1
THE FATHERS OF GRIMSBY PARK.
i. REV. JOHN WAKEFIELD, D.D. 2. REV. JOHN SHAW, D.D.
3. J. B. BOWSLAUGH, ESQ. 4. REV. SAMUEL Ross, D.D. 5. DAVID HOLSSER, Eso.
6. REV. MICHAEL FAWCETT. 7. JACOB BEAMKR, ESQ.
rtG
GRIMSBY PARK
HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE
WITH BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
OK THE LATE PRESIDENT
NOAH PHELPS
AND OTHERS
BY
HARRIET PHELPS YOUMANS
TORONTO
WILLIAM BRIGGS
1900
KNTKKKD according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one thousand
nine hundred, by HARRIOT I'IIKLI-S YOI'.MAXS, at tho Department of Aprri-
culture.
ELECTRONIC VERSION
AVAILABLE
NO.
CONTEXTS.
PAGE
GRIMSBY CAMP-MEETING - 7
NOAH PHELPS 31
THE REV. DR. WAKEFIELD 46
JOHN B. BOWSLAUGH 51
GRIMSBY PARK 56
ILLUSTRATIONS.
THE FATHERS OF GRIMSBY PARK Frontispiece
A JOLLY OUTING 13
SCENE ON THE BEACH 24
STEAMBOAT LANDING 24
NOAH PHELPS 30
" UNCLE NOAH " AMONG His FRIENDS 39
A GLIMPSE OF THE LAKE FRONT 50
AMONG THE COTTAGES 57
"THE TRYSTING PLACE" 57
THE PIAZZA OF LAKE VIEW HOUSE 60
BOARD OF DIRECTORS, 1894 67
BOARD OF DIRECTORS, 1898 67
AN ANGRY SURF 73
THE CALM THAT FOLLOWS 73
GRIMSBY CAMP-MEETING.
THE camp-meeting seems to have been a prominent
feature of the early religious life of Canada. Long
before there were towns or villages, the scattered settlers
were wont to gather occasionally in those primitive
meetings.
When the little log houses were miles apart, and men
and women were engaged in a hand-to-hand struggle
with the forest, the wild beasts, and poverty, there was
in some places little time or thought devoted to religious
subjects. Isolated, and engaged continually in this fight,
it is not surprising that they sometimes forgot their
early training and grew cold and indifferent toward reli-
gious matters. Children were born, and sometimes half
grown, in some localities, before they had ever heard a
sermon or seen a church. It was then that -the Metho-
dist Church sent forth missionaries to carry the comforts
of the Gospel to those solitary families. Many of these
men were as poor as their parishioners, and as hardy
and brave. Travelling on horseback, in all kinds of
weather, over the length and breadth of the immense
circuits, the story of their hardships and adventures
reads like a romance. Their forms stand out dis-
tinctively in the history of those early times. They were
men of heroic type, and many of them would have been
prominent in any country or age. Their successors were
largely of the same cast, and some of them can be
remembered by persons now living.
7
GRIM SB Y PARK.
As the country became more thickly settled and the
people more comfortable in circumstances, churches and
circuits increased, and the camp-meeting seems to have
become more and more a sort of yearly Feast of Taber-
nacles, where the people loved to gather for social reli-
gious intercourse. Forty or fifty years ago they were
in their palmy days, and many wonderful scenes were
witnessed at those meetings. There were times when
saints and sinners were alike overcome by the myster-
ious spiritual influence which swept over the immense
congregation like a whirlwind and prostrated the people
like fields of grain borne down by mighty winds. Those
were veritable Pentecostal days, the history of which is
too well authenticated to be disputed, and is well worth
study.
Grimsby Park is one of the few survivals, if not the
only one, of the old-fashioned camp-meetings remain-
ing in Canada ; but the summer visitors who throng this
pretty resort would never suspect that forty years ago
a very different scene was presented to those who came
to the spot for very different reasons. Indeed, as early
as 1846, we are told, thirteen years before the first camp-
meeting, a mammoth temperance meeting was held here.
At that time the bank extended out much farther than
it does now. Great trees stood over where the waters
now ripple, but the waves gradually undermined the
bank, and earth and trees disappeared, the shore receding
year by year until a great change has taken place in the
appearance of the water front.
This temperance meeting, which they called a " soiree "
was held on the high bank in front of the home of
Samuel Russ, Esq., which stood near the present Lake
View House. There were long tables bounteously spread,
GRIMSBY CAMP-MEETING. 9
at which the great assembly feasted together. There
were over two thousand persons present to enjoy the pro-
gramme of band music and speeches from the eloquent
men who graced the platform. Two of them belonged
to the famous Ryerson family. They were Egerton and
William, whose names are still remembered. On this
occasion the latter gave one of his masterpieces and
the great congregation was spell-bound by his fervid
eloquence. The meeting was a great success.
Grimsby Camp-Meeting came into existence in 1859.
In the autumn of 1858 a camp-meeting for the Hamil-
ton District was held on the farm of Mr. Camp, near
Smithville. The Rev. Samuel Rose was Chairman of
the District, and had charge of the meeting, which was
attended by persons from the whole Niagara Peninsula,
then included in the Hamilton District,
At the next Conference the Hamilton District was
divided and the Niagara District formed, with the Rev.
Samuel Rose, who was stationed at Thorold, as its Chair-
man. Early in the Conference year a committee was
formed to select a ground and make the needful prepara-
tion for a camp-meeting for the new district. This
committee was composed of the Revs. Samuel Rose,
Michael Fawcett, John Wakefield, and John Shaw, and
the following laymen, John B. Bowslaugh, David Hous-
ser and Jacob Beamer. This committee met at the house
of Mr. Bowslaugh, and after some discussion selected
the ground where Grimsby Park now is.
There were many things to be considered in the
selection, such as a suitable ground, good water, avail-
able pasturage for horses, a sympathetic neighborhood,
and plenty of pine roots and wood for lights. All these
things seemed to combine in the spot chosen on the
10 G RIMS BY PARK.
banks of beautiful Lake Ontario. The ground was
thickly covered with underbrush and fallen trees, and
required much work to make it ready for a camp-
ground. As soon as the decision was formed, and the
place selected before a blow was struck the com-
mittee, with bared heads, knelt before God in the
woods and invoked His blessing upon their undertak-
ing. Then the Rev. Dr. Wakefield seized an axe and
struck the first blow towards the clearing of the ground,
and all the machinery was set in motion as quickly as
possible to prepare for a successful meeting, which was
to begin on the last Thursday in August, 1859. The
men turned out in goodly numbers, with their teams, to
draw lumber for the tents, the preachers' stand, the
seats, and other things. The light-stands, or platforms,
had to be erected, and dry pine roots and stumps
gathered for their fires. The spring had to be cleaned
out for water for the use of the campers, the board tents
had to be built, and much arduous work done ; but
ministers and laymen alike took off their coats and
rendered willing service until all was ready for the day
of assembly.
The Rev. Dr. Wakefield was chosen to preach the
first sermon, and his text was from I Kings, i8th
chapter, 4ist verse: "There is a sound of abundance of
rain."
This meeting lasted about a week, and the results
were very satisfactory. The people dispersed full of
resolve to continue the good work begun here, and
many revivals on the different circuits resulted.
From this time Grimsby Camp-meeting became an
annual gathering, and until the fall of 1862, when there
was no meeting there, but one at Niagara Falls South,
GRIM SB Y CAMP-MEETING. II
it was uninterrupted. In that year this change was
made and a very successful meeting conducted at that
historic place, then called Drummondville. The meet-
ing was held in the woods of John Kerr, Esq., near
Niagara Falls, and was under the superintendency of
Dr. Wakefield, who was in charge of the Drummond-
ville Circuit. It is said to have been an unusually good
meeting, and many persons were converted.
The next year the meetings at Grimsby were
resumed, and from that time they have been continued
there in some form up to the present time.
Asking a friend for a list of names of those persons
who were prominent in the work in those days, I have
this reply : " It is difficult to mention the names of any
who made those early meetings a success without seem-
ing to be invidious, as there were large numbers who
threw themselves into the work. Among the men,
however, who did heroic service for God at Grimsby
may be mentioned the Revs. Samuel Rose, Isaac B.
Howard, Michael Fawcett, John Shaw, John Wakefield,
J. H. Starr, John Potts, Alexander Sutherland, A.
Langford, J. E. Betts ; and in later years, John A.
Williams, George E. Sanderson, W. S. Griffin, and
many others. Among the laymen there were John B.
Bowslaugh, Noah Phelps, Ira Calder, David Housser,
Jacob Beamer, James Lewis, John P. Bridgman, Abishai
Morse, James Miller, and many besides. Those meet-
ings have been instrumental in helping thousands to a
better life, and eternity alone will reveal the number of
souls who were by this means savingly converted to
God. Most of the early workers have gone to their
rest, but they being dead yet speak to us, and their
works do follow them."
12 GRIM SB Y PARK.
In the foregoing quotation are many names of men
who will be remembered by those who used to attend
the camp-meeting. Most of the older ones are gone,
and of the little group forming the committee who
selected the grounds and inaugurated the camp-meet-
ing only two are still living, the Rev. Dr. Wakefield
who preached the first sermon, and whose face is still
familiar on the old camp-ground and the aged Jacob
Beamer, who resides, I think, in Buffalo.
Dr. Rose and Mr. Fawcett were very prominent
figures at the camp-meetings, and both were men of
strong character and deep piety. Mr. Fawcett was a
very devoted temperance worker, and had all the cour-
age of his convictions. Early in the history of the
Park, and for a good many years, great difficulty was
experienced by the camp-meeting authorities in keeping
strong drink off the ground and its environs. Open
defiance was met with at first, and later all sorts of
tricks were resorted to in order to cater to the appetites
of those persons addicted to drink who might happen
to be in the audience.
On one occasion when a most flagrant and open
instance of this occurred, and a man planted a little
drinking booth at the very gates, it was raided and
razed to the ground by the indignant campers, headed
and assisted by no less a personage than the reverend
gentleman himself.
Dr. Potts and Dr. Sutherland were handsome, promis-
ing young fellows, with their laurels yet to win, and
never a sign of grey hairs or anything but perpetual
youth and vigor could be detected about them.
And there were scores of others, young, hopeful, and
1 4 G RIMS BY PARK.
facing the future with all the confidence of inexperi-
enced youth. Some of them are to-day filling high
places in the Church and the world ; others are working
in humbler fields, serving their day and generation
equally well, and others have long since gone to their
reward.
