THE FRELINGHUYSEN FAMILY IN NEW JERSEY
1720 - 1970
by
Emily Frelinghuysen McFarland
and
Ross Armstrong McFarland
17 Fresh Pond Parkway Cambridge, Massachusetts
Dedication
These historical and genealogical notes-are dedicated to the Memory of Emily Brewster Frelinghuysen, the late
Mrs. Joseph Sherman Frelinghuysen, Sr., whose knowledge of the culture and history of New Jersey -and of the Frelinghuysen family inspired u-s to undertake this compilat_ion for her grand children and friends.
THE FRELINGHUYSEN FAMILY IN NEW JERSEY--1720-1970
Table of Contents
Page
I. The Ancestral Home of the Frelinghuysens in Europe. 1
1. Etching of the town of Schwe rte in 1 50 0 4
2. The Forebears of the family in Europe before 1720 and in America from 1720-1960 5
3. A selected genealogy with special reference to education and public service 6
4. A similar genealogy with greater detail on accomplishments 7
II. Rev. Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen 1692-1748 8
1. Interpretation of T. J. Frelinghuysen' s religious work 9
2. Theodorus, the Domine1 s eldest son (Family tree l la) 12
3. Biography from Dictionary of American Biography 14
III. John Frelinghuysen 1 72 7 -1 7 54 15
1. Additional biographical information 17
2. Biographical note on Dina Van Bergh 19
3. The Dutch Parsonage - Somerville, New Jersey 20
4. Jacob R. Hardenber~h 22
5. The Wallace House - Somerville, New Jersey 24
IV. Major General Frede.rick 17 53-1804 25
1. Public and military offices 26
2. Inscription on tombstone 29
3. Additional biographical information 30
4. Biography from Dictionary of American Biography 33 -2-
Page V. Frederick l7 88-1820 34
VI. General John 1776-1833 35
1. Additional biographical information 36
2. The Van Vechten House 37
3. The Homestead - Raritan, New Jersey 38
VII. Theodore 17 87-1862 39
1. Additional biographical information, including comments on his political career 40
2. Biography from Dictionary of American Biography 44
VIII. Theodore 1814-1898 46
IX. Frederick John 1818-1891 47
X. Frederick Theodore 1817-1885 48
1. Biographical information frotn "The Secretaries of State" Portraits and Biographical Sketches 49
2. Comments on career ij.S Secretary of State 50
3. Selective genealogy with special reference to children and relationship to the Lodge family 5 3
4. Biography from the Encyclopaedia Britannica 54
5. Biography from Dictionary of American Biography 56
6. Biography from The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography 57
XI. Joseph Sherman 1869-1948 (Family - 58a) 58
1. Signing of the Peace Treaty relating to World War I 59
2. Biographical sketch of professional career 60
3. Outline of record of Senat,or Frelinghuysen from the Congressional Record 63
4. Biography from The National Cyclopaedia 67 -3-
Page 5. The Four Frelinghuysen Senators from New Jersey 69
6. List of Certificates, Awards and Diplomas 70
XII. George Griswold 1851 -1936 72
1. Biographical information from The National Cyclopaedia .American Biography 73
XIII. Petet' Hood Ballantine 1882-19 59 · 74
1. Biographical information from The National Cyclopaedia American Biography 75
XN. Famous New Jersey Families - Frelinghuysen 76
1. The Frelinghuysen Family and the Dutch Reformed Church 85
XV. Documents relating to the Frelinghuysen Family in New Je~sey 88
XVI. Selected bfl:>liography relating to the Frelinghuysen Family in New Jersey 1720-1960 91
XVII. American Requiem - a Narrative Poem of Death and Ancestors by Emily McFarland (December 1969) 92
1
The Ancestral Home of the Frelinghuy sens in Europe*
According to the theologian James Tanis,** Johan Henrich Frilinghauss, Jr. of Schwerte was the grandfather of Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen who came to New Jersey in 1 720. This Johan was born, baptized, married {Ursula
Hengstenberg of Ergste) and died in St. Viktor' s parish in Schwerte, as shown in the church archives. In 16 82, his son Johan III { T. J. F. is father) became the first pastor of the newly organized Reformed Church in nearby Hagen. Here
Johan III took his hew bride, Anna Margaretha Brliggeman, daughter of a minister in Westhofen and made a home for his large family of eleven children.
The fine etching of the town of Schwerte redrawn from an old print of
1 500 is attached. The spire of St. Vik tor 1 s Church dominates the view of this
-ancient city. The church was beautifully restored in 1954 for the four hundred year anniversary of the corning of the Reformation to Schwerte in 1554. The altar of St. Viktor 1 s is truly a fine 15th century work done by Antwerp artisans.
Luckily the first reformers were Lutherans:who did not destroy it or the wonder ful carved pulpit in their religious zeal! The old city still has many of the 15th and 16th century half..:timbered, tilted houses up and down the crooked, cobbled streets.
*This historical note on the ancestral background of the Frelinghuysen family in Westphalia and Holland was written by Emily F. McFarland ar"ter a visit to that area in September, 196 8 with her husband Professor Ross A. McFarland.
**Tanis, James - - "Dutch Calvinistic Pietism in the Middle Colonies - A study in the life and theology of Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen, " The Hague 1967. Cf also "The Frelinghuysens Begats," Genealogical magazine of N. J., Vol. XL, No. 2, May 196 5, pp. 49- 56. 2
It was interesting to see the home of our We stphalian ancestors and, in Ergste, to find some tombstones of the Hengstenbergs from that period,
1680 to 1780. The gravestones, dislodged in the bombings of the second World
War, were leaning up against the side of the· church with little possibility of their ever being matched up to the right bodies in the blasted ground below. We then drove to Hagen, a dismal, grey, mining city in the Ruhr industrial ar~a where we found the Evangelische Kirche near the Santa Marien Hospital. The
Verger sought out the Pastor to an~wer our long list of questions. Pastor
Beyer's father and grandfather had been ministers in Hagen and his grandfather had built the existing church in 187 3. The Coffee Mill, a_s the old church was called had always been a subject of ridicule by other denominations. The present new church stands in the midst of jagged ruins which are still not torn down or rebuilt after twenty-three years of "peace and prosperity"; a constant reminder of the horrors of war.
The grandfather of Pastor Beyer had prepared a history of the church from its very beginning. He showed us the manuscript which was written in
German. Reference was made to the ministry of Johan III (father of T. J. F.) and the church which was destroyed or torn down. There was also a picture of the church with its Wurzel Turm, or Turnip Topping which was apparently the origin of its name "The Coffee Mill. 11
The only relics salvaged were the two great sculptured stone doorways of the old "Coffee Mill"; one, a bas relief of the Ele ctor1 s coat of arms with flanking lions, the other a carved stork or pelican caring for its young. These stones had been placed in the new Church and Sunday School as symbols of strength and hope for the future. 3
This was the place where Johan Henrich Frelinghausen III preached to
the iron workers for forty-six years. Here, in 1692, his son Theodorus
Jacobus was baptized, and here in Hagen, T. J. F. was brought up until going to
school at the Gymnasium in Hamm at the age of seventeen.*
Theodorus studied at the University of Lingen for six years under Johannes
Wilhelmius and Otto Verbrugge. He was licensed to preach in 1715, but was not ordained by the Class is of Emden by Brunius, until l 7J7, in the German Reformed
Faith. His first church was at Loegumer Voorwerk in East Friesland during the great flood of Christmas 1718. He then planned to go to Enkhuizen in the Nether lands as co-rector of the La:tin School, but on the way there met Sicco Tjaden in
Groningen. Tjaden persuaded T. J. F. 'to go as preacher to the "R-a-ritans" in
America. (He· thought it was in Brabant.) Re-ordained in the Dutch Reformed
Church by the Class is of Amsterdam, he took ship in Sept ember 1719 for
New York. He became preacher to the Dutch Churches of the Raritan Valley in
New Jersey in 1720.
Pietist, evangelist, stubborn and controversial, Theodorus "brought a vital religion to the region at the same time as schism and strife. "* His five sons all joined the ministry--but every one died young, and only John the "Domine" left male survivors. John's son General Frederick, born in 17 53 in the Raritan
Parsonage, was the common.ancestor of all the Frelinghuysens in America today.
*Ibid James Tanis _ 4
-···· ...... rd-tt: __,__f;:-.-~:,...- -~~;1£j~
View of the old Westphalian town of Schwerte in 1500, then as now dominated by the spire of St. Viktor's Church where the Reformation was introduced in 155-4.
Schwerte was the ancestral home· of the Frelinghuysen family. It was the birth place of Johan Henrich Frilinghausen III, the son of Johan 1-1 and Ursula Hengstenherg of Ergste, and the father of Theodorus Jacobus, who was called to New Jersey in 1720 to preach to the Dutch settlers of the Raritan Valley. - 5
THE FOREBEARS OF THE FRELINGHUYSENS OF NEW JERSEY
Leonhard Frilinghauss ? ---- Messing ? Johann Hengstenberg? g. ca. 1618 - , r. Johann Freylinghaus Agnes Henrich Hengstenberg m. 1590 Anna von Nehm b. ca. 1581 - d. 16.72 d. 1666 ~r i • Johann Frilinghauss m. 1645 Ursula H:engstenberg m. Pastor Henrich BrUggeman d. 1703 b. 1620 - d. 1698. d. 1685 . J Johan . Henrich Frylinghaus married Anna Margaretha BrUggeman b. 1658 - d. 1728 9 November 1683 b.· 1657? -d. 1728
(1) Rev. Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghtiysep 1691...-1748
(2) John I ?r-1754
(3) Major Genei;-al Frederick . 17511804 I J; ~ (4) Frederick (5) General John (6) Theodore 1788-1820 1776-1833 ·17 87-1862 (All children adopted by brother Theodore)
(7) Theodore · (8) Frederick John (9) Frederick Theodore 1814-1898 18181891 1817-1885 1 (11) George Griswold Cha rlgtte John Joseph Sherman 1851-19 36 J.- 1856-1940 1858-1894 1869-1948 (12) Peter H. B. 1882-1959 (With special reference to ~ducatio·n and public service)
( l) Rev. Theodor us Jacobus Frelinghuysen 1692-1748 Born Hagen, Westphalia. Educated in Hamm, and the University of Lingen. Ordained Emden 1717 - Arrived in America in 1720 as first Dutch Reformed Minister in New Jersey
(Z) John Frelingh:ysen 1727-1754 University of Leyden. Ordained Minister 1749 Succeeded to his father 1 s five parishes in NJ. Married Dina Van Bergh 1750 {3) l Major General Fred_erick 1753-1804 Graduate of Princeton 1770. Revolutionary Officer Delegate to Continental Congress 1778 U.S. Senator (N. J.) - Major General 4 (5) J (6} ( ) Frederick 1788-1820 General John _1776-1833 Theodore 1787-1862 Graduate of Princeton 1806 Graduate of Rutgers 1792 Graduate of Princeton 1804 Admitted to the Bar 1810 Served in War of 1812 Mayor of Newark N. J. 1837 Chancellor Univ. of N. Y. City U. s. Senator (N. J.) Candidate for V. P. with Henry Clay President Rutgers 1850-1862
7 l 9 J, ( ) Theodore 1814-1898 ...._,.--- ____(~S) > Frederick John 1818-1891 ( ) Frede_rick Theodore 1817-1885 Graduate of Rutgers 1BJ1 Educated Privately Graduate of Rutgers 1836 Admitted to the Bar 1835 Admitted to the Bar 1841 U. s. Senator (N. J.) . Secretary of State (U.S.) 1881-5 cu) .. - l . George Griswold 1851-1936 Graduate of Rutgers 1870 Columbia Law School 1872 Patent Attorney in N. Y. and N. J. (12) . - . . j, . :harlotte 1856-1940 John 1858-1894 (IO) Joseph Sherman 1869-1948 Peter H.B. 1882-1959 Educated Privately Graduate of Princeton 1904 Honorary M.A. Rutgers (1916) Columbia Law School and Life Trustee 1917-1948 Admitted to the Bar 1906 U.S. Senator (N. J.) THE FRELINGHUYSEN FAMILY IN NEW JERSEY
1720 - 1960
REV. THEODORUS JACOBUS FRELINGHUYSEN 1692-1748
Born in Hagen, Westphalia. Educated in Hamm and Lingen. Ordained in Emden in 17f7. Dutch Refarrned minister in Samerset Caunty, New Jersey; arrived in America in 1720.
JOHN FRELINGHUYSEN 1727-1754
Born in Three Mi le Run, N. J. Educated at University of Leyden. Ordained in Hall and in 1749, Married Dina Van Bergh af Am,terdam in 1750. Succeeded to father'• parishes in Raritan Valley, 1750. Died suddenly in L. I. leaving wife Dina at Dutch Parsanage in Raritan. Dinti married a student af Jahn'• - Jacab R. Hardenbergh. They ministered ta the Raritan Churches fram 1758 to 1781. He became the first Pre,ident af Rutgers 1785. Only son of T,J.F. to leave male iHue,
MAJOR GENERAL FREDERICK 1753-1804
Born Dutch Parsonage - Raritan, Raised by stepfather Hardenbergh. Graduate of the Call~ge of New Jersey (Princetan) 1770. Tutar and first .faculty member of Queens CaUege (Rutgers), 1771-1775. Revolutionary Officer, 1775-1781. Elected dele9ate to ContinentQj CongreH, 1778-1779; 1782-1783, Trustee, Queen, Callege, 1782-,1804 •. U.S. Senator, 1793-1796. Major-General, 1794. TrU5tee, College af New Jersey (Princeton) 1802-1804. Died Mil'5tone Home,tead 1804, .
~CK JR. 1788-1e20 l GENERAL JOHN 1776-1833I THEODORE 1787-1862 tte of Princeton in 1806. Admitted to the Bor in Born Millstane, N.J., 1776. Graduate af Rutgers Born Millstane, N.J. Graduate of Princeton in 1804. '\~ttorney and Prosecutor far three New Jersey University in 1792 .. Admitted to the Bor in 1797. Admitted. ta the Bar in 1809. Attorney General, State ~,. Ali of his children adopted by hi, brother, Member of New Jersey State Council, 1804-1816. of New Jersey, 1817-1829,. U.S. Senator from New ,... Married first Louisa Mercer and second Elizabeth .Jersey, 1829-1835. Second Mayar af Newark,N ,J., Mercereau Van Vechten, 1810. Colonel, Regiment at 1837. Chancellor of the University of New Yark City, Sandy Hook - War of 1812. Brigadier General of State 1839-1850. Candidate for Vice Pre,ident of the U.S. Militia. Attorney (1747) and Surrogate of Somerset on the Whig Ticket with Henry Clay, 1844. President, County, New Jersey, 1818-1832.·. Rutger, Callege, 1850-1862. Na issue.
•ORE 1814-1898 l FREDERICK JOHN 1818-1891 FREDERICK THEODORE 1817-1885 -~----- '°" of General John, Graduate of Rutgers College Born Raritan, N .J. Homestead. Schooled Somerville. Graduate of Rutgers College in 1836; TMtee, 1851-1885 ,~ Admitted :-o the Bar in 1835. Practiced law Academy. Admitted to the Bar in 1841. Married Attorney and Member af Newark City Council, 1849- ·rn Somerville, and 32 years in Newark, New Victoria Bowen Sherman in 1855. Superintendent of 1850, Attorney General, State of New Jersey, 1861- . Schools, and later Surrogate for Somerset County, 1866, U.S. Senator from New Jersey, 1866-1869; and , 1871-1877. Secretary of State under President · Che,ter A. Arthur, 1881-1885,
JOSEPH SHERMAN 1869-1948
Born in Raritan, N,J. Schooled Somerville Academy. GEORGE GRISWOLD 1851-1936 Served in Spanish Arnerican War, Squadron A, New Y~rk Cavalry, 1898, Honorary M.A. Rutgers, 1916, Graduate of Rutgers in 1870. Calumbia Law School, and Life Trustee, 1917-1948. Married Emily Macy 1872: Married Sara Ballantine in 1881. Patent Brewster in 1905. State Senator, New Jersey, 1905- Attorney in New York'and New Jersey from 1880-1936. 1912. Pre,ident of Stole Senate, 1909-1910. Acting Governor, 1909. U.S. Senator from New Jer,ey, 1917-1923.
Tl,;, selected.genealogy of the Frelinghuysen PETER HOOD BALLANTINE 18~2-1959 Fa,nily in New Jer,ey has been annotated with special reference to the education and public Graduate of Princeton in 1904. Studied at Columbia service of those members af the family listed. Law School, Admitted to New York Bar in 1906. Married Adaline Havemeyer in 1907, Member of Hoover Food Commission, 1915-1916, 8 The Rev. Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen
Born in Hagen, Westphalia, in 1692; died on his farm at Three-Mile-Run, about 1748. (Prior to April 26, 1748). The fifth of eleven children of the Rev. Johannes Hem;icus Frelinghuysen, Pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church of Hagen. Educated in Hamm and the University of Lingen.
1717 Ordained by the Classis of Emden in Holland
1719 August. Sailed for America in the ship King George, under Captain Goelet from Amsterdam, Holland
1720 January 31. He preached his first sermon at the Raritan Parish, and he was at this Parish for 28 years. He was also Minister to the Churches of North Branch, Millstone, Bedminster; New Brunswick and Six Mile Run in New Jersey
' 1720 Married Eva Terhune in Flatbush, L. I. She was 12 years old! (See Tanis, p. 49) Of this marriage there were five sons, Theodore, John, Jacobus, Ferdinand and Henricus, then two daughters, Anna and Margaret. All became ministers or marrieci ministers. All died within about ten years of TJF except Anna who lived to an old age. Only son of T. J. F. who left male descendants was John. Therefore he is the ancestor of all who have since borne the name of Frelinghuysen
1723 The young Domine excommunicated the leaders of the dissident party of his parish
1725 Publication of .the 11 Klagte 11 or "Complaint against Frelinghuysen" by these dissidents
1729 There was a movement to replace him and procure another minister from Holland
1733 The Classis of Amsterdam permitted an impartial board to be set up to resolve the conflict. Finally both parties agreed to a compromise which did not mean the relinquishing of ideals.
The gravestone in the Elm Ridge Cemetery at Franklin Park is said to mark the site where he was buried, although this cannot be determined with certainty. .Actually this is at the site of the old Six Mile Run Dutch Church before it was moved ~o the Franklin Park site of the present church (a mile to the West) by 1745. This fact is stated in Mr~ Van Horn's "History of Somerset County" and corrobor~ted by Emily F. McFarland on the John Dalley Map of 1745 of the King's Highway from Brunswick to Princeton. This map is in the Archives of the New York Historical Society. The Church is at the new site on this map. 9
Brief Interpretation of T JF' s Religious Work
A popular article entitled "The Hammerer" ..; The story of. the
Rev. Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen by C. C. Chadier appeared in
The Church Herald, April 23, 196 5, the official organ of the Dutch
Reformed Church of America.
This article gives a background of the early training of Theodorus under theologians who advocated a vital experiential piety urging a moral reformation or a personal conversion experience for each member of the church. The pietistic, Calvinistic doctrines he advocated in his rninistry at Raritan, N. J., of total depravity and predestination, were distasteful to many of his parishioners and opposition began to form. In 1 723,
Frelinghuysen excommunicated the dissident members of his parish. He stated "I would sooner die a thousand deaths, than not to preach the truth".
Thus he went on thundering and hammering like John the Baptist in his sermons.
The Clas sis of the church in Amsterdam realized the importance of the conflict but was unwilling to turn the reins over to an American board to resolve the problems. The attempt to remove him was unsuccessful and
"The Apostle of the Raritans" went on serving his four congregations faith fully on foot and on horseback.
In the year. 1 733 the Classis of Amsterdam finally permitted an impartial board to.be set up. Both parties were willing to compromise and ready to concede so peace was again brought to the Raritan. The excommuni' cated were welcomed back into the congregation and Frelinghuysen instituted private prayer meetings limited to those who had a personal conversion experience. These meeti!)-gs furthered the ideals of moral cha.nge and 10 reformation and broke down some of the barriers of denominational distinctions which were so jealously guarded.
The serious student of the life of Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen in colonial religious history should consult the biographical study written by one of his descendants, Peter H. B. Frelinghuysen, Jr. It was the latter's senior thesis at Princeton University and it was privately published by the Princeton University Press in 1938 under the title "Theodorus
Jacobus Frelinghuysen. " It is now out of print.
The most recent authoritative book on the life and theology of the first Frelinghuysen in America has been written by James Robe rt Tanis.
He received_ the BA at Yale in 1945 and the BD at Union Theological
-Seminary in 19 54. He was Librarian of the Andover- Harvard Theological
Library and a member of the Faculty of the Harvard Divinity School frQm
1956 until 1965. · In February 196 5 he was appointed University Librarian of Yale University.
In 1962, James Tanis began studies toward the doctorate of theology at the University of Utrecht, being a competent linguist in both Dutch and
German. His thesis is entitled "Dutch Calvinistic _Pietism in the Middle
Colonies - a Study in the Life and Theology of Theodorus Jacobus Freling huysen. 11 It was published in_ Holland by Martinus Nijhoff-' 's - Gravenboge - in 1967 upon the completion of his being awarded the degree of Doctor of
Divinity. It is based upon a thorough study of the original sources in the
Dutch language and will undoubtedly prove to be an authoritative treatise on
American Colonial religious history. In this country the book is available_ at Elliotts Books, 29 Broadway, New Haven, Conn., 06511 at $7. zi:; per copy. 11
The Table of Contents of this very scholarly and well written book is
given below. It will be of great interest to those concerned with the early history and influence of the Frelinghuysen family in the Old world of Europe as well as in the New world of America, and it is highly recommended.
DUTCH CALVINISTIC PIETISM IN THE MIDDLE COLONIES A Study in the Life and Theology of Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen
Introduction 1
Part I. His Life and Work Chapter 1. Roots in Europe 11 This chapter deals with the family background, his father ts ministry, .. his student years, first pastorate and his · last months in the Old world.
Chapter 2. Life and Ministry in the New World 42 This chapter discusses the life and congregations in the Raritan Valley, his colleagues and the conflicts which developed. Emphas~s i,s placed on the solutions reached and the breaking away from Holland in regard to religious education and ordination.
