The history of the Presbyterian Church in Cape Breton

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REV. JOHN MURRAY,
Feb. 10th, 1921.

THE HISTORY

OF

THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

IN

CAPE BRETON

BY

REV. JOHN MURRAY

1921

PRINTED BY

NEWS PUBLISHING CO. LTD.
TRURO, N. S.

REV. JOHN MURRAY,
Feb. 10th, 1921.

THE HISTORY

OF

THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

IN

CAPE BRETON

BY

REV. JOHN MURRAY

1921

PRINTED BY

NEWS PUBLISHING CO. LTD.
TRURO, N. S.

CONTENTS.

PART I

The Pioneer Presbyterian Ministers of Cape Breton.

Rev. James McGregor D. D.

Alexander Dick ,,q.

Norman McLeod

William Millar

Hugh Dunbar

Hugh Ross

Donald McDonald

John McLennan

Donald Allan Fraser

Aeneas McLean

Dugald McKichan

Alexander Farquharson

John Stewart

James Fraser

Peter McLean

John Gunn

Matthew Wilson

Murdoch Stewart
" Hugh McLeod, D. D.

PART II

the congregations of the Presbyterian Church in Cape Breton and
their Ministers.

St- Ann's and its Ministry

Mabou »> » »

Port Hastings . " " »

Middle River » »» »»

West Bay » »» »

Boulardarie » »» »

Whycocomagh " »» »

Strathlorne »» »» »

Sydney Mines " »» »»

Mira »» »» »

Grand River »> »» »»

Baddeck >• » »»

Cape North »» »» »>

Gabarous " »» »»

Leitche's Creek »» »» »»

St. Paul's, G. Bay

CONTENTS— Continued

Port Morien and its Ministry

Lake Ainslie "

Falmouth St "

Loch Lomond "

St. Andrew's, Sydney " ."

St. Matthew's, Nr. Sydney "

North Shore, etc " "

•Baddeck Forks "

Bridgeport "

St. Peters "

Little Narrows "

Margaree "

Marion Bridge "

St. James, Sydney "

Louisburg "

Reserve Mines "

Knox, G. Bay "

St. Luke's No. 6 "

St. Matthews, Inverness "

Warden G. Bay "

Florence " "

New Waterford " "

Orangedale "

Malagawatch "

Framboise " "

Broughton "

Neil's Harbor " "

Mission Fields
Pleasant Bay
West Bay Points
Port Hood

PART III

Related and Supplementary Chapter.

The Centenary of Presbyterianism in Cape Breton.

The growth of the Presbyterian Church inC.B. during the past century

Presbyterianism in C. Breton in 1827.

The Presbyteries of C. Breton.

Conditions under which our Presbyterian Ancestors lived in the early
part of last century.

The Communion Services of our Ancestors.

Our Celtic Ancestors their Origin, History, Language Literature and
Religion.

The Men and Women that have gone to our Foreign Mission Fields
from Cape Breton.

INTRODUCTION.

It has been said that no one ever reads the preface to a book, neverthe
less the writer of this one is disposed to write something equivalent to a
preface, if for no other reason, in order to let the reader know how he came
to attempt the role of authorship. He never dreamed of such a thing until
the Presbytery of Sydney appointed an Historical Committee and made
him the Chairman of said Committee.

The duties of this Committee were not well denned in the terms of its
appointment, but it was supposed to discover and record the history of
Presbyterianism on the island of Cape Breton from the time of its introduc
tion up to the present time.

The Presbytery of Inverness appointed a similar committee for a
similar purpose and about the same time viz: — at the end of the year 1917.

It so happened that the writer was the only member of either Com
mittee that was not actively employed in pastoral work, and on that
account at liberty to engage in historical research and to give his whole time
to the preparation of a history of Presbyterianism on this Island. In these
circumstances and with the concurrence of both Committees, he undertook
the work of recovering and recording the history of the Presbyterian
Church in Cape Breton.

It may be justly said, that he had certain advantages for this task over
any of his brethren, on either Committee, on account of a longer ministerial
acquaintance with Cape Breton Island, than any of them could claim.

Though not a native of Cape Breton, he had served the Presbyterian
Church on this Island for a period of about fifty years with some inter
ruptions. He crossed the Strait of Canso, on his way to Cape North, as a
student Catechist of the church, on the 1st day of May 1870. That was
fifty years ago last May and fifty years after the Rev. Norman McLeod
came to Cape Breton in May 1820. It was in the very middle of our
century of Presbyterianism! In addition, the writer spent nearly one half
of the intervening years on this island, either as Catechist, pastor or re
tired minister.

And besides it has been his privilege to know five of the pioneer minis
ters of Cape Breton, more or less intimately viz — John Stewart, Peter Mc
Lean, James Fraser, Murdoch Stewart, Matthew Wilson and Hugh Mc
Leod, D. D.

He was also acquainted with a number of our early ministers, e. g.,
William G. Forbes, James Ross, Kenneth McKenzie, Abraham Mclntosh
and James McLean.

He can claim to have known Cape Breton when hundreds of the men
and women, who came here from Scotland in the third and fourth decade
of last century were still alive and active in the work of our church.

Notwithstanding his long acquaintance with the island, he found the

5

task he had undertaken no easy one. No one had ever attempted to write
a history of our Church in Cape Breton. Apart from a lecture by the late
Rev. Donald McMillan on some of the early ministers of our church here,
there was nothing available with which to make a beginning. In order to
get the necessary information he had to ransack every possible source of
knowledge. He visited nearly every congregation on the island and inter
rogated every aged person that he could find; he read every Presbytery
Minute in existence; he waded through old files of the Presbyterian Wit
ness, Synod Minutes and Church Records; he went to Toronto in order
to read several volumes of letters that passed between the Pioneers and the
Societies that sent them out from Scotland; he conducted an extensive
correspondence with parties in New Zealand and Western New York as
well as with former ministers of Cape Breton at home and abroad.

In short, he sought information wherever it could be found in order, if
possible, to put his readers in possession of everything of importance in con
nection with our history as a church on this island. All this took time, per
severance and labor. But it has been a labor of love, interest and pleasure.
It will be noticed that the matter contained in this volume is grouped
under three heads or "parts."

This arrangement suggested itself as one well-fitted to classify the
subjects treated.

Part I, "The Pioneer Presbyterian Ministers of Cape Breton" con
tains an account of all the Presbyterian ministers, who helped in any meas
ure, to lay the foundations of the Presbyterian Church on this island be
tween the year 1798 and the year 1850. There were nineteen of these
pioneers and they were all of Scottish birth but one, and all of Scottish
education but two. Of these pioneers, two came to Cape Breton between
1798 and 1820, viz James McGregor, D. D. and Alexander Dick.

Seventeen of them came here between 1820 and 1850. In chronolog
ical order these were, Norman McLeod, William Millar, Hugh Dunbar,
Hugh Ross, Donald McDonald, John McLennan, Donald Allan Fraser,
Aeneas McLean, Dugald McKichan, Alexander Farquharson, John
Stewart, James Fraser, Peter McLean, John Gunn, Matthew Wilson, and
Hugh McLeod, D. D.

There was no organized presbyterianism on this island p evious to
the year 1820, although there were a few presbyterians as early as 1780
and those few had been considerably augmentated by immigration, more es
pecially between 1802 and 1820. Organized Presbyterianism in Cape
Breton dates from May the 20th, 1820 when the Rev. Norman McLeod
with a number of his followers sailed into St. Ann's Harbor. The Centen
ary of this event was fittingly celebrated at South Gut, St. Ann's, under
the auspices of the Presbytery of Sydney and the Presbytery of Inverness,
on the 8th of July last.

During the pioneer period of our history we were almost entirely de
pendent on Scotland for our ministers. By the end of that period, we had
a Seminary and Theological College of our own established in Halifax.
The Free Church College was opened in St. John's Church, in that city, on

6

the 1st day of November 1848. The Rev. William G. Forbes of Port
Hastings was one of the first graduates of that institution. He completed
his theological studies in the spring of 1851. Since that time our Cape
Breton pulpits have been, largely, if not chiefly, supplied by ministers who
were born on our own island and educated in our own Canadian institu
tions of learning. Among the earliest of these home-born ministers were
Abraham Mclntosh, Kenneth McKenzie, Donald McDougall, Alexander
Farquharson and Hector McQuarrie.

Later Cape Breton born ministers have been so many and so well
known that they need not be mentioned in this connection.

In Part I, we have endeavoured to furnish the reader with a memoir
of the nineteen pioneers to whom, as a church we are so deeply indebted.
The majority of them rendered inestimable service to our Church and
their memory ought to be affectionately cherished by us,, who reap in joy
where they sowed in tears. We regret that our account of some of these
good men is necessarily so brief. This, however, is due to the small amount
of information that has come down to us regarding them. There are two
of them, whose presence on this island was unknown to the writer before
he began his historical investigations viz. Hugh Dunbar and Hugh Ross.

