[294] Letter of Professor L. F. Parker, Grinnell, Iowa, Sept. 30, 1894. [295] J. B. Grinnell, _Men and Events of Forty Years_, p. 87. [296] Letter of Professor L. F. Parker, Grinnell, Iowa, Sept. 30, 1894. There were, of course, members of other denominations that befriended the slave; thus, it is known that the Unitarian Seminary at Meadville, Pennsylvania, was a centre of underground work,[297] but, in general, the lack of information concerning the church connections of many of the company of persons with whom this chapter deals prevents the drawing of any inference as to whether these individuals acted independently or in conjunction with little bands of persons of their own faith. [297] Conversation with Professor Henry H. Barber, of Meadville, Pa., in Cambridge, Mass., June, 1897. There seems to have been no open appeal made to church organizations for help in behalf of fugitives except in Massachusetts. In 1851, and again in 1854, the Vigilance Committee of Boston deemed it wise to send out circulars to the clergymen of the commonwealth, requesting that contributions be taken by them to be applied in mitigation of the misery caused by the enactment of the Fugitive Slave Law. The boldness and originality of such an appeal, and more especially the evident purpose of its framers to create sentiment by this means among the religious societies, entitle it to consideration. The first circular was sent out soon after the enactment of the odious law, and the second soon after the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The results secured by the two circulars will be seen in the following letter from Francis Jackson, of Boston, to his fellow-townsmen and co-worker, the Rev. Theodore Parker. BOSTON, Aug. 27, 1854. THEODORE PARKER: _Dear Friend_,--The contributions of the churches in behalf of the fugitive slaves I think have about all come in. I herewith inclose you a schedule thereof, amounting in all to about $800, being but _little more than half as much as they contributed in 1851_. The Mass. Register published in January, 1854, states the number of Religious Societies to be 1,547 (made up of 471 Orthodox, 270 Methodist, and all others 239). We sent circulars to the whole 1,547; only 78 of them have responded--say 1 in 20--from 130 Universalist societies, nothing, from 43 Episcopal $4, and 20 Friends $27--the Baptists--four times as many of these societies have given now as gave in 1851, this may be because Brynes was a Baptist minister. * * * * * The average amount contributed by 77 societies (deducting Frothingham of Salem) is $10 each; the 28th Congregationalist Church in this city did not take up a contribution, nevertheless, individual members thereof subscribed upwards of $300; they being infidel have not been reckoned with the churches.