Part II. His Theology: Experimental Divinity Chapter 3. Of God and Man 97 In this part of the book his religious doctrine·s are discussed from the point of view of theology, i.e. the religious doctrines he propounded, their origins, meaning and interpretation. Chapter 4. Of the Church 135 The doctrines of the church, as revealed through the Bible, are discussed in this chapter. It deals with the sacraments, church membership and worship, creeds, and discipline. Appendices 163 Bibliography 186 Index 198
Those concerned with an accurate genealogy of the Frelinghuysen family previous to their arrival in America should consult "The Frelinghuysen Begats" by James Tanis. The Genealogical Magazine of N. J., Vol. XL, No. 2, May 196 5, pp. 49- 56. THEODORUS JACOBUS FRELINGHUYSEN - 1692-1748 * l I I I I I I . I Theodore John Jacobus Ferdinand Hendricus Anna Margaret 1727-1754 J Eva General Frederick 1753-1804
I Frederick General John Theodore Marie Catherine 1776-1833 no children k Susan IGertrude Dumont Fred: T Louisa
John Theodore Elizabeth Frederick A Louisa Sarah Catherine {Sophia)
Il ...,I I I Charlotte John Elizabeth' Theodore Joseph S. Clarence
* . Early descendents of TJF in America
12
Theodorus Frelinghuysen
The Domine I s eldest son Theodorus at the age of twenty departed in J 743
for the Netherlands to complete his studies at the University of Utrecht.
After studying for two years in Utrecht, he received a call to be pastor
at the Church iri Albany. Although he could have remained in Holland
he felt an inner desire to return to the Colonies. He passed his examina
tion by the Clas sis of Amsterdam with distinction and was ordained for the work in Albany, N. Y •. He sailed for America but the_ ship was captured by
the French and he was forced to spend 6 months .at sea.
Some years later his two younger brothers, Jacobus and Ferdinandus
returned from their perio'd of study at Utrecht. The hardships of the
voyage were great and they both became ill with smallpox and died on board the ship.
The above events, along with his strong feelings about spreading the
Gospel in America turned Theodorus into one of the most vigorous
defenders of the cause for ordination of Ministers in America instead of
requiring them to return to Holland. A natural outgrowth of these feelings
was a passionate desire to establish a university in America for the Dutch
Reformed. So ardent were his efforts on behalf of the school that its opponents called it "Frelinghuysen's Academy". In 1759 he left Albany for the Netherlands, hoping to raise funds for the projected college. He died while abroad. Although the college was not founded during his
lifetime the Queen's College (now Rutgers) was the direct result of his father's long-nourished hopes and his own years of arduous labor.
(cf Tanis p. 91) 13
The career of Theodore Frelinghuysen, eldest son of "The Apostle of the Raritan, " is told by Anne MacVicar Grant as it must have appeared to the citizens of Albany, New York, at that time. In 1746 young Frelinghuysen became a parson at Albany where Mrs. Grant, the Highland poetess, spent her childhood. She recalls him as "a martyr to levity and innovation. "
At the time a troop of gay British soldiers threatened to set a rakish style for his parishioners; Theodore was especially incensed when the British gave a performance of The Beaux Stratagem. "This bode fair soon to undo all the good pastor's labors," said Mrs. Grant. "The evil was daily growing; and what, alas, could Domine [Ministei} Frelinghuysen do but preach! This he did earnestly, and even angrily, but in vain. II
·on a Monday morning, after Frelinghuysen had made a particularly zealous attack on theatrical amusements, he found on his doorstep a stick, a pair of old shoes, a crust of black bread, and a dollar. "The worthy pastor was puzzled to think what this could mean; but had it too soon explained to him. It was an emblematic message, to signify the desire entertained of his departure. The stick was to push him away, the shoes to wear on the road, and the bread and money a provision for his journey. "
(cf "Memoirs of an American Lady. 11 Anne MacVicar. Grant, Albany, N. Y.,
180 8. ) 14 FRELINGHUYSEN, THEODORUS JA1 - stronghold of his denomination. He trained sev COBUS (1691-c. 1748), Reformed Dutch cler~ eral men for the i:ninistty, advocatetl the estab gyman, was born in Germany at Lingen on thq lishment of a co1lege and theological seminary, · Ems near the Dutch border, the son of the local urged the Dutch churches to govern themselves Reformed pastor, Johannes Hendricus Frieling instead of deferring to the Classis of Amsterdam, hausen. He rccei\'cd most of his education from and set an example by taking part in the unau his father and from the ~ev. Otto Verbrugge, thorized ordination of John Henry Goetschius later a professor at Gromgen, who persuaded [q.·v.]. He published seven pamphlets of hisser · him to learn Dutch so as to profit hy the superior mons. His wife was Eva, daughter of Albert · orthodoxy of Dutch theology. He was licensed · Terhune, a well-to-do farmer of Flathush, L. I. in 1717 hy the Classis of Emelen, was a chaplain Jacobus Schureman, a schoolmaster who accom in 1718 at the Logumer Voorwerk in East Fries panied him from Amsterdam, married her sister land, and in the same year was made suhrector at Autje. Frelinghuyscn's two daughters married . Enklmizrn on the Zuiclerzec in \Vest Friesland. ministers; his five sons became ministers. The Soon thereafter, as the result of a chance meeting date of his death and the site of his grave are un- with the Rev. Sicco Tjadde; he accepted a ca11 to known. · the Dutch congregations of Raritan ( fotmded [T. J. Frelinghuysen, Sermons, Translat,,d from the 16()Q), New Brunswick, Six-Mile Run, Three Dutch and Prefaud by a Sketch of lhl· A11thor's Life Mile Run, and North Branch in the Raritan Val by Rc'V. Wm. Demar6st ( 1856); E.T. Corwin, Mcrnual Reformed Ch. iK America (4th ed., 190.a); J. P. De Bie ley in New Jersey. Frelinghuysen combined and J. Loosjes, Biographisch W oordrnl,ock 'Van Pro loyalty to the teachings of the Heidelberg Cate- . testanlsche Godgel,•erdcn in Nederfond ( 'S-Gravenhage, . chism with the methods and fanatical zeal of a: n.d.); C.H. Maxson, The Great Au•akcning in the Mid• die Coloni,s (1920).] · master revivalist. On Jan. 17, 1720, shortly after G.H.G. his landing at New York, he preached for Domi nie Henricus Bod and twice during the service omitted the Lord's Prayer where the rubric called . for it'. Bocl, truculently orthodox and appetent . of controversy, smelled heresy in the omissions Reproduced from Dictionary of American and began to gird for battle. Frelinghuysen, · Biography. meanwhile, threw himself into his work with tre Vol. VII, Page 15. mendous zest. Many of his parishioners were New York: Charles Scribner & Sons, 193 L quickly incensed by the directness of his preach- : ing, the severity of his requirements for admis sion to the communion table, and the candor of his strictures on their manners, morals, and r'e ligious observances. Allying- themselves with Boel and other New York clergymen, they car ried on a long, stubborn, and unseemly warfare, which culminated in Ii25 with the publication of a Klagte of 146 pages, drawn up it is believed hy Boel's lawyer brother and signed by sixty-four heads of families. Frelinghuysen, however, was a match for them. \Vith the help of Peter Henry Dorsius, Bernardus Freeman [q.v.], and other sympathizers, he vanquished his foes and lived his latter years in peace and honor. His congre gations throve; revivals and ''ingatherings" fol lowed in his wake; his labors were comml'rnled hy George \Vhitefield,.Gilhert Tennent, and Jona than Edwards. He did as much as anv one to in voke the Great Awakening in the l'liddle Colo- -nies, and the re~io~~ where he wrought remains a I 5
The Rev. John Frelinghuysen - 1727-1754
Born in 1727 at Three Mile Run in New Jersey. · Studied under his father, and finished his education in Holland at the University of Leyden. · He was the only son of T. J. F. to leave issue.
1749 Ordained in the Netherlands.
1750 Married Dina Van Bergh of Amsterdam, Holland. Came to America with wife, March; 1750. She died March 26, . 1807.
The (Dutch) Parsonage in Raritan was built by him in . 1750, where seminary-like instruction was also given.
1750 Selected as successor in three of his father's five churches: North Branch (Readington), Rarita:n, and Millstone (Hillsborough) (Harlingen). First sermon was given August 3, 1750.
1754 Died suddenly at the age of 27 at Flatbush, Long Island, after only four years in his father I s pastorate in Raritan. Dina later married a· student of John's - Jacobus Ruts en Hardenbergh in 1758. They ministered to four Raritan Churches untll 1781.
John was the second eldest son of T.J.F. He was educated abroad and he was ordained in the Netherlands in 1749. He returned to his father's former congregations in Raritan and vicinity preaching the first. sermon on the 3rd of
August in 1750 on the text from Psalm 45, verse 16: "Instead of your fathers will be your sons". He was warmly welcomed and the churches thrived under his preaching. In addition to his pastoral duties, he undertook the training of young men for the ministry. John had a handsome brick house built for Dina Van Bergh, the Dutch bride whom he brought back with him from Amsterdam. The spacious quarters which th.eir home provided housed a virtual seminary. After only four years in the pastorate he was taken suddenly ill, and died, on his way to a meeting of the Coetus on Long Island. The story is told that his pious and sturdy wife Dina went to Long Island to fetch back his body. On the return, as the boat pulled into 16
the dock, it was unable to draw close enough for normal debarkation. Dina
ordered the coffin placed from the boat as a bridge to the shore. When one of the
crew demurred, she replied, "Tis only a shell, his spirit is gone, cast it across. 11
Her father-in-law.would have been pleased. Dina and John had one son, Frederick.
It is through his descendants that the family name has been preserved.
After the deaths of Jacobus and Ferdinandus at sea, John had written
to the Classis on behali of his brother, Henricus. "Reverend Fathers, remem.ber
these facts. Four of our family, in order not to trouble you by asking of you the
favor of being promoted to the sacred ministry in this country, have risked their
lives and fortunes to attain the ministry in a way more .agreeable to you; and, as we
also thought, in a way that would be more useful to us. The last two, the most
excellent of us all, have lost their lives by it. We have only one left - the hope of
our house. For him is now asked this favor ••• 11 The Classis refused the plea and
replied that Henricus must come to Amsterdam. Again the Clas sis was petitioned.
Meanwhile,the desperate needs of the churches for pastors led the Coetus arbitrarily to assume the authority for licensing, and Henricus was e.xamined and licensed in
New Jersey. Finally the Clas sis relented of its former answer and sent word that the Coetus might also ordain him. Unfortunately for the pastorless churches, it was too late, for Henricus died only two weeks after his ordination.
So in little more than te1;1 years after the Domine1s death, his five sons and his daughter, Margarete, followed him to the grave. Only Anna, his youngest child, lived on till an old age. {cf Tanis, pages 91-93) 17
John Frelinghuysen
John - the Domine (1727*-1754) a son of Theodorus Jacobus
and Eva Terhune was born at Three Mile Run near New Brunswick
in 1729. He died in 1754 in Long Island. His wife Dina brought
his body backon a barge to be buried we believe in the old Dutch
church graveyard at Van Vechten1 s bridge (then about three miles
from the Old (Second) Sorp.erset Courthouse at HiUsborough). **
Van Vechten1 s Bridge and the First Raritan Church (1721) (now
only a site near Manville), as well as the Old, or second Somerset
Courthouse were burned by Simcoe•.s Raiders (British) in 1779.
Domine J·ohn1 s body was exhumed in about 1825 and was re-buried
with two other ministers in the Minister's Tomb of the Old Cemetery
at Somerville. (This is on the East side of the old road to Princeton,
one mile south of Somerville.)
(For the information of future descendants, General John
Frelinghuysen (1 776-1833) the son of General Frederick is buried
here also, next to his second wife Elizabeth Mercereau Van Vechten).
*Messler - says 1727 (p. 182) Eight Memorial Sermons.
**The first courthouse had been at Six Mile Run. 18
When John Frelinghuysen died in 17 54, Dina decided to take her two
infants, Eve and Frederick, back to Holland. Then she received a most
unexpected proposal of marriage from one of her husband's students,
Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh. The story goes that when.this eighteen-year-old
mustered courage to approach the widow of his late preceptor. she replied,
"My child, what are you thinking about!" (Mrs. Frelinghuysen was then
approaching thirty.) However, she had her own second thoughts and accepted -
taking her children fo the home of her fiance's father until the young man
reached_ majority and was. ready for marriage. She did not return to Holland.
"Every incident in the daily life of this remarkable woman produced
a religious influence, and it could seem no experience could be hers without
resulting in an individual blessing. Throughout her life she had implicit
confidence in special providences, and many instances are related in which
she claimed to have experienced undoubted proofs of direct answer to prayer.
It was her constant habit to make affairs of either great or minor importance
a matter of personal appeal to the Almighty." (cf The Story of an Old Farm
Andrew D. Mallick, Jr., 1889)
Probably the most astonishing example of divine_ intercession on her
behalf occurred on her honeymoon trip to America. The ship sprang a leak;
the captain abandoned hope. Dimi "retired to her cabin and submitted the
case to h_er Heavenly Father." She then awaited the result with composure,
and miraculously the water stopped rushing into the ship. On close examination,
it is related, a swordfish was found to have become wedged into the open seam, thus effectively closing the leak! 19
Biographical Note on Dina Van Bergh
Dina Van Bergh Frelinghuysen Hardenbergh was born in Amsterdam on the Prinzen_Gracht Canal in 1725, the daughter of a wealthy merchant
Louis Van Bergh. Her father and mother were thought py her to be frivo lous and worldly. She evidently became very religious at an early age and was extremely devout. {cf her Diary in the original longhand version in
Dutch, with English translation in Rutgers University Library~) After the death of her first husband John, the Domine in 17 54 (at 25) she was left a widow ~ith two children (one of whom was General Frederick) she married
Jacobus Rutsen Hardenbergh. He was a very young student of her husband in the theological school at the Parsonage at Raritan. Sh.e went to live with his family at Rose_ndale, New York {on the Hudson) until he finished his preparation for the ministry. When Jacobus was recalled as pastor to the Congregation of the Raritan Valley in 1758, they returned to live in the same Dutch Parsonage in Raritan where they remained through the
Revolution un 17 81 raising their many children in the midst of the advances and retreats of the American Army across New Jersey. They returned to
Rosendale, N. Y. for about four years after Hardenbergh gave up his Parish in New Jersey. In 1785 they returned to New Brunswick when Hardenbergh became President of Rutgers College. They lived there until he died in 1 790.
Dina died in 1807 at the age of eighty-two. They are both buried in the churchyard at New Brunswick, New Jersey. 20
The Dutch Parsonage - Somerville, New Jersey·
The Dutch Parsonage was built in 1751 and the cornerstone reads
June 7, 1751. When Rev. John Frelinghuysen accepted the call to the ministry in the Raritan Valley in 1749, he was promised a dwelling.
Apparently some of the bricks used for the house were brought from Holland on the ship with the Domine and Dina Van Bergh. Since Dina's parents were well off she may have contributed in many ways to its design and con struction. Originally it stood back from the Old York Road on the South side in a grove of trees above the Raritan River. It stands now on a slightly different site to the West of the Wallace House on Middagh Street. It was originally 1000 ft. to the East of the Wallace House exactly where the
Jersey Central Railroad passes through.
The Rev. John Frelinghuysen and his wife Dina moved into it and us·ed it not only as their home but also as a Theological Seminary. Rev. John
Frelinghuysen lived to the age of only 34 years, dying in September, 1754.
Shortly afterwards his widow was persuaded to marry Rev. Jacob .Rutsen
Hardenbergh, a pupil of her former husband, and a man many years her junior. They returned to the Raritan parsonage in 17 58, when her husband was called to fill the vacant pastorate. In 176 3 they were joined by her widowed mother, Mrs. Van Bergh. Th_ey enter.tained General Washington frequently, and lived here until 1781, when Rev. Hardenbergh was called to
Rosendale. He later served the church at New Brunswick, where he djcd in
1790, aged 51 years, and where his widow Dina Van Bergh continued to live, 21
and died March 26, 1807, aged 81 years. The next occupant of the parsonage was Rev. Theodore Frelinghuysen Romeyn, a nephew of Rev. John Freling huysen; he came here about two years after Rev. Hardenbergh's departure.
The late Senator and Mrs. Joseph S. Frelinghuysen took great interest in the preservation of the Dutch Parsonage, assuming the expenses of n1oving it to its present location. Mrs. Frelinghuysen, in collaboration with the
D. A. R., gave a great deal of time and thought to its restoration both before and after its acquisition by the State of New Jersey as a Historical Site.
The house had been remodelled many times, at one point having had long Victorian windows which have been restored to their original size with
28 panes of glass. The panelling and the staircase are finer than was usually found in the orindary Dutch houses of New Jersey but very similar to New
England architecture of that period·.· The staircase goes up to the third floor lit by a gable and it is not known whether this was added at a later date or not. None of the outhouses remain. A large mantelpiece, some panelling and the Dutch front door were removed by the Senator and Mrs. Frelinghuysen and placed in the living room and hall at Brookwood, Far Hills, New Jersey.
This house is presently owned by the Edgar Crossmans. (1969) Possibly some day the family will be able to re-acquire them for re-placement in the
Parsonage, along with some of Dina's original furniture. 22
Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh - 1736-1790
Husband of Dina Van Bergh Frelinghuysen
The biographical sketch below is taken from "Catalogue of the Portraits on Exhibit at Rutgers University (Kirkpatrick Chapel), page 11, Published by the University, New Brunswick, N. J., 1937.
Hardenhergh, Jacob Ruts en, D. D. (1736-1790) First
President, Queen's, l 785-1790. Member of the convention which framed the first Constitution of New Jersey.
After the petition for the support of Queen's College had twice been refused by the Classis of Amsterdam, it was Dr. ·Hardenbergh who obtained from George III of England the charter of the College in
1766. His riame as president appears on the diploma of Simeon DeWitt under date of October 5, 1776, from which fact it is inferred that he filled this office from the outset of the College's existence in 1770. His actual date of appointment as president, however, was not until 1785.
He was an ardent patriot during the Revolution, and a price was set upon his head by the British who burned his church at Raritan, New Jersey.
After the war it was largely through his efforts that the College was revived and under his administration property was purchased and construc tion was begun on the second college building at the site of the present
Monument Square in New Brunswick.
Artist: Gordon Stevenson. A composite portrait. Presented 1920 by William P. Hardenbergh. 23
Jacob R. Hardenbergh was part of what has been called "the Dutch aristocracy of New York. 11 He was the grandson of the recipient of the
Hardenbergh Patent, one of the largest land grants of the colonial period, which embraced most of Ulster, Delaware, Sullivan, and Greene counties on the west side of the Hudson River, a tract of over a million acres.
Young Hardenbergh took over John Frelinghuysen' s ministry, raised his children, and realized his dream of a Dutch Reformed school in America.
He became the actual founder and first president of .Rutgers College in 1786 but he died four years later. t
In 1793 a joint committee from the war- racked colleges of Princeton and Rutgers proposed a nierger of the two schools, but the Rutgers trustees rejected the plan. By 1824, under a charter from the state legislature,
Rutgers had to resort to a lottery to raise funds. The trustees turned the operation of the lottery over to professional managers, who kept what they raised in return for a guarantee of $25, 000 to the college.· The operators sold $336, 977 worth of tickets in April 1825. (The highest prize, $15,000, went to the holder of ticket number 14-15-28). However the state soon charged the operators with irregularities, and the lottery was stopped. It is doubtful that the college received its full $25, 000 from th~ venture. The school revived shortly after the lott~ry episode and was a going concern by
1850 when another Frelinghuysen became its president.
t The Hardenberghs continued to play an important role in Rutgers affairs after Jacob's death. His son, Jacob, Jr., was a trustee from 1792 to 1841; his grandson, Cornelius L. Hardenbergh, was appointed professor of law in 1835; and his great-great-grandson, Henry Janeway Hardenbergh (1847-1918), designed the college's Kirkpatrick Chapel. This noted architect was primarily known for hotel design; his work inciudes the Plaza in Nl~W York, the Copley Plaza in Boston, and the Willar
The Wallace House - Somerville, N. J.
The Wallace House was built in 1778 by William Wallace, a wealthy
merchant of Philadelphia. The Washingtons moved there in December of
1778. Mrs. Washington found it required alterations to suit her needs and
these changes were made by the soldiers. This house served as his Head
quarters during the winter of 1778-1779 with the major part of his army
encamped in the surrounding area.
One of the friendships which developed from Washington's stay at
the Wallace Ho:use was that between the General and Dominie Jacob Harden
bergh who with his wife lived in the Dutch Parsonage nearby. These men
held each other in high respect. Their wives had much in common; for both,
though born to wealthy families, preferred a simple, busy home life to
. social activity. Each had been widowed and 'married for a second time to
a man of high purpose and firm belief in his country's right to freedom.
(cf the letter in Rutgers University Library written by Mrs. Washington
on June 20, 1 783 to the Hardenbergs as.king if she could have breakfast
with them on the following day.)
It is hard to realize today that in 1751, and even after the Revolution
there were hardly any houses between the Wallace House on Middagh Street
and the Dutch Parsonage to the Van Vechten House at Manville-Finderne,
3 or 4 miles East along the Raritan river where General Greene was
quartered in 1778 -79. There was no town of Somel'ville at tl,at time. 25
Frederick Frelinghuysen {Common Forbear of all Frelinghuysens)
Born in the Dutch Parsonage at Raritan, April 13, 17 53. Died on April 13, 1804 in Millstone, N. J.
1770 Graduate, College of New Jersey (Princeton University) Read for the bar under Richard Stockton - Fellow student of James Madison, future U.S. President.
1774 Admitted to Bar, New Jersey.
1775 Married Gertrude Schenck, the daughter of Hendrick Schenck. She died March 11, 1794. She was the mother of three sons and two daughters: Maria, 177~-1832, married the Rev. John Cornell and had 13 children. Catherine married the Rev. Gideon N. Judd and had 5 children.
The General married as his second wife Ann Yard who was the mother of two daughters, Sarah, who died at eighteen and Elizabeth who married Dr. James B. Elmendorf and had nine children. No male issues.
1771-1775 Tutor, Queen's College. First member of the faculty, later known as Rutgers University.
1775 Member of Provincial Congress of New Jersey; put on Committee of Public Safety.
February 28. Colonel, First Battalion, Somerset Company. Resigned to accept appointment as Delegate to Congress.
1776 February 15. In Colonel Stewart's Battalion; "Minute Men". March 1. Captain, Eastern Company of Artillery, N. J. State Troops.
1778-1779; 1782-1783 Delegate to Continental Congress.
