1. Purposes Clarified
2. Theory of Education Involved

1. Conference Actions
2. Purchase of the Rumsey Farm
3. School Beginnings
4. Purchase of the Old Tavern
5. Early Students

1. Promotion of School Finances
2. Construction and Dedication of Building

1. Organization of the School
2. Duties of Mr. Roberts

Benjamin Titus Roberts, who had become the head of the new movement called the Free Methodist Church, began to feel early in the history of the movement the necessity for an educational institution. It is not strange that a man who was a graduate of a Methodist University with a Master of Arts degree, and a student of no mean accomplishments, as attested by Phi Beta Kappa honors which were his, should think of the place which learning must hold in any stable Christian enterprise. And so it was that he who had been offered the presidency of Wyoming Seminary at Kingston, Pennsylvania, when he was only twenty-five years of age, began to feel the necessity of establishing a school that would serve the purposes of his group.

1. Purposes Clarified

Probably a statement of Theodore Roosevelt gathered up the thought of Mr. Roberts when he asserted,

We must cultivate the mind, but it is not enough only to cultivate the mind. With education of mind must go the spiritual teaching which will make us turn the trained intellect to good account. Education must be education of the heart and conscience no less than to the mind.[1]

The Education Committee of the Genesee Conference of the Free Methodist Church expressed the opinion that education was "the true handmaid of religion"; and that a "truly pious people" would be "an intelligent people."[2] Mr. Roberts said that one of the first acts of the Pilgrim Fathers and also of Asbury had been to found an institution of learning. He believed that God had called them as a people "to hold up the Bible standard of religion, and to preach the Gospel to the poor."[3] Without education it would be impossible to accomplish this mission. To clarify the attitudes of Mr. Roberts in this respect, a quotation from "The Design and Plan of the Chili Seminary" as found in the first catalogue which he published is given: "While we cannot prize too highly the benefits of mental culture," he stated, "we must not lose sight of that MORAL and RELIGIOUS culture, which lies at the foundation of correct principles and good character."[4] To divorce the two would be dangerous as the past had shown, since ignorance was the "mother of SUPERSTITION AND RELIGIOUS ERROR." A system of education that did not comprehend the great truths of Christianity "fosters skepticism and infidelity in the youthful mind." A teacher should labor, he thought, to show the harmony between science and religion, "between the discoveries of the one and the doctrines of the other." While he would "eschew anything sectarian," he would make the Word of God the standard, using the Bible as a textbook. He would aim to impress the great truth, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," but they would also "watch for their souls as those who must give account."[5]

Another purpose incidental to the above, was the desire to remove the children of their people from institutions of a more "worldly" character. In 1869 Mr. Roberts said that "for years, the conviction has rested upon us, that there ought to be a school under more decidedly religious influences than most with which we are acquainted."[6] In the catalogue noted above, the opening sentence reads, "We design having such a school, as some have seen the necessity of, one where a practical and thorough education can be gained, without the hindrances to piety found in most of the fashionable schools of our land."[7] To enforce this idea, he directed attention to an article in The Earnest Christian, written by Mrs. J. B. Freeland, in which she had mentioned a fifteen year old girl who had been converted, but while attending school "compromised." Mr. Roberts emphasized, "It was while she was attending school; and she is but one of the many sad proofs that we have among us of the need we have of salvation schools, where children may acquire an education without doing it at the peril of their own souls."[8] The first decisive action taken by the local Conference area specified that they wished their children to have a scientific and literary education "comparatively free from those temptations and worldly influences, which too often beset the inmates of such institutions, and prove the destruction of real, scriptural piety."[9] As the General Superintendent, it was B. T. Roberts who presided at all the Conference sessions, and who put his impress upon them in these matters.

Another sidelight on the above is found in an early communication from the Rev. William Belden of New York City, written to Mrs. Roberts in which he mentioned in reply to an appeal for funds that she had specified the new institution to be "a place to educate the children of the poor ministers of the Free Methodist Church."[10] Knowing the small salaries given to these men on the field, Mr. Roberts was aware that few of them could give their children proper educational advantages at the higher costs involved in most schools of the day. However, not only the preachers, but others of small means were in view. His interest in the poor of earth had not decreased with the passing years. He said a few years later:

Another object we have in view, is to give those of but little means an opportunity to acquire an education by their own efforts. For this purpose a farm was purchased and is carried on in connection with the school.[11]

He also "purposed to give the youth of both sexes an opportunity to acquire a good education where they would not be led into the pride and vanity and extravagance of the day."[12] His interest in using not only men but women as well in the ministry probably made him feel more deeply the need of the co-educational emphasis. The express purpose, however, was not to prepare for the ministry but to provide a place, as the Genesee Conference resolution expressed it, "where our children may obtain a scientific and literary education."[13] Then, too, this scientific and literary education "was to be joined to definite religious teaching." Mr. Roberts thought that from the first "a deep religious influence" had prevailed which was "constantly increasing."[14] By the year 1876, he expressed it as his belief that Chili Seminary had come up more nearly to his idea of a "salvation school" than he had even dared to hope.[15]

Overshadowing the whole project was the belief of Mr. Roberts that he was divinely directed in the founding of the school. He said specifically, "We started our school at Chili, as we firmly believed, by Divine direction."[16] Those who were most closely associated with it knew, however, that everything had not been ideal, in every respect. The Committee on Education of the Genesee Conference in 1876 stated, "It is not wisdom to cavil, because everything connected therewith has not been perfect," but they felt that the "general results" were "more favorable than could have been reasonably expected under the circumstances."[17] They expressed the opinion that the school was serving the church because there was "no more earnest and self sacrificing devotion, to the distinctive principles which we maintain" than could be found "among those youth who have shared most largely the benefits of that institution."[18]

2. Theory of Education Involved

The Illinois Conference of 1868 had approved "the thorough practical education of all classes,"[19] indicating the emphasis that Mr. Roberts was in the beginning placing upon this aspect of education. In 1866, after speaking quite at length on the benefits of religious training, Mr. Roberts continued, "Children should also be trained up to the practice of labor. Man was made to work." This he further elucidated by our first parents in the garden, and by speaking of the necessity of labor as found in the Ten Commandments, and by quoting Paul to the effect that if any would not work neither should he eat. He argued that Christ probably forbade to lay up riches lest people should be found without the necessity of work. He also cited Solon, the Athenian lawgiver as excusing any son, not trained in a trade by his father, from his support.[20] Referring to the same necessities two years later, he emphasized that work was in reality "a religious duty, just as incumbent upon us as it is to pray, or keep the Sabbath." One could no more afford to be idle than to break one of God's commandments.

