Folks:
Here is some fascinating information extracted from the Appendix of The Life of John Brainerd : the Brother of David Brainerd, and his successor as Missionary to the Indians of New Jersey (pp. 455-456, 466-478, 480-482).
There are some place names contained herein—such as “Brainerd”—that cannot be found even in Gordon’s Gazetteer. I hope you enjoy the read:
Letter of Rev. Joseph O. Symmes, of Cranberry, N. J., concerning
Bethel, the former Indian town in his neighborhood:—
CRANBERRY, N. J., August 27, 1864.
REV. THOMAS BRAINERD, D.D.:—
DEAR SIR:—You came thirty years too late to collect accurate information from the people with reference to the labors of the Brainerds among the Indians in this vicinity. Those who possessed such information have passed away; and all that remains consists of the traditions of a former generation, always inaccurate in some points. But such traditions abound among us; and perhaps it would be well to put some of them upon record. Some of them assert very definitely that under an old elm-tree, now standing at the north end of our village, Brainerd was accustomed to gather his Indians for the worship of God. It is not stated which one of the Brainerds it was; but, as it was probably before the Indian settlement at Bethel, it would seem to have been David.
Concerning the location of the Indian town of Bethel there can be no doubt. It lies to the northeast of the village of Cranberry, a little more than two miles away in a straight line, which is the Indian line. It is about one mile to the west of Old King George’s Road. You remarked, once, that your only doubt about this being the location was in its distance from a stream of water. But the Indian Field, as it has long been called, lies on a small stream of never-failing water, supplied by two or three springs; and at the lower end of the Field there is a dam that has been from two to six feet high, and wide enough to permit a wagon to pass. It is still in existence, and is called Beaver Dam, but was probably built by the Indians. This would have given them a large pond of clear water. The space once occupied by the pond was long mowed for hay, but is now a waste. Besides this dam, there are a few old apple-trees to mark the locality; they are said to be the remains of an orchard planted by the Indians. They stand scattered over the ground in such a manner as indicates that they were never planted in regular order. They seem to be natural fruit; but some of them still yield a very good apple. Some of the oldest people around say there was a large orchard there when they were young, which was a great resort of the school-children. The grounds are now under cultivation, and the soil is such as could be made very productive.
There are old burial-grounds in various localities around; but they are falling into neglect, and the traces of them will soon disappear altogether. There are still some momentos preserved of those who were once possessors of this soil; but, as they were crowded out of their possessions by their greedy white brethren, they disappeared from the face of the earth, and their memory is rapidly fading away from the minds of the living. We should rejoice in every effort, such as yours, to rescue that memory from oblivion, and especially such as record the labors made to save the sons of the forest from the march of our civilization,—labors which, though their direct fruits have perished, will yet be had in everlasting remembrance.
Yours very truly,
Joseph G. Symmes.
———————————
Letter of Rev. Allen H. Brown, of Absecom, N. J., on John Brainerd's
Domestic Missionary Labors.
REV. THOMAS BRAINERD, D.D.
DEAR SIR:—Upon a subject of such mutual interest as the life and labors of the Rev. John Brainerd, I extend to you the right hand of cooperation. For seventeen years I have travelled more or less extensively over the same ground which he trod, and during this period have discovered some facts respecting the churches planted by him, which had passed into oblivion and were entirely unknown to the Presbyteries of the present day. Like a traveller among ancient ruins, we felt a sadness, which was relieved somewhat by the hope that these ruins shall be built again.
From the second volume of the Minutes of the Presbytery of Philadelphia, commencing with 1759, it appears that frequent supplications for supplies were presented, and that appointments were made, for Great Egg Harbor and Little Egg Harbor, and in 1762 supplies were requested for Barnegat Shore. During the time of the Revolutionary War, and subsequently, these places are mentioned with less frequency.
First in time and importance here belongs Mr. Brainerd’s letter to Enoch Green (published originally in Dr. Van Rensselaer's Presbyterian Magazine for 1852, p. 471).
The attentive reader, comparing the private houses herein mentioned with the meeting-houses of Mr. Fithian’s later journal, will notice the progress made in the erection of houses of worship from 1761 to 1775. For purposes of reference the following letter is reinserted:—
TRENTON, June 21, 1761.
REV’D AND DEAR SIR:—
It has not been in my power, by any means, to make a visit to the Shore since the session of Synod, and consequently could not make appointments for you. Your places of preaching, however, will be as follows; Tom’s River, the most northerly place; then southward, Goodluck, either at Thomas Potter’s or David Woodmansee’s; Barnegat, at Mr. Rulon’s; Manuhocking, Mr. Haywood’s or Mr. Randal’s; Wading River, at Charles Loveman’s or John Leak’s; Great Egg Harbor, Captain Davis’, Wm. Reed’s, Benjamin Ingersoll’s, Andrew Blackman’s, John English's, Philip Scull's, George May's, and Elijah Clark's; Cape May, either at Captain Stillwill’s or John Golden’s, and at Tuckahoe meeting-house; and at any other places you may think proper when you come on the spot. And some of those mentioned, possibly, you may not think best to preach at; that will be as you judge best; but these are the houses where meetings are generally held.
If you could begin with Tom’s River, and be there a day or two before Sabbath to notify the people, then you might make the rest of your appointments and send them seasonably before you. The proportion will be two Sabbaths to the northward of Little Egg Harbor, three in Great Egg Harbor, one at the Cape or Tuckahoe, and as many weekly lectures at all as you can.
Thus, dear sir, in a minute or two, as I pass through town, I have given you these hints, which, perhaps, may be of some use to your tour on the Shore: in which I hope the blessing of God will attend your labors, and am, with all respect,
Reverend and dear sir,
Your affectionate brother,
JOHN BRAINERD.
To the Rev. ENOCH GREEN.
P.S.—If you could consult with Mr. Thomas Smith and Mr. McKnight, who will succeed you, and make their appointments for them, it would be of use. I hope you will be kind enough to call and see me on your return.
Tom’s River is now the flourishing county seat of Ocean county. Its old, dilapidated, free church has been succeeded by substantial the latter was dedicated in Methodist and Presbyterian churches September, 1858.
Here for several years has been a Mormon house of worship. If the labors begun by Brainerd and his cotemporaries had not been suspended for three-quarters of a century, whether Mormonism would have found this only home in New Jersey is a question which we submit to the consideration of the thoughtful reader.
At Goodluck is a tombstone, with this inscription: “In memory of Thomas Potter, the Friend and Patron of John Murray, an early advocate of Universalism in America.”
The curious autobiography of Murray, published in Boston in 1853, gives an account of eccentric Thomas Potter, and illustrates the times and scenes during which our missionaries labored.
Murray, taking passage in a vessel from Philadelphia to New York, was driven ashore, during a fog, near Cranberry Inlet. In quest of fish, he met Potter, who surprised him by his abrupt refusal to sell, and free offer to give what he needed. Potter gives this account of himself and the country:—
“I am a poor, ignorant man; I know neither how to read nor write. I was born in these woods, and my father did not think proper to teach me my letters. I went on coasting-voyages to New York, and was pressed on board a man-of-war; I ran away, and returned. I entered into navigation, constructed a saw-mill, and have got together a largo estate. I opened my house to the stranger, and especially if a travelling minister passed this way he always received an invitation to put up at my house and hold his meetings here. I continued this practice for seven years, and was fond of asking them questions. My wife became weary of having meetings held in her house; and I determined to build a house for the worship of God. My neighbors offered assistance; but I declined it, and said that God will send me a preacher, and of a very different stamp from those who have heretofore preached at my house and are perpetually contradicting themselves.”
The Baptists first applied for the house; but Potter replied that all should be equally welcome to preach in it. The Quakers and Presbyterians received similar answers. He continues:—
“I engaged the first year with a man whom I exceedingly disliked. We parted; and for some years we have had no stated minister.”
Potter claimed a vivid impression, almost a supernatural intimation, that the vessel cast away contained the long-looked-for preacher after his own heart, and that Murray was the man.
