FPC History: Phillips Academy (1839 - 1842)

The second Mount Pleasant Church served our congregation from 1798 to late 1839 or early 1840. While technically a Matawan church, it was located outside of the city center on New Brunswick Avenue (Route 516) near its intersection with Main Street. Rumblings to erect a more centrally located edifice in downtown Matawan had by 1836 developed  into a petition for subscribers. But money was tight and the subscription plan went nowhere. A cash-strapped congregation couldn't even pay the salary of the Reverend Joseph L Shafer, who resigned in 1838 and sued for recompense.

Not long after the Reverend Charles Webster was installed on 6 November 1838, the church's chimney malfunctioned and the sanctuary filled with smoke one particular Sunday that winter. Tradition tells us that the situation was exacerbated by the green firewood that had been used to fuel the fire to heat the church for worship. Services were canceled that day.

By the next Sunday, worship had been relocated to the recently constructed Middletown Point Academy, operated by Philetus Phillips at the corner of Church and Jackson Streets. The congregation would meet at the "Phillips Academy's" more favorable location for nearly two more years. Soon a nationally-known private school, the Academy would have many names, including the Collegiate Institute of Middletown Point (1857), the Glenwood Institute (1874, pictured above), and the Matawan Military Academy (early 1900s). The growth of public schools forced the academy to close in 1915.

Webster's congregation continued to grow, exceeding the available space, so the Reverend encouraged a movement to build a new church along Main Street. A great effort would be required, so one Sunday his sermon topic was "For the people had a mind to work." This sparked the women to hold a fair and raise several hundred dollars. The men tried the then-current fad of sericulture, which involved growing mulberry trees and silkworms to produce silk, but the project failed. The rest of the necessary funds were raised the more traditional way through subscriptions and pledges.

The old church building was sold to meet part of the obligation to Rev. Shafer. Simon Arrowsmith bought the building at sheriff's sale and moved it to his farm, which was located where the Buttonwood Manor currently sits. It first served as a warehouse building associated with the farm's dock near the head of Matawan Creek. It later became a barn and was eventually razed. Robert Little paid the balance of the debt to Rev. Shafer -- $60.

In March 1841, a half-acre of property at 216 Main Street was acquired for the new church building from Elizabeth and Eleanor Covenhoven at a cost of $650. The deed (Monmouth Deeds, C-4, p. 86) described the property as having been designated Lot 14 on a map made by Leonard Walling. The cornerstone of the new church was laid on 17 July 1841, and the new building was dedicated on 6 January 1842. Rev. Webster would serve here for eleven years.