The conditions of our country, Mr. Roberts thought, suffered from the aversion to labor manifested by the young men and women. Farmers found it difficult to obtain laborers, while the city was "crowded with young men, eager for almost any situation" that did not involve the necessity of working with the hands. The "eating-saloons" were crowded with "stout young men" for waiters when they "might much better be hoeing corn or splitting rails." Depots were thronged with "stalwart runners for the hotels" who yelled themselves hoarse "for their whiskey and cold victuals." The workmen, he said, were "generally foreigners."[21]

Mr. Roberts believed a true education would eliminate the indisposition to work. "Boys who have been kept at school for years, without work, do not like to take their coats off and go at it when they leave school." Hence, he said, for the double purpose of promoting, along with sound learning, "vital piety and habits of industry," he had commenced the task of founding a seminary of learning at Chili, New York.[22] A farm of one hundred forty-five acres had been purchased to fulfill his design of having "all the scholars work from three to five hours every day." He stated that an "accomplished farmer" would teach the science and the practice of "agriculture and horticulture."[23] Since he believed that "work and study should go hand in hand all through life," he believed also that this and every school should help to form the union at "an early age."[24] Rousseau had in mind the education of the higher classes and Roberts of the middle and poor classes. Rousseau was looking at European life; Roberts at the American scene where each one must shift for himself. Roberts was endeavoring to get away from what Rousseau meant when he cried, "Things! Things! I shall never repeat often enough that we give too much power to words. With our babbling education we make nothing but babblers."[25] Mr. Roberts believed that a false education had much to do with the evils of society which are "generally deplored."[26] These evils he hoped to correct in his school

1. Conference Actives

(a) School Beginnings. The first reference which mentions the founding of a school is discovered in the Genesee Conference Journal for the year 1861. Here the following resolution is recorded

Resolved, that a Committee of two preachers, and two laymen be appointed, to take measures to secure, if possible, during the coming Convention year, a suitable edifice and grounds to be devoted to school purposes, either as a Seminary or an Academy; provided such purchase shall come within the bounds of $2000.00, and provided, also, that no purchase be made which shall involve this Convention in any financial responsibility.[27]

A committee of four was specified: Rev. Asa Abell, Rev. L. Stiles, Jr. for the ministers and G. W. Holmes and T. B. Catton for the laymen. The period of greatest stress, both as to church establishment and the higher prices of the war years intervened, so that nothing of practical moment was accomplished between that action and that of 1865 when the Genesee Conference took the initiative. The Committee on Education, believing that their "wants as a denomination" along educational lines, warranted action, brought in a resolution that they "proceed at once to found an institution of learning" of academy or seminary grade. Also, willing now to assume financial obligations, they called for a subscription of fifteen thousand dollars. A committee of six, three ministers and three laymen, were appointed to carry out the resolutions and to fix the location of the institution.[28] They would also "respectfully ask" the Susquehanna Conference to cooperate with them in such a way as they should choose both in the founding and supporting of the same, "affording material aid, and in due time the patronage of a large number of students." A copy of these resolutions were ordered forwarded to the Secretary of the Susquehanna Conference.[29]

The Susquehanna Conference, which met the next month, answered the communication by simply adopting the report transmitted to them from the Genesee Conference, and agreed to appoint two ministers and one layman "to cooperate with the Committee on Education appointed by the Genesee Conference in carrying out the plan of operation proposed in said report." D. W. Thurston and W. J. Selby were appointed ministerial representatives and W. F. Geer the layman.[30] Thus the resolutions, under the guidance of Mr. Roberts, came into official action, and resulted in the origin of the proposed school.

(b) Legal Steps to Its Founding. The Genesee Conference, which had taken the initial steps for action with reference to the founding of the school, also led off the following year, by confirming a resolution brought in by the Committee on Education that, first, a committee of eleven be appointed by the Conference with full powers to secure the incorporation of a Board of Trustees of a seminary of learning to be "under the direction and patronage of the Free Methodist Church;" and second, specifying that the corporation for the school was to be composed of fifteen trustees, five to be elected by the Genesee Annual Conference, four by the Susquehanna Conference if they cooperated, three by the citizens of the neighborhood where the school should be located and three by the trustees. Nine trustees were to be from the Genesee Conference if the Susquehanna Conference did not cooperate. The above committee was to proceed to the purchase and erection of suitable buildings as soon as ten thousand dollars in "reliable subscriptions could be procured for that purpose."[31]

The Susquehanna Conference again followed the lead taken by the Genesee Conference. In a preliminary statement to their resolution, they declared that no church could meet its obligations "without making provision for the children under her care." They observed that the church needed "one or more" literary institutions, "with a regime similar to that of the Kings-wood School, under the care of the early Methodists; and more intensely religious than the schools of modern times."[32] A Kings-wood school had been introduced into America as early as 1780. The next year, Asbury recorded in his Journal, "The Lord begins to smile on our Kingswood school." With such a school in mind, the men of the Susquehanna Conference resolved to "cheerfully cooperate" with the Genesee Conference "in establishing an Institution of Learning under the supervision of the several conferences."[33] Before this date, however, a subscription list, circulated by B. T. Roberts for the school, specified Benjamin T. Roberts, Asa Abell, and G. W. Wilcox as those officially entrusted with responsibility, and instructed that the money signed be paid to them "or the Trustees who might be appointed to succeed them." Hence, it appears that before the action of the Genesee Conference, a temporary organization had been effected for the purpose of making the purchase, before the date affixed, June 8th, 1866.[34]

The Board of Trustees found in the first Annual Catalogue is headed by B. T. Roberts as President. Then follow the names of Asa Abell, Amos F. Curry, Seth M. Woodruff, Hiram A. Crouch, Joshua R. Annis, William Belden, Hart Smith, William Gould, B. F. Stoutenberg, William F. Geer, Joseph Mackey, Claudius Brainerd, Leonard Halstead, Bolivar Beach, and George W. Coleman.[35] The name of G. W. Wilcox does not appear in the above list, indicating that the elections had substituted the above names.

2. Purchase of the Rumsey Farm

At first Mr. Roberts thought of locating the school in Rochester, New York, but being convinced that city life was not conducive to the proper education of young people, he decided to locate in the country. For many years he had been acquainted with the territory that lay within Monroe County, and had been present at the dedication of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Chili during the pastorate of the Rev. William Kendall. Since that time, a "strong Free Methodist society" had been formed there. In the spring of 1866, he learned that a farm owned by a Mr. Rumsey was for sale. He went to Troy to see the proprietor, who returned to Rochester with him and was an over-night guest in his home. They agreed on the price for the farm, but Mr. Roberts, in order to make the deal, found it necessary to turn over his house in Rochester as the first payment. The owner would not consent to take the house, and it seemed that the deal was off, at least temporarily. Before retiring that night, Mr. Roberts said to his wife, "We must pray the Lord to influence him to take this house, and we must pray earnestly, for if he does not, this matter must fall through." They did pray, and the next morning their guest informed them that after consideration, he had decided to take the house in part payment. Thus a fine one hundred and forty-five acre farm came into their possession, but also a mortgage for ten thousand dollars. Interest on the loan had to be met, as well as principal to be covered.[36]

3. School Beginnings

(a) Early Teachers. Delia Jeffries, who later became the wife of the Rev. T. B. Catton, was the first teacher secured for the school. Mr. Roberts wrote to her on July 26th, stating that he had purchased a school, and wished her to consider making "application to become a teacher in the school."[37] In her reply to Mrs. Roberts, she said:

I have just been reading your letter of July 26th, and see that it is about time for your return from the west. I am feeling that I should be glad to know how you are getting along, and what the prospects of the school at present are. I have beard very little from you since I received your letter.

Then she added the following reaction:

God has been blessing me abundantly of late, and given me to feel a heart to enter the work there. I believe it to be the order of God to have something of a school, and ever since Brother Roberts spoke to me about it some years ago, I have been looking in that direction and expecting the Lord to open my way before me and make the path of duty clear and plain. It has been so almost ever since I parted with you at the camp meeting at Spencerport. Matters that were at that time giving me no little anxiety were afterward settled, and I had not a doubt that it was the order of God for me to enter the school this fall. I have made all my arrangements to spend the winter in Chili if you wish me to do so.[38]

Her letter intimated that Mr. Roberts had told her to go to Chili as soon as he arrived from the west, but she thought she should receive some communication from him. She inquired if he still had in mind the same brother for Principal that he had mentioned to her. She also desired to know if anything had been done about a building for the winter.[39] Then she added this personal item:

I am so g]ad to know that your husband has not changed his mind about my being one of the teachers. This has helped me to go in the self denying way, when, had it not been for that, I might have looked for some other position, where there would be less cross, or no cross at all and no Jesus.

