Gildersleeve, Cyrus (1769-1828)

Midway Church was left without a pastor when Reverend Abiel Holmes left Liberty County in early 1791. Reverend Reuben Hitchcock, pastor of the Sunbury Congregational Church, preached in Midway Church once every three weeks from August to December 1791. During this time members of the congrega­tion asked their friends in New York, New York, to find them a pastor.

They were sent Cyrus Gildersleeve, a native of South Orange, New Jersey, a graduate of Nassau Hall, and a licentiate of the Presbytery of New Brunswick. He was not yet an ordained minister, but commenced preaching in the church on December 11, 1792. The church congregation invited him to be its pastor. He accepted the offer and was ordained by the Presbytery of New Brunswick, New Jersey, specifically to be the pastor of Midway Church.

He married (1) Renchie Norman Quarterman Elliott, and (2) Frances C. Kennedy Wilkinson, both Liberty County widows. He resigned as pastor of Midway Church on December 15, 1810, and returned to New Jersey. He is buried in Bloomfield, New Jersey.