17 82-1804 Trustee, Queen's College
1793-1796 U.S. Senator from New Jersey
Major-General (N. J. Detached Militia)
1804 Died Millstone Homestea·d, April 13, 1804 on his fifty first birthday Prior to 1787 Frederick resided in Franklin Township - Somerset. After that date he lived at the Millstone Homestead. 26
Frederick Frelinghuysen - 1753-1804
Public Offices - Civilian*
1774 - Admitted to Colonial New Jersey Bar.
1775- - Chosen a member of the Provincial Congress of New Jersey. Appointed to the ''Committee of Public Safety."
1776 - Again chosen a member of the Provincial Congress of Ne_w Jersey.
November 6, 1778-April 29, 1779 - Elected a delegate, on joint ballot of the New Jersey Legislature, to represent the State in the Continental Congress at Philadelphia.
1781-1784 - Appointed County Clerk of Somerset -Courity.
1782-1783 - Re-elected a delegate to r:epresent New ·Jersey in the Con tinental Congress.
1784-1785 - Member of New Jersey State Assembly..
1787- - Member of New Jersey State Convention of 1787.
1787-1793 - Appointed Surrogate of Somerset County.
1791-1792 - Member of New Jersey State Legi~la,tive Council (Senate since 1844).
March 4, 1793 - November 12, 1796 - Elected to the United_ States Senate at Philadelphia. Resigned in 1796 due to "domestic bereave ments and family claims. "
1799- - Judge of Somerset County.
1800-1803 - Member of New Je;rsey State Assembly.
1802-1804 - Member of Board of Trustees, College of New Jersey, Princeton New Jersey.
*( Com piled by H. Kels Swan in' 'Raritan I s Re vol utiona ry Rebel:
Frederick Frelinghuysen. 11 Somerville, N. J., 1967.) 27
Frederick Frelinghuysen - 1753-1804
Public Offices - Military*
1775-1776 - Captain of ''Minute Men" from Somerset County.
February 15, 1776 - February 22, 1776 - First Major in Colonel Charles Stewart's Battalion of 11 Minute Men" detached for service in New York under Major General Charles Lee of the Continental Army. Order countermanded on latter date.
March 1, 1776 - before April 20, 1776 - Captain of Eastern Company of Artillery in New Jersey State Troops. Resigned previous to latter date.
June 10, 1 776 - Appointed Deputy from Somerset County to Convention of New Jersey.
Summer of 1776 - Served in Hunterdon County arresting insurgents.
November, 1776 - Served as Aide-de-Camp on the staff•of Brigadier General Philemon Dickinson.
December, 1776 - Joined the American Army as a volunteer on their retreat acrdss the Delaware River.
December 21, 1776 - Directed by General Washington to return to New Jersey and assemble the State Militia.
February 1, 1777 - Colonel of First Regiment of Somerset County Militia. {Vice-Colonel Stephen Hunt vacated commission.)
February, 1777 - Served in Bergen and Essex Counties.
June 5, 1777 - Appointed Commissioner of Forfeited Estates in Somerset County.
June, 1777 - Commanded a detachment of militia in Bergen County.
August - September, 1777 - Commanded detachments of militia from SuS!sex, Essex, Middlesex and.Morris Counties stationed at Elizabethtown, New Jersey.
*(Compiled by H. Kels Swan in 11 Raritan 1 s Revolutionary Rebel:
Frederick Frelinghuysen. 11 Somerville, N. J. , 1967.) 28
June, 1778 - Commanded his regiment under Major General Philemon Dickinson during the retreat of the British Army across New Jersey.
June 24, 1778 - At Battle of Crosswick1 s Bridge, New Jersey.
June 28, 1 778 - At Battle of Monmouth, New Jersey.
June 1, 17 79 - June 21, 1779 - Commanded detachments of militia from Morris and Somerset Counties stationed at Hackensack and New Barbadoes, New Jersey.
After June 2, 17 79 - Colonel of detachments of militia levied from several counties to service in defense of fronties of the State of New Jersey under Act of June 2, 1779. (Vice-Colonel John Neilson declined). Frelinghuysen declined on account of ill health.
September 29, 1779 - October 28, 1779 - Commanded detachments of militia from Somerset and Sussex Counties at Minnisink, New Jersey.
June 7, 17 80 - June 14, 17 80 - Commanded his regiment _in alarm at Springfield, New Jersey.
After January 6, 1781 - Appointed Commissioner to investigate uneasiness among enlisted men of the New Jersey Continental Line and fix the amounts due them for depreciation of pay under Act of January 6, 1 781.
May 31, 17 86 - In service as Colonel of First Regiment of Somerset County Militia.
October 10, 1794 - December 23, 1794 - Enrolled as Major General of New Jersey Detached Militia for three months. Discharged on latter date. Frelinghuysen was appointed to the command of the Legion., leading the van of the Army during the Pennsylvania Insurrection of 1794. Thomas Henderson, Vice-President of State of New Jersey, in letter dated Sept. 24, 1 794, authorized Frelinghuysen to recruit two hundred men (not over fifty to be be assigned to the cavalry) to march to Western Pennsylvania during the autumn of 179.4. (Original letter in Princeton Univer sity Library, Moore Collection of Autographs.) 29
The Following Inscription is Copied from Tombstone of General Frederick Frelinghuysen in the Old Weston Cemetery
11 Entombed beneath this stone lie the remains of the Honourable
Frederick Frelinghuysen, Esq. 1 Major General of the Military Forces and
Representative in the General Assembly of his native state. Endowed by
nature with superior talents he was beloved by his country. From his youth,
he was entrusted with her most important concerns. Until his death he
never disappointed her hopes. At the Bar he was eloquent. In the Senate
he was wise. In the Field he was brave. Candid, generous and just he was
ardent in his friendship, constant to his friends. The patron and protector
of honourable merit, he gave his hand to the young, his counsel to the
middle aged, his support to him who was feeble in years.
To perpetuate his memory his children have raised this monument,
a frail memorial of their veneration for his virtues and of their grief for the
loss of so excellent a father. 11
He died on the 13th of April 1804, aged fifty-one years. His wife
· Gertrude Schenck ( 1794) is buried next to hin1..
The graves of General Frederick Frelinghuysen and his son, Frederick1 are in the old Weston (Millstone, Hillsborough) Cemetery. This ce1netery is kept up by the D. A. R. with help from the Frelinghuysen family. It is very near the site of the second Somerset Court House at Hillsborough, which was burned by Simcoe in the Revolution. It is also very near the site of the family homestead at Hillsborough (Millstone) and the grist mill originally belonging to Henry Schenck (Gitty' s father) which supplied grain to the Continental Army. General Frederick married Gertrude Schenck in 1775 and lived all his life in the Millstone house. 30
FREDERICK FRELINGHUYSEN- 17 53-1804
The biographical notation below is copied from "Catalogue of the
Portraits on Exhibit at Rutgers University" '{Kirkpatrick Chapel), page 11.
Published by the University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 1937.
Frelinghuysen, General Frederick (17 53-1804) Tutor, Queen's
1771-1775. Trustee, Queen's, 1782-1804·. Graduate, College of New Jersey,
1770. Lawyer. Member of the Provincial Congress of New Jersey, 177 5.
Delegate to the Continental Congress, 1778-1779, 1782-1783. Colonel in the
Revolutionary Army. U.S. Senator, 1793-1796. Major General, 1794.
Frederick Frelinghuysen was the College 1 s, first tutor when it opened for instruction at The Sign of the Red Lion, an old tavern which stood at the horth col:'ner of Albany and Neilson Streets. In 1776 he was one of a select group delegated by Washington to call the militia. At the battles of
Trenton and Monmouth he fought brilliantly and was raised to a colonelcy.
After the war he took an active part in the work of rehabilitation and re con- struction, and through his activity at the Provincial Congress, as a member of the Committee on Public Safety, as a delegate to the Continental Congress and later in the United States Senate rounded out a life of service freely given to the nation, the church and the College.
Artist: unknown.
Presented 1876 by his grandsons.
Tradition has it that it was Captain Frederick Frelinghuysen' s pistol · that killed Colonel Rahl, the Hessian Commander at the Battle of Trenton I
{the day after "Washington crossed the Delaware"). 31
General Frederick Frelinghuysen - 1753-1804
When Frederick Frelinghuysen died on his fifty-first birthday
he left six children. His three sons were John, 1776-1833; Theodore,
1787-1862, and Frederick, Jr., 1788-1820, the only male member of
the fourth generation. Two of his daughters married ministers, and
Maria Frelinghuysen Cornell founded one .of the earliest American temper
ance organizations, the Sober Society of Allentown, Pennsylvania. John
became a militia general-in the War of 1812; Theodore. became the second
Frelinghuysen senator and Frederick became a lawyer and the father of
the third Frelinghuysen senator.
The college at New Brunswick was opened in a former tavern,
the Sign of the Red Lion. In 1771 the trustees appointed a faculty of one,
who was expected "to teach the EngJish Language grammatically," as well
as "The learned Languages, liberal Arts and Sciences." The versatile
scholar chosen was Frederick Frelinghuysen, son of John Frelinghuysen
and Dinah Van Bergh Frelinghuysen Hardenbergh. He was eighteen years
old, having graduated from Princeton the year before. On April 30, 1772,
"Frederick Frelinghuysen, Tutor, 11 placed the following advertisement in
a New York newspaper:
''The Respectable Public is hereby informed that agreeable to a
former advertisement, a Seminary of Learning was ppened at New Brunswick,
last November, by the name -of Queen's College .... Any parents or guardians who may be inclined to send their children to this institution, may depend 32
upon having them instructed with the greatest care and diligence in all the
arts and sciences usually taught in public Schools; the strictest regard will
be paid to their moral conduct, (and in a word) to every thing which may
tend to render them a pleasure to their friends, and an ornament to their
species." (cf "A History of Rutgers College - 1 766-1924, William H. S.
Demarest, pages 84-85.)
The family's early connection with Princeton University should not be overlooked in the later emphasis on Rutgers. The Domine's eldest
son, Theodorti.s, · was given an honorary A. M. degree from Princeton in
1749. The second son, Jacobus, was a graduate of Princeton in 1750, one of a class of five. The Pomine 1 s son and successor, John, was a Trustee
.of Princeton from 1750 to 1754, during the four short years of his active ministry. Finally, John's son, General Frederick, a Princeton graduate, was elected a Trustee in 1802 and served until his death in 1804.
Among those who we:r·e fellow students with Frelinghuysen at
Princeton were James Madison (President), Aaron Burr (Vice-President),
William Bradford (Attorney General), Gunning Bedford (Governor of
Delaware), "Light Horse Harry" Lee (Governor of Virginia}, Morgan Lewis
(Governor of New York}, Aaron Ogden (Governor of New Jersey), Henry
Brockholst Livingston (Justice of the Supreme Court), Philip Freneau
("Poet of the Revolution"}, .John Ewing Calhoun (Senator from South Carolina), and Samuel Stanhope Smith (President of Princeton). See Samuel Davies
Alexander, Princeton College during the Eighteenth Century, New York:
A. D. F. Randolph, 1872). 33 FRELINGHUYSEN, FREDERICK (Apr. i struggle rather than the intrigues of politics. He 13, 1753-Apr. 13, 1804), lawyer, Revolutionary resigned, giving as his reason his youth, but also patriot, senator, was born near Somerville, Som his "situation [which was] peculiarly disagree erset County, N. }., the only son of the Rev. John able" to him, and which he refused to explain for and Dinah (Van Berg) Frelinghuysen, and the fear of causing more evil than good (letter to the grandson of the Rev. Theodorus Jacobus Fre speaker of the New Jersey Assembly in Lee, post, linghuysen [q.v.l, who emigrated from Holland I, 9). He then served his state as clerk of court in 1720. His father died during the son's second of Somerset County and as a· member of the leg year, and his mother, the daughter of a wealthy islative council until 1782, when he consented to East India merchant, was about to return to her return to the Continental Congress for another family in Amsterdam with her two small children year. Again in the state legislature, he served in when Jacob R. Hardenbergh [q.'v.], a divinity the Assembly ( Ii84, 18oo, 1804), and in the student, who had been studying under her hus Council ( 1790-92), and was a member of the band, persuaded her to become his wife. Brought New Jersey convention which ratified the Con up in a very religious household, Frederick yield stitution. In 1790 he was appointed by President ed to his mother's desire that he enter the Chris Washington a brigadier-general in the campaign tian ministry to the extent of studying theology against the western Indians, and in 1794, while for six months. Possibly the rigidity and strict a United States senator, he was commissioned a ness of his stepfather in regard to Sabbath ob major-general of militia in the Whiskey Insur servance and other n1atters may have discouraged rection. His term in the Senate, extending from young Frelinghuysen, who did not feel himself Dec. 5, li93, until his resignation in May 1796, fitted for this profession. He then entered the was uneventful. · He was twice married. His College of New Jersey and was graduated in first wife was Gertrude Schenck, who died in IiiD, Taking up the study of the law he was ad 1794. After her death he married Ann Yard. mitted to the bar upon reaching his majority and [Theo. Frelinghuysen Chambers, Early Germans of Legan practise in Somerset County. Under N. J. ( 1895); F. B. Lee, G,·11cal. 0,1d Mcn1orial Hist. of the Stall! of N. J. (4 vols., 1910), I, 1-10; A. B. Mel the leadership of his college president, John lick, Jr., Story of an Old Farm ( 1889); Talbot W. \Vithcrspoon, he was among the first in New Chambers, Memoir of thtJ Life! a11d Ch,1racter of the : Late Hou. Theo. Freling/111:ysi•n ( 1863), pp. 22-,27; Jersey to join the movement for independence : Minutes of tlie PrO'llincial Cong. anti tire Council of Safe from Great Britain. But twenty-two years of ty of tlie State of N, J. (Trenton, 1879) ; C. R. Erdman, age, he was selected with John Witherspoon, Jr., Thi! N. J. Constitution of 1776 ( 1929).] Jonathan D. Sergeant, and \Villiam Paterson to C.R. E.,Jr. represent his county in the Provincial Congress of lii5 and 1776. His votes in that body show him to have been one of the most uncompromis .Reproduced from Dictionary of American ing of those seeking complete separation from Biography. England. Throughout the war he varied his leg Vol. VII, Page I 5. islatiYe duties with those of a very active military New York: Charles Scribner & Sons, 1931. career. First a major of the Minute Men of his . rounty, next a captain of artillery, major, an Frederick Frelinghuysen, Jr. 3rd Son of General Frederick Frelinghuysen Born in Millstone in 1788; died suddenly in 1820 at the age of 32. He is buried in Weston Cemetery. 1806 Graduate, College of New Jersey (Princeton University} 1810 Admitted to Bar 1812 Married Jane Dumont - Was Prosecutor of Pleas for So.merset, Middlesex, and Hunterdon Counties. His five children were adopted by his brother Theodore. They had two sons, Dumont and Frederick T. ; three daughters, Susan, 1813-1863, who married M. D. Waterman; Gertrude Ann, born in 1814, who married Dr. William T. Mercier, and Maria Louisa, who married John C. Elmendorf. 35 John F_relinghuysen - March 21, 1776. April 10, 1833 - Oldest son of General Frederick - born Franklin Township near old Somerset Courthouse at Hillsborough (now Millstone N. J.) 1792 Graduate, Queen's College ( Rutgers College) under 1st President Rev. Jacob R. Hardenbergh, his step grandfather. 1797 Admitted to Bar. (Read for Bar with Richard Stockton) 1797 Married Louisa Mercer who died in March, 1809. Sister of Charlotte Mercer, wife of brother Theodore. 2 children - Gertrude and Mary Ann. 1801 Purchased property in Raritan, known as "The Raritan Homestead''. 1804 Moved back to Millstone to run the estate - after the death of his father, General Frederick. 1809-1816 Member of State Council 1810 Married Elizabeth Mercereau Van Vechten - grand daughter of Derrick Van Vechten, daughter of Michael - Children by Elizabeth Van Vechten: 1} Theodore - born 17 87 - graduate Rutgers 1831 2} Elizabeth - married H. R. Kennedy in 1838. They had six children. 3) Frederick John - born 1818 - (married Victoria Sherman) 4} Louisa (married T. W. Chambers in 1841) 5) Sarah - lived in the "Homestead" until she died 6) Katherine (Aunt Ka.te), born 1826 - lived in the "Homestead" in Raritan until her death in 1921 1812 Colonel of a regiment at Sandy Hook 1818-1832 Surrogate of Somerset County 1833 Died in the "Homestead" at Raritan, N. J. After the War of 1812 he was Brigadier General of the State Militia. He was always known as General John. 36 General John Frelinghuysen married Louisa Merce.r in 1797. She was the daughter of Archibald Mercer (proprietor of a company subse quently known as Blockwell I s Mills). They had two daughters Gertrude and Mary Ann. Their mother died in 1809 and the General married Elizabeth Mercereau Van Vechten. They had two sons and four daughters. Louisa, the eldest daughter, married the Rev. T. W. Chambers in 1841. He became the minister of the Collegiate Church in New York City and well known historian of the period. He was the author of the book entitled "Memoir of the Life and Character of the Late Hon•. Theodore Freling- huys en, LLD. " The Chambers had eleven children.· The second daughter of General John, Elizabeth, married Henry Robert Kennedy of Bloomsbury, N. J., in 1838 and they had six children. The other daughters died un married. One son, Frederick John was the grandfather of the late Senator Joseph Frelinghuysen. General John's second wife, Elizabeth Van Vechten was the daughter of Michael Van Vechten and granddaughter of the Revolutionary patriot Derrick. She was born in Somerset County in the family house near Van Vechten1 s Bridge, and died in 1854. Her mother was a LaGrange. They are all buried in the Old Somerville Cemetery - on the East side of the old Princeton road. The Van Ve~hten bridge mentioned above was burned in the Revolution - by Simcoe (near Finderne) in 1779. The first Dutch Reformed Church was also burned during Simcoe I s raid. Michael had given the land for this church sometime around 1718-1721. Both Derrick and Michael Van Vechten were dedicated to developing this region of New Jersey and gave freely to both Chu1:ch and State. The Van Vechten House - Finderne, N. J. . . The earliest section of this house was built by the first Michael Van Vechten in 17.15, whose granddaughter Elizabeth married General John Frelinghuysen as mentioned above. A brick extension was added by his son Derrick, a member of the state assembly, and a vigorous patriot. A bridge was erected nearby at the early date and it was known as the Van Vechten Bridge. Fortunately the house is being preserved as a historical site by the Somers et County Historical Society. The Van Vechten's house served as Headquarters for Washington's Quartermaster General Nathaniel Greene during the winter of 1778-1779. An entire division of the American army was quartered at this time on the Van Vechten' s farm. Mrs. Greene was a charming yourig lady of 25, "the favorite of the army, '' when her husband was stationed here. She was fond of social functions and gave niany "kettle drums" and minuets. The most notable enter tainment was on Christmas Eve in 1778, of which General Greene afterward wrote that "The Commander in Chief evinces his esteem for Mrs. Greene by dancing with her three hours without sitting down!" When they left, Gen. and Mrs. Greene presented Mrs. Van Vechten with a beautiful carved mahogany table "in grateful remembrance of a bounteous hospitality." It was in the large brick house now standing that all these events took place. Additional information about this and other historic New Jersey houses may be found in "Pre-revolutionary Dutch Houses and Families" by Rosalie Fellows Bailey, Dov0.r Publications, Inc., 180 Varick Street, New York, N. Y. The pair of pastel portraits of General John and Mrs. Frelinghuysen which were at Brookwood are now at Hub Hollow Farm owned by J~ S. F., Jr., and the pair of oil paintings belong to the McFarlands and are in their home at 17 Fresh Pond Parkway, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 38 The Homestead - Raritan, N. J. The "Homestead II is an early Dutch house on Somerset Street of the main street of Raritan (originally the "Old York Road"). It was built in the mid eighteenth century of Holland Brick and was used at first as a tavern. This house was bought in 1801 by General John Frelinghuysen, the son of General Frederick and Gertrude Schenck. General John was born in 1776 in Millstone in a house later made th'e Parsonage of the Hillsborough Dutch Reformed Church. It was three miles from Weston (Millstone) and the present D. A. R .. cemetery. His father, General Frederick had settled in Weston in 17 87 - where he built the first family homestead. General John had t0 ltiave his newly acquir~d Raritan home, in 1804, to return to Millstone (on the death of his father) to run the family, but in 1810 he married Elizabeth Van Vechten and brought her to live in the Raritan Homestead. The ''Homestead" remained in the Frelinghuysen family for many years. It is much larger than the majority of Dutch houses as it is a two story structure of yellow brick with an early 19th century doorway. It was the birth place of Frederick John Frelinghuysen (1818-1891) father of_the late Senator Joseph Sherman Frelinghuysen (1869-1948) who was born in a house across the street. (See notes on both of these houses on the Centennial Map of New Jersey and also in "Pre-revolutionary Dutch Houses II by Rosalie Fellows Bailey, Dover Publications, New York, N. Y., 1968. 39 Theodore Frelinghuysen - Second Son of General Frederick Born in Millstone. in 1787. Died in 1862 at the age of 72. 1.804 Graduate of the College of New Jersey (Princeton University) 1808 Admitted to Bar. He had studied law in the office of Richard Stockton. 1809 Married Charlotte Mercer, daughter of Archibald Mercer. Charlotte was a sister of Louisa the wife of his older brother John. 1817-1829 . Attorney General of the State of New Jersey; 1836 Second Mayor of City of Newark, New Jersey, Reelected 1838. 1826 Declined appointment as Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court. 1829-1835 U.S•. Senator, State of New Jer~. 1836 Second Mayor of Newark, N.T.---ireelected in 1838. 1839-1850 Chancellor, University of New York City. 1841-1857 President, American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Earned National distinction for work in Bible, Temperance and Anti-Slavery Movements .. 1844 The Whig party nominated him at Baltimore for the Vice~Presidency on the ticket with Henry Clay. {Defeated by James K. Polk) The popular slogan for the campaign, which was printed at the bottom of the portraits of the two cnadidates, was as follows: "Hurrah., hurrah, the Countries risin For Henry Clay and Frelinghuysen" 1846-1862 President., American Bible Society 1850-1862 President, Rutgers College 1857 Married Harriet Pompelly Theodore left no children. He adopted all of the children of his broth(~r Frederick, Jr. 1862 Died at the age of 72 years. 