A History of Carlisle United Church
The Carlisle Circuit
The first meeting of the Official Board
of the Carlisle Circuit was held on July 12, 1875 with Rev. John Turner
as the new minister or superintendent. Carlisle Circuit was composed of
a number of "classes" meeting at Carlisle, Harper's Corners,
Brock Road and Carmel. (Later a "class" on the Tenth Line joined
the circuit.) Carlisle was obviously the largest and strongest and was
responsible for $335.00 of the $545.00 budget for the year. The minister's
salary was $250.00 a year with $200.00 for board and horse feed and $15.00
for travelling expenses and horse shoeing.
Rev Turner was obviously a single man with matrimony in mind for at
the next meeting on July 16 the Class Leaders were asked to circulate
a subscription to find out how much could be raised to pay a married minister.
They pledged $637.50. Rev Turner must have considered this adequate because
on Aug. 2 he requested a leave of absence to visit England, where he acquired
a wife, Jenny.
A full time minister with a wife required a proper home and it was the
responsibility of the Carlisle Church Board to provide one. ( Receipt
dated Sept. 20, 1875: "Received from Mr. H. Crooker of Waterdown
$400.00 for the Carlisle Circuit's claim on the late Wesleyan Methodist
Parsonage at Waterdown.
Thus while Rev. Turner was away in England, the Official "Brethren"
accepted an offer from a Mrs. Patton to provide for the minister "four
rooms and two closets in the building that she occupied and the use of
half the drive house as a stable with two stalls for horses...the rent
to be $3.50 a month" Furniture was to be purchased up to an amount
of ten dollars.
Brother Morden was appointed to meet the minister at Hamilton with a
"conveyance" to bring him and his new bride back to Carlisle.
Then on February 7th, 1876, it was "resolved that a Parsonage be
secured or built that year"
From: A History of the Carlisle United Church: From Its Beginnings to
1991
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