Historic Shrines of America Part 11

THREE: ACROSS THE JERSEYS WITH THE PATRIOTS

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE FRANKLIN PALACE, PERTH AMBOY, N. J.

_Photo furnished by W. A. Little, D.D., Perth Amboy_ See page 115]

XXIV

THE FRANKLIN PALACE, PERTH AMBOY, NEW JERSEY

THE HOME OF THE SON OF WHOM BENJAMIN FRANKLIN VAINLY TRIED TO MAKE A PATRIOT

There was a time when Benjamin Franklin was proud of his son William, and was glad to have his name coupled with that of the young man.

The first year of the father's service in the Pennsylvania a.s.sembly William was appointed clerk of that body; this fact is mentioned with pride in the Autobiography.

When General Braddock was sent from England to America to oppose the union of the Colonies for defence, "lest they should thereby grow too military and feel their own strength," Franklin was sent by the a.s.sembly to Fredericktown, Maryland, to confer with the General. "My son accompanied me on the journey," the Autobiography says.

At Braddock's request Franklin advertised at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for one hundred and fifty wagons for the proposed expedition into the interior, and at the close of the advertis.e.m.e.nt was the note, "My son, William Franklin, is empowered to enter into like contracts with any person in c.u.mberland County."

Later, when the father was asked to secure financial a.s.sistance for certain subalterns in Braddock's company, he wrote to the a.s.sembly, recommending that a present of necessaries and refreshments be sent to those officers. "My son, who had some experience of camp life and of its wants, drew up a list for me which I enclos'd in my letter," the father wrote.

When, during the French and Indian War, the Governor of Pennsylvania asked Franklin to take charge of "our Northwestern frontier which was infested by the enemy, and provide for the defence of the inhabitants by raising troops and building a line of forts," he went to the front with five hundred and sixty men. In the Autobiography he wrote, "My son, who had in the preceding war, been an officer in the army rais'd against Canada, was my aid-de-camp, and of great use to me."

And in 1771, when beginning his Autobiography, Franklin addressed it "Dear Son," and spoke of the trip the two had taken together to England, to make "enquiries among the remains of my relations." Then he added:

"Imagining it may be equally agreeable to you to know the circ.u.mstances of my life, many of which you are yet unacquainted with, and expecting the enjoyment of a week's uninterrupted leisure in my present country retirement, I sit down to write them for you."

Six years before the beginning of the Autobiography, Franklin, in company with six other Philadelphians, entered on a land speculation in Nova Scotia. Together they bought two hundred thousand acres of land. There they intended to found a colony. Two s.h.i.+ploads of emigrants were taken to Monkton, the site of the proposed colony, but most of the men settled on other land, finding that this could be had practically for nothing. Franklin's will later provided that William be given an interest in the Nova Scotia property, and he explained the gift by saying that this was "the only part of his estate remaining under the sovereignty of the king of Great Britain."

What was the explanation of the father's changed att.i.tude to his son that led him to make his bequest in such unpleasant terms?

After William Franklin's return from the frontier, he was appointed governor-in-chief of the Province of New Jersey. A mansion was built for him in Perth Amboy by the Lord Proprietor. Its construction required a somewhat extended time, for it was a grand place; no wonder it was called "The Palace." But in 1774 the Governor took possession.

Of course this was not the reason for the breach with his father.

Again Benjamin Franklin was proud of his son, and of the lavish entertainments he made for his a.s.sociates.

But the father began to shake his head when his son became a favorite of the Tories in Perth Amboy who had looked askance on his appointment, the year before. He was told that William would himself remain a loyalist when the break came with Great Britain, and he was compelled to believe that there was serious ground for the charge. He decided, however, to make a supreme effort to rouse the Governor to the call of patriotism. Accordingly, in 1775, he sought the Palace and pleaded with William to forsake his Tory a.s.sociates, turn his back on the king who had turned his back on the Colonies, and become a steadfast defender of his country's rights.

What a subject that interview would make for an artist! Opposed to the luxury-loving governor, in the house furnished for his satisfaction by the Tories with whom he had chosen to ally himself, was the st.u.r.dy figure of the sage of Pennsylvania, who was ready to lay down his life in the defence of his country.

It must have been a stirring interview. But it was fruitless. Benjamin Franklin went back to Philadelphia a disappointed man. His feelings were expressed in the letter in which he said, "I am deserted by my only son."

Within a year Governor Franklin was practically a prisoner in the Palace, in consequence of the discovery that he was plotting against the Colonies. When he persisted in courses that troubled Congress, he was arrested and taken to Burlington. Mrs. Franklin fled to New York, and the Palace was at the mercy of the British. On several occasions the house was used as headquarters by British generals, and soldiers made their encampment on the grounds.

Though the interior of the Palace was destroyed by fire soon after the war, the house was restored, and it still looks much as it did when Franklin, the patriot, stood within its walls. For years it was used as a hotel, and later as a private residence. In 1883 it was made a Home for aged ministers of the Presbyterian Church. To-day it is again used as a hotel.

XXV

THE CHURCH AT CALDWELL, NEW JERSEY

WITH GLIMPSES OF THE FIGHTING CHAPLAIN CALDWELL

The trying days of the Revolution would not seem to be a favorable time for the beginning of a church, especially in the section of New Jersey which was so often overrun by the soldiers of both armies. Yet it was at this critical time that many of the people of Horseneck (now Caldwell), New Jersey, near Montclair, were looking forward to the organization of a church and the building of a house of wors.h.i.+p.

