South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865 · scan page 117

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THE    EX-PARTE    COUNCIL,  107
bership  in  the  Church  would  be  terminated  whenever  they
niiglit  become  meml)ers  of  other  churches.  But  in  the
memorial  those  brethren  gave  notice  to  the  Church  that,
upon  mature  deliberation,  they  had  relinquished  their  inten-
tion of  connecting  themselves  with  other  churches ;  and
they  remained,  in  the  language  of  the  testimonials  which
had  been  given  them,  "  members  of  the  South  Congrega-
tional Church."
VIII.  The  reply  which  the  Clerk,  by  the  direction  of  the
Standing  Committee,  returned  to  the  signers  of  the  memo-
rial, was  addressed  "  To  Amos  Smith,  G.  H.  Butricks,  and
as  many  other  signers  of  the  above-named  request  as  are
still  recognized  members  of  the  Church;"  the  said  Clerk
and  Committee  thereby  assuming  to  exclude  from  member-
ship those  signers  who  held  at  that  moment  the  written
testimonials  of  the  Church  to  their  good  and  regular  stand-
ing.
IX.  At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Church,  held  on  the
evening  of  Novemlier  24,  1863,  Mr.  Carroll,  acting  as  mod-
erator, denied  to  the  members  above  mentioned  the  right  of
voting,  or  of  speaking  in  defence  of  their  right  to  vote ;  and
that  denial  was  approved  by  the  meeting.  The  same  meet-
ing ratified  all  the  doings  of  the  Committee,  including  their
suppression  of  the  memorial.
X.  The  reasons  for  the  dissatisfaction  with  the  ministry
of  Mr.  Carroll,  presented  to  us  by  the  complainants,  and
sustained  by  such  evidence  as  the  nature  of  this  investiga-
tion has  made  practicable,  are  the  following :
1.  They  had,  at  the  time  of  his  settlement,  no  proper
evidence  that  he  was  an  ordained  minister  of  the  Gospel  in
regular  communion  with  the  Congregational  churches  and
ministers  of  Connecticut,  or  with  any  evangelical  denom.i-
uation.
2.  Under  his  ministry  there  has  been  in  the  public  wor-
ship of  that  Church,  and  in  the  lessons  from  the  pulpit,  no
utterance  of  sympathy  with  our  country -in  its  struggle  for
imity  and  life ;  no  expression  of  loyal  desire  for  the  success
of  the  Government,  or  the  defeat  of  the  rebellion;  no  word
implying  that  the  attempts  of  the  rebels  to  subvert  by  force
the  Goveniment  ordained  by  God  in  this  land,  is  criminal ;

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Silent Grounds Collective, Church Burial & Death Records, CH-P004-0117. South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865, printed page not verified, PDF page 117. Hallock, Gerard, 1800-1866; digitized copy contributed by University of California Libraries https://archive.org/details/historyofsouthco00hall/page/n121/mode/1up Accessed September 8, 2026.

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