It will be told, in the words of Major Wm. Crane, the leader of the enterprise, as written the next day :— I have the pleasure to inform you of the capture of the sloop Katy, of twelve double-fortified four-pounders, containing one hundred and seventeen puncheons of Jamaica spirits, lying, at the time of capture, within pistol-shot of the grand battery at New York, and along side of the ship Eagle, of twenty four guns, which we also took, but were obliged to leave there, as she lay aground.-The Captains and crews of both the vessels were brought up by us in the sloop to this place, where we have them secure. This was performed on the night of the third of March [Monday], by six townsmen, under the command of Captain Quigley and myself without the firing of a musket by any of our party.* The vessel and cargo were sold at auction, at Elizabeth Town, on Monday the 17th of March. + The welcome news at length 'arrived at Philadelphia, March 23d, that preliminary treaties between Great Britain, France and Spain had been signed, at Paris, on the 20th of January, thus rendering effectual the provisional treaty of the 30th of November, 1782, between Great Britain and the United States. On the reception of the news, and of his instructions, Sir Guy Carleton hasted to proclaim a complete cessation of hostilities by sea and land; and a similar proclamation was ordered by Congress on the 11th of April. The order was received at headquarters in Newburgh, N. Y., on the 17th, and proclamation was made accordingly to every regiment and corps of the army, at noon of Saturday, the 19th of April, precisely eight years from the actual commencement of hostilities at Lexington, Mass. CHAPTER XXIII. A. D. 1760-1780. ECCLESIASTICAL Birth Education Ordination Settlement here - Visit of Whitefield - Revival - Elders and Deacons Rules for the Sexton - Chh. enlarged-Grammar School - Taught by Pemberton, Reeve, Periam, Barber, and Baldwin — Am. Episcopate - Annual Conventions-Another Revival — Increase of Salary — Mr. C. arraigned before the Presbytery and cleared - His Patriotism-Chaplain of the N. J. Brigade in the Northern Army — Return - Refuge from the British at Turkey-Assistant Commissary General - Parsonage and Chh. burned - Retires to Ct. Farms- Mrs. C. murdered-His Papers carried off- Retires to Turkey-Chosen one of the State Council - Murdered-Epitaph of Mr. C. and his Wife - Their children. AFTER the withdrawal of the Rev. Mr. Keteltas, in July, 1760, the pulpit of the First Presbyterian Church remained vacant, more than a year and a half. During this interval, the sanctuary was served by not less than twenty one different preachers. The Rev. Joseph Treat supplied the pulpit twenty five Sabbaths; Rev. James Caldwell, eleven Sabbaths; and Rev. Wm. Kirkpatrick, eight Sabbaths.* At length, the congregation directed their attention to the REV. JAMES CALDWELL. Mr. Caldwell was a Virginian. His father, John Caldwell, of Scotch ancestry, came to this country with four sisters, his wife, and several children, from the county of Antrim, Ireland. He settled first at Chestnut Level, Lancaster Co., Pa.. Soon after he removed to the new settlements in the southern part of Virginia, and located on Cub Creek, a branch of the Staunton river, in what is now Charlotte Co. Here, in the * Records of Trustees of Presb. Chh. wilderness, James, the youngest of seven children, was born in April, 1734. The place was generally known as "the Caldwell settlement," or "Cub Creek." A daughter of one of his brothers, also born here, was the mother of the Hon. John Caldwell Calhoun, of S. C., the well-known senator, and leading statesman of the South.* James was prepared for college under the instruction of the Rev. John Todd, one of the ministers, whom the Rev. Samuel Davies introduced in 1751, to aid him in supplying the seven congregations then under his charge. The classical school, founded by Mr. Todd, obtained considerable reputation. He was regarded as a "New Light," as the friends of revivals were then called. Whitefield preached for him, in January, 1755, with wonderful results. It is probable that young Caldwell was one of the hearers on that occasion, and received a life-long impulse for good.† As Davies was deeply interested in the College of New Jersey, and Todd had graduated there in 1749, Caldwell also entered there. He came hither when the college was at Newark, forming an acquaintance, while there, with the young maiden to whom he was afterwards married. The last two months of his senior year were spent under the instruction of his friend Davies, who had succeeded Burr and Edwards in the Presidency. He graduated, Sept., 1759, and pursued his theological course of study under the tuition of President Davies. He was licensed by the Presbytery of New Brunswick, July 29, 1760. He supplied the pulpit of the Elizabeth Town church, on the third Sabbath after Mr. Keteltas' departure, and on the following two Sabbaths; also on the second Sabbath of September. He