1787 retained copy of an Autograph Letter Signed to John Woodhull, Monmouth, New Jersey Presbyterian clergyman, Old Tennent Church pastor, and Princeton College trustee.

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Retained draft of a letter on “the discharge of the Bonds” and the repayment of a debt owed by Rev. John Woodhull (1744–1824), prominent New Jersey Presbyterian minister and later trustee of Princeton College and officer of the seminary there. One John W., a storekeeper fearful of being shortchanged, appeals to Woodhull to make good on his “justly due” debts and hints at possible legal action.

The storekeeper lent him £20 in specie to be repaid in 90 days along with monies still owed on some bonds:

“Reverend Sir [...] I must Confess my feelings were hurt on hearing you had left the City without making the Necessary provision for the discharge of the Bonds. As to the Office of Papers it was altogether inadmissible, the Money being so much short of the real value having depreciated at the time ten p[er] cent at least. I am however fully Convinced from the Character you have and the Office you fill in the Church of Christ that you would not wish to take any Advantage by paying less than you have acknowledged to be justly do, nor would I wish to take any steps that might be disagreeable to you and which the Laws of the State would bear me out in by Attaching any part of your property before every legal and just method hath been tried for the recovery thereof.”

Woodhull was from a 17th century Long Island family. He prepared for the College of New Jersey (Princeton) under his uncle, Rev. Caleb Smith of what is today Orange, New Jersey. He graduated from Princeton in 1766 and began divinity training in the Presbyterian church. Ordained in 1770, he married the stepdaughter of Rev. Gilbert Tennent (1703–1764), one of leaders of the Great Awakening along with Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield. Woodhull was a patriot and militia chaplain during the American Revolution—his house was near the site of the Battle of Monmouth, in 1777. From 1780 until his death, he served as a trustee of Princeton College.

Price: $100.00