Strong, Paschal Nelson

Strong, Paschal Nelson, a minister of the (Dutch) Reformed Church, was born at Setauket, L.I., in 1793. He was a lineal descendant of John Strong, the first ruling elder in the Church of Northampton, Mass., who came to this country in 1630. At thirteen years of age he entered Columbia College, and graduated with the highest honors in 1810. He studied theology with Dr. J.M. Mason, and was licensed in 1815 by the Presbytery of New York. He and his classmate, Rev. John Knox, were immediately called as colleague pastors of the Church in New York, with Drs. Kuyper and Milledoler, and were ordained and installed together by the Classis of New York, July 14, 1816. His ministry was brief, but brilliant, popular, and powerful. He was an eloquent preacher, a fine classical and exegetical scholar, evangelical in sentiment, and characterized by deep personal piety and faithful pastoral service. A pulmonary disease, for which an ocean voyage and a visit to the West Indies brought no relief, ended his days, April 7, 1825, in the island of St. Croix, where his grave and monument still are. His death was peaceful and happy. His only publication was a sermon, which attracted much attention at the time, preached Nov. 17, 1822, after the yellow fever of that year in New York, and entitled The Pestilence a Punishment for Public Sins. He possessed fine executive talents, and it was chiefly through him that the Board of Domestic Missions of the Reformed Church was organized. See Life of Dr. Livingston, p. 399, 400; Sprague, Annals of the Amer. Pulpit, 9, 2, 191; Corwin, Manual of the Ref. Ch. p. 224; (W.J.R.T.)