The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1896-05-14


estimated membership Of six thousand
was largely reached during the first
five years. and even the strenuous eff
forts of the last five years for increased
membership and increase of societies to
which Mrs, Montgomery urged and
stimulated us, for which Mrs. Miller
and others have labored so faithfully
has but little more than made good
the losses by death and removal, and
now, as at the close of the first decade,
there still remaineth much land to be
possessed"
The early meetings are described by
those who We're there as seasons Of
earnest prayer, from which they went
forth to labor" of struggling faith, !"
of "fightings without and fears With
in" The need of enlisting more Chris
tan women which led to the formation
of a Branch was a call from God that
came to the Missionary society of New
Haven because the value of their sup
port, sympathy and interest to one mis-
sionary, Mr.. Edwards, has been dem
onstrated; because they realized the
need of more such effort, and believed
that it only required the opening of
this door of privilege" to induce others
to enter in.
There were nine names on the list of
the first executive committee of the
Branch. There are now forty three on
our official page. The necessary cha ges,
which are the law of life and the order
of growth, have brought more than 100
women into this circle of those who
have given arduous volunteer service
to the maintenance of the general pros
perity of the branch. There was no de-
sire to assume great responsibilities or
accept prominent positions in the
hearts of the founders of the Branch,
There was, as the records bear witness,
a Shrinking from publicity" there
We're ''womanly fears of being misun-
derstood," and from then until now
these positions have neither been taken
or held lightly. Those who have occu-
pied them have only recognized the
needs of the foreign missionary work
so fully that they have willingly given
strength and talent to the service.
They have been among those who were
already active supporters of every
home agency for the extension of the
kingdom, who believed so fully that
this ought you to do and not leave
the other undone;" that in spite of the
overcrowding demands upon the time
of every American woman, which the
last quarter century has brought, they
have found time to write, to think, to
speak, to plan for this. The RESPONSE
bilities they have assumed in pledging
4 - n fnr-
year to the Woman's Board of Missions
have been undertaken only with a
humble realization that on the one
hand there is a call of God to advance
where His Providence has opened the
way for His kingdom among the ma
tions of the earth; and that on the 9TH
er hand in our cities and villages, on
our hills and in our valleys there are
Christian hearts ready to respond to
this same call. From them has come
to the executive committee the inspira-
ton to "go forward, to attempt great
things for God and expect great things
from God
What is true of the spirit of the ex-
ecutive committee is equally true OF
the officers of local societies, the leaders
of mission circles and many others who
have responded to the command, GO
ye," Here, Lord, use me and the tall
ent which Thou hast given me-" The
grand aggregate which the treasurer
will present has come from the small
contributions of many, and the whole
value of this and the service rendered
can only be reckoned in the arithmetic
of the infinite. From Salisbury to Say
brook, from Greenwich to Colebrook,
the fellowship of a common purpose
has bound us together. There have
been faithful collectors and patient
copyists of missionary letters and pa
pers, there have been those who served
tables and those who have Hospitality
opened their homes to the cause,
Much service has como from timid
lips which the Woman's Board has
taught to open for reading and prayer,
much from gifted pens used for
the kings business, secluded lives made
broad by the content this work gives
with world wide interests; much effort
has gone into schemes for raising mon
ey; much self-denial has gone into the
plans for giving money more sure that
all who have sought in any way to
serve the Lord of the Harvest will as
cribe a share in the garnered sheaves
when the day of gathering comes
The complete record of these twenty
five years would chronicle the influ-
ence of scores of individual lives, but
we must content ourselves with the
mention of a few rendered conspicuous
by position or services.
Three women, each emnently
fitted to meet the need of her time.
have filled the office of president. Mrs.
Hubbard's three years left upon the
Branch an impress which it has never
lost The respect of the community
was won for an enterprise that was
guided by such a large souled woman,
of whom it was said that her faith in
God was "unfaltering,' her Judgment
rare" her spirit "devout," the respect
of her co-workers was won by her
power to quietly receive opinions, ex-
anime them, and adopt or reject them.
according to worth or worthlessness.
Her subsequent prominent service as
president of the Presbyterian Woman S
Board attests the value of her ability
as a presiding officer.
For eighteen years Mrs Harris be-
loved name stood on our list of officers.
and although sometimes too feeble for
active service, her thoughts always
reached out in helpful plans. She
brought to the New Haven Branch a
lifelong interest in foreign missions,
fostered and developed by Mt Holyoke
training and made fruitful in her labors