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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1954-07-28, Page 9NO CHURCHES HERE UNTIL 1863 Until the year 1862 there were neither churches nor schools in Wind­ ham although land had been set aside for them in the original townsite* Many of the men spent Sunday hunting for bear, deer and wildcats, which were plentiful, The several present denominations had their beginnings before churches were built. The Baptists were the first to hold meetings and built the first chqrch in the Town Plot. By 1862 the Presbyterians were holding meetings at various homes, the Angli­ cans were conducting a mission at the King William Hotel, and the Wes­ leyan Methodists were congregating at Joseph Flack’s tannery, while the Roman Catholics met at the King William Hotel. Gradually, each of the .denomina­ tions erected churches with every member putting forth what he could to the cause. Baptist Pastor The present minister, Rev. J. L. Coyle, succeeded Rev. O. G. Coupland in May 1950, coming to Wingham from Brantford. Mr. Coyle was ordained in September 1952. Baptists First Congregation To Build Wingham Church The Baptists were the first to hold services with Archibald Fisher pro­ viding his home for the meetings. Later, when T. G. Jackson built his REV. AND MRS. SINCLAIR Rev. and Mrs. Thomas Sinclair and Lizzie, second Baptist minister.- residence and place of business, he set aside a room on 'the second floor which was used by both Baptists and Methodists, as a place of worship. The Baptists at this time had about fifty members. A church was organized in 1863 and a building erected, which is now the remodelled Lower Wingham school. The first minister stationed in Wing­ ham was Rev. Frederick Ratcliff. Wm. Fairweather was the precentor and led the singing and Wm. Kirkby was the first Sunday School superinten­ dent. The original church was sold in 1875 to be used as a school and the present Baptist Church on the north­ west corner of John and Edward Sts., was erected in 1876. The first trustees were Peter Fisher, Alexander Robin­ son, William Kirkby, Hugh McEwan, John Drost and Peter Robinson. Thirty-eight years later, in 1913, the church was partially destroyed by fire and while the damage was being re­ paired the congregation held services in the Oddfellows Hall. Mrs. George Hanna served as org­ anist of the church for' many years. Dean Murphy Selected Site Qf Roman Catholic Church In the year 1867, Dean Murphy of St. Columban,'determined to build a Catholic church in Wingham under the patronage of the Sacred Heart. Before this time mass was celebrated in the Queen’s Hotel and later in the residence of a Mr. King in Lower Wingham. Dean Murphy chose a site, and con­ tracted with the then famous Pat Kelly of Blyth, who had just been elected Member of Parliament, The Work was completed in June, 1877, It was a very important milestone in the growth of Catholicity in this part of the old Huron Tract, as the sub­ sequent years have proven, For ex­ ample, in 1877 there Were three bap-" tlsms,* in 1878, five and in 1880, eleven. Dean Murphy assumed charge of Sacred Heart parish until 1880. ’ In this year it became attached to St. Augustine parish. Father John O’Con­ nor of St. Augustine was the first of a line of apostolic, fearless, self-sac­ rificing priests to assume charge of Wingham. Through the years, due to the zeal of the ministering priests, Cath­ olicity experienced sufficient growth to warrant the Most Rev. M. F. Fal­ lon, to appoint in 1911, Rt« Rev. Msgr. J, J. Blair, the first resident pastor of Sacred Heart Church, Wingham, with the mission Of St, Ambrose, in Brussels. Father Blair first boarded at the Original Presbyterian Church On Victoria St. Burned in 1881 Rev, W. C. Young organized the first Presbyterian congregation in the year 1862, under the Presbytery of Huron. Maitland Presbytery had not been formed at that time, The faithful band of people met in homes, or other convenient buildings and the preachers- were usually college students with the occasional ordained minister being in attendance for the rites of baptism, In 1866 the site for a church was purchased in the Town Plot, half way between Upper and Lower Wingham, on Victoria Street, overlooking Green’s Prairie, and just west of Arthur St. The three trustees were Robert Cur­ rie, William Linklater and Walter .Sloan and these men were custodians of the deed. The first board of man­ agers consisted of Thos. Henderson, Peter Deans, Robert Currie and Da­ vid Robertson. / During the summer of 1866 a sub­ stantial frame building was erected on the site and in December of that year, John Linklater, John Cossar, Thomas Elliott, John Patterson and Robert Graham were ordained and inducted into the office of elders. A union session was formed con­ sisting of Wingham, Bluevale and Eadie’s, with Rev. John Ferguson of Brussels, as moderator. In this year, 1866, Rev. James Hastie was called and ordained as pastor of the three charges at a yearly stipend of $600. Blue vale, the older and larger congre­ gation, paid $300 of this amount with the other two stations paying the re­ maining $300 between them. Only the Psalms and Paraphrases were used, according to the old Scot­ tish worship service. Lawrence Fyfe was the precentor, pitching the open­ ing note with a tuning fork and lead­ ing the congregation in the service of praise, with two enough to pews. congregation. Some of the members at this time became Congregation- alists. The new church was’erected in 1881 and the opening ceremonies were held in the spring of 1882, interim ser­ vices being held in the town hall. Dur­ ing the ministry of /Dr, Perrie, the Wingham, Ontario, Wednesday, July 28, 1954 name of St. Andrew’s was chosen. Rev, Kenneth MacLean was follow^ ed by Rev. Alexander Nimmo, after a period of fourteen years. Mr, Nim­ mo took oyer his duties here in March 1945, having served in the Royal Can­ adian Air Force and previous to his enlistment had a charge in Quebec, Collection was taken up long-handled ladles, long reach the far end of the Union Dissolved By 1876 the Wingham congregation had grown enough to necessitate an addition on the east side of the church and it was felt that this body was strong enough to maintain a minister of its own. The union between the three churches was dissolved and Rev. McQuarrie, the Wingham pas­ tor, took over his charge at a stipend of $700. The church burned to the ground in March, 1881. By this time the old site was no longer central and after much consideration the present site of St.-’Andrew’s was chosen, on Jose­ phine Street, causing a break in the REV, W, C. YOUNG Rev. W. C. Young organized the Presbyterian congregation in Wing­ ham in 1862. Brunswick Hotel, until he was able to purchase a residence on Shuter St; He took a very active part in the community and in civic affairs and was much, in demand as a public speaker at nurses’ graduations and civic gatherings of all kinds. The con­ certs and plays produced under his direction are still -remembered. During his pastorate, a residence and grounds for a cemetery were purchased and electricity installed in the church. Father Blair did not remain long and departed for more colorful fields. In the fall of 1914 the Rev. Joseph Fallon became pastor. He possessed a remarkable physique, and seeing the need of a hall for the purpose of parish meetings, excavated by hand the present basement and’put down a floor. His method of driving a car is legendary and was distinctive. It is understood that he was the only per-, son who could drive a Model T con­ sistently on two wheels— a combina-i tion of any two at that. In 1923 he; became ill and had to relinquish his, duties. It was Rev. J. F. Paquette who un-; dertook a series of improvements of the parish. He installed a new fur­ nace both in the church and house; redecorated both Sacred Heart and; St. Ambrbse; built a garage ahd re-* wired the church’. He was efficient, al­ though unobstrusivd ih financial afj fairs. Father Paquette was followed by Rev. F. J. Bricklin ahd the present pastor, Father R. Durand, took charge of the Wingham and Brussels parishes in March, 1950. REV. ALEXANDER NIMMO . St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church..- St, Andrew’s Presbyterian Church REV. JAMES HASTIE Rev. James Hastie, first Presby­ terian minister, had charge of three congregations. Salvation Army Faced Much Opposition in Early Years Two Salvation Army officers visited Wingham in 1885 with the intention of opening a Corps here but it was not until November 26, 1886, that the Wingham Corps was definitely estab­ lished. Captain Amy Spackman was the first commanding officer, arriving on November 6th of that year. The first few years in Wingham were trying ones and required much courage on the part of the Salvation­ ists to withstand the opposition that was received.' Fletcher Agnew recall­ ed that when he was a boy, working in his uncle’s store (Robert Orr) the Salvationists on the march often went bleeding into the store after being struck by objects thrown by the crowds. Col. Agnew was converted at a Salvation Army camp meeting at Evanston, Ill., a few years after leav­ ing Wingham, and entered Officers’ Training College. His three sons, all graduates of the University of Chic­ ago, also became Salvation Army of­ ficers. The Salvation Army purchased the building that had been erected for a Primitive Methodist Church on, the north-east corner of Victoria and Minnie Streets, now used as a dwell­ ing and occupied by Charles Deyell. Originally this building faced Vic­ toria Street but was turned on the property at a later date. The present Citadel on Edward Street was built in 1891. The building was 30x80 feet with sixteen feet at the back to be used as a residence for officers in charge. Living quarters in the^ Barracks were enlarged when the building was renovated. Through the years the Salvation Army has overcome the opposition first suffered and has gained the re­ spect and support of the citizens. The local Corps covers a large district in­ cluding Belgrave, Bluevale, Brussels, Gorrie, Lucknow, Ripley, Teeswater, Whitechur’ch and Wroxeter. With un­ tiring efforts they have carried on such welfare work as local and na­ tional emergency relief, Christmas cheer, winter and family relief. There is no end to the social services of the Army. Lieuts. Shirley Clarke and Nellie