History of Presbyterianism on Prince Edward Island

Contents

Chapter. Paob.

Introduction - 5

I. General Remarks 7

Introduction

A task of such importance as that of describing the firm rooting and sturdy growth of Presbyterianism in Prince Edward Island falls very appropriately to one for so many years prominent in the religious councils of the community.

Mr. MacLeod's first charge was at Richmond Bay, but his labors for the twelve years succeeding 1859 were in Nova Scotia. He was called from his pastorate at New Glasgow to shepherd the large flock of Zion Church at the insular capital, Charlottetown, where he was inducted on July 19, 1871. For eighteen years his labors in this field, though modestly touched upon by his pen, deserve a generous part in this history. For the same period he was continuously the clerk of Presbytery.

In June, 1889, Mr. MacLeod resigned his pastorate at Zion and crossed the great American continent to Vancouver to take charge of a small band of Presbyterians organized into a preaching station by Puget Sound Presbytery. Soon this station was received into the Canadian Presbytery, organized into a congregation with Mr. MacLeod as pastor and erected a Zion Presbyterian church. Both this and the First Church being in debt, the two pastors, Messrs. Meekle and MacLeod, resigned so that the two churches might unite and pay their obligations. Since then Mr. MacLeod has been laboring as an ordained evangelist within Presbyterial bounds with a vigor and energy scarcely diminished with age.

The preparation of this book has been to him a labor inspired by the true historian's motives and guided by the historian's zeal for accuracy.

O. R. W.

ON

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND.

CHAPTER I. GENIJRAIy REMARKS

Prince Edward Island, originally called the Island of St. John, lies south of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and is separated from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick by the Straits of Northumberland, a channel varying in width from seven to forty miles. The narrowest point is between Cape Traverse, P. E. L, and Cape Tormentine, N. B. Between these two points the ice-boats with mails and passengers cross when winter navigation by other means is impossible. This also is the route of the contemplated tunnel or subway between the island and the mainland. The length of Prince Edward Island is one hundred and fifty miles and its breadth varies from three to fifty miles. It contains an area of two thousand one hundred and forty square miles, or about 1,400,000 acres. The surface of the country is, generally speaking, very level. The central part of the island province is somewhat undulating, forming a succession of ridges which present a most agreeable variety of hill and dale. The scenery, though not grand, can scarcely be excelled for picturesqueness and beauty.

The soil is light and sandy, of a reddish color, and is very fertile. It is remarkably free from stone and is everywhere easily cultivated. It is peculiarly adapted for raising grain, roots of all kinds, fruits, etc., but for grazing purposes it is not equal to some of the other provinces.

The French were the first settlers of the island, and not a few of their descendants are at the present day to be found in the settlements of Miscouche, Rustico and Tignish.

In the year 1758, at the capitulation of Louisburg, the colony fell into the hands of the British, who were confirmed in their possession by the treaty of 1763. In the year 1770 Prince Edward Island obtained a government of its own, having until that date constituted a part of the government of Nova Scotia. The whole province is divided into sixtyseven lots or townships of about 20,000 acres each. The British government originally granted nearly all the soil of the island to non-residents, mostly officers of the army and navy who had served in the French war and, on account of service rendered, considered themselves entitled to the grant. These proprietors for many years refused to sell their land, preferring rather to lease it and collect taxes from the tenants. Recently, however, the local government purchased the land from the proprietors, sold it to the farmers on easy terms and furnished them with good freehold titles to their farms. The oppressive landlord system which so long prevailed in this province not only interfered with the prosperity of the country, but kept away the best class of immigrants, who under different conditions would have made their home in the Garden of the Gulf and done much to advance the prosperity of the country.

