Errors and Omissions found in the Combined Register

Marriages extracted from the Combined Register

HISTORY
of the
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Morristown, N.J.

Part II

THE COMBINED REGISTERS,
From 1742 to 1885

1885
"Banner" Steam Print
Morristown, N.J.

THE COMBINED REGISTERS,
from 1742 to 1885

Information from The Combined Register has been broken into multiple web pages to make for easier access. Some of the original page formatting has been adapted to web page use. The book contains 327 pages plus numerous pages of notes that appear to have been added by unknown members of the Genealogical Society of New Jersey. Any notes that I have personally added to the pages will be found in red. Considering the number of pages that will need to be transcribed, please be patient.

Information that is in the book as handwritten notes will be found in a bold dark red i.e., Rev War.

(A-partial) B (C-partial) D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
APPENDIX-A APPENDIX-B APPENDIX-C APPENDIX-D APPENDIX-E APPENDIX-F APPENDIX-G APPENDIX-H APPENDIX-IJ APPENDIX-K APPENDIX-L APPENDIX-Mc APPENDIX-MNO APPENDIX-PQR APPENDIX-S APPENDIX-T APPENDIX-UVWY

SOURCES. (pp 3-5)

The sources from which the following names and records have been compiled are these:

The Registers of Baptisms. During the pastorate of Mr. William McDowell from Dec., 1814, to Oct., 1823, very few baptisms are recorded, whether of adults or infants; and during vacancies in the pastorate, the records are also meager. With these exceptions the original Registers are very complete.

The Registers of Marriages. Marriages by Mr. Fisher and Mr. McDowell, between 1809 and 1823, have been derived from the office of the County Clerk; other Pastors left records more or less full on the Church Registers. In addition to these, use has been made of the valuable material collected from old newspapers and diaries by the Rev. Rufus S. Green, D.D., while pastor of the Church.

The Registers of Deaths. The earliest record of burials in the graveyard of the Church is contained in the "Bill of Mortality," begun in July, 1768 by Dr. Johnes and continued to 1812, by William Cherry; an edition of this was published in 1806, and a supplement later. No Pastor after Dr. Johnes has left a Register of Funerals, except Mr. Green; but the several Sextons have kept books recording the burials in the graveyard, and all of these books are preserved, except one of Moses Cherry’s. In addition to these, Mr. Green, with the assistance of Mr. Frank L. Whitehead, made a careful transcription of the records on the head-stones in the graveyard, which enabled him to correct many errors in the Bill of Mortality, and to record a number of burials that occurred previous to 1768. He also made a large and valuable collection of records of deaths from old newspapers and diaries. The present compilation does not contain all the material thus at hand; but aims to record the death, when on record, only (1^st.,) of those who were buried in the graveyard of the Church, and (2d,) of those whose names are found upon other Registers of the Church.

The Register of those who Renewed their Covenant. This covers only the pastorate of Dr. Johnes. It contains a list of those who were popularly called "Half-way members"; that is, persons who renewed their own baptismal vows when presenting their first child for baptism, but did not, at that time at least, enter upon the duties and privileges of full communion. The practice was abandoned in this Church in 1795.

The Registers of Communicants. Previous to 1795, the Minutes of the Session contain no mention of the reception of Communicants. They are recorded, however, on two lists; the first containing the names of the members in communion on the settlement of Dr. Johnes in 1742, together with the names of "Those that came since from other churches." On this list there are some notes of removal, but no dates to show when the persons were received. A comparison with other Registers, however, given an approximate conjecture, not only as to the communicants in 1742, but also as to the dates of the reception of others. For instance, the 52^nd name on the list is that of "Martha, wife of Cornelius Austin;" and as Cornelius Austin made "Publick Confession at the settlement of the Ch." For abandoning Hanover in disregard of "the lot," it is almost certain that his wife was a communicant in 1742. On the other hand, the name of "Elizabeth, wife of David More," is the 56^th on the list. But in the Marriage Register, it is recorded that "David More and Elizabeth Roff" were married by Dr. Johnes on the 13^th of April, 1743; hence it seems conclusive that she would appear under her maiden name on the list of members, if she had been a communicant on Dr. Johnes’ arrival in 1742. On this basis the first 55 names on this list are marked in the Combined Registers as members in 1742; and the dates appended to the names of those received from other Churches, previous to 1795, have been obtained by similar comparisons.