By diligent search however, he has been enabled to collect enough in
formation about all these pioneers with which to build a small monument
to the memory of th^ir persons, worth and work.

Portraits of eight of the Pioneers have been discovered and will be
found at the end of Part I.

Portraits of a number of the first minister of several of our congrega
tions will be found at the end of Part II.

Part II contains a brief account of each of our forty-three congrega
tions and of the two hundred or more ministers that have served them since
their organization. In addition to a brief account of each of our present con
gregation, arranged in chronological order, we have given a summary of
the life history of each of these ministers.

This part of our work may be of comparatively little interest to many
of our readers, but the limits we assigned ourselves, did not permit us to do
any more, in most cases, than to furnish a brief biographical outline. It
is hoped, however, that even this short outline of the lives of our ministers
will be of considerable interest to the congregations that they served, re
spectively, so well and so faithfully.

The preparation of this part of the book entailed a very great deal of
labor in order that accuracy might be secured in the innumerable details
involved. The writer does not venture to claim that all the dates given
are accurate in every particular, but he does claim to have taken all possible
pains to ensure their accuracy.

To avoid misapprehension on the part of any of his readers, the writer
would say here, that the term "congregation" is invariably to be under
stood as equivalent to a pastoral charge, separate and distinct from all
other pastoral charges and having its name on the roll of one of our Pres
byteries as such.

7

Part III contains a number of articles, that have a more or less close
relationship to the History of Presbyterianism in Cape Breton. In the
judgment of the writer they will at least supplement what is contained in
the other two parts, and furnish information that our people ought to have
at hand, and that it is hoped, they will appreciate.

The writer would have liked to include in Part III an article on the
elders of the Church and the very great service our elders have rendered to
true religion in Cape Breton during the past hundred years. But the limit
of his space was reached and he had to forbear writing what was in his mind
and heart on that subject.

One word more. This book is written specially for the Presbyterian
people of Cape Breton and their children, at home and abroad; and the
the writer hopes that it may find its way into most, if not all our homes.
Its contents are fitted and intended to increase their knowledge of the
Presbyterian Church on this beautiful island, and also, to deepen their
interest in that Church's history and work.

JOHN MURRAY.
Knox Manse,

Glace Bay,

Dec. 31st, 1920.

Rev. James McGregor D. D.

Dr. McGregor was the Apostle of Presbyterianism in the Maritime
Provinces, including Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island
and Cape Breton. He was also the first of the Pioneers ministers of the
Presbyterian Church that came to Cape Breton.

Dr. McGregor was born at Comrie, Perthshire, Scotland in the month
of December 1759. He grew up to manhood in connection with the Gen
eral Associate, or Antiburger Church. His arts Course was taken at the
University of Edinburgh and he studied theology under the direction of
the Rev. William Moncreiff, Professor of Divinity to the General Asso
ciate Synod. He was licensed to preach the gospel in the year 1784, and
on the 31st of May 1786, he was ordained and designated as missionary to
the Gaelic Speaking Highlanders in the County of Pictou, N. S., by the
Presbytery of Glasgow.

Three days later he sailed from Greenoch, on the brig "Lily" for
Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he arrived on the llth of July. By the middle
of August 1786 he reached Pictou which was destined to be the centre of his
strenuous labors during the remainder of his life. Dr. McGregor's death
took place at New Glasgow on Wednesday March the 3rd, 1830 in the
seventieth year of his age and the forty sixth of his ministry.

The late Rev. George Patterson, D. D., has done ample justice to the
life and labors of our first Pioneer, in his work entitled "Memoir of the
Rev. James McGregor, D. D." And indeed, Dr. McGregor is the only one
of the Cape Breton pioneers that has had any justice of this kind done to
him, unless it may be the Rev. Donald McDonald of whom a short bio
graphy has been written. This renders it all the more necessary that an
attempt should be made to write an account of the lives and labors of these
men, at this late period in the history of the Church they loved and served
so well.

The following extract from an address by Jotham Blanchard Esq., a
distinguished contemporary and intimate friend of Dr. McGregor, might
be given at thjs stage, in order to show what kind of a man, Dr. McGregor
was and the work that he did in Eastern Canada. The address, from which
the following extract is taken, was delivered by Mr. Blanchard in the City
of Glasgow, at a meeting of the Society for Advancing Liberal Education
in the Colonies, shortly after Dr. McGregor's death; "Nearly half a cen
tury ago, this father, animated by an ardent piety, and a more than ordin
ary vigor of mind, took his life in his hand and crossed theAtlantic to preach
the gospel to those who, literally, "dwelt solitary in the woods." He had a
field as boundless in extent as in difficulties.

The Eastern part of Nova Scotia and the adjacent islands of Cape
Breton and Prince Edward Island were all before him. The inhabitants
were few and far apart. Roads in that region were the invention of a
later day. The site of the town of Pictou contained but two houses.
Marked trees, a pocket compass, or an Indian were the only guides through

9

the wilderness in those early times, and the frail boats that were used in
harbors, rivers and seas afforded a still less desirable mode of travelling.
"But the people were in need of the gospel" and that to Dr. McGregor was
sufficient to call forth all that duty required. Moreover they were anxious
for the gospel and that called forth more. It would be difficult to justify
his constant exposure of himself by day and by night, and his almost
superhuman exertions from week to week and from year to year. A plank
was often his bed and a potato his fare. Sleep was not seldom denied
him for several nights together. The people were located in little settle
ments, and when he visited them they all turned out to meet him.
Nor were his labors in vain. There are yet many in life, of the best of our
people, who received all their religious knowledge and impressions under
his ministry."

Dr. McGregor was more than a self-sacrificing missionary. He was a
man of good literary attainments and of scholarly tastes. He was also a
poet of no mean order as his published English and Gaelic poems abund
antly testify. His gaelic hymns were highly esteemed and very generally
sung, by a former generation, not only in Nova Scotia but in Scotland as
well.

In the year 1822, the Senate of the University of Glasgow conferred
the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity upon our pioneer missionary,
in recognition of his personal worth and the distinguished services he had
rendered to the Presbyterian Church and to Christianity in Eastern Can
ada.

Dr. McGregor was the first Presbyterian minister that ever came to the
Island of Cape Breton for missionary and evangelistic purposes. He
made two missionary journeys to our island, one in the year 1798 and the
other in the year 1818. The first of these journeys was made at the re
quest of a pious Presbyterian woman by the name of Janet Sutherland.
Mrs. Sutherland, her husband, George Sutherland and their three children,
Isabel, William and Charles, were living on a farm about three miles to the
south of the town of Sydney and on the eastern side of Sydney River.

The site of the Sutherland home, at that time, may still be seen on
the right hand side of the road that leads from the public highway to the
pumping Station of the Dominion Steel Company. The cellar of the Suther
land house is quite visible on the rising ground between Sutherland's Cove
and the said Station.

There can be little doubt that Dr. McGregor landed at the head of
this Cove in the month of August 1798, nor that he was welcomed and
entertained during his stay in Cape Breton, on that occasion, on this very
spot.

George Sutherland and Janet Fordyce, his wife, were natives of
Huntley, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. They were married in their native
land and they emigrated to Cape Breton in the year 1788. That was
several years after their marriage, and four years after the Island of Cape
Breton was made a separate province and given a Governor and government
of its own.

10

On the 10th of June 1789, Mr. Sutherland obtained a grant of land
from Governor MacCormick on the east side of Sydney River, and settled
down to make a home for himself and his family. Two of their children,
Isabel and William were born in Scotland. Charles, the third child was
born after their arrival in this Country. It was in order to baptize Charles
more particularly, that Mrs. Sutherland sent for Dr. McGregor all the way
to New Glasgow,Nova Scotia, a distance of nearly two hundred miles. The
Sutherlands had been ten years in Cape Breton and during all that time
they had not seen the face of a Presbyterian minister. There were several
Roman Catholic priests and at least one Episcopalian clergyman in East
ern Cape Breton at that time; but there was no Presbyterian minister on
this island, then, nor for twenty two years thereafter. It was in these cir
cumstances that Mrs. Sutherland wrote to Dr. McGregor, and urged him
to visit her distant home and bring gospel cheer into her lonely life.

Compliance with this request involved a long, tedious, expensive and
dangerous voyage from Pictou Harbor to Sydney River and back again.
But Dr. McGregor could not resist Mrs. Sutherland's appeal. Hiring
two men and a boat, he sailed from Pictou Harbor to St.Peter's Bay by way
of the Strait of Canso and Lenox Passage. On arriving at St. Peter's he
had the boat hauled across the isthmus by a pair of oxen and launched on
the waters of the Bras d'Or Lake. There was no Canal there -at that
time and none had been dreamed of either. From St. Peter's Inlet he sailed
to the head of East Bay under the impression that he could find a passage
for the boat, or at least a foot-path for himself, from the head of the bay to
where the Sutherlands were living on Sydney River. But there was neither
passage nor foot-path to be found.