40 Theodore Frelinghuysen married Charlotte Mercer (1784-1854), the daughter of Archibald Mercer (1747-1814), a judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Somerset County, who had served on the board of trustees of Rutgers with Theodore's father. Besides Frederick, Theodore also adopted Frederick's sister, Gertrude Ann (1814-86 ), and Mrs. Frelinghuysen' s nephew, William T. Mercer (1812-86). William, who became a physician and established a drug business, married Gertrude Ann Frelinghuysen in 1835. The Rev. Talbot 'w. Chambers (1819-96 ), who wrote the biography of Theodore Frelinghuysen, was married to the senator's niece, Louisa Mercer Frelinghuysen (daughter of Theodore's brother John). Chambers, one of the great biblical scholars of his .. day, had been raised as a Presbyterian but became a Dutch Reformed minister when he differed with his family over the Old School-New School controversy in the church of his birth. 41 THEODORE FRELINGHUYSEN 1787-1862 US Senator and Candidate for Vice President After twelve years as Attorney General of New Jersey he was elected to the US Senate in 1829. This was during the period of the great orators and legislators Webster, Clay and Calhoun. Theodore rose to national prominence for a speech of five hours, spread over ~hree days, in April 18~0. He was attempting to prevent the State of Georgia from expelling the Cherokee Indians from their land and from moving other Southern Indians to territory west of the Mississippi. Young William Lloyd Garrison, the future abolitionist leader, was greatly impressed by the speech and he composed a poem entitled "To the Honorable Theodore ·' Frelinghuysen, on Reading His Eloquent Speech in Defense of Indian Rights" quoted in Chambers pages 70-71. Theodore was not reelected to the Senate in 1835 so he returned to Newark to practice law. He became the second Mayor of Newark in. 1836 and was reelected in 1838. He spent a great deal of his time in philanthropic and religious activities. In 1839 he retired . . from the practice of law and resigned as Mayor of Newark to become Chancellor of the City of New York. During the 1844 Whig Convocation everyone assumed that Henry Clay would be nominated, for president but it was not so clear in regard to a vice presidential candidate. Theodore Frelinghuysen was chosen, on the third ballot over Governor John· Davis of Massachusetts, Willard Fillmore of New York and John Sergeant of Philadelphia. Many conventions seek a 42 balance in candidates of geography and political theory. In thh case the strong religious and moral principles of Frelinghuysen may have been involved for Clay was well-known for his delight in gambling and dueling. They made a strong combination and Frelinghuysen had great admiration and affection for his running mate. The publicists had a problem with the Frelinghuysen name in campaign songs and jingles and the party finally went into battle by chanting: Hurrah! Hurrah! The country's risen, For Henry Clay and Frelinghuysen. It was an extremely close election in which James K. Polk.and George M. Dallas finally won. Ironically the votes of the New York Abolitionists for Birney gave the State and Presidency to Polk. For further details concerning the life of Theodore and the many incidents and interesting details of this period consult the book by Talbot W. Chambers entitled "Memoirs of the Life and Character of the Late Hon. Theodore Frelinghuysen", (New York, Harper, 186 3). See also Louis Clinton Hutch, ''A History of the Vice Presidency of the United States," (American Historical Society, New York, 1934, pages 178, 195-97 and 206-7.) 43 The biographical notation below is copied from "Catalogue of the Portraits on Exhibit at Rutgers University (Kirkpatrick Chapel), page 11, Published by the University, New Brunswick, N. J. , 1937. Frelinghuysen, Theodore, LL.D. (1787-1862) President, Rutgers, :1850-1862. Graduate, College of New Jersey, 1804. Attorney General, State of New Jersey, 1817-1829. U.S. Senator, 1829..,1835. Chancellor, · University of the City of New York, 1839-1850. As a young man in the law office of the Bonorable Richard Stockton of Princeton, Theodore Frelinghuysen displayed early brilliance as a barrister and public servant. In the United States Senate he became the close friend of Daniel Webster and Henry Clay, and his courageous stand against the acquisition without adequate recompense of Indian lands in Georgia and Alabama while meeting . defeat at the hands of the Jackson majority won him widespread recognition as an humanitarian - a fact epitomized in the poem to Frelinghuysen by William Lloyd Garrison. In 184;4 the Whigs held a special convention in Baltimore to nominate him for the vice- presidency of the United States on the ticket witli Clay. As president of Rutgers he carried the College through the troublous Civil War years to a place justly enviable. Artist: Thomas Sully. Painted 1865 from a photogrpah. Presented 1890 at Commencement. 44 FRELINGHUYSEN, THEODORE (Mar. . sure, brought him prominently before the nation. 28, 1787-Apr. 12, 1862), lawyer, senator; college ·. He became known as. the "Christian statesman," president, was born in.Franklin Township, Som- · probably as a result.of a poem by \\lilliam Lloyd erset County, N. J., the second son of Gen.. Garrison praising Frelinghuysen for his stand Frederick Frelinghuysen [q.v.] and Gertrude ·• on the Indian question, and designating him ''Pa ( Schenck) Frelinghuysen. At thirteen, with his ' triot and Christian." Daniel \\7cbstcr, Henry. father's consent, he left the grammar school con- Clay, and other well-known men paid tribute to nected with Queen's College (later Rutgers), to j the deep religious conviction of Frelinghuysen, ' pursue farming rather than a liberal education. · .and never did they resent in any way the solici• · Soon afterward, however, his stepmother, during . tude with which he regarded their own personal . his father's absence, packed hitn off to Dr. Fin- religious lives (Chan1bers, pusl, pp. Ii8, 183). ley's academy at Basking Ridge where he re- . It was said of him that no /.merican layman of ceived an excellent primary education, and from h.is time was associated with so many great na• there he went to Princeton, graduating second in · tional organizations of religion an Reproduced from Dictionary of .American Biography. Vol. VII, Pages 16-17. New York: Charles Scribner & Sons, _1931. 46 Theodore Frelinghuysen - the oldest son of General John Born in Somerville, N. J., in 1814. Died in 1898, at Raritan. 1831 Graduate of Rutgers College 1835 Admitted to Bar. He studied in the Somerville office of Thomas A. Hartwell, and later in the Newark office of his uncle Theodore, He practiced three years in Somerville, and thirty;..two years in Newark~, He nev~r- married~ 47 Frederick John Frelinghuysen The second son of General John Frelinghuysen and Elizabeth Van Vechten. Born in Somerville (Raritan Homestead) in October, 1818, and died in Raritan, in 1891. Schooled in Somerville Academy. He did not go to college. 1841 Admitted to Bar. He was County Superintendent of Schools in Somerset County, and later Surrogate of the same County. 1856 Married Victoria Sherman of New Baltimore, N. Y. (on the Hudson) who was born in 1830 and died August 3, 1914. They lived on Main Street Raritan - opposite and west of the Homestead until 1874 - Then they moved to The Hill - built a large home. It burned in 1940. Frederick John Frelinghuysen and Victoria Sherman Frelinghuysen were the parents of Senator Joseph S. Frelinghuysen (1869-1948) of Far Hills, N. J. The eldest son of Frederick John Frelinghuysen was born in 1858 and died in 1894. It is known that he had diabetes. Charlotte F. Southwick (Aunt Lottie) the sister of Senator Joseph Sherman Frelinghuysen was born in 1856 and died in .L 940. 48 Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen· Bbrn in Millstone on August 4, 181 7. Left an orphan at the age of three and adopted by his Uncle Theodore. Died on May 20, 1885, in Newark, N. J. 1836 Graduate of Rutgers College 1839 Admitted to Bar; studied in the law office of his Uncle Theodore. 1842 Married Matilda Griswold. (six children) 1849 Attorney for the City of Newark.·. 1850 Member of the City Council. 1851-1885 Trustee and Treasurer of Rutge:r:s College. 1861 Delegate to the Peace Congress in Washington, D. C. 1861-1866 Appointed Attorney General of the State of New Jersey. 1866-1869; 1871-1877 U.S. Senator from New Jersey. 1870 Declined nomination by President Grant as Minister to England. •1877 Member of Electoral Commission. 1881-1885 Secretary of State; appointed by President Chester A. Arthur on December 19, 1881, and served to March 6, 1885. The biographical notation below is taken from "Catalogue of the Portraits on Exhibit at Rutgers University", published by The University, New Brunswick, N_-J., 1937: Frelinghuysen, Frederick Theodore 1836, LL.D. (1817-1885) Trustee, Rutgers, 1851-1885. Attorney General of New Jersey, . 1861-1866. U.S. Senator, 1867-1869, 1871, 1877. U.S.· Secretary of State, 1881-1885. Delegate to the Peace Congress, 1861. Artist: H. Augustus Schwaps. Presented 1912 by Frederick Frelinghuysen 1 68, his son. 49 The biographical notation below is copied from ''The Secretaries of State" Portraits and Biographical Sketches, pages 66-67, Dept. of State Publications 6402, November 19 56, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C. Frederick Theodor.e Frelinghuysen was born in Millstone, _ New Jersey, August 4, 1817; was graduated fro:rn Rutgers College in 1836; was admitted to the bar in 1839 and practiced in Newark, New Jersey; married MatHde E. Griswold in 1842; was city attorney of Newark in 1849 and a member of the city council in 1850; was a trustee of Rutgers College 1851-1885; was a repre..:. sentative of New Jersey at the peace congress held in Washington, D.C., early in 1861; was Attorney General of New Jersey 1861-1866; was a Senator from New Jersey 1866-1869 and 1871-1877; was a member of the Electoral Commission of 1877 to decide the contested presidential election of 1876; resumed the practice of law; was commissioned Secretary of State in President Arthur' s Cabinet December 12, 1881, entered upon his duties December 19, 1881, and served until March 6, 1885; as Secretary of State, fostered commercial relations with Latin America, sent delegates to the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 on the Congo, and opened treaty relations with Korea; died in Newark May 20, 1885. Daniel Huntington painted also the Department's portrait of Hamilton Fish (q. v. ). His portrait of Frederick T. Frelinghuysen was purchased by the Department of State from Mr. Huntington _on July 16, 1885, after Mr. Frelinghuysen1 s death, for the swn of $7 85~ Inscription: "D. Huntington 1885". Size: 29 by 24 inches. 50 Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen 1817 - 1885 U.S. Senator and Secretary of State Theodore Frelinghuysen, (1787-1862) the former Senator from New Jersey and candidate for Vice President, had. no children but when his brother Frederick died he adopted his three year old son Frederick Theodore (}817-1885) and daughter Gertrude Ann (1814-1886) - also Mrs. Frelinghuysen' s nephew William T. Mercer ( 1812-1886). The latter became a physician and married Gertrude Ann Frelinghuysen in 1836. Frederick Theodore graduated from Rutgers College in 1836. He studied law in his uncle's office and took over his law practice when his uncle became Chancellor of New York University. He also followed in his foster father's footsteps when he became attorney general of New Jersey in 1.86 I and United States Senator in 1866. He declined an appointment as Ambassador to Great Britain by President Grant, even after he had been confirmed for the appointment by the Senate; for personal reasons. In politics, Frederick Theodore broke with the fainily tradition in joining the new and more liberal Republican party. The first Frederick had been a Federalist and his son Theodore a Whig who supported the Consti tutional Unionists in 1860. The present Frederick during his two terms in the Senate (1871-1877) belonged to the radical majority. He favored the impeachment of Andrew Johnson. He successfully shepherded the Civil Rights Bill through the Senate when Charles Sumner became incapacitated. This earned for him the gratitude of the Negroes of Washington and they named a school for working adults after him in 1917. 51 In 1881 he was named Secretary of State in the Cabinet of Chester A. Arthur. He aimed with great patience and courtesy to show consideration for the rights of other nations. Among the important actions of his term of office were (I) The negotiations with Great Britain over the construction of a canal across Nicaragua. (2) The establishment of close .commercial relations with Latin American countries. (3) Negotiations for the establish ment of a US Naval Base at Pearl Harbor. (4) The support of American Commercial interests in Germany and in France, and (5) Opening up relations with Korea and the inauguration of a treaty. During his term of office he also mediated a boundary dispute between Mexico and Guatemala and he supported US participation in the 1884 Berlin conference for the regulation of the affairs of the Congo. With the assistance of the famous African explorer he helped secure the acceptance of the abolition of the slave trade and neutralization in time of war. The accomplishments briefly outlined above along with others indicate that he became a successful Secretary of State. His diplomatic appointments were good ones and he ran the office in Washington successfully. Socially his home at 17 31 Eye Street was the scene of many diplomatic receptions, which were especially popular with Pre.sident Arthur. His wife the former Matilda E. Griswold, daughter of a wealthy merchant, was a gracious hostess for these occc;1.sions. He was a deeply religious man and he played a prominent role in church affairs. He was President of the American Bible Society in 1884 and 1885. The Assistant Secretary of State serving under Frelinghuysen was a young man named John Davis who married•his daughter Sarah Helen. 52 Davis became a federal judge in Washington in 1885 and served until his death in 1902. _The relationship between the Frelinghuysens and the Lodges occurred in 1900 when the daughter of Sally Frelinghuysen (Matilda E. Davis) married George Cabot Lodge, the poet son of Senator Henry Cabot Lodge. Two of her sons have become well known in public affairs, namely, Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., the for.mer Senator and Ambassador to Vietnam and Germany, and the former Governor of Conn~cticut John Davis Lodge. Thus the present ambassador in Paris on Vietnam (1969) Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., h~s brother the former Governor of Connecticut John Davis Lodge, and the present Congressman from New Jersey, Peter H.B. Frelinghuysen are all great grandsons of the Secretary of State Frederick T. Frelinghuysen. A Selective Genealogy of the Lodge Family Henry Cabot Lodge (1850-1924\ House of Representatives, Senate .. m. Anna Cabot Mills Davis (1850.:.1915) ("Nanniell) Constance (1872-1941) George Cabot (1873-1909) John Ellerton (1878-1942) 1st m. Augustus ("Bay"), poet Oriental art scholar Peabody Gardner m. Mathilda Frelinghuysen m. Mary Connally ( 186 5-1918), House of Davis (c. 1877-1960) Representatives; 2nd m. {"Bessie") Charles C. Williams, General Helena Henry Cabot (1902- John Davis ( 190 3- m. Edouard de Street, Senate, ambassador House of Representatives, Belgian diplomat m. Emily Sears Governor, a1nbassador m. Francesca Braggiotti Geo·rge Cabot (1927- ) Assistant Secretary of Labor m. Nancy Kunhardt (A Selective Genealogy) Reverend Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen ( 1691-1748} ,.The Apostle oI the Raritan" Arrived America 1720 ( .7 children) I I I i Reverend Theodore Reverend John Ma)garet Ann ( 1724-61) (1727-54) (1737-57) (1738-1810) m. Dinah Van Bergh m. Reverend m. Reverend William ( 1725-1807) (2 children) Thomas Romeyn Jackson I - Frederick ( 1 753-1804) General, Senate ( 7 children) I I - - I I John ( 1776-1833) Maria (ll 778-1832) Theodore (1787-1862) Frederick ( 1788-1820) MHitia general Temperance pioneer Senate university president ( 5 children) (10 children) m. Reverend (no issue) - I John -Cornell Frederick J, Frederick TJodore ( 18 1 7-85) (1818-91) Senate, Secretary of State ( 6 children) ( 6 children} I I Joseph Sherman Frederick (1848-1924) George Griswold ( 1851-1936) Sarah Helen {1869-1948) Insurance company m. Sarah Ballantine ( 1858-1940) (c. 18 54-1939) Senate president brewery heiress 1st m. John Davis, ( 5 children) (2 children) Ass't. Secretary of State I Matilda E. Davis "Suzy" _I Estelle F, Peter Hood Ballantine m. George Cabot Lodge 0 per a singer ( 1882-1959) Cattle breeder (1873-1909), poet son of Senator Henry Cabot Lodge m. George Morris m. Adaline Havemeyer ( 1884-1963), (3 children) sugar heiress ( 4 children) Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. Senate, Ambassador Peter Hood IBallantine ( 1916- ) m. Emily Sears and House of Representatives John Davis Lodge, m. Beatrice Procter Governor, Ambassador { 5 children) m. Francesca Braggiotti 54 The biographical notation below is taken from the Encydopaedia Britannica, 14th Edition, 1929, Volume 9, page 753. Frelinghuysen, Frederick Theodore (181 7-1885), American lawyer and statesman, of Dutch descent, was born at Millstone, N. J., on Aug. 4, 1817. His grandfather, Frederick Frelinghuysen (1753- 1804), was an eminent lawyer, a soldier in the American Revolution, and a member (1778-79 and 1782-83) of the continental congress, and in 1793-96 of the U.S. Senate; and his uncle, Theodore (1787-1862), was a U.S. senator from New Jersey in 1829-35, the Whig candidate for vice-president on the Clay ticket in 1844, chancellor of the Uni versity of New York in 1839-50 and president of Rutgers college in 1850 ..:62. Frederick Theodore, left an orphan at the age of three, was adopted by his uncle, graduated at ·Rutgers in 1836 and studied law in Newark with his uncle, to whose practice he succeeded in 1839. He became attorney for the Central railroad of New Jersey, the Morris Canal and Banking company and other corporations, and from 1861 to 1867 was attorney-general of New Jersey. In 1861 he was a delegate to the peace congress at Washington, and in 1866 was appointed by the governor of New Jersey, as a republican, to fill a vacancy in the U.S. Senate. In the winter of 186.7 he was elected to fill the un expired term, but a democratic majority in the legislature prevented his re-election in 1869. From 1871 to 1877 he was again a member of the U. S. Senate, in which he was prominent in debate and in 55 committee work, and was chairman of the committee on foreign affairs during the .Alabama claims negotiations. · He was a strong opponent of the reconstruction measures of President Johnson, for whose conviction he voted in the impeachment trial. He was a member of the joint committee which drew up and reported (1877) the Electoral Commission bill, and subsequently served as a member of the commission. In 1881 be was appointed secretary of State by President Arthur to succeed James G. · Blaine, and served until the inauguration of President Cleveland in 1885. He died in Newark, May 20, 1885. See John F. Hageman, 11 The Life, Cqaracter and Services of Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, 11 New Jersey Hist. Proc., 2nd sec., vol. ix., pp. 45-75, 1887. .. !6 FRELINGHUYSEN, FREDERICK THE- · warts" ·made his presence in the cabinet quite ODORE (Aug. 4, 1817-May 20, 1885), states- : impossible. Temperamentally, Frelinghuysen was man, direct descendant of Theodorus Jacobus ; very different from the former secretary. There Frelinghuysen [q.v.], and grandson of Frederick ! was nothing dramatic, experimental, or aggres Frelinghuysen [q:v.], w_as the son of F~ederick l sive in his conduct ~f American foreign relations. and Jane Dumont Frelinghuysen of Millstone, , He felt compelled, m fact, to reverse some of his N. ]., where he was born. On the death of his : predecessor's decisions, notably in the mediation father, a lawyer of great promise, he was adopted ./ of the United States in the dispute between Chile at the age of three by his uncle, Theodore Fre- 1 and Peru over the provinces of Tacna and Arica. linghuysen [q.1•.]. After several years of study This Jed Blaine and some of his friends to believe in the Somerville and Newark academies, young ; unjustly that there was a conspiracy to discredit Frederick was admitted into the sophomore class i h!m. There was no truculence in Frelinghuysen's in Rutgers College and graduated in 1836. His diplomacy, though he insisted courteously and · record there was not remarkable, though he im- ! firmly on a due regard for American rights, as, : pressed his classmates with his engaging per- · for example, in the controversy with Great Brit- , sonality and natural talents, notably in oratory. ain concerning the plan for the construction of He studied law in the office of his uncle in New- a? i~teroceanic canal across Nicaragua. During ark, was admitted to the bar in 1839, and sue- . his incumbency he favored closer commercial re ceeded to the latter's practise when he became lations with the countries of Latin America up chancellor of the Unive·rsity of the_ City of New : on the basis of reciprocity, vigorously supported . . York. Among his clients were the Central Rail- i American commercial interests in Germany and. road of New Jersey and the Morris Canal and : France, negotiated for a naval base at Pearl Har- , Banking Company. He was appointed city at- · b~r in Hawaii, and opened up treaty relations torney of Newark in 1849, and was later elected : ~1th Korea. 1!-e also authorized the participa to the city council. With his friend Gov. Olden, · tlon of- the Umted States in the Berlin Confer- . he represented New Jersey at the Peace Co~- ence of 1884 w~ich regulated the affairs of the gress held in \Vashington early in i86i for the, Congo and mediated.successfully a boundary dis purpose of trying to avert secession. In the same: pute between Mexico and Guatemala which year he was appointed attorney-general of New threatene_d the p_eace of that ~hole region. He Jersey, and served until 1866 when he was chosen always aimed with great patience and courtesy by Gov. \Vard to represent New Jersey in the . t? show consideraHon fo_r the rights of other na- '. Senate. A Democratic legislature chose his sue- .! 1ons an? to. create ~ feel in~ of_ generous good will cessor in 1869. In July 1870 he was appointed , m all his d~plon~a~1c n~gotl~ttons. He was thus by President Grant minister to Great Britain, an .- abl~ to avoid critical _situations and to leave no honor which he promptly declined, it is said, be- trymg problems for hts successors. Frelinghuy cause he preferred an American atmosphere for ,. sen serv~d ~s secretary of state from Dec. 19, the education of his children. The next year he . 