“Back in Port Hood my father had to pay Father Donald so much per year to retain the use of a certain pew. On many occasions people who did not pay their pew rent could come to Church and find their pew full of bundles of shingles. The shingles stayed in their pew until they paid their annual pew rent.”
[Source: Duncan J. Chisholm]
“Like most Priests in Inverness County around the turn of the Century, Father Donald had to organize his own farm in order to provide himself with his own required vegetables, potatoes, milk and etc. His Parish in Glendale had horses and cows for his own needs. Sometimes, parishioners would work on his farm to pay off their pew rent. For example, One parishioner might come with his horses and plow to break up the ground on a piece of land behind the church while another parishioner was planting trees in the same general area.”
[Source: Duncan J. Chisholm]