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HISTORY
OF

"THE FUNDFORMINISTERS"
BEI;ONGING

GENERAL

TO THE

CONFERENCE
OF

THECONGREGATIONAL
CHURCHE~
OFCONNECTICUT,
WITH

SOME ACCOUNT

OTHER ORGANIZATIONS

OF

FOR MINISTERIAL

lJ,.,,,,,I.,r

----

AID.
(.,,ts,;;

L

ISSUED BY THE TRUSTEES OF THE FUND, .AS AN APPEAL IN IT~BE¥LF

NEW YORK :

PRINTED BYD.

H. GILDERSLEEVE & CO.

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'

THE following account of the "Fund for Ministers, " constituting
to some extent an appeal in its behalf, is the outgrowth of a vote
passed by the Trustees of the Fund at their annual meeting, January
17, 1877. In view of the condition of the treasury at that time,
and the steadily increasing demand upon it, a committee was appointed, consisting of the Rev. Nathaniel J. Burton, D.D., the Rev.
Joseph Anderson, D.D., and Professor Cyrus Northrop, to issue a
special appea l for funds. The Trustees afterward decided, instead
of sending out mere ly a circular, to publish a pamphlet giving a
history of the Fund, together with some of the arguments in favor of
systematic ministerial aid. A first draft of the pamphlet, prepared
by the second member of the committee, was laid before the Trustees
at their annual meeting in 1878, and it was voted to issue an edition
of five thousand copies, to be distributed to the churches "for present and future use." To the original paper, references were afterward
added in foot-notes, and many things were brought together in an
appendix, for the purpose of giving a certain completeness to the
document, and thus incr easing its present and prospective useful ness. It was submitted to the Trustees for their final approva l, at a
special meeting held July 10, 1878, and was ordered to be printed in
the form in which it now appears.
The preparation of the pamphlet has been to the writer a labor
of love, and it is his earnest hope that it may result not only in
securing a large place for the Fund for Ministers in the affections of
Conn ecticut Congregationalists, but in attracting the attention of
American Christians more strongly than ever before to the important
subj ect of ministerial aid.
Special acknowledgment should be made of the services of the
Rev. "William H. Moore, Secretary of the Trustees, who has furnished
a considerab le part of the materials for this publication, and has
assisted (as his custom is) in various useful ways.
JOSEPHANDERSON.
Waterbury, Conn.,'August, 1878.

THE

FUND

FOR MINISTERS.

IN the Records of the Colony of Connecticut for October , .
1748, mention is made of a memorial presented by the Rev. Isaac
Chalker, of the parish of Eastbury (now Buckingham), in the
town of Glastonbury, asking for pecuniary aid from the General
Assembly.
It appears from the memorial, and from other
sources, that Mr. Chalker was a native of Saybrook and a graduate of Yale College; that he was settled for a time at Bethlehem,
in Orange county, New York; that on account of "great and
extreme differences and disorders in said place, arising in religious matters, he obtained an orderly dismission from the pastoral
care of that people;" that he removed to Eastbury in 1744; that
while at Bethlehem he had lost his stock of cattle and a negro
servant in consequence of extreme cold weather; and that by
these "adverse providences, and being put to great expense in .
his removal," he had become "deeply involved in debt, insomuch that neither he himself nor his poor and needy parish was
able in any wise to extricate him." In view of these facts it was
resolved iby the General Assembly, "that the memorialist be
allowed to have and receive, on good security, out of the public
treasury of this Colony, the sum of six hundred and fifty pounds
in bills of the old tenor, interest free, for and during the space of
one full year." 1
1 Ool.oniat Records of Conn., Vol. IX., p. 408; Glastenbury for Two H u ndred Y ears , by Rev .
A, B. Chapin, D,D,, p. 73.

I

6

It appears, further, that Mr. Chalker was quite unable to repay this loan at the end of the year, and that the debt became a
source of much vexation to him and to the parish. The various
means resorted to for his relief are worthy of notice. First, a
brief was granted by the General Court for a contribution in his
behalf. Next, a considerable sum was subscribed in his own
parish, notwithstanding its enfeebled condition, and in Glastonbury. And then, to make up the amount still lacking, his parishioners again memorialized the General Assembly, October 1st,
1754, to this effect: That Mr. Isaac Chalker, their third minister, "is through adverse providence become deeply involved in
debt, and especially to this government," and that they, "being
very small and poor, are unable to extricate him therefrom, and
so remain still liable to lose the benefit of his service on his being
compelled to respond his debts of the small remainder of his
estate, which indeed will scarcely suffice to that end." Thereupon they pray, "that a tax be laid on all the unimproved
lands in said parish, and that the moneys thereon to be raised be
applied for relief in the premises." It was resolved by the Assembly, "that a tax of one shilling (old tenor) per acre be laid on
all the unimproved lands lying within the limits of said parish
belonging to persons either resident or non-resident therein,
. to apply towards payment and discharge of this,
By such
the said Mr. Chalker's, debt due to this government."
means, the minister of Eastbury was relieved of his burden, and,
in the language of the historian of Glastonbury, "enabled to pursue his labors in peace and quietness, until his leath in 1765." 1
Further on, in the Records of the Colony may be found a
resolution passed by the General Assembly at the May session,
1772, concerning the relief of the Rev. Gideon Mills, of .West
Simsbury (now Canton). The res9lution directs the treasurer of
1

2

Cha.pin's Glastenbury, pp, 74, 75; Colonial Records, Vol. X., p. 302.
MS. Vol. XI., p. 124.

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7
the Colony to pay twelve pounds to Captain Ezekiel Humphrey,
in trust for Mr. Mills, and also grants Mr. Mills "the liberty of
a brief, to ask the charitable contributions of the several societies
in the towns of Simsbury, Farmington, Suffield, Windsor, East
Windsor, Hartford and New Hartford,"-the
sums thereby col lected to be paid to Captain Ezekiel Humphrey.
From the
petition of Mr. Mills, which is supported by the petitions of
several ministers and other friends, it appears that he was suffering from a cancer, which made it impossible for him to perform
ministerial labor, and which had subjected him to great expense,
so that his family was in want, and he was totally unable to pay
his debts. 1
These instances of aid rendered to ministers in the early history
of Connecticut are of great interest, not only because of the light
which they throw upon the relations of church and state in the
colonial period, but because they set forth, so simply yet impressively, the liability of clergymen, in common with the members
of other professions, to fall into pecuniary straits, through no
There
fault of their own, but through an "adveree providence."
were probably various other instances of legislative assistance
rendered to ministers during a period when the connection of
church and state was very close. At all events, there must have
been, in those days, other necessitous cases in the ministry. For,
as early as 1786, we find traces of organized effort on the part of
the Congregationalists of New England to meet the wants of the
destitute families of deceased clergymen. In that year, an incorporated society was instituted in Massachusetts, partly for this
object, called the "Massachusetts Congregational Charitable Society;" and from that time until the present it has continued to
disburse considerable sums for the benefit of the widows and
orphans of Congregational ministers, whether Unitarian or Or1 See Vol. XIII., Nos. 318-321, in the series of MS. volumes marked "Ecclesiastical,"
State Library at Hartford.

in the

8

thodox, who have died in the pastoral office. Its fund amounts
to $160,000, and is gradually increa~ing. There is a similar
fund, of ancient origin, but much smaller (it amounts to about
$8,000), belonging to the " Massachusetts Convention of Congregational Ministers," the proceeds of which are distributed among
widows whose husbands were clergymen, whether pastors at the
time of their death, or otherwise. Sometimes the same person
receives aid from both of these funds. 1 In Maine, a "Congregational Charitable Society" was incorporated in 1829, to give
aid to widows and orphans of ministers. It was organized on the
basis of mutual insurance, but after a few years the insurance plan
was abandoned. The society still exists, being connected with
the General Conference of Maine. Its invested funds amount to
$3,300, and it distributes small sums of money each year to a
number of needy families. In New Hampshire, a "Widows'
Charitable Fund" was organized, in connection with the General
Association of that State, in 1813; and in the same year a society
was incorporated in Connecticut for a similar purpose, under the
name of the "Ministers' Annuity Society." Like the "Charitable Society" of Maine, this organization adopted the plan of
mutual insurance. The widow of any member was permitted to
draw annually, during her life, a sum equal to five times the
amount of her husband's subscription.
If a deceased member
left no widow, the annuity went to his children, if there were any,
for fourteen years. There is testJ.mony on record 2 concerning
the good results accomplished by this organization; but it is now
more than twenty years since it ceased to exist. As the practice
of life insurance increased, and extended amongst the ministry, the
members of the "Annuity Society" diminished in number. Lat1 See Report on Aiding Disabled Ministers, etc., Minutes of the Gen~ral Association, 1864, p.
34 (p. 6 of the pamphlet edition). Corrections, giving figures for the present date, have been
made through the kindness of the Rev. J. H. Means, D.D., of Dorchester, Mass.
For the more recent history of ministerial aid rendered by Congregationalists in Massachusetts, and in other States, east and west, see Appendix A.
2 See Report in Minutes of 1864, p. 35.

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9

terly, its operations were confined to Tolland
awhile it was given up entirely.

county, and after

With the exception of this last-named institution, there is no
trace in the history of the Congregational
churches of Connecticut of any organized society ·or incorporated fund for the benefit
of the families of deceased clergymen until the year 1863. At
the annual meeting of the General Association in that year, held
at Hartford, June 16-18, overtures were presented from the
Windham and New London Associations, " suggesting the propriety of some provision on the part of the General Association
for the support of the indigent widows and orphans of clergymen."
These overtures were referred to a special committee, whose
report, the following day, was made the subject of prolonged discussion. After a quite general debate, the whole matter was
referred to a committee of five, of which the Rev. Samuel G.
Willard was chairman, "with instructions to bring the subject to
the attention of the District Associations ; to devise a plan covering the ground of these overtures ; and to report the same at the
next General Association."
At the next annual meeting of the General Association, held
also at Hartford (June 21-24, 1864), this committee presented a
carefully prepared report, embodying a constitution for a Board
of Trustees, to be called " The Trustees of the Fund for the Aid
of Disabled Ministers and the Needy Widows and Orphans of
Ministers."
The constitution was adopted by the General Association; the report was ordered to be published in a special
edition of two thousand copies, and distributed to the churches;
and it was also resolved, "That ministers throughout the State be
requested to bring this object to the attention of their churches
and congregations;
and that a collection for the same be taken
1 Min.

1863, pp. 8, 12, 13.

