Rev. Harvey Onque

picture from Beacon Lights of Race

Biography of Rev. Harvey Onque

While no birth certificate has been found for Harvey Onque, the book Beacon Lights of Race by G. P. Hamilton details that Onque was born on January 2nd 1866 in Cranbury, NJ. In 1880, Harvey is recorded to have lived with Rev. Jospeh Symmes and his family in the church manse. (It is not known why Harvey Onque was living with the Symmes family.) According to the census records, Harvey was, at the time, an apprentice to a farmer.

Based on our research, we were able to find that Harvey had at least one brother, Charles. (Charles's obituary is below under "Artifacts") We are not sure if he had any other siblings.

His mother, Gertrude Onque, was a massive influence in his life. According to a short biography of Onque in the book Beacon Lights of Race,"His mother [...] was a highly intelligent woman and used to read to her son when he was a mere child. She was prayerfully solicitous that her son should be an educated man and she did what she could to put his infant feet in the pathway up the hill of learning and righteousness. She lived to see the answer to her prayers, and her son not only a man of education but one of the leading diviners of his denomination. She departed this life in the year of 1899, happy in the knowledge that she had done her whole duty by the dear one whom Providence had committed to her care." (274)

For reasons unknown, Gertrude is noted in the estate of Rev. Symmes Henry. Gertrude is also listed in the Symmes household in the 1885 New Jersey State Census. Where she was before or after that is also a mystery. Unfortunately, we also do not know where she was buried.

In Beacon Lights of Race, Hamilton continues to explain that Harvey Onque attended Wilberforce University from 1889 to 1894. After graduation he worked as the Assistant Secretary of the YMCA in Philadelphia and then as the General Secretary of the Goffe Street Branch of the YMCA in New Haven, CT. In 1896, he matriculated at Lincoln University, a historically Black university founded in 1854 and located in Oxford, PA. From here, Onque graduated with a Bachelor of Sacred Theology, and four years later, in 1900, he received his Master of Arts.

Throughout his life, Rev. Onque was a notable writer and speaker. During his time at Lincoln University, it was noted in the school's newspaper that he spoke on "The Power of the Twentieth Century Pulpit" The following is a quote of his speech noted in the newspaper:

"The power of the twentieth century pulpit must be the power of Christ. The minister who speaks for Christ must be imbued with His power. He does not need to proclaim anything new. He must rather get back to the teachings of Calvin, Whitfield, and Wesley. Yea, verily he must get back to the primitive truth which Jesus intended His Church should proclaim. Woe to the pulpit when instead of preaching the simple Gospel, it begins to give lectures upon political economy and discuss the powers, endowments, and teachings of unregenerate philosophers. The twentieth century pulpit must preach the old Gospel if it would usher in the golden era of the Kingdom of Christ."

Picture of Rev. Onque from "The 180th anniversary of First Presbyterian Church of Cranbury" book written by Rev. Joseph Curry

The same year Onque graduated from Lincoln University, he became the pastor of Allison Presbyterian Church in Little Rock Arkansas. He remained a pastor there for 7 years until he became the Sabbath School Missionary for the State of Arkansas in 1907. According to Beacon Lights of Race, "For the three years of his service in Sabbath School work in the State of Arkansas his duties were to organize Sabbath Schools and instruct the various schools in the latest and best methods of the work. His labors were under the Board of Publication and Sabbath Schools, with headquarters in Philadelphia" (275).

During his time in Arkansas, Rev. Onque was also highly involved in the life and work of the presbytery. At one point he was the moderator, or chairperson, of the presbytery and was even the commissioner to the 1903 General Assembly in Los Angeles.

On June 19, 1901 Rev. Harvey Onque married Mary Olivia Patterson. Originally from Philadelphia, Mary moved with her husband to Little Rock. Beacon Lights of Race presents Mary as a wonderful educator and a phenomenal person: "She was a woman of splendid education and great culture, and was for a period of ten years one of the leading teachers in the public schools of the city of Wilmington, Del." Unfortunately, Mary died shortly after moving to Arkansas. The book goes on to explain that "[s]he came South to share the work with her devoted husband in the city of Little Rock, but fate decreed that she should not live to see the full fruition of her husband's labors in the Southland."

Several years later, in 1909 Rev. Onque moved to Louisiana to begin his new position as the General Secretary of the Colored Young Men's Christian Association of New Orleans. In a 1919 history of the First Presbyterian Church of Cranbury written by its pastor, Rev. Joseph Curry, it is noted that Onque moved to Texas after working in New Orleans. Rev. Onque served as the pastor at Memorial Presbyterian Church of Crockett (TX)--now called First Presbyterian Church of Crocket --where he remained for four years.

According to the Montclair African-American History Resource Guide, Rev. Harvey Onque was the pastor of, what is now called, Trinity United Presbyterian Church in Montclair, NJ from 1926 - 1932.

Beacon Lights of Race beautifully summarizes the life and work of Rev. Onque. "Rev. Onque is a gentleman of charming personality, and he is as simple and unpretentious as he is charming in disposition. He is a man that is noted for his earnestness in everything that he undertakes, and if real, conscientious work can achieve the desired end, success will be assured. He is a man whose good qualities of mind and heart are appreciated by all, and his experience both in religious and social circles has been one of satisfaction and pleasure. He is a man of wide and varied experience in the Christian world, and he stands for everything that is best and purest in church life. He is a scholar, a splendid speaker, a worthy gentleman and a Christian worker of indefatigable zeal, and his efforts in the cause of peace and righteousness have already received their due reward."

Unfortunately, we have not found information regarding when Rev. Onque passed or where he is buried. If you know of any further details regarding Rev. Harvey Onque (or Gertrude Onque), please feel free to submit your story at cranbury252@cranburypres.org.