ; Mrs. Mary, wife of Azariah 
 
 "to contrive and oversee the building of Crane, and daughter of Robert Treat, 1704. 
 
 it." Town Records, pp. 134-5. — S. H. Congrar. 
 
110 CONGKEGATION DESTITUTE. 
 
 library of books, I will and bequeath unto the first of 
 my father Wakeman's house and family, who shall be 
 brought up at the University, and be fitted with learn- 
 ing to be serviceable to God and His church, in the 
 work of the ministry." In the introduction, he disposes 
 of himself according to the custom of the times, and 
 manifests his pious feeling in the following words: 
 " Imprimis. — I commit my soul immortal to God who 
 gave it, to glorify Him, and to be glorified by and with 
 Him for ever. My frail and corruptible body, made 
 of the dust, I will to be decently buried, in hope of a 
 glorious resurrection unto eternal life, through Jesus 
 Christ, my only Redeemer and Saviour, who was de- 
 livered for my offenses, and raised again for my justi- 
 fication ; that I may, both soul and body, glorify God 
 for ever. Amen." It affords me pleasure to be able 
 to add, that the precious remains of this beloved min- 
 ister of Christ, are " decently buried" in the rear of this 
 church ; to which place they were removed with pious 
 care, and for the sake of greater security, a few years 
 since, having been only once disturbed during a period 
 of nearly one hundred and fifty years.* 
 
 After the death of Mr. Wakeman, the congregration 
 remained destitute of a settled minister five or six 
 
 * The following is the inscription on the " By him lies his son, Samuel, died Sept. 
 
 tombstone of Mr. Wakeman. For its La- 29, 1704, ^Etatis 2d." 
 
 tinity, it is presumed, neither he nor " the There are two tablets, the lower, and 
 
 College" is accountable : probably the earlier one, is in capitals, and 
 
 " Here lye the Remains of y 5 Revd. Mr. as far as it is legible, reads thus : 
 
 Jabez Wakeman, the faithful Pastor of " th y e body, Jabesh Wakeman, whas 
 
 y e Church of Christ in this place, who De- our Rev 11 Pastor, who deceased, Oct. 8, 
 
 parted this life, OcU 8V 1704. JStatis 26. 1704, in y e 26 year of his age." 
 
 " Hoc sunt tumulo Wakeman yenerabi- The Latin is the same as on the other. 
 Ha ossa." 
 
EEV. SAMUEL WHITTLESEY. Ill 
 
 years. Mr. Prudden was immediately invited to re- 
 sume the pulpit till some other supply could be pro- 
 cured, and the town voted " to be in the speedy use 
 of means to seek for a man to supply the vacancy of 
 the pastoral office." But no suitable person seems to 
 have been found for a candidate, until after the lapse 
 of a full year, when the town voted that their commit- 
 tee "should make their application to Mr.- Samuel 
 Sherman, to preach the Word amongst us for proba-' 
 tion." But after a few months some facts transpiring 
 connected with his former history, of the nature of 
 which we are not informed, the negotiations were ab- 
 ruptly terminated, by a vote to have " no further 
 treaty with Mr. Sherman upon the account of a settle- 
 ment among us."* 
 
 Theophilus Pierson, younger brother of the second 
 Abraham Pierson, was now appointed "to be the 
 town's messenger to send, to endeavor to get a man 
 upon trial," and a committee of five men appointed, 
 with Mr. Prudden at their head, "to give Mr. Pierson 
 power, direction and instruction in that matter, in the 
 town's behalf." 
 
 Mr. Samuel Whittlesey was the next candidate. " It 
 was voted and agreed upon," says the record, under 
 
 *"The question was asked the town, "Item. — Mr. Pierson was chosen by vote 
 
 says the record, whether they were satis- to be the town's messenger to send, to en- 
 
 fied with the information that the Church deavor to get a man upon trial in the work 
 
 had from Mr. Sherman's own mouth con- of the ministry among us. Item. — Mr. 
 
 cerning the place from whence he came. Prudden, Mr. Jasper Crane, Deacon Crane, 
 
 It was consented to by vote that they were. Robert Young and Joseph Harrison were 
 
 Item. — Eliphalet Johnson, Mr. Jasper chosen by vote to give all power, direction 
 
 Crane, Mr. Pierson and Deacon Azariah and instruction in that matter in the 
 
 Crane were chosen by vote to return the town's behalf." Records, p. 138. 
 town's answer to Mr. Sherman above said. 
 
112 LORD CORNBURY. 
 
 date of May 17th, 1706, "to improve Mr. Samuel 
 Whittlesey in the work of the ministry among us for 
 the space of a year." The result of this improvement 
 was a determination, on the part of the people, to seek 
 his settlement among them. Some difference of opinion 
 probably existed at this time, in regard to the proper 
 sum to be assigned for the support of the new minis- 
 ter, and it was voted March 31st, 1707, "that the ma- 
 jor part should rule the minor in fixing the sum for 
 Mr. Whittlesey's salary." Accordingly, the salary was 
 fixed at <£65, with the additional intimation that the 
 town " would, and were willing to be helpful to Mr. 
 Whittlesey, in procuring a settlement for him in con- 
 venient season." Mr. Whittlesey saw fit to decline 
 this invitation, and was soon after settled as the second 
 pastor of the Church in Wallingford, Conn. He ap- 
 pears to have occupied the pulpit here somewhat more 
 than a year. 
 
 The period in which these transactions took place 
 was one of great political agitation. The Proprietary 
 government finding itself unable to maintain its au- 
 thority and secure the public order, made a formal 
 surrender of its powers into the hands of the Queen, 
 on the 15th of April, 1702, who thereupon commis- 
 sioned Edward, Lord Cornbury, her own cousin, as her 
 Captain-General and Governor-in-chief of the Province 
 of New Jersey, and sent him hither with her instruc- 
 tions to form a new government, embracing both the 
 two former divisions of the Province. 
 
 The private character of Lord Cornbury was as mean 
 and contemptible, as his administration of the govern- 
 
LOED COENTBUEY. 113 
 
 ment was arbitrary and oppressive. " It was no un- 
 common tiling for him," says a writer quoted in Smith's 
 History, " to dress himself in a woman's habit, and then 
 patrol the fort in which he resided. Such freaks of 
 low humor exposed him to the universal contempt of 
 the people ; but their indignation was kindled by his 
 despotic rule, savage bigotry, insatiable avarice, and 
 injustice, not only to the public, but even to his private 
 creditors."* 
 
 This detested and detestable young nobleman, re- 
 garded it as his special mission in the New World, to 
 promote the interests of the Church of England ; and 
 although the Queen had expressly instructed him " to 
 permit a liberty of conscience to all persons except Pa- 
 pists, so they might be content with a quiet and peace- 
 able enjoyment of the same," his overweening zeal 
 seized upon some expressions having manifest reference 
 to clergymen of the Established Church, whom he was 
 not to allow to preach without either a certificate from 
 the Bishop of London, or a license from himself, and 
 made them the pretext for vexatious restrictions and 
 exactions upon the old and long established Presbyte- 
 rian and Congregational churches.f 
 
 It marks sufficiently the oppressive spirit of this ad- 
 ministration, by whose vexatious measures both in civil 
 and ecclesiastical affairs, the most peaceful citizens were 
 
 * Hist, New Jersey, p. 352. the English parliament, both in the impo- 
 + Force's Historical Tracts, vol. iv. No. 4. sition of taxes and the regulation of eccle- 
 " It must be admitted," says Graham, siastical affairs." This pledge of freedom 
 Hist. North America, p . 464, " that the from interference in religious matters was 
 colonization of this province was under- their grand inducement to make the set- 
 taken on an assurance, which the settlers tlement. Whence then could the Queen 
 were entitled to credit, of their being com- or her officers derive the right to molest 
 pletely exempted from the jurisdiction of them ? 
 
114 REV. FRANCIS MAKEMLE. 
 
 well nigh stung to open rebellion, that such an item as 
 the following, which I extract from the Newark Town 
 Records, should have found place among the transac- 
 tions of one of the most ancient, respectable and law- 
 abiding congregations in the land. "Oct, 30, 1*705 — 
 It was agreed upon by vote, to petition my Lord Corn- 
 bury for license, that we may have leave to get and 
 settle a man in the work of the ministry of the Gospel, 
 according to our own persuasion."* 
 
 That this precaution was not adopted without rea- 
 son, is manifest from what took place two years after- 
 wards, in the case of Rev. Francis Makemie, a highly 
 respected member of the first presbytery ever estab- 
 lished in this country. This excellent man was seized 
 by order of the Governor, for the alleged oifence of 
 preaching in the city of New York without a license, 
 carried about the country, from Newtown, on Long Is- 
 land, through Jamaica to New York, and there thrust 
 into prison, where he was detained six weeks. After 
 a long trial, the jury returned a verdict of " not guilty," 
 and when questioned by the court concerning their 
 reasons, simply replied that "they believed in their 
 conscience, they had done the defendant justice," and 
 that he " had not transgressed any law." Thereupon 
 the court ordered the prisoner to be discharged ; not 
 however without first throwing upon him the whole 
 costs of the prosecution, including fees to the sheriff 
 for arresting him, and the high sheriff for committing 
 
 * The Record adds, "Item. — Mr. Prud- personate the town in signing the petition, 
 
 den, Mr. Pierson and Sergeant John Mor- Mr. Pierson is chosen to prefer it to my 
 
 ris are chosen by vote to draw a petition. Lord Cornbury." Records, p. 136. 
 It is voted that the Clerk of the town shall 
 
KEV. FRANCIS MAKEMIE. 115 
 
 him to prison, together with £12 12s. to the prosecut- 
 ing attorney — the whole amounting to somewhat more 
 than £80* — and the impoverished Presbyterian minis- 
 ter was permitted to pursue his journey to New Eng- 
 land, with such funds as might be left him, or as his 
 friends might furnish, musing at leisure, although 
 nothing daunted, on the perils of Presbyterian church 
 extension within the bounds of my Lord Cornbury's 
 government. 
 
 In this outrageous transaction, the members of this 
 congregation did not escape their share of annoyance. 
 The persecuted minister had, it seems, found sympa- 
 thizers, if not helpers among them. During his impris- 
 onment therefore, in order if possible to elicit some- 
 thing to his disadvantage, that might be available in 
 the trial, an order was given to Major Sandford, one of 
 the Governor's council, to examine, on oath, Jasper 
 Crane and several others, concerning private conversa- 
 tions supposed to have been held between Makemie 
 and " sundry of his friends," at Mr. Crane's house. The 
 inquisition however, brought to light no dangerous 
 secrets.f 
 
 It is a relief to know, that scarcely a year elapsed 
 after this outrage, before the Queen, listening to the 
 complaints of her injured subjects, divested the un- 
 worthy official of his abused power, declaring that she 
 " would not countenance her nearest relations in op- 
 pressing her people." 
 
 * Force's Historical Tracts, vol. iv. No. for the above sWement, Mr. Crane's resi- 
 
 4, ed. Washington, 1846. dence is said to be in " New- ZwZ'-Town 
 
 t Force's Historical Tracts, vol. iv. No. in East- Jersey," but there can be no doubt 
 
 4. In the edition to which I have referred I suppose as to the place intended. 
 
116 REV. NATHANIEL BOWERS. 
 
 But, to proceed with the narrative : On the failure 
 of their endeavors to obtain Mr. Whittlesey, the town 
 resolved to send to New England for a minister.* This 
 had been, from the beginning, the great clerical hive ; 
 and from this source, if from any, the right man might 
 be expected. Theophilus Pierson was accordingly 
 again deputed to undertake this journey and make the 
 necessary inquiries ; and on his return he made report 
 " that with good advice from the elders, he made ap- 
 plication to Mr. Nathaniel Bowers, when he received 
 encouragement, that if the town would signify their 
 desire therein, he would give us a visit."f On hearing 
 this report, the town at once resolved to accede to the 
 proposition implied in it ; and, to testify their cordial- 
 ity in the matter, ordered a messenger to be sent to 
 meet him at Hudson River, and conduct him to New- 
 ark. After preaching to the people one Sabbath, Mr. 
 Bowers was invited " very unanimously — not one to 
 the contrary," to occupy the pulpit for a year on trial ; 
 and near the expiration of that period, a call was given 
 him to assume the pastoral office, and a committee ap- 
 pointed to make the arrangements for his ordination. 
 In the stipulation for the support of Mr. Bowers, we 
 
 * " Town meeting, March 21, 1708. Mr progress he had made in that matter ; that 
 
 Pierson was chosen by Tote to go to New with good advice from the elders, he made 
 
 England to endeavor to procure a minister; his application to Mr. Nathaniel Bowers, 
 
 and the committee that was before chosen, of whom he received this encouragement; 
 
 viz: Mr. Pierson, [Mr. Prudden?] Deacon that if the town would signify their desire 
 
 Azariah Crane, Mr. Jasper Crane, Sergeant therein, he would give us a visit ; which 
 
 Joseph Harrison, Robert Young and Lieut, was put to vote, and very unanimously 
 
 Samuel Ailing, were appointed to give voted that there should be a messenger 
 
 him his instructions in the management of sent to Hudson's river, on the 16th June, 
 
 that affair." to wait upon him to Newark." Records, 
 
 t "JuneS, 1709. Upon Mr. Pierson's pp. 140-1. 
 return he made a report to the town of the 
 
EEV. NATHANIEL BOWERS. Hf 
 
 find the first notice of a parsonage house — perhaps the 
 same which had been given to Mr. Wakeman, and re- 
 conveyed for the use of the town by his will. The 
 salary assigned to him after his settlement was £80, 
 and the use of the parsonage — " he keeping it in re- 
 pair."* 
 
 The Rev. Nathaniel Bowers was the fifth pastor of 
 this Church. Of his origin, parentage, education and 
 early history, I have no knowledge, except that he 
 came from New England. As his name does not ap- 
 pear among the graduates either of Harvard College 
 or Yale, he must have been educated in the old coun- 
 try, or not have received a collegiate education.f The 
 dates of his ministry may be very accurately stated. 
 He arrived in Newark on the 16th of June, 1709, and 
 was installed as pastor of the Church in the autumn of 
 
 * The salary here named, was raised Assembly." Parish and town seem from 
 " by way of rating," as in the case of Mr. that date to have become practically sepa- 
 Wakeman; the record says, "according rated, though not nominally, 
 to our former way of rating for the min- t The Rev. Mr. Guernsey, formerly pas- 
 ister." But here there is no room for tor of a church in Derby, gives me the 
 doubt as to what was meant by that ex- following account of a conversation with 
 pression ; for a committee was appointed the late Professor Kingsley, of Yale Col- 
 " on a lecture day," June 28, 1710, "to lege: "Prof. Kingsley says that Bowers, 
 deliver the subscription, to Mr. Bowers, of Derby, went westward, and was met by 
 which was drawn up and signed by the a delegation of the congregation he went 
 art-tilt r part of the town, for the payment to serve at the New York State line. He 
 of his yearly salary;" and, subsequently, did not give his name, nor did he name 
 an order is given that "a list of the estates the place to which he went. Of his sub- 
 of the subscribers''' should be given in to sequent history he knows nothing." The 
 the assessors, for that purpose. After this name of the Derby Bowers was John, and 
 period, special assessors and collectors he removed, as Trumbull says, to Rye; 
 were appointed annually for the minister's but the resemblance of the circumstances 
 rate ; and from and after the year 1714, above stated to those recorded in the New- 
 when the town charter was obtained, the ark Town Records, leads me to suspect 
 business of raising money for religious that the Professor's information had con- 
 purposes is always transacted at special founded two things, and that Nathaniel, of 
 town meetings, and those meetings are Newark, may have been the man he had 
 not recorded, like those at which the or- in view. I insert the tradition, hoping it 
 dinary civil affairs of the town are trans- may furnish a clue to the true origin of 
 acted, as called " pursuant to an act of Mr. Bowers. 
 
118 SECOND HOUSE OF WORSHIP. 
 
 1710. Whether this was his first settlement, as the 
 term " ordination," used in the Records, seems to im- 
 ply, or whether that word may have been used loosely 
 for installation, may be a matter of doubt. His age — 
 already past thirty-five years — would seem to favor 
 the latter supposition. Mr. Bowers occupied the pul- 
 pit a little more than seven years, and was the pastor 
 of the Church about six.* His death occurred in the 
 month of August, IT 16, in the 43d year of his age, 
 and his remains lie in the rear of this Church, by the 
 side of those of Prudden and , Wakeman.f 
 
 It was just before the commencement of Mr. Bow- 
 ers' ministry, viz : in the year 1708, that the second 
 house of worship has been usually said to have been 
 erected. Such is the statement of Dr. Macwhorter ; 
 and such also was the apparent testimony of the vane 
 upon the steeple, which bore upon it, within the mem- 
 ory of many now living, the figures 1708. One fact, 
 however, seems strongly to oppose that opinion. The 
 records of the town, covering that period, though they 
 contain several votes relating to ecclesiastical aifairs, 
 make no allusion to any such enterprise ; and as the 
 statement of Dr. Macwhorter was founded upon tradi- 
 tion nearly a century after the event, and the figures 
 
 * During the ministry of Mr. Bowers, Condit's Monumental Inscriptions. — Mr. 
 
 or the vacancy which preceded it, a (ew> S, H. Congar. 
 
 more deaths of first settlers appear to f The epitaph of Mr. Bowers is as fol- 
 
 have taken place. Samuel Lyon died in lows : " Here lyeth the body of the Rev. 
 
 1706 ; Jonathan Sargeant in 1709 ; Zecha- Mr. Nathaniel Bowers, pastor of the church 
 
 riah Burwell about 1712. The tomb-stone in this place, who died August 4, Anno 
 
 of John Treat bears the following inscrip- Domini, 1716, in the 43d year of his age." 
 
 tion : " Here lyes interred the body of He left a widow, Hannah, and one son, 
 
 John Treat, Esq., aged 65 years, who de- Nathaniel, who was a seaman. — S. H. Con- 
 
 parted this life August the 1st, 1714." Dr. gar. 
 
SECOND HOUSE OF WORSHIP. 119 
 
 on the vane may have derived their origin from the 
 same source, it seems probable that the true date is 
 somewhere between the 12th of April, 1714, and the 
 10th of August, 1716, when a vacancy occurs in the 
 records. I am the more inclined to this conclusion, as 
 one of the first entries made subsequently to that pe- 
 riod, is the choice of " two men to seat the three men 
 that were chosen to seat the meeting house,"* showing 
 that, for some reason or other, the important and deli- 
 cate office of "seating," had just been formally dis- 
 charged — the agents in the work alone remaining to 
 be disposed of by still other authorities. 
 
 The edifice, to which I now refer, was built of stone, 
 about forty-four feet square, and had a bell in the 
 steeple as early as the year 1735. f Of this edifice Dr. 
 Macwhorter observes : " It was an exceeding, great ex- 
 ertion of the people to erect it, and it was the r.ost 
 elegant edifice for public worship at that time in the 
 Colony, however mean it may now be considered. 
 There were considerable difficulties and contentions in 
 the society to get it as large as it was. It was hardly 
 believed that the inhabitants of the town would ever 
 be so numerous as to fill it." The tradition which he 
 
 * The two men referred to are Mr. James the old yard where formerly stood Whip- 
 
 Nutinan aud Lieut. John Morris. " In pany Church, said to have been the first 
 
 the old burying ground, on the lot of the settlement made west of the Newark 
 
 Nutman family, is the grave of the Rev. mountains." — S. If. Congar. 
 
 Mr. John Nutman, who died in 1751, aged f March 11, 1734^5. A committee was 
 
 48. According to a notice in the New appointed " to take care of the ringing of 
 
 Jersey Historical Collections, p. 380, he the bell, aud sweeping the meeting house." 
 
 was minister of a Presbyterian Church in Two years later, it was voted " that Han- 
 
 Whippany, from 1730 to 1745, probably nah Sbingleton should sweep the meeting 
 
 called by the emigrants to that region, the house, provided she sweeps it clean, and for 
 
 Campfields and Kitchels, and Lindleys, the same wages as it was done for last 
 
 and Cranes, from Newark, who sleep in year." 
 
120 FIRST CHURCH IN ORANGE. 
 
 relates, that " when the walls were knee high, all the 
 inhabitants, men, women and children, could have sat 
 upon the same," does not accord with known facts re- 
 specting the number of people in the town about that 
 time, and must therefore be regarded as somewhat le- 
 gendary. It is said that nearly thirty years elapsed 
 before the inside was entirely finished. This house 
 stood on the west side of Broad street, a little to the 
 north of the spot occupied by its predecessor, and 
 being converted into a Court House after the year 
 1791, was standing, within the recollection of many 
 who are now living. 
 
 On the death of Mr. Bowers, a vacancy occurred in 
 the pastoral office of about two years, during which 
 time, as Dr. Macwhorter relates, a Mr. Buckingham 
 occupied ±he pulpit, as a candidate for settlement, and 
 created great divisions among the people. Of his his- 
 tory and character, we learn nothing, except the simple 
 statement that in process of time he " returned to New 
 England, where he obtained a settlement, lived useful, 
 and died in reputation."* 
 
 It was in the latter part of this interval, that the 
 first separation from the old Church, for the formation 
 of a new congregation, took place. The original 
 boundaries of the township, which extended, as ex- 
 pressed in the deed, " to the foot of the great moun- 
 tain called Watchung," were, by a subsequent purchase 
 of the Indians, as we have before noticed, in the year 
 16*78,+ enlarged to the top of the mountain, embracing 
 
 * Dr. Macwhorter's Century Sermon. + March, 1677-8. Newark Town Kec- 
 
 ords. 
 
KEV. JOSEPH WEBB. 121 
 
 the territory now occupied by the towns of Orange, 
 South Orange, Bloomfield, Belleville and Clinton. In 
 the year 1681, an order was given for laying out the 
 highway as far as the mountain.* How rapidly the 
 settlement was extended in that direction cannot ac- 
 curately be determined. As late as the year 1696, 
 only two or three families are spoken of as residing 
 there. But in 1715, Azariah Crane, one of the Dea- 
 cons of this Church, and Edward Ball, one of its ear- 
 liest members, speak of themselves as having been 
 " settled " there many years.f And in or about the year 
 1718, the inhabitants of that part of the town having 
 become somewhat numerous, formed a distinct religious 
 organization, which was known at first and for many 
 years as the ''Mountain Society," and afterwards as 
 the " Second Church in Newark." It is now the First 
 Presbyterian Church in Orange. 
 
 The Rev. Joseph Webb — the sixth pastor — was, 
 as I suppose, a son of the Rev. Joseph Webb, 
 of Fairfield, Connecticut, one of the original founders 
 of Yale College, of which he was many years a 
 trustee, and who died in the year 1732. Mr. Webb 
 was a graduate of Yale College of the year 1715. He 
 was introduced here by a letter from Mr. Andrew, 
 proabably the Rev. Samuel Andrew, of Milford, a rel- 
 ative of some of the old settlers of Newark, his father's 
 associate in the government of the College, and its 
 temporary Rector at the time of his own graduation. 
 This letter being read in town meeting and " well ac- 
 
 * Newark Town Records. t Newark " Town Book." 
 
122 OEDINATION OF ME. WEBB. 
 
 cepted," it was voted, December 16, 1718, to agree 
 with Mr. Webb for three-quarters of a year on trial, 
 and " to give him, for the time, at the rate of seventy- 
 pounds a year." Whether this became his permanent 
 stipend after his settlement, and whether a parsonage 
 house was furnished him as in the case of some of his 
 predecessors, the record of no further act of the town 
 remains to inform us. His salary, however, was raised 
 regularly, from year to year, by a tax upon estates 
 during his whole ministry. We learn from Dr. Mac- 
 whorter, that he was ordained by the Presbytery of 
 Philadelphia on the 2 2d of October, 1*719,* and that 
 the ministers present at his ordination were Messrs. 
 Joseph Morgan, Jonathan Dickinson, John Pierson, son 
 of Rev. Abraham Pierson, junior,f and Robert Orr. 
 He also states that Mr. Webb was settled here with 
 
 * This accords with the published min- den, Morgan, Orr and Dickinson, before a 
 
 utes of the Synod ; Mr. Webb's name not great assembly." Minutes of the Pres- 
 
 appeariug either as present or absent till bytery of Philadelphia, p. 43, note, 
 
 the meeting in September, 1720. He died in 1770, and his remains lie 
 
 t Rev. John Pierson, son of Abraham buried in Hanover, where his tomb-stone 
 Pierson, jr., was born, probably in Newark, now bears, as Mr. Cougar informs me, 
 in the year 1689, and graduated at Yale the following inscription : 
 College in 1711. In the year 1717 he was " The Rev. Mr. John Pierson died Aug. 
 ordained over the congregation at Wood- 23, 1770, Aetatis 81, who was a minister 
 bridge, as appears from the following of the Gospel about 57 years. He was an 
 "Memoranda: Mr. John Pierson having eminent Divine ; an excellent casuist; a 
 performed those acts of trial assigned him, faithful, searching preacher; a devout and 
 viz., preached a popular sermon, from steadfast Christian ; an undaunted re- 
 Tit, iii : 8, delivered an exegesis on that prover ; a peculiar economist ; stern in 
 question, an ju stificaUo nostra sit ab a- his behaviour, yet benevolent and kind. 
 ter no aut in tempore prcestita, answered to He passed many scenes of life without a 
 many questions touching theological mat- blemish in his behaviour. ' The memory 
 ters, and also discovered his skill in the of the just is blessed.' " 
 original languages; all which being done Mr. Pierson, as will be seen hereafter, 
 to satisfaction, the said Mr. Pierson was was for many years associated with the 
 ordained and set apart to the work of the pastors of this church in the most impor- 
 ministry at Woodbridge on the 29th day tant ecclesiastical transactions, 
 of April, 1717, by Masters Andrews, Prid- 
 
INTRODUCTION OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 123 
 
 great unanimity, and for some years there was much 
 tranquility and comfort in the town. 
 
 As this is the first instance, which occurs in this his- 
 tory, of an ordination by act of Presbytery, it seems 
 proper to inquire here for the origin of Presbyterian- 
 ism in this Church. In common with most of the 
 Churches of New England, it was established origin- 
 ally on a Congregational basis. Dr. Macwhorter, as 
 we have seen, stated it, as a tradition, that the first 
 pastor was inclined to Presbyterianism ; but the posi- 
 tion which he occupied among parties, strongly indi- 
 cates the contrary — since the party with which he 
 identified himself, and of which he might be regarded 
 as a leader, was the one farthest removed from Pres- 
 byterianism, according to the understanding of that 
 day. With his son, the second pastor, the case was 
 different. His leanings, as we have already shown, 
 were towards that system ; but the people were then 
 strenuous for their old usages, and though a small 
 party, chiefly from Scotland, were already among them 
 favorable to his views, the jealousy of the majority 
 went so far as to break the pastoral relation. The 
 next three ministers were unquestionably Congrega- 
 tional.* Indeed, except in the traditions above re- 
 ferred to, we find no trace of any Presbyterial rela- 
 tions until about the time of Mr. Webb's ordination. 
 
 * Dr. Macwhorter says, " it may be ob- came to Newark, and after the ministry of 
 served that these three last ministers, edu- both the other two was closed; and so 
 cated in Connecticut, and under the Say- lar as its influence went, its manifest ten- 
 brook platform, seem to have been Con- dency must have been to prepare the way 
 gregationalists." Here is the same mis- for the introduction of Presbyterianism, 
 take noticed before, respecting the in- rather than to retard it. (See Trumbull's 
 fluence of the "Platform." It was not Hist. Conn., vol. i, pp.482, 487, 488.) 
 framed till just before the last of the three 
 
124 INTRODUCTION OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 
 
 To explain the mode in which the change probably 
 took place, it is necessary to take into view the history 
 and early relations of these two denominations in our 
 country. The Congregational was for many years the 
 only one which had a distinct organization. But, 
 throughout New England, there was, from the earliest 
 times, not a few, both of ministers and people, who 
 were more or less inclined to Presbyterian views .* 
 Nor does there appear to have been, between the two 
 parties, except in particular instances, any considerable 
 degree of partizan feeling. The Congregationalists 
 resented the charge of hostility towards the Presbyte- 
 rians, and appealed to their known practice as witness- 
 ing the contrary. As early as the year 1634, a party 
 in Scotland, among whom were distinguished individ- 
 uals of the Presbyterian Church, proposed to emigrate 
 to New England, with the express design of establishing 
 their own form of government and worship, to whom 
 the people of Massachusetts promised a hearty welcome 
 and the free exercise of their Presbyterian preferences.f 
 
 * Dr. Hodge states, on the authority of testation or disturbance, and have and 
 
 Cotton Mather, that 4,000 emigrants of find as good respect from magistrates and 
 
 this class arrived prior to 1640. (Const, people as other elders in the Congrega- 
 
 Hist., p. 39.) tional or primitive way." "So 'tis well 
 
 t See " Hypocrisy Unveiled," by Ed- known, that before these unhappy troubles 
 
 ward Winslow, in Young's "Chronicles of arose in England and Scotland, there were 
 
 the Pilgrims," pp. 402-3. " The next as- divers gentlemen of Scotland that groaned 
 
 persion cast upon us is, that we will not under the heavy pressure of those times, 
 
 suffer any that differ from us n«ver so lit- wrote to know whether they might be 
 
 tie, to reside or cohabit with us : no not ilie freely suffered to exercise their Presbyte- 
 
 Presbyterian government, which differeth rian government amongst us; and it was 
 
 so little from us ; to which I answer, our answered affirmatively that they might, 
 
 practice witnesseth the contrary, for 'tis And they sending over a gentleman to 
 
 well known that Mr. Parker and Mr. Noyes, take a view of some fit place, a river called 
 
 who are ministers of Jesus Christ at New - Meromeck, (Merrimac,) near Ipswich and 
 
 berry, are in that way, and so known, so Xewberry aforesaid, was shewed their 
 
 far as a single congregation can be exer- agent, which he well liked, and where we 
 
 cised in it ; yet never had the least mo- have four towns settled, and more for 
 
ESTTKODUCTION OF PEESBYTERIAlSriSM. 125 
 
 And, though this company were providentially de- 
 tained, and thus the organization of a distinct Presby- 
 terian Church probably delayed, it was no secret that 
 the Congregational Churches contained Presbyterian 
 elements, and were modified more or less in their con- 
 stitution, by deference to Presbyterian predilections. 
 The system of Church policy called the Saybrook Plat- 
 form, which subsequently came to prevail in the 
 Churches of Connecticut, was probably intended to 
 occupy a middle ground between the two systems.* 
 
 Such was the state of the case, when a large emigra- 
 tion of the Scotch and Huguenots began to occupy the 
 Middle and Southern States. In New Jersey, the 
 Scotch began to arrive in great numbers from and af- 
 ter the year 1682, when the twenty-four Proprietors, 
 half of whom were of Scotland, assumed the direction 
 of the Province.f About the commencement of the 
 
 aught I know ; so that there they might century later, Presbyterianism in its corn- 
 have had a complete Presbytery, and plete form was introduced into that region 
 whither they intended to have come. But by causes entirely independent of both, 
 meeting with manifold crosses, being half The Presbytery of Newburyport flourish- 
 seas through, they gave over their intend- ed on that ground for nearly thirty years, 
 ments ; and, as I have heard, these were and at the present moment, I believe, the 
 many of the gentlemen that first fell upon only churches of that denomination in 
 Uie late covenant in Scotland." In the Massachusetts are the two Presbyterian 
 records of the General Court of Massachu- Churches of that city, 
 setts, September, 1634, is found the fol- * Trumbull says (Hist. Conn., vol. i, p. 
 lowing : " It is ordered that the Scottish 487,) " Though the Council were unani- 
 and Irish gentlemen who intend to come mous in passing the platform of discipline, 
 hither shall have liberty to set down upon yet they were not all of one opinion, 
 any place upon Merrimack river, not pos- Some were for high consociational gov- 
 sessed by any." (See Coffin's History of ernment, and in their sentiments nearly 
 Newbury, pp. 12, 13.) It would seem as Presbyterian ; others were much more 
 if this spot about the mouth of the Mer- moderate, and rather verging on Indepen- 
 rimack, thus devoted to Presbyterianism dency, but exceedingly desirous of keeping 
 by the Congregational fathers, had had an the unity of the spirit in the bond of 
 affinity for Presbyterian institutions ever peace, they exercised great Christian con- 
 since. The settlement of Parker and descension and amicableness towards each 
 Noyes there had no connection whatever other." 
 with the incident above stated; and a t Whitehead, pp. 88, 103. 
 
126 INTRODUCTION OF PEESBYTERIANISM. 
 
 eighteenth century, Presbyterian Churches of a decided 
 character began to be organized. The first Presbytery 
 ever formed in this country was that of Philadelphia, 
 which originated in the year 1*705 or 1706,* and con- 
 sisted at first of seven ministers, all but one of whom 
 were of Scotch or Scotch-Irish origin.f From this 
 time, the current in this region set in an opposite di- 
 rection from that which it had taken in New England. 
 The Presbyterian elements, beiug the stronger, ab- 
 sorbed the Congregational ; and, one after another, the 
 old Congregational Churches of East Jersey, with 
 their ministers, most of whom had been educated in 
 New England, joined the Presbytery and adopted the 
 Presbyterian government and discipline. This they 
 could do, without abandoning any of their fundamen- 
 tal principles.^ The chief difference recognized had 
 reference to the admission of persons to sealing ordin- 
 ances and the degree of power which should be 
 given to elders and synods ; and that was readily ad- 
 justed, probably to the satisfaction of both parties. In 
 doctrine, both stood upon the same platform. The 
 
 * Minutes, p. 6. ings towards his Congregational brethren 
 1- Hodge's Constitutional History, p. 83. may be judged of by apassage in his will, 
 Among the fathers of the Presbyterian wherein he gives his library " to Mr. An- 
 Church, none stand more prominent than drews, and after his decease or removal, 
 Francis Makemie and Jedediah Andrews, to such minister or ministers as shall suc- 
 pastor of the First Church in Philadel- ceed him in that place and office, and to 
 phia; the former a native of Scotland or such only as shall be of the Presbyterian 
 the north of Ireland, the latter of Massa- or Independent persuasion, and none else." 
 chusetts; the former, by all his habits and Foote's Sketches of Virginia, p. 57. 
 preferences, a thorough Presbyterian ; the X The extract already made from the 
 latter inclined, from early education, to writings of Jonathan Dickinson shows 
 Congregational usages. The affection of the views with which he entered the Pres- 
 these two excellent men towards each byterian Church. He considered both de- 
 other is an example to all parties in the nominations as 'embarked on one bottom.' 
 Church they founded. Makemie's feel- 
 
THE CHURCH JOINS THE PRESBYTERY. 127 
 
 church in Woodbriclge became connected with the 
 Presbytery as early as 1708, though it still retained 
 some of its Congregational usages ; and that of Eliza- 
 bethtown appears, with its pastor,* at the forming of 
 the first synod, called the Synod of Philadelphia, in 
 1717. 
 
 The precise time at which this church united with 
 the Presbytery, owing to the loss of records,f cannot 
 now be ascertained. Dr. Macwhorter says it was in 
 1716 ; but the records of that period are still extant, 
 and contain nothing to confirm his tradition. It is 
 hardly probable that it took place during the ministry 
 v 'of Mr. Bowers ; though the incipient steps towards it 
 may have been taken during the contentions about 
 Mr. Buckingham, when, as we are informed by the 
 the same authority, one of the parties applied to the 
 Presbytery for advice. However, the way had been 
 preparing for such a step from the very first introduc- 
 tion of the Presbyterian polity in this region. Scotch 
 families, and probably with decided Scotch predilec- 
 tions, formed a part of the population of Newark be- 
 fore the close of the seventeenth century, and were in- 
 termingled extensively by marriage with the families 
 of the first settlers. J We have already noticed that 
 Francis Makemie, the father of the Presbyterian 
 Church, had friends and partizans in Newark, when he 
 first visited this part of the country in 1708. As the 
 
 * Minutes, p. 46. John Ward, senior. James Clisbe mar- 
 t The minutes of the Presbytery of ried Elizabeth, daughter of Zechariah 
 Philadelphia from 1717 to 1733 are lost. Burwell. Kobert Young, a daughter of 
 Hodge's Const. Hist., p. 193. Benjamin Baldwin ; and James Nutman a 
 \ Samuel Nesbit married a daughter of daughter of Rev. John Prudden. (New- 
 Samuel Harrison, and granddaughter of ark Town Book.) — S. H. Congar. 
 
128 STATE OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES. 
 
 death of Mr. Bowers, the last of the Congregational 
 ministers, which occurred just about the time of the 
 formation of the first synod, left the way open for 
 any new arrangement which might seem desirable, the 
 probability is, that the people availed themselves of the 
 first favorable opportunity to connect themselves with 
 what they doubtless regarded as in the fullest sense 
 their sister Churches in this and the neighboring Prov- 
 inces. The change, if change it may be called, grew 
 out of the course of events, and was natural, easy, 
 and excited little discussion. 
 
 The first appearance of Mr. Webb in the Synod was 
 in the year 1720; and from that time to the present 
 the Church has been very regularly represented, both 
 in the Presbyteries and other judicatories with which 
 from time to time it has been connected. Indeed, 
 both in its internal and external relations, it has been, 
 during that whole period of a hundred and thirty 
 years, one of the most consistent and thoroughly Pres- 
 byterian of the Presbyterian Churches. 
 
 The Presbyterian Church at large, during Mr. 
 Webb's connection with it, was still in a feeble and 
 forming state. A large part of the territory occupied 
 by its members might be regarded as missionary 
 ground. Most of the congregations were probably small, 
 and the supply of ministers was inadequate. Very 
 soon after its formation, the Synod had commenced a 
 small fund for the relief of the destitute, but finding 
 their own resources altogether insufficient, they made 
 application by letters, in the year 1718, to the Pres- 
 
DIFFICULTY ABOUT CANDIDATES. 129 
 
 bytery of Dublin, the Synod of Glasgow, and the Dis- 
 senting Ministers of London, for their assistance. Suc- 
 cessful in this effort, their next recourse was to re- 
 newed exertions among themselves. Accordingly, in 
 the year 1T19, the year of Mr. Webb's ordination, a 
 letter was addressed to the several congregations con- 
 nected with the Synod, containing the following lan- 
 guage : " Inasmuch as it seems to us unreasonable and 
 unjustifiable to apply to other places in this affair, and 
 ourselves, who are more immediately concerned, to 
 hold our hands, we determined to request the charity 
 of our respective congregations in the premises, that 
 they would yearly make a collection for the car- 
 rying on of the said noble and pious design of plant- 
 ing and spreading the everlasting Gospel in these 
 Provinces." It is a matter of satisfaction to find by 
 the minutes of the Synod, that among the eight, who, 
 in response to this call, brought in the first annual con- 
 tribution for so worthy a purpose, the name of our own 
 congregation stands recorded. 45 * 
 
 No small difficulty was experienced about this time 
 in ascertaining the character of candidates who offered 
 themselves for employment as ministers of the Gospel. 
 Most of them were foreigners, and some brought only 
 doubtful credentials. Others, who at first promised 
 fair, disappointed the expectations of their brethren. 
 Among the number was a candidate by the name of 
 Walton, who, having been guilty of miscarriages here 
 in Newark, was suspended, by the Presbytery to which 
 
 * See Minutes, pp. 56, 63. 
 
130 DIFFEKENCES ABOUT GOVEENMENT. 
 
 lie belonged, from the functions of the ministry. The 
 affair coming up in the Synod in the year 1722, he be- 
 haved himself very contemptuously ; but after consid- 
 erable conference, as he seemed more disposed to sub- 
 mit to discipline, the Synod appointed one of their 
 number to read his confession and acknowledgment to 
 the congregation among whom the offences were com- 
 mitted, and on condition of his personally and pub- 
 licly assenting to it as his own, authorized their com- 
 missioner to take off the suspension. But when the 
 appointed time came, the commissioner to whom this 
 duty was assigned, being unable to be in Newark on 
 account of sickness, thereupon the delinquent candi- 
 date assumed the responsibility of reading his own 
 confession and absolving himself. In consequence of 
 this procedure new difficulties arose, and the process 
 of discipline was continued for some time ; until at 
 length the recreant minister disowned the Synod's au- 
 thority, and in an angry manner broke away from 
 their connection. It does not appear, however, that 
 the affair caused any serious disturbance in this con- 
 gregation* 
 
 About this time some serious difference of opinion 
 respecting the government of the Church threatened 
 to disturb the peace of the Synod. One portion of 
 the members, among whom were the leading ministers 
 of this vicinity, leaned to the largest safe and pratica- 
 ble liberty ; while the other were probably more 
 anxious to secure the benefit of a strong and vigorous 
 
 * Minutes, p. 68. 
 
Gillespie's overtuee. 131 
 
 system. At the meeting of the Synod in IT 21, the 
 Rev. George Gillespie, of White Clay, a native of 
 Scotland, offered an overture, the effect of which was 
 to give to each member free opportunity to bring in 
 any proposition which he might see fit, with a view to 
 its being enacted into a law or standing rule, called, in 
 the technical phraseology of the times, an act, by the 
 Synod.""" Startled by a proposition which seemed to 
 open the way for unlimited legislation, and perhaps 
 apprehending its design to be the introduction of a 
 more vigorous government than had hitherto been 
 practiced, six of the members, among whom were the 
 moderator, Rev. Jonathan Dickinson, and the clerk, 
 Rev. David Evans, immediately upon its adoption by 
 the Synod, entered their protest against it. Mr. Webb 
 was among the subscribers to this protest. The Synod 
 received it, appointed one of their number to answer 
 it, and laid it aside for future action. Fortunately, a 
 spirit of mutual conciliation seems in a high degree to 
 have animated these revered fathers of the Presbyte- 
 
 * Dr. Hodge, in his Constitutional His- by the Synod, for the better carrying on 
 
 tory of the Presbyterian Church, p. 140, in the matters of our government and dis- 
 
 explaius the term thus : " Any proposition pline, that he may bring it in against next 
 
 containing a iule of action, enacted by an Synod." 
 
 ecclesiastical body, obligatory on its mem- " The overture was carried in the affirm- 
 
 bers or inferior judicatories, is called an ative by a majority of votes, and ordered 
 
 act." by vote to be recorded." 
 
 The overture of Mr. Gillespie with the " Mr. Jonathan Dickinson, Mr. Malachi 
 action thereupon, as appears by the rec- Jones, Mr. Joseph Morgan, Mr. John Pier- 
 ords, is as follows : " As we have been for son, Mr. David Evans, and Mr. Joseph 
 many years in the exercise of Presbyterian Webb entered their protestation against 
 government and Church discipline, as ex- the above mentioned act and the recording 
 ercised by the Presbyterians in the best of it, and gave in the reasons of their pro- 
 reformed Churches, as far as the nature test, which are m retentis." 
 and constitution of this country will allow, " Ordered that Mr. McG'll and Mr. Mc- 
 our opinion is that if any brother have any Nish draw up answers to the above said 
 overture to offer, to be formed into an act protest." — Minutes, p. 66. 
 
132 DIFFICULTIES SETTLED. 
 
 rian Church. For we learn that at the next meeting 
 of the Synod, the answer having been prepared and 
 and presented, and the case deferred from day to day, 
 awaiting a favorable opportunity, the protesting 
 brethren brought in a paper of explanations, contain- 
 ing four articles, on the basis of which they were will- 
 ing to acquiesce in the decision of the Synod. In this 
 paper is to be found a very full acknowledgment of 
 the fundamental principles of the Presbyterian system. 
 And as to the right of making rules for the regulation 
 of its members and inferior judicatories, they had no dis- 
 position to deny that to the Synod, provided such rules 
 were not imposed upon such as should conscientiously 
 dissent from them. On the basis of these articles, 
 which the Synod did not hesitate to approve and re- 
 cord, both the protest, with its reasons and the answer 
 which had been prepared, were withdrawn — the act in 
 dispute was ordered to remain in all respects just as it 
 was, and one thing being left to explain and qualify 
 the other, " the Synod," says the record, " were so uni- 
 versally pleased with the above said composure of 
 their difference, that they unanimously joined together 
 in a thanksgiving, prayer, and joyful singing of the one 
 hundred and thirty-third Psalm." So auspiciously 
 passed away the first heavy thunder-cloud which 
 menaced the peace of the Presbyterian Church. 
 Mr. Webb being absent,* his name is not affixed to the 
 articles, but there can be no doubt that he concurred 
 
 * From the record under the same date, sence from the Synod, was produced by 
 we learn, that " a letter from Mr. Jo. Mr. Jonathan Dickinson, and the reasons 
 seph Webb, containing his reasons for ab- were sustained." — Minutes, p. 67. 
 
ADOPTING ACT. 133 
 
 with his friend Dickinson, by whom they were proba- 
 bly composed.* 
 
 But a still more important measure was now soon to 
 be agitated. Hitherto the Church had had no ac- 
 knowledged form of government, and no explicit Con- 
 fession of Faith. The general principles of the Pres- 
 byterian polity regulated their practice ; and as to doc- 
 trine, they all agreed in holding the system generally 
 denominated Calvinistic. But now an effort was made 
 to secure some more definite standards, and a proposi- 
 tion was introduced into the Synod, to require all its 
 members to subscribe the Westminster Confession. 
 Not to be hasty in so important a matter, the case was 
 laid over for one year, and measures" taken to secure a 
 full meeting of the Synod. Meanwhile, great was the 
 agitation which subsisted among the members. All 
 the New England men were opposed to the measure, 
 and all the Scotch and Irish were in favor of it. Mr. 
 Dickinson was particularly repugnant to it ; not 
 
 * The articles of Mr. Dickinson are as these acts be not imposed upon such as 
 
 follows: conscientiously dissent from them. 
 
 "1. We freely grant that there is full ex- "3. We also grant that Synods may cons- 
 ecutive power of Church government in pose directories, and recommend them to 
 Presbyteries and Synods, and that they all their members, respecting all the parts 
 may authoritatively, in the name of Christ, of discipline, provided that all subordinate 
 use the keys of Church discipline to all judicatories may decline from such di- 
 proper intents and purposes, and that the rectories when they conscientiously think 
 keys of the Church are committed to the they have just reason so to do, 
 Church officers, and them only. "4. We freely allow that appeals may be 
 
 "2. We also grant that the merecircum- made from all inferior to superior judica- 
 
 stantials of Church discipline, such as the tories, and that superior judicatories have 
 
 time, place and mode of carrying on the authority to consider and determine such 
 government of the Church, belong to eccle- 
 
 siastical judicatories to determine, as oc- Malachi Jones, 
 
 casions occur, conformable to the general Joseph Morgan, 
 
 rules in the Word of God, that require all Jonathan Dickinson. 
 
 things to be done decently and in order. David Evans. 
 
 And if these things are called acts we will (Minutes of the Synod of Philadelphia, 
 
 take no offence at the word, provided that p. 72.) 
 
134 ADOPTING ACT. 
 
 because lie or his brethren had any dislike to the doc- 
 trines of the Confession, for they were all as thorough- 
 going Calvinists as any of their brethren; but they 
 were apprehensive that the measure would infringe on 
 Christian liberty. " They say they are willing," says 
 one of their number,* "to join in a vote to make it 
 the Confession of our Church ; but to agree to make 
 it a test of orthodoxy and a term of ministerial com- 
 munion they will not." Suspicions were afloat that 
 one of the designs of the proposition was to produce a 
 separation and compel the natives of New England to 
 secede from their more strenuous brethren. Even the 
 peace-loving and conciliatory Andrews, of Philadel- 
 phia, though he was not willing to admit there was 
 any such deliberate design, especially as far as himself 
 was concerned, felt constrained to believe, as he con- 
 fesses, " that some of us are an uneasiness to them, and 
 are thought to be in their way sometimes, so that I 
 think 'twould be no trouble to them to lose some of 
 us" — " our countrymen being scarcely able to hold a 
 way with the other brethren in all their disciplinary 
 and legislative notions." This excellent man, burdened 
 with apprehensions upon the matter, which, says he, 
 " lies heavy on my mind," dreading the scandal of a 
 division, and yet almost prepared to submit to it as an 
 unavoidable evil, wrote a letter to Dr. Coleman, of 
 Boston, in which he pours out his anxieties with fra- 
 ternal confidence, and seeks advice as to the course 
 which he should follow.f Pemberton, of New York, 
 
 * Rev. Jedediah Andrews of Philadel- t It may seem to some almost unac- 
 phia. See his letter, p. 135, note. countable that any man who believes 
 
ADOPTING ACT. 
 