10
up every year." 1 At the same meeting, Trustees and a Treasurer were elected, and a committee was appointed to apply
to the Legislature of Connecticut for an act incorporating the
Trustees.
By this committee a charter was readily obtained of ~e
Legislature of 1865. It was found, however, that its provision ~
were not sufficiently liberal to cover the ground which in the
judgment of the Trustees ought to be occupied; so that they ui ,
not adopt it, but petitioned the Legislature of 1867 for a new one,
commensurate with their enlarged conception of their work. The
new charter, empowering the Trustees to receive and hold donations an9- bequests, was accepted in January, 1868. 2 Shortly
before thiS'-namely, in November, 1867-the
General Confer• ence of the Congregational Churches of Connecticut was insti. tuted at New Britain.
It soon became apparent that the
management of th~ Fund for Ministers ought to be transferred to
the new organization; for-as the committee appointed to ,consider the relations of the General Association to the General
Conference expressed it-" although the beneficiaries of this Fund
are more or less closely connected with the Association, the contributions to the Fund must come from the churches; and the
responsibility of its management may well be left to those with- ·
out whose sympathy it cannot flourish." 3 In 1870, the necessary amendments to the charter were obtained of the Legislature,
and the transfer was completed at the third annual meeting of
the General Conference, held in New London, November 1-3,
1870. In the amended charter, accepted by the Conference, the
objects for which the Fund for Ministers was established are set
forth as follows :
" The said corporation shall be purely a benevolent institution,
:for the purpose of securing and applying offerings from churches
Min. 1864, pp. 11, 12-14. The Conatitution is on p. 13; Mr. Willard's Report on pp. 31-37.
Fourth Annual Report of Trustees, Min. 1868, p. 24.
3 Rev. E. W. Gilman's Report, Min. 1869, p. 50.
I

2

11

and individuals for the aid of infirm and disabled clergymen who
have at some time ministered to Congregational churches in this
State, and are connected with District .Associations of Congregational
ministers represented in the General .Association of Connecticut;
and for the aid of destitute widows and orphans of clergymen who
have at some time ministered to such churches and been connected
with such District .Associations."

It thus appears that the Fund for Ministers was fully established as long ago as 1864, and that from the beginning
stood in close and vital relations to the churches,-first

it has
through

the General Association, and afterward through the General Conference.

By both of these bodies it has been continually

mended

to the sympathies

gregationalists.'
beneficent

and the support of Connecticut

The good auspices under

work gave it an impetus

been imparted
followed.

com-

which it began

its

which could scarcely have

in any other way, and tangible

In 1864-theyear

Con-

when the enterprise

results

speedily

was initiated-

thirty-five churches contributed to it; in 1865, forty-nine churches;
in 1866, sixty-nine churches;

and in 1867, one hundred

churches.

number of churches co:r;itributing in any one year is

The largest

124; but in the fourteen years during which the Fund has been
in operation,

of the 298 Connecticut

time or another
amounted

contributed

to $563.81.

to it.

churches, 273 have at one
In 1864, the contributions

In 1867, they had increased to nearly

$2,000, and in 1869 to nearly $3,000.

And from that time until

the present (1878) they have ranged between $2,332 and $3,075.
The

contributions

for 1877,

notwithstanding

the

wide -spread

depression in trade and finance, amounted to $2,906; and the contributions
entire

for the whole period

amounted

This

sum, less the necess.ary expenses,1 has been distributed

among twenty -eight beneficiaries-twelve
1 The
Treasurer,

to $30,434.62.

expenses have averaged $63.33 annually,
who is required to give bonds.

including

of them being clergyfor salary

only

$25-for

the

12
men, fourteen the widows of clergymen, and two cle1·gymen's
daughters. 1
The actual results accomplished in the meantime by the Fund
for Ministers can be but imperfectly exhibited by any array of
figures. The number of beneficiaries has not at any time been
large, and the work that has been done is work which the world
knows not of. But to those entrusted with the disbursement of
the Fund, the field opened up has been intensely interesting, and
the various cases of need, as they have been brought forward,
have appealed not simply to their sense of propriety and justice,
but to their sympathies and affections.
To bring the work more distinctly into view, it may be worth
while to present some details (so far as this can be done without
mentioning the names of the living) in respect to the beneficiaries
thus far aided. Of the tw!3nty-eight who have received aid, seven
have died. Five of these were formerly pastors, and had served
the churches many years. One of them, for example-Hermann
L. Vaill-who died in 1870, at the age of seventy-six, was licensed
to preach in 1822, and continued in active service for thirty years
Lins-most of the time as a settled pastor. 2 Another-Ammi
ley-who died in 1873, at the age of eighty-five, had been in the
ministry since 1812. His only pastorate, extending from 1815
to 1835, was "blessed of God especially in the raising up of five
ministers of the gospel." 3 Another, whose death took place in
1874:-Philo Judson-became
a pastor in 1811. He died at the
hospital in Hartford at the age of ninety. 4 Still another may be
L. Dickinson-whose
life was not a long one,
mentioned-Joel
and whose two pastorates together fell short of fourteen years ;
but whose claims upon the sympathy and aid of the churches
For a tabulated statement, covering the whole period, 1864-1877, see Appendix C.
See sketch of his life, Min. 1870, p. 109; and in Seventh Ann. Rept. of Trustees of Fund ,
Min. 1871, p. 25.
a See sketch, Min. 1873, p. 93; also Tenth Ann. Rept. Trustees, Min. 1874, p. 25.
• See sketch, Min. 1
,, .).09 ; also Eleventh Ann. Rept., Min. 1875, p. 28.
1

2

13

could not for a moment be questioned.
He worked his way into
At
the ministry through poverty, and never had a large salary.
the age of forty-five, his health broke down through overwork and
care, the consequence in part of the chronic illness of his wife.
When his wife was dead and his health gone, his relatives could
not support him, and he found himself without a home. He was
one of the first to receive aid from the Fund, but within three or
four years after it went into operation his life of trial ended. He
died at the age of'fifty-five. 1 In the list of deceased beneficiaries
may be mentioned Mrs. Abby B. Hyde, widow of the Rev. Lavius
Hyde, one of the faithful home missionaries of Connecticut.
Mrs.
Hyde is characterized by one who knew her as "a woman of unusual worth and Christian refinement," and is worthy of remembrance because of the assistance rendered by her to the celebrated
Dr. Asahel Nettleton in compiling that collection of sacred songs
once so widely used in the churches of America, the Village
Hymns. 2 In the same list is another widow, Mrs. Abigail W.
Parmelee, who died in 1875, in her eighty-ninth year. Her husband, who was a townsman and classmate of Dr. Nettleton, and
had labored with him in various revivals, died in 1822. When
Nettleton came to him at Bolton, ill with typhus fever, he opened
to him his home and extended a brother's welcome. And not
only so-he cared for hjm during his sickness, took the fever himself, and died of it. Mrs. Parmelee's sister also died of the disease, and Mrs. Parmelee, who was very ill, barely recovered.
She was left with little property, no children, and no relatives
on whom she could permanently rely for support.
She first
received aid from the Fund in 1866, and soon became entirely
dependent upon it, while her growing infirmities made her at
1 See sketch, Min. Gen. Assn. 1868, p. 140; also Fourth
Ann. Rept. Trustees, Id., p. 24.
The only other deceased minister in the list of those who have thus far received aid is Warre!! G. Jones, to whom a single grant was made in 1865. He died in 1871, aged sixty-nine.
For
a sketch of his life, see Min. 1871, pp. 134, 135.

2 Ninth Ann. Rept, Trustees,

Min. 1873, p. 23.

14

length as helpless as a babe. A part of the grant for 1875 was
applied to meet the expenses of her fnneral. 1
Of living beneficiaries, a few who were temporarily aided are
now able to support themselves.
Of those still on the list,2 one
is a paralytic, eighty-four years of age. He was ordained in
1821, but has had no pastoral charge for many years. ·He has
never had a large salary, and is now in want. Another, eightythree years old, was laid aside from ministerial labor more than
thirty years ago in consequence of loss of voice. Another, a
man of unusual refinement and culture, a pastor since 1822, at
first in England and afterward in two different churches in Connecticut, was retired many years ago by disease of the throat.
He is eighty-three years of age, and has no relatives on whom he
can rely for support.
Another of the beneficiaries is the widow
of one who was for years a home missionary in Connecticut, and
"an eminently good pastor."
Another is the unmarried daughter of a devoted Connecticut pastor and home missionary in
Vermont, who died in 1812. She is eighty-eight years of age,
has received aid from the Fund since 1866, and is almost enti:i:ely
dependent upon it for the supply of her necessities. Another is
the widow of a foreign missionary, who herself spent twenty years
in missionary work in Turkey.
She became dependent by reason
of the death of her husband and the loss of her property through
a defaulting financial agent. Still another may be mentioned-a
widow whose wants led to the establishment of the Fund for
Ministers.
Her husband died in 1862, while a home missionary
pastor at Windham, at the age of thirty-three.
She is in feeble
health, her hearing is seriously impaired, and she is subject .
1 Twelfth Ann. Rept. Trustees,
Min. 1876, p. 164. See also Memoir of Rev . .Asahel Nettleton,
D. D., by Bennet Tyler, D. D., Hartford:
1844; pp. 164-168. In the :Memoir of Nettleton, the
great trial which befell the household which gave him shelter is passed ov~ rather lightly; hut
Dr. Tyler refers his readers to" an interesting obituary notice of Mr. Parmelee, written by Net.
tleton," which was" published in the seventh volume of the Religious Intelligencer."
It was Mr. Parmelee who fitted for college the Rev. Milton Badger, D. D., so long Secretary
of the American Home Missionary Society.
2 Summer
of 1878.
•
3 See Appendix D, Letter I.

15
sudden loss of voice.
Those who know her speak of her as "a
woman of rare qualities of Christian character."
Her only son,
a student in a New
ministry. 1 To these
brother

England
instances

who has become

college, will probably enter the
may be added that of a good

known

in the

Connecticut

churches

through the letter in which _he applied for aid, which, with his
permission, was published and distributed
as an appeal in behalf
of the Fund for Ministers.
After recounting, in his letter, with
unaffected simplicity, the vicissitudes of his long ministry, he says
near the close :
"The purpose for which the foregoing was written is to show
the extreme difficulty, not to say impossibility, of laying up any thing
in store for future use. And now my ministerial life is ended.
I
am an old man. More than seventy-five years have gone over me.
The weight of three-quarters
of a century is upon me. And after
nearly fifty years' service in the Christian ministry, I find myself poor
and dependent upon others for my daily bread.
The
few brethren to whom I have communicated some knowledge of my
affairs have said to me, 'Apply at once for help from the Fund for
I have
Ministers.'
But to do this I have felt ex tl emely reluctant.
hesitated long, have waited and waited, hoping that something
would arise to prevent the necessity.
At length, however, I am impelled by force of circumstances to make the application." 2
From these items of personal history some idea may be gained
of the character and spirit of the men and women who receive
aid from the Fund for Ministers, and a tolerably correct estimate
formed of their necessities.
Only those who come into ~ersonal
contact with the beneficiaries of the Fund can fully appreciate
what has been accomplished, or clearly discern the importance of
continuing
the work.
Amidst the various fluctuations in the
world of trade, the needs of most of these beneficiaries remain
undiminished, while those of some are steadily increasing.
Some
of them are burdened not only with poverty but with sickness,
1

See Appendix D, Letter II.

2

The letter is produced

entire

in Appendix

D, Letter III.

