Dubois, Gualterus

Dubois, Gualterus a distinguished minister of the Reformed (Dutch) Church, was born at Streefkerk, in Holland, in 1666, and graduated from the University of Leyden in 1697, when he was licensed to preach the Gospel. His father, Reverend Peter Dubois, was a very eminent minister of the Church of Holland, settled in Amsterdam, the one hundredth in succession from the Reformation. The son came to America, when twenty-eight years old, as the colleague of dominie Selyns in the Dutch Church of New York, where he ministered fifty-one years with great acceptance and ability, He was a man of noble presence, of amiable spirit, and dignified bearing, a diligent student and expounder of God's Word, whole books of the Bible being left among the subjects of his pulpit instructions, in his elaborate and beautiful manuscripts; also a strong advocate of the independence of the Reformed Church in America from foreign control, especially in the matter of ministerial education and ordination, although he died before this question reached its crisis in the disruption of the Church. His death, which followed a brief illness, in his eightieth year, called forth universal expressions of public grief and respect for his character and services. He was regarded more as "a bishop among the Dutch churches than as the pastor of a single organization." See De Witt, Memorial; Smith, Hist. of New York; Corwin, Manual of the Ref. Church in America, s.v.; Taylor, Annals. (W.J.R.T.)