GOSPEL TREASURES
by Russell S. Miller, Ph. D.
September 2013
GENEALOGICAL BACKGROUND
[Note: superscript generation numbers and birth/death dates identify different people with the same first name.]
MARIETTA CARTER THOMPSON (b. 1877; d. 1958) was the wife of HENRY6 THOMPSON, (b. 1876; d. 1928). They were the mother and father of my mother, ALICE THOMPSON MILLER, (b. 1901, d. 1988, married to, my father, Russell S. Miller, Sr. in 1924). Some of the possessors of the book can be traced back in time through the historical record of the Thompson family.
That record, in United States, is as follows:
HENRY6 (1876-1928) and MARIETTA CARTER THOMPSON(1877-1958) ;
HENRY6 THOMPSON (1876-1928), my grandfather, was:
the son of HENRY5 THOMPSON (1833-1901),
the son of JOHN4 THOMPSON (1795-1869),
the son of HUGH3 THOMPSON (1764-1847),
the son of JOHN2 THOMPSON (1726-1799),
the son of HUGH1 THOMPSON(?-1740) and ELIZABETH (McGraudy) THOMPSON
(1695-1768). They were married in Ireland in 1719. Elizabeth was widowed in 1740 and moved to Bucks County, Pennsylvania in the same year with her four sons:
Hugh2, Robert2, William2, and John2 (1726-1799).
There are some interesting people and events connected with this book. GOSPEL TREASURES, by John Everard, is one of the literary treasures of the Thompson family, as well as the Bond, Craven and Dungan families. This paper will answer the question, “Where did GOSPEL TREASURES come from and how did it come to be in the possession of the Thompson family?”
FOUR NAMES CONNECTED WITH THE BOOK
Besides the author's printed name, John Everard, there are three other names written on the opening pages of the book: Abraham Bond, Eloner Dungan, and John Thompson.
Regarding Abraham Bond (the apparent first owner of the book, in 1760), there are two hand-written scripts on the top of two different pages (one of the pages includes a poem, discussed later) as follows:
Abraham Bond his Book
Bought in the Year of our Lord 1760
Abraham Bond his Book
Bought in the year of our Lord 1760
Regarding Eloner Dungan and John Thompson, these two names appear in a hand-written script on a separate page which apparently was written by John Thompson as follows:
John Thompson his Book
Bought at Eloner Dungans Vandue
December 10th 1789 Price five Shillings
Eloner Dungan was in possession of the book some time after Abraham Bond had purchased the book. Soon after her death, John Thompson, in December of 1789, bought the book at the vandue (public auction) of her property. There is no clear indication of how and at what time the book passed from Abraham Bond to Eloner Dungan. She and/or husband may have bought it after the death of Abraham Bond in 1775; and/or, it may have passed to her at the death of her husband in 1781.
Who is John Everard, and what influence has he had on the Thompson family? Who were the other three people? What relationship do they have to the Thompson family and the Thompson Memorial Presbyterian church? What light can they shed on the kind of some of people who settled in and around the town of Newtown and Bucks County, PA?
THE AUTHOR OF THE BOOK
The author of the book, EVERARD, JOHN, D.D. (one of the spiritual Reformers of the sixteenth century) was born c. 1575. He was educated at Clare College, Cambridge, where he earned two degrees in arts in 1600 and 1607 respectively, and the D.D., in 1610. Some time before 1618, he became lector at St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, London, an Anglican (Church of England) church.
Everard's great powers of preaching drew large congregations; after being appointed chaplain to Lord Holland, he left St. Martin's for Kensington (the location where the sermons in GOSPEL TREASURES were preached). His audiences were fashionable and aristocratic, though he professed that his sermons were designed for the poor as well as the rich.
He went through a number of persecutions for his non-conformist preaching. In 1636, Everard was charged before the high commission court with heresy, being accused recklessly of familism (a mystical Christian religious sect of the 16th and 17th centuries), antinomianism, and anabaptism. He was in and out of confinement until the time of his death. His death was probably in or shortly before 1650. Additional information about him can be found on internet in the Dictionary of National Biography 1885-1900, Volume 18 or at christianbookshelf.org.
Note: His non-conformist preaching was at the time of the spiritual reformation movement in England during the sixteenth century that gave rise to such religious groups as the Quakers, the Baptist, and the Presbyterians. It is highly possible that there was an acquaintance between him and Rev. Thomas Dungan (the famous Baptist preacher of Bucks County, addressed later in this article) since he (Dungan) was baptized (c.1634) in the St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, London church during the time of John Everard.
