CONTENTS—A Missionary—Chaplain at Niagara—Pastor to the Settlers—
Chaplain to Legislature—Visits Grand River—Officiates—A Land
Speculator—Receives a pension, £50—1823—Rev. Mr. Pollard—At
Amherstburgh—Mr. Langhorn—A Missionary—Little Education—Useful—
Odd—On Bay Quinté In Ernesttown—Builds a Church—At Adolphustown—
Preaches at Hagerman’s—Another Church—A Diligent Pastor—Pioneer
Preacher around the Bay—Christening—Marrying—Particular—His
Appointments—Clerk’s Fees—Generosity—Present to Bride—Faithful to
Sick Calls—Frozen Feet—No Stockings—Shoe Buckles—Dress—Books—
Peculiarities—Fond of the Water—Charitable—War of 1812—Determined
to leave Canada—Thinks it doomed—Singular Notice—Returns to
Europe—His Library—Present to Kingston—Twenty Years in Canada—
Extract from Gazette—No One Immediately to take His Place—Rev.
John Bethune—Died 1815—Native of Scotland—U. E. Loyalists—Lost
Property—Chaplain to 84th Regiment—A Presbyterian—Second Legal
Clergyman in Upper Canada—Settled at Cornwall—Children—The
Baptists—Wyner—Turner—Holts Wiem—Baptists upon River Moira—First
Chapel—How Built—Places of Preaching—Hayden’s Corners—At East
Lake—The Lutherans—Rev. Schwerdfeger—Lutheran Settlers—County
Dundas—First Church East of Kingston—Rev. Mr. Myers lived in
Marysburgh—Marriage—His Log Church—Removes to St. Lawrence—
Resigns—To Philadelphia—Mr. Weant—Lives in Ernesttown—Removes to
Matilda—Not Supported—Secretly Joins the English Church—
Re-ordained—His Society Ignorant—Suspicion—Preaching in Shirt
Sleeves—Mr. Myers Returns, by Sleigh—Locking Church Door—The
Thirty-nine Articles—Compromise—Mr. Myers continues Three Years a
Lutheran—He Secedes—The End of both Seceders—Rev. I. L.
Senderling—Rev. Herman Hayunga—Rev. Mr. Shorts—Last Lutheran
Minister at Ernesttown, McCarty—Married.
THE FIRST EPISCOPALIANS, CONTINUED—PRESBYTERIANS, BAPTISTS, AND
LUTHERANS.
The Rev. Robert Addison came as a missionary from the Society for
Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts, in 1790. He probably discharged
the duties of chaplain to the troops stationed at Niagara, and also was
Clergyman, and officiated as such, to the settlers. When the government
was formed at Niagara, in 1792, Mr. Addison, was appointed Chaplain. He
occasionally visited the Grand River Indians, officiating through an
interpreter, and baptizing and marrying. Col. Clark says, Mr. Addison
was a land speculator. In 1823, an act was passed by Parliament,
granting Mr. Addison a pension of £50 per annum during life, for service
rendered as Chaplain to the House of Assembly for thirty years. Another
Episcopalian Clergyman, who came to Canada about the same time, was the
Rev. Mr. Pollard, whose station was at Amherstburgh.
A fourth Church of England Clergyman, and one with whom we must become
more familiar, was the Rev. Mr. Langhorn. According to the statement
made to us by the late Bishop Strachan, Mr. Langhorn was sent to Canada
as a missionary by a Society in London, called “The Bees,” or some such
name. He was a Welshman by birth, possessed of but little education or
talent, yet a truthful, zealous, and useful man. Odd in his manner, he
nevertheless worked faithfully among the settlers from Kingston to Hay
Bay. Upon arriving he took up his abode in Ernesttown, living at Hoyts,
the present site of Bath. Here he was instrumental in having, before
long time, erected an English Church. Soon after coming he visited
Adolphustown, and preached at Mr. Hagerman’s, where Mr. Stuart had
previously occasionally held service. Steps were at once taken to build
a church also at Adolphustown, and Mr. Langhorn came to hold service
regularly every second Sabbath. Mr. Langhorn was a diligent pastor in
his rounds among his flock, over an extensive tract with great
regularity, and once in a great while he went as far as the Carrying
Place, where it is said he preached the first of all the pioneer
ministers. He likewise occasionally visited Prince Edward, and preached
at Smith’s Bay, and at Congers, Picton Bay. He was very careful to have
all the children christened before they were eight days old, and never
failed to question the larger in the catechism. Marriage he would never
perform but in the church, and always before eleven in the morning. If
the parties to be joined failed to reach the church by the appointed
time, he would leave; and would refuse to marry them, no matter how far
they had come, generally on foot, or by canoe. Sometimes they were from
the remote townships, yet were sent away unmarried. After performing the
marriage ceremony, he would insist on receiving, it is said, three
coppers for his clerk. For himself he would take nothing, unless it was
to present it to the bride immediately. Seemingly he did not care for
money; and he would go in all kinds of weather when wanted to officiate,
or administer to the wants of the sick. One person tells us that he
remembers his coming to his father’s in winter, and that his feet were
frozen. No wonder, as Mr. Langhorn never wore stockings nor gloves in
the coldest weather. But his shoe buckles were broad and bright; and a
broad rimmed hat turned up at the sides covered his head. Upon his back
he generally carried in a bag some books for reading. We have referred
to his peculiarities; many extraordinary eccentricities are related of
him, both as a man and clergyman. He was very fond of the water, both in
summer and winter. “In summer,” (Playter says,) “he would, at times swim
from a cove on the main shore to a cove in the opposite island, three
miles apart, and in winter, he would cut a hole in the ice, and another
at some distance, and would dive down at one hole, and come up the
other. He had some eccentricities, but he seemed to be a good and
charitable man.”
Mr. Langhorn, when the war of 1812 commenced, acquired the belief, it is
said, that Canada would be conquered by the United States, and so
determined to escape. The following somewhat singular “Notice” appeared
in the Kingston _Gazette_:—“Notice—To all whom it may concern,—That the
Rev. J. Langhorn, of Ernesttown, intends returning to Europe this
summer, if he can find a convenient opportunity; and all who have any
objections to make, are requested to acquaint him with them, and they
will much oblige their humble servant,—J. Langhorn,—Earnesttown, March,
1813.” The Rev. gentleman did go home, and some say that he was again
coming to Canada, and was shipwrecked. Before leaving Canada, he made a
valuable present to Kingston, as the following notice will show:
“The Rev. Mr. Langhorn, of Ernesttown, who is about returning to
England, his native country, has presented a valuable collection of
books to the Social Library, established in this village. The directors
have expressed to him the thanks of the proprietors for his liberal
donation. Many of the volumes are very elegant, and, it is to be hoped,
will, for many years, remain a memorial of his liberality and
disposition to promote the diffusion of useful knowledge among a people,
with whom he has lived as an Episcopal Missionary more than twenty
years. During that period his acts of charity have been frequent and
numerous, and not confined to members of his own church; but extended to
indigent and meritorious persons of all denominations. Many who have
shared in his bounty, will have reason to recollect him with gratitude,
and to regret his removal from the country.”—(_Kingston Gazette_).
After his departure, the churches where he had preached were vacant for
many a day; and, at last, the one in Adolphustown went to decay.
There died, at Williamstown, U. C., 23rd September, 1815, the Rev. John
Bethune, in his 65th year. He was a native of Scotland. Came to America
before the rebellion, and was possessed of property, all of which he
lost, and was thereby reduced to great distress for the time being. The
foundation was then laid for the disease of which he died. During the
rebellion, he was appointed Chaplain to the 80th Regiment. At the close
of the war he settled in Canada. He left a widow and numerous family.
Ex-Sheriff Sherwood, of Brockville, says that “the Rev. Mr. Bethune, a
Presbyterian Clergyman, was the second legalized Clergyman in the
country. He settled at an early period at Cornwall. He was father of the
Rev. John Bethune, now Dean of Montreal, (1866).”
BAPTISTS—WYNER, TURNER, HOLTS, WIEM.
The first Ministers of this sect were Elders Wyner and Turner, a brother
of Gideon Turner, one of the first settlers of Thurlow. One, Elder
Holts, also preached around the Bay, but a love of brandy hindered him.
Yet he was an attractive preacher. This was probably about 1794.
A considerable number of Baptists settled up the river Moira, in
Thurlow. The first chapel built here was for that denomination, in the
fifth concession. Its size was thirty feet square. But, prior to the
building of this, a dozen or so would meet for worship at the house of
Mr. Ross. The chapel was mainly built by each member going to the place
and working at the building, from time to time, until it was completed.
Mr. Turner traveled through different sections, preaching wherever he
found his fellow communionists. He occasionally preached at Capt.
McIntosh’s, at Myer’s Creek, and now and then at the head of the Bay.
The Baptists were, probably, the first to preach at Sidney, and Thurlow.
