CHAPTER XIII.

CHURCH SEIZURES—CONTINUED.

Church in Boonville—One of the Oldest Religious Centers—Rev. J. N. Pierce and his Exploits—“An Honest Looker On” in the St. Louis _Christian Advocate_—Circuit Court vs. County Court and J. N. Pierce—Supreme Court—Howard et al. _vs._ Pierce—Report and Opinion—Circuit Court Sustained—John N. Pierce et al. Exhibited in no Enviable Light—Legal History of the Case—Decision—Points to be Noted—Moral Travestie—Judgment of Posterity—_Church in Springfield_—How Obtained—How Long Used—How Released—Particulars Reported by a Committee of the St. Louis Conference—_Church in Potosi_—Statement of W. S. Woodard—Plattsburg, Fillmore, Macon, Glasgow and other Churches—Strange Assertion—Statistical Value of Churches Seized over $100,000—How Restored—Property Rights Secured to the M. E. Church, South—Great Moral Courage or “Hard Cheek”—“Making History”—Martyrdom of Principle.