* # * *****
* It is difficult to present to the Grimsby Park people
of to-day a faithful picture of the place as I first saw it,
a few years before the old board tents were torn down
to make room for the present cottages. No accommo-
dation was made for travellers on the part of the railway
company. Passengers were dumped off the train where
the Grand Trunk crosses the road near the present
station, and found their way to the opening in the rail
fence, which was to the right of the Park House. The
rough road wound its way to the camp through the
thick woods, over roots and around stumps. Everything
was wild and primitive.
The auditorium occupied the site of the present temple.
The ground sloped gently from the outer edge of the
circle, forming a natural amphitheatre, which was util-
ized as a meeting place. The preachers' stand stood
almost in the same place as the present pulpit. Behind
it stood a small rough building supposed to be used by
the brethren as a sort of baggage-room, etc., with, I
think, some straw-filled " bunks," where in case of emer-
gency they used to sleep. Few of the sisters ever
penetrated into this mysterious chamber, and in some
quarters it was an open question as to the comfort the
occupants thereof enjoyed. However, it was only used
as a dormitory when the ever-generous hospitality of
the tents was over-taxed. Looking out from the preach-
GRIMSBY CAMP-MEETING. 15
ers' stand over the auditorium one saw the rude back-
less seats which accommodated the worshippers. They
were thick boards supported on logs, which were laid
length-wise on either side of the aisles, and which had
to be stepped across to get to the seats. When the
ground was damp, clean dry straw was spread under
foot, making the place comfortable and safe. Overhead
the interlacing branches of the forest trees formed* an
agreeable shade, through which the sky shone, blue or
grey, or dark and star-bespangled, as the case might be.
The wind stirred the leaves, which whispered to each
other ; or, if the wind was strong, they joined their voices
to those of the lake, and the air was full of a rush which
sometimes almost drowned the voice of the speaker.
To the right, and back of the preachers' stand, there
was erected, in the later years of the camp-meeting, the
huge barn-like structure which they called the " Taber-
nacle." Only on rainy days was this place used for
meetings, the out-door auditorium being much pleas-
anter. This building was removed when the present
temple was built.
The circle was formed then by the row of tents which
stood where the cottages of the auditorium now stand,
and this circle with what it enclosed formed the camp-
ground. No tents or cottages were seen outside of this,
as I remember it, and the nearest building was the
farm-house of Mr. Russ, which stood among the apple
trees near the present site of Lake View House.
At night the scene was lighted by fires of pine knots
and roots, burning upon the six high, square platforms
which were placed at intervals around the circle. They
were supported on stout posts and were five or six feet
high. Strong wooden floors, covered with a foot or
2
1 6 GRIMSBY PARK.
more of soil (out of which the grass grew only to blacken
and die at meeting time), supported these primitive
torches. Those fires served a double purpose : the} 7
lighted the place very satisfactorily, and the heat coun-
teracted the dampness of the evening air, which was
seldom noticeable during the long evening meetings.
The spring that furnishes much of the water for the
Park to-day was noted for the purity and sweetness of
its water, and was one of the advantages of this parti-
cular camp-ground.
The cooking was done gypsy fashion, out of doors.
The wood was gathered up in the vicinity of the back
doors of the tents, and the supply never gave out.
Straw for the beds was also furnished "without money
and without price," and no person ever went to camp-
meeting in the old times without receiving an invitation
to partake of the hospitality of some kind sojourner in a
tent.
All the year until the last week in August this sylvan
sanctuary was given up to nature. The snow hid it in
the winter season, and through the pleasant spring and
early summer the timid creatures of the woods held
riotous carnival there, with no one to molest or make
them afraid. But in August the human intruders ap-
peared. The silent little dwellings suddenly became
animated, the indignant squirrels scolded and rushed
frantically about, while their rubbish was being swept
out of the corners in the tents, which had served for
their winter storehouses. The other shy wild things,
which had lived so fearlessly in the deserted village, crept
away or flew silently off into the depth of the woods.
As the time drew near for the annual gathering there
were always forthcoming willing hands for the task of
GRIMSBY CAMP-MEETING. \J
preparing for the meetings. Some one had to bring
loads of fresh, clean straw for the beds and to scatter
it over the ground in the auditorium. Some one had to
bring the seats out of their winter quarters and place
them in position. Loads of pine knots and other fuel
for the light-stands had to be provided. Lumber had
to be on hand so that when the accommodation limit
was reached, and there was still a demand for more
room, all hands could go to work and build additional
tents.
The camp-meeting was always held the last week in
August, beginning on Thursday and lasting over one
Sunday. This was, of course, the most important day,
and the crowds were immense. The woods were full of
teams and wagons, and the road leading into the
camp-ground lined thickly on both sides with horses
and vehicles. The people brought baskets of pro-
visions and picnicked in the woods or on the shore, and
during the hours of service they often overflowed the
seating capacity and stood in hundreds, reaching some-
times to the very doors of the tents.
It was good to see the people as they came together.
One by one the teams came turning in at the opening
in the rail fence, picking their way over the rough road,
or winding cautiously through the thick woods. How
glad the women were to see each other. Many of them
never met save at these meetings. Gradually the little
dwellings would fill and faces appear at the doors. The
simple arrangements inside were soon completed, and
greetings and handshakings were in order.
One old couple I remember, who came from afar.
They must have started early in the morning in order
to arrive at the camp by sundown. They came in a
1 8 GRIM SB Y PARK.
long white-covered gypsy wagon, drawn by a team of
staid farm horses. The old gentleman was small,
.stooped, silent. His thin grey hair and beard, his mild
blue eyes, I can see yet, and I can never forget his
portly spouse with her round face in its old-fashioned
Methodist bonnet, or white frilled cap, her spectacles,
her old-fashioned dress and shawl.
We formed quite an intimacy during our chance
meetings. I always found her nicely settled in her
" tent," the gypsy wagon drawn safely near to the back
door, and the old gentleman probably engaged with the
team, giving them the best of care and attention in
some neighboring pasture field. " Here you be at last,"
would be her first greeting. " I've been watching out
for you." Many a peppermint " lozenger," of which
she always kept a store, found its way into my some-
what reluctant hand. She also carried a bottle of
" scent," with which she copiously drenched my hand-
kerchief whenever she got a chance. Dear old lady !
Long ago she was gathered to her fathers.
Old Mrs. Nash's was another familiar face which is
seldom seen of late years, though she is still living. Her
singing will be remembered by many who were present,
when on occasion she began the prayer-meeting exer-
cises with some old-fashioned hymn such as we seldom
hear nowadays. She was often the centre of a group of
singers who gradually sang themselves into the " spirit,"
and adjourned to some convenient spot for an im-
promptu prayer or praise-meeting.
Continuously, from one quarter or another, the sound
of singing floated out through the forest, and sometimes
the shouts and hallelujahs were as loud as the hymns.
There were many quaint and original characters to be
GRIMSBY CAMP-MEETING. 1 9
met there year after year, and many saintly souls whose
influence is not yet forgotten. There was sweet-faced
Mary Campbell, with her golden hair, her slender black-
robed form, fair and fragile as a lily, and destined to an
early grave. Her hold on the young people was won-
derful. Especially beautiful was her sisterly manner
with a number of lads in their teens, who seemed quite
unimpressed by the exercises of the day, as well as the
earnest admonitions of the brethren. Anxious parents
watched with prayerful interest the growing comradeship
between the lovely girl and the (in some cases) wayward
youths, and wondered, with the rest of us, how it was
that she so soon overcame their shy reserve and won
their confidence. Their chivalric devotion to her was
lovely. They were proud to call her their friend, and
through her influence several were converted. One,
especially, was turned from a course already entered
upon which would long since have ruined him, and is
to-day a Christian gentleman of unimpeachable char-
acter and standing.
I remember especially a sweet singer named, I think,
Martha Comfort. Her voice, a rare and lovely soprano,
easily led all the others, and " Uncle Noah " never tired
of her singing. I am afraid he rather imposed upon
the good nature of the young lady, for whenever she
appeared in the vicinity of his tent she was importuned
for some favorite hymn, and never seemed tired or
unwilling. Many a time, when pressed to sing for his
enjoyment, she has become the centre of a knot of
music lovers, drawn thither by the sound of her rich
voice, and before they knew it an impromptu meeting
would materialize and everybody would be " happy."
It must be remembered that the people came together
20 GRIM SB Y PARK.
for worship. There were three regular services of ser-
mons, with after meetings which were long and exciting,
and, as some of the brethren never semed to grow weary,
little bands might be found at almost any hour in differ-
ent tents, met to continue the exercises, and sometimes
only dispersed when meal time came and the physical
nature as well as the spiritual called out for sustenance.
Nearly everyone was keyed up to a high pitch, and to
the less spiritually-minded, of whom there were several,
the continual exercises sometimes grew irksome. Very
many funny things happened, and the comical side some-
times presented itself with a persistence which entirely
upset the gravity of the onlookers. Those who were
absorbed in the meetings were not, so they said, looking
for things to laugh at, but there were a few persons living
in the north-east corner of the old circle who simply
could not be grave every minute. When good old Mr.
P. (peace to his ashes !) standing, I should say, six feet
four, and weighing over three hundred pounds, became
absorbed in the meetings, he was pretty sure to grow
very much excited. When this good old man, with
tears streaming down his round cheeks, his head touch-
ing the beams in the ceiling of Mr. Phelps' tent, his
powerful arms outstretched, cried out in his contrition,
" Oh, my leanness ! oh, my leanness ! " it was too much
for the gravity of a certain little group squeezed into the
narrow space by the back door, and even some of the
older ones smiled when the meeting was out. Dear old
Father P., as he was familiarly called, when he could for-
get his " leanness," his hallelujahs were hearty and heart-
felt.
Then there was " Prodigal Sam," a striking figure,
whose testimonies were strong and to the point. I
GRIM SB Y CAMP-MEETING. 21
remember his appearance as he told his experience, his
head thrown back, his voice strident and piercing, his
manner intense and earnest. His proper name was
Samuel Moyer, and the people of his neighborhood
probably know why he was called " Prodigal Sam." I do
not ; but as I remember him he was one of the most
striking figures in the meetings.
Among the ministers was a German, and I believe
he came from a German settlement. His English was
perfectly correct, but at times the German element
seemed strong in the assemblies and some good German
brother would hold forth in the language of the " Father-
land." Then the minister would reply in the same
tongue, the Germans would break out all around, and
they would have an unusually good time, we "foreigners"
looking on and enjoying it as much as any of them.
Mr. Moyer especially enjoyed those German events.
Among the well-known men who will be remembered
as familiar figures for many years at the camp-meeting
was Abashai Morse, of Smithville, a fine-looking man
with erect and dignified bearing, who was always pres-
ent, and lived to attend the meetings for years after the
camp-meeting became a chartered company.
