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There is a certain fascination with lost literary treasures. Thus the jubilation when such a manuscript or publication, seemingly lost to history, is re-discovered, is exhilarating. Such was the experience of the Joseph Farrand Tuttle — Presbyterian minister, President of Wabash College, and noted historian of Morris County, New Jersey — when he commenced a search for the lost writings of Jacob and Ashbel Green. Jacob Green was a colonial-era Presbyterian minister (who governed Princeton as Vice-President between the administrations of President Jonathan Edwards and President Samuel Davies) and his son, Ashbel Green, later served as President of Princeton. Tuttle first wrote about Jacob Green extensively in Rev. Jacob Green, of Hanover, N.J., as an Author, Statesman and Patriot (1893). A later account that Tuttle, an early biographer of Jacob Green, wrote about his search for the New Jersey Historical Society in 1896 is a fascinating read.
Known to Tuttle from his boyhood, “Parson (Jacob) Green” was an intriguing figure in history in part because of his role in the American War of Independence (a patriot who supported freedom, including that for American slaves).
Even in my boyhood I heard of “Parson Green , of Hanover.” My father's great-grandfather, “Timothy Tuttle, Esq.," as he is named in the “Morristown Bill of Mortality" and in Whitehead's “Combined Register of First Presbyterian Church of Morristown," was a resident with in the bounds of the Hanover Church. He owned a farm in Whippany, and, presumably from his title, was a Justice of the Peace. His brother Joseph, named as “Deacon Tuttle” and “Colonel Joseph Tuttle,” settled on land on Hanover Neck. He was a leading man in Parson Green's Church. He was distinguished as the man who had married five wives, “one at a time.” In this way it came to pass that I can scarcely remember the time when I had not heard the name of “Parson Green, of Hanover," occasionally mentioned as a remarkable one, a sort of universal genius, who could preach, or teach, or prescribe for a sick man, or write his will, or settle his estate, or perform any social function for his parishioners, in or out of the church, in this life or that which is to come. In after years it was my good fortune to secure as my wife the daughter of a lady whom Parson Green had baptized, and to find a home several years with a lady who was a native of Hanover, and who spent her life there previous to her marriage. In addition to these influences for several years it was my good fortune to be an associate pastor of the venerable Presbyterian Church of Rockaway, which antedated the Revolutionary War.
As time progressed, even after Rev. Tuttle moved west to Indiana, his passion for further knowledge of the life and work of Parson Green continued to motivate him. As he collected certain documents related to that history, he began to seek more. Some, known by reference, were no longer thought to be extant.
He spent time in libraries of private historical societies and public institutions, including the library of the Princeton Theological Seminary. He corresponded with many private holders of antiquities. He traveled up and down the East Coast, following clues, hints and leads. Over time, some of the particular works by Jacob Green which Tuttle acquired include:
Green’s famous fast day sermon - A sermon delivered at Hanover, (in New-Jersey) April 22d, 1778. Being the day of public fasting and prayer throughout the United States of America; and
The full account of his search is a fascinating read. Here he recounts the lessons learned:
And so I found "A Vision of Hell," which, whatever other good qualities it may have, was this — an encouragement to poor souls who have sought long and in vain for documents apparently lost hopelessly, not to be discouraged! “Hope on! Hope ever!" The “Vision of Hell” has taught me this, which, added to the finding of Parson Green's political tracts, as already related, is very encouraging to the despondent hunter after apparently lost literature!
Meanwhile, ironically, to us, those particular finds are not accessible on the Jacob Green page currently due to modern copyright restrictions.
Rev. Tuttle also made another exciting discovery. He located (and republished) the 1783 valedictory address delivered by Ashbel Green on the occasion of the thirty-sixth commencement at Princeton. It is mentioned in Ashbel Green’s autobiography that he never saved a copy of his oration but instead “carelessly” gave the original to another who published it in a local New Jersey newspaper in October 1783. But the text had seemingly been lost to history before Rev. Tuttle was able to locate it. It can be read (along with the details of Tuttle’s search) on the Ashbel Green page.
What a blessing to the church and to future generations when writings thought to be lost are re-discovered. We are thankful for Rev. Tuttle’s perseverance and passion for history. Read the full account of his remarkable search here.