After spending the forenoon of a hot Sabbath day in the vain attempt
to find a path through woods and swamps between East Bay and Blackett's
Lake, he became weary, abandoned the effort and returned to the boat.
Getting on board again, he sailed for the Grand Narrows, and thence, by
way of St.Andrew's Channel and the Litttle Bras d'Or, he reached the open
sea and Sydney Harbor. Sailing up the south-west arm of this harbor, he
entered Sydney River where the Coxheath Bridge is now and from there
through the Narrows, where the Canadian Government Railway Bridge is
at the present time. At this point he was in sight of his destination.
Steering the boat into a cove immediately ahead of him, he stepped ashore
within a few yards of the Sutherland home.

We may be sure that Dr. McGregor received a very warm welcome
from Mr. and Mrs. Sutherland and also, that they treated him very hand
somely during his stay under their hospitable roof.

We have no details of Dr. McGregor's work while at Sydney River.
No doubt he spent the time at his disposal to the best possible advantage
in ministering to the spiritual needs of the family that he came so far to see
and to the spiritual needs of any other family in the immediate
vicinity. As far as we know there was only one other family there at that
time, viz. Alexander Cantley, of whom we shall have something to say later.
Sydney town was a very insignificant place at that time, notwith-

11

standing that it was the capital of British Province and the seat of a British
Government. The town was founded by Lieutenant Governor De,s
Barres in the year 1785 with a civil and military population of about eight
hundred souls. Ten years later, from various causes, the population was
reduced to one hundred and twenty one persons, and twenty six of these
were preparing to get away as soon as they could do so. We are told by
Lieutenant-Colonel Macarmick, the then Governor, that "When these
shall have left, there shall not be a single person in the town except those
who have salaries to subsist on — not a tailor, shoemaker, smith, butcher,
not even a washer woman."

This was the condition of Sydney when Dr. McGregor came here in
1798 and the condition of Sydney, at that time, was representative of the
condition of the whole island. We are told that "There was barely half
a dozen miles of passable roads. The coal mines were poorly worked and
unprofitable; the garrison at Sydney was down to ten men and there was an
air of depression hanging over the whole Colony."

The population of Cape Breton Island, at that time was but about
2,500 including Micmacs, Acadians, English and Irish. A number of
Scotch Roman Catholics had recently come to the shores of Inverness
County by way of Antigonish, but the Highland Presbyterian immigrants
had not yet begun to arrive. There were probably only twenty Pres
byterian families on the whole island at that time, but none of these were
from the Highlands of Scotland and none of them spoke the Gaelic language.
Eight or nine of these families were living in Mabou and Port Hood, eight or
nine more were living at Upper North Sydney and two of them were living
on Sydney River. These two were George Sutherland, wife and three
children on the east side of the River and Alexander Cantley and two sisters,
Mary and Margaret Cantley, nearly opposite on the western side of the
River and on what is now known as the Mount Florence property. We
are safe in saying that there was not a Presbyterian in the town of Sydney
in 1*798, when Dr. McGregor came to Cape Breton. Had there been,
the Sutherlands would have known him and would have made the doctor
acquainted with him. Indeed the doctor does not appear to have been in
the town of Sydney at all, although he passed and repassed it on his voyage
to and from the Sutherland home.

Dr. McGregor's stay at Sydney River appears to have been of short
duration, probably not more than a few days. He returned to Pictou
by the same boat and by the same route that he employ.ed in coming
here.

A number of years later, probably in the year 1812, George Sutherland
died at Sydney River and was buried on the river side immediately west of
his own home and on his own land.

The cemetery in which his remains were laid is still to be seen. It is
situated immediately north of the Steel Company's pumping station. Soon
after Mr. Sutherland's death, probably the following year, Mrs. Sutherland,
and her two sons moved to the East River of Pictou in order, chiefly
that they might be near to Dr. McGregor and enjoy his ministry. William

12

Sutherland bought a farm at the Narrows about a mile below where the
town of New Glasgow is now. The Eastern Car plant is now situated on
a part of that farm. He was made an elder in Dr. McGregor's Church in
New Glasgow during the doctor's life time. He died in March 1859, in
the 75th year of his age and was buried in Riverside Cemetery, New Glas
gow.

Charles Sutherland had two sons that studied for the ministry of the
Presbyterian Church. One of these was the Rev. George Sutherland, at
one time minister of the Free Church in Charlottetown, P. E. Island. He
went to Australia in the year 1868, where he died a number of years ago!
The other was the Rev. John A. F. Sutherland at one time minister of
Little Harbor Congregation, Pictou County. He died in Winnipeg nine or
ten years ago. The Rev. J. S. Sutherland, the present minister of St.
Paul's Church, Fredericton, N. B., is a son ofthe Rev. John A. F. Suther
land and a great-grand-son of the George Sutherland and Janet his wife, at
whose request the Rev. Dr. McGregor made his visit to Eastern Cape
Breton in the year 1798. Janet Sutherland, the mother of William and
Charles Sutherland died at New Glasgow in the year 1818 and wasburied.
in the Riverside Cemetery there.

The only other Presbyterian family, living in the vicinity of Sydney
beside the Sutherlands, when Dr. McGregor came here in 1798, was Alex
ander Cantley and his two sisters, Mary and Margaret Cantley. They
were living on the western side of Sydney River and within a half a mile of
the Sutherlands.

Alexander Cantley was born at Berryden, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
When a young man he was impressed into the British Navy, where he spent
a large part of his life and rose to the rank of a naval officer. On his re
tirement from the service he came to Sydney River with his two sisters,
about the year 1794. In the year 1795 he obtained a grant of land from
Governor Macarmick, near the mouth of the river, and settled down to
farm. Alexander Cantley was never married. His sister, Margaret
married one John Howie, who came here from Cullen, Banffshire in the year
1814.

In the year 1830, Alexander Cantley disposed of his land to one
Thomas Bowen, and removed to New Glasgow, where he spent the re
mainder of his life in the home of his nephew, George Cantley. He died
at New Glasgow at an advanced age and was buried in the Riverside Ceme
tery.

This George Cantley, the nephew of Alexander Cantley came out
from Berryden Banffshire in the year 1810. He obtained a grant of land on
the east side of the Sydney River and about midway between what is now
Blackett's Lake and the mouth of Sydney River. In the year 1811,
George Cantley married Isabel Sutherland, daughter of George and Janet
Sutherland, and on August the 13th, 1826, he purchased from William and
Charles Sutherland, the block of land that was originally granted by their
father on Sydney River.

On Oct. the 13th, 1830, George Cantley sold this property to the

13

John Howie, who had married his aunt Margaret Cantley and he removed
to New Glasgow shortly thereafter, where his descendants are still to
be found. Col. Thomas Cantley, so widely and favourably known, is a
grandson of George Cantley and a great grandson of George Sutherland and
Janet Sutherland by whose agency Dr. McGregor was persuaded to come
to Cape Breton on the summer of 1798.

We might add that the descendants of John Howie of Cullen are still
in possession of the lot of land granted by George Sutherland in the year
.1785, on the eastern side of Sydney River.

From all that has been said it is evident that the nineteenth century
opened darkly for Presbyterianism *'n Cape Breton. There were only two
Presbyterian families to the East of Sydney Harbor and only twenty Pres
byterian families on the whole Island. But the darkest hour is just before
dawn and theife were bright days at hand for the Church of the Elders in
Cape Breton.

With the year 1802 a stream of Presbyterian immigrants from the
Scottish Highlands and Islands began to flow into our valleys, climb our
hillsides and settle along our bays and shores. This living stream of ex
patriated men, women and children continued to flow into Cape Breton
during the next forty years. In the year 1842 this stream ceased to flow,
but by that time, from ten to twelve thousand Presbyterians were landed
on the shores of this island.

But to resume our narrative of Dr. McGregor and his work in Cape
Breton.

In the year 1818, after the lapse of twenty years, this indefatigable
worker in the interests of the Kingdom of God, returned to Cape Breton
and spent six weeks here. That summer he hired a boat at Antigonish,
sailed across St. George's Bay, landed at Port Hood, and then proceeded to
Mabou on horseback. He found five or six Presbyterian families at Port
Hood and ten or twelve at Mabou. He spent two weeks between these
two places, visiting and holding religious exercises in every family. This
was the first preaching that had ever been enjoyed there; and the young
people, even those arrived at the age of manhood had never heard a ser
mon. "His visit made a deep impression upon many."

From Mabou and Port Hood he came to Plaster Cove on the Strait
of Canso; and from there he went to River Inhabitants and West Bay.

There were a number of Presbyterians scattered along the Strait at
that time. "A considerable number at River Inhabitants and about
twenty families at West Bay." Dr. Patterson writes in his Memoir,
"Most of them had come thither by way of Pictou, having resided there
for longer or shorter periods, during which they had been under the ministry
of Dr. McGregor, and some of them looked to him as the instrument of
their first saving impression of divine truth;" and again, "Several of these
heads of families were decidedly pious. From the time of their settlement
they had not heard a sermon till he visited them."