Then she requested prayer and a further communication.[40]

The fact that Mr. Roberts had spoken to Delia Jeffries several years previous to the time of her letter in 1866, indicated that he had been considering a school from the early beginnings of the new church. Benson Roberts, a pupil of Miss Jeffries, referred to her as "a devoted Christian, possessing piety, sense, learning and experience," and noted that she became "a helper of the highest worth."[41] E. B. Mathews, one of the early students in the school, spoke of her in 1889 at an assembly of the school. He said they had but one teacher, "but she was excellent." He said that "Miss Delia Jeffries taught the school for Jesus sake" and he regarded her name "as precious ointment poured forth."[42]

Mr. Roberts, also, was one of the teachers in the early years, although he was never able to give full time to the job. Teaching was not new to him, for he had taught school during his University days to help defray his expenses. He temporarily renewed his teaching duties until they were able to secure other full-time teachers. Edward Mathews, later a missionary to Africa, stated that the visits of Mr. Roberts to the school "meant Greek and Latin roots for some and an address for all on deportment." He related that on one occasion after finishing his lecture on deportment, Mr. Roberts had the advanced class form in a semicircle in front of him. As he opened the exercises, he violated the rule he had just laid down to them against lounging, "and as we all thought, sleeping while the recitations were going on.[43] But "the overtired divine," fatigued from his busy labors on the Sabbath or a night journey, soon proved that he "was not unmindful of his duties as he roused up and opened fire on each in turn, to the confusion of all."[44] Another experience with grammar so threw the young Mathews into a "phrensy" that he declared to Mr. Roberts he was too old to conquer it. Mr. Roberts "came to the rescue" he added, telling him that he [Mathews] knew "more grammar in three weeks study than he did after working a year." Then, in order to secure a corroboration of his assertion, he asked Mr. Mathews to parse the following sentence, "Old John Haight has a white face."[45] Old John Haight turned out to be a cow named after a former owner. To one of the students working on the farm, and morning and night milking this cow, Mr. Roberts gave the sentence, "John Haight gives milk," and then proceeded to explain that "John Haight" is the subject because it tells who does something, "gives" is the verb for it tells what is done, "milk" is the object, etc. Repeating this in the seclusion of the barn "to the boiling of the streams of milk," the science of the relations of words began to open to his mind.[46] One pupil could not understand what was meant by a passive verb. He called this student forward, telling him he would give an illustration, which he did by playfully shaking him. Then he questioned, "What was done to you?" The answer came, "I was shaken." "Well," said Mr. Roberts, "that is a passive verb." Then another question, "What did I do?" The answer came, "You shook me." "That is an active verb," he replied, to the laughter of his pupils in the class. A young man, reared on a farm, thought he was qualified to direct his own studies. In order to bring him to a sense of his own deficiencies, Mr. Roberts asked him to tell the difference between a horse and a cow. Several attempts were made before the perspiring student was brought to admit that he needed to learn accuracy in the use of words.[47] Probably with all his other duties, Mr. Roberts could not give sufficient time to be classed as a teacher in the thinking of the students, since Edward B. Mathews told his audience in later years that they had "but one."[48] However, Miss Jeffries plainly implied that there were just two of them teaching the next year. Hence, we must conclude from her statement that for the first two terms, there were but two teachers engaged.[49] Lucy Glen also served as an early teacher, and a Professor Wright is mentioned in the diary of Mr. Roberts as making a failure at the school in 1869.[50] Mrs. J. B. Freeland and Miss Lucy Sellew taught in the following years. Suffice it to say that Mr. Roberts also acted as President of the school during the first two years. He then turned most of these duties over to Mr. George W. Anderson from New York, who was given the title, "Principal."[51]

(b) First Location. The old Rumsey farmhouse, where Mr. Roberts had often been entertained as a Methodist minister, was used for the first class rooms. Miss Jeffries wrote, "In the fall of 1866, we opened a school in one of the rooms in the farmhouse, and continued it through the winter."[52] This farmhouse was the place where the Roberts family were then living, after having given up their home in Rochester.

(c) That First Day. Although Mrs. Roberts was not so enthusiastic about the school at first,[53] yet she quickly fell in line with the plans of her husband. In an article written years later, Mrs. Roberts said she did not know how in those "stinted times" such a thing could come to pass, but she added, "it did come, because God was in it." No doubt she remembered the hard days in Buffalo after they gave up their home to help buy the first free church, and doubtless it was hard for her once again to give up their home in Rochester to make a payment for a school which she did not feel had sufficient financial backing to succeed. She then recalled, "When the day came one early spring morning that we drove to the shop where we were to begin, I felt as if a heavenly company attended us all the way. When I entered the house, I could not but say, 'God is here.' I felt I must go upon my knees and thank God." She realized that "it meant much to be consecrated to God" to a larger task, to mother not only her own, but all the young people who would be coming there to school from different parts of the country. For this task, she said, "My wings must be enlarged, my love . . . . doubled, and my faith of the kind that removed mountains."[54] That first day was but an intimation of the coming cares and burdens that were to rest upon both Mr. and Mrs. Roberts.

4. Purchase of the Old Tavern

(a) The Transaction. Mr. Roberts was in need of a building for the school, and the old town tavern seemed to be the building best adapted for his purposes. He decided that the purchase of that building would provide him with a building for the school, and would remove the demoralizing influence of the tavern in the community. He not only had to buy the building, but the business as well. It was thought the people of the community might give assistance in supplying the five hundred dollars asked for the business, so Mr. Roberts arranged for a temperance meeting, and had "able speakers" present, but, even though the "Good Templars" were out in force, only twenty-five dollars came in to help with the purchase.[55] Mr. Roberts did not record this failure, but reported that "the hotel property at Chili, ten miles west of Rochester, New York, on the Central Railroad, has been purchased to commence the school with until the buildings are completed."[56] Perhaps the good times which many had enjoyed in that old tavern killed the spirit of giving that day.

(b) The Old Tavern, a Landmark. That old landmark, which still remains intact, was built about 1800 as a hotel and barroom. The building has stood the test of time because it was reinforced by heavy hand hewn beams of red beach and oak. It contained thirteen rooms, was three stories high, and had a large wine cellar beneath it. The rooms were "high and spacious," each containing a large fireplace, reaching to the ceiling and entirely hand-carved. The ballroom was on the second floor and occupied the whole length of the house. The remainder of the floor was used for bedrooms. On the first floor was a large parlour, a living room, a kitchen about twenty-five by thirty-five feet, a barroom, several halls and two or three rooms of unknown use. The wine cellar was divided into sections, one used for wine storage, and another for a large brick bake oven.

Between the thirties and the forties in the nineteenth century, the hotel was operated by a Mr. Ferril. At that time, and for many years following, it was the chief stopping place between Buffalo and Rochester on the old Buffalo Trail. Here the stagecoaches stopped to give their passengers rest and refreshment. There the cattle drivers on their long, hot journeys, stopped for food and drink. Here the country folk gathered for their gay parties. One of the students of the school, in a personal interview with one of the earliest residents, reported he was told by the old man that "the most beautiful women on this side of New York" stopped at the tavern once. The old man continued smartly, "You think you young ones have parties: why they're nothing compared to the ones in those days. They used to come in the morning, prepare food start at noon" and "the Lord knows when they finished." The ladies, he added, changed dresses after eating and danced all night.[57]

Mr. Arch Merrill, in a historical study on Stagecoach Towns, entitled his second chapter "Down the Buffalo Road." From his work is taken the following:

Let's pretend that the bands of the clock have slipped back more than a century and that we are riding for a little while in a stagecoach, drawn by four spirited horses, down the road that links the booming young cities of Rochester and Buffalo.

