author

John F. Mesick

A 19th-century Reformed minister and family historian, he left behind sermons and a genealogy that offer a vivid window into religious life and family memory in his era. His surviving works show both a preacher’s moral seriousness and a strong interest in tracing family roots.

1 Audiobook

A Discourse on the Evils of Dancing

A Discourse on the Evils of Dancing

by John F. Mesick

About the author

John F. Mesick was an American Reformed minister who preached in the mid-1800s. Surviving records connect him with A Discourse on the Evils of Dancing and with a later church-history work, Historical sermon on the fortieth anniversary of Second Reformed Church at Raritan, Somerville, New Jersey, preached in 1874.

He also compiled Mesick Genealogy (Muzigh-Musig-Musick-Mesig-Mesick), published in 1888. That book points to another side of his work: alongside preaching, he took an active interest in preserving family history and documenting the Mesick name.

Taken together, these works suggest a writer shaped by church life, public moral debate, and the careful record-keeping valued by genealogists. While detailed biographical information is limited in the sources available online, his books still preserve a clear sense of his concerns and the world he wrote for.