Across
Pacific Magazine
A sobbing little girl stood near a small church from which she had been
turned away because it was too crowded. "I can't go to Sunday School?"
she sobbed to the pastor as he walked by. Seeing her shabby, unkempt
appearance, the pastor guessed the reason and, taking her by the hand,
took her inside and found a place for her in the Sunday school class. 
The child was ! so touched that she went to bed that night thinking of
the children who have no place to worship Jesus.
Some time later, this child lay dead in one of the poor tenement
buildings and the parents called for the kind-hearted pastor, who had
befriended their daughter, to assist with the final arrangements. As
her poor little body was being moved, a worn and crumpled purse was
found. Inside was found 57 cents and a note scribbled in childish
handwriting which read, "This is to help build the little church bigger
so more children can go to Sunday school." She had worked and saved for
this offering of love to build a larger church facility. (Picture:
Hattie May Wiatt - courtesy of the Baptist
Temple Church in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania.)
Dr. Conwell challenged his deacons - and some of the deacons challenged
him - to get busy and raise enough money for the larger building. But
the story does not end there! A newspaper learned of the story and
published it. It was read by a Realtor who offered them a parcel of
land. Church members made large donations. Checks came from various
sources. Within five years the little girl's gift had increased to
$250.00 --a huge sum for that time (near the turn of the
century). From this money a house was purchased and used by the
church. It was eventually sold and through the inspiration of the
sacrifice of Hattie May Wiatt, more funds were raised which eventually
purchased the property of Temple Baptist Church and Temple University.
Her unselfish love has paid
large dividends. When you are in the city of Philadelphia, look up
Temple Baptist Church, with a seating capacity of 3,300 and Temple
University, where hundreds of students are trained. Have a look, too,
at the Temple University Hospital and at a Sunday School building which
houses hundreds of Sunday Schoolers, so that no child in the area will
ever need to be left outside during Sunday school time. In one of the
rooms of this building may be seen the picture of the sweet face of the
little girl whose 57 cents, so sacrificially saved, made such
remarkable history. Alongside of it is a portrait of her kind pastor,
Dr. Russel H. Conwell, author of the book, Acres of Diamonds.
A true story, which goes to show WHAT GOD, CAN DO WITH 57 cents.
(Picture: Russel Conwell, circa
1890)
The full text of Rev. Conwell's Message at
the Temple University Web Site
Sunday Morning, December 1, 1912
More info on
Russel Conwell
The Little Girl Who Died and Left 57 Cents To Build A Bigger Church-Truth! & Fiction!
TruthOrFiction.com
The
Truth:
The story of a little girl who left 57-cents for a new church is true,
but the version of the eRumor that is circulating has some details
thrown in that are not. The little girl's 57-cents did inspire
the efforts that resulted in the purchase of property and construction
of buildings, but did not actually purchase the property outright.
A first-hand account of it is in a sermon delivered December 1, 1912 by
Russell H. Conwell, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in
Philadelphia. Rev. Conwell said the little girl's name was Hattie
May Wiatt. She lived near a church where the Sunday School was
very crowded and he told her that one day they would have buildings big
enough to allow every one to attend who wanted to. Later, Hattie
May Wiatt became sick and died. Rev. Conwell was asked to do the
funeral and the girl's mother told him that Hattie May had been saving
money to help build a bigger church and gave him the little purse in
which she had saved 57 cents. Rev. Conwell had the 57 cents
turned into 57 pennies, told the congregation the story of little
Hattie May and sold the pennies for a return of about $250. In
addition, 54 of the original 57 pennies were returned to Rev. Conwell
and he later put them up on display. This was in 1886 when 57
cents was no small savings account for a little girl from a poor
family. Some of the members of the church formed what they called
the Wiatt Mite Society which was dedicated to making Hattie May's 57
cents grow as much as possible and to buy the property for the Primary
Department of the Sunday school. A house nearby was purchased
with the $250 that Hattie May's 57 cents had produced and the rest is
history. The first classes of Temple College, later Temple
University, were held in that house. It was later sold to allow
Temple College to move and the growth of Temple, along with the
founding of the Good Samaritan Hospital (Now the Temple University
Hospital) have been powerful testimonies to Hattie May Wiatt's
dream. - http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/h/hattiemaywiatt.htm
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