Thirty Years in the Itinerancy — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
Thirty Years in the Itinerancy
John Stuart Mill · en
The District at this time included nineteen charges. The larger portion
of them could be reached by railroad, but a sufficient number lay off
the line of public conveyance to render it advisable to keep a horse and
buggy, and hence they were obtained.
Soon after reaching my new field of labor, my attention was called to
the financial condition of the District Parsonage. I found that a small
debt had come down from the erection of the building, which had been
increased from year to year by accruing interest and repairs, until at
this time the entire indebtedness amounted to nine hundred and
thirty-one dollars. Meantime there had been, during the preceding year
of financial pressure, such a depreciation of property in the village,
that the building was now worth but little more, if any, than the amount
of indebtedness.
In looking the matter over, I saw at a glance that it would be much
easier to build a new house in a desirable location than to pay an old
debt of this magnitude. But there were other interests to be considered.
The money for the erection of this Parsonage had been given in good
faith by the people, and if it were now permitted to pass out of the
hands of the Trustees, there would be a shock to the confidence they had
reposed in the administration of the Church. And in the next place, this
money had been borrowed of innocent parties, and it was but right that
it should be returned.
With these views, I undertook to save the property, but I am free to
say it was the most thankless financial task I had ever undertaken. I
gave the first one hundred and fifty dollars, and then divided the
balance among the charges of the District. In passing around to my
Quarterly Meetings, the amounts in most cases were pledged, and the
larger portion finally paid. Yet the collections were not fully
completed before the end of my term.
Milwaukee at this time still retained its three charges, and they were
now in charge respectively of Rev. J. M. Walker, Rev. E. Cooke, D.D.,
and Rev. A.C. Manwell. As stated in a former chapter, Brother Walker had
served his full term on the Beaver Dam District, where he had been very
popular. He entered upon his field with great spirit, but found himself
greatly embarrassed by the unhappy financial condition of the charge.
Besides the indebtedness remaining on the Church, there remained
considerable arrears on the salaries of preceding Pastorates.