The early settlers of the province endured great hardships and privations. The length and severity of the winters, the scarcity of provisions, and their complete isolation from the mainland, reduced them to such straits that, it is said, upon one occasion at least, in order to preserve life, human flesh was eaten. In the year 1771 a. number of immigrants arrived from Argyleshire and settled at Richmond Bay, and during the following year another lot arrived from the same place and settled in Malpeque, now called Princetown. About the same time a considerable number of Highland Catholics arrived and took up their abode in Tracadio. In 1774 and 1775 an additional number arrived from Perthshire and settled in Cove Head and St. Peters, while others who arrived about the same time from Morayshire settled in Cavendish, and a considerable number from Dumfrieshire settled in Georgetown and surrounding places. After the restoration of peace in 1784, Bedeque received a considerable number of American Loyalists. At this date, however, the number of settlers was few and these were widely scattered.

The late Rev. James McGregor, D. D., of Pictou, Nova Scotia, was the first Presbyterian missionary to visit Prince Edward Island. His first visit was made in the year 1791, one hundred and thirteen years ago, and the journey was repeated as often as his arduous labors on the mainland would admit. On each of these missionary tours he visited, preached and administered the sacraments in all the principal settlements. After the arrival and settlement of Rev. John Keir at Malpeque, and of Rev. Peter Gordon at St. Peters, Dr. McGregor's visits to Prince Edward Island became less frequent, his time being fully occupied on the mainland.

At the time of Dr. McGregor's first visit to Prince Edward Island there was only one road in the whole province, viz. : from Charlottetown to Cove Head, a distance of fifteen miles. This road led along the north shore, and travellers were ferried across the numerous creeks in canoes, or dug-outs, and their horses, if they had any, swam after them. On the occasion of his first visit the doctor spent three weeks amongst the people of Princetown. During his first sermon, which was delivered in the Gaelic language, many of the people refused to sit down, but stood in groups talking and laughing as though at a picnic party. At the second discourse, which was in English, they were more orderly. These were the first sermons many of the people ever had heard. On this occasion Dr. McGregor baptized over sixty children.

In this place the doctor had a visit from a couple who were not enjoying that matrimonial harmony which makes life happy. They hinted to the doctor their suspicion that all their trouble arose from the fact that they had been married by a magistrate and expressed a wish that he would marry them properly. He asked them to stand up before him, and, while not performing the marriage ceremony, he spoke to them on their mutual duties and obligations, prayed with them and expressed the hope that hereafter they would live together in peace and harmony, and tradition says that during the remainder of their days they enjoyed a fair share of connubial felicity.

Another incident, the truth of which is authenticated by the grandchildren of the principal parties concerned, illustrates the primitive simplicity of the manners and habits of the early settlers of the country. The narrative as told to the writer by one of the grandsons, an intelligent and highly respected young man, in the western part of the island, follows, only the names being changed: "On a cold winter's night Sandy McLure hitched his team to Malcolm McRae's gate and went in to warm himself before crossing the Bay, a distance of nine miles. McRae put up and fed the oxen, for the team consisted of a yoke of oxen and a sled. He then attended to the wants of the driver, supplying him with a good stiff glass of Scotch. Under the exhilarating influences of the draught Sandy became very communicative, and in a great secret told his host that he was on his way to B. to marry Jean Brown. After another drink or two Malcolm persuaded this prospective groom to lie down and rest and start early in the morning. No sooner had ii

Sandy gone to sleep than Malcolm, who had matrimonial designs on the same lady, set off on his journey, crossed the ice, reached the house of his intended, proposed marriage and was accepted. The parson living near by, the two were soon made one. About this time Sandy McLure put in an appearance and was sorely grieved to find that his friend Malcolm had won the prize. Jean was gone. But here comes Mary, her milk pail in hand and her cheeks glowing with the cold, frosty air, and, taking in the situation, said : 'Why, Sandy, mon, what's the use o' greeting; ain't I just as good as Jean? Will you hae me?' The bargain was made and the minister got another fee." The descendants of Malcolm and Sandy are numerous, intelligent and highly respected, some of them rilling honorable positions both in church and state; one of them an honored minister in the Presbyterian church in Canada, two of them successful missionaries in the foreign field, and two of them members of Parliament.

Chapter II. Princetown And B^deque

The Rev. John Keir, the second Presbyterian minister to settle on Prince Edward Island (Rev. Peter Gordon having been settled a year earlier at St. Peters), arrived from Scotland in the autumn of 1808. He had been sent out specially to minister to the Presbyterians in Halifax, Nova Scotia, but the necessities of Prince Edward Island were so urgent that he was sent thither immediately on his arrival at the former place. In the spring of 1809 he was called to Princetown. He accepted the call, and in June, 1 8 10, he was ordained and inducted into the pastoral charge of that congregation. The ministers who took part in the ordination services were Revs. James McGregor, Thomas McCulloch, Duncan Ross and John Mitchell. The ordination of a minister being an event that never before had taken place on Prince Edward Island, nearly the whole population of Richmond Bay, Bedeque, Cavendish, and New London, as well as of Princetown, were present on that occasion. The services were conducted partly in Gaelic and partly in English. It is doubtful if at the present time there is one man in the congregation of Princetown who could understand a sermon in the Gaelic language. At the time of Mr. Keir's settlement the whole of Prince county and a part of Queens county may be said to have constituted his parish. Though the country at that date was sparsely settled, yet such an extensive field involved a vast amount of physical toil, for it must be remembered that there were then almost no roads, very few horses and carriages, and almost none of the travelling comforts and luxuries now enjoyed by the more highly favored but hard working clergy of the present day. These early pioneers, notwithstanding their trials and privations were happy in the service of their Master, having learned "to endure hardness as good soldiers," without murmuring at their lot.

In the year 1819 Richmond Bay and Bedeque were disjoined from Princetown and were ministered to by Revs. Andrew Nichol and William McGregor, successively, until the autumn of 1825, when Bedeque was formed into a separate congregation and called Rev. Robert Sim Patterson, M. A. The call was signed by thirty-two members and by twenty-eight adherents. Mr. Patterson was ordained and inducted into the pastoral charge of Bedeque on 22nd March, 1826. The congregation being small and widely scattered was unable to give their minister a large salary or even that necessary for a comfortable living, but Mr. Patterson with true apostolic zeal and self-denial helped the people to bear their burdens, teaching school and laboring with his hands that he might be the less burdensome to them and that they might enjoy the blessing of a preached gospel. In the latter part of his ministry the congregation had so increased in numbers and in wealth that they were able to minister to the comfort of their pastor. Though his stipend never was large, yet for many years he gave the one-tenth, and for the last few years of his ministry the one-fifth, of his annual income for religious and benevolent purposes. Rev. Mr. Patterson seemed to be like the man of whom Bunyan wrote :

"There was a man and some did count him mad, The more he gave away the more he had."

Mr. Patterson continued to preach regularly until the Sabbath before his death, which took place in September, 1882, in the fifty-eighth year of his ministry. This was perhaps the longest unbroken pastorate in one congregation in the history of the Canadian church. His jubilee was celebrated in

Mr. Patterson was one of the first students educated in the old Pictou Seminary, and he, together with the late John McLean and John L. Murdoch, was sent to Glasgow, Scotland, when, after the necessary examination, they each received from the university of that city the degree of M. A., and were licensed to preach the gospel. On their arrival in Scotland these three young men called upon a minister to whom they had letters of introduction. After a few minutes' conversation he called his wife, Mrs. Brown, to come and see the three young preachers who had just come from America. On entering the room she lifted up her hands in astonishment, saying, "Aye, mon, they're no' black."

During his whole life Mr. Patterson was a diligent student. As an evidence of this fact, after he was seventy years of age he studied and became quite proficient in the Spanish language. He was an earnest and faithful preacher and pastor, a man of genuine piety, greatly beloved not only by his congregation but by all who knew him.

After a few months' vacancy Bedeque called Rev. William Scott, of the north of Ireland, a student of the celebrated Dr. Cook. Mr. Scott, like his venerable predecessor, Mr. Patterson, was an able and earnest preacher, abundant in labors and highly esteemed by a devoted and intelligent people. His ministry in Bedeque, extending over several years, was crowned with much success ; but the field being large and scattered, involving a large amount of physical toil, Mr. Scott, whose health was not very robust, was compelled to resign his charge of the congregation. Mr. Scott was succeeded by Rev. Wm. Tuffts, who, beside Bedeque, had charge also of Summerfield. Having youth and mental and physical vigor on his side, he ministered to this large and scattered field for about seven years with great success, when he accepted a call to a charge in Ontario, and Bedeque again became vacant. The next minister settled over that field was Rev. William McCulloch Thompson. After a short pastorate he was succeeded by Rev. R. S. Whidden.

Let us now return to Princetown. This congregation under the able and faithful labors of Rev. Dr. Keir continued to prosper morally, spiritually and financially, until it became the model congregation of the Presbytery, and not a few are of the opinion that it holds that enviable position up to the present time. In the year 1846 Dr. Keir was by the Synod of the Presbyterian church of Nova Scotia appointed to the honorable and responsible position of Professor of Theology, a position which, for many years, had been ably filled by the late Rev. Thomas McCulloch, D. D. This appointment necessarily added greatly to the labors of the doctor, whose powers for many years had been taxed to nearly their utmost capacity. His theological lectures were carefully written and were the result of much reading and of close study. The course of lectures extended over four years of two months each year. During the theological sessions his pulpit was supplied by the members of the Presbytery. Dr. Keir's jubilee took place in the month of June, 1857, and the large gathering from all parts of the province and from neighboring provinces gave evidence of the high esteem in which the venerable doctor was held by the church generally. In the following year, 1858, while attending a meeting of the Synod in Truro, Nova Scotia, he died suddenly, in the seventy-ninth year of his age and in the fifty-first of his ministry in Princetown. As a man, as a Christian, as a minister of Jesus Christ, as Professor of Theology, as President of the Board of Foreign Missions, and in all the various relations of life, Dr. Keir deservedly stood high in the estimation of his brethren and of the whole church.

B

Dr. Keir was succeeded in the pastorate of Princetown by Rev. Robert Laird, one of his own theological students, who was ordained and inducted on 1 2th June, i860. Here Mr. Laird continued to labor for nineteen years with diligence, ability and success. It was during his ministry that the station at Kensington, then called Barrett's Cross, was taken up. Every alternate Sabbath for several years, Mr. Laird, after preaching twice in Princetown, gave a third service at Kensington. Being a central place, on the line of railway and surrounded by a wealthy farming country, this little village grew rapidly, so that where at the time the writer first passed through that place there were only two dwelling houses, and one of them a country tavern, there is now a thriving town, with a large and prospering business and three large, handsome churches, Presbyterian, Episcopalian and Methodist, all well filled. In October, 1879, Mr. Laird's resignation of the pastorate of Princetown was accepted, and on 30th June, in the following year, Mr. George McMullan, B. A., was ordained and inducted as pastor of this congregation. For fifteen years Mr. McMullan was the esteemed pastor of Princetown, when failing health compelled him to resign. After remaining vacant for a few months, Rev. J. M. Fisher of New Brunswick was called an^ settled over this congregation, he being their fourth minister within a period of eighty-seven years.

The first Presbytery of Prince Edward Island was, by deed of the Synod of the Presbyterian church of Nova Scotia, formed on nth October, 1 82 1, and held its first meeting in the house of Archibald Campbell, Esq., Lot 16, and consisted of Rev. John Keir, moderator, Robert Douglas, the grandfather of Professor Falconer, of Halifax, William McGregor, ministers, and Mr. Edward Ramsay, ruling elder. Mr. Douglas was clerk of the first Presbytery of Prince Edward Island.

Chapter III. New London And Cavendish

Cavendish is one of the oldest settlements in the province. Its first settlers came from Moroyshire, Scotland, about the year 1774. For about twentytwo years these early settlers were without regular gospel ordinances; but they had not forgotten the early religious training they had received in the pious homes of their youth. The greater part of them regularly observed the worship of God in their families, and they, as well as the people of Malpeque and Bedeque, carried their little children all the way to Charlottetown that they might receive baptism at the hands of that beloved servant of God, the late parson Des Brisay of the Episcopal church. He had been brought up a Presbyterian and he baptized their children according to the Presbyterian form. He was a liberal-minded Christian and generously gave the use of his church to Presbyterian ministers and even invited them to preach for him, he going through the Church of England service.

The first Presbyterian minister who visited and preached in Cavendish was the late Rev. James Mc- Gregor, D. D. On Wednesday, July 16, 1806, the doctor preached in the house of Mr. Simpson, grandfather of Rev. Allan Simpson, late of Park Street church, Halifax. His text was Ezek. xxxvi : 31. On the following day he preached two discourses on Gal. ii:30 in the house of Mr. Cozens, New London. He visited and preached in these settlements twice between this period and the settlement of Dr. Keir in Princetown, in 1810, and that of Rev. Mr. Pidgeon in St. Peters, in 181 1. After the settlement of these two faithful sentinels, one in the east and the other in the west, Dr. McGregor's missionary labors were confined almost exclusively to his extensive field on the mainland.

Rev. John Keir from the time of his settlement in Princetown gave a part of his services to Cavendish and New London; having, however, the whole of Prince county and a part of Queens under his pastoral oversight, the amount of supply given to Cavendish and New London must have been very limited indeed. But a congregation composed largely of such men as the McNeills and the Lairds, the Lockerbys and the Simpsons, when they had no settled minister were well able to conduct intelligently, amongst themselves, religious services, and did so until they obtained a pastor of their own.

Having constituted a part of Mr. Keir's charge for twenty years, Cavendish and New London were organized into a separate and distinct congregation on 1 6th June, 1826. On the same day moderation in a call was granted to this new field which resulted in favor of Mr. Hugh Dunbar, who accepted the invitation, and was ordained and inducted as their pastor on 27th March, 1827. The ministers taking part in the ordination and induction services were Revs. John Keir, Robert Douglas and R. S. Patterson, M. A. Mr. Dunbar after eight years of faithful service resigned his charge of this field and took charge of a school in Summerfield. On the Sabbath days he preached to the Presbyterian families in that settlement and in a short time succeeded in erecting a comfortable place of worship and in gathering together quite a number of families who now constitute an important section of the congregation of Clifton and Granville. In the year 1858, Mr. Dunbar was taken suddenly ill and died between his own dwelling and the schoolhouse in which he had so long and faithfully labored. Mr. Dunbar was a good scholar, a man of more than ordinary ability, an able and instructive preacher, as will be readily admitted by those who have heard him or have read his published sermons, and was, above all, a pious, consistent and devoted servant of God.

The next minister settled in Cavendish and New London was the late lamented Dr. John Geddie. He was ordained and inducted over this charge on 13th March, 1838. The call to Dr. Geddie was signed by thirty-four communicants and by seven adherents. Rev. Robert Douglas preached the ordination sermon from II Kings iv:g, 10; Rev. John Keir addressed the minister, the Rev. William McGregor addressed the congregation, and Rev. R. S. Patterson, M.. A., preached the concluding sermon.

Mr. Geddie, though his bodily presence was weak, was a man of indomitable energy, firmness and determination, and he immediately entered upon his congregational work with unusual energy and devotion. Though from early life his heart was set on foreign mission work, he was yet one of the most devoted and zealous of home workers. He was abundant in labors, and there was ample scope for his eneriges, for the whole island was little more than a mission field. His zeal was, by the blessing of God, the means of infusing new life in his co-presbyters with regard to church work both at home and abroad. At a time when railroads were not thought of, and when there were neither the comforts nor conveniences of travel that there now are, he traversed the whole island, visiting every settlement in which Presbyterian families were to be found, and never allowed cold or storm to interfere with the fulfilment of his appointments. He was always a welcome visitor. Even his old horse, Sampson, for his master's sake was always welcome to the best the stable could afford. Mr. Geddie's gentle and kindly nature secured for him the warm attachment of old and young not only in his own congregation, but wherever he was known. He formed a missionary society in his own congregation in 1837, and through his influence missionary societies were formed in all the congregations of the Presbytery, and their first contributions were sent to the London Missionary Society.