 135 
 
 visiting Boston, took occasion to consult the same 
 eminent adviser. Perhaps there was no crisis in the 
 whole early history of the Presbyterian Church when 
 a serious schism was so narrowly escaped. When the 
 case came up for final decision, Mr. Andrews was chair- 
 man and Mr. Dickinson a member, with others, of a 
 committee to whom the proposition was referred. Af- 
 
 ex animo the doctrines of a Confession, 
 and is willing to have all the world know 
 it, should yet scruple at unqualified sub- 
 scription, and doubt the wisdom of 
 making an extended and elaborate creed 
 a test of orthodoxy. And yet I apprehend 
 there are many excellent men, especially 
 in New England, who can sympathize 
 very fully with the revered father of 
 Presbyterianism in Philadelphia, as his 
 views are expressed in the following let- 
 ter, an attentive perusal of which will aid 
 in justly estimating the theological posi- 
 tion of such men : 
 
 " Extract from a letter from the Rev. Jed- 
 ediah Andrews to the Rev. Benjamin, 
 Coleman at Boston, dated Philadelphia, 
 April 7, 1727. 
 
 " As to affairs here, we are engaged in 
 the enlargement of our house, and by the 
 assistance we had from Boston, I hope we 
 shall go on comfortably with that work. 
 The stone work at the foundation is laid, 
 and all the the materials are getting 
 ready. We are now likely to fall into a 
 great difference about subscribing the 
 Westminster Confession of Faith. The 
 overture for it, drawn up by Mr. Thomp- 
 son, of Lewistown, was offered to the 
 Synod a year before last, but not then read 
 in Synod. Means were then used to stave 
 it off, and I was in hopes we should have 
 heard no more of it. But last Synod it 
 was brought again, recommended by all 
 the Scotch and Irish present, and being 
 read amongst us, a proposal was made, 
 prosecuted and agreed to, that it should 
 be deferred till our next meeting for fur- 
 ther consideration. The proposal is that 
 all the ministers and intrants shall sign 
 it, or else be disowned as members. Now 
 
 what shall we do? They will certainly 
 carry it by numbers. Our countrymen 
 say they are willing to join in a vote to 
 make it the Confession of our Churches ; 
 but to agree to making it the test of or- 
 thodoxy and term of ministerial com- 
 munion, they will not. I think all the 
 Scots are on one side, and all the English 
 and Welsh on the other, to a man. Nev- 
 ertheless, I am not so determined as to be 
 incapable to receive advice, and I give 
 you this account, that I may have your 
 judgment as to what I had best do in the 
 matter. Supposing I do believe it, shall 
 I on the terms above mentioned subscribe 
 or not? I earnestly desire you by the 
 first opportunity to send me your opinion. 
 Our brethren have got the overture, with, 
 a preface to it, printed, and I intend to 
 send you one for the better regulation of 
 your thoughts about it Some say the de- 
 sign of this motion is to spew out our 
 countrymen, they being scarce able to hold 
 a way with the other brethren in all their 
 disciplinary and legislative notions. What 
 truth there may be in this, I know not. 
 Some deny it ; whereas some say there is 
 something in it. I am satisfied some of 
 us are an uneasiness to them, and are 
 thought to be too much in their way 
 sometimes, so that I think 'twould be no 
 trouble to lose some of us. Yet I can't think 
 this to be the thing ultimately designed, 
 whatever smaller glances there may be at 
 it. I have no thought that they have any 
 design against me in particular. I have 
 no reason for it. This business lies heavy 
 on my mind, and I desire we may be di- 
 rected in it, that we may not bring a scan- 
 dal on our profession. Though I have 
 been sometimes an instrument of keeping 
 
136 ADOPTING ACT. 
 
 ter consultation, these men brought in a minute, which 
 with some debate was adopted. It contains a decision 
 on the main question in the following words : "All the 
 members of this Synod, or that shall hereafter be ad- 
 mitted into this Synod, shall declare their agreement 
 in and approbation of the Confession of Faith with 
 the larger and shorter Catechisms of the Assembly of 
 Divines at Westminster, as being, in all the essential 
 and necessary articles, good forms of sound words and 
 systems of Christian doctrine, and do also adopt the 
 said Confession and Catechisms as the confession of our 
 faith." As to the determination of the question, what 
 were to be regarded as necessary and essential, that 
 was left to the Synod or Presbytery, as the case might 
 be, after hearing the scruples of the candidate. With 
 a mutual pledge to use no opprobrious terms or allow 
 any abatement of fraternal kindness on account of 
 differences in extra essential and not necessary points 
 of doctrine," these worthy men at once proceeded to 
 bring forth their scruples, and having adjusted that 
 matter, all present, with a single exception, declared 
 the said Confession and Catechisms to be the confession 
 of their faith ; and the Adopting Act became thence- 
 forth a fundamental article of the Constitution of the 
 
 them together when they were like to fall tested business than any other minister 
 to pieces, I have little hope of doing so of our number. I am afraid of the event, 
 now. If it were not for the scandal of a However, I will endeavor to do as near as 
 division, I should not be much against it ; I can what I understand to be duty, and 
 for the different countrymen seem to be leave the issue with Providence, 
 most delighted in one another, and to do " P. S. Ten days ago was buried Mr- 
 best when they are by themselves. My Mai. Jones, an old Welch minister. He 
 congregation being made up of divers na- was a good man, and did good. He lived 
 tions, of different sentiments, this brings about 11 miles from this town." 
 me under a greater difficulty in this con- (See Hodge's Const. Hist., p. 168.) 
 
ADOPTING ACT. 
 
 137 
 
 Presbyterian Church .* " The Synod," observes the re- 
 cord, " observing that unanimity, peace and unity which 
 appeared in all their consultations and determinations 
 
 * The Adopting Act of 1729 is so im- 
 portant a feature in the history of the 
 Presbyterian Church in these United 
 States, as to deserve a place in every local 
 history of the Church covering the same 
 period. It stands on record thus : 
 
 " The Committee brought in an overture 
 upon the affairs of the Confession, which 
 after long debating upon it, was agreed 
 upon in Ticeo verba. 
 
 "Although the Synod do not claim or pre- 
 tend to any authority of imposing our faith 
 upon other men's consciences, but do pro- 
 fess our just dissatisfachon with, and ab- 
 horrence of such impositions, and do ut- 
 terly disclaim all legislative power and 
 authority in the Church, being willing to 
 receive one another as Christ has received 
 us to the glory of God, and admit to fel- 
 lowship in sacred ordinances all such as 
 we have grounds to believe Christ will at 
 last admit to the kingdom of Heaven, yet 
 we are undoubtedly obliged to take care 
 that the faith once delivered to the saints 
 be kept pure and uncorrupt among us, and 
 so handed down to our posterity. And do 
 therefore agree that all the ministers of 
 this Synod, or that shall hereafter be ad- 
 mitted into this Synod, shall declare their 
 agreement in, and approbation of the Con- 
 fession of Faith, with the Larger and 
 Shorter Catechism of the Assembly of Di- 
 vines at Westminster, as being in all the 
 essential and necessary articles, good 
 forms of sound words and systems of 
 Christian doctrine, and do also adopt the 
 said Confession and Catechisms as the 
 Confession of our Faith. And we do also 
 agree, that all the Presbyteries within our 
 bounds shall always take care not to ad- 
 mit any candidate for the ministry into the 
 exercise of the sacred function, but what 
 declares his agreement in opinion with all 
 the essential and necessary articles of said 
 Confession, either by subscribing the said 
 Confession of Faith and Catechisms, or by 
 a verbal declaration of their assent there- 
 
 to as such minister or candidate shall 
 think best. And in case any member of 
 this Synod, or candidate for the ministry 
 shall have any scruple with respect to any 
 article or articles of said Confession or Cat- 
 echisms, he shall at the time of his making 
 said declaration, declare his sentiments 
 to the Presbytery or Synod, who shall, 
 notwithstanding, admit him to the exer- 
 cise of the ministry within our bouuds, 
 and to ministerial communion, if the Syn- 
 od or Presbytery shall judge his scruple 
 or mistake to be only about articles not 
 essential and necessary in doctrine, wor- 
 ship or government. But if the Synod or 
 Presbytery shall judge such ministers or 
 candidates erroneous in essential aud ne- 
 cessary articles of faith, the Synod or 
 Presbytery shall declare them uncapable 
 of communion with them. And the Syn- 
 od do solemnly agree, that none of us will 
 traduce or use any opprobrious terms of 
 those that differ from us in these extra es- 
 sential and not necessary points of doc- 
 trine, but treat them with the same friend- 
 ship, kindness and brotherly love, as if 
 they had not differed from us in such sen- 
 timents." Minutes, p. 92.) 
 
 In the afternoon of the same day, it is 
 recorded, that " All the ministers now 
 present, except one, who declared himself 
 not prepared, after proposing all the scru- 
 ples that any of them had to make against 
 any articles and expressions in the Con- 
 fession of Faith and Larger and Shorter 
 Catechisms of the Assem bly of Divines at 
 Westminster, have unanimously agreed 
 in the solution of those scruples and in 
 declaring the said Confession and Cate- 
 chims to be the Confession of their Faith, 
 excepting only some clauses in the twen- 
 tieth and twenty-third chapters, concern- 
 ing which the Synod do unanimously de- 
 cl are that they do not receive those arti- 
 cles in any such sense as to suppose the 
 civil magistrate hath a controlling power 
 over Synods, &c." (Minutes, pp. 92-8.) 
 
138 ADOPTING ACT. 
 
 relating to the affair of the Confession, did unanimously 
 agree in giving thanks to God in solemn prayer and 
 praises." The adoption of the Directory for Worship 
 Discipline and Government, appended to the Confes- 
 sion, as " agreeable in substance to the Word of God," 
 and " to be observed as near as circumstances will al- 
 low," followed of course, and was assented to without 
 opposition.* 
 
 Although the name of Mr. Webb does not appear 
 in any of these transactions, owing to the fact that he 
 was absent from the meetings in which they took 
 place, there can be no doubt as to the views which he 
 entertained or the position which he would have as- 
 sumed had he been present. What Dickinson and 
 Pierson had assented to, and Pemberton called " our 
 happy agreement," could hardly fail to have been 
 agreeable to their intimate associate, Mr. Webb. The 
 act was evidently designed to be a compromise, or 
 rather to establish just the position in which both par- 
 ties were prepared to unite. It exhibits much care in 
 the selection of words, and being written, as I suppose, 
 by Mr. Andrews, contains obvious coincidences in lan- 
 guage and thought with his letter already referred to. 
 
 * Letter from the Rev. Ebcnezer Pern- upon what terms, you will see by the en- 
 
 berton, of New York, to the Rev. Dr. closed prints, two or three of which I 
 
 Coleman at Boston : send you for yourself and those to whom 
 
 " Reverend Sie — When I had the pleas- you have a mind to communicate them, 
 
 ure of seeing you at Boston the last sum- The conclusion of the Synod was ordered 
 
 mer, I was expressing my fears that the. to be published, that our happy agreement 
 
 subscription controversy would be the might be as universally known as our 
 
 cause of a great disturance and division debates. 1 desire an interest iu your 
 
 in our Synod. But I have now the satis- prayers, and am 
 faction of acquainting you that Provi- Your most obed't servant, 
 
 dence has been better to us than our fears. Eben'r Pemberton. 
 
 The storm is blown over, and the debate New York, Sept. 80, 1729. 
 is peaceably and satisfactorily ended, 
 
EXPLANATIONS AND MODIFICATIONS. 139 
 
 But the current of opinion in the body was evidently 
 setting strongly towards a more unqualified subscrip- 
 tion than had hitherto been agreeable to the men of 
 New England origin. Moreover, it seems probable 
 that their own minds may have drifted gradually in 
 the same direction. In the year 1730, an act explana- 
 tory was adopted, which, although the language is not 
 perfectly clear, was taken as intended to limit the pro- 
 posing of scruples, and the distinction of essential and 
 non-essential to* the case of those who subscribed in 
 the first instance. And again, in the year 1736, a still 
 more explicit one followed, declaring expressly " that 
 the Synod have adopted and still adhere to the West- 
 minster Confession, Catechisms and Directory, without 
 the least variation or alteration, and that without any 
 regard to said distinctions." Nor did Mr. Andrews 
 who was present, at the time, nor any of his associates 
 who were absent, at any subsequent meeting, as far as 
 we know, present any protest against the decision. 
 Either some modification of their former views, or a 
 conviction that it was unwise to insist further, led the 
 party to which the pastor of this Church belonged, 
 silently to acquiesce ; though the leanings of the two 
 parties were obviously not changed, and may be plainly 
 discovered, both during the difficulties of a later pe- 
 riod, in which, while the one insisted on the adopting 
 act, " according to the latest explications," the other 
 still referred to it as it was in its original form ; and in 
 the final happy adjustment of those difficulties, which 
 did scarcely more than repeat the same cautious words 
 
140 PKESBYTEEY OF EAST JEKSEY. 
 
 on which both parties had united in the first instance.* 
 The Presbytery of Philadelphia, as I have already 
 observed, was for several years the only existing one 
 in this country. When in the year 17 17, it branched 
 forth into four others, and so formed a Synod, the 
 Churches in this vicinity remained in, or became attached 
 to the parent body. But in the year IT 3 3, that body 
 having increased in numbers, became again divided, 
 and a new Presbytery, called the Presbytery of East 
 Jersey, was created, comprising, with* some others, all 
 the Churches, within the limits of the Province bearing 
 the same name. The records of this ancient Pres- 
 bytery, with which this Church continued in connec- 
 tion under that name about five years, are now, it is 
 supposed, irretrievably lost. 
 
 Some causes of disquietude seem to have arisen in 
 this congregation about the year 1726, on account of 
 which the Synod, on an application from Mr. Webb, 
 appointed commissioners, consisting of Messrs. Morgan, 
 Anderson, Pierson, Gelston, Dickinson and Andrews, 
 to meet at Newark on the fourth Wednesday of Octo- 
 ber in that year, " to act with the full power of the 
 Synod in all matters that may be laid before them 
 in respect to that congregation, and bring a report of 
 what they do to the next Synod." What the difficul- 
 ties were, or how they were adjusted, we are not in- 
 formed, except that the transactions of the committee 
 were brought in by their report at the next meeting 
 
 * Minutes of the Synods of New York and Philadelphia, pp. 286-7. 
 
INTRODUCTION OF EPISCOPACY. 141 
 
 of the Synod, according to direction, and " read and 
 approved."* 
 
 About tliis time a Dutch congregation was estab- 
 lished at Second River, now Belleville, which was then 
 within the bounds of Newark. We find it spoken of 
 in the beginning of the year 172*7, as "the new Church 
 and congregation there erected," and at that time, that 
 and the Church of Aquackanunc were both conjoined 
 in one body in their ecclesiastical affairs, " and under 
 one minister to dispense the Word and ordinances of 
 God unto them."f 
 
 Hitherto no separations had taken place in this 
 Church except on local grounds. The people, says 
 Dr. Macwhorter, had always been of the same denom- 
 ination. "There were no sectarians or public divis- 
 ions among them." But divisions and contentions of 
 a very serious character were now at hand. 
 
 It was towards the latter part of Mr. Webb's min- 
 istry, that the earliest Episcopal congregation, viz. : 
 that now known as Trinity Church, was organized. 
 Elements of Episcopacy had been scattered in the 
 province, probably from the beginning, especially after 
 the commencement of Lord Cornbury's administration, 
 when the Rev. George Keith, a minister of the Church 
 of England, made a tour through this part of the coun- 
 try, and published an account of his observations. Even 
 then, the neighboring settlement of Elizabethtown, 
 the original seat of government of the province, and, 
 on that account, particularly subject to English influ- 
 ence, seemed to the zealous missionary to present a 
 
 * Minutes, pp. 83, 84. t Town Book, 2d part, p. 159. 
 
142 EPISCOPAL CHURCH FORMED. 
 
 hopeful aspect. "Many of that town," he tells us, 
 " having been formerly a sort of Independents,* are be- 
 come well affected to the Church of England, and de- 
 sire to have a minister of the Church of England sent 
 to them."f In Newark it does not appear that any 
 public services, according- to the rites of that Church, 
 were performed earlier than the year 1729. J In 1731 
 however, a missionary, writing from Elizabethtown to 
 his patrons in England, reports, that not only there, 
 " but also at Newar\ Whippany and in the mountains, 
 where he sometimes goes and preaches to a numerous 
 congregation," he finds his hearers increasing ; and what 
 can hardly fail to provoke a smile from those who 
 have given attention to the history of the Church in 
 Newark, during a period of sixty-five years previous, 
 gravely adds, that " he finds a general disposition in 
 the people to be instructed and settled in the Chris- 
 tian faith."§ It does not appear however, that they 
 became settled into a permanent congregation, or had 
 any thing beyond an occasional service in the Episcopal 
 form, from some transient minister, until several years 
 later. 
 
 The sudden crystallizing of the elements thus pre- 
 pared, appears to have been due to a case of disci- 
 pline, which arose in this Church, and of whose merits, 
 we of the present day are incapable of forming an in- 
 
 * By " a sort of Independents" he prob- any earlier than the latter part of 1730 ? 
 
 ably means Congregationalists. § Centennial Discourse by Rev. M. H. 
 
 t Keith's Journal, p. 78. Henderson, p. 11. This missionary was 
 
 \ Centennial Discourse by Rev. M. H. the Rev. Mr. Vaughan. 
 
 Henderson, "p. 11. Query. — Were there 
 
COL. JOSIAH OGDEN. 143 
 
 dependent judgment.* Col. Josiah Ogden,f a distin- 
 guished member of the Church, was accused of vio- 
 lating the sanctity of the Lord's day, by laboring in 
 the fields to save his wheat, when it was exposed to 
 serious loss by long continued rains. The Church cen- 
 sured him, and although the Presbytery reversed their 
 decision, deeming the case one of virtual necessity, and 
 that with ardent endeavors to keep the peace of the 
 town and prevent a separation, the breach had become 
 too wide to be healed, and the aggrieved thereupon 
 began "to declare themselves dissatisfied with the 
 Presbyterian form of church government." Thus 
 "originated," according to Dr. Macwhorter, but per- 
 haps we may say more correctly, thus was brought 
 into a distinct and permanent form, the Episcopal 
 Church in this place. 
 
 The precise date of this event is not ascertained. 
 Dr. Macwhorter says it was in the years 1732, '33 and 
 
 * I can find no traces of an Episcopal count of the first formation of a congrega- 
 congregation here, even of a temporary tion of that order is correct ? 
 character, prior to the occurrence here re- t Col. Josiah Ogden, as before noticed, 
 ferred to, except what is stated above from p. S3, note, was the son of David Ogden 
 Mr. Henderson's discourse. Humphrey's and Elizabeth Swaiue, daughter of Samuel 
 Historical Account, extending to the year Swaine, previously married to Josiah 
 1728, and published in 1730, makes no Ward. He was a man of influence and a 
 mention of Newark among the visitations man of substance. His tombstone, which 
 of the Episcopal missionaries. He men- still remains, bears the following inscrip- 
 tions Amboy, Shrewsbury, Freehold, Eliz- tion : " Here lies interred the body of Col . 
 abethtown, Rahway, Piscataway, Wood- Josiah Ogden, who died May 17th, 1763, 
 bridge, and some other places of less note in the eighty-fourth year of his age." (Con- 
 in East Jersey, but nowhere do I find the dit's Monumental Inscriptions, p. 137.) 
 name of Newark. Indeed, in his map dated In his will, emulating perhaps in his new 
 1730 he inserts Newark as a place to which ecclesiastical attachments, the liberality 
 missionaries have not been sent. May it of Deacon Azariah Crane towards the old 
 not then be fairly concluded that the first Church, he makes the following bequest: 
 missionary efforts made here, were made " I give to the rector, church-wardens and 
 at the precise date of Mr. Vaughan's re- vestry of Trinity Church in Newark, my 
 port, cited above from Mr. Henderson's silver cup or porringer with two handles, 
 discourse, and that Dr. Macwhorter's ac- to the same, for and to the only use of said 
 
 Church." — Copied by Mr. S. H. Cougar. 
 
144 CONTROVERSY AND ANIMOSITY. 
 
 '34. But as the matter was carried up by Col. Ogclen 
 to the Synod of Philadelphia in 1734, and we find them 
 still in correspondence with him on the subject as late 
 as IT 3 5, it is probable that he had not, even then, fully 
 withdrawn from the Presbyterian Church* 
 
 A bitter controversy ensued. The Rev. Jonathan 
 Dickinson, one of the committee appointed by the 
 Synod at their meeting in 1735, to correspond with 
 Col. Ogden, " was, in the following summer, called in 
 by the Presbyterians to preach a sermon against the 
 points advocated by the Episcopal Church ;"f and sev- 
 eral controversial pamphlets between him and the Rev. 
 John Beach, an Episcopal minister of Connecticut, still 
 remain to evince the troubled spirit of the times. 
 " This separation," says Dr. Macwhorter, " was the ori- 
 gin of the greatest animosity and alienation between 
 friends, townsmen, christians, neighbors and relatives, 
 that this town ever beheld. The storm of religious 
 separation and rage wrought tumultuously. The 
 openly declared Episcopalians were few, in comparison 
 
 * Minutes of the Synod of Philadelphia, and Cross did write to Col. Ogden, accord- 
 
 pp. 108-113. ing to order of last year, and he not being 
 
 If the records of the Church and the yet satisfied, and the case being further 
 
 Presbytery had not been lost, we might opened by Mr. Webb, the Synod order 
 
 have formed a correct judgment perhaps, Mr. Dickinson and Mr. Pemberton to 
 
 of the nature of the difficulty in question, bring in a letter for the Synod's approba- 
 
 and have distributed censure or approval tion, to be sent to him." — pp. 108, 113. I 
 
 to the parties according to desert. In the infer from these notices, that Col. Ogden 
 
 minutes of the Synod, I find the following withdrew from, and disowned the juris- 
 
 references to the case: September, 1734, diction of the Presbyterian Church, either 
 
 " ordered that Mr. Robert Cross and the between September 1734, and September 
 
 moderator, [Rev. Ebenezer Pemberton, of 1735, or soon after the latter date. 
 
 New York,] as soon as leisure will permit, + Dr. Macwhorter calls it " his famed 
 
 do write a letter to Col. Ogden, in return sermon, from Mark vii, 15. ' Howbeit in 
 
 to his to the Synod bearing date, Septem- vain do they worship me, teaching for 
 
 ber 16th, 1734." doctrines the commandments of men.' " 
 
 September, 1735. " Messrs. Pemberton MS. Hist. 
 
mr. webb's dismission. 145 
 
 of the Presbyterians, yet there were two leaders, one 
 on each side, who were pretty equally poised, in re- 
 spect in point of abilities, wealth, connections and am- 
 bition." " This religious brand," he adds, " kindled a 
 flame which was not extinguished till the conclusion 
 of the late war."* 
 
 For a scene of such violence and excitement, Mr. 
 Webb was poorly fitted. He was naturally of a peace- 
 ful disposition, and the raging waves of ecclesiastical 
 discord must have sorely disturbed his spirit. The 
 precise ground which he took between parties, we 
 have not now the means of determining. Perhaps he 
 strove to mediate, and so was crushed between them. 
 Perhaps deficient in decision, he found no ground on 
 which he could stand firmly, and so was trodden under 
 foot of both. " He possessed," says Dr. Macwhorter, 
 "no gifts for controversy, and was hated and con- 
 temned by the new party, and sunk into neglect and 
 disrespect with the other." The result was, that on the 
 application of a majority of the congregation, he was 
 dismissed by the Presbytery of East Jersey, in the 
 year 1736, after a ministry of about eighteen years. 
 The terms of dismission, according to Dr. Macwhorter, 
 were that the congregation should give him £100, 
 with security for the arrears of his salary. The town 
 voted, as appears from the records, to employ him 
 during the remainder of the year then current, in con- 
 junction with the young preacher, who was the candi- 
 date for his vacated place, continuing to him his full 
 
 * Manuscript History. 
 
 10 
 
146 mr. webb's dismission. 
 
 salary with this proviso, that "if any person or per- 
 sons should find fault, and not consenting to pay the 
 same, then Mr. Webb is to deduct one sixth part of 
 their rate, and allow the same out of it." 
 
 Mr. Webb is said to have been a diligent attend- 
 ant on the judicatories of the Church* In the Synod 
 he belonged to the party most jealous for religious 
 liberty, and once or twice, as we have seen, joined with 
 Dickinson and others in protesting against measures 
 which were supposed to have the opposite tendency.f 
 He was regarded as a man of prudence, and was not 
 unfrequently employed in adjusting difficulties in the 
 Churches. In his private character he was meek, 
 peaceable, inoffensive and benevolent. " All acknowl- 
 edged," says Dr. Macwhorter " that his abilities were 
 not of the strongest kind, but he was a plain, faithful 
 and painstaking minister. His dismission gave great 
 offence to the ministers and Churches of the neighbor- 
 hood," and the worst thing that any could say of him 
 in a time of party spirit and tumult, was " that he was 
 too peaceable and too good." 
 
 * Manuscript History. Mr. Webb's "Here lyes interred an honest, pious soul, 
 
 name first appeared among 1hose minis- Who all that knew his virtues did verole ; 
 
 ters connected with the Synod in the year Who must lye here until the judgment 
 
 1725. At the same meeting, this Church day, 
 
 was represented by Caleb Ward, as its And will with me have nothing then to 
 
 elder, who is probably the first elder from say." 
 this Church who ever appeared in the 
 
 Synod. He was admitted as a planter in Memento Mori. The meaning of the 
 
 the town of Newark, in 1693. Mr. Con- word " verole," or what was intended by 
 
 gar informs me that he was the son of it, passes my ability to conjecture. 
 
 Jobn Ward, turner, and died at the age The elders in attendance on the Synod 
 
 of sixty-six, Feb. 9th, 1735-6. His chil- at this period were not numerous. I recog- 
 
 dren were Caleb, Timothy, Theophilus, nize but two other names of elders from 
 
 Thomas, John, Stephen, Mary Smith, this church during Mr. Webb's ministry, 
 
 Sarah Sealy, Hannah Woodruff, and Eliz- viz: John and Samuel Allen or Ailing, 
 
 abeth Ward. On his tombstone we find t See Minutes of the Synod of Philadel- 
 
 the following tribute to his worth : phia, pp. 66, 86, 120. 
 
DEATH OF ME. WEBB. 147 
 
 Mr. Webb remained in this vicinity, after his dismis- 
 sion, preaching in the neighborhood, and discharging 
 his duties as a member of Presbytery and Synod about 
 four years. His last appearance in the Synod was in 
 May, 1740 ; and it is said, that on a visit to New Eng- 
 land, he and his son were drowned together, in at- 
 tempting to cross Saybrook ferry, on Connecticut river, 
 probably during the year 1741.* 
 
 I have now brought the history of this Church down 
 to the year 1736, very near to the period of those great 
 revivals under the preaching of Whitefield, Edwards, 
 Tennent and others, which must be regarded as one of 
 the most memorable eras in the history of the Ameri- 
 can churches. Hitherto the narrative has been confined 
 chiefly to the external affairs of the congregation. All 
 the early records of the Church having been lost, our 
 dependence for information has been chiefly upon the 
 Records of the Town of Newark, the published Minutes 
 
 * Century Sermon by Dr. Macwhorter, 14tb, 1733, in the 52d year of his age." 
 p. 8 During the ministry of Mr. Webb, The tombstone of Joseph Browne, grand- 
 several aged and influential members of son of John Browne, senior, tells us that 
 the Church were removed by death. The he died January 30, 1733-4, aged 58, and 
 tombstone of Deacon Azariah Crane, thus describes his character: 
 which is still standing in the old burying "My life was hid with Christ in God, 
 ground, bears the following inscription : Triumphant over death ; 
 " Here lies interred the body of Deacon My soul with angels makes abode 
 Azariah Crane, who departed this life, 5th Till Christ restore my breath." 
 Novbr., 1730, in the 83d year of his age.'' Joseph Johnson, "the drummer," who 
 Near him lies his wife, Mary, daughter of was only 15 years old when the settlement 
 Robert Treat, who died Nov. 12, 1704, in began, lived to the advanced age of 83, 
 the 55th year of her age. Anthony Olive, and died in the year 1734. and his tomb- 
 who died March 16th, 1723, aged 87, and stone, which still remains, bears the fol- 
 Nathaniel Wheeler, who died Oct. 4th, lowing inscription : " Here lyeth interred 
 172G, aged 87, were both buried at Orange- the body of Joseph Johnson, son of Thom- 
 Robert Young died Nov. 7th, 1726, in his as and Eleanor Johnson, deceased, he died 
 63d year. Mrs. Joanna Crane, wife of Jas- March 11th, 1733-4, in the 83d year of his 
 per Crane, junior, and daughter of Samuel age." (See Monumental Inscriptions by 
 Swaine, finished her course Sept. 16th, Dr. John S. Condit.) Benjamin Baldwin 
 1720, in her 69th year. " Deacon Joseph died in 1726, Daniel Tichenor 1727-8. — 
 Camfield departed this life, December the S. H. Congar. 
 
148 CONCLUDING EEMAEKS. 
 
 of the Synod of Philadelphia, and a few other original 
 documents, chiefly of a secular character. In the por- 
 tions which follow, we shall be able to enter far more 
 folly into the spiritual history of the congregation, and 
 bring forth the proofs of God's power in giving success 
 to the ministry of the Word. 
 
 Let us not suppose however, that during all this 
 while the congregation had no spiritual history worthy 
 to be told on earth, and remembered in the scenes of 
 eternity. The agonies of the convicted sinner, the 
 struggles between conscience and a sinful heart — the 
 joy of the new born soul, crying to its fellows, " O 
 taste and see that the Lord is good" — the conflicts and 
 the victories, the prayers and the thanksgivings of 
 God's people — the mourner's sorrows cast at the feet 
 of Jesus — and the parent's agonies when a wicked child 
 went to the grave in his wickedness — all are buried 
 now in the deep silence of the forgotten past. And 
 yet they are the matters chiefly remembered in the 
 world of spirits. There each sermon which those 
 good old servants of God preached from those long 
 since demolished pulpits — every entreaty they made 
 to the impenitent to accept mercy through the Saviour 
 — every impressive providence which brought eternity 
 to mind — every outpouring of the Divine spirit are 
 now held in vivid recollection. The good remember 
 with unceasing songs how they were plucked as brands 
 out of the burning by the power of grace ; and the im- 
 penitent ; with what bitterness of soul do they call to 
 mind their lost opportunities, the means and influences 
 of grace which they neglected and despised ! We shall 
 
CONCLUDING REMARKS. 149 
 
 hear the whole doubtless, in the Great Day, when God 
 shall bring every work into judgment. 
 
 Let me entreat you, my friends, while I am dwelling 
 for a season on these outward and temporary transac- 
 tions of the men of other days, not to neglect your own 
 spiritual and eternal interests. The history which we 
 are enacting is, after all, of far more moment to us than 
 that which we recite. Every hour is pregnant with 
 eternal consequences, and ever bringing us nearer and 
 nearer to their realization. Oh, let the history which 
 our actions now engrave upon the tablets of eternity, 
 be such as we may review with joy ! 
 
Cy/AZjntrfZ 
 
 Pu2^-^=, 
 
DISCOURSE NUMBER III. 
 Ecclesiastes i: 4. One generation passeth away and another generation cometh. 
 
 We have passed over a period of nearly seventy 
 years, and noticed the accession, services and removal 
 of six successive pastors of this church. We come now 
 to the sixth in order, viz., the Rev. Aaron Burr. 
 
 This eminent man was born in Fairfield, Connecti- 
 cut, January 4th, 1716. His father's name was Daniel, 
 and his paternal grandfather's and great-grandfather's, 
 Jehu, all of whom were residents of Fairfield ; the 
 first Jehu Burr having come to that place from Spring- 
 field, Mass. It is asserted in the biography of Colonel 
 Aaron Burr, that his grandfather was a German, who 
 emigrated to this country, and purchased a large tract 
 of land in Connecticut. But this assertion is unques- 
 tionably fabulous. " Daniel Burr, of upper meadow," 
 as the baptismal register designates him, was no Ger- 
 man, but the descendant of a race intensely puritan in 
 all its instincts and sympathies.* Of six sons, Aaron 
 was the youngest. From his childhood he had a 
 strong inclination to learning, and early discovered 
 
 * For these facts I am indebted to the who gives them as the result of his own 
 Rev. Lyman H. Atwater, D. D., of Fairfield, investigation. 
 
152 REV. AAEON BURR. 
 
 tokens of that extraordinary quickness of intellect 
 which afterwards distinguished him. He was gradu- 
 ated at Yale College in the year 1V35, under the ad- 
 ministration of Rector Williams, in the same class with 
 that eminent divine, the Rev. Joseph Bellamy, D. D* 
 
 On receiving his first degree, Mr. Burr offered him- 
 self as a candidate for the privileges of a resident grad- 
 uate on the Berkley foundation. Dr. George Berkley, 
 Dean of Deny, and afterwards Bishop of Cloyne, had 
 founded in the year 1732, three scholarships in Yale 
 College, on condition that the income of certain prop- 
 erty which he gave for the purpose, should be appro- 
 priated to the maintenance of the three best scholars 
 in Greek and Latin, who should reside at college at 
 least nine months in a year, in each of the years be- 
 tween the first and second degree. The fact that Mr. 
 Burr sought and obtained the privileges of this bene- 
 faction, shows at once his fondness for classical studies, 
 and his position as one of the three highest scholars in 
 that department in his class.f 
 
 It was during the year following his first degree, 
 while he was still pursuing his studies as a scholar on 
 this foundation, that Mr. Burr is supposed to have first 
 experienced the power of regenerating grace. " There 
 was," says President Edwards, under date of Novem- 
 ber, 1*736, "a considerable revival of religion last sum- 
 mer, at New Haven, old town, as I was once and again 
 informed by the Rev. Mr. Noyes, the minister there, 
 
 * See Yale College Catalogue. pp. 46-52. Obituary notice of President 
 
 t Baldwin's History of Yale College, Burr. 
 
mr. burr's conversion. 153 
 
 and by others. Mr. Noyes writes, that many this sum- 
 mer have been added to the Church, and particularly 
 mentions several young persons that belong to the 
 principal families of the town."* Who these young 
 persons were we are not told, but it is very likely that 
 young Burr was among the number that the pastor 
 Noyes had in his mind. 
 
 The following account of his religious exercises is 
 said to have been extracted from his private papers. 
 " This year God saw fit to open my eyes, and show me 
 what a miserable creature I was. Till then I had spent 
 my life in a dream, and as to the great design of my 
 being had lived in vain. Though before, I had been 
 under frequent convictions, and was driven to a form 
 of religion, yet I knew nothing as I ought to know. 
 But then I was brought to the footstool of sovereign 
 grace, saw myself polluted by nature and practice, had 
 affecting views of the Divine wrath I deserved, was 
 made to despair of help in myself, and almost con- 
 cluded that my day of grace was past. It pleased God 
 at length to reveal His Son to me in the Gospel, as an 
 all-sufficient Saviour, and I hope inclined me to receive 
 Him on the terms of the Gospel."f Before this period 
 
 * Thoughts on the Revival, p. 36. night cometh when no man can work." 
 
 t See funeral sermon by Rev. Caleb A copy of this sermon is to be found in 
 
 Smith, entitled " A Sermon occasioned by the New York Historical Society's Library- 
 
 the much lamented death of the Reverend Mr. Smith was the minister of Orange, 
 
 Mr. Aaron Burr, A. M., President of the then called Newark Mountain ; born on 
 
 College of New Jersey, who died Sep- Long Island, Dec. 29, 1723, 0. S. ; entered 
 
 tember 24th, 1759, in the 43d year of his at Yale College, 1739 ; licensed April, 
 
 age. Delivered in Nassau Hall, at a 1747, by the Presbytery of New York; 
 
 meeting of the Trustees of the College, ordained Nov. 80, 174S ; married Martha, 
 
 December lSth, 1759, and published by daughter of Rev. Jonathan Dickinson, 
 
 their desire. By Caleb Smith, A. M." Sept. 7, 1749, and after her decease, which 
 
 John ix: 4. "I must work the work of occurred Aug. 28, 1757, was again married 
 
 Him that sent me while it is day; the to Rebecca Foot, daughter of Major Foot, 
 
154 MR. burr's licensure and call 
 
 he was a strong Armenian in his religious opinions, as 
 were great numbers, not only of the young students, 
 but of the leading ministers and Churches of that day. 
 But in his case, as in many others, a change of heart 
 brought with it a change of creed, and to use his own 
 words, he "he seemingly felt the truth of the Calvin- 
 ian doctrine." 
 
 Mr. Burr was licensed as a candidate for the minis- 
 try in September, 1736 ; preached his first sermon 
 at Greenfield, Mass,, and then came to New Jersey, 
 and labored a short time at Hanover.* The first 
 notice of him at Newark, bears date November 1736, 
 when a committee was appointed to treat with him 
 on the subject of his becoming a candidate. " Dur- 
 ing the month following, viz., on the 21st of De- 
 cember, 1736, it was put to vote," says the Town 
 Record, " whether the town desired Mr. Aaron Burr 
 should have a call for further improvement in the work 
 of the ministry among us, as a candidate for further 
 trial, which was carried in the affirmative, nemine c<m- 
 tradicente"-\ He was accordingly employed to preach 
 
 of Branford, Conn., Oct. 17, 1759. Mr, teach the languages, being sensible of the 
 Smith died of dysentery, Oct. 22, 1762. worth of Mr. Caleb Smith, wrote to him, 
 Mt. 38 years and 10 months. He is said and endeavored to obtain him for that 
 to have been very useful in Presbytery, purpose. Mr. Smith's affairs would not 
 and for many years was stated clerk ; and allow him to come till Mr. Burr was oth- 
 many of its most important writings were erwise supplied. However, be at length 
 drafted by him. His sermon on the death of came to Elizabethtown, where he instruct- 
 Burr was the only one which he published, ed a number of young gentlemen in the 
 and was composed at a time when he was learned languages, and studied divinity 
 much affected with nervous disorder, and under the direction of that eminently 
 written with great difficulty. Generally great divine, Mr. Jonathan Dickinson." — 
 he wrote with great ease. About the time See *' a brief account" of his life, published 
 he took his second degree, (i. e. in 1746,) at Woodbridge, in 1763, now in the Libra- 
 Mr. Burr of Newark, afterwards President ry of the New York Historical Society. 
 of New Jersey College, having a large * Memoirs of Col. A. Burr, p. 17. 
 Latin school, and wanting a master to t Newark Town Records, p. 161. 
 
SETTLEMENT OF MR. BURR. 
 
 155 
 
 for the term of one year, commencing the 10th of Jan- 
 uary, 1736-7, and immediately after the expiration of 
 that term, viz., on the 25th of January, 1737-8,* was 
 ordained after the usual trials by the Presbytery of 
 East Jersey, with which the Church was then con- 
 nected. Mr. Dickinson presided, and gave the charge, 
 and Mr. Pierson preached. The settlement of Mr. 
 Burr was a most auspicious event. " It was then a 
 day of temptation and darkness in that Church," says 
 a reliable authority, "but his coming soon dispersed 
 the cloud which hung over them, and they in a short 
 time gave him a unanimous call to the pastoral offlce."f 
 The early part of Mr. Burr's ministry was remarka- 
 
 * In an extract from his Journal in the 
 Memoir of Col. Burr, the date given is 
 1738-9, but the Minutes of the Synod con- 
 cur with the Newark Town Records, in 
 assigning it to Jan. 1, 1737-8. 
 
 t Rev. Caleb Smith's funeral sermon. 
 That there was no precipitation in Mr. 
 Burr's settlement, as Dr. Macwhorter sup- 
 poses, (see Century Sermon, p. 10,) is evi- 
 dent from the length of his probation as 
 above stated. His own account of the 
 whole matter is contained in the following 
 extract from his private journal (See 
 Memoir Col. Burr, p. 19, vol. i.) "In 
 September, 1736, with many fears and 
 doubts about my qualifications, (being un- 
 der clouds with respect to my spiritual 
 state,) I offered mj self to trial, and was 
 approved as a candidate for the ministry. 
 My first sermon was preached at Green- 
 field, and immediately after I came to the 
 Jerseys. I can hardly give any account 
 why I came here. After I had preached 
 some time at Hanover, I had a call by the 
 people of Newark, but there was scarcely 
 any probability that I should suit their 
 circumstances, being young in standing 
 and trials. I accepted their invitation 
 with a reserve, that I did not come with 
 any views of settling. My labors were 
 
 universally acceptable among them, and 
 they manifested such great regard and 
 love for me, that I consented to accept of 
 the charge of their souls. 
 
 " A. D. 1738-39. January the 25th I 
 was set apart to the work of the ministry 
 by fasting, prayer and imposition of hands. 
 God grant that I may ever keep fresh in 
 my mind the solemn charge that was then 
 given me, and never indulge trifling 
 thoughts of what then appeared to me of 
 such awful importance. The ministers 
 who joined in this solemn transaction 
 were Mr. Dickinson, who gave the charge, 
 and Mr. Pierson who preached. Mr. 
 Dickinson, who presided at this work, has 
 been of great service to me by his advice 
 and instruction, both before and since my 
 ordination." 
 
 The Records of the Synod contain the 
 following notice, under date of May 24th, 
 1738 : " It is reported that Mr. Charles 
 Tennent, in the Presbytery of Newcastle, 
 Mr. Aaron Burr and Mr. Walter Wilmot, 
 in the Presbytery of New York, were after 
 the usual trial, ordained since the last 
 Synod, and that they did all of them adopt 
 the Westminster Confession, &c, accord- 
 ing to order of this Synod." — Minutes, 
 p. 185. 
 
156 THE GEE AT AWAKENING. 
 
 ble for that wonderful religious impulse which, extend- 
 ing over almost the whole of our country, and consid- 
 erable portions of Great Britain, has justly been de- 
 nominated " the great awakening." The mighty work 
 began at Northampton and other places, as early as 
 the year 1734, when Burr was yet a youth in college, 
 and he had felt as we have seen, the power of God 
 in it in the awakening and conversion of his own soul. 
 Having entered on his work here, under a deep sense 
 of his own weakness, and the most solemn impressions 
 of the responsibility of his charge,* God was pleased 
 to honor him as an eminent instrument in carrying 
 forward his work of grace, not only among the people 
 of Newark, but in other parts of the land. In a letter 
 from a gentleman in New York to a friend in Glas- 
 gow^ in the year 1741, he is mentioned with Gilbert 
 and William Tennent, Ebenezer Pemberton and three 
 others, as one of seven ministers whom " the good Lord 
 hath stirred up and spirited," to water the seed sown 
 by Whitefield in this region. 
 
 Nor was it only as an Apollos watering and tending 
 the plants which other men had sown, that God was 
 pleased to employ him. About a year and a half after 
 his ordination, in the month of August, 1739, before 
 Whitefield made his first visit to this part of the coun- 
 try, a remarkable revival of religion took place in this 
 congregation. It began among the youth, and increas- 
 ing steadily from month to month, seemed by mid- 
 
 * Memoir Col. Burr, p. 18. agent for the Church in Scotland. (See 
 
 "t Letter from Dr. John Nichols, physi- Gillies's Hist. Col., vol viii, p. 133. 
 cian in New York, to Nicholas Spence, 
 
REVIVAL OF RELIGION. 157 
 
 winter to have changed the entire face of society. The 
 vices and follies which before prevailed, were univer- 
 sally abandoned ; religious conversation took the place 
 of social merriment, devout attention appeared in all 
 their public assemblies, and a deep anxiety about their 
 eternal welfare became manifest in the countenances 
 of many. Early in the spring, the adult portion of the 
 congregation, who had hitherto, with a few exceptions, 
 remained apparently unaffected, began to feel the 
 power of the same sacred influences, and " the whole 
 town were brought under an uncommon concern about 
 their eternal interests."* 
 
 All this time the heavenly gift seemed confined 
 wholly to Newark. In the neighboring congregation 
 of Elizabethtown there was great religious insensibility. 
 Whitefield had visited and preached among them dur- 
 ing the autumn, and not a single known conversion 
 followed his ministrations. The excellent pastor of 
 the Church redoubled his efforts, but apparently to 
 no purpose. " Though we had," he writes, " continual 
 accounts from Newark of the growing distress among 
 their people, their young people especially, our con- 
 gregation remained secure and careless, and could not 
 
 * At this juncture, Mr. Dickinson, of in New Jersey. Gal. iv: 6. And because 
 
 Elizabethtown, preached a sermon here, ye are sons, God hath sent His Son into 
 
 entitled: your hears, crying Abba Father. Boston, 
 
 "The Witness of the Spirit. A Sermon N. E. Printed and sold by S. Kneeland 
 
 preached at Newark, in New Jersey, May & T. Green, in Queen street over against 
 
 7th, 1740, wherein is distinctly shown in the prison. 1740." 
 
 what way and manner the Spirit himself This sermon, a copy of which is now in 
 
 beareth witness to the adoption of the chil- possession of the writer of these dis- 
 
 dren of God, qii occasion of the wonderful courses, is eminently faithful and discrim- 
 
 progress of converting grace in those inating, and was doubtless in the truest 
 
 parts. By Jonathan Dickinson, M. A., sense, a Tract for the Times. The text 
 
 minister of the Gospel at Elizabethtown, is from Romans, iii : 16. 
 
158 EEVIVAL OF EELIGION. 
 
 be awakened out of their sleep." In such a man as 
 Dickinson, whose joy was doubtless unfeigned in view 
 of the success with which God was crowniug the efforts 
 of his young brother, for whom he seems to have en- 
 tertained the warmest affection, such apparent deser- 
 tion of his own flock could not but have been the 
 source of keen affliction. " You will easily conceive," 
 he says, "that this must be an afflicting and discour- 
 aging consideration to me, that when from other places 
 we had the joyful news of so many flying to Christ, I 
 had yet cause to complain that I labored in vain, and 
 spent my strength for nought." But just as the reli- 
 gious feeling in Newark began to show signs of abate- 
 ment, the Divine Spirit seemed to manifest His power 
 among the people of Elizabethtown. A numerous con- 
 gregation of the youth of the town being assembled, 
 " I preached to them," says the pastor, " a plain, prac- 
 tical sermon without any special liveliness or vigor, 
 for I was then in a remarkably dead and dull frame ;" 
 but so deep and sudden was the impression made, that 
 "the inward distress and concern of the audience dis- 
 covered itself by their tears, and by an audible sob- 
 bing and sighing in all parts of the assembly." About 
 sixty persons gave evidence by their subsequent lives, 
 of a radical change of character during this revival. 
 
 Meanwhile the congregation at Newark had not 
 been wholly deserted. Catching the sacred flame, 
 from the fire which had been kindled on a neighboring 
 altar, this Church experienced during the following 
 winter, the winter of 1 740-1, a more general and ef- 
 fectual manifestation of divine influence than in the 
 
whitefield's first visit. 159 
 
 previous instance. Professors of religion were induced 
 to examine closely the foundation of their hopes, and 
 many of them became convinced that they had hith- 
 erto only a name that they lived. Many converts 
 were added to the number of Christ's followers, espe- 
 cially among the elder class, and there seemed to be 
 very few in the whole congregation who were not 
 more or less sensibly affected. " There is good reason 
 to conclude," says an eye-witness, " that there were a 
 greater number now brought home to Christ than in 
 the former gracious visitation."* This is the first 
 among a long series of similar Divine visitations which 
 the wastes of time have preserved to us. 
 
