James was prepared for college under Rev. John Todd Caldwell and entered the College of New Jersey. He came hither when the college was at Newark and formed the acquaintance, while there, of a young maiden to whom he was afterwards married. He graduated in September, 1759, and on Sept. 17, 1760, he was ordained. He received a call from the Presbyterian church of this town in November, 1761, which he accepted. He was duly installed in March, 1762, with an annual salary of £160. He was at that time in the twenty-seventh year of his age, a young man of prepossessing appearance and of more than ordinary promise as a preacher of the gospel. In the year of 1775 charges were preferred to the Presbytery by former members of the congregation affecting the orthodoxy of their pastor, Mr. Caldwell, which, however, were found to be of trivial import and not affecting at all his soundness in the faith. Whatever uneasiness may have grown out of this matter, it was speedily forgotten in the rush of events that preceded and precipitated the War of the Revolution.
On the question then at issue Mr. Caldwell’s position was a matter of public knowledge. He waited not to learn how the struggle was likely to terminate; his ardent temperament was for his country, for liberty, for independence. In all his prayers, often in his sermons and exhortations, and in all his pastoral intercourse, no religious society in the land took a bolder move or stand, and few were more efficient for their country’s cause than Reverend Caldwell and his congregation. And not a little of this patriotism was owing to the fervent zeal of their pastor. Among his congregation at the commencement of the Revolution were such men as William Livingston, governor of the state; Elias Boudinot, afterwards president of the Continental Congress; Abraham Clark, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence; Hon. Robert Ogden, speaker of the assembly at an earlier day, with his three sons, Robert, Matthias and Aaron (the two last distinguished officers in the United States army); Hon. Stephen Crane, speaker of the assembly; Elias Dayton and his son Jonathan, both of them subsequently general officers of the army and the latter, speaker of congress. From this one congregation went forth about forty commissioned officers and privates to fight the battles for independence.
Among the men belonging to the militia of Elizabeth who enlisted on board of the different sloops as volunteers, in order to take the ship Blue Mountain Valley, January 22, 1776, under the command of Colonel Dayton, are to be found the following good old Irish names: Sergeant Thomas Quigley, Thomas McCarty, Timothy B. Stout, James Clancey, Timothy Burns, Moses Connell and William Higgins.
Among the commissioned officers of Reverend Caldwell’s congregation in the army are found a Capt. David Lyons, and Capt. Matthias Lyons, Irish or of Irish descent, without a doubt.
In April, 1776, Colonel Dayton’s regiment, that had been quartered in the town during the preceding winter, received orders to march to the relief of the Northern army then besieging Quebec. As most of the officers and many of the privates were members of Reverend Caldwell’s congregation, an ardent desire was expressed for his services as their chaplain.
Lieutenant Elmer in his diary, April 28, says: “Members of the Presbyterian meeting set about Reverend Caldwell’s going to Quebec with us, which was agreed upon after some debate. Drank tea at Colonel Dayton’s, then went to Major Spencer’s to lodge.” So it was determined that Reverend Caldwell, whose consent was readily obtained, should accompany his townsmen on their Northern expedition.
The troops left the town the following day, but Colonel Dayton and Reverend Caldwell did not join them until Saturday, May 11, at Albany, N. Y. The Jersey Brigade to which the regiment was attached was stationed the most of the season in the Mohawk valley. On the 16th of June Reverend Caldwell was at Johnstown and at German Flats in July, preaching twice every Sunday and taking an active part in military operations.
In July, as already related, the British troops had taken possession of Staten Island. The people of the town became greatly alarmed for their personal safety, and their relatives in the Northern army became exceedingly anxious for their friends at home.
Reverend Caldwell returned to his family and people early in the autumn, where his services were pressingly needed. On the retreat of the American, and the advance of the British, army the last week of November, 1776, Reverend Caldwell took his family up into the mountains and found a home for them in the town of New Providence. From this time forward Reverend Caldwell was occupied more or less continually in the service of his country to the close of his life.
The enemy having vacated the town at the end of the first week in January, he returned to his charge and resumed his ministrations, mingling the duties of the pastor and the soldier together. At various times through the long years of the war, during which his congregation were greatly scattered and their means of subsistence for the most part considerably diminished, Reverend Caldwell served not only as chaplain of the Jersey Brigade but as assistant commissary-general from the first of April, 1777, to April, 1779. Instead of a regular salary, he received for his pastoral service only what was contributed by the congregation on Sunday.