VAN ARSDALE
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VAN BUNSCHOOTEN
trihuted among the attendants. Then follows the reci- tation of mantras and texts, the performance of the mu- (lra,or <^esticnlations with the lingers, the whole termi- nating with the most scandalous orgies. The members of this sect are very numerous, especially among the 15rahminical tribe. Their insignia are a semicircular line or lines on the forehead, of red sanders or vermil- it>n, or a red streak up the middle of the forehead, with a red spot at the root of the nose. In worsliipping they wear a piece of red silk arounil the loins, and decorate themselves with garlands of crimson flowers. See Gard- ner, Faithf! of the World, s. v.
Van Arsdale, Cornelius C, D.D., a Reformed (Dutch) minister of the Uniteil States. He graduated at Rutgers College in 1828, and at New Brunswick The- ological Seminary in 1831; supplied Central Church, Brooklyn, 1838-40; South Church, Brooklyn, 1840-41; First Church, Philadelphia, 1841-49; (ireenwich Church, New York city, 1852-54. He died in 1856. His pub- lished works consist of sermons preached on various im- portant public occasions. See Corwin, Blumud of the Rif. Ch. ill A mericu, s. v.
Van Arsdale, Melville, a Methodist Episcopal minister, was born in Montgomery County, Ind., March 21, 1845; embraced religion in his fourteenth year; stud- ied at Tliorntown Academy; served as a soldier in the Union army; and in 1867 entered the Upper Iowa Con- ference. Later he was transferred to the North-west Indiana Conference, wherein he labored but a short time, and then returned to his father's liome in Thorn- town, and died Dec. 25, 1875, See Minutes of Annual Conferences, 1876, p. 98.
Van Arsdale, Simeon, a minister of the Re- formed (Dutch) Church, was born in 1754. He was licensed in 1782, and preached at Readington, N. J., 1783- 86. He was a powerful and polished preacher, ardent in piety, and untiring in all his pastoral labors, but was cut off in the very beginning of his ministry. He died in 1786. See Corwin, Manual of the Ref Ch. in Ajner- icii, s. V.
Vanatta, Samuei, F., a Presbyterian minister, was I)orn in Bridgeport, Belmont Co., O., Sept. 12, 1826. He was educated in F'ranklin College, New Athens, O., and studied theologj' in the Associate Reformed Seminary, Allegheny, Pa. He was licensed bv Steul)enville Pres- bytery, June, 1855. He died in Vicksburg, Miss., jMay 30, 1864. See Wilson, Presh. Hist. Almanac, 1866, p. 280.
Van Bokkelen, James Ei-i.tsdox, a Protestant F^piscopal clergyman, died in Baltimore, Md., Nov. 17, 1850, aged twenty-five years. He was a graduate of the General Theological Seminary, and during his short ministry had charge of Grace Church, Elk Ridge Land- ing, Md., and St. Paid's Church, St. Louis, Mo. At the time of his death he was assistant minister of St. Timo- thy's Church, Md. See Amer. Quar. Ch. Rev. 1851, p. 639,
Van Brunt, Rutgers, a minister of the Reformed (Dutch) Church, was born in New York in 1820. He graduated at Hobart College in 1840, and at New Bruns- wick Theological Seminary in 1848, when he was licensed by the classis of that institution. He preached at Al- bany, N.Y., 1848-49; Newark, N. J., 1849; Smithtown and Carmel, N. Y. (Presbyterian), 1851-57; Waterford, N. Y., 1857-61. He died April 28, 1863. He was a man of broad and liberal culture, a thorough student, a pious and faithful minister. His labors were blessed by a revival at Newark. See Corwin, Mamtal of the Ref. Ch. in A mericu, s. v.
Van Bunschooten, Elias, a clergyman of the Reformed (Dutch) Church in America, son of a farmer, Tennis Van Bunschooten, was born at New Hackensack, near Fishkill, N. Y., Oct. 26, 1738. He was one of five brothers, none of whom ever married, although all of them lived to ailnlt age. One of them, while on a voy- X.—Y Y
age to the West Indies, was killed bj' mutineers, with all on board except a small boy. One of these mutineers, named Anderson, after conviction in New York, was ex- ecuted upon an island in the harl)or, wiiich has ever since been calle<l Anderson's or Gibbet Island, where Gibbs and other pirates were afterwards hanged. There were also three sisters, all of whom were mothers of large families. ]\Ir. Van Bunschooten was educated at Princeton College ; graduated in 1768 ; studied theology with Dr. Hermanns Meyer, of Kingston; and was licensed to preach in 1773 by the " General Meeting of Ministers and Elders." He settled that year at Schaghticoke, N. Y., and remained until 1785, when he removed to the Kittatinny valley, which extends from the Delaware to the Hudson, and became pastor of three united churches — Minisink, N.Y'.; Magagcamack (now Port Jervis), N, Y.; and Walpack,N. Y. During his ministry another Church was formed at the Clove in 1788 (Dutch kloop, a valley cloven by a stream). At this place he ultimately located his home upon an extensive farm. In 1803 a plentiful revival blessed his faithful ministry. He withdrew from active service, on account of age, in 1812, and died Jan. 10, 1815. Mr. Van Bunschooten's ministry was pure and healthful in its influences. He was fond of books and of learning. He preached equally well in Dutch and in English, always from a careful analysis, but often with peculiarities of thought which were quite charac- teristic, and not always in good taste. His voice was full, but not loud, and his manner in the pulpit was earnest and impressive. He was very eccentric. He was about six feet high, erect and stately, and there was "some- thing about him that reminded you of an Indian chief." His general manner was rather austere, although to in- timate friends he could pleasantly unbend. Utider his ministrj' the very primitive and uncultivated people of his extensive charge, which was fifty miles long, and in a newh' opened wiklerness region, greatly improved in mind, manners, education, and religious spirit, much of which is attributed to his influence. He was scrupu- lously exact in all his business transactions. His salary was about £100 per year. It is said that a defaulting deacon, who had collected his salary, mortgaged his farm to the dominie to secure his payment. After his min- istry ceased this mortgage was foreclosed, and the place was given to the Church as a parsonage. He owned a mill, and once sent his negro servant on horseback after a creditor, who would not wait for three cents change, a distance of seven miles, to overtake him and pay his debt in fidl. He married a couple, whom he had been sent fi>r to join in wedlock, while the Delaware River, swol- len by a freshet and bridgeless, was running between him and the happy parties to whom he could not cross. In his marriage register beheaded the date column "Time of execution." During his last illness he insisted upon paying every one of his neighbors who watched with him at night or by day a day's wages in silver, how- ever unwilling they might be. This was his sense of exact justice and independence. Inheriting a hand- some portion from his father's estate, and by frugal man-^ agement acquiring a large property, in his old age he devoted an unusual proportion of his worldly goods to the cause of ministerial education. At the suggestion of his life-long friend Dr. John H.Livingston, Avho wrote him a memorable letter just when he was about remov- ing from New York to take charge of the Theological Seminary in New Brunswick, July 31, 1810 {Life of Lii;- inr/sfo?!, p. 250-256), he donated a large fund, which has always borne the founder's name, to the trustees of Rut- gers (then Queen's) College, to educate " pious young men who hope they have a call of God to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ." The nomination of incum- bents must always be made by the General Synod. The manner in which this fund was given was perfectly characteristic of the donor. While the General Synod of 1814 was sitting in New York, the veneral)le and quaint-looking old man, with his broad-brimmed, round- crowned hat in hand, walked calmly up the aisle to-