 In the month of November, 1740, Whitefield made 
 his first visit to Newark. At his arrival in Newport, 
 Rhode Island, Mr. Burr was in that region, on a visit 
 for the benefit of his health, and probably accompanied 
 him to Boston. It is certain that he was in Boston 
 during the visit of the famous preacher, and heard him 
 preach, both in the churches and on the common, to 
 thronging thousands.f About a month after Mr. 
 
 * Gillies's Historical Collections, vol. ii, the 23d went to hear him preach in Mr. 
 
 p. 142 etc. Webb's church, but the house was crowd- 
 
 t Mem. of Col. Burr, p. 18. " In Novem- ed before Mr. Whitefield came. The pec- 
 ber, lj}39, I was on a visit to my friends pie, especially the women, were put into 
 in New England, and again in March 1740. a fright, under a mistaken notion, that the 
 In the following August I was in a de- galleries were falling, which caused them 
 dining state of health, and by the advice to hurry out in such a violent manner that 
 of my physicians visited Rhode Island, many were seriously injured, and five 
 From thence I proceeded to Boston on the killed. The same day Whitefield preached 
 19th of September. I heard Mr. White- at Mr. Gee's church. In the evening he 
 field preach in Dr. Colman's church. I preached at Dr. Sewall's church. On Sat- 
 am more and more and more pleased with urday I went to hear him in the Com- 
 the man. On the 21st heard him preach mons , there were about eight thousand 
 in the Commons to about ten thousand hearers. He expounded the parable of 
 people. On Monday visited him, and had the Prodigal Son in a very moving man- 
 some conversation to my satisfaction. On ner. Many melted into tears. On the 4th 
 
160 BUEE IN BOSTON". 
 
 Burr's return, Whitefield preached to this congrega- 
 tion. His own record of the fact is as follows:* 
 " Kode after sermon" (he had been preaching from a 
 wagon that morning on Staten Island) " to Newark. 
 Preached to a considerable congregation, but with lit- 
 tle influence. However at night the Lord manifested 
 forth His glory. In coming down to family-prayer 
 where I lodged, and perceiving many young men 
 around me, my very soul was, as it were, melted down 
 with concern for them. After singing, I gave a word 
 of exhortation. But how did the Word fall like a 
 hammer and like fire ! What a weeping was there ! 
 One poor creature in particular was ready to sink into 
 the earth." One of the Tennents was at this time in 
 the company, and the remainder of the evening was 
 spent, with Whitefield lying on the bed in great ex- 
 haustion, in hearing Mr. Tennent give an account of one 
 of his recent preaching excursions.f 
 
 An incident, which probably occurred during this 
 visit to Boston, and is related in a letter from a person 
 in that place to a minister in Glasgow, deserves notice 
 here, as illustrating Mr. Burr's character as a preacher, 
 and his influence in promoting the progress of the 
 great revival. A young lady of great wealth and ac- 
 complishments, a favorite in all gay company, but very 
 
 of October, being on my return to New ton, morning after morning, three or four 
 
 Jersey, I arrived at Fairfield, where I re- thousand people hanging in breathless 
 
 mained two days with my friends." Jour- silence on the lips of the preacher, and 
 nal of A. Burr. • weeping silent tears." 
 
 Philip says, (see Life and Times of Geo. * Whitefield's Journal, p. 423. London, 
 
 Whitefield, p. 419,) that again, in 1754, 1756. 
 
 " President Burr accompanied him [White- •)• Whitefield's Journal. London edition, 
 
 field] to New England, and saw at Bos- p. 423. 
 
BUER AS PASTOR. 161 
 
 thoughtless on the subject of religion, was passing by 
 Mr. Prince's meeting-house, on her way to some cere- 
 monious visit, when her attention was arrested by see- 
 ing great multitudes nocking into the house ; and learn- 
 ing on inquiry, that there was a lecture there that morn- 
 ing, she determined to go in and see what they were 
 doing. Mr. Burr " mounted the desk." Seeing noth- 
 ing remarkable in his appearance, she regarded him 
 with contempt, " thinking such a person could not say 
 any thing worth such crowding after," and would have 
 left the assembly at once, had not decency restrained 
 her. " But she soon found," says the narrative, " what 
 she never felt before, for the Spirit of God accompa- 
 nied the word in a most powerful manner," and the 
 result was a complete change in her life and character. 
 She died about four or five years afterwards, in the 
 triumph of faith and hope* 
 
 As a pastor, Mr. Burr was eminently faithful and 
 assiduous. Of winning manners and distinguished 
 skill in finding out and opening the avenues of the 
 heart, he employed his address, learning and activity for 
 the promotion of the moral improvement and spiritual 
 welfare of the souls committed to him. " To examine 
 into the condition of his flock," says an eminent civilian 
 who well knew him,f " to watch against essential er- 
 
 * Gillie's Historical Collections, p. 32S, Mr. Aaron Burr, of New Jersey. By Wil- 
 
 329. liam Livingston, Esq. 
 
 t Governor Livingston. See his Euloc- ' "' of comfort no man speak, 
 
 on the death of Mr. Burr, a copy of which Let's talk of graves, and worms, and epi- 
 is to be found in the Library of the Mass. taphs ; 
 
 Hist, Soc, in Boston, with the following Make dust our paper, and with rainy eyes 
 
 title : Write sorrow in the bosom of the earth.' 
 
 "A Funeral Eulo^ium on the Reverend " Shakspeare. 
 
 11 
 
162 BUEE AS PASTOE. 
 
 rors, to instruct the ignorant, to revive the disconso- 
 late, to animate the penitent, to reclaim the relapsing, 
 to confirm the irresolute, to humble the arrogant and 
 immoral, were his constant and most delightful em- 
 ployments." " He was none of those ' downy doctors' 
 who soothe their hearers into delusive hopes of divine 
 acceptance, or substitute external morality in the room 
 of vital godliness. On the contrary, he scorned to pro- 
 claim the peace of God till the rebel laid down his 
 arms, and returned to his allegiance. He was an am- 
 bassador that adhered inviolably to his instructions 
 and never acceded to a treaty that would not be rati- 
 fied in the Court of Heaven. He searched the con- 
 science with the terror of the law, before he assuaged 
 its anguish with the balm of Gilead, or presented the 
 sweet emollients of a bleeding Deity. He acted, in 
 short, like one, not intrusted with the lives and for- 
 tunes, but the everlasting interests of his fel^pw-mor- 
 tals, and therefore made it his business to advance the 
 divine life, and restore the beautiful image of God, dis- 
 figured by the apostacy of man." 
 
 With such personal and ministerial qualifications, 
 joined with social and literary accomplishments of the 
 highest order, and an example which justified the re- 
 mark of the distinguished eulogist just referred to, 
 
 "Stat sua cuique, Dies, breve et irrepara- gyrical, and somewhat inflated; but that 
 
 bile Tempus the estimate of character is not exagger- 
 
 Omnibus est ritfc, sed famam extendere ated, may be seen by comparing it with 
 
 factis the plainer compositions of Caleb Smith ) 
 
 Hoc virtutis opus. and the writers of the obituary notices. I 
 
 '■ New York, printed. Boston, reprinted know of no character conceming which all 
 
 by Green & Russel, in Queen street, for J. the testimony more fully agrees in its ap- 
 
 Winter, in Union street, mdcclviii." plause. 
 
 The style of this performance is pane- 
 
CALL TO NEW HAVEN. 163 
 
 that " what he preached in the pulpit he lived out of 
 it," it is no wonder that the devotion of the people to 
 their eloquent pastor was strong and fervent. 
 
 At an early period in his ministry, Mr. Burr was so- 
 licited to resign the charge of this Church, and remove 
 to another field of service. Several difficulties existing 
 in the First Church in New Haven, Mr. Dickinson, it 
 is said, had advised the people to end their troubles 
 by settling a colleague. Accordingly, in the month 
 of June, 1742, they presented a call to Mr. Burr to 
 become their assistant pastor with the Rev. Mr. Noyes ; 
 and in pursuance of this call, a committee was appoint- 
 ed, with President Clap at their head, to go to Newark 
 and lay the call before Mr. Burr, and prosecute it be- 
 fore the Presbytery to which he belonged, with direc- 
 tions likewise, " to treat with the good people of New- 
 ark and obtain their consent to Mr. Burr's removal to 
 New Haven." All we know of the result of this appli- 
 cation is that it was unsuccessful. Probably the good 
 people of Newark could not be induced, even by the 
 persuasive powers of President Clap, to give their con- 
 sent to a bereavement of so serious a character. In- 
 deed, such was the strong and mutual attachment be- 
 tween Mr. Burr and his people, as to forbid the thought 
 of such a change, except under the pressure of the most 
 urgent reasons. Through all his ministry there sub- 
 sisted between him and them the most entire harmony. 
 They regretted, it is said, even his occasional absence 
 from them, " though the pulpit was not meanly sup- 
 plied by another ;" for so high was their appreciation 
 
164 DAVID BEAINERD. 
 
 of his eminent services, " that they scarce could have a 
 tolerable relish for any change of spiritual fare."* 
 
 It was in the early part of Mr. Burr's ministry, that 
 David Brainerd, a name illustrious in the annals of 
 piety, received ordination in the house of worship be- 
 longing to this Church, as missionary to the Aborig- 
 ines of our country. Mr. Burr, with Dickinson and 
 others, distressed in view of the neglected condition of 
 the heathen in the very midst of them, were in corres- 
 pondence with the Society in Scotland for Propagating 
 Christian Knowledge, and had secured from them the 
 promise to support two missionaries to labor in that 
 field. Brainerd was the second person selected and 
 appointed by the Society's correspondents for that 
 work. "We find him here on the 19th of March, 1743 
 in great spiritual distress ; but he records in his jour- 
 nal, that " he had some sweetness in conversation with 
 Mr. Burr, and in praying together," and exclaims, in 
 view of the privilege, " O blessed be God for any en- 
 livening and quickening seasons."! Brainerd had been 
 expelled from college, where his standing as a scholar 
 would otherwise have entitled him to the first honors 
 of his class, for what must now be acknowledged to 
 have been only a trifling indiscretion. As commence- 
 ment approached, the anticipation of the scene was very 
 oppressive to him. His friends made every exertion 
 to have him restored, and Mr. Burr, commissioned by 
 his associates in the Indian mission, made a journey to 
 New Haven for the express purpose. But though 
 
 * Funeral sermon by Rev. Caleb Snv.th. t Edwards' Works, vol. x, p. 69. New 
 
 York edition. 
 
beainerd's ordination. 165 
 
 Brainerd had prepared and offered a most humble 
 confession, lamenting his fault, and seeking forgiveness, 
 the authorities of the College were inflexible, and his 
 degree was denied him, except on the condition of his 
 remaining in college another year, which he could not 
 do without breaking up all his plans of missionary ser- 
 vice. 
 
 Mr. Brainerd came to Newark on the 29th of May, 
 1744, and spent about two weeks here, and at Eliza- 
 bethtown, and in New York. The Presbytery met at 
 Newark, on the 11th of June, and in the afternoon of 
 that day, the young candidate preached his probation 
 sermon, from Acts xxvi: 17, 18. "Delivering thee 
 from the people and the Gentiles," &c. The next day 
 at ten o'clock, having passed through his trials with 
 universal approbation, he was set apart to the work of 
 the ministry, and Mr. Pemberton, of New York, 
 preached the ordination sermon, from Lukexiv: 23. 
 " And the Lord said, Go out into the highways and 
 h edges, and compel them to come in," <fec. 
 
 These facts deserve notice, both because the pre- 
 cious name of this sainted missionary should be cher- 
 ished as a sweet odor in every Church whose history is 
 connected with his memory, and because the connec- 
 tion of Brainerd with Burr and his associates had an 
 assignable influence on the subsequent course of affairs 
 in this congregation/" 
 
 About the time of Mr. Burr's ordination, some 
 
 * I refer particularly to the establish- the prime of life, and removal to Prince- 
 ment of the College in Newark; the mar- ton; the ministry of John Brainerd, &c. 
 ridge of Mr. Burr, and his dismission in 
 
166 PRESBYTERY OF NEW YORK FORMED. 
 
 changes took place in the external relations of the 
 Church. The large and flourishing Presbytery of East 
 Jersey was increased still further by the addition of 
 the small Presbytery of Long Island, which had be- 
 come so reduced, as to be unable to maintain advan- 
 tageously its separate existence, and received the new 
 designation of the Presbytery of New York. With 
 this body so denominated, the Church continued in 
 connection during seventy-one years.* 
 
 At the same meeting of the Synod, namely, in 1738, 
 several Churches previously belonging to the Presby- 
 tery of East Jersey were detached from it, and with 
 some others taken from that of Philadelphia, erected 
 into a new body, under the name of the Presbytery of 
 New Brunswick. It was conrposed chiefly, if not 
 wholly, of men warmly engaged in promoting the 
 great revival already spoken of; and being formed into 
 a separate body, they began to prosecute with great 
 vigor the plans and methods by which that remarka- 
 ble movement was characterized.f These proceedings 
 had an important influence upon the course of affairs 
 which we must now proceed to consider. 
 
 The period of Mr. Burr's ministy was distinguished 
 by an event sadly memorable in the history of the 
 Presbyterian Church, and to which his relations and 
 
 * See Minutes of the Synod of Philadel- time into our Lord's vineyard." (Journal, 
 
 phia, p. 134. p. 281.) It was even rumored, at one 
 
 t Whitefield says, under date of Nov. time, that Whitefield had a plan to bring 
 
 25, 1739 : " It happens very providentially out young preachers from England, and 
 
 that Mr. Tennent and his brethren are ap- have them ordained by this Presbytery, in 
 
 pointed to be a Presbytery by the Synod, order to supplant those pastors of churches 
 
 so that they intend breeding up gracious whose piety and ministerial zeal he re- 
 
 youth and sending them out from time to garded as deficient. 
 
THE GREAT SCHISM. 167 
 
 those of the Presbytery to which this Church belonged, 
 were such as to reflect the highest honor on their wis- 
 dom and piety. I refer to what has been denominated 
 the great schism. The revival of religion before re- 
 ferred to, had both given rise to a new system of 
 measures in the Churches which had felt its power, 
 and created an obvious necessity for a more copious 
 supply of ministers than could be readily obtained in 
 the existing state of learning and piety in the country. 
 The consequence was that some serious irregularities 
 disturbed the order of the Church, and some men were 
 introduced into the sacred office, whose proficiency in 
 learning did not correspond with their zeal and fer- 
 vency. To those who were not in full sympathy with 
 the movement, these evils gave serious offence, and 
 furnished both the occasion and the pretext for oppos- 
 ing in some instances, the work itself. In the year 
 1737, an act was passed in the Synod restricting itine- 
 rant preaching, and prohibiting the members of one 
 Presbytery to preach within the bounds of another 
 without an explicit permission. In the year following, 
 the Synod enacted that no Presbytery should ordain 
 or license any candidate for the ministy, who could 
 not furnish a diploma from some European or New 
 England College, without first subjecting him to an 
 examination with respect to his scholarship, before a 
 commission of the Synod. As these regulations, how- 
 ever proper in themselves, had the effect to counteract 
 the most efficient measures which had been resorted to 
 by the friends of the revival, and were supposed by 
 them to be designed for that purpose, they of course 
 
168 CAUSES OF THE SCHISM. 
 
 regarded thein with, great repugnance. Some modifi- 
 cation were made, Ibut the opponents of the restric- 
 tions were not satisfied. The Presbytery of New 
 Brunswick, in which the influence of the Messrs. 
 Tennent was prominent, threw themselves back upon 
 their reserved rights, and the old controversy on Mr. 
 Gillespie's overture, so happily settled in 1722, by the 
 adoption of Mr. Dickinson's articles, was in a measure 
 revived. Alleging conscientious objections to the acts 
 of the Synod, this Presbytery claimed the legal right 
 not to be bound by them, and thereupon actually pro- 
 ceeded to grant licenses to one or more candidates 
 without the required examination. Matters went on 
 in this way — the irritation all the while becoming 
 greater, and the breach between the two parties wider 
 and wider — till the year 1741, when the advocates of 
 the restrictions, weary of opposition, determined on 
 settling the whole affair in a summary manner, by the 
 ejection of their refractory brethren. A long and se- 
 vere protest was introduced into the Synod, in which 
 the authors of it, declaring themselves " grieved at our 
 very hearts with the dreadful divisions, distractions 
 and convulsions which all of a sudden have seized this 
 infant Church," of which all they say, their protesting 
 brethren, that is the New Brunswick Presbytery and 
 their associates, were the " direct and proper cause, by 
 their unwearied, unscriptural, anti-presbyterial, unchar- 
 itable and abusive practices," proceed to assert in the 
 most formal and solemn manner, that these brethren 
 have no right to be considered members of that body, 
 on account of " principles and practices which render 
 
ATTEMPTS AT MEDIATION. 169 
 
 all union with them in ecclesiastical matters monstrous 
 and absurd ;" and to declare further, that if these 
 brethren shall still be allowed to sit and act, " what- 
 soever shall be done, voted or transacted by them con- 
 trary to our judgment, shall be of no force or obliga- 
 tion to us, being done or acted by a judicatory, consist- 
 ing in part of members who have no authority to act 
 with us in ecclesiastical matters."* All this while, it 
 must be remembered, the accused party had had no 
 trial, and not one of the charges on the ground of 
 which they were thus declared out of the pale of the 
 Presbyterian Church had been legally proved. On a 
 trial of strength, the adherents to the party thus pro- 
 testing being found to be in the majority, the minority 
 were compelled to withdraw. 
 
 The members of the Presbytery of New York were 
 all absent when these violent proceedings took place. 
 But the next year they made their appearance in the 
 Synod, and, with that noble champion of truth and 
 right, Jonathan Dickinson, at their head, commenced 
 a vigorous eifort to heal the melancholy breach. A 
 conference was proposed and ordered, but the question 
 now arose, who should be the judges in the case. The 
 ejected members insisted on excluding all who signed 
 the offensive protest, which would throw the power of 
 deciding mainly into the hands of the New York Pres- 
 bytery. The protesting brethren would neither allow 
 the ejected members nor the absentees of the last year 
 
 * This protest, which is too long to be a long series of mutual irritations, may 
 inserted here, is a singular proof of the carry even good men. Its language is in 
 extent to which party spirit, influenced by the highest degree harsh and vituperative. 
 
1*70 NEW YORK PRESBYTERY PROTEST 
 
 to act in the matter, insisting that they themselves 
 were the Synod when they adopted the protest, and 
 had acted as such, and would be called to account, 
 neither by absent members nor by auy judicature on 
 earth. One of their number declared his judgment in 
 favor of submitting to a review in the Synod as now 
 met, but whether he intended the ejected members 
 should be admitted to a vote in that review, his re- 
 corded opinion does not affirm. 
 
 Finding all attempts to secure a reconsideration 
 ineffectual, the New York members now entered their 
 solemn protest against the whole transaction, as illegal, 
 unprecedented, " contrary to the rules of the Gospel, 
 and subversive of our excellent constitution;" declar- 
 ing, moreover that " the excluded members ought to 
 be owned and esteemed as members of the Synod, un- 
 til they are excluded by a regular and impartial pro- 
 cess against them, according to the methods presented 
 in Sacred Scripture, and practiced by the Churches of 
 the Presbyterian persuasion." This protest they de- 
 sired should be recorded in the minutes for a perpet- 
 ual memorial Nor did they stop with this. Very 
 earnestly did this noble body of men, constituting the 
 flower of the whole Synod, labor for reconciliation. 
 That the party who had been ejected were wrong 
 in many respects, they freely acknowledged. The)* 
 were by no means disposed to justify their disorderly 
 intrusions into other congregations than their own, 
 their censorious judgments of the spiritual state of men 
 of unimpeached standing in the Church, and especially 
 their refusal to submit to the regulations of the Synod 
 
AND KEMONSTKANCE. lTl 
 
 in respect to the examination of candidates for the 
 ministry* But they had strong sympathy with them 
 as men zealous for the promotion of living piety ; they 
 believed the right was on their side in the matter now 
 immediately in contest ; and could not allow them to 
 be censured by the highest judicatory of the Church, 
 much less ejected from its membership, without the 
 process of a legal trial. At a meeting convened in 
 Newark, in the Spring of 1743, they presented a very 
 able and temperate paper, kindly but faithfully ex- 
 pressing their views of what was wrong in both parties, 
 urging a reconciliation, and proposing as a last resort, 
 that another Synod should be created by a mutual 
 agreement ; so that all the members having free per- 
 mission to choose between the two bodies, both parties 
 might be able to labor in their spheres for the com- 
 mon cause, and be at the same time on friendly rela- 
 
 * The following extract, furnished me to run into at the present day that we ought 
 
 by the kindness of Rev. Richard Webster, not to encourage: 1. Tbeir being led by 
 
 from a letter of Mr. Burr to Dr. Bellamy, impressions and impulses made on their 
 
 shows the cautious wisdom with which minds with or without a text of Scripture, 
 
 this class of men were accustomed to and taking their own passions and imagin- 
 
 watch every evil tendency which they dis- ations for the operations of God's Spirit, 
 
 covered mingling itself with the great re- 2. Giving heed to visions, trances and rev- 
 
 ligious movement of the age : elations. 3. Speaking of divine things 
 
 ''June 28, 1742, Beloved Brother — I with an air of levity, vanity, laughter, &c. 
 
 have so many things lying on my mind 4. Declaring their judgment about others 
 
 that I know not how to communicate openly and freely in their absence, wheth- 
 
 them with pen and ink. I long to have er they are converted or not. 5. Making 
 
 you alone a few hours, that I might un- their own feelings a rule to judge others 
 
 bosom myself freely ; but 'tis good to have by. 6. For laymen to take upon them to 
 
 no will of our own. 'Tis glad tidings of exhort in a public assembly. 7. Separa- 
 
 great joy we hear from Southberry. But ting from their minister under a notion of 
 
 some things that I have heard from there his being unconverted. . . Things with us 
 
 I don't see through, which in some meas- are much as when I saw you. I have had 
 
 ure damps my joy. The bearer has given a few intervals of nearness to God, but 
 
 me more satisfaction. Glory be to God, alas! how short. But Oh, how sweet and 
 
 that He carries on His work in any way, pleasant. ' Let Him kiss me with the 
 
 I do rejoice, and will rejoice. However, kisses of His mouth, for His love is sweeter 
 
 there are some things that persons are apt than wine.' " 
 
172 SEPARATION CONSUMMATED. 
 
 tions. But here again their efforts failed. The ejected 
 brethren would listen to no terms till the illegal protest 
 should be withdrawn. The members of the other party 
 would make none which do not include satisfaction 
 for the past, promises of amendment for the future, 
 and an undoing of all that had been done contrary to 
 their judgment. On these conditions alone would 
 they allow the ejected brethren to take a seat in " our 
 Synod ;" and as to the mutual agreement to form a 
 new one, that would be, they judged, to perpetuate 
 schism, and therefore could not be done. 
 
 The proposals of the Presbytery of New York being 
 thus unanimously rejected, another paper was presented, 
 / signed by four ministers, of whom Mr. Burr was one, in 
 which they declared that while they had no unbroth- 
 erly treatment from the Synod to complain of in rela- 
 tion to themselves, they could not consent to sit and 
 act as the Synod of Philadelphia, while the members 
 of the New Brunswick Presbytery and their adherents, 
 who were as truly members of the Synod as themselves, 
 Avere denied a seat in it. 
 
 The next year all the members of the New York 
 Presbytery were absent. Some further efforts were 
 made to bring about an agreement, either to renew 
 the union, or separate on terms deemed equitable by 
 both the parties; but these proving ineffectual, the 
 Presbytery of New York having determined to make 
 common cause with the aggrieved party, united with 
 the two Presbyteries into which the former Presby- 
 tery of New Brunswick had now grown, and founded 
 in the month of September, 1745, the Synod of New 
 
SYNOD OF NEW YOEK FORMED. 
 
 York." This Synod held its first meeting- at Eliza- 
 bethtown, and chose for its first Moderator, the Rev. 
 Jonathan Dickinson. Tims was consummated the 
 First Great Schism in the Presbyterian Church. 
 
 * Minutes, p. 232. The Presbyteries 
 composing the new Synod were those of 
 New York, New Brunswick and New Cas- 
 tle. Of the Presbytery of New York were 
 present the following ministers : Messrs. 
 Jonathan Dickinson, John Pierson, Eben- 
 ezer Pemberton, Simon Horton, Aaron 
 Burr, Azariah Horton, Timothy Jones, 
 Eliab Byram, Robert Sturgeon. The 
 platform on which it established itself is 
 as follows : 
 
 "The ministers and elders before men- 
 tioned, first considered and agreed upon 
 the following articles, as the plan and 
 foundation of their Synodical union: 
 
 "1. They agree that the Westminster 
 Confession of Faith, with the Larger and 
 Shorter Catechisms, be the public con- 
 fession of their faith, in such manner as 
 was agreed unto by the Synod of Phila- 
 delphia in the year 1720, and to beinserted 
 in the latter end of this book. And they 
 declare their approbation of the Directory 
 of the Assembly of Divines at Westmin- 
 ster as the general plan of worship and 
 discipline. 
 
 " 2. They agree that in matters of dis- 
 cipline, and those things that relate to the 
 peace and good order of our Churches, 
 they shall be determined according to the 
 major vote of miuisters and elders, with 
 which vote every member shall actively 
 concur or pacifically acquiesce; but if any 
 member cannot in conscience agree to the 
 determination of the majority, but sup- 
 poses himself obliged to act contrary 
 thereunto, and the Synod think themselves 
 obliged to insist upon it as essentially ne- 
 cessary to the well-being of our Churches, 
 in that case, such dissenting member 
 promises peaceably to withdraw from the 
 body, without endeavoring to raise any 
 dispute or contention upon the debated 
 point, or any unjust alienation of affection 
 from them. 
 
 "3. If any menber of their body sup- 
 poses that he hath any thing to object 
 against any of his brethren with respect to 
 error in doctrine, immorality in life, or 
 negligence in his ministry, he shall not 
 on any account propagate the scandal 
 until the person objected against is dealt 
 with according to the rules of the Gos- 
 pel and the known method of their disci- 
 pline. 
 
 "4. They agree that all who have a com- 
 petent degree of ministerial knowledge, 
 are orthodox in their doctrine, regular in 
 their lives, and diligent in their endeavors 
 to promote the important designs of vital 
 godliness, and that will submit to their 
 discipline, shall be cheerfully admitted 
 into their communion. 
 
 "And they do also agree that in order 
 to avoid all divisive methods among their 
 ministers and congregations, and to 
 strengthen the discipline of Christ in the 
 Churches in these parts, they will mair. 
 tarn a correspondence with the Synod of 
 Philadelphia, in this their first meeting, 
 by appointing two of their members to 
 meet with the said Synod of Philadelphia, 
 at their next convention, and to concert 
 with them such measures as may best 
 promote the precious interests of Christ's 
 kingdom in these parts. 
 
 " And that they may in no respect en- 
 courage any factious separating practices 
 or principles, they agree that they will 
 not intermeddle with judically hearing 
 the complaints, or with supplying with 
 ministers and candidates such parties of 
 men as shall separate from any Presbyte- 
 rian or Congregational Churches that are 
 not within their bounds, unless the matters 
 of controversy be submitted to their juris- 
 diction or advice by both parties," 
 
 At the same meeting they prepared and 
 adopted "a testimony to the work of God's 
 glorious grace, which has been carried on 
 in these parts of the laud." Minutes, pp. 
 232-0. 
 
174 OLD SIDE AND NEW SIDE. 
 
 Two distinct bodies now existed side by side, hold- 
 ing the same doctrine and the same platform of Church 
 government, free to rival each other in their operations 
 on the same field, and having no other connection than 
 that of an occasional more or less friendly correspond- 
 ence. They were called, and had been from the be- 
 ginning of their divisions, in the current language of 
 the day, the Old Side and the New Side. The Old 
 Side were still the Synod of Philadelphia, and the 
 New Side formed the Synod of New York. As sneh 
 they remained sej^arate till the year 1*758, a period of 
 thirteen years. 
 
 With the history of this Church, at the period now 
 under review, are connected the organization and the 
 early fortunes of the College of New Jersey. 
 
 This institution, like most of our most eminent lit- 
 erary institutions, owes its origin entirely to religious 
 considerations, and grew out of the religious necessities 
 of the times and circumstances to which we have just 
 referred. From the first settlement of the Province, the 
 want of an adequate supply of well qualified ministers 
 had been bitterly felt in this region."* The dependence 
 of the Churches was, chiefly, on the two Colleges of New 
 England, together with such individuals as mi^ht emi- 
 grate from Europe after completing their education. 
 To meet this deficiency, the venerable William Ten- 
 nent, senior, established under his own care, at Ne- 
 
 * The letters of the early Scotch settlers the encouragement of the Plantation, is 
 speak of this deficiency more than once, [that] you would be instrumental to send 
 James Johnstone, of Spotswoode, in his us over some ministers, who, I dare en- 
 letter to his brother, John Johnstone, gage, shall ever after be thaukful," &c. 
 druggist in Edinburgh, Dec. 12, 17S4, said, Model of the Government, Whitehead, p. 
 " What I most earnestly desire of you, for 299. 
 
COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY. 175 
 
 shaminy, a classical and theological school, which ob- 
 tained, from the building in which it was kept, the 
 name of the " Log College."* The supposed inade- 
 quacy of the instruction received in that institution, 
 together with the views and feelings which marked its 
 spirit and distinguished the preachers who came forth 
 from it, was undoubtedly one of the causes of the jeal- 
 ousy which ended in the disruption of the Presbyte- 
 rian Church. As the scenes of the great revival 
 passed along, and the necessity of more numerous and 
 more fervent preachers to meet the wants of the peo- 
 ple on the one hand, and the mischiefs of employing 
 men of inadequate qualifications on the other, became 
 more and more apparent, the two parties were contin- 
 ually reproaching each other, the one complaining of 
 deficient piety, and the other of deficient education in 
 their candidates introduced into the Gospel ministry. 
 
 To meet the difficulty, some efforts had been made 
 in the Synod before the separation, to establish a liter- 
 ary institution adequate to the wants of the times. An 
 overture to that effect was introduced in the year 1739, 
 and a committee, consisting of Messrs. Pemberton, 
 Dickinson, Cross and Andrews, were appointed, with 
 directions that two of their number should be sent to 
 Europe to prosecute the affair, if possible, and if it should 
 be necessary, that Mr. Pemberton should go to Boston 
 "pursuant to this design." This committee entered 
 
 * Log College, by Dr. Archibald Alexan- broad, and to me it seemed to resemble 
 
 der, p. 14. Whitefield, in his journal, p. the schools of the old prophets." In a 
 
 280, under date of November, 1739, speaks note he adds in 1756 : " This is now in- 
 
 of this school as follows : "It is a log house, creased to a large College now erecting in 
 
 about twenty feet long, and near as many the New Jerseys." 
 
1^6 OPwIGIN OF THE COLLEGE. 
 
 upon their work, and laid out plans for its prosecution, 
 "but the war breaking out," say the minutes, "be- 
 tween England and Spain, the calling of the Synod 
 was omitted, and the whole affair was laid aside for 
 that time." It was resumed subsequently, and an in- 
 stitution founded, but it never rose above the dignity 
 of an academy. 
 
 Immediately after the separation, the Synod of New 
 York, who were certainly no less deeply sensible than 
 their brethren of the value of education, finding the 
 school at Neshaminy in a state of decline, began to 
 take measures for the institution of a College within 
 their own boundaries. One of the motives which 
 urged on the design is said to have been the ill treat- 
 ment which the devoted Brainerd received at Yale, 
 aided perhaps by the dissatisfaction shown by the offi- 
 cers of that institution towards the ministers who now 
 composed the Synod, for having ordained David 
 Brainerd after they had expelled him from their Col- 
 lege. Indeed, it is asserted, on the authority of very 
 direct tradition, as a remark of Mr. Burr, that " if it 
 had not been for the treatment received by Mr. Brain- 
 erd at Yale College, New Jersey College never would 
 have been erected."""' 
 
 The germ out of which the College ultimately grew, 
 was planted at Elizabethtown, under the care of the 
 Rev. Jonathan Dickinson. This distinguished divine 
 and scholar — the leader of his party in the old Synod, 
 and the first moderator of the new — having been ac- 
 
 * Log College, by Dr. Alexander, p. 127. 
 
FIRST CHARTER. 177 
 
 customed, as is supposed, for several years, to carry on, 
 in connection with the duties of his ministry, a school 
 for instruction in classical studies, had at this time 
 under his care, a considerable number of young men 
 who were pursuing a regular course of liberal educa- 
 tion. Measures were accordingly adopted, as soon as 
 practicable, to obtain a charter, and erect this school 
 into a college. Such a charter was granted, and passed 
 the great seal of the Province of New Jersey, under 
 the administration of John Hamilton, President of His 
 Majesty's Council, and officiating as Governor after the 
 decease of Governor Morris, on the 2 2d of October, 
 1746.* The persons to whom it was granted were 
 Jonathan Dickinson, John Pierson, Ebenezer Peinber- 
 ton and Aaron Burr, ministers of the Gospel, and 
 some others, probably in part laymen, whose names I 
 have not been able to ascertain ; and the name of the 
 institution so incorporated was " The College of New 
 Jersey." The trustees thus empowered and encour- 
 aged, lost no time in carrying the worthy purpose into 
 execution. On the 9th of February following, they 
 notified the public of their appointment through the 
 press, declaring their intention to open the College 
 during the Spring, some time in May at latest, and in- 
 viting applications for admission from all persons duly 
 qualified by their studies. Before the end of April 
 
 * The following extract from the State this Province of New Jersey tested by 
 
 Records at Trenton, is published by Dr. John Hamilton, Esq., President of His 
 
 Green, in the notes to his Discourses, p. Majesty's Council, and Commander-in- 
 
 283. chief of the Province of New Jersey, the 
 
 "Mem. of a charter for a college. A 22d of October, 1746." The charter itself 
 
 charter to incorporate sundry persons to never was recorded, 
 found a college passed the great seal of 
 
 12 
 
178 
 
 PRESIDENT DICKINSON. 
 
 they published another notification, fixing the time 
 and place of opening, and making known to the public 
 the formal appointment of the Rev. Jonathan Dickin- 
 son as President of the intended institution.* There 
 can be no reasonable doubt that the College was actually 
 organized during the last week in May, 1747, at Eliza- 
 bethtown, and that Mr. Dickinson having accepted the 
 appointment, then and there entered upon the duties of 
 his office. But these fair and hopeful beginnings were 
 destined to a speedy disappointment. President Dick- 
 inson officiated in his new station only four months and 
 a-half, when he was seized with a pleuritic disease, and 
 died on the 7th of October, 1747, in the 60th year of 
 his age.f The unanticipated event disconcerted the 
 
 * The notification, which is to be found 
 in the "New York Gazette, revived in 
 the weekly Post Boy," under date of Feb- 
 ruary 9th and February 16th, 1746-7, is as 
 follows : 
 
 "Whereas, a charter with full and am- 
 ple privileges, has been granted by His 
 Majesty, under the seal of the Province of 
 New Jersey, bearing date the 2'2d of Oc- 
 tober, 1746, for erecting a college within 
 the said Province, to Jonathan Dickinson, 
 John Pierson, Ebenezer Pemberton and 
 Aaron Burr, ministers of the Gospel, and 
 some other gentlemen, as Trustees of the 
 said college, by which charter equal liber- 
 ties and privileges are secured to every 
 denomination of Christians, any different 
 religious sentiments notwithstanding. The 
 said Trustees have therefore thought proper 
 to inform the public that they design to 
 open the said College the next .spring, and 
 notify any person or persons who are qual- 
 ified by preparatory learning for admis- 
 sion, that some time in May next at latest, 
 they may be there admitted to an academ- 
 ical education." 
 
 The following is from the same paper, 
 tinder date of April 27th, 1747 : 
 
 " This is to inform the public that the 
 
 Trustees of the College of New Jersey 
 hare appointed the Rev. Mr. Dickinson 
 President of the said college, which will 
 be opened the fourth week in May next, 
 at Elizabethtown, at which time and place 
 all persons suitably qualified may be ad- 
 mitted to academic education." 
 
 This notice is inserted in each success- 
 ive paper up to the 25th of May, when it 
 ceases to appear. 
 
 t The following obituary notice, which 
 I find in the New York Gazette and Week- 
 ly Post Boy, under date of Oct. 12th, 1747, 
 illustrates the character of this distin- 
 guished man whose name has been so of- 
 ten mentioned in connection with this his- 
 tory, and whose influence was so impor- 
 tant and valuable over the course of af- 
 fairs in this congregation. 
 
 " Elizabethtown in New Jersey, Oct. 10. 
 
 " On Wednesday morning last, about 4 
 o'clock, died here of a pleuritic illness, 
 that eminently learned, faithful and pious 
 minister of the Gospel, and President of 
 the College of New Jersey, the Rev. Mr. 
 Jonathan Dickinson, in the 60th year of 
 his age, who had been pastor of the First 
 Presbyterian Church in this town for near- 
 ly forty years, and was the glory and joy 
 
STUDENTS EEMOVED TO NEWAEK. 179 
 
 plans, caused an abrupt suspension of the infant 
 enterprise, and led subsequently as we shall see here- 
 after, to a new organization, on a new and independ- 
 ent basis. On the decease of Mr. Dickinson, the pupils, 
 eight in number, were removed to Newark, and placed 
 under the care and instruction of Mr. Burr." 5 ' He, 
 like Dickinson, had been in the habit of instructing in 
 the classic languages, and as early as 1746 had under 
 his direction a large Latin school. After receiving 
 Mr. Dickinson's students, he still continued the charge 
 of his own, employing one or more assistants, as he 
 had before been accustomed to do, and the school 
 went on in this undefined shape, probably without the 
 appointment of another president on the part of the 
 trustees of the College, about the space of a year. 
 
 of it. In him conspicuously appeared when the Rev. Mr. Pierson,ofWoodbridge, 
 those natural and acquired moral and spir- preached his funeral sermon, and as he 
 itual endowments which constitute a truly lived desired of all so never any person in 
 excellentand valuable man, a good scholar, these parts died more lamented. Our 
 an eminent divine, and a serious devout fathers where are they and the prophets, 
 Christian. He was greatly adorned with do they live forever?" 
 the gifts and graces of his Heavenly Mas- * The number has been heretofore stated 
 ter, in the light whereof he appeared as a at about twenty. Such is the statement 
 star of superior brightness and influence of Dr. Green, p. 296. He took his esti. 
 in the orb of the Church, which has sus- rnata from the fact, that according to the 
 tained a great and unspeakable loss in his catalogue, nineteen persons took their first 
 death. He was of uncommon and very degrees within four years from the date of 
 extensive usefulness. He boldly appeared the removal. But it is too much to as. 
 in the defence of the great and important sume that all the graduates of the first 
 truths of our most holy religion and the three classes had been under the care of 
 Gospel doctrines of the free and sovereign Mr. Dickinson. Nothing is more corn- 
 grace of God. He was a zealous promoter mon than admission to advanced stand- 
 of godly practice and godly living, and a ing, even in well established colleges., 
 bright ornament to his profession. In Thus in March, 1750, the three classes of 
 times and cases of difficulty he was a 1751, '52, and '53, contained only twenty- 
 ready, wise and able counsellor. By his five students, yet the number of graduates 
 death our infant college is deprived of the in those classes amounted to thirty-one., 
 benefit and advantage of his superior ac- See letter to Joseph Shippen, and compare, 
 complishments, which afforded a favorable triennial catalogue. The estimate above 
 prospect of its future flourishing and pros- given is on the authority of Mr. Burr's, 
 perity under his inspection. His remains obituary, and may I presume, be relied 
 were decently interred here yesterday, upon. 
 
180 GOVERNOR BELCHER. 
 
 But the noble design of establishing a College on an 
 adequate and permanent foundation had not been 
 abandoned. The same year in which Mr. Dickinson 
 died, and not far from the same date, that distinguished 
 patron of learning and religion, Jonathan Belcher, as- 
 sumed the government of the Province .* The infant 
 seminary immediately engaged his attention, and se- 
 cured his most cordial encouragement. As early as 
 the 31st of May, 1748, we find him in correspondence 
 with President Edwards, from whom he had before 
 that date received a communication respecting it.f 
 Deploring the religious errors which he fears are gain- 
 ing ground in the New England Colleges, "in destruc- 
 tion of the doctrines of free grace," and commending 
 the new enterprise, which he denominates an enibryo 
 college, as u a noble design, and destined, if God 
 pleases, to prove an extensive blessing," he says : " I 
 have adopted it as a daughter, and hope it may in 
 time become an alma mater to this and the neighbor- 
 boring Provinces." He was at that time getting ad- 
 vice and assistance in the draught of a " charter," and, 
 expressing his cordial thanks to the illustrious New 
 England theologian for his kind hints, promises, like 
 Mary, " to keep all these things, and ponder them in 
 his heart," adding the assurance that so far as God 
 should enable him, he would exert himself in every 
 
 * Governor Belcher arrived in New Jer- Governor-in- chief of the Province of New 
 
 sey about the end of the summer of 1747. Jersey, to the Council and General Assem- 
 
 The New York Gazette and Post Boy, un. bly of said Province, on Thursday, the 
 
 der date of August 31st, contains a notice 20th of August, 1747." 
 
 of "The Speeah of His Excellency, Jona- t Life of President Edwards. Worka, 
 
 than Belcher, Esq., Captain General and vol. i, p. 267, ed. New York, 1830. 
 
NEW CHAETEE. 181 
 
 way to bring the College to maturity. Smith, in his 
 history of New Jersey, speaks of the charter given by 
 Governor Belcher as an enlargement of the old one, 
 but both its history and its terms indicate the con- 
 trary. It is in all resj)ect an original document, con- 
 taining other jmvileges, and conferred upon a new 
 selection of trustees. No former charter was recog- 
 nized in it, and the probability is, that although the 
 former charter had been accepted and acted upon for 
 a time, and though the Trustees in announcing that 
 fact to the public, were free to denominate it " a char- 
 ter with full and ample privileges," yet the hopes 
 raised by the accession of Governor Belcher to the 
 chair of office, a friend of the Presbyterians beyond all 
 who had preceded him in that station, had induced 
 them on the decease of President Dickinson, to let the 
 old charter fall into disuse, in order to try what might 
 l>e accomplished by a new beginning. The procedure, 
 whatever may have been its character and motives, 
 did not give universal satisfaction. It is well known 
 that the change of men to whom the power of direct- 
 ing the College was intrusted — some who had been 
 named in the old charter or elected under it, being left 
 out, and others, among whom were the governors of 
 the Province for the time being ex-o-fficio, introduced, 
 was such as to give great offence to some of the earliest 
 promoters of the enterprise, and one of them at least, 
 Gilbert Tennant, was for a considerable time resolved 
 to have nothing to do with the undertaking* 
 
 The charter which Governor Belcher j^repared, and 
 
 * Edwards' Works vol. i, p. 275. 
 
182 COLLEGE BE-OKGAMZED. 
 
 under which the College was at length re-organized, 
 and now nourishes, was granted in the month of Sep- 
 tember, 1748. A small majority of the trustees named 
 in it, convened at New Brunswick, on the 13th of Oc- 
 tober, and, having accepted the charter, and chosen a 
 clerk, the president of the board being absent, adopted 
 an address of thanks to Governor Belcher, which had 
 been drawn up by Mr. Burr, and adjourned to meet 
 at Newark during the following month. 
 
 The organization of the College thus incorporated, 
 took place at Newark, in the house of worship belong- 
 ing to this congregation, on Wednesday, the 9th day 
 of November, 1748, of which a full account I under- 
 stand is preserved in the College records.* The Gov- 
 ernor, who was ex-officio president of the board of 
 trustees, and several other members not present at the 
 preliminary meeting, having been qualified, the clerk 
 certified that he had duly notified every member of 
 the corporation, " and then took the oath of office as 
 the charter requires." Thereupon the Rev. Aaron 
 Burr was unanimously chosen President of the College, 
 and the vote of the trustees being made known to 
 him, says the record, " he was pleased modestly to 
 accept the same," and took the oath of office required 
 by the charter. A class of seven young men, namely, 
 Enos Ayres, Benjamin Chestnut, Hugo Henry, Israel 
 Eeed, Richard Stockton, and Daniel Thane, all but 
 one of whom afterwards became ministers of the Gos- 
 pel and he one of New Jersey's most distinguished 
 jurists, having already completed their studies and 
 
 * Discourses of Dr. Green, note, p. 301. 
 
FIRST COMMENCEMENT. 183 
 
 been examined and approved as qualified to receive 
 their first degree, it was voted, that " the Commence- 
 ment for graduating the candidates go on this day." 
 
 To the people of this congregation, that day must 
 have been one of intense interest, and those who can 
 remember how important an event was even an ordi- 
 nary Commencement in the quiet villages of former 
 days, may imagine the profound excitement which 
 must have prevailed here, when the hopes cherished 
 for years by the best men being at length realized, 
 the people saw a well chartered college spring into 
 being in the midst of them, and their own beloved and 
 almost idolized pastor placed at the head of it, and 
 presiding with princely grace and dignity over the 
 distribution of its first honors. 
 
 The exercises of the occasion commenced in the fore- 
 noon, with prayer by the President, and publicly 
 reading the charter in the meeting-house. In the af- 
 ternon, the President delivered a " handsome and ele- 
 gant Latin oration," and the students having performed 
 their parts in the " customary scholastic disputations," 
 received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. His Ex- 
 cellency " was pleased to accept of a degree of Mas- 
 ter of Arts," and then after a salutatory oration pro- 
 nounced by Mr. Thane, the whole was concluded with 
 prayer by the President. The evening was spent by 
 the trustees in adopting a code of laws for the College, 
 and making arrangements for its future stability and 
 advancement. 
 
 Thus was the College of New Jersey, after long ex- 
 ertions and hopes deferred, at length brought to a full 
 
184 
 
 BURR AS PRESIDENT. 
 
 and permanent organization. Hitherto it had existed 
 rather in purpose than in realization — in noble efforts 
 frustrated at the very moment of attainment, and re- 
 quiring to be attempted anew. Here, however, it had 
 reached a point from which there was to be no re 
 ceding ; and its progress has been from that time con- 
 tinually onward. The illustrious Dickinson, who stood 
 foremost in the incipient measures which resulted in its 
 establishment, and for a few months presided over it 
 in its incipient or tentative stage, deserves the highest 
 place on its escutcheon, as its projector and father. 
 But considered as a permanent institution, established 
 upon a legal basis, the organization to which I have 
 referred was doubtless its true beginning ; and of this 
 institution, so established, Aaron Burr must be allowed 
 to have been the first President .* 
 
 * The writer is by no means disposed 
 to detract in the least degree from the 
 credit due to the distinguished man whose 
 name, with an affectionate reverence which 
 cannot forego the honor of such a name, is 
 placed in the College catalogue as the first 
 in the series of its Presidents. It was 
 placed there, as he understands, on the 
 authority of tradition only. Dr. Grecu 
 says of that period of the College history : 
 "Who were the trustees named in that 
 charter, or appointed under it, when or 
 where they met, or at what time and in 
 what manner Mr. Dickinson was appoint- 
 ed, cannot now be known, and it is useless 
 to conjecture." The pamphlet entitled 
 "History of the College of New Jersey, 
 by a Graduate," takes the same ground, 
 and makes the same representation. But 
 the extracts given above, from the New 
 York Post Boy, supply in a good measure 
 the deficient evidence, and enable us to 
 affirm that Mr. Dickinson was appointed 
 some time between the lGth of February 
 and the '27th of April, 1747, and entered 
 
 upon the duties of his office during the 
 last week in May of that year The writer 
 hopes he may have contributed something 
 to fix that honored name in its place by a 
 more satisfactory tenure. 
 
 Still, however, it is due to another name 
 not a whit the less worthy of honor, that 
 the relation of each to an institution of 
 which our country is justly proud, should 
 be accurately stated. The representation 
 given above is the only one which will 
 harmonize the somewhat discordant testi. 
 monies which have been given respecting 
 the origin of the College. 
 