16
are totally unable to work, and are destitute of friends to whom
they may look for adequate assistance; while to all of them may be
applied the language of the :first Report on this subject, presented
to the General Association in 1864: "A little aid, freely and
delicately bestowed, may make all the difference between cheerfulness and despondency, between a comfortable subsistence and
constant suffering, between the ability to keep the children to gether under a mother's care, and being obliged to scatter them
among strangers." 1 Besides, it must be borne in mind that
such a Fund as this-supposing
it to be discreetly and faithfully
administered-does
not simply supply current wants as they
arise; it creates at the same time obligations which cannot be
fulfilled except as those who control it advance to a larger work.
And in order properly to respond to the l increasing demand upon
them, amidst the frequent changes of business and of public sympathy, the Trustees must secure for the object they represent a
permanent place in the convictions and the affections of Christian
people, and also in the list of annual "charities" in every church.
As already shown, the response of the churches to the successive appeals in behalf of the Fund for Ministers has been cordial
and generous.
They evidently recognize the importance of the
work. The only hindrance which has thus far occurred comes
from a source from which unfavorable results could hardly have
been anticipated-namely,
the establishment of the so-called
"Root Fund."
In 1876, the Connecticut Home Missionary
2
Society received from the estate of James Root, of Hartford, a
legacy of $25,000, in trust for "poor and decayed ministers, and
To enable the
th eir families, of the Congregatio:q_al order."
Home Missionary Society to hold the fund thus bequeathed, the
General Assembly of 1875, on the application of the Directors,
granted it a charter.
Rules for the distribution of the Fund
were immediately adopted by the Directors, and grants were
l

Min. 1864, p . 36.

2

The Home Missionary Society i~ the General Conference.

17
voted in 1877. 1 The Root Fund being devoted, according to
the terms of the bequest, to the same general object as the Fund
for Ministers, the impression has been produced in some quarters
that any further contributions to the Fund for Ministers are unnecessary.
To remove all misapprehension on this subject, attention is called to these facts : 2 First, the income of the Root
Fund is not likely in any year to exceed $1,500, which is only
about one-half of the average amount granted yearly between
1870 and 1877. Secondly, this income, according to the terms
of the bequest, and the rnles adopted for its distribution, can be
given to no widow nor orphan nnless the husband and father
received aid from it while living. This limitation excludes from
aid from the Root Fund every widow and orphan thus far aided
by the Fund for Ministers, and will always leave a considerable
class of such persons beyond the reach of its benefits.
Thirdly,
there are already so many ministers who may fairly apply for aid
from the Root Fund, that when its whole yearly income is divided
among them, the amount falling to each will afford relief only in
part; and this amount will diminish as the beneficiaries increase
in number.
There is occasion, therefore, for an annual offeringfrom the churches to the Fund for Ministers, as really as before
the Root Fund became available; while the steady increase m
the number of beneficiaries, and the increasing needs of some of
them, should constitute a call to special efforts in their behalf.
Such are the facts m regard to the Fund for Ministers and
its beneficiaries.
But there ar~ good men to whom these facts
1 James Root was a native of Hartford,
and a graduate of Yale College, of the class of 1806.
After his graduation he removed to Ohio, where for many years he was familiar with all the hardships of pioueer life. He there owner! a considerable tract of land, whicu in the course of time
iacreased in value to such an extent that he became by means of it very wealthy.
He died April
17, 1875, aged eighty-eight years. (See Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale College, for 1875,
pp. 159, 160 ; also Sixtieth Ann. Rept. of Directors Conn. H. i\1. Soc., Min. 1876, p. 168.)
The Charter of the Home Missionary Society is in the Minutes of 1875, pp. 18, 19.
2 See

Thirteenth

Ann. Rept. Trustees,

in Min. 1877, pp. 300-302.

18
may be deprived of all significance, and the plea which grows out
of them bereft of its force, by a serious doubt concerning the
principle on which the Fund is based. They ask, " Why should
any such Fund be established ? Why should not invalid or aged
clergymen, or the widows and orphans of clergymen, if unable to
solve the problem of self-support, share the lot of other poor folk
who have the same difficulty to contend with, and who are cared
for by the communities in which they reside ? What good reason
is there for placing these persons in a class by themselves, and
However
creating a special fund for their maintenance 1"
harshly it may fall upon some ears, the question is one which
should be seriously considered.
To meet the objection fully
which is thus brought forward, it would be necessary to discuss
on the one hand the relations of the professional class to the community at large (with some reference, perhaps, to the subject of
pensions 1), and on the other hand to examine carefully the
question of the popular support of religion where a union of
{)hurch and state no longer exists. A philosophical discussion of
this kind cannot here be entered upon; but it seems entirely appropriate, in such a matter as this, to appeal to the verdict of the
past, and especially to the teaching of the Scriptures, in the Old
'Testament and the New.
All readers of the New Testament ~re familiar with the statement in the Epistle to the Hebrews,2 that " they that are of the
sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law." The
elaborate religious system to which reference is here made is
worthy of special examination becau se of it s bearings upon th e
whole question of ministerial support.
1" That tbe Congregational
churches of Conn ecticut should nndertake this work may be
urged from certain v ery common customs. One is the practice of 1nost civilized government s
to make s ome provision for the support of the families of those wbo hav e di ed in their servi ce.
They do this from motives of policy as well as of humani ty. The government of this countr y
recognizes the principle in granting pensions to widows and orphans of soldiers."-Mr.
Willard' s
2 Heb . vii. 5.
Report, Min. 1864, p. 32.

19
It appears that in the eal'liest period of the history of Israel
the priests were the first-born of the people,-the eldest son of
each house inheriting the priestly office as soon as he was old
enough to fulfil its duties. 1 But from the days of Moses, the
tribe of Levi, to which the house of Aaron belonged, was set
apart as a priestly caste. The special office of the priests was to
burn incense before the God of Israel, and to offer the sacrificial
victims on the altar : the rest of the Levites performed the
many miscellaneous duties connected with the Mosaic rituai.
It was not intended, however, that the whole of this consecrated
tribe should remain in the immediate neighborhood of the sanctuary; the design was rather to establish an order numerically
large, that should be "equally diffused throughout the country as
witnesses and guardians of the truth," and should come up, each
man in his turn, to the house of God, to officiate at the altar or
near it. It is obvious, then, that the tribe of Levi could have no
such earthly inheritance as the other tribes ; they could not participate in the cultivation of the soil, nor devote themselves to the
acquisition of propei·ty. 2 The question arises, Row were they
provided for? What were the means of subsistence upon which,
from age to age, they relied ? A full answer to this inquiry may
readily be gathered from the various allusions and the positive
precepts of the sacred records.
In the first place, provision was made in the Mosaic constitution for a permanent means of support by the assignment to the
tribe of Levi of small cities in different parts of the land. The
number of these cities was forty-eight, and each was surrounded
by a common or pasture-land of considerable extent. 3 It is
1 See allusions in Ex. xxiv. 5; xix. 22-24.

2Num. xviii. 20; Dent, x. 8, 9.

Num. xxxv. 2-8. Thirteen of these cities belonged to the priests, the others to the inferior
Levites.
"Although they were not allowed to practice agriculture, they may easily have kept on the
commons more cattle than were needed for their own use. We must at any rate infer from certain indications that they sold their cattle to others for the sacrifice, and that such cattle were
held in high estimation. Besides this, the Levites would let lodgings in such a town to strangers,
and take rent from them."-Ewald's
Antiquities of Israel, p. 306 (English editioE).
3

20
true, the working of this plan was disturbed by the ravages of
invasion, and the arrangement was completely broken up at the
secession of the Ten Tribes, when the whole tribe of Levi was
crowded together in the little kingdom of Judah ; but here also
estates seem to have been again assigned to them, or those which
they had long possessed were secured to them. 1 But their chief
means of support was the revenue derived from a tax paid by the
whole nation in the form of tithes. It was a custom which must
have existed from the earliest times ,among the people of Israel
to " consecrate to the sanctuary in pure thankfulness toward God
the tenth of all annual profit." What the Mosaic law did, was to
decree that the tithes should be for the benefit of the tribe of
Levi, and accordingly we :find that the tenth part of all the annual
useful products of the soil, as grain, wine and fruit, as well as
one-tenth of all new-born domestic animals, was due to the ministers of religion. It was the duty of the inferior Levites, who
were scattered over the whole country, to collect the tithes ; and
from these they set apart one-tenth - " the tithe of the tithes" for the benefit of the priesthood. 2'1. nother source of revenue
upon which both the priests and the Levites had a claim, was the
booty taken in war. All military plunder was divided equally
between the active soldiery and the rest of the nation. Of the
1 Ewald, Antiquities. p. 306.
If, after this great political change, "their number was so excessive for this kingdom tliat they sunk into continually increasing poverty," it still remains
true that tlie original provision was broad and generous.

2Num. xviii. 21-32; compare Lev. :Xxvii. 30-33. In the opinion of Ewald and others, this
system of tithes fell. into disuse in the times succeeding Solomon: or rather, the tithes were
regarded as a gift which a man ought to make rather from spontaneous thankfulness toward God
than from compulsion.
Bleek, in his Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews (vii. 5),
expresses the belief that in the period after the exile the priests took the whole tithes for their
own subsistence and the maintenance of the temple service, and that the reittaining members of
the tribe of Levi surrendered to those who were actually engaged in the temple service what was
demanded for their support. There is indeed a Jewish tradition, to the effect that Ezra, to punish
the Levites for their reluctance to return to their own land, deprived them of their tithes, and
transferred the right to the priests; but in the later historical books the references to tithing are
Neh. x . 38; xii. 44; xiii. 10; compare Book of Tobit i. 6-8.
all opposed to Bleek's supposition:
(See Dr. Moll on Heb. vii. 5, in Lange's Commentary; Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, art.
" Levite." ) It is obvious, however, from Mal. iii. 8-10; i. 7, 8, 13, that after the restoration from
exile, the people were very negligent in regard to the support of religion,

21

soldiers' share, one part in five hundred went to the priests, and
of the people's share, one part in fifty to the Levites. 1
But besides these sources of revenue, there ·,vere others by
which only the priesthood profited,-namely,
the first-fruits of
each annual harvest, the firstlings of the flock, and certain desIt was a law that a portion of the
ignated parts of the sacrifices.
barley first threshed, and a cake from its dough, must be presented
as an offering by every hom;ehold; and not only so, but an undefined amount of the first-fruits of the wheat harvest, and of wine
and oil, in fact, "whatsoever was first ripe in the land," having
been duly offered to the Lord, became the portion of the priest,
and was eaten by him and his family .2 From the firstlings of
the flock and herd, and from the priest's share in the various
sacrifices, the revenue must have been considerable.
Of all animals sacrificed as burnt-offerings,
and probably of all other
animals offered, the priests received the skin. Of all animal
guilt-offerings they received the whole of the flesh except the
small altar-pieces; and of every thank-offering, the breast and
the right shoulder. 3
It is impossible to go through the books of the law, and note
the manifold provisions made for the ministers of religion, without being greatly impressed with the thoroughness of the Mosaic
plan, and the consideration and liberality shown toward this important class in the Israelitish nation.
Notwithstanding
all this,
it is affirmed by students of Jewish history that they were a needy
and ill-provided class. "The Levites," says one, "are constantly
reckoned amongst the objects of eleemosynary support, and are
described as dependent on irregular channels for their supplies
even of ordinary food."
Another observes that "the priests and
11. Chron.

xxvi. 27; Numb.