1881,. until lus succ~ssor, Secretary Bayard, was returned to \Vashington as the choice of a Re- appomted by P~sident_ Cleveland on Mar. 4; publican legislature to represent his state again · 1885. L;>ng pu~hc service had undermined his in the Senate. There he achieved a position of heal~h, and he lived only a few we~ks after re commanding influence, particularly with his par- tu_rnmg to ~ ewark. _He was surnved by his ty associates who, like himself and Senator Conk.. ~idow, Matilde E. Griswold, whom he had mar ling, affiliated themselves with the "Stalwarts." ned on Jan. 2 5~ 1842, and six children. A man During_ his first term he fought hard for the im-: of court~y ~ersona~ity, he had an inspiring sense peachmentof President Johnson, and was a mem- 0 ~ the digmt~ of hfe, and was actuated in all he · her of the electoral commission which decided di? by_ sound Judgment, delicate feeling, and con- the election of President Hayes. scienhous devoti~? to p~inciples and ideals. . f[FF. Jd. l:JakgeTmaFn, Jhe Life, Character:, and Services On leaving. the Senate Frelinghuysen. resumed o . re er1c . relmghuysen, LL.D.," m P,-oc. N. J. the practise of law for a few years until requested Hist. S_oc., ~ ser. IX ( 1887) ; F. B. Lee, Gcneal. ·and by President Arthur to replace Secretary of State MMem o,.,al H-'st· of tire State of N: I. ( 1910), vol. I; ~- · h . • . . . , · 8 rown, m The Am. Sccri-tarws of State <1nd 111,.,,. Bl_ _?.me, w ose po 11ttcal chfferences with the' Stal- Diplomacy (19z8), vot VIII; W. E. Sackett, Modc,-n Reproduced from Dictionary of American Battles of T,-cnton ( 1895); N. Y. Tribu11L' May 21 1885.] . P. M. B. ' Biography. Vol. VII, Pages 15-16 57 FRELINGHUYSEN, Frederick Theodoi~. U.S. ,n1ss1on . which decided in . fav-Or: of R,utherford 8. senator and secretary of state, was born in l\lillstone, Haye~ (q.v.); he was ··also ,apptibtted '0ne of its N.J., Aug. 4, 1817, son of Frederick and Jane (Du members. After leaving the Senate, Frelinghuysen mont) Frelinghuysen, grandson of Fre~erick and Ger returned to private . legal practice- in Newark. · In trude (Schenck) Frelinghuysen, greit~grandson of December 1881, Chester A. Arthur (q.v.) · named John and ,t-Dinah (Van Bergh) Frelinghuysen, and him to his cabin~t as secretary of state, and he re great-great~~randson ,of Theodorus Jacobus and Eva !llained in that ·office unti~ March 1ss,. -Among thef (Terhune) Frelinghuysen. His great-great-grandfather important aspects of Frehnghuysen's term as .secre (q;v.) was a native of Holland who came to America tary of state were the negotiations with Great Britain in 1720 and settled in New Jersey. Frederick T. over the construction of a canal · across Nicaragua; Frelinghuysen, orph,tned at the, age of three, was the establishment of close commercial relations with adopted hr his undc, Theodore Frelinghuysen Latin Ameritan countries: negotiations for the estab- · (q.v.). and received his preparatory education at the lishment of a U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Somerville, and Newark .academies in New Jersey. Hawaii ; the support of American commercial in He was ~raduated at Rutgers College in 1836 and terests in Germany and France; and the inauguration then stuJ1ed l.1w in the office of his uncle in Newark, of treaty relations with Korea. During this period being admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1839. he also mediated a boundary dispute between Mexico Shortly thereafter he succeeded to his uncle's practice and Guatemala and supported United States par an1 soon w:1s rt:tained as counsel by the Central ticipation in the 1884 Berlin conference for regula Ra1lroaJ of New Jersey and the Morris Canal & tion of the affairs of the Congo. Frelinghuysen was Banking Co. He entered public life in 18-19 when for thirty-five years a trustee of Rutgers College and he was appointed city :1ttorney of Newark. He was · was awarded an honorary LL.D. degree by that in elt"cted city counsel in the following year. In 1861 stitution in 1864. A deeply reli.1tious man, he was ht- was a representative of New Jr:rsey at the peace president of the American Bible Society in 1884 and conft"renct- in Washington called in an attempt to 1885. He was married in New York city, Jan. n, avt-rt st·c~ssion. Latt·r in that year, Frelinghuysen 1842, to Matilda Elizabeth, daughter of _Geor~e Gris was appointed_ the state's attorney-general, serving ,in wold of that city, - and had six children: Matilda tha_t post until Nov~mber 1866, when he was ap Griswold, who married Henry Winthrop Gray; ·pomte-d, by the govt"rnor to the lT.S. Senate to fill Charlotte Louise; Frederick (q.v.); George Gris. the vacancr caused hy ·rhe death of Williai11 Wright wold (q.v.); Sarah Helen, who married (1) Jobn (q.v.). In 1867 he was elected to the Senate as a Davis (q.v.) and (2) Charles Laurie McCawley; ·and Repuhlica_n t~ fill the rt-rnaindt·r of the unexpired Theodore. Frederic~ T. Frelinghuysen died in New term endm~ 10 March. 1869. He was named min ark, N. J.. Mav 20, 1885. ister to Great Britain by Ulrsses S. Gr.int (q.v.) in 1870, but declined tht" appointment. Frclin~huysen was again dected to the St-n.1te in 1871 and served the (ull six-year term to 1877. During his years in the St-n.1te Frelinghu}'sen h1.:came an influential mem Reproduced from The National Cyclopaedia her of his party. He was a nwmher of the judiciary of American Biography. _co1_1~r:nittet· -!_nJ '- the committees on finance, naval Vol. XLIII, Page 17. affairs, claims, railroads, and agriculture,· and was New York: James T. White & Co., 1961. chairman of the agriculture committee. He supported the impeachment of Andrew Johnson (q,v.), but he opposed the Sue Murphy Bill that proposed awarding d_a~ages for losses arising from the Civil :War,- •in• s1stmg that loyal persons of the South should sulfer as did -the Joyal perso.ns of· the North. · He thus saved the country from numerous bills of a similar char acter which would have exhausted the national' treas ury. Frelinghuysen was also chairman of the com mittee· on foreign relations while the settlement of t~e Alabama claims. was pending;, He introduced a bill to restore a gol~ c~rrency, which failed .of pass age although one s1mila: to his was later enacted. H~ took . charge of securing passage of the , Civil Rights B111 written by Charles Sumner, (q.v.), and he successfully introduced a biH outlawing polygamy among the Mormons and another for the return of the so-called Japanese Indemnity Fi.and to Japan. In 1876 he brought in a bill that might have averted the troubles arising from the dose and contested pr~sidential election of that year. This bill, however, faded to pass~ and early in 1877- he was one of the sponsors of the bill creating~ the Electoral Com- 58 Joseph Sherman Frelinghuysen - 1869-1948 Joseph Sherman Frelinghuysen, born in Raritan, N.J., March 12, 1869, the second son of Frederick John and Victoria Sherman Frelinghuysen. Died at Tuscon, Arizona on February 8, 1948. His father was FrederickJohn Frelinghuysen, born in Somerset County, N. J. in October 1818, died in 1891. His mother was Victoria Sherman, born at New Baltimore, N. Y. in 1830, died in 1914. Her father's name was Ca.pt~in Joseph Sherman - Sea Captain - sailed from New Baltimore, N. Y. on the Hudson near Albany, N. Y. Educated in private schools in New Jersey and entered business at the age of 18 as a clerk in the Continental Insurance Company, spending his entire business career in various enterprises in the field of insurance. 1898 Served in Spanish Ame'rican War as a Second Lieutenant, in Troop 3, Squadron A. New York Cavalry in the Porto Ric.an Campaign. 1905 Married Emily Macy Brewster, Rochester, N. Y. She was born in Rochester, March 9, 1881 and died at Far Hills, N.J., April 26, 1967. Her father was Elisha Franklin Brewster, banker and merchant, of Rochester, N. Y. They had three children Joseph S. Jr., Victoria Bates and Emily Bilkey McFarland. 1906-1912 State Senator in New Jersey from Somerset County. 1909-1910 President of New Jersey State Senate and Acting Governor of New Jersey, ad interim. Board of Education of New Jersey: President froni 1915-1917, 1912-1925 State Board of Agriculture, served as President for 17 years. 1916 Honorary MA degree from Rutgers University. 1917 Appointed a Life Trustee of Rutgers University. He was one of the Founders of the New Jersey College of Women and served on its Board. of Trustees. 191 T-1923 United States Senator from New J.ersey; the fourth member of his family in 125 years to fill that position. 1926 Chairman, American Delegation, International Committee to Investigate Pollution of Worlds Water by Oil Convention. held in Washington, D. c. The grave of Senator Frelinghµysen is in St. John's cemetery at Bernardsville, New Jersey. Family of Senator and Mrs. Joseph Sherman Frelinghuysen Victoria F. Bates Emily Bilkey McFarland Joseph S., Jr. i . l Jolin G. III Emily F: Bales Douglas Anitk T. Josepi?F. Margaret L. F. Josep'h S. III Sukn Barba'ra 8-11-30 7-14-33 3-27-37 9-21-38 Kurzman 8-10-41 10-15-44 2-24-46 T 10-iZ-39 Tracey Victoria 4-l L-68 r BonetonI I F. John Saunders Katherine Emily 10-9-58 6-12-60 11-Z6-68 Laura B. Barclay Henry Edward B. Jr. I0-3-3Z 4-21-34 l ' 1 i I I John Brewster Joy Nichc::has Ebily F. Susan Han-ey Damon G. III David Duel · 10-7-64 2-17-66 5-23 ... 69 5-2-55 12-3-So 4-19-60 3-23-63 John R.andell Brewster Fahys Carey F. 9~25-56 9-9-57 9-23-62 Lidda McFarland CarliA King Barbara'Norfon Edward'F. 8-15-57 11-13-59 5-4-63 7-27-65 U1 00 ~ 59 The Signing of the Peace Treaty Relating to World War I at Raritan New Jersey - July 2, 1921 Brass Plaque on old Duncan Phyfe Table on which took place the 11 Signing of the Knox Porter Joint Resolution by President Harding on July 2, 1921, in Senator Frelinghuysen' s home at Raritan, New Jersey: which Resolution terminated the state of war between the Imperial German Government and the United States of America and between the Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian Government and the United States of America. From left to right: Frederick Gillett, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Senator Frelinghuysen, Emily Frelinghuysen, Jr., Victoria Frelinghuysen, Joseph S. Frelinghuysen, Jr., The President, Mrs. Frelinghuysen, Mrs. Gillett, Mrs. Kellogg, Senator Kellogg, Senator Hale, and Mr. Smithers, messenger. 11 The table has been loaned by the family to the New Jersey Historical Society in Newark, along with the painting (done from a photograph of the occasion). The inkwell was given to Mrs. George C. Barclay Jr. of New York City (Laura Brewster Bilkey) by her grandmother Mrs. Joseph Frelinghuysen, Sr. 60 Biographical Sketch of Joseph Sherman Frelinghuysen - 1869-:1948 Place and date Raritan, New Jersey, March 12, 1869 of birth and cieath Tucson, Arizona, February 8, 1948 Father's name Frederick John Frelinghuysen Born: October, 1818 in Somerset County, N.J. in the Homestead in Raritan Died: 1891 at "The Hill", Somerville Frederick J. Frelinghuysen was trained as a lawyer. After two terms as Superintendent of Schools he was, in 1872, elected Surrogate of Somerset County, N.J. He was a leader in religious affairs and was Secretary of the Somerset County Bihl~ Society for more than 40 years. Mother's maiden Victoria Sherman name Born: 1830 at New Baltimore, New York Died: 1914 Her father's name: Captain Joseph Sherman Sea Captain. Sailed from New Baltimore on Hudson near Albany. Education Educated in private schools (Somerville Academy) Honorary degree 1916 - Rutgers University -- Master of Arts Religious affiliation Dutch Reformed Hobbies and recreation Very fond of outdoors and sporting activities. Baseball. Noted amateur boxer in his youth; later was interested in fishing and shooting •. Riding and driving his coach and four. Married November 29, 1905at Rochester, New York Wife's maiden name Emily Macy Brewster: Born: Rochester, N. Y., March 9, 1881. Died: Far Hills, N.J.·, April 26, 1967 Name of her Father Elisha Franklin Brewster Merchant, Rochester, New York Head of the Brewster Gordon Co. - Grocers 61 Professional career 1887 to February 8, 1948 Insurance Business Continental Fire Insurance Company Manufacturers' Lloyds Jameson & Frelinghuysen Globe & Rutgers Fire Insurance Company Pacific Fire Insurance Company Spring Garden Insurance Company American of Pennsylvania The Stuyvesant Insuranc·e Company American Home Fire Assurance Company J. s. Frelinghuysen General Agency J. S. Frelinghuysen Corporation Details. of professional 19 I 9-1945 President of The Stuyvesant Insurance Co. and business career 1929-Organized American Home Fire Assurance Company (President). President- J. S. Frelinghuysen Corporation General Insurance Brokers {February 5, 1923) President: 1923-1946 Director: Globe & Rutgers Fire Insurance Company (Chairman of Board for a time), Insurance Corporation of the· State of Pennsylvania and National Fire and Marine Insurance Co. President- J. s;, Frelinghuysen Corporation General Insurance Agency Banking Organized Raritan State Bank, Raritan, N. ·J. 1926. President: June 9, 1927-January 4, 1940 I Dairy Fa:rm President and Director Raritan Valley Farms, Inc. and Raritan Valley Inn Military service During the Spanish-American War, Mr. Frelinghuysen served in the Porto Rican Campaign as a 2nd Lieutenant in Troop 3, Squadron A, New York Cavalry:, and was recommended by Brig. Gen. Guy V. Henry for brevet 1st Lieutenant for conspicuous service. (He was military ad.visor . on the staff of Gov .. E. c. Stokes of New Jersey with the rank of Colonel). 62 Political career · Delegate to Republican National Conventions: Chicago 1916 and 1920 Cleveland 1924 Kansas City 1928 Chicago 1936 Philadelphia 1940 Chicago 1944 Public service 1902-1905 Chairman of Somerset Co. Rep. Exec. Committee 1906-1912 Member of State Senate (New Jersey) 1909-1910 President of Senate (N. J ~'') and Acting Governor of New Jersey, ad interin1· 1912-1925 President of State Board of Agriculture (N. J •) 1915-1917 President pf State Board of Education (N. J. March 4, 1917 to March 31, 1923 - U. s. Senate, Washington, D. C. 1917 Appointed Life Trustee of Rutgers Univ. 1926- Chairman - . Amer.ican Delegation - International Committee to Investigate Pollution of World I s Harbors by Oil. Convention held in Washington, D. C., May 1926 Membership in various 1912-1926 - New York Chamber of Commerce organizations 1914-1925 - New Jersey Chamber of Commerce United States Chamber of Commerce Clubs Merchants' Association of New York Down Town Association Union League Club Sons of American Revolution Squadron A Club University Club - New York Union Club - New York 63 Congressional Record of Senator Frelinghuysen during his term of office in the U.S. Senate 1917-1923 as officially reported in the Congressional Record of the Proceedings .of Congress 65th Congress - First Session 65th Congress - First Session Appointed to the following Committees: Claims, .. Military Affairs, Coast Defenses, Public Buildings & Grounds, Expenditure in Department of Justice, Public Health and National Quarantine, Indian Depradations, Transportation and Sale of Meat Products. Introduced a bill to provide for an increase in the. pay of enlisted men in time of war. Introduced a bill for the relief of sundry Building and Loan Associations. Introduced a bill to aid our government in war against Germany by producting foodstuffs and to aid farmers, give employment to unemployed and encourage agriculture. Introduced a bill making <;1-n appropriation of $200, 000 for the acquisition. of a tract of land known as the Great Piece Meadows, New Jersey for a target range and camp ground. Introduced a bill making appropriation for the support of families and dependents of members of the National Guard drafted into service of the United States. •Introduced a bill to provide for the acquisition of an Air Station site for the United States Navy. Introduced a Resolution to provide for the creation of a sped.al Committee to investigate the recent accidents on ship board due to defective ordinance. 6 5th Congress .., Second Session Appointed to Committee on Banking and Currency. Introduced a Joint Resolution authorizing the President to appoint a Commission to investigate the subject of narcoti~ and habit-forming drugs. Introducetj. a bill to admit to the mails as second class matter periodical publications of regularly incorporated charitable organizations. 64 Offered a resolution to investigate munition plant explosion at Morgan, N. J. Offered Resolution to provide for inquiry relative to Railrqad Administration taking over New York and New Jersey Tube lines.· 65th Congress ..; Third Session Introduced a bill relative to the payment of claims on account of explosion at Morgan, New Jersey. Introduced a bill to construct bridge across the Delaware River. Introduced a Resolution authorizing the Committee on Commerce to investigate_the Alien Property Custodian. Offered a Resolution requesting the President to make publicly known his own interpretation of proposed peace terms. Offered an Amendment to the Constitution granting women suffrage. 66th Congress - First Session Introduced a bill to provide revenue and for the regulation and supervision of cold storage warehouses and the conservation, storage, sale and distribution of food and food products. Introduced a bill to establish a national reserve force and to provide for the military and physical training and for the reorganization of the National Guard. Introduced a bill to·authorize the Central Railroad of New Jersey to construct a bridge across the navigable waters of Newark Bay. Offered a Resolution for an inquiry by the Committee on Interstate Commerce into the causes of increased price of coal. 66th Congress - Second Session Introduced a Joint Resolution, creating a commission to report on the practicability of bringing to the United States the remains of American soldiers, buried in France; to mark and care for the graves of those whose remains it is not practicable to remove. 65 Introduced a bill for the creation of a central purchasing bureau for the purchase of government supplies in order to systematize the purchase of supplies and to .avoid the present expensive duplication that exists and to bring about a more orderly and economical system of purchasing suppli~s. Introduced a bill to provide for the appointmeht of a Federal Coal Commissioner to investigate, from time to time, the distribution, storage and sale of coal. Introduced a bill to authorize the Central Railroad of New Jersey to construct a bridge across the waters of the Delaware River between the City of Easton in the State of Pennsylvania and the city of Phillipsburg, in the State of New Jersey. Introduced a bill to authorize national banking associations to establish and maintain branches. Introduced a bill to provide for the payment of taxes to the City of Hoboken, New Jersey, on certain property acquired by the United States under the p·rovisions or-war legislation. Introdu~ed a bill to authorize an issue of bonds to refund the national war debt. 66th Congress - Third Session Introduced a bill to reimburse the Borough of Barnegat, New Jersey for expenses incurred by it in the construction of jetties and in other work, having for its object the protection of the lighthouse and adjacent ·property belonging to·the government of the United States, situated at Barnegat Inlet. Introduced a bill to fix the metric system of weights and measures· as the single standard for weights and measures. 67th Congress - F.irst Session Introduced a bill to aid in stabilizing the coal industry. Introduced a bill to provide for seasonal rates for the transportation of coal. Introduced a bill to provide for the appointment of a Federal Coal Commissioner; to define his powers and duties. 66 Introduced a bill for the relief of Stevens Ins_titute of Technology~ (Passed) Introduced a bill to prevent hoarding of and deception with respect to cold storage foods. (in committee Agriculture) Introduced a bill amending the Act of Codify and Revise and Amend the Penal Laws of the United States. (Passed Senate**) Introduced a bill to require the Sugar Equalization Board to take over and dispose of certain sugar imported from Argentine Republic. (Passed Senate) 67th Congress - Second Session Assigned to Service on the Committee on Finance. Introduced an amendment to provide revenue, to regulate commerce with foreign countried and. to encourage industries of the United States. Introduced a bill for the free transmission through the mails of certain publications for the blind. (Passed the Senate) Introduced a bill to construct a bridge between the States of New York and New Jersey across the Hudson River. (dead) Introduced a bill. for return from Europe and distribution to the State Highway Departments all army equipment and motor vehicles. (Passed) Introduced a bill to improve the navigability of the United States waters by preventing oil pollution. (Passed) Introduced a bill to transfer the functions of the United States Tariff Commission to the Department of Commerce and to enlarge the duties of the Commission. 67th Congress - Third Session Introduced a Joint Resolution providing for the construction of a Memorial Bridge across the Delaware at the point where Washington and his troops crossed said stream on the night of December 25th and the day of December 26, 1776. 67th Congress - Fourth Session Introduced a bill to make an investigation of the needs of the nation for public works, to be carried on by Federal, State and Municipal agencies in periods of business depression and unemployment. 67 FB.ELINGHUYSEN, Joseph Sherman,insurance !' bers of the Frelinghuysen faPlilyh... ,_J,,,~eu..active exE"eutfre an,d r.s. senator, was born in Raritan,: in state and national politiu--fol" :rnauy'.years, N.,J., :Mar. 12, 1869, son of Frederick John and his great•grandfather, Frederick Frelil1ghuyaen Victoria Bowen (Sherman) Freylinghuysen and 1 (q~v.), having been a member of the Continental a deset'n•l.ant of Theodorus .Jacobus Frelinghuysen; Congress and later the U.S. Senate, and another (q.Y.:1, an l'arly leader of the Reformf"d Church in member of his family, Frederick T. Frelinghur• Amnica, who tame tci this country from Holland sen (q.v.), having served as secretary of atate i., in 1720 :rnd settled near Somerville, N.J. From the cabinet of Chester A. Arthur (q.v.)'. Joseph Theodorus Jacohus aud. his wift•, f~rn Terhune, S. Frelinghuysen continued this family tradition the t!es<'f•nt was through John and Dinah Van and was a notable figure ill the Republican Party Bergh, Pr,•1h•rick and Gertrude Schenck, and John in New Jersey. He was chairman of the Republi- . and Eliznhcth llncereauVan Veehten, the grand- ean Executive Committee of Somerset County dur part•nts of Josf'ph S. Frei'in_ghuyse11. His father ing 1902-05 and a member of the Republican State was a lawyer. The son was_ <•dueatt>d in private Committee on several occasions, and he was a 1whools and ht•gan his business caren in 1887 as a delegate to the party's national conventions in 1·lt•rk in tlw ('outinental ln!mr:rnc1• Co., N'ew York 1924, 1928, 1936, 1940, a~d 1944. He was elected ,•it."- Lntn ht• spt'nt a ~·ear and a half in the of- a state senator from Somerset County in 1905 and fit'l' ot' T. Y. Brown & Co., New York city, and was re·elected in 1908. During the early part of th1•11 hN•:trne sp<'eial ag<'ut for th,· XationaJ Fire his service in the state senate he was floor leader & ~f:irin,• Tusurauee Co., }~liznbeth, N.J., in the of his party, in 1909 and 1910 he was president of l'ltatt•:-1. of XPw York, New J<>r!w~·, Pt•nnsylrnnia. that body, and while serving in the latter capacity :111<1 Ohio. ~hortly ther<>after lw fornwcl n part he was acting governor at various times. He was rll'rshi)' with Edwin l'. ,Tnm,•son (q.v,\ undf'f th,-' the originator and supporter of many important 11:11111• of ,l:11111•so11 &: Frdinghn;nwn. Xew YorJ.:' nwasures for the public welfare, including the au- 1·ity, ant! i11 1•1111.iunl'tiou with n. group of undN- tomohile J~w which he introduced at the session writc•rs nrga11iz1•1l Tl11· ).fouufat"turers' · Lloyds. of 1906 and pushed to final enactment against Tilt' lirrn ot' ,J:rntt•sou & }'rf'lingl1uys1•11 snh~equt>nt-. strong opposition and which later was copied by h· oht:1i111•il 1·011trol of the· ntobe Firr Insuranl't' · manv other states.. He introduced in the bill the c:O.,. n,11,I th .. Hutg,•rs· Ffn• l11snrn111•1• Co. antl in: m~e of lieenRe tags and of license fees for the re l ~HI• 1111•rg1•,I th,• two as th1• (ilol,p & Hutgrrs Fin• I pair of roads. Another early achievement of his l nsnra 111·1• Co .. ~('W York cit.v. Although ,Tn·nw!lon ! was in the reorganization of the school laws. Dur rPt ir,•d from tl11• iirm in HHl1, it was t'Outinu1·il ring his second ter~ Woodrow \Vilson (q.v.), then i111,l1•r th1• samt• 11:11111• anti ohtni,u• Reprod~ced from The National Cyclopaedia of American· Biography. Vo]_ XLII. Pa.s;zes 77-78. rors in executive management; he· to.