Plenty did not always reign supreme at the parsonage. There were times when supplies were exhausted, and it became somewhat difficult to know how they were to be replenished. On one occasion several persons were expected at the house. The flour-barrel was empty, the last loaf eaten. The concern of the family was not how the next meal was to be provided for themselves, but how the strangers could be entertained. This was the burning question of that day. Mr. Tweedy, of Gallas Point, on that day thought that probably the preacher’s family needed a fresh supply of the staff of life, and ordered his sons, Thomas and Joseph, to take a bag of flour to the parsonage. This came just in time to prepare bread for the evening meal, of which the visitors partook in ignorance of the circumstances under which it had been obtained.

There was little or no money in circulation, and the Missionary was paid in the exchange then current — produce. Rev. Metherall had a practical knowledge of agriculture, and was thus enabled to utilize the twelve acres of glebe land given by Mr. Laird to supplement the produce received from the people. Although there were times of straightened circumstances, he and his family were fairly well-provided for while at Vernon River.

During Rev. Metherall’s earlier years on the Island, he had no fur robe for his sleigh, and suffered much from the cold in consequence. Mrs. Whitlock, mother of the Rev. Jesse Whitlock, collected money with which to buy a robe for him. He had managed to buy a horse, after he had walked his circuit for three years. After some time the horse got entangled in a chain and broke his legs, and had to be killed. What was to be done? There was no money to buy another. He had occasionally preached to the men in the shipyards on the Vernon River. Ben- jamin Davis, Esq., father of L. Davis, Q.C., M.P., hearing of the circumstance, invited him to preach in his shipyard at Davis Point. A collection was taken up, which went far toward buying another horse.

In his position as Superintendent of the District, Rev. Metherall had some very trying journeys to make, considering his advancing years and the condition of the roads at that time. He wrote in the autumn of 1845, ‘I intended to set off for Lot 7, but finding the enemy very busy in this place (Vernon River), I thought it wisdom to stop over Sunday. On Monday I commenced my journey of 110 miles, which I had to travel in two days. I called on some of our friends by the way, and read and prayed with them. I rode on horseback 55 miles the first

day. Started again the next morning, and in the evening got to my journey’s end.”“’

19. NEW ASSIGNMENTS FOR THE MINISTERS

In 1848, Rev. Jesse Whitlock became the pastor at Three Rivers while Rev. John Butcher moved to Vernon River, and Rev. Thomas Inch, who had arrived from England in 1847, was associated with Rev. Richard Cotton in the New London Circuit. After serving only a year and a half, Rev. Inch retired from the

60 Ibid., pp. 68—70.

194