2Num. xviii.
3

Num.

xxxi. 26-47.

12, 13; xv. 18-21;

xviii. 14-16, 8-11;

Deut. xviii. 4, 5; xxvi. 1-11.

Ex. xxix.

22-28;

system afforded to covetous and unscrupulous
is evident

from L Sam. ii. 13-16.

Lev. vii. 29-34; viii. 25, 29; x. 12-15.

priests opportunities

That this

for gratifying their avarice,

22

Levites appear to have fared but badly, like clergy in a colonial
diocese upon a voluntary system. Having no Levitical cities nor
pasture-lands, but living for the most part in a dependent condition, scattered about the land, 'in the gates' of others; having no
regular, abundant supply from tithes, first-fruits, or firstlings, but
deriving their sustenance almost entirely from the casual offerings and sacrifices which pious persons brought to the ternple,they seem, under the later kings, to have been often in real distress for the very necessaries of life." 1 But if such was the case,
it proves not that the Mosaic plan of sustentation was wanting in
breadth and liberality-for
it has been shown that the whole
land in its harvests and its flocks was by the law made permanently tributary to the sanctuary and its ministers-but
that the
nation, whether from religions indifference or from political misfortunes, had failed to fulfil its obligations. 2 Besides, it is
important to observe that for ministers of religion in a necessitous condition, special provision is made, and the nation is constantly urged to remember and help them. For example: "Ye
shall rejoice before the Lord your God, ye, and your sons and
your daughters, and your men-servants and your maid-servants,
and the Levite that is within your gates, forasmnch as he hath no
part nor inheritance with you." Again: "Take heed to thyself
that thou forsake not the Levite, as long as thou livest upon the
earth." Again: "The Levite, because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the
widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and
be satisfied." And again: " Thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou
and thy son and thy daughter, and thy man-servant and thy
maid-servant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and
1 Stanley, The Jewish Church, Vol. II. p. 465 (American Edition);
Colenso, The Pentateuch,
Part III., p. 486. Compare The Levitical Priests, by Samuel Ives Curtiss, Jr., Ph.D., Edinburgh:
1877 ; pp. 49-54.

, Such political changes as that referred to in note-1, p. 20, must of conrse be taken into
account.

23

the widow, that are within thy gates." 1 In these and various,
other passages in Deuteronomy, the Levite is coupled continually
with the widow, the fatherless, and thP stranger, that is, with the
poor and destitute; and in one place he is actually spoken of as
one of the strangers or sojourners within the gates of others, as if
he had no home of his own. But the reason why he is mentioned
at all is that he may be commended to the thoughtful care of the
people as worthy not only of their charitable aid, but of their
sympathy and fellowship.
vVhen we turn to the New Testament, we find this ancient
Jewish system of ministerial support appealed to as affording an
unanswerable argument for a liberal maintenance of the Christian
ministry.
The most noteworthy reference is in the First Epistle
to the Corinthians. 2 Paul is arguing his right to a living in
return for his apostolic labors.
He appeals first of all to the
principle, universally recognized, of a right to compensation for
services rendered,-showing
that in the old law this principle is
applied even to the lower animals; and then he appeals to the
plan according to which the Jewish priesthood was supported
"Do' ye not know that they which
from the sacred offerings:
minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and
they which wait at the altar
e partakers with the altar?"
But
from this point, the apos
advances to another, which is still
more important.
He says: "Even so hath the Lord "-that
is,
the Lord Jesus Christ-"
ordained that they which preach the
gospel should live of tlie gospel." 3 On two different occasions, at
least, Christ gave expression to this principle,-first,
when he sent
out the twelve disciples to travel as evangelists, and again, when
he sent forth the seventy.'
In each instance he quoted the old
1 Deut. xii. 12, 19; xiv. 29; xvi. 14. In Deut. xxvi. 12, 13, the Levite takes precedence
in the
list of the needy: "The Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow."
e I. Cor. ix. 7-14.
3 Almost without
exception, Paul employs the title "Lord"
to designate Christ.
More
accurately-"
So also did the Lord appoint to those who preach the gospel to live by the gos·• Matt. x. 9, 10; Luke x. 5, 7, 8.
pel."

24

saying, which had passed into a proverb, "The laborer is worthy
of his hire." The same principle lies at the basis of an exhortation bearing upon ministerial support which is found in the First
Epistle to Timothy,' and the same proverb is quoted. The
apostle says: "Let the elders that rnle well be counted worthy
of double honor" (the word here employed means not only honor
but remuneration), "especially they who labor in the word and
doctrine.
For the Scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox
that treadeth out the corn; and, The laborer is worthy of his reward." And there is still another place 2 where the same principle is recognized, and made the ground of an appeal at once to
"Bear ye
the affections and to the consciences of the brethren.
one another's burdens," is the exhortation, " and so fulfil the
law of Christ. . . . . Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth, in all good things. Be not deceived, God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that
shall he also reap ....
As we have therefore opportunity, let us
do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith."
From all this it appears that in the religion of Israel, and in
the early Christian church, abundant provision was made for the
support of the ministry; and not only so, but special provision
for exceptional cases of want. The "plan of, sustentation," of
which there are constant traces in the Old Testament, and the
divine origin of which is so plainly affirmed in the New, is in
full harmony, by virtue of its breadth and liberality, with the
sacred system of which it forms a part. And to these two facts
due weight must be given: first, that the provision made for the
ministers of religion had reference not only to the season of their
greatest aetivity and vigor, but to the time of old age and of
disability; and secondly, that it was made not for the individual
minister alone, but also for his family.
1 I.

Tim. v.17, 18.

2

Gal. vi. 2-10 .

25

Throughout the history of Ohristianity, the duty of providing
generously and permanently for the ministry has, upon the whole,
been distinctly recognized. The carefulness with which the
Roman Catholic system provides for the support of its priesthood,
and the consequent completeness of their relief from worldly care
and anxiety, down to the very close of life, are known to all. It
is also known that every considerable body of Protestants, excepting such as do not recognize an ordained ministry, has given attention to the question of clerical support, and the closely related
question of aid to disabled clergymen and their families. From
the widest survey of the past, it appears that those who through a
long life have stood before the world as the servants of religion
are adjudged by common consent to be entitled to a liberal sustenance, and entitled furthermore, when misfortune and poverty
overtake them, to some better fate than a place in the almshouse. Whatever changes may have taken place in the attitude of
the churches toward the clergy as a profession, the old requirement
is as stringent as ever, that the man who enters their service as a
pastor shall relinquish all secular employments and devote himself wholly to the ministry. The least that the churches can do
in return, is to guarantee to such persons a maintenance which
shall not leave their families at a serious disadvantage as compared with those of other professional men. 1
.A.sa matter of fact, however, the clergyman of the present
day, at any rate in New England, is at a disadvantage not only
as compared with other professional men, bu~ as compared with
the clergy of the early days. In former times, ministers as a
general thing were settled on a comfortable snpport ; were provided at the commencement of a pastorate with a special outfit,
1 " The rule embodied in the saying, ' The laborer is worthy of his bire,' is a rule which
runs through all depai-tments of human society, and must be binding in proportion as the work
done is excelleI!t. It must, therefore, be most of all in force in that sphere where the relation
of that which is given to that which is received, is that of the' spiritual' to the 'carnal.' "-Dr.
Kling on I. Cor. ix, 7-14, in Lange's Commentary, p. 190.

26
and held their charges until they died. Thus, in 1726, there
were eighty-one Congregational
churches in Connecticut, of
which five were without ministers, and seventy-six had pastors.
Of these pastors, nineteen were subsequently dismissed, and fiftyseven-three-fourths
of the whole number-died
in their charges;
and the average pastoral term of the seventy-six was thirty-four
and one-third years. The General Association of Uonnecticut at
its annual meeting in 1770 was composed of thirteen pastors, who
held the charges they then occupied so long that their average
pastoral term was forty-one years. It is obvious that that c<?ndition of ministerial service was favorable to pecuniary prosperity.
Bnt now the average term of parochial service among tho Congregational ministers of Connecticut is only five years, and is as
likely to become shorter as to grow longer; so that any young
man who enters the ministry to follow it for thirty years may not
unreasonably expect to make five removals in that period. This
condition of service is unfavorable to the pecuniary interests of
the ministry,-on
account of the cost of these removals and the
loss of income connected with them, and because it obliges ministers to retire from parochial work at an earlier age than in former
days. 1 The truth is, that the pastoral term has become shortened
to such a degree that the Congregational ministry may fairly be
regarded as an itinerancy.
It frequently follows that in old age
a clergyman finds himself laid aside by disease or infirmity in the
midst of a people who have known him only for a year or two,
and who perhaps are quite unable, even were they willing, to
assume his support in addition to that of his successor. It is
obvious that the support of such aged ex-pastors, or of their
widows and children, should not be thrown upon individual
churches. And if the churches would not bring discredit . upon
the religion whose Founder said, "Ye have the poor with you
t

Thirteenth

Ann. Rept. Trustees of Fund, Min. 1877, pp. 300-302.

27
always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good," they
should co-operate to aid such aged and helpless ones, that none of
them, after years of fidelity to Christ and his kingdom, need lie
down to die in the poor-house. 1
.As already suggested, the Congregational .ministry, in Connecticut and elsewhere, is approximating, as regards the average
term of parochial service, to what has been the condition of the
Methodist ministry from the :first. It is interesting to observe
that Wesley, while ordaining short terms for his ministers, made
provision in their behalf for the time of infirmity and old age, by
requiring every Methodist congregation
to give yearly for the
worn-out and destitute ministers and their families ; and this annual offering has been of incalculable value to the Methodist
During the period from 1872 to 1876, the contribuministry.
tions of the Congregational
churches of Connecticut to the Fund
for Ministers averaged five cents annually for each church membe1\ In the same period the amount raised on the circuits and
stations of the New York East Conference of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, which embraces the larger part of Connecticut, averaged twenty-six cents annually for each church member .2 The whole amount disbursed by the stewards of the New
York East Conference in 1877, to sixty -:6.ve claimants, was
88,303.4:4:.
It is worth while to refer also to what other
Christian bodies are doing in this same :field of benevolent effort.
The Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Connecticut
has an " Aged and Infirm Clergy and Widows' Fund," the Trus tees of which report annually to the Convention.
The F~nd
amounts to $12,198, and the sum paid to beneficiaries from June,
1 There are many churches
in New England, and doubtless
elsewhere,
that will not
allow any necessitous member to enter the almshouse . In some places special provision has
been made for those in want, by the establishment
of Widows' Homes, and the like. If there
is an obvious impropriety
in consigning any poverty-stricken
brother or sister in the church
to the world's cold care, it is, to say the least, equally improper to neglect the disabled and
needy ones in the Christian ministry, and their destitute families.

•Thirteenth

Ann. Rept. Trustees,

Min. 1877, pp. 300-302 .

