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Early American Presbyterians -- H
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Rev. Isaac Hadden (ca. 1800)
He was among the earliest of the ministers who settled in Alabama. A licentiate
of the Presbytery of South Carolina, he commenced the work of a missionary
in 1823. He was ordained an evangelist at Montgomery, March 24th, 1825.
His grave is in the burying ground of Bethel Church, of which he had been
the pastor for a number of years. He had passed into the autumn of his
life, had spent twenty-five years of his ministry within the region of
country comprised within the bounds of the Synod of Alabama.
Rev. Benjamin Hait (ca. 1734-1779)
He graduated at the College of New Jersey
in 1754, and was licensed by the Presbytery of New Brunswick, October 25th
1754, and sent to the Forks of the Delaware. He was ordained, December
4th, 1755, and installed pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Amwell, New
Jersey. While settled here, by order of Synod, he visited and supplied
the southern vacancies. He gave up his charge in Amwell, in 1765. In 1776
he was settled at Connecticut Farms, New Jersey, and died there, June 27th,
1779.
Rev. David Hale (b pre 1769)
He was ordained by the Presbytery of
Suffolk, Long Island, New York on June 22, 1789 over the church at
Bridgehampton.
Charles Hall, D.D. (1799-1853)
He was the eldest child of Jacob Hall, and was born at Williamsport, Pennsylvania,
June 23d, 1799, though while he was yet in his infancy, the family removed
to Geneva, New York. He graduated at Hamilton College in 1824, with the
first honors of his class, studied theology at Princeton, and was licensed
to preach by the Presbytery of Newark, April 24th, 1827. In that year he
was called to the office of Assistant Secretary of the American Home Missionary
Society in the City of New York, and accepted the appointment. In the Autumn
of 1837, he was appointed one of the coordinate Secretaries for Correspondence,
and in this office, he continued until his death (October 31st, 1853).
Dr. Hall was for several years the editor of the Home Missionary, and
wrote a considerable part of each of the Annual Reports of the American Home Missionary Society, during the twenty-five years that he was connected
with it. He published a tract entitled "Plans and Motives for the Extension
of Sabbath Schools" (for which there was awarded to him a prize of fifty
dollars), the Daily Verse Expositor, consisting of a brief commentary on
the Acts of the Apostles, a Plan for Systematic Benevolence, and a sermon
on the Means of the World's Conversion, published in the National Preacher,
1841.
James Hall, D.D. (1744-1826)
He was born of Scotch-Irish parentage, at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, August
22d, 1744. When he was eight years old, the family removed to North Carolina.
He graduated at Princeton College
in 1744 [sic. 1774?], with a high reputation as a scholar, especially in
the exact sciences; studied theology under the direction of Dr.
Witherspoon, and was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Orange
in 1775 or 1776. On April 8th, 1778, he was installed pastor of the united
congregations of Fourth Creek, Concord and Bethany, holding this relation
till 1790, when he was released from the pastorate of the first two churches,
that he might have more time to devote to the cause of domestic missions.
His connection with the Bethany congregation continued during the remainder
of his life.
During the scenes of the Revolution, Dr. Hall's heart went fully into
the American cause, and he declined no service, whether secular or sacred,
by which he might hope to promote it. In 1779 he led a select company of
cavalry on an expedition into South Carolina, performing the double office
of commander and chaplain, and was absent for several months. At the close
of the war he set himself, with all his energies, to repair the waste places
of Zion, to restore the stated ordinances of the gospel where they had
been discontinued, and to elevate the standard of Christian feeling and
character. In 1793 he commenced his missionary excursions under the direction
of a Commission of Synod. In the Autumn of 1800, under a Commission of
the General Assembly, he commenced a mission to Natchez, together with
two other brethren whom the Synod had appointed to accompany him. This
was the first in the series of Protestant missionary efforts in the lower
part of the Valley of the Mississippi. He was a commissioner to the General
Assembly from the Presbytery of Orange sixteen times, and was Moderator
of that body in 1803. He died, July 25th, 1826, and his body lies entombed
in Bethany churchyard.
He helped train up several ministers including Rev.
Robert Wilson James.
Rev. Jeremiah Halsey (ca. 1735-1780)
He was Tutor in the College of New Jersey
from 1757 to 1767. In 1766 the trustees voted a sum of money to him, in
"consideration of his extraordinary and faithful services," and when he
retired from the tutorship, they gave him a certificate, recommending him as
"a gentleman of genius, learning and real merit." In 1767 he was ordained
by the Presbytery of New Brunswick, and sent out as a missionary tour to
the South; afterwards was settled as a pastor, but the place of his location
we do not know. He was for eleven years a trustee of the College. Mr. Halsey
died in 1780.
Luther Halsey, D.D., LL.D. (1794-1880)
He was born at Schenectady, New York, January 1st, 1794, the son of Luther
and Abigail (Foster) Halsey, and died at Norristown, Pennsylvania, October
29th, 1880. He was Professor of Theology in the Western Theological Seminary,
Allegheny, Pennsylvania, 1829-37, and in the latter year went to the Chair
of Ecclesiastical History and Church Polity in Auburn Theological Seminary,
but resigned in 1844. From 1847 to 1850 he acted as Professor of Church
History in the Union Theological Seminary, New York city. For several years
before his death he lived in retirement.
James Hamilton (1793-1873)
He was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, October 16th, 1793, and there he
died, January 23d, 1873. He was an only son of Judge Hamilton, and a lineal
descendant of the Rev. Samuel Thomson, the first pastor of the Church at
the Meeting-House Spring, which, with that of Silver Spring, was the first
Presbyterian charge west of the Susquehanna River. In 1812 he graduated
at Dickinson College and in 1816 became a member of the Bar in his native
place. He never married. He was a man of high and varied culture; wrote
much, and published several tracts and small books, including "Notes on
Prophesy," published anonymously, in 1859, and "The Two Pilgrims," which
appeared in 1871. He labored assiduously and persistently in the cause
of education. For many years a faithful Trustee of Dickinson College. From
1836 until his death a most efficient public school Director, and first
Secretary of the Board. In 1835 he was elected a ruling elder of the Second
Presbyterian Church, but modestly declined; and though subsequently elected
in 1856, he was still unwilling to act. He was one of the original Trustees
of the Second Presbyterian Church, and first secretary of the Board. He
was an excellent Bible class teacher and for years before his death, the
devoted Superintendent of the Sabbath School. He was an man of ample means,
and very generous to the Church. Somewhat eccentric, but eminently good,
and modest, and useful, and worthy to be had in grateful remembrance.
Rev. James Garland Hamner (1798-1887)
He was born at Albermarle Co., Virginia January 6, 1798, the son of Samuel
Hamner. He attended Hampden Sydney
College, graduating in 1819 and was a theological student under
Rev.
Moses Hoge 1819-20 and at Princeton Theological Seminary 1820-23. He
received an honorary doctorate in 1846 from the University of Delaware.
He was licensed by East Hanover Presbytery October 16, 1822, ordained July
24, 1824 and was pastor at Pole Green Church 1824-26; stated supply at
Fayetteville, North Carolina 1826-29, pastor at Frederick, Maryland, 1830-33;
organizer and pastor of the 5th Church of Baltimore 1833-52; infirm 1852-55.
Pastor at New Haven, Connecticut, 1855-60, Park Church, Newark, New Jersey
1860-61, voluntary evangelist in Maryland and Virginia 1861-77. He resided
in Baltimore 1861-87 where he died January 29, 1887. He was received by
Winchester Presbytery from Baltimore Apr. 20, 1866, dismissed to Chesapeake,
Mar. 8, 1870; moderator of the Synod 1867. He married Olivia Murray in
New York city about 1827 and Jane McElderry, in Baltimore December 9, 1830.
He was the father of Rev. J.G. Hamner, D.D. and grandfather of Rev. J.G.
Hamner, III.
Rev. John Hampton (d. 1721)
Whether Mr. Hampton was a native of Scotland or Ireland is unknown. He
was called to Snow Hill, in March, 1707, the salary to be paid in tobacco.
He was "inaugurated" by Mr. McNish.
He also served at Pitt's Creek. His death occurred in February, 1721. He
was one of the original members of the first
presbytery formed in America.
Rev. John Hanna (b pre-1740-1801)
He received his license to preach from the Presbytery of New Brunswick,
about 1760. In April, 1761, he was ordained by the same presbytery, and
settled as pastor of Alexandria, Kingwood, and Bethlehem churches, New
Jersey, where he remained until his death, in 1801. Mr. Hanna was also
a physician, and practiced quite extensively, but it never interfered with
his duties as a pastor, or as a member of the various Church Courts. Dr.
Hanna was a warm hearted patriot, and ever true to the American cause.
Nehemiah Henry Harding, D.D.
(1794-1849)
He was born at Brunswick, Maine, October, 1794. In early life he went to
sea, and in time became captain of a vessel trading with Newbern, North
Carolina. One stormy night, while walking the deck of his tempest-tossed
ship, Harding was convicted of sin, and his conviction soon ripened into
hopeful conversion. Quitting the sea, he entered into business in Raleigh,
North Carolina, and soon began preparations for the ministry. He studied
two years at the University of North Carolina. In 1826 he went to Princeton
Seminary and studied two years there. He was licensed by Orange Presbytery
November 6th, 1828, and ordained by the same, April 18th, 1829. He was
installed pastor of Oxford Church, July 10th, 1830, and in December, 1835,
became stated supply to Milton Church, where he remained till the close
of life. He was the founder of the Yanceyville Church and preached at Bethesda
part of the time. He received his Doctor's Degree from the College of New
Jersey. He died February 17th, 1849.