ABRAHAM BOND, ELONER DUNGAN, AND JOHN THOMPSON
ABRAHAM BOND was born May 21, 1731 and died 1775 in Bucks County, PA. He married his first cousin ELIZABETH CADWALLADER in Bucks Co., PA. She was born c. 1731, and died before 1797. Could she have given or sold the book to Eloner Dungan after her husband's death?
Abraham and Elizabeth are identified as Quakers (in Friends for 340 Years: The Story of My Quaker Family by James O. BOND), the faith of William Penn, (1644–1718), founder of Pennsylvania. There is indication that Abraham was a man of great Christian conviction. His being the original owner of the GOSPEL TREASURES, along with a quote from the Publications of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania regarding his Bible ( “Records from Abraham Bond's Bible”), suggests that opinion. His Bible was used to provide a number of historical records for Bucks County.
He was a resident of Newtown, PA. There is an interesting story in THE HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, CHAPTER XXIV, PLUMSTEAD, 1725. from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time by W. W. H. Davis, regarding the house Abraham Bond lived in in Newtown: (Abraham Bond died in 1775. The quoted story occurs about 5 to 6 yrs. after his death.)
“The robbery of the county treasury at Newtown by the Doanes and their confederates, in the fall of 1781, was one of the exciting events of the day. John Hart, then treasurer, lived in the house that lately belonged to Abraham Bond, in the lower part of the village. Early in the evening Moses Doane rode through the town to see if the situation were favorable, and about ten o'clock the house of the treasurer was surrounded, and Mr. Hart made prisoner. While sentinels kept watch outside, and over the treasurer, others of the gang ransacked the house. Then, obtaining the keys of the treasurer's office, and one of them putting on Mr. Hart's hat, and carrying his lighted lantern, as was the treasurer's wont, the robbers went to th office, where they stole all the public money to be found. They got, in all, £735. 17s. 19-1/2d. in specie, and £1,307 in paper. That night they divided the spoils at the Wrightstown schoolhouse.” This schoolhouse preceded the octagonal schoolhouse in Wrightstown which was built in 1802. For more on the Doanes (Doans) robbery of the Newtown treasury, do a web search on the Doan Outlaws. There is another story regarding the Doane (Doan) outlaws breaking into and searching a house later in this article.
ELONER (Craven) DUNGAN (c. 1721-c. 1789) (during this time there were close to 10 ways to spell Eloner, Elinor, Eleanor, etc. The spelling of words then was not as standardized as in our day, 2013.)
The fact that she was the possessor of the GOSPEL TREASURES book indicates that she also was a person with a strong Christian background as the following information will show. Her parents were active Presbyterians, and her husband was the grandson of the famous Rev. Thomas Dungan of Cold Springs, PA.
The following quote is from the History of Bucks County, Pa Volume 3 by William H. Davis:
“The family of CRAVEN are of Holland descent, and have been residents of Bucks county since the first quarter of the eighteenth century. Jacobus (James) CRAVEN (d. c.1760) was one of the trustees of Neshaminy Presbyterian church of Warwick in 1743. He was a large landowner in Warminster township and in Moreland township, Montgomery county.”
Jacobus (James) CRAVEN was married (according to the History and Genealogy of the Enyart/Enyeart Family, Vol.2) to Antje Enyard (Enyart, Enyeart, Ineart). They had eleven children, one of which was “Elinor Craven (b. c. 1721) at Staten Island, NY; d., prob. at Northampton Twp., Bucks Co., PA, betw. Dec. 31, 1785, when her will was written, and Jan. 15, 1790, when it was prob.; m. c. 1739 at Staten Island, NY to Clement Dungan (b. c. 1717; d. 1781).” We know from the John Everard book that she must have died before or during the year of 1789.
Eloner (Elinor, Eleanor) (c. 1721-c. 1789) married (c. 1739) to Clement Dungan (c. 1717-1781), who was the son of Jeremiah Dungan Sr., who was the son of the famous Rev. Thomas Dungan. The same Thomas Dungan who was baptized in the church in which John Everard preached.
Reverend Thomas Dungan was born in 1632 in London, England. He was baptized in 1634/1635 in St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, London. He married Elizabeth Weaver in 1663 in Newport, Rhode Island.