 It is worthy of remark, that the Rev. 
 Caleb Smith, the son-in-law of Mr. Dick- 
 inson, his pupil in divinity, and assistant 
 in the instruction of that verj' classical 
 school out of the College grew, is perfect- 
 ly silent in regard to the fact of his Presi- 
 dency, both in his sermon at the funeral of 
 Mr. Burr, and his preface to Mr. Burr's ser- 
 mon on the death of Gov. Belcher, which 
 led him to speak of the history of the in- 
 stitution. Mr. Burr himself is ecpially si- 
 
BURE AS PRESIDENT. 
 
 185 
 
 The College remained in Newark after its organiza- 
 tion about eight years, during the first seven of which 
 Mr. Burr officiated as its President, in connection with 
 his duties as pastor of this Church. During the first 
 three years of his Presidency he had no salary except 
 what he received, as before, from the congregation of 
 which he was pastor. But though the embarrassments 
 of his situation were discouraging, no buildings having 
 as yet been erected for the accommodation of the Col- 
 lege,'" the students being dispersed in private families, 
 the public academical exercises generally performed in 
 the County Court IIouse,f and the circumstances in 
 many respects exceedingly unfavorable to the moral 
 habits and literary improvement of the young men ; 
 
 lent in the sermon just referred to. The 
 tombstone of Mr. Dickinson, where a great 
 man is apt to bear all Irs honors, simply 
 speaks of him as the pastor of the Presby- 
 terian Church in Elizabethtown. All the 
 contemporary notices which speak of him 
 as President, are of the most ephemeral 
 and casual sort. On the other hand, Gov. 
 Belcher is repeatedly applauded, in the 
 most formal and official manner, as the 
 founder of the College ; and yet Governor 
 Belcher could have had no connection with 
 it during Mr. Dickinson's life, as he came 
 into the Province only a few weeks previous 
 to his decease. President Finley, in his 
 history of the College, published by order 
 of the Trustees, in 17G4, to which, says Dr- 
 Green, quoting the words from Johnson, 
 "regard is to be paid as to the narrative of 
 one who writes what he knows, and what 
 is known likewise to multitudes besides," 
 speaks expressly of Mr. President B'.jrr as 
 the first who officiated in that station, and 
 the town of Newark as the place at wnicn 
 the College w 7 as first opened. (See 
 Notes to Dr. Green's Discouises, pp. 803, 
 o04.) These statements and representations 
 seem to me to require something like the 
 
 interpretation which I have given above, 
 viz : that the College over which Mr. Dick- 
 inson presided, and which is connected 
 with the present by no continuity of re- 
 cords, officers or legal authority, was not 
 regarded by contemporaries as having at- 
 tained, strictly speaking, a permanent or. 
 ganization ; and that which was subse- 
 quently organized in Newark, under Gov- 
 ernor Belcher's auspices, though it admit- 
 ted to its honors the pupils who had before 
 prepared themselves for their degree, was 
 looked upon as, strictly speaking, a new 
 beginning. This view r seems to be ex- 
 pressed very explicitly by Governor Liv- 
 ingston, in his Eulogy on Mr. Burr, where 
 he says : " To his unparalleled assiduity, 
 next to the Divine blessing, is doubtless to 
 be ascribed the present flourishing condi- 
 tion of the College of New Jersey, whichi 
 from a mere private undertaking, is become 
 the joy of its friends, and the admiration 
 and envy of its enemies." 
 
 * "Nullum habens adhuc domicilium." 
 See Burr's Oration on the death of Dr. 
 Doddridge, Sept. 1T52. 
 
 t Hisiory by President Finley. See 
 Notes to Dr. Green's Discourses, p. 304. 
 
186 BtlKK AS PRESIDENT. 
 
 yet the indomitable energy, vigilance and perseverance 
 of the excellent President overcame all obstacles, and 
 the College flourished, during that period, beyond the 
 most sanguine expectations of its warmest friends.* 
 Funds for its maintenance were at first entirely want- 
 ing, and not easily to be obtained. The General As- 
 sembly of the Province, from which its charter was 
 obtained, took no interest in its welfare, and the appeal 
 of the trustees for " countenance and assistance for its 
 support," met from them no favorable response. But 
 from what is recorded respecting Mr. Burr's character 
 and circumstances, it may be presumed that he con- 
 tributed freely from his own pecuniary means to pro- 
 mote its interests ; and we know that, by the weight 
 of his influence and his personal efforts, he was able to 
 accomplish much, in securing for it the patronage of 
 the liberal here and in other parts of the world. It 
 was through his agency that subscriptions were ob- 
 tained in Boston, among which was the sum of £100 
 from Col. Alvord, justly denominated by a student at 
 the time, " one of the greatest benefactors the College 
 is blessed with." His intense interest in the object 
 is pleasantly illustrated by what the same student 
 says of the effect produced upon him by hearing that 
 the College had won £200 in a lottery, that " it hath 
 given the President (who hath been sick these four or 
 
 * The testimony of Governor Livingston upon a solid basis, and at length rearing it. 
 
 on this point has already been quoted, p. up to that respectable condition and flour- 
 
 186, note. That of Uev. Caleb Smith, in his ishing state in which we have the satisfac- 
 
 funeral sermon, is equally explicit. "He tion to see it now. Forgive me the word 
 
 mnst be allowed," he says, " under God to nourishing, since his auspicious influence 
 
 have had a principal hand in bringing it is no more."' 
 [the College] into existence, then fixing it 
 
BURR AS PRESIDENT. 187 
 
 five days,) such a pleasure, that his spirits, are greatly 
 refreshed, which were before very low."* 
 
 Nor was it ouly in the pecuniary interest of the in- 
 stitution that the influence of the President was distin- 
 guished. Inclined to literary pursuits from his child- 
 hood, and having already attained to no mean emin- 
 ence, he applied himself at once on entering upon his 
 new station, with new closeness to the branches of 
 study to be taught in it ; and, having " a singular turn 
 for instruction," his success in this department was 
 eminent.f At this period he had never more than two 
 tutors, and sometimes only one, to assist him. Besides 
 the government of the College, in which he excelled, 
 exercising generally a mild discipline, but resorting to 
 severity with much decision whenever occasion required 
 it ; J and the pains he took to cultivate the hearts of his 
 pupils, that he might send them out good Christians, 
 as well as good scholars, in which he is said to have 
 had great success ;§ we find him teaching personally the 
 higher branches of mathematics, and giving lessons in 
 
 * Letter of Joseph Shippen to his falhcr pp. 16, 17. "Instead of turning every 
 
 in Philadelphia, dated Newark, 18th June» branch of learning into inexplicable mys- 
 
 1750. tery, the common pride of pedagogues, he 
 
 t Funeral Sermon by Rev. Caleb Smith. se t the most intricate points in the clear- 
 
 " With what dignity and reputation," says est light," &c. 
 
 Governor Livingston, " did he sustain the % On this point Governor Livingston 
 
 office of President ! Sensible how import- speaks as follows : " With the same°ease 
 
 ant to the public, and through the whole he secured the obedience and love of his 
 
 thread of our existence, is the early cul- pupils. He had the art of leading the will 
 
 ture of the human mind, he considered under invisible chains, and making reason 
 
 himself, with the painter of old, as tie- no less prevalent than authority. Who, 
 
 signing for eternity. He had the most en- like him, could punish an offence, not only 
 
 gaging method of instruction. Not infe- without the resentment, but with the ap- 
 
 rior to the extent of his capacity was his probation of the delinquents" &c— pp. 18, 
 
 facility in communicating. No man had a 19. 
 
 happier talent of expressing his senti- § Smith's funeral sermon, Livingston's 
 
 ments, or calling latent truth from her Eulogy, and the obituary notices of Mr. 
 
 dark and profound recesses." Eulogium, Burr speak the same language. 
 
188 BURE AS PRESIDENT. 
 
 the calculation of eclipses. About the year 1751, 
 the use of a philosophical apparatus was secured, 
 containing an orrery, electrical machine, &c„ and a 
 course of experimental lectures given by a person 
 employed for that purpose."" Not far from this time, 
 Mr. Burr prepared a grammar of the Latin language, 
 which was published in New York in the Spring of 
 JLT52, and under the title "Newark Grammar," was 
 the standard for a long time in the College.-)- He 
 is said to have been a very line Latin scholar ; and as 
 a specimen of his composition in that language, there 
 still exists in manuscript, an oration, delivered by him 
 in Newark, before the Board of Trustees, on the death 
 of that distinguished Divine and scholar, Philip Dod- 
 dridge, D. D., whom he takes occasion to applaud as 
 one who, when the College was struggling with diffi- 
 culties in its infant state, adorned it with his friend- 
 ship, and cherished and advanced it with his patronage 
 and beneficence. J 
 
 The number of students, during this period, increased 
 with great rapidity. About ninety took their first de- 
 gree while the College remained in Newark ; not a few 
 of whom became eminent afterwards, both in the pul- 
 
 * Letters of Joseph Shippen. X " Certe inter tot lugentes hand ultiraum 
 t Joseph Shippen, a student, writes un- locum sibi rindicat Collegium Neo Car- 
 der date of April 25, 1752, to his father : sariense. Jam enim naseenti, multis in- 
 " I send you, per Mrs. Harris, the Presi- commodis colluctanti, rebus angustis op- 
 dent's new Grammar, as you desired, presso, benignissime respexit, amicitia 
 which is advertised in the last New York coudecoravit, patrocinio et beneficentia 
 paper, so that I suppose that gentleman fovit el auxit." Towards the close of this 
 to whom you intended accidentally to have oration, he takes occasion to speak in 
 shown it without the preface, &c, with a terms of gratitude of John Alford and 
 view to know his judgment of it, will hear James Allen, "cum multis aliis Bostonien- 
 of its being published before you can have sibus." who had favored the College with 
 an opportunity of letting him see it." their bounty. 
 
PROSPERITY OF THE COLLEGE. 189 
 
 pit and in civil life ; and honorary degrees were con- 
 ferred on several very eminent names. Among the 
 rest, Samuel Davies, the renowned pulpit orator, from 
 whom Patrick Henry is said to have caught some of 
 the fire of his eloquence, and who subsequently be- 
 came the President of the College, here received the 
 honorary degree of Master of Arts ; on which occasion 
 "he delivered a Thesis Personates Distinctiones in 
 Trmitate sunt ceternce, and vindicated it in a public 
 dispute against three opponents."* 
 
 The presence of the College in Newark, made the 
 place, during this period, a kind of ecclesiastical me- 
 tropolis for the branch of the Church with which this 
 congregation was connected. The meetings of the 
 Synod were generally held here, and the time appoint- 
 ed for them to begin was " the day after Commence- 
 ment." Here, in the year 1752, Jonathan Edwards, 
 the future President of the College, and its warm 
 friend and counsellor from the beginning, who had 
 then recently become the father-in-law of President 
 Burr, took his seat in the Synod as a corresponding 
 member, and preached, as the opening sermon, his fa- 
 mous discourse from James ii: 19, afterwards published 
 at the recpiest of the Synod, under the title of "True 
 
 * See Davies' Journal, in Foote's Sketch- owed much to his friendship besides the 
 
 es of Virginia. The celebrated George degree of A. M. in 1754." Again, (p. 419) 
 
 Whitfield received a similar honor in speaking of a visit of Whitfield to Gover- 
 
 1754. Philip (Life and Times of George nor Belcher, he says: "It was now the 
 
 Whitfield, p. 1SG,) thus refers to it : "At New Jersey commencement, and the Presi- 
 
 New Brunswick (i. e. in his first visit,) he dent and Trustees of the College presented 
 
 found, if not a warmer, a more influential Whitefield with the degree of M. A. He 
 
 friend in Aaron Burr, afterwards President was pleased with this mark of their res- 
 
 of New Jersey College : one of the master pect from the Senate, but much more with 
 
 spirits of hi» age and country. Whitfield the synod of ministers," 4c. 
 
190 burr's marriage. 
 
 grace distinguished from the experience of devils."* 
 Here the Synod of New York, animated by what their 
 eyes saw in the proficiency of the students, and well 
 aware that the school of the prophets was among the 
 choicest institutions of their Church, devised and put in 
 operation measures to secure for it, not the sympathy 
 alone, but the pecuniary aid, of all their congregations ; 
 and to engage the liberality of men of foreign lands in 
 promoting the truly Christian design. f 
 
 During the first fifteen years of his ministry, Mr. 
 Burr remained unmarried. On the 29th of June, 1752, 
 he was united in marriage with Miss Esther Edwards, 
 the third daughter of Rev. Jonathan Edwards, she 
 being at that time only 19 years of age. Mrs. Burr 
 was a lady of very distinguished character and accom- 
 plishments. She " exceeded most of her sex in the 
 beauty of her person, as well as in her behaviour and 
 conversation. She discovered an unaffected natural 
 freedom towards persons of all ranks with whom she 
 
 * Minutes of the Synod of New York, them to be annually observed, be sus. 
 
 p. 246. Works of President Edwards, vol. pended on that account." To this order 
 
 x, p. 232. the Presbyteries promptly responded. Mr. 
 
 t In the minutes of the meeting in 1752, Burr was requested by the Trustees to 
 already referred to, we find the following: take a voyage to Europe in 1752, for the 
 "Amotion being made to the Synod by purpose of soliciting benefactions in Great 
 the Trustees of the College of New Jersey, Britain and Ireland. But his domestic 
 to obtain a public collection from all the and other duties preventing his acceptance 
 congregations belonging to the Synod ; of the appointment, Gilbert Tennent and 
 and the Synod having taken the matter Samuel Davies were sent on the embassy 
 into consideration, they do unanimously by authority of the Synod, and their efforts 
 approve the motion, and earnestly recom- met with signal success. " The Institu- 
 mend it to all the Presbyteries to see that tion," says President Finley, " was hon- 
 every one of their members do endeavor ored beyond the most sanguine expects, 
 to collect money in their respective con- tions, with the approbation and liberality 
 gregations for that purpose, and also in of several political and ecclesiastical bo- 
 vacancies where they have opportunity to dies, and of many private persons of the 
 do so; and the Synod order that all other nobility and gentry among the laity and 
 public collection?, before appointed by clergy of the various denominations." 
 
CIIAEACTER OF MRS. BURR. 191 
 
 conversed. Her genius was more than common. 
 She had a lively imagination, a quick and pene- 
 trating discernment, and a good judgment. She pos- 
 sessed an uncommon degree of wit and vivacity, which 
 yet was consistent with pleasantness and good nature ; 
 and she knew how to be facetious and sportive, with- 
 out trespassing on the bounds of decorum or of strict 
 and serious religion. In short, she seemed formed to 
 please, especially to please one of Mr. Burr's taste and 
 character, in whom he was exceedingly happy. But 
 what crowned all her excellences, and was her chief 
 glory, was religion. She appeared to be the subject 
 of divine impressions when seven or eight years old, 
 and she made a public profession of religion when 
 about fifteen." "Her religion did not cast a gloom 
 over her mind, but made her cheerful and happy, and 
 rendered the thought of death transporting."* The 
 strength and beauty of her mind, her .tenderness 
 and warmth of affection ; above all, the power and 
 grandeur of her piety, are remarkably exemplified in 
 the letters which she wrote to her parents and other 
 friends, when adversity had at length rolled all its bil- 
 lows over her, and little remained this side of the tomb, 
 on which to fix a hope. They are published in the 
 memoir of her honored father,f and are among the 
 sweetest morsels in that eminently instructive book. 
 
 It has been mentioned as a mark of eccentricity in 
 Mr. Burr, J but should probably be set to the account 
 
 * Edwards' Life. Works, vol. i, p. 581. J In the Life of Col. Burr, by Matthew 
 
 + Edwards' Life. Works, vol. i, pp. 565- L. Davis, I find the following remark : 
 
 573. "President Burr was alike celebrated for 
 
192 
 
 burr's marriage. 
 
 of his very many and very urgent engagements, that, 
 after the preliminaries of the marriage had been set- 
 tled, the bride was sent for with her mother to come 
 to Newark, and the wedding took place here amidst the 
 scenes of her future usefulness."* 
 
 During the ministry of Mr. Burr, we find very little 
 in the Town Records which relates to the affairs of 
 
 his eloquence and piety, but withal he 
 possessed no inconsiderable degree of ec- 
 centricity." On what this remark is 
 founded, besides the marriage which the 
 writer proceeds to mention and describe, I 
 do not know. It is contrary to all the 
 contemporary testimony which I have 
 seen. Indeed, it is affirmed by tradition, 
 as a remark of one who knew them both, 
 "that Mr. B. possessed all the personal 
 accomplishments of his sou, without his 
 vices." 
 
 * The proceeding is very pleasantly de, 
 scribe! in a letter from one of his pupils- 
 which, though somewhat humorous, I 
 venture to transcribe in this connexion: 
 
 Newark, 6th July, 1752. 
 
 Dear and Honored Sir — The best piece 
 of news I have now to furnish you with, is 
 the marriage of our President, as this 
 must come very unexpected to you. I 
 shall give you an account of his proceed- 
 ings, as brief as they were themselves. In 
 the latter end of May, he took a journey 
 into New England, aud during his absence 
 he made a visit of but three days to the 
 Rev. Mr. Edwards' daughter, at Stock- 
 bridge ; in which short time, though he 
 had no acquaintance with, nor indeed ever 
 seen the lady these six years, I suppose he 
 accomplished his whole design ; for it was 
 not above a fortnight after his return here> 
 before he sent a young fellow, who came 
 out of College last fall, into New England, 
 to conduct her and her mother down 
 here. 
 
 They came to town on Saturday eve- 
 ning, the 27th ult., and on the Monday 
 evening following, the nuptial ceremonies 
 were celebrated between Mr. Burr and the 
 
 young lady. As I have yet no manner of 
 acquaintance with her, I can not describe 
 to you her qualifications and properties ; 
 however, they say she is a very valuable 
 lady. I think her a person of great beauty, 
 though I must say that in my opinion she 
 is rather too young (being only twenty-one 
 years of age,) for the President. This ac- 
 count you'll doubtless communicate to 
 mammy, as I know she has Mr. Burr's 
 happiness much at heart. I conclude 
 
 with my love and duty to her, love to 
 
 , &c, &c, and am with due esteem, 
 
 Your very dutiful 
 
 and affectionate son, 
 
 J. Shippen, Jr. 
 N. B. — Mr. Burr was in his thirty-sev- 
 enth year. 
 
 In a subsequent letter, addressed to his 
 mother, and dated Newark, 1st August, 
 1752, this same young gentleman, having 
 at length formed his opinion on the impor- 
 tant question, expresses himself as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 " I cnn't omit acquainting you that our 
 President enjoys all the happiness the 
 married state can afibrd. 1 am sure, 
 when he w y as in the condition of celibacy, 
 the pleasure of his life bore no comparison 
 to that he now possesses. From the little 
 acquaintance I have with his lady, I think 
 her a woman of very good sense, of a 
 genteel and virtuous education, amiable 
 in her person, of great affability and 
 agreeableness in conversation, and a very 
 excellent economist. These qualifications 
 may help you to frame some idea of the 
 person who lives in the sincerest mutual 
 affections with Mr. Burr." 
 
TRUSTEES INCORPORATED. 193 
 
 this congregation. The process of separation, between 
 civil and parochial affairs, had been going on gradually 
 for many years. Though the salary of the present min- 
 ister had been voted in a town meeting ; and the town, 
 as such, were obligated nominally for its payment, yet, 
 as a matter of fact, it was paid, like that of several of 
 his predecessors, by those only who became specially 
 obligated. A distinct set of assessors and collectors 
 were always appointed for this rate ; and the appoint- 
 ment, during all this period, was made at a distinct 
 meeting, called especially, it is to be presumed, for 
 that purpose. Meanwhile, three new congregations 
 had been formed within the town limits. That at the 
 Mountain had long sustained a minister of its own ; and 
 the Episcopal Church, already incorporated, had been 
 gradually gaining strength, till it had now completed 
 a house of worship, and had a missionary constantly 
 employed in its service. In these circumstances, it 
 was thought desirable to complete the separation be- 
 tween civil and ecclesiastical affairs, by securing for 
 this congregation a distinct corporate existence. Ac- 
 cordingly, on the 7th of June, in the year 1753, during 
 the administration and under the favor of Governor 
 Belcher, to whose kind regards the Presbyterians in 
 this region were much indebted, a charter was obtained 
 for that purpose. It is headed, " George the Second, 
 by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France and 
 Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith ;" and, premising 
 that " the advancement of true religion and virtue is 
 absolutely necessary for the promotion of the peace, 
 order and prosperity of the State," and that " it is the 
 
 13 
 
194 TEUSTEES INCORPORATED. 
 
 duty of all Christian Princes and Governments, by the 
 law of God, to do all they can for the encouragement 
 thereof ;" with allusions to " the known loyalty of the 
 petitioners, and of the Presbyterians in general to us — 
 their firm affection to our person and Government, and 
 the Protestant succession in our Royal House ;" and, 
 taking care of course to assert, distinctly and repeat- 
 edly, that it is all "of our especial grace, certain 
 knowledge, and mere motion," proceeds to constitute a 
 body of seven named individuals into " one body po- 
 litic and corporate, in deed, fact and name, by the 
 name of the Trustees of the First Presbyterian Church 
 in Newark." The names of the original Trustees were 
 Christopher Wood, John Crane, Nathaniel Camp, Jo- 
 seph Camp, Jonathan Sergeant, Joseph Riggs and Is- 
 rael Crane. The Minister or Ministers, Elders and 
 Deacons of the Church for the time being, or the 
 majority of them, are empowered to displace any Trus- 
 tee, and to fill all vacancies that may from time to time 
 occur, by electing to that office suitable persons out of 
 the congregation. This charter modified, as we shall 
 see presently, in its practical operation, is the same un- 
 der which the congregation holds its corporate exist- 
 ence and privileges to the present day. 
 
 The peculiar position of the Presbyterian Church 
 during this period has already been noticed. As Mr. 
 Burr was a young man when the measures which led 
 to the division took place, he seems to have taken no 
 prominent part in them. The first significant notice 
 of him in the records of the Synod, is his being 
 selected, in the year 1743, as the messenger to bear 
 
COUKSE OF THE SYNOD OF NEW YOEK. 195 
 
 the last overtures of restoration to the ejected breth- 
 ren .* Immediately on the consummation of the sepa- 
 ration, and the organization of the new Synod, the 
 brethren of the " new side" began to address them- 
 selves with great vigor to their appropriate work. 
 Without wasting their strength in fruitless recrimina- 
 tions, they took measures to make their own influence 
 as strong and effective as possible for their Master's 
 service. We have already noticed the establishment 
 of the College of New Jersey as one of the early fruits 
 of these noble efforts. Their missionary operations, 
 both in the new settlements and among the aborigines, 
 were prosecuted with untiring vigor. And though 
 their brethren of the " old side," anxious to free them- 
 selves from all suspicion of participation in their ag- 
 gressive movements, assured the Governor of Virginia, 
 who complained of their missionaries, for " reviling our 
 excellent liturgy," and " railing against our religious es- 
 tablishment," that "these persons never belonged to 
 ow body, but are missionaries sent out by some who 
 by reason of their divisive and uncharitable doctrines 
 and practices, were, in May, 1741, excluded from our 
 Synod ;" and taking the advantage of prejudices known 
 to exist against them in some parts of New England, 
 adroitly intimated to President Clap, of Yale College, 
 that the brethren of the New York Presbytery had 
 been influenced by their party preferences, "to join in 
 encouraging some of your disorderly scholars,*)- which 
 we are far from vindicating ;" yet by a steady adher- 
 
 * Minutes, p. 166. to here. See Minutes of the Synod of 
 
 t David Brainerd is probably referred Philadelphia, p. 187. 
 
196 PROSPERITY OF THE SYNOD OF NEW YORK. 
 
 ence to their settled policy of minding their Master's 
 work, by extending the bounds of His kingdom, and 
 winning souls to Him, the new Synod secured the sym- 
 pathy and warm co-operation, not only of such men as 
 Jonathan Edwards in New England, and Dr. Dod- 
 dridge in the Old Country, but also of the General As- 
 sembly and other Presbyterian bodies in Scotland and 
 Ireland. Towards their brethren of the "old side," 
 all their intercourse was confined to overtures of con- 
 ciliation and re-union; and while they steadfastly ad- 
 hered to their determination to consent to no terms 
 which did not distinctly disavow or rescind the un- 
 righteous protest, as they regarded it, by which a por- 
 tion of their number were excluded from that body, 
 they did not cease, from the first moment to the last, 
 notwithstanding some very irritating rebuffs, to hold 
 out the olive branch of peace. 
 
 The result was, that during the period of the sepa- 
 ration, the prosperity of the Synod of New York far 
 exceeded that of its elder sister of Philadelphia. 
 While the latter remained nearly stationary, the for- 
 mer rapidly extended itself; so that in 1753 they could 
 speak of a great number of congregations which had put 
 themselves under their care in New York, New Jersey, 
 Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina, 
 besides large settlements both in North and South Car- 
 olina, where numerous congregations were in process 
 of formation under their auspices.* Nor was the effort 
 for re-union, hopeless as it seemed for a long period, 
 
 * Minutes of the Synod of New York, p. 255, note. 
 
ME. BTJEE'S INFLUENCE IN THE ST NOD. 197 
 
 ultimately frustrated. Times changed, and some of 
 the men changed; and party spirit being allayed, 
 measures began to be seen on both sides in their true 
 light ; the offensive protest was disowned by the party 
 that had acted upon it, and the two Synods came to- 
 gether under the most favorable prospects in the year 
 1758, seventeen years after the ejection of the New 
 Brunswick Presbytery and thirteen years after the 
 formation of the Synod of New York. 
 
 The history of the proceedure of this Synod and its 
 results is a worthy example, for all time of the spirit 
 and action to be maintained in seasons of division be- 
 tween brethren, especially for those who deem them- 
 selves the aggrieved party. The history of the Pres- 
 byterian Church scarcely furnishes a brighter specimen 
 of Christian zeal, evangelical fervor, practical wisdom, 
 mild and charitable firmness, and ecclesiastical pros- 
 perity than is presented by this same New Side Church, 
 during the thirteen years of its separate organization. 
 
 In the measures proposed by this body, Mr. Burr 
 exercised a prominent influence. After the death of 
 Mr. Dickinson, which occurred in the earliest part of 
 this period, he might perhaps be regarded as its leader ; 
 if leaders could be spoken of in a body, whose general 
 average of ability and influence was so high. It may 
 be regarded as an indication of his position and of the 
 relative importance of his congregation, owing chiefly 
 however to the presence of the college here, that, 
 during the period of seven years, from September, 
 1750, to 1757, the annual meeting of the Synod con- 
 vened in Newark five times ; and at one of the two 
 
198 SECULAR PROSPERITY OF NEWARK. 
 
 remaining meetings of that body, Mr. Burr presided 
 over it as its moderator. In efforts for the reunion of 
 the Church, he was particularly active, though he died 
 just before its actual accomplishment. 
 
 During the ministry of Mr. Burr, the secular pros- 
 perity of the town of Newark was beyond all former 
 precedent. Every branch of industry, trade, manufac- 
 tures, and agriculture, received a new impulse. The 
 population increased in numbers, and advanced in 
 wealth and respectability* The presence of a flour- 
 ishing Latin school and of a college, increasing yearly in 
 importance, and sending forth graduates to the num- 
 ber of fifteen or twenty in a year, must have made it 
 a literary centre for the whole region, and given a pow- 
 erful spring to intellectual cultivation. Few men could 
 have carried on the work of the ministry in such cir- 
 cumstances, amidst so many cares, without serious det- 
 riment to the spiritual interests of the congregation. 
 But Mr. Burr was a man of uncommon powers and 
 uncommon devotion and activity ; and though it can 
 hardly be supposed that during the latter period of his 
 ministry, the spiritual improvement of the people ad- 
 vanced proportionably to their external prosperity, 
 we hear no complaints of any neglect of their souls' 
 interests on his part ; and their attachment to him re- 
 mained to the last unabated. 
 
 But the very causes to which they owed their 
 elevation, were, all this while, preparing for them 
 a bitter disappointment. The College seems never to 
 
 * Manuscript History by Dr. Macwhorter. 
 
me. buee's dismission. 199 
 
 have been regarded as located permanently in Newark. 
 As early as the year 1751, a proposition was enter- 
 tained for its removal to Princeton. Then, shortly 
 after, overtures were made from the people of New 
 Brunswick to have it established there. But various 
 obstacles and delays interposed, till at length, Prince- 
 ton having been fixed upon as the place of permanent 
 location, buildings were erected, and the institution 
 was removed in the autumn of 175 6* A year earlier, 
 Mr. Burr had resigned his pastoral charge, finding 
 its duties incompatible with the increasing cares of 
 his office as President. It was a severe stroke to the 
 people. The' opposition was earnest, and the disputes 
 bitter. It was alleged on the one side, that the rela- 
 tion between pastor and people was as inviolable as 
 the marriage covenant, and on the other, that the 
 greatest usefulness to the cause of Christ generally, 
 must always determine whether or not it should be 
 continued. But the result was, that the candid and 
 judicious part of the congregation becoming satisfied 
 that the proposed measure was right, however afflictive 
 to them, gave their consent.f And thus ended a min- 
 istry which, for spiritual and temporal results com- 
 bined, has certainly no superior in the whole history 
 of this favored congregation. The entire period of Mr. 
 Burr's residence in Newark, including his candidacy, 
 was twenty years, during eighteen of which he was 
 the regularly installed pastor of the Church. 
 
 Mr. Burr was small hi stature, and of a delicate 
 
 * Dr. Green's Discourses, note, p. 307. t Century Sermon by Dr. Macwhorter, p. 2. 
 
200 CHAEACTEE OF PEESIDENT BtJEE. 
 
 frame, but was capable of great effort. " To encounter 
 fatigue," says Governor Livingston, "lie had a heart 
 of steel, and for the dispatch of business the most 
 amazing talents." " As long as an enterprise appeared 
 not absolutely impossible, he knew no discouragement ; 
 but in proportion to its difficulty, augmented his dili- 
 gence, and by an insuperable fortitude, frequently 
 accomplished what his friends and acquaintances 
 deemed utterly impossible."* 
 
 In his private intercourse, he was modest, easy, 
 courteous and obliging. Affable in conversation, can- 
 did in his friendship towards good men of all classes 
 and denominations — "a perfect master of the art of 
 pleasing in company"f — his presence threw a charm 
 over every social circle. Perfectly free from all 
 pedantry, his learning would scarcely be suspected 
 unless a special occasion called it forth, and when it 
 did, " every one was astonished how a person so im- 
 mersed in books had acquired so large a share of ease 
 in converse and freedom of behavior." " In him every- 
 thing was agreable, because every thing was natural, 
 and he had the secret to be intimately familiar with- 
 out degrading the dignity of his high function. At 
 proper times he would indulge moderately in humor, 
 and render himself innocently facetious, though he sel- 
 dom aimed at wit, and there was a mild dignity in all 
 his deportment." " As he had not studied the philoso- 
 phers without sacrificing to the graces, so neither in 
 
 * Funeral Eulogium, p. 8. The Rev. skill and amazing dispatch manage a va- 
 
 Caleb Smith bears the same testimony, riety of affairs-" See Funeral Sermon. 
 
 "He had a genius wonderfully adapted to t Rev. Caleb Smith's Funeral Sermon, 
 the busy scenes of life, and could with 
 
CHARACTER OF PRESIDENT BURR. 201 
 
 the sallies of humor did he ever forget the character 
 of a divine." " His open, benevolent, and undissem- 
 bling heart inspired all around him with innocent 
 cheerfulness, and made every one who knew him court 
 his engaging society."* 
 
 With his brethren in the ministry he was a special 
 favorite, occupying the highest place in their respect 
 and affection. He took a peculiar interest in young 
 candidates for the sacred office, and so high was the 
 general estimation of his judgment in this particular, 
 that vacant churches were accustomed to apply to him 
 from a great distance to direct them in the selection of 
 their pastors. His acquaintances were numerous, and 
 his correspondence extensive, both in this country and 
 in Europe. Firm and steady to his principles, he was 
 yet eminently free from exclusiveness and bigotry. 
 "He prized religion as an inestimable jewel, whose 
 real value was neither enhanced nor diminished by the 
 casket in which it was deposited. Hence he loved and 
 revered the sincere and exemplary of every communion, 
 and particularly cultivated a strict correspondence 
 with several of the greatest ornaments of the church 
 established in England, who in their turn treated him 
 with the highest affection and respect."f 
 
 Temperate even to abstemiousness, he was a lover 
 of hospitality ; and possessing ampler means than most 
 of his brethren, he distinguished himself as a bountiful 
 giver. 
 
 Both his eulogists agree in representing him as a 
 
 * Livingston's Eulogium, p. 7. Rev. t Livingston's Eulogium, p. 10. See 
 Caleb Smith's Funeral Sermon. also Funeral Sermon by Rev. C. Smith. 
 
202 CHARACTER OF PRESIDENT BURR. 
 
 judicious aaci warm hearted patriot. " Amidst all the 
 cares of his academical functions," says Governor Liv- 
 ingston, "he thought, and studied, and toiled, and 
 planned for the common weal. He had a high sense 
 of English liberty, and detested despotic power as the 
 bane of human happiness. With him the heresy of 
 Arius was not more fatal to the purity of the Gospel 
 than the positions of Filmar to the dignity of man or 
 the repose of States. Of our excellent constitution he 
 entertained the justest idea, and gloried in the privi- 
 leges of a Briton as much as he lamented their prosti- 
 tution and abuse. If any thing ever ruffled the seren- 
 ity of his mind besides the prevalence of vice, it was 
 the adverse fortunes and disastrous situation of his 
 country." Mr. Smith observes that " he had much of 
 that patriotic spirit which is ornamental even to a 
 Christian minister," but that from prudential motives 
 he " very cautiously intermeddled in any matters of a 
 political nature." He speaks of him as a great friend 
 of liberty, civil and religious. 
 
 As a correspondent of the Society in Scotland for 
 jiropagating Christian knowledge, he used his influence 
 with great assiduity for the instruction of the heathen 
 aborigenes, " and thought no labor, no difficulty too 
 great in the prosecution of so important an enterprise." 
 
 Notwithstanding his great fondness for classical 
 studies, and the various miscellaneous avocations into 
 which his relations to the College necessarily led him, 
 Mr. Burr attained to no inconsiderable eminence as a 
 theologian. "His human literature," says his distin- 
 guished eulogist, "like an obsequious handmaid, was 
 
CHAEACTER OF PRESIDENT BURR. 
 
 203 
 
 ever ready to set off and embellish his mistress, 
 divinity." " He was greatly a master," says another, 
 " of systematical, casuistical and practical divinity, and 
 he understood polemical, but cared not much to wield 
 the sword of religious controversy."* The Bible he 
 read by turns, both as a critic and for purposes of de- 
 votion. 
 
 " In the pulpit he verily shone out as a star of the 
 first magnitude." "He was fluent, copious, sublime and 
 persuasive." "His language was intelligible to the 
 meanest capacity, and above the censure of the greatest 
 genius. His invention was not so properly fruitful as 
 inexhaustible, and his eloquence equal to his ideas."f 
 When his leisure would allow, he generally wrote out 
 
 * The writer has now in his possession 
 a specimen of his manner and ability in 
 controversial divinity, viz., a pamphlet of 
 sixty closely printed pages, entitled, " The 
 Supreme Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 maintained in a letter to the dedicator of 
 Mr. Emlyn's ' Inquiry into the Scripture 
 account of Jesus Christ,' inscribed to the 
 Reverend Clergy of all denominations in 
 New England ; wherein Mr. Emlyn's ob- 
 jections are fairly answered, and shewn 
 to have no validity. By the late Reverend 
 Aaron Burr, President of the College of 
 New Jersey. 
 
 "John i : 1. In the beginning was the 
 word — and the word was God. 
 
 "John xx : 28. And Thomas said unto 
 Him, My Lord and my God. 
 
 "John in: 16. Hereby perceive we the 
 love of God — because He laid His life for 
 us. 
 
 "John v: 20. Jesus Christ. This is 
 the true God and eternal life. 
 
 "Boston : reprinted, Edward E. Powers, 
 in Court street, mdcccxci." 
 
 The advertisement of this reprint in- 
 forms us that " the following pamphlet was 
 occasioned by the re-publicatioa of Mr. 
 
 Emlyn's Inquiry with a dedication ' to 
 the Clergy of all denominations,' about 
 thirty years since in this town, [Boston. I 
 No reply was then made to it, and the 
 controversy ended for a time. It is re- 
 published now with the hope that it may 
 be attended with similar consequences. 
 Extracts from Mr. Emlyn's Inquiry were 
 printed here some time since ; and it was 
 doubted by the friends of the doctrine 
 of Christ's real Divinity, whether it was 
 best to make any reply to a book which 
 has been so often answered. Their doubts 
 upon this subject and their disinclination 
 to revive a controversy generally pursued 
 with too much warmth and bitterness 
 have retarded this publication. — The es- 
 tablished character of the author will ren- 
 der any commendations of the work un- 
 necessary, and a perusal of it will we 
 doubt not give pleasure to every candid 
 reader." 
 
 Of the character ot this pamphlet it is 
 just to say, that it is as gentlemanly and 
 christian in its tone, as it is cogent in ar- 
 gument. 
 
 t Funeral Eulogium by Governor Liv- 
 ingston. 
 
204 CHAEACTER OF PRESIDENT BURR. 
 
 his discourses at large, but lie had a remarkable talent 
 for extemporaneous preaching. Samuel Davies, who 
 heard him preach a valedictory sermon to the candi- 
 dates for the first degree in the College, from the text, 
 " Now my son, the Lord be with thee, and prosper 
 thee," says, he " was amazed to see how readily good 
 sense and accurate language flowed from him extem- 
 pore." " His sermon," he adds, " was very affecting to 
 me, and might have been so to the students."* In his 
 gestures he was easy and natural, and there was an air 
 of mild gravity and genuine benignity in his aspect. 
 His voice was clear and musical, his matter solid, and 
 his skill in finding and entering the avenues of the 
 heart seldom surpassed. Pungent and searching in his 
 application of truth, he was yet in an eminent degree 
 soothing and consolatory, and it was only when he 
 saw the sinful soul humbled and penitent before God 
 that he turned to expatiate upon the riches of redeem- 
 ing love and presented the free offer of salvation from 
 the cross of Christ. 
 
 " What he preached in the pulpit he lived out of it. 
 His life and example were a comment on his sermons, 
 and his engaging deportment rendered the amiable 
 character of the Christian still more attractive and 
 lovely." " His piety eclipsed all his other accom- 
 plishments. He was," says his admiring eulogist, 
 " steady in his faith, unfluctuating in principle, ardent 
 in devotion, deaf to temptation, open to the motives 
 of grace, without pride, without ostentation, full of 
 
 * See Davies' Journal, in Foote's Sketches of Virginia. 
 
CHARACTER OF PRESIDENT BURR. 205 
 
 God, evacuated of self, having his conversation in 
 heaven, seeing through the veil of mortality the high 
 destiny of man, breathing a spiritual life, and offering 
 up a perpetual holocaust of adoration and praise." 
 
 His superior character and accomplishments are thus 
 summed up by the pen of that distinguished civilian, 
 from whose eloquent eulogium I have already so largely 
 drawn. " To have all the qualifications that render a 
 man amiable or great, to be the object of delight 
 wherever one is known, to possess learning, genius and 
 sublimity of soul ; can there be a greater blessing to 
 the world ? To exert those shining endowments for 
 the benefit of mankind, and employ a great and ele- 
 vated spirit only in doing great and diffusive good — 
 can a nobler use be made of the happiest talents? 
 Amidst such striking colors in so degenerate an age, 
 who can mistake the picture of the excellent deceased, 
 whose memory these pages are intended to celebrate.''' 
 "Can you imagine to yourself a person modest in 
 prosperity, prudent in difficulty, in business indefati- 
 gable, magnanimous in danger, easy in his manners, of 
 exquisite judgment, of profound learning, catholic in 
 sentiment, of the purest morals, and great even in the 
 minutest things — can you imagine so accomplished a 
 person without recollecting the idea of the late Presi- 
 ident Burr ?" 
 
 Language so highly eulogistic may be supposed to 
 require some qualification, on the part of the reader. 
 But the fact that such a man as Livingston should 
 have felt himself justified in using it, affords strong 
 presumption that it is not greatly exaggerated. In 
 
206 CHAEACTEE OF PEESIDENT BUEE. 
 
 fact there is scarcely a shade of coloring in the com- 
 mendation bestowed by it if we except the style, which 
 is not fully sustained by more than one contemporary 
 authority. The following obituary notice taken from 
 the Pennsylvania Gazette, and probably written by 
 the illustrious editor of that venerable journal, is as 
 decisive in its testimony as it is terse and simple in its 
 phraseology. "Sept. 29, 1757 — Last Saturday died 
 the Reverend Mr. Aaron Burr, President of the New 
 Jersey College, a gentleman and a Christian, as univer- 
 sally beloved as known; an agreeable companion, a 
 faithful friend, a tender and affectionate husband, and 
 a good father ; remarkable for his industry, integrity, 
 strict honesty and pure undissembled piety; his be- 
 nevolence as disinterested as unconfined ; an excellent 
 preacher, a great scholar, and a very great man."* . 
 
 * Pennsylvania Gazette Sept. 29, 1757, He offered himself to an examination as a 
 
 No. 1501. "Printed by B. Franklin, Post- candidate for the Dean's bounty, and was 
 
 master, and D. Hall, at the new printing adjudged worthy to enjoy that benefaction, 
 
 office near the Market." About the year 1736 he settled in theminis- 
 
 The following more extended obituary try at Newark, and in his sacred functions 
 
 notice I copy from the New York Mercury, was equally laborious and successful. On 
 
 where it appeared Monday, October 10th, the death of the Rev. Mr. Dickinson, in the 
 
 1757. year 1747, he took upon him the charge of 
 
 " Nassau Hall, New Jersey, September the College of New Jersey, which then 
 
 20th, 1757. consisted of about eight students, though 
 
 " On Monday last was interred the Rev. at the time of his death the number, by 
 Mr. Aaron Burr, President of this College, the blessing of Heaven, on his unparal- 
 He died on the 24th inst., in the 41st year leled industry, was augmented, including 
 of his age. His funeral was attended by the grammar school, to upwards of eighty, 
 several ministers, all the students, and a While the College funds were insufficient 
 large number of the neighboring inhabit- to support a president, he served without 
 ants. Universal was the grief on the a salary in that arduous station for the 
 melancholy occasion ; and the loss of so space of three years. He was a gentle- 
 valuable a man diffuses a general sorrow man of great judgment, sagacity and eru" 
 among all ranks of people. He was born dition. In his temper open, generous* 
 at Fairfield, in Connecticut, and descended familiar and humane. In conversation' 
 from one of the most considerable families as the subject required, solemn or face- 
 in New England. His education he had tious, and in both entertaining and in- 
 at Yale College, in New Haven, and was structive. Of such disinterested and dif- 
 reputed one of the best scholars in his class, fusive benevolence, as even to conciliate 
 
PRESIDENT BURR'S DEATH. 
 
 207 
 
 The glowing eulogy of William Livingston, sup- 
 ported by the plain unvarnished statements of Caleb 
 Smith, and endorsed by the weighty testimony of 
 Benjamin Franklin, seems to have little more to be 
 desired in attestation of the genuine merit of the sub- 
 ject of its commendation. 
 
 Mr. Burr's life was prolonged only one year after he 
 left Newark. He never presided at a Commencement 
 exercise at Princeton. In the month of August, 1757, 
 being then in a feeble state of health, he made a hasty 
 visit to his father-in-law, at Stockbridge, Massachusetts, 
 and returning, hastened to Elizabethtown on some bu- 
 siness with the Government relating to the interests of 
 the College. Here he learned that his esteemed 
 
 malice and repress the efforts of detrac- 
 tion. For quickness of apprehension and 
 Tivacity of spirits, the admiration of all 
 his acquaintance. A learned and pro- 
 found divine, amiably candid in his reli- 
 gious sentiments, and in the pulpit fluent 
 sublime and persuasive. In his pastoral 
 character, venerable and serious, but his 
 seriousness so far from gloomy or austere, 
 discovered a perpetual fund of that heartfelt 
 joy, which results from real goodness and 
 tranquillity of conscience. His sermons, 
 in which he blended imagination with 
 judgment, and joined elegance to solidity, 
 were wonderfully adapted to reform the 
 taste, to mend the morals, and to win the 
 heart. By his pupils he was beloved as a 
 friend, and like a father revered and hon- 
 ored. In promoting the prosperity of the 
 seminary over which he presided, he was 
 discourag ed by no disappointment, but of 
 unwearied assiduity and inflexible resolu- 
 tion. By his pious instruction and exam- 
 ple, his affectionate addresses and gentle 
 discipline he initiated the students as well 
 into the school of Jesus, as into the litera- 
 ture of Greece and Rome, and enured even 
 youth in the full luxury of blood to fly the 
 infectious world, and tread the paths of 
 
 virtue. But the rest of his accomplish- 
 ments were shaded and eclipsed by the still 
 brighter lustre of his more resplendent 
 piety. With an ardent affection for his 
 divine Master, and an exemplary conform- 
 ity to the unerring pattern, he crowned 
 all his other amiable qualities, and exalted 
 the great man into the greater Christian. 
 After a life so gloriously spent, well might 
 he 
 
 " ' Even in the terrors of expiring breath, 
 Welcome the friendly stroke, and live in 
 death.' 
 
 "In him the Churches have lost a distin- 
 guished divine, the College a learned and 
 faithful head, the poor a liberal, benefi- 
 cent friend, his lady the best of husbands, 
 and the commonwealth an incorruptible 
 patriot. 
 
 " The Reverend Mr. Jonathan Edwards 
 is chosen to succeed him in the president- 
 ship, a gentleman of whose piety and 
 learning the public has frequently had the 
 amplest attestations. 
 
 " Yesterday being the day of commence- 
 ment, twenty-five of the students who had 
 been before examined and approved, were 
 admitted to their degrees in the Arts." 
 
2 OS PRESIDENT BURRS DEATH. 
 
 friend, the Rev. Caleb Smith, of Newark Mountain, had 
 just been bereaved of his wife. He hastened to mourn 
 with and console him ; and having no time to prepare a 
 sermon, preached extemporaneously a funeral discourse 
 from the words, " Willing rather to be absent from the 
 body and to be present with the Lord."* Still suf- 
 fering from indisposition, he made a journey to Phila- 
 delphia on business for the College, in that sultry 
 season, and returned home, exhausted with fatigue and 
 already the subject of an intermittent fever, only to 
 meet a new demand upon his exertions. His old friend, 
 the generous patron of the institution over which he 
 presided, Governor Belcher, had just deceased, and he 
 was expected to do honor to his memory in a funeral 
 sermon. " You will not think it strange," says his ex- 
 cellent wife, after his decease, " if it has imperfections, 
 when I tell you that all he wrote on the subject, was 
 done in a part of one afternoon and evening, when he 
 had a violent fever on him, and the whole night after, 
 he was irrational." Completing his preparations, he 
 rode forty miles to Elizabethtown, and preached the 
 discourse before a vast assembly, on Lord's day, Sept. 
 4. " It grieved his friends," says Mr. Smith, " to be- 
 hold the languor of his countenance, and observe the 
 failure of his harmonious delivery, not having strength 
 for that clear utterance, or spirit for that free, lively, 
 animated address, with which he used to entertain and 
 charm an audience." He returned home, and his dis- 
 
 * In the Life of President Edwards, p. that of the death of Mrs. Smith ; and Mr. 
 565, this service is spoken of as having Smith himself speaks of it in such a man- 
 reference to a death in the family of his ner as to leave no room for doubt, 
 successor. But the date corresponds to 
 
DEATH OF PRESIDENT BURR. 209 
 
 order soon taking tlie form of a nervous fever, termin- 
 ated his life on the 24th of September, 1757. He left 
 the College in a flourishing condition, and died in the 
 very midst of a most powerful display of Divine grace 
 in the conversion of great numbers in that institution. 
 It was a fearful stroke to the whole community. 
 