Dr. McGregor's second visit to Cape Breton was no doubt due to the

14

presence of parties in both Mabou and West Bay, who met him in Pictou
and who desired to see and hear him in Cape Breton.

There was Captain Benjamin Worth, who brought the doctor from
Charlottetown to Pictou, in his schooner, in the year 1791, some twenty
years earlier, when Dr. McGregor was returning from his first missionary
journey to Prince Edward Island. There was also Mr. William McKeen,
who came to Mabou in the year 1812. Mr. McKeen was born in Truro,
but he lived for some time in New Glasgow, and met Dr. McGregor there.
Some of the settlers of West Bay had actually been parishioners of his
during their temporary stay in Pictou County. To quote Dr. Patterson
again, "He spent one Sabbath at River Inhabitants, and preached in a barn
belonging to Mr. Adam McPherson, both in English and Gaelic. Some of
the people of West Bay came through to hear him. On Tuesday following,
he went to West Bay and preached again in both English and Gaelic, in a
barn belonging to one Mclntosh. His subject in the Gaelic language was
Luke XIX :9. 'This day is Salvation come to this house'; with a comment on
the whole passage from the first to the tenth verse."

On his departure from West Bay he was convoyed for some distance
on the way to the Straits by John McLeod, one of his former acquaintances
in Pictou. The farm is still pointed out near the marshes where John
McLeod lived and where Dr. McGregor was so hospitably entertained dur
ing his stay in West Bay.

The Doctor's first visit to this island had no lasting influence on the
Presbyterianism of Cape Breton. The only two families that he met, ap
parently, on that occasion, left the island some years later, and went to
strengthen the Presbyterianism of Pictou County. The second visit re
sulted in the formation of a congregation at Mabou and Port Hood when,
three years later,these two places united in a call to the Rev. William Millar,
a licentiate of the Associate Church of Scotland, and forwarded the same
to the Presbytery of Pictou, for presentation to Mr. Millar on his arrival
from the Old Country. This call was in due time presented and accepted,
and Mr. Millar was subsequently settled in Mabou and Port Hood, as the
first minister of that congregation. No doubt Dr. McGregor was the
moving and guiding spirit in this whole transaction.

Dr. McGregor never returned to Cape Breton, but we have good rea
son to believe, that he never lost his interest in his fellow countrymen and
co-religionists, on this island.

This is evident from the fact, that the Presbytery of Pictou, in the
year 1824 sent two of the first graduates in theology of Pictou Academy,
and the only two that had the Gaelic language, to Cape Breton as ordained
missionaries, or evangelists.

We need not doubt that the Presbytery of Pictou sent these men here,
at the suggestion and under the influence of Dr. McGregor.

15

Rev. Alexander Dick.

The next Presbyterian Minister that came to Cape Breton and did
something for our cause here was the Rev. Alexander Dick. It is true that
Mr. Dick, like two or three others of the pioneers, influenced the religious
life of this island but very slightly and incidently. Nevertheless, he must
not be overlooked in any complete account of the men that were instru
mental in laying the foundations of our church here one hundred years ago.

Mr. Dick, like Dr. McGregor, was born in Perthshire, Scotland, and
like Dr. McGregor, he was a member of the Associate Church of Scotland.
In early life he learned the craft of a carpenter, and wrought at that craft
for some years.

One Sabbath day, Mr. Dick heard a report read from the pulpit of the
church where he was accustomed to worship that led him to study for the
ministry, and to offer hmself for missionary work in Nova Scotia. That
report had been written by Dr. McGregor in Pictou, and sent to Scotland
for the information of the people there regarding the need of ministers of
the gospel in different places in Nova Scotia but more especially in Maitland
Hants County.

Mr. Dick was deeply moved by what he heard that day. He decided
to turn aside from the secular calling in which he was engaged and to pre
pare himself for the service of Jesus Christ in Maitland, Nova Scotia.

The next six or seven years were devoted to hard study, and on the
17th of March, 1802 he was licensed to preach the gospel. Immediately
on receiving license, he prepared to leave home and cross the ocean. By
the middle of June, he, with his young bride, Ann Eadie sailed from Green-
ock on a lumber vessel bound for the Mirimachi River, in New Brunswick.
This vessel put into the Bay of Bulls, Newfoundland. Here the young
missionary and his wife found a vessel bound for Sydney Harbor, Cape
Breton. They took passage on this vessel in the hope of finding another
vessel at Sydney that would take them to Pictou or Halifax. This was how
Mr. Dick came to this Island. It was not through any design on his part.
It was solely by force of circumstances over which he had no control.

All that we know of Mr. Dick's experience in Cape Breton comes to us
through a letter that he wrote to a friend in Leith, Scotland, in the year
1803, and that was published in the Christian Magazine some time later.
From that letter we learn that he arrived in Sydney Harbor, after a sail of
six days from Bay of Bulls, on the first week of August, 1802. His stay
here appears to have lasted only for a few days, but he stayed long enough
to preach once if not twice at Upper North Sydney. He wrote to his
Leith friend as follows, — "Upon Wednesday I preached in the Western Arm
of the Bay. The audience here was numerous, exceedingly attentive, and
many of them appeared to be a good deal affected. As the people of this
part of the country are altogether destitute of public ordinances I was more
particular in making inquiry with respect to the religious exercises of their
families. Some few of them, I was happy to find, kept up the worship of

16

God in their homes, and took particular pains in the instruction of their
children. They were exceedingly desirous that I should have stayed among
them. They have five hundred acres of land allowed for a minister, and
are willing to do everything in their power to make his situation comfort
able. The settlement is but in its infancy and the people in general poor,
but why should they perish? If any other is coming out soon to our as
sistance, he might embark for Sydney, and stay at least a month or two by
the way to refresh the Spirits of these poor people. It will be no difficulty
to get to Halifax from Sydney as there is a very extensive coal trade carried
on between them (these two places), and vessels may be obtained almost
every week through the summer."

"The soil in this place is good and when it is cleared, brings forth
bountifully. The herbage grows to an amazing height. Potatoes, wheat
and rye likewise grow well. I could not but remark with what profusion
the God of Nature has scattered his bounties even in the impervious forests.
Places where the wood was burnt down were covered with the most aston
ishing crop of strawberries, and other kinds of ground fruits. Along the
banks of the Great and Little Bras d'Or the land is particularly good. Even
in its present state of cultivation it is sufficient for the support of many
hundreds of families, and in a few years it will be sufficient for the support of
many more. The lakes and bays and streams of water abound with fish,
and those of the most excellent quality." "The present inhabitants are
perishing for lack of knowledge, and unless the dispensation of gospel or
dinances is introduced speedily among them, it will soon become the land
of darkness and shadow of death. Mr. McGregor once visited this island
and baptized some children. If we had other laborers sent amongst us we
might give them some supply of sermon, but in our present circumstances
this is impossible."

Mr. Dick does not say, in writing to his friend, that he found Pres
byterians in his audiences on the "North West Arm" or Upper North
Sydney, but we know from other sources that there were a goodly number
of Presbyterians settled there at that time, and cultivating the land between
Sparling's Brook and Maloney's Creek. It was these Presbyterians that
wanted him to remain with them as their pastor, and that offered him a
comfortable support and more land than he could make any use of.

The best information that we have goes to show that the first Presbyter
ian settlers on the shores of Sydney Harbor were two Scotchmen, who
came from Aberdeenshire in the year 1880, and settled side by side on lots
at Upper North Sydney. Their names were Adam Moore and William
Campbell. Mr. Campbell was never married and after he died, his land
passed into possession of the descendants of Adam Moore. Mr. Moore
married a Miss Sparling whose family lived at Sparling's Brook, and he had
a large family. All the Moores in this part of the Island are descendants of
Adam Moore. Both Adam Moore and William Campbell's graves are to
be seen to this day on the lot that Campbell owned in 1802. A few years
later than 1780 several other Scottish Presbyterians came to Upper North
Sydney and took up land in the immediate neighborhood of Moore and

17

Campbell. One of them was James Moffatt, the grandfather of Wallace
C. Moffatt of Little Bras d'Or. Others bore the name of Musgrave and
Jackson. The present Moores, Musgraves and Jacksons are all descendants
of these orig;nal Presyterian settlers. A number of these descendants
are now Baptists, but that is due to the fact the Presbyterian Church did
not look after her own children as she should have done one hundred years
ago.

In 1802, when Mr. Dick spent a few days in Sydney Harbor, there
were probably not more than twenty Presbyterian families on the whole
island of Cape Breton. Two of these families were at Sydney River, about
nine of them were in Mabou and Port Hood, and another nine at Upper
North Sydney.

But the time had now come when Presbtyerian and Gaelic-speaking
immigrants from the Highlands and Islands of Scotland were about to
arrive in Cape Breton in ship loads. While Mr. Dick was preaching to
the few Presbyterians at Upper North Sydney, the first of these immigrants
ships was approaching Sydney Harbor with 299 Gaelic speaking people
from the Scottish Hebrides. This ship dropped her anchor opposite the
town of Sydney on the 16th of August, 1802. From that time until 1843,
every summer brought its quota of Highlanders and Islanders to our shores.
The last company of these immigrants was landed at the Strait of Canso
in 1843, from a ship that was going west to the St. Lawrence River.

