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Rev. Samuel Earp, Former Rector of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church Deposed From The Ministry For Financial Irregularities

Rev. Samuel Earp, Former Rector of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church Deposed From The Ministry For Financial Irregularities image
Parent Issue
Day
13
Month
May
Year
1892
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

On Tuesday, at St. Paul'schurch, Detroit, Bishop Davies pronounced the deposition f rom the clergy of Samuel Earp, formerly rector of St. Andrew's church of this city. The deposing of Dr. Earp was the result of his peculiar financial methods in this city by which many of his fortner parishoners have good reason to remember him. Some time since the wardens and vestry of St. Andrew's quietly investigated and collected a report of his financial transactions here and the outgrowth of them and forwarded them to the standing committee of the diocese, which is the executive body of the Episcopal church in this jurisdiction. That body, after niaking a thorough ination, wrotq ))r. Earp and adviscd hi trre" bisho depose him, which was done. The financial troubles of Dr. Earp are yet fresh in the mind of the public. For four years he was rector of St. Andrew's parish and from appearances was a man specially fitted for the place. He was a hard worker, besides which he was a man of great ability and administrative capacity. During his term here he did much for the church and for Hobart Guild. In the four years he raised over $36,000 for church purposes and everything he undertook appeared to prosper.' Such a power did he prove himself that he was seriously considered as a successor to the late Bishop Harris as bishop of this diocese. Within a year after coming here he began borrowing from members of his parish. They had implicit faith in him and he secured money or endorsers whenever he asked for them. Finally, in the summer of 1889 things began to look a little shady and as a result the vestry called upon him for an explanation. At first he asked for a vacation but almost immediately changed this and presented his resignation to take effect Nov. ist. This the vestry at once accepted but developtnents arising, gave it immediate effect. What Dr. Earp did with the large sums of money he borrowed has alwavs remained a íhystery. He was not an extravagant man and the general belief is that it was lost in speculation. During the last year he borrowed from everybody, keeping his head above water by borrowing from one to pay the other. There were also rumors of some transactions which would not stand investigation, the giving of a check for a large amount on a bank where he did not have a dollar deposited being one of the most flagrant. When the crash came he had borrowed in the neighborhood of $15,000, the loosers being residents of Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Detroit. He afterwards went to Pennsylvania and for some time has disappeared from the public mind, until the deposition of Bishop Davies on Tuesday again brought his financial difficulties to the public attention.