South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865 · scan page 135

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THE    EX-PARTE   COUNCIL.  125
constituent  part  of  a  Council  which  condemns  us  for  the
same  action  its  own  rule  requires.
"VIII.  The  reply  which  tho  Clerk,  by  the  direction  of  the  Standing
Committee,  returned  to  the  signers  of  the  memorial,  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  mem-
bership those  signers  who  held  at  that  moment  the  written  testimo-
nials of  the  Church  to  their  good  and  regular  standing."
And  why  should  they  not  exclude  them?  They  had
heen  regularly  dismissed  by  a  vote  of  the  Church,  and  nei-
ther the  Clerk  nor  Standing  Committee,  nor  both  together,
had  power  to  reinstate  them.  The  Church  only  could  do
this.  The  case  of  Amos  Smith,  one  of  the  petitioners,
illustrates  this  point.  Some  years  since,  having  taken  a
letter  of  dismission,  he  did  not  present  it  to  any  other
Church,  but  on  his  return  to  this  city,  he  expressed  a  desire
to  renew  his  former  connection  with  this  Church,  and  was
received  accordingly  by  a  vote  of  the  Church,  to  which  he
returned  his  certificate  of  dismission.
"  IX.  At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Church,  held  in  the  evening  of
Nov.  24,  '63,  Mr.  Carroll,  acting  as  moderator,  denied  to  the  members
above  mentioned  the  right  of  voting,  or  of  speaking  in  defense  of  their
right  to  vote ;  and  that  denial  was  approved  by  the  meeting.  The
same  meeting  ratified  all  the  doings  of  the  Committee,  including  their
suppression  of  the  memorial."
Only  one  of  the  persons  alluded  to,  (Geo.  S.  Minor,)  was
present  at  the  annual  meeting,  and  as  lie  was  not  recognized
by  the  custom  and  rule  of  the  Church  as  a  member,  of  course
he  could  not  be  allowed  to  take  part  in  the  proceedings.
"  X.  The  reasons  for  the  dissatisfaction  with  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Car-
roll, presented  to  us  by  the  complainants,  and  sustained  by  such  evi-
dence as  tho  nature  of  this  investigation  has  made  practicable,  are  the
following:
"  1.  They  had,  at  the  time  of  his  settlement,  no  proper  evidence  that
ho  was  an  ordained  minister  of  the  Gospel  in  regular  communion  with
11

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Silent Grounds Collective, Church Burial & Death Records, CH-P004-0135. South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865, printed page not verified, PDF page 135. Hallock, Gerard, 1800-1866; digitized copy contributed by University of California Libraries https://archive.org/details/historyofsouthco00hall/page/n139/mode/1up Accessed September 8, 2026.

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