Van Liew, John Cannon

Van Liew, John Cannon at first a minister of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, and afterwards of the Presbyterian Church, was born in Middlebush, Middlesex Co., N.J. After pursuing his classical studies, he studied theology at the Theological Seminary, New Brunswick, in the class of 1827; was licensed and called to the churches of Catskill, Leeds, and Kiskatom, in the Classis of Greene, in 1828, as colleague to his uncle, the Rev. Dr. Wyckoff; in 1829 took sole charge of Leeds and Kiskatom; in 1832 accepted a call to Spotswood, N.J., where he opened a classical school, and conducted it successfully for several years (1834-41); was subsequently rector of the Rutgers College Grammar-school; pastor at Piffard, Livingston Co., N. Y. (1845-49); principal of the "Temple Hill" Academy at Genesee, Livingston Co.; pastor at Groveland, N. Y.; Stone Arabia and Ephratah, Montgomery Co., N.Y.; Berie and Beaver Dams (1856-61); and tinally located in New Jersey, where he died in 1861. Mr. Van Liew was a "man of decided mental ability, an able advocate in ecclesiastical trials and controversy, a critical linguist, and an excellent preacher." See Wilson, Presb. Hist. Almanac, 1862, p. 300; Corwin, Manual of the Ref. Church in America, s.v.