South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865 · scan page 159

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THE    EX-PARTE    COUNCIL.  149
torn.  Whose  custom  1  "  Of  Congregational  Cliurchcs ;  "
but  not  of  the  South  Church,  as  an  independent  bod5^
And  do  the  petitioners  pretend  that  among  all  the  284  Con-
gregational Churches  in  this  State,  the  custom  in  regard  to
female  voting  is  uniform  1  Is  it  so  in  all  the  Churches
represented  in  the  late  Ex-parte  Council  1  If  we  are  rightly
informed,  two  Churches  at  least,  of  the  twelve  represented
in  said  Council,  practice  female  voting,  at  least  sometimes.
We  refer  to  the  Chapel-street  Church,  of  which  the  Scribe
of  the  Council,  Rev.  Mr.  Eustis,  is  Pastor,  and  to  the  North
Church,  of  which  Rev.  Dr.  Button  is  Pastor.  We  have  it
from  one  who  was  present  at  the  meeting  which  called  Rev.
Mr.  Eustis,  that  female  members  voted  for  him  as  Pastor.
Why  then  may  not  females  in  the  South  Church  vote  for
Rev.  Mr.  Carroll  as  Stated  Supply  ?  Also  in  the  North
Church,  at  a  meeting  subsequent  to  the  one  called  for  the
purpose  of  repairing  the  organ,  when  it  was  suggested  that
the  organ  at  the  other  end  of  the  Church  needed  to  be
repaired,  or  replaced  by  another,  there  was  a  general  rally
of  the  Church  members,  male  and  female,  and  by  their
joint  vote  it  was  decided  to  retain  their  Pastor.*  As.  to
the  Chapel-street  Church,  we  can  hardly  be  mistaken  when
we  find  the  statement  confirmed  by  so  good  an  authority  as
Rev.  Dr.  Dutton,  one  of  the  members  of  the  late  Ex-parte
Council.  In  a  letter,  dated  May,  1856,  he  wrote  as  fol-
lows :  "  The  Chapel-street  Church,  in  one  instance  of  elect-
ing Pastor,  received  the  votes  of  females;  and  also  have
done  the  same  in  the  election  of  Deacons."  In  another
part  of  the  same  letter  Dr.  Dutton  wrote:  "From  the
NATURE  OF  A  Churcii,  as  composcd  of  renewed  persons,
and  as  having  power  of  self-government,  I  do  not  think
any  argument  can  be  drawn  against  the  voting  of  females,
but  the  contrary."  This  is  sensible  talk — pity  he  should
talk  differently  in  1SG3-4.  Another  gentleman  writes  thus,
under  date  of  the  13th  inst. :  "  I  was  present  at  a  meeting
to  give  Mr.  Eustis  a  call,  at  which  Deacon  W.  rose  and  sug-
*  Note  by  the  Author  op  South  Church  History. — This  infor-
mation, although  derived  from  a  member  of  the  North  Church  wlio
was  present  at  said  meeting  and  voted,  proved  to  be  incorrect.
13

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Silent Grounds Collective, Church Burial & Death Records, CH-P004-0159. South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865, printed page not verified, PDF page 159. Hallock, Gerard, 1800-1866; digitized copy contributed by University of California Libraries https://archive.org/details/historyofsouthco00hall/page/n163/mode/1up Accessed September 8, 2026.

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