Background
JJonathan Elmer was the elder brother of Ebenezer Elmer, and third son of Daniel and Abigail (Lawrence) Elmer of Cedarville, New Jersey.
JJonathan Elmer was the elder brother of Ebenezer Elmer, and third son of Daniel and Abigail (Lawrence) Elmer of Cedarville, New Jersey.
Because of his frail constitution, his parents decided to give him a good education.
He was privately taught, learned Latin and French, and by 1766 began studying medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
He received his Bachelor of Medicine degree in 1768 on a printed thesis “De sitis in Febribus, Causis et Remediis, ” dedicated to the two Franklins.
This, with papers on the theory of the eye, the motion of the heart, and the relations of the air to disease, brought him membership in the American Philosophical Society by 1772.
He practised in Roadstown, then at Bridgeton, but preferring “political and judicial business, ” he became sheriff of Cumberland County in 1772.
He attended the Provincial Congress of New Jersey in the sessions from May to October 1775, and was succeeded by his uncle Theophilus.
He was actively interested in organizing local militia and in December 1775, became the head of a Bridgeton association which published a patriotic news-letter, the Plain Dealer, of which eight numbers are preserved.
Incidentally, he was successively captain and major of a light-infantry company, but was not in active service.
He was clerk of Cumberland County for the years 1776-79, 1781, and 1786-89.
Appointed a delegate to the Continental Congress on November 30, 1776, he attended the sessions in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Lancaster, and York.
He was a member of the Board of Treasury and of the medical committee, and in the latter capacity inspected hospitals in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
His patriotic speeches were widely circulated.
He was reappointed to Congress, but complained that the delegates could not exist on their pay.
Resigning in September 1778, he returned to his family affairs.
He resumed public office, however, serving in the New Jersey council in 1780, in the Congress of the Confederation from 1781 to 1784, and again in the council in 1784.
He was surrogate of Cumberland County from 1784 to 1802.
As a member of the Congress of the Confederation in 1787-88 he worked zealously for the federal Constitution.
Later, on differing with him as to the location of the capital he amended his former impression with the entry, “I had a good opinion of Elmer once, it is with pain I retract it” (Ibid. , p. 389).
By voting for the measure to establish the capital on the Potomac, Elmer lost the support of his constituents, and in 1791 was succeeded by John Rutherford ; he had drawn a two-year term.
In addition to his other activities, he mastered real estate law and prepared himself to revise the New Jersey statutes, a work done by William Paterson.
Reelected surrogate in the Federalist revival of 1813 he bade farewell to the court in February 1814, after forty-two years participation in public life.
He accumulated a very handsome fortune.
He was a warm supporter of Washington and Federalism, and on his election to the first Congress under the Constitution, voted steadily for Hamilton’s financial measures.
As a representative of the State of New Jersey, he supported the interests of the smaller states under federal union.
Quotations: Dr. Benjamin Rush is quoted as saying that in medical knowledge he was exceeded by no physician in the United States (Trenton Federalist, Sept. 1817).
American Philosophical Society
He was a member of the New Jersey Medical Society in 1772, and president in 1787.
He was a member of a local vigilance committee when his brother Ebenezer and others were held for having burned tea taken from the brig Greyhound.
December 1775, became the head of a Bridgeton association which published a patriotic news-letter, the Plain Dealer, of which eight numbers are preserved.
He was a member of the Board of Treasury and of the medical committee, and in the latter capacity inspected hospitals in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
As a member of the Congress of the Confederation in 1787-88 he worked zealously for the federal Constitution.
e was a member of the 1812 convention which nominated DeWitt Clinton against Madison, and opposed war with Great Britain.
He held a seat in the Presbyterian church from the time of his marriage to Mary Seeley in 1769, became a member in 1798, served as ruling elder, and finally as delegate to the Presbytery and to the General Assembly.
Dr. Benjamin Rush is quoted as saying that in medical knowledge he was exceeded by no physician in the United States (Trenton Federalist, Sept. 1817).
Maclay wrote, September 3, 1789, “I know not in the Senate a man, if I were to choose a friend, on whom I would cast the eye of confidence as soon as on this little doctor” (Journal, post, p. 144).
As a student Elmer was diligent and laborious; in person he was formal and stately.
He held a seat in the Presbyterian church from the time of his marriage to Mary Seeley in 1769, became a member in 1798, served as ruling elder, and finally as delegate to the Presbytery and to the General Assembly.