It's a rather cramped journey. The passengers who got on at the Mansion House at State and Market Streets in Rochester fill all four crosswise seats of the coach. It's a bumpy ride, for the roads are full of pitches. But it is a fine spring day and the fields and woods all along the Buffalo Road are fresh and green. We are young in a young America that is not used to ease and luxury.

With a strident blast of coach horn, we pull up before a two story brick tavern where Union Street joins the Buffalo Road at North Chili. That tavern is a favorite stop for the drovers on their way to the Rochester market, only eight miles away. There they feed and water their cattle, swine and sheep. They find their own refreshment in the tap room.

North Chili in those days was a self-sufficient community with stores and mills. Its farmers bred fine road horses and cattle. That was before the first railroad train crawled through Chili town in 1837 on its way from Rochester to Batavia while the fences all along the line were packed with spectators. Today that pioneer railroad is part of the Main Line of the imperial New York Central.

They were gay times in the tavern, dances in the ball room, band concerts from the double tier porch that faced the Buffalo Road. But there were those in the neighborhood who shunned such frivolity. They were the New Englanders who built the white churches and their sons and daughters who were firm in the faith of the Puritans.

Stagecoach days were done but the tavern was there when in 1866 the determined leader of a religious denomination came to North Chili, seeking a location for a church school. He was Bishop Benjamin Titus Roberts of the Free Methodist Church He liked the North Chili location, rural yet not isolated. But there was a tavern in the town and he wanted no such influences around his Christian school. So when he bought a plot of land for a campus nearby, he also bought the tavern - and promptly closed it. Before the first building was erected on the new campus, the four man faculty of Chili Seminary held classes . . . . in the erstwhile tavern, shorn of its bar and bereft of its music. Thus the first Free Methodist educational institution in America was born in a tavern.[58]

Mr. Roberts was not so sentimental about the tavern as to enthuse over its past "glories." He was interested only in turning it to practical purposes. Finding Mr. William Wallace, then in charge, who had not only run the saloon but who had built the big double porch on the second story where the band played every Saturday night, he made arrangements in 1867 to buy the property and the business. There followed youthful industry where once fun and frolic had reigned.[59] Mr. Anson H. Cady moved into the tavern and operated the farm for Mr. Roberts, and his wife became a very close friend of Mrs. Roberts. Mrs. Cady felt that she had received a call from Isaiah 53:5, 6, involving the undoing of heavy burdens. They left their home in Lyons, New York and made themselves available to Mr. Roberts to serve in whatever capacity was most urgent during the following years.[60]

5. Early Students.

Most of the early students, although their names are known, would not be of sufficient interest to the general reader to record. However, the record of how one student came to attend is of special interest because it was connected with the work of Mr. and Mrs. Roberts. In August of 1867, at a camp meeting in Illinois, when Mr. Roberts was endeavoring to raise money to erect the buildings at North Chili, one of the first to give was a bashful boy of about twelve or thirteen years of age "who had outgrown his clothes." Mr. Roberts related that "as trembling he placed a ten cent piece in my hand, a thrill went over me like a gentle shock of electricity," and a voice seemed to say, "If the children take such an interest, the school will be a success." Three years later, when Mr. Roberts was attending a camp meeting in New York, he mentioned this circumstance. Mrs. Roberts arose to explain that this boy was the son of a Free Methodist preacher in poor circumstances and asked if some one would not be interested in sending him to school. At the close of the meeting, Mrs. Joseph Mackey, wife of a New York business man, said, "Send for him to go to school, and I will pay his bills." When news reached the boy in Illinois that he was to receive an education, he was in the field hoeing corn. To express his joy "he turned a somersault and stood on his head." That boy was none other than Vivian A. Dake, the man who became founder of the "Pentecost Bands." Mr. Roberts said, "He came to our school at Chili, a bright, uncultivated, unconverted boy, thirsting for knowledge, ambitious to learn. He was clearly converted and . . . . became a power for good."[61]

In September 1869, Mrs. Roberts received a letter from a Sidney McCreery, stating that "Sr. Barney wishes me to say that Sister Warner's children and her Charlie are intending to go to school at Chili as soon as it opens." Also she wanted to know if there was "a chance to rent rooms to board themselves."[62] She further expressed a desire to "get Mattie in somewhere to school" as soon as it commenced. This she was able to do as is indicated by the fact that "Mattie's" name appeared among the list of students published in the First Annual Catalogue.[63] Through friendships, advertising in The Earnest Christian, as well as through personal solicitation and public presentation, the school was able to make a beginning, and fifty-six students graced its barren halls during the school term, 1869-1870.[64]

1. Promotion of School Finances

Mr. Roberts must be understood as the prime promoter of the school, and as the presiding officer of the several Conferences, to be behind the actions of the same to assist financially. Reference has been made that in 1865, the Genesee Annual Conference had voted to proceed at once to found an institution of learning, and that the sum of fifteen thousand dollars be raised for the purpose;[65] Susquehanna Conference responded to Genesees's request for material aid by adopting their report. Other actions by the Genesee Conference the next year followed, including the approval of buildings as soon as ten thousand dollars could be secured in reliable subscriptions.[66] The acquiescence of the Susquehanna Conference, and their more definite action of the following year that they would "present this project in some form" to all their societies soliciting their "prayers and contributions for its success,"[67] indicated cooperative endeavor. In 1868, the conference assessed itself one thousand dollars for the school, the money to be raised "by the several stations and circuits," according to ability, to be determined by a committee. The responsible ministers were to collect the money and forward the same to Mr. Roberts.[68] The Illinois Conference took a more guarded action by recommending the school to "the cooperation and patronage" of the people.[69] The same year, the Genesee Conference pledged two thousand dollars, and apportioned an amount equal to one dollar per member including probationers, ordered a collection to complete the buildings, and the solicitation of individuals for larger donations toward the project.[70] All of these conference actions are indications of what was taking place under the promotional work of their leader. In the Minutes of both the Susquehanna and Genesee Conferences, there are records of finances to date, showing approximately ten thousand dollars under subscription, over seven thousand expended, leaving an approximate need of three thousand dollars.[71] Mr. Roberts reported in The Earnest Christian of the same year that he had become personally responsible for the amount of four thousand dollars for the new building begun the previous summer, and that two thousand dollars more were needed to finish the building, making the total deficit six thousand dollars. They had "assets, subscriptions and pledges" covering approximately one half of the amount, so that the need stood for about the same amount as indicated in the Conference, three thousand dollars.[72]

As might be expected, Mr. Roberts, assisted by his wife, was doing his utmost to cover the amount needed by subscription. Mrs. Roberts wrote to their friend, the Rev. William Belden, one of the trustees for the year 1869-70, requesting financial help for the school. He wrote back:

After you wrote to me the inquiry 'Whether the Lord had shewed me any duty I might have in connection with giving money for the School' and particularly mentioned that it was desirable that something be done for it, as a place to educate the children of poor ministers of the Free Methodist Church, I made up my mind to send you $100.00.[73]

That same Congregational minister opened up his heart shortly after and wrote a short note in a beautiful hand in which he asked for acknowledgment of "my check in your favor for Five Hundred Dollars ($500) in full for my subscription to the school to be established by yourself and Trustees named to act with you.[74]

H. A. Crouch had evidently been solicited by both Mr. Roberts and Mr. Mackey of New York. He acknowledged the receipt of both letters in his reply. Evidently being under some financial pressures he said, "I only send the tithes as yet (expressed through in advance of the freight);" and then added a note of hope, "When I can send you from the other part, it will help you some." Rather apologetically for the smaller amount, he added, "I know these little sums chink in, but don't get discouraged."[75]

