The spelling of Dinah's first name in this memorial is based on the grave stone transcription records of The First Reformed Church. Her first name is spelled variously as Dinah or Dina. The spelling retained here as Dinah adopts the spelling on the grave stone as captured in the church transcription records.

Those transcription records also indicate that she died on March 20, 1807 at age 81, an age that would place her death in 1725 or 1726. The date of birth in this memorial is taken from various family trees on Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org.

Her parents were Louis and Yuffrow Van Bergh.

The following is taken verbatim, with written permission, from The Diary of Dina Van Bergh, The Occasional Paper Series of the Historical Society of the Refomred Church in America, No. 3, translated by Rev. Gerard Van Dyke with an introduction and notes by Rev. J. David Muyskens, Historical Society of the Reformed Church in America, New Brunswick, New Jersey (1993) [Note: authorization was granted to quote this text with the request that readers be told that copies of the English translation of the diary are available on the internet at www.rca.org/archives - the book has been made available for a free download as a pdf file]:

"Dina was first of all a woman of faith. The presence of God, which was so profoundly real to her, gave her a warmth of concern for people and a hopeful attitude that generated enthusiasm in others. Her trust in God was transparent. She had experienced the grace of God since she was young and her faith had stood the test of adversity and sorrow over the years. Out of the desire that others would experience the same peace and hope that she had been given, Dina was eager to share her experiences and insights. Her desire to serve her Lord was contagious. Her keen mind commanded respect. Her humility elicited the affeciton of those who knew her.

"We don't know very much about her physical appearance. Her wedding dress is preserved in the special collections at the Alexander Library of Rutger's University. Willima H. S. Demarest recorded a description of Dina given to him by a Mrs. Hageman who remembered Dina from personal acquaintance: She was 'of medium stature, in complexion rather dark, with dark hair and eyes, as very neat and plain in her dress, and attractive in manner, and that no one could avoid loving her, so kind and gentle in disposition as not to have trouble with anyone, as endearing in intercourse.' footnote: ("Dinah Van Bergh", Paper Read Before the Ulster Historical Society, by William Henry Steele Demarest, Manuscript in the Gardner Sage Library, New Brunswick Theological Seminary, June 5, 1939, p. 25."

She married first, Johannes Frelinghuysen on March 9, 1750 in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands. Source: FHL Film Number: 113361; Ancestry.com. Netherlands, Select Marriages, 1565-1892 [database on-line]; Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: Netherlands, Marriages, 1565-1892. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.

Their children were:

Major General Frederick Frelinghuysen (April 13, 1753-1804) (buried in Weston, New Jersey)

Eva Frelinghuysen (Sept. 5, 1754-c1826) (married Casparus Van Nostrand)

The following text is taken verbatim from The Diary of Dina Van Bergh, supra:

"When she was in Utrecht Dina met Johannes Frelinghuysen, a theological student from America. Johannes was one of five sons of Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen, Pastor of the Reformed Chruches in the Raritan Valley of New Jersey. Johannes shared the pietistic persuasions of his father. He had studied under the tutelage of Peter Henry Dorsius, Reformed Pzstor in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He came to the Netherlands to be examined for ordination to the ministry of the gospel. He studied at the University of Utrecht. While there the news came that his father had died. Johannes was called to succeed his father as Pastor of several of the congregations his father had been serving.

"The consistories of Raritan, Millstone and North Branch (Readington) issued a call to Johannes dated May 18, 1749. He was promised 'an annual salary of one hundred and twenty-five pounds, current money, at eight shillings an ounce; the half of which, collected by the elders and deacons, shall be paid each half year; and a suitable dwelling with thirty acres of land.'

"Johannes proposed to Dina that they be married and she go with him to America. Dina was strongly attracted to Johannes and felt deeply that God was calling her into Christian service. Yet it was a most difficult decision for her because it would mean leaving her family and all that was familiar to her. America was a strange and distant land. The trip across the ocean was long and dangerous. Dina's parents did not want her to go. It would be likely that they would never see each other again if she went.

***

"Johannes was ordained by the Classis of Amsterdam. It had been decide that Johannes would go to America to begin his work and later return to marry Dina. But, as contrary winds prevented his sailing, Johannes proposed that they be married immediately and she go with him. Seeing the storms as providential, this is what they did. Dina and Johannes were married February 17, 1750. footnote: Recorded in the Gemeentelijke Archiefdienst Amesterdam.

"It was a long and difficult voyage to America. An incident that was reputed to have happened and was repeated by Theodore W. Welles in a book written in 1893 is that as Johannes and Dina crossed the ocean a terrible storm arose threatening to capsize the ship. As the boat was tossed about by the waves, it sprung a leak. The pumps on board the vessel were unable to pump the water out fast enough to save the ship. The captain informed the passengers and the crew that there was no hope of saving the vessel. But Dina calmly sat in a chair tied to one of the masts and prayed for their safety. As she prayed the water stopped rushing into the hold. The pumps were able to empty the ship of the water that had come in, The ship was saved. Later it was found that a sword fish was wedged in the open seam of the hull, effectively stopping the leak. The chair Dina used was called the 'Ebenezer chair' and she used it throughout her life. footnote: Hardenbergh, Leaves Out of Ancestral Tablets, by Theo. W. Welles, Paterson, N.J., 1893, p. 129-130."

She married second, Jacob Rutsen Frelinghuysen on March 18, 1756 in Raritan, Hunterdon, New Jersey, USA. That is the date of the marriage recorded in the family bible.

