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Home My WebLink AboutThe Huron Expositor, 1976-10-21, Page 14ANNUAL REPORT —ANDc IN CONNECTION WITH THE Union Presbyterian Church, Brucefield, FOR THE YEAR 1877. INT 1\1" TT L E EP0 RT- At the last Annuel Meeting, the Congregation was without a Pastor. After a fair hearing of several ministers the choice of the Congregation fell on the Rev. Thomas G. Thomson,ivho was duly inducted on the asst of February. The Congregation is deeply indebted to Rev. Mr. McCuaig for his v,iluable services during the vacancy. It is gradually in- creasing. There are now one hundred and eighteen members on tho roll, representing forty-eight families. There have been thirty-three added to the communion roll during the year. The regular weekly prayer meeting has been well at. tended, and much interest has been manifested in it ever since its organization by the Pastor, and this, too, by many living at a long distance from the church. The Pastor's Bible Class, held on Sabbath morning before service, has been well attended and has gradually increased to a membership of thirty-three ; yet, notwithstanding the large propoolion of the young attending, there are still a large number of young people who might attend but remain away from, it filo be feared, no good reason. .The Sabbath School is now fully organised, with a staff of.,eight teachers, all members of the congregation, and under the able superintendency of Mr, John Laut is in a very healthy and prosperous condition. The children contributed ho to the French Evangelization Fun . They are also now much interested in the Zenana, :,Or A '-7 ‘ 7 ....h.,. Z.:: . ' ,". ..- - • -. '... l'S _ • ..e_ ,.....^ gatiop they had no need to draw on these. c.otitrib O.. 4. tions to meet necessary expenses., Looking back 'over the ,i, n the various operations of the congregation, we have every reason to bless the Great Head of the Church and take courage for the future, remembering daily the words of the Apostle, " Be not weary of well doing, for in due time ye shall 44 if ye faint not.' RECEIPTS. Church Collections, including Special Collections from the Annual Meeting held on Dec. 28th, 1876, till Dec. nth, 1877. to the Congregation of the Brucefield United Church on their 100th Anniverspry MILTON J. DIETZ LTD. Seaforth RR4 Phone 527-0608 Purina Chows-Sanitation Products- SeedCorn Provimi Feeds-Ventilation (Wholesale & Retail) Pesticides -Spraying Equipment 89 oc, I John McBeth It 00 10 00,! Peter Cameron 15 .0o so co,' John McDonald 6 00 8 'oo John Grassick g oo g oo David Reid 14 00 4 oo I Alex. McBeth 300 8 oo Donald Grassick.. 6 oo ifi no Archibald McNeil . 4 00 22 00 George' McNair..... . . 15 00 20 oo I Thomas Penfound 2 oo ag oo. Mrs. Gibson 3 00 9 00 John Gibson 2 00 g oo Wm. Murdock si 00 2 00 John Simpson 2 00 11 oo Duncan McDonald 4, 00 - E. Briggs a o0 James Murdock t6 00 Dr. Hurlburt a 00 ,8 no Mr. Kennard a 00 15 00 John Foote jaccfly Wolfe 9 oo Miss George 20 00 Eben Walker 20 no James Gilmour so no I Andrew Davidson 5 00 OFFICE BEARERS.. John Aikenhead Thomas Boyce Wm„ Westcott Andrew Swan Mrs, Aikenhead James McQueen Henry Cameron James McCully Wm. Graham Wm. Moffatt Wm. McFarlane....... Thomas Baird Wm. McQueen John Cameron Malcolm Cameron Gregor McGregor to 00 VAlcutine Diehl I 00 Walter Moffat 22 00 John M. Cowan Hugh McGregor P. Crerar JarnesW:"Laut Donald McDiarmid John Kitchen George Hart 500 4 00 2 00 5 00 oo John Landsborough Samuel Landsborough Alex. Broadfoot James Carnochao Robert Landsborough Mrs. Gray 12 00 David Walker :. , ..... .. 18. oo Mrs. McIntosh 12 00 Alex. and Wm. McCaw 24 oo James Broadfoot 16 oo Andrew Ross 6 00 Wm. Cooper II 00 Robert McCartney 8 oo Peter McTavish 16 oo Charles Mason 4 00 Roderick MtLeod 14 00 " James Dallas 14 00 George Baird KO 00 Dr. Stewart 25 oo Wm. Sinclair.. ,6 no James Miller 16 oo •R. M. Marks z 01 Peter McGregor 4 00 John Last 14 00 John Ross 15 00 822 00 19 00 13 00 24 00 24 50 Rev. E. S. Stevens, present minister • otBructlield United Church :THE;, HURON EXPOSITOR, OCTOBER gi. 1976 1:) rci church uttidin ucefiel United Churc .1 A Year and a half after the Old litucelleld United Church burned O . November 20, 1970, the congregation held the dedication of the present church building, the" third in their hundred year "history. Rev. Wilson Morden, president of. the London Conference officiated at the May 7, 1972 dedication. Rev. Paul Packman was minister at -the time. The church the newest in the area, was built . following a building program carried out by a committee headed by Ross Scott and including Bob Fotheringham, John Broadfoot, Mel Graham, Mrs. John Henderson, Fred McGregor, John Moffat, Arnold Taylor, Elgin Thompson, Mrs, Stuart Wilson and W.D. Wilson. Rev. E. Donald Stuart, minister at the . time of the fire, was an e x-officio member of the build- ing committee. News stories at the time said the fire was detected by Rev. Stuart who went to the Church to see if someone was in it. "The water pressure system, which serves both the Church and the manse seemed to be working overtime," said Mr. Stuart. "When I went to investigate, I saw what I thought were the basement lights of the Church. I returned 'to the manse to get my wife and when we returned the light was much brighter. It was then we realized that it was a fire." Fanned by high winds and fed by highly varnished wood, the fire completely destroyed the Church in about forty-five minutes. The alarm was answered by the Brucefield Fire Brigade who were r rii r 1.jw t6 go to 00 790 50 174 50 *1693 90 -assisted by units from Seaforth and Clinton. The fire, however, was too far advanced when firemen arrived to save anything. All that remained the following Saturday morning were the.-.fire weakened brick walls of the building, The loss was estimated at over 1150;000. It was partially covered 'hy..insurance. The Church was built in 1908 at a total cost of $10,239 using brick from the original Presbyterian Church built in 1878. The present congregation numbers almost 300 members involving 110 families. Many of them attended services in Kippen on Sunday. The congregation quickly rallied and within weeks a decision to rebuild had been taken. On Apar. 18th of the following year the congregation approved architects'' plans for a new edifice. , Volunteer workers continued clean up activities. The corner- stoneWhich was relaid in the new Church two weeks ago was recovered and on being opened was found 0 contain pertinent relics of the church and community. Found in the stone were an old communion token, a 1906 fifty- centpiece, a 1907 twenty-five cent Eliece, a 1907 penny, which is the size of today's quarters, a 1905 dime and a five-cent piece dated 1907, Which is srnaller'than today's dime. The cornerstone also contained a copy of The Huron Exicositor dated June 12, 1908 and a Seaforth News dated June 11, 1908. A handwritten note explains that the two newspapers "represent the Liberal and Con- servative viewpoinfi in the community," Several church publications, including the 1907 church annual report, the May 1908 issue of the Presbyterian Record and the jun9 1908 issue of The Presbyterian were also included along with a handwritten history of the church. The large bell, 'which fell from the tower, was also found in good condition. All that was found 9,,,t n' very 0.2a aands „valuable- communion set owned by the.church were several soot encrusted pieces of silver which had been melted by the heat of the fire and now resembled cinders from a furnace. Brucefield United Church, built in 1908 with bricks -from the first church, as' it looked after the fire of November ?0, 1970. Within a year and a half, the congregation were dedicating' their new church, the present one, which was built on the old' site. By balance from Treasurer... .. 8122 17 October December, 1876 8 96 November ib ti , 1877 83 58 December rii 52 co Proceeds from Soiree arch 26 98 Sale of old stable and rails, April 56 91 Subscription for church May 37 95 Stipends June 81 4 Subscription for bricks July 4, 57 August 41 8 7 September 46'12 ., Total Receipts 29 65 36 54 14 67 22 80 [From A History of Tuckersmith by Belle Campbell] A Mr. Cowan, an early mer- chant, is accredited with naming Brucefield, seven miles south of Clinton, in honor of Major Bruce, Aide de Camp and brother-in-law of Governor General Lord Elgin. 