It is always helpful in the midst of pressing needs to have someone to tell how the desired end should be accomplished. Pertaining evidently to the failure to get Mr. Mackey and Mr. Crouch to give as much as had been anticipated, Mr. James wrote, "I am afraid this looking to certain moneyed men, as Brother Crouch and Brother Mackey, is not of God, or it would have been more successful. The Lord doesn't lead his people into snares, and yet Bro. Roberts was ensnared by relying upon Brother Crouch." Then came the method propounded, "God's way of raising money is the old-fashioned one, Ex. 25:2, 1 Cor. 16:12 - 'Let every man' - Every pilgrim in the land should have a contribution in that school and farm, and then there would be a general interest in it everywhere." Then he returned to his main point, "When I see signs of this looking to certain rich men as I do sometimes, I think of the remark of Wesley, 'Woe unto the Methodist Church when rich men become necessary to it.' God's choice is seen in James 2:5. He still chooses the poor to do His work."[76] This must have caused a little twinge of conscience in Mr. Roberts, for he had written in somewhat the same manner about the necessity of depending on the rich when ornate churches were built, and had quoted more accurately Wesley's statement[77]

Mr. Roberts knew something about fair promises with small performance. In 1869, he wrote, "The charter has been granted. The building is nearly ready for plastering. We are greatly in want of means." Then there followed this information that must have startled his hearers or readers, "The Genesee Conference, last fall, pledged to raise over $2000.00, of which about sixty dollars have been paid. The Susquehanna Conference pledged one thousand; they have paid about thirty." A short paragraph that followed might reflect the pressure he was under, "We are perplexed and embarrassed. If any who read these lines have any of the Lord's money that they wish to devote to a good cause, we know of no better. Send to us without delay."[78] Coming to the close of the year with the building completed, he acknowledged that the burden that had been upon him was still very great, "at times, almost crushing." No one had assumed any "pecuniary responsibility" besides himself. Enough to relieve him from present responsibilities had been "pledged - but not paid." He doubted not that they all had a good excuse for delaying but reminded his readers that it was better for each of them to carry a little than for him "to carry alone the accumulated load."[79]

However, from the report of the money that had already been turned in, it is evident that many were doing their best to help bear the financial responsibility of the new school building. At the Fox River Camp Meeting in Illinois, so far from the scene of their need, a circumstance occurred which Mr. Roberts declared he had never witnessed. A Love Feast, or testimony service, was in progress on Tuesday morning. Mrs. Roberts had been "led to speak of the necessities" of the school at Chili, "of the want of a school where our young people could be encouraged to enjoy religion," and of their "present embarrassment." Mr. Roberts reported that "she said but little, but the Lord was in it." A "brother" arose immediately and said, "the Lord wanted him to pay twenty-five dollars for that school." A "sister" followed with fifty. Then J. G. Terrill suggested that they follow the method of the colored people in the South, sing a lively hymn and invite the people to come forward to make their contributions. He "led off in singing" and the people "came forward with alacrity" to the stand. In a few minutes five hundred dollars were pledged, of which one hundred and seventy-five dollars were paid in cash at the time. Mr. Roberts gave his reactions, "Never was our unbelief so rebuked as on this occasion. Our wants were very pressing; but the times are hard, and we did not expect to raise anything. But God has wonderfully encouraged us to trust him."[80]

Another meeting, a little later than this period, called forth the acknowledgment, "We are a very poor hand to raise money, especially if it is going to lighten a burden that rests mainly upon our own shoulders. We prefer to crawl along under the load, in silence, as long as possible."[81] After the Rev. Gould had preached on the consecration of our substance to the Lord, and "Sister Freeland" testified to how she had gained in health when she went into the Seminary to teach, and the Rev. Albert G. Terry had followed with a morning sermon, a certain woman arose and said it had been on her mind all night that she should propose to be one of twenty or forty to give five dollars apiece for Chili Seminary. Out of this inspiration came a cash offering of $467.95 and a subscription of $404.35. Mr. Roberts added, "There was given besides, at the same time, three gold watches, one silver one, one valuable globe which cost sixty-five dollars, one revolver, and one pocket compass, the whole amounting to about one thousand dollars."[82]

2. Construction and Dedication of Building

(a) Construction. Reference has already been made to the construction of a building to take the place of the old tavern, which was considered but temporary quarters until something more suitable could be erected. The various pledges taken were for the new building rather than for the ten thousand dollar mortgage on the farm, with which Mr. Roberts struggled along for nearly twenty years. By the fall of 1867, ten thousand dollars had been pledged, and by the fall of 1868, the building was in process of construction. Its dimensions were forty by sixty feet, and it was to be four stories high. The lower story, or basement, was to be of stone, and the rest of brick. In February, 1869, the building was ready for plastering. In June of that year while he was away, Mr. Roberts wrote to his son, George, at North Chili advising him that he had sent a draft for one hundred and fifty dollars and asked him to give fifty dollars to Harvey Clarke, "to buy materials to commence plastering the Seminary," the remainder to be given to "Gordon to endorse on my note."[83] By September, Mr. Roberts could report that the building was "rapidly being completed" and that he hoped to have it ready by the first of November.[84] The next month the day of opening was still fixed with "hope" at the same date. In connection with the same article, he mentioned a draft for fifty dollars sent from someone in Rochester, signed "One for whom the Lord has done much." He hoped God would do still more for him.[85] In November, the month set for the completion, he was able to announce, "Our building is now completed." He said that "relying on God and the people" he had "pushed this enterprise to completion, believing that it was for God's glory and the good of souls."[86]

(b) The Dedication. The dedication service was announced for the sixteenth of November, with the school term to commence the next day.[87] The night before the dedication, a number of those associated with the school gathered together to consecrate themselves anew to God. Mr. George W. Anderson, who had been appointed principal, believed that God had "accepted them," filling their mouths with praises. He was also constrained to say, "Lord, I will and can do two men's work here, if thou wouldst have me." Immediately a passage of Scripture, "Be ye enlarged" was applied, and he reported, "I was, thank God!"[88]

At one o'clock in the afternoon of Tuesday, November 16, 1869, the dedication services took place. There was reported a good attendance "of pilgrims and of women and of young people from the community." Mr. Roberts reported that the exercises were of a deeply interesting character. He felt that God was there and that the offering was acceptable in His sight. One of the things particularly noted was the address by Dr. M. B. Anderson, President of the University of Rochester. Dr. Anderson was described by Mr. Roberts, in later years, as a man of pleasant address and imposing appearance, tall, straight, muscular, well proportioned, and with "a fine intellectual face."[89] In his address, Dr. Anderson dwelt particularly upon the relation of Christianity to education, tracing the course of education under the Christian system. Coming to a close, he referred to the duty of instruction in science and literature from the Christian viewpoint, and concluded by observing the elements of power and permanency in Christian institutions in that "they and their founders were associated with the moral elevation and improvement of man."[90] Benson Roberts, who attended the school, and was doubtless present at the dedication service, described Dr. Anderson as "a man of keen wit, giant mind and body."[91] During his address, he turned to Mr. Roberts with words which were to have abundant fulfillment, and said, "You, sir, will find many who are willing to sacrifice you on the altar of Christian education."[92]

An offering, of course, was taken. Mr. Roberts was not particularly happy that the audience was largely women and young folk. He rather caustically remarked, "In this country men go to auctions, where there is an anticipated chance to make money; women and young people, without money, go to dedications, where it is expected money will be called for."[93]