Myer’s Creek was not a central place at which to collect the scattered
settlers until it became a village. Before that, the preaching place of
the Baptists, and afterwards of the Presbyterians and Methodists, was up
at Gilbert’s house, in Sidney, or at Col. Bell’s, in Thurlow. When the
village grew, services were held at Capt. McIntosh’s and Mr. Mitz’s, at
the mouth of the river, by different denominations, and still later, in
a small school house. Preaching also was held up the river, at Reed’s
and Hayden’s Corners.
The first Baptist Minister that preached at East Lake, Hallowell, was
the Rev. Joseph Wiem. Not unlikely, he and Elder Wyner are the same.
THE LUTHERANS—SCHWERDFEGER, MYERS, WEANT.
Among the early ministers of religion who attended to the spiritual
interests of the pioneers, were several of the Lutheran Church. Of this
denomination, there was a considerable number in the County of Dundas,
chiefly Dutch. There were also a community of them in Ernesttown, and
another in Marysburgh. The first church built in Upper Canada, east of
Kingston, perhaps the next after the one built at Tyendinaga, was
erected by the Lutherans. It was put up in 1790, named Zion’s Church,
and a Mr. Schwerdfeger, who resided near Albany, was invited to be their
Pastor. This invitation was gladly accepted, as he and his family had
suffered severe persecution from the victorious rebels. He died in 1803.
At an early period, indeed it would seem probable before Mr.
Schwerdfeger came to Canada, although the time cannot be positively
fixed, the Rev. Mr. Myers, from Philadelphia, lived in Marysburgh and
preached to the Lutheran Germans of that Township. He married a daughter
of Mr. Henry Smith, one of the first settlers there, where stood his log
church, about twenty-four feet square, upon the brow of a hill
overlooking a lovely landscape. Mr. Myers removed to the St. Lawrence,
and “in 1804 became Pastor of the Lutheran churches there.” (History of
Dundas). He resigned in 1807, not being supported, and removed to
Pennsylvania.
The second Lutheran clergyman to preach upon the Bay, was the Rev. Mr.
Weant. He lived a short distance below Bath, and went every four weeks
to preach at Smith’s Bay; and, in the meantime, preached to the
Lutherans of Ernesttown, where he built a log church, the first there.
In 1808, he received a call from the Lutherans of Matilda, “which he
accepted, and for some time preached acceptably, residing in the
parsonage.” He, too, seems to have been inadequately supported by the
people, and yielding to inducements, too tempting for most men to
resist, he, in 1811, secretly joined the Church of England, and was
re-ordained by Bishop Mountain, in Quebec. Upon his return, he pretended
still to be a Lutheran minister, and preached, as usual, in German
exclusively. Suspicions, however, soon arose that all was not right, for
he began to use the English Book of Common Prayer, and occasionally to
wear the surplice, practices which gave such offence to his former
friends, that they declared they would no longer go to hear a man who
proclaimed to them in his shirt sleeves. A few were persuaded by him to
join the Church of England. The majority remained faithful. In 1814, the
Lutherans again invited the Rev. Mr. Myers; upon his consenting to come,
they sent two sleighs, in the winter, to Pennsylvania, and brought him
and his family to Dundas. But Mr. Weant would not give up the parsonage
and glebe, and put a padlock on the church door, and forbade any one to
enter, unless acknowledging the thirty-nine articles of the Church of
England. A compromise resulted, and the Lutherans were permitted to use
the building once in two weeks. For three years, Mr. Myers continued his
ministrations as a Lutheran, in the meantime being in straitened
circumstances. In 1817, strangely enough, Mr. Myers also forsook the
Lutheran Church, and conformed to the Church of England. (Hist. of
Dundas.) The end of Mr. Weant and Mr. Myers, according to accounts, was
not, in either case satisfactory. The latter died suddenly from a fall,
it is said, while he was intoxicated, and the former was addicted to the
same habit of intemperance.
The successor of Mr. Myers was the Rev. I. L. SENDERLING. He came in
1825, and stayed only a short time.
In 1826, Rev. HERMAN HAYUNIGA became the Pastor; and succeeded, after
many years, in restoring to the church its former prosperity,
notwithstanding much that opposed him. He had a new church erected. His
successor was the Rev. Dendrick Shorts.
The _Kingston Gazette_ contains a notice of perhaps the last Lutheran
Minister at Ernest town. “Married. In Ernesttown, 29th Jan, 1816, the
Rev. Wm. McCarty, Minister of the Lutheran congregation, to Miss
Clarissa Fralick.”