Miriam Berry Whitcher Speaks Her Mind [ 43 ] only with the gifts but the good feeling that prevailed, & seems to have resulted from it!'40 Marriages represented another source of income to the clergyman. There was no specified fee, the amount depending on the wealth and generosity of the parties involved. The Whitchers became increasingly dependent upon income from this source, but it did not prevent Miriam from reporting on the light side of these ceremonies. The daughter of her neighbor was married in December 1848. She is very bashful, & had several crying-spells during the week previous— on account of the dreadful long episcopal ceremony, of which she knew nothing but what she had heard, which was that she had got to make a long speech. "Oh mother" said she "I must have Mr Whitcher marry me, but I know I shall die before I get through with that speech!' . . . William went over, & when her mother stated the "difficulty" (Rhodema herself being too bashful), William soon relieved her mind. He took a prayer book & explained it to her, & told her he would let her off with a simple T will!' The young man said "he was'nt afraid, he'd say it all. But Rhodema was perfectly happy when she found out that she need'nt make any speech... . Said she "If I have'nt got anything to say but 1 will' I tell you I'll say it strong/" And she did. I never heard it come out so emphatically The wedding fee was three dollars. William gave it to me, & I thought I'd make use of it before he had to call for it.41 The fee usually did not exceed ten dollars, but William seemed to have been a popular marrying minister because Miriam reported that he was often away officiating at weddings. Funerals were also among William's duties, and Miriam offered some interesting details associated with these occasions. One of the Whitchers' most loyal supporters was a colorful old Irish woman called Aunty Hill. She was a pillar of the Episcopal church and an outspoken, odd, but generous character in the community. She died early in 1848 and both Miriam and William felt her loss, for they respected her strength and vitality. It seemed that pastors wrote obituaries in the local newspapers for members of their congregation, because Miriam told her sister that she herself, filling in for William, wrote Aunty Hill's. I sent you a paper yesterday containing aunty Hill's obituary. I never wrote one before. William was busy, & so I wrote it for him. It possesses the merit 40 M. Whitcher to sister, November 29,1847. il M. Whitcher to sister, December 10,1848.