was ordained, Sept. 17, 1760, by the Presbytery of New Brunswick, and appointed by the Synod "to supply the southern vacancies, particularly those in Carolina." + He received a call from the Presbyterian Church of this *Sprague's Annals, III. 223. Webster's Presb. Chh., pp. 831, 2. Jenkins' Calhoun, pp. 20-1. ↑ Webster's Pres. Chh., pp. 608-9. Foote's Virginia, 2d Series, pp. 45, 77, 78. Sprague's Annals, III. 229. Records of the Presb. Chh., pp. 807, 811. town, in November, 1761, which he accepted. On his return. from the Carolinas, he was transferred from the Presbytery of New Brunswick to the Presbytery of New York, by whom he was duly installed, March, 1762, with an annual salary of £160. He was, at the time, in the twenty seventh year of his age, a young man of prepossessing appearance, and of more than ordinary promise as a preacher of the gospel. The Trustees of the Congregation, at the time, were Samuel Woodruff, (President), Stephen Crane, Cornelius Hatfield, Jonathan Dayton, Benjamin Winans, Moses Ogden, and William Peartree Smith; all of them, excepting Woodruff and Smith, having served since 1753. Immediately after the settlement of Mr. Caldwell, measures were taken by the Trustees, to put the Church-Edifice and grounds in order. It was voted, April 21, 1762,— That the Burial Ground be inclosed with a close cedar Board Fence wth red Cedar Posts and that a sufficient Number of Posts be set up before the sd Fence for the Convenience of fastening Horses &c. Also Agreed that a Neat Pale Fence be built to inclose a Court Yard in the Front and South End of the Church with a double Rail on the outside with convenient Turnpikes to defend the same from any injuries by Horses &c and the sd Fences with well painted Also it is agreed that the Church be painted within with some light Color-and that any other necessay repairs be done.* The work was entrusted to Mr. Samuel Woodruff, President of the Board, one of the most influential men of the town, largely engaged in merchandize. On the 14th of March, 1763, just one year after he entered upon his pastoral ministrations, Mr. Caldwell was united in marriage to Hannah, the daughter of John Ogden, Esq., and Hannah Sayre, of Newark, N. J. Her father was the son of Captain David Ogden, and the grandson of the first David Ogden, who came with his father John Ogden, the planter, from Long Island, and settled this town in 1664. Her mother was a descendant of Joseph Sayre, another of the founders of Elizabeth Town. Mr. Caldwell and his people, in November, 1763, were Trustees' Book. favored with a brief visit from the apostolic Whitefield, which seems to have been followed by a revived interest in religion. On his way from Philadelphia to New York, Mr. Whitefield reached here greatly fatigued on the 26th, and the next day being the Sabbath, preached twice in the Presbyterian Church, the Treasurer's account showing that the contributions, that day, were in consequence largely increased. He had applied for the use of St. John's church, but greatly to the disappointment and vexation of a large number of the parish, his application was denied by the Rector, the Rev. Mr. Chandler. Mr. Whitefield, in a note to a friend, from New York, Dec. 1, 1763, thus alludes to this visit: Some very good impressions have been made in Philadelphia, and we had four sweet seasons at New Jersey College, and two at Elizabeth Town on my way hither. Some said they resembled old times.* The College had been favored with a revival of religion since the preceding winter, and something of the same kind occurred, as will be seen presently, in this town and vicinity. Mr. Chandler, in reporting, July 5, 1764, to the Society by which he was employed, the results of his missionary labors, gives, also, an account of Mr. Caldwell, and the effects of his preaching: The Dissenting Teacher of this place is a man of some parts and of a popular address and has y° appearance of great Zeal and Piety. He preaches frequently thrice on Sundays gives an Evening Lecture every Thursday in the Meeting-house besides praying and exhorting from house to house, many of my people of course fall in with his Evening lectures, and it is natural to suppose that some of them are captivated with y appearance of so much Zeal and Piety. At ye same time ye Dissenters almost to a man are watching every opportunity to promote y cause and not so much as a negro can fall in their way but some of them will try to proselyte him and they are now provided with a very strong argument for that purpose taken from those sudden and instantaneous conversions which within 6 months have frequently happened in this and y adjacent Towns amongst y° Dissenters whereas there have been none in ye Church.† * Clark's St. John's Chh., pp. 101, 2. Whitefield's Letters, III. 800, 1. Mr. Whitefield visited the town again and preached in the Presbyterian Church, during the third week of June, 1770. Clark's St. John's Chh., pp. 147-8. + Clark's St. John's Chh.,'p. 101. |