- We have received the following which in justice to Mr. May, we
publish:
TO THE EDITOR: -
Inasmuch as the reports of the Chesaning Church trials have been widely disseminated, and as there is a probability that an innocent man has been unjustly accused and convicted, will you, as a matter of simple justice, please insert the following in your next issue:
Rev. F. W. May - Vindication of His Character by the People of
Chesaning.
CHESANING, Mich.
At a meeting of the citizens of Chesaning, held one week after the finding of the Church Committee, in the case of Rev. F. W. May, the following paper, upon motion of A. S. Mallory, Esq., was adopted.
The motion was carried by a rising vote and it was unanimous. The church was well filled, and the handsome sum of two hundred dollars was presented to Mr. May as a slight testimonial of confidence. This, with the sum presented a few weeks ago, makes the amount given Mr.
May, by his friends in Chesaning, since the charges were preferred, three hundred and seventy-eight dollars.
The following is the paper adopted:
We, the citizens of Chesaning desiring that the public should know the facts in reference to the recent ecclesiastical trial of Rev. F. W. May, with a personal knowledge of the man and of his daily walk among us for nearly two years, feel it to be our duty to him and common justice to our town, to most emphatically affirm our confidence in him as a christian minister, and to state that we believe him innocent of the main charge of adultery; if not, indeed, of all the church committee found against him.
Let the world know what we know. This man was only confronted by the unreasonable statement of a fallen woman, one who was expelled from the church one year ago, but who was ruled a member during the trial by the Presiding Elder, that she might blacken the reputation
of a Christian minister, and this too, while five of our most
respectable citizens gave a counter-statement, together with one of the most prominent witnesses for the prosecution.
This woman had previously signed a libel solemnly taking back this very charge upon oath, and afterwards acknowledged her signature to it upon the stand. Her statement is unreasonable, as she fixed the scene in a conspicuous place and by daylight; and we can but think
that great has been done our friend and neighbor by the
unreasonable rulings of the chair, as well as the deep prejudice manifested by the court, against the accused, and the low vile rumors of enemies in Chesaning and elsewhere, which were poured into the ears of the reverand gentlemen, who sat in judgement upon their accused brother.
We, as a community, feel greatly aggrieved, that the court instructed the witness not to communicate the name of the other supposed guilty party. It thereby threw a foul suspicion upon the good name of every woman in our midst. Had the witness been obliged to state the name, she doubtless would never have taken the stand, while the defendant would have had a better opportunity to have made a full
and complete defence by contradicting her if she had done so.
Feeling thus, we have met on this occasion, to extend to our brother our deep and heartfelt sympathy, and some substantial evidence of our continue confidence and support.
(Signed)
J. N. Eldred, Chairman
A. J. Hopkins, Sec'y