Dr. Harding was a man of commanding appearance, and the tone of authority
imbibed on shipboard never left him in after years. In consequence of this
he was sometimes suspected of trying "to walk the quarter-deck of Orange
Presbytery." He seldom preached without shedding tears, and was in the
habit of keeping two handkerchiefs for use in the pulpit. Dr. Harding left
one son who entered the ministry, Rev. Eph. H. Harding, D.D., of Kentucky.
Rev. Solomon Hardy
He was a minister at Greenville, Illinois in 1829 and attended the first
meeting of Centre Presbytery
in that year.
Rev. John Harris (pre-1734-post-1779)
He came from Wales while a child, with his father's family, who settled
in Maryland. In 1754 he was licensed by the Presbytery of New Castle, and
in 1756 he was installed pastor of Indian River Church, Delaware. This
charge he resigned in 1759, and removed to the South, and in 1772, we find
him pastor of Long Cane and two other churches in South Carolina, where
he remained until 1779, when forced by declining health, he resigned the
charge. His patriotism made him obnoxious to the Tories, and he had many
narrow escapes. It is said that he often preached with his gun in the pulpit
and his ammunition suspended from his neck, after the fashion of the times.
Hon. Benjamin Harrison (1833-aft 1887)
He was the son of John Scott Harrison, and grandson of William Henry Harrison,
ninth President of the United States and was born at North Bend, Hamilton
Co., Ohio, August 20th, 1833. He was educated at Miami University at Oxford,
Ohio, where the thoroughness which has characterized his after life exhibited
itself in a marked degree. He graduated, with high honor, in 1852, and
immediately after began the study of law with Judge Bellamy Storer and
Abraham Gwynne, of Cincinnati. Subsequently in 1854, he located at Indianapolis,
Indiana, and entered upon that brilliant professional career which has
since won him so prominent and conspicuous a place among the foremost men
of the American Bar.
In 1860 he was elected Reporter of the Decisions of the Supreme Court
of the State, for a period of four years, but because of his absence in
public service, he was permitted to hold the place less than one half his
term. In 1864, although still absent, he was unanimously renominated by
his party for the place and he was reelected. In 1876 he ran for Governor
but was defeated by a small plurality. Two years later President Hayes
appointed him a member of the Mississippi River Commission and in the following
year he was elected to the United States Senate, taking his seat March
4th, 1881. His career in the Senate, guided by a high moral standard has
greatly enhanced the general respect and esteem in which he is held by
his colleagues, for his legislative ability and legal attainments. For many
years he was an active member of the First Presbyterian Church of Indianapolis.
His love for children and his interest in youth have also made his face
familiar in the Sunday school room.
Elias Harrison, D.D. (1790-1863)
He was the son of Thomas and Nancy (Osborn) Harrison, and was born in New
York City, January 22d, 1790. He entered New
Jersey College in 1812 and was Tutor from 1814 to 1816. He studied
theology at Princeton and was licensed by New Brunswick Presbytery. Soon
after he was ordained by Baltimore Presbytery, in 1817, and installed pastor
of the First Presbyterian Church of Alexandria, Virginia. This was his
only charge. Here he labored faithfully and zealously forty-six years.
He died, February 13th, 1863. Dr. Harrison was a very learned man, modest,
unassuming, unostentatious and conscientiously attentive to all his duties
as a Christian minister.
Jephtha Harrison, D.D. (1795-1863)
He was the son of Abijah and Sarah (Ogden) Harrison, was born in Orange,
New Jersey, in December, 1795; educated at New
Jersey College, and studied theology at Princeton Seminary. He was
first settled over the churches of Fincastle and Salem, Virginia, where
he labored for three years. He removed to Memphis, Tennessee, being the
first pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in that city, where he was
for six years, thence to Florence, Alabama, where he was pastor four years.
He was agent for the Board of Domestic Missions one year, then pastor of
the Church in Aberdeen, Mississippi, four years. He next removed to Burlington,
Iowa, and after four years spent with this people he removed to Fulton,
Missouri in 1858, and supplied Auxvasse Church, and at the time of his
death , October 30th, 1863, was stated supply of Round Prairie and Augusta
Churches, in Calloway county, Missouri, within the bounds of Missouri Presbytery.
He was not brilliant, but a plain faithful gospel preacher, always ready
and anxious to work for Christ.
Rev. Joseph Cabell Harrison (1793-1860)
He was the son of Robert C. and Annie (Cabell) Harrison, and was born at
Clifton, Cumberland County, Virginia, May 27th, 1793. In 1806 his parents
removed to Fayette county, Kentucky where his education was received, under
the care of friends, Messrs. Blythe,
Moore and McAllister. He subsequently attended Transylvania University,
but did not graduate. He pursued his theological studies under Robert Bishop,
D.D.; was licensed by West Lexington Presbytery, October 6th, 1824, and
ordained by the same Presbytery, May 31st, 1826. He entered upon his labors
as a missionary in the Green River country. In the Autumn of 1830 he spent
three months as a missionary agent in Illinois; in 1833, he also founded
Burlington, Richwood and Mount Horeb churches, Kentucky; in 1837, giving
up Lebanon in Grant county, including Hopewell and Carmel churches, Ohio;
in 1835 he confined his labors to Burlington and Richwood churches, and
the destitutions of Boone county, Kentucky, where he resuscitated several
feeble churches. In 1845 he was stated supply of Ebenezer Church, Kentucky,
and thus he labored, year after year as a missionary. During the latter
years of his life he was at times without any special charge. These years
he devoted to labors among the poor, for which he was eminently qualified.
The northern part of Kentucky at the time, 1833, was destitute of Presbyterianism,
and as a pioneer preacher, he diligently labored in the cause of Sabbath
Schools, and Temperance, as well as preaching the gospel. In 1824 he was
co-editor with John Breckinridge,
D.D., of The Western Luminary, published at Lexington, Kentucky.
He died September 7th, 1860.
Rev. Joshua Hart (ca. 1741-1829)
After graduating at Princeton in 1770,
he was ordained by the Presbytery of
Suffolk, April 2d, 1772, and was installed pastor of the Presbyterian
Church at Smithtown, Long Island, April 13th, 1774. In the time of the
war, being an ardent patriot, he suffered much from imprisonment by the
British, in the city of New York. He was released from his charge, September
6th, 1787. Subsequently, he continued to labor as he had opportunity, until
his death, October 3d, 1829 in the eighty-ninth year of his age and fifty-seventh
of his ministry. He was one of the delegates to the first meeting of the
General
Assembly in 1789.
Eurotas P. Hastings (1791-1866)
He was born July 20th, 1791. He was one of that family known for many years
in the Presbyterian churches, especially in the art of sacred song, and
of whom Thomas Hastings, of New York was
a distinguished musical composer. Eurotas P. Hastings, in 1825, came to
Detroit, Michigan from Geneva, New York; was a banker by profession, and
for many years (1825-1839) President of the Bank of Michigan. He also was
officially connected with State affairs during the years 1840 and 1842,
when the State of Michigan was under administration of the Whig party.
He was conspicuous, however, as an elder of the First Presbyterian Church
of Detroit, and originated and kept a set of church books which were a
model of completeness in their arrangement. He was ordained an elder in
1841, and continued an energetic, faithful and zealous officer and member,
exemplifying all the Christian virtues in a pre-eminent degree until the
day of his death, which occurred at Detroit, June 1st, 1866.
Thomas Hastings (1784-1872)
He was the son of Dr. Seth Hastings, physician and farmer, and was born
in Washington, Litchfield county, Connecticut, October 15, 1784. The family
with a company of neighbors, moved to Clinton, Oneida county, New York,
in 1796. He early began the study of music, a sixpenny gamut of four pages
being his first textbook. After teaching music for some years in central
and western New York, in the Autumn of 1823 he accepted the editorial chair
of the Recorder, a new religious newspaper published in Utica, and
filled it until the issue of the ninth volume. He was no routine teacher
of sacred music, neither did he practice his profession merely from a love
of music, or as a means of support, and less still for the sake of distinction
and gain. He was a reformer in it, and had a distinct idea of what sacred
music is, and of the mode in which it should be conducted, and he sought
to have it employed for its proper and invaluable purposes.
Mr. Hastings became a prolific writer for the press, particularly in
the advocacy of his professional views, setting them forth in the editorials
of the Recorder, and for a long succession of years in frequent
newspaper articles and in occasional pamphlets. He published various music
books of great value. He composed six hundred hymns, many of them published
and not a few well known and prized, such as "Why that look of sadness;"
"Gently, Lord, O gently lead us;" "How calm and beautiful the morn;" "Child
of sin an dsorrow;" Why lament the Christian dying;" "Pilgrims in this
vale of sorrow." Mr. Hastings was a devout Christian. He died May 15th,
1872.
Edwin F. Hatfield, D.D. (1807-1883)
He was the son of Oliver S. and Jane (Mann) Hatfield, and was born in Elizabethtown,
New Jersey, January 9th, 1807. He graduated at Middlebury College, Vermont
in 1829; studied theology at the Seminary in Andover, Massachusetts, 1829-31;
was licensed to preach the gospel by the Third Presbytery of New York,
October 6th, 1831, and ordained by the same Presbytery at New York, May
14th, 1832. From October, 1831, to February, 1832, he preached at Rockaway,
New Jersey as an assistant of the Rev.