John P. Bridgman, of the same place, was another
familiar personality from the beginning of the camp-
meetings, and we find his name on most of the early
committees. He was a genial man, with sterling Chris-
tian qualities, whose untimely death occurred shortly
after the organization of the Grimsby Park Company,
of which he was one of the trustees. His son, the Rev.
George Bridgman, D.D., who was one of the promising
young ministers of the early days, is now the President
of an American university in a western State.
GRIMSBY PARK.
David Housser, of Beamsville, one of the original
committee of seven, was another man well-known on
the camp-ground and to all the country side as one
deserving universal respect. His was one of the homes
where the " prophet's chamber " was always ready, and
which the circuit-rider was always glad to reach. The
shelter of that hospitable roof was enjoyed by scores of
the itinerants of the Methodist Church, both in the early
and later days. He was a man of upright character,
firm and unbending in his sturdy Methodism, but of a
cheerful, genial temperament, which made him a lovable
friend and a good neighbor. He was never absent from
the camp-meetings, where he was prominent not only
as a lay worker in the religious exercises but as a mem-
ber of the committees which looked after the business
interests of the meeting. In his tent, as in his home,
there was always a cordial welcome for visitors on the
part of Mr. Housser and his family. Mr. Housser died
in 1895 at the age of 77.
There are other names of men who were prominent in
those days, but only a few can be mentioned. Ira
Calder, Richard Collier, Alex. Junkin, James Gillespie,
James Miller, Jacob Kennedy. There were Moyers
and Hippies and Bowslaughs galore, and other good
men and true, whose names are on a more important
roll than this. The Revs. John Carroll, William Savage,
E. White, James Harris, Dr. Rice, and the rest of the
goodly company too numerous to mention are also in
that book of remembrance.
Last, but not least, there were Dr. Palmer and Mrs.
Palmer, of New York, whose memory is still green in
many places where their labors have been wonderfully
blessed. They were the great attraction whenever they
GRIM SB Y CAMP-MEETING. 23
favored the meetings with their presence, and none of
the great orators who visit the Park to-day can claim a
larger following, while many conversions always resulted
from their ministrations.
There were always special constables, whose duty it
was to keep order and suppress any lawlessness which
might manifest itself, and also hold in check the too
buoyant spirits of certain young persons.
Out in the dark woods where the horses were tethered
mischievous pranks were sometimes played, but the
vigilance of the officers never relaxed, and a few ex-
amples before a Justice of the Peace usually served as a
deterrent toward any who might be inclined to break
the law. Once in a while mistakes were made in con-
nection with those cases, which were none the less funny
than they were embarrassing. One night after the close
of the meeting, when most of the people had gone to
rest, a couple of young men who had come together and
had agreed to meet after service in the woods where
their horses were left, failed to find each other. It grew
very late, the night was dark, and it was impossible to
see far in the thick woods. One of the young men
became impatient at having to wait so long for his com-
panion, and thinking that though he could not see him
he might perhaps make him hear, he began to call and
shout at the top of his voice, " Dan Pool," " Dan Pool,"
over and over again. The faithful officer, ever on the
lookout for such miscreants, and shocked at the flagrant
profanity so boldly displayed, rushed into the forest
and seized the astonished offender, who vainly tried to
explain. He was brought back into the circle and a few
of the brethren who were still about decided that he
must remain under guard until morning, and then appear
SCENE ON THE BEACH.
STEAMBOAT LANDING.
GRIM SB Y CAMP-MEETING. 25
before the proper authority for trial. In vain the young
man declared that he was only calling Dan Pool, his
late companion. The shrewd protector of the peace
had " seen and heard just such fellows make just such
excuses before, and this time the law should take its
course. One or two such examples would do good and
put a stop to the persistent attempts on the part of
reckless young men to disturb the peace and quiet of
this assembly," etc. It began to look rather bad, and
as Dan Pool still failed to materialize our young friend
was in a dilemma. He was a stranger to his captors,
and not until it occurred to him to refer them to his
friend, Mr. David Housser, who was on the grounds, did
he make any impression on their minds. They were
determined that the dignity of the law should be vindi-
cated. Mr. Housser being called from his bed, recog-
nized the offender as a neighbor, and, vouching for his
respectability, the unlucky prisoner was allowed to depart
in peace.
The subsequent fate of " Dan Pool " has always
remained a mystery to the writer of these chronicles.
There was one particular and much sought spot in
the auditorium, at the foot of a giant oak, which formed
a comfortable back to the seat, and where one could
enjoy the singing, the sermon, and the sights equally
well, and when the assembled thousands at the Sunday
evening services filled the whole space with a restless
mass of humanity the sight was very impressive.
Seriousness marked the demeanor of most of the
seated congregation. On the platform the ministers sat
with grave and thoughtful faces, the lights of the pulpit
throwing their forms into full relief against the shadowy
spaces about them. Below, on a raised seat which
26 GRIMSBY PARK.
extended across the front of the preachers' stand, were
the members of the choir which led the congregational
.singing.
The blazing camp-fires on their elevated stands lighted
up the scene with a fitful glow, and cast dark shadows
here and there, deepening the air of weirdness and mys-
tery which pervaded the place. Overhead the leaves
fluttered and whispered, their undersides gleaming in
the firelight like the high lights on a picture. Occa-
sionally here and there a face shone out white and
startling from the gloom of some obscure corner. The
crackling of the camp fires, the rustling of the leaves*
the faint echoes of the waves on the beach, the subdued
sound of the voices and footsteps in the outer circles of
the congregation, mingled in a low murmur, which was
as agreeable to the ear as the picturesque and sombre-
colored scene was to the eye.
When the minister arose to begin the services an ex-
pectant hush fell upon the vast assembly. Some of the
ministers had wonderful voices, which, without any effort
on their part, seemed to fill the large circle to the very
doors of the tents, and penetrated the forest spaces
beyond like bugle notes.
There were many excellent voices in the choir, and
they sang the grand old tunes with a vigor and unction
most appropriate to the occasion. I remember how they
rendered the hymn beginning
" O could I speak the matchless worth,
O could I sound the glories forth," etc.,
to the tune of " Ariel." This was a very popular hymn
and the people joined in with a will, the bass rolling up
grandly on the last line, " In notes al-m-o-s-t divine."
GRIMSBY CAMP-MEETING. 2/
" Joy to the world ! the Lord is come'!
Let earth receive her King,"
was another favorite with a special tune ; and there were
many others This old-fashioned, stirring music was no
small factor in the work of the meetings, and the choir
was always the willing strong right hand of the pulpit.
At the close of the preaching service the choir vacated
their places and the ministers and lay speakers gave
short and earnest exhortations to the unconverted, for
whose welfare prayer was offered and to whom kind
words of encouragement were spoken.
The character of the singing changed in those after-
meetings, anyone being at liberty to vary the exercises
by starting a hymn. Some of the tunes were in plaint-
ive minor strains, which must have had a very depress-
ing effect on those who were susceptible to such influ-
ences. Others rang out joyous and glad, expressing
another shade of religious feeling. Sometimes the
meetings were quiet, and again the more demonstrative
gave vent to their feelings in shouts and hallelujahs.
At the close of this after-service there was usually an
adjournment on the part of a few of the brethren to Mr.
Phelps' tent. Here also came many persons who were
still in spiritual darkness, but seeking for light. Those
were unusual meetings. There sometimes seemed to be
a hallowed influence about the place which was felt as
soon as the door was entered, and many remarkable
conversions took place there. Mr. Phelps' personality
shone out strongly here. He was exceedingly helpful
to many persons in the meetings, and his name is still
held in grateful remembrance by many whose eyes have
seen neither his face nor Grimsby Camp-meeting for
many a long year.
28 GRIM SB Y PARK,
Those early meetings were characterized by great
simplicity, earnestness, and spirituality. The people
came together for religious exercises only. For this
purpose business was suspended, household routine dis-
turbed, and the entire energies of the participants given
to the work. They expected to be blessed and strength-
ened for the various emergencies of life, and they were
not disappointed. If they sometimes gave expression
to their spiritual ecstasies in shouts or tears, or other
demonstrations which fastidious persons disapproved
of, what mattered it when they came forth from the
meetings with faces shining with the light which comes
alone from altitudes beyond the reach of the soul's every-
day experience !
There was such a heartiness in the greetings they
gave each other in those days, such a grip in their hand-
shakes, such candor in their eyes, Sons and daughters
of the soil many of them were, with hard work for their
daily portion, but their honesty, their simplicity, their
kindness of heart, were beautiful.
The faithful ministers who did so much for the old
Grimsby Camp-meeting, laboring early and late for the
good of souls, are not yet entirely forgotten. They
were like the rest of humanity, of all types and tempera-
ments. From that rude pulpit the message sometimes
came in the thunders of Sinai, and sinners quaked in
their seats as the day of wrath was portrayed in burn-
ing, fiery language. Some there were whose discourses
were full of Gospel sweetness, melting and subduing the
stubborn heart by the gentler methods of preaching-
Others were full of doctrine, and laid down the law
with almost apostolic clearness and precision. The
people who attended those meetings heard the truth
GRIMSBY CAMP-MEETING. 29
from every possible standpoint. They had " line upon
line, and precept upon precept " from the faithful ser-
vants of God who, year after year, came up to the great
congregation and preached salvation to sinful men.
Old scenes, old worshippers, old friends, how few are
left ! Where stood Nature's leafy tabernacle the present
temple rears its lofty dome. In place of the row of
board tents the modern cottages outline the old circle.
" The old order changeth, yielding place to new."
If the "shades " of the fathers were to visit the scene of
so many of their early experiences, they would search in
vain for one familiar landmark, unless, indeed, they hap-
pened to meet Dr. Wakefield. The sight of that genial,
unaltered countenance would surely reassure them. As
to the rest, they would see no trace of the old Grimsby
Camp-meeting.
NOAH PHELPS.
NOAH PHELPS.
NOAH PHELPS was born in Fabius, N.Y., July
1 8th, 1828, and died in Streetsville, Ont, January
1 5th, 1900. His father, Samuel Green Phelps, was a
member of the New England branch of the family
which has furnished many prominent citizens to the
American Republic. From the landing, in 1630, of the
Mary and John, the old ship which brought so many of
America's famous forefathers to her shores, until the
present, the annals of that country show but few pages
upon which the family name does not occur.
Mr. Samuel Phelps came with his family to Canada
in the year 1833, when Noah was five years old, and
settled in Merritton, on the banks of the Welland Canal.
The country was very new at that time, and the canal
in process of building. Oliver Phelps, Esq., the con-
tractor in charge of the work, was Samuel Phelps' uncle,
and it was owing to his influence that so many of the
family came to Canada.