A personal Incident is recorded by C. M. Damon, who had been recently assigned, to his "overwhelming astonishment," to the pastorate at Syracuse, New York, although he had wanted to take up his work in the West. He had written to New York concerning his contemplated marriage there, intending to leave immediately for Cannon Valley, Minnesota, where he expected to join the Conference. Receiving his appointment before his marriage, he was so downhearted that he explained, "I can't see any God in it." He was greatly cheered by the arrival of Mr. Roberts, who performed the ceremony, and received ten dollars from the "very little store" of Mr. Damon. Then on his way to Syracuse with his young bride, he "took in the dedication of Chili Seminary." Although he confessed they "had but little in hand to begin housekeeping," when the pull for money came from that crowd so devoid of men, this poor young divine "made a sacrifice to the Lord amounting in the aggregate to about ninety dollars." Part of his offering was "a quite valuable watch, nearly new" which he surrendered. He then proceeded "cheerfully" to his church without any. A year later, to his entire surprise, he recorded that Mrs. Roberts "raised a subscription, bought the watch and returned it to me with the injunction not to give it away again, but keep it for the work of the Lord." When Mr. Damon published a book in 1900, he still had "the same works" of the watch he had given away so many years before.[94]

A week after the dedication, a number of those at the school met together for a class meeting in "the general study room of the Seminary." Mr. Anderson reported that "Heaven drew near" and they heard from the "excellent glory" the words, "Thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise." He exclaimed, "0, that was a time long to be remembered!" He believed that if God's people could only "breathe these spicy breezes from heaven, and see how God endorses us in the work . . . . they would take a wonderful interest in this school, and resolve to make it a success."[95]

School opened the day following the dedication with thirty-nine young people in attendance, a goodly number of them from the local community and surrounding towns. Mrs. Rebecca Woodruff, who was then a girl in the school, later recalled something of the living conditions inside the school thus:

There were two other girls in the same room, Arlie Olney and Densie Slocum. There were two trunks, and our store box we covered with a shawl and used as a table. There was no closet so we stretched a rope across the corner of the room back of the door to hang our clothes on. Our light was a small kerosene lamp. We had one chair without a back to it. On it was a wash howl that each of us had to take turns in filling, going to the cistern pump in the kitchen for water . . . . There was another bedroom off the kitchen where Ella and Hattie Warner, Mattie McCreery and Ida Collins Winget and Mabel Freeland occupied. The kitchen was the only room we had to eat, study and sit in by the warmth of the cook stove. There was a long table where about twenty, including teachers and matron ate.[96]

On the third floor there were two rooms with folding doors where the students sat, probably in a social hour. This was heated by a large coal stove. Across the hall were two recitation rooms with old settees and a table. (Were these the new ones which Mr. Roberts had bought, grown old in the thinking of Mrs. Woodruff, who was ninety years old at the time she wrote her recollections?) All the floors and walls were bare. There was a large bedroom on that floor for boys, though there were only three to occupy it that first year. On the fourth floor was a large closet where the girls had to hang some of their best clothes. On Saturday before dark, they would ascend to the fourth floor to select their dresses for Sunday. Also that floor was used for setting up exercises for the girls once a week.

Two pictures, the practical and the ideal, have been given of the outside setting of the Seminary. One of the students of that first year of 1869 wrote realistically:

We arrived at the little station at dark. Charles Roberts [son of B. T. Roberts] was there with a one seated buggy. He asked if we were students, and said he would take us to the home of Brother Stoutenburg where our parents had told us we had better go first, as we knew him well. Charles surely was a furious driver. We were just covered with mud when we reached Brother Stoutenburg's home. In the morning we were shown to the Seminary. The building stood in an open field with no walks or trees, but plenty of mud.[97]

Miss Delia Jeffries, the first teacher of the institution, painted a somewhat different picture:

I enjoyed my work and felt my whole soul absorbed in your farm, Seminary, and matters that I saw God had laid upon you. I saw the glory about that Seminary just before I left, that I had never seen before. As I was walking out at evening in Brother W's yard I saw a brightness about it that reminded me of the buildings in the city of the new Jerusalem, not builded with hands, and since I have been here, I have seen it hidden away under the wing of the Almighty.[98]

1. Organization of the School

(a) Teachers and Curriculum. The school year 1869-70, with the new building ready for occupancy, had a more formal announcement than any previously made, for then was published The First Annual Catalogue and Circular of the Chili Seminary. The staff was made up of George W. Anderson, Principal, and teacher of Latin and Greek; Miss F. F. Clement, teacher of French, Rhetoric, etc.; and Miss Mary Carpenter, teacher of Mathematics.[99]

A preparatory course of the common branches was first specified of the subjects followed by the text: "Reading - Sanders; Spelling - Sanders; Penmanship; Analysis - Town; Geography - McNally; Arithmetic, Mental and Written - Robinson; Grammar - Brown; United States History - Willson." Under "Plan of Instruction" it was emphasized that every student should obtain "a practical and thorough knowledge of the branches pursued."[100] It was further emphasized that no student would be encouraged "to leave the Elementary Branches, such as Reading, Spelling, etc., and pass to the Higher Branches, until the former had been well mastered."[101]

Following the "Preparatory Course" was the "Graduating Course, or Higher Branches," divided into Junior, Middle and Senior years, with the school year divided into fall, winter, and spring terms. For the Junior year, the subjects centered more particularly in the secular subjects, while the Senior Class studied religious and philosophic texts almost exclusively. The one major exception was surveying, listed for the winter term. Four languages, Latin, Greek, French, and German were offered. The following subjects were listed for Juniors Fall Term "Arithmetic - Robinson's Practical; Algebra Robinson's Elementary; History - Willson's Outlines; Grammar Brown Winter Term. "Arithmetic - Robinson's Higher Algebra Robinson 5 University; History - Willson's Outlines Bookkeeping East man." Spring Term. "Algebra - Robinson S University History - Willson's Outlines; Physiology - Hitchcock; Rhetoric - Quackenboss." For the Middle Class, the following subjects were listed: Fall Term. "Geometry - Robinson; Rhetoric - Quackenboss; Natural Philosophy - Quackenboss." Winter Term. "Geometry - Robinson; Astronomy; Logic - Whately." Spring Term. "Astronomy; Botany; Geology - Hitchcock." The Senior Class subjects were as follows: Fall Term. "Elements of Criticism -Kames; Moral Science - Wayland; Political Economy - Way-land." Winter Term. "Natural Theology - Paley; Mental Philosophy - Upham; Surveying - Robinson." Spring Term. "Analogy of Religion - Butler; Evidences of Christianity - Paley; Review."[102] The students were urged to bring with them all the school books they could.

All the books in the library were listed in the catalogue. The library consisted of thirty-seven books from the library of the late William Kendall, twenty-seven books from S. K. J. Chesbrough, and several from D. F. Newton who had, for a time, been co-editor of The Earnest Christian and Golden Rule. At the close of the meager list, Mr. Roberts announced, "We earnestly solicit contributions of books from others."[103]

(b) Regulations.

(1) Expenses. This was designated by Mr. Roberts as "actual cost."[104] Board was to cost three dollars per week with fifty cents extra for tea and coffee.[105] Tuition, which was "at the usual rates" varied: for the elementary branches, five dollars; for the Higher Branches, eight dollars, and for the Classics, ten dollars. Students were asked to provide their own wood, light, etc. Rooms were to be furnished with bedstead, straw bed, chairs, wash stand, and stove. All other furniture had to be furnished by the student.