 On his death-bed, Mr. Burr had given direction that 
 no unnecessary parade should be made at his funeral, 
 and no expenses incurred beyond what Christian de- 
 cency would require. The sum necessary for the ex- 
 penses of a fashionable funeral, which by this order 
 would be saved, he directed should be given to the 
 poor, out of his estate. His funeral was attended 
 amidst a large concourse of lamenting friends, and his 
 remains were interred at Princeton on the 24th of 
 September, 1757. 
 
 Mrs. Burr survived her husband less than a year, 
 and died April 7, 1758. They left two children — a 
 daughter and a son — both born during their residence 
 in Newark, and both, it is presumed, baptized within 
 the pale of this Church. The former was married to 
 the Hon. Tappan Reeve, of Litchfield, Conn., and the 
 latter, having obtained almost the highest rank in the 
 nation — the heir of his father's accomplishments, but 
 not of his virtues — lies buried at the feet of that illus- 
 trious and sainted man, where, in filial reverence, he 
 had desired that his remains should be deposited. 
 
 The tomb-stone of Mr. Burr bears the following in- 
 scription, which I copy, with the translation of it, from 
 a pamphlet entitled " History of the College of New 
 Jersey, by a Graduate." It is said to have been pre- 
 
 14 
 
210 EPITAPH. 
 
 pared by the Hon. William Smith, and revised by the 
 Rev. Messrs. Jacob Green and Caleb Smith: 
 
 M. S. 
 Reverendi admodum viri, 
 AARONIS BURR, A. M., Collegii JYeo- Caesar iensis Praesidis, 
 Natus apud Fairfield, Connecticutensium, IV Januarii, 
 A. D. MDCCXVI. S. V. 
 Honesta in eadem Colonia Familia oriundus, 
 Collegio Yalensi innutritus, 
 Novarcae Sacris initiatus, MDCCXXXVIII. 
 Anno circiter vigini pastorali Munere 
 Fideliter functus, 
 Collegii N. C. Praesidium MDCCXLVIII accepit, 
 In Nassovice Aulam sub Finem MDCCLVI translatus, 
 Defunctus in hoc vico XXIV Septembris, 
 A. D. MDCCLVII. S. N. 
 jEtatis XLII. Eheu quam brevis ! 
 Huic Marmori subjicitur, quod mori potuit ; 
 Quod immortale, vindicarunt Coeli — 
 Quaeris viator qualis quantusque fuit 1 
 Perpaucis accipe. 
 Vir corpore parvo ac tenui, 
 Studiis, vigiliis, assiduisque laboribus, macro, 
 Sagacitate, Perspicicacitate, Agilitate, 
 Ac Solertia, (si fas dicere,) 
 Plusquam humana, pene 
 Angelica. 
 Anima ferme totus. 
 Omnigena Literatura instructus, 
 Theologia praestantior : 
 Concionator volubilis, suavis et suadus : 
 Orator facundus. 
 Moribus facilis candidus et jucundus, 
 Vita egregie liberalis ac benficus : 
 Supra vero omnia emicuerunt 
 Pietas ac Benevolentia. 
 Sed ah ! quanta et quota Ingenii, 
 Industriae, Prudentiae, Patientiae, 
 Caeterarumque omnium virtutum 
 Exemplaria. 
 Marmoris Sepulchralis Angustia Reticebit. 
 Multum desideratus, multum clilectus, 
 Humani generis Deliciae. 
 
EPITAPH. 211 
 
 ! infandum sui Desideriuni, 
 
 Gemit Ecclesia, plorat Academia : 
 
 At Coelum plaudit, dum ille 
 
 Ingreditur 
 
 In Gaudium domini Dulce loquentis, 
 
 Euge bone et fidelis 
 
 Serve ! 
 
 Abi viator tuam respice finem. 
 
 SACRED TO THE MEMORY 
 
 of a most venerable man, 
 AARON BURR, A. M., President of the College of New 
 
 Jersey. 
 
 He was born of a good family at Fairfield, Conn., on the 4th of 
 
 January, A. D. 1716, O. S. 
 
 He was educated at Yale College. 
 
 Commenced his ministry at Newark, in 1738. 
 
 He performed the pastoral office with fidelity about 20 years. 
 
 Accepted the Presidency of the College of New Jersey, 
 
 in 1748. 
 
 Being transferred to Nassau Hall at the close of 1756, 
 
 he died in this village, on the 24th of September, 
 
 A. D. 1757, N. S. 
 
 Beneath this marble is laid, all of him that could die ; 
 
 His immortal part, Heaven has claimed — 
 
 Do you ask, Stranger, what he was ? 
 
 Hear in a few words : 
 
 He was a man of a small and weak body, spare with study, 
 
 watching and constant labors, — 
 
 He had sagacity, penetration, quickness and despatch, (if it be 
 
 lawful to say so,) more than human, almost Angelic. 
 
 He was skilled in all kinds of Learning. 
 
 In Theology he excelled. 
 
 He was a fluent speaker, pleasing and persuasive. 
 
 An accomplished Orator. 
 
 In his manners, easy, frank and cheerful ; 
 
 In his life, remarkably liberal and beneficent. 
 
 His Piety and Benevolence outshined all other qualities. 
 
 Ah, how numerous and how excellent were his examples of 
 
 Genius, Industry, Prudence, Patience, 
 
 and all other virtues, — 
 
 The narrow sepulchral marble refuses to speak them. 
 
 Greatly regretted, and much beloved, he was the delight of 
 
 human kind. 
 0, the unspeakable regret. 
 
212 KEY. JOHN" BEAINEED. 
 
 The Church groans, Learning laments ; 
 
 But Heaven applauds, while he 
 
 enters into the joy of his Lord, and 
 
 hears, well done good and faithful servant. 
 
 Stranger, go and remember thy latter end. 
 
 Immediately after the dismission of Mr. Burr, the 
 pulpit began to be supplied by the Rev. John Brain- 
 erd. He was a younger brother of David Brainerd, 
 born at Haddam, Conn., and graduated at Yale Col- 
 lege in IT 46. Entering the ministry about the time 
 of his brother's death, the patrons of the mission 
 turned their eyes towards him as the most suitable 
 person to succeed to that service. The name of Brain- 
 erd was already fragrant in the Church, and beloved 
 by the simple children of the forest ; and it was doubt- 
 less an unspeakable satisfaction to the dying missionary 
 to commit his ignorant charge to the care of one in 
 whom he had the fullest confidence, and loved, as his 
 own lips testified in death, " the best of any creature 
 living."* 
 
 John Brainerd continued in this service with little 
 or no interruption until about the year 1755, when the 
 occurrence of a war with France, making intercourse 
 with the savages dangerous and difficult, induced the 
 " correspondents" to suspend the mission ; and, the 
 health of Mrs. Brainerd being then very infirm, he 
 was dismissed from his charge, and removed with his 
 family to Xewark. Whether he was formally in- 
 stalled as the pastor of this Church, and, if so, at what 
 precise time, may be difficult to determine with cer- 
 
 * Memoirs of Brainerd. (Edwards' Works, vol. x, p. 412.) 
 
REV. JOHN BRAINEED, 213 
 
 tainty ; for the records of the Church and Presbytery 
 being both lost, those of the town of Newark, on 
 which we have relied hitherto, do not cover the eccle- 
 siastical affairs of this period. From those of the 
 Synod, and from other corroborating circumstances, 
 the most satisfactory conclusion is, that he took the 
 pastoral charge of the congregation almost imme- 
 diately after he left the mission. President Edwards 
 found him here in the autumn of 1755, preaching as a 
 " probationer for settlement," in which capacity he had 
 been employed " ever since Mr. Burr's dismission from 
 that place on account of his business as President of 
 the College."* At a meeting of the Synod, held in 
 Newark, " the day after Commencement," in the au- 
 tumn of 1756, he was appointed with several others 
 to supply, for a few months, some destitute congrega- 
 tions in North Carolina ; but, for reasons not stated, 
 did not fulfill that commission. The next Spring a 
 commissioner from the congregation at Newark ap- 
 peared in the Synod, and " asked for some supplies in 
 their destitute condition," which request was granted. 
 And as, in the year following, viz., in the Spring of 1758, 
 it is on record that " the Synod does appoint the Pres- 
 bytery of New York to supply Newark during the 
 whole of the time of Mr. Brainerd's absence from 
 them,"f we infer that the destitute condition of this 
 Church at that time must have been owing to the 
 absence of Mr. Brainerd, on whose services they were 
 regarded as having a claim, and for whose return they 
 
 * Works, vol. i, pp. 553-4. New York ed., 1830. + Minutes, pp. 275-283 
 
214 me. beaineed's REMOVAL. 
 
 were waiting in expectation. The graves of two of his 
 little children, buried here the following autumn, attest 
 the presence of his family, probably his own, at that pe- 
 riod.* The circumstances of his leaving Newark, to re- 
 turn to his mission, are even more explicit. " Mr. Brain- 
 erd applied to the Synod for advice," say the Minutes, 
 under date of May, 1*759, " whether it was his duty to 
 leave his present charge at Newark and resume his 
 mission to the Indians." "Arguments on both sides 
 were fully heard," and the decision arrived at was, that 
 "though he had a very comfortable settlement at 
 Newark, yet the Synod, through an earnest desire to 
 promote the kingdom of Christ among these poor In- 
 dians, advised him to give up these temporal advan- 
 tages, and settle as a missionary among these poor In- 
 dians ;" " with which advice," it is added, " he readily 
 and generously complied." In coming to this decision 
 the Synod declare themselves "tenderly affected with 
 the case of the Newark congregation," whose happy 
 and hopeful settlement seems to have been frustrated 
 by this act of Christian duty.f 
 
 The only doubt thrown over this matter, arises from 
 the fact that Dr. Macwhorter, in his historical notices, 
 never mentions the ministry of John Brainerd ; and 
 what is still more singular, though the latter was re- 
 
 * Their tombstones, which were stand- Monumental Inscriptions, p. 167. 
 
 ing not long since, bear the following in- t Minutes of the Synods of New York 
 
 scriptions : an< ^ Philadelphia, pp. 294-299. It is add- 
 
 " Miss Sophia Brainerd, elder daughter ed, under date of May 18, 1759 : " Mr. 
 
 of the Rev. John Brainerd, died Sept. 8th, Brainerd being removed from New York, 
 
 1758, in the 6th year of her age." it is ordered that Messrs. Woodruff, Ket- 
 
 " David Brainerd, only son of the Kev. tietas, Darby and Cummings supply there 
 
 John Brainerd, died Sept. 14th, 175S, in each one Sabbath, if need be." 
 the 2d year of his age." 
 
MINISTRY OF ME. BEAIKERD. 215 
 
 leased from his charge, with, the affectionate condolen- 
 ces of the Synod towards a bereaved congregation, on 
 the 18th of May, and the former succeeded to the 
 same charge in the month of June following, yet the 
 whole matter is completely ignored. You would not 
 gather from the three distinct narratives written by 
 Dr. M., the slightest hint that John Brainerd ever 
 spent a Sabbath in Newark. On the contrary, the 
 whole period occupied by his ministry — a period of 
 nearly four years — is represented as one of unhappy 
 contention, mutual recrimination, and division between 
 rival candidates. " Some blamed the Presbytery," he 
 says, " for taking away their minister ; others reflected 
 upon their neighbors for consenting to his dismission, 
 and by one means and another, they were divided 
 among many candidates, until their mortifications and 
 uneasinesses subsided by time, and they quietly united 
 to call their present minister, who preached his first 
 sermon here June 28th, 1759."* One of two conclu- 
 sions seem inevitable. Either the Minutes of the 
 Synod of New York are not reliable, or the historian, 
 who wrote many years after the facts referred to took 
 place, must have forgotten events of which he was al- 
 most an eye-witness in his early youth. That there 
 was a close relation of some sort between Mr. Brainerd 
 and this people, during the period just now designated, 
 cannot be doubted ; and, notwithstanding the difficulty 
 which I have stated, my judgment inclines strongly to 
 the conclusion that he was, for a short time at least, 
 
 * Century Sermon, p. 22. 
 
216 KEY. ALEXANDER MACWIIORTEE. 
 
 the regular pastor of this Church.* Mr. Brainerd's 
 ministry was unquestionably a short one. He returned 
 to the care of the Indian mission, and continued in 
 that service during the whole or nearly all the remain- 
 der of his life. In the year 1754 he was chosen a 
 trustee of the College of New Jersey ; was moderator 
 of the Synod in the year 1762, and sustained from 
 time to time important offices connected with that body. 
 He died, March 21, 1781, at Deerfield, Cumberland 
 county, N. J., and " lies buried under the middle aisle 
 of the old parish church there, where he last minis- 
 tered, and where a slab of marble shows his epitaph."f 
 
 The next pastor of this Church was the Eev. Alex- 
 ander Macwhorter, who was born in the county of 
 Newcastle, in the State of Delaware, July 15, 1734, 
 O. S. His ancestors emigrated from Scotland, and set- 
 tled in the North of Ireland, where both of his 
 grand-parents on the maternal side, perished by Papal 
 violence in the great Irish massacre in 1641, during 
 the civil wars of Charles the First. His grand-mother, 
 then an infant, escaped from the scene of butchery by 
 being hid by her nurse, and was the only survivor of 
 the entire family. J 
 
 His father, Hugh Macwhorter, was a linen merchant 
 in the north of Ireland, whence he emigrated with his 
 family to America about the year 1730, and, settling 
 
 * In this opinion I do but concur with t I etter from Rev. Thomas Brainerd, D. 
 
 that of the late Dr. Archibald Alexander, D. r of Philadelphia, 
 
 in the " Log College," p. 76, and of Dr. % See Dr. Griffin's Funeral Sermon. 
 
 Hodge in his " History of the Presbyterian " They were hanged," says Dr. G., "on a 
 
 Church," the latter of whom expressly tree before their own door." See also Life 
 
 calls Mr. Brainerd " the pastor of the of Dr. Rogers, by Dr. Miller. 
 Church in Newark," p. 347. 
 

 wu^i/. t^Ctu^yi tnsUA^ 
 
EAELY LIFE. 217 
 
 in Delaware upon a large farm, became an elder in the 
 Church afterwards under the care of Kev. Mr. Rodgers, 
 since known as Dr. Rodgers, of New York* The eldest 
 son, Alexander, a youth of great promise, both for talents 
 and piety, who had spent two years at the University 
 of Edinburgh, and had now nearly completed his stud- 
 ies for the ministry, dying a few years after the emi- 
 gration, his name was transferred to the youngest son, 
 who was born about the time of his brother's death. 
 
 " The first time," says Dr. Miller, " that Mr. Rodgers, 
 after entering on his pastoral charge, assembled the 
 children of a particular district in his congregation, to 
 catechise them, it was at the house of Hugh Macwhor- 
 ter, a wealthy and respectable farmer in his neighbor- 
 hood. The children were so numerous that a room of 
 ordinary size would not contain them, and it was 
 thought best to collect them in a spacious barn, on the 
 farm, near the dwelling-house of Mr. Macwhorter. 1 ' 
 Among the rest, came young Alexander, the youngest 
 son of the worthy elder, to present himself to the kind 
 notice of his youthful pastor, and to be catechised by 
 him in that barn. " The prudence, the good sense, the 
 readiness in reply, and the highly promising character 
 which this youth exhibited, first drew the attention, 
 and afterwards the special regard and friendship of 
 Mr. Rodgers, and laid the foundation of an affection- 
 ate union between them to the end of life. ,, f 
 
 Alexander Macwhorter was the youngest of eleven 
 children, and was trained by his excellent parents in 
 
 * The name of Hugh McQuarter ap- 1 Mem. of Dr. Rogers, p. 71, 72. 
 pears in the minutes of the Synod in 1738. 
 
2 IS CONVERSION AND EDUCATION. 
 
 the principles and duties of piety. It was their prac- 
 tice to devote the Sabbath evenings especially to the 
 religious instruction of the children, and Alexander 
 had often been taken alone into the woods or into 
 some private apartment, to hear the fervent and tear- 
 ful entreaties, and join in the importunate prayers of 
 parental love and solicitude. 
 
 At the age of fourteen, he, with three ether chil- 
 dren, all of whom lived and died in the faith in which 
 they had been nurtured, was left, by the death of their 
 excellent father, to the sole care and training of their 
 widowed mother; and immediately after this, the 
 whole family removed to North Carolina. Here he 
 first awoke to a full consciousness of his religious 
 needs, under the influence of a sermon from a " New 
 Light" preacher by the name of John Brown, after- 
 wards for many years a minister in Virginia, the theme 
 of which was the second verse of the seventh Psalin* 
 Deep and long continued were his convictions of sin 
 and his dread of the wrath of God. " He used,' 1 says 
 Dr. Griffin, " daily to repair to a copse of pines near 
 his brother's house, where he resided, and there, to use 
 his own expressive words, ' would dash himself on the 
 ground, looking for the earth to open and swallow him 
 no.' " But it was not till after he had left North Car- 
 olina and returned to the neighborhood of his native 
 place, in order to pursue his education — a period of two 
 or three years — that he found peace by believing in 
 Christ. This was while he was at a public school at 
 
 * "If he turn not, he will whet his sword: he hath bent his bow and made it 
 ready." 
 
ENTRANCE ON THE MINISTRY. 219 
 
 West Nottingham, Cecil county, Maryland, under the 
 care of the Rev. Samuel Finley, afterwards President 
 of the College of New Jersey, with whose Church lie 
 was soon after received into communion. 
 
 Mr. Macwhorter entered the College of New Jersey 
 at Newark, in the year 1756, at the age of 22 years, 
 joining the Junior class ;* and, the College having been 
 removed to Princeton in the autumn of that year, he 
 received his first degree during the following summer, 
 a few days after the decease of President Burr, and 
 was one of the first class that were graduated in the 
 College at that place. True to his filial affections, 
 young Macwhorter was now about to return to North 
 Carolina, and take counsel concerning his future course 
 with that aged parent, to whose early maternal faith- 
 fulness he owed so much of his character and promise. 
 But Jane Macwhorter was no more ; and on receiving 
 the afflicting news he abandoned the design. Having 
 completed his studies in divinity, under the direction 
 of the Rev. William Tennent, of Freehold, N. J., he 
 was licensed to preach the Gospel by the Presbytery 
 of New Brunswick, then sitting at Princeton, in the 
 month of August, 1758. 
 
 The schism in the Presbyterian Church had just been 
 healed, by the amicable union of the two Synods into 
 one body, by the name of the Synod of New York and 
 Philaclelphia.f At the second meeting of this body, in 
 
 * "Thus," says Dr. Griffin, "he began after the labors of more than half a ceu- 
 
 his public career in science in the very tury." (Funeral Sermon, p. 11.) 
 
 place which was destined to be the scene t This Synod held its first meeting at 
 
 of his future usefulness. The ground on Philadelphia, May 22, 1753, and Rev. Gil- 
 
 which his youthful feet trod was reserved bert Tennent was choses as its first Mod- 
 
 to be the resting place of his weary limbs erator. The articles of agreement on 
 
220 
 
 ENTRANCE ON THE MINISTRY. 
 
 May, 1*759, the same meeting which decided on Mr. 
 Brainerd's removal from Newark, Messrs. Macwhorter, 
 Kirkpatrick and Latta were appointed to preach, for 
 several months each, to destitute congregations in Vir- 
 ginia and North Carolina ; and that no failure in the 
 mission might take place, the Synod gave peremptory 
 orders that the young men should be at their posts at 
 a specified time, and that the Presbyteries with which 
 they were connected, should " take care that these gen- 
 tlemen fulfill their appointment, and neither prescribe 
 nor allow them employment in our bounds, so as to 
 disappoint this, our good intention."'"* 
 
 which the union was formed, are too 
 long to be inserted here, but deserve care- 
 ful study in connection with the history ot 
 the Presbyterian Church. The object, as 
 state i in the preamble, was " the compro- 
 mising those differences which were agi- 
 tated many years ago with too much 
 warmth and animosity," "the healing of 
 breach, that so its hurtful consequences 
 may not descend to posterity," "that all 
 occasion of reproach may be removed," 
 that we may carry on the great designs of 
 religion to better advantage, "to, prevent 
 future breaches of like nature, &c. The 
 tirst and second articles are the folllowing : 
 " I. Both Synods having always approved 
 and received the Westminster Confession 
 of Faith, and Larger and Shorter Cate- 
 chisms as an orthodox and excellent sys- 
 tem of Christian doctrine founded on the 
 Word of God, we do still receive the same 
 as the Confession of our Faith, and also 
 adhere to the plan of worship, government 
 and discipline contained in the Westmin- 
 ster Directory, strictly enjoining it on all 
 our members and probationers for the min- 
 istry, that they preach and teach accord- 
 ing to the form of sound words in said Con- 
 fessions and Catechisms, and oppose all 
 errors contrary thereto." 
 
 "IE. That when any matter is deter- 
 mined by a major vote, every member 
 
 shall either actively concur with, or pas- 
 sively submit to such determination ; or if 
 his conscience permit him to do neither, 
 he shall, after sufficient liberty modestly 
 to reason and remonstrate, peaceably with- 
 draw from our communion without at- 
 tempting to make any schism ; provided 
 always that this shall be understood to ex- 
 tend ouly to such determinations as the 
 body shall judge indispensible in doctrine 
 or Presbyterian worship." 
 
 As to the "protest" of 1741, the Synod 
 of Philadelphia declare " that they never 
 judicially adopted the said protest, nor do 
 account it a synodical act, but that it is to 
 be considered as the act of those only who 
 subscribed it." 
 
 To guard effectually against any renewal 
 of hostility, the Synod close the agree- 
 ments with the following item : " that all 
 former differences and disputes are laid 
 aside and buried, and that no further in- 
 quiry or vote shall be proposed in this 
 Synod concerning these things ; but if 
 any member seek a synodical inquiry, 
 or declaration about any of the mat- 
 ters of our past differences, it shall be 
 deemed a censurable breach of this agree- 
 ment, and be refused, and he be rebuked 
 accordingly." — Minutes, pp. 285-88. 
 
 * Minutes, p. 293. 
 
INSTALLATION AT NEWARK. 221 
 
 Accordingly Mr. Macwhorter, with liis classmate, 
 Mr. Kirkpatriek, was ordained at Cranberry, by the 
 Presbytery of New Brunswick, July 4th of the same 
 year.'"" But the ordinances of divine Providence over- 
 ruled even the strict and peremptory orders of the 
 Synod of New York and Philadelphia ; for the congre- 
 gation in Newark being now vacant, Mr. Macwhorter 
 was employed to preach for them for a single Sabbath, 
 and at once all eyes were fixed on him for the future 
 pastor. At the very meeting of the Presbytery at 
 which he received ordination, with a view to his dis- 
 tant mission, commissioners from Newark presented 
 their urgent request for his services, and Mr. Tennent 
 lending his influence in their favor, the plan of the 
 mission was suspended; and on the reception of a 
 united call from the people, he was installed during 
 that same summer, at the age of twenty-five years, as 
 the pastor of this Church.f In the minutes of the 
 Synod at their next meeting, the only notice taken of 
 this disregard of their stringent order, is the very 
 quiet record that " Mr. Macwhorter's reasons for not 
 going to Virginia, according to the appointment of the 
 Synod last year, were sustained." J 
 
 Mr. Macwhorter was married in the month of Octo- 
 ber, 1758, shortly after he received license to preach, 
 to Mary Cumming, daughter of Robert Cumming, Esq., 
 of Freehold, N. J., a respectable merchant, high sheriff 
 of the county of Monmouth, and related by marriage 
 
 * Funeral Sermon by Dr. Griffin, p. 14. He preached his first sermon here, June 
 t Minutes, p. 293. Funeral Sermon. 28, 1759. 
 
 % Minutes, p. 299. 
 
222 CONTENTION BETWEEN CHURCHES. 
 
 to the family of his revered instructor, Rev. William 
 Tennent .* They had five children, viz. : Mary, mar- 
 ried to Samuel Beebe, merchant of New York ; Ann, 
 married to Rev. George Ogilvie ; Alexander dimming, 
 counselor at law, in Newark ; John, counselor at law 
 in the same place, who died suddenly a few months "be- 
 fore his father ; and Hugh Robert, who died in infancy. 
 
 We have already noticed the violent contentions 
 which arose during the ministry of Mr. Webb, in con- 
 sequence of the introduction of Episcopacy into this 
 hitherto Puritan community. But " this pious bustle," 
 says Dr. Macwhorter, " was not altogether about reli- 
 gious principles."f Pecuniary claims were also involved 
 in it, and the question, who were the rightful owners 
 of the Church property, was the subject of no little 
 jealousy at the period in which he commenced his min- 
 stry. 
 
 There were now four distinct congregations within 
 the limits of Newark, besides parts of others, and all 
 of them, since the incorporation of the Trustees of this 
 Church, legally distinct from the town. 
 
 Two of the new congregations, namely, the Moun- 
 tain Society and the Church of England, as they were 
 then designated, laid claim to an equal portion with 
 
 * Funeral Sermon by Dr. Griffin. Dr. second marriage with Miss Noble, daugh- 
 
 G. adds, " Robert Camming, Esq., was ter by a former husband of Mrs. Tennent. 
 
 twice married. By the first marriage he By her he had four children : the eldest 
 
 had three children , the eldest was Alex- was Catharine, married to the Rev. Philip 
 
 ander, who was a minister of the Gospel Stockton ; the second was Ann, married 
 
 for several years in the city of New York, to the Rev. William Schenck ; the third 
 
 and afterwards in the Old South Church was John Noble, now General Gumming, 
 
 in the town of Boston, where he died, 1763; of this town; and the fourth was Peggy, 
 
 the second was Lawrence ; the third was who died unmarried." 
 
 Mary, (Mrs. Macwhorter. ) He formed a t Manuscript History. 
 
PARSONAGE PROPERTY. 223 
 
 the First Church in the inheritance, which as they af- 
 firmed, had descended from their common ancestors. 
 The congregation of the First Church, on the contrary, 
 maintained that they were the only rightful and legal 
 representatives of the old Town of Newark, considered 
 in its ecclesiastical capacity ; and, since the grant from 
 the Proprietors, under which the land came into their 
 possession, was expressly that of so much land "for 
 each parish" and they, being the only parish then ex- 
 isting in the town, had availed themselves of its pro- 
 visions ; and since the deed, securing the lands in the 
 hands of trustees, " for the only proper use, benefit and 
 behoof of the old settlers of the town of Newark," was 
 in pursuance of that grant, those who continued with 
 the old congregation had the exclusive right to the 
 property. 
 
 The process of separation between civil and eccle- 
 siastical affairs, which had been going on gradually for 
 more than half a century, was now nearly consum- 
 mated. The ministers had ceased to be elected, and 
 their salaries to be voted in the town meetings ; and 
 the town had virtually, though not formally, relin- 
 quised its control over the parsonage property. Mean- 
 while, the old Church had become incorporated, with 
 power to take and hold what were its just rights in 
 its own name ; and the original patentees, all of whom 
 were members of that Church, being now dead, and 
 the heir of the last survivor of them living at a dis- 
 tance from Newark, a manifest propriety, not to say 
 necessity, had arisen for making some new and more 
 permanent disposition of the property in question, 
 
224 PARSONAGE PROPERTY. 
 
 Accordingly, by a concurrent act of the Town and the 
 heir of the patentees — the only parties capable of act- 
 ing in the matter according to any supposition — the 
 title was vested in the Trustees of this Church. " At 
 a town meeting on the 12th of March, 1760, it was 
 voted unanimously that the Trustees of the First Pres- 
 byterian Church be authorized to procure a deed of 
 conveyance from David Young, heir-at-law of the last 
 surviving patentee, for the said parsonage lands, in 
 trust, in order that they may be the better enabled to 
 take care of the same for the said Church," which deed 
 the Trustees lost no time in obtaining, on the very next 
 day, in due form of law. 
 
 Now followed a series of efforts with a view to re- 
 verse this procedure. The opposing party came into 
 the town meeting, the year following, and proposed 
 resolutions declaring dissatisfaction with what had 
 been done, and directing that the lands should " be 
 equally divided in quantity and quality 1 ' among the 
 three congregations ; and, these resolutions being car- 
 ried in the affirmative, a committee was appointed to 
 divide and allot the lands accordingly. Four out of 
 six of the committee proceeded to their work. But 
 when the plan of division had been drawn out with 
 much care,* and was reported to the town the next 
 year, with the proviso that four months should be al- 
 lowed for hearing objections before it should stand in 
 force, the majority rejected it, " even with the limita- 
 
 * The plan was drawn by "the Hon. be "a draught of an entry proposed to be 
 David Ogden, Esq., at the request of made at a town meeting held at Newark,' ' 
 ssme of the committee," and purported to &c. (See Town Records.) 
 
PAESONAGE PEOPEETY. 
 
 225 
 
 tion above mentioned," says the record, "it being a 
 very full town meeting."* 
 
 Meanwhile, the Trustees obtained the opinions of 
 several very eminent lawyers, to the effect, that both 
 by the vote of the town and by the deed of convey- 
 ance from the representative of the original patentee, 
 their title to the property was sound ; and, moreover, 
 that the present First Presbyterian Church were the 
 only true and rightful representatives of the old set- 
 tlers mentioned in the original grant.f 
 
 * The occasion of this specific statement 
 in the record, seems to have been a dis- 
 pute which had taken place between the 
 parties, as to the fairness of the two former 
 votes. Those dissatisfied with the first 
 vote alleged, that it was obtained, " during 
 the time of the small pox being in town, 
 when but very few of the inhabitants were 
 present;" and their opponents rejoined, 
 that there were "at least two hundred per- 
 sons present" when that vote "was so 
 unanimously" carried ; and "insisted upon 
 it" that the second vote "was not fairly 
 obtained, a majority being at that time in 
 the negative." (See Town Records.) 
 
 t Among the gentlemen who became 
 responsible for these opinions, were Wil- 
 liam Livingston, William Smith, William 
 Smith, junior, John Morin Scot, and Wil- 
 liam Patterson. " I take it for granted,'' 
 says the gentleman last named, " that the 
 old settlers mentioned in the letters patent 
 and the society incorporated and known 
 by the name of the Trustees of the First 
 Presbyterian Church in Newark, are the 
 same persons under different descriptions. 
 I am of opinion that the Trustees hold in 
 fee for the use of the old settlers or First 
 Presbyterian Church, in exclusion of all 
 others. This is the specific use'carved out 
 by the original Proprietors, and this use 
 must be religiously observed; they have 
 indeed designated the use and identified 
 the persons who shall take it, in a very 
 clear manner, and their reasons for both 
 
 are too obvious to stand in need of recital." 
 It may be observed here, that this opin- 
 ion seems to coincide very exactly with 
 that of Chief Justice Shaw, of Massachu- 
 setts, in the case of Heman Stebbing vs. 
 Calvin Jennings. He is speaking of "the 
 case of a town acting at the same time as 
 a town and parish, of which," says he, 
 " there are, or recently were, hundreds of 
 instances in the Commonwealth. In that 
 case one corporate organization is com- 
 monly used for both purposes." He then 
 supposes the case of a separation for the 
 forming of a new congregation. " After 
 the separation," says he, "all those rights, 
 duties and obligations which belonged to 
 the town in its parochial character devolve 
 upon that portion of its inhabitants who 
 by operation of law became successors to 
 the town in that capacity ; while all those 
 which belonged to the town in its munio- 
 pal character, continue so to belong not- 
 withstanding the erection of a new parish. 
 And it may be remarked in passing, that 
 this is equally the case, where the persons 
 who are formed into one or several parishes, 
 constitute a great majority of the inhabit- 
 ants of the town. Those who became the 
 successors of the town in its parochial ca- 
 pacity, succeed to the whole of its pa- 
 rochial rights, although they constitute 
 but a small minority of its inhabitants." 
 
 There can be no doubt, I suppose, what 
 would have been the operation of such a 
 decision in the case in question. 
 
 15 
 
226 PAESONAGE PEOPEETY. 
 
 Accordingly, when the attempt was renewed in the 
 town meeting six years later, and a vote to divide was 
 obtained, and a committee appointed for that purpose, 
 the members of the committee belonging to that 
 Church refused to act ; and the Trustees entered their 
 protest on the record, forbidding the procedure, de- 
 claring the title to be vested in them, and " advising 
 the people then met to let the parsonage lands alone." 
 From this time no action of the town on the subject is 
 to be found on record ; and as the property still re- 
 mained in the hands of the Trustees, it is presumed 
 their kind advice was, so far as the town was con- 
 cerned, accepted. But the contentions, which had be- 
 come very sharp, did not cease here. We learn from 
 Dr. Macwhorter, that for many years they continued 
 to keep the community in an agitation.* " But," says 
 he, " both parties wisely determined that their minis- 
 ter should not be called in, but secluded from these 
 disputes, and therefore he never interested himself in 
 them or had any thing to do with them." Twenty 
 years later, viz., about the years 1786 or 1787, as I 
 
 * The claim seems first to have been set congregation, the sturdy Mountaineers 
 
 up by the Church of England, who took turned out early with axes and teams, and 
 
 possession of, and enclosed a portion of ranged themselves in great numbers on 
 
 the wood land. But the people at the the fence, awaiting the arrival of the foe. 
 
 mountain, who had been accustomed to When the Newarkers arrived, hard words 
 
 cut wood from the parsonage land for began, and still more solid arguments 
 
 their minister, and had received for him ensued, and the Orangemen being either 
 
 some of the rents of the parsonage meadow, the most numerous or the most valiant, 
 
 soon and vigorously joined in the pursuit, fairly beat their opponents off the ground, 
 
 There is a tradition, for which I am in- and sent them home with their teams 
 
 debted to the Rev. Mr. White, now minis- empty. A proposition to resort to law, 
 
 ter of the First Church in Orange ; that a however, on the part of the Trustees, as 
 
 report being- spread on one occasion, that appears from their records, brought the 
 
 the people of Newark were coming to cut matter to an adjustment, and the property 
 
 wood on a certain day, from a piece of remained in their disposal, 
 ground claimed and appropriated by that 
 
macwhorter's eaelt ministry. 227 
 
 learn from the same authority, the animosity was 
 quieted by the Trustees of the First Church, granting 
 a certain dividend of the out-lands to the Episcopal- 
 ians, and another dividend to the Mountain Society, 
 now called Orange, with which these different societies 
 acknowledged themselves content. These dividends 
 were made upon condition of these societies taking 
 leases under the Trustees of the First Presbyterian con- 
 gregation. 
 
 Mr. Macwhorter appears to have enjoyed, in a high 
 degree, the attachment and confidence of his people ; 
 and though we have few distinct notices of the partic- 
 ular results of his ministry in the early part of it, it is 
 apparent that it was attended with no inconsiderable 
 success. There was " a revival of religion" during the 
 winter of 1764-5, as Dr. Griffin informs us, when the 
 pastor was nearly laid aside from his official duties, by 
 a a hectic, accompanied with expectoration of blood, 
 which he contracted while performing a mission in 
 North Carolina, in the course of the summer previous. 
 Again in 1772, there was a second special religious im- 
 pulse, " which proved," says the same authority, " more 
 extensive than the former, and continued about two 
 years." 
 
 Although, not a native of New England, Mr. Mac- 
 whorter, like his predecessors, maintained an intimate 
 connection and correspondence during his life, with 
 distinguished ministers in that region, and was held in 
 high estimation by them. In a letter, dated December 
 23, 1763, we find him writing to Dr. Bellamy, "at the 
 appointment of the Presbytery in behalf of the Church 
 
228 INVITATIONS TO EEMOVE. 
 
 of Newark Mountain," saying, " I hope you will recom- 
 mend them some young man whom you esteem for his 
 knowledge of the truth," and desiring a correspondence 
 with the distinguished Connecticut theologian. Several 
 subsequent letters, still extant, and relating to impor- 
 tant matters of theology and ecclesiastical discipline, 
 Lear witness that his desire was not fruitless* 
 
 During this period he was often solicited to remove 
 and take the charge of other congregations. The year 
 following the mission above referred to, as we learn 
 from the minutes of the Synod, " a call for the Rev. 
 Mr. Macwhorter from Hopewell and Centre congrega- 
 tions in North Carolina, was brought in by the com- 
 mittee of overtures : but the Synod apprehending that 
 some other persons may be more conveniently sent to 
 North Carolina, did not present the call to him." A 
 similar request was presented about the same time from 
 other congregations or settlements in the same colony. 
 In the year IT 66, soon after a short visit to Boston on 
 account of his health, the Old South Church in that 
 place, then recently made vacant by the death of his 
 brother-in-law, the Rev. Alexander Cumming, made 
 overtures to him to become their pastor. But, as they 
 
 * For extracts from this correspondence issue, God only knows. And there seems 
 I am indebted to the kindness of Rev- to be more solemn attention to the word 
 Richard Webster. In one of them bear- preached this winter than formerly. May 
 ing date Jan. 28, 1764, there is an obvious God overrule it for good." In the same 
 allusion to the incipient manifestations of letter he propounds the question, " Of 
 that religious revival above referred to what avail means are, seeing man's aver- 
 as having taken place in the course of that sion to holiness is such he neither can nor 
 year. He says: "I have very little reli desires to have it removed?" and observes, 
 gious news to acquaint you with ; there in answer apparently to a question of his 
 are some few young persons in my congre- correspondent, " As to new books, I think 
 gation that seem to be under very serious I don't live in a priming part of the world, 
 concern about their salvation; how it will I see but very few." 
 
MISSIONARY EXCURSION, 229 
 
 had " conscientious scruples about calling a settled pas- 
 tor," and lie was not prepared to accommodate those 
 scruples, by taking a dismission from his own people 
 at their suggestion, in order to be a suitable subject 
 for their call, the business went no further. 
 
 The mission to North Carolina, already referred to, 
 was performed under the direction of the Synod, in 
 accordance with a frequent jn'actice of that body, to 
 detach pastors temporarily from their stated charge, 
 and send them away to supply destitute regions. 
 
 In pursuance of their work, the two missionaries, 
 Messrs. Macwhorter and Spencer, were directed to form 
 new congregations, adjust their boundaries, ordain 
 elders, administer the ordinances of the gospel, and give 
 instruction and aid in discipline, government and wor- 
 ship* On this eminently apostolic mission went forth 
 these two beloved brethren; and returned to the 
 Synod with their report of its fulfillment at the next 
 meeting. The pulpit of this Church was supplied three 
 
 * Minutes, p. 339. As the resolution Churches, and the future settlement of the 
 touching this matter may serve to illus- Gospel among them. And also, that they 
 trate the usages of the period, I give it assure those people wherever they go, that 
 entire: "The Synod, more particularly this Synod has their interest much at 
 considering the state of many congrega- heart, and will neglect no opportunities of 
 tions to the southward, and particularly in affording them proper candidates and 
 North Carolina, and the great importance supplies, to the utmost of their power, 
 of having those congregations properly Ordered, that the clerk give said mission- 
 organized, appoint the Rev. Messrs. Elihu aries an attested copy of this minute, and 
 Spencer and Alexander Macwhorter, to go proper testimonials, signed by the moder- 
 as missionaries for that purpose, that ator and clerk. And, that these brethren 
 they may form societies, help them in ad- may not suffer by so long and expensive 
 justing their bounds, ordain elders, ad a journey, the Synod agree to defray 
 minister sealing ordinances, instruct the their expenses, and make them a proper 
 people in discipline, and finally direct acknowledgment for the damages they 
 them in their after conduct, particularly in may sustain in domestic affairs, and for 
 what manner they shall proceed to obtain this purpose a collection is ordered 
 the stated ministry, and whatever else may through our bounds, and each Presbytery 
 appear useful or necessary for those is required to see it be duly observed." 
 
230 ESTB1ATION AMONG HIS BKETHREN. 
 
 Sabbaths by Mr. Mills, and the rest of the time by the 
 Presbytery of New York. On their return the traveling 
 expenses of the missionaries were paid according to the 
 resolution ; but when a committee had reported on the 
 amount due to these brethren for their services and 
 sacrifices, the minutes tell us that " Mr. Macwhorter 
 returned to the Synod all the money of the Synod's 
 collection allowed by the committee." In the discharge 
 of this mission, Mr. Macwhorter, as I have already 
 intimated, contracted a disease which " for two years 
 threatened to put an early period to his usefulness," 
 but he recovered soon after, and enjoyed better health 
 than before. Except in the performance of this mis- 
 sion, which could not have occupied more than two or 
 three months, I cannot learn that he was much absent 
 from his people during the first eighteen years. 
 
 During this time he was steadily advancing in the 
 confidence of his brethren in the ministry, and in use- 
 fulness and influence in the Church at large. In the 
 year 1766, he was chosen one of the clerks, and four 
 years later, viz., in 17 70, Moderator of the Synod. 
 Twice he was appointed to preach before that body, 
 once as its previous Moderator, and once as the substi- 
 tute for another, who had died since his appointment. 
 In 1766 the corporation of Yale College bestowed upon 
 him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity. His 
 name appears on almost all important committees 
 which were appointed by the Synod towards the lat- 
 ter part of the period now under review. Dr. Griffin 
 remarks that he was " among the first subscribers to 
 the widow's fund, which was established in 1761, and 
 
AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 231 
 
 in later life was for many years a director of that be- 
 nevolent institution." "In 1772 he was chosen a 
 trustee of the college of New Jersey, and continued a 
 very important member of that board till a few months 
 before his death." 
 
 But now came on the memorable period of the 
 American revolutionary war, "memorable in the history 
 of Newark and its vicinity, hardly less than in that of 
 any other spot throughout the country. In the month 
 of May, ITT 5, just one month "after the battle of Lex- 
 ington and Concord, the Synod of New York and 
 Philadelphia addressed a pastoraFletter to the Churches 
 under their care, in which, disclaiming all agency 
 " in inflaming the minds of the"people, or urging them 
 to acts of violence and disorder," they express very 
 clearly the conviction, that the whole continent are 
 determined to defend their rights by force of arms, 
 and, " if the British ministry shall continue to enforce 
 their claims by violence, a lasting and bloody contest 
 must ensue." On the basis of this conviction they 
 proceed to exhort the people to be prepared 
 for death, assuring them, " especially the young 
 and vigorous" among them, that " there is no soldier 
 so undaunted as the pious man, no army so formida- 
 ble as those who are superior to the fear of death." 
 At the same time, insisting earnestly on loyalty to the 
 king, union among the colonies, a spirit of humanity 
 in the scene of action, and the preservation of peace 
 till the last possible moment, they add that "that 
 man will fight most bravely who never fights till it is 
 necessary, and who ceases to fight as soon as the ne- 
 
232 DAY OF FASTING AND THANKSGIVING. 
 
 cessity is over."* The letter was drawn up by a com- 
 mittee, of which the patriotic Witherspoon was at the 
 head, and five hundred copies of it were ordered to be 
 printed; and it seems to have been adopted with 
 entire unanimity, except that "Mr. Halsey," as the 
 record states, "dissents from that paragraph of said 
 letter which contains the declarations of allegiance." 
 
 Following up the recommendation of the Synod, the 
 Presbytery of New York observed, for many succes- 
 sive years, a part of the last Thursday of every month 
 as a season of special prayer, on account of the gloomy 
 state of public affairs ; and from time to time set apart 
 days to be observed in fasting, humiliation and prayer, 
 for the same object, resolving likewise in one instance, 
 " to mingle thanks with our prayers for our innu- 
 merable mercies," amidst the tokens of God's dis- 
 pleasure. The meeting, from whose minutes these 
 last words are extracted, was held at Mendham, N. J., 
 on the tenth of October, lYYGjf when a comparison of 
 dates shows us that the country's cause was in a most 
 perilous condition, New York having just before been 
 evacuated, and being already in possession of the enemy; 
 and when the American army, defeated on Long Island, 
 and much dispirited, was apparently fast waning to no- 
 thing. It marks the troubled condition of the times, 
 that at this meeting, only six ministers and three elders 
 are reported as present, and twenty-one ministers as ab- 
 sent; and it shows equally the pious confidence and 
 sacred cheerfulness of that little band, that in such cir- 
 
 * Minutes, pp. 466, 467. t See Minutes of the Presbytery of New York. 
 
AEMY IN NEWAKK. 233 
 
 cunistances, tliey could not forget that their beloved 
 country had still mercies to be thankful for. 
 
 It is well known, that during all that memorable 
 struggle, there were to be found no firmer and more 
 zealous and self-sacrificing patriots than the ministers 
 of the Presbyterian Church ; and probably the remark 
 recently made to me by an aged woman, who well 
 remembers those stirring scenes, was not far from the 
 truth, viz : that " black coats were nearly as offensive 
 to the British then, as red coats* were to the inhabit- 
 ants." Mr. Macwhorter shared very largely in the 
 patriotic feeling which animated his brethren, and pos- 
 sessing naturally great decision and activity, could not 
 remain idle when such a struggle was going on almost 
 at his very door. 
 
 Washington came to Newark with his retreating 
 army on the 2 2d of November, just two days after the 
 day of mingled fasting and thanksgiving. And who 
 can tell how much of the heroic calmness, the sublime 
 undaunted resolution, which are said to have marked 
 his deliberations during the week that he and his ex- 
 hausted and broken forces spent here, may have been 
 given him from heaven, m answer to those grateful 
 prayers ? But the foe was in pursuit. Lord Corn- 
 wallis, it is said, entered Newark on the same day that 
 Washington left it. Nor did the patriot pastor re- 
 main behind. Either accompanying, or soon following 
 the retreat of the army, he, with one of his brethren,f 
 repaired to the encampment on the Pennsylvania shore, 
 
 * i. e. British troops. t Her. Mr. Vanarsdale, of Springfield. 
 
234 DR. MACWHORTER WITH THE ARMY. 
 
 opposite Trenton, and, by the invitation of Washing- 
 ton, was present and assisted at the council of war, 
 which decided on the memorable crossing of the Del- 
 aware and those achievements consequent upon it, by 
 which, through the favor of heaven, despair was 
 changed to hope, and the dying cause of American lib- 
 erty resuscitated. Dr. Griffin informs us, that, during 
 the previous year, viz., in 1775, "he was appointed by 
 Congress to visit that district of North Carolina to 
 which he had been before, to employ his influence to 
 bring over the enemies of the revolution to the Amer- 
 ican interest," but adds, that " whatever zeal and abil- 
 ities were exerted in this enterprise, it issued, agreeably 
 to his prediction to Dr. Franklin, with little success." 
 It is probable that he went on this journey charged 
 with a double commission ; for corresponding to this 
 statement, I find the following minute in the records 
 of the Presbytery at its meeting in May, 1776. "Mr. 
 Macwhorter reports, that he has fulfilled the mission 
 to North Carolina agreeable to the appointment of 
 Presbytery."* "In the summer of 1778," says Dr. 
 Griffin, " at the solicitation of his friend, General Knox, 
 he accepted the chaplainship of his brigade, which lay 
 then with the main army at White Plains," where 
 Washington was among his frequent auditors, and he 
 was often Washington's guest. It was while engaged 
 in this patriotic service that a visitation from God upon 
 his family in the form of a stroke of lightning, which 
 prostrated and well nigh destroyed the life of Mrs. 
 
 * See Minutes of the Presbytery of New York. 
 
PARSONAGE RIFLED BY THE ENEMY. 235 
 
 Macwhorter, called Mbi suddenly from his public sta- 
 tion, to minister to the necessities of his own household. 
 
 During the period to which we now refer, every 
 thing was in the greatest confusion in this community. 
 The North Eiver, being frozen over during a consider- 
 able part of one winter, afforded free passage for dep- 
 redators. Cattle were seized and driven away by par- 
 ties of refugees ; houses were plundered and burned ; 
 and citizens taken out of their beds, and made to 
 march nine miles, barefooted and unclad, on the ice 
 and frozen earth, to New York. Dr. Macwhorter him- 
 self speaks of having "fled before the enemy in 1776, 
 when the British troops took possession of the town," 
 at which time the ancient records of this Church, with 
 many books of his own, being left in the parsonage 
 house, were destroyed. Many of the inhabitants 
 escaped to places of greater security, and those who 
 remained were in constant apprehension of surprises. 
 Public worship was held but seldom, and that by as- 
 sembling the people on a special notice. When the 
 pastor was at home, he was obliged to have a sentinel 
 stationed at his house for his protection, and it is said 
 there was an old man, now recently deceased, who 
 remembered having frequently "stood guard" at the 
 door of the parsonage.* 
 
 In such circumstances, it can hardly excite surprise, 
 
 * The relations which he sustained to siah Hornblower, Joseph Riggs, and Lewis 
 the public affairs of the country about this Ogden, be a committee to give such in- 
 time, are indicated by the following vote structions to our Legislatures in this 
 of the Town of Newark, under date of county from time to time, according as 
 March 9, 1779. " Voted that the Reverend occasion may require." (Newark Town 
 Alexander Macwhorter, Mr. Chapman, Jo- Records, p. 198.) 
 
236 dr. macwiiorter's removal. 
 
 that Dr. Macwliorter slionld have lent an ear to the 
 calls of Providence, summoning him to other spheres 
 of ministerial service. His labors here were nearly 
 impracticable, and his means of support had become 
 entirely inadequate.* Accordingly, after receiving 
 one or two invitations to important stations,f a call 
 having been presented to him from the congregation 
 of Charlotte, Mechlenburg Co., North Carolina, to take 
 the pastoral charge of that people, together with the 
 presidency of an important literary institution, then in 
 its infancy in that place, J he accepted the call, and, 
 without opposition on the part of the people of New- 
 ark, who, with friendly liberality, furnished him " with 
 every needed article for his journey," was dismissed 
 from his charge, and, removing with his family to 
 North Carolina, in October, 1779, became' the pastor 
 of another people. But no sooner was he established 
 in his new station, than he was again compelled to 
 make his escape from the encroachments of war. Lord 
 Cornwallis, from whose army he fled in Newark, en- 
 tered Charlotte. Dr. Macwliorter lost his library and 
 furniture, and almost every thing he possessed, and 
 finding no prospect of a quiet course of usefulness there, 
 
 * The following minute in the records take such other steps as he thinks proper, 
 
 of the Trustees of this congregation, serves and apply the money to his own use." 
 
 to illustrate this point. "Whereas, a 11 March, 1778. (Records, p. 1.) 
 
 quantity of wood has been cut off the par- t Dr. Griffin states that in the month of 
 
 sonage for the use of the troops, and no June, 1778, he received an application for 
 
 regular account kept thereof, and whereas his services from the Congregational 
 
 the high price of every article of life ren- Church in the city of Charleston, S. C, 
 
 ders it very difficult for our worthy minis- and a few months later, a regular call from 
 
 ter to subsist, it is agreed by this board, that congregation. (See Funeral Sermon, 
 
 that the Rev. Dr. Alexander Macwhorter p. 19.) 
 
 be authorized to agree and compound with \ Charlotte Academy, 
 the quarter-masters for the said wood, or 
 
RESETTLEMENT IN. NEWAEK. 237 
 
 left tlie place in the autumn of 1780, and made his 
 way back as far as Abington, where he engaged to 
 preach for the winter. 
 
 Meanwhile, the congregation here had remained 
 without a pastor. A Mr. Fish,* as I have been in- 
 formed, supplied the pulpit for a time, but he was not 
 settled, and the attachment of the people to their old 
 shepherd remained unabated. By special invitation, he 
 made them a visit in the month of February, 1781, 
 and before the end of April, he was back with all his 
 family, and reinstated in his pastoral rights and priv- 
 ileges.f 
 
 The question has been raised whether Dr. Macwhor- 
 ter was the pastor of the Church, or only a stated 
 supply, during the succeeding years of his ministry. 
 A brief statement of facts will suffice, I think, to set 
 that question at rest. Dr. Macwhorter's testimonials 
 of dismission and recommendation were voted in the 
 Presbytery, at a meeting held in Newark, June 11th, 
 1779, but were not furnished by the Clerk till the 
 order was renewed, on the 19th of October following. 
 On the 9th of May, 1781, he again appeared in the 
 
 * The records of the Trustees contain lady, who is wiser in her generation than 
 
 some notices of an order to pay Mr. Fish, the children of light, declares it will be as 
 
 just after Dr. M.'s return. impracticable to maintain his wasteful se- 
 
 + The following extract, from a letter of raglio as to keep the light house in forage ; 
 
 the Hon. Wm. Peartree Smith to his son, and though I really have the charity to 
 
 is at least amusing. It is, I believe, with- think she would open her purse * * * 
 
 out date. with proper Christian prudence, to feed 
 
 " I send you a letter from your friend, the Gospel minister, yet she can by no 
 
 Dr. Rogers, bro't hither by Mr. Fish, means brook it, that the pious morsels she 
 
 Pray, do you know that old Parson Mac- offers on the altar, should be immediately 
 
 whorter, with his hopeful flock, are all got gobbled by his group of insatiable ungos- 
 
 safe to Abington, a place not far from pelled gossips." The whole letter is full 
 
 Philadelphia? The good old folks here of fun, and probably answered its intent to 
 
 now talk of recalling him. My economic provoke a little good natured merriment. 
 
238 RESETTLEMENT IN NEWARK. 
 
 Presbytery, when Mr. Baldwin, his elder, made the 
 statement that the congregation in Newark had invited 
 Dr. Macwhorter to re-settle with them, and Dr. Mac- 
 whorter himself declared that he had accepted the 
 invitation.* The minutes of the same meeting contain 
 the following entry: "Dr. Macwhorter having been 
 driven from his congregation in North Carolina by the 
 enemy, and now residing in our bounds, the Presby- 
 tery do receive him as a stated corresponding member, 
 till he receive a regular dismission." A few days later, 
 viz., on the lYth of the same month, Dr. Macwhorter 
 appeared in the Synod, and stated that the distressing 
 circumstances of North Carolina, arising from the war, 
 had rendered the objects of his removal abortive, and 
 prevented him from obtaining a regular dismission 
 from the Orange Presbytery." " Whereupon, it was 
 ordered that Dr. Macwhorter be re-united to the New 
 York Presbytery." Before the next meeting of that 
 body however, he had obtained his credentials, and 
 was enrolled accordingly.f 
 
 The only doubt about his pastoral connection, has 
 arisen from the fact that he was not formally re-in- 
 stalled. But, for this omission there were sufficient 
 reasons. He had been absent from his old people less 
 than two years, and meanwhile they had had no other 
 pastor. A formal installation would naturally appear 
 to them almost superfluous. Besides, the distracted 
 state of the times made it difficult for that body to 
 assemble ; and it is extremely doubtful, whether they 
 
 * Minutes of the Presbytery of New + Minutes of the Synod of Philadelphia 
 York. and New York. 
 
KESETTLEMENT Df ]5TEWAKK. 239 
 
 held any regular meetings for a year or two previous 
 to Dr. Macwhorter's dismission. The whole body was 
 almost constantly absent from the Synod, and, from 
 the same causes, Dr. Macwhorter's dismission from the 
 Presbytery of Orange could not be obtained till he 
 had been actually officiating as minister in his old sta- 
 tion for a considerable time. 
 
 On the other hand, it is well known that Dr. Mac- 
 whorter always regarded himself as the regular pastor, 
 and so speaks of himself repeatedly in his writings ; 
 and the people likewise so regarded him, and so spoke 
 of him and addressed him* The Presbytery too, 
 recognized him as the pastor, in the most explicit 
 terms; and his colleague, Dr. Griffin, was settled ac- 
 cordingly, as the " co-pastor of Dr. Macwhorter." 
 
 Nor is this the only case on record, in which a pas- 
 toral relation has been constituted without a formal 
 installation. The Rev. John Murray was removed 
 from Booth Bay to Newburyport, Mass., by a simple 
 vote of his Presbytery, sitting at a different place ; 
 and, in the early Minutes of the Synod of Philadel- 
 phia, then the highest judicatory of the Presbyterian 
 Church, there is a formal judgment pronounced on a 
 case directly in point. I refer to the case of the Rev. 
 William Tennent, senior, of Neshaminy, a portion of 
 whose people attended to deny him pastoral rights, 
 because he had not been formally installed. That 
 judgment is, "That Mr. Tennent, having in all respects 
 acted, and been esteemed and looked upon, not only 
 
 * See an address to Dr. M., prefixed to the published volumes of his discourses. 
 
240 NEWAEE EECOVEES ITS PEOSEEEITY. 
 
 by this Synod, but also by the congregation of Ne- 
 shaminy, and particularly by the appellants them- 
 selves, as the pastor of that people, that he is still to 
 be esteemed as the pastor of that people, notwithstand- 
 ing the want of a formal installment among them" — 
 an omission which the Synod goes on to declare, " is 
 far from nullifying the pastoral relation."* The 
 question may perhaps be regarded as of little moment, 
 but as it has been raised recently, in some of the pub- 
 lic papers, it seems due to historic verity, to say 
 nothing more, that the true state of the case should 
 be exhibited. 
 
 The town of Newark suffered severely in all its in- 
 terests during the war, but when the war closed, Dr. 
 Macwhorter tells us, " it soon recovered from its dam- 
 ages, increased fast in its population, and quickly 
 began to nourish, especially in manufactories."f Just 
 at the close of that period, in 1783, says Dr. Griffin, 
 "the trustees of Washington Academy in Somerset 
 county, Maryland, ignorant that Dr. Macwhorter was 
 permanently settled, offered him the Presidency of 
 that institution with a salary of 300 pounds a year." 
 But though the principal object of the institution was 
 the education of pious youth for the gospel ministry, 
 and though the neighboring county opened an ex- 
 tensive field for his ministerial labors, his attachment 
 to the congregation, which had so recently given him 
 such generous proofs of affection, rendered it impossi- 
 ble for him to accept the invitation."J He was heart- 
 
 * Minutes of the Synod of Philadelphia, t Manuscript History. 
 p. 125. % Funeral Sermon, pp. 21-22. 
 
REVIVAL OF 1784. 241 
 
 ily glad to get back among his old friends, and the 
 people were quite as glad to bid him welcome and to 
 retain him among them. 
 
 The next year, viz., the year 1784, was distinguished 
 by the commencement of a very great and lasting re- 
 vival of religion in this congregation. Among the 
 seasons of special encouragement, which had distin- 
 guished the earlier period of Dr. Macwhorter's ministry, 
 was the one which occurred just before the breaking 
 out of the war. But the troubles which so soon fol- 
 lowed, seemed to turn the thoughts of the people away 
 from their spiritual interests, and a large part of the 
 supposed converts, it is said, went back and walked no 
 more with Christ's followers. But the effusion of 
 divine influences experienced at the period now re- 
 ferred to, surpassed, as the aged people who remember 
 it say, all that went before during their memory, and 
 all that has followed. It was at a time of great reli- 
 gious declension every where, and especially in this 
 congregation. Dancing, frolicking, and all sorts of 
 worldly amusements absorbed the thoughts of the 
 young, even in the most respectable and religious fam- 
 ilies ; and among the lower class, vice and dissipation, 
 the bitter dregs of the long and demoralizing war, 
 which had but just ended, prevailed to a frightful 
 extent. At this juncture, a stranger preached at an 
 evening service. There were no pews in the old 
 church, but the people sat upon long benches — the 
 men on one side and the women on the other — while 
 in the gallery sat the young people, distributed on 
 opposite sides in the same way. In the midst of his 
 
 16 
 
242 REVIVAL OF 1784. 
 
 sermon the preacher paused, and looking np to the 
 young people in the gallery, referred to what he had 
 learned respecting their habits, and asked in a solemn 
 and earnest manner, " Will you go dancing to hell V 
 The countenances of two or three fell immediately, 
 their heads dropped, and it was soon evident that the 
 bow thus drawn at a venture, had sped an arrow of 
 the Almighty, destined to slay the enmity of many a 
 wicked heart. 
 
 From that time one after another became deeply 
 anxious about their soul's safety. The alarm spread 
 from heart to heart, and from house to house. Worldly 
 gayety Avas abandoned. Religion became the theme 
 of conversation in all companies. Praying circles and 
 conference meetings were held in different parts of the 
 town; an almost universal reformation of outward 
 habits was effected ; large numbers were converted and 
 gave evidence of a radical spiritual change, among 
 them some of the most desperate characters in the 
 place, and for two years the whole face of society 
 became entirely changed. 
 
 I state these facts on the authority of three or four 
 aged people, who remember them well, and all of 
 whom tell substantially the same story. Dr. Griffin 
 states that " at no period of Dr. Macwhorter s ministry 
 was he observed to be so laden with a sense of ever- 
 lasting things, and so ardent in his desire to win souls 
 to Christ. Besides his labors on the Sabbath, he 
 preached several times in the week, and spent a part 
 of almost every day in catechizing, exhorting from 
 house to house, or attending religious societies." " In 
 
IMPKOVEMENT IN DISCIPLINE. 243 
 
 this precious season," lie adds, " more than a hundred 
 souls were added to the Church." But it was not so 
 much the number of the converts, as the deep and 
 universal influence of the heavenly impulse, among a 
 people then comparatively few, that gave distinction 
 to this remarkable effusion of the Divine Spirit. 
 
 It appears from a statement of Dr. Griffin, that one 
 of the results of this revival was an important change 
 in the mode of administering the government of the 
 Church. The " half way covenant," to which we have 
 already had occasion to advert as a measure particu- 
 larly repugnant to the views of the first settlers, had 
 in process of time, no one knows how or when, found 
 its way into the Church and become confirmed in the 
 habits and prejudices of the people. Dr. Macwhorter 
 found it here, and knew not how to banish it. As 
 early as April 16, .1*764, in one of his letters to Dr. 
 Bellamy, we find him expressing his dissatisfaction in 
 the following explicit terms : " You ask me what is 
 the practice in Churches our way ? Much the same as 
 you represent it in the Churches your way. Almost 
 every body has their children baptized, but few come 
 to the Lord's Supper. Some of our best ministers 
 hold that persons may have the sacrament of baptism 
 who are not fit to come to the Lord's Supper. Some 
 are in Mr. Stoddard's scheme that unbelievers ought 
 to attend both ordinances. And some few, but very 
 few, are of the sentiment I have meant to express in 
 this paper, and we can't act up to our sentiments. I 
 have been struggling to act upon principle, but I can't, 
 in hardly any thing, get matters brought to my mind. 
 
244 IMPROVEMENT IN DISCIPLINE. 
 
 Our Churches I look upon in a most ragged, shattered 
 condition. May God pour out His Spirit, and grant 
 us a reformation, both in discipline and doctrine."* 
 At the period to which I now refer, Dr. Macwhorter 
 began a vigorous effort to produce a reformation. 
 "One evening," says Dr. Griffin, "in the autumn of 
 1*785, when the Dr.'s mind was deeply impressed with 
 divine things, he expressed to two of his friends in a 
 private conversation, in which he was unusually tender 
 and communicative, his concern for the want of disci- 
 pline, and the looseness which prevailed in the Church, 
 which he attributed to what has been called the half 
 way practice. It is still in the recollection of those 
 persons in what a solemn and indignant manner he 
 deplored this practice, which he averred was contrary 
 to the usage of the primitive Church and the opinion 
 of the best fathers." In this conversation, Dr. G. 
 adds, "he proceeded in a distinct manner, to sketch 
 the plan which he approved ; which was precisely the 
 same that the Session afterwards sanctioned"! 
 
 Meanwhile a similar dissatisfaction had been 
 awakened in the minds of a portion of his people. 
 Remonstrances and resistance followed and the im- 
 patience of a few, who could not wait for the tardy 
 movements of reform, created difficulty, and even led to 
 secession, and finally with some other causes resulted in 
 an attempt to found a separate religious society. J The 
 
 * Extract of a letter furnished by Rot. worth and many eccentricities. Among 
 
 Richard Webster. the good enterprises which he attempted, 
 
 t Funeral Sermon, p. 23. was the forming of an association for 
 
 X The leader in this movement was "relieving the immediate wants of the 
 
 Moses N. Combs, a man of considerable poor, schooling poor children, and to con- 
 
IMPROVEMENT IN DISCIPLINE. 
 
 245 
 
 pastor, though he did not approve of these measures, 
 pursued the object in a more regular way, with equal 
 resoluteness. He reasoned against the offensive prac- 
 tice, both in public and private, and at length, although 
 many were strongly attached to the old custom, and 
 many were fearful of an innovation, the Session came 
 unanimously to the decision, that, " from that time no 
 persons should own the covenant with a view to offer 
 their children in baptism, and to neglect the Lord's 
 Supper; and that the exaxama±ion of candidates for 
 ^a^ission to communion, which had been left to the 
 minister only, should in future be conducted before 
 the Session."* 
 
 I have already spoken of the deficiency of Dr. Mac- 
 whorter's means of support during the continuance of 
 
 verse about the things that concern the 
 kingdom of God." Zealous for the re- 
 formation of the Church, this association 
 sent a committee to the Session, praying 
 them to take measures to abolish the of- 
 fensive practice ; but not succeeding as 
 they wished, a portion of them withdrew 
 from communion. For a time they at- 
 tended worship and were admitted to oc- 
 casional communion with the church in 
 Orange, and afterwards commenced sepa- 
 rate worship in Newark. One of the com- 
 plaints they made against the Church was 
 its uniting with those who were not church 
 members in supporting public worship, 
 building meeting houses, &c, all which 
 they regarded as being " unequally yoked 
 with unbelievers." Mr. Combs was a tan- 
 ner and shoemaker by trade, and at one 
 time was very successful in business, and 
 became rich. He erected a wooden build- 
 ing for the use of his society, and became 
 their preacher. "Silver was showered 
 upon him," he said, " so plentifully that 
 he did not know what else to do with it." 
 The society did not keep together many 
 years, and several of its members at length 
 
 applied for restoration, and on proper ac- 
 knowledgments, were restored to member- 
 ship in the church. 
 
 * See Dr. Griffin's Funeral Sermon, 
 p. 24. The vote, as it stands on the Min- 
 utes of the Session, is not as explicit on 
 the first point as Dr. Griffin states it, 
 though it may be presumed, the effect of 
 it was in accordance with his representa- 
 tion. It bears date March 28, 1794, and 
 is in the form of a series of resolu- 
 tions, recommended for the adoption of 
 the Church. Among them are explicit 
 provisions for an examination of candi- 
 dates for sealing ordinances before the 
 Session, the exclusion of immoral men 
 and unbelievers from both sacraments, 
 the determination to exercise discipline 
 more faithfully than before, and the dec- 
 laration " that (baptized) children are 
 members of the Church, and that parents 
 shall be accountable for the behavior of 
 their children till they shall arrive to the 
 years of maturity ; then the children shall 
 be dealt with fer immoralities as other 
 members of the Church." (Records, vol. 
 i, pp. 47-48. 
 
246 DEFICIENCY OF FUNDS. 
 
 the war. The precise amount of his nominal salary at 
 that time, I do not know ; but it seems to have been 
 irregularly paid for some years after. The mode of 
 gathering it was chiefly that of voluntary subscription. 
 But though various methods were adopted to quicken 
 delinquents, the subscriptions often fell far into ar- 
 rears in respect to payment. Twice, viz., in the years 
 1785 and 1*786, the Trustees adopted the somewhat 
 singular expedient of requesting the minister to call a 
 meeting of the congregation, and " preach a sermon on 
 that day," "that a state of the funds may ue uy -u^ 
 fore them, and some mode fallen into to increase the 
 same." Partly as a means of eking out a scanty in- 
 come, Dr. Macwhorter was in the practice of teaching 
 a small school. But on the 16th of March, 1786, the 
 day, as a comparison of dates shows, on which the 
 Trustees had requested the sermon to be preach- 
 ed, the congregation after desiring Dr. Macwhorter 
 " to leave the chair and go out, as there was some bu- 
 siness to be done which referred personally to him," 
 voted "that Dr. Macwhorter's salary be raised to three 
 hundred pounds a year, and that he be requested to 
 give up his school, or get an usher, that he may be 
 enabled to visit his congregation more." To avoid 
 irregularities in future, it was also then voted, " that 
 this salary be raised by tax."* 
 
 * See Becords of the Trustees. The sup- Thursday, to provide the said wood," and 
 ply of firewood, probably from the par- it is further on record, " that a motion was 
 sonage land, seems to have been a sepa- made and seconded, that a vote should be 
 rate matter, and to have been provided taken whether a supper should be fur- 
 still in a voluntary way. At a meeting nished on that day for those who assist in 
 called for the purpose of consulting about getting the said wood. It was accordingly 
 it on the 8th of November, 1793, 1 find a taken, and it passed in the negative." 
 vote appointing a particular day, "next 
 
HOUSE OF WORSHIP REPAIRED. 247 
 
 The second house of worship had now become man- 
 ifestly inadequate to the wants of the congregation. 
 Dr. Macwhorter states that in less than fifty years 
 after its erection it became too small to contain com- 
 fortably the people. In the year IT 5 5, a proposition 
 was made to repair and enlarge it, but " after consult- 
 ing various architects," the decision was only to repair 
 it and give it a new roof, and this decision was carried 
 into effect the following year.* The people however, 
 were not satisfied with what had been done. Various 
 meetings were held on the subject, especially during 
 the period extending from 1768 to 1773. At length, 
 in the year 1774, under the stimulus given to the 
 spirit of enterprise by the religious improvement al- 
 ready referred to, the erection of " a new and large 
 
 the people7hould have felt great Tfe&tf Misses used to cut as they passed up 
 
 ance to demolish this venerable edifice, of the head to take ^^Cjjj"^ 
 
 associated as it must have beeu iu their of preferment. The rest of tu^ed place 
 
 minds with so many memorable scenes, seated with long benches, and in the mid- 
 
 ""^ye the college of New Jersey had been die aisle descended the bell rope, where 
 
 cradlea; mre«, ^._ :J R ro ; nAr ^ na cl been the sexton stood to perform his duty in the 
 
 set apart to the office of his heroic minis- midst of the congregation, 
 
 try; there Whitefield had poured forth A tradition of the preaching of Whitefield 
 
 his melting eloquence, and there the Spirit in the old house is thus related by Rev. Ste- 
 
 of God had displayed in wonderful scenes, phen Dodd, of East Haven, Ct. "The 
 
 his converting power. The building, as I seoond wife of Moses Farrand was Dorcaa 
 
 have stated, was about forty-four feet Pradden. She told me that once when Mr. 
 
 square. The pulpit stood on the west side, Whitefield came there to preach she was 
 
 between two windows. Before the pulpit twelve years old, and as he came up and 
 
 was a seat for the leader of the singing, entered the pulpit, she eyed him with dis- 
 
 where for many years, tradition says, trust, but before he got through his 
 
 Mr. John Treat Crane, a great-grand- prayer herself and all the congregation 
 
 son of Governor Treat, presided with great melted down, and the sermon filled the 
 
 admiration. On each side of the pulpit house with groans and tears. The next 
 
 was a large square pew ; one was occupied time he came, as soon as he entered the 
 
 by the minister's family and the other by pulpit, the assembly were weeping. It 
 
 such families as by a kind of general con- was so great that the pulpit window was 
 
 sent were regarded as the aristocracy of taken out, and he preached through the 
 
 the town. An aged man tells me how window to the people in the burying 
 
 well he remembers the figure which the ground." 
 
248 PEESENT CHURCH EEECTED. 
 
 church" was undertaken in earnest. The subscription 
 agreed upon was immediately filled to the amount of 
 £2000, a site was selected, materials brought together 
 and trenches for the foundations actually dug. But 
 the breaking out of the war just at that time, frus- 
 trated the plan ; it was abandoned, and the materials 
 provided were soon scattered and lost* 
 
 But the war was now ended ; and the affairs of the 
 congregation being once more in a prosperous state, 
 the good design was resumed. The foundations were 
 commenced in the month of September, 17 87. Tradi- 
 tion informs me, that when the appointed day came, 
 the male members of the congregation assembled 
 on the ground, and took their stations according to 
 age and office. The pastor standing at the north- 
 east corner made a short address and offered a prav«~ 
 
 Then he broke ify *~rr? ** ^"S ° Ut Wlth his 
 own ^ u Xne s P ad eful of earth. Deacon Caleb 
 
 Wheeler, standing by his side, took the next, and then 
 the rest followed in their turns till Ao ~j— i^ were at 
 work, and the opening of the trenches was completed 
 in a few hours. The erection of this large and beau- 
 tiful edifice, a very serious undertaking for the people 
 as they were then situated, was due in a great measure 
 to the indomitable zeal and perseverance of Dr. Mac- 
 
 * It was to stand on "school-house hill," the bell on an ox team, and buried it in 
 that is, as I learn, on the south side of the woods known as the " short swamps," 
 
 Market street west of Broad, where was near the highway now known as Elm 
 
 then a considerable elevation. Dr. M. street, and about a mile from Mulberry 
 
 says, the people were not perfectly agreed . street. When the peace was restored, the 
 
 about the location. On the breaking out good Deacons disinterred the concealed 
 
 of the war, it is said, the Deacons, — Caleb treasure and brought it to town again, and 
 
 Wheeler and Ebenezer Baldwin,— loaded probably used it for the benefit of the new 
 
 all the metal which had been collected for edifice. 
 
NEW MODE OF ELECTING TKUSTEES. 249 
 
 whorter. "So zealous was he to serve and animate 
 the congregation," says Dr. Griffin, " that during the 
 following winter, he was daily in the forests selecting 
 timber which had been given him, and encouraging 
 the workmen." And when we consider how the work 
 was carried on, namely, by joint contributions of labor 
 and materials from the whole congregation, it is truly 
 wonderful, that an edifice of such beauty of propor- 
 tions and completeness of finish should have been 
 accomplished* Truly it stands a noble monument, 
 both " of the generosity and public spirit of the so- 
 ciety," and not less " of the love and indefatigable ex- 
 ertions" of one of the most illustrious of its pastors.f 
 The house was ready for permanent use, and first reg- 
 ularly opened for public worshiD on +"k« £~- t » 
 
 A few years after the completion of this edifice, viz., 
 in the year 1794, the change was made to which I 
 have already alluded, in the mode of electing the 
 Trustees under the charter. The Session to whom the 
 whole power was intrusted by that instrument, en- 
 gaged to call together the congregation on the first 
 
 * Dr. Macwhorter himself, with an air t F uneral Sermon, p. 25. 
 
 of exultation by no means to be cen- % A tablet inserted in the front wall of 
 
 sured, thus describes it : " Its dimensions the tower bears the following inscription 
 
 are one hundred feet in length, including said to have been written by Hon. Wm. 
 
 the steeple, which projects eight feet. The Peartree Smith. 
 
 steeple two hundred and four feet high ; iEdem banc amplissimam cultui Divino 
 
 two tiers of windows, five in a tier on each dicatam, ex animo religioso et munificen- 
 
 side; an elegant large Venetian window tia valde prseclara, Nov Arcjs habitantes,. 
 
 in the rear behind the pulpit, and the cura sub pastorali rev. Alexandri Mac. 
 
 whole finished in the inside in the most whorter, S. T. D. primum qui posuit 
 
 handsome manner in the Doric order." saxum, construxerunt, anno salutis, 1787 ; 
 
 " From the best estimate I can obtain," Amer. Reipub. Fcederatse 12. Auspicante 
 
 he adds, " it cost about £9000 York cur- Deo, longcm perddret in jEvdm. 
 rency." 
 
250 CHTJECH IN BLOOMFIELD FORMED. 
 
 day of January annually, for the purpose of choosing 
 such men as a majority of its members should prefer, 
 and agreed to confirm their appointment, And the 
 practice has conformed to this arrangement to the 
 j)resent time. 
 
 In the year 1794, the first preliminary steps were 
 taken for forming another Presbyterian Church within 
 the boundaries of Newark, viz., in what is now the 
 town of Bloomfield, then distinguished by the name of 
 Wardsesson * Application for this purpose was made 
 to the Presbytery by " a number of the members of 
 the congregations of Newark and Orange, and some 
 other people in that vicinity;" and the reason alleged 
 was " that many, by reason of their distance from any 
 
 P w „f nnhlic worship and other difliculties, were 
 unable to attend staieui t y crj^— . n . . 
 
 the word." A committee appointed to conier wuix 
 the applicants, and also with members of the two pa- 
 rent societies, reported that " the committees from New- 
 ark and Orange being fully heard, made no objection 
 to the measure, but in a very christian manner ex- 
 pressed their concurrence." Whereupon the Presbytery 
 proceeded to erect the petitioners " into a distinct con- 
 gregation of the Presbyterian Church, by the name of 
 the "Third Presbyterian Church of the township of 
 Newark." The petition was signed by ninety-eight 
 heads of families ; but how large a portion of them 
 went out from this congregation I have not the means 
 of determining. 
 
 * See Minutes of the Presbytery of New York. 
 
HIGH STANDING OF DE. MACWHOETEE. 251 
 
 I have already spoken of Dr. Macwhorter's useful- 
 ness to the Church generally, and the high place which 
 he occupied in the esteem and confidence of his breth- 
 ren during the earlier period of his ministry in this 
 Church. The same is true, in a still more eminent de- 
 gree, during the later period. In the prosperity of 
 the College of New Jersey, of whose Board of Trus- 
 tees he was a member from his first election in 1772, 
 till his death, and whose friends had at one time fixed 
 their eyes upon him as a candidate for the office of 
 President, he took a warm and active interest. In the 
 Snrina: of 1802, at the advanced age of 68 years, he 
 undertook a im^ * -*~ ^U m l. to solicit bene- 
 factions on its account — the College edifice havm^ ia»»» 
 recently been destroyed by fire — and was successful in 
 procuring more than $7000 for the repairing of the 
 loss* For many years he was a member of the 
 Synod's committee for the distribution of the sums ap- 
 propriated for the education of " poor and pious youth" 
 in that institution. Indeed, almost all the principal 
 committees appointed at this period, are found to con- 
 tain his name. He is said to have been a skillful peace- 
 maker, and therefore was often commissioned with 
 others to adjust difficulties as they arose in different 
 parts of the Presbyterian body. Of the committees 
 which arranged a Plan of Union, or an agreement to 
 hold an annual convention by delegates, with the Con- 
 sociated Churches of Connecticut in 1767, and a fra- 
 ternal connection with the Dutch and Associate Re- 
 
 * Dr. Griffin's Funeral Discourse, pp. 19, 25. 
 
252 GENERAL ASSEMBLY CONSTITUTED. 
 
 formed Churches in 1*785, he was a member, and was 
 often appointed by the Synod to conduct its corres- 
 pondence with foreign bodies * 
 
 " He never appeared in his might," says Dr. Griffin, 
 " so perfectly as in a deliberative assembly, especially 
 when his cautious and penetrating mind had leisure 
 to examine well the bearings of the subject. Thor- 
 oughly versed in all the forms of Presbyterial busi- 
 ness, with a skill at management rarely surpassed, 
 he filled a great space in the judicatories of our Church. 
 His voice was listened to with profound respect, and 
 
 the counsels suggested by his superior wisdom »J^u 
 
 n t •, K u.njiic Doaies." 
 
 ened and swm^-i - r 
 
 m the year 1*788, the General Assembly of the 
 Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, 
 held its first annual meeting. The purpose of forming 
 it began to be entertained in the Synod as early as the 
 year 1*785. After long deliberation and revision, the 
 plan was adopted ; and the Presbyteries having been 
 rearranged and the whole body divided into four 
 Synods, the Assembly was appointed to meet at the 
 time above specified, in the city of Philadelphia, and 
 the Synod of New York and Philadelphia was dis- 
 solved. In the arrangements for the formation of 
 this body, Dr. Macwhorter had a principal agency .f 
 
 * See Minutes of the Synod of New next meeting to be inserted in our direc- 
 
 Tork and Philadelphia, pp. 373, 505, 508. tory." I find no traces of its introduction 
 
 + While the plan was under considera- on the Minutes of the Synod, but it is ra- 
 tion in the Presbytery of New York, in the corded at length in those of the Presby- 
 month of May, 1788, a committee of that tery, and is curious as indicating the 
 body, of which Dr. M. was chairman, views entertained at that time on a very 
 brought in the draught of a chapter on important point of Christian duty. Among 
 the reciprocal duties of ministers and peo- the duties of the minister we find the fol- 
 ple, " to be laid before the Synod at their lowing : he " shall ordinarily preach to his 
 
GENERAL ASSEMBLY CONSTITUTED. 253 
 
 His name stands second on a committee, of which Dr. 
 Witherspoon was chairman, to whom was committed 
 " the Book of Discipline and Government," " with pow- 
 ers to digest such a system as they shall think to be 
 accommodated to the state of the Presbyterian 
 Church in America;" he was also appointed on the 
 committee to revise the Westminster Directory of 
 Worship; and he exerted a prominent influence in 
 allaying the dissatisfaction which in some cases arose 
 out of the proposed measures* He was early chosen 
 as one of the Trustees of the Assembly, and continued 
 to hold a place in that Board till a short time before 
 his decease. 
 
 Of the four Synods provided for in the formation 
 of the new body, that which contained the Presbytery 
 
 people twice on the Sabbath, except in reply. It is replete with Christian wis- 
 
 such congregations where it is most proper dom and fraternal affection, and deserves 
 
 in the winter season that there should be to be read with care, as a fine specimen of 
 
 but one service." " He shall visit the sick Christian expostulation. After answering 
 
 and afflicted when sent for." Respecting their alleged objections to the continuance 
 
 pastoral visitation, it is ordained, "that if of their past connection, and begging the 
 
 his congregation consists of notmoie than brethren of the Suffolk Presbytery to re" 
 
 fifty families, he shall visit them once consider their resolution to withdraw, it 
 
 every year; if more than fifty, and not proceeds as follows: "You well know 
 
 more than one hundred, he shall visit the that it is not a small thing to rend the 
 
 whole once in two years; if of more than seamless coat of Christ, or to be disjoined 
 
 one hundred, and not more than two bun- parts of that one body, His Church. We 
 
 dred, he shall visit the whole in three are all members one of another; there 
 
 years," &c, " in the proportion of fifty fam- should be no schism in the body, but we 
 
 ilies every year." Among the duties of should comfort, encourage and strengthen 
 
 the people, are those of " due attendance one another by the firmest union in our 
 
 on public worship and the catechetical in- common Lord. We are Presbyterian?, 
 
 structionof their minister," causing "their and we firmly believe the Presbyterian 
 
 families to attend on the ministerial visit- system of doctrine, discipline and Church 
 
 ation in an orderly manner," and "when government, to be nearer to the word of 
 
 they are sick sending for their minister." God than that of any other sect or denom- 
 
 * The Presbytery of Suffolk went so far ination of Christians. Shall all other 
 
 as to address a letter to the Moderator of sects and parties be united among theia- 
 
 the Synod " praying that the union be- selves, for their support and increase, and 
 
 tween them and the Synod might be dis- Presbyterians be divided and subdivided, 
 
 solved." On hearing it, the Synod ap- so as to be the scorn of some and the 
 
 pointed Dr. Macwhorter to draw up a prey of others ?" 
 
254 BAPTIST AND METHODIST DENOMINATIONS. 
 
 of New York was directed to hold its first meeting in 
 the First Presbyterian Church in the city of New 
 York, on the 29th of October, 1*788, and was organ- 
 ized accordingly under the name of the Synod of New 
 Yoek and New Jeesey. With that body this Church 
 remained connected till its division by act of the As- 
 sembly in the year 1823, a period of 35 years. 
 
 During the latter part of Dr. Macwhorter's ministry, 
 two new denominations of Christians became organ- 
 ized in Newark. The origin of the First Baptist 
 Church is thus described by its present pastor : "A few 
 of the members of the Church at Lyons' Farms, who 
 were living in the town of Newark, obtained permis- 
 sion of the Church to which they belonged to hold 
 services in a school house in a part of the town now 
 known as South Broad street — still holding the rela- 
 tion of a branch of the Farms Church. They hired 
 the school house for one year." On the 6th of June, 
 1801, a company consisting of nine persons "were con- 
 stituted into a regular Bajytist Church, and were soon 
 incorporated, assuming the name of the First Baptist 
 Church of Newark." Their first house of worship, 
 erected in Academy street, was dedicated on the 16th 
 of September, 1806 * 
 
 " The Methodist Episcopal Church had no house of 
 worship until the year 1808. Previously to that time, 
 religious services Avere held under the direction of that 
 denomination with more or less regularity, as far back, 
 it is said, as 1799. Their places of assembling were 
 
 * See Semi-Centcnnial SermoE, by the Rev. Henry C. Fisb, June, 1851. 
 
INFLUENCE OF DE, MACWHOETEE. 255 
 
 first the old Court House, which stood opposite the 
 site of the First Presbyterian Church, and the building 
 in the southern part of the city, long known as the 
 White School House. The Rev. David Bartine is 
 spoken of as having preached the first sermon ever 
 delivered in this place by a Methodist." In 1808, the 
 number of persons had increased to fourteen, at which 
 time " the design of building a Methodist church in 
 the town of Newark was adopted," and the first Meth- 
 odist house of worship, called Wesley Chapel, was 
 dedicated the following summer.* 
 
 Dr. Macwhorter's influence on this community was 
 distinguished for its strength and permanence. I have 
 already referred to three remarkable seasons of 
 awakening in the congregation during his ministry. A 
 fourth occurred in the year 1*796, in consecpience of 
 which thirty or forty persons were added to the 
 Church ; and still a fifth, in the year 1802, the particu- 
 lars of which I omit to mention here, as it perhaps be- 
 longs more properly to the ministry of his successor. 
 He presided over the congregation during some of the 
 most eventful periods, was associated in his work with 
 some of the most eminent men that have belonged to 
 it, and has done more perhaps than any one else to 
 impress the features of his own character upon its his- 
 tory. When he departed this life, most of the church 
 whom he left were his spiritual children, and a large 
 proportion of them had received baptism in their 
 childhood at his hands. " He had lived," as he said, 
 " to see two worlds die." 
 
 * Communicated by the Kev. S. Y. Monroe, present pastor of the Clinton street 
 Methodist Church. 
 
256 CHARACTER OF DR. MACWHORTER. 
 
 The character of Dr. Macwhorter, if not remarkably 
 brilliant, was certainly distinguished for its strength. 
 His aspect, says Dr. Griffin, " was grave and venerable, 
 and strongly expressive of the properties of his 
 mind. His deportment was affectionate, paternal and 
 dignified ; calculated to inspire respect and depend- 
 ence, and to repel the approach of presumptuous fa- 
 miliarity ; yet in conversation he was pleasant, and 
 often facetious." His judgment was ever sound, his 
 penetration keen, his perseverance indomitable, his ac- 
 tivity deliberate, but always well-directed, and there- 
 fore generally successful. He is reported to have been 
 an excellent classical scholar, with some knowledge of 
 the Hebrew and Syriac languages. Well read in di- 
 vinity, he understood the foundations on which his 
 faith rested. With a firm adherence to the doctrines 
 of his own Church, he was little disposed to contend 
 with those who differed from him in their religious 
 opinions. An aged man tells me, that when some 
 preachers of another denomination began to hold 
 meetings in his parish, and some of his elders came to 
 him in alarm to consult what was to be done, he re- 
 plied in terms often used by men of wise Christian 
 moderation, " let them alone ; we must out-preach 
 them, and out-pray them, and out-live them, and so 
 they cannot do any harm."* As a preacher, he is said 
 to have been " pungent and popular" in the early part 
 of his ministry ; but in the latter part, when his ardor 
 was abated, his preaching was instructive, " solid, judi- 
 
 * Mr. Isaac Nichols, aow the oldest member of the Session. 
 
LAST DAYS OF DE. MACWHOETEE. 257 
 
 cious, and often nioviug." "In the services of the 
 sanctuary, and in all his parochial labors, he added to 
 faithfulness great method and punctuality ; and with a 
 uniformity peculiar to himself, was always the same." 
 He was a good pastor, loved his people, and delighted 
 to make their interests his own. 
 
 During the latter part of his life, his growing infirm- 
 ities required the aid of a colleague in the pastoral 
 office. In the month of October, 1800, "a call from 
 the First Presbyterian congregation in Newark for Mr. 
 Henry Kollock to undertake the pastoral offi.ce in the 
 said congregation as a colleague and assistant minister 
 with Dr. Macwhorter was laid before the Presbytery 
 by Judge Boudinot, a delegate from said congregation." 
 This call Mr. Kollock declined, and was afterwards 
 settled at Elizabethtown. During the year following, 
 the want was supplied, as we shall hereafter notice 
 more particularly, by the installation of the Rev. Ed- 
 ward D. Griffin. 
 
 As his life drew towards the close, Dr. M. had a strong 
 desire to revisit the. scene of his nativity; and, in the 
 Spring of 1806, made an excursion to Delaware for 
 that purpose. All was changed. He was dependent 
 on the information of strangers, in learning where was 
 the spot in which his infancy was nurtured. An old 
 half-filled cellar was the only trace of it. None knew 
 him, none remembered him, and only one aged person 
 had retained any recollection of the family. " He re- 
 quested only to be supplied," says Dr. Griffin, " with a 
 glass of water from the spring that used to slake his 
 boyish thirst, that he might say, ' I have tasted that 
 
 17 
 
258 LAST DAYS OF DR. MACWHORTER. 
 
 spring again ;' and this desire fulfilled, lie hastily 
 turned and left the scene forever." About seven 
 months before his death, he received a severe injury 
 from a fall, from which he never recovered. He took 
 leave of the Presbytery, in a letter excusing his ab- 
 sence, in the month of April, 1807."* The short inter- 
 val which remained was one of severe affliction. Shut 
 out from the sanctuary, and disabled for the duties it 
 had long been his delight to perform, he saw his 
 youngest son suddenly removed, by a disease so rapid 
 in its course that ere the news of his illness could reach 
 the aged and enfeebled parents, he was numbered with 
 the dead. Then the companion of his life, with whom 
 he had shared all its vicissitudes for nearly fifty years, 
 closed the scene of her sufferings, and stepped into the 
 grave before him. Mrs. Macwhorter died on the second 
 day of April, 1807. 
 
 But the faith which this venerable patriarch had so 
 long professed and preached, showed its power to sus- 
 tain his own soul amidst all his complicated afflictions. 
 When his son was smitten to the grave, like Aaron, 
 the good old man held his peace ; and when the mother 
 followed, her death served but to sever the last tie that 
 bound him to earth, and make him also ready to be 
 gone. His last words breathed an entire confidence in 
 God's faithfulness. He said, " I die slow." " I have no 
 
 * See minutes of the Presbytery of New sions, expressing an apprehension that on 
 
 York, under date of April, 1807. "A account of his declining health, he might 
 
 message was received from Dr. Macwhor- not be able to meet with them more, and 
 
 ter by Mr. Griffin, informing the Pres- communicating to them his paternal and 
 
 bytery that he was prevented by indispo- affectionate salutations." 
 sition from attending their present ses- 
 
 I 
 
DEATH AND FUNEKAL. 259 
 
 despondency ; death and I have long been intimates." 
 "Blessed be God, I have a steady hope." After join- 
 ing in prayer with his young colleague, on whom the 
 duties of his sacred office were now exclusively to de- 
 volve, and on whom he had already bestowed his pa- 
 ternal blessing, he extended both his arms at full 
 length towards heaven, and then suffering them to fall 
 quietly, expired without a struggle, on the 20th day of 
 July, 1807, at the age of seventy-three years and five 
 days. 
 
 " Thus lived and thus died," adds his eulogist, " Dr. 
 Alexander Macwhorter, after having served this peo- 
 ple in the gospel ministry forty-eight years." Who 
 will not join in the review, his fervent ejaculation, 
 " Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my 
 last end be like his." 
 
 The death of Dr. Macwhorter created a profound 
 sensation in the community of which he had so long 
 been an honored member. The next day the Trustees 
 of the Church met at the house of their President, 
 Hon. Elisha Boudinot, and passed resolutions as 
 follows : 
 
 " It having pleased the all-wise Head of the Church 
 to remove from earth, and take to Himself, our late 
 worthy and respected pastor, the Rev. Doctor Alexan- 
 der Macwhorter, this board, in order to manifest the 
 gratitude they feel for his long, faithful services 
 amongst us, and the high respect they entertain for his 
 memory, do unanimously resolve — 
 
 " That they will take the charge of his funeral on 
 themselves, and that the same shall be conducted in 
 
260 FUNERAL SOLEMNITY. 
 
 such a manner as to reflect credit on the Church, as 
 well as to express the feelings which they are certain 
 the whole congregation entertain, on this melancholy 
 occasion."* 
 
 They also resolved, that the pulpit and other parts 
 of the church be hung with black, and the Session and 
 Trustees wear crape on their left arm during three 
 months. A committee being appointed to carry these 
 resolutions into effect, expresses were sent to invite 
 every member of the Presbytery, in New York and 
 this State, with other clergymen and the inhabitants 
 of the neighboring towns ; and the procession for the 
 funeral was ordered as follows : 
 
 " 1. Rev. Mr. Griffin and two clergymen. 2. Corpse 
 and pall-bearers. 3. Physicians. 4. Members of the 
 family. 5. Session of the Church as mourners. 6. 
 Trustees as mourners. *l. Clergy. 8. Inhabitants." 
 
 The funeral took place on the 22d of June, 1807, 
 and the sermon, afterwards published by request of 
 the trustees, was preached by the Rev. Dr. Griffin, col- 
 league and successor of the deceased, from Psalm 112 : 
 6 — "The righteous shall be in everlasting remem- 
 brance." A marble tablet was afterwards inserted in 
 the wall, on the inside of the church, near the pulpit, 
 where Ave now find it, bearing a tribute to the memory 
 of the deceased, written, it is said, by the same hand, 
 in the following terms : 
 
 " Sacred to the memory of the Rev. Alexander 
 Macwhorter, T>. D. In him a venerable aspect and 
 
 See Record. 
 
EPITAPH. 261 
 
 dignified manners were united with a strong and saga- 
 cious mind, richly stored with the treasures of ancient 
 and modern learning. For a long course of years, he 
 was among the most distinguished supporters of liter- 
 ature and religion in the American church. He was a 
 zealous asserter of his country's rights, a wise counsel- 
 lor, a pious and skillful divine, a laborious, prudent 
 and faithful minister, and a great benefactor of the 
 congregation over which he presided forty-eight years. 
 To his influence and zeal the congregation is greatly 
 indebted for this house of God, the foundation-stone 
 of which he laid, Sept., 1787. In gratitude for his 
 distinguished services, and from an affectionate respect 
 to his memory, the bereaved Church have erected this 
 monument. He was born 15th July, 1734. He de- 
 parted this life 20th July, 1807, aged 73 years. The 
 memory of the just is blessed." 
 
DISCOURSE NUMBER IV. 
 Ecclesiastes i : 4. One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh. 
 
 As I annnounce this passage for the fourth, time, as 
 the theme of my discourse, and remember, that I have 
 already during these few weeks, passed over in review, 
 and endeavored to live for the moment in the lives of 
 eight successive generations of ministers who have oc- 
 cupied the pulpit here, and ministered to the congre- 
 gation in which I now stand, an indescribable awe 
 takes possession of me. I seem to see sweeping on 
 before me, "the innumerable caravan" of which the 
 poet speaks, " that moves" 
 
 " To that mysterious realm where each shall take 
 Their stations in the silent halls of death." 
 
 and I cannot forget that I, and you too, my beloved 
 hearers, are treading with them in the same long pro- 
 cession. As we are now full of life and activity, look- 
 ing back with eager interest to learn the history of 
 the past, and forward with hope and enthusiasm to 
 anticipate the better days that may be coming, or re- 
 coil before the prospect of evils, the signs of which we 
 think we already discern in the horizon, so were they, 
 each in his own period ; and each in turn filled the 
 
REV. EDWAED DOER GRIFFIN. 263 
 
 world and time with his own consciousness. And as 
 they have passed, one after another into the land of 
 silence, I seem to hear a still voice gently breaking 
 that silence, and saying to you and me " Whatsoever 
 thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might, for there 
 is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in 
 the grave whither thou goest." 
 
 We pass now to the tenth in order in the succession 
 of pastors, namely the Rev. Edward Dorr Griffin, a 
 name associated with some of the most thrilling events 
 in American ecclesiastical history, and destined to be 
 remembered with honor and affection as long as dis- 
 tinguished talents well directed are accounted valuable, 
 or ardent zeal and warm-hearted piety held in admira- 
 tion in the Church. 
 
 Mr. Griffin was born in East Haddam, Connecticut, 
 Jan. 6, IT TO. His father, Mr. George Griffin, was a 
 wealthy farmer, of a strong mind and good education ; 
 and his mother, whose maiden name was Eve Dorr, 
 was a sister of Rev. Edward Dorr, of Hartford, Con- 
 necticut, whose name she gave to her son. 
 
 From a very early age, Mr. Griffin's parents des- 
 tined him to the ministry ; and while yet a child of 
 only four or five years, he was the subject of deep 
 religious impressions. But though once and again 
 strongly exercised on the subject of religion, and once 
 to such an extent, as to venture for a time to hope he 
 was a true Christian, his conversion does not appear to 
 have taken place till after the close of his course in 
 college, when he had abandoned the purpose with 
 which his early training and his parents' wishes had 
 
264 EARLY LIFE OF MK. GRIFFIN. 
 
 inspired him, and, according to his own account " de- 
 voted himself to the law, and made up his mind to be 
 a man of the world." 
 
 The means of awakening him to a just sense of his 
 spiritual need, was a severe illness with which he was 
 overtaken in the gayest period of his life. Having 
 given his heart to God, he now resolved to resume his 
 original purpose, and devote himself to the service of 
 Christ in the work of the ministry. 
 
 Mr. Griffin graduated with the first honors of his 
 class at Yale College, in 1*790, became a member of 
 the Church in Derby in the Spring of 1*792, and 
 having pursued his theological studies under the di- 
 rection of Dr. Jonathan Edwards, son of the first Pres- 
 ident Edwards, at New Haven, was licensed to preach 
 the Gospel by the Association of New Haven West, 
 on the 31st of October, 1*792. On the 10th of No- 
 vember following, he preached his first sermon, and 
 having supplied several pulpits for a larger or shorter 
 period, in New Salem, Farmington, Middlebury, and 
 other places, in one of which he received and accepted 
 a call, but did not actually settle, he was ordained as 
 pastor of the Church in New Hartford, June 4, 1*795. 
 On the 1*7 th of May, 1*796, he was married to Frances 
 Huntington, daughter of Rev. Joshua Huntington, D. D., 
 of Coventry, and adopted daughter of her uncle, Gover- 
 nor Samuel Huntington, of Norwich, Connecticut. He 
 remained in New Hartford, carrying on the work of 
 the ministry with great success, till some time in the 
 year 1800, when he took a journey on account of his 
 wife's health, and spent the winter following in the 
 
INSTALLATION IN NEWAKK. 265 
 
 vicinity of Newark. The people of Orange, where he 
 preached during a part of this period, and where fifty 
 persons were added to the Church under his ministra- 
 tions, were desirous of inviting hiin to become their pas- 
 tor, but on the reception of a call from the First Church 
 in Newark, his pastoral relation to the Church in New 
 Hartford was dissolved, and he was installed as col- 
 league pastor with Dr. Macwhorter, by the Presbytery 
 of New York, on the 20th of October, 1801, in the 
 thirty-second year of his age. Dr. Macwhorter pre- 
 sided, Dr. McKnight preached a sermon from 2 Cor. 
 ii: 16, the last clause, and Dr. Kodgers gave the 
 charge to the people* 
 
 Dr. Griffin took the charge of this congregation in 
 the full spirit of a new era in the Church's history, 
 which he fully believed began to dawn about the 
 time of his entrance upon the ministry, and was des- 
 tined to culminate only in the meridian of millenial 
 glory. This belief he lost no opportunity of express- 
 ing in the strongest terms. "In the year 1792," said 
 he, " three series of events commenced, which needed 
 not a fourth to fill the earth with the knowledge of 
 glory of the Lord. First, the series of missionary and 
 charitable efforts. The first missionary society in 
 modern times was established that year, in Kittering, 
 in England. Secondly, the series of revivals of reli- 
 gion. The first in this continuous succession, com- 
 menced that year. I had the privilege of witnessing it 
 myself, and know assuredly that no intermission has 
 
 * Minutes of the Presbytery of New York. 
 
266 ANIMATING PRESAGES. 
 
 occurred from that day to this. Thirdly, the series of 
 judgments intended to destroy the nations which had 
 given their power and strength to the beast." " These 
 three series," said he, in 1817, "have been widening 
 and rising higher during every year." That year, 
 " 1*792," was a year from which to reckon dates in his 
 computations of the progress of religion, all his life. 
 You might know the year of our Lord, in which many 
 of his most celebrated public discourses were written, 
 from the number of years, mentioned as having passed 
 since the commencement of the great and glorious 
 change which seemed to fill all his anticipations. Add 
 the number mentioned to the number 1792, and you 
 have uniformly the exact date in the ordinary compu- 
 tation. 
 
 The consideration of this fact, as it seems to me, is 
 indispensible to a correct understanding of the true 
 character of this illustrious man's career as a Christian 
 minister. This belief acting upon a lively imagination, 
 an enthusiastic temperament, a powerful intellect and 
 an affectionate and devoutly pious heart, is the true 
 key to many of the peculiar excellencies, and to what 
 some may be disposed to mention as the peculiar de- 
 fects of his character and actious. It nerved his 
 strength, it fired his eloquence, it animated his hopes 
 anew, when his heart would otherwise have sunk 
 under discouragement, it made him bold in discarding 
 obsolete customs, and regardless of trifling difficulties, 
 in carrying into effect what he considered as the best 
 measures for the conversion of men, and the advance- 
 ment of the kingdom of Christ. In the ardor of 
 
ANIMATING PRESAGES. 26*7 
 
 youthful inexperience, it may have sometimes led him 
 to place too low an estimate upon the labors of those 
 who went before him. It led him to speak of his own 
 history and experience ; not so much in the spirit of 
 self exaltation, as in order to testify in the ears of 
 all men, to what his own eyes had seen of the wonder- 
 ful works of God. 
 
 The present is not the time or the place to discuss 
 the correctness of this belief, nor to show how it came 
 to pass that the hopes of those good men that shared 
 it have experienced a degree of disappointment. Un- 
 questionable it is, that the period to which it had 
 reference, was distinguished by a most remarkable 
 series of efforts, having in view the spread of the gos- 
 pel through the world ; and a most remarkable series 
 of religious impulses in which, from place to place, the 
 Spirit of God seemed marching in his strength, and 
 pouring out without measure his converting influences. 
 "With these impulses Dr. Griffin's whole ministry was 
 in an eminent degree identified. His own new birth 
 lay among the very beginnings of them, and one of 
 the earliest decisive manifestations of their power, as 
 he supposed, was in his own father's house. " I saw 
 the darkness," said he, "before the dawn." "I saw 
 the field of death before the bones began to move." 
 No sooner did he begin to preach, than converts began 
 to be numbered by hundreds. This was the case in 
 New Salem, when he was preaching there before his 
 ordination. It was the case in East Hartford during 
 his ministry of five years in that place, and in Orange, 
 
268 RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCES. 
 
 where lie spent the winter just before his invitation to 
 Newark. 
 
 Nor was the case different after he became the pas- 
 tor of this Church. His ministry here, though barren 
 of external incidents, was exceedingjy rich in spiritual 
 fruits. I have already spoken of a revival of religion, 
 which occurred during the next year after he entered 
 upon his pastoral duties. It continued two years, and 
 about a hundred and thirty persons were in conse- 
 quence of it added to the Church on profession, of 
 whom one hundred were received in the course of 
 twelve months. We shall notice other cases of the 
 same kind as we proceed. 
 
 In the Spring of 1803, Dr. Griffin's own mind was 
 the subject of some memorable religious experiences. 
 " As I was walking in the streets of Newark," says he, 
 " pondering upon my sins, a flash of light came across 
 my mind, sending home a conviction of sin which in- 
 stantly deprived me of hope. The following dialogue 
 then took place with myself: "Well, go to Christ as 
 you direct others to do. But He is away beyond the 
 hills, and I cannot get to him. Well, ask Him to 
 bring you to him. But the prayers of the unregen- 
 erate cannot ascend above the clouds. I have nothing 
 to stand upon to begin." " I felt then," says he, " to- 
 tally undone, helpless and hopeless. I died then as 
 Paul did on the plains of Damascus. Instantly the 
 scene changed. I was composed in a moment, and 
 seemed to lie down at God's feet, and rest every issue 
 on His will without a struggle." "This," he said, 
 speaking of the case long afterwards, " I have learned 
 
INTERVIEW WITH RICHARDS. 269 
 
 from the reflections of seven and twenty years, to call 
 the dernier resort." The event changed the whole 
 character of his experiences and preaching, and made 
 them j:>ernianently, as he declares, " more full of Christ." 
 About this time Dr. Griffin was in the habit of 
 making preaching tours in the neighborhood of New- 
 ark, and even to a considerable distance in the sur- 
 rounding region, leaving the pulpit, I presume for the 
 time, in the care of his venerable colleague. In one of 
 these excursions, he met with Mr. Richards, who sub- 
 sequently became his successor, and with him spent 
 the night in pleasant and mutually profitable religious 
 conversation. Mr. Griffin expressed doubts as to his 
 own piety, and lamented that he always found it diffi- 
 cult for him to feel that he deserved eternal punish- 
 ment. Richards replied, that Christians obtain this 
 sense by seeing that God is so unspeakably lovely, 
 that no conceivable punishment is great enough for 
 sinning against Him; and that he had himself seen 
 God's holiness, purity and justice to be so glorious, 
 that it appeared that if men should never commit an 
 outward sin, they would deserve to be eternally 
 damned for not loving him." In the course of this 
 conversation, Griffin obtained a new view of the 
 divine holiness, its "purity, grandeur, awfulness and 
 sweetness." " I saw," says he " that I had been search- 
 ing for deliverance on the wrong side of the room, in 
 seeking a sense of the evil of sin, from examining what 
 I had done, rather than what God is." Then they 
 turned to discourse upon the atonement. Griffin again 
 unburdened his heart, and spoke of a difficulty he had 
 
270 THE PAKSOETAGE HOUSE. 
 
 found in apprehending Christ as a proper substitute. 
 Whereupon Richards disclosed to him a distressing 
 conflict which he had formerly had on that point, and 
 which was quieted by a transporting view of Hebrews 
 vii: 26; "For such an high priest became us, who is 
 holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and 
 made higher than the heavens." At this, the agitation 
 of Griffin's mind become relieved, and he fell asleep. 
 " When I awoke," he adds, " that same glorious High 
 Priest was before me, just as He is expressed in He- 
 brews vii: 26." Such was the early Christian inter- 
 course of these two eminent brethren in the ministry, 
 whose labors in the capacity of sower and reaper in 
 the same field, were destined to mingle their results in 
 the world of blessedness. And what influence even 
 this casual conversation may have had, in shaping the 
 character, and determining the eternal" state of hun- 
 dreds in this congregation, will be known only by the 
 disclosures of the last day. 
 
 The present parsonage house, on Mulberry street, 
 was built about this time, for the accommodation of 
 the junior pastor and his family. The old one was a 
 stone building of two stories high, and stood upon the 
 west side of Broad street, a little below the corner of 
 William street. The date of its erection I have not 
 been able to determine. The land on which the 
 present house stands was purchased of the Rev. Aaron 
 Burr, about the time he left Newark, and up to the 
 time now referred to, had been used as a pasture for 
 cattle. In the days of Mr. Griffin and his immediate 
 successors, the grounds about the house were exten- 
 
KEVIVAL OF 1807. 271 
 
 sive, and the garden spacious. The house was first 
 occupied in the summer of 1804, of which event I find 
 the following notice in the pastor's journal, in the form 
 of a prayer for the divine blessing : " O God, may this 
 new habitation be the scene of peace and of heavenly 
 communion for years to come. Here, in retirement 
 from the world, may we cultivate the sweets of do- 
 mestic enjoyment and the calm delights of religion, 
 while we enjoy the innocent amusements of the gar- 
 den, and contemplate the beauty of Thy works." The 
 garden alley in which he was accustomed to walk, he 
 endeavored to consecrate, as he tells us, to divine med- 
 itation.* 
 
 During the ministry of Mr. Griifin, as in that of his 
 predecessors, there was no Sabbath School, and no 
 lecture room for the accommodation of week day 
 meetings. The pastor catechised the children in the 
 church, in school houses, or at their homes, and prayer 
 meetings were held in similar circumstances. The 
 weekly evening lecture had not then been established. 
 
 In the Spring of 1807 commenced a very powerful 
 effusion of divine influences. A deep impression had 
 been made upon the congregation, by the death of 
 Dr. Macwhorter, and it was confirmed and made more 
 intense through the labors of the Eev. Gideon Black- 
 burn, who preached here several times with great ear- 
 nestness. Nothing extraordinary appeared however, 
 till early in September. The Friday previous to the 
 administration of the Lord's Supper, was observed as 
 
 * Several large trees now standing on are a venerable weeping willow in front of 
 the parsonage ground, are said to have the house, and a tall and partly decayed 
 been set out by Dr. Griffin. Among them magnolia tree in the garden. 
 
272 REVIVAL OF 1807. 
 
 a clay of sj:>ecial fasting and prayer, in which the con- 
 gregation at Orange joined. The attendance on the 
 meeting on that occasion was unusually full, and the 
 services of the Sabbath were peculiarly solemn. The 
 next morning, as appears from the account given by 
 Judge Boudinot, in almost every house into which the 
 pastor entered in making his customary visits, the 
 family appeared like Cornelius of old, ready to receive 
 the word of truth, and soon melted into tears. " It 
 was not long," says the same eminent authority, " be- 
 fore the blessed work pervaded every part of the so- 
 ciety. No age was exempted. We have had instances 
 of persons, between sixty and eighty, some of whom 
 had led moral lives, and trusted they were going to 
 heaven, who were brought to see that they were 
 wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and 
 naked." God also in his sovereign mercy, was pleased 
 to ordain praise from the mouth of infants. The pas- 
 tor maintained frequent lectures during the week, be- 
 sides meetings of private societies in different parts of 
 the village. His pastoral visitations were frequent, 
 and productive of signal benefit. " This work," said 
 he, " in point of power and stillness, exceeds all that 1 
 have ever seen." Judge Boudinot testified to the same 
 fact. " Although our church has been crowded," says 
 he, " I have frequently shut my eyes for the experiment, 
 and I should not have known that there was a person 
 in the house but the speaker and myself, from any 
 thing I heard." " Our opposers," he adds, " have been 
 outrageous. Some have attributed it to human means, 
 although I believe there never was an awakening in 
 
DE. GRIFFIN'S PvEMOVAL. 273 
 
 wliicli there was less reason for human boasting or 
 pride to rest upon. Our blessed Saviour seemed to 
 take the work into His own hands, to wear the crown 
 and receive all the glory." 
 
 Among the means of carrying on the work of piety, 
 in use at this time, was a society of Christian laymen, 
 formed just at the beginning of the events referred 
 to, for the purpose of united prayer for the Divine 
 blessing on the labors of the pastor, and called, in al- 
 lusion to the upholding of Moses's hands during the 
 war with Amalek, " the Aaron and Hur Society." Nor 
 was the sacred influence confined to a single congrega- 
 tion. It was felt in Orange and Newark at the same 
 time, and during the month of March, 1808, ninety- 
 seven persons joined the Church in Newark, and 
 seventy-two that in Orange. The whole number added 
 to this Church in consequence of that revival is sup- 
 ]3osed to be between one hundred and fifty and two 
 hundred persons. 
 
 But Dr. Griffin's ministry in this Church, recent as it 
 was, was now drawing to a close. As early as the 
 year 1805, he had been invited to leave his post, for 
 the purpose of taking charge of the First Reformed 
 Dutch Church in Albany ; but that call, though it cost 
 him no little doubt and perplexity, he at length judged 
 it his duty to decline. But now, two invitations, hav- 
 ing both peculiar claims, pressing themselves simulta- 
 neously upon his attention — the one to the chair of 
 Pulpit Eloquence in the Theological Seminary in An- 
 dover, and the other to become the stated preacher in 
 the new church in Park street, Boston — the path of 
 
 18 
 
274 FAEEWELL SERMON. 
 
 duty seemed plain ; and, having first obtained the con- 
 sent of his people, he was released from his pastoral 
 charge in April, 1809, and took a solemn leave of his 
 flock in a farewell sermon on the 28th of May follow- 
 ing. The text, from which he preached on this occa- 
 sion, was Acts xx : 32 — "And now, brethren, I com- 
 mend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which 
 is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance 
 among all them which are sanctified." " I had hoped," 
 he says, " to be permitted to go hand in hand with 
 you to the grave, to attend some of my brethren in 
 their chambers of death, to die at last in your arms, to 
 be buried among my dear Church, and to rise with 
 them in the resurrection. One year ago, I thought 
 nothing but death could divide us. But God had a 
 different purpose. You have seen it, and owned it, 
 and submitted to it, with a spirit of meekness which 
 has done honor to your Christian profession. Through 
 the whole of this trial, you have given me no other 
 reproaches but your tears. From you, as a congrega- 
 tion, I have never received a single act of unkindness. 
 On the contrary, you have protected me when ^1 have 
 been assailed ; you have spread yourselves before me 
 as a shield ; you have carried me in your arms to the 
 throne of grace. If I forget this kindness, let my 
 right hand forget its cunning." 
 
 During the eight years of his ministry in this con- 
 gregation, less than two of which he was the sole pas- 
 tor, sixty-two persons were received into the Church 
 from other Churches, and three hundred and seventy- 
 two on a profession of their faith. When lie came 
 
SUBSEQUENT LIFE. 275 
 
 here, the Church consisted of two hundred and two 
 members, one hundred and forty of whom were alive 
 when he left it. During his ministry, the number had 
 more than doubled, including, when he took his dis- 
 mission, five hundred and twenty-two persons. 
 
 The subsequent career of Dr. Griffin belongs to other 
 histories than that of this congregation. But his old 
 people did not forget him, nor he them, when he was 
 removed from their connection. When the tongue of 
 slander assailed him, in the high and perilous station to 
 which he was transferred, they came warmly to his 
 rescue, bore their testimony to the excellence of his 
 character, assured him of their continued affection and 
 confidence, reminded him of the calumnies which had 
 been borne by other servants of Jesus, and even their 
 Lord himself, and bade him not be discouraged, but 
 set his face like a flint and hold out to the end. And 
 when, in the providence of God, he returned to New- 
 ark to occupy another pulpit and stand in other and 
 somewhat delicate relations to them, both they and 
 their new pastor maintained towards him the kindest 
 feelings, and enjoyed with him the most fraternal in- 
 tercourse. 
 
 Dr. Griffin left Newark, May 29th, 1809, carrying 
 with him five young men who had consecrated them- 
 selves to the work of the ministry under his influence, 
 and were now desirous of availing themselves of his 
 instructions in his new sphere of service. He was in- 
 augurated to the office of Professor in Andover, on 
 the 21st of June, and held that station two years, 
 preaching at the same time on the Sabbath to the 
 
276. DEATH OF DR. GRIFFIN - . 
 
 church in Boston. But finding it impossible to fulfill 
 the duties of both offices, he resigned his Professorship 
 and was installed as pastor of the Park street Church, 
 Boston, July 31st, 1811. In the summer of 1815, he 
 left Boston, and became the pastor of the Second Pres- 
 byterian Church in this city, where he remained about 
 six years. In October, 1821, he assumed the Presi- 
 dency of Williams College, whose duties he discharged 
 with eminent success about fifteen years. And now, 
 the evening of life drawing on, he returned to Newark, 
 to which he still looked amidst all his changes, as the 
 home of his affections ; and, becoming an inmate of his 
 eldest daughter's family,* he passed the little remnant 
 of his days in domestic love and cheerfulness, and died 
 in hope, November 8, 1837, in the 68th year of his age. 
 His funeral sermon was preached in this house, by the 
 Rev. Dr. Spring, of New York, to a very large assem- 
 bly, and his remains lie, by the side of those of his ex- 
 cellent wife, who went to her rest just before him, in 
 Mount Pleasant Cemetery, on the borders of Newark. 
 Dr. Griffin's character, both as a man and a minister, 
 has been drawn by an able hand, and to that picture I 
 
 * Since writing the above, I laave occa. acquaintance. Her piety was sinoere and 
 
 sion to record the lamented death of this fervent, and her works of benevolence nn- 
 
 excellent and accomplished lady. She was tiring. It was by efforts of Christian 
 
 born at Orange, N. J., April 4, 1801, and kindness in ministering to a dying stran- 
 
 married at Williamstown, Mass., to Dr. ger that she contracted the disease which 
 
 lyndon A. Smith, Nov. 20, 1823. Removing closed her valuable life. Her funeral so- 
 
 with her husband to Newark in 1827, she lemnities were attended in the house 
 
 soon after connected herself with the First where she had so long been accustomed 
 
 Presbyterian Church, of which she contin- to worship, and a numerous concourse of 
 
 ued a devoted and eminently useful mem- friends testified by their tears how greatly 
 
 ber till her decease, Jan. 11, 1352. The and how extensively she was beloved, 
 
 genius and intellectual attainments of Mrs. Dr. Griffin left two daughters, the vounger 
 
 Smith were of a high order. Gentle, un- of whom married to the Rev. Robert, 
 
 assuming, warm-hearted, and uucensori- Crawford of North Adams, Mass., is still 
 
 ous, she was eminently endeared to all her living. 
 
CHARACTER OF DR. GRIFFIN. 277 
 
 must refer yon * He was a man of large stature, both 
 in body and mind, his ]3erson being in height six feet 
 and three inches, and in every respect finely propor- 
 tioned. His reasoning powers were acute, his imagina- 
 tion soaring, his elocution impressive. In his habits of 
 study and action, he ivas systematic and persevering, 
 always endeavoring to perform well whatever he un- 
 dertook. In the social circle, he was easy and com- 
 panionable. In the ordinary intercourse of life, kind, 
 generous, uncensorious and forgiving. He was simple- 
 hearted and unsuspecting as a child ; and with a warm 
 and sanguine temper, together with a much better un- 
 derstanding of human nature in its broad general fea- 
 tures, and of the ordinary avenues to the human heart 
 and conscience, than knowledge of the ways of the 
 world and the sophistries of artificial life, he sometimes 
 adopted measures which gave offence when he did not 
 dream of it, and was exposed to uncharitable construc- 
 tions in his most guileless and innocent actions. Hence 
 he had some warm friends, and some bitter enemies. 
 In his religious intercourse as a pastor, Dr. Griffin had 
 a remarkable facility. He attached great importance 
 to pastoral visitations. I have already referred to his 
 success in this department of service, during the great 
 revival. Judge Boudinot speaks of it as having been 
 more blessed than his public sermons. A distinguished 
 manufacturer in this city,f who sat under his ministry 
 while he was pastor of the Second Church, has told 
 me that he used to insist on having all the ajyprentices 
 
 * See memoir of Dr. Griffin, by Dr. f William Rankin, Esq. 
 
 Sprague, of Albany. 
 
278 KEY. JAMES EICHAKDS. 
 
 in his large establishment called in, when he came to 
 the house on a pastoral visit, and would converse spe- 
 cially with them all, one after another, on the subject 
 of personal religion. But it was in the pulpit, aud as 
 a preacher chiefly, that Dr. Griffin attained the highest 
 eminence. His voice was remarkably flexible, and 
 was perfectly under his own control. On the deep 
 guttural tones, it thrilled you like the pedal notes of 
 an organ ; yet it could soften, with perfect ease, to suit 
 the sentiment to be expressed, into the gentlest and 
 most soothing utterances. His style was free, not ex- 
 act ; and though he wrote his discourses, his manner 
 in the pulpit was unembarrassed, and his gestures fre- 
 quent and effective. There is said to have been great 
 inequality in his ordinary discourses, as indeed there is 
 in those which have been given to the public. But his 
 preaching was ever glowing with divine truth earnestly 
 expressed, and in his best efforts there was much to 
 justify even the strong expression which has been ap- 
 plied to him — " the prince of American preachers." 
 
 The removal of Dr. Griffin from Newark, in 1809, 
 did not leave the flock to which he had ministered, 
 without a shepherd. Already his successor was on the 
 ground with his family, and prepared to assume the 
 charge as soon as he should relinquish it. 
 
 The Rev. James Richards was the next pastor of 
 this Church. He was born at New Canaan, Conn., 
 October 29, 1*767. He was the son of James Richards, 
 a farmer of excellent character, and a descendant of 
 Samuel Richards, who came to this country from 
 Wales, during the reign of Queen Anne. His mother 
 
; i 
 
ME. EICHAEDS's EAELY LIFE. 2*79 
 
 was Ruth Hanford, a most excellent Christian woman, 
 and peculiarly skilled, it is said, in the management of 
 her children. She was a woman of vigorous intellect, 
 and many commanding as well as endearing qualities. 
 James was the eldest of nine children ; feeble in body 
 during his childhood, but remarkable even then for his 
 fondness for study. When only thirteen years of age, 
 he undertook the charge of a common district school, 
 and with such success, as to secure the offer of the 
 same post for the second time. It was his early wish 
 to obtain a public education ; but as his father was not 
 prepared to encourage and sustain the attempt, he ap- 
 prenticed himself at the age of fifteen to the business 
 of cabinet and chair-making, together with house paint- 
 ing, in which capacity he labored for a short time in a 
 cabinet maker's shop in the city of New York. 
 
 Mr. Richards had been religiously educated, and 
 like Griffin, was the subject of deep religious impres- 
 sions in his childhood. But at the age of nineteen, 
 convictions of sin broke in upon him, as he relates, 
 in the midst of mirth and levity. The pangs of 
 his soul were very sharp for three days, after which 
 he obtained relief in the apprehension of an all-suffi- 
 cient Saviour, from reading the impressive sentiments 
 of the thirty-eighth Psalm, as paraphrased by Dr. 
 Watts. He was made to see, as he testifies, his own 
 impotence, whereas before, he had been accustomed to 
 suppose the whole matter of conversion was in his own 
 hands ; and was alarmed in view of the enmity which 
 he now felt in his heart towards God. But at length 
 his heart melted, and the salvation which he before 
 
280 ME. EICHAEDS's EAELY LIFE. 
 
 hated became liis joy and his song. "I was born ac 
 Arminian," said lie, " and lived an Arminian, but ob- 
 stinate freewiller as I was, I was at length brought to 
 4 lick the dust ' at God's footstool, and accept of salva- 
 tion by grace." 
 
 Mr. Richards's own conversion was immediately fol- 
 lowed by earnest efforts on his part for the conversion 
 of others, and such was the zeal and fervor, with 
 which he pursued this object, and especially the free- 
 dom he displayed in speaking at meetings of confer- 
 ence and prayer, that in the low state into which reli- 
 gion had at that day fallen in his native region, it 
 excited some surprise, and was the occasion of many 
 remarks. 
 
 He united with the Church in Stamford, Conn., on 
 the 17th of September, 1786, and immediately began 
 to look forward with strong desires to the work of the 
 Christian ministry. With many discouragements and 
 interruptions, he completed his preparatory studies 
 through the assistance of two excellent female relatives, 
 and entered Yale College in the year 1789. But, at 
 the close of his freshman year, his studies were inter- 
 rupted, first by want of pecuniary means, which com- 
 pelled him to leave College, and afterwards by severe 
 illness; so that, although his diligence and persever- 
 ance overcame most of the obstacles of a private edu- 
 cation, he did not go through College with his class, 
 but received his degree of Bachelor of Arts out of 
 course, in the year 1794. In the year 1793, he was li- 
 censed to preach the gospel by an association in Fair- 
 field county, Connecticut, and having preached for a 
 
limiSTET AT MOREISTOWN. 281 
 
 time in Wilton, and then in Ballston, Shelter Island 
 and Sag Harbor, he commenced the work of the min* 
 istry in Morristown in June, 1794, and was ordained 
 as pastor of the Church in that place, by the Presby- 
 tery of New York, on the first of May, 1795. Dr. 
 Macwhorter preached the ordination sermon, from 
 Acts xx : 24. Dr. Rodgers presided, end Mr. Austin 
 gave the charge to the people. 
 
 About the time when he received license to preach, 
 young Richards, it is said, passed through Newark, 
 and called at the parsonage with an introduction to 
 Dr. Macwhorter. But, being a stranger, somewhat 
 diffident and little used to society, his manners, it is 
 likely, did no justice to his real character. Dr. Mac- 
 whorter seemed to regard him with little favor, sub- 
 jected him to a rather severe examination, spoke some- 
 what sternly of his apprehended deficiencies, and sent 
 him away with a discouraged and sorrowful heart. It 
 was his testimony, however, in later life, as I am told, 
 that the interview, trying as it was, did him good, and 
 Avas a lesson to him in regard to his future intercourse 
 with young men. 
 
 The ministry of Mr. Richards in Morristown was 
 signally successful. It was a difficult and laborious 
 station, but his diligence and wisdom surmounted all 
 obstacles, and the excellences of his character secured 
 for him universal love and respect. In three memora- 
 ble instances, his labors were attended with peculiar 
 manifestations of Divine influence, first in the year 
 1701, again in 1803 and '4, and lastly, in a manner 
 more remarkable than in either of the former in- 
 
282 REMOVAL TO NEWAEK. 
 
 stances, in 1808. In the last instance, between seventy 
 and eighty persons were converted, who united with 
 the Church in that and the following year. 
 
 Meanwhile, the expenses of Mr. Bichards's family 
 were increasing, and his salary had become inadequate 
 to supply their wants. Many of the people saw this, 
 and acknowledged it, and several attempts were made 
 to remedy the evil, but without success. This result 
 was a severe trial to him. It mortified him exceeding- 
 ly, and at first preyed upon his spirits. But he wisely 
 resolved not to dwell upon the dark side of the pic- 
 ture, but to give himself anew to the duties of his 
 ministry, to serve God and his people with all his 
 strength, and wait for the further movements of God's 
 providence. Nor did he want long. The applications 
 which were made to him, after the removal of Dr. 
 Griffin, to take the charge of the Church in Newark 
 were urgent, and sustained by what appeared strong 
 reasons. The people of Morristown came to the res- 
 cue, by providing cheerfully for an increase of his sal- 
 ary. But it was too late. Other reasons had come to 
 light in favor of his removal ; he had already given 
 the people here some encouragement ; and, when a call 
 was unanimously offered him, the path of wisdom and 
 duty seemed plain, and, with the consent and appro- 
 bation of the Presbytery, he accepted it, and his con- 
 nection with the Church in Morristown was dissolved. 
 
 Mr. Bichards was installed as pastor of this Church 
 on the 1th of June, .1809. Dr. Bomeyn, of New York, 
 preached the sermon, from Acts xxiv: 24, 25. Dr. 
 Bowe presided and gave the charge, and Dr. Miller, of 
 
PRESBYTERY OF -JERSEY. 283 
 
 Princeton, gave the exhortation to the people. It ap- 
 pears, from an entry in his journal, that the perform- 
 ances were peculiarly excellent and appropriate, and 
 were heard with no small degree of feeling, and with 
 universal approbation. " It was under a strong con- 
 viction of duty," he records, " that I took leave of my 
 people at Morristown and accepted the call to this peo- 
 ple. The Lord grant that I may not be left to myself." 
 He delivered his introductory sermon on the 12th of 
 June, from I. Corinthians, iv: 1, 2. 
 
 A few months after the installation of Dr. Richards, 
 viz., on the 14th of November, 1809, the Presbytery 
 of New York, with which this Church had been con- 
 nected ever since its formation in 1738, a period of 
 seventy-one years, was divided into two, by erecting a 
 portion of its Churches into a new Presbytery bearing 
 the old name, and changing the name of the remaining 
 portion, of which this Church was one, into "The 
 Presbytery of Jersey." Its first meeting under the 
 new arrangement, was held in Morristown, April 24th, 
 1810* 
 
 The First Church had been hitherto, during nearly 
 a century and a half, the only Presbyterian Church in 
 
 * The Presbytery of Jersey was not a constituted a Presbytery by the name of 
 new body, but the Presbytery of New the Presbytery of New York, &c. Resolved 
 York under a new name ; and that, as further, That the remaining part of the 
 I have already had occasion to notice, was Presbytery of New York be hereafter 
 a continuation of the ancient Presbytery known by the name of the Presbytery of 
 of East Jersey, formed in the year 1783. Jersey.' Whereupon, Resolved, That as 
 This the record shows. " The following the present Moderator is one of the mem- 
 extract from the Minutes of Synod was bers set off to the new Presbytery, Mr. 
 received and read : 'That so much of the Hillyer be appointed Moderator of this 
 Presbytery of New York as lies on the Presbytery to come into office on the 
 east side of Hudson river, &c, and so second Tuesday in January next." See 
 much of the Presbytery of New York as Minutes of Pres. of Jersey, 
 lies west of Hampstead Plains, &c, be 
 
284 PLAN FOE NEW CHUECHES. 
 
 the town of Newark, except those of Orange and 
 Bloomfield, which had now become separate towns. 
 But the time had come, when the need of greater 
 facilities for the accommodation of a large and 
 growing population, was manifest to all. Accordingly, 
 as early as the Spring of 1809, about the time of Dr. 
 Griffin's dismission, the business of church extension 
 was entered upon with commendable . zeal and enter- 
 prise. At a meeting of the congregation, held in this 
 house, April 8th, incipient steps were taken to that 
 effect, and a large committee was appointed to draw 
 a plan. The committee reported at an adjourned 
 meeting, on the 18th of the same month. Whereupon 
 " it was resolved, that, from this congregation, a separate 
 and distinct congregation should be set oft 4 , and meas- 
 ures taken to invest it with all the powers and privi- 
 leges of a body politic." For the encouragement and 
 promotion of the design, it was also resolved, that 
 when the new congregation should have become incor- 
 porated and have built a meeting house, not less thai) 
 fifty feet by seventy on its base, in a good and substan- 
 tial manner, and should have called and settled a min- 
 ister, this congregation would convey to them, with 
 the reserve only of their own house of worship and 
 the land occupied by it, two-sevenths of their real es- 
 tate for the support of the gospel forever. 
 
 At the same time, as it was plainly perceived that 
 the day was not far distant when even this provision 
 would be insufficient to meet the wants of a rapidly 
 increasing population, the congregation proceeded, with 
 a liberality and forethought which can not be too 
 
PLAN FOR NEW CHURCHES. 285 
 
 mucli admired, to agree that whenever it should be 
 deemed advisable to establish a third Church, the 
 same provisions, subject to the same conditions, should 
 be made for the furtherance of that enterprise. 
 
 Some difference of opinion seems to have existed at 
 this time, as to the place where the second Church 
 should be located ; the people both in the north and 
 the south end of the town claiming the preference. 
 To accommodate this dispute, it was determined by 
 vote of the majority, that the people of the south end 
 should have the first opportunity ; provided, however, 
 that if they should not proceed immediately to the 
 erection of a house of worship, and have the walls 
 raised " as high as the water table" within six months 
 from the date of the resolution, the obligation to divide 
 the property in their favor should be. void; and that 
 thereupon the people of the north end might commence 
 the work, with the promise of the same privileges, 
 provided they should have advanced to the same point, 
 in the course of nine months from the close of the first 
 period. 
 
 Accordingly, the people in the south part of the 
 town commenced the work, and, by the end of the 
 time specified, had fulfilled the conditions on which 
 they Avere entitled to the first claim. But just at that 
 point, the zeal of the people in that neighborhood was 
 diverted into another channel, the enterprise was sus- 
 pended, the design failed, and the materials which had 
 been collected were at length dispersed. 
 
 After waiting through the remainder of that year, 
 the people in the north part of the town began to 
 make arrangements for building a Church in their own 
 
286 SECOND PEESPYTEEIAN CHURCH. 
 
 neighborhood. The corner-stone of the present Second 
 Presbyterian Church was laid on the 17th of June, 
 1810, by the Rev. Samuel Whelpley ; and, the edifice 
 having been completed and dedicated, the Trustees 
 chosen, and the Rev. Hooper Cumming, son of one of 
 the leading members of the new congregation and a 
 former pupil of Dr. Griffin at Andover, ordained and 
 installed, ninety-three persons were dismissed in a 
 body with recommendations from this Church, on the 
 9th of October, 1811, and organized into a new Church 
 on the 8th of November following. 
 
 The conditions of the resolutions of 1809 being now 
 fulfilled, on the part of the Second Church, this con- 
 gregation deemed themselves obligated to fulfill their 
 part of the engagement; but, as the division of the 
 real estate between the two congregations seemed not 
 expedient at that time, a temjwrary arrangement was 
 agreed upon, by which, instead of the two-sevenths of 
 the whole real estate, which had been pledged, one- 
 third of the whole income should be annually set 
 apart for the second congregation. 
 
 The whole transaction, which resulted in the estab- 
 lishment of the Second Presbyterian Church, took 
 place with the entire approbation, and was forwarded 
 1 >y the active assistance of Dr. Richards. At the ser- 
 vice of organization, he delivered an address, founded 
 on the words of Hebrews xiii : 1 — " Let brotherly love 
 continue ;" in which he affectionately and solemnly re- 
 minded the persons about to be embodied, of their ob- 
 ligations to God and one another, and exhorted them, 
 with special earnestness, to the exercise of brotherly 
 
FIEST SABBATH SCHOOL. 287 
 
 love. For a little time, as I am informed, the two pas- 
 tors exercised a sort of joint ministry in the two con- 
 gregations, officiating in each other's pulpit in the after- 
 noon of every Sabbath ; but this arrangement being- 
 found on the whole undesirable, was soon abandoned. 
 
 During the ministry of Mr. Richards, the first Sab- 
 bath School in this congregation was established, under 
 the superintendency, as I am told, of Moses Lyon, and 
 held its meetings, for a time, in the gallery of the 
 church. The first lecture-room, a low brick building, 
 much smaller than the present one, and standing on 
 the same spot, was erected in the year 1813.'"* The 
 present pulpit was built in the year 1818 ; and the old 
 one, a small octagonal structure, standing separate from 
 the wall at a distance of several feet, and surmounted 
 by a " sounding board," was presented to the Presby- 
 terian Church in Paterson. 
 
 Dr. Richards' ministry, especially the early part of 
 it, seems to have been hardly less fruitful in conver- 
 sions than that of his predecessor. About the close of 
 the first year, a few were gathered into Christ's fold 
 under its influence. But, between the years 1812 and 
 1813, there was a very marked revival of God's work. 
 It commenced, as we are informed by his journal, in 
 the early part of the winter. The first Sabbath in 
 January was a day of peculiar solemnity. In the ad- 
 ministration of the Lord's Supper, the declining affec- 
 tions of professed Christians seemed greatly revived. 
 
 * There is a vote of the Trustees, bear- purpose of lecturing, prayer meetings, &c, 
 
 ing date April 16, which thus refers to the resolved that this Board aid and assist in 
 
 proposition : " The Sessions being desir- the same." 
 ous of having a large room erected for the 
 
288 REVIVALS. 
 
 Some souls, he records, have been awakened, and 
 others have found joy and peace in believing. The 
 next day intelligence came that, both in the Second 
 Church and in the Church at Elizabethtown, a similar 
 manifestation of God's presence had been enjoyed. 
 The coincidence seemed to predict the happiest results. 
 An extract from the same journal, under date of Feb- 
 ruary 6th, shows the power and progress of the Heav- 
 enly influence. " More than seventy persons appear 
 now under serious impressions, and asking the way to 
 Zion. About fifteen are entertaining hopes of being 
 converted, several of the cases striking, and affording 
 a delightful prospect." On the 28th of February, 
 twelve persons were propounded as candidates for 
 church membership ; and at the communion in March 
 following, thirteen were admitted on profession of their 
 faith. At the same time, about the same number are 
 spoken of as indulging the hope that they had recently 
 been born again, and about ninety as still under strong 
 religious impressions. The means of describing this 
 and other similar spiritual harvests, which were enjoyed 
 about this period, are, unhappily, exceedingly scanty. 
 There was one, more remarkable than any of its pre- 
 decessors, between the years 1816 and 1817, among 
 the fruits of which, sixty-nine were added to the 
 Church at one time ; and the number received during 
 nine months amounted to one hundred and thirty-five. 
 When Dr. Richards first took the charge of the con- 
 gregation, the number of communicants was about 
 530, and, in the course of fourteen years, 556 were 
 added to it — 332 by profession, and 227 by certificates 
 
PKEVALENCE OF INTEMPEEANCE. 289 
 
 from other churches — making, in all, 1086 to whom, in 
 the course of that period, he statedly administered the 
 sacred ordinances. During his ministry, the Church 
 contained the largest number of communicants that 
 ever belonged to it at one time, viz., about seven hun- 
 dred, and that, notwithstanding the dismission of the 
 large colony that united in the formation of the Second 
 Church. It is said to have been, at the time referred 
 to, viz., about the year 1817, the largest Presbyterian 
 Church in the United States, except the First Church 
 in Philadelphia, Six young men connected with it 
 were, during Dr. Richards's ministry, licensed to preach 
 the gospel. 
 
 But, even this bright picture of spiritual success, has 
 its reverse. The occasions for church discipline, during 
 the ministry of Dr. Richards, were very numerous. 
 About thirty cases stand on record, as having occurred 
 within the first seven years — chiefly for the sin of in- 
 temperance. That desolating pestilence, which spread 
 so fearfully among the people of our country about 
 that period, and seemed to threaten the destruction 
 both of social order and the Church of God, diffused 
 its noxious influences into this favored communion. 
 But nobly did the pastor and Session meet the demands 
 of the alarming exigency. A very considerable por- 
 tion of their time, for several years, must have been 
 taken up in attending to cases of this sort. About 
 forty persons were, during Dr. Richards's ministry, sol- 
 emnly deprived of church privileges for unchristian 
 conduct ; and death and removals in various ways, had 
 
 19 
 
290 DISCOURAGING APPEARANCES. 
 
 reduced the number, at the time when he resigned his 
 charge, to about five hundred and twenty. 
 
 The latter part of this period appears to have been 
 a season of unusual discouragement and religious de- 
 clension. According ' to a statement of Dr. Richards 
 himself, during the two years which preceded his dis- 
 mission, only seven persons were received into the 
 Church ; and, during five years, although the congrega- 
 tion was so large, only thirty made profession of their 
 faith, and many of these were but the gleanings of 
 former revivals."' He speaks of the Church, in an ad- 
 dress delivered at a church meeting on the 23d of July, 
 1823, as having had already " an awful sifting ;" 
 " while the train seems to be laid," he continues, " to 
 sift it still more. It is distressing to look within the 
 precincts of the Ohurch, and let the eye pass round 
 from one to another. It is dark as night to look with- 
 out, and notice the state of the congregation and the 
 town." The address to which I have referred, appears 
 to have been designed to stir the consciences of the 
 congregation, by presenting the dark side of the pic- 
 ture in its darkest shades. But Dr. Richards was not 
 a man to exaggerate facts, even for the sake of doing 
 good ; though his sorrowful remembrance of the 
 brighter days, and keen desire for their return, might 
 make the present seem darker, comparatively, in his 
 eye, than it would have seemed to a less interested ob- 
 server. 
 
 But Providence had now other work for him to per- 
 
 * From the same statement I learn that received into the Second Church, 
 within the same period only ten had been 
 
BEMOVAL OF DE. EICHAEDS. 291 
 
 form, in another and still more responsible station. 
 By his constant devotion to study, he had made large 
 attainments in theological knowledge ; and by his care- 
 ful and discreet management of affairs entrusted to 
 him, public and private, he had acquired a reputation 
 which marked him as one of the first men in the 
 Church, in respect to qualifications for the head of 
 a theological institution. Accordingly, in the autumn 
 of 1823, having been a second time solicited to take 
 the professorship of theology in Auburn Theological 
 Seminary, he accepted the appointment, and having 
 resigned his charge here, was inaugurated to that 
 office October 29th, 1823 ; having served this congrega- 
 tion in the ministry a little more than fourteen years, 
 and just commenced the fifty-seventh year of his age. 4 ] 
 
 It does not belong to us to trace his life and services 
 after he left Newark. He took the charge of the Sem- 
 inary when un(Jer great embarrassment. He left it 
 strong and prosperous. Having fully answered the 
 expectations of its most sanguine friends, and attained 
 a rank second to none among theological teachers, he 
 died in his 76th year, full of honors, August 2, 1843. 
 
 The character of Dr. Richards, as well as that of 
 Dr. Griffin, has been drawn with skill and discrimina- 
 tion, by those who knew him well, and had access to 
 the best means of judging.* It will not be necessary 
 for me to do more than glance at some of its most ob- 
 vious features. His most distinguishing traits were en- 
 ergy, sagacity and piety. His early youth illustrates 
 
 * See '• Biographical Sketch" by Rev. indebted in compiling the above account 
 Samuel H. Gridley, to which I am largely of Dr. R.'s ministry. 
 
292 CHAEACTEE OF DE. EICHAEDS. 
 
 well the quiet and indomitable perseverance with which 
 he pursued an object on which he had deliberately fixed 
 his purpose. But for this feature of his character, he 
 would never have emerged from the farm or mechanic's 
 shop, much less have surmounted all the obstacles 
 which hedged up his way to the attainment of a liberal 
 education. The same quality was displayed in all his 
 theological studies, and in all his public and private 
 enterprises. His reputation for sagacity is well under- 
 stood by those who remember his ministry here. • He 
 seldom, if ever, made a serious mistake in judgment, 
 in respect either to characters or events. Hence, he 
 was often resorted to for counsel, not only by his own 
 people, but by his brethren in the ministry, and all 
 classes of his acquaintance. To the combination of 
 these two traits of character may be referred the firm- 
 ness which always distinguished him in trying cir- 
 cumstances. His sagacity made him, clear and con- 
 fident in his judgments. He saw the right way early, 
 and had no occasion therefore either to waver or re- 
 cede. His energy made him fearless of opposition, 
 and determined to carry out his convictions, whatever 
 difficulties might betide him. Hence the justness of 
 the observation said to have been made of him by an 
 intimate acquaintance : "To a steady opposition, he 
 was the most impracticable man I ever knew." And 
 hence the confidence expressed on one occasion, and 
 doubtless felt on many, when he was known to have 
 enlisted in an enterprise, " Then it will go ! It will 
 go !" Dr. Richards was never a party man, never an 
 extreme man; and yet, with all his moderation, he 
 
PAKALLEL BETWEEN EICHAEDS AND GEIFFIN. 293 
 
 was pre-eminently a decided man. Violent combatants 
 sometimes murmured, that they could not fix him upon 
 either side ; yet he could fix himself, and knew his 
 own position ; and neither the one or the other found 
 it easy to push him to the wall. The piety of Dr. 
 Richards was ardent, constant, unpretending, and emi- 
 nently sincere. He walked with God, and amidst all 
 the agitations and enticements of the world, had his 
 heart above it. 
 
 The names of Richards and Griffin both fill a high 
 place on the records of the Church. . Both were, in 
 their day, among the greatest lights of the Christian 
 ministry. And yet it would be difficult to find two 
 such illustrious peers, occupying the same ground and 
 conversant with the same scenes and events, in whom, 
 with so many points of beautiful resemblance, there 
 are so many others of striking and as beautiful con- 
 trast. Look only at their countenances — their per- 
 sons; they are princes, both of them — tall, stately, 
 majestic — yet how very different seems the style of 
 their majesty. In the characteristics of their minds 
 and courses of action, we find the same combined har- 
 mony and diversity. Both were eminent as preachers. 
 Richards, says Frelinghuysen, was sound, practical, in- 
 structive, often eloquent. Griffin, we may rejoin, was 
 always eloquent, and when instruction was his special 
 aim, eminently instructive. From the one, you would 
 be likely to receive the most deep and soul-thrilling 
 impressions of truth ; from the other, the most precise 
 and accurate explanations of its nature and bearings. 
 
294 PAEALLEL BETWEEN EICHAEDS AOT) GEIFFm. 
 
 Griffin used language rhetorically, and of course some- 
 times loosely. Richards was anxious to express his 
 exact thought and shade of thought, whatever else he 
 might sacrifice. Griffin's style was sometimes too 
 ornate ; Richards's occasionally too homely. Both 
 wrote and re-wrote their best productions ; Richards 
 with reference to being understood, and Griffin in or- 
 der to produce a better and stronger effect. In respect 
 to the excellence of their performances, Richards 
 might be said to occupy a high table-land, where he 
 expatiated with the stride of a giant, — never soaring, 
 never descending. Griffin ascended peaks not reached 
 by ordinary mortals, yet sometimes slumbered in the 
 vales, distinguished only by the still lingering glow 
 caught above in his more favored moments. In accom- 
 plishing the object of their efforts, both were eminently 
 successful ; the one carried the garrison by storm, the 
 other could maintain a long siege and starve the enemy 
 out of his strong-holds. In their intercourse with 
 mankind, Griffin was simple-hearted and unsuspecting ; 
 Richards wary, far-reaching, and on the alert. The 
 one was easily circumvented by the arts of the hostile ; 
 the other never committed himself to any man, and 
 always saw and could defeat the most cunning strata- 
 gem. To use his own expression, as related to me by 
 an acquaintance, he cut the cords by which they man- 
 aged their machines so far off, that they could not tell 
 where to find the ends, and so could not tie them 
 again. The memory of both these men will long be 
 cherished in the community where they ministered, 
 
SYNOD OF NEW JERSEY. 295 
 
 first in succession, and tlien side by side in loving 
 brotherhood. This Church could not have spared the 
 gifts and services of either of them. Richards, I ap- 
 prehend, has left his impress on the character of the 
 people the more deeply of the two ; but then his min- 
 istry was nearly twice as long as that of his predeces- 
 sor. Griffin was instrumental in bringing into the 
 Church the larger numbers, in proportion to the time; 
 but then, as he observed, he was here in harvest time, 
 whereas his brother who followed him, came " in the 
 fall of the year." In theological views, both occupied 
 nearly the same position, — that of New England di- 
 vines of the old school — the school of Edwards, and 
 Bellamy, and Smalley, and Dwight. Both were earnest 
 revivalists, yet strenuously opposed to all fanaticism 
 and wild-fire. Both used the gifts which God had 
 given them to the same end — the glory of Christ — and 
 the dissemination of the knowledge of Him crucified. 
 
 I have now come with you, my friends, to the period 
 when the history of the illustrious dead gives place to 
 that of those who are still living and acting on the 
 stage of life. The time has not come to speak of their 
 character or estimate the results of their labors. I will 
 simply mention a few general facts belonging to the 
 succeeding period, and then bring my narrative to a 
 ■ close. 
 
 The same year in which Dr. Richards was dismissed, 
 the Synod of New York and New Jersey was divided. 
 'The old Synod including the Presbyteries of Hudson, 
 North River, New York and Long Island, took the 
 
296 REV. WILLIAM T. HAMILTON. 
 
 name of New York, and a new one was constituted, 
 consisting of the Presbyteries of Jersey, New Bruns- 
 wick, Newton and Susquehanna, and taking the name 
 of the Synod of New Jersey. The first meeting of 
 the Synod of New Jersey was held in the First Church 
 of Newark on the 21st of October, 1823, at 10 o'clock, 
 A. M., and was opened with a sermon by the Rev. 
 John Woodhull, D. D., of Freehold, from Phill. iii, 8. 
 After sermon, and the organization of the body, the 
 Rev. Archibald Alexander, D. D., was chosen Moder- 
 ator, and the Rev. Geo. S. Woodhull and the Rev. 
 John McDowell, were chosen Clerks* With this Syn- 
 od the Churches in Newark now became connected. 
 
 The successor of Dr. Richards was the Rev. William 
 T. Hamilton, an Englishman by birth, who received 
 the honorary degree of Master of Arts from the Col- 
 lege of New Jersey in the year 1825. After preach- 
 ing to the congregation for a time, a large portion of 
 them were disposed to invite him to become their 
 pastor ; but yielding to the wishes of others of their 
 number who were desirous of hearing another candi- 
 date, they became divided in their preferences, and af- 
 ter a violent struggle, in which the interference of the 
 Presbytery became necessary, determined to separate 
 and form a new congregation. For this purpose, a 
 large number seceded, built a new house of worship, 
 settled the Rev. Joshua T. Russell as their minister, 
 and constituted what is now known as the Third Pres- 
 byterian Church. The new organization took place in 
 
 * Furnished from the Records, by the the Synod of New Jersey. 
 Rev. Ravaud K. Rodgers, present Clerk of 
 
THIRD PEESBYTEEIAN CHUECH. 297 
 
 the Session-room of the First Church, from which its 
 original members — 56 in number — had received certifi- 
 cates of dismission for the purpose, on the 8th of June, 
 1824. 
 
 The circumstances which led to this measure were 
 infelicitous. But the measure itself was one for which 
 the condition of the community had long been ripe. 
 The old house of worship was crowded, and the con- 
 gregation already overgrown. Dr. Richards had seen 
 the need of a new church for a long time, but knew 
 not how to effect the object ; and I am told that, when 
 one of the people lamented the division in his presence, 
 he expressed his satisfaction at the event, observing 
 that what could not be brought about by peaceful 
 means, had been accomplished by contention, and that 
 the result was an occasion for thankfulness. 
 
 That some kindly feeling prevailed, even in the 
 midst of strife, is manifest from a vote of the Session, 
 which I find on record, directing their clerk to inform 
 the Session of the Third Church, that it would be 
 "perfectly agreeable" that they should occupy the 
 house of worship of the First Church, until their own 
 should be completed, every Sabbath afternoon, unless 
 circumstances should thereafter require some other ar- 
 rangement ; and to propose that the two congregations 
 .should alternately occupy the house for a third service 
 on Sabbath evenings. On the 15th of November, 
 1824, seventy-two persons, members of the First 
 Church, were dismissed and "affectionately recom- 
 mended " to the fellowship of the Third Presbyterian 
 
298 FINAL SETTLEMENT OP CHURCH PROPERTY. 
 
 Church in Newark, now under the pastoral care of Mr. 
 Russell. 
 
 The new Church, having fulfilled the conditious of 
 the vote of 1809, providing prospectively for the es- 
 tablishment of such a Church whenever it should be 
 deemed desirable, now presented their claim to the 
 portion of the church property promised by that vote. 
 The congregation of the First Church responded af- 
 firmatively ; and, after some negotiations between the 
 parties, respecting the precise amount to be appro- 
 priated, two-sevenths of all the real estate owned in 
 1809, except the church and lecture-room and land oc- 
 cupied by them, were set apart for their use. 
 
 Meanwhile, the Trustees in their various divisions 
 and appropriations of the property, had made no at- 
 tempt to convey a permanent title. It was supposed 
 they had not the power. But as it now seemed de- 
 sirable that a final settlement should be effected, ap- 
 plication was made to the Legislature of the State ; 
 and an act obtained, bearing date November 4, 1825, 
 entitled " an act for the relief of the Trustees of the 
 First Presbyterian Church in Newark." This act, after 
 setting forth the original source and intent of the 
 church property, and the appropriations which had 
 been made by the Trustees of the First Church " gra- 
 tuitously," and " in pursuance of the wishes of the con- 
 gregation," clothed the said Trustees with full power 
 to make conveyance of the lands included in those 
 appropriations to the several Churches mentioned 
 therein, namely, Trinity Church in Newark ; the First 
 Presbyterian Church in Orange, and the Second and 
 
PEESBYTEEY OF NEWAEK. 299 
 
 Third in Newark, according to the terms before agreed 
 upon between the parties ; " the same to be held solely 
 and forever for the support of the Gospel in the said 
 congregations, or religious societies respectively, and 
 for no other purpose." The deeds of conveyance were 
 accordingly ordered by the Board of Trustees, to the 
 two first-named Churches, in August 1826, and to the 
 others in the month of May following. 
 
 Mr. Hamilton was invited to become the pastor of 
 this Church, in pursuance of a vote of the congrega- 
 tion at a meeting held on the 17th of June, 1824, at 
 which Dr. McDowel, of Elizabethtown, presided. His 
 installation by the Presbytery of Jersey, took place on 
 the 27th of July in the same year. 
 
 In the autumn of the year 1824, the Presbytery of 
 Jersey, which had existed under that name fifteen, 
 years, was divided by the Synod of New Jersey, at its 
 own request, into two Presbyteries, the Presbytery 
 of Newaek, and the Presbytery of Elizabethtown, of 
 which the former held its first meeting at Jersey City, 
 November 2, 1824. The property belonging to the 
 old Presbytery, consisting of books, money for pur- 
 poses of education, &c, was equally divided by a 
 committee appointed for that purpose. The last two 
 volumes of the Records were assigned to the Presby- 
 tery of Elizabethtown, and the preceding volumes, in- 
 cluding, besides those of the old Presbytery of New 
 York, the first three years of the Presbytery of Jersey, 
 and running back to the year 1775, to that of Newark. 
 
 In the year 1825, the interior of the church edifice 
 was thoroughly altered, the ceiling lowered, and the 
 
300 revival of 1832 : few chueches. 
 
 floor and pews changed, leaving only here and there a 
 slight trace of the original finishing. The present lec- 
 ture room was erected, as nearly as I can ascertain, in 
 the Spring of 1832. 
 
 Towards the latter part of Dr. Hamilton's ministry, 
 there was a memorable manifestation of religious feel- 
 ing in the congregation. The pastor characterizes it 
 in the record, as " the glorious revival of religion with 
 which the Lord Jesus favored this portion of his Zion 
 in February, 1832, chiefly under the labors of Rev. 
 H. Norton and Rev. Joel Parker, of New York." A 
 " protracted meeting," or continued series of religious 
 exercises, occupying the entire day for many days in 
 succession, was held ; and other special measures for 
 deepening and extending the religious impression, were 
 resorted to. The number of hopeful converts during 
 this season is not stated, but at the communion in May? 
 1832, one hundred and twenty-four persons were ad- 
 mitted to the Church together, on the profession of 
 their faith, and forty-five adults received the ordinance 
 of baptism. 
 
 We have already had occasion to notice the forma- 
 tion of several Churches, either wholly or in part col- 
 onies from this. On the 14th of April, 1831, the 
 Fourth Presbyterian Church was organized in the ses- 
 sion room of the First Church by the Presbytery of 
 Newark. It consisted of twelve members; two from 
 the First, four from the Second, and six from the Third 
 Churches. The Rev. Dr. Weeks became its first pas- 
 tor, in July 1832. This Church is now extinct. 
 
 The African Presbyterian Church, consisting of peo- 
 
EEV. ANSEL D. EDDY. 301 
 
 pie of color, was organized by a commission from the 
 same Presbytery, on the last Sabbath in October, 
 1831* 
 
 In the month of March, 1834, about forty persons 
 were dismissed from the First Church, to form the first 
 Free Church in Newark ; and were organized as such 
 in the lecture-room of the First Church, by a commis- 
 sion of which Dr. Hillyer was the chairman, May 2 2d, 
 1834.f To encourage this enterprise, the Trustees 
 made a donation of $500 to the new congregation. It 
 has now become a Congregational Church. 
 
 During the winters of 1833 and 1834, Dr. Hamilton 
 was absent at the South on account of his health. 
 Returning in the Spring, he remained through the 
 warm season ; and in the Autumn, having been advised 
 by his physicians, that his health would again require 
 him to spend the Winter in a warmer climate, he re- 
 signed his pastoral charge, and was dismissed October 
 22, 1834. He was soon after settled in Mobile, Ala., 
 where he still remains. 
 
 The successor of Dr. Hamilton was the Rev. Ansel 
 D. Eddy, a graduate of Union College in the class of 
 1817, and formerly the pastor of a Church in Canan- 
 daigua, N. Y. Having received a unanimous call, he 
 assumed the charge of the pulpit in the month of July, 
 and was installed on the 11th of August, 1835. 
 
 In the year 1838, the General Assembly of the 
 Presbyterian Church became divided into two bodies 
 both claiming its name and rights.J The Synod of 
 
 * Records of Xewark Presbytery, p. 340. X To state the cavises of this unhappy 
 t Records of Newark Presby tery, p. 373. separation, would require more space than 
 
302 SYNOD OF NEW YOEK AND NEW JERSEY. 
 
 New Jersey declaring its adherence to the one, and 
 the Presbyteries of Newark and Montrose sending 
 their commissioners to the other, the two Presbyteries 
 were excluded from the Synod, the latter in October, 
 1838, and the former during the following year* 
 Thereupon a new Synod was formed, called the Synod 
 of Newark, which held its first meeting in this house, 
 October 15th, 1839, and was opened by a sermon from 
 the Rev. Dr. Hillyer, from Genesis xiii : 7, 8, 9. The 
 Rev. Barnabas King was chosen as its Moderator. In 
 the following Spring, this Synod and that of New York 
 were united in one body, and took the name of the 
 Synod of New York and New Jersey. It held its 
 first meeting in the city of New York, on the third 
 Tuesday in October 1840, and the Rev. Dr. Fisher 
 preached the opening sermon from 1 Cor. xv: 58 
 With this body the Church is still in connection.f 
 
 can be given to it in the present narrative, the Presbytery of Newark be enjoined be- 
 
 and the writer has no disposition to enter tween that time and the meeting of the 
 
 into the mournful details. Both bodies General Assembly, 1839, to decide its 
 
 adhere to the same standards of doctrine course in reference to the attendance of its 
 
 and discipline. May they both learn " how Commissioners on the body claiming to be 
 
 good and how pleasant it is for brethren the General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
 
 to dwell together in unity" Church, and which convened in the 
 
 * The action of the Synod respecting the Presbyterian church in Philadelphia, in 
 Presbytery of Newark, was as follows : May, 1S38, and should that Presbytery 
 Oct., 1838. "Resolved, That the Presby- send Commissioners," &c, "and whereas, 
 tery of Newark be enjoined between this the said Presbytery of Newark did send 
 time and the next General Assembly, to Commissioners to the said Body, in May 
 decide on its course in regard to this sub- last, as appears by the printed Minutes of 
 ject ; and if that Presbytery shall send said Body, therefore, by said act and res- 
 Commissioners to the Bo:]y appointed to olution, the Presbytery of Newark is no 
 meet in Mav next, by the Body calling it- longer connected with this Synod." — Min- 
 self the General Assembly, which met in utes for 1830, copied by tie present stated 
 the First Presbyterian Church in May clerk, the Rev. B,. K. Rodgers. 
 last, the said Presbytery shall be consid- f See Minutes, for extracts from which 
 ered thenceforth as no longer in connec- I am indebted to the kindness of the Rev. 
 tion with this Synod." — Minutes, p. 21. John N. Lewis, present stated cleik of the 
 
 1839. " Whereas, the Synod at its last Synod of New York and New Jersey, 
 meeting in Morristown, resolved, That 
 
NEW CHUECHES. 303 
 
 During the ministry of Dr. Eddy, the Second Free 
 Presbyterian Church was formed. Seven persons were 
 dismissed from this Church to assist in founding it, on 
 the 24th of May, 1836, and it was organized with about 
 forty members. Its existence was of short duration. 
 On the 31st of Januar} r , 1837, a commission of the 
 Presbytery then in session, organized a new one, com- 
 prising most of its members, together with others, 
 which took the name of the Central Presbyterian 
 Church, by which it is still known. The Pev. Charles 
 Hoover was the same evening installed as its pastor. 
 The services took place in this house, and Dr. Magie, 
 of Elizabethtown, preached the sermon. The Pev. 
 George C. Lucas, the present pastor, was installed in 
 the summer of 1849. 
 
 In the Spring of 1847, Dr. Eddy took a voyage to 
 Europe, and was absent during the summer. Soon 
 after his return, he resigned his charge, and was dis- 
 missed by the Presbytery, February 22d, 1848. 
 
 Before this time, several attempts had been made to 
 organize another congregation, to meet the pressing 
 wants of a growing community. In the course of the 
 summer following the dismission of Dr. Eddy, seventy- 
 two persons, fifty-nine at first, and nineteen afterwards, 
 were dismissed from this Church to bearn a new enter- 
 prise under the direction and ministry of their former 
 pastor. The Fifth Presbyterian, which has since 
 changed its name by the direction of the Presbytery, 
 to that of Park Presbyterian Church, was accordingly 
 organized in Library Hall, on the 2d of April, 1848. 
 The Rev. A. D. Eddy, D. D., was installed as its pastor, 
 
304 NEW CHUECHES. 
 
 June 1, 1848. The Eev. Jonathan B. Condit, D. D., 
 preached the sermon from Born, xi : 13. ; "I magnify 
 my office."* 
 
 During the year 1848, and subsequently, five per- 
 sons were dismissed to aid in establishing the Sixth 
 Presbyterian Church ; which was organized with thirty- 
 six members, October 1, 1848. A commodious house 
 of worship was erected for their use, and dedicated to 
 the worship of God, December 26th, 1849. The Eev. 
 William Aikman, its first pastor, was installed the 
 same day. His brother, the Eev. Eobert Aikman, 
 preached from 1 Cor. i: 21. 
 
 Another detachment of seven was sent out during 
 the same year, to aid in forming the High street Pres- 
 byterian Church, which was organized in the house of 
 worship of the Third Church, with thirty-eight mem- 
 bers, on the 16th of September, 1849. The Eev. Mr. 
 Poor was installed as its first pastor, November 7th, 
 1849. The services took place in this house, and the 
 sermon was preached by the Eev. George L. Prentiss, 
 from 1 Cor. xiv: 20.f 
 
 The present pastor took the charge of this pulpit, 
 on the 28th of October, and was installed by the 
 Presbytery of Newark, December 13th, 1849. The 
 Eev. Henry B. Smith, Professor in Amherst College, t 
 preached the sermon from Col. ii: 9. J 
 
 * Its house of worship, of which the cor- J Since the settlement of the present 
 
 ner stone was laid in the summer of 1849, pastor, two new Presbyterian Churches 
 
 was completed and dedicated in the month have been organized; the German Church, 
 
 of August, 1851. by a commission from the Presbytery of 
 
 t The dedication of its house of worship Newark, in the summer of 1852, and the 
 
 a beautiful edifice of stone, took place in South Park Presbyterian Church, on the 
 
 the month of September, 1S52. 20th day of March, 1853. To assist in the 
 
STATISTICAL SUMMAEY. 305 
 
 The history of the Church, reckoning the time from 
 the commencement of its first pastor's ministry in this 
 place, in October, 1667, to January 1, 1851, embraces 
 a period of one hundred and eighty-three years and 
 three months. During that time the number of its 
 pastors who have completed their ministry, including 
 the short and somewhat uncertain ministry of Mr. 
 Brainerd, is thirteen ; and their several terms of ser- 
 vice, as nearly as I am able to fix them, are as follows : 
 
 1. Abraham Pierson, senior, from October 1, 1667 
 to August 9, 1678 — a little short of eleven years. 
 
 2. Abraham Pierson, junior, from July 28, 1669, to 
 about April 2, 1692 — twenty-two years and eight 
 months. Of this period he was assistant minister two 
 years and seven months, colleague pastor six years and 
 five months, sole pastor thirteen years and eight 
 months. His whole pastorate was twenty years and 
 one month. 
 
 3. John Prudden, from August 23, 1692, to June 9, 
 1699 — nearly seven years. 
 
 4. Jabez Wakeman, from November 16, 1669, to 
 October 29, 1704, about five years, of which time he 
 was the installed pastor probably about four years. 
 
 5. Nathaniel Bowers, from June 16, 1709, to Au- 
 
 formation of the latter, twenty-nine per- inalion in the city of Newark now corn- 
 sons were dismissed and recommended prises ten regularly organized Churches, 
 from the First Church, including one of including one German and one colored 
 its elders; and the services of organization congregation, besides two or three mis- 
 took place in its house of worship. The sionary stations. 
 
 Rev. James P. Wilson, D.D., was installed The Third Church withdrew from the 
 
 as the first pastor of the new Church, Presbytery of Newark and joined that of 
 
 October 25, 1853 ; sermon by Rev. Samuel Elizabethtown, belonging to the other 
 
 Fisher, D. D. The Presbyterian denom- General Assembly, in the autumn of 1851. 
 
 20 
 
306 STATISTICAL SUMMARY. 
 
 gust, 1716 — seven years, viz., six years as pastor, and 
 one as candidate, 
 
 6. Joseph Webb, from December 1G, 1719, to No. 
 vember IT 36 — nearly eighteen years, viz., seventeen 
 years as pastor, and one as candidate. 
 
 7. Aaron Burr, from December, 1736, to the autumn 
 of 1755— nineteen years, viz., eighteen years as pastor, 
 and one as candidate. 
 
 8. John Brainerd, from the autumn of 1755,1 o May, 
 1759 — three years and a half, including a season of 
 absence, whose length is not ascertained. 
 
 9. Alexander Macwhorter, D. D., from the summer 
 of 1759, to July 20, 1807, excluding less than two 
 years, when he was absent in North Carolina — forty-six 
 years. 
 
 10. Edward D. Griffin, D. D., from October 20, 
 1801, to April 27, 1809 — seven and a half years, viz.. 
 five years and nine months as colleague with Dr. Mac- 
 whorter, and one year and nine months as sole pastor. 
 
 11. James Richards, D. D., from June 7, 1809, to 
 the autumn of 1823 — a little more than fourteen years. 
 
 12. William T. Hamilton, D. D., from July 27, 1824, 
 to October 22, 1834 — ten years and three months. 
 
 13. Ansel D. Eddy, D. D., from August 11, 1835, to 
 February 22, 1848, twelve years and five months. 
 
 Of this number, four have died in the service, and 
 their remains lie buried among you. One laid down 
 the office of the ministry but remained among the 
 people, serving them whenever there was occasion, 
 during a long life, and is also buried by the side of his 
 
STATISTICAL SUMMARY. 307 
 
 parishioners. Three were, called away much against 
 the will of the people, to take responsible stations in 
 literary or theological institutions, and one to become 
 a missionary among the Aborigines of America. One 
 was dismissed on account of ill-health, requiring a dif- 
 ferent climate ; and of the reniainingthree, one is now 
 the pastor of a new congregation in the same city. 
 
 From its beginning, in 1GG7, to 1719, the Church 
 belonged to the Congregational or Independent order. 
 Since that time it has been connected with the follow- 
 ing Presbyterian bodies, viz : 
 
 Presbytery of Philadelphia, from 1719 to 1733. 
 " " East Jersey, " 1733 to 1738. 
 
 " New York, " 1738 to 1810. 
 " Jersey, " 1810 to 1824. 
 
 " Newark, " 1824 
 
 Synod of Philadelphia " 1719 to 1745. 
 
 " " New York, " 1745 to 1758. 
 
 " " N. Y and Phila., " 1758 to 1788. 
 " " N. Y. and N. J., " 1788 to 1823. 
 " " New Jersey, " 1823 to 1839. 
 
 " " Newark, " 1839 to 1840. 
 
 " " N. Y. and N. J., " 1840 
 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, from 
 178S to the present time. 
 
 Thus have the wheels of time, rolling steadily along, 
 brought us down to the present eventful period — 
 eventful to us at least, beyond all other periods. In 
 long succession, we have seen one generation pass 
 away and another come, till at length we find ourselves 
 occupying the same places, surrounded by the same 
 
308 CONCLUDING REMAKES. 
 
 objects, and engaged in the same pursuits with those 
 whose history Ave have been endeavoring to trace. 
 Many affecting lessons might be drawn from this re- 
 view, local and limited as its sphere is. But they will 
 force themselves I am sure, spontaneously on your at- 
 tention, and you will scarcely need any suggestions 
 from me. 
 
 Where are the men now, who in successive ages 
 have called this First Church in Newark our Cliurcli 
 — the men who went through the perils of the war 
 with Macwhorter, and rejoiced to behold the rising 
 honors of the infant College with Burr — who wept at 
 the untimely end of the beloved Wakeman, grew tired 
 of the unpretending services of worthy Messrs. Webb 
 and Prudden, measured their strength of will success- 
 fully with the younger Pierson, or followed his good 
 father, ripe in years and honors, to the grave ? Where 
 are the men whom the eloquent Griffin awakened and 
 turned to righteousness, or who withstood rebelliously 
 his thrilling appeal to their consciences — the men 
 whom Richards taught, and built up in the most holy 
 faith, or who hardened their hearts under his faithful 
 ministry, and so " treasured up unto themselves wrath 
 against the day of wrath ?" Where, O where are they 
 now? Almost all gone. Their race is run, their mis- 
 sion finished, their record with all its good or ill, its 
 faithfulness or neglect, has passed the broad seal of 
 time, and cannot be altered in a single syllable or pen 
 stroke. We 5 as I have intimated, are enacting our his- 
 tory. Some future hand will trace the history of this 
 congregation, and gathering up what we have pre- 
 
CONCLUDING EEMAEKS. ' 309 
 
 served of the past, will carry it on through your lives 
 and through mine, and tell our children and our chil- 
 dren's children, who we were, and what we either did 
 or left undone. 
 
 In less than seventeen years from this time, this con- 
 gregation will celebrate its second centennial anniver- 
 sary. That, we may well believe, will be a great day 
 here, if the Church lives and flourishes as we trust it 
 will. Then a large portion of the present race will 
 have left the stage. My ministry will, in all proba- 
 bility, have ended — perhaps for years. And these 
 scenes, fresh still in the memories of the elder class, 
 will come up as matters of history. And what will 
 they say of us ? What report will be given of the 
 period beginning with November 1849, and ending 
 God knows when ? Shall it be a period over which 
 the devout shall love to linger ; a period of holy de- 
 votion and blameless lives on the part of those who pro- 
 fess the faith ; of sweet refreshings and anticipations 
 of heaven, and of sacred zeal and energy guided by 
 wisdom, in the service of the blessed Redeemer ? Shall 
 they say of it, " during that period, religion flourished ; 
 prayer meetings were well attended, for all loved to 
 be there ; the Sabbath-school was flourishing, and the 
 children were never so well instructed in the knowledge 
 of Christ ; the young men and young women cheered 
 each other in the paths of virtue and holiness, and 
 strengthened each other's hearts in resisting evil; 
 Christian morals, though they had languished, soon 
 revived, and were strenuously promoted ; large contri- 
 
310 ' * CONCLUDING REMARKS. 
 
 bntions were made to all the branches of Christian be- 
 nevolence, and the First Church in Newark was, be- 
 yond all former experience, a burning and a shining 
 light in the community?'' Shall our record be, thai, 
 blessing our endeavors, and answering our prayers, 
 the Spirit of the Lord came down with power among 
 us, and the refreshings from on high experienced in 
 the days of Burr, and Macwhorter, and Richards, and 
 Hamilton, were fairly eclipsed by the superior power, 
 steadiness, and purity of those which were enjoyed 
 during this period ? Shall this be the history of our 
 times, brethren, when we lie beneath yonder clods of 
 the valley? Or shall it be, that during that period, 
 religion languished, the Church grew negligent, dis- 
 cord and jealousy prevailed among brethren, Chris- 
 tians had a bad name among their fellow citizens, gen- 
 uine conversions were very few, and had not the Lord 
 in His great mercy, raised up another and more faith- 
 ful race of men, that venerable congregation would 
 have had by this time, not even a name that she 
 liveth ? 
 
 My very soul, brethren, trembles with solicitude, as 
 I consider how the time is flying, and what characters 
 each movement of its telegraphic points is jotting down 
 upon the records of eternity. It is not that we cherish 
 ambition. Fame is the veriest bubble that wise men 
 have ever thought it. But the memory of the just is 
 blessed ; and they that turn many to righteousness, 
 shall shine as the stars in the firmament of our God 
 for ever and ever. The judgment of posterity is some- 
 thing to be thought of, but the judgment of the last 
 
CONCLUDING REMARKS. 311 
 
 great day is more momentous. Then shall we, with 
 all that have gone before us, be weighed in the balance ; 
 and what if then, we of the present age should be 
 found wanting ? 
 
 Let us address ourselves, brethren, to the Lord's 
 work, and lay out our whole strength to accomplish it- 
 Trusting in God, and girded with might by His Spirit, 
 let us endeavor to make our period bright with souls 
 redeemed and Christian jewels multiplied and polished. 
 That one sentence, " Well done, good and faithful," 
 uttered from the lips of our Master, will be an anrple 
 reward. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be 
 with you all. Amen. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Complete and accurate catalogues of Elders, Deacons and Trustees can- 
 not be made, for want of records. Those which follow are presented as the 
 best which could be obtained in present circumstances, and must stand sub- 
 ject to correction, should further discoveries be made. During the period 
 which no record of the Church covers, a few names of Elders have been 
 culled from the minutes of the Synod. 
 
 ELDEHS. 
 
 In Synod. 
 
 
 Died. 
 
 
 Age. 
 
 Caleb Ward, 
 
 1720 - 
 
 - 
 
 1736 
 
 - 
 
 - 66 
 
 Samuel Farrand, 
 
 1726 - 
 
 - 
 
 1750 
 
 - 
 
 - 69 
 
 Samuel Ailing, sen.,* 
 
 1727 prioi 
 
 ■to 
 
 1732 
 
 - 
 
 - 64 
 
 Samuel Ailing, jr., - 
 
 1737 - 
 
 - 
 
 1793 
 
 - 
 
 - 95 
 
 John Ogden, 
 
 1743 - 
 
 - 
 
 1795 
 
 - 
 
 - 87 
 
 Nehemiah Baldwin, 
 
 1765 - 
 
 - 
 
 1765 
 
 - 
 
 - 4a 
 
 Joseph Riggs, 
 
 1766 - 
 
 - 
 
 1799 
 
 - 
 
 - 79 
 
 Nathaniel Camp, 
 
 1767 - 
 
 - 
 
 1780 
 
 - 
 
 - 82 
 
 Dr. William Burnet, 
 
 1768 - 
 
 - 
 
 1791 
 
 - 
 
 - 61 
 
 The following names are taken from the Church : 
 
 records. ' 
 
 Flic dates of 
 
 decease, and ages, have been derived from other sources 
 
 
 
 
 Elders. 
 
 Chosen. 
 
 
 Died. 
 
 
 Age. 
 
 John Ogden, Esq., - 
 
 . 
 
 - 
 
 1795 
 
 - 
 
 - 87 
 
 Ebenezer Baldwin, - 
 
 _ . 
 
 - 
 
 1801 
 
 - 
 
 - 77 
 
 Job Foster, 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 1793 
 
 - 
 
 - 60 
 
 Moses Farrand, 
 
 . 
 
 - 
 
 1805 
 
 - 
 
 - 77 
 
 Elihu Crane, 
 
 . 
 
 - 
 
 1786 
 
 - 
 
 - 60 
 
 David Burnet, 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 1800 
 
 - 
 
 - 64 
 
 Ephraim Morris, 
 
 
 
 
 
 - — 
 
 Stephen Baldwin, 
 
 . 
 
 - 
 
 1816 
 
 - 
 
 - 74 
 
 Jonathan Baldwin, - >- 
 
 1794 - 
 
 - 
 
 1816 
 
 - 
 
 - 85 
 
 Abiathar Dod, 
 
 1794 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 - — 
 
 Eleazer Bruen, 
 
 1794 - 
 
 - 
 
 1821 
 
 - 
 
 - 80 
 
 * On page 146, note, the name of John Ailing is mentioned. On reflection, I doubt 
 whether he was an elder for this Church. 
 
314 
 
 Elders. 
 
 Joseph Clisbe," 
 David D. Crane,f 
 Isaac Ailing, 
 Jabcz Baldwin, 
 Joseph Keen,t 
 Joseph Conger, 
 Nathaniel Beach, 
 James Tichenor, 
 Moses Roberts,! 
 Isaac Nichols, 
 Oliver WadeJ 
 Stephen Hays, jr., IT - 
 Joseph 0. Hornblower, 
 Halsted Coe,** 
 William Tuttle, 
 Obadiah Woodruff, - 
 Hugh McDougal,tt - 
 Moses Smith, 
 Jesse Baldwin, 
 John Poinier, 
 Isaac N. Beach, 
 Aaron Nichols, 
 Archibald Woodruff, 
 Peter Jacobus, 
 Charles C. Williams, XX 
 John Taylor, 
 Uzal J. Tuttle, 
 Samuel P. Smith,?? - 
 Caleb Baldwin, Jr.,||| 
 Joseph N. Tuttle, - 
 Demas Colton, 
 Preserved H. Porter, 
 Cornelius I. Jacobu?, 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 
 
 
 Clio 
 
 Dud. 
 
 A»c. 
 
 - 
 
 17H4 - 
 
 - . 
 
 - — 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 183S' - 
 
 - 75 
 
 - 
 
 1799 - 
 
 - 1819 - 
 
 - 70 
 
 - 
 
 1799 - 
 
 - 1820 - 
 
 - 67 
 
 - 
 
 1802 - 
 
 . . 
 
 . — 
 
 - 
 
 1S02 - 
 
 - 1820 - 
 
 - 60 
 
 - 
 
 1802 - 
 
 - 1808 - 
 
 - 53 
 
 - 
 
 1802 - 
 
 - 1839 - 
 
 - 08 
 
 - 
 
 1808 - 
 
 - 1853 - 
 
 - 87 
 
 - 
 
 1808 - ' 
 
 • . 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 1811 - 
 
 - 1822 - 
 
 - 40 
 
 - 
 
 1811 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 1811 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 1816 - 
 
 - 1832 - 
 
 - 73 
 
 - 
 
 1816 - 
 
 - 1847 - 
 
 "- 65 
 
 - 
 
 1820 - 
 
 - 1842 - 
 
 - 74 
 
 - 
 
 1820 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 1820 - 
 
 - 1833 - 
 
 - 52 
 
 - 
 
 1824 - 
 
 - 1839 - 
 
 - 81 
 
 - 
 
 1824 - 
 1824 - ' 
 
 - 1834 - 
 
 - 66 
 
 - 
 
 - 1835 - 
 
 - 45 
 
 - 
 
 1832 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 1832 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 1832 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 1832 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 1843 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 1843 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 1843 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 1843 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 1852 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 1852 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 1852 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 1852 
 
 
 
 * Removed to the State of New \"ork 
 in 1S00, and became an Elder Ibere. 
 t Dismissed to the Third Church, 1824. 
 X Removed to the Second Church. 
 § Dismissed to the Third Church, 1824. 
 I! Removed to SpriDgBeld about 1816. 
 II Licensed to preach, 1825. 
 
 ** Dismissed to the Second Church, 
 1825. 
 
 tt Dismissed to the Third Church. 
 
 XX Removed West. 
 
 £§ Removed to form the South Park 
 Cburcb, 1853. 
 
 HI Removed to Orange, 1851. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 315 
 
 DKACO.VS. 
 
 Lawrence Ward, 
 Michael Tompkins, 
 Richard Lawrence, 
 Azariah Crane, 
 Joseph Canfield, 
 James Wheeler,* 
 Samuel Ailing,* 
 Stephen Baldwin, 
 Caleb Wheeler, 
 Ebenezer Baldwin, 
 Stephen Baldwin, 
 Ephraim Morris,! 
 Isaac Ailing, 
 James Tichenor, 
 Isaac Nichols, 
 Obadiah Woodruff, 
 Aaron Nichols, 
 William Tuttle, 
 Jos. C. Hornblower, 
 John Taylor, 
 
 
 1794 
 
 1704 
 1802 
 
 1824 
 
 1852 
 
 1852 
 
 Died. 
 
 1669 
 1690 
 1691 
 1730 
 
 1747 
 1793 
 1783 
 1793 
 1801 
 1816 
 
 1819 
 
 1839 
 
 1842 
 1847 
 
 Age. 
 
 83 
 
 52 
 63 
 95 
 76 
 
 76 
 
 77 
 74 
 
 70 
 
 68 
 
 74 
 
 05 
 
 * From an old deed I learn that James Wheeler and Samuel Ailing were Deacons 
 as early as 1744. 
 t Removed to tfloomfield. 
 
 TRUSTEES OF THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, NEWARK. 
 
 Ihose design ate i.l by small capitals were Presidents of the Board. 
 
 
 Appointed. 
 
 
 Appointed. 
 
 Christopher Wood, 
 
 - 
 
 1753 
 
 Caleb Camp, junior, 
 
 - 1781 
 
 John Crane, , 
 
 - 
 
 
 Joseph Baldwin, 
 
 - 1781 
 
 Nathaniel Camp, 
 
 - 
 
 
 JosEPn Alling, 
 
 prior to 1783 
 
 Joseph Camp, 
 
 ■» 
 
 
 Alexander Eagles, 
 
 - 1783 
 
 Jonathan Sergeant, 
 
 - 
 
 
 Elisha Boudinot, 
 
 - 1784 
 
 Joseph Riggs, 
 
 - 
 
 
 John Johnson, 
 
 - 1786 
 
 Israel Crane, 
 
 - 
 
 
 Isaac Ailing, 
 
 - 1787 
 
 Sam'l Pennington, resigned 1781 
 
 
 Joseph Davis, 
 
 - 1788 
 
 Thos. Canfield, 
 
 u u 
 
 
 Nathaniel Beach, 
 
 - 1793 
 
 Caleb Wheeler, 
 
 prior to 1781 
 
 Daniel Johnson, 
 
 - 1787 
 
 Samuel Curry, 
 
 « 
 
 1781 
 
 Jesse Baldwin, 
 
 - 1787 
 
 Benjamin Coe, 
 
 <( 
 
 1781 
 
 Nathaniel Beach, 
 
 1793 
 
316 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Trustees. 
 
 Appointed. 
 
 Trustees. 
 
 Appointed. 
 
 Abraham Ward, 
 
 - 179(i 
 
 John Poinier, 
 
 - 1820 
 
 John Burnet, 
 
 - 1795 
 
 James Bruen, 
 
 - 182U 
 
 Joseph Brown, 
 
 - 179G 
 
 Aaron Nichols, 
 
 - 1822 
 
 Joseph Camp, 
 
 - 179G 
 
 Caleb S. Riggs, 
 
 - 1823 
 
 Caleb Wheeler, 
 
 - 1797 
 
 Frederick S. Thomas, - 
 
 - 1820 
 
 Nathaniel Camp, 
 
 - 1797 
 
 William Pennington, - 
 
 - 1827 
 
 John N. Cumming, 
 
 - 1798 
 
 Philo Sanford, 
 
 - 1828 
 
 Samuel Whitaker, 
 
 - 1798 
 
 Peter Jacobus, 
 
 - 1828 
 
 Samuel Hay, 
 
 - 1801 
 
 Isaac Baldwin, 
 
 - 1832 
 
 Moses Roberts, 
 
 - 1801 
 
 Jedediah J. Baldwin, - 
 
 - 1833 
 
 Jeremiah Baldwin, 
 
 - 1802 
 
 John W. Poinier, 
 
 - 1833 
 
 Moses Baldwin, 
 
 - 1802 
 
 Gabriel Tichenor, 
 
 - 1834 
 
 Stephen Hays, 
 
 - 1802 
 
 James H. Robinson, 
 
 - 1835 
 
 Joseph T. Baldwin, 
 
 - 1805 
 
 Joseph A. Halsey, 
 
 - 1836 
 
 Isaac Andruss, 
 
 - 1806 
 
 P. II. Porter, 
 
 - 1836 
 
 Robert B. Campfield, - 
 
 - 1809 
 
 Moses B. Coe, 
 
 - 1S37 
 
 Nehemiah Baldwin, 
 
 - 1809 
 
 Lyndon A. Smith, 
 
 - 1838 
 
 James Hedden, 
 
 - 1811 
 
 Joseph N. Tuttle, 
 
 - 1841 
 
 David Nichols, 
 
 - 1811 
 
 Samuel II. Pennington, 
 
 - 1841 
 
 Lewis Thibou, 
 
 - 1811 
 
 Charles S. Macknet, 
 
 - 1846 
 
 ITzal Sayres, 
 
 - 1812 
 
 Dcmas Colton, 
 
 - 1851 
 
 Silas Condit, 
 
 - 1812 
 
 Horace II. Nichols, 
 
 - 1851 
 
 David Tichenor, 
 
 - 1815 
 
 Ira M. Harrison, 
 
 - 1852 
 
 Caleb Carter, 
 
 - 1817 
 
 Algernon S. Hubbell, - 
 
 - 1853 
 
 Moses Smith, 
 
 - 1818 
 
 William Shugard, 
 
 - 1853 
 
 John Taylor, 
 
 - 1820 
 
 
 
 Some of the persons in the above list served but a single year ; others 
 two or three years. Some were re-elected several times, with greater or 
 less intervals. 
 
 The Bulding Committee who had charge of the erection of the present 
 house of worship, were — 
 
 Caleb Wheeler, 
 Caleb Camp, 
 Nathaniel Camp, 
 Joseph Banks, 
 
 William P. Smith, 
 Samuel Hayes, 
 Benjamin Coe, 
 Joseph Davis, 
 
 Moses Farraud, 
 Isaac Plum, 
 Abiel Camfleld, 
 Abraham Ward, 
 
 Isaac Ailing, 
 
 Daniel Johnson. 
 

 * 
 
 
 
 JO. 
 
L ith ofT.Bonar.X. Y. 
 
REFERENCES 
 
 To the Town Plot and Home Lots of the First Settlers of Pesayak Towne 
 —New Work, or Newark— in 16G0-1C80 : 
 
 In the North East Section. 
 
 A Deacon Laurance Ward. 
 
 B John Catlin. [1] 
 
 G Samuel Kitehell. 
 
 D Josiah Ward. 
 
 E John Rogers. 
 
 F Robert Kitehell. 
 
 G Jeremiah Pecke. 
 
 II Obadiah Bruen. 
 
 ] The Seaman's Lot. [2] 
 
 J Thomas Richards. 
 
 K John Harrison. 
 
 L Aaron Blatchly. 
 
 JT Stephen Davis. 
 
 iV Samuel Plum. 
 
 John Crane. 
 
 P The Boatman's Lot. 
 
 Q Robert Lymon. 
 
 P John Davis. 
 
 [3] 
 
 In the North Wi 
 
 A Lieutenant Samuel Swaine. 
 
 />' Serjeant Richard Harrison. 
 
 G Edward Ball. 
 
 D John Morris, in 1668. 
 
 E John Ward, senior. 
 
 F Matthew Camfield. 
 
 G Abraham Pierson, junior. 
 
 Tl Jasper Crane. 
 
 / Thomas Pierson, senio% 
 
 ■J Benjamin Baldwin. 
 
 K Thomas Huntington. 
 
 :st Section. 
 
 L Alexander Munrow. 
 
 M The Elders' Lot. [4] 
 
 N John Ward, j un'r, the turner. 
 
 O Deacon Richard Laurance. 
 
 P Delivered Crane. 
 
 Q Hans Albers. 
 
 11 Samuel Rose. 
 
 8 The Miller's Lot. [5] 
 
 T Samuel Dod. 
 
 U Daniel Dod. 
 
 V The Corn Mill. 
 
 A Gap tain Robert Treat. [6 
 
 />' Abraham Pierson, senior. 
 
 C Robert Denison. 
 
 D Thomas Johnson 
 
 In the South East Sect/on. 
 
 F. < reorge Day. 
 F Nathaniel Wheeler. 
 G Joseph Riggs. 
 IF William Camp. 
 
i 
 
 ..>- H Conoaft //**/. 
 
 L ith ofT. Bon at: 3. '. ) '. 
 
 NEWORKE or PESAYAR TOWNE,_ 1666_ 1680. 
 
318 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 / .Martin Tichenor. 
 
 J Stephen Freeman. 
 
 K John Curtis. [7] 
 
 L John Baldwin, senior. 
 
 M Thomas Staples. 
 
 N" John Baldwin, junior. 
 
 Deacon Michael Tomkins. 
 
 P Jonathan Tomkins. 
 
 Q Ephraim Pennington. 
 
 R Seth Tomkins. 
 
 8 The Tailor's Lot. [8] 
 
 T Thomas Pierson, junior. 
 
 U Samuel Harrison. 
 
 V John Browne, junior. 
 
 W Edward Riggs. 
 
 X Hush Roberts. 
 
 In the South Wej 
 
 u i The Meeting House Lot. [0] 
 
 /; Captain Treat's extra. [10] 
 
 C John Johnson. 
 
 T) Parsonage Home Lot. [11] 
 
 E John Browne, senior. 
 
 F Stephen Bond. 
 
 G Zachariah Burwell. 
 
 // Ephraim Burwell. 
 
 / Thomas Ludington. 
 
 J John Brooks. 
 
 K Thomas Lvon. 
 
 t Section. 
 
 L Joseph Johnson. 
 
 M John Treat. 
 
 X John Gregory. [12] 
 
 0. Henry Lyon. 
 
 P Joseph Walters. 
 
 Q Samuel Camfield. 
 
 R Robert Dalglish, (Douglass.) 
 
 S Francis Linsley. 
 
 T Matthew Williams. [13] 
 
 TT Walter's second division. 
 
 W 98 
 
 1 
 
NOTES. 
 
 [I] In 1693 granted to the Rev. John Prudden. 
 
 [2] In 1673 granted by the town to Ebenezer Dod. 
 
 [8] In 1670 Jonathan Sergeant's "by exchange.' 
 
 [4] Granted to John Ward, junior, and John Johnson, in 1G78, for their 
 sons. 
 
 [5] In 1683 one-half Richard Harrison's "by exchange." 
 
 [ii[ In 1673 Azariah Crane's, the son-in-law of Captain Robert Treat. 
 
 [7] "John Curtis hath for his home-lot six acres, be it more or less, being 
 bounded with Stephen Freeman, north; John Bauldwin, senior, 
 south ; the highway west, and y e town swamp east, about two or 
 three rods in y e swamp east." — {Town Bool.) On this tract is the 
 present parsonage of the First Presbyterian Church. It 1756 it was 
 the property of Mr. Burr. In 1738 it was Mr. Webb's. 
 
 [8] In 1672 granted to Samuel Lyon. 
 
 ]0] ".Ml that small tract allotted for the burying-place taking in the pond 
 and meeting-house, being seven chains in length and four in breadth, 
 bounded west by John Treat, south by John Johnson, north and east 
 by highways." — Town Patent, 1696. 
 
 [10] " Item. Mr. Robert Treat had given him two acres of land in y e town 
 
 plot, near the frog-pond, in lieu of his great and expense with 
 
 y e Indians about purchasing y c lands, which is bounded with j" high- 
 ways west and north, and y e pond and swamp east and south." — 
 Town Bool: 
 
 [II] "A home lot, in length ten chains, breadth at the east and middle 
 
 three chains lacking six feet, and at the west end four chains and 
 three-quarters." — (Town Patent.) On this stood the parsonage 
 house occupied by Mr. Burr, and in which Dr. Macwhorter died. 
 
320 NOTES. 
 
 [12] In 1G88 the Town sold to Henry Lyon "that home lot that was for- 
 merly John Gregory's by exchange, that lyeth next his own consist- 
 ing of seven acres, for Ten Pounds, seven pounds whereof he is to 
 pay by discharging the Town of their country rate, and three pounds 
 he is to procure shingle nails for, as soon as he can, or to do his true 
 endeavour to get them." — Town Record. 
 
 [13] In 1680, ten acres, part of a second division. 
 
 The road to " the landing-place," now Fulton street, was laid out in 1G7G, 
 and again in 1735. 
 
 High street was laid out and staked "as the path runs" in 1695, two rods 
 wide. 
 
 The line of asterisks indicate the location of the common fence for the 
 protection of " the neck," of which each planter maintained his just propor- 
 tion as determined by a committee. 
 
 The engraver has made the biook from the town swamp run into the 
 river, which is incorrect. 
 
 The sketch on the left hand represents the second meeting-house, in which 
 David Brainerd was ordained. That on the right, with armed men watch- 
 ing, the first meeting-house, " 36 feet square." The number, size, form and 
 position of the windows and doors in the latter is uncertain. 
 

 
 
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