~pperated - with the administrati0,n fu11y in its ·)eonduet of the war. Later he strongly foqgl~t.cratifieation of the Tr<'aty of Versailles"until the Lodge reserva tions becnmef:.a. part ~f the rntifieati_on program, he heiug oppost•tl to the entry of this eountry into the League of Nations. He delivered two effee tin spee<'hes in. the. Senate, Feb. 28, 1919, and S<'pt. 24, 1919, against the treaty as originally suh mittt> The Four Frelinghuysen Senators from New Jersey - 1793-1923 The first Frelinghuysen senator from New Jersey was Frederick who was a loyal Federalist serving between l 7_9 3 and l 796. Only once is there evidence that he was out of sorts with his party's policy. When President Adams moved to placate the French, Frelinghuysen wrote to Jonathan Dayton, "I entertain a strong Hope that the terrible nation /France/ will be so much exasperated by the Impude~t conduct of our Sea-Warriors in the We.st-Indies, as to declare war. II The second US Senator from New Jersey was Theodore who served from 1829 to 1835. He ran for Vice President on the Whig Ticket with Henry Clay in 1844. Later he became President of Rutgers College (1850-1862). The third US Senator from New Jersey was Frederick Theodore. In 1867 he was elected to the Senate as a Republican to fill the remainder of the unexpired term ending in March 1869. He was again elected to the Senate in 1871 and served the full six year term to 1877. _ In 1881 he was appointed Sec tetary of State in the Cabinet of Chester A. Arthur. The fourth US Senator from New Jersey was Joseph Sherman Frelinghuysen. He was elected fo 1916 and served during the period 191 7 to 192 3. He was a Republican and the legislation he initiated is out lined on the previous pages from the Congressional Record. He servl!d during the turbulent years of World War I, and he played an active pa.rt in important senate committees on Civilian and Military affairs. 70 JOSEPH SHERMAN FRELINGHUYSEN 1869-1948 CERTIFICATES, A WARDS AND DIPLOMAS ·I) 1898 Commission by the State of New York as Second Lieutenant in Troop A Cavalry, New York Volunteers, May 20th, 1898. 2) 1898 Certificate of State of New York for service in Spanish American War as Second Lieutenant, Squadron A, National Gaurd, New York, from April 2, 1898. Dated 25 April 1898. 3) 1902 Certificate of Full and Honorable Discharge from the National Guard of the State of New York, signed by the Governor. Dated 1 5 October 1902. Certificate from the State of New York, Adjutant General's Office, for service in the Spanish Campaign of 1898 and State Decoration for service in the War,· No. 4905. Dated July 24, 1916. 4) 1904 Certificate of the Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New Jersey as Master Mason. Pated 6 January 1904. 5) 190 5 Certificate of appointment as Aide-de-Camp with the rank of Colonel to the Staff of the Commander-in-Chief of the State of New Jersey. Dated January 17, 1905. 6) 1910 Certificate, as President of the Senate of the State ·of New Jersey, to be ActingGovernorof the State of New Jersey, December 5, 1910. 7) 1912 Certificate as a member of the Board of Education, State of New Jersey. Period ending January 22, 1914. Signed by Woodrow Wilson, January 22, 1912. 8) 1913 Certificate as a member of the Board of Education in and for the State of New Jersey, July l, 1913. 9) 1916 Certificate for the Degree of Flora by the State Grange of New Jersey, February 16, 1916. 10) 1916 Diploma for the M.A. degree, Honorary, from Ruge rs College, June 1916. 11) 1916 Certificate as a member of the Board of Agriculture (ending July 1, 1920) in and for ~he State of New Jersey, July 1, 1916. 12) 1919 Appointment by the Vice President to read Washington's Farewell Address on 22nd February 1919. 71 13) 1925 Diploma indicating 33rd degree Mason from tht:: official Masonic Jurisdiction sitting at its Grand East Bo stC?n Supreme Council, Massachusetts. Dated 9 May 192 5. 14) 1926 Certificate of appointment as Chairman of the Delegation to the Preliminary Conference of Experts on Oil Pollution of Navigable Waters, May 29, 1926, by Calvin Coolidge, President of the United States. 15) 1928 Certificate of thanks for 17 years as Pre sid~nt, since 1911, of the New Jersey State ~oard of Agriculture, February 6, 1928. 16) 1928 Certificate as a Noble of the Mystic Shrine for North America, February 27, 1928. 17) 1935 Certificate of appointment as Aide-de-Camp on the Governor's Staff, with the ranJc of Colonel,. to Ruby Laffoon, Governor of the State of Kentucky. Dated 11 July 193 5. 18) 19 39 Letter and Citation for distinguished service to agriculture, by the ·State Board of Agriculture, New Jersey, January 24, 1939. 19) 1940 Election to membership in the Honorary Agricultural Fraternity of Alpha Zeta at Rutgers University. Dated 25 April 1940. 20) 1944 Certificate of election by the Secretary of State of New Jersey, as Delegate at Large to the Republican National Convention, to be held at Chicago, Ill., on ·26 June 1944. Dated 16 May 1944. 21) 1948 Tribute by the General Frelinghuysen Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, Somerville,. New Jersey. Dated 1948 (February}. 22) 1948 A Resolution of the Senate of·the United States on the death of Joseph S. Freiinghuysen. Dated 11 February (Legislative day, 2 February), 1948. Also - on opposite page - Statements by the two Senators from New Jersey Albert ·Hawkes and H. Alexander Smith. 72 George Griswold Frelinghuysen The second son of the Secretary of State, Frederick T. Frelinghuysen. Born in Newark, N. J., May 9, 1851; died in New York City, April 21, 1936. 1870 Graduated A. B. at Rutgers College 1872 Studied law at Columbian Law School, and later at George Washington Law School in Washington, D. C. 1872 Admitted to New Jersey Bar. 1874 Assistant Examiner for U.S. Patent Office, Washington, D. C. 1876 Admitted _to the New York Bar. 1880 hidependent practice in New York _until his death, specializing in patent and copyright law. 1881 Married on April 26, to Sara Linen, daughter of Peter Hood Ballantine of Newark, N. J. 1898 Became Vice President of P. Ballantine and Sons of Newark, N. J. 1905 President of the above Company. He had one son, Peter Hood Ballantine Frelinghuysen, born September 1.5, 1882; died March 11, 1959, and orie daughter, Matilda Elizabeth Frelinghuysen, born in 1887. 73 FRELINGHUYSEN, Georg~ Griswold, lnwyer, · was horn in Xt1wa1·k, X .•l., :\lny !I, J!-1.:il, the son of Fn11kri<·k T :in Reproduced from ·The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography . . Vol. XXVI, Page 458. New York: James T. White & Co., 1937 74 Peter Hood Ballantine Frelinghuysen, Sr. The son of George Griswold and Sara Linen (Ballantine) Frelinghuysen. Born in Littleton, Morris County, N. J. , September 15, 1882; died in Morristown, N. J., March 11, 1959. 1904 Gradua:ted B. A. at Princeton University; attended Columbia Law School. 1906 Admitted to New York State Bar. 1907 Married Adaline, the daughter of Henry Osborne Havemeyer, in New York City, on February 7. 1920-1946 Director, Morristown Trust Company. 1925-1949 Director; Howard Savings Institution, Newark, N. J. 1937-1948 Member of Board of Trustees, Morristown Memorial Hospital; also member of Committee of Managers during 1937-40 and 1943-48. 1946 Jersey Cattle Association. 1941-1959 President, Gulf Stream Golf Club,· Delray Beacli, Fla. During the First World War he was a Captain in the U.S. Army. 1915-1916 Member of the Hoover •Food Commission, Washington, D. C. President and Director, Alliance Investment Company. They had three sons, George Griswold,, born in 1911, and twins, Harry Osborne Havemeyer, and Peter Hood Ballantine, in 1916, and one daughter, Frederica. The son, Peter H.B., Jr., is the author of the monograph on Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen. This monograph was his thesis as a Senior at Prirtceton, Class of 1938, B. A., m. c.1.; LL. B., Yale Law School, 1941. Presently he is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, 83rd - 89th Congresses from the Fifth New Jersey District~ FRELlNGHlJYSEN~ Peter·· Hood Ballantio~, · ffavemeyer of thilt CH>, a manuractu,H.,.. i1''.L1 financi~r and cattleJDan, was born in Littleton, M~r• four children: Frederica. George Grisv.rold, ris Co:, NJ:, Sept. 15, 1882, son of George Gris Hood Ballantine, and Henry Osborne 1-fov,..,,;--, _.. wold and Sara Linen (Ballantine)_. Frelinghuysen. Peter H. B. Frelinghuysen's death ocrnned -,,,1 /:;_ - His father (q.v. for ancestry) was a' lawyer. After town, N.J~? -~~r. l}_, 1959. receiving his preparatory education in the Morris town (N.J.) School and at tile Browning School, New York city, Peter H. B. Frelinghuysen was Reproduced from The Na.t:t1:n,al Cy,~: -- graduated B.A. at Princeton University in 19o4 and attended Columbia University Law School. Admitted of American Biography. to the New York state badn 1906, he began practice Vol. XLIII, Page 511. with the Legal .Aid Society in New York city and New York: James T. White ;;/,: ,-·-,. later was associated with the firm of Zabriskie, Mur ray, Sage & Kerr, also in New York city. He subse quently withdrew from his professional career to devote his time to the management of family affairs and interests. He served as a director of the Morris town Trust Co. during 1920-46 and of the Howard Savings Institution, Newark, N.J., during 1925-49. Fr:elinghuysen gained an international reputation as a breeder of Jersey cattle at his Twin Oaks Farm, near Morristown. His great bull, Fern's Wexford Noble, was grand champion at the National Dairy Show for three years, 1922, 1923, and 1924, bringing to the farm a notable success and fame. In the following six years two sons of this bull, Fern's Rochette Noble and Oxford Wexford Noble, and two others, Fern's Signal of Oaklands and February -Fern's Noble, won this .coveted prize, with th~ result that Twin Oaks Farm _held- the national champion- ship for nine consecutive years. In 1938 and 1939 a cow, Imp. Lonely Crag, was also grand champion at the National Dairy Show. Active in civic affairs, he was a member of the Hoover Food Commission, Washington, D.C., in 1915-16. .A member of the board of trustees of Morristown Memorial Hospital from 1937 to 1948, he also served on that institu tion's committee of managers clui:ing 1937-40 and_ 1943-48. Iµ .1950 he founded The Frelinghuysen Foundation in New Jersey for the benefit of educa tion, religion, and research in medicine, and he served as a director and its president from 1951 to 1959. Over the years, he and his wife contributed valuable paintings to the_ National Art Gallery, Washington, D.C., and in 1955 h~ contributed a grant of $125,000 to Princeton University for the establishment of -a . full graduate fellowship bearing his name. During the First World War he was a captain in the U.S-: Army intelligence division, sta tioned in Washington, D.C. He was a member of the American legion, The American Jersey Cattle Club, the Morris County Golf and Morristown clubs of Morristown, the Down Town, l]nion, Links, and Turf and Field clubs of New York city, the Essex Club of Newark, the Everglades and the Bath and Tennis dubs of Palm Beach, ·Fla., and the Gulf Stream Golf Club (pres. 1941-59) of Delray .Beach, Fla. Frelinghuysen mai'ntained a stable of race horses and was a director of the Monmouth Park Jockey Club from 1947 to 1958. His religious affiliation was with the Episcopal church. Politically he was a Re publican. He was married in New York c-ity, Feb. 7, 1907, to. Adaline, dau~hter _of He~ry Osborne 76 FAMOUS NEW JERSEY FAMILIES FRELINGHUYSEN One of the outstanding families of the state in long continued public service, first through the church, then at the bar and in legislative chambers, is the Frelinghuysen family. Its first representative in America was a zealous young teacher of the Dutch Reformed Church, the Rev. Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen, oi:" "Frelinghausen," as he sometimes wrote it, "Domine Frelinghuys<:!n." The Dutch _congregations fo five small communities in central East Jersey near New Brunswick had pooled their interests arid written to the Classis, the governing body of the church in Amsterdam, Holland, asking that a minister .be sent to guide their spiritual destinies. The qualifications were strict: "He must be learned and mighty in the Scriptures, edifying in life, and discreet in intercourse, and properly qualified, having the required gifts." The salary would be ~125 per annum, New York money,· plus house. and firewood. To fill this assignment the· Clas sis chose Domine Frelinghuysen. He had been born in 1691,in Hagen, in Westphalia, not Lirtgen, Hanover, as was formerly believed. * He was the fifth of eleven children of the Rev. Johannes Henricus Frelinghuysen, who had been pastor at Hagen from 1682 to 1728. He himself had been ordained by the Clas sis in 171 7, had been minister at Lochimer Woorwerck, in East Friesland, and was co-rector of the Enckhuysen Latin Academy when the call came from East Jersey. The Republic (Dutch) of the United Provinces obtained its independence at the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, at which time Germany was divided up. He belonged to the Dutch-Westphalian "border families" living in Germany, but wholly Dutch in culture, religion, and sympathies. Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen sailed in August, 1719, reached New York in January, 1720, and preached before his own congre gation at Raritan for the first time on January 31, 1720. Here, in a parish some eighteen miles long and twelve miles wide, the "Garden of the Dutch Church," he was to labor for 28 years . . *The careful monogr~ph on the life of the Rev. Theodore Jacobn:-, Frelinghuysen by Peter H. B. Frelinghuysen, Jr., has corrected a number of facts relating to ·the Domine arid sho.uld be referred to in any study of his life and works. 77 It was a controversial age. He was a "warm, earnest preacher, 11 strong in the doctrines of hii:; day - - regeneration, repentance, faith, holiness. His watchword he inscirbed in a book of sermons: "Laudem non quero; culpam non timeo." Praise I do not seek, blame I do not fear. His first sermon attacked the laxity of his congregation. Small wonder that clashes followed between him and his members .. The controversy quickly assumed serious proportions. In 1723 the young Domine ex communicated the leaders of the dissident party because they refused to appear before the Consistory in answer to his charges. _. They replied by publishing in 1725 the "Klagte, "· or "Complaint against Frelinghuysen. "* In 1729 there was a movement to get rid of him and procure another minister from Holland. Iri 1734 the same dissidents had a new Consistory ordained; they barred the church door against the Domine, they addre.ssed a 150-page complaint to the Classis in Amsterdam against him. But despite all this, he stayed. George Whitefield met hirn in 17 39 and said in his Journal: "a Dutch minister nam_ed Freeling Housa, ••• a worthy soldier of Jesus Christ, -and was the beginner of the great .work which I trust the Lod is carrying on in these parts." His student classes became· the nucleus of Queen's College iri the next generation; and when he died in I 748, his vineyard had grown and was split up into several healthy congre gations. He died on his farm at Three-Mile-Run and is supposed to have been buried in the burying ground of the Six-Mile-Run Church, now known as Elm Ridge Cemetery. Shortly after reaching America, Domine Frelinghuysen married Eva Terhune, ** the daughter of Albert Terhune, of Flatbush, Long Island. By her he had five sons and two_ daughters. All five sons were ordained ministers of the Dutch Reformed Church and both daughters married ministers of that church. Yet within thirte·en years of the Domine' s death, *An interesting sidelight is the fact that this book was printed in New York by William Bradford and. Peter Zenger, and is said to be the only book with the joint" imprint of these two famous printers, and in addition the first book bearing the imprint of the young Peter Zenger. **Jacobus Schureman, the Domine 1s "Voc:irleser" or assistant who accompanied him from Holland married Eva's sister, Antje. It has been generally accepted that these were the daughters of Albert; but genealogists of the Terhune family are more recently of the opinion that they were daughters of Ja_n Terhune, the brother of Albert, also of Flatbush, Long Island. 78 by 1761, all five of his sons were dead, and only one of them had left one son to carry on the name.* That one son was the Rev. John Frelinghuysen, 1727-17 54, whose span of life was only 2 7 years and whose ministry was limited to four short years. He was only 21 when his father, the Domine, died. He had studied under his father, finished his education in Holland at the University of Leyden, and was ordained the year following his .father's death. In 1 750, at the age of 2 3, he was selected as Successor to his father in three of his father's five churches, North Branch {Readington), Raritan, and Millstone (Harlingen). He died very suddenly while visiting at Flatbush, Long Island; in 1754. His minis try was marked by two events: the building of a new church at Harlingen in 17 52, and the procuring of a royal charter for the five churches from George II in 1753. ** He was a man of peace after the masterful Domine and strove to heal the divisions of the earlier years. The colorful part of his short history attaches to his wife, the dominant Dinah Van Berg, daughter of a wealthy East India merchant of Amsterdam whom the young theological student had courted while h_e studied, and who became in her own right one of the outstanding women of the East Jersey province. Recent research into Baptismal records in Amsterdam, Holland, suggests that Dinah was baptized July 26, 1729, in the Roman Catholic WO Church of Moyses and Aaron-- child of Jan Vand~nbergh and Joanna Adrianse. *** Legend has it that the wealthy Dutch merchant looked askance at the impe cunious young student as a suitor for his daughter's hand and let him sail for- America alone. A storm drove the boat back to port; the eager young minister urged that fact on the father as a sign from Providence that he was not to sail alone. The father consented and, as part of his daughter's dowry, loaded the ship with building bricks, which were eventually carted *The Rev.' Theodorus, the eldest son, 1 724-1761, was pastor of the Dutch Church at Albany and was lost at se·a· enroute to a meeting of the Clas sis at Amsterdam. Jacobus and Ferdinandus had been ordained in Holland and were returning to American when both died at sea of smallpox in 1753. Henricus was licensed to preach in Ulster County, New York, in 1756, and died of smallpox shortly thereafter. Margaret,_ 1737-1757, married the Rev. Thomas F. Romeyn and died at the birth of her son, the · Rev. Theodore Frelinghuysen Romeyn, later minister of his grandfather's church at Raritan~ Anna, 1738..::1810, married the Rev. William Jack.son. **In this charter he is referred to as the Rev. John Freli:hghouse. ***Yet historians say her father was "Louis"- Messler. 79 from Raritan Landing to Somerville to build the young bride a home worthy of her station in life. The house, built in 17 51, is kriown as the Old Dutch Parsonage on Washington Place. * Three years later the bride was left a widow with two babies, a son, Frederick, and a daughter, Eva,** and broke up her home and packed ·her goods preparatory to returning to her father in Amsterdam. In her husband's, the Domine' s class of students had been a promising youth, Jacob Rutzen Hardenberg, younger than her husband, younger than she. He watched her preparations to leave with dismay. Finally, so it is said, the day she was to sail he asked her to marry him. She is supposed to have exclaimed, "My child, what are you thinking of?" But she did not sail. She married him and lived at his father's home at Rosendale until he had finished his theological course and was licensed to preach; and it was as Jufvrouw Hardenberg that she lived again in the Dutch Parsonage and helped her second husband serve the same Readington-Harlingen Raritan Church from 17 58 to 1781 which her first husband had served for four years., and which her father-in-law, the Domine, had served so faith fully for twenty-eight years. She became one of the outstanding women of the East Jersey provinc.e. She died on the 26th day of March, 1807, at the advanced age of 81, and was buried in the Dutch Reformed Church Cemetery in New Brunswick. Her son, Frederick, 17 53-1804, is the sole link of the third gene r ation to carry on the Domine1 s name. He was graduated from Princeton in 1 770, *** and after studying theology for six months, turned to law and was admitted to the bar in 1774. Iri 177 5, when 22 yea rd old, he was elected a member of the Continental Congress; the next year he was a *The more accurate fact is probably that the bricks were brought to build a building for the college, the direct antecedent of Queen1 s College, which the Domine1 s eldest son, Theodore, was trying to organize. *~arried Caspar Van Nostrand of Ulster County, New York, and died in 1804. ***The family's early connection with Princeton University should not be overlooked in the later emphasis on Rutgers. The Domine's eldest son; Theodorus, was given an honorary A. M. degree from Princeton in 1749. The second son, Jacobus, was a graduate of Princeton in 1750, one of a class of five.· The Domine 1 s son and successor, John, was a Trustee of Princeton from 17 50 to 1754, the four short year.s of his active ministry. Finally, John I s son, General Frederick; was elected to a Trustee in 1802 and served until his death in 1804. 80 member of the Convention of New Jersey. He was a major in the Revolution at the battles of Trenton and Monmouth Court House, and was afterwards a colonel of militia. He was a member of the Continental Congress ih 177 8 and again in 1782~83, a member of the New Jersey Assembly 1785-87, a member of the 1787 Convention, and was appointed a major general in charge of the New Jersey and Pennsylvania troops qy George Washington at the time of the Whiskey Insurrection in 1791. He was elected United States Senator from New Jersey in 1793 and served for_ three years. He died in 1804 at the age of 51 years. General Frederick Frelinghuysen was survived by three sons, * John, 1776-1833, Theodore, 1787-1862, and Frederick, Jr., 1788-1820, the only male member of the fourth gene:r;ation. John, the eldest of the three, was born at the General's home in Millstone in 1776. He was gradu ated from Rutgers in 1792 at the age of 16; studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1797 .at the ag:e of 21. He purchased property in Raritan known as "The Homestead" in 1801 and, except for five years when he returned to Millstone, thereafter made his home in Somerville. In the War of 1812 he commanded a regiment as colonel, stationed at Sandy Hook. Later he became a brigadier general of the state militia. He was a member of the State Council 1809-1816 ahd served as Surrogate of Somerset County from 1818 to 1832. He built a large and lucrative law practice and died ~n 1833 . at the age of 57, leaving two sons, Theodore and Frederick J., of the fifth gene ration. ** *He married Gertrude Schenck who was the mother of his sons and two daughters, Maria, 1778-1832, who married the Rev John Cornell and had thirteen chHdren, and Catharine, who married the Rev. Gideon N. Judd and had five children. The General married as his second wife Ann Yard who was the mother of two daughters, Sarah, who died at eighteen, and Elizabeth, who married Dr. James B. Elmendorf and had nine children. *~General John Frelinghuysen married in 1797 Louisa Mercer, daughter of Archibald Mercer. She was the mother of two daughters, Gertrude, who married David Magee, and Mary Ann 1799-1820, who married Dr. Henry Van Derveer arid left three children. On the death of Louisa Mercer, the General in 1811 married Elizabeth Mercereau Van Vechten, the daughter of Michael Van Vechten, and the mother of the General1 s two sons above men tioned and in addition five daughters. Louisa, the eldest daughter, married in 1841 the Rev. T. W. Chambers, later the minister of the Collegiate Church in New York City and well known historian of the period; she left eleven children. The second daughter, Elizabeth, married in 1838 Henry Robert Kennedy of Bloomsbury, N. J., and had six children. The other three daughters died unmarried. 