From early childhood Noah Phelps manifested the
same strong and vigorous qualities which characterized
him through life. He was a masterful lad, and his
parents, with their stern New England notions of family
government, found it very difficult to keep this imperi-
ous and impatient spirit in proper subjection. In fact,
they did not. At seventeen his tall, manly form towered
above that of his by no means diminutive father. He
would have passed anywhere for a man past his majority.
3 31
32 G RIMS BY PARK.
At this early age he had already been placed in very
responsible positions by Mr. Oliver Phelps, whose busi-
ness interests were extensive and varied, and had always
acquitted himself with great credit and ability.
At eighteen he was married to Miss Adeline Love-
land, a native of the State of Pennsylvania, who died
at Grimsby Park in 1 896, some three and a half years
before the death of her husband.
Though reared in a religious family, with a pious and
devoted mother, from whom he inherited some of his
strongest characteristics, and whom he resembled more
than did any of her other children, Mr. Phelps was, for
a number of years, a skeptic. It was not an ideal com-
munity in which to rear a family, on the banks of the
Welland Canal, in the thirties. There were few people
at all like the friends and neighbors left behind in the
State of New York, and a teeming population of Irish
navvies does not create a very wholesome moral atmos-
phere. Yet a few families who came to Canada about
that time were obliged to settle down and make the
best of it.
The educational advantages were very limited. Few
people could afford to send their children away to
school, and though some of Mr. Phelps' cousins enjoyed
the advantages of Yale College, it was his lot to enter
upon man's estate at an age when most young men
are still in tutelage.
There was much lawlessness throughout the Niagara
Peninsula in those years, and the people who were
employed on the works were principally of a rough
class. Drunkenness and profanity were rife, fighting
and bloodshed common. It is small wonder that the few
religiouslv inclined families found it hard to train up
NOAH P HELPS. 33
their children as the)' would, even though they kept
them apart from their surroundings as much as possible.
That Mr. Phelps held skeptical views for a few years, in
common with so many other young men, is not so much
a matter of surprise under the circumstances as that he
and his brothers never contracted vicious habits of any
kind. With the exception of his oldest brother who
was a Baptist, like his parents Mr. Phelps' brothers all
became Methodists when he did.
After the completion of the Welland Canal, as the
country became settled and the population increased,
manufactories were started, and the excellent water
powers afforded by the canal were utilized. Mr. Phelps'
oldest brother had, some time previously, gone into the
lumber business, in partnership with the late Richard
Collier, but being obliged to relinquish their site in
favor of the Great Western Railway, then being built,
the firm dissolved, and Mr. Collier built a new mill at
Lock No. 5 on the old canal, while Mr. O. J. Phelps
selected the site at Lock No. 8 and built a mill there,
taking into partnership his brother Noah. The business
grew and expanded as the years passed, and other mills
were acquired in different parts of Ontario. Other
branches of manufacturing were also engaged in, and
the firm became prosperous and wealthy. Unexpected
reverses eventually came upon them and swept away in
a day the accumulations of a lifetime.
Mr. Phelps was converted when he was thirty years
old, and from that time until his death he remained a
prominent member of the Methodist Church. In the
early days of Methodism in Merritton he was ever to
the front. His energy and ever-ready sympathy were
always to be relied upon whenever the little church
34 GRIMSBY PARK.
called for them. The membership was small, and
active Christian workers had their hands full. Of
course, after the completion of the canal most of the
laborers had left the vicinity, following up other public
works in Canada and the States where such labor was
required, but there was still an irreligious element caring
nothing about churches, nor what they represented, and
it was uphill work trying to maintain the cause among
them.
Welland Canal was then a great thoroughfare. It was
during those years that the vessel carrying-trade was in
its glory, and the canal was a great commercial water-
way. There was plenty of reform work for all, and in
all the forward movements of the neighborhood Mr.
Phelps' influence was felt. Nothing was too small to
attract his attention ; nothing formidable enough to
deter him.
When the Grimsby Camp-meeting was inaugurated
he was at once interested, and from the beginning of its
existence he was never absent but one season, when he,
with his wife, was away on a journey. He went into
the camp-meeting, as into everything else, with all his
might.
I think it safe to say that the people who have for
years enjoyed the privileges of Grimsby Park will most
of them never know how much they owe to Mr. Phelps.
In the earlier days, when the object of the gathering
was wholly religious, his energies were devoted to the
exercises which rilled up much of the time. His " tent "
was open to the public at all times, and was a favorite
meeting place. Many and wonderful were the conver-
sions which took place within those humble walls.
There are persons still living who associate with this
spot some of their most precious spiritual experiences.
NOAH P HELPS. 35
The first camp-meeting was held in Grimsby in 1859.
My first visit took place in about the eighth year of its
existence, and well do I remember how strange and
unusual it all seemed. Mr. Phelps was kindness per-
sonified to the little group who were enjoying his hospi-
tality for the first time that year. The only hardship
we experienced was in rising at what we thought an
unearthly hour for the early breakfast, which was always
over and the simple morning tasks finished when most
of our neighbors were just stirring. Our host's nervous
temperament allowed him but little repose. He always
rose very early, and, to work off his superfluous energy,
would light the camp fire, and get the kettle boiling,
and then arouse the little household. Indeed, we have
sometimes seen the glow of the flames through the
chinks in the wall when the world was still in darkness,
and our neighbors in slumber, though we were not
required to rise quite so early. After awhile we learned
to enjoy the early morning hours in the woods before
the sounds and scenes of the day could claim our
attention.
Mr. Phelps' " tent " was on the spot now occupied by
his cottage. It was larger than the majority of the
tents, and always ready for meetings. Any hilarious
brother, overflowing with religious zeal, could drop in
with a few kindred spirits and shout and pray to his
heart's content. There was often a morning meeting,
sometimes one in the afternoon, and always one late at
night after the public service was over. This meeting
has been known to last until two o'clock in the morning,
and even then some of the good people would be loath
to give up and go home. This was rather hard on the
inmates of the cottage, but they learned how to go to
bed and to sleep in spite of the singing and talking in
36 GRIMSBY PARK.
the next room. Mr. Phelps never seemed to grow
tired, nor ready for sleep. In fact, insomnia pursued
him all his life, and his restless energy allowed him little
rest when awake. It is surprising, therefore, that, in
spite of the ceaseless activity which characterized his
whole life, his days were prolonged to the full three
score years and ten, the allotted span of the Scriptures.
In the year 1874 the Grimsby Camp-meeting became
Grimsby Park. The next summer the old board tents
had disappeared, and many of the present cottages
stood in their places. Into this new phase of the work
Mr. Phelps threw himself with his usual ardor. The
religious side of the institution still claimed his earnest
support and assistance, and the business side came in
for a large share of his time and attention.
He was elected the first President of the new com-
pany, and occupied the chair continuously until death
called him hence, after twenty-five active years spent in
the company's service. During the first half of this period
he was in the prime of life. Large and varied interests
claimed his attention and called him often from home
on important business journeys, but he always managed
to retain for Grimsby Park the summer months, and
arranged his affairs so that his time and attention could
be given to the interests of that institution during the
season.
Those persons whose memories can go back fifteen or
twenty years will remember how tireless were his efforts
to promote the welfare of the Park. Early in the morn-
ing he was about and personally inspecting every part of
the machinery of the place. From office to wharf, from
new buildings to the inspection of a " dangerous " tree,
selling lots, leading meetings, entertaining strangers,
NOAH PHELPS. 37
straightening out troubles between unreasonable visitors
and the gate-keeper, soothing the ruffled feelings of
sensitive cottage owners, showing the advantages of the
place to newcomers who cannot remember him in all
these and many other roles ? There were numerous
little difficulties which had to be settled when the neces-
sity for hygienic and other rules became apparent. Other
members of the board would always, if possible, evade
the irate housekeepers, who sometimes objected to the
restrictions which had to be imposed for the general
good ; but for him there was no escape. I have seen
several of those injured ones waiting at the station for
the early train when he was expected, and they would
walk to the grounds beside him pouring out their griev-
ances. It was the only time they could snatch from his
busy day. He always left them soothed and satisfied. I
mention these things only to illustrate this side of his
character, which contrasted strongly with the masterful
and almost dogmatic side which we sometimes knew.
During all these years he received no salary, paid his
own travelling and other expenses in connection with
the meetings and business of the board, presented no
bills for postage, telegrams or other incidentals, and gave
substantial financial aid whenever it was required.
Dr. Wakefield, in his kindly tribute to Mr. Phelps in
the Guardian a few weeks after his death, says : "His
board tent, and then his cottage, both upon the same lot,
were always open for prayer and other meetings, of
which he himself was often the leader, and many scores
of souls have been converted to God upon that spot.
" When the camp-ground was incorporated as a Park
he became its President, and continued such until the
day of his death. To its interests he gave both time
38 GRIMSBY PARK.
and money unsparingly, and was better known upon its
grounds for many years than any other man. He looked
upon the Park as his child, and loved it as such, while for
forty years he did all he could to make it both useful
and attractive. He was emphatically the friend of chil-
dren and young people, and the many hundreds who have
practically grown up in Grimsby Park cannot fail to
feel the impress of his life, and must feel a sense of per-
sonal loss at his death.
" He began his work at Grimsby a strong, command-
ing personality, in the midst of life ; he left the ground
at the close of the meeting last summer shattered and
broken, with the consciousness that his work was done,
and God soon gave him rest.
" To scores of ministers he was an able assistant in
evangelistic work, and as a preacher and exhorter his
word was often with great power, while he perfectly
understood how to lead a seeking soul to Jesus Christ.
In his revival work Brother Phelps had great power and
success in speaking with men personally about their
souls, not only in the public services but at their work
and in their homes. His faith in God was perfectly sub-
lime, and many will rise up in the day of the Lord to
call him blessed. He was loyal and true to the Church
of his choice, liberal in support of its institutions, and
was often honored with a place upon the floor of the
Conferences. ' The memory of the just is blessed.' "
His love for the young has been mentioned. For
years he has been " Uncle Noah " to many of the sum-
mer residents at the Park. Whether this habit became
established through the presence there of so many who
had a family right to call him by that name, or whether
his relations to most of the inhabitants of the place were
e:
2
o
F
w
2
o
>
-
40 GRIM SB Y PARK.
such as to render it appropriate, I do not know ; per-
haps there was a little of both to account for it. In any
case his connection with the Park was a unique one ; his
place never can be filled. The children may continue
to enjoy their own special day the games, the picnic,
the march to the field, the old-time " taffy-pull " may
still take place but without " Uncle Noah " to lead the
merry company it will not be just the same. It was
lovely to see the children crowd about him, eager to
gain his attention, always free to tell him their little
troubles. In earlier days I have seen him snatch a
brief hour from a very busy day to escort a gleeful
crowd of little folks to the beach, and, chartering the
largest boat, load it to the water's edge with a precious
cargo of babies, and paddle around in safe and sheltered
waters with his one hand. They always kept their baby
promises to sit very still while afloat, and came back to
land satisfied and happy. No wonder they loved the
big, kindly man who could find time in the midst of a
busy life to make little children happy.
