Democratic enquirer. [volume] (M'arthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1867-1873, 1868-03-05
Statement nR roa..

Editor ENQUIRER: "A f
Having heard reports within the las
few days that seriously reflect upOn n
character, Of a prominent lady membs
OF the Presbyterian Church, in he
capacity as Treasurer of the a Mite ssci
ety. deem it my duty as a member o
tnat Society to offer through your column.
the following history of the Oreapiza,
'ion:-ln the fall of 1850, the ladies Of
the Presbyterian congregation thought i,
ADVISABLE to do something towards re.
pairing the Church in such ways as would
add to its comforts and appearance by
getting things that the gentlemen perhaps
would deem unnecessary and be unWill
ing TO pay for, by the usual method Of
subscription. After deciding against a
sewing society, il was proposed BY Ms.
Hewitt that, as they succeeded we'll in
Logan with a "Mite Society,"" we should
try the same here. This was analiv
agreed upon, Consequently there was
notice given from the Pulpit by Mr.. Har,
riS' then Pastor that there would be,a
meeting Of the ladies at Dr. VOLTS for
the purpose Of organizins q q Mite So.
ciety = This meeting was held on The
iS'h DAY Of Oct, 1860. There were pres.
ent Mrs Dodge, Mrs Hewitt, Mrs New
ton, Mrs Harris, Mrs. Macksy, Mrs. Am.
brOse, Mrs. L. NJ. Rannells, Mrs. Lantx
Mrs. French, Mrs. MoBeth, Mrs. Bingham
Mrs. Wolf, and myself: Mrs. Ha iris Was
called to the chair. After some diseus.
siOn' itaWas determined to have but one
omcer-a Treasurer--whOse duty itshould
be to preside at oil meetings and take
charge Of the funds collected. Mrs
D. Dodge was selected to FILL that Office
The subject of membership was taken mn
and after good deal of discussion il
was decided that instead of paying a fee
OF nifty cents, as was first proposed, that
any lady having meeting of the Society
at her house would be considered a mem.
Der. II was the express understanding At
the time, and has ever been since, that
the money collected was to be used for the
oenent OF the Church, It was to be used
only in such manner as the ladies them.
selves should designate. The subject Of
refreshments came up, and il was decided
that the lady giving the meeting should
De the judge as to what should be fur.
niShed. This, however, after a pretty
thorough trial was found to be rather OK,
penslye, and i! was determined at a sub,
sequent meeting to restrict it to one cnp
of coffee and one piece Of cake to each
person. The meetings Of the Society were
all held in town until the. summer Of
1862, when it was appointed at Mr.. sher-
wOod's--the first meeting held in the
country. It then met in OCULAR order
every two weeks, at Messrs. Dillon's Mil.
ier'S, Atkins, Hays, and Lyons. The
next meeting was in town, as were all
those held in the. winter Of lss2.es, Al
meeting held at Dr.. W0lf's, March 4
1853, Mrs. Dodge resigned her position o.
Treasurer, on account Of id health, and
Mrs, Wolf was appointed to tillhsr place,
Up to this time there had been eighty
seven dollars received and sighty-nins
dollars expended, leaving the Society in
debt At q meeting at Mrs. Mahala
Browns, February s, 1863, at which a
majority Of the members were present for
the purpose Of settling the finances Of
the Society, it was found that from the
time Of Mrs. VOLTS acceptance Of the
Treaaurership, up to Oct. 10, 1867, The
last regular meeting, the receipts from all
sources amounted to 1886 81; expendi-
lures, $3l6.2l, leaving balance of $40
which was loaned to Mr.. Sherwood BY
the Treasurer, and yet remains in his
hands. The accounts Of Mrs. Wolf were
accepted and approved, and the ladies
present united in indorsing and sustain
ing her in declining to settle with any
other than the Society Of which she was
an officer. Their right to settle their own
= = n