81 . Theodore, General Frederick Frelinghuysen1 s second son and General John FreHnghuysen1 s brother, attained the greatest prominence of any member of his family up to that time. He was born at Millstone in 17 87. Unlike his borther, John, he was educated at Princeton and was graduated from there in 1804. He studied law in the office of Richard Stockton and was admitted to practice in 1808 at the age of 21. His outstanding legal abilities matured early, and at the age of thirty he was appointed Attorney General of the state of New Jersey, which position he filled for twelve years, 1817-1829. In 1826, at the age of 39, he was offered the appointment of Justice of the U.S. Supreme Cou:rt, which he declined. He served as U.S. Senator from New Jersey from 1829 to 1835. Therecifter, honors came thick an<;I fast. He was chosen as Chancellor of the University of New York City in 1839 and continued until 1850 in that position, resigning to become President of Rutgers University, 1850-186 l. Meanwhile, in 1841 he became President of the American Board of Commission_ers for F:'oreign Missions and in 1846 President of the American Bible Society.-· In 1844 he was nomi nated for Vice President of the United States on the ticket with Henry Clay. In the fulsome words of a tribute of his day, "New Jersey's favorite son, he adorned every station in which he was placed. " He made his home at Millstone. In 1809 he married Charlotte Mercer, daughter of Archibald Mercer and sister of his brother's wife. In 1857 he married as his second wife Harriet Pompelly. He left no children. · He died in 1862 at the age of .7 5 years. Frederick Frelinghuysen, Jr., the third of General Frelinghuysen' s sons, and brother of General John and Theodore, was born in Millstone in 1788. He was to live only 32 years, dying suddenly in 1820. Like his brother, Theodore, he was graduated from Princeton in 1806, two years after his brother; he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1810, again two years after his b_rother~ His only publi_c position was Prosecutor of Pleas for Somerset, Middlesex, and Hunterdon Counties .. In 1812 he married Jane Dumont, daughter of Peter B. Dumont, and on his death left two sons, Dumont, and Frede rick T. * The fifth generation of the family is represented in the male line by four men, General John's two sons, Theodore and Frederick J. , and the short-lived Frede rick, Jr. 's two sons, Dumont and Frederick T. All four men were within four years of the same age. Three left solid local reputa tions, the fourth attained national promirience equal to and strikingly pa rallcl to that of the uncle, Theodore, the Senator and Chancellor. *He had three daughters, Susan, ;1813-1863, who married W. D. Waterman, Gertrude Ann, born 1814, who married Dr. William T. Mercer, and Maria Louisa, who married John C. Elmendorf. 82 The oldest of the four was General John's older son, Theodore. Born in 1814 in Somerville, graduated from Rutgers in 1831, he s.tudied law in Somerville in the office of Thomas A. Hartwell and later with his uncle, Theodore, in Newark. He was admitted to the bar at 21 in 183 5, practiced three years in Somerville, and 32 years in Newark, retiring to Raritan where he died. He never married. The second of the four was General John's younger son, Frederick John. Born in Somerville in 1818, he studied for the law and was admitted to the bar in 1841. He was county superintendent bf schools of Somerset County and later Surrogate of the same county. He ciied at Raritan in 1891, leaving two -sons, John and Joseph Sherman Frelinghuysen, of the sixth generation. * The third of the fifth generation members was the short-lived Frederick's older son, Dumont Frelinghuysen. Born in 1816, he was a practicing attorney in Somerville. He married Martina Van Derveer and left no children. He died in Somerville in 190 5. The last of the four fifth-generation members and the most distin guished was Frederick's younger son, Frederick Theodore. Born in 18171 fatherless at three years of age, he was graduated from Rutgers in 1836, and admitted to the bar in 1839, the same year in which his uncle Theodore, the ex-Senator,. became Chancellor of the University of New York City. His uncle had raised him and had taken him into his law office in Newark on his graduation from college. Shortly after beginning the practice of law, he was appointed attorney for the City of Newark and then a member of the City Council. He early became counsel for the Central of New Jersey Railroad Company and for the Morris Canal and Banking Company. In 1861 he was appointed Attorney General of New Jersey by Governor Olden and was re appointed in 1866 by Governor Marcus L. Ward. The same year he was appointed U.S. Senator in place of William Wright, deceased, and was elected in the winter of 1867 to fill Wright's unexpired term to 1869. He took part in Andrew Johnson's impeachment trial, voting for conviction on several, but not all of the charges. In 1870, President Grant nomihated him as Minister to England, which he declined, largely, it was said, becaus.e his wife did not want her children exposed to the influence of ·court life. He again again became U.S. Senator from New Jersey in 1871, serving until 1877. The crowning honor of his career was his appointment by President Arthur as Secretary of State in 1881, a position he filled for four years. He died in 1885 at the age of 68. He had been a trustee of Rutgers for 34 years *Frederick John Frelinghuysen married in 1855 Victoria. Bowen Sherman, the daughter of Captain Joseph and Charlotte (Ely) Sherman. In addition to his two sons, he left a daughter, Charlotte, born in 1856, who married William C. Southwick. 83 prior to his death, and was president of the American Bible Society. He left three sons in the s1xth generation, Frederick, 1848..;;l 924, George Griswold, 1851-1936, and Theodore, 1860-1927. * The sixth generation of the family is represented by five male members bearing the family name and of these, three attained prominence. It is interesting that in six generations the name should be carried by so few and that of those few so many attained prominence by their contribution to public life. Joseph Sherman Frelinghuysen, second son of Frederick John, was born at Raritan in 1869. After active service as an officer in the Spanish American War, he entered business. He became State Senator in New Jersey in 1905, was President of the State Senate in 1909 and 1910, and in that capacity served as Acting Governor in 1909. In 1916 he was elected U.S. Senator from New Jersey, the fourth member of his family in 12 5 years to fill that position. ** He died on the 8th of February 1948. Frederick Frelinghuysen, the oldest of the three sons of the Secre tary of State, was born in Newark in 1848. He was graduated from Rutgers in 1868, with an A. M. degree from the same institution in 187 l, and was admitted to the bar in New Jersey in 1871. On the failure of the Mechanics National Bank ;in Newark in 1881, he was appointed receiver, and the same year was elected president of the Howard Savings Institution of N~wark. This was the same year his father became Secretary of State. He served as president of the :8oward Savings Institution until 1902 when he resigned to become president of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company, a position he held until his death, January 1, 1924.. For many years he served as a *Senator Frelinghuysen married Matilda Griswold, the daughter of George Griswold, a merchant of New York City. In addition to his three sons, he left three daughters, Matilda, who married Henry Winthrop Gray of New York City, Charlotte, who never married, and Sarah, who married first, Judge John Davis, and second, General Charles Laurie McCawley, U.S. A. **Senator Frelinghuysen in 1905 married Emily Ma.cy Brewster, daughter of Elisha Franklin Brewster, of Rochester, New York. He has two daughters, Mrs. John Grenville Bates, Jr., and Mrs. Ross A. McFarland (formerly Mrs. Henry Edward Bilkey), and one son, Joseph S. Frelinghuysen, Jr., born in 1912. The latter graduated from Princeton in 1934 and served as a major in World War II. 84 trustee and treasurer of Rutgers. He lived in the old family home at 18 Park Place, Newark. * George Griswold Frelinghuysen, the second son of the Secretary of State, was born in 1851, studied at Rutgers with the class_ of 1870, and took his law degree with the class of 1872 at the ~olwnbia University Law School. He was admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1872 and to the New York bar in 1_876, and opened an office in New York City. In 1881 he married Sara, daughter of Peter H. Ballantine, of Newark. In 1898 he became vice president and in 190 5 president of P. Ballantine & Sons, of Newark. He· died on April 21, 1936. ** *In 1902 he married Estelle B. Kinney, the daughter of Thomas T. Kinney, editor of the Newark Daily Advertiser. He· had four sons and one daughter, Frederick, 1903- , Thomas T, Kinney,_ 1905- , Major Theodore, 1907-1943, who died in World War II, George Griswold, 1908- and Estelle (Mrs. George L. K. Morris). **He had one son, Peter H. B. Frelinghuysen, born in 1882, and one daughter, Matilda, born in 1887. His son, Peter H.B. married in 1907 Adeline, the daughter of Henry O. Havemeyer, and has three sons, . George Griswold, 1911- , Harry 0. H. , 1916- , and Peter H. B. , 1916- , and one daughter, Frederica. His son, Peter H. B. , Jr. is the author of the monograph on the original progenitor of the family in America, the indomitable Domine Frelinghuysen. 85 THE FRELINGHUYSEN FAMILY AND THE DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH The first Frelinghuysen came to America on an appeal to the Church government in Holland from the settlers along the Raritan from New Brunswick to the Delaware River. At that time there were four churches established and a large number of communicants in the Dutch Reformed Church. They requested the Synod at Amsterdam to send a minister to care for the spiritual needs of this congregation. In response to the call, my ancestor~ Reverend Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen, a young minister· of the German Reformed Church~ wh~ had been a divinity student at Gro:n.ingen and Lingen - was re-ordained in the Dutch Reformed faith in Amsterdam and came to New Jersey in I 720. He was a man of education and culture - in Languages and theological training and he had to bid farewell to the intellectual life of Westphalia and Holland to take up the work in what was then a wilderness -- Oop de Raritans - as the section was called -- on the banks of the Raritan River mostly within the borders of Somerset County. This was during a _period of transition. The forests were being Cl..\t for the purpose of preparing the land for tilling to provide sustenance. Roads were rough trails and the ministrations of a spiritual leader could only be periodic, made with great difficulty on horseback. My ancestry in America was established in the Spring of 1720 in the settlement on the Raritan of Dominie Frelinghuysen. Exactly 150 years 86 afterwards, in 1869, I was born. The Dominie married Eva Terhune of· Long Island, a member of a worthy Dutch family. Little is known of her with the exception of the fact that she was said to have been twelve years old at her marriage and that she became the mother of four sons - - all of . whom were Dutch Reformed ministers - - and two daughters - - both of whom married Dutch Reformed clergymen. There was a strong liaison among the churchmen of those days and for several generations those who came to minister married into their own profession and continued their service in the church. The Dutch langllage was spoken up to my Father's time and I remember as a boy many Dutch words that were used in the common talk at the table and among the church people. · It was a time of development, agriculturally and commercially, and around the church and schoolhouse was built the political economy of· the day. People were interested in the formation of government and the continuation of their independence and.liberty. Although at the time of the Frelinghuysen migration, the Constitution had not been written, there was a strong flavor of independence in all speeches and discussions. An example of this feeling was shown in the reluctance of the members of the Dutch denomination to have their own Theological Seminary and Synod. A great controversy existed in the church between the Coetus {who believed in having their ministers ordained here) and the Confere'ntia {who believed in sending them back to Holland to take their Orders and receive their letters from the College there). 87 In addition to their fanatical devotion to the church and the promotion of the Dutch Reformed sect, the Frelinghuysens .had a great urge to serve in a public capacity and the records show that in the formation of our government they took an important part through local organizations, town meetings, and service in the _Legislature. Some of the family became important men - - several of them excep tionally so. The first, a graduate of Princeton in 1770, a Colonel in the Revolutionary War, . (Society of the Cin:cinnati) served at the Battle of Trenton and assisted in Was.hington' s victory there. He was a member of the Committee of Safety, the First Continental Congress and later served in the United States Senate. We have always referred to him as "The General, "which he became in 1794. A second was Senator, Chancellor of New York University and President of Rutge:i::-s College, also running for Vice President with Henry Clay in.1844. Another was a United States Sena tor - - Frede r:ick T. FreHnghuys en - - serving brilliantly and becoming Secretary of State under President Arthur, after Garfield's death. He was a man of great legal talents and an excellent orator. In fact, he was my pattern in the ambition I had to go to the Senate of the United States. · His sons followed him in the civil service and his family has been outstanding in culture and education and at the Bar. In the Second World War, all of the younger generation have served gallantly and with distinction. One of the grandsons Peter H.B. Frelinghuysen (now a Congressman) has written a monograph on Rev. Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen which shows scholarly attainments. - J. S. Frelinghuysen, Sr.* *The author of this historical note was Joseph Sherman Frelinghuyi:;en - 1869-1948. He was the fourth of the family to hold office in the United States Senate (1917-1923) after having been in the New Jersey Legislature, the State Senate and Lt. Governor. 88 DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE FRELINGHUYSEN FAMILY IN NEW JERSEY l} 1720 T heodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen. Family· Tree of his descendants in America. 2) l 7 31 Hon. Lewis Morris, Esq. Request regarding currency to pay taxes and hardships experienced by inhabitants and freeholders of Salem County, New Jersey. Dated 1 7 December 17 31. · 3) 1 742 Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen. Certificate of naturalization before Robert Hunter Morris, Esq., Chief Justice of the Province, dat.ed 20 April 1742. 4} 1 745 John Dalley Map of the King's Highway - {Original in the N. Y. Historical Society} Showing the location of the Low Dutch Church, at "new" Six Mile Run and the Low Dutch Parsonage at Three Mile Run; the residence of Theodorns Jacobus Frdinghuysen. 5) 1750 Din.a Van Be.rgh. Letter from Dina Van Bergh to her "betrothed" John Frelinghuysen dated Jan. 10, 1750 just previous to their marriage in Amsterdam. 6} 1754 Theodorus Frelinghuysen. Letter to his brother, in regard to the death of his brother John. Translation from Dutch by J. Van Regteren Altena - Prof. of Art at the Rijksmuseurn . Amsterdam -- who spent a year in Cambridge, .Nt;ass. - 1967-1968. 7) 1 755 Dina Van Bergh Frelinghuysen. Letter to her brother-in-law dated at Rarita~ June 20, 1755 - after the death of her husband, John. 8) 1759 Theodore Frelinghuysen {son of T. J. F.) Minister in Albany, N. Y. Letter from Theodore F. dated 5 October 17 59, to his wife Elizabeth Frelinghuysen. He sailed October l O, 1759, and never returned. Drowned off Staten Island on the way home. 9) 1 76 0 Dina Hardenbergh. Letter to her parents-in-law at Rosendale, N. Y., dated August 7, 1760 at Raritan. Translation from the Dutch by Prof. J. Van Regteren Altenq.. 89 10) 1777 Jacob Rutzen·Hardenbergh. Letter to his father, Johannes Hardenbergh at Rosendale, N. Y., dated December 6, 1777 at Raritan. He married Dina Van Bergh Frelinghuysen. Translation from the Dutch by Prof. J. Van Regteren Altena. 11) 1777 Derrick Van Ve ch ten. Last will and testament of Derrick Van Vechten of Somerset County, New Jersey. Father of Elizabeth Van Vechten who married John Frelinghuysen. 12) 1783 Martha Washington. Letter from General Washington's Head quarters at Kingston, New York, dated 20 June 1783, from Richard Varick to Col. Johannis Hardenbergh asking if Mrs. Washington might·have breakfast with Col. and Mrs. {Dina Va.n B·ergh Frelinghuysen) Hardenbergh on 21 June 17 83. 13) 1790 Jacob Rutzen Hardenbergh. Last will and testament of the second husband of Dina Van Bergh written in New Brunswick - dividing at least 20, 000 acres of land - 10, 000 in the Hardenbergh Patent in Sullivan Co., N. Y. State. 14) 1792 John Frelinghuysen. Diploma for the Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen's College, (Rutgers) New Brunswick, N. J., October 6, 1 792. 15) 1796 General Frederick Frelinghuysen (1753:..1804). Letter from -Frederick F. to Andrew Kirkpatrick, Chief Justice of New Jersey, dated Monday morning, 13th June 1796. 16) 1799 John Frelinghuysen. Deed of property to him from his first father and mother-in-law - Archibald Mercer (John married Louisa Mercer) witnessed by Elisha Boudinot. 17} 1800 Frederick Frelinghuysen - (General} Letter from Frede rick Frelinghuysen to his daughter Mrs. Maria Cornell, dated Sunday noon, 2 5 May 1800; 18) 1810 Frederick Frelinghuysen Jr. Loan of $700. 00 to Frederick from his older brother Theodore. Witnessed by John Frelinghuysen, another brother. Also two notations of interest paid on 11 May 1812 .and 3 February 1813 for $49. 00 each signed by Theodore Frelinghuysen. 19) 1814 C. M. Frelinghuysen (Charlotte Mercer F. ). Letter to Mrs. Rebeccah P. Sot,tthard, Flemington, N. Y., outlining medical prescriptions. The writer was the wife of Theodore Frelinghuysen. 90 20} 1814 John Frelinghuysen. Letter to Col. Frelinghuysen from General Wm. Colfax regarding the military defense of Sandy Hook during the War of 1812. 2i) 1817 John Frelinghuysen. Certificate of appointment as Aide-de-Camp to the Commander in Chief, with the rank of Ljeutenant Co1onel, May 20th, 1817. 22) 1825 John Frelinghuysen. A document relating to the Return of the Somerset Brigade, dated March 22, 182 5, commanded by Brigadier General John Frelinghuysen. The printed form gives the details of the number of officers and men, arms, ammunition and accoutrements and information in regard to the cavalry, artillery and riflemen. 23) 1842 U. S. Frigate Raritan. Bulletin announcing the launching of the U. S. Frigate Raritan between 2 and 3 p. m. on May 25th, 1842, at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. 24) 1844 Theodore Frelinghuysen. Nomination of Theodore Frelinghuysen (printed Circular) to run for Vice President of the U. S. with Henry Clay, accompanied by a letter from John P. Jackson to Henry W. Green, dated 23 April 1844. Also a letter from Mr. Frelinghuysen to Mr. Henry W. Green of his acceptance, datedMaylO, 1844. 25) 1861 Con.federate States of America. Certificate of Loan for $100. 00 with attached coupons, May I, 1861. 26) 1879 John Frelinghuysen - Brother of Joseph S. Frelinghuysen. Diploma for the B. A. degree from Rutgers College, July 14, 1879. Addendum I la) 1779 Autograph letter from F. Frelinghuysen to D. Middagh, signed in Philadelphia, Pa., Feb. 16, 1779 with typed replica of contents 91 Selected Bibliography Relating to the Frelinghuysen Family in New Jersey 1720-1960 1) Bergen, James J. The 'Rebellion' at Raritan in 1723. • The Somerset County· Historical Quarterly, Vol. 3 (191.4), pp. 172-184, (241)-249. 2) Brown, Philip Marshall. Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen. IN: The American Secretaries of State and Their Diplomacy. Samuel Flagg Bemis (Ed.). New York: Knopf, 1927-29, Vol. VIII. 3) Chambers, Talbot W. Memoir of the Life and Character of the Late Hon. Theodore Frelinghuysen, LL. D. New York: Boc;\.i-d of Publications of the Reform.ed Protestant Dutch Church, 1856. (Synod Rooms, 103 Fulton Street, New York, N. Y. ). Also published by Harper and Brothers, Franklin Square N. Y. 1963. 4) Corwin, Edward Tanjore (Pastor). Historical Discourse for the Centennial Anniversary of the Reformed Dutch Church of Millstone. New York, J. J. Reed Printer, 43 Centre Street, 1866. 5) Demarest, W. H. s. A History of Rutgers College: 1766-1924. New· Brunswick, N. J .: Rutgers College, 1924. 6) Eehof, Professor A. Researches in Holland for Senator Frelinghuysen, 1928-1931. Series of letters to Senator Joseph S. Frelinghuysen - from · the University of Leyden, concerning the birthplace of Theodorus Jacobus and the results of investigations re Dina Van Bergh in Amsterdam. 7) Frelinghuysen, Peter Hood Ballantine, Jr. 1916 - Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen. Published by permission_ of the Society of Colon~al Wars in the State of New Jersey. Princeton, privately printed, 1938. vii ·I 89 pp, Biblio., 87-89. Copy Number 11 and 49 of 300 copies inscribed to Senator Frelinghuysen - from the author. 8) Frelinghuysen, Theodorus Jacobus. Sermons by - Translated fronl. the Dutch by Rev. William Demarest prefaced by a sketch of the author 1 s life. Board of Publications of the Reiormed Protestant.Dutch Church 337 Broadway, New York, 1856. 9} Grant, Anne MacVicar. Memoirs of an·Arnerican Lady. (Albany: J. Munsell, 1876), pp. 204 and 197. First published in London, 1808. 10} Hageman, John F. The Life, Character and Services of Frederick T. Frelinghuysen. Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, lnd Series, IX (1886-87}, pp. 58:-59. 11) Hess, Stephen. American Political Dynasties: from Adams to Kennedy. Doubleday & Co., Garden City, New York, 1966. Chapter entitled 11 11 The Frdinghu:ysen Dynasty , pages 339-363 also bibliographical nob.-s pages 593-596. 91a 12) Maxson, Charles Hartshorn. The Great Awakening in the Middle Colonies, Gloucester, Mass., 1958. (Reprint of the Chicago, I 920, edition). 13) Mellick, Andrew D, Jr. The Story of an Old Farm, or Life in New Jersey in the Eighteenth Century. Somerville, N, J.: Unionist Gazette, 1889. The Old Farm - Edited, with an Introduction by Hubert G. Schmidt - from The Story of an Old Farm by Andrew D. Mellick, Jr. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, N,J. 1961. 14) Messler, Abraham, D ...D. (Pastor of the Church of Raritan). Forty Years at Raritan, Eight Memorial Sermons, 1832-1872. With notes for a History of the Reformed Dutch Churches, West Somerset County, N. J. {See especially pages 181-196). New York: A~ Llord, 729 Broadway, 1873. 15) Schmidt, Hubert G. {Ed.) Lesser Crossroads. New Brunswick, N. J.: Rutgers University Press, 1948, 16) Steele, Richard H. {D~~D.) Historical discourse delivered at the celebration of the hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the First Reformed Dutch Church, New Brunswick, N.J, New Brunswick, 1867. 17} Swan, H. Kels - compiler~ Raritan' s Revolutionary Rebel; Frederick Frelinghuysen - Fatherless Protege' of Dirck Middagh. Published by General Frelinghuysen Chapter D, A, R, Somerville, New Jersey - 1967, 18) Tanis, James. ·. The Frelinghuysen Begats. The Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey Vol, XL, No. 2, May 1965, pages 49-56. 