In 1844 the propriety of undertaking the support of a foreign missionary amongst the heathen was brought before the Synod of the Presbyterian church of Nova Scotia by Mr. Geddie in the form of an overture. It was sent down to Presbyteries to

History of Presbytertantsm report at next meeting of Synod. When, in 1845, the Synod did resolve to undertake the work, and advertised for a missionary, the Rev. John Geddie (who had been dedicated to foreign mission work by godly parents, as an expression of gratitude to God for sparing their child's life in a case of severe illness) offered his services, which were accepted. This of course, led to his separation from his congregation, which took place on 20th October, 1845. Though his people were warmly attached to him, and would gladly have retained his services, yet from a sense of duty to the benighted heathen, and in the spirit of obedience to the will of the Great Head of the church, they consented to part with their beloved pastor, and followed him with their kind wishes and earnest prayers in his work of faith and labor of love amongst the perishing heathen. Thus from this little island there went out the first Canadian missionary to the heathen, and one of the most successful, for he could say, "When I landed on Aneiteum there was not a Christian, and before I left there was not a heathen, on the island."

After Mr. Geddie's departure to the foreign field Cavendish remained vacant for about four years, receiving during that time such supply as Presbytery was able to give them. In March, 1848, they called Mr. Joseph Handyside, a gifted and popular preacher who had just come out from the U. P. Church of Scotland, but Mr. Handyside was taken suddenly ill in Pictou, and being of a delicate constitution, he sank rapidly into a decline and passed peacefully into that "rest which remaineth for the people of God." In 1849 they called Rev. George Patterson, but were again disappointed, Mr. Patterson having accepted a call from Salem church, Green Hill, N. S. In the following year Mr. Isaac Murray accepted an invitation from the congregation of Cavendish and New London, and on 16th January, 1850, was ordained and inducted as their pastor. The call to Mr. Murray was signed by one hundred and one communicants and by forty-one adherents. Rev. R. S. Patterson, M. A., preached the ordination sermon on the words, "That the man of God may be perfect." Rev. John Keir addressed the minister and Rev. J. C. Sinclair the congregation. Rev. Isaac Murray's pastorate in this large and interesting field extended over a period of twenty-eight years. A good scholar, a close student, and a man of more than ordinary ability, his sermons were always of a high order and were duly appreciated by an intelligent people. Mr. Murray was a teacher as well as a preacher. In recognition of his scholarship and of his ability both as a preacher and as a writer the degree of D. D. was conferred upon him by one of the leading colleges in the United States. Faithful in the performance of his pastoral work and in all the duties of his office, his labors were crowned with much success and his congregation rapidly improved under his faithful ministry.

But Dr. Murray's labors were not confined to his own congregation. Having youth and energy in his favor, while many of his co-presbyters were somewhat advanced in years, a large share of the work of the Presbytery fell to his lot. He also took a deep interest in education, was for many years a member of the board of education, and prepared a number of young men for entering college, several of whom now occupy prominent places in the church; e. g., Rev. Allan Simpson, the popular pastor of Park Street church, Halifax ; Rev. L. G. McNeill, the able and eloquent pastor of St. Andrew's church, St. John, N. B., ; Rev. Andrew Lockerby of the United States, Rev. George Laird of Manitoba, Hon. David Laird, ex-Governor of the Northwest Territories, Rev. Charles Fraser and many others. On 30th October, 1862, Rev. Dr. Murray resigned the charge of the New London section of his congregation and gave his whole time to Cavendish, New Glasgow and Rustico, until nth July, 1877, when he accepted a call from the united congregation of New London north and south. Here the Doctor remained for about one year and a half and accepted a call to Prince Street Presbyterian church, Charlottetown. Here Dr. Murray laboured with his well-known ability for several years, when he accepted a call from Thorburn, N. S. The Doctor was soon after called to an important congregation in Sydney, Cape Breton, where, with much ability, energy and success, he continued to preach the gospel and discharge his pastoral duties until in the forty-seventh year of his ministry, in July, 1896, he felt himself justified in resigning his charge and retiring from the active duties of the ministry.