Part 24 Owning Property and its Ramifications
While it seems that the inheritance of property and its management by a church might be an answer to long term financial stability the examples of such incidents from the 1920’s and 1930’s might lead one to a different conclusion.
The primary inheritance came from the will of Ms. Julia Boltonhouse who had been a long time active member of the parish. Her father, Edward, had willed the family properties to her and she in turn willed those properties to the church. One of the properties was located at 155 High Street and was considered the family home. The house is still located at that spot today. Its location is between Dyer Street and Pine Street. The first mention of these properties was as early as 1918 in the church records. The church trustees, once Julia died, managed this house. They decided that it could serve as a rental property. Initially work was done on the property to make it a rental property for three families. Each of those families would pay $25 a month for their apartments. Remember that late in the 1920’s that the country and therefore, South Portland as well suffered from the Great Depression. The folks who rented these apartments were not always able to keep up payment and were often in arrears. Being a Christian institution it was difficult for the church to follow procedures of removal and frequently had to absorb the cost of housing these folks (who were also parishioners). Before the church was out of the rental business and because our own payments to the banks was at least 8 months in arrears a collection agency, E. C. Dyer Company was hired. Things were so bad in January 1937 that a credit we had with the Dyer Company was used to pay interest at the bank on the loans. Rather than pay what they owed some of the renters moved out leaving nothing on what they owed. Collections were made, new tenants paid their rents, yet the church was so far behind the Official Board at the request of the trustees gave them permission to refinance the loans providing additional monies to make needed repairs of that building. At the time of the refinancing with the South Portland Building and Loan Association the mortgage of the Boltonhouse property was separated from that of the parsonage for perhaps obvious reasons, especially if the Association instead decided to foreclose on what was owed them.
Additional financial effects of the time were the reduction of general property values due to the deterioration in the village. The reduction in values included the church, the parsonage and the Boltonhouse property in the village.
While not collecting the rent that they should have, the church through the trustees still had to maintain the property even though they were not collecting the rent to pay for the cost of upkeep. On some occasions the general budget had to find room for the cost of paying some of the expenses which included taxes. While the normal properties of churches such as the church building and parsonage were considered tax exempt any other properties owned by churches were not. Granted when looking at taxes of that day versus today they seemed to be much lower they still were an expense that needed to be paid through church ownership.
The second property that had come into the possession of the church was also through Julia Boltonhouse’s will. This property was a cottage at Old Orchard. There is some confusion in the records as to whether this property was in Old Orchard or at Pine Point in Scarborough. This cottage and land had been where the Boltonhouses had invited church groups for picnics and retreats for many years. There was one reference in the records to a Sunday School Picnic that had been held there early in the century. The excursion by available land means would have been impossible except by way of the train. The train would cross the Fore River from Portland via a trestle that linked the Portland waterfront with Turner’s Island. The train would proceed to the “Cape Elizabeth” station in Pleasantdale located at the crossroads of Broadway and Evans Street. There the picnickers would board the train with all of their summer gear and proceed through Scarborough and across the marsh through Pine Point to either the Old Orchard Beach Station or the Pine Point Depot, where the able-bodied would disembark and walk to the Boltonhouse Cottage. Those who were less firm would ride in horse drawn carriages to the same location. Late in the afternoon all would head back to the Northbound and retrace the rail they had been on that morning.
Those were happy days for the Pine Point cottage and its relationship to the church, however, once the property was inherited and the trustees thought to use it as rental property they found some of the same issues that they encountered with the house in the village. They found that the property at Pine Point needed to be refurbushed and due to the distance it was easier for them to hire someone from the area to do the work even though by this time cars and trucks were available for transport. A second issue that they contended with was payment from the renters some of whom were slow in making full payment, which was not always asked for up front. A third issue was contending with the way some renters used the property and finally the fourth issue was finding people who could afford to rent the property during this time of economic calamity anyway. A fifth issue that arose was in paying the taxes on that property to the town of Old Orchard or Scarborough. Finally in 1937 there was an attempt to sell the cottage to a George Jackson who also had some difficulties making payments to take over the mortgage. The last payment of $53.38 was made in the form of a check. David Hoyt then instructed the official board that it was the desire of the trustees to pay off the remainder of the loan to the South Portland Building and Loan Association finally ridding the church of this property.