19) Tanis, James Robert, Dutch Calvinistic Pietism in the Middle Colonies, A study in .the Life and Theology of Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen, 'S-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff, 1967, ix+ 203 pp. ,Available in the u. s. from Elliot's Books, 29 Broad~ay, New Haven,· 11, Connecticut. 20) U, S, Secretary of Agriculture, Report of - 1891 -- Thick book on the History of New Jersey's Counties - Somerset County - pp. 439-461. Middlesex County pp. 305-327. 21) Van Bergh, Dina. Translated excerpts of her Diary, written in 1747. Rutgers University Library, New Brunswick, N. J. (The wife of John Frelinghuysen I. 727-1754 and ·Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh.) 22) Van Horn, J. H. - compiler. Historic Somerset, Published by the Compiler £or the Historical Societies of Somerset County. New Brunswick, N. J.: Uniman Printers, 928 Livingston Avenue, 196 s; 92 AMERICAN REQUIEM a Narrative Poem of Death and Ancestors by Emily McFarland - December 1969 ·- 93 FOREWORD "Poetry is the family talk of the generations •• ~. How shall I carve ••• the picture of themselves my people are? ••• Is it possible to say it without memories? 11 John C:j.ardi from "Some Figures for Who Must Speak. " The thought of trying to write an ".Ainerican Requiem" came to mind while listening, to a performance of the Brahms', "German Requiem" by the Boston Sympho:ray Orchestra. The idea grew after hearing the "War Requiem" of Benjamin Britten, Berlioz• "Damnation of Faust" and Leo1il.ard Berliil.stein1 s "Kaddish," all on the theme of death· in a religious setting, and in which a Narrator spoke successfully~ The movingly simple version of Heave12 as portrayed in Mahler*s Fourth Sy~phony brought further ll ' ' inspiration, as it seemed to convey the same naive approach to death in a primitive culture as did the writer's early environment. h:J. her childhood she had been steeped in Dutch - Reformed fundamentalism and Episcopalian:ism, tempered by a touch of the Quaker. Therefore it seemed appropriate to use .Biblical quotations and phrases from songs to suggest a chorus and to set the mood. "American Requiem" tells the story of successive generations of a New Jersey Dutch family in the light of their burial c;hoices. The theme of "America t,he Melting Pot" is played in several variations - as to nationality, - actual physical decay and in breaking down the barriers of religious denomination. 94 The historical facts were dug out of books, letters and journals belonging to relatives and now in the library of Rutgers University. These confirmed .the legends told to the writer by members of the family, by New Jersey hi_storians and by researchers on the ancestral background in Westphalia and in Holland. Many exploratory trips were made to the different cemeteries and places mentioned in the poem. This brought a sense of nostalgic authenticity to the effort and philosophical reassurance. It also provided the folk-art drawings and the gravestone rubbings which will be used to illustrate the final version of the poem. "You must not let the change of time and scene confuse you: this is all times and all scenes: I speak for the family iri all its ages" Ciardi As of the preseut writing, December 1969:1 a Cambridge artist:, Mary Harriman is making several black and white sketches to be used with some of her paintings for a reading of the poem.. At that time added material will be used: "A Dialogue between The Old World Pastor and The New World De_scen.dant" for dramatic interest. The performance is being prepared as a creative project for a Radcliffe Seminar in Poetry being given by Florence Trefethen. It will be taped in advance to a musical background selected by the author, with the assistance of Francis Hagar, organist of the Old Cambridge Baptist Church. The music will include three hymns written by an eighteenth century ancestor, as well as some organ music of the period -- Purcell, Zwart, Buxtehude, Sweelinck, Kauffmann, and Selby (American). Also, contemporary composers Barber, Copland and Messiaen. 95 AMERICAN REQUIEM "For the first Heaven and the first earth are passed away, and on this side of the river is the tree of life. " Revelations. As guardian of the graves he took our measure This booted gnome, custodian of headstones Sprouting in the snowy lather, - Uneven stubble in the shade of darker growth Black trunks of oaks that breached the blue, Their roots exploring false mahogany, Their shrivelled plumage quivering A dirge of frigid grief; Trees grown so tall, well nourished by The riches_t soil, - bonemeal of Brahinins. This was the Episcopal cemetery, "St. Simeon on the Upper Slope" Where prosperous parishioners Were preferably interred; Where the sisters had been searching For a pl:ace. to put the person being Brought from Arizona in his coffin. * 0 it was hard to have to die in winter When earth was frozen six feet down, Unwarmed by layered blanketings of snow, - And double numbered diggers would bh hired Cautiously, to dynamite, in order Not to undermine the columns Crumbling in the' iron ground. *J. S. F. (1869-1948). See _Appendix 5. 96 11 He that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the Temple of my God ••• 11 Revelations, 3, 12. Victim of winter in a lif etimeis ending, The one who died had gone in search of sunlight, Wishing to warm his blood and ease his bones In desert dryness. But drifts had deepened 1n the mountain passes Locking the traveller in arctic cold. There death had caught him, Boxed in steely silence Where the shadow of the snow Shut oi.1t the sun. As guardian of the graves he took our measure, Questioning our size and number, Asking for preferences, 11 the hill or valley, - And were there many generations Eventually to lie here? 11 He made it all so simple with his plotting That the si.sters started adding on their fingers. Each one included each in counting. 97 I heard a voice of many angels, and they sang a new song. Revelations 5, 11. * * * 11 *Tis a gift to be simple, 'tis a gift to be free. *Tis a gi_ft to come down where you ought to be ••• 11 Old Shaker song The little Quaker grandmother, Sarah* Had been laid away in Woodlawn near Aunt Lillie. They never would forget that dismal day When mourners., patient in the pelting rain Stood waiting, till the Spirit moved some soul To speech or prayer., - in proper Friendly fashion. And their father (who was now the one for.burying) Plucked a Bible from an unsuspecting relative, To read his favorite passage from the Psalms. Then with grief and laughter struggling in his voice, "Sis, sing a song for her, 11 he said, And Sis., so very young, sang bashfully, . While rain ran down her face to mix with tears. Sing in sadness, sing in sorrow, To assuage thy weight of grief. By the morrow may thee borrow Less of sadness., more surcease,, May tomorrow bring thee peace. *Sarah Ridgway Macy (1851-1945). See Appendix 9. 98 "From youth he was entrusted with his country's deep concerns, candid, generous and just, • • • he left this legacy, • • • a life of public usefulness. " 1 11 1 would rather, Sir! drink sand and water In the Monmouth desert, in the character Of Colonel, of Somerset's First Regiment, Than drink wine in Philadelphia in the character Of first New Jersey Delegate!" -- 2 General Erederick had been buried as a soldier, A fighter in the Revolution, His grave preserved by all those "Daughters" in A brickbound cemetery on the Millstone river. In Somerset's Militia when Washington played Hare and hounds across New Jersey with Cornwallis, Young Frederick spent those agonizing winters Galloping the icy ridge from Morristown To Middlebrook; pounding the frozen river road From Rocky Hill to Raritan. 1.) General Frederick (17 53-1804). Appendix 6, From his Epitaph. 2.) Letter of Gen. F. to his neighbor Col. Middagh, writtc•n from Phila. February 1779, Bibliography no. 99 "I trust the time of our deliverance is not too distant, ••• and I hope for peace, a happy peace, to take the place of desolating wars. 111 Then stinging winds cut through his clay-stained coat, Hand stitched by a Trenton tailor, blue and buff, And horse I s hooves, steel- caulked, dug gutted trails Through Peapack1s forN'lt of primeval pine. Then antlered deer stood, white tails twitching, Unfrightened in the black, tree-caverned quiet, As Jacob's Ladder2 11 thank-you-mams" gave pause To heaving horse and bone-stiff rider. - That was before the British burned the bridge, 3 The Courthouse and thP old Dutch Church; When Simcoe set all Somerset on fire! II.) Ibid - same letter as. 2 on preceding page. 2.) Jacob's Ladder, - This stretch of road still exists between Bedminster, Peapack and Vealtown (now Ber·nardsvillc). It was the route of Washington's retreat from Princeton to Morristown in January, 1777. 3.) Van Vechten1 s Bridge, See Appendix, (also for SimcQe) 100 "Who can find a virtuous woman, for her price is far above rubies? 11 Proverbs, 31, 10. His father John, the Dominie, * and Dina Had chosen churchyards, Dutch-Reformed, At Raritan· and Brunswick. As children we had often heard it said, (Somewhat irreverently, we thought) That Dina+ was too pious, a character To cope with in her day! A girl in Amsterdam she'd been a visionary, Seeing the Prince of Orange in her dreams Riding a snow-white charger to the Stadthuis; Confusing him, in teen-age fervor, with Another Who rode upon an ass through cheering multitudes. Slightly ."touched" the generations hinted Tackling her diary in Dutch- battling with The antiquated language. The story goes that she refused the Dominie, Who sailed without her to the Colonies. Storm-tossed the ship was driven back, And he proposed again, This time with God's approval! *John F. (1727-1754). See Appendix 2. + Dina VanB. (1726 ?-1807). See Appendix 3. 101 "Tell how· she climbed the everlasting hills Surveying all the realms above; Borne on a strong-winged faith, and on The fiery wheels of an immortal love. " Her Epitaph They built a Parsonage above the riverbank Of bricks they brought as ballast from the Netherlands. And here along the Raritan they made beginnings, Starting a school for ministers Of Dutch-Reformed delineation; New World evangelists, dete:rmined not To be ordained in Holland. In four short years the Dominie succurnbed to fever, but Dina stayed as Jufvrow Of the Raritan, outliving husbands Ahd a flock of children. She pioneered a pregnant century To leave them this inheritance! I 02 11 Lord., who shall abide in thy tabernacle, who shall dwnll in thy holy hill? He that swearcth to his own hurt. a11d changeth not. " Psalm 15~ 4 But there had been a first to come, From Hagen in Westphalia, * Whose eyes were like a flame of fire, And whose voice cried out in exhortation: "See - - even the impenitent are coming, That they may eat and rlrink judgment To themselves! 11 His final resting place could not be found. He disappeared in mystery, they said. But people pointed to a grave In the old yard at Six Mile Run That had no stone to mark the man, whose Preaching stirred to wrath his congregations. A pioneering people, quite unwilling To consider his the only path to Paradise. "I would rather suffer a thousand deaths Than not to preach the truth! 11 "I ask no praise, I fear no blame. 11 And his descendants built a monument Up near the apple ~ree, where legend Has it he was buried. *Theodorus Jacobus - ·(1692-1748?). Appendix I. Quotations are from Messler 1 s "Historical Dis<.:nursc 11 in his "Eight Memorial Sermons. 11 The second quote is from. one of T. J. F. 1 s sermons - as is the Psalm. 103 "To him that over cometh I give to eat of.· the trc e of Hfe, -- which is in the Paradise of God. " Revelations But what. of the person being brought From Arizona in his coffin; Would he prefer the churchyard in New Brunswick Or perhaps a War Memorial, with glory? (After all he had stormed San Juan Hill With Roosevelt the First, Republican!) Deep in the General's ground along the Millstone, Could he escape the smoke from modern Manville, Spewing its fumes on former Jr> r.sey farmlands? Then the. sisters both remembered, joyously,·· And calmed their consciences remembering; He'd always thought the Dutch were much too stubborn But bound by brick, his sense of freedom Would be stifled ln the graveyard of the Revolution. This flash of insight that assured them, independc•ntly, Pictured their much-loved parent at the pearly gates, Telling his favorite story of St. Peter To that aug.ust guardian of Heaven; Carefully convincing Peter I That the place should be more democratic: Secret ballots, free elections, Integration of the angels, - Committees to create more planets - name the stars. -- 104 "Lord, now. lettest thou thy servant dcpa1·t in pl:a Vl', according to thy word, - - for mine eyes have sc•cn thy salvation. 11 Simeon, {the Nunc Dimittis). Luke, II, 29 0 why does trag'edy provoke to laughter? As he himself had soarP.d the open spaces, So his body would be· buried on the mountain, With Simeon, on the upper slopes of Somerset. They took the largest plot up where the oak tq·~<~s Would be silhouetted on the sky. Trees soon to flourish from a soil In balanced mixture, whose swelling buds Would shed their tattered shrouding And burst into a fanfare of jubilant re-birth. "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it: was, and the spirit shall return to God., who gave it." Ecclesiastes, 12, 7. 1 ()(, ·APPENDIX 1) Theodorus Jacobus - Reverend Thcodorus JacobuH was bo ru in 1692 in Hagen, Westphalia. He was called tu the Ha l"itan, New Brunswick, North Branch and Six Mile Run Congregations in I 718. He arrived in I 719 and preached his first sc rmon j 11 the Raritan Church (then at Van Vechten 1 s Bridge) in January 1720. He lived at Three Mile Run, near New Brunswick having been givPn the land and his house. * A powerful pastor, but a controversial figurl!, the exact dat<· or place of his death is not recorded (though it was known to lw bvfo1·c• 1748). His son John, the Domine, succeeded him ·and was wc·ll lil«·d during his short pastorate. The stone mentioned in the poem was placed in the Old Six- Mi.1 l' Run or Elm Ridge cemetery in the 20th century by the author's fatlwr J. S. F. The author thinks T. J. F. may have been buri<•d in tlw old cemetery at Three Mile Run near his home, although the• church at that place had been given up when it was merged with New Brunswick in 1717 to become the Church of the River and Laurence Brook. ** There is a small cemetery there at the site of that c·arJy church wlwsc· gravestones have been documented by Mr. Sinclair of tlw Rutg<· rs Library, in an article published in the New Jersey Gencological Society · Bulletin. While none of the readable epitaphs today arc earlier than 1765a nevertheless, this does not preclude the possibility of T. J. F. 1 s having been buried there prior to 1748 {without a stone). *** (St!C conflicting ·statements in Demarest, Chambers & Steele·: hibliograplJV•) 2) John .. the Domine {1727-1754) a son of Thcodorus Jacobns and Eva Term.ine was born at Three Mile Run near New Brunswick in 1727.+ He died in 1754 in Long Island. His wife Dina brought his body back on a barge to be buried, we believe, in the old Raritan Dutch church graveyard near Van Vechten 1 s bridge about three miles frorn the Second Somerset Courthouse at Hillsborough). Van Vcchtcn'.1:1 Bridge and th.e First Raritan Church {1721), now only a site near Manville, as well as the Old, or Second Somers.et Courthouse wcr *Messler, p. 167. In Historical Notes, Tlw "Church of the Harit;iu" and p. 180. Also Stec•le, p. 29. **Messler, p. 163 and bottom of p. 164; and St<•l'k, pp 24 and 25. ***Messler Eight Memorial Sfrmons - Historkal Noks, p. 174 states "Three Mile Run. 11 Also, sec Steele, p. 28. +Messler, op cit, p. 182 states 1727. Ch. 2 GharnbP.r says ++Messler, p. 164. Steele., p. 27 (says 173), Ml'llick, p. 107 3) Dina· Van Bergh (or Van den Berg) Frelinghuysen Hardenbe rgh was born in Amsterdam on the Prinz en Grae ht Canal in I 72 5, the daughter of a merchant Louis Van Bergh. Her father and rnotl,cr wvre thought by her to be frivolous and worldly. According to her diary, written in Amsterdam in 174 7 she 'got' religion at an early age aad was extremely devout. After the death of her first husband John the Domine in 1754, sh~ was left a widow with two children, (one of whom was to become General Frederick) she married Jacobus Rutzen Hardenbergh, a very young student of h<' r husband in the theological school at the Parsonage at Raritan. Dina went to livl' with his family at Rosendale, New York on the Hudson until he finished his preparation for the ministry. When Jacobus was called as pastor to the three Congregations of the Raritan in 17 58, . they returned to 1 ivc in tlw same Dutch Parsonage where they remained through the Revolution, raising their ·seven children in the midst of the advances and retreats of the American Army across New Jersey. Next to them on the West was the Wallace House which was Washington's headquarters for the winter of 1778-79. They became well acquainted with the Commanding General and his wife (see Bibliography and letter in Rutgers Library, 17 83). Dina is buried in the chnrchyard at New Brunswick 1where she died in 1807, three years after her son, the Revolutio:nary general died. There is a monument there to her, where her se~o:nd husband Jacobus Rutzen Harde:c.bergh, President of Rutgers from.1786 to 1790, is also buried. His family were among the original patentees of huge tracts of land on the Hudson river at Rosen.dale, New York, where there was a fine early Dutch Manor House. (See Hardenbergh Will, re division of land. ) 4) General Frederick (17 53-1804) was borza. in. the Dutch Parsonage at Raritan during the short period that John the Domine, his father, was teaching there before his early death. Frederick is buried in a brick walled cemetery between Weston and Millstone (formerly Hillsborough) on what was once his own land or Schenck land, acquired when he married Gertrude Schenck in 1775. (see Demarest) The cemetery, kept up by the D. A. R. with help from the descendants, is very near the site of the second Somerset County Courthouse burned by Simcoe in the Revel ution. (The earliest or first courthouse was moved in 1738 from Six Mile Run, aow Franklin Park. ) Frederick graduated from Princeton in 1770, at seventeen. He read law with John. P. Stockton and William Patterson and was admithid to the New Jersey bar in 1774. He became a Minute Man and Captain of the Jersey Militia. Frederic;k serv~d in the Provincial Congress, Continen.tal Congress and the U.S. Senate in 1793. A trustee of Princetoll, he lived at Millstone. (See Kc-ls Swan iri Bibliography) 108 5) Joseph Sherman - (1869-1948) was born in Rarita.n, New Jersey in an early 19th century house set back from Main Street on the North side. It is still standing (1965) -- bU:t is fronted now by stores and other buildings. It is completely sheathed in fake tarpaper brick. The classic front door with broken arch and columns and its lovely mantlepieces have been put into a newer New Jersey house in Far Hills. Built prob ably in the early 1800 1 s - - this Raritaa house was one of under ten dwelling houses that made up the town of Raritan at that time. Joseph went to school at the Academy in Somerville but did not follow the family tradition of going on to Rutgers or Princeton to college. His father had died early so Joe went to work to support his mother and sister and an invalid brother. His grandfather was General Joh:n (1776-1833) born in Millstone during the Revolution, a son of General Frederick and Gertrude (Gitty) Schenck. (General John married Louisa Mercer first and Elizabeth Van Vechten second inl810.} . In partnership with a friend, his first job was selling chain link fence.* Later he entered the insurance business in New York, and sub sequently went into Jersey politics becoming state legislator, state senator and finally United States Senator. Almost a fundamentalist in the Dutch Reformed faith, he was a believer in moderation and voted for Prohibition in the U.S. Senate. This ruined him with the brewing interests in New Je~sey who had supported him for the Senate seat in 1916, when he was elected for a term of six years. While in the state legislature a111.d the state senate, Joseph was instrume:m.tal in getting legislation passed to improve Education in New Jersey. He was a strong rooter for aid to agriculture, having set up the state board, and he wrote the first licensing and motor vehicle laws. His great crusade was to unseat the "bosses II who controlled Hudson County ~nd his belief in Direct Primaries caused him to run for office on the slogan, "Let the people decide. 11 A strong senti mentalist regarding family, religion, and ancestors, he nevertheless had a fine enjoyment of life and a marvelous sense of humour with an endless fund of amusing stories. He liked people and they liked him. Joseph's father Frederic John was a small-town lawyer whose office was a tiny 8 foot square building on the corner of Main and Somerset Streets in Raritan. It was next to his house and across from the (1834} "new" Third Reformed Dutch Church. Around 1875, Joseph's father Frederick John bought land on the hill north of Raritan about a mile out of town. He built a square Victorian house of red brick and movt?d his family up to "the Hill. " This house burned after it was sold in thti 1940 1 s. 6) Sarah Ridgway Macy was descended from a Nantucket whaling family of this name. She was born in New York City where her grandfather had moved from Nantucket in order to carry on the family business of importing. Although Sarah strayed from strict adherence to the Quaker faith during a gay and colorful life in Rochester, New York~ Paris and Washington, she returned to this belief in her old age~ *He and his partr.i.er E. C. Jameson made their first sale in Tarrytown, New York to Mr. Rockefeller Senior for his "new" estate at Pocantico Hills. 109 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Chambers, Talbot W. Memoir of the Life and Character of the Late Hon. Theodore Frelinghuysen, LL. D. New York: Board of Publications of the Reformed Protestalilt Dutch Church, 18 56. (Synod Rooms, 103 Fulton Street, New York, N. Y. } Demarest., W. ·H. S. A History of Rutgers College: 1766-1924. New Brunswick, N. J.:. Rutgers College, 1924. Frelinghuysen, Peter Hood Ballantine, Jr. 1916 - Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen. Princeton, N. J., privately printed, 1938. vii + 89 pp.· Frelinghuysen, Theodorus Jacobus. Sermons by- Translated from the Dutch by Rev. William Demarest prefaced by a sketch of the author's life. Board of Publications of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, 337 .Broadway, New York., 1856. Mellick, Andrew D. Jr. The Story of an Old Farm, or Life in New Jersey in the Eighteenth Century. Somerville, N. J. : Union Gazette, 1889. Messler, Abraham, D. D. (Pastor of the Church of Raritan). Forty Years at Raritan. Eight Memorial Sermons, 1832-1872. With notes for a History of the Reformed Dutch Churches, West Somerset County, N. J. Steele, Richard H. (D. D.) Historical discourse delivered at the celebration of the hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the First Reformed· Dutch Church, New Brunswick, N. J. New Brunswick, 1867. Swan, H. Kels - compiler. Raritan' s Revolutionary Rebel; Frederick Frelinghuysen - Fatherless Protege of Dirck Middagh. Published by General Frelinghuysen Chapter D. A. R. Somerville, N. J. , 196 7. Tamis, James Robert. Dutch Calvinistic Pietism in the Middle Colonies. A -study in the Life and Theology of Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen. 'S-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff, 1967. ix+ 203 pp. Van Bergh, _Dina, Translated excerpts of her Diary, w:r:itten in 1747, · also a few of her letters in the Rutgers Ljbrary. Erskine Maps of the American Revolution ~nd John Dalley Maps of the King's Highway, New Jersey. Archives of the New York Historical Society.