Portrait & Pages 1 - 5

Chas. Boller Born March 9, 1827 In his 84th Year of Life

The Life ...and... Experiences of a Layman by Chas. Boller Printed in the Publishing House of the Evangelical Association C. Hauser, Agent Cleveland, Ohio

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Preface _____ Although there is no great need of a book such as this, it may be of use to some pilgrims and Sunday-school workers to hear how magnificently the Lord helps His own people. It was not the intention of the author to publish a book but various circumstances have ultimately moved him to do so. Since the year 1882 when I traveled back to Germany for the first time, I have kept a journal in which I write of my daily experiences. In particular I've written about my experiences on the steamship "Mosel" as it ran aground, and what I encountered in Tübingen. There are also some things I have learned since my conversion while doing Sunday-school work, which I treasure as of great interest in that it was my highest privilege to be involved in efforts to promote the well-being of my beloved church in times of joy and sorrow.

I also have a special interest in the layman's movement. As I was alone one day I took a small notebook to hand and it seemed to me as though it were just yesterday that I said to myself, "For your own edification and enjoyment write down the most worthy things in a book, for the shadows are growing longer and the sun is about to set. Soon, yes very soon my storehouse of useful information and random experiences garnered in my 60 years of service to the Lord will descend to mother earth along with me." When a many-years pilgrim such as I draws his life experiences like a panorama before his mental eye he gleans great satisfaction. Naturally one no longer dwells on the "Waterloos" and the "Maras" have been sweetened by the precious grace of God. I have been exhorted and urged on many fronts to publish this book and an influential eminent elder of our church has given me his reasons for wanting an edition of such a layman's book. Other preachers of our beloved Zion

also urged me to do so, thus I finally decided to do this. I wish to mention that a certain percentage of the proceeds of this book will be donated to charitable causes. May the Lord bestow hiw blessing upon this book. It is the wish and heartfelt prayer of the composer that it will be of great use even after my death.                                           Chas. Boller

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Text provided by Lockwood Library, State University of New York at Buffalo, BX8080.B65

Susan Kriegbaum-Hanks