Oates came to take charge of the Wingham Corps in February 1953, the latter leaving in April of this year, at which time she was married to Lieut. Basil Craddock. Lieut. M. Be­ langer, ‘ of Montreal, replaced Lieut. Oates. Preceeding Lieut. Clarke were Lieut, and Mrs. Kirby, who with their two children, moved to Dunnvillc in 1953. LIEUTENANTS M, BELANGER ahd SHIRLEY CLARK The two Salvation Army officers pictured above have been in charge of the work of the local Corps. Since ^photography and editorial matter for this edition wore completed Lieutenant CjUrk has been moved to Hamilton, Ont. Three Methodist Churches ......................................" Became One in Year 1884 Wesleyan Methodist Th’e Wesleyans were the first of the Methodists to organize in Wingham. The first meetings were held in a room over Joseph Flack’s tannery and meetings were also held in a room over the driving shed of Copeland's Tavern on Helena Street. In 1865, after Mr. Jackson built his house, a room over the kitchen and pantries was set apart for religious services and this continued to be the meeting place until the first Methodist chapel was erected, and was known as the “upper room”. The church was built on Arthur Street with one lot intervening be­ tween it and Victoria Street. The half-acre lot was bought from, the government for $30 and $15 was paid to have it cleared of trees. The build­ ing was of frame construction, 30x40 feet. The seats were made by Charles Lloyd and the pulpit was made in Lloyd’s carpentry shop by John Coop-* er. The plastering was done by George Blackwell “who executed a very taste­ ful cornice and centre piece for a chandelier of eight lamps.” The first resident minister was Rev. Thomas Cleworth. A small Bell organ was purchased for the church in 1872 and Mrs. T. G. Jackson was the first organist. In 1874 the present Minnie Street site was secured and a larger church erected. In the meantime the origi­ nal church was sold and removed from the site which is now occupied as a lumber yard by C. Lloyd and Sons, to Victoria Street, just west of the CPR loading platform. It was used as a double dwelling and is occupied today by Mr. and Mrs. Norman Shiell. The parsonage was built in 1875, and during the following years several ad­ ditions were made to the church. The present edifice /was erected in 1901 and the old church moved to the south edge of the property to serve as a driving shed. The minister at the’ time was Rev. Richard Hobbs, who pastor here from 1899-1902. Church union came about in and what had been known Methodist Church became the Church of Canada. 0-0-0 Primitive Methodist The Jubilee Mission of the tive Methodist Church was formed in 1861, ih the 51st year of the Primitive Methodist Church. Richard Paul was appointed missionary and instructed to come to Huron County. In March 1864 it was resolved at the quarterly meeting of the mission that Wingham was to be taken into the plan. By December Wingham had two members, adding a third member a little later. By September 1865 the Wingham branch of the mission was dropped due to lack of membership. REV. D. J. MacRAE The present minister of the United Church is Rev. D. J. MacRae, who came from Windsor in July 1953, suc­ ceeding Dr. W. A. Beecroft. was 1925 theas United A reorganization was made in 1871 and in January 1872, sanction was given at the quarterly meeting for the erection of a church. This, in the face of a membership of three and a quarterly collection of 45c, would indicate courage and determination on the part of the pioneers. Brother James Srigley, mission steward, wag*- elected to the charge of Wingham. Permission was granted to sell Howard’s Church as the member­ ship had mostly moved away, and the proceeds were turned over to the building of the Wingham church. The Primitive Methodist Church was situated on the north-east corner of Minnie and Victoria Streets and is now occupied as a residence by Chas. Deyell. It was built in 1873, at which time Wm. Thornby, J. Srigley, Geo. Blackwell, James Wilkinson, George Campbell and James Tipling were ap­ pointed trustees. . The following year William Snell was appointed leader and Bro. Young, steward, at the I meeting held in time there were membership was were 36 adherents on the records. According to the church register it would seem that several Primitive Methodists joined with the Wesleyans in October 1883, while the remainder carried on until May 1884, at which time the records of the Primitive branch ceased. 0-0-0 Episcopalian Methodist We have been unable to gain infor­ mation on the Episcopalian branch of the Methodist Church, other than the fact that several members joined with the Wesleyan Church in 1883 and ’84. It is presumed that the Episcopalians disbanded about this time. The church was what is now the Masonic Hall, on the north-east cor­ ner of John and Centre Streets and was built at an early date. ministers’ quarterly , Wingham. By this 30 members. Peak in 1880 when there Primi- y 4 ill Bl REV. R. HOBBS Rev. Hobbs was the Methodist mini­ ster at the time of the erection of the present United Church. Dr. W. A. Beecroft, who left Wing­ ham one year ago to serve in Ottawa. Wing ham United Church 4 % Vi ?!