Barnabas King, D.D.; and from March, 1832 to September, 1832 at Orange,
New Jersey, as an assistant of the Rev. Asa R. Hillyer, D.D.; was pastor
of the Second Presbyterian Church of St. Louis, Missoui from October 1832
to February, 1835; of the Seventh Presbyterian Church of New York, from
July 1835 to February, 1856; and of the North Presbyterian Church of New
York, form February, 1856, to October, 1863; resigned and retired from
the pastoral work on account of loss of health. Remained one year in retirement
when he became special agent of the Union Theological Seminary in New York,
December, 1864, an din the following year obtained for the Seminary an
endowment of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Two years were then
occupied in writing and preparing for the press a "History of Elizabeth,
New Jersey." In May, 1868, he took the place of the Rev. Dr. Kendall, Secretary
of the Presbyterian Committee of Home Missions (abroad for his health),
till October, 1868, from which time he was Secretary of the Freedmen's
Department of the same Committee. In January, 1870, he again became special
agent of the Union Theological Seminary, to raise five hundren thousand
dollars and his labors were crowned with very gratifying success. He was
Stated Clerk of the Third Presbytery of New York, since October, 1838,
and of the General Assembly, since May 1846.
During his ministry in the Seventh Church in New York, 1556 persons
were received in to the communion of the church, on examination, and 662
by certificate from other churches, and in all other respects the church
was greatly strengthened. He was the author of "Universalism as it is,"
"Memoir of Elihu W.
Baldwin, D.D." and "St. Helena and the Cape of Good Hope." Dr. Hatfield
was elected Moderator of the General Assembly which met at Saratoga, New
York in 1883, and discharged the duties of the position with marked ability.
He died in September, 1883.
John Duffield Hay (1775-1830)
He was a son of Col. William Hay, "Lieutenant of Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania"
during the was of the Revolution, and was born near
Derry,
in 1775. He went to Vincennes, Indiana in 1803; was married to Sarah Harvey,
of Hagerstown, Maryland. At the organization of the Church in Vincennes,
in 1830, he was elected a ruling elder, and sustained that relation until
his death in 1840. He was largely engaged in mercantle pursuits in Vincennes.
Philip Courtlandt Hay, D.D. (1793-1860)
He was a son of Major Samuel Hay, a gallant and noted officer in our army
of the Revolution, and of Jane (Price) Hay; born at Newark, New Jersey,
July 25th, 1793. He took his first degree in the Arts, with honor, at the
College
of New Jersey, and prepared for the ministry under the instruction
of his pastor, Rev. Dr. James
Richards. He was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Jersey, October,
1820, and soon after ordained over the Church at Mendham. For eleven years
he was pastor of the Second Church, Newark, unti broken health separated
him from it. He afterwards accepted an invitation to Geneva, New York,
where his health again gave way under a laborious and prosperous ministry
of several years. He then sought recovery and usefulness at the head of
a family school. Subsequently, he accepted a call to Oswego, but he could
not sustain the charge, and in 1855, he returned to the home of his childhood,
and after resting for a time, undertook the management of a classical school.
He died December 27th, 1860. In 1849 he filled the Moderator's Chair in
the General Assemblly. By an exceedingly genial disposition and agreeable
manners, he won universal esteem.
Rev. Daniel Hayden (1781-1835)
He was skeptical in early life, but was hopefully converted during a revival
of religion. He was born April 9, 1781 in Western Pennsylvania. He graduated
at Jefferson College
in 1805. After his graduation, for about three years, he had charge of
Greensburg Academy, and retained his connection with it until 1807 or 1808,
when he was licensed, by the Presbytery of Erie. He became pastor of the
Pleasant Ridge Church (earlier called Duck Creek) and Montgomery (Hopewell)
under the care of the Presbytery of Cincinnati
in 1810, Joshua L. Wilson
preaching to sermon and Matthew
G. Wallace delivering the charges. He remained pastor of Hopewell
until April 8, 1819, and at Duck creek until his death. He died August
27th, 1835.
Frisby Henderson (1767-1845)
He was one of the two elders chosen by the congregation of Elkton, Maryland,
at its organization, in 1833. He was born June 16th, 1767, at Frenchtown,
near that place. His parents were Thomas Frisby Henderson and Hannah Henderson,
who had lately emigrated from the county of Harford, in the same State.
His father was a Revolutionary soldier, a captain in the service, and died
while on military duty in New Jersey, 1777. His mother was said by her
children to have been converted under Whitfield's preaching, at one of
his great meetings in Harford county. She was a member of Pencader Church,
where her children and posterity for several generations were afterwards
regular attendants and members. Frisby Henderson was a member and elder
in Pencader Church for many years. With abundant means, he was given to
hospitality, mindful to entertain strangers. His acts of benevolence extended
as well to the poor as to the agencies of the Church. During many years
of his life he lived at or near Frenchtown, being largely interested in
the line of steamboats and stages that then constituted the only line of
travel between the cities of Baltimore and Philadelphia. In the war of
1812 his property, consisting of warehouses at Frenchtown,, was burned by
the British. Soon after the war, he moved to Elkton, where he lived until
his death, in April, 1845, greatly lamented as the main pillar for the
support of the church in that place.
John Henderson (1755-1841)
He was one of the original bench of ruling elders ordained over the Presbyterian
Church at Natchez, Mississippi, and is entitled, more than any other man,
to the distinction of being the founder of that church. He was born in
Greenock, Scotland, in the year 1755. His father was a practicing physician.
His grandparents were zealous supporters of the Covenant, and suffered
severely in the persecution of 1680. At an early age he emigrated to America,
and after residing successively in Virginia, North Carolina and Havana,
settled at Natchez, in 1787. The "Natchez District" was at that time in
the possession of the Spanish authorities, and public worship by Protestants
was rigidly interdicted. In 1798 the Spaniards evacuated the District,
and a territorial government was set up by the Congress of the United States.
Mr. Henderson's name appears at this time attached to a protest against
Sabbath desecration in the Territory, and also to a memorial presented
to Congress, praying for aid "in establishing and supporting a regular
ministry of the gospel and schools for the education of youth." In 1812
the corner-stone of a house of worship after the Presbyterian order was
laid, and in 1817 a church was regularly organized. From this time till
his death in 1841, Mr. Henderson continued to exercise the office of ruling
elder. He was engaged in the business of a general commission merchant,
and secured a competency for himself and a large family, without amassing
wealth.
Rev. Joseph Washington Henderson
(pre-1758-post-1824)
He was licensed by the Presbytery of Donegal some time between 1778 and
1781, and became the pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Great Conewago,
Pennsylvania, where he remained until 1797. From 1799 to 1824 he was pastor
ofthe churches of Bethlehem and Ebenezer in Western Pennsylvania.
Rev. Thomas Henderson (b. pre 1750)
He was the minister of Edisto Island, South
Carolina from 1770 to about 1775.
Thomas Henderson (1798-1863)
He was the son of John Henderson and was
born at Natchez, Mississippi, in January, 1798. He was ordained a ruling
elder in the church in that city, February 25th, 1838. His education had
been obtained at such imperfect schools as were accessible at that day,
in the community in which he lived. He was successful in business, and
used his wealth with a princely liberality, conscientiously disbursing
it as a steward of the Lord. The contributions of the Natchez Church to
benevolent and missionary objects ranked, for a series of years, largely
through his efforts, with those given by the wealthiest churches in New
York and Philadelphia, He died March 6th, 1863. His son, John Waldo Henderson,
a representative of the third generation, is at the present date (1883)
a ruling elder in the Natchez Church.
Thomas Henderson, M.D. (pre-1759-post
1797)
He was a native of Monmouth Co., New Jersey, studied medicine and practiced
in his native State. He was early appointed a Judge of the Court of Common
Pleas. From 1779 to 1780 he was a delegate to the Continental Congress,
from New Jersey. Dr. Henderson was in the House of Representatives, under
the Constitution, from 1795 to 1797. He was a man of sterling worth, and
of unblemished reputation. For many years he was an elder in Mr.
Tennent's Church at Freehold.
Alfred Hennen (1786-1870)
He was an elder of the First Presbyterian Church of New Orleans, Louisiana
and was descended from Archbishop Sharpe of England, whose granddaughter,
married to James Hennen of Ireland, was the great-grandmother of Alfred
Hennen of New Orleans. His father was a physician, who emigrated to the
United States. He was born October 17th, 1786 at Elk Ridge, Maryland. For
a time he was a merchant's clerk in Philadelphia, but taking no interest
in mercantile pursuits, determined to enter professional life. After graduating
at Yale College with honor, winning the Berkely prize, he studied law at
New Haven and Nashville, Tennessee. In 1808 he descended the Mississippi
river to New Orleans on a flatboat, making the voyage in three months.
He took with him to New Orleans a well selected library which he had gathered
at College, and to which he constantly added until the week of his death.
He accumulated the largest private library in the southwest, both in law
and literature. His books afforded him the greatest pleasure of his life.
He kept up his intimate acquaintance with the Greek and Roman classics
until the end.
None of the great lawyers who formed the jurisprudence of Louisiana
contributed more to its construction than Mr. Hennen. He was a thorough
and most laborious student all his days, and was the master of six languages.
A man of vast learning, in the preparation of his cases he drew, with marvelous
memory upon a storehouse of ancient wisdom that astonished his colleagues
and overwhelmed his adversaries, while he enlightened and informed the
Court. He was engaged in all the celebrated causes of his time. To them
all he brought tireless industry, exhaustless patience, vast learning,
great practical wisdom, sound judgment, and a sincere love of justice. Several
times he was offered an appointment on the Bench of the highest Courts,
which he as often declined, preferring the greater activity and independence
of the Bar. In the second war with England, on the advance of General Packenham
upon New Orleans, Mr. Hennen volunteered to defend his country, was a member
of General Jackson's staff, and participated in the Battle of New Orleans.
Mr. Hennen was one of the first Protestant Christians in New Orleans.
Before there was a Presbyterian Church, he was a vestryman in the first
Episcopal Church. On the arrival of Sylvester
Larned in 1818, he became the coadjutor of that eloquent preacher.
