During the Civil War, Republicans called\u00ac\u2020Democrats who opposed the war \u201a\u00c4\u00faCopperheads,\u201a\u00c4\u00f9 likening them to poisonous snakes. Many of these \u201a\u00c4\u00faCopperheads\u201a\u00c4\u00f9 could be found in Northern States like New Jersey, and in Hunterdon County.<\/p>\n

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These Hunterdon County residents who demonized the abolitionists and Abe Lincoln were on the wrong side of history. But they were right that going to war would be disastrous. The lives lost and damage done were enormous\u201a\u00c4\u00eealmost beyond reckoning. But these hotheaded opponents of the Lincoln Administration could not see that the damage done by the institution of slavery was just as great as the losses suffered from war, just in a different way. What strikes me as most ironic is that most of these people considered themselves true Christians.<\/p>\n

To write about the past, one must try to understand what people were thinking in the past. From my 21st century perspective, it is easy to understand the supporters of Lincoln and opponents of slavery. I grew up during the Civil Rights movement. But in the 1850s and 60s, things looked very different. A majority of Hunterdon County residents supported the old Democratic Party of Andrew Jackson, so they already were inclined to oppose anything that Republican Abraham Lincoln tried to do. For them,\u00ac\u2020going to war was beyond the pale, especially if it was for the purpose of ending the secession.<\/p>\n

Being a Democrat in the 1850s meant something quite different from today. Back then, Democrats considered government more of an evil than a blessing, not unlike today\u201a\u00c4\u00f4s Tea Partiers. They did not approve of a government strong enough to force southern states to give up slavery, and the idea of going to war over it seemed to them insane.<\/p>\n

I will soon publish an article describing the Democratic Club of Delaware Township that organized on July 4, 1863. It will give us more insight into the way these Democrats saw the role of government at the time. But today I have another way of looking at them, complements of a memoir written by a visitor from Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

The Travails of Rev. Woodward<\/h3>\n

With the wonderful serendipity so often found when doing historical and genealogical research, someone who was researching a family I knew next to nothing about sent me a copy of a memoir written by her ancestor, Rev. John Moore Woodward, who was pastor of the Locktown Christian Church, starting in 1875.^{1<\/a><\/sup> Here is how his story begins:<\/p>\n}

\u201a\u00c4\u00faAs a result of the letter to Dr. Craig and my correspondence with E. M. Heath, the Church Clerk, I went to Locktown \u201a\u00c4\u00f2on trial\u201a\u00c4\u00f4 April 1, 1875. The official board accepted me, and I accepted the church, on the Sunday afternoon following my first sermon. . . . The Church requested my ordination at once so that I could administer the ordinances. Dr. Craig and Eld. Pitman were called as Elders, Dr. Craig preaching and delivering the charge April 25, 1875, Pitman to the people.\u201a\u00c4\u00f9<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On April 24, 1875, the minute book of the Locktown Christian Church read: \u201a\u00c4\u00faResolved that we the members of Locktown Christian Church do hereby request the Ministers who may be present to morrow to Ordain to the work of the Ministry Bro John M. Woodward who has been elected Pastor of this Church Resolved that this resolution be entered in full on our church record.\u201a\u00c4\u00f9<\/p>\n

It appears that at first Rev. Woodward was welcomed. But as things turned out, Rev. Woodward would not be happy in Locktown, and his congregation would not be happy with him.<\/p>\n

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