The second list, referred to above, contains the names of persons received on confession of their faith, recorded in chronological order, with the dates of their reception, and a few notes of removal without dates.

After 1795 the Minutes of the Session contain the names of almost all communicants received, both on confession and by letter from other Churches, together with the record of the dismission of the majority of those who have removed to other Churches.

In addition to the Minutes of the Session, the several Rolls of Communicants have been carefully searched, and have yielded a few names which do not appear in the Minutes, together with a large number of records of dismission and death not found elsewhere. These Rolls are designated in the Combined Registers by numbers, in the order of their dates, and are the following:

Rolls of Communicants.

1. —The two lists of Dr. Johnes, begun in 1742, and described above.
2. —Roll kept by Mr. Richards of those received during his pastorate, from Feb., 1795 to April, 1809.
3. —Roll of those living and known when Mr. Fisher came in 1809, to which are added, in chronological order, those subsequently received, till 1825.
4. —Roll, on principle of No. 3; begun by Mr. Barnes, in 1825, and used till 1846; together with his Manual, printed in 1828, which gives a list of those living and known at that date.
5. —Roll, on principle of No. 3; begun by Mr. Thompson, in 1846, and used till 1869.
6. —Roll, on principle of No. 3, but arranged alphabetically; begun by Mr. French, in 1869, and used till 1877.
7. —Chronological Roll, from 1742 to 1882, prepared by Mr. Green, and containing many notes of his research.
8. —Roll in present use; alphabetical; containing, in addition to the names of all Communicants living and known in 1882 and those since received, the record of all subsequent Baptisms, Marriages, Deaths and Dismissions.
Correspondence. No little aid has been furnished by subscribers to The Record and by others, who have answered inquiries and supplied many lost facts and dates.
As now printed, the compilation of all the names and dates from the various sources, for the period from 1742 down to 1825, has been made by one hand; and these, with all records of later date, are verified by the same, before the pages of the Combined Registers issue from the press. In spite, however, of all the care bestowed to attain accuracy, it is beyond hope that errors will not be found among the many thousands of these names and dates.
The Compiler would here record his grateful acknowledgement for assistance in copying, in reading, and in verifying, to Mr. Will. C. VanDoren, Mr. James R. Voorhees, Mr. Frank L. Whitehead, and the Misses Abby Pierson, Lizzie and Emma Van Pelt, Minnie Mills, and Lucy Johnson.
ABBREVIATIONS AND SIGNS.

_{1, 2, 3}, &c.,—Communicant Roll of date indicated above.	L.—received by letter.
aet—aged.	m—married.
b. —born.	M.1742—Communicant at settlement of Dr. Johnes.
B. —baptized.	non 2, or 3, &c. —not on Roll indicated by figure
B.f.h. —Baptized on husband’s account.	ord. —ordained.
B.f.w. —Baptized on wife’s account.	q.v. —Consult under last name.
C. —became Communicant.	R.C. —Renewed Covenant.
Ch. —Church	R.L. —Reserved List, absent & unknown, 1885.
d. —died or buried.	s. —son.
dg. —daughter.	serv. —servant.
dis. —dismissed by letter.	susp. —suspended.
Exc. —excommunicated.	w. —wife of.
fr. —from.	wid. —widow.

Names of Communicants are printed in heavy faced type; those who only Renewed Covenant, or remained "Half-way Members," are in italics; those of children are indented under the names of their parents. The brace { connects names of husband and wife.
Remarks or conjectures made by the Compiler are enclosed [sic] in brackets, thus [ ]; and doubtful conjectures are followed by the sign of interrogation[?].