He was one of the original twenty-four who, in 1823, organized the First
Presbyterian Church, of which he was ordained a ruling elder in 1828, continuing
to fulfill the functions of that office until his death, January 19th,
1870, in his eighty-fifth year.
Mr. Hennen never tasted distilled alcoholic liquor or tobacco, and never
used spectacles. For many years before his death he was Professor of Common
and Constitutional Law in the University of Louisiana, and he always had
a number of young men reading law in his office, to whom, with infinite
pains and patience, he gave gratuitous instruction. When in his rural retreat,
he always taught his negro slaves the Bible and Catechism, and employed
teachers to instruct them in his absence. When in the city of New Orleans,
his habit was, on Sabbath afternoon to visity the orphan asylums, to teach
the little orphans the gospel of the blessed Jesus, whom he love.
Alexander Henry, Esq. (1766-1847)
He was born in the north of Ireland, June, 1766. He came to Philadelphia
in 1783, then eighteen years of age, and at once engaged as a clerk in
the dry goods trade, in which he soon achieved the honors and emoluments
of a successful commission merchant. He united with the Second Presbyterian
Church, Philadelphia, August 4th, 1803, and was ordained a ruling elder
in the same church, January, 1818. In June, 1832, when the Central Presbyterian
Church was organized, Mr. Henry's name was standing at the head of the
list of its members. He was one of its first two ruling elders, the first
president of its Trustees, and one of the most liberal contributors to
its support. June 7th, 1831, he was elected President of the Board of Education,
which position, amid many days of trial to the cause, he very ably filled
for sixteen years, until the day of his death, August 13th, 1847, in the
eighty-second year of his age.
Rev. Hugh Henry(ca 1728-1763)
He was graduated at Princeton College in 1748 after having prepared with
Samuel
Blair at Fagg's Manor. After studying theology, he was ordained by
the Presbytery of New Castle in 1751, and settled as pastor of the churches
of Rehoboth, Wicomico and Monokin, in Maryland. President Davies spoke
of him as promising great usefulness. He was a laborious and highly esteemed
minister. Mr. Henry died in 1763.
Rev. John Henry (b pre 1690)
He was ordained by the Presbytery of Dublin, and came to Maryland in 1709,
having been invited, on the death of Mr.
Makemie, to be his successor. He was admitted a member of Presbytery
in 1710, and received a call "from the good people of Rehoboth," Messrs.
Hampton
and Davis, preaching at his
"admission." He stood high as a citizen and a divine. He died before September,
1771.
Joseph Henry, LL.D. (1799-1878)
He was the Secretary and Director of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington,
D.C. He was born in Albany, New York, December 17th, 1799. He became professor
of Mathematics in the Albany Academy, in 1826; Professor Natural Philosophy
in the College of New Jersey, at Princeton,
in 1832; and was elected the first Secretary and Director of the Smithsonian
Institution, in 1846. He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws,
from Union College, in 1829, and from Harvard University, in 1851. He was
President of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences in
1868; President of the Philosophical Society of Washington, in 1871, and
Chairman of the Light House Board of the United States, in the same year.
The last three positions he continued to fill until his death. Professor
Henry made contributions to science in electricity, electromagnetism,
meteorology, capillarity, acoustics, and in other branches of physics;
he published valuable memoirs in the transactions of various learned societies
of which he was a member, and devoted thirty two years of his life to making
the Smithsonian Institution what its founder intended it to be, an efficient
instrument of the "increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." It may
be specially mentioned that the greatest triumph of the genius and the
reward of the patient labor of Professor Henry was the discovery of the
telegraph. In 1825, Mr. Barlow, of the Royal Military Academy, published
a pamphlet which was accepted as the demonstration that the telegraph was
impossible. In 1830 Professor Henry had a telegraph in successful operation,
of over a mile and a half in length and a little later, one of several
miles in length. A writer who as counsel in a patent case had occasion
to examine this matter thoroughly, says, "The thing was perfect as it came
from its author, and has never been improved, from that day to this, as
a sounding telegraphy." And he further calls attention to the fact that
the subsequent invention of an alphabet impressed on paper strips has been
abandoned, and today men read the telegraph phonetically as Professor
Henry did at the first. How can we estimate the influence on the world's
history on the progress of nations, on the individual lives of men, of
the man who gave to the world, without money and without price, the discovery
that made the telegraph possible?
Professor Henry died in Washington, May 13th, 1878, and his funeral
took place on the 16th, at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, of
which he had been a member. On this occasion the President of the United
States, the Vice President of the United States, the members of the Cabinet,
and the leading officials in every other branch of the Government, eminent
in science, in literature, in diplomacy, an din professional and business
life, were present.
Rev. Robert Henry (pre-1732-1767)
He was a native of Scotland, licensed by the Presbytery of New York. In
1752 he was sent by the Synod to Virginia; in 1753 he was ordained by the
Presbytery of New Castle; and on June 4th, 1755, was installed pastor of
Cub Creek in Charlotte county, Virginia, and Briary, in Prince Edward county,
both then in Lunenburg County. Mr. Henry's success was most remarkable.
He was a man of eccentric manners, but most devotedly pious. He was called
to the Steel Creek Church in North Carolina, in 1766, but never entered
upon the charge, dying May 8th, 1767.
Thomas Charleton Henry, D.D. (1790-1827)
He was born in Philadelphia, September 22d, 1790. He graduated at Middlebury
College, with high honor, in 1814. He commenced his preparation for the
pulpit before the close of his college life, and immediately after his graduation
entered the Seminary at Princeton, where he remained for two years. He
was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Philadelphia, April 17th, 1816,
but in October following was dismissed to join the Presbytery of New Castle,
by which he was subsequently ordained. For two successive years he performed
gratuitously the work of a missionary. Several months of this period were
passed at Lexington, Kentucky, where he had great popularity as a preacher.
In November, 1818, he was installed pastor of the First Presbyterian Church
in Columbia, South Carolina, and labored in this connection during the
rest of his life. In 1827 the yellow fever prevailed extensively in Charleston,
and Dr. Henry, feeling that it was his duty to remain with his flock as
long as Providence might enable him to do so, was attacked with the disease.
He died October 4th, 1827.
From the very first time he appeared in the pulpit, Dr. Henry took rank
among the most popular preachers of the day. In addition to several sermons,
he published a little volume on "Popular Amusements." His "Letters to an
Anxious Inquireer," which possess great value, were passing through the
press at the time of his decease.
Rev. John Herrick
He was a minister in Carrollton, Illinois in 1829 and was present at the
first meeting of the Centre
Presbytery in that year.
Francis Herron, D.D. (1774-1860)
He was born near Shippensburg, Cumberland County, Pennsylvnia, June 28th,
1774. He graduated at Dickinson College, May 5th, 1794; studied theology
under Robert Cooper, D.D.,
his pastor, and was licensed by Carlisle Presbytery, October 4th, 1797.
He entered upon the service of his Divine Master as a missionary, going
out into the backwoods, as it was then called, passing through Pittsburg,
Pennsylvania, then a small village, and extending his tour as far West
as Chillicothe, Ohio. Stopping for the night in a tavern at Six Mile Run,
near Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, the people prevailed upon him to stay till
the following Sabbath, which he did, and under the shade of an apple tree
did this young disciple break the bread of life to the people. His journey
was resumed the next day.
On his return from Chillicothe he visited Pittsburg. The keeper of the
tavern where he lodged proved to be an old acquaintance, and at his request
he consented to preach. In the evening a small congregation of about eighteen
persons assembled. The house he preached in was a rude structure, built
of logs, occupying the site of the present First
Presbyterian Church. And such was the primitive style of that day,
that during the services the swallows, who had their nests in the eaves,
flew among the congregation.
At this time the churches in that portion of our country were visited
with a season of refreshing grace, and Mr. Herron entered into the revival
with all the ardor of youth, filled with hopefulness and zeal. He preached
for the Rev. Dr. John McMillan
at the Chartiers Church, during a revival season. He also preached at the
Buffalo Church, where his fervid eloquence made a deep impression, and
the people presented him a call, and strongly urged it upon his attention.
He, however, concluded to return to the vicinity of his home, especially
as a call from Rocky Spring was awaiting him. This call he accepted, and
he was ordained and installed as pastor of that church, by Carlisle Presbytery,
April 9th, 1800.
After a very successful pastorate of ten years at Rocky Spring, Mr.
Herron was installed pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburg,
Pennsylvania, in June, 1811. Here he labored with great zeal and energy,
and with remarkable success. In 1850 having reached his seventy-sixth year,
he pressed his resignation upon his congregation which they accepted, with
the understanding that he would accept a thousand dollars per year for
life. He died December 6th, 1860.
Dr. Herron was elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian
church, at its session at Philadelphia, in 1827. The Western Foreign Missionary
Society, from which our Foreign Missionary Board sprang, and from the beginning
of which the board should date its origin, received his hearty and effective
cooperation.
For many years, Dr. Herron was an active Trustee of Jefferson
College. And the Western Theological Seminary, of whose Board of Directors
he was long the faithful President, with its Professors and students, was
to him, from its origin, a subject of heartfelt and prayerful solicitude.
Nathanael Hewitt, D.D. (1788-1867)
He was born in New London, Connecticut, August 28th, 1788, and graduated
at Yale College in 1808. He studied theology at Andover Seminary, and was
licensed by the New London Congregational Association, September 11th,
1811. He became pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Plattsburg, New York,
in July, 1815. In 1820 he accepted the pastorate of the Congregational
Church in Fairfield, Connecticut. In 1830 he too charge of the Second Congregational
Church in Brigeport, Connecticut, resigning it in 1853. The First Presbyterian
Church of that place was formed by a large number of his friends, and he
became pastor of it, and continued so until his death, February 3d, 1867.
