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Subject: Conococheague-Piscataway Connection
Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2004 05:29:31 +0000

During the recent Piatt Researchers' Conference in Doylestown PA a few of us had the opportunity to examine a small portion of the papers of researcher Oliver B Leonard which are now held by the Historical Society of New Jersey in Newark NJ. Time was too short to even begin a full examination of the Leonard papers but a couple of items of importance came to light nonetheless.

Oliver B Leonard researched not only New Jersey history but also families of the Woodbridge and Plainfield, New Jersey, areas. He wrote articles for the newspaper and his work was mentioned by Orra Eugene Monnette in his own publications. Letters which I saw in the Leoanrd files were from 1897. The Historical Society of New Jersey purchased Leonard's papers in 1919.

Leonard's papers fill several file boxes. I was particularly interested in his file on church history. In that file was a typed transcript of two letters between Seventh Day Baptist congregations. It is the policy of the Historical Society not to photocopy any papers from the manuscript collections. Therefore, time permitted only brief notes pertaining to these two letters.

In the first letter the congregation at Conococheague (PA, believed to be near present day Greencastle, Franklin Co) sent greetings to the congregation at Piscataway NJ. The letter gave praises to God and was carried or at least presented to Piscataway "by the hand of Brother James Dunn," whom Conogocheague "recommended" and of whom Piscataway "approved."

It may be that Brother Dunn also presented a verbal report to Piscataway for in it's response to Conococheague, Piscataway admits, "It was a great cause of great grief to us that your case seems to resemble that of Israel in Judges 17:6 and yt [that] some of you are wavering concerning ye Sabbath and mode and subject of baptism."

[Judges 17:6, KJV, "In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes."]

This second letter from Piscataway to Conococheague was signed on 6 May 1748 by:

Jonathan Curtis
William James
Lewis Williams
Thomas David
Meshak James
Joshua Edwards
Job Curtis
Joseph Davie (or Davis)
Joseph Williams
Victor Bailey
Thomas Dunn


A second copy of the typed transcription of the two letters, found in the back of the same file, had pencilled identifications of three of the above men as to their congregations. This second transcription indicated that Jonathan Curtis was of Piscataway, but William James and Lewis Williams were of the French Creek congregation. A history of Chester Co PA gives the establishment of the French Creek Seventh Day Baptist congregation as 1726 and it's location as being on or near present day PA 23 west of Phoenixville, between Knauerville and the Warwick borough (or township) line. The site would be near French Creek State Park.

Discovery of these two letters brings to light the fact that a Seventh Day Baptist congregation was in existance at an early date in central Pennsylvania and that the Conococheague congregation was likely an offshoot of the Piscataway congregation, or at least in close contact with them. In other words, Piscataway knew about Conococheague and the two communicated with each other, despite the distance. The Seventh Day Baptist congregation in Piscataway was pastored for many years by the two Revs Dunham, father and son, Edmund and Jonathan, the latter being the son-in-law of Rene Piatt.

--
Laverne Ingram Piatt
Ontario, OH

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