28
J 876, to June, 1877, was $1,850, of which $1,230 (an average of
eight cents for each communicant) came from parishes.
The
Baptist churches of Connecticut aim to supply the wants of disabled ministers and their families through their District Associations. Several of these Associations have put on record standing
resolutions urging upon the churches the claims of the widows
and orphans of ministers, and at the annual meetings of the
Associations collections are made in their behalf. 1

This summary of facts and arguments is sent forth by the
Trustees of the Fund for Ministers, not simply as an appeal for
present aid, but as a record, possessing some elements of permanence, of what the Fund has thus far accomplished, and as a plea
which may be felt in time to come in the Congregational households of Connecticut. Year after year the Fund has been administered by a board composed of clergymen and carefully selected
men of business, men who are notably conservative and cautious,
and accustomed to scrutinize all outlays of money ; and these
Trustees have only one question to ask in reference to most of
the ' applicants on their list,-namely,
How shall the means be
obtained to aid them? Such is the character of the beneficiaries,
and such are their necessities, that those who are brought into
close contact with them, and hear their story, find all theoretical
objections ·swept away by a tide of tender sympathy. It is partly
for the purpose of putting the churches in possession of the ·facts
with which the Trustees are familiar, and affecting others as they
have been affected, that this statement is laid before the public.
The churches will thus be assured, if special assurance be needed,
that their benefactions are not wasted, but that every dollar set
apart to this object is expended in a wise and beneficent way. 2
In issuing this statement, the Trustees hope to encourage
1 For a more detailed account of tho work done by the various Christian bodies in Con2 See note, p. 11.
necticut, see Appendix E.

29
regular and systematic giving to the Fund for Ministers. The
Fund is no longer an experiment, but may be regarded as a
permanent institution of the churches. It is greatly important,
then, that all the churches should contribute to its support, and
should contribute regularly. Of the 298 Congregational churches
of Connecticut, only 109 contributed to the Fund in 1877, and
during the fourteen years since the Fund was established, although
273 of the churches have at some time contributed, the average
nnmber contributing annually has been less than 98. If pastors
will give attention to the matter, there is no reason why this
number should not be greatly increased. Early in the history of
the Fund the General Association of Connecticut recommended
to the churches "to devote to this object the amount collected at
If this be the method of
one sacramental season each year." 1
contributing adopted by a church, the minister should see that
the object to which the offering is set apart is distinctly
announced beforehand, and should not let the occasion pass by
without a special and earnest appeal in behalf of the Fund. If,
on the other hand, the contributions of a church to benevolent
objects are bestowed in the form of a weekly offering, pledged
beforehand, ought not a place to be given to the Fund for Ministers on the annual "pledge-card"~ 2 Again, should not those
churches that have never contributed to the Fund 3 pnt this good
And finally, ought
object at once on their list of "charities"~
not the men and women in the churches who have abundant
means, hear in this plain statement of facts a special call to give
of their wealth special offerings, or to leave bequests, for the relief
of those who once knew the comforts of a pleasant parsonage,
1 Third
Ann. Rept. Trustees, Min . 1867, p. 27; Fourth Ann. Rept., Min. 1868, p. 25; Mi'l.
186!1,pp. 11, 12-14.
, By the adoption of this plan, the First Church in Waterbury increased _its contribution
to the Fund from $38.68, the annual average from 1865 to 1875, to $124.46 in 1876, $151.49 in
1877, and $224.44 in 1878. Other churches could perhaps report a similar increase.

s In January, 1878, the number of these churches
during the year 1877 was 189.

was 25. The number

that gave nothing

30
the respect and love of a Christian flock, and the joy of show ing
hospitality, and who, having often aided and blessed others, are
themselves now in want? 1 It can surely be no less than a duty ,
and it ought to be regarded as a privilege, to remember in some
helpful way the widows and orphans of men who have made the
churches of Connecticut glad by their ministry ; and if such men
still survive, weighed down by the anxieties and sufferings of a
life of poverty, to remember them also. If the heavenly Master
judges his people according to the kindnesses they show to the
" least" of his servants, he will not overlook the shortcoming of
those who leave to cold neglect these brethren who through the
sunshine and storms of years have stood as faithful watchmen on
the walls of the City of God.
1 Two legacies have thus far been received.
The first, al ounting to $150, was bequeathed
by Miss Sophia Waters, of Norwich, and was received January 2, 1877. The second wa s
Th e
received llfay 27, 1878, from the estate of ll'Irs. Irene Battell Larned, of New Haven.
amount is $3,000, to constitute a fund, of which only the annual interest is to be applied to th e
purposes of the Fund for Ministers.
For a prop er Form of a Bequest, see at the end of Appendix B.

APPENDIX

.A..

I.
THE following is a tolerably complete account of what has been
done by Congregationalists outside of Connecticut in the way of
organizing ministerial aid through their various State bodies. The
facts were gathered, with considerable labor, by the Rev. W. H.
Moore, Secretary of the Trustees of the Fund for Ministers.
As the text shows, the earliest organized effort was made in
Massachusetts, in the establishment of the "Massachusetts Congregational Charitable Society," in 1786. It consists of not over thirty
members, one-half of whom are laymen. Both divisions of the Conand Unitarian-are
represented, and
gregational body-Orthodox
The Board fills
the disbursements are made with strict impartiality.
its own vacancies. The fund of $160,000 has gradually accumulated
from gifts, legacies, and a small reserve from the income added each
year. Aid is given only to the families of those who died in the
pastoml office,-to ·widows and to young children or unmarried
daughters.
The fund belonging to the "Mass~chusetts Convention of Congregational Ministers '' came mostly from contributions made at annual meetings of the Convention, or from collections taken after the
Convention sermon. The annual income is distributed in equal
sums to about sixty persons.
·
On motion of the General Association of the Congregational
Churches of Massachusetts, the " Board of Ministerial Aid" was incorporated in 1869, "for and to the aid, support, or comfort of aged,
disabled, superannuated or needy ministers of the orthodox Congregationa \ denomination in the Commonwealth, or of the widows and
children of such ministers." It is a close, self-perpetuating society,
and has no connection with the foregoing corporations.
The General Association in 1877 invited it to report annually to that body.
It is expected to appeal annually to the churches for aid. Ite
charter is printed in the 1\iinutes of the General Association for
1869, pp. 55, 56.
In New Hampshire, the "Widows' Charitable Fund,'' which was
organized in 1813, reported to the General Association in 1866 an

1

32
amended charter.
The corporate name is " The Trustees of the
Ministers' and Widows' Charitable Fund," and it is authorized to
hold $30,000. The receipts reported in 1877 were $365.15, including $257.36 from sixteen churches, and the grants-to
nine applicants-were
$425.
" The Maine Congregational Charitable Society " is connected
It was incorporated February 25th,
with the General Conference.
1829. It holds invested funds to the amount of $3,300. The contributions reported in 1877, from churches . and individuals, were
$225; the disbursements, to fifteen families, $622. (See Minutes of
Gen. Conference, 1877, p. 7.)
,
In 1857, a " Fund in Aid of the Families of deceased or disabled
Ministers " was begun in Illinois. It is connected with the General
Association.
The receipts reported in 1877 were $364.09, including
It aided four families, to the
offerings from twenty churches.
amount of $363.59. In twenty years, 1857-1877, it received and
expended $4,965.46, and aided sixteen families.
(See Minutes of
Gen. Association for 1877, p. 53.)
In 1858, the "Fairbanks Board for the Relief of Ministers and Relief of Widows and Orphans " was organized by the General Convention of Vermont.
In 1877, it reported an invested fund of $13,900,
and receipts amounting to $1,815.81, including contributions from
two churches.
Aid was given to twelve persons, to the amount of
$1,350. (See Minutes of Gen. Association for 1877, pp. 21, 22.) It
is understood that $10,000 of the fund were given by Governor
Thaddeus Fairbanks.
In 1860, a" Widows' and Orphans' Aid Society" was organized in
Minnesota in connection with the General Conference.
The Constitution is printed. in the Minutes of the General Conference for
1860, pp. 10, 11. It aids not only widows and orphans, but also disabled ministers.
In 1877, its assets were $632.66 ; receipts, $103. 78 ;
disbursements, $100.28; and it aided two widows. (See Minutes of
Gen. Conference for 1877, p. 21.)
" The Widows' and Orphans' Fund " connected with the General
Association of Missouri was organized previous to 1867. In 1876,
it received and disbursed $44.15, and aided one person.
In 1867, a "Board of Trustees of Ministerial Fund" was organized
in Rhode Island, by the Congregq,tional Conference. It was incorporated in 1868. It has about $3,500 invested. The receipts reported in 1877 were $221.22, including contributions
amounting
to $35 .00. Aid was granted to one minister, and money loaned to

33
another.
(See Minutes of Rhode Island Cong'l Conference for 1877,
pp. 14, 15.)
In 1872, the General Association of California, having had the .
subject under consideration in 1870 and 1871, appointed a committee
on Provision for Ministers or their families in need, to receive funds .
for that object. In 1876, the Committee reported a fund of $137.93,
and no grants. (See Minutes of Gen. Association for 1872, pp. 7, 15 ;
1876, p. 41.)
In 1876, action was taken in reference to ministerial aid in the
General Convention of Wisconsin.
A committee was appointed "to
collect and disburse collections in aid of disabled ministers and their
families, to report the same to this body." (See Minutes of Gen .
Convention for 1876, p, 11.)
In the General Conventions of Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan,
Nebraska, New Jersey, New York and Oregon, the Congregational
Conference of Ohio, and the smaller State conferences and associations of the South and West, there are as yet ( Summer of 1878) no
organizations for ministerial aid.

II.
At the third session of the National Council of the Congregational Churches of the United States, held at Detroit, Michigan, in
October, 1877, the subject of ministerial aid was brought to the
attention of that body.
An overture on disabled ministers was
received from the Congregational Conference of Ohio, and referred to
a committee of which the Rev. Justin E. Twitchell, D. D., of Cleveland, Ohio, was chairman, which subsequently presented the following report:
" That there are not a few of the most eirnest and devoted ministers of the ·
Lord Jesus, together with their families, who are in great need, is evident t<>
every one farnili,ar with our ministerial brethren and their families in the different.
State3. In the judgment of the Committee, this matter should receive the immediate and earnest attention of all our churches throughout the country. It is
known to many of the members of this Council that State organizations having the
end in view proposed by the Ohio overture, have been effected in Massachusetts ,
New Hampshire, Connecticut, and other States; and that substantial aid bas been
furnished in many cases, thereby relieving great distress. This is as it should be
all over the land. These faithful servants of God should not be left to want, but
should be handed down gently to their graves in the arms of affectionate, grateful
churches. Christian heroes and heroines are not all found ministering only to city
churches and large country parishes.
They have lived and wrought on most
efficiently iu the smaller churches of the East, and in the newer settlements of the
interior and West-out on the prairies and up in the mountain gorges, far from thegaze or applause of men, content to tell the story of the Redeemer's love to their

34
thoughtless, dying fellows, simply living from month to month on the meager
offerings of the people, laying nothing by for old age, not)ling for sickness, nothing
for wife and children, should they be widowed and orphaned.
When age, or
infirmity, or bereavements -come, these men and women should not be forgotten.
Their case should lie heavily on the heart of the churches ; and they should not
be allowed to want, if human sympathy ancl help can hinder it. Your committee
believe that Christian p eople will liberally respond when the matter is brought
fairly to their attention.
They recommend:
" 1. That each State body have an organization of its own to solicit funds from
churches and from individuals within its bounds, to be applied for this purpose.
"2. That a committee of five be appointed by this Council, to issue a circular
calling the attention of the churches of our order throughout the country to this
important subject, and urging upon them the claims of these godly, self-sacrificing
men and women, who have done such efficient work in the vineyard of the Lord ;
to communicate with State organizations formed for this object; to seek to secure
similar organizations in States where none now exist ; to stimulate in all practicable ways the ministration of the needed relief; and to report their doings, with
recommendations, at the next triennial Council."

