Rodgers, Ravaud K. Thanksgiving: A Sermon preached in the Presbyterian Church, Bound Brook, N. J., November 28th, 1861, The Day of Thanksgiving Appointed by the Governor of the State. New-Brunswick, N. J.: Terhune & Van Anglen's Press, 1861. First Edition. [9139]
Green printed wrapper, 9 x 5 1/2 inches, top right corner creased through out with short edge tears, 18 clean pp. Good. Pamphlet.
Among the causes for thanksgiving to God is that the state of New Jersey has so far been free from the ravages of war - unlike Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri - and that sixteen states remain united in the Union. Also, the churches remain open, there is no lack of food, the general state of health of the citizenry is very good, and that the civil authorities have been elected by the people.
He quotes the views of James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and Andrew Jackson on the permanence of the UNION and that no individual state had the right to secede from it. "To say that any State may at pleasure secede from the Union, is to say that the United States is not a nation." - Jackson.
"Let our prayer ascend to Him who has the direction of nations as well as individuals, that he would be pleased so to order all things with reference to our civil affairs, that this fratricidal strife may cease, and that those who have inaugurated it my lay down their arms and return to their allegiance...This painful war will no more be known; and the land will arise from her condition of depression and sorrow and go forth unitedly to the fulfillment of the great mission which the King of nations and the Head of the church has entrusted her."
Ravaud Kearney Rodgers, D.D. (1796-1879), b. NYC; d. Athens, GA. His father was a surgeon in the Revolutionary War and professor in the medical department of Columbia College, and his grandfather, John Rogers, D.D. was founder of the Brick Church, New York, and first moderator of the Presbyterian General Assembly in 1789. Ravaud K. graduated at Princeton College (1815) and the Princeton Theological Seminary (1818), and was ordained in 1820. He was pastor of several upstate New York churches. "He was an ardent, noble, earnest young preacher, and associated with the Drs. Bullions, Proudfit, Prime, and others in the Bible cause, education, and all great works of social improvement and philanthropy."
In 1830 he accepted the call from the Presbyterian Church at Bound Brook, N.J., where he ministered for 45 years. His last years were spent in the home or his daughter at Athens, Georgia.
"No minister of that State was more generally known or more universally respected...With a voice of trumpet power and glowing eloquence, he was a favorite at all great public meetings and anniversaries, and a leader in every good work. Genial, warm-hearted, and generous, he was a general favorite." - M'Clintock & Strong.
