Elected 1801, Day 1; served to 1811

The Rev. Abraham Beach, the fifth President of the House of Deputies, differed from his predecessors somewhat in that during the Revolutionary War he had been, like many Episcopalians, loyal to the British crown. Beach was born in Connecticut in 1740 and educated at Yale, and in 1767 he went to England to be consecrated. Like many other members of the American clergy, he served in New Jersey as a missionary supported by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel from 1767 to 1784. Although his parish was closed during the war, Beach was one of the delegates chosen to represent New Jersey at the 1785 and 1786 Conventions. He was elected President of the House of Deputies three times, in 1801, 1804 and 1808. From 1784 to 1811 he served at Trinity Church, New York, as assistant minister and from 1811 until his retirement in 1813 he was the assistant rector. After his retirement he returned to New Jersey and died that same year in New Brunswick.