The report was adopted, and the C(;>mmittee called for in the
second resolution was appointed as follows : Rev. Justin E. Twitchell,
D, D., of Ohio; Rev. Cyrus W. Wallace, D. D., of New Hampshire;
Hon. Charles Theodore Russell, of Massachusetts;
Rev. William H.
Moore, of Connecticut; Rev. Hiram N. Gates, of Nebraska.
(Minutes of the National Council, 1877, pp. 18, 34, 35, 54.)
The origin of this movement in the National Council, which it is
hoped will give a new impulse to ministerial aid in the Congrega. tional bodies, is explained -in the following letter from the Rev. Dr.
Twitchell:
Rev.

JOSEPH

ANDERSON.

Dear Brother : I am deeply interested in the matter of aiding disabled
ministers, etc., and feel from my very soul that somethingought to be done for the
relief of the wants of these faithful servants of the Master.
My attention was first seriously called to the subject by letters handed me by the
ladies of my Home Missionary Society. Cases of extreme want on the part of aged
ministers and the widows of ministers came before me, and touched my heart. It
seemed to me that if wealthy individuals and the churches could be made acquainted
with the facts, there would be a cheerful and ready re~ponse. I brought the matter
up before our State Conference last year. I found that all shared my feelings, and
a committee was appointed to secure action in the National Council. . . . . .
My thought is that boards should be organized in all the States, much after the
manner of Connecticut.
Whether a national organization is wiae or not, I am not
prepared to say. I am glad you are moving to publish an account of the work in
yqur State. The subject must somehow come before all our State organizations ;
for the Lord's own must be cared for by somebody.
The Lord bless you and guide in this matter.
J.E. TwrTOHELL.
Yours in Christian love,
-Cleveland, 0., February

27, 1878.

35

APPENDIX

B.

I.
THE following is the charter granted by the Legislature, June 28,
1867, with the amendments incorporated which were passed June
29, 1870. (See Private Acts ef 1867, pp. 9-11, and ef 1870, p. 63; or,
Special Laws ef the State ef Connect~cut,Vol. VI., pp. 196, 197, 831.)
AN

AcT

INCORPORATING

" THE

TRUSTEES

OF THE FuND

FOR MINISTERS."

Resolv,.d by this Assembly :

SECTION
1. That Leonard Bacon, Joseph Eldridge, Samuel G. Willard, Alexis
W. Ide, David Murdoch, Benjamin J. Relyea, Hiram P. A1:ms, Nath,aniel J. Burton
Salmon McCall, William C. Crump, Benjamin Douglas, John N. Stickney, Ndson
Kingsbury, Alexander C. Twining, and all such persons as may be associated with
or substituted for them in the manner and for the purpose hereinafter mentioned,
be and they are hereby incorporated and made a body politic by the name of " The
Trustees of the Fund for Ministers,'' and by that name shall be capable of suing and
being sued, pleading and being impleaded, and may receive, purchase, hold, sell,
and convey estate, real and personal, to an amount not exceeding fifty thousand
dollars, to be held by said corporation at any one time ; and may use a common se:i,l,
which they may alter or ch~nge at pleasure, and may make and execute such bylaws, rules, and regulations, as shall be deemed necessary for the well 01:jt ring and
conducting the affairs of said corporation.
SEC. 2. The said corporation shall be purely a benevolent institution, for the
purposes of securing and applying offerings from churches and individuals, for the
aid of infirm and disabled dergymen who have at some time ministered to Congregational churches in this State, and are connected with the District Association~ of
Congreg1ttional ministers represented in the General Association of Connecticut;
and for the aid of de~titute widows and orphans of clergymen who have at some
time ministered to such churches, and been connected with such District Associations, under such restrictions and in such manner as the General Conference of the
Congregational Churche~ of Connecticut may from time to time direct, or in the
absence of such direction, according to the discretion of said corporation.
SEC. 3. The affairs of said corporation shall be mimaged by a board of
Trustees, not exceeding fifteen, to be appointed annually by the said General Con- •
ference of Connecticut, and to hold their office until others are appointed in their
stead, and until the first meeting of the new board; the persons named in the first
section shall be the first board, and shall continue in office until the meeting of the
board which the General Conference shall first appoint in their stead.
SEC. 4. Said corporation shall have power to appoint annually a Treasurer, an
Auditor, and a Secretary, who shall hold their offices during the pleasure of the
Trustees, and until others are appointed in their stead.
SEC. 5. It shall be the duty of said Trustees to make an annual report of their
doings to the said General Conference.

36
SEC. 6. The first me eting of said corporation shall be called by the said
General Conference.
SEC . 7. The resolution
of this Assembly, passed May session, 1865, incorporating '' The Trustees of the Fund for the use of Disabled Ministers and Needy
Widows and Orphans of Ministers,'' is hereby repealed.
SEC. 8. This act may be amended or repealed, at the pleasure of the General
Assembly.

II.
The following are the Rules -for the Management of the Fund,
adopted by the General Conference at New London, November 1,
1870.
RULES

FOR THE MANAGEMENT

OF THE FUND

FOR MINISTERS.

1. No application

for assistance shall be granted unless it be shown that the
Clergyman for whom, or for whose widow or orphans, aid is sought, has ministered
statedly to some Congregational church in this State.
2. Aid shall be granted for the civil year, and only on a written application
signed by at least two members of th e District Asaociation to which the minister
belongs, or belonged at his death, for whom , or for wh,ose widows and orphans, aid
is sought.
3. The names of the beneficiaries shall not be published in connection with the
grants made in their behalf.1
4. The Treasurer shall give bonds for the faithful discharge of his duties, shall
pay out money only as ordered by the Trustees, and shall make an annual report to
them; and his accounts shall at all times be subject to the examination of any of
the members or officers of the corporation .
5. The records of the Trustees shall be brought annually to the meeting of the
General Conference.

FoRM

OF A BEQUEST.

"I bequeath to the Trustees of the Fund for Ministers the sum
of ________________
dollars, to be paid to the Treasurer thereof
for the charitable uses and purposes of said Trustees."
1 The practice
of different bodies varies in regard to the publication of the names of
beneficiaries.
In the report of the Stewards of the New York East Conference of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, the names of the claimants are given. In the minutes of the Baptist
Associations, names are not withheld.
The names of beneficiaries have been reported until
recently by the Trustees of the "Aged and Infirm Clergy and Widows' Fund "; but in the
Treasurer's Report to the Conventions of 1877 and 1878 th ·ey do not appear . The distribution of
the funds of the Massachusetts Charitable Society " is made by a small body holding a private
session; so that tla.ereis no such open depende"1ce on charity as would be trying to the feelings.
In many cases none but the most intimate friends know of the aid tendered."
(Rept., Min.
1864, p. 35.) The Trustees of the fund belonging to the Presbyterian Church adopt the same
rule. "The gifts are bestowed
. . . . . . so quietly as to wound no recipient, however sensitive."
(Id., p. 33.)

37

APPENDIX

0.

I.
THE following is a statement of the number of churches contributing to the Fund for Ministers, the amount of offerings received, the
number of beneficiaries, and the amount of the grants, each year
from 1864 to 1877 inclusive.
YEARS.

CHURCHES.

1864
1865
186'3
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877

35
49
69
100
86
117
106
124
122
112
102
110
114
109

OFFERINGS.

$563. 81
773.20
1,500 .66
1,989.28
1,600.03
2,993.98
2,399.77
3,075.84
2,704.91
2,739.03
2,332.37
2,461.75
2,393.21
2,906.78
$30,434.62

BENEFICIARIES.

0
2
8
8
7
9

12

13
11
10
11
13
15
11

GRANTS.

0.00
$250.00
1,350.00
1,650.00
1,950.00
2,450.00
3,150 .00
3,000.00
2,800.00
2,650 .00
2,640.00
2,700.00
3,975.00
537.00
$29,102.00

II.
The following are the Trustees of the Fund for Ministers, and
the officers appointed by them, for 1878.
TRUSTEES: Rev. Samuel G. Willard, Colchester; Rev. Nathaniel
J. Burton, D. D., Hartford; Rev. Joseph W. Backus, Thomaston;
Rev. Homer N. Dunning, South Norwalk; Rev. John Avery, Central
Village; Rev. James A. Gallup, Madison; Rev. Elias H. Richardson,
D. D., Hartford; Rev. Azel ,v. Hazen, Middletown; Rev. Joseph
Anderson, D. D., Waterbury; Rev. Frederick A. Noble, D. D., New
Haven; Dea. William C. Crump, New London; Dea. John N. Stickney, Rockville; Dea . John B. Eldredge, Hartford; Prof. Cyrus
Northrop, New Haven; Prof. David N. Camp, New Britain.
Secretary, Rev. William H. Moore, Hartford; Treasurer, Ward
W. Jacobs, Hartford; Auditor, Prof. David N. Camp, New Britain.

38

APPENDIX

D.

THE following letters from living beneficiaries were not intended
for publication, but only for the perusal of the Secretary of the
Trustees,-to
whom they are addressed.
They are here reproduced
-with the consent, of course, of the writers-because
illustrating so
well the experiences, the necessities, and the spirit of those who receive aid from the Fund.

