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The Charles P. McIlvaine letters were written in the 18th and 19th century and therefore may contain language that we understand today as harmful or offensive. You may encounter paternalist descriptions of Native Americans, racial slurs, or sexism. For more information, see our policy page.
Date
12-22-1862
Keywords
letter, McIlvaine, Bedell
Recommended Citation
McIlvaine, Charles Pettit, "Letter to Bishop Bedell" (1862). Charles Pettit McIlvaine Letters. 359.
https://digital.kenyon.edu/mcilvaine_letters/359
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Transcript
Cleavland Dec. 22 / 62
My dear Bishop,
I came from [Warren] today & expect to be at home tomorrow. Fourteen were confirmed yesterday. I had Abbot preach last Ev. & was greatly pleased & surprised at the excellence of the sermon in all respects & the force & propriety of his delivery. While we have been looking abroad for men to fill our host pulpits, I suspect we have not obtained better material than Abbott—so far as preaching goes; & I believe he is a good Pastor. My object in writing now is to put you in [possession] of matters at Boardman, [quoad] Mr. Boardman, so that if you have any thing [more] to do with him; you & I may be [done] one.
After service he & she came to speak to me, an honor which I think was not done me when I was there before. They asked me to come & see them. I answered that probably I would, but it depended on my time before leaving that P.M. for Canfield. When I got to McMurphy when I met his Warden Mr. [Fitch], & had [?] [my many concerning] matters, especially how he had treated your application for a [?] of that paper, I wrote him a note of which a copy is enclosed / Keep it, for I keep no copy—McMurphy has a copy)— Then I went to Canfield. We were taking tea, not having been there more than a half-hour, when he came accompanied by a lady a [?] B[?] (Beauchamp) who I [learn] [lives] [in] & is a teacher in his family—not a member of the parish. After we had done tea he said he wanted to see me in private, so we went into another room, leaving McMurphy & [Hill] behind. But he called his lady companion to go with him, so seeing he had brought her for a witness. I said I could not proceed with any conversation till I had called in McMurphy & [Hill]. They came in after an introduction by him about what false things men said of him & his doings. I said the point I must get at was his treatment of your request [?]. He said there was one thing he regretted in that [?] that he wrote the answer [on] your note. That was wrong, I said you had not mentioned that. Then he took out a copy of the paper which you asked for & said he would read it to [show] that Trustees of the Fund could be elected only by the Parishioners, that [consequently] the late elections by the Vestry was unlawful, that as he was the only Trustee of the [previous] election, that paper was rightfully in his keeping & [none] but he was in charge of the fund. I said I could not hear the [reading], that I would have nothing [less] than the paper or a copy. After a good deal of [?] about McMurphy & [?] matters by which he tried to [?] [?], he handed me a copy with which he had [come] provided. The lady was [very officious] & [intrusive], not to say [?], putting in her [?] at [various] times, which I [love] with all [patience]. After a long & excessively disagreeable setting they [retired]. I have left his copy of the paper with McMurphy & [he is] to send me a copy of it. On [?]pecting it, I see no foundation for Boardman’s [claims], but on the contrary that the Vestry is the body to elect the Trustees.
He is a poor tricky man, & a great [thorn] to McMurphy. I enclose the list of candidates composed at Canfield & Warren; or rather I will, if when I get my baggage there shall be time before the train goes.
I hope you got home well, you & [Mr. B].
Yours very affectionately
Chas. P. McIlvaine