One day during his last summer, as he sat on the
verandah of his cottage, pale and sick, a dispute arose
among some children playing in the temple. The voices
rose louder and louder, and the war of words waged
warmer, then suddenly ceased, and they all came run-
ning up to the house and laid the case before their
friend, who listened patiently to each complainant, and
then pronounced judgment, which was at once accepted
as right and final, and the whole crowd ran back to
their play.
Mr. Phelps' last season at the Park was a trying one.
In addition to his chronic illness he had injured his
ankle, and walking was painful and difficult. He man-
NOAH P HELPS. 4*
aged, however, to get about with the aid of a stout stick.
He insisted from the first that it was to be his last visit
to Grimsby Park. " I shall never come here again," he
said to me a number of times, and when I attempted to
answer in a reassuring way he would shake his head
sadly. Towards the last, symptoms of paralysis were
quite unmistakable ; he became more and more
dependent upon his friends. His grandson was nearly
always at his side, and Mr. Andrews, the Manager of
the grounds, -was most assiduous in his kind attentions.
A constant stream of solicitous inquirers stopped at the
verandah where he usually sat to offer a word of sym-
pathy or encouragement, but all felt that the time for
his departure was drawing near. He was occupied
much of the time in going over the business of the past
with the directors, most of whom were of a younger
generation and knew little of the earlier times.
The closing meeting, or farewell, which has always
taken place at the end of the season's services, was
much enjoyed by Mr. Phelps. This ceremony, or
exercise, has marked the close of the camp-meeting
from the beginning, and to many persons is a solemn
and impressive occasion, while to others it is a mere
spectacle. It is, perhaps, the only remaining ceremonial
of the old camp-meeting seen to-day at Grimsby Park
in the original and simple form, and now that Mr.
Phelps is gone it may drop into disuse.
It was in spite of much pain and great weakness that
the aged President of Grimsby Park set out to lead the
march around the circle for the last time, the dissuasions
of his friends having failed to deter him from the sad
task. Few of the older generation were beside him.
He was the only one of the laymen, at any rate, who
42 GRIMSBY PARK.
had helped inaugurate the practice forty years ago.
One by one they had passed away, and he alone was
left, conscious that this was for him the last time. To
the most careless observer the scene was a sad one ; but,
for him, what memories of the past the hour must have
evoked ! What precious associations the scene must
have stirred ! An unusually large number of people
had remained for the occasion. The great auditorium
seemed nearly filled, and all watched with tender sym-
pathy his slow and painful progress, as, leaning on the
arm of the ever-faithful Mr. Andrews, he took his place
at the head of the procession, and began what must
have been a very trying walk around the circle, the
great audience joining in singing " Shall we Gather at
the River," which has been the hymn for the occasion
from time immemorial. The march over, the last hand-
shaking took place and the people slowly dispersed,
many lingering to watch the tired figure, surrounded by
a little group of friends, limp slowly and painfully back
to the armchair on the verandah, so soon to know him
no more. The little knot of friends lingered late around
his chair that night, instinctively feeling that it was the
last time.
He took his departure from the grounds a few days
later on the early boat. It was not known that he was
to leave that morning, and few persons were about. As
he stood for a moment on the wharf he turned and
looked his last farewell looked long and lingeringly on
the old familiar scene, the tears streaming down his
face. " I shall never see you again ! I shall never see you
again ! " he repeated over and over again. It was indeed
his last farewell.
His disease rapidly gained upon him, and the dreaded
paralysis soon reduced the strong man to the weakness
NOAH PHELPS. 43
and helplessness of a child. He lay for months pain-
racked and sleepless, his proud spirit tortured by the
condition of dependence, which, he thought, imposed so
heavy a burden on his friends and nurses. The power-
ful frame resisted stubbornly the inroads of disease, and
the impatient spirit lingered in the earthly tabernacle
until the middle of January, when he was mercifully
released. He died with the words " mother " and
" Jesus " upon his lips.
As I knew but little about Mr. Phelps' work as an
evangelist, I asked his old friend, the Rev. J. H.
Robinson, to write a short statement concerning this
very interesting part of his religious work, and received
the following in reply :
" To MRS. H. YOUMANS,
ST. CATHARINES :
" Your proposition to write a souvenir booklet of
Grimsby Park is a bright idea, and I have pleasure in
writing a few lines about the late President.
" By the Conference of 1873 I was appointed to the
Merritton Circuit, of which Noah Phelps was recording
steward. In his home I spent the first of the three
years of my pastorate there. A strong friendship was
then formed, which continued until he triumphantly
' crossed the bar.'
" At our first meeting I realized that he was a man of
more than ordinary ability and strong spiritual life.
He loved his home ; his family was happy in his pre-
sence ; his many friends were always welcome, and he
exercised the grace of hospitality in a large measure.
He was the leading personality in his own church and
in the town ; to him the people flocked for advice and
assistance. He was a benevolent and liberal supporter
of the Church.
" From him I learned much that has aided me, especi-
ally in revival work. We had many revivals on the
circuit, and I accompanied him to several places for
44 GRIMSBY PARK.
evangelistic work ; also, I had his assistance in some of
the churches where I have ministered since.
"It was at this time he lost his hand, which opened his
way to engage so extensively in evangelistic work.
Some characteristics of this work I will mention. The
love of Christ constrained him to give the best he had
for his fellowmen. Refusing even travelling expenses,
he went from place to place preaching, praying, singing,
visiting from house to house, the prisoners in the jails,
the sick, the needy, persuading rich and poor to be
reconciled to God.
" He loved the children. At the beginning of his
Christian life he went heartily into Sunday School
work. In revival meetings he sought out the children,
and wherever he went they gathered about him. His
addresses to them after Sunday School were interesting
and persuasive. Often many sought salvation. In
conversation with them privately about their pets or
studies he had the happy art of turning the subject and
dropping the good seed. ' Children's Day ' at Grimsby
Park was one of the most interesting of the season, when
' Uncle Noah ' led the procession to the grove, and
entered heartily into their youthful sports.
" He was a good organizer, and a born leader of men.
At times, when people looked for some one to mark out
a way, his voice was heard, and they readily followed.
He had a strong will, great courage, deep sympathy,
broad views, intense earnestness, and strong faith in God,
which gave him wonderful power with an audience. I
have seen a whole congregation move forward in response
to an appeal to believers to seek a. richer baptism of the
Holy Spirit, and the unsaved to come to Jesus. In
pointing penitents to Christ he had great wisdom, seldom
failing to lead them at once to full and joyful trust in
Christ.
" In many parts of Ontario he conducted evangelistic
meetings with marked success, and in large towns or
cities like Belleville, Barrie, or Hamilton, two or three
hundred were converted in meetings of two or three
weeks.
NOAH P HELPS. 45
" The power of concentration was possessed, greatly to
his success. I have known him go from the office, where
important financial matters perplexed the company, to
the week evening prayer-meeting, where he took part as
if he had just come forth from a live devotional meeting.
Business had attention early and late, but did not inter-
fere with the prayer-meeting. When he took two weeks
for camp-meeting, or to help a brother, the business was
left behind. ' Not slothful in business ; fervent in spirit ;
serving the Lord.'
"In personal conversation tie had great tact and prac-
tical wisdom in dealing with souls. It was a common
occurrence for persons to break down and cry to God
for mercy in the office, or shop, or home. In prayer he
talked with God so tender, appropriate, comprehensive,
fervent, so trustful he took hold of God's promises.
" Some authors were read and admired, but the Bible
was his choice, his daily counsellor. To him it was the
Word of God. He talked of its truths with a confidence
and earnestness that stirred men. He believed and,
therefore, spoke. He knew the Gospel to be the power
of God unto salvation.
" The evident object of his sermons and addresses was
the salvation of lost men. The)' abounded with illus-
trations gathered from Scripture, experience and obser-
vation. Many of them had a thrilling effect. It is a
great loss that the}' were not gathered into a book of
striking incidents in evangelistic work, or, better still,
if a biography could be written of our brother, illustrated
by scores of remarkable answers to prayer, great awaken-
ings, sudden conversions, enemies reconciled, difficulties
settled, power of testimony, and the leading of the Holy
Spirit. He did a grand work for his Master. ' They
that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firma-
ment ; and the}' that turn many to righteousness as the
stars for ever and ever.'
"(Signed) J. H. ROBINSON.
" Palmerston, May 24th, 1900."
THE REV. DR. WAKEFIELD.
AS the man who preached the first sermon on the
Grimsby Camp-ground, forty-one years ago, and
who is still with us, as vigorous apparently as ever after
forty-nine years of active work in the Methodist ministry,
the Rev. Dr. Wakefield deserves rather more than a pass-
ing notice.
He is seldom absent from the yearly gathering in this
historic place, and to those who are of the older dispen-
sation he forms a link with the past which it is hoped
will long continue to exist.
In an old copy of the Camp Ground Recorder, of
June, 1878, with a fine photogravure of Mr. Wakefield,
we find the following article, which, so far as it goes, is
as true to-day as it was then :
" By unanimous vote of the Directors, the Rev. John
Wakefield, Chairman of the Chatham District, has been
invited to take charge of the camp-meeting services for
the present year, and he has consented to do so. We
endorse this action as most judicious. It requires a
combination of qualities to make a successful camp-
meeting leader, and these qualities Brother W T akefield
has in a marked degree. He is emphatically ' the right
man in the right place.' \Vhen a man is appointed to
a responsible position the public feel a natural curiosity
to know something of his personal appearance, as well
as his antecedents, and we have anticipated this desire
4 6
THE REV. DR. WAKEFIELD. 47
in the accompanying engraving. Those who are ac-
quainted with Brother Wakefield will perhaps think that
it scarcely does him justice ; still the general likeness is
there, and will be at once recognized by those who have
seen the original. For the information of others we add
a few descriptive sentences.
" He is fully up to the medium height, and is suffi-
ciently ' tall across ' to turri the scale, we venture to
guess, at some 175 or 180 pounds. The glow of youth-
ful health has not yet faded from his countenance, and
as the frosts of years have but slightly touched his
brown hair, he appears somewhat younger than he really
is. Mr. Wakefield was born in the year 1830, if we
mistake not, within the patrimony of him of nursery
rhyme celebrity, ' Grey, Earl of Warwick, who killed the
dun cow.'
