Family-histories and genealogies : containing a series of ...
Family-histories and genealogies : containing a series of ... Family-histories and genealogies : containing a series of ...
(!^QXtm=3o'^n&on Samuel (31) Johnson, second son of Dea. Samuel and Mary (Sage) Johnson, was born October 14, 1696; and graduated at Yale College (then the Collegiate School of Saybrook) in 1714. He was twice married : first, September 26, 1725, to Charity (Floyd) NicoU, daughter of Col. Richard Floyd of Brookhaven, L. I., and widow of Benjamin Nicoll and, secondly, June 18, 1761, to Mrs. Sarah ( ) Beach; and died January 6, 1772. Rev. Dr. Johnson, in his letter of Jan. 6, 1757, to his son, wrote thus of his first wife's family : "And now as to your mother's ancestors. Floyd is doubtless originally Lloyd, LI being pronounced in Wales, wence they came, like Fl. All I can learn is that your grandfather was born at Newcastle on the Delaware, that his Father and mother came from Wales, and that when he came and settled at Long Island they came with him, and lived to be old. His wife was Margaret Woodhull, whose Father was an English Gentleman of a considerable Family, cousin German, by his mother, to Lord Carew, Father to the late Bp. of Durham, whose niece was mother to the present Earl of Wallgrave or Waldgrave. This is all I know. . . ." The very conspicuous position of Rev. Dr. Johnson, Rector of Strat- ford, Conn., and first President of King's (Columbia) College, especially in connection with the introduction of episcopacy into Connecticut, and the early efforts of its advocates for its extension and firm establishment in America, by the institution here of the order of Bishops, has made the story of his life somewhat familiar. Rev. Dr. Chandler of Elizabethtown, N. J., in the last century, and Rev. Dr. Beardsley of New Haven, thirteen years ago, wrote his biography in full. But this memorial would be imper- fect without some more particular notice of the position he held, and of his sentiments and character. As is generally known, he became a Tutor in the College, where he had been graduated, in 1716— just when the first steps were being taken for the removal of that institution to New Haven—and continued to dis- 296 ;
agtretf=3)oi^n!SOtf charge the duties of the tutorship till 17 19. In that year Rev. Timothy Cutler was made Rector of the College. Johnson had early devoted him- self to the study of theology, and in 1720 was settled as Pastor of the First Church of West Haven, Conn. Meanwhile his theological studies were pursued, with the aid, chiefly, of books in the College Library ; and ere long he " was unable to find any sufficient support for the Congregational form of church government, or for the rigid Calvinistic tenets in which he had been educated." '" Even before this he had conceived a dislike for extempore prayers in public, and had used forms of prayer prepared by himself for his own use as a pastor. In a letter written to President Clap, many years later, he said of the Church of England : " I have been long persuaded that she is, and will eventually be found, the only stable bulwark against all heresy and infidelity, which are coming in like a flood upon us, and this, as I apprehend, by reason of the rigid Calvinism, Antinomianism, enthusiasm, divisions and separations which, through the weakness and great imperfection of your constitution (if it may be so called), are so rife and rampant among us. My apprehension of this was the first occasion of my conforming to the Church (which has been to my great comfort and satisfaction), and hath been more and more confirmed by what has occurred ever since. And I am still apt to think that no well- meaning Dove, that has proper means and opportunity of exact consideration, will ever find rest to the sole of his foot amid such a deluge, till he comes into the Church as the alone arJi of safety—all whose Articles, Liturgy, and Homilies . ing to their original sense, shall ever be sacred with me ; which . . accord- sense, as I apprehend it, is neither Calvinistical nor Arminian, but the gOlden mean, and according to the genuine meaning of the Holy Scriptures in the original, critically considered and understood." °° We see that the fluctuations, the ebb and flow, of theological opinion around him were "the first occasion of [his] conforming to the Church," '^ Beardsley's Samuel Johnson, ut supra, pp. 13-14. «' Id., pp. 204-05. 297*
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charge the duties <strong>of</strong> the tutorship till 17 19. In that year Rev. Timothy<br />
Cutler was made Rector <strong>of</strong> the College. Johnson had early devoted him-<br />
self to the study <strong>of</strong> theology, <strong>and</strong> in 1720 was settled as Pastor <strong>of</strong> the<br />
First Church <strong>of</strong> West Haven, Conn. Meanwhile his theological studies<br />
were pursued, with the aid, chiefly, <strong>of</strong> books in the College Library ; <strong>and</strong><br />
ere long he<br />
" was unable to find any sufficient support for the Congregational form <strong>of</strong> church<br />
government, or for the rigid Calvinistic tenets in which he had been educated." '"<br />
Even before this he had conceived a dislike for extempore prayers in<br />
public, <strong>and</strong> had used forms <strong>of</strong> prayer prepared by himself for his own use<br />
as a pastor. In a letter written to President Clap, many years later, he<br />
said <strong>of</strong> the Church <strong>of</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong> :<br />
" I have been long persuaded that she is, <strong>and</strong> will eventually be found, the only<br />
stable bulwark against all heresy <strong>and</strong> infidelity, which are coming in like a flood<br />
upon us, <strong>and</strong> this, as I apprehend, by reason <strong>of</strong> the rigid Calvinism, Antinomianism,<br />
enthusiasm, divisions <strong>and</strong> separations which, through the weakness <strong>and</strong> great imperfection<br />
<strong>of</strong> your constitution (if it may be so called), are so rife <strong>and</strong> rampant among<br />
us. My apprehension <strong>of</strong> this was the first occasion <strong>of</strong> my conforming to the Church<br />
(which has been to my great comfort <strong>and</strong> satisfaction), <strong>and</strong> hath been more <strong>and</strong> more<br />
confirmed by what has occurred ever since. And I am still apt to think that no well-<br />
meaning Dove, that has proper means <strong>and</strong> opportunity <strong>of</strong> exact consideration, will<br />
ever find rest to the sole <strong>of</strong> his foot amid such a deluge, till he comes into the Church<br />
as the alone arJi <strong>of</strong> safety—all whose Articles, Liturgy, <strong>and</strong> Homilies .<br />
ing to their original sense, shall ever be sacred with me ; which<br />
. . accord-<br />
sense, as I apprehend<br />
it, is neither Calvinistical nor Arminian, but the gOlden mean, <strong>and</strong> according to the<br />
genuine meaning <strong>of</strong> the Holy Scriptures in the original, critically considered <strong>and</strong><br />
understood." °°<br />
We see that the fluctuations, the ebb <strong>and</strong> flow, <strong>of</strong> theological opinion<br />
around him were "the first occasion <strong>of</strong> [his] conforming to the Church,"<br />
'^ Beardsley's Samuel Johnson, ut supra, pp. 13-14.<br />
«' Id., pp. 204-05.<br />
297*
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