In some summers, there were two and even three shiploads of these
people landed on our shores and distributed throughout our island. They
came partly from the northern shires of Scotland, but chiefly from the west
ern islands, from Lewis, Harris, North Uist, South Uist, Isla, Coll, Tiree,
Raasay, Skye, Mull and Barra. All these people were either Presbyterians
or Roman Catholics. It has been estimated that 25,000 Gaelic speaking
people were landed in Cape Breton between 1802 and 1843, and the prob
ability is that ten or eleven thousand of these were of the Presbyterian faith.

These people were our parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents,
and we are naturally very much interested in them. We would surely
like to know why they came here in such large numbers, and also something
of the hardships they had to endure in making homes for themselves and
their children on this beautiful island of ours. They brought no material
wealth with them, but they brought something far better. They brought
healthy bodies, vigorous minds and God-fearing souls. A number of them
brought their Gaelic Bibles and a knowledge of the way of Salvation
through faith in Jesus Christ. They also brought the good customs of
family prayer and of Sabbath observance.

We are heirs of this precious physical, mental and spiritual inheritance,
and it becomes us to prize it highly and to transmit it to their posterity in
all its vigor and in all its worth.

But coming back to Mr. Dick. He reached his destination at the
mouth of the Shubenacadie River, in due time, and entered upon his mis
sionary work in the congregation of Douglas, as it was then known. Jt
was a very extensive charge. It included Maitland, at the mouth of the

18

Shubenacadie River, Nine Mile River, Noel Shore, Gay's River, Lower
Stewiacke and the Upper Shubenacadie. There are now six strong flour
ishing congregations within the bounds of Mr. Dick's field of labor. Mr.
Dick was ordained and inducted at Maitland on the 21st of June 1803,
and it is worthy of note that; "This was the first ordination of a Presbyter
ian minister by a permanently constituted Presbytery in the Dominion of
Canada."

The Presbytery that ordained Mr. Dick was known as the Associate or
Burgher Presbytery of Truro. This Presbytery was organized at Truro,
N. S., on the 2nd of August 1786, the year that Dr. James McGregor came
to Nova Scotia.

It was composed originally of three ministers and two ruling elders.
It should be interesting to note that, in the intervening one hundred and
thirty-four years,our Presbyteries have increased from one to seventy-eight.
Our ministers from three to two thousand and six and our ruling elders
from about a dozen to eleven thousand, seven hundred and seventy-
eight.

Mr. Dick labored in that very extensive field, with great fidelity and
success during the whole of his short ministerial life. He died at Maitland
on the 20th of May 1812 in the forty-first year of his life and the ninth of
his ministry.

19

Rev. Norman McLeod.

The Rev. Norman McLeod was the first Presbyterian minister that
made his home on the island of Cape Breton. He was also the most unique
personality that we have had among us during the one hundred years of our
history as a Presbyterian church on this Island. We date our centenary
as a church from his arrival in St. Ann's harbor, on the 20th day of May,
1820.

There were Presbyterians in various parts of Cape Breton before that
time, but there was no organized congregation of Presbyterians previous
to that time. Organized work, in the interests of Presbyterianism, com
menced on the arrival of Norman McLeod with an unknown number of
followers, men, women and children, in St. Ann's Harbor, on board the
"Ark" on that May day, one hundred years ago.

This Pioneer of the Pioneers came here so long ago, and he left for the
other side of the world so long ago, that there are very few living men who
ever saw him. Tradition has handed down many very extraordinary
stories of this remarkable man, but many of these are to be received with a
good deal of hesitation. He had enemies as well as friends, like every other
strong character that has ever lived. His enemies magnified his faults and
failings, and depreciated his virtues; while his friends regarded him as an
oracle and saint.

He left no autobiography, and so far as we know, his life story has not
been written by any one. Hence, in order to get at the truth regarding
his person, life, character, and work it is necessary to sift the traditions
that have come down to us, and preserve only what is well authenticated .

When we have done this there is presented to us a man of a very re
markable character; independent, self-reliant, and autocratic; a man of
outstanding personality, and of dominating influence over his fellowmen,
and withall, a man who devoted his life unselfishly to the temporal, social,
moral and spiritual interests of his fellowman.

He was so constituted that he could not work with anyone else; could
not do team work. He hoed his own row, and hoed it in his own way. He
would not suffer any interference or restraint from any human source. If
any man or any body of men attempted to dictate to him, he flung defiance
in their faces, and took the course that he thought to be right and best.

This peculiarity of his temperament was the secret of his antagonistic
attitude to the Church of Scotland and her ministers in the Old Country as
well as on this Island.

In the year 1842, Mr. McLeod published a book entitled "Normanism"
that throws a good deal of light upon his personality and character, as well
as upon his opinions regarding questions on which he differed from his con
temporaries. This book is now quite rare, and moreover hard to read on
account of the peculiarities of its style, but any one who reads it through

20

carefully will have no difficulty in discovering the uprightness, straight
forwardness, outspokeness, and fearlessness of this much misunderstood
man.

Norman McLeod was born at Stoer Point, in the parish of Assynt, on
the west coast of Sutherlandshire, Scotland, on the 17th of September,
1780, (140 years ago). His parents were pious people. His father was a
member of the Scottish Kirk. His mother was of English family and birth,
but a dissenter from the English church. In his boyhood, Mr. McLeod
had attended the parish school, and no doubt, he took full advantage of the
opportunities therein afforded of acquiring a good common school educa
tion.

We know nothing about his early life. The people of Stoer Point
lived by farming and fishing, and no doubt he followed farming and fishing
for a livelihood. The minister at Assynt during his early life was the Rev.
William McKenzie. Mr. McKenzie was parish minister of Assynt during
a period of 48 years, from 1765 to 1816.

John Kennedy of Dingwall, in "The Fathers of Rosshire," speaks of
Mr. McKenzie in the following terms: "Mr. McKenzie, the minister of
Assynt, was almost all that a minister ought not to be, and yet he continued
to occupy his charge till his death. Always accustomed to regard his pas
toral work as an unpleasant condition of drawing his stipend, he reduced
it to the smallest possible dimensions, and would not unfrequently be absent
without reason and without leave, for many weeks together from his charge.

"This was the usual practice in those days of the moderate stipend-
lifters of Sutherlandshire. The visit of one of them to Rosshire would be
an affair of a month's length at least, and the people never clamored for
his return. During the latter part of his life, Parson William was much
addicted to drink. This was well-known to the Presbytery, but could not
be easily proved. The people were unwilling to complain and to give
evidence against him. The awe of his office was upon them, in spite of
the irregularities of his life; and as a man and a neighbor, he was rather a
favorite."

It was under the shadow of Mr.McKenzie's ministry that Norman
McLeod's early life was spent. We need not be surprised if his mind became
prejudiced against the Church of Scotland, that permitted such a man as
William McKenzie to remain in the ministry and to remain so long.

In the year 1806, the Rev. John Kennedy Sr., subsequently known as
John Kennedy of Kilearnan, became assistant to Mr. McKenzie in the
parish of Assynt. Mr. Kennedy was a man of uncommon piety. He
was, moreover, thoroughly evangelical in his preaching, and he was pro
foundly interested in the spiritual welfare of his people. Shortly after the
commencement of his ministry, a most remarkable work of grace took place
in the parish. We are told, by his son, John Kennedy of Dingwall, in his
"Fathers of Rosshire," "that his work in Assynt was early blessed and was
made effectual for good during the whole of his ministry there. Very sel
dom has as much been done in so short a time in the conversion of sinners.

21

and in the edification of the Body of Christ, as was done during the period
of his labors in Assynt. There were then converted unto God many young
men, who to old age, and in several districts of the Highlands, to which
they had scattered, bore fruit to the praise of the Lord and the good of His
Church."

Norman McLeod was one of the young men, who, in that season of
blessing, experienced the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to awaken, re
generate and save sinners. He was in the twenty-sixth or twenty-seventh
year of his life when this change took place. Immediately thereafter, like
Saul of Tarsus, he began to preach Christ to all who would listen to his
message. In his new-born zeal to bring his friends to Jesus Christ, he went
farther than was considered proper by his Godly pastor, on the part of so
recent a convert.