(2) School Rules. Two different sets of rules were listed. In the first set, it was stated that the exercises would commence each day with reading the Scriptures, singing, and prayer. No social intercourse was allowed to students during study and recitation hours. Students outside the building must observe the same study hours as those within. In case of "habitual delinquency" the student might be suspended or expelled. Under the second set of rules, students were required to retire at ten and arise at six. Every student "must strictly observe the Lord's day." They were required to attend public worship and were "not allowed to visit each other's rooms on this day, nor to be strolling abroad." Each one had to attend a Sunday afternoon Bible Class conducted by the Rev. Levi Wood who lived near the school. All were expected to go "promptly and quietly" to their meals, and "to observe a proper decorum at table."[106]

(3) Grading and Deportment. A record of recitations and deportment was kept daily for each student, and a report was prepared weekly for "the inspection of parents and guardians." For correct deportment and perfect recitations, the student was given 10. A failure was, of course, zero. There was a public examination of classes at the end of each term.[107]

That deportment was always perfect then is denied by Mrs. Woodruff, a former student who wrote the following account in 1937 when about ninety years of age. She said:

The teachers didn't know all that was going on: some things were done on the sly. It was arranged one night that Benson Roberts [son of the founder] was to take my sister for a sleigh ride and Lemuel Halstead took Mabel Freeland. When the girls heard sleigh bells, they were to go out the back kitchen door, and the rest of us must not tell on them, but let them in quietly when they returned. One night Charles Barney stole away to a party and one of the boys was to let him in when he gave the signal. The boy did not hear him, but the Professor heard him and opened the door to his surprise. Another time when Mrs. Moore went to the pantry to get the turkey she had prepared for dinner, it could not be found. Someone had taken it to the cupola and hidden it. It was finally found since the boys did not want to miss their turkey dinner.[108]

2. Duties of Mr. Roberts

(a) Detail Work. Mr. Roberts was interested in some of the little details as well as matters of greater importance concerning the school. Mrs. Woodruff told that one Saturday "when Brother Roberts returned from the city in a lumber wagon," among a number of things that he brought back was a bedstead, and that she and her sister, Emma, "were not long in claiming it." They had been sleeping on the floor on a straw tick reinforced by a small feather bed which their mother had sent along in case of cold weather. She remembered, as a woman would, that Mr. Roberts also brought a dozen silver teaspoons marked C.S. [Chili Seminary].[109]

Mr. Roberts had to look after the farm hands too. He had acquired some knowledge of farming, and it was said that he prided himself on the straight furrow he could plough. Miss Delia Jeffries told how he had to check on the workers to see that their work was "well done." One time in her hearing, he said that those whom he employed seemed to think, because he was a preacher, that he did not know how work should be done, and this sometimes made it hard for him. One day she saw him take hold of the plow and go along with the plowman to see about the soil. A minister standing nearby observed

During the construction of the Seminary building, it was Mr. Roberts who had to look after the workmen and see that all materials were on hand. He had to manage the farm, see that the crops were threshed, fall seeding taken care of, and all other work on the farm properly looked after. He did "a vast amount of preaching," making long journeys during the course of his work, superintended the general interests of the new church, edited a monthly magazine, and took care of the mailing of the many thousands of copies sent out each month. His home and family interests demanded some attention, and for many years he bore the heavy debts incurred in the founding of the Seminary. Miss Jeffries thought "he did more work than a man ought to do." One time, when unusually heavy duties were pressing, she asked him, "Is it right for you to do and bear so much? Is it not duty to take things a little easier, and not wear yourself out so fast, as you must do with so many burdens upon you?" He replied, "I am bearing double burdens . . . . because those whom the Lord calls to come to my help do not respond to His call, thus leaving me not only to bear my own burdens, but also to do the work they leave undone."[111] Mr. Roberts was also buyer for the school. A bill of sale from Charles J. Hayden and Company of Rochester, New York recorded the purchase by Mr. Roberts on January 22nd, of twelve setters, five and a half feet long, costing thirty-nine dollars and sixty cents.[112] G. W. Anderson, Principal of the Seminary, writing in the fall of 1870, evidenced the fact that he was depending on Mr. Roberts for many little details which he might well have looked after himself. He said, "How about stoves? Brother S. doesn't seem to be able to get the coal up. When shall I put down the matting? Brother Sellew wrote me the stove was on the way."[113] All these small duties generally try the soul of a man, but Miss Jeffries, who lived in the same house as the Roberts family, said, "I do not remember to have heard him speak one unpleasant, hasty or unkind word while I was there."[114]

(b) Administrative and Spiritual Oversight. Mr. Roberts wrote in the fall of 1870 to Mr. Anderson, the principal, about the work of the school. Mr. Anderson replied, thanking Mr. Roberts for his communication and reporting that "things go on quite encouragingly." After stating that they were having reviews every week in preparation for examination, he acknowledged that he had been "wonderfully tempted all around." It appeared to him that all the scholars were going to backslide, "Brother Perkins" became so sick that he went home, and for a time it seemed that everything was against them; but he reported "the atmosphere is now much clearer." He wanted Mr. and Mrs. Roberts to pray, for "the devil has not given up trying to run the life of religion out of the School." He gave to Mr. Roberts this consolation, "Through grace we are determined to conquer though we die."[115]

Mr. Roberts was greatly assisted in every part of the work by his wife. Benson, a son, remembers the "ceaseless energy" with which she devoted herself "to this great task, often carrying very heavy burdens because of my father's necessitated absence from home from which most women of her training would have shrunk." He said his mother knew "how to pray her way through."[116] From 1869 till near the close of life she was the appointed leader of the Tuesday evening class meetings at the Seminary.[117]

In addition to the duties already mentioned, Mr. Roberts had the responsibility of securing teachers for the school. In this, he felt himself to be divinely assisted. He later said about this phase of the work, "The Lord has raised us up teachers, thoroughly competent, wholly consecrated to Him who teach as true ministers of Jesus Christ preach, not to make money, but to serve God."[118] As soon as they were financially able, he set up an organization that would shift some of the responsibilities to others. Some time later, when he was again traveling in meetings, Mrs. Roberts expressed the confidence that "if God had a fair chance, He would bless you beyond what you have ever been blessed." Then she explained, "By a fair chance, I mean if you were out in the work of soul saving, where the people were hungry, and you did not have to think all the time of debts, and interest money, and mortgages, and shiftless hired men, etc., etc."[119] For years there was a struggle to meet the interest on the ten thousand dollar mortgage on the farm, to pay up the remaining debt on the building, and to meet the current expenses of the school out of its meager income. But he testified that God never failed in time of need, that "just when the pressure is greatest God sends relief."[120] During those years, his critics were plentiful. Delia Jeffries said she used to feel that there was one woe that would never be pronounced upon him, and that was, "Woe unto you when all men speak well of you."[121] Even after he was able to secure competent help to take over the work of the school, his heart was still with the institution he had founded, and he never lost interest in its progress to the end of his life.

[*] Now Roberts Wesleyan College, North Chili, New York.

[1] Theodore Roosevelt. Quoted in The Second Chance. a publication of the A. M. Chesbrough seminary, 1930.

[2] Minutes of the Genesee Annual Conference, 1868, p.?.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Annual catalogue and Circular of the Chili Seminary, (Rochester, New York: Earnest Christian Office. 1870), 7.

[5] Ibid.

[6] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (July, 1860). 33.

[7] Annual catalogue and Circular of the Chili Seminary, 7.

[8] B. T. Roberts. The Earnest Christian, (September. 1868), 97.

[9] Minutes of the Genesee Annual Conference of the Free Methodist Church, (Albion, New York, October, 1865), p.19.

[10] Letter from Rev. William Holden to Mrs. Roberts, written from New York, April 14, 1867. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family.

[11] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (April, 1876), 136.

[12] Ibid.

[13] Combined Minutes, Genesee Conference, 1665, p.19.

[14] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (April, 1676). 136.

[15] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (March, 1876), 102.

[16] B. T. Roberts. The Earnest Christian, (April, 1876), 136.

[17] Combined Minutes, Genesee Conference, 1876, p.8.

[18] Ibid.

[19] Combined Minutes, Illinois Conference, (September 17, 1868).

[20] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (May, 1866), 160.

[21] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (November, 1868), 160.

[22] Ibid.

[23] Ibid., (May, 1866), 160.

[24] Ibid., (November, 1868), 160.