" He possesses all the fearlessness of the doughty earl,
albeit his courage is displayed in a vastly better cause.
He is zealous, pushing, and outspoken, and few preachers
speak with more force and ease than he. His sermons
are well thought out and methodically arranged, and
the arguments are mingled with hortatory appeals,
which his rapid utterance, resonant voice, and spiritual
unction, render very effective. He was converted in a
locality prolific of Methodism, and of good and useful
men not a few the township of Blenheim, near the
village of Washington. This event occurred in his nine-
teenth year, in the course of a great revival. His talent
for public speaking was soon recognized, and he was
sent to a circuit in 1852, after spending some time at
Victoria College. Since then his work has been con-
stant and varied circuits, stations, and districts having
filled up the time, from Sherbrooke in the east to
4
48 G RIMS BY PARK.
Chatham in the west (of which latter District he is now
Chairman), thus comprising a ministry of twenty-six
years. With the blessing of God he may yet make it
up to fifty. He is a born commander, and we doubt not
will give a good account of the force under him at the
approaching camp-meeting."
" (Since writing the above brother Wakefield has been
elected to the honorable position of Secretary of the
London Conference. It requires but one step more to
reach the chair.)"
The above was written twenty-two years ago, and,
judging from appearances, he will surely make up the
half century in the ministry which will only require
one more year. He has long since reached the " chair,"
having been President of both the London and Hamil-
ton Conferences ; and he has had the additional honor
of being sent by these bodies to the only two Ecumenical
Conferences ever held by Methodism one in City Road
Church, in London, England, in 1880, and the other in
the city of Washington, U.S., in 1890.
Mr. Wakefield is still in the regular work, a very
successful pastor, with no apparent decrease in energy
or ability, though it is forty-one years since he
preached the first sermon on the camp-ground. The
clear ringing voice which once echoed through the
woods, with a range no other speaker could reach, has
lost none of its force and clearness ; his sermons
none of the old-time effectiveness, and, listening to
him sometimes, one has but to close one's eyes to
imagine the old days back again the outlines of the
huge Temple melt away, and back in their old places
are the great forest trees which once sheltered the
worshippers. Their long branches sway over head, and
THE REV. DR. WAKEFIELD. 49
the swish of the rustling leaves makes a low accompani-
ment to the voices of preacher and choir. Back in
their old places, too, are they who laid the foundation of
the present camp-ground honest, plain folk, for the
most part, of the old Wesleyan type, now almost
extinct. The evolution of Methodism has left behind
much which we regard regretfully, but it has also
absorbed and assimilated much which is of great
advantage to its people. Growth means change. This
has been abundantly verified by the history of the
Canadian Methodist Church. To one who, like Mr.
Wakefield, has passed through all the fleeting years in
constant touch with the changing history of the Metho-
dism of Canada, the retrospect must be vastly interest-
ing. May his days be many in the land, and his face
long remain a familiar one on the Grimsby Camp-
ground !
JOHN B. BOWSLAUGH.
NO history of the old Grimsby Camp-ground, and
the present Grimsby Park, would be complete
without a chapter devoted to the original owner of the
land, John B. Bowslaugh, Esq.
Until a few years ago his familiar figure was never
absent from the camp-ground, and few persons know
how much both old and new Grimsby Park owes to
him.
John B. Bowslaugh was born in the township of
North Grimsby, 2Oth December, 1821. His grand-
father, Peter Bowslaugh, was a local preacher well-
known by the early Methodists of this country, for his
home was ever open to receive the itinerant Methodist
ministers, whose large circuits sometimes covered hun-
dreds of miles of country, which had to be traversed
continually in the interest of the various appointments.
Mr. Bowslaugh's father, Jacob Bowslaugh, was a man of
sterling character from his youth up, and a class leader
for many years. Thus it is not surprising that John B.
Bowslaugh was always an ardent Methodist. In the
language of one of the ministers who has known him
for many years, he " was born into the Christian faith,
and into the doctrines and usages of the Methodist
Church," and has been a prominent figure in Methodist
circles in a large section of country for more than half a
century. He was converted in his sixteenth year, and
from that time until his death, a period of sixty-one
51
52 GRIM SB Y PARK.
years, he was a faithful worker in the Church of his
choice. For more than forty years he was a steward
and trustee. For twenty-four years he was superin-
tendent of the Sabbath School in the town of Grimsby.
He was frequently, by the vote of the church, a member
of the District Meetings, and always a lay delegate to
the annual Conferences.
He was married, in 1846, to Elizabeth J. Smith, of the
township of Yarmouth, near St. Thomas, who still sur-
vives him, and for more than half a century their home
has been noted for the generous hospitality so freely
dispensed to all, especially to the clergy of the Metho-
dist Church, and very especially to the brethren, both
lay and clerical, who have during all the years of its
existence looked after the welfare of Grimsby Camp-
meeting and Grimsby Park.
Mr. Bowslaugh inherited from his maternal grand-
father, for whom he was named, the farm of which
Grimsby Park is a portion, and from the time the old
Grimsby Camp-ground was first dedicated, he became
one of the most enthusiastic and willing workers in its
interests. He and Mr. Noah Phelps his life-long
friend were the only two of the original directors who
were in office continually until called hence by death.
Mr. Bowslaugh's devotion to Grimsby Park was pro-
verbial. It was, in short, the pet scheme of his life, and
the sacrifices he made, the financial risks he ran, were
known only to those who were closely associated with
him in the arduous task of carrying the company
through the first and many following years of its history.
Others there were who made themselves personally
responsible to a certain extent, but no other man stood
so unreservedly at the back of the company as did John
B. Bowslaugh.
JOHN B. BOWSLAUGH. 53
Forty years ago, when the first camp-meeting was
held at the Park, Mr. Bowslaugh was a strong, active
man, in the midst of his years, and had long been an
official member of the Methodist Church on the Grimsby
Circuit, where he was energetic and faithful both in
secular and church life. Thus, when the question of
selecting a camp-ground for the use of the Methodist
Church in that district arose, it was perfectly natural
that J. B. Bowslaugh should be a member of the first
committee, as he was. When the committee was formed
it met for the first time at Mr. Bowslaugh's house, and
then adjourned to the woods, with the result that the
present spot was selected.
Those who have visited these grounds only for the
past twenty-five years or so can hardly form an idea of
the magnificent piece of timber-land this originally was,
not only on account of the large and unusual variety of
the woods, but for the majestic growth of the hundreds
of giants of the forest which covered the acres now
forming the park. Most of this growth has long since
disappeared, but it will be obvious to every thoughtful
person that these grounds could not be used for camp-
meeting purposes, with the presence of hundreds of
teams and thousands of people each year, without a
good deal of injury to this valuable timber ; yet for
many years this privilege was gratuitously granted by
Mr. Bowslaugh. During all those years, too, hospitality
was abundantly dispensed by Mr. and Mrs. Bowslaugh
in their comfortable home, many of the ministers and
Christian workers being welcomed there through all the
time of the meetings. For many years all the necessary
committees of arrangement met at their home, and
were generously entertained ; the ample board was
54 GRIM S BY PARK.
always spread, and all were made welcome. With them
Christian hospitality was not a lost art, and their reward
will be sure.
In short, there was not an interest of the camp-
ground, or park, secular or religious, which did not lie
near Mr. Bowslaugh's heart. He was not a demonstra-
tive man, but he was a true follower of Jesus Christ, and
when the Church of God was made better, or souls were
brought to a knowledge of the Saviour, he greatly
rejoiced. Those who knew him best loved him most.
The above tribute is from the pen of an old friend of
Mr. Bowslaugh's. Another says : " He was of a genial,
cheery disposition, always fond of a joke, and ready for
a hearty laugh. He never became an old man, but was
interested in the sports and pleasures of the young, and
well pleased when the young people of the park were
enjoying to the full the many privileges provided for
their enjoyment and amusement."
The camp-ground was about half a mile from Mr.
Bowslaugh's house, and three times a day, when the
meetings were going on, Mr. Bowslaugh would harness
up the grey team to the three-seated democrat wagon
and drive his guests to the camp-grounds over a private
road which ran through the woods. This road was
rough and narrow, the over-hanging branches of the
great trees contesting many a rod of the passage ; but
they were a merry company, those Methodist parsons,
and when the roomy democrat was filled to overflowing,
which was nearly always the case, a goodly body-guard
was formed of the surplus, and the procession moved
forward at an easy pace, enlivened, we may be sure, by
many an episode worth telling, if any one were left to
tell, and many a merry sally of wit or mirth. The old
JOHN B. BOWSLAUGH. 55
grey team was always a part of the procession. Year
after year they did their part for the good of the cause,
and their grateful clerical friends used to say they
wondered if they would not see them again in heaven.
As loyal followers of the good Wesley, they were surely
on orthodox ground when they " wondered " if they
would. They might even have dared to hope that they
would.
It is many a year since the old team carried the last
load. Somewhere under the green grass their bones are
crumbling. The shady woodland road is not to be
found ; the great trees are nearly all gone ; even the
spacious and comfortable home which sheltered so
many of the old camp-meeting folk went up in smoke
years ago, and although the present building, which rose
upon the old foundation, may still offer generous hospi-
tality to the friends of the Park, the old spell is broken,
the charm is gone. The genial host, the goodly com-
pany which year after year met in Christian fellowship
and for the Master's work, are for the most part enjoy-
ing that fellowship in another and better country ; but
their works do follow them, and there are men and
women still coming to the Park for the summer outing
who remember those old times with keen pleasure, even
though the recollections are among those of the long
ago, so remote as to be associated with the far-away
happiness of childhood and youth.
Mr. Bowslaugh himself lived to see most of these
changes, but he was just as faithful to the interests of
the later institution as he was to those of the old camp-
meeting of forty years ago, and as long as the Park
exists it can never be disassociated from the name of
John Beamer Bowslaugh.
Mr. Bowslaugh died on the 5th day of July, 1898.
GRIMSBY PARK.
TO the Grimsby Park of to-day the time for the
historian has not yet come perhaps it never will
come but as a social study it is worth attention.
There is no trace of the old camp-meeting visible as
the train halts at the long covered platform which is
called " the station," and the gay summer crowds pace
up and down the wide promenade animated and happy.
The well-kept drive and board walk which lead to the
entrance pavilion, and on through the wood and picnic
ground to the huge temple, are shaded by rows of tall
trees. To the right one sees the tennis courts, and to
the left the picnic grounds, with seats, tables, cooking
stoves, swings, and every convenience for the excursion-
ists, who visit the place in great numbers every summer.
Cottages and canvas tents are scattered through the
open places in the woods, and a capacious horse-yard
occupies a remote corner.
