Rev. Edmund Dunham

Name: Edmund DUNHAM

Sex: M

ALIA: /Edmond/

Birth: 25 JUL 1661 in Eastham, Barnstable, MA

Death: 7 MAR 1734 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ

Note:

He was the first pastor of the Seventh Day Baptist Church in Piscataway, N.J. & was also one of the founders of that Church which was formed about 1700.

A lay preacher since 1689, he was ordained in Westerly R. I. in 1705

His Wife Mary Bonham had a brother Hezekiah Bonham. One Sunday Edmund had Hezekiah arrested for breach of the Sabbath because he caught him working on Sunday. Hezekiah, who had become convinced by reading the Scriptures that the Sabbath should be kept on Saturday rather than Sunday ( the Seventh-Day Baptist approach ), retorted that it was OK for him to be working on what was merely "the first day of the week." Edmund opened his Bible and eventually changed his interpretation of the Sabbath celebration to that of his brother-in-law. Unfortunately some of those in the Baptist Church in Piscataway weren't so easily convinced, and the church ended up splitting over the subject of the Sabbath. Some of the people living in the surrounding area applied the term "Quibbletown" to the section around the Baptist church on that account. The name "Quibbletown" has disappeared from the map, but there is still a school

named "Quibbletown Junior High" there.

His will dated May 28, 1731, proved April 10, 1734.

Mayflower Families through 5 Generations, Vol. IV, pp 34-35

General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1990.

Archives Stat of NJ 1st Series Vol. XXX, Calendar of Wills p. 154 & 155

WFT V3 T2071. *2b, *19

WFT V16 T1266 gives 11 gen

Father: Benajah DUNHAM b: 18 NOV 1637 in Plymouth, Plymouth, MA Mother: Elizabeth TILSON b: 1640 in Scituate, Ply, MA

Marriage 1 Mary BONHAM b: 4 OCT 1661 in Barnstable, Barnstable, MA

• Married: 15 JUL 1681 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ

Children

1. Benajah DUNHAM b: 13 AUG 1684 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ

2. Elizabeth DUNHAM b: 26 NOV 1689 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ

3. Edmund DUNHAM b: 15 JAN 1691 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ

4. Jonathan DUNHAM b: 16 AUG 1694 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ

5. Ephraim DUNHAM b: 2 MAY 1696 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ

6. Mary DUNHAM b: 26 NOV 1698 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ

7. Mary DUNHAM b: 1 JUL 1700 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ

8. Hannah DUNHAM b: 14 APR 1704 in Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ

9. Azariah DUNHAM b: BET 1706 AND 1709

Founded the 7th Day Baptist Church at Piscataway, New Jersey about 1703.