The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1905-01-21

AS an instance of his pastoral fidelity, |
Mrs j. A. Sherburn tells that, meeting /
her at an annual Conference some time /
after his pastorate here had closed, he /
inquired, as soon as the preliminary |
greetings were over, If she had Sought |
the Lord yet" Receiving a negative |
reply he tersely responded, "Well, it's |
time you had, thenS Mr.. Fales was a
brother-in-law Of Peter Merrill, who was
also pastor of this church at a later
date, and one of the strong men Of the
Conference.
Rev. John G. Dow.
Following Mr.. Fales came John G.
Dow, who was repnted to be the best
sermonizer in the entire Conference.
He declared that he always wrote his
sermons in full, though he never took
scrap Of paper to the pulpit with him.
He was very neat and orderly in his
ways, and was never a terror to his
hostess when entertained Though
greatly beloved by the entire chnrch and
community the membership as a whole
declined, as he found 102 members and
left but 81. This was low water mark
for Barre Methodism.
Changed His Mind.
The next minister was Edmund Cope
land During his first year there was
some revival, and everything appeared
to be harmonious, but Mr.. Copeland
thought he could do better elsewhere,
and so was stationed at Montpelier the
coming Conference. He found, however,
that the church at the Capital was less
enjoyable than the one here and gladly
accepted a reappointment to Barre at
the close of his first year at Montpelier.
| He found that distance lent enchant
ment, and that it was best to let well
enough alone. He came to ike Barre
so well that he settled here upon his
retirement from the ministry, and
bought a house near the present resi-
dence Of w. f. Shepherd. His widow
survived him several decades, and only
passed to rest a few years age. She
made several valuable contributions to
the building fund of Hedding church,
and was highly esteemed for the worth
of her character The year between the
two pastorates OF Mr.. Copeland was
served by the Rev Elijah Robinson, but
Of him history has preserved no rec
ords.
A Freak of Nature.
1 During the last part of the second
pastorate of Mr.. Copeland most ex
traordinary cyclone took the paTson-
age barn, lifted it up bodily, took it
over the parsonage, which then stood
on Che site of the present Protestant
Episcopal church, carried it on over the
Methodist church, and finally landed
it on the French meadow in the rear of
the church. This sounds like fiction,
but is said to be sober fact. The con-
sequence was that a new barn was need
ed, and Samuel Goodrich and 0rrin Beck
ley were elected the building committee
which had charge Of the construction.
A New Parsonage Needed.
But the erection Of a new barn was
, not all that was necessary to ensure
, the comfort of the preacher. His fam
} lily, as well as his horse, needed good
/ housing. This need had been apparent
for some time, and Mr.. j. Keith of New
Orleans had donated a thousand dol
I lars as the nucleus of building fund.
J But TIA stewards had let this lie and ac4
/ cumulate rather than take more from
their pockets to supplement it. Before
the Rev. Isaac MeAnn, who was the
next pastor, came TO the place he in
, Quired how to find the Methodist par
, sonage in Barre. He was told that, ii
: he would travel until he saw the worst
looking honse in the entire town, he
would find that to be the parsonage.
The event proved the truth of the
( prophecy
A Surprised Official Board.
His goods having arrived he came
Iup to the parsonage and found eight of
: the leading men of the parish, with
! their wives, on hand to assist him in
the unloading and settling Of his goods.
One of them said to him, BRO. McAnn,
you do not seem to be feeling very well
: today" No. said he, Il do not feel
. very well. In fact, | do not believe !
will have my goods unpacked just yet.
have come to the conclusion that
viii not live in the parsonage this year.
-iI have looked the town over and find
: that it is much worse than the average
! of houses, and have reached the conclu-
, sion that no one would think that q
man could preach who would live here
or that he had preached a good sermon
if they had heard him. Now we will
not have any trouble. ! viii find my
own honse, and will work Just as hard
as if you had given me palace in
! which to live, and you can charge me
what rent you please. But / viii not
live in the parsonage" One brother
ventured to remark that there was not
d house in the entire village which could
!. be rented "Then," said Bro. McAnn
: aIll find one outside But / viii always
! be here on time, and every time, and
: there need be no trouble on that score
e A Good Story.
: Orrin Beckley, probably feeling that
2 the dignity of the church, and the con
I sistency Of previous pastors had RE-
d eeived shock, yentured to remind th'
3 new pastor that he was young man
e and that many older and more expert
enced men than he had lived in tina
parsonage The preacher replied ),
d telling the story Of steamboat on TIN
fl Mississippi. after long, hot an'
T. smoky trip, the boat neared its destina
r. tion There were fifty passengers. Be
y. fore landing they all wished to max
" themselves as presentable as possible
SO set out for the wash room. One at
lr Ter another they went into the httl
.exR qxgw asn an "a ,asa~m