ored churches. It is
one that affords the deacon, if he be a man so disposed, to
spontaneously introduce considerable native wit and humor into the part
of the service entrusted to him; and if he does, it very naturally
prepares the way for unexpected shouts of joy and gladness on the part
of those who are emotional or subject to the sudden impulse of ecstatic
delight.

FOREST CHAPEL.

Forest Chapel, as is suggested by its name, was located in the large and
dense oak forest along Red river eight miles south of Wheelock. Its post
office has been successively, Wheelock, Fowlerville, Parsons and since
1906 Millerton. The Forest church was organized by Parson Stewart about
1886, and was served by him once a month the next seven years. In 1898
it became a remote part of the field of Rev. William Butler of
Eagletown, who also endeavored to visit it once a month.

The chapel was a lonely, dingy and dilapidated building, inside as well
as outside. It was about 20 by 30 feet and was built entirely of rough
lumber. The side walls consisted of one thickness of wide inch boards,
nailed at the top and bottom, and having a thin strip over the cracks on
the outside. The roof was covered with long, split, oak clapboards, that
invariably look black and rough at the end of a year. The pulpit
consisted of a box-like arrangement that stood on a small platform at
the center of one end. The seats consisted of a half dozen rough benches
without backs, that could be arranged around the stove in cold weather,
or in three fold groups for a picnic dinner, the middle one being used
for a table on such occasions and the other two for seats around it. No
paint or even white wash ever found a place on this building. It was the
largest and best building in the neighborhood, and the popular resort
for all of their social gatherings.

The leading men of the congregation consisted of two elders, both
venerable and devout survivors of the slavery period, neither of whom
could read, and a deacon, who was one of the only two of the older
people who could read a little.

LIFTING THE COLLECTION

It was regarded as the duty of the deacon to "lift the collection" at
the Sabbath services. This gave him a very prominent part in the
services, for the collection is not lifted by passing the hat or basket,
but each contributor, after the general call brings their offering and
lays it either on the pulpit or a little stand near it. However novel
this arra