At that time young and inexperienced Christians were expected, like
the women in Corinth, to keep silence in the church. But Norman McLeod
could not be silent. He took advantage of every occasion to testify for his
new Master. The result was friction between himself and his minister. In
Dr. Kennedy's biography of his father entitled "The Fathers of Rosshire,"
we find the following paragraph regarding him; "Among the young men
who then began to make a profession of godliness, was one, perhaps the
most talented of them all. Norman McLeod, known before as a clever,
irreverent, forward youth, began all of a sudden to join himself to the peo
ple of the Lord. Claiming to have been converted in a way, at least,
unusual, if not miraculous, he, all at once, started on a course of profession
at a stature, and with a courage that never seemed to have known a child
hood at all. He began at once to prepare for the ministry. But Gorman's
ambition to preach outgrew the slow progress of the stated course of pre
paration; and, cutting short his college studies, he separated from the
church and began to form a sect of his own. His power as a speaker was
such that he could not fail to make an impression, and he succeeded in
Assynt and elsewhere in drawing some of the people after him for a time.
His influence over those whom he finally detached from a stated ministry
was paramount, and he could carry them after him to almost any extent.

"A few of the people of Assynt were drawn into permanent dissent.
Some even of the pious people were decoyed by him for a
season who escaped from his influence thereafter.

"The anxiety and disappointment of this trying season was peculiarly
painful to my father."

It is impossible for us to apportion the blame for the friction that
occurred, in this matter, between Norman McLeod and his godly minister.
Norman was self-assertive and aggressive as well as zealous and earnest
under the impulses of the divine life; while his minister endeavored to re
strain him and keep him in the back-ground until he should be older and
more mature in his Christian experience. The result was that Norman
McLeod resented the interference of Mr. Kennedy in what he regarded

22

as his duty and privilege. The consequence was that Mr. McLeod became
antagonistic, not only to Mr. Kennedy, but to the Church of Scotland, as
well, and he continued in antagonism to that church during the remainder
of his life. And it may be added that subsequent experiences had a ten
dency to increase his dislike to the national church, her presbyteries and
ministers. For example, Mr. MacLeod was teaching school in the village
of Ullapoolin the year 1815. Ullapool was in the parish of Lochbroom
and Dr. Ross, the minister of the parish, was a man of violent temper and
overbearing conduct. There was a collision between the teacher and the
preacher, and Dr. Ross, in order to punish Mr. McLeod for insubordination
to his imperious will, arbitrarily and unjustly deprived the teacher of about
half the salary which he had earned and to which he was entitled.

That experience was fitted to embitter his spirit against the Church
of Scotland and her ministers, especially when he had a wife and two child
ren dependent on his earnings for a livelihood.

Another incident may be given on the same line. While teaching at
Ullapool, and shortly after the birth of his first child, John Luther, Mr.
McLeod and his wife carried their infant boy over mountain and moor,
from Lochbroom to Lochcarron, a distance of forty miles, in order to have
their child baptised by the far-famed Rev. Lauchlan McKenzie, whom they
believed to be an evangelical and godly man. They had no faith in the
piety of Dr. Ross, the minister of their own parish, and would not ask him
to baptise their child. But they were sorely disappointed. The parish
minister of Lochbroom was in the manse of Lochcarron ahead of them, and
he most emphatically forbade Mr. McKenzie to baptise the child of a man
that belonged to his own parish and that would not ask him to administer
the rite.

Norman McLeod and his good wife had to retrace their forty mile
journey to Ullapool, not only disappointed, but indignant.

This unpleasant experience was not fitted to increase Mr. McLeod's
respect, either for Dr. Ross, Mr. McKenzie or the church of which they
were both accredited ministers.

The harsh treatment that Norman McLeod received at the hands of
Dr. Ross had a good deal to do with his leaving Scotland and his coming to
this country. In one of his letters to a friend in Scotland to be found in his
book, we find the following regarding Dr. Ross; "Probably I should never
have come to this country but for the prosecution if not the persecution of
that man."

And just here it ought to be stated that Mr. McLeod had always the
greatest admiration for the Church of Scotland as she was in the days of
Knox, Henderson, Gillespie and Guthrie; but for the Church of Scotland
as she was at the beginning of the last century, with her patronage, intru
sion, moderatism and lack of discipline, he had nothing but supreme con
tempt.

On page 271 of his book, in writing to a friend in Ohio regarding
church government, we find him using the following words: "Presbytery is

23

in my sincerest view, the nearest existent form of government to the apos
tolic standard."

He withdrew from the Church of Scotland, but he was still a Presby
terian in conviction. He claimed that the Church of Scotland had fallen
from her former nobility and purity, and that his conscience would not
suffer him to continue in her fellowship.

Indeed Norman McLeod may be regarded as a forerunner of the move
ment in the Church of Scotland that issued in her disruption in the year
1843; on account of intrusion, patronage and moderatism.

But let us come back to Mr. McLeod's life story. Upon his conversion
probably in the twenty-seventh year of his age, he decided to prepare
himself for the Gospel Ministry, and to devote his life to the work of
preaching Christ, and Him Cricufied. With this object in view, he studied
in the University of Aberdeen during four sessions. He graduated in Arts
in the spring of 1812 After that he studied theology in the University of
Edinburgh for two sessions. By the end of that time he had made up his
mind that he could not receive a license to preach the gospel from any pres
bytery of the Church of Scotland. To do so he would have to promise to
submit himself to the courts of that church and this he would not do, as the
courts of that church were then constituted and composed. He could not
be true to his conscience and true to his Master, Jesus Christ, and yield the
required submission.

Having come to this conclusion, he saw tliat there was nothing to be
gained by prosecuting his theological studies any farther, and he did not
finish the prescribed theological curriculum of the Established Church.
Instead, he turned aside to the teaching profession, and spent the next two
years as a school teacher in Ullapool, Rosshire. He might have sought a
license from another denomination, but he was too good a Presbyterian to
do that.

Dr. Kennedy is certainly mistaken when he says that Norman Mc
Leod "separated from the church and began to found a sect of his own."

It is a fact, however, that there were a number of people in Assynt and
elsewhere at that time who strongly sympathized with him in his views
regarding the relation of the church to the state, and the evils that flowed
from that connection. It is also a fact that a number of these people at
tached themselves to him as their minister with much loyalty and affection.

These were the people that followed him from Scotland to Pictou in
1817, from Pictou to St. Ann's in 1820, and from St. Ann's -to Australia in
1851.

About the time Norman McLeod finished his arts course at Aberdeen
University he married a young woman of his native parish; the wise and
gentle Mary McLeod, by whom he had eight children, two daughters and
six sons.

Mr. McLeod's experience with Dr. Ross in Ullapool was so unpleasant
that at the end of his second year as a teacher he came back to Assynt,
where he spent about a year in his old occupation of fishing. It was while

24

thus engaged that he made up his mind to leave his native land with a
number of his friends and seek more congenial conditions in Nova Scotia.
That was in the year 1817, and Mr. McLeod was now in the 37th year of
his life.

The Sutherland Clearances were taking place at the time, and hun
dreds of friends and acquaintances were under the necessity of seeking
homes beyond the sea.

Leaving his wife and three children to follow him the next year, in
the month of July, 1817, Mr. McLeod sailed from Lochbroom on the barque
"Frances Ann" bound for Pictou. His fellow passengers were chiefly
friends and admirers of his own. The voyage proved long and dangerous.
The barque sprang a leak in mid-Atlantic during a gale, and the captain
was considering the wisdom of returning to the nearest port in Ireland.
Just at this juncture, Norman showed his inherent masterfulness. He
said, "No, keep on your course. We are nearer to the coast of Nova Scotia
than to the coast of Ireland." The captain blustered and threatened to
put him in irons, but finally he took his passenger's advice, and the "Frances
Ann" reached Pictou Harbor in safety, after a tedious voyage of nine or
ten weeks.

By the time Mr. McLeod and his friends reached Pictou, all the best
land in the country was taken up, but he found some unoccupied lots on the
Middle River, between Alma and Gairloch, and here they settled and began
to make homes for themselves. He preached to the people on Sunday
and labored at clearing his land at McKerr's intervale during the week.
He also made preaching excursions among the Gaelic-speaking people of the
county. Like himself they were nearly all from one or another of the
Sutherlandshire parishes, and they gave him, in most cases, a "Highland
welcome."

According to the testimony of Dr. McGregor, then minister of the
East River of Pictou, the Highlanders would "Go much farther to hear him
than any other minister;" and George Patterson, D. D., in his history of
the county of Pictou, has this to say of Mr. McLeod: "He took up his re
sidence at Middle River, and the people of the upper part of the river
Lairg and neighborhood, who had hitherto been under the ministry of
Mr. Ross (Rev. Duncan Ross) generally followed him, so that the latter
(Mr. Ross) relinquished to him his church at Middle River." And again,
"His influence extended to almost every part of the country, and by his
followers he was regarded with unbounded devotion." And still farther,
"Those who have heard him at this time describe his preaching as consisting
of torrents of abuse against all religious bodies, and even against individual
against individuals, the like of which they had never heard, and which
was perfectly indescribable. But though so wildly fanatical, he was a man
of great power, and gained an influence over a large portion of the High
landers, such as no other man in the country possessed.

His friends and admirers in the county came to be known as "Nor-
manites."

