He preached from Rock Island, Ill., to St. Paul, Minn., and during 1837, he traveled 1,500 miles trying to prevent a war between the Ojibwe and the Sioux.

At the age of 70 he marched to the South during the Civil War as chaplain to the 31st Wisconsin Infantry.

But in 1873, when the time finally came for Brunson to retire, his brethren learned he had ministered to other people 's needs much better than he had provided for old age.

They decided to take up a collection for him at their annual conference in Eau Claire, and after celebrating the 80-year-old patriarch 's career, they began circulating a collection box through the auditorium.

Sitting in the audience that day was an impoverished young minister who wished he, too, could contribute to the cause. Unfortunately, he had no money with him, and painfully little anywhere else. While he was thinking the matter over and fumbling among his pockets, however, his fingers unexpectedly ran across a rolled up piece of paper.

Much to his astonishment, it was a $5 bill. Elated at the discovery, he thanked God and joyfully deposited it among the other offerings.

That night, after describing the event to sympathetic listeners as an example of divine intervention, he returned to his hotel.

There he discovered to his chagrin that when dressing that morning, he mistakenly put on a vest belonging to the man with whom he had shared his room overnight.

-- Wisconsin Historical Society www.wisconsinhistory.org

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