Timbers were in fact drawn and framed for church purposes, but the war interfered with the completion of the project.

The donation, in 1779, of ninety acres of wild land in the centre of the settlement gave the prospective congregation new heart. On this land a parsonage was begun in 1782. The upper portion of this house, unplastered and unceiled, was used for church purposes until 1796.

The final organization of the church dates from December 3, 1784, when forty persons signed their names to the following curious agreement:

"We Whose Names are Under writen Living at the Place called Horse Neck, Being this Day to be Formed or Embodied as a Church of _Jesus Christ_, Do Solemnly Declare that as we do desire to be founded Only on the Rock Christ Jesus, So we would not wish to Build on this foundation, Wood Hay and Stubble, but Gold and Silver and Precious Stones; and as it is our profested Sentiments that a Visible Church of Christ, Consists of Visible Believers with their Children, so no Adult Persons ought to be Admitted as members but such as Credibly profess True Faith in Jesus Christ, Love, Obedience, and Subjection to Him, Holding the Fundamental Doctrines of the Gospel, and who will Solemnly Enter into Covenant to Walk Worthy such an Holy Profession as we do this Day."

The last survivor of those who signed this doc.u.ment was General William Gould, who died February 12, 1847, in his ninetieth year.

During the Revolution he saw much active service, especially at the battles of Springfield and Monmouth and the campaigns that preceded and followed these conflicts.

But the connection of the church with the Revolution came rather through Rev. James Caldwell, who was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Elizabeth Town. During the early years of the struggling congregation he was their adviser and helper, and after his death the name of the church was changed to Caldwell, in his honor.

Mr. Caldwell--who had among his paris.h.i.+oners in Elizabeth Town William Livingston, the Governor of the State, Elias Boudinot, Commissary General of Prisons and President of Congress, Abraham Clark, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, as well as more than forty commissioned officers of the Continental Army--was one of the famous chaplains of the war, having been chosen in 1776 chaplain of the regiment largely made up of his own members. Later he was a.s.sistant Commissary General.

The British called him the "Fighting Chaplain," and he was cordially hated because of his zeal for the cause of the patriots. His life was always in danger, and when he was able to spend a Sunday with his congregation he would preach with his cavalry pistols on the pulpit, while sentinels were stationed at the doors to give warning.

The enmity of the British led to the burning of the chaplain's church, and the murder, a few months later, of Mrs. Caldwell. While she was sitting in a rear room at the house at Connecticutt Farms, where she had been sent for safety, surrounded by her children, a soldier thrust his musket through the window and fired at her.

Mr. Caldwell survived the war, in spite of the efforts of the British to capture him, only to be murdered on November 24, 1781, by a Continental soldier who was thought to have been bribed by those whose enmity the chaplain had earned during the conflict.

The Elizabeth Town congregation succeeded in rebuilding their church five years after it was destroyed, but the delayed Caldwell church building was not ready for its occupants until 1795. The timbers for the church were hewed in the forest where the trees were felled and were drawn by oxen to the site selected. Forty men worked several days to raise the frame. Lime was made from sea sh.e.l.ls, which were hauled from Bergen, and then burned in a kiln erected near the church lot.

The interior of the building was plain. The pulpit, "about the size of a hogshead," was built on a single pillar, against the wall; above this was a sounding board. The windows had neither blinds nor curtains, and nothing was painted but the pulpit. The backs of the pews were exactly perpendicular. Provision was made regularly for the purchase of sand to freshen the floors. This building was burned in 1872.

The first pastor, Rev. Stephen Grover, received as salary one hundred and fifty dollars a year, though this sum was to be increased ten dollars a year until the total was two hundred and fifty dollars. Of course the use of the parsonage and land was given in addition.

Mr. Grover was pastor for forty-six years, and his successor was Rev.

Richard F. Cleveland, to whose son, born in the old manse at Caldwell,--which was purchased in 1912 by the Grover Cleveland Birthplace Memorial a.s.sociation,--was given the name Stephen Grover, in memory of the first pastor of the church. Forty-seven years later Stephen Grover Cleveland became President of the United States.

For the first ten months of its history the Caldwell church was Presbyterian, then it became Congregational, but since 1831 it has been a Presbyterian body.

[Ill.u.s.tration: OLD TENNENT CHURCH, FREEHOLD, N. J.

_Photo by Hall's Studio, Freehold_ See page 122]

XXVI

OLD TENNENT CHURCH, FREEHOLD, NEW JERSEY

ON THE BATTLE FIELD OF MONMOUTH

One of the bas-reliefs on the monument commemorating the decisive Battle of Monmouth, which has been called the turning-point of the War for Independence, represents the famous Molly Pitcher as she took the place at the gun of her disabled husband. In the background of the relief is the roof and steeple of Old Tennent, the church near which the battle raged all day long.

Tennent Presbyterian Church was organized about 1692. The first building was probably built of logs. The second structure, more ambitious, was planned in 1730. Twenty years later a third structure was demanded by the growing congregation. This building, which was twenty-seven years old at the time of the battle of Monmouth, is still standing.