FAIRFIELD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH - Fairton, New Jersey
The first settlers came to Back Neck, N.J. from New Haven, Connecticut
about 1641, called it New England Town Crossroads. In 1680 a group
of Presbyterians established a church on the south bank of the Cohansey
River. A log meeting house was erected and served until 1717. The
first pastor was Rev. Thomas Bridge from Hackney, England. The log
cabin building was known as "Christ's Church" and "The Cohansey Church".
In 1717, a frame building, with shingled sides was built on the same
site.
About 1730 the pastor built a house next to the church; the house
burned in 1755, destroying the church records. By 1775 the church
building was in such poor condition that the benches were moved
outdoors and services were held there, weather permitting. The
congregation then bought a large lot located about one mile south,
where the Old Stone Church is, and built a parsonage.
Theophilis Elmer, church treasurer, visited members to raise funds
to build a stone church. People gave cattle, poultry, etc. which
he sold at auction. During 1775-1776 two hundred loads of stone
and eight hundred feet of lumber were bought for the church. With
the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, the British seized this material
and constructed a wharf on the Cohansey River. This delayed construction
of the church until 1780.
On May 1, 1780 the first stone was laid; June 14, the roof was put on;
September 8, Rev. William Hollingshead held the first service at the
Stone Church. The first sermon's text was: "Whatever gain I had, I
counted as a loss for the sake of Christ." Philippians 3:7. The first
burial, a child, was in 1780.
In 1789, Ethan Osborn of Litchfield, Connecticut, was installed as pastor.
In 1807 his salary was $400. He faithfully served the congregation for
fifty-five years, resigning at the ripe old age of eighty-six in 1844.
His last sermon was preached at the Old Stone Church in 1850, just prior
to the congregation moving to the community of Fairton where a new frame
structure had been built. Ethan Osborn's pastorate was marked by periodic
revivals. He was a much beloved pastor and was known to his flock by
the affectionate title of "Father Osborn." He died on May 1, 1858, just
three and a half months short of his 100th birthday. He is buried by
the northwest corner of the church.
While Rev. Osborn was pastor of the church, the membership increased from
125 to 336 with out any appreciable growth in the area's population. All
pews and available places for sitting were rented. Members from the
Fairfield church also formed the First Presbyterian Church at Bridgeton
in 1792 and the Osborn Memorial Church at Cedarville in 1838.
In 1819 a Sunday School was organized in Fairton. The congregation;
on December 24, 1846 voted to inquire about the cost of a lot and building
in Fairton. On April 15, 1849 they authorized the new building. In
April 1850 they began to use it. This is the present Fairfield Church.
The Farifield congregation withdrew from membership in the West Jersey
Presbytery twice during its long history. The first occasion was in
May of 1840, just prior to Ethan Osborn's retirement. Osborn was of the
New School persuasion and the majority of the congregation supported him.
The Fairfield Church transferred to the Third Presbytery of Philadelphia
and remained part of that judiciary until 1870 when the Old School/New
School merger took place. The church's second departure occurred in
April of 1972. The congregation is now affiliated with the Presbyterian
Church in America.
By terms of the separation agreement with the Presbytery in 1972,
Fairfield relinquished its title to the Old Stone Church and the
adjacent cemetery. In 1972 they also lost title to the cemetery and
the West Jersey Presbytery monument erected in 1909 at the site of
the original log meeting house built in 1680. This property is located
one mile north of the Old Stone Church at the Cohansey River. The
monument bears the names of twenty-six signers of the Cohansey Compact,
an agreement or bond signed in 1697 by the founders of the congregation
whereby they pledged to support a minister and a school.
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