John M. Whitall - Retirement and Mission Work

Retirement and Mission Work

Whitall retired from the glass business in 1865. He had been elected a manager of Pennsylvania Hospital in 1851, and held this position until 1867. In the period 1861–1867 he served Philadelphia as an official "Guardian of the Poor" and as President of the Board of Guardians. He and his wife Mary were constantly trying to help those in need. In 1868 Whitall became blind in one eye and had difficulty judging distance, but continued in his active life in retirement. During the civil war years 1861–1865 Whitall became interested in helping poor blacks who had escaped from the South. He and his wife Mary started a "First-Day School" for adult religious instruction, teaching reading and interpretation of the Bible, and hiring teachers to help with instruction. Whitall funded the entire school, paid stipends of money and coal to those "scholars" who attended consistently, and covered the rent for the Methodist church where the First-Day School convened. The church was located on St. Mary's Street so the school was termed "St. Mary's Street School". The school was popular, and for the next 10 years attendance rose consistently, so that by 1871 there was an average attendance of 175. The attendance continued to increase and Whitall continued his oversight of the school until 1874, when he had a slight stroke and became weaker, and in 1876 he was unable to continue. Whitall continued to weaken until his death in 1877.