His exertions as one of the pioneers of the Temperance Reform were, by
the divine blessing, signally successful.
Rev. George Hill (1764-1822)
He was born in York county, Pennsylvania, March 13, 1764, and when about
nineteen years of age, removed with his father and family to Fayette county.
His literary studies were prosecuted chiefly under the direction of the
Rev.
James Dunlap; his theological studies probably under the Rev.
Jacob Jennings; and he was licensed, by the Presbytery of Redstone,
to preach the gospel, December 22d, 1791. On November 13th, 1792, he was
installed pastor of the united congregations of Fairfield, Donegal and
Wheatfield, and a new congregation, called Ligonier, having been formed
between Donegal and Fairfield, he continued to labor in these three last
named churches until the time of his death, June 9th, 1822.
Mr. Hill was a faithful and laborious pastor and exposed himself frequently
to considerable danger in fulfilling his engagements on the Sabbath. Having
to cross the Conemaugh, in going to one of his places of preaching, he
was known, in times of high water to swim the river on horseback, preach
in his wet clothes, recross the river, and return to his own house--a distance
of ten miles--the same day. Such, however, was the vigor of his constitution
that he suffered no injury from it.
William Hill, D.D. (1769-1852)
He was the son of Joseph and Joanna (Read) Hill, and was born in Cumberland
County, Virginia, March 3d, 1769. He graduated at Hampden-Sydney
College in 1788; shortly after commenced the study of theology, under
the direction of President
Smith, and was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Hanover, July
10th, 1790. For two years immediately succeeding his licensure he acted
as a missionary under the commission of Synod, in the lower counties of
Virginia, and through the upper counties to the Blue Ridge, from Tennessee
to Maryland, and especially in the counties in the lower part of the Valley.
He then settled in Berkeley (now Jefferson) county, Virginia, where his
labors, though prosecuted amidst many discouragements, were marked by great
vigor and boldness, and were followed by highly important results. In 1800
he took charge of the Presbyterian Church in Winchester, where his influence
was widwly and powerfully felt. In 1834 he became pastor of the Briery
Presbyterian Church in Prince Edward county, where he remained for two
years, and then accepted the pastorate of the Second Presbyterian Church,
Alexandria, Virginia, which, by reason of growing infirmities, he resigned
in two years. He died in Winchester, November 16th, 1852. Dr. Hill's piety
was based on fixed principles. He was highly gifted with the social graces,
and real pleasantry and suavity of manners.
Rev. James Hillhouse (d. 1835)
He was from Pendleton District, South Carolina, and settled at Greensborough,
Greene county, Alabama, in 1822, where he labored for many years. He organized
the church in that place, and also of Carmel, Fairview, Marion, and Cedar
Grove. He was an unusually popular and effective preacher. His command
of language was remarkable, and his feelings were easily excited. He died
at Greensborough, November 17th, 1835.
Charles Hodge, D.D., LL.D. (1797-1878)
He was born in Philadelphia, December 28th, 1797. He graduated at the
College
of New Jersey in 1815; entered Princeton Seminary in November, 1816,
and remained in the institution a full three years' course. He was licensed
by the Presbytery of Philadelphia, October 21st, 1819, and during the Winter
of 1819-20 preached regularly at the Falls of Schuylkill, the Philadelphia
Arsenal, and Woodbury, New Jersey. In May, 1820, he was appointed Assistant
Instructor in the Original Languages of Scripture, in Princeton Seminary,
which position he held until 1822. He became a member of the Presbytery
of New Brunswick, July 5th, 1820, and continued as such all the remainder
of his life. Under appointment of the Presbytery, in 1820, he supplied
the churches of Georgetown and Lambertville for a season, and Lambertville
and Trenton, First Church (now Ewing Church), during parts of the years
1820-23. He was ordained sine titulo at Trenton, November 28th,
1821.
Dr. Hodge's connection with the Seminary continued to the end of his
life. In May, 1822, he was elected by the General Assembly to the Professorship
of Oriental and Biblical Literature; in May, 1840, to that of Exegetical
and Didactic Theology, and after 1854, was added to these, Polemic Theology.
In 1846 he was elected Moderator of the General Assembly. In 1825 he commenced
The
Biblical Repertory and Princeton Review, and its scope was greatly
widened. It soon became a mighty power in the Presbyterian Church, and
continued such until the close of its editor's life.
Dr. Hodge was a voluminous writer, and from the beginning to the end
of his theological career his pen was never idle. In 1835, he published
his "Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans," his greatest exegetical
work, and one of the most masterly commentaries on this Epistle that has
ever been written. Other works followed, at intervals of longer or shorter
duration--"Constitutional History of the Presbyterian Church in the United
States," 1840; "Way of Life," 1841; republished in England, translated
into other languages, and circulated to the extent of thirty-five thousand
copies in America; "Commentary on Ephesians," 1856; on "First Corinthians,"
1857; on "Second Corinthians," 1859. His magnum opus is the "Systematic
Theology" (1871-73), of three volumes, octavo, and extending to 2260 pages.
His last book, "What is Darwinism?" appeared in 1874. In addition to all
this, it must be remembered that he contributed upwards of one hundred
and thirty articles to the Princeton Review, many of which, besides
exerting a powerful influence at the time of their publication, have since
been gathered into volumes, and as "Princeton Essays," "Hodge's Essays"
(1857), and "Hodge's Discussions in Church Polity" (editor Rev. William
Durant, 1878), have taken a permanent place in our theological literature.
On the 23rd of April, 1872, the fiftieth anniversary of Dr. Hodge's
election as Professor, there was observed in Princeton a semi-centennial
commemoration or jubilee. Four hundred of his former students enrolled
themselves as having come up from every part of the land to pay their respects
to their aged Professor. The Faculties of all the Presbyterian Theological
Seminaries, and several of those belonging to the Episcopal, Methodist,
Congregational, Lutheran and Reformed churches were represented. All branches
of the Presbyterian churches of Great Britain and Ireland saluted him,
by letter or representative, with expressions of their respect, confidence
and love. Episcopal bishops, venerable professors, and pastors of all communions
sent him congratulatory addresses.
Dr. Hodge died June 19th, 1878 in this eighty-first year.
Hugh L. Hodge, M.D. (1796-1873)
He was th eson of Dr. Hugh Hodge of Philadelphia. his mother was Mary Blanchard,
of Boston. He ws born in Philadelphia, June 27th, 1796. When he was two
years old, his father died, leaving Mrs. Hodge in very limited circumstances,
with two infants, the younger being Charles
Hodge, then only six month old. These little lads owed much to their
mother, who for years devoted all her energies to them. She had the satisfaction
of living to see them both successfully engaged in their professions, and
giving clear evidence that they would attain the high positions in each
that they afterwards did. The boys were educated in Philadelphia and Somerville,
and graduated from Princeton College.
Hugh L. Hodge studied medicine in the University of Pennsylvania, an din
1820 began to practice in Philadelphia. The next year he taught the anatomical
class of Dr. Horner, who was then in Europe. In 1823 he was appointed to
a lectureship on surgery, in a school which afterwards became the "Medical
Institute." In 1835 he was elected Professor of Obstetrics in the University
of Pennsylvania; he retained the position until 1863. His resignation was
occasioned by his failure of vision. With the aid of an amanuensis and
his son, he was able to prepare several important medical works for the
press.
He had seven sons, of whom five survived him. Four entered the ministry,
and one, bearing his father's name, a doctor. Dr. Hodge's grandfather,
Andrew Hodge, took a prominent part in the organization of the Second Presbyterian
Church of Philadelphia. In this church Dr. Hodge was born, and continued
until his death. He professed his faith in 1830. He died suddenly of angina
pectoris, on the 26th of February, 1873.
Rev. William Hodge (d. aft 1802)
He was marked absent at the first meeting of the Synod
of Kentucky at Lexington, Kentucky in 1802 and was designated a member
of the Transylvania Presbytery.
James Hoge, D.D. (1784-1863)
He was born in Moorfield, Virginia in 1784, the son of Rev. Dr. Moses and
Elizabeth (Poage) Hoge.. His studied, both classical and theological, were
pursued under the direction of his father, Moses
Hoge, D.D. He was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Lexington,
Virginia, April 17th, 1805. He was accepted as a licentiate from the Presbytery
of Lexington, Virginia by Presbytery
of Washington, Kentucky in 1806 and was immediately appointed a missionary
for three months, in the State of Ohio, and parts adjacent. He arrived
in Ohio November 19, 1805. He organized the church at Franklinton, February
18th, 1806. Early in the fall, on account of impaired health, he returned
to his native State, but, his health having improved, he accepted a call
for three fourths of his time from the congregation of Franklinton,
(Columbus) Ohio in October of 1807 and was ordained, June 10, 1808,
when William Robinson
preached from Heb. 13:7 and Robert
G. Wilson presided. In 1808, a number of people on Hockhocking and
Walnut Creek petitioned for his labors for one year. He became the minister
of the First Presbyterian Church of Columbus, Ohio in 1822 , and stayed
forty years. (Really the church at Franklinton just moved across the river
and renamed itself the First Presbyterian Church of Columbus, so he was
continuing in the same charge.) The Presbytery of Columbus was molded by
him. He was released from his charge June 30th, 1857, but continued to
labor as he had opportunity almost to the time of his death. He died September
22d, 1863.
