Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen - Marriage

Marriage

He married Eva Terhune (c. 1696-c. 1750), daughter of Jan Terhune and Margrietje van Sicklen of Flatlands, Long Island, and had seven children:

• Theodorus Frelinghuysen (1723-c.1760)
• John Frelinghuysen (1727-1754), who married Dina Van Bergh and who was the father of Frederick Frelinghuysen (1753–1804)
• Jacobus Frelinghuysen (c.1730–1753)
• Ferdinandus Frelinghuysen (c.1732–1753)
• Henricus Frelinghuysen (c.1735–1757)
• Margaret Frelinghuysen (1737–1757) who married Rev. Thomas F. Romeyn (1729–1794)
• Anna Frelinghuysen (1738–1810) who married Rev. William Jackson in 1757.

All five sons became ministers and both daughters married ministers.

Frelinghuysen served as minister to several of the Reformed Dutch Churches (congregations at Raritan, New Brunswick, Six Mile Run, New Jersey, Three-Mile Run, and North Branch) in the Raritan River valley of New Jersey which he served until his death in 1747 or 1748.

The Encyclopedia of New Jersey states:

Loyal to the Heidelberg Catechism, he emphasized pietism, conversion, repentance, strict moral standards, private devotions, excommunication, and church discipline. He was an eloquent preacher who published numerous sermons, but struggled against indifferentism and empty formalism. His theories conflicted with the orthodox views of Henry Boel and others, who challenged Frelinghuysen's religious emotionalism and unauthorized practices. As one of the fearless missionaries of the First Great Awakening in America, Frelinghuysen stressed tangible religious experiences. He trained young men for the clergy, often ordaining them without permission. His evangelical fervor and autonomous actions helped to instill an element of local independence for Dutch churches in North America's middle colonies.