A well patronized market-place, with butcher shop
and fruit and vegetable stands, furnishes its quota of
the necessaries of life, and a first-class grocery does its
share, while the milk-man never fails to meet the large
demands for rich, pure milk. The water supply is un-
failing and excellent, and is furnished largely by the
same spring which was so important a factor in the
choice of a location for the old camp-ground.
Here are the telegraph and telephone offices, the post-
office, book store, drug store, barber shop, check room,
56
AMONG THE COTTAGES.
"THE TRVSTING PLACE."
58 G RIMS BY PARK.
baggage room, Company's offices, bicycle livery, photo-
graph studio, and I know not what else. Across the
way is the Park House, its broad verandahs all aflutter
with the bright summer costumes of the ladies and
children. In every direction are the cottages, peeping
out from among the trees, or lining the shady lanes and
avenues which straggle off in many bewildering ways.
Through an opening between two dwellings the road
passes into the auditorium, with its circling cottages
forming, like the old tents, the enclosure where the
meetings have always been held and where stands the
great Temple or Tabernacle. This structure baffles
description. It stretches its wide umbrella-like expanse
over the place where once the "fathers" held their outdoor
meetings. As an architectural curiosity it is certainly
unique, but language fails when one attempts a descrip-
tion of it. It is capable of sheltering an enormous con-
course of people, and when it is filled of an evening, and
the electric lights flash their rays into its farthest circles,
the spectacle is an impressive one. The arching roof
lifts its great dome high above the assembled multitude,
and harbors an imp of an echo which mocks and gibes
incessantly when speaker or singer holds forth. The
Park people, however, have grown accustomed to the
annoyance and scarcely notice it.
The Boys' Tabernacle is a neat little church on a street
leading from the circle to the lake shore. This building
was erected years ago by Rev. Mr. Calvert, principally
for boys' meetings, but is now used for many other pur-
poses. There is held the early morning prayer-meeting,
classes of different kinds, and other meetings.
The high bank along the lake front is lined with
cottages, whose inmates can study the latter in all its
varying moods. The sunsets are particularly fine.
GRlltfSBY PARK. 59
Down on the beach the boat houses and bathing
houses stand, and the long wharf runs out into the
water, forming a fine promenade and fishing platform,
as well as doing its duty toward the steamer which calls
at the Park every day. Rowing is popular, and a twilight
trip to the lily pond pays well when a boat-load of the
lovely blossoms is the reward. Echo Point is in the
opposite direction, and is a most interesting place to
visit.
Lake View House commands a magnificent view of
the water, and enjoys the lake breezes whenever the
slightest zephyr is stirring. Beyond are still more pretty
cottages, and then the athletic grounds, where all sorts
of manly sports are indulged in. Great care is taken
wherever it is possible to preserve the grounds in their
natural condition. Mosses and lichens and wild flowers
are everywhere. The birds dart about among the trees,
and the squirrels make themselves quite at home and do
considerable mischief sometimes in the empty houses
during the quiet months when the Park is deserted by
its summer population.
In short, Grimsby Park is an up-to-date summer
resort of the Chautauquan class, with every facility for
innocent and healthy enjoyment and sport. Due regard
for the religious and intellectual wants of the people is
shown in the preparation of the programme, which
includes sermons, lectures, concerts and entertainments,
classes in elocution and studies in literature, besides
other attractions, and no end of good things for the
little people. Some of the most eminent divines in
America have addressed the Grimsby Park congrega-
tions, and many of the most brilliant platform speakers
of the age are to be heard there. There is always an
w
CO
D
O
MB
GRIM 'SB Y PARK. 6 1
abundance of excellent music furnished by the best
bands in the country, and the best singers are engaged
for the concerts.
Grimsby Park is a paradise for children and young
people. The perfect safety with which children may be
allowed the freedom of the place makes it an ideal spot
for mothers with large families, and the Grimsby Park
youngster is certainly the most contented, safe, happy-
go-lucky baby in existence. He can dig all day long
in the clean sand on the beach, bareheaded and bare-
footed, too, if he likes. He can toddle all around the
camp-ground and never come to grief. When he grows
older he learns to swim and dive, and manage a boat
like an old tar. He fishes off the wharf, and goes to the
mountain for ferns, and sometimes, we are sorry to say,
he forages for fruit and other delicacies on forbidden
grounds, as the farmers can testify. But woe unto him
if the stern eye of the policeman catches a glimpse of
him in the act, or the tale of his misdeeds reaches the
ears of the authorities. There is a small room some-
where among the Company's apartments where more
than one culprit has been brought to justice, who failed
to get off as easily as did " Dan Pool's " friend in the
days of yore. There is a limit to the fun a lad may
have even at Grimsby Park, but every possible allow-
ance is made for the exuberance of youthful spirits, and
a fellow ought not to take advantage of this indulgence
and break the rules.
All this comfort and perfection was not brought about
in a day. It has taken twenty-five years of hard work,
much study and observation, and many thousands of
dollars to evolve the present modern park from the old
camp-ground which preceded it. The same men who
62 GRIM SB Y PARK.
did so much for the older institution were the founders
and fosterers of the new one.
It was found in the season of 1874 that the old camp,
which had been in existence for sixteen years, must
undergo extensive repairs if it was to continue another
year. This called for a large outlay of money, and as
there was an existing debt of several hundred dollars
they hesitated about incurring further obligations. The
expenses had hitherto been met by collections, subscrip-
tions, and rents from the old tents ; but the sum realized
was not sufficient for the needs, and it was felt that
steps must be taken to bring about a more satisfactory
state of affairs. An entry in an old minute-book of
1 874 reads as follows :
" A call was made from the preacher's stand for a
meeting to be held in Mr. Phelps' tent, on Wednesday,
September 2nd, 1874." (Then follows a long list of
names of those present.) At this meeting steps were
taken to organize a company, to be called the "Ontario
Methodist Camp-Ground Company," and the place to
be called the " Ontario Methodist Camp-Ground."
All the plans seem to have been formed, the company
fully organized and chartered, by the next year, with Mr.
Phelps as President, Mr. Fairfield as Secretary, and Mr.
Bowslaugh as Treasurer.
When the people assembled for the season of 1875,
all traces of the old camp-meeting had disappeared.
Sixty or seventy new modern cottages had sprung up
on the sites of the old tents, and there was an air of
business and expansion about the whole place. Nego-
tiations were in progress with the Great Western Rail-
way for rates, stopping of trains, and building a platform,
etc., for the accommodation of the people.
GRIMSBY PARK. 63
Then came the restaurant (which later developed into
the Park House) with a grocery and post-office. The
purchase is noted of " ninety common unvarnished
chairs for the dining-room, and twenty bedsteads and
mattresses for the use of lodgers."
Then by degrees came bathing and boat houses,
drainage, cleaning up of the grounds, purchasing canvas
tents to rent, etc., reaching out to learn from other institu-
tions, and gradually adopting, sometimes improving on
their ways and means for the advancement and improve-
ment of the place. Telegraph offices, barber shop, and
"backs to the seats" in the auditorium came in 1876,
and " hereafter straw for beds was to be paid for at the
rate of ten cents a bed."
Those were busy and growing years, and all those
changes were not effected without some friction. A
few persons of the old regime disapproved of some of
the new methods, especially any changes which altered
the religious and devotional character of the exercises,
and introduced anything of a secular or mere intellectual
nature. To them the old place was holy ground, and
everything of a light or trifling nature was desecration.
The opening or closing of the gates on Sundays has
always been a hard question to settle. There are so
many excellent reasons to urge on both sides that it is
small wonder the authorities differ. I think on the
whole they have taken the wise and right course, and I
am sure they have often found it hard to come to a
decision.
About the year 1877 the water tanks were built, and
the water brought to the cottages. This year the Park
boasted of a newspaper, a live little sheet, edited by the
Rev. John Ridley.
64 GRIM SB Y PARK.
In 1878 a charge was made at the gate I think for the
first time and collections (which had not been sufficient
for the running expenses) abolished. The entrance fee
was 5 cents, the season ticket 25 cents. I am afraid
there were some who grumbled even at this modest
charge, and it was abolished at a later meeting. We
find, however, that in 1880 the admission was 10 cents,
" children free, and season tickets 50 cents."
" A silver tea set was purchased about this time by
the directors and presented to Mrs. John B. Bowslaugh,
as a slight token of their appreciation of the constant
and unfailing kindness manifested toward them by Mrs.
Bowslaugh and her family."
In 1878 the engine was purchased for the waterworks,
the wind-mill which had been erected at the end of the
pier having proved inadequate. The Book Room was
asked to open a stall on the grounds this year.
At a meeting on August 29th, 1879, " It was resolved
to hold a Dominion Day demonstration in the following
summer, with a concert and fireworks in the evening."
The International Temperance Association held its
annual meeting here that year, lasting for several days.
Many prominent Canadian and American speakers were
present, and the meeting was a great success.
In 1880 the brothers William and Rechab Tandy
conducted the music, and I venture to say that in no
year since has the music at the Park equalled that of
this year. The closing concert was one to remember.
Dr. Griffin was the Chairman, and he filled up the spaces
between the musical numbers as only Dr. Griffin can at
his very best.
In 1882 the new hotel was planned, and in 1883 it
was ready for occupation. During all the years there
GRIM SB Y PARK. 65
was constant improvement and embellishment, and Mr.
Phelps, Mr. Bowslaugh, and Mr. Fairfield were the busiest
of busy men, loyally sustained and supported by the
Company.
In the meanwhile the meetings were being well
attended and were very popular. For a number of
years the old camp-meeting methods were adhered to
three sermons every day, with many meetings besides,
and the period extended to a fortnight with two Sab-
baths included instead of one. The change to the pres-
ent system was a gradual one. The meetings were in
charge of different ministers, who each conducted them
with marked success and ability. They were the Revs.
Dr. Williams, Dr. Sanderson, Dr. Griffin, Dr. Wakefield,
Dr. Sutherland, and probably others, before Dr. Benson's
term of several years and Dr. Philp's, which still con-
tinues.
The pulpit and platform services have always been
first-class, and thousands of persons have been enabled
to listen to sermons and lectures which by no other
means could be brought within their reach. Very faith-
ful have been the efforts of the boards of later years to
carry on the work of their predecessors. Only on the
books of the Company are the names of those men to be
found, and as I have not access to those records I can
only mention those names which come to mind, and
they probably are not in the order to which they belong.
Judge Jones must have been for many years among the
directors of the Company. So also was the late Dr.
Rosebrugh and Mr. Thomas Culham, Mr. Edward
Galley, and Mr. Wilkinson, the energetic Secretary and
Vice-President, the Revs. Mr. Robinson, Mr. Burns, and
many others whose names ought to be here.