He may justly be called the father of the Presbytery of Columbus, and
even of the Synod of Ohio.He was very influential
in the church courts. He was a pioneer of the great Temperance reform in
the State in which he so long resided. For many years he was trustee of
two of the universities of the state. He was one of the warmest advocates
of the Bible Society in the West. He was largely instrumental securing
the establishment, by the Legislature of Institutions for the deaf, the
dumb and the blind, and he rendered efficient aid in the establishment
of the lunatic asylum. His daughter, Elizabeth W. Hoge married Rev. Robert
Nall, and was the grandmother of Rev. J. Hoge Smith.
Rev. John Hoge (ca. 1723-1807)
He was the son of John Hoge, elder in Elk River congregation in 1724, and
Gwenthleen Bowen Davis and grandson of William Hoge, ("an exile for Christ's
sake,") and Barbara Hume, immigrants from Scotland in the ship Caledonia
about 1682. He was a graduate of Nassau
Hall (Princeton) in 1749, and was licensed by the Presbytery of New
Brunswick, October 10th, 1753. In 1755 he was ordained by the Presbytery
of New Castle and became the first pastor of the churches of Opequon
and Cedar Creek, Virginia. In
1760 we find him the pastor of Tuscarora,
Opequon and Back Creek churches.
The congregations fell into salary arrears and in 1761 he asked for dissolution.
Matters dragged on until May 17, 1772, when the pastoral relation was finally
dissolved by Donegal Presbytery, to which he was transferred, May 17, 1759,
by the Synod. He served nearby vacancies during and after his pastorate,
and over the mountains into Pennsylvania. About 1776, he removed
to Pennsylvania, probably to Northumberland County where he was a minister
in 1793, and where descendants of his resided in 1904 at Watsontown.
He was a charter member of Carlisle Presbytery October 17, 1886 and convenor
and first moderator of Huntingdon Presbytery April 14, 1795, and died,
February 11, 1807, advanced in years. He was born in Pennsylvania
about 1723; at least two children, John and Priscilla. His peculiar
talent was to hunt up and gather together the scattered members of the
church.
Rev. John Blair Hoge (1790-1826)
He was a son of the Rev. Moses Hoge,
D.D., and was born in Jefferson county, Virginia in April 1790. After
assisting his father for some time, in a school which he had established
at Shepherdstown, he entered Hampden-Sydney
College, at an advanced standing, where he graduated about the year
1808. He afterwards became a tutor in the college, his father having in
the meantime become its President. He commenced the study of the law with
great promise, but, determining to prepare for the gospel ministry, he
became a student of theology under his father, and on the 20th of April,
1810 was licensed by the Hanover Presbytery. October 12th, 1811, he was
ordained and installed pastor of the congregations of Tuscarora and Falling
Waters, giving a portion of his labors also to Martinsburg. From his first
appearance in the pulpit, Mr. Hoge's preaching attracted great attention.
For the sake of needed relaxation from labors, he crossed the ocean, leaving
home in 1814, and returning in 1816, in various ways benefited by his tour.
He was now even more sought after as a preacher than he had ever been before,
but his popularity never seemed to occasion the least self-exaltation.
September 7th, 1822, he became pastor of the church on Shockoe Hill, Richmond.
Here his usefulness was enlarged; but ere long his health began to decline,
and he died March 31st, 1826. He married Ann K. Hunter, Martinsburg, Mar.
6, 1819, who died Apr 21, 1882. Two children. The son, John Blair Hoge,
an eminent lawyer.
Moses Hoge, D.D. (1752-1820)
He was born in Middletown in what is now Frederick co., Virginia, February
15th, 1752. He was the son of James Hoge and his wife Nancy Griffith, grand
son of William Hoge and Barbara Hume, who came from Scotland about 1682
and finally settled on the Opequon. He was a student in Culpeper Co., under
Rex Adam Goodlet, Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. He served, for
a short time, as a soldier in the Revolution, but under what circumstances
cannot now be ascertained. He entered Liberty
Hall Academy, at Timber Ridge, in 1778 under Rev.
William Graham; completed his studies there in 1780; and on the 25th
of October of that year was received as a candidate by the Hanover Presbytery.
During the pendency of his trials for licensure, he prosecuted his theological
studies still further, under the direction of the celebrated Dr. James
Waddel, and was licensed to preach in November 1781. He was ordained Dec.
13, 1782 at Brown's Meeting House, Augusta Co., (now Hebron) Virginia.
He became pastor of the congregation named Concrete, in Hardy county, December
13th, 1782, and during his pastorate taught a school which secured important
advantages to the youth in the neighborhood. After spending about five
years on the south branch of the Potomac, and finding the climate injurious
to his health, notwithstanding the devoted attachment of his people, and
their earnest wish to retain him, he removed, in the Autumn of 1787 to
Shepherdstown, where he soon gathered a large congregation, and acquired
great popularity throughout the whole region. He was a charter member of
the Presbytery of Winchester and first moderator and stated clerk of the
presbytery in 1794.
In 1807 Dr. Hoge, was invited to take charge of the academy in Charlestown,
about ten miles from Shepherdstown, and to divide his ministerial labors
between the two places, but he declined the offer. Shortly, after this
he was appointed President of Hampden-Sydney
College, in place of Dr.
Alexander, who had removed to Philadelphia, and at the same time was
invited to be assistant preacher in Cumberland and Briery congregations,
each of them about then miles distant from the college. After considerable
hesitation, he consented to remove. He was inaugurated as President of
the College during the sessions of Synod in the month of October, and was
welcomed to his new field of labor with every expression of good will and
confidence.
The subject of education for the ministry having been discussed by the
General Assembly in 1809, it was resolved to send down to the Presbyteries
the inquiry whether there should be one or more Seminaries established.
A divided answer was returned to the Assembly, but the Presbyteries of Virginia
determined in favor of Synodical Seminaries, and the Assembly having consented
to this, whenever it should be preferred, while yet they determined on
establishing a central one, the Synod of Virginia, in 1812, resolved to
establish a Seminary within their bounds and unanimously appointed Dr.
Hoge their Professor..
From this time on until his death he held the two offices of President
of the College and Professor of Divinity, under the appointment of the
Synod.
In 1819, Dr. Hoge's constitution, under his multiplied and onerous labors,
was found to be giving way. For several months he was confined to hiws
chamber, and part of the time to his bed, but he still, even in his feeblest
state, continued to hear the daily recitation of his class. In the course
of the Summer his health was so far recruited that he paid a visit to friends
in the Valley about Shepherdstown and Winchester, which proved to be his
last. In the Spring of 1820 he attended the meeting of his presbytery,
in Mecklenburg county, and was appointed a delegate to the General Assembly,
to meet in Philadelphia. He extended his journey as far as New York, with
a special view to attend the anniverary of the American Bible Society.
This desire being gratified, he spent a little time at Princeton, and then
proceeded to Philadelphia. Here, while attending the sessions of the General
Assembly, he departed this life, July 5th, 1820. His remains repose in
the burying ground of the Third Presbyterian Church in that city, by the
side of those of his intimate friend, Dr.
John Blair Smith, who had formerly been President of Hampden-Sydney
College.
He married Elizabeth Poage, August 23, 1783, daughter of John Poage
and granddaughter of one of my ancestors, Robert Poage, of Staunton, Virginia.
She died Jun 18 1802. He married, second, October 25, 1803, Mrs. Willaim
Pitt Hunt, born Susannah Watkins (about 1760-1840)) Four grown sons by
Elizabeth became ministers, James, John
Blair and Samuel Davies, and
one, a physician, Thomas Poage Hoge who practiced at Charlotte, Danville
and Sutherlin, Virginia.
Rev. Samuel Davies Hoge (1791-1826)
He was the fourth son of his father, Rev. Moses Hoge, D.D. and was born
in Shepherdstown, Virginia (now West Virginia) in 1791. He graduated at
Hampden
Sydney College in 1810 where his father was University president, studied
theology with his father, the Rev. Moses Hoge,
D.D., and was licensed to preach by the Hanover Presbytery, May 8,
1813. While pursuing his theological studies, he was employed as Tutor
in the college, and after his licensure occupied, for some time, the place
of Professor and Vice President. He was installed in 1816 by the same Presbytery,
pastor of the churches of Culpepper and Madison, in Virginia, and preached
to them until April, 1821, when he removed to Ohio. He was a member of
the Presbytery of Chillicothe,
Ohio in 1821, having been transferred from the Presbytery of Winchester,
Virginia. He preached at Hillsborough and Rocky Spring in Highland Co.,
Ohio. He requested that the pastoral relation between himself and Hillsborough
and Rocky Spring Churches be dissolved in December 3, 1823, which request
was granted. He was thereafter dismissed to join the Presbytery of Athens,
Ohio, where he had accepted the Professorship of Mathematics and Natural
Philosophy in the fledgling Ohio University at Athens. He died in 1826.
As a pulpit orator, he lacked only voice and physical strength to have
ranked with the first preachers of his age. His style was pure, simple
and energetic, expressing with greatest exactness the nicest shades of
thought. He was the brother of James Hoge, D.D.
He married, October 1812, Elizabeth Rice, daughter of Rev. Drury Lacy,
who died Gallatin, Tennessee, November 24, 1840. Four children, Rev. William
J. Hoge, Rev. Moses Drury Hoge, Anny Lacy Hoge, wife Wm. Henry Marquess,
and Elizabeth Lacy Hoge.
Horace Holden, Esq. (1793-1862)
He was born at Sudbury, Massachusetts, November 5th, 1793. When quite young,
his father's family removed to Newark, New Jersey, where he pursued his
studies under the direction of the Rev. William Woodbridge, D.D. He was
admitted to the Bar of New York City in 1814. The war of 1812 was still
in progress, and through the influence of his father, who was an officer
on the staff of General Washington, in the Revolutionary War, he obtained
a position on the staff of General Colfax, and was stationed at Sandy Hook
during the few remaining months of the war. He united with the Brick
Church, New York, in 1820, and in 1823 was ordained a ruling elder.
