| Frederick Frelinghuysen | |
| Office1: | United States Senator from New Jersey |
| Term Start1: | March 4, 1793 |
| Term End1: | November 12, 1796 |
| Predecessor1: | Philemon Dickinson |
| Successor1: | Richard Stockton |
| Office2: | Member of the New Jersey General Assembly |
| Term2: | 1800–1804 |
| Birth Date: | 13 April 1753 |
| Birth Place: | Somerville, Province of New Jersey, British America |
| Death Place: | Millstone, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Parents: | John Frelinghuysen Dinah Van Berg |
| Children: | John Frelinghuysen Theodore Frelinghuysen Frederick Frelinghuysen |
| Occupation: | General, lawyer, United States Senator |
| Spouse: | Gertrude Schenck Ann Yard |
| Party: | Federalist |
| Allegiance: |  United States |
| Branch: | Continental Army US Army |
| Rank: | General |
Frederick Frelinghuysen (April 13, 1753April 13, 1804) was an American lawyer, soldier, and senator from New Jersey. A graduate of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), Frederick went on to become an officer during the American Revolutionary War. In addition, he served as a delegate to the Continental Congress. He was a United States Senator from New Jersey from 1793 until 1796, and served as the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey in 1801.[1]
He was born at the Old Dutch Parsonage near Somerville in the Province of New Jersey to John Frelinghuysen (1727–1754) and Dinah Van Berg (1725–1807) of Amsterdam. His father, John, was the son of the immigrant minister Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen, the progenitor of the Frelinghuysen family in New Jersey.
He graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1770, and was the sole instructor at Queen's College, New Brunswick (now Rutgers University) from 1771 to 1774.[2] He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1774, practicing law in Somerset County, New Jersey.[1]
With the coming of the American Revolution, he became a member of the provincial congress of New Jersey from 1775 to 1776. In the War of Independence he served in the New Jersey militia as an artillery captain, seeing action at Trenton and Monmouth. In 1779 he served as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress. He served as a clerk to the Court of Common Pleas of Somerset County, New Jersey from 1781 to 1789. He also served in the New Jersey General Assembly in 1784 and again from 1800 to 1804.[1]
He was a member of the New Jersey convention that ratified the United States Constitution in 1787. He was a member of the New Jersey Legislative Council (now the New Jersey Senate) representing Somerset County from 1790 to 1792.[1]
President George Washington appointed him as brigadier general in the United States Army for the 1790 campaign against the western Indians. Frelinghuysen was elected to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1793, to November 12, 1796, when he resigned. He was commissioned major general in the New Jersey militia in 1794, during the Whiskey Rebellion.[1]
He married Gertrude Schenck (1753–1794), the daughter of Helena Magdalena Van Liew and Hendrick (Henry) Joahnnes Schenck. Together, they had five children:
After his first wife Gertrude's death in 1794, Frederick Sr. married Ann Yard (1764–1839).
Frelinghuysen died in Millstone, New Jersey, on April 13, 1804, his 51st birthday, and was buried at the Weston Burying Ground on the border of Manville, New Jersey and Bound Brook, New Jersey.[1] His tombstone reads as follows:
Among his other descendants are Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen (1817–1885), U.S. Senator and Secretary of State; Joseph Sherman Frelinghuysen (1869–1948) US Senator from New Jersey; Peter Frelinghuysen, Jr. (1916–2011) New Jersey Congressman; and Rodney Frelinghuysen (born 1946) New Jersey Congressman.[1]