I.
FROM THE REV. JOHN GREENWOOD.
Rev. W. H. MooRE.
Dear Brother : Many, many thanks to the Trustees of the Fund for their liberality, and to you personally for the promptitude with which you have made tberemittance.
I have also to thank you for the remarks you made in your interesting speech
in relation to the great kindness and generosity of my friend,; here in New Milford.
Their conduct, indeed, in my case is beyond all praise, and I am afraid I may add,
almost beyond precedent; not that there may not be othet ex-pastors who are
treated with equal kindness, but few who are as unworthy as l'feel myself to be.
I am the more glad and thankful that you made the remarks referred to, inasmuch as I am myself somewhat undemonstrative in relation to my private feelings.
I have never made those public acknowledgments in the newspapers, which seem to
be common in such cases. Every thing I have seen of this nature has appeared to
me in such bad taste that I have instinctively shrunk from following in the same
track.
Besides which, I knew my bP.nefactors to be actuated in what they have so
generously done for me by motives too lofty to admit of their being gratified by
such public exhibitions.
Their treatment of me and mine bas sprung from living
hearts, from a Christian friendship which deserved higher commendation and a
richer recompense than could be found in any "card" in a weekly new~paper. It
was far better that acknowledgment should come from such a source and through
such a channel as you supplied on Wednesday evening.
I thank you cordially,
both for the words spoken and for the ieeling manner in which you gave them
utterance.
You will be pleased, as a Christian brother, to learn that my rnmewhat
troubled and rugged path in life has been smoothed in a similar way by a.kind
Providence, in almost all its stages.
I was ordained in 1822, over the Congregational church in Royston, Cambridge,;hire,-of
which I continued pastor till 1837.
I bad then to resign my charge in consequence of rupturing a blood-vessel in
the throat.
My resignation was not at first accepted.
The church and society,
instead of voting to accept it, voted unanimously to give me a year's salary and
supply the pulpit during that time, that I might have an opportunity to recover.
After submitting to medical treatment for three months, without receiving much

39
benefit, I deemed it just to my loving people to apply again for a dismission, that
they might secure a successor. Upon learning that I purposed to emigrate witb my
family to the States, they generously voted me an outfit, paying all expenses for
seven of us-with a little sum to start me in the new world-and making me the
bearer of testimonials which Joshua Leavitt, who was then Registrar of the New
York Congregational Association, pronounced the most ample and satisfactory he
had ever seen. Thus my heavenly Father cared for me-chastising
me with one
hand, supporting and comforting me with the other.
My first charge here was Bethel. I was a stranger, and they took me in. Here ,
indeed, I bad trouble, as perhaps yon know. But I bless God for that training
school. Bethel prepared me for New Milford. It was the needful discipline of the '' wilderness '' before the peace and joy of the '' land of promise.''
All the rest you
know.
Pray, pardon this fit of commnnic3tive ·ness. I have never said as much to any
one else, and J have said it to you on account of the kindly interest you take in my
affairs, and because · I think you ought to kuow some of my antecedents.
Very truly yours,
JNO. GREENWOOD.
New Milford,

April 6, 1872.

In reply to a note requesting permission to publish the aboveletter, Mr. Greenwood writes : " After so long an interval, I can form
no judgment of its :fitness or unfitness for publication in connection.
with the forthcoming appeal. I can do no otherwise than leave the
saying that I am at a loss.
whole matter to your discretion-merely
to conjecture how anything I have written can be in 'excellent shape
for publication.' ....
I am glad that the Trustees of the Fund for
Ministers are moving in this matter ; not because I expect to be
benefited much longer personally by the charity, but because I think
it would be a reproach to our denomination to allow the worn-out
laborers in the vineyard to die in neglect. I cordially wish you sue~
cess in the enterprise."

II.
FROM

MRS.

AMELIA

D.

STEARNS.

Rev. W. H. MooRE.
Dear Sir : Although your letters forbid me to hope for any aid this year from the
"Fund for Ministers,'' my circumstances constrain me to write to you and ask if there
is any other soarce from whence relief may come to me through your influence. My
available supplies are long ago consumed, and friends have furnished what they
can. A friend lent me twenty dollars last year to relieve a pressure, telling me to
pay at my convenience. He has oince died, leaving a widow and two little children
without support. I am distressed because I cannot ray that debt.
I am running in debt all the time for my board, or borrowing money on interest
to pay it, trmting that the L')rd will provide means to pay the debts as well as

40
future support; for I see no way to do otherwise.
My strength is hardly equal to
n,y ordinary duties, and I am quite unable to earn money ; nor do I see bow I can
lessen my expenses wisely.
When my necessities seem to be lessening, new ones
arise.
This bas been a year of especial trial in various ways. When my young son-inlaw learned that my supplies were cut off, he very kindly offered to support me in
future, after this year. In April he sickened and died, and my daughter's home
In all this season of
was broken up. In August, she gave birth to a daughter.
.sorrow anrl trial, I had not the means to go and comfort ber with my presence.
But the Lord has sustained and comforted her. She says her mother's experience
has been a help to her ; and she feels tll:at the God of her parents will not forsake
her. By and by sbe must go to work to support herself and child, though she is
not strong.
We hope that a way may some tit'ne appear for us to be together and
help each other. At present we have not the means to meet for an interview. . . .
Meantime, I am poor and needy ; and though I doubt not the Lord thinketh
upon me, and will yet supply all my needs, it may not be amiss for me to state my
case to you and ask for your thoughts about it.
. I am
sorry to live so long dependent, but i.t seems to be God's will. I am sure you will
sympathize with Mr. Stearns' widow and daughter in their trials, even if you
cannot give encouragement of aid to me.
Indeed, I
am grateful for past favors, and remain, in any case,
Gratefully,
AMELIA D. STEARNS ..
213 West Springfield Street, Boston, Mass.,}
October 24, 1877.

ill.
FROM
DEAR

BROTHER

MOORE

THE

REV.

STEPHEN

A.

LOPER.

:

For a purpo,;e soon to be disclosed, may I trouble you with a brief sketch of
what may be called some shady-side experiences in my ministerial life?
After a four years' course of study at Bangor Theological Seminary, I graduated
in the summer of 1826, and immediately commenced preaching in Hampden, four
miles below the city, and the following January was ordained and installed as
pastor.
My salary was nominally $500, which was never fully paid; and after a
minio.try of four years, I resigned and returned to my native State, Connecticut,
which has been my field of labor ever since. On leaving Hampden, I found it
·necessary to sell a portion of our household goods to provide the means of removing
my family to Madison, the native place of my wife.
After laboring with the First Congregational Church in Middle Haddam for
about a year, I was installed as pastor in the summer of 1834. My salary at first
was $400; but, being found quite insufficient for the support of a growing family,
it was afterward raised to 5,500. After a ministry of eight years, I resigned ; and,
on settling up my affairs, was pained rtt the discovery that I owed to the stores $100,
and that my "assets"
were just nothing.
I borrowed the hundred dollars from a
money-lender in the parish, IJ'\lid the store-keepers, and went away to meet tbe
same difficulties-changing
the pince, but keeping the pain.

41
Immediately after my dismission from Middle Haddam in 1842, I was called to
the pastorate of the neighboring parish of Hadlyme, where I remained till regularly
dismissed in 1850 ; making just eight years more of pastoral work. My salary here
was less than $400, including the use of a few acres of very poor land. Still I
managed by close economy to take up that Middle Haddam note. But, when my
ministry ended here, it appeared that I was still in debt to the amount of $100;
owed just what I did when leaving Middle Haddam-the
inevitable one hundred
dollars ; and, as before, had nothing wherewith to pay. Liabilities the same as
!Jefore-assets the same.
On the whole, I felt thankful that the debt was no
larger.
Directly after resigning at Hadlyme, I became acting pastor of the Congregational Church in Higganum, and continued in that relation during six years-from
1850 to 1856. My salary at first was $500, but after awhile was increased to $600,
out of which I was required to pay rent for the parsonage. The final settlement of
my affairs here disclosed the fact that I owed, !Jeyond my means of payment, $75 ;
a little improvement upon the old $100. I gave my note to one merchant for $50,
and to another for $25, and went on my way, rejoicing that my indebtedness was
growing smaller.
My next field was Trumbull; salary, $600. Here, by dispensing with certain
articles of living-not
luxuries, but what many would consider necessaries--! succeeded
in saving enough to pay the Higganum debt, and defray the expenses of my next
removal.
After two years' service, I left Trumbull for Westbrook, highly elated with the
thought that, almost for the first time since entering the ministry, I could feel that
at length I was rendering obedience to the apostolic precept, "Owe no man anything."
From that time, by careful economy, I managed to keep out of debt.
I was next acting pastor in: Westbrook nearly five years. 'l'he salary was
$600 ;-just made both ends meet.
Next supplied the pulpit in Madison about two years, in place of the pastor,
Rev. Samuel Fiske, who was in the Union army, and was mortally wounded in one
My salary here was $800.
of the battles of the Wilderness.
After declining further service in Madison-a field too large and difficult for me
in my old age-I remained some eight months without cha~ge, and of course without
pay. I then supplied the pulpit in New Fairfield for two years, living on a salary
of something over $500. I next ministered to the Second Church in Middle Haddam
for three years; salary, $800; out of which I paid $140 yearly rent of house. While
here, I represented the town of Chatham in the Legislature for two consecutive
years, 1868 and 1869, which was quite a help to me, as the emoluments of the office
considerably exceeded my expenses, and contributed somewhat to the support of
my family during the two subsequent years, when from illness and age I was without employment and without salary. My last work was done as acting pastor at
Nepaug, during two years ending July 1, 1874.
The purpose for which the foregoing was written, is to show the extreme
difficulty, not to say impossibility, of laying up anything in store for future use.
Ar,d now my ministerial life is ended. I am an old man. More than seventy-five
years have gone over me. The weight of three-quarters of a century is upon me.
And after nearly fifty years' service in the Christian ministry, I find myself poor
and dependent upon others for my daily bread. I have no rich relations.
Those
The
who would cheerfully help me, if they could, are not able.

1

42
few brethren to whom I have communicated some knowledge of my affairs, have
ea.id to me, "Apply at once for help from the Fund for Ministers."
But to do
this, 1 have felt extremely reluctant; have hesitated long, have waited and waited,
hoping that something would arise to prevent the necessity. At length, however,
I am impelled by the force of circumstances to make the application.
Lay my
case, if you please, before the Trustees, and ask them to grant me a pension-if
it
be proper to call it so-that I may be helped through the little of life which yet
remains to me.
If you desire any further statement or explanation, please
inform me.
While I have written of shady-side experiences, I should be very sorry to leave
the impression that my life has been, on the whole, a shady one. Light has shone
In
generously upon my path.
Sunshine has been the rule, shadow the exception.
every parish where I have lived and labored, I have left many dear fiiends who
gave me their confidence, sympathy and love. For all that they have done for me,
and for all that the grace of God has enabled me to do for them, I feel profoundly
thankful.
"Bless the Lord, 0 my soul, and forget not all His benefits."
Yours truly and fraternally,
STEPHEN A. LOPER.
Hadlyme, November

10, 1875.

43

APPENDIX

E.

I.
IN the '' Minutes of the New York East Conference"
of the
Methodist Episcopal Church for 1878, the Stewards report the following amounts received during the Conference year : From Circuits and Stations by general collection, $6,383.44 ; from special
collections and from individual donoi-s, $1,390 ; from Centenary
and Chartered Fun~, $530; making a total of $8,303.44. The entire
amount was disbursed to "claimants on Conference funds."
The
names of the claimants are published, and it appears that twentynine were preachers, thirty widows of preachers, and four children.
The average amount granted to each was nearly $132.
Of the various "Funds " referred to in the Stewards' report, an account is given in the Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Fund" are set forth in
The origin and object of the "Chartered
Section 338 : "To make further provision for the distressed Travelling Preachers, for the families of Travelling Preachers, and for the
Superannuated and Worn-out Preachers, and the widows and orphans
of Preachers, there shall be a Chartered Fund, to be supported by
the voluntary contributions
of our friends."
The "Permanent
Fund" is described in Sections 340-342. One of the several objects
to which "the interest accumclating from said fund" is applied, is
the following : " To relieve the necessities of the Superannuated and
vVorn-out Preachers, and of the Widows and Orphans of those who
have died in the work." Chapters I. and II. of Part V. of the Discipline relate almost entirely to the support of the ministry, and the
following is the section relating to the support of Superannuated
Preachers:
'' It shall be the duty of the Quarterly Conference of each Charge within whose
bounds a Superannuated Preacher, or the wid.ow or child of a deceased preacher,
may reside, to appoint a Committee whose duty it shall be to make au estimate of
the amount · necessary to assist such Preacher, widow or child in obtaining a comfortable support, and such estimate shall be sent up to the Annual Conference with
which the claimant may be connected, and subject to the action of said Annual
Conference.''
(Section 352.)