25

During his second year in Pictou, Mr. McLeod received an urgent
call from a settlement of Highlanders in the United States to become their
pastor. Where this settlement was we cannot be quite sure. Some say it
was near the mouth of the Mississippi, while others say that it was in Ohio.
The writer is inclined to believe that that Scottish settlement was in Ohio.
He knows of no such settlement on the lower Mississippi, while there was
such a settlement in Ohio, and Mr. McLeod conducted correspondence with
a friend at New Lisbon, Ohio as late as the year 1842.

In any case Mr. McLeod was inclined to accept of this invitation, but
he was unwilling to leave his attached people in Pictou and they were
equally unwilling to let him go. After much serious consideration and no
doubt much earnestfprayer, it was decided that the call should be accepted
and that a number of the people should go with their minister to his new
field of labor. This meant the construction of a suitable vessel for the
transportation of as many as desired to accompany their minister to the
mouth of the Mississippi. They expected, no doubt to find their way from
the mouth of that great river to Ohio by some other conveyance. It is
impossible to speak definitely regarding the size of that vessel or the number
of passengers she was designed to carry. Some say that she was a vessel
of only twenty tons and that she carried but a few passengers while others
claim that she was much larger than that and carried a goodly number.

In any case the keel of this vessel was laid at Middle River Point in
the summer of 1819, and the work of construction went steadily on all that
fall and winter.

The people of Pictou thought the project to be as crazy as the Antide-
luvians thought the project of Noah in building the ark and when com
pleted this vessel was named "The Ark."

In the spring of 1820, as the snow and ice were melting under the warm
rays of the March and April sun, the Ark was receiving her finishing
touches, and by the first of May she was ready for her long voyage. By
the middle of that month, her passengers and crew were aboard, the sails
were spread to catch, the breeze and "The Ark" sailed out of Pictou Harbor
bound for the Gulf of Mexico. But she was destined never to get there.
The next thing we know of her she was in St. Ann's Harbor.

The story goes that after leaving Pictou Harbor she encountered a
furious gale that drove her out of her course and that compelled her to seek
shelter in St. Ann's; but whether a gale struck her in the Gulf of St. Law
rence and she came to St. Ann's by way of Cape North or it struck her in the
Atlantic after passing through the Strait of Canso, and she came to St.
Ann's by way of Scatari, we do not know. In any case "The Ark" cast
a)nchor in the Harbor of St. Ann's, Cape Breton on the 20th day of May,
1820. As already stated, we do not know the number of persons that
came to St. Ann's on "The Ark." Probably there were not more than fifty
all told, but be it remembered that these fifty with their minister, the Rev.
Norman McLeod at their head, constituted the first Presbyterian congre
gation that ever gathered for the worship of God on the Island of Cape
Breton.

26

After their terrible experience, Mr. McLeod and his people were sick
of the sea, mentally as well as physically. They determined to abandon
their purpose of going to Ohio, and they resolved to make homes for them
selves on the shores of St. Ann's. "The Ark" returned to Pictou, appar
ently to bring more of Mr. McLeod's followers to this island, but she was
never heard of again. She was evidently lost on the return trip.

All the land that Mr. McLeod and his people could desire was available
on St. Ann's Harbor and at a nominal price. Few, if any, grants of land
had been issued, previous to that time in this part of Cape Breton. They
could have the whole shore line to themselves.

The Rev. Norman McLeod took up a block of land at South Gut, at
the head of the harbor, containing 1,280 acres equal to two square miles.
This block was two miles in length and one in average breadth. His peo
ple took up land at different points all around the bay, from the entrance
where Englishtown is now, to the mouth of North River.

Then all got busy, cutting down the primeval forest, piling and burning
the trees and "slash" in order to get at the soil and plant potatoes, oats,
etc., so that they might raise food for themselves and their children.

It was easy to make a livelihood in St. Ann's at that time. The virgin
soil, enriched by the ashes of the burnt forest, was fertile. The waters of
the harbor and of the nearby sea, as well as the rivers, were teeming with all
kinds of fish. Wood for fuel and building purposes was to be had for the
labor of cutting and preparing. Every one helped his neighbor, and be
fore the winter came on, every family had a warm log house in which to
pass its long dreary hours.

The next thing was to build a church, a place in which to gather for
the worship of God. This church was built at Black Cove, near the resi
dence of the minister, in the year 1821 or possibly 1822.

That was the first Presbyterian church built on this island. It
was a frame church and though not large, it was large enough for the con
gregation at that time. A few years later a school house was built near the
church for the education of the children in religious as well as secular
learning. Mr. McLeod was a born teacher, and he taught in the St. Ann's
school during the greater part of his stay in Cape Breton.

This school was subsequently enlarged to accommodate one hundred
pupils or more. This school was latterly recognized by the government of
Nova Scotia as a "grammer school," and the fees received from pupils,
constituted the principal part of Mr. McLeod's income while at St. Ann's.

He did not take a regular or fixed stipend from the people in those days,
when they were so poor and money was so scarce. Instead of money he
received labor on his farm in the shape of chopping, rolling, stumping,
burning, planting and harvesting; also in building houses, barns and ships.

Indeed, he required every adult man and woman to help in these and
other ways to support himself and the means of grace in the community.
He took the general oversight of all manual labor in which he was inter-

27

ested. He knew how work ought to be done, and he saw that it was done
right and well.

Mr. McLeod had a large two-storied house built for himself, and chiefly
by labor obtained from his people in this way. He occupied that house
until he left for Australia.

As the population grew, church accommodation was increased in pro
portion.

In the year 1846, an immense church was built at Black Cove, capable
of seating 1000 persons. This church was in use until the year 1893, when
it was taken down and the present church was built in a more convenient
situation for the people of today.

When Mr. McLeod left for Australia, he deeded that big church to
the Free Church of Nova Scotia. The late Hon. William Ross was one of
the board of trustees that Mr. McLeod appointed to hold the church in
trust for the congregation.

Evidently by this time Mr. McLeod came to see that the contention of
the Free Church with the Established Church of Scotland was similar to
his own contention with the Established Church during so many years of
his life.

The Rev. Norman McLeod and his followers did not have the whole
of this country to themselves. Hundreds of Gaelic speaking immigrants
of the Presbyterian faith came here in subsequent years. These came
chiefly from Lewis and Harris. They settled at different points around
St. Ann's Harbor, but chiefly on the North River, and on the North Shore
all the way down to Smoky Mountain. Some of them settled up the glen
towards Baddeck and Big Hill. A number of these Lewis and Harris peo
ple were never great admirers of Norman McLeod. Some of them like the
late John Ross, Catechist of Mira and Isaac McLeod of Strathlorne sub
sequently left the congregation because they could not get along with him.
They could not endure his arbitrary methods.

Norman McLeod was a staunch Presbyterian all his life, although he
denounced the Church of Scotland so bitterly. He was baptized in the Pres
byterian Church, converted in the Presbyterian Church, admitted to full
membership in the Presbyterian church, educated in the Presbyterian
church, licensed and ordained as a minister of the Presbyterian church.

We have seen that for conscientious reasons Mr. McLeod did not
apply for license to any presbytery of the Scottish church. He came to
Pictou without a license, and he came to St. Ann's without a license. He
continued unlicensed during the first five and a half years he was in Cape
Breton.

But he was not content to remain any longer unlicensed and unor-
dained. In the summer of 1826 he went to Western New York in order to
obtain license and ordination from the presbytery of Genesee, one of the
presbyteries of the Presbyterian church in the United States. That
church had no state connection and was therefore free from the objection
he had against the Church of Scotland. A friend of his by the name of

28

Alexander Denoon, was a member of that presbytery. Mr. Denoon intro
duced him to the Genesee presbytery and helped him to attain the full
ecclesiastical status which he desired.

The following extracts from the records of the Genesee presbytery for
which we are indebted to the present stated clerk of that presbytery, the
Rev. Frank G. Weeks, D. D., will tell the story of Mr. McLeod's licensure
and ordination — "Sheldon, New York (First Church) August 29th, 1826.'
"Norman McLeod of St. Ann's, in the Island of Cape Breton, was intro
duced to the presbytery by the Rev. Mr. Denoon, and made a request that
he be taken under its care with a view to his licensure to preach the gospel.
Mr. McLeod produced satisfactory testimonials of his church membership,
his moral character, and his attention to literary pursuits.

The presbytery adjourned till the following morning, when the "Pres
bytery resolved to take Mr. McLeod under its care, and it proceeded to
examine him. "Le Roy, September 12th, 1826', Mr. Norman McLeod
exhibited to the Presbytery a written lecture on Romans, Chapter VII.,
verses 9, 10, 11 and 12; and a popular discourse, as parts of his trials for
license. "It was unanimously resolved that the presbytery are satisfied
with his trials, and that he be licensed in the prescribed form to preach the
gospel. Then follows an account of his licensure by the presbytery in
the usual form, closing with these words — "The presbytery did and do
hereby license him, the said Norman McLeod to preach the Gospel of
Christ as a probationer for the holy minister, within the bounds of this pres
bytery or wherever else he shall be orderly called."