Murray, seeing only thick woods (the tavern across the field excepted), requested to know what he meant by neighbors.
“Oh, sir, we assemble a large congregation whenever the meetinghouse is opened. Indeed, when my father first settled here, he was obliged to go twenty miles to grind a bushel of corn; but there are now more than seven hundred inhabitants within that distance.”
The wind continuing unfavorable for Murray’s departure, he on Saturday afternoon consented to preach, and servants were sent on horseback to give notice, far and wide, until ten in the evening.
It was in September, 1770, when John Murray consented to accept Potter’s invitation, and remain a few years preaching universal salvation. He says:—
“Our Sundays were indeed blessed, holy days! People began to throng from all quarters on horseback; some from the distance of twenty miles.”
This may seem too extended a digression from John Brainerd's letter to Enoch Green; and we will return to it, after giving Murray's account of Potter's dwelling and meeting-house:
“I returned to the cabin. The house was neat, the situation enchanting: it was on the margin of the deep, on the side of an extensive bay, which abounded with fish of every description and a great variety of water-fowl. On the other side of this dwelling, after passing over a few fields (which at this time stood thick with corn), venerable woods, that seemed the coevals of time, presented a ‘scene for contemplation fit, towering majestic, and filling the devotional mind with a religious awe.’
“I entered the meeting-house. It was neat and convenient, expressive of the character of the builder. There were no pews: the pulpit was rather in the Quaker mode; the seats were constructed with backs, roomy, and 'even elegant. I said there were no pews: there was one large square pew just before the pulpit; in this sat the venerable man and his family, particular friends, and visiting strangers. In this pew sat upon this occasion this happy man; and surely no man upon this side of heaven was ever more completely happy.”
Potter, in his last will, gave the meeting-house and one acre of ground to John Murray. Subsequently the executor sold the adjoining property, and, no reservation being made of the meeting-house, this passed into the hands of the Methodists, by whom it is still held. A Conference of Universalists was held there in 1833, and by them the tombstone was erected to the memory of Thomas Potter.
In another burial-ground at Goodluck is an old brown head-stone with this inscription:—
David Woodmansee,
Born Nov. 14, 1719,
Died July 13, 1799,
In his 80th year.
From Tom’s River to Tuckerton is a distance, from north to south, of thirty miles. In this district lived the Potters, the Woodmansees, the Rulons, the Haywoods, and the Randals. Only recently has the Presbyterian Church cultivated this important district, and appointed an itinerant for the pleasant and populous villages of Forked River, Weir Town, Barnegat, and Manuhocking. Webster’s History (page 568) says: “There was in 1767 a new Presbyterian meeting-house at Barnegat, and probably as early was one at Manahawken;” but I have not yet found the oldest inhabitants who can give any traditional confirmation of this statement.
Coming from Tuckerton and the ocean, about six or nine miles in a northwesterly course, and keeping on the north side of the Little Egg Harbor or Mullica River, in Burlington county, we find Bass River and Wading River, where lived the Lovemans and the Leaks. A small church at Bass River, and a more costly edifice at Tuckerton, with its school and parsonage and settled pastor, and among the results of many visits of the Rev. Samuel Miller and others, and of the one visit of Rev. Dr. C. Van Rensselaer, who gave not only his living but dying testimony to the importance of the field by his legacy of one thousand dollars to the Church of Tuckerton.
We must continue the same course wearily through the sand to find a bridge at the head of navigation whereby we cross into the Great Egg Harbor country, between the Little and Great Egg Harbor Rivers, now belonging to Atlantic county. In this district lived the next eight families, to whom Mr. Brainerd introduced Mr. Green. Here, too, fourteen years afterwards, Mr. Fithian found three houses of worship; and at the present day the traveller will find four edifices and five Presbyterian organizations, viz, May’s Landing, Leed’s Point, Absecom, Brainerd, and Hammonton.
On the borders of Atlantic, Cumberland, and Cape May counties is Tuckahoe, with a Presbyterian church of recent origin.
We cannot positively decide what or where was the only meeting-house which Mr. Green could occupy in his long ride: long indeed, for he could not visit all the places mentioned between the two extremes, Tom’s River and Tuckahoe meeting-house, even by the most direct route, without riding at least one hundred miles; and while searching out the families he probably travelled much more.
The following statements are drawn chiefly from permanent records; while some of the connecting links of history are furnished by living witnesses.
They were published in the Woodbury “Constitution” in 1850.
We now present some extracts from the journal of Mr. Philip V, Fithian, who was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Philadelphia, November 6, 1774, and who visited Egg Harbor in February, 1775. The original journal is in the possession of Dr. E. Fithian, of Greenwich, to whose kindness we are indebted for a copy of this interesting document.
“Friday, February 3, 1775.—Early in the morning, in company with Dr. Elmer, I left Cohansie for Egg Harbor. We arrived at Mr. Thomas Stites’, at Great Egg Harbor, about 4 P.M. Sermon was appointed for Sunday at Mr. Champion’s, in the neighborhood, a half-brother in the cause.
“Sunday, 5th.—Many straggling, impertinent, vociferous swamp-men accompanied me this morning; they, however, used me with great civility. At 12 began service. There were present between forty and fifty persons, who were attentive without any impropriety of behavior, and seemed to have some solemnity. I spoke with great freedom of spirit, yet, I hope, with a real reverence of the universal presence and awful majesty of the great God.
“Monday, 6th.—I rode to the Forks at Little Egg Harbor, and put up, according to direction, at Elijah Clark’s, Esq. Mr. Clark is a man of fortune and taste: he appears also to be a man of integrity and piety, an Israelite indeed; and, O religion, thou hast one warm and unfeigned advocate in good and useful Mrs. Clark! I had rather have her spirit with the condition of a starving beggar, than destitute of it to have the wealth of worlds: she has more than the form, she has the spirit, of religion. This peaceful, friendly, heaven-like spirit is breathing from her in every sentence.
“Wednesday, 8th.—According to appointment, I preached in Mr. Clark’s little log meeting-house; present about forty. I understand the people in this wild and thinly-settled country are extremely nice and difficult to be suited in preaching; one would think that scarcely any but a clamorous person, who has assurance enough to make a rumpus and bluster in the pulpit, would have admirers here. It is, however, otherwise. They must have, before they can be entertained, good speaking, good sense, sound divinity, and neatness and cleanliness in the person and dress of the preacher: this I found from the remarks which several of them freely made upon gentlemen who had formerly preached here.
“Sunday, 12th.—We had at the small log house a large assembly. The day snowy. I preached but once.
“Monday, 13th.—I rode by appointment up to Brotherton, and preached to Mr. Brainerd's Indians. Present about thirty, and as many white people.”
Mr. Fithian then proceeded to Greenwich, and, returning on the 21st to Egg Harbor, writes thus:—
“Saturday, 25th.—From the Forks of Little Egg Harbor I rode to the seashore, to Mr. Price's, an English young gentleman of fortune and breeding, with a design to preach still lower down.
“Sunday, 26th.—I preached to a thin assembly at Cedar Bridge meeting-house. At 2 P.M. I preached at Absecom, at one Mr. Steelman’s; a full house.
“Monday, 27th.—At 11 I preached at Clark’s Mill meeting-house; the assembly very attentive. Here they gave me a dollar. Afternoon, I returned to the Forks; found Mr. and Mrs. Brainerd there.
“Sunday, March 12th.—Our little meeting-house almost filled. Most of the people from the Furnace, almost every one from Mr. Clark’s little settlement and Mr. Wescott’s; and, blessed be God! all seemed attentive. I preached twice.
“Monday, 13th.—After dinner I rode over to the Furnace” at Batsto, “and visited friendly and agreeable Mrs. Richards. Toward evening, with Mr. and Mrs. R. and Mrs. B., called to see Mrs. P., where we had some useful conversation. In the evening, rode from the Furnace to the singing-school: we had not, however, the greatest harmony. On our return, at my lodgings was pious Mr. Brainerd arrived for the serious exercises appointed for to-morrow. I sat with him and listened to his pious and useful discourse till 11, when I went reluctantly to bed.
“Tuesday, 14th.—A solemn fast. The day rainy: we have yet a good number. At Mr. Brainerd’s request, I preached first from Lamentations iii. 40, composed for the occasion. Mr. B. afterwards preached an excellent discourse on the happiness of a strong and special reliance on the merits of the Redeemer.
“I have said that the people here are nice in their taste concerning preaching. It is not without reason; they have had subjects for comparison. Mr. Brainerd and Mr. Clark enumerated the following gentlemen who have occasionally, and some of them very often, preached here as supplies: Messrs. Brainerd, Tennent, Smith, Benj. Chestnut, Hunter, Spencer, Dr. James Sproat, Charles Beatty, Wm. Ramsey, Nehemiah Greenman, Green, J. Clark, S. Clark, McKnight, McCracken, Mitchell, Watt, Boyd, Gravis, Brockway, Van Artsdalen, Hollinshead McClure, Frisby, Keith, and Andrew Hunter, jr.”
Here are the names of twenty-six Presbyterian ministers besides Mr. Fithian, who left their flocks in Cape May, Philadelphia, and other places, and travelled long distances on horseback that they might seek and feed the few scattered sheep in the wilderness. Mr. Greenman at one time left his congregation at Pilesgrove, now Pittsgrove, and spent six months on the shore, and almost made an engagement to settle there.
What conclusion shall we draw? Did those servants of God esteem this region more important, or had they any more of the spirit of self-sacrifice than their successors, that until recently, and with a vastly increased population, the existence and situation of these churches were actually unknown to the two Presbyteries within, or rather between, whose bounds this Egg Harbor country is situated? May a double portion of their spirit fall upon us, and may their God raise up and qualify many to walk in their footsteps!
We proceed to show the situation of the places which Rev. P. V. Fithian mentions in his journal. “Champion’s,” to whose place he first came, was probably near Tuckahoe, as one part of the village is now called Champion's Landing. The waters of the Atsion and Batsto Creeks unite near the present villages of Pleasant Mills and Batsto, and form the Little Egg Harbor or Mullica River. At or near these Forks stood “Mr. Clark’s little log meeting-house,” built of cedar logs and about twenty-five feet square, ceiled throughout with cedar. Upon nearly the same site stands a commodious house of worship, in which the Methodist Episcopal Church has the preference: yet it is free to all denominations, and for nearly three years has been occupied by a Presbyterian minister once in two weeks.
Brotherton, or Indian Town, or Edge Billock [sic], where some of Mr. Brainerd’s Indians were settled, was ten miles north of Batsto, in Burlington county; and that district is now commonly called Shamong.
Mr. Fithian next proceeded to the shore of the present Atlantic county, and on his way called on Mr. Price, who lived on the estate now occupied by Enoch Doughty, Esq.
“Steelman’s” house was a large two-story dwelling, standing until recently, about a mile north of Absecom, and on the eastern side of the shore road. The lower story was divided into three rooms, but the upper story was undivided, having a large chimney in the centre, and afforded a convenient place for any minister to preach the gospel.
“Clark’s Mill meeting-house” was in the northeastern part of Atlantic county, nearly one mile from Unionville. The old burying-ground near the residence of the late Sherman Clark marks its true position. An aged member of the same family, who remembers in his boyhood to have seen John Brainerd, has informed us that this house was about twenty-five feet broad and thirty feet long, and was covered with shingles, and, having been neglected for a long time, was blown down thirty or more years ago. Here was an organized Presbyterian church, and Robert Doughty and Thomas Clark were the ruling elders.
“Cedar Bridge meeting-house,” called also Blackman’s meetinghouse, was near the village of Bargaintown, and about ten miles southeast of May's Landing. It was built of planks nailed perpendicularly.
The following extracts from a deed recorded in Trenton, liber X., folios 407, 408, a copy being certified by James D. Westcott, Secretary of State, will prove the existence of a Presbyterian church and to whom the property of right belongs:—
“This Indenture, made the nineteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and sixty-four, between Andrew Blackman, Cordwainer, of Egg Harbor, in the county of Gloucester and Province of New Jersey, of the one party, and Joseph Ingersoll, John Scull, Joseph Scull, and Return Babcock, of the aforesaid township, county, and province, of the other party, Witnessed, that the said Andrew Blackman, for and in consideration of the sum of two pounds, proclamation-money, to him in hand paid before the ensealing hereof, by Joseph Ingersoll, &c, * * * hath granted, sold, Ac, * * * ; containing one acre, more or less, together with the mines, Ac, * * * ; for the erecting, building, and standing of a Presbyterian Meeting-House, for the carrying on of Publick Religious worship for all that shall incline to meet and assemble in it; together with a publick Burying-yard, for the interment of the deceased of all denominations.” * * *
Three years afterward, June 2, 1767, a memorandum was written on the back of the deed, explaining the views of the persons named, and proving that the house had then been erected. It reads as follows :—
“We, the within Grantees, * * * having been chosen Trustees to carry on and manage the building of a Presbyterian meeting-house upon the lands within granted and sold for that purpose, do hereby acknowledge that the said land and meeting-house is not our own personal property, but is bought and built by a subscription of many persons; neither do we claim any other interest in it but what we have in common with all who have subscribed hereto; and, though the legal title is vested in us, yet we hold it only in behalf of our constituents, and do promise that it shall be kept as a house of publick worship and the land for a free Burying-yard, in which all may have equal privileges with ourselves, without monopolizing it or engrossing and applying it to any private use of our own. A memorandum whereof we leave on the back of this instrument, that posterity may not be defrauded of their right or mistaken about the intent hereof, which is to secure a House of Public Worship, as before mentioned. In testimony whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names, hands, and seals.” * * *
Respecting the subsequent history of this house, we content ourselves with adding that, before it was decayed, the materials were removed, and upon a portion of the very site of the old building stands now a brick edifice, bearing on its front this inscription:—
METHODIST CHURCH, 1822.
Let us now visit the remains of another Brainerd church, which have been discovered near Bridgeport, on the Wading River, in Burlington county. There John Brainerd preached under a wide-spreading oak, until a cedar log house was erected. The oak still casts its shade, and a few of the foundation-stones of the building and the crumbling monuments of the burial-ground mark the consecrated spot. Our chief information in reference to it is drawn from the copy of a will which James Linn, Register of the Prerogative Court in 1817, certified to be a true transcript from liber No. 19 of Wills, page 214, &c, remaining in his office. The portion which is interesting to our ecclesiastical history is the following:—
“In the name of God, Amen, I, John Leak, of Little Egg Harbor, in the County of Burlington, in the Western Division of New Jersey, yeoman. I do, this fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-seven, &c. &c, * * * Item. I give and bequeath unto the several inhabitants of Wading River and Bass River, in Little Egg Harbor, and to their heirs forever, they being Presbyterians, for the use of the Presbyterian Meeting-House and burial-ground, one certain lot of land, containing sixty-five perches, butted and bounded as followeth : * * * All which said sixty-five perches of land and meeting-house and burial-ground for the use of a Meeting-House for Presbyterians to carry on the worship of God in. But in case it should so happen in process of time that there should be a vacancy when there is no Presbyterian minister or other person set apart to carry on the worship of God in said meeting-house by said Presbyterians, in that case it is my will that any Protestant minister of any Society, that is well recommended by the Society they belong to, to have the liberty to preach in said meeting-house until the Presbyterians can be enabled to carry on the worship of God in said meeting-house themselves ; and it is my desire that the Presbyterians belonging to said meeting-house, when there is a vacancy as aforesaid, that they lovingly receive those of other societies that come to minister in said house with Christian love and forbearance as much as possible.”
[The Rev. Mr. Brown here gives a detail of Mr. Brainerd's labors among the Indians, but, as he adds no facts to those stated before in this volume, we omit this portion of his letter.]