To afford the upkeep and reconditioning of both properties the trustees gave themselves permission to borrow what was needed. It appears that the Boltonhouse Estate also came with tax liens against both properties. Here again this placed the church into something of a dilemma that they did not wish to have. Turmoil in the banking world caused a number of pains to be faced by the church relative to the above loans and regular operating expenses. The loans above were first accepted with the Fidelity Trust in 1931, one of the largest banks in Maine. Financial turmoil led the trustees and the treasurer of the church, Mr. Oscar Emerson, to shift all financial responsibilities and obligations to the South Portland Loan and Building Association in a timely fashion as the Fidelity Trust went out of business in the following year. Again funds and loan obligations were shifted to Casco Bank and Trust Company. As you can see banking was extremely volatile during this period of time.
At about the same time Mrs. Edith B. Brett willed the “Brett Property” on Jefferson Street, to the church. Rather than getting involved with the complications of ownership experienced above, the trustees chose to sell the property and apply the proceeds to the sagging budget. The property was sold for a net of $1202.96.
To conclude the saga of property ownership with properties willed to the church, both Boltonhouse properties were eventually sold, not to anyone connected with the church. The church netted around $8000.00 for both properties. One would think that would conclude this church’s forays into the rental business, however, there is still one episode in Peoples as a rental institution.
When Charles O. Perry became the pastor he and his family began their stay by living in the parsonage at 94 Broadway. Within a year after his appointment he had the opportunity to live rent-free in a home at Cushing’s Point owned by Mr. Guy A. Braun.
The trustees and the rest of the church membership agreed with and praised his opportunity, to live in such an ideally located home, but what to do with the parsonage. Pastor Perry serving Peoples from 1930-1938 lived in this home for most of that time. The trustees even though they had had some difficulties with rental properties decided they would see if someone would be interested in renting the parsonage. The parsonage was rented under strict guidelines based on lessons already learned and with the stipulation that the parsonage might be available when another pastor were appointed to the parish. In the meantime, the trustees discovered updates of equipment especially in the kitchen and bathroom needed to be afforded and taxes now that it was rental property needed to be paid.
Interestingly the management of property had become so great and so much of it had fallen on the shoulders of Oscar Emerson that he asked to be relieved of his duties at money management. This was granted and eventually the trustees and the church as stated above sold those properties that had caused many financial headaches. In 1938, when Reverend Perry left, to serve the Methodist churches in Old Orchard and Saco before retirement from the ministry. The parsonage was returned to become a pastor’s refuge when it became the home of Reverend Walter H. Cass in 1938.
While it seems that the inheritance of property and its management by a church might be an answer to long term financial stability the examples of such incidents from the 1920’s and 1930’s might lead one to a different conclusion.
The primary inheritance came from the will of Ms. Julia Boltonhouse who had been a long time active member of the parish. Her father, Edward, had willed the family properties to her and she in turn willed those properties to the church. One of the properties was located at 155 High Street and was considered the family home. The house is still located at that spot today. Its location is between Dyer Street and Pine Street. The first mention of these properties was as early as 1918 in the church records. The church trustees, once Julia died, managed this house. They decided that it could serve as a rental property. Initially work was done on the property to make it a rental property for three families. Each of those families would pay $25 a month for their apartments. Remember that late in the 1920’s that the country and therefore, South Portland as well suffered from the Great Depression. The folks who rented these apartments were not always able to keep up payment and were often in arrears. Being a Christian institution it was difficult for the church to follow procedures of removal and frequently had to absorb the cost of housing these folks (who were also parishioners). Before the church was out of the rental business and because our own payments to the banks was at least 8 months in arrears a collection agency, E. C. Dyer Company was hired. Things were so bad in January 1937 that a credit we had with the Dyer Company was used to pay interest at the bank on the loans. Rather than pay what they owed some of the renters moved out leaving nothing on what they owed. Collections were made, new tenants paid their rents, yet the church was so far behind the Official Board at the request of the trustees gave them permission to refinance the loans providing additional monies to make needed repairs of that building. At the time of the refinancing with the South Portland Building and Loan Association the mortgage of the Boltonhouse property was separated from that of the parsonage for perhaps obvious reasons, especially if the Association instead decided to foreclose on what was owed them.
Additional financial effects of the time were the reduction of general property values due to the deterioration in the village. The reduction in values included the church, the parsonage and the Boltonhouse property in the village.
While not collecting the rent that they should have, the church through the trustees still had to maintain the property even though they were not collecting the rent to pay for the cost of upkeep. On some occasions the general budget had to find room for the cost of paying some of the expenses which included taxes. While the normal properties of churches such as the church building and parsonage were considered tax exempt any other properties owned by churches were not. Granted when looking at taxes of that day versus today they seemed to be much lower they still were an expense that needed to be paid through church ownership.
