Van Harlingen, Johannes Martinus

Van Harlingen, Johannes Martinus a Reformed (Dutch) minister, was born near Millstone, N. J., in 1724, of Dutch parentage. He went to Holland to complete his studies in one of the universities, and to get ordination by the Classis of Amsterdam, which was secured in 1761. In 1762 he returned to America and took pastoral charge of the united churches of Neshanic and Sourland, in Somerset Co., N. J., where he ministered thirty-three years, and died in 1795, universally beloved' and lamented. A sufficient proof of the esteem in which he was held is found in the fact that his name was, after his death, given to the village and church arid district in which he had lived and labored so long, Sourland being changed to Harlingen. He preached only in the Dutch language until within a few years before his death, when to gratify the younger people, he preached occasionally in English. He was evangelical, faithful, a patron of learning, one of the original trustees of Queen's College, and, in all that is known of him, one of the best of the old Dutch ministers of the last century. See Corwin, Manual of the Ref. Church in America, s.v.; Sprague, Annuals of the Amer. Pulpit, vol. 9. (W. J. R.T.)