William Cherry.
ANCIENT CHRONICLER.
William Cherry is a veritable "Old Mortality", judging from a unique volume found in the Morristown Library. This ancient sexton of the First Presbyterian Church, was a true wanderer among graves. It is said by those who remember, or who had it from their fathers, that the old house adjoining the Lyceum Building is the one in which Mr. Cherry lived and no doubt reflected on the uncertainty of life, while he compiled his melancholy record.
The following is the title of the old volume published by him and printed by Jacob Mann in the year 1806:
"Bill of Mortality: Being a Register of all the Deaths, which have occurred in the Presbyterian and Baptist Congregations of Morristown, New Jersey; For Thirty-Eight Years Past, Containing (with but few exceptions) the Cause of every Disease. This Register, for the First Twenty-Two Years, was kept by the Rev. Dr. Johnes, since which Time, by William Cherry, the Present Sexton of the Presbyterian Church at Morris-Town".
"Time brushes off our lives with sweeping wings."—Hervey.
Some of the causes of disease given are as follows:
"Decay of Nature"; "Teething"; "Old Age"; "A Swelling"; "Mortification"; "Sudden"; "Phrenzy"; "Casual"; "Poisoned by Night-Shade Berries"; "Lingering Decay", &c. We find no mention of "Heart Failure".
This curious and valuable volume needs no further comment.
THE WASHINGTON HEADQUARTERS.
FROM GARDEN AND FOREST.
Copyright 1892, by the GARDEN AND FOREST PUBLISHING CO.