[25] J. J. Rousseau, Smile, translated by William H. Payne, (New York: D. Appleton, 1895), p.157.

[26] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (November, 1868), 160.

[27] Genesee Conference Journal, October 24, 1861.

[28] Combined Minutes, Genesee Annual Conference, October, 1865, p.19.

[29] Combined Minutes, Genesee Annual Conference, 1865, p.19.

[30] Combined Minutes, Susquehanna Annual Conference, 1865, p.31.

[31] Combined Minutes, Genesee Conference, 1866, p.10.

[32] Ibid., Susquehanna Conference, October, 1866, p.33.

[33] Combined Minutes, Susquehanna Conference, October, 1866, p.33.

[34] Facsimile of document, dated June 8, 1866, in the handwriting of B. T. Roberts is to be found among the personal letters of the Roberts family.

[35] Annual Catalogue and circular of the Chili Seminary, (Rochester, New York: Earnest Christian Office, 1870), 3.

[36] B. H. Roberts. Benjamin Titus Roberts, pp. 353-355.

[37] Delia Jeffries. Quoted by B. H. Roberts. op,. cit., p.356.

[38] Letter from Delis Jeffries to Mrs. B. T. Roberts, written from Peoria, September 24,1866. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family.

[39] Ibid.

[40] Ibid.

[41] B. H. Roberts, op. cit., p.356.

[42] Edward B. Mathews, The Free Methodist, (January 9,1889), 21.

[43] Ibid.

[44] Ibid.

[45] Ibid.

[46] B. H. Roberts, op. cit., pp. 362, 363.

[47] B. H. Roberts, op. cit., p.363.

[48] Edward B. Mathews, The Free Methodist, (January 9.1889), 21.

[49] Delia Jeffries. Quoted by B. H. Roberts, op. cit., p.357.

[50] Diary of B. T. Roberts, February 17.1869. Quoted by B. H. Roberts, op. cit., p.384.

[51] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (November, 1869). 163.

[52] Della Jeffries. Quoted by B. H. Roberts, op. cit.. p.356.

[53] B. H. Roberts. Quoted by Adella P Carpenter, Ellen Lois Roberts, p. 114.

[54] Ellen Lois Roberts, "Friendly Letters," The Earnest Christian. Quoted by Addis P. Carpenter, op. cit.. p. 178.

[55] B. H. Roberts, op. cit., p.360.

[56] B. H. Roberts. The Earnest Christian, (November. 1867), 161.

[57] Personal interview of James DeLello of Robert. Wesleyan College with Mr. Hubbard. old time resident of North Chili, New York.

[58] Arch Merrill. Stagecoach Towns, published by the Gannett Company. Inc., (Rochester, New York: Louis Heindl and Son). p.13.

[59] Personal interviews of Arthur Gailey and L. Perkins with early settlers In North Chili, New York.

[60] B. H. Roberts, op. cit., p.364.

[61] B. T. Roberts. Quoted by Thomas H. Nelson, Life and Labors of Rev. Vivian A. Dake, (Chicago: T. B. Arnold Publishing Company 1894). p.19.

[62] Letter from Sidney McCreery to Mrs. Roberts, September 16, 1869. Found among personal letters of the Roberts family.

[63] First Annual Catalogue and Circular of the Chili Seminary, (Rochester. New York: Earnest Christian Office, 1870). 5.

[64] Ibid., pp. 4-6

[65] Combined Minute:, Genesee Conference, 1865, p.19.

[66] Combined Minutes, Genesee Conference, 1866, p.10.

[67] Combined Minutes, Susquehanna Conference, 1867. p.29.

[68] Combined Minutes, Susquehanna Conference, 1868. p. 21.

[69] Combined Minutes, Illinois Conference, 1868. p.51.

[70] Combined Minutes, Genesee Conference, September 24.1868, p.7.

[71] Combined Minutes, 1869. Genesee Conference, p.10; Susquehanna Conference, p.38.

[72] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (July, 1869). 33.

[73] William Belden to Mrs. Roberts. written from New York, April 14, 1867. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family.

[74] Letter from William Belden to Mr. Roberts, written from New York, July 11, 1867. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family.

[75] Letter from H. A. Crouch to Mr. Roberts, written from Tarr Farm, Wisconsin, September 4, 1868. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family.

[76] Letter from J. T. James to Mrs. Roberts, written from New York, January 14, 1869. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family.

[77] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (March, 1861). 100.

[78] B. T. Roberts. The Earnest Christian, (February. 1869), 66.

[79] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (November, 1869). 163.

[80] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (July, 1869). 32.

[81] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (September, 1871), 98.

[82] Ibid.

[83] Letter from B. T. Roberts written to George Roberts, June 23, 1869. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family.

[84] B. T. Roberts. The Earnest Christian, (September. 1869), 96.

[85] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (October, 1861). 131.

[86] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (November. 1869), 163.

[87] Ibid.

[88] The Earnest Christian, (December, 1869), 191.

[89] B. T. Roberts, The Free Methodist, (March 12, 1890), 8.

[90] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (December, 1869), 190.

[91] B. H. Roberts, op. cit., p.361.

[92] Dr. M. B. Anderson, Address at Dedication of Chill Seminary. quoted by B. H. Roberts, op. cit., p.381.

[93] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (December, 1869), 190.

[94] C. M. Damon, Sketches and Incidents, (Chicago: Free Methodist Publishing House, 1900), p.117.

[95] George W. Anderson, The Earnest Christian, (December, 1869), 191.

[96] Letter from Rebecca Shriver Woodruff to Dean Howard E. Updyke, 1937. In possession of Howard E. Updyke, North Chili, New York.

[97] Ibid.

[98] Letter from Delia Jeffries to Mrs. Roberts, written from Peoria, New York, August 16, 1869. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family.

[99] Annual Catalogue and Circular of the Chili Seminary. 1869-70, (Rochester, New York: Earnest Christian Office, 1870). 3.

[100] Ibid., p.8.

[101] Ibid.

[102] Ibid., pp. 8, 9.

[103] Ibid., pp. 10,11.

[104] H. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (November, 1869), 163.

[105] Letter from Rebecca Shriver Woodruff to Dean Howard E. Updyke, 1937. In possession of Howard E. Updyke, North chili. New York.

[106] Annual Catalogue and Circular of the Chili Seminary', 1869-70, (Rochester, New York: Earnest Christian Office, 1870), pp. 11,12.

[107] Ibid.

[108] Letter from Rebecca Shriver Woodruff to Dean Howard B. Updyke. 1937. In possession of Howard B. Updyke, North Chili, New York.

[109] Ibid.

[110] Delia Jeffries. Quoted by B. H. Robert op. cit., p.358.

[111] Della Jeffries. Quoted by B. H. Roberts, op. cit., pp. 357, 358.

[112] Original Bill of Sale, dated February 15, 1870. Found among the personal letters' of the Robert, family.

[113] Letter from George W. Anderson to B. T. Roberts, October 6, 1870. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family.

[114] Della Jeffries. Quoted by B. H. Roberts, op. cit., p.351.

[115] George W. Anderson, Letter by B. T. Roberts, October 6, 1870. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family.

[116] B. H. Roberts. Quoted by Adella P. Carpenter, Ellen Lois Roberts, p.114.

[117] Adella P. Carpenter, Ellen, Lois Roberts, (Chicago: Woman's Missionary Society, Free Methodist Church, 1926), p.84.

[118] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (April, 1876). 136.

[119] Letter from Mrs. B. T. Roberts to her husband, written from North Chill to Coopersville, Michigan, February 21, 1872. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family.

[120] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (March, 1876), 101.

[121] Statement of Delia Jeffries. Quoted by B. H. Roberts, op. cit., p.359.