The Baptist Encyclopedia, edited by William Catheart, D.D., Philadelphia, Louis H. Evetts, 1881, states: “Rev. Thomas Dungan was born in Ireland and for some time he was a resident of Rhode Island, but in 1684, when advanced in years, he came into Pennsylvania. He settled three miles north of Bristol, at Cold Springs, and there he constituted the first Baptist church in Pennsylvania, and secured a burial-place for the dead. . . . He entered the heavenly rest in the year 1688; . . . Mr. Dungan was the first Baptist minister in Pennsylvania. . . . He was buried in the grave-yard surrounding the church. Nothing belonging to his church edifice or cemetery now remains to mark a spot so full of interest to Pennsylvania Baptists, except some foundations which can be distinctly traced across and on one side of a road which passes through the celebrated Cold Spring. . . . “
It would not be too far a stretch of imagination to believe that Clement and Eloner Dungan were committed Christians and attenders of Clement's grandfather's church in Cold Springs or the Neshaminy Presbyterian church in Warwick. With a father who was a trustee of Neshaminy Presbyterian church of Warwick and husband who was the grandson of the famous Thomas Dungan, Eloner must have had a strong Christian foundation. Also, Eloner and Clement well may have had a Christian influence from John Everard coming down to them through Clement's grandfather.
JOHN THOMPSON
Which John Thompson bought the GOSPEL TREASURES book in 1789? There were three or four living in that year. (Keep track of the superscript numbers showing generation and the dates.)
The son of Hugh1 and Elizabeth – John2 Thompson (b. 1726, d. 1799)
The son of Hugh2 and Sarah -- John3 Thompson (b. 1754, d. ????)
The son of William2 and Elizabeth – John3 Thompson (b. 1766, d. 1826 in Woodstock, VA)
The son of John2 and Mary – John3 Thompson, (b. 1773, d. 1829) (age 16 in 1789)
The obvious answer is John2 (b. 1726, d. 1799), since he is in the direct line to Marietta Carter Thompson, and is a contemporary of Clement (1717-1781) and Elinor (c. 1721-c. 1789) Dungan.
The following quote, regarding John2, comes from the Genealogy of the Thompson Family, (from the Wilson-Thompson Families, Book 1):
"Notes for John Thompson:
Youngest of the four brothers. He was a miller by vocation, probably learned that trade at Mearns Mill. He eventually owned his own mill, was a successful business man and large land holder, and by April 25,1765 owned a total of 228 acres.
He built the old gambrel roofed house that was the home of the Thompsons for several generations. There are legends of its having been beseiged (sic) by Indians, but these legends probably had their origin, the raids made upon it by the Tories during the Revolution when the Doan outlaws ransacked the house in search of money collected by John Thompson for the use of the government and the army. They found very little money however as the bulk of it was concealed in a cushion on which Mrs. Thompson sat in one of the chairs in the living room. She refused to leave her chair on the ground of bodily infirmities thus saving her husband from the loss of considerable cash. (This occurred in 1782 as related by John Thompsons (sic) son Hugh to his grandson Charles Thompson.---there was considerable money in the house, including the proceeds of a load of flour taken to Trenton, and the team driver, farmer and miller, were at the house effecting a settlement. Hugh and the other sons were present and although driven from the lower part of the house defended the stairway so valiantly that the outlaws did not reach the upper floor. (but decamped with very little plunder.)”
This time the Doanes didn't get away with much. John2 wasn't the only one with a strong Christian commitment, seems that his wife, Mary, was Bible literate as well in that she used the same ruse that Jacob's wife, Rachel (Genesis 31:34-35), used when she hid her father's household idols by sitting on them and saying to her father, “Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee; for the custom of women is upon me.” The result was “And he searched but found not the images.” Mary shows one can learn some interesting solutions from the Bible.
The 8th child of John2 Thompson and Mary Huston, Thomas Mifflin Thompson, (b. 1775, Bucks County, Pa.; d. 1847), gives evidence of John's and Mary's deep religious commitment. Their son, Thomas M. Thompson, became a religious leader, and the person after whom the Thompson Memorial Presbyterian Church was named. The church was originally named Solebury Presbyterian Church.
The following two paragraphs have been adapted from information found in the web site of the Thompson Memorial Presbyterian Church, 1680 Aquetong Rd., New Hope, PA 18938-1127, and the GENEALOGY of the THOMPSON FAMILY.
