New Jersey in 1776; entered the Army in 1778, as a Paymaster; accompanied, in 1779, Gen. Sullivan, on his Western Expedition; and, in 1780, was a Captain in his father's regiment. After the Peace, he was chosen to the Legislature of New Jersey, of which he was Speaker in 1790. He represented his native State in the Convention (1787) for the formation of the Federal Constitution, and, in 1791, was elected to Congress. Thrice he was reëlected, serving four terms in the House, of which he was Speaker from 1795 to 1799. He was chosen Senator of the United States and served from 1799 to 1805. He was appointed, by Pres. Adams, a Brig.-General, with the privilege of retaining his seat in the Senate.

He became largely interested with Symmes and others in the purchase and settlement of western military lands, the town of Dayton, in Ohio, being named in compliment to him. His early intimacy, in boyhood, with Aaron Burr, and his later association with him in the Senate of the U. S., led him to look, with more favor than prudence would have dictated, upon the schemes of that aspiring and crafty politician; so that, by advancing money to aid Burr in his adventures, he became compromised with him in the charge of treason. The indictment, however, was not tried, and Mr. Dayton's bail was released. This unhappy affair, and the breaking up of the federal party, of which he was a leader, put an end to Mr. Dayton's political aspirations. He was subsequently elected repeatedly to the Council of the N. J. Legislature, and held several important offices in his native town. received, in 1798, from his Alma Mater, the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws. His later days were passed at home, in the enjoyment of a comfortable competence, respected and venerated by his townsmen, and honored by all who knew him. He died, Oct. 9, 1824.*

To these must be added the name of the

HON. ISAAC HALSTED WILLIAMSON, LL. D.

He

He was the youngest son of General Matthias Williamson

Appleton's Am. Cyclopædia Allen's Am. Biog. Dict.

and Susannah Halsted. His grandfather, William, the first of the name in this town, died, January 10, 173; and his widow, Margaret, a daughter of Capt. Matthias De Hart, was married subsequently to Wm. Chetwood, Esq.; and, at his death, to a Mr. Johnston. Gen. Matthias had five sons, William, Matthias, Jacob, Benjamin, and Isaac H. The last was born, Sept. 27, 1768. His childhood and youth were passed amid the exciting scenes of the Revolution. He studied law with his elder brother Matthias, and was admitted to the bar, as an attorney, in 1791, and as a counselor in 1796, opening his office in his native town, where he continued his residence until his death.

In 1795, he became, and for many years continued, a member of the Borough Corporation. Gradually he rose to occupy one of the first places at the bar of his native State. In 1816, he was chosen to the Assembly, and, while serving in that capacity, he was chosen, Feb. 1817, Governor and Chancellor of the State, continuing to hold these high offices, by successive annual elections, until 1829, when he returned to the bar. In 1831, and 1832, he was a member of the State Council. For four years, 1830-3, he served as Mayor of the Borough, after which, though solicited to accept again the governorship, he declined all public office, except in the last year of his life. Being elected to the Constitutional Convention, that met, May 14, 1844, at Trenton, he was unanimously chosen their presiding officer. After an illness of eighteen months, borne with the utmost resignation and cheerfulness, he departed this life, on Wednesday, July 10, 1844, universally lamented, as he had been universally honored and beloved. His remains were buried in the ancestral vault, with distinguished respect.

The N. Jersey bar said of him,

The State mourns his loss. In all the relations of life, public and private, he has bequeathed to his countrymen an illustrious example. As a friend he was faithful and sincere; as a statesman, enlightened and patriotic; as a judge profoundly learned, incorruptibly pure, inflexibly just. The inimitable simplicity of his character, the artlessness of his life, the warmth and purity of his affections endeared him to the circle of his

friends; his high and varied attainments command the respect of his associates. His long and eminent public services, his dignified and enlightened and impartial administration of justice demand the gratitude of his fellow-citizens and of posterity.

Similar testimonials were passed by the Wardens and Vestry of St. John's Church, of which, from early life, he had been an exemplary member, and for many years the Senior Warden.

He married, Aug. 6, 1808, Anne Crossdale, a daughter of Rev. Cavalier Jouet (by his second wife, Mary Hampton), and had two sons, the Hon. Benjamin (Ex-Chancellor), and Isaac Halsted, Esq.*

*O. S. Halsted's commemorative Address. Corporation Records. Parish Register & Records of St. John's. New Jersey Journal.