75 Another early merchant, William i6 1 8 7 0 ' Scott, gave'this as his version: 16o "Rossville was the name first 7 7 4 8 54- thought of as so many Ross families settled in the community, Paid Minister's Stipend Pulpit supply 72 05 Foreign Missions so 00 Home Missions zo 00 French Evangelization so 00 45 00 Aged and infirm ministers Presbytery fund., 2 58 Assembly fund. Sabbath School 4omme.ien. evres.ov. • Coal oil and lamp glasses ADDITIONAL EXPENSES ON CHURCH. Side lamps and Ilutting up 10 25 Pulpit trimming Matting.for church Frosting windows Watering can for church Little table Fixing platform of pulpit Work on church grounds Stationery account and postage. Water tank for hall Paid for organ hire at church opening Gates for front fence 21 72 Care-taker, salary one year Tune cards • MINISTER—T. G. Thomson, ELDERS—Robert Landsborough and James Miller. MANAGING COMMIT. TEE—James McCully, William Moffatt, William Graham, John Kitchen, George Hart, John Akinhead, William, Sin- clair, James,Broadfoot, and John 1...andsborough, Jr. TRUSTEES—Samuel Landsborough, William McCaa, and D. McDermid. TREASURER—John Kitchen. SECRETARY—Henry Cameron. AUDLTORS—George Baird and Henry Cameron. ' STATED MEETINGS.—Public Worship: Every Sabbath at r1 A. M. and 6:30 P. M. Weekly Prayer Meeting : Wednesday, at 7 P. M. Ordinance of Baptism : First Sabbath in each month. Ordinance of Lord's Supper : Session Meeting : At the Call of the Moderator. Sabbath Sc'tool : Every Sabbath at 9:30 A. M. Pastor's Bible Class: At 9:30 A. M. Opportunities for Conversation with the Pastor : Any time when at home, with the exception, of Fridays and Saturdays. Annual likes Meeting of the Congregation . in December. Anniversary of Church Opening : Last Sabbath in November. PRINTED AT THE HURON EXPOSITOR 70B PRINTING OFFICE, SEAFORTH. • but because of a settlement and a river two and a half miles west on the Bayfield road known as Bannockburn, they decided on Brucefield. They chose this name in honor of Robert Bruce, Robert the Bruce of Scotland, famous for leading his army to victory in the Battle of Bannockburn on June 24, 1314, giving Scotland its freedom." This hamlet's first settler was Peter McMillan or McMullin. He arrived in 1832, but a village plan was not laid out till 1857. It is said Peter built a store and it housed the first post office, which was founded in 1851 with Donald McMillan postmaster. Daniel Sills built a store in 1854 and that old landmark is still standing. For many years it has been owned by the McIntosh family. The first permanent doctor, John Birtch, arrived in 1863. At this time Brucefield had become a hustling hamlet. In addition to a church and a school, it could boast of 20 business places — '4 stores, 3 shoe shops, a wagon shop, 3 blacksmith shops, 2 hotels, 3 tailor shops, 3- carpenter shops and a harness shop. Later it also had a windowblind factory. The hamlet's biggest loss from fire came in 1903 when the old American Hotel on the southwest corner at the intersection and three other places of business west. of it were burned to the gound. These were: Dan Camp- bell's blacksmith shop, John Snider's harness shop and Mrs. Baird's store. At times flying .sparks endangered the doctor's housp on the opposite corner. When the fire was still raging an urgent country call came to the doctor. After he assigned the task of guarding .his roof to young, Andrew Murdock, he. , set out on his call of duty, knowing that the stork is never deferred by flood nor fire. First settler arrived in 1832 EXPENDITURES. College fund MISSION SCHEMES. 0787 00 5 00 30 00 10 5 28 x.60 33, 66 EXPENSES PAID ON NEW MANSE. Mi. Johns, work , 24 12 ,5". Mr. Mitchell, bricks 163 00 Punting account 4 00 Mr. Broadfoot, plans and specifications of manse 20 00 Mr. Cluff, cistern to 00 Mr. Cooper, water-closet 10 00 Repairing pump KO Paid for tiles i 70 EXPENSES OP OLD MANSE. Mr. Stevenson, moving old manse 25 00 *tering and papering 14 22 airing and cleaning , 5 4 79 Moulding, door latches and tacks 1 00 EXPENSES ON STABLE. . Hire of jack screws for shifting stable Nails ' i. to 00 o 8o 1 75 0 ,50 3 50 , o 81 3 50 4 00 Shingles Window, for stable Mr. Carter, lumber Mr. Gibson, hewing lumber James McCully, building stable 3o 00 Mr. Westcott, interest 49 00 Blacksmith account 9 90 Balance in hands 'of Treasurer 78 89 30 00 1 00 Total Expenditures 1 693 90 STIPENDS FOR 1877. To' the Congregation of Brucefield United Church and to the people of BRUCEFIELD (Walls Important Centennial Occasion Jack Riddell MPP fturon Middlesex We at Hensall, District Co-Op take pleasure in wishing Brucefield and the• congregation . of Brucefield United Church all the very best on its Centennial Brucefield 482-9823 BEST WISHES to the Brucefield United Church on the Occasion • of their 100th Anniversary JACK ON'S GOIERAL STORE Brucefield Zurich 2364393