Their children were:

Maria Hardenbergh Vanderveer (twin) (1757-1789)

Laura Hardenbergh Lane (twin) (1757-1785) (married Matthew Lane)

Johannes (John) Hardenbergh (1759-1798) (married Nancy Ann Wallace)

Elinor (Nela) Hardenbergh (1760-1774) (married Henry H. Schenck)

Dina Hardenbergh (September 7, 1762-1790)

Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh (April 27, 1763-July 17, 1764)

Rachel Hardenbergh Wynkoop (November 29, 1765-1845) (married Evert C. Wynkoop)

Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh (June 19, 1768-1844) (married Mary Margaret Low)

Lewis Hardenbergh (May 14, 1771-1788)

The following text is taken verbatim from The Diary of Dina Van Bergh, supra:

"Two years after Johannes' death Jacob and Dina were married at Raritan, March 18, 1756. He was twenty, she was thirty-one.

"As Jacob continued his studies, they lived at his home in Rosendale, New York. In 1758 Jacob was licensed to preach by the Coetus of the Dutch Reformed Church in America and called to the parish which Johannes had served. Five congregations joined in calling him: Raritan, Bedminister, North Branch (now Readington), Neshanic and Millstone (now Harlingen). Dina and Jacob moved into the home in Raritan which had been built for her and Johannes in 1751.

"Dina was of inestimable help to Jacob. She was familiar with the parish and its people. She knew its history of conflict between pietists and traditionalists. Sh had gained the love and respect of the people fro whom Jacob had been called to be Pastor. She became affectionately and respectfully known to them as 'Juffrouw Hardenbergh.' Her deep faith and sense of the presence of God was an inspiration to them. She ws well9-read and a good conversationalist. During the time between worship services on Sunday she would be engaged in conversation that reinforced the teachings of her husband from the pulpit.

***

"Afer Jacob's death, Dina went to live with her son Lewis who had inherited the estate at Rosendale. After a short time, she went to live with John in Raritan and then returned to New Brunswick ro reside with Jacob Rutsen, Jr., at 14 Water Street. (John died in 1798.)

***

"In 1799 Dina assisted two women of First Reformed Church, Sarah Van Doren and Mrs. Condict, in the formation of a Sunday School at the church. This was one of the first Sunday Schools to be organized in the United States as the movement came to America from England where Robert Raikes founded the first Sunday School in 1780."


As can be seen from the foregoing, Dinah was a devoutly religious Christian, the perfect minister's wife who everyone seemed to love. The Rutgers Library special collections hold Dinah's trousseau dress which she wore to a formal college function in the 1780s, a short biography of her, her diary written in 1747-48, and a transcription of a letter from Dinah to her then-future first husband John (Johannes) Frelinghuysen, dated January 31, 1750. The dress is cream colored silk brocade, exquisitely embroidered with small sprigs of flowers in shades of red, burnt orange, pink and yellow, all with green leaves.

After Frelinghuysen's death in 1754, she married Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh and remained at the Parsonage while he served in the pastorate of the five associated Dutch Reformed churches centered in Raritan, N.J., (Bedminster, Harlingen, Neshanic, Readington and Somerville) where he labored from 1758 to 1781.

As early as 1770 he began the agitation of the establishment of a university or college to be connected with the Dutch Reformed Church and took a leading part in applying for the charter for Queen's college to be located at New Brunswick, N.J. The consummation of his hopes occurred in 1785 and he was elected the first president in 1786, holding the office until his death. He died in 1790 and Dinah lived until 1807.

The following text is taken verbatim from "190th Anniversary, 1758-1948, Reformed Church, Bedminster, N.J., The Historical Background and Growth of The Bedminster Church, Bedminster, N.J.," a Historical Paper by David Layton, Esq., prepared due to his illness and under his direction by Harold D. Hayward, Th. D. (1984):

Pastor T. J. Frelinghuysen labored for twenty-seven years. In 1747 his work was ended and his son, John, minister and scholar, took up the pastoral care of the Dutch flock in the valley of the Raritan.

John Frelinghuysen married the daughter of a wealthy East India Dutch merchant, Dinah Van Bergh. By her he had two children, one of whom became later Colonel Frederick Frelinghuysen of the Continental Army.

Dinah Van Bergh was a very fine woman, capable and pious. In the library at Rutgers University there will be found a copy of her diary in the Dutch language.

During her husband's pastorate, the Three-Mile or Brunswick Dutch Church felt strong enough to venture on its own so pulled out of the collegiate arrangement in 1754. But another congregation had been added, the Neshanic. The church in that area was organized August 25, 1752.

The John Frelinghuysen ministry was of short duration. It ended with his death in 1754. His widow was persuaded to marry the pupil and successor to her first husband, Jacob Rutzen Hardenbergh, also of a prominent Dutch Family. The date in the family Bible is March 18, 1756.

Under the direction of Dinah Frelinghuysen, during the years 1750-1751, a sturdy parsonage built with imported brick from Holland was erected. It has since become famous under the title: "The Old Dutch Parsonage." Some years ago the building was removed from its original site, adjacent to the old Wallace property in Somerville, and carried fifteen hundred feet to Washington Place. It is now preserved under the care of the General Frelinghuysen Chapter of the D.A.R.

The following text is taken verbatim from a pamphlet published by the Town Clock Development Corporation title "Dina's Dwellings: A Sanctuary for Survivors of Domestic Violence."

Who was Dina?

Din Van Bergh's story is one of adversity, loss and steadfast determination to survive in a foreign land. Even her first attempts to come to the "New Worl" sere fraught with danger, as the vessel she traveled in suddenly took on water and was miraculously saved by a swordfish. Shortly after her arrival and caring for two young children, her husband Pastor Johannes Frelinghuysen died, leaving her with no means of support.

Dina perservered through this time and in the years to follow met and married Jacob Hardenbergh, the pastor of the First Reformed in New Brunswick and the first president of Queens College, now Rutgers University.