CHAPTER XXXI. ·

A. D. 1804-1868.

ECCLESIASTICAL — First Presb. Chh.— Rev. John McDowell, D.D. — Rev. Nicholas Murray, D.D. - Rev. E. Kempshall-Second Presb. Chh.-Rev. David Magie, D.D.-Rev. Wm. C. Roberts - Third Presb. Chb. Rev. Robert Aikman - Fourth Pres. Chh., Elizabethport-Rev. Abm. Brown - Rev. Oliver S. St. John-Rev. Edwin H. Reinhart-Westminster Presb. Chh.— Siloam Presb. Chh.-Rev. John C. Rudd, D.D. - Rev. Smith Pyne-Rev. Birdseye G. Noble-Rev. Richd. C. Moore-Rev. Samuel A. Clark - New St. John's Chapel-Grace Chh.- Rev. David Clarkson-Rev. Clarkson Dunn - Christ Chh. -- Rev. Eugene A. Hoffman, D.D. - Rev. Stevens Parker -Trinity Chh. - Rev. Daniel F. Warren, D.D. - First Baptist Chh. Rev. George W. Clark -- Broad St. Baptist Chh. - Rev. D. Henry Miller, D.D. Congregational Chh.-Rev. John M. Wolcott-Rom. Cath. Chhs.-- Moravian Chh.-Rev. Christian Neu-Lutheran Chh. - Swedenborgians.

AFTER the removal of Mr. Kollock, in December, 1803, the First Presbyterian church remained without a pastor for several months. The pulpit was supplied, as already related, until April, by Mr. Austin, and, afterwards, until July, by occasional supplies. On the 29th of July, 1804, the congregation voted a unanimous call to the

REV. JOHN MCDOWELL,

a Licentiate of the Presbytery of New Brunswick. The call was presented, Aug. 21, and he was duly installed, Wednesday, Dec. 26, 1804, at 11 o'clock A. M.; on which occasion, the Rev. Dr. McWhorter, of Newark, presided, offered the ordaining prayer, and gave the charge to the minister; the Rev. Amzi Armstrong, of Mendham, preached from Titus i. 5; and the Rev. Edward D. Griffin, of Newark, gave the exhortation to the people.*

Records of Presb. of N. Y.

He was the son of Matthew, whose father, Ephraim McDowell, migrated from the North of Ireland, about 1746, where his ancestors, fleeing from persecution in Scotland, during the previous century, had found an asylum. Ephraim purchased a tract of 400 acres of wild land on the western borders of Somerset Co., N. J., in what has since been known as the village of Lamington, about 10 miles N. W. of Somerville. Here Matthew McDowell was born, in 1748, and bred a farmer. He married Elizabeth Anderson, whose parents, also, were from the North of Ireland. Both were exemplary members of the Presbyterian church of Lamington. Their son, John, was born, Sept. 10, 1780, and brought up on the paternal farm.

At the age of eleven years, he experienced religion, and, at fifteen, he entered upon a course of study for the ministry, under the instructions of Rev. William Boyd, then teaching in the neighborhood. In 1799, he entered the junior class of the College of New Jersey, at Princeton, graduating, with honor, in 1801, in the same class with Nicholas Biddle, afterwards the distinguished financier. He studied theology under the direction, first, of the Rev. Holloway W. Hunt, of Newton, N. J., and then of the Rev. John Woodhull, D.D., of Freehold, N. J. At the latter place he professed religion, in September, 1802. He was licensed, Ap. 25, 1804, by the Presbytery of Brunswick, at their meeting in Baskingridge. He was providentially directed to this town, and preached his first sermon here on the first Sabbath of July. A few weeks after his installation, he married, Feb. 5, 1805, Henrietta, daughter of Shepard Kollock, and sister of his predecessor in the pastoral office.

In the faithful and laborious discharge of the duties of his office, as pastor of the First Presb. church of this town, he continued, for a period of twenty-eight and a half years, greatly favored of God and honored of man. The attendance on his ministrations steadily increased until it reached the full capacity of the church edifice; so that in February, 1820, measures were adopted for the gathering of a Second Presb. church. The number added to his church, during