Milford chronicle., 1910-04-22
MILFORD CHURCH


To the Editor Of The Chronicle.
Sir Attention has been called to an
article published last week in the news
/ papers Of Wilmington and elsewhere, re-
lating to Christ church, Milford In the
communication referred to, the figures are
substantially correct, except that Mr..
McKim was rector Of the parish thirty
two years, instead of forty-two, as your
correspondent has it. But the facts OF
the case are simply as follows:
When the Milford church was in pro
cess of rebuilding 1885 s., and money
was needed to pay impending debts, the
vestry were compelled to borrow funds to
allow their building committee to carry
on the work Through the efforts of Mr..
McKim, a sufficient sum was obtained
and the church at length completed. As
result, debt of 81 900, with its interest,
remains on the church properly at this
date, in the shape of a mortgage given in
1867 to Alfred T. A Torbert. This mort
gage, General Torbert himself owned for
five years. At the end Of that period, re-
ceiving full value, including interest to
the very day, he assigned it to the present
owner, John Leighton McKim.
Now, in this transaction there is moth
ing singular except that the lien has re-
NAMED unpaid longer than usually hap
pens to most securities Of its kind. Had
the mortgage been purchased by a money
lender. and assigned to him, instead Of to
the present owner, payment of debt and
interest would no doubt have been en-
forced long since. The mortgage, how
ever, was taken by Mr.. McKim, not as an
investment in that sense, but to aid and
protect the property described therein
and this at much sacrifice to himself, all
of which was known at the time to Bishop
Lee, whose confidence he had from first
to last, and to every clergyman and lay
delegate in the convention Of the diocess. !
And, whatever may be said to the con.
trary, the existence of the mortgage Of
81 900 against the church property, has
all along been known to the vestry and to /
the congregation, not to speak of the citi- (
zens generally, of the town. minute
Of the vestry, May so, 1879, reads Busi
ness in reference to the Indebtedness Of
the church was discussed" What indebt-
edness? It is referred to in June, 1879,
in the minutes, as "the only lien against
a., oL,-,L - 4b;e Ioto Tt --es a,ro;r,
subject of discussion in 1885, when the
rector, the Rev Mr. Keer, left for three
the parish duties to his clerical
Mr.. Milby. In 1894 PROPOSE
tion looking to a settlement was made by
an interested parishioner, which offer,
however, was not entertained by the
owner.
The statement in the newspaper that
there is no mention Of the source Of this
in the journal, is purely
gratuitous the writer of the article not
knowing perhaps, that in diocesan static
.ics, it is usual to give simply the figures.
Vestries and parishioners are supposed to
know about the sources Of Indebtedness,
As they OF Christ Church in this case do
know
Mr. McKIm, wishing to arrange bis af-
airs, has recently taken up through his
attorney, Thomas c. Frame, Jr., the mat
er Of the settlement of the mortgage debt.
A thorough examination Of the facts as to
his lien having been made by his attor-
ley and the attorney for the church, J.
Hall Anderson, nothing has been found
o the contrary, but that the mortgage is
IS good and valid to-day as at the first Z
when it was given to General Torbert.
A Member Of the Vestry, ls65-79
COMMUNICATED