We propose yet to consider two questions, which are often suggested to the minds of different persons.
Presbyterians, upon hearing the statements contained in this series of letters, with wonder inquire, How is it possible that our Church has so neglected the region in which it was so much esteemed by the first settlers? And some of the descendants of those settlers, many of whom never heard a minister of the Presbyterian Church until very recently, demand, By what right or authority do these intrude into a country where other denominations have so long held undisputed possession?
In reference to the first question, we can present some reasons which have no connection with the doctrine or government of our Church, and which—without admitting her inferiority, or conceding that she was ever driven out, or deliberately determined to abandon that territory—naturally and sufficiently answer the question.
1. Some assign the connection of the churches of West Jersey with the Presbytery and Synod of Philadelphia as an important cause. As they were remote, and attention was called to the more important churches, this thinly-settled region did not receive its due attention.
2. But there is another reason, to which allusion has just been made. We refer to the modern exclusive adherence to the policy of establishing a pastor within a very contracted sphere of usefulness, to the neglect of the work of the evangelist. The first ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
3. There is another reason, which appears to the writer to have been the occasion and immediate cause of the first neglect of those ancient churches, and to this the other two reasons have been accessory, and account for their subsequent neglect until they have been forgotten. This reason, which is offered with deference to the opinion of older men, is drawn from the circumstances of the times. It was a time of trouble and of war. It is perfectly plain that, up to the days of the Revolution, those churches were nourished constantly by the Presbytery of Philadelphia; and it is equally evident that during and after the noble struggle of our fathers for national independence they began to be neglected. Whatever may be the ultimate benefits resulting from war, there can be no question that it is attended by many immediate evils, and that the religious interests of any community cannot escape its desolating influence.
Leaving out of view the decay of vital piety, the changes of residence, the interruption of business and loss of property, all of which would more or less affect the prosperity of churches, and especially the weaker, what was the direct effect upon the ministry? Some pastors were called from their pulpits to attend to national affairs; others, like the Rev. P. V. Fithian, whose journal has been noticed, served as chaplains in the army or navy. The career of this man of God was short; and, while ministering to the sick and dying soldiers, he himself sickened of the camp-fever, and died. What was the natural consequence when such instances multiplied,—at a time, too, when there were no educational societies nor theological seminaries to raise up young men for the ministry, and, owing to the death of some ministers and the unfaithfulness of others, important churches were found destitute of pastors? What, then, more natural than that these vacant churches should first be supplied,—as, for example, John Brainerd was called, in 1777, to be the pastor at Deerfield, where he died, in 1781,—and thus laborers were withdrawn from the frontier to the centre? About the same period the Methodist ministers, who had retired from our country during the Revolutionary War from conscientious convictions of duty (we would believe), returned again; and, with the zeal for which they have ever been celebrated, entered into places which Presbyterians, in consequence of the circumstances of the times, could not cultivate; and we presume that the scattered Presbyterians, seeing no prospect of having a church of their own order, and esteeming their Methodist brethren as pious and devoted men, did act upon the advice of that good Presbyterian, John Leak, and did “receive them with Christian love and forbearance as much as possible.”
A.H.B.
———————————
Letter from Mrs. E. M. Sims.
PHILADELPHIA, December 27, 1864.
My Dear Dr. Brainerd:—
You have given me a task that I scarcely know how to fulfill,—to give you some account of my paternal and maternal grandfathers and grandmothers; they had passed away many years before I was born. My father was an uncommunicative man, though a very superior one; and I should have known but little of his parents but from the fact of my being a very inquisitive child. I asked many questions, and the answers received comprehend my whole store of knowledge.
My mother (John Brainerd’s granddaughter) died before I was old enough to estimate or feel her loss; but an aunt of hers, a sister of Dr. John Ross, who lived till she was an aged woman, and who, from being extremely deaf, dwelt far more in thought with the dead than the living, loved to discourse by the hour on the deceased members of her family, and gave me many little particulars concerning them.
Mr. Elijah Clark, my paternal grandfather, was born in Connecticut (I forget his native town), in 1732,—I think I have heard my father say, was a man of property, and held responsible offices. My grandfather was sent to Yale College, and educated. After completing his course, at a later period, he came into New Jersey, and purchased a large tract of land near Egg Harbor, and built upon it, and settled there. He married Miss Jane Lardner, both a godly and beautiful woman, who was born in Ireland, thought belonging to an English family.
My father told me that the Lardners had been among the Dissenters from an early period. During the wars of the Commonwealth they were firm adherents of Cromwell’s, and served him faithfully. On the accession of Charles II., their position being an uncomfortable one in England, they removed to the north of Ireland, and came from thence to this country. My father's name was John Lardner Clark. My grandparents on this side of the house were very godly people. Elijah Clark, I have always been told, was a man of mind, taste, and cultivation. He possessed a fine library, and was an extensive reader. He owned many slaves, whom he instructed and cared for as his children: he was quite a wealthy man. He erected a small meeting-house on his plantation, and, when unable to procure the services of an ordained minister, held services in this building every Sunday himself for the benefit of his children and dependents. He had quite a large family of children,—eleven, I think; some died in infancy, but seven reached maturity. My father was one of the younger children. He was a very superior and cultivated man, possessing uncommon force and decision of character.
He had not the advantage of a classical training, owing, as he told me, to the very unsettled and disturbed condition of the country when he was a youth. His elder brothers were educated at Princeton. He was born on his father’s plantation about the year 1769, and when quite young came to Philadelphia to reside, entering the counting-house of his brother-in-law, Mr. James Vanuxem (Mrs. Chas. S. Wurts’ father), where he continued, afterwards becoming his partner. They were shipping and commission merchants, and held constant correspondence with Italy, France, and England.
Mr. Vanuxem was a Fleming by birth, but was wholly educated in France, and entirely lost his knowledge of his native tongue. My father, from constant intercourse with his brother-in-law as well as with most of the French society of this city, acquired a perfect knowledge of the French tongue, and both wrote and spoke it with exactly the same fluency as he did the English. In 1797 he married Sophia Marion Ross, eldest daughter of Dr. John Ross, and granddaughter of the Rev. John Brainerd. He was about twenty-eight years of age when he married, and my mother only seventeen. I have often heard him say he thought he was marrying a woman, but found he had married a child. My mother died at the age of thirty-one: out of a family of seven children, four died in infancy. My brother Brainerd died in 1837; my sister Louisa (Mrs. James Peacock) and myself are now alone remaining.
My maternal grandfather, Dr. John Ross, was the son of Dr. Alexander Ross, who was born in Scotland, and, after completing his course at Edinburgh University, came to this country and settled in Mount Holly. He married a Miss Becket, whose mother, a Miss De Normandie, belonged to a French Protestant family who fled from France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes.
My grandfather was born in Mount Holly about the year 1752. I think he was educated at Princeton, and afterwards adopted his father's profession. Ho was in the army during the Revolutionary struggle, as an officer. I believe it was in the year 1779 that he married Mary Brainerd, only surviving child of the Rev. John Brainerd, who died, I think, in 1792, at the age of thirty-five, leaving three children; Sophia Marion (my mother) the eldest, Elizabeth, afterwards married to Dr. John Brown, of Swedesborough, N. J., and Alexander, who went to Italy at the age of twenty-one, and died there of some sudden disease. Dr. John Ross was a totally different man from Mr. Elijah Clark,—far more gay and worldly, and, I imagine, with much less dignity and weight of character. I have understood that he was a tall, fine looking man, and had a great reputation as a singer, being able to entrance an audience with the sweetness and power of his voice.
My mother’s early death prevented my getting many little particulars concerning her parents which I might, and no doubt would, have procured had she lived till I was old enough to ask her questions. But I have scarcely any recollection of her at all, excepting the sad one of seeing her in her coffin, which so startled and impressed my childish mind that I have never forgotten it.
Most respectfully and truly yours,
E. M. SIMS.
I hope to provide you with additional extracts in the near future.
Best regards,
Jerseyman
Here is some fascinating information extracted from the Appendix of The Life of John Brainerd : the Brother of David Brainerd, and his successor as Missionary to the Indians of New Jersey (pp. 455-456, 466-478, 480-482).
There are some place names contained herein—such as “Brainerd”—that cannot be found even in Gordon’s Gazetteer. I hope you enjoy the read:
Letter of Rev. Joseph O. Symmes, of Cranberry, N. J., concerning
Bethel, the former Indian town in his neighborhood:—
CRANBERRY, N. J., August 27, 1864.
REV. THOMAS BRAINERD, D.D.:—
DEAR SIR:—You came thirty years too late to collect accurate information from the people with reference to the labors of the Brainerds among the Indians in this vicinity. Those who possessed such information have passed away; and all that remains consists of the traditions of a former generation, always inaccurate in some points. But such traditions abound among us; and perhaps it would be well to put some of them upon record. Some of them assert very definitely that under an old elm-tree, now standing at the north end of our village, Brainerd was accustomed to gather his Indians for the worship of God. It is not stated which one of the Brainerds it was; but, as it was probably before the Indian settlement at Bethel, it would seem to have been David.
Concerning the location of the Indian town of Bethel there can be no doubt. It lies to the northeast of the village of Cranberry, a little more than two miles away in a straight line, which is the Indian line. It is about one mile to the west of Old King George’s Road. You remarked, once, that your only doubt about this being the location was in its distance from a stream of water. But the Indian Field, as it has long been called, lies on a small stream of never-failing water, supplied by two or three springs; and at the lower end of the Field there is a dam that has been from two to six feet high, and wide enough to permit a wagon to pass. It is still in existence, and is called Beaver Dam, but was probably built by the Indians. This would have given them a large pond of clear water. The space once occupied by the pond was long mowed for hay, but is now a waste. Besides this dam, there are a few old apple-trees to mark the locality; they are said to be the remains of an orchard planted by the Indians. They stand scattered over the ground in such a manner as indicates that they were never planted in regular order. They seem to be natural fruit; but some of them still yield a very good apple. Some of the oldest people around say there was a large orchard there when they were young, which was a great resort of the school-children. The grounds are now under cultivation, and the soil is such as could be made very productive.
There are old burial-grounds in various localities around; but they are falling into neglect, and the traces of them will soon disappear altogether. There are still some momentos preserved of those who were once possessors of this soil; but, as they were crowded out of their possessions by their greedy white brethren, they disappeared from the face of the earth, and their memory is rapidly fading away from the minds of the living. We should rejoice in every effort, such as yours, to rescue that memory from oblivion, and especially such as record the labors made to save the sons of the forest from the march of our civilization,—labors which, though their direct fruits have perished, will yet be had in everlasting remembrance.
Yours very truly,
Joseph G. Symmes.
———————————
Letter of Rev. Allen H. Brown, of Absecom, N. J., on John Brainerd's
Domestic Missionary Labors.
REV. THOMAS BRAINERD, D.D.
DEAR SIR:—Upon a subject of such mutual interest as the life and labors of the Rev. John Brainerd, I extend to you the right hand of cooperation. For seventeen years I have travelled more or less extensively over the same ground which he trod, and during this period have discovered some facts respecting the churches planted by him, which had passed into oblivion and were entirely unknown to the Presbyteries of the present day. Like a traveller among ancient ruins, we felt a sadness, which was relieved somewhat by the hope that these ruins shall be built again.
From the second volume of the Minutes of the Presbytery of Philadelphia, commencing with 1759, it appears that frequent supplications for supplies were presented, and that appointments were made, for Great Egg Harbor and Little Egg Harbor, and in 1762 supplies were requested for Barnegat Shore. During the time of the Revolutionary War, and subsequently, these places are mentioned with less frequency.
First in time and importance here belongs Mr. Brainerd’s letter to Enoch Green (published originally in Dr. Van Rensselaer's Presbyterian Magazine for 1852, p. 471).
The attentive reader, comparing the private houses herein mentioned with the meeting-houses of Mr. Fithian’s later journal, will notice the progress made in the erection of houses of worship from 1761 to 1775. For purposes of reference the following letter is reinserted:—
TRENTON, June 21, 1761.
REV’D AND DEAR SIR:—
It has not been in my power, by any means, to make a visit to the Shore since the session of Synod, and consequently could not make appointments for you. Your places of preaching, however, will be as follows; Tom’s River, the most northerly place; then southward, Goodluck, either at Thomas Potter’s or David Woodmansee’s; Barnegat, at Mr. Rulon’s; Manuhocking, Mr. Haywood’s or Mr. Randal’s; Wading River, at Charles Loveman’s or John Leak’s; Great Egg Harbor, Captain Davis’, Wm. Reed’s, Benjamin Ingersoll’s, Andrew Blackman’s, John English's, Philip Scull's, George May's, and Elijah Clark's; Cape May, either at Captain Stillwill’s or John Golden’s, and at Tuckahoe meeting-house; and at any other places you may think proper when you come on the spot. And some of those mentioned, possibly, you may not think best to preach at; that will be as you judge best; but these are the houses where meetings are generally held.
If you could begin with Tom’s River, and be there a day or two before Sabbath to notify the people, then you might make the rest of your appointments and send them seasonably before you. The proportion will be two Sabbaths to the northward of Little Egg Harbor, three in Great Egg Harbor, one at the Cape or Tuckahoe, and as many weekly lectures at all as you can.
Thus, dear sir, in a minute or two, as I pass through town, I have given you these hints, which, perhaps, may be of some use to your tour on the Shore: in which I hope the blessing of God will attend your labors, and am, with all respect,
Reverend and dear sir,
Your affectionate brother,
JOHN BRAINERD.
To the Rev. ENOCH GREEN.
P.S.—If you could consult with Mr. Thomas Smith and Mr. McKnight, who will succeed you, and make their appointments for them, it would be of use. I hope you will be kind enough to call and see me on your return.
Tom’s River is now the flourishing county seat of Ocean county. Its old, dilapidated, free church has been succeeded by substantial the latter was dedicated in Methodist and Presbyterian churches September, 1858.
Here for several years has been a Mormon house of worship. If the labors begun by Brainerd and his cotemporaries had not been suspended for three-quarters of a century, whether Mormonism would have found this only home in New Jersey is a question which we submit to the consideration of the thoughtful reader.
At Goodluck is a tombstone, with this inscription: “In memory of Thomas Potter, the Friend and Patron of John Murray, an early advocate of Universalism in America.”
The curious autobiography of Murray, published in Boston in 1853, gives an account of eccentric Thomas Potter, and illustrates the times and scenes during which our missionaries labored.
Murray, taking passage in a vessel from Philadelphia to New York, was driven ashore, during a fog, near Cranberry Inlet. In quest of fish, he met Potter, who surprised him by his abrupt refusal to sell, and free offer to give what he needed. Potter gives this account of himself and the country:—
“I am a poor, ignorant man; I know neither how to read nor write. I was born in these woods, and my father did not think proper to teach me my letters. I went on coasting-voyages to New York, and was pressed on board a man-of-war; I ran away, and returned. I entered into navigation, constructed a saw-mill, and have got together a largo estate. I opened my house to the stranger, and especially if a travelling minister passed this way he always received an invitation to put up at my house and hold his meetings here. I continued this practice for seven years, and was fond of asking them questions. My wife became weary of having meetings held in her house; and I determined to build a house for the worship of God. My neighbors offered assistance; but I declined it, and said that God will send me a preacher, and of a very different stamp from those who have heretofore preached at my house and are perpetually contradicting themselves.”
The Baptists first applied for the house; but Potter replied that all should be equally welcome to preach in it. The Quakers and Presbyterians received similar answers. He continues:—
“I engaged the first year with a man whom I exceedingly disliked. We parted; and for some years we have had no stated minister.”
Potter claimed a vivid impression, almost a supernatural intimation, that the vessel cast away contained the long-looked-for preacher after his own heart, and that Murray was the man.
Murray, seeing only thick woods (the tavern across the field excepted), requested to know what he meant by neighbors.
“Oh, sir, we assemble a large congregation whenever the meetinghouse is opened. Indeed, when my father first settled here, he was obliged to go twenty miles to grind a bushel of corn; but there are now more than seven hundred inhabitants within that distance.”
The wind continuing unfavorable for Murray’s departure, he on Saturday afternoon consented to preach, and servants were sent on horseback to give notice, far and wide, until ten in the evening.
It was in September, 1770, when John Murray consented to accept Potter’s invitation, and remain a few years preaching universal salvation. He says:—
“Our Sundays were indeed blessed, holy days! People began to throng from all quarters on horseback; some from the distance of twenty miles.”
This may seem too extended a digression from John Brainerd's letter to Enoch Green; and we will return to it, after giving Murray's account of Potter's dwelling and meeting-house:
“I returned to the cabin. The house was neat, the situation enchanting: it was on the margin of the deep, on the side of an extensive bay, which abounded with fish of every description and a great variety of water-fowl. On the other side of this dwelling, after passing over a few fields (which at this time stood thick with corn), venerable woods, that seemed the coevals of time, presented a ‘scene for contemplation fit, towering majestic, and filling the devotional mind with a religious awe.’
“I entered the meeting-house. It was neat and convenient, expressive of the character of the builder. There were no pews: the pulpit was rather in the Quaker mode; the seats were constructed with backs, roomy, and 'even elegant. I said there were no pews: there was one large square pew just before the pulpit; in this sat the venerable man and his family, particular friends, and visiting strangers. In this pew sat upon this occasion this happy man; and surely no man upon this side of heaven was ever more completely happy.”
Potter, in his last will, gave the meeting-house and one acre of ground to John Murray. Subsequently the executor sold the adjoining property, and, no reservation being made of the meeting-house, this passed into the hands of the Methodists, by whom it is still held. A Conference of Universalists was held there in 1833, and by them the tombstone was erected to the memory of Thomas Potter.
In another burial-ground at Goodluck is an old brown head-stone with this inscription:—
David Woodmansee,
Born Nov. 14, 1719,
Died July 13, 1799,
In his 80th year.
From Tom’s River to Tuckerton is a distance, from north to south, of thirty miles. In this district lived the Potters, the Woodmansees, the Rulons, the Haywoods, and the Randals. Only recently has the Presbyterian Church cultivated this important district, and appointed an itinerant for the pleasant and populous villages of Forked River, Weir Town, Barnegat, and Manuhocking. Webster’s History (page 568) says: “There was in 1767 a new Presbyterian meeting-house at Barnegat, and probably as early was one at Manahawken;” but I have not yet found the oldest inhabitants who can give any traditional confirmation of this statement.
Coming from Tuckerton and the ocean, about six or nine miles in a northwesterly course, and keeping on the north side of the Little Egg Harbor or Mullica River, in Burlington county, we find Bass River and Wading River, where lived the Lovemans and the Leaks. A small church at Bass River, and a more costly edifice at Tuckerton, with its school and parsonage and settled pastor, and among the results of many visits of the Rev. Samuel Miller and others, and of the one visit of Rev. Dr. C. Van Rensselaer, who gave not only his living but dying testimony to the importance of the field by his legacy of one thousand dollars to the Church of Tuckerton.
We must continue the same course wearily through the sand to find a bridge at the head of navigation whereby we cross into the Great Egg Harbor country, between the Little and Great Egg Harbor Rivers, now belonging to Atlantic county. In this district lived the next eight families, to whom Mr. Brainerd introduced Mr. Green. Here, too, fourteen years afterwards, Mr. Fithian found three houses of worship; and at the present day the traveller will find four edifices and five Presbyterian organizations, viz, May’s Landing, Leed’s Point, Absecom, Brainerd, and Hammonton.
On the borders of Atlantic, Cumberland, and Cape May counties is Tuckahoe, with a Presbyterian church of recent origin.
We cannot positively decide what or where was the only meeting-house which Mr. Green could occupy in his long ride: long indeed, for he could not visit all the places mentioned between the two extremes, Tom’s River and Tuckahoe meeting-house, even by the most direct route, without riding at least one hundred miles; and while searching out the families he probably travelled much more.
The following statements are drawn chiefly from permanent records; while some of the connecting links of history are furnished by living witnesses.
They were published in the Woodbury “Constitution” in 1850.
We now present some extracts from the journal of Mr. Philip V, Fithian, who was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Philadelphia, November 6, 1774, and who visited Egg Harbor in February, 1775. The original journal is in the possession of Dr. E. Fithian, of Greenwich, to whose kindness we are indebted for a copy of this interesting document.
“Friday, February 3, 1775.—Early in the morning, in company with Dr. Elmer, I left Cohansie for Egg Harbor. We arrived at Mr. Thomas Stites’, at Great Egg Harbor, about 4 P.M. Sermon was appointed for Sunday at Mr. Champion’s, in the neighborhood, a half-brother in the cause.
“Sunday, 5th.—Many straggling, impertinent, vociferous swamp-men accompanied me this morning; they, however, used me with great civility. At 12 began service. There were present between forty and fifty persons, who were attentive without any impropriety of behavior, and seemed to have some solemnity. I spoke with great freedom of spirit, yet, I hope, with a real reverence of the universal presence and awful majesty of the great God.
“Monday, 6th.—I rode to the Forks at Little Egg Harbor, and put up, according to direction, at Elijah Clark’s, Esq. Mr. Clark is a man of fortune and taste: he appears also to be a man of integrity and piety, an Israelite indeed; and, O religion, thou hast one warm and unfeigned advocate in good and useful Mrs. Clark! I had rather have her spirit with the condition of a starving beggar, than destitute of it to have the wealth of worlds: she has more than the form, she has the spirit, of religion. This peaceful, friendly, heaven-like spirit is breathing from her in every sentence.
“Wednesday, 8th.—According to appointment, I preached in Mr. Clark’s little log meeting-house; present about forty. I understand the people in this wild and thinly-settled country are extremely nice and difficult to be suited in preaching; one would think that scarcely any but a clamorous person, who has assurance enough to make a rumpus and bluster in the pulpit, would have admirers here. It is, however, otherwise. They must have, before they can be entertained, good speaking, good sense, sound divinity, and neatness and cleanliness in the person and dress of the preacher: this I found from the remarks which several of them freely made upon gentlemen who had formerly preached here.
“Sunday, 12th.—We had at the small log house a large assembly. The day snowy. I preached but once.
“Monday, 13th.—I rode by appointment up to Brotherton, and preached to Mr. Brainerd's Indians. Present about thirty, and as many white people.”
Mr. Fithian then proceeded to Greenwich, and, returning on the 21st to Egg Harbor, writes thus:—
“Saturday, 25th.—From the Forks of Little Egg Harbor I rode to the seashore, to Mr. Price's, an English young gentleman of fortune and breeding, with a design to preach still lower down.
“Sunday, 26th.—I preached to a thin assembly at Cedar Bridge meeting-house. At 2 P.M. I preached at Absecom, at one Mr. Steelman’s; a full house.
“Monday, 27th.—At 11 I preached at Clark’s Mill meeting-house; the assembly very attentive. Here they gave me a dollar. Afternoon, I returned to the Forks; found Mr. and Mrs. Brainerd there.
“Sunday, March 12th.—Our little meeting-house almost filled. Most of the people from the Furnace, almost every one from Mr. Clark’s little settlement and Mr. Wescott’s; and, blessed be God! all seemed attentive. I preached twice.
“Monday, 13th.—After dinner I rode over to the Furnace” at Batsto, “and visited friendly and agreeable Mrs. Richards. Toward evening, with Mr. and Mrs. R. and Mrs. B., called to see Mrs. P., where we had some useful conversation. In the evening, rode from the Furnace to the singing-school: we had not, however, the greatest harmony. On our return, at my lodgings was pious Mr. Brainerd arrived for the serious exercises appointed for to-morrow. I sat with him and listened to his pious and useful discourse till 11, when I went reluctantly to bed.
“Tuesday, 14th.—A solemn fast. The day rainy: we have yet a good number. At Mr. Brainerd’s request, I preached first from Lamentations iii. 40, composed for the occasion. Mr. B. afterwards preached an excellent discourse on the happiness of a strong and special reliance on the merits of the Redeemer.
“I have said that the people here are nice in their taste concerning preaching. It is not without reason; they have had subjects for comparison. Mr. Brainerd and Mr. Clark enumerated the following gentlemen who have occasionally, and some of them very often, preached here as supplies: Messrs. Brainerd, Tennent, Smith, Benj. Chestnut, Hunter, Spencer, Dr. James Sproat, Charles Beatty, Wm. Ramsey, Nehemiah Greenman, Green, J. Clark, S. Clark, McKnight, McCracken, Mitchell, Watt, Boyd, Gravis, Brockway, Van Artsdalen, Hollinshead McClure, Frisby, Keith, and Andrew Hunter, jr.”
Here are the names of twenty-six Presbyterian ministers besides Mr. Fithian, who left their flocks in Cape May, Philadelphia, and other places, and travelled long distances on horseback that they might seek and feed the few scattered sheep in the wilderness. Mr. Greenman at one time left his congregation at Pilesgrove, now Pittsgrove, and spent six months on the shore, and almost made an engagement to settle there.
What conclusion shall we draw? Did those servants of God esteem this region more important, or had they any more of the spirit of self-sacrifice than their successors, that until recently, and with a vastly increased population, the existence and situation of these churches were actually unknown to the two Presbyteries within, or rather between, whose bounds this Egg Harbor country is situated? May a double portion of their spirit fall upon us, and may their God raise up and qualify many to walk in their footsteps!
We proceed to show the situation of the places which Rev. P. V. Fithian mentions in his journal. “Champion’s,” to whose place he first came, was probably near Tuckahoe, as one part of the village is now called Champion's Landing. The waters of the Atsion and Batsto Creeks unite near the present villages of Pleasant Mills and Batsto, and form the Little Egg Harbor or Mullica River. At or near these Forks stood “Mr. Clark’s little log meeting-house,” built of cedar logs and about twenty-five feet square, ceiled throughout with cedar. Upon nearly the same site stands a commodious house of worship, in which the Methodist Episcopal Church has the preference: yet it is free to all denominations, and for nearly three years has been occupied by a Presbyterian minister once in two weeks.
Brotherton, or Indian Town, or Edge Billock [sic], where some of Mr. Brainerd’s Indians were settled, was ten miles north of Batsto, in Burlington county; and that district is now commonly called Shamong.
Mr. Fithian next proceeded to the shore of the present Atlantic county, and on his way called on Mr. Price, who lived on the estate now occupied by Enoch Doughty, Esq.
“Steelman’s” house was a large two-story dwelling, standing until recently, about a mile north of Absecom, and on the eastern side of the shore road. The lower story was divided into three rooms, but the upper story was undivided, having a large chimney in the centre, and afforded a convenient place for any minister to preach the gospel.
“Clark’s Mill meeting-house” was in the northeastern part of Atlantic county, nearly one mile from Unionville. The old burying-ground near the residence of the late Sherman Clark marks its true position. An aged member of the same family, who remembers in his boyhood to have seen John Brainerd, has informed us that this house was about twenty-five feet broad and thirty feet long, and was covered with shingles, and, having been neglected for a long time, was blown down thirty or more years ago. Here was an organized Presbyterian church, and Robert Doughty and Thomas Clark were the ruling elders.
“Cedar Bridge meeting-house,” called also Blackman’s meetinghouse, was near the village of Bargaintown, and about ten miles southeast of May's Landing. It was built of planks nailed perpendicularly.
The following extracts from a deed recorded in Trenton, liber X., folios 407, 408, a copy being certified by James D. Westcott, Secretary of State, will prove the existence of a Presbyterian church and to whom the property of right belongs:—
“This Indenture, made the nineteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and sixty-four, between Andrew Blackman, Cordwainer, of Egg Harbor, in the county of Gloucester and Province of New Jersey, of the one party, and Joseph Ingersoll, John Scull, Joseph Scull, and Return Babcock, of the aforesaid township, county, and province, of the other party, Witnessed, that the said Andrew Blackman, for and in consideration of the sum of two pounds, proclamation-money, to him in hand paid before the ensealing hereof, by Joseph Ingersoll, &c, * * * hath granted, sold, Ac, * * * ; containing one acre, more or less, together with the mines, Ac, * * * ; for the erecting, building, and standing of a Presbyterian Meeting-House, for the carrying on of Publick Religious worship for all that shall incline to meet and assemble in it; together with a publick Burying-yard, for the interment of the deceased of all denominations.” * * *
Three years afterward, June 2, 1767, a memorandum was written on the back of the deed, explaining the views of the persons named, and proving that the house had then been erected. It reads as follows :—
“We, the within Grantees, * * * having been chosen Trustees to carry on and manage the building of a Presbyterian meeting-house upon the lands within granted and sold for that purpose, do hereby acknowledge that the said land and meeting-house is not our own personal property, but is bought and built by a subscription of many persons; neither do we claim any other interest in it but what we have in common with all who have subscribed hereto; and, though the legal title is vested in us, yet we hold it only in behalf of our constituents, and do promise that it shall be kept as a house of publick worship and the land for a free Burying-yard, in which all may have equal privileges with ourselves, without monopolizing it or engrossing and applying it to any private use of our own. A memorandum whereof we leave on the back of this instrument, that posterity may not be defrauded of their right or mistaken about the intent hereof, which is to secure a House of Public Worship, as before mentioned. In testimony whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names, hands, and seals.” * * *
Respecting the subsequent history of this house, we content ourselves with adding that, before it was decayed, the materials were removed, and upon a portion of the very site of the old building stands now a brick edifice, bearing on its front this inscription:—
METHODIST CHURCH, 1822.
Let us now visit the remains of another Brainerd church, which have been discovered near Bridgeport, on the Wading River, in Burlington county. There John Brainerd preached under a wide-spreading oak, until a cedar log house was erected. The oak still casts its shade, and a few of the foundation-stones of the building and the crumbling monuments of the burial-ground mark the consecrated spot. Our chief information in reference to it is drawn from the copy of a will which James Linn, Register of the Prerogative Court in 1817, certified to be a true transcript from liber No. 19 of Wills, page 214, &c, remaining in his office. The portion which is interesting to our ecclesiastical history is the following:—
“In the name of God, Amen, I, John Leak, of Little Egg Harbor, in the County of Burlington, in the Western Division of New Jersey, yeoman. I do, this fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-seven, &c. &c, * * * Item. I give and bequeath unto the several inhabitants of Wading River and Bass River, in Little Egg Harbor, and to their heirs forever, they being Presbyterians, for the use of the Presbyterian Meeting-House and burial-ground, one certain lot of land, containing sixty-five perches, butted and bounded as followeth : * * * All which said sixty-five perches of land and meeting-house and burial-ground for the use of a Meeting-House for Presbyterians to carry on the worship of God in. But in case it should so happen in process of time that there should be a vacancy when there is no Presbyterian minister or other person set apart to carry on the worship of God in said meeting-house by said Presbyterians, in that case it is my will that any Protestant minister of any Society, that is well recommended by the Society they belong to, to have the liberty to preach in said meeting-house until the Presbyterians can be enabled to carry on the worship of God in said meeting-house themselves ; and it is my desire that the Presbyterians belonging to said meeting-house, when there is a vacancy as aforesaid, that they lovingly receive those of other societies that come to minister in said house with Christian love and forbearance as much as possible.”
[The Rev. Mr. Brown here gives a detail of Mr. Brainerd's labors among the Indians, but, as he adds no facts to those stated before in this volume, we omit this portion of his letter.]
We propose yet to consider two questions, which are often suggested to the minds of different persons.
Presbyterians, upon hearing the statements contained in this series of letters, with wonder inquire, How is it possible that our Church has so neglected the region in which it was so much esteemed by the first settlers? And some of the descendants of those settlers, many of whom never heard a minister of the Presbyterian Church until very recently, demand, By what right or authority do these intrude into a country where other denominations have so long held undisputed possession?
In reference to the first question, we can present some reasons which have no connection with the doctrine or government of our Church, and which—without admitting her inferiority, or conceding that she was ever driven out, or deliberately determined to abandon that territory—naturally and sufficiently answer the question.
1. Some assign the connection of the churches of West Jersey with the Presbytery and Synod of Philadelphia as an important cause. As they were remote, and attention was called to the more important churches, this thinly-settled region did not receive its due attention.
2. But there is another reason, to which allusion has just been made. We refer to the modern exclusive adherence to the policy of establishing a pastor within a very contracted sphere of usefulness, to the neglect of the work of the evangelist. The first ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
3. There is another reason, which appears to the writer to have been the occasion and immediate cause of the first neglect of those ancient churches, and to this the other two reasons have been accessory, and account for their subsequent neglect until they have been forgotten. This reason, which is offered with deference to the opinion of older men, is drawn from the circumstances of the times. It was a time of trouble and of war. It is perfectly plain that, up to the days of the Revolution, those churches were nourished constantly by the Presbytery of Philadelphia; and it is equally evident that during and after the noble struggle of our fathers for national independence they began to be neglected. Whatever may be the ultimate benefits resulting from war, there can be no question that it is attended by many immediate evils, and that the religious interests of any community cannot escape its desolating influence.
Leaving out of view the decay of vital piety, the changes of residence, the interruption of business and loss of property, all of which would more or less affect the prosperity of churches, and especially the weaker, what was the direct effect upon the ministry? Some pastors were called from their pulpits to attend to national affairs; others, like the Rev. P. V. Fithian, whose journal has been noticed, served as chaplains in the army or navy. The career of this man of God was short; and, while ministering to the sick and dying soldiers, he himself sickened of the camp-fever, and died. What was the natural consequence when such instances multiplied,—at a time, too, when there were no educational societies nor theological seminaries to raise up young men for the ministry, and, owing to the death of some ministers and the unfaithfulness of others, important churches were found destitute of pastors? What, then, more natural than that these vacant churches should first be supplied,—as, for example, John Brainerd was called, in 1777, to be the pastor at Deerfield, where he died, in 1781,—and thus laborers were withdrawn from the frontier to the centre? About the same period the Methodist ministers, who had retired from our country during the Revolutionary War from conscientious convictions of duty (we would believe), returned again; and, with the zeal for which they have ever been celebrated, entered into places which Presbyterians, in consequence of the circumstances of the times, could not cultivate; and we presume that the scattered Presbyterians, seeing no prospect of having a church of their own order, and esteeming their Methodist brethren as pious and devoted men, did act upon the advice of that good Presbyterian, John Leak, and did “receive them with Christian love and forbearance as much as possible.”
A.H.B.
———————————
Letter from Mrs. E. M. Sims.
PHILADELPHIA, December 27, 1864.
My Dear Dr. Brainerd:—
You have given me a task that I scarcely know how to fulfill,—to give you some account of my paternal and maternal grandfathers and grandmothers; they had passed away many years before I was born. My father was an uncommunicative man, though a very superior one; and I should have known but little of his parents but from the fact of my being a very inquisitive child. I asked many questions, and the answers received comprehend my whole store of knowledge.
My mother (John Brainerd’s granddaughter) died before I was old enough to estimate or feel her loss; but an aunt of hers, a sister of Dr. John Ross, who lived till she was an aged woman, and who, from being extremely deaf, dwelt far more in thought with the dead than the living, loved to discourse by the hour on the deceased members of her family, and gave me many little particulars concerning them.
Mr. Elijah Clark, my paternal grandfather, was born in Connecticut (I forget his native town), in 1732,—I think I have heard my father say, was a man of property, and held responsible offices. My grandfather was sent to Yale College, and educated. After completing his course, at a later period, he came into New Jersey, and purchased a large tract of land near Egg Harbor, and built upon it, and settled there. He married Miss Jane Lardner, both a godly and beautiful woman, who was born in Ireland, thought belonging to an English family.
My father told me that the Lardners had been among the Dissenters from an early period. During the wars of the Commonwealth they were firm adherents of Cromwell’s, and served him faithfully. On the accession of Charles II., their position being an uncomfortable one in England, they removed to the north of Ireland, and came from thence to this country. My father's name was John Lardner Clark. My grandparents on this side of the house were very godly people. Elijah Clark, I have always been told, was a man of mind, taste, and cultivation. He possessed a fine library, and was an extensive reader. He owned many slaves, whom he instructed and cared for as his children: he was quite a wealthy man. He erected a small meeting-house on his plantation, and, when unable to procure the services of an ordained minister, held services in this building every Sunday himself for the benefit of his children and dependents. He had quite a large family of children,—eleven, I think; some died in infancy, but seven reached maturity. My father was one of the younger children. He was a very superior and cultivated man, possessing uncommon force and decision of character.
He had not the advantage of a classical training, owing, as he told me, to the very unsettled and disturbed condition of the country when he was a youth. His elder brothers were educated at Princeton. He was born on his father’s plantation about the year 1769, and when quite young came to Philadelphia to reside, entering the counting-house of his brother-in-law, Mr. James Vanuxem (Mrs. Chas. S. Wurts’ father), where he continued, afterwards becoming his partner. They were shipping and commission merchants, and held constant correspondence with Italy, France, and England.
Mr. Vanuxem was a Fleming by birth, but was wholly educated in France, and entirely lost his knowledge of his native tongue. My father, from constant intercourse with his brother-in-law as well as with most of the French society of this city, acquired a perfect knowledge of the French tongue, and both wrote and spoke it with exactly the same fluency as he did the English. In 1797 he married Sophia Marion Ross, eldest daughter of Dr. John Ross, and granddaughter of the Rev. John Brainerd. He was about twenty-eight years of age when he married, and my mother only seventeen. I have often heard him say he thought he was marrying a woman, but found he had married a child. My mother died at the age of thirty-one: out of a family of seven children, four died in infancy. My brother Brainerd died in 1837; my sister Louisa (Mrs. James Peacock) and myself are now alone remaining.
My maternal grandfather, Dr. John Ross, was the son of Dr. Alexander Ross, who was born in Scotland, and, after completing his course at Edinburgh University, came to this country and settled in Mount Holly. He married a Miss Becket, whose mother, a Miss De Normandie, belonged to a French Protestant family who fled from France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes.
My grandfather was born in Mount Holly about the year 1752. I think he was educated at Princeton, and afterwards adopted his father's profession. Ho was in the army during the Revolutionary struggle, as an officer. I believe it was in the year 1779 that he married Mary Brainerd, only surviving child of the Rev. John Brainerd, who died, I think, in 1792, at the age of thirty-five, leaving three children; Sophia Marion (my mother) the eldest, Elizabeth, afterwards married to Dr. John Brown, of Swedesborough, N. J., and Alexander, who went to Italy at the age of twenty-one, and died there of some sudden disease. Dr. John Ross was a totally different man from Mr. Elijah Clark,—far more gay and worldly, and, I imagine, with much less dignity and weight of character. I have understood that he was a tall, fine looking man, and had a great reputation as a singer, being able to entrance an audience with the sweetness and power of his voice.
My mother’s early death prevented my getting many little particulars concerning her parents which I might, and no doubt would, have procured had she lived till I was old enough to ask her questions. But I have scarcely any recollection of her at all, excepting the sad one of seeing her in her coffin, which so startled and impressed my childish mind that I have never forgotten it.
Most respectfully and truly yours,
E. M. SIMS.
I hope to provide you with additional extracts in the near future.
Best regards,
Jerseyman
