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Gosman, John, D.D.

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a Reformed (Dutch) minister, was born in New York city in 1784. He graduated from Columbia College in 1801, and studied theology with Drs. Alexander Proudfit and John M. Mason; was licensed by the Presbytery of Washington in 1804, and supplied the Presbyterian churches of Lansingburg, etc., until 1808, when he became pastor at Kingston, to which, for three years, Hurley was attached. In 1835 he removed to the Second Reformed Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but remained only one year. After this he officiated as a stated supply in Port Byron Presbyterian Church (1838-41), and Coeymans and New Baltimore. In 1842 he became pastor of the Reformed Church, in Hudson, and remained eleven years, resigning on account of years and health. But he could not be idle even in his retirement, and so again resumed pastoral work in the little country charge of Flatbush, Ulster County, in 1854. He resigned in 1859, and died in 1865. Dr. Gosman was a man of commanding presence and genial manners, gifted with brilliant genius, artless as a. child, generous and disinterested, full of vivacity and cheerfulness, humorous and witty, transparent, sincere, and attractive. His mind was quick, active, philosophical, and powerful, and his reading covered a wide range in literature and theology. In the pulpit he often exhibited a rare and wonderful eloquence. His sermons were tilled with apt illustrations, governed by almost faultless taste, and enriched by his knowledge of the best authors and of our English tongue. His memory was uncommonly retentive. His style was rich, terse, accurate, nervous, strong, and beautiful. In every good work he was a leader. See Memorial Addresses and Tributes; Corwin, Manual of the Ref. Church in America, s.v. (W.J.R.T.)