The second property that had come into the possession of the church was also through Julia Boltonhouse’s will. This property was a cottage at Old Orchard. There is some confusion in the records as to whether this property was in Old Orchard or at Pine Point in Scarborough. This cottage and land had been where the Boltonhouses had invited church groups for picnics and retreats for many years. There was one reference in the records to a Sunday School Picnic that had been held there early in the century. The excursion by available land means would have been impossible except by way of the train. The train would cross the Fore River from Portland via a trestle that linked the Portland waterfront with Turner’s Island. The train would proceed to the “Cape Elizabeth” station in Pleasantdale located at the crossroads of Broadway and Evans Street. There the picnickers would board the train with all of their summer gear and proceed through Scarborough and across the marsh through Pine Point to either the Old Orchard Beach Station or the Pine Point Depot, where the able-bodied would disembark and walk to the Boltonhouse Cottage. Those who were less firm would ride in horse drawn carriages to the same location. Late in the afternoon all would head back to the Northbound and retrace the rail they had been on that morning.
Those were happy days for the Pine Point cottage and its relationship to the church, however, once the property was inherited and the trustees thought to use it as rental property they found some of the same issues that they encountered with the house in the village. They found that the property at Pine Point needed to be refurbushed and due to the distance it was easier for them to hire someone from the area to do the work even though by this time cars and trucks were available for transport. A second issue that they contended with was payment from the renters some of whom were slow in making full payment, which was not always asked for up front. A third issue was contending with the way some renters used the property and finally the fourth issue was finding people who could afford to rent the property during this time of economic calamity anyway. A fifth issue that arose was in paying the taxes on that property to the town of Old Orchard or Scarborough. Finally in 1937 there was an attempt to sell the cottage to a George Jackson who also had some difficulties making payments to take over the mortgage. The last payment of $53.38 was made in the form of a check. David Hoyt then instructed the official board that it was the desire of the trustees to pay off the remainder of the loan to the South Portland Building and Loan Association finally ridding the church of this property.
To afford the upkeep and reconditioning of both properties the trustees gave themselves permission to borrow what was needed. It appears that the Boltonhouse Estate also came with tax liens against both properties. Here again this placed the church into something of a dilemma that they did not wish to have. Turmoil in the banking world caused a number of pains to be faced by the church relative to the above loans and regular operating expenses. The loans above were first accepted with the Fidelity Trust in 1931, one of the largest banks in Maine. Financial turmoil led the trustees and the treasurer of the church, Mr. Oscar Emerson, to shift all financial responsibilities and obligations to the South Portland Loan and Building Association in a timely fashion as the Fidelity Trust went out of business in the following year. Again funds and loan obligations were shifted to Casco Bank and Trust Company. As you can see banking was extremely volatile during this period of time.
At about the same time Mrs. Edith B. Brett willed the “Brett Property” on Jefferson Street, to the church. Rather than getting involved with the complications of ownership experienced above, the trustees chose to sell the property and apply the proceeds to the sagging budget. The property was sold for a net of $1202.96.
To conclude the saga of property ownership with properties willed to the church, both Boltonhouse properties were eventually sold, not to anyone connected with the church. The church netted around $8000.00 for both properties. One would think that would conclude this church’s forays into the rental business, however, there is still one episode in Peoples as a rental institution.
When Charles O. Perry became the pastor he and his family began their stay by living in the parsonage at 94 Broadway. Within a year after his appointment he had the opportunity to live rent-free in a home at Cushing’s Point owned by Mr. Guy A. Braun.
The trustees and the rest of the church membership agreed with and praised his opportunity, to live in such an ideally located home, but what to do with the parsonage. Pastor Perry serving Peoples from 1930-1938 lived in this home for most of that time. The trustees even though they had had some difficulties with rental properties decided they would see if someone would be interested in renting the parsonage. The parsonage was rented under strict guidelines based on lessons already learned and with the stipulation that the parsonage might be available when another pastor were appointed to the parish. In the meantime, the trustees discovered updates of equipment especially in the kitchen and bathroom needed to be afforded and taxes now that it was rental property needed to be paid.
Interestingly the management of property had become so great and so much of it had fallen on the shoulders of Oscar Emerson that he asked to be relieved of his duties at money management. This was granted and eventually the trustees and the church as stated above sold those properties that had caused many financial headaches. In 1938, when Reverend Perry left, to serve the Methodist churches in Old Orchard and Saco before retirement from the ministry. The parsonage was returned to become a pastor’s refuge when it became the home of Reverend Walter H. Cass in 1938.
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