Regarding the church and Thomas M. Thompson:
The beginnings of Solebury Presbyterian Church go back to 1811 when land was acquired for $40 from Robert T. Neely. There was no Presbyterian Church in that area of Bucks County. The original subscription paper, dated August 19, 1810, contained the names of thirty-four subscribers pledged to a total of $1066. Four Elders were chosen at the beginning: William Neely, Benjamin Pidcock, David Wynkoop, and Thomas M. Thompson.
During the early 1870's, the church was about to be abandoned for want of financial and numerical support. In 1875, the generous offer of Mr. William Neely Thompson ( b. 1819, d. 1897 -- the 7th child of Thomas M. and Mary Thompson) to remodel the church, gave the church a new lease on life. The cemetery was enlarged; he also agreed to pay an annual amount equal to that raised by parishioners for the support of a good live pastor. He was involved in gold and quicksilver mining in Southern Calif. and gold mining in Mexico. It was through William's generous offer and the revival of interest in and rebuilding of the church that it came to be renamed the Thompson Memorial Presbyterian Church -- in memory of William's father, one of the first elders of the church, Thomas M. Thompson.
CONCLUSION
To summarize the history of this 1757 reprint of Gospel Treasurers — it was originally written by a nonconformist Anglican in England in 1653 (360 years ago), reproduced in 1757, purchased and read by a Quaker, owned and read by a Presbyterian and her Baptist husband, then came into the hands of another Presbyterian who was a member of the Thompson family, and finally became the possession of a Baptist, also a descendant of the Thompson family. Reproductions of the 1757 reprint are still being printed and sold (see amazon.com). The characters of the 1757 text are in the 1757 format; the letter “s” has three different forms. It takes a little time to get used to reading the sermons, but it is not difficult and is interesting reading.
POSTSCRIPT: THINGS FOUND IN THE BOOK
Four items were found in the leaves of the book at the time I received it from my grandmother:
First: A piece of paper about 6 ¼ in. by 3 ¾ in. on which my grandmother,Marietta C. Thompson had written, c. 1953, the words -- English Sermons, 1757, Rev. Russell Miller
Second: Five note papers: blue lined, 6 hole machine punched, 4x7 inch. One page is blank; four contain what appear to be someone's sermon notes. Written probably sometime between 1900 and 1950. There is no clear clue as to the author of the pages. HENRY6 THOMPSON, (b. 1876; d. 1928) and MARIETTA CARTER THOMPSON (b. 1877; d. 1958) were the likely possessors of the book during all or most of this time period.
Third: A clipping from a newspaper from 1854 which contains a poem and text on one side and the other side has news regarding actions of the United States Senate and House of Representatives. The date is determined by a reference to the Bill for the Benefit of the Indigent Insane passed by both chambers and then vetoed by President Franklin Pierce.
Fourth: A tract, 4 in. by 2 ¼ in., entitled 10 Reasons Why I Swear, with text on both sides.
The source of the first item is known; however, the source of the second, third and fourth items are not known, nor is it known who in the history of the Thompson family placed them in the book.
Earlier there was mention made of a poem on one of the pages with Abraham Bond's writing. The writing on the poem takes up nearly a complete page. The script is in beautiful handwriting of the 1800 century. However, due to the age of the document and deterioration of the ink plus smudges, some of the handwriting is not clear or missing. Since the original poem is in the script, and spelling of the 1700's, it may not be easy is for some to read. Therefore, the complete page of GOSPEL TREASURES which contains an Abraham Bond's script and the poem has been put into modern day form, and is reproduced as follows:
Abraham Bond his Book
Bought in the year of our Lord 1760
On Everard's Sermons
Within those lines for all both Rich and Poor
You have precious jewels Treasured up in store
You point out Truth in a Celestial Way
And Gospel mysteries Clearly do Display
Those marvelous Labors loudly do Declare
Your Savior God with Reverence and fear
To sinful mortals you extend a call
To come away from Bondage guilt and Thrall
You Treat of things with so much Life and Love
Which shows your aid was from the powers above
For man in his own Strength could not relate
Things in such Holy order and such state
Those truths declared are such that Cannot fail
Against which the Gates of Hell shall never prevail
Your Doctrine's deep when fathomed in the Light
All things compared they Shine Exceeding Bright
(two additional lines written in the margin of the page, which the author intended to be placed after the line that begins with “Which shows your aid” and before that line that says “For man in his own”)
(blank) a sight into those mysteries was given
Being handed to you as direct from heaven
