Somerset-East NGK Church"), "since his salary was nary a trifle." The first lay reader was George Aldrich, who earned a somewhat higher salary than the verger. He soon resigned, though, and until his later reappointment was replaced by the townsman P.B. Botha. Botha couldn't be appointed permanently because this was a government post and he didn't speak English. A later reader was C. Muller. The reader's duty was to lead the liturgy, read the 10 Commandments, and sing hymns before the pulpit, since there were no musical instruments in the church at this time. The congregation was overextended from its foundation. It included the districts of Bruintjes Hoogte, Zwagershoek, Baviaans Rivier, Oost-Rietrivier, and Boschjesmans Rivier. There was no official membership census, but an 1838 poll tallied 2,633 of them. The district had a large black population, and in 1825, hundreds of them settled in the district. They lived in poverty and worked for the farmers. Although slavery was still legal in the colony and there were slave owners in the district, it was forbidden to own black slaves. Conflicts arose between the groups, and in 1835 the church record notes "that brother Carel Mattheus was treacherously murdered in his home by an enemy gang." In the journal entry from April 16, 1835, the following is said of the matter: "With great sorrow and regret, we use these meeting minutes to preserve the memory of a reputable fellow whose humble and helpful life works were decorated by much Christian virtue." First church building The congregation may have enlisted a pastor during its first year of operation, but it would be very long before it could secure its own church building. The magistrate had a good plan and the governor submitted and even sketched a plot of the building, but Count Bathurst continued to assert there were insufficient funds for the project. Meanwhile, the congregation worshiped in one of the old government buildings on Somerset Farm. Somerset Farm was a gentleman's farm built by Lord Somerset in 1815, both to supply local colonial troops and to grow tobacco for export. It lay on a strip of land at the foot of the beautiful Boschberg Mountains, which had been purchased by the Governor Joachim van Plettenberg from its first owner, the aforementioned Willem Prinsloo. Later, Somerset Farm was divided into two tenant farms for two farmers, Louis Trichardt and Mr. Bester. In 1833,