He was also a trustee, and for many years the instructive and laborious
superintendent of the Sabbath School.
Mr. Holden was a liberal giver. He maintained an interest in the great
benevolent institutions of the age in which he lived. He was elected one
of the Board of Managers of the American Bible Society, in April 1835 and
was a member till his death, being for twenty-three years a member of the
Committee on Legacies. He was chosen a corporate member of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in 1842. He was a prominent
member of the New York Sabbath Committee, and the first meetings of its
organization were held in his house.
He was distinguished in his profession as a lawyer. He died March 25th,
1862.
Rev. William Hollinghead (b. pre
1753)
He was installed pastor of the church at Fairfield,
Cohanzy, New Jersey, by the Presbytery of Philadelphia, July 27th, 1773.
In 1783 mentioned the church lost the pastoral care of the Rev. Mr. Hollingshead,
who accepted a call to the pastoral charge of the Circular of Independent
Church of Charleston, South Carolina, the principal congregation in the
chief southern capital.
Daniel Holmes (1789-1858)
He was born in Saratoga county, New York, July 3d, 1789, and died in Wilson,
New York, May 26th, 1858. In 1811 he confessed Christ publicly and united
with the Presbyterian Church. In June 1817, he journeyed on foot, with
a pack on his back, to Niagara Falls and vicinity, and purchased a wild
farm on the shore of Lake Ontario, now in Wilson, completing a journey
of over seven hundred miles on his return. To this new country he moved
his family in 1818, into a rude log house. Pained to see the few inhabitants
of that region hunting and fishing on the Lord's day, he at once appointed
a meeting in the little log school-house, conducting the services himself,
and reading one of the first sermons ever heard in that region, by Burder.
His custom was, to walk five miles westward and hold a service and Sunday
school, held for some time in a new barn, until January, 1819, when the
Presbyterian Church was formed, consisting of his father and mother, himself
and wife, and a sister and her husband, himself and father being ruling
elders. For fifteen years they only enjoyed the occasional services of
a Home Missionary, but Elder Holmes regularly kept up the ordinances of
the preaching service, prayer meeting, and the Sabbath school, and converts
were added, so that in 1835, they numbered 117.
Rev. Henry Hook (b. pre 1698)
Rev. Henry Hook, an Irishman, who was admitted to the membership of the
Synod, in 1718, and preached at Fairfield,
New Jersey, but seems to have never been installed there. Before this
time Presbyterian meetings began to be held in Greenwich. Several families
of Scotch and Scotch-Irish settled there, and trustees, in 1717, received
a deed for land on which to build a church edifice. A church was organized
as early as 1728. Mr. Hook preached for a time in both Fairfield and Greenwich.
James S. Hopkins (1799-1873)
He was the son of John Hopkins and Mary S. Speed, and grandson of General
Hopkins of Revolutionary fame, and was born at Danville, Kentucky, January
6th, 1799. Having studied law with his brother, Hon. John Speed Smith,
he practiced that profession for only a short time. In 1825 he began farming
which he followed until death. In 1842, and chiefly through his influence,
Boyle county was formed and Mr. Hopkins was chosen its first representative
in the Kentucky Legislature, to which he was returned during the seven
succeeding years. In 1828 he united with the Church at Danville, and was
soon after elected a ruling elder. During the years 1833-36 and 1849-58
he was a member of the Board of Trustees of Centre College, and for the
last tree of these years he was President of that Board. In 1858 he removed
to Pettis county, Missouri, and was soon after chosen ruling elder in the
First Church of Pettis, and continued such until June 24th, 1873, when
he closed a protracted and useful life.
Josiah Hopkins, D.D. (1785-1862)
He was born in Pittsford, Vermont, April 26th, 1785. He was installed pastor
of the Congregational Church in New Haven, Vermont in 1811. He subsequently
became pastor of the Presbyterian Church, Auburn, New York, but his health
failing, he removed to Ohio, where labored as a Home Missionary in several
churches in the "Western Reserve." On his return, he too charge of the
Presbyterian Church of Senecca Falls, New York. His last ministerial labors
were performed with the Church of Union Springs, New York, and were blessed
with a most precious revival. He died June 27th, 1862.
Hon. Samuel Miles Hopkins, LL.D. (1772-1837)
He was born in Salem, Connecticut, May 9th, 1772, and united with the church
in Moscow, New York, in 1815. He graduated from Yale College in 1828. He
was admitted to the Bar in 1793, and practiced his profession at Oxford,
1793-4; New York from 1794, and Albany 1821-31. He was Judge of the Circuit
Court of New York, and Trustee of Auburn Theological Seminary, 1832-6.
He received the degree of LL.D. from Yale College in 1828. Judge Hopkins
published a volume of Chancery Reports, and various treatises on Temperance,
State, and National Legislatures, Crime, Prison Disipline, etc. He died
at Geneva, New York, March 9th, 1837.
Rev. Theodore W. Hopkins (b 1841)
He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, January 5th, 1841. His father was one
of the seceders from Lane Seminary, on anti-slavery grounds, and removed
to Oberlin, Ohio in 1848, where Theodore pursued his preparatory studies,
and nearly completed his college course. He subsequently spent two years
in the study of English literature and vocal music, chiefly in New York.
In September, 1862, he entered Junior at Yale College, and graduated July,
1864. The following year he was Principal of a musical school near Providence,
Rhode Island; then for four years, Assistant Principal of the Central High
School of Cleveland, Ohio. He pursued a full course of theological study
in the Rochester Seminary, graduating in 1873. The same year he was licensed
to preach by the Presbytery of Rochester, and called to the chair of Church
History in the Theological Seminary (Congregational), at Chicago, the duties
of which he discharged with distinguished ability, the next seven years.
June 29th, 1880, he was ordained as an evangelist by a Council in Chicago.
When he resigned the Professorship it was his intention to devote himself
to literary work, at home and abroad; eighteen months were thus employed,
habitually preaching on the Sabbath, when the importunity of the Central
Church of Rochester induced him to change his plans, and take their pastoral
oversight.
Rev. Azariah Horton (1715-1777)
He graduated at Yale in 1735, and was ordained by New York Presbytery in
1740, and entered on his labors among the Indians on the east end of Long
Island. August 9, 1749 he became a member of the Presbytery
of Suffolk, Long Island, New York. Two churches still exist,
the remains of the fruit of his toil; one at Poosepatrick, on the Great
South Bay, in the south of Brookhaven, the other at Shinnecock, the largest
settlement, two miles west of Southhampton. He became pastor of South Hanover,
New Jersey, the congregation having been set off from Hanover in 1748;
for a long time it was called Battle Hill, and now is known as Madison.
He was dismissed in November, 1776, and died March 2d., 1777, aged sixty
two.
Rev. Ezra Horton (b pre 1738)
He was a graduate of the College of New
Jersey and was a licentiate under the care of the Presbytery
of Suffolk, Long Island, New York in 1758.
Rev. Simon Horton (1711-1786)
He was born in Southold, Long Island on March 30, 1711 and graduated from
Yale College in 1731. He was ordained over the congregations at Springfield
and Connecticut Farms, New Jersey before moving to Newtown,
Long Island in 1746. Horton’s first wife Abigail died on May
5, 1752. Ten years passed before he married Elizabeth Fish, daughter
of Samuel Fish. They had one daughter, Phebe. He left the congregation
in 1773 under the accusation of lifeless and boring preaching. He
left Newtown when it was occupied by the British and relocated to Warwick,
New Jersey. He returned to Newtown after the Revolution to live with
his son-in-law, Judge Benjamin Coe. He died May 8, 1786. Adapted
from the information on Newtown Congregation's website by Robert Singleton:
http://www.fpcn.org/history/pastors/horton.html
Rev. Alexander Houston (pre 1743-1785)
He received his license from the Presbytery of Lewes, about 1763, and was
ordained in 1764, and installed as pastor of Murderkill and Three Runs
churches, in Delaware, where he remained until his death, January 3d, 1785.
Mr. Houston was a man greatly beloved, and a most earnest and laborious
minister.
Rev. Matthew Houston (d. aft 1802)
He was present at the first meeting of the Synod
of Kentucky in 1802, as a member of the Presbytery
of Transylvania.
Rev. John Howe (pre 1775-1856)
He was a native of South Carolina, and was in part educated there. He pursued
his classical studies in the Transylvania Seminary and subsequently studied
theology under the Rev. James
Crawford, then pastor of Walnut Hill Church. He was licensed to preach
by the Transylvania Presbytery in 1795. For several years he preached alternately
in Glasgow, the county seat of Barren Co., Kentucky, and Beaver Creek Church
in the same county, at the same time being engaged in teaching a school.
Subsequently, he taught some eighteen years in Greensburg, Greene county,
preaching during the time, to two small congregations in the neighborhood.
In advanced life he went to Missouri to reside with his daughter, where
he died, December 21st, 1856. He was marked absent at the first meeting
of the Synod of Kentucky at Lexington,
Kentucky in 1802 and was designated a member of the Transylvania
Presbytery.
Rev. Joseph P. Howe (d. aft 1802)
He was present at the first meeting of the Synod
of Kentucky at Lexington, Kentucky in 1802 and was designated a member
of the West Lexington Presbytery.
Rev. Howell ap Howell (d. abt. 1717)
In 1713 Rev. Howell ap Howell, a Welshman, came and preached to the congregation
at Fairfield, New Jersey, and was
installed pastor, October 14th, 1715, but died less than two years thereafter.
Rev. Nathaniel Hubbell (ca. 1703-ca.
1745)
He graduated at Yale in 1723, and became the pastor of Westfield and Hanover,
New Jersey in 1727, the latter including the present congregations of Morristown,
Chatham and Parsipany. The Westfield congregation gave him as "a settlement"
on his accepting their call, one hundred acres of their parsonage lands,
in fee-simple, and it would appear that Hanover congregation did the same.
"A Settlement" was the uniform New England custom, and was frequent in
Pennsylvania, it being understood that the minister was to spend his days
in their service. At Westfield, all who chose bound themselves by a covenant
to be assessed according to their property, to make up whatever was deficient
in the pastor's salary. In 1730, Mr. Hubbell gave up the charge of Hanover.
His death occurred about 1745.
Rev. James Hughes (b ca. 1768-1821)
He was a native of York county, Pennsylvania. About the year 1780 he removed
with his mother and family, to Washington county, his father having died
about a year before. His education, so far as is known, was prosecuted
under the direction of Rev. Joseph
Smith of Upper Buffalo, in that county, with whom it is also probable
that he studied theology. While associated with Mr.
Dod he acquired, or rather there was developed in him a taste for the
accuracies and intricacies of science, which he still improved until he
became the first President of Miami University. Mr. Hughes was licensed
to preach the gospel, April 15th, 1788, by the Presbytery of Redstone,
being the first preacher of the gospel licensed in the West. His labors
seem to have been very acceptable to the churches, as three several calls
were presented to him, one form the united congregations of Short Creek,
and Lower Buffalo, one from Donegal, Fairfield and Wheatfield, and one
from New Providence and the South Fork of Ten Mile. The first of these
calls he accepted, and was ordained by the same Presbytery, and installed
the pastor of Short Creek and Lower Buffalo, in the state of Virginia,
April 21st, 1790.
He preached his farewell sermon to them at West Liberty on the 11th
of September, 1814. His text was Rom. xv, 13. The sermon was published
at Charlestown, Virginia, in 1814, and has this preface: "The following
discourse is presented to the people of the congregation of Short Creek
and Lower Buffalo, as a small testimony of the sincere regard of their
former pastor -- James Hughes."
In 1818 he organized the Presbyterian Church at Oxford,
Butler Co., Ohio and preached occasionally for this congregation until
his death in 1821. He supplied, also the church at Seven-Mile
in Collinsville, Butler Co., Ohio for 1820 and 1821.
Rev. Thomas Edgar Hughes (ca. 1778-1838)
He was from York Co., Pennsylvania. He was licensed to preach by the Presbytery
of Ohio, October 17th, 1798. On the 27th of August, 1799, he was ordained
and installed pastor of the Church of Mount Pleasant, Beaver county, Pennsylvania,
where he labored successfully for upwards of thirty years. He afterwards
removed to Wellsville, Ohio, and was pastor of a Presbyterian Church in
that place for three years. He died, May 2d, 1838. He was the first minister
of the gospel who settled north of the Ohio river. He performed at least
two missionary tours to the Indians on the Sandusky river, and in the neighborhood
of Detroit.
Rev. Holloway Whitefield Hunt
(1800-1882)
He wsa son of the Rev. James Augustine and Ruth (Page) Hunt, was born at
Ringwood, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, March 31, 1800. He was graduated
from the College of New Jersey, A.D.,
1818; spent a year in teaching a classical school at Lancaster and Easton,
Pennsylvania; then entered Princeton Seminary, and was regularly graduated
thence in 1822; was licensed by the Presbytery of Newton, October 2d, 1822;
was ordained by the same Presbytery, April 23d, 1824. He was installed
as pastor of the West Galway Church, N.Y., September 1st, 1824, and released
August 31st, 1825; ws installed at Metuchen, New Jersey, April 23d, 1828;
the pastoral relation ws dissolved May 7th, 1844, after sixteen years of
faithful and successful labor, but he continued to supply the congregation
about eighteen months longer. For nine years (1850-9) he preached to the
Congregational Church at Patchogue, Long Island, and for six yeras (1860-66)
was stated supply of the Presbyterian Church at Centreville, Orange Co.,
New York. The increasing infirmities of age then led him to retire from
the active duties of the ministry. Still he continued to preach as opportunity
offered. The last years of his life were spent at Metuchen, New Jersey,
among the people to whom he had given so many years of pastoral service.
He died april 28th, 1882, in the eighty-third year of his age. He was a
man of warm heart, gentle, humble, prayerful, and greatly beloved.
Rev. James Hunt (pre 1740-1793)
He was the son of James Hunt, conspicuous in the scenes of religious nature
in Hanover county, Virginia, during the times of the Rev.
Samuel Davies. He was ordained by the Presbytery of New Brunswick in
1760. In 1761 he made a missionary tour through North Carolina, being at
this time a member of Hanover Presbytery. On his return, he preached for
some time in Lancaster county, Virginia. Mr. Hunt passed the greater part
of his ministerial life in Montgomery county, Maryland, where for many
years he was at the head of a flourishing classical school. William Wirt
was for some years one of his pupils, and for two years a member of his
family. Mr. Hunt died at Bladensburg, in 1793.
Rev. Thomas Poage Hunt (1794-1876)
He was an eminent ecclesiastical debater and eloquent advocate of Temperance,
and was born in Charlotte county, Virginia Dec 3, 1794. He was the son
of William P. Hunt and Susannah Watkins, grandson of Rev.
James Hunt and great great grandson of Robert Hunt, chaplain with Capt.
John Smith and first minister at Jamestown. He was also the stepson of
Dr. Moses Hoge. He came of distinguished ancestry. A violent attack of
whooping cough in childhood caused a deformity of person that made him
noticeable wherever he went. He graduated at Hampden-Sydney
College in 1813; studied theology under Dr.
Moses Hoge and Dr. John
H. Rice; and was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Hanover Jun
17, 1824. After a few years' labor as a pulpit supply in Brunswick, Virginia
(1826-28) and Raleigh (1828-30) and Wilmington, North Carolina (1832-34),
he entered the field as a Temperance lecturer. In this capacity he attained
a national reputation. In 1830 he produced the well known Total Abstinence
Pledge for the Young--
I do not think I'll ever drink
Whisy or gin, brandy or rum
Or anything that'll make drunk come
Mr. Hunt's first appearance North was in 1833 as a delegate to the General
Assembly in Philadelphia. During 1834-5 he lectured in Philadelphia, New
York, and other towns, and almost every night, for a year and more, drew
overflowing houses. In 1836 he removed to Philadelphia, and in 1839 to
Willkesbarre, Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania, where his later life was spent.
He acted for a time as agent of Lafayette College. He was the author of
several works. "The Bible Baptist" has had an extensive circulation. "The
Wedding Days of Former Times," "The Drunkard's Friend," "It will not Injure
me," "Liquor Selling a System of Fraud," with various tracts, were published
by him.
During Mr. Hunt's life he visited twenty States in the interest of his
work, and delivered upwards of ten thousand lectures and sermons. He labored
often as a revivalist. He had few superiors in the logical, incisive presentation
of truth, and few could equal him in his exposure of the sins and foibles
of society. He excelled in satirical and humorous description and the tender
and pathetic was often portrayed with great power by him. No more fearless,
persistent, unwavering advocate of the Temperance reform has arisen in
our country. He died, December 5th, 1876.
He married Brunswick Co., Virginia, Ann Meade Field who died in 1875.
He had four or more daughters.
Rev. Andrew Hunter (b. pre 1726-aft
1760)
The first pastor of the church at Deerfield,
New Jersey was the Rev. Andrew Hunter, who, having supplied the congregations
of Greenwich and Deerfield for a period of time, was ordained and installed
their pastor, September 4th, 1746. Mr. Hunter gave up in Deerfield in 1760,
and from this time these churches became two distinct organizations.
Rev. Andrew Hunter (b. pre 1753-1823)
He was the son of a British officer, was born in Virginia. He was licensed
to preach by the First Presbytery of Philadelphia, about 1773, immediately
after which he made a missionary tour through Pennsylvania and Virginia.
In 1778 he was ordained, that was appointed a Brigade Chaplain in the American army. In 1794 he was teaching a school at Woodbury, New Jersey, and in
1803, on account of ill health, was cultivating a farm on the Delaware
River, near Trenton. In 1788 he was elected a Trustee of the College
of New Jersey, which position he held until 1804, when he was appointed
Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy. In 1808 he resigned his professorship,
and took charge of an academy at Bordentown, New Jersey, but was soon after
appointed a Chaplain in the Navy, and was stationed at the Navy Yard at
Washington until his death, which occurred February 24th, 1823.
Rev. Alexander Huston (b pre 1740-1785)
He was the son of Samuel Huston, and was born in Dublin, Ireland, and came
to Delaware in the early part of the eighteenth century. He graduated at
Princeton
College, New Jersey, in 1760, and received his license from the Presbytery
of Lewes, Delaware, about 1763. He was ordained in 1764, and installed
as pastor of Murderkill and Three Run churches, where he remained until
his death, January 3d, 1785. In connection with the historical incidents
of the State he bore a conspicuous part, and it was his custom, during
the Revolutionary War, to pray "That the Lord would send plenty of powder
and ball to greet their enemies with." One Sabbath, while he was engaged
at his church, a detachment of British soldiers came to his house and left
their compliments, by boring their bayonets through the panels ofhis doors,
and destroying more of his property than was congenial to the feelings
of the heart.
Rev. Simeon Hyde (d. 1783)
He was installed pastor of the church at Deerfield,
New Jersey, June 25th, 1783. Only seven weeks after his installation
he was cut down by the relentless hand of death, in the bloom of life,
and his remains were buried in the churchyard, where a slab marks the
final resting place.