66 GR1MSBY PARK.
Mr. B. C. Fairfield, who was for so many years asso-
ciated with the affairs of the Park in connection with
Mr. Phelps and Mr. Bowslaugh, is another man whose
name belongs here. Indeed, as a member of the trio
which for so many years were associated in the interests
of the place, and did so much for the benefit of the Com-
pany, it would be an act of injustice to ignore his long
years of work in its service. Mr. Fairfield was for fifteen
years the Secretary-Treasurer of the Company, and, like
the others, he gave his time, thought, and money gratui-
tously to the cause. Nearly every day in the season he
c6uld be seen in company with his colleagues busy about
the affairs of the Company. The position of Secretary
of such an institution is no sinecure, but entails much
hard work, and Mr. Fairfield, equally with the other
two, deserves that these services should be acknowledged.
His duties were not confined to the secretary's work
alone, but his judgment was always relied upon when
questions of weight came up for consideration, as well as
in matters of detail about the place. It is several years
since Mr. Fairfield severed his official connection with
the Park and ceased to spend his summers there, but his
family still occupy one of his cottages during the season
and he occasionally visits the place for a short time.
Mr. W. C. Wilkinson, Secretary-Treasurer of the
Toronto School Board, has summered at the Park for
twenty years, and has taken a deep interest in the affairs
of that institution. He has been a member of the Park
Board for ten years, and for seven years has been its
Secretary. Two years ago he was elected Vice- Presi-
dent, and since the death of the late President Phelps
has been acting President. He is now the oldest mem-
ber of the Board, and his experience and knowledge of
BOARD OF DIRECTORS, 1894.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS, 1898.
68 GRIMSBY PARK.
the past is invaluable to the present directorate. Mr.
Wilkinson is prominent in Methodist circles in his own
city, being a trustee of the Berkeley Street Methodist
Church, and active in its Sabbath School. He is also
prominent in temperance and benevolent associations,
and in every way a most desirable man for the position
he holds on the Board of the Grimsby Park Company.
It is with a feeling of great sadness that the Park
community thinks of the vacant places which death has
made since last year. The death of the President was
not unexpected, but that the genial and lovable Dr.
Burns, in the full strength of his manhood and with all
his mental and physical powers undiminished, should
be called away so suddenly came as a great shock not
only to the Grimsby Park people, but to his numerous
friends and admirers throughout the country. At
Grimsby Park he will be missed from the platform,
from the social circles where he shone so brilliantly, and
from every phase of the Park life.
But especially will those who have for years attended
his Sunday afternoon Bible-class miss those occasions
when he brought to them the latest and brightest
thought on the absorbing Bible questions of the day,
and endeavored to bring the truth home to their minds
with greater force and clearness.
No other man will fill the unofficial place that Dr.
Burns occupied at the Park. His personality was a
unique one, and the vacancy caused by his death will
be a permanent one.
Grimsby Park has become a most popular resort for
young people. The summer girl is here in all her glory
afoot, awheel, afloat, at the station, the wharf, the tennis
courts and in the assemblies you cannot escape her even
GRIM 'SB Y PARK. 69
if you would. She is omnipresent, and without her
Grimsby Park and the world would be dull indeed.
She gives an air of perpetual motion and perennial
youth to the scene, and keeps the old fogies from stag-
nation. She is on excellent terms with the Doctors of
Divinity and other magnates, whom she beats at lawn
tennis. If she liked she could beat them at quoits.
Long may she reign !
The Grimsby Park boy is the king of his kind. He
doesn't have to wash his face, because he is always in
the lake and it never gets dirty. He doesn't have to
brush his hair, because it never needs it, and, anyway, it
wouldn't be of any use. He never has to black his
boots for the same reason, and, besides, they are worn
out before the new look is off them. He is not asked to
run errands in this boys' paradise, nor to mow the lawn,
nor to hang up his hat. His mother does not forbid
him to go in swimming as she does at home, and he can
fish from morning until night. He can rent a bicycle
for 15 cents an hour, and if his funds are low, as they
usually are, he can earn a fortune in no time picking
berries for the farmers near by. He can get all the ice-
cream he can pay for, and if he is a "square" chap
(which he mostly is) he can do pretty much as he
pleases. Oh, it's a fine thing to be a Grimsby Park boy !
One of the prettiest sights to be seen at the Park is the
crowd of little people who fill the front seats in the Tem-
ple when a concert, a lecture, or other entertainment is on.
Their enjoyment of some of those entertainments is
quite a matter of course, but it is surprising to see how
intently they follow every word of the speaker, some-
times when the theme is serious, and far above the ken
of such infants, one would suppose ; but the bright eyes
70 GRIMSBY PARK.
never leave the face of the speaker, and they keep so
quiet that one cannot doubt their comprehension of, as
well as their interest in, the subject. It must be gratify-
ing to a speaker to be able to hold the attention of such
little people and at the same time retain that of the
older ones. Last summer, when a popular tenor was
charming the audience with his singing, he seemed par-
ticularly pleased with the manifest appreciation which
beamed up to him from those front benches, and when
the sympathy between them grew so strong that the
little voices with one accord took up the air of the
chorus and accompanied him in a low, sweet hum, he was
apparently delighted, and at the end of each verse looked
his expectation of its repetition. The little creatures
seemed to know instinctively just how far to go and
where to stop.
The mothers of Grimsby Park have the hardest time
of any class. If it were not that they find their chief
joy in making their families happy, they would need
much sympathy. Especially is this true during their
first experience there. It takes two or three seasons to
learn, " past all doubting truly," that your boys are not
going to be drowned at the Park. At the end of that
time you can sit calmly on the bank with your sewing
and see them dive off the very end of the pier and come
up again safely without a tremor. You can even admire
the dexterity with which they will upset themselves out
of a boat, and disappear under it for an awful long
time before they bob up serenely, and roll into the frail
bark like young porpoises. So far as human intuition
can reach it does seem as though they were safe from
the danger of drowning, and you have no more worry
on that score ; but oh, the anxious days, the evenings of
GRIMSBY PARK. 7\
torture, you have known, the hideous dreams that have
haunted your pillowinthepast! Another greatfearhas also
abated somewhat nobody's child has as yet been killed
at the railroad station, and, thinking over all the narrow
escapes from death which smart little children have had,
in spite of all the silly exhibitions of fearlessness with
which they have startled the onlookers, you have come
to the conclusion that some good angel must surely
watch over the children at train time. Then you learn
after a while that your Park neighbors do not think you
a very negligent mother, your children utterly neglected
and uncared for, according to appearances. They know,
what you are fast finding out that an immaculately clean
frock, smooth hair, tidy shoes, etc., are the result alone of
an eternal vigilance which is unattainable in this life and
not worth while anyhow. You thus, in due time, get
down to a basis where you can manage to exist ; but you
never reach a time when you can understand where all
the bread and butter goes and how it is that your family
requires so many meals a day. You never become
reconciled to the enormous contributions you are com-
pelled to make to the income of that Grimsby shoe-
maker. Sometimes you yield in sheer despair to the
incessant petitions to go barefoot and can scarcely
believe that it is your own Tommy kicking his bare heels
in the air in utter ecstasy. When you have got used to
that you are a seasoned Grimsby Parker of the deepest
dye. You can take your sun-browned lads and lasses
home in the fall, plump and healthy, even if they are
out at both knees and elbows. You have all laid in a
stock of health and energy that will carry you straight
through the winter, with all its duties and pleasures, and
never a call from the family doctor ; and besides, you
72 GRIMSBY PARK.
have learned a great many lessons about the relative
values of things.
It is a far cry from the present gay and festive scenes
to the old days when worship and devotion filled all the
hours. We may look back regretfully to those days,
and sigh for the voices we shall not hear again, the faces
our eyes shall behold no more, but none the less shall
we value the present, with all it holds for our enjoyment
and profit. The improvements which have been made
about the place are to add to our comfort and enjoy-
ment. The gifted men and women who succeed each
other on the platform year after year exercise their
talents for our edification. The lake with its changing
beauty, the sky with its stars, the woods with their voices,
are ours also. The social intercourse with our Park
neighbors, the intellectual stimulus, adds another item
to our obligations. It is no small privilege to move
side by side for a while with the full warm current of
youth and happiness which flows like a warm human
gulf stream through the avenues of this Park. Every
year that separates us still farther from the scenes and
enjoyments of our youth but enhances the value of the
lost glory of that golden time, and we watch with loving
and indulgent interest the happiness and abandon of
those who dwell in the enchanted places now. From
the bright-faced girl with her bicycle, her tennis, and-
her pretty gowns, and her boy brother with his freckles,
his escapades, and his general and blessed " awfulness,"
down to the Park babies, we imbibe every day some
subtle influence which delays the processes of time in
our own souls and keeps us youthful, if not young.
Grimsby Park has grown very dear to the hearts of
AN ANGRY SURF.
THE CALM THAT FOLLOWS.
74 GRIMSBY PARK.
those who summer within its borders. The tie which
holds them here season after season, in spite of the
attractions of other places, only grows stronger as the
years go by.
Like the rest of the world, Grimsby Park stands upon
the threshold of a new century. The prophets tell us
that in spite of the dark clouds which hang low over the
moral horizon in some quarters, in spite of the angry
passions which seem so rampant among the nations,
and the selfishness which dominates the business world,
the coldness which devitalizes the Church in some places,
the world is about to enter upon a period of peacefulness
and great spiritual awakening. The arm of the Lord is
still powerful to allay the turbulent passions of men and
nations, and electrify with renewed fervor the fainting
spirits of the faithful. When that time of peace comes,
and we have learned to turn expectant eyes toward the
heavens when God's people are ready for the spiritual
uplifting which is to place them on the higher plane of
living which we hope lies before us in the near future
Grimsby Park will again resound with songs and halle-
lujahs. The mother will pause in the midst of her loving
servitude to listen to the joyful sound of the Temple
services. The youth and maiden spinning along together
over the shaded roadways will not be ashamed to
acknowledge to each other that the world is beautiful,
and life is sweet, and, above all, that God is very good.
The man of business will gladly turn from the incessant
pursuit of wealth to listen to the voices in his soul.
" Holiness to the Lord " will be the theme of every ser-
mon, the burden of every song. The little children will
overflow the front seats in the great congregation, their
GRIMSBY PARK. ?$
tender eyes lifted confidingly to the faces bending lov-
ingly over them, and the music of their voices will be
the sweetest note in all the swelling anthem of praise.
Grimsby Park has a noble past which these imperfect
pages have utterly failed to depict ; a present which is
in perfect harmony with the trend of the times and full
of promise, and a future which we venture to predict
will combine all the enjoyments and privileges of the
present, with a spiritual zeal and devotion which will
surpass even that oHhe old times.
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