Mr. McLeod appears to have spent the winter of 1826 and 1827 at
Caledonia, New York, with Mr. Denoon, who was minister of a Presbyter
ian Church in that place. This is implied in the following resolut on of the
Genesee presbytery which met in special session on the call of the moderator
at Caledonia, N. Y., on the 18th of July, 1827; "A request from Norman
McLeod, a licentiate of this presbytery, was received, asking that he be
ordained to the work of the Gospel Ministry." "Presbytery heard a dis
course from him which was sustained as an additional part of his trials."
Then follows the resolution; "Whereas it has been made fully to appear
before the presbytery that the people among whom he has labored for ten
months past, express the most entire confidence in his piety and usefulness,
concur with him in the request for his ordination; Therefore resolved that
his request be granted, and that presbytery proceed to his ordination this
afternoon."

The ordination took place accordingly that afternoon, and Norman
McLeod's name was entered on the roll of the presbytery of Genesee; and
it remained there until the 29th of August, 1843, when it wa= dropped on
account of a report that had reached the then clerk of Mr. McLeod s death.
He lived for nearly twenty-four years after that, and it is doubtful if he ever
knew that his name was taken off that presbytery roll.

The Rev. Norman McLeod spent the best part of his life at St. Ann's.

29

He was forty years of age when he came here from Pictou in 1820, and he
was seventy-one years of age when he left for Australia in 1851. During
these thirty-one years the congregation under his care grew and pros
pered, temporally and spiritually. He was their preacher, pastor and
teacher. He was also a justice of the peace, and he took good care that all
known violations of the civil law were duly proven and punished. He was
scathing in his denunciation of sin and sinners. He was a terror to evil
doers and equally a praise to them that did well. Under his patriarchial
administration, St. Ann's was distinguished for intelligence, rectitude and
sobriety. He was a mighty force for righteousness in this part of our island.

Mr. McLeod was one of the earliest total abstainers in Cape Breton
and also one of the earliest advocaters of total abstinence from the use of
alcoholic liquors. He recognized what a great evil the prevalent drinking
customs of those days were and he set his face against them. Judge Mar
shall, of Sydney, and he were co-workers at the inception of the total ab
stinence movement on this island. He also took deep interest in the work
of the British and Foreign Bible Society.

He had an auxiliary of this society formed at St. Ann's in the year 1840;
and in addition to the money raised by this auxiliary he devoted all the
marriage fees that he received to this worthy object. Nor did he forget the
British and Foreign Bible Society after his settlement in New Zealand. He
organized an auxiliary at Waipu shortly after his arrival. That auxiliary
is in existence still, and during the intervening years, it has sent thousands
of dollars to the parent society in London.

Strange to say, in all the years of his residence in St. Ann's, Mr. Mc
Leod never dispensed the Lord's Supper, an ordinance that has the binding
force of a special command of Jesus Christ upon all his disciples. It is
equally strange that he very rarely administered the sacrament of baptism
to either child or adult. And this is as true of his ministry in New Zealand
as in Cape Breton. Let no one suppose, however, that this was due to any
disrespect for these sacred ordinances nor to any low estimates of their
value. On the contrary, his conduct in this matter, was due, on the one
hand, to the exceedingly high regard that he had for these sacraments, and
on the other, to his high estimate of the character in the recipient of these
ordinances, that would justify him in their dispensation. In the days of
moderatism in Scotland, piety was not a condition of receiving the sacra
ments. Every parishioner good, bad and indifferent, who applied for them,
received the sacraments. Mr. McLeod perceived the wrorigfulness of this
condition of things,and the result was a reaction that led him to the opposite
extreme. Instead of a profession of faith and a life consistent with that
profession, he required clear evidences of regeneration, and a very high de
gree of holiness on the part of all who would come to the baptismal font or
to the communion table. Few could meet the conditions, and therefore
few ever applied for the ordinances under his ministry.

In the year 1847, a letter came into Mr. McLeod's hands from Adelaide

30

Australia. On opening it he found that it was from his second son, Donald.
This young man left home eight years before that, as master of a vessel,
built in St. Ann's and largely owned by his father. He took the ship to the
Clyde, Scotland, sold her there, transmitted the proceeds to St. Ann's
and dropped out of sight. Nothing further was known about him until this
letter came to hand. Meantime, Donald had found his way to Australia.
In that letter he told his father of the mild climate, the fertile soil, and the
mineral wealth of that great island. He moreover, urged his father to
leave the cold, bleak shores of Cape Breton and to go the paradise that he
had discovered.

This letter created a great sensation in St. Ann's. The proposed
migration commended itself very strongly to minister and people. It
so happened that just at that time there was a very general feeling of dis
couragement among the people of St. Ann's and elsewhere in Cape Breton,
on account of the blight and rot in the potato crop. Famine was threaten
ed, and this condition of things disposed them to think seriously of leaving
for the southern seas. They talked and thought and prayed over the
matter for a whole year; and the more they thought and talked and prayed,
the more the conviction deepened that they should go to Australia. Fin
ally their minds were made up, and they went to work to build a vessel
adequate for the transportation of a goodly number of them to the
southern seas.

This vessel was ready to launch in the summer of 1850. She was a
barque of five hundred tons, and she was named the "Margaret" after the
minister's youngest daughter. But she did not get away for another year.
The delay was due to a lack of money to purchase sails and outfit. Mr.
McLeod offered his property for sale, but there was no purchaser in sight.
It looked for a time as if they would have to abandon the enterprise. But
the spring of 1851 brought a purchaser,one John Robertson, a man of means.
He bought Mr. McLeod's real estate for the sum of $3,000 cash, and that
amount of money put them in a position to go on with their preparation for
departure.

Norman McLeod regarded that sale as a special interposition of Pro-
vidence on his behalf and also as-a mark of the divine approval of the enter
prise. This sale was indeed opportune for all concerned. It permitted
them to get away before the beginning of another winter.

"The Margaret" sailed oiit of St. Ann's Harbor on the 28th of October,
1851, carrying the Rev. Norman McLeod, now in the 71st year of his age,
his wife, daughter, and three sons, together with 130 of his people; or 136
souls in all. Hundreds of others, with tears in their eyes and sorrow in
their hearts, gathered on the shore to witness their departure, lamenting
most of all that they themselves were under the necessity of remaining
behind, for a time at least.

"The Margaret," we might add, was built by St. Ann's carpenters,
commanded by St. Ann's officers,manned by St. Ann's men, and she carried
St. Ann's passengers.

31

On her way to Adelaide, she called at St. Jago in the Cape Verde Is
lands, and also at the Cape of Good Hope in order to obtain necessary
supplies. She reached her destination on the 10th of April, 1852 after[a
voyage of 164 days, and a sail of 12,000 miles.

But Mr. McLeod and his associates did not find Southern Australia all
that they anticipated. Indeed they were sorely disappointed. They in
tended to go on the land and farm. But they found that the land in
Southern Australia was not suitable for farming on account of the severe
droughts to which it was periodically subject. Hence, in the following
year, they sent a delegation of their shrewdest men to Northern New
Zealand, a distance of over 2000 miles in order to ascertain what the pros
pects were for getting good land on that island. This delegation returned
with a glowing account of the soil, the climate and the prospects in general.
The delegation made arrangements with the then governor of the colony,
Sir George Grey, for a block of land of several thousands of acres, at
Waipu and vicinity, for the exclusive use of people from St. Ann's, Cape
Breton. No one else could purchase an acre of that reserve.

The upshot of it was that Norman McLeod and all that went to
Australia with him in the spring of 1852 went on another migration to this
new Eldorado in August, 1854.

In Waipu, Whangaree and Mafogawai, a little north of Auckland,
New Zealand, they found one of the choicest spots on the face of the earth
for agricultural purposes. Here they found a place of rest, peace and pros
perity, and their descendants are there in thousands today. Of course
they had their hardships at the outset; but labor, perseverance, patience
and thrift enabled them to surmoufat all their difficulties.

They wrote to their friends in St. Ann's, encouraging them to leave
Cape Breton and go to New Zealand with as little delay as possible The
result was a large exodus from this island during the next eight years. Six
ships in all were built in St. Ann's and neighboring harbors, in order to
carry the people away to the opposite side of the world.

"The Margaret" sailed on Oct. 28th 1851 with 136 passengers. "The
Highland Lass" in Dec. 1852 with 188 passengers; "The Gertrude" on
June 24th 1856, with 176 passengers; "The Spray" in Jan. 1857 with 66
passengers; "The Bradalbane" in Dec. 1857 with 129 passengers, and "The
Ellen Lewes" on Dec. 17th 1859 with 188 passengers.

Between Dec. 1851 and Dec. 1859, 883 persons, all told, left St. Ann's
and went to the Antipodes. St. Ann's lost more than half its population
in those years. However, it was not very long before others came in and
bought up the vacant farms, and thus it came about that not many years
thereafter, the population was about as large as it was before the exodus
commenced.

In New Zealand, as in St. Ann's, Norman McLeