Leydt, Johannes

Leydt, Johannes a prominent minister of the Reformed Dutch Church, was born in Holland in 1718, and came early to America. He studied theology under the Reverend John Frelinghuysen and J.H. Goetschius, was licensed in 1748, and became pastor of the united churches of New Brunswick and Six-mile Run, New Jersey. In the great Coetus and Conferentic conflict he was actively identified with the former, which insisted upon the education of ministers in this country, and upon an independent Church organization separate from the Reformed Church of the mother country. In this "liberal and progressive" movement Mr. Leydt was a powerful leader. He published several pamphlets in its favor, and was one of the most prominent men in the establishment of Queen's College (now Rutgers) in 1770. He was one of its first trustees. He was president of the General Synod in 1778. An ardent patriot of the Revolutionary War, he preached boldly on the great questions of the time, arousing much enthusiasm among the people, "and counseling the young men to join the army of freedom." His active and useful ministry closed only with his life in 1783. He is represented to have been an instructive, laborious, and faithful minister, an impressive preacher, a favorite at installations of pastors, organization of churches, and other public services. He was a healer of the breaches of Zion, as well as an intrepid leader in an important crisis of the Church and of the country. — Historical Sermon by R.H. Steele, D.D.; Corwin, Manual of the Reformned Church, s.v. (W.J.R.T.)