In Section 361 reference is again made to the same subject : "Each
Annual Conference is authorized to raise a fund, if it judge proper,
subject to its own control, and under such regulations as its wisdom

44:
may direct, for the relief of the distressed Travelling and Superannuated Preachers, their wives, widows, and child~en." From these
several provisions of the Discipline, as well as from the variety of the
sources actually drawn upon, as shown in the Stewards' report, it is
easy to see how much is done by the Methodists of Connecticut (and
the same holds true, of course, throughout the country) for the relief
of disabled ministers and their families.

II.
The Baptists have in Connecticut no State organization for
ministerial aid. From the Minutes issued in 1877, the following
items have been gleaned :
In the Constitution of the Stonington Union Association, the
sixth article reads as follows : "The meeting shall be opened with
public worship ; then a contribution to the Widows' Fund ; after
which officers shall be chosen," etc.
The 4-ssociation has also
adopted the following standing resolution : " That we earnestly recommend to the several churches of this Association to take up an
annual collection for the Widows' Fund at the close of the prayermeeting on the Sabbath evening next previous to the annual meeting
of the Association, or at some other time." At the meeting of the
Association, in 1877, the collection for the Widows' Fund amounted
to $20.11. It appears from the Minutes that $50 were disbursed
during the year, and there are in the bank $361.28. The Association
aids only widows of ministers.
The Ashford Association has at interest a legacy of $1,100, the
proceeds of which are distributed in aid of ministers' widows. At
the meeting in 1877 a collection for the Widows' Fund amounted to
$5.85. The disbursements
for the year were less than a hundred
dollars.
The Hartford Association has a standing resolution urging the
churches to give to the Widows' Fund on the Sabbath before the
annual meeting of the Association.
The New London and New
Haven Associations have similar resolutions, commending to the
churches ministers, widows and orphans in destitution.
In the
Hartford Association, the associational collection in 1877 amounted
to $12; in the New London Association to $8.83. The Fairfield
County Association made a grant of $50 from the Widows' Fund ;
and the New Haven Association reports as follows:
Received,
$1,056.91; granted to three beneficiaries, $250; balance, $806.91.

45

III.
Of the Canons of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese
of Connecticut, the tenth (in the revision of 1878) relates to the
"Fund for Aged and Infirm Clergy and Widows and Orphans of
Clergymen," and is as follows (" Journal of the Ninety-fourth Annual
Convention," p. 50):
'.' SECTION 1. The Bishop, foe Assistant Bishop (if there be one), the Treasurer of
the Convention, together with two Clergymen and two Laymen appointed by the
Convention, shall constitute the 'Trustees of the Fund, and shall hold, manage and
control s:tid Fund, and apply it at their discretion toward the support or relief of
Aged and Infirm Clergymen who shall have resided in the Diocese and been in the
actual discharge of the duties of the Jl4inistry for a period of not less than five years;
and of the Widows and Orphans of Clergymen belonging to the same at the time of
their death.
"SEC. 2. The Trustees shall make an annual report to the Convention, stating
the amount received and expended each year, and the general condition of the Fun ct."

The Trustees were incorporated in 1855. (See Private .Acts ef the
General .Assembly, 1855, pp. 159, 160 ; Special Laws, 1874, p. 78.)
In the "Journal of the Ninety-third Annual Convention," 1877,
they report as follows (Appendix F, pp. 122-126) : On hand, June 1,
1876, $686.51; received for interest, $833 ; received from 73 parishes,
$1,230.13 ; a legacy, $100; making a total of $2,849.64. Of this
amount, $1,850 were paid to beneficiaries, and $999.64 remained on
hand. The contributions at the Convention of 1877 amounted to
$84.32 ; at the Convention of 1876, to $233.85. In the "Journal"
for 1878, the Trustees report $2,400 paid to beneficiaries during the
Conventional year; received from 71 parishes, $755.47; received at
the Convention, $294.36. The fund of $12,198.16 is invested in government and railroad bonds and bank stocks.
At the Convention of 1876 it was resolved, " That the Trustees
of the Fund for Aged and Infirm Clergymen be requested to consider and report a plan for the comfortable support of all aged
Clergymen of the Diocese, and report to the next Convention." At
the next Convention, "in consequence of complications connected
with an expected legacy," they were unprepared to report any plan,
and requested a postponement for a year. At the Convention of
1878, no plans were reported.
Except in the case of Congregational bodies, no attempt has been
made to gather statistics in relation to organized ministerial aid outside of Connecticut.
Reference may be made, however, to the plan

46
adopt ed by the Presbyterian Church, of which some account was
given in the first " Report on Aiding Disabled Ministers " made to
the General Association of Connecticut, already so often referred to
(Minutes ef Gen. Association, 1864, p. 33). It may be stated; also, that
our Presbyterian brethren have been engaged in this good work for
about fifty years; and that in the five years, 1872-1876, the contributions to their Board of Ministerial Relief averaged sixteen cents
yearly for each churnh member. From the Minutes of the General
Assembly for 1878 (pp. 20, 21, 193-196 ) we learn that this Board holds
a "permanent
endowment fund" of $180,094.44 ; that its total
receipts the last year were $88,176.33, including boxes, $6,000, and
contributions, $67,513.23 ; that 2,143 churches contributed ; and
that the beneficiaries included 152 ministers, 219 widows and 22
families of orphans, numbering in all 1,500 persons, ranging from infancy to ninety years, and grouped in 393 families.

INDEX.
PAGE.

Average of giving for ministerial
relief byConnecticnt Congregationalists
27
"
Episcopalians. . . . . 28
Methodists. . . . . . . 27
Presbyterians. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
California, provision for Ministers..
33
5, 6
Chalker, Rev. Iso.ac ..............
Congregational Ministers of Connecticut;
pastoral
and pecuniary
condition ofIn 1726.....................
26
In 1770.....................
26
At present......
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Donnecticut Baptists, efforts of, for
28, 44
ministerial relief .............
Connecticut Episcopalians,
efforts
of, for ministerial relief. ... 27, 28, 45
Connecticut Congregational
Fund
for MinistersArguments for, from18-2-i
Scripture .•..••............
History ................
11, 25, 26
Analogy .. 18 and n. l, 25, n., 27,n. 1
Necessity ............
12, 15-17, 26
Beneficiaries of, sketched ...... 12-15
Bequests to, form for. . . . . . . . . . . 36
Charter of. . . . . . . . . . . . • . • • • . 35, 36
Grants by ................
11, 12, 37
Legacies to ...................
30, n.
Officers of. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Origin of. ....................
9, 10
Receipts of. ...........•......
11, 37
Rules for. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Suggestions concerning support
of ........................
29, 30
Connecticut Home Missionary Society ....••.••...••••....
16, 17, n. 1

PAGE.

Connecticut Legislature aiding Ministers....
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7
Connecticut Ministers' Annuity So.-.....
8, 9
ciety ••••...............
Dickinson, Rev. Joel L .........
12, 13
Greenwood, Rev. John, letter of.. 38, 39
Hyde, Mrs. Abby B. _-.. . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Illinois Fund in Aid of the Families of Deceased and Disabled
Ministers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Judson, Rev. Philo. . . . . . • . . . . . . . . 12
30, n.
Larned, Mrs. Ir<me Batten .......
Legacies to Fund for Ministers. 30 and n.
Linsley, Rev. Ammi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Loper, Rev. Stephen A., . letter
of ...........................
40-42
Maine Congregational
C_haritable
Society .......................
8, 32
Massachusetts Board of Ministerial
Aid ...........................
31
Congregational
Charitable
Society .........................
7, 8, 31
Convention of Congregational Ministers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8, 31
Methodist plan for ministerial relief .......................
27, 43, 44
In New York East M. E. Conference ..................
27, 43
Mills, Rev. Gideon ...............
6, 7
Minnesota Widows' and Orphans'
Aid Society. . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . 32
Missouri Widows'
and Orphans'
Fund .........................
32
National Council of 1877, action
of. ..........................
33, 34
New Hampshire Widows' Charitable
Fund .....................
8, 31, 32
Parmelee, Mrs. Abigail W. . . . . . 13, 14

48
PAGE.

PAGE.

Presbyterian
Board of Ministerial
Relief noticed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45, 46
Rhode Island Board of Trustees of
Ministerial Relief Fund .......
32, 33
Root Fund •.......
... ..........
16, 17
Root, James.. . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . 17, n. l
Stearns, Mrs. Amelia D., letter of. 39, 40
Texts of Seri pture cited or referred
tor. Chron. xxvi. 27 . . . . . . . . . . . 20
I. Cor. ix. 7-14 ........
23 and n. 3
Deut. x. 8, 9....
. . . . . • . . . . . 19
xii. 12, 19......
. .. . . . . 22
xiv. 29 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
xvi. 14 .............
22, 23
xviii. 4, 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
xxvi. 1-11. . . . . . . . . . . . 21
xxvi. 12, 13. . . . . . . . 23, n. l
Ex. xix. 22-24....
. . . . . . . . . • 19
xxiv. 5......
. . . . . . . . . . . 19
xxix. 22-28 . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Gal. vi. 2-10....
. . . . . . . . . . . 24
Heb. vii. 5.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Lev. vii. 29-34 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
viii. 25, 29 . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
x. 12-15.............
...
21
xxvii. 30-33. . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Luke x. 5, 7, 8 ...........
23, 24
Mal. i. 7, 8, 13 .......•..
20, n. 2
iii. 8-10 ...•.......
20, n. 2
23, 24
Matt. x. 9, 10 ..... .. .....
Neb. x. 38 .......•......
20, n. 2
Neb. xii. 44 ..............
20, n. 2
xiii. 10 ............
20, n. 2
Nnm. xv. 18--21......
. . . . . . 21
xviii. 12, 13 . . . . . . . . . . 21
xviii. 14-16, 8-11. . . . 21
xviii. 20.. . . . . . . . . . . . 19
xviii. 21-32 . . . . . . . • . . 20
xxxi. 26-47.. . . . • . . . . . 21
xxxv. 2-8. ·,·. . . . . • . . 19
I. Sam. ii. 13-16......
. . 21, n. 3
I. Tim. v. 17, 18......
.• . . . . 24
Twitchell,
Rev. Justin E., D. D.,
letter of. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Vaill, Rev. Hermann L. .... ......
12
Vermont, Fairbanks
Board for Relief of Miul!,ters and Relief of
·widows and Orphans. . . . . . . . • . . . 32
Waterbury
First Church, plan of
giving .... ...............
. . 29, n . 2
Waters, Miss Sophia ..............
30, n.
Wisconsin,
action for ministerial
relief... . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . 33

ISLAt·o
HISTORICt
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80CIE1i ·

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