DEACON SAMUEL HOLMES.
The death of Deacon Samuel Holmes takes from active career in life one who has been prominent and useful in many forms of Christian work in the local church and in broader efforts for the extension of the Redeemer's kingdom. He was for many years a member and officer in the Broadway Tabernacle, New York city, and on his removal thirty years ago to Montclair, N. J., he was one of the charter members of the growing Congregational Church organized there. He was the first man elected as its deacon, and to the day of his death was its senior deacon. At the time of his death, Dec. 9, 1897, he was a member of the Executive Committee of the American Missionary Association and the oldest in age and in date of appointment, having held that position for the third of a century. He was a corporate member of the American Board and a vice-president of the Congregational Education Society. He was an officer in the National Congregational Council held in Boston in 1865, and was one of the committee which convened the National Congregational Council in Oberlin in 1871. He was also a delegate to the International Congregational Council held in London in 1891. His memory will be warmly cherished in the many circles of Christian service in which he was actively engaged.