Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography/Frelinghuysen, John

General Frederick's eldest son, John Frelinghuysen, lawyer, born near Millstone, Somerset County, New Jersey on March 21, 1776; died there, April 10, 1833, was graduated from Queen's College (now Rutgers) in 1792, and admitted to the bar in 1797. By reason of his great aversion to public speaking he figured but little in the courts, but as an office lawyer enjoyed an extensive practice. For many years he was a member of the state council, and for three consecutive terms, of five years each was surrogate of his County. Inheriting from his father, General Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen, a great fondness for military life, he promptly offered his services at the beginning of the second war with Great Britain and was for many months encamped with a regiment of New Jersey militia, which he commanded, at Sandy Hook, with a view to preventing the enemy's vessels from passing up the bay to attack New York. At the close of the war he was made a brigadier general. He was a man of profound piety, and while on duty at Sandy Hook frequently conducted public services at the head of his regiment. So tenderly did he care for his soldiers that the sick among them were sheltered in his own tent, and made to eat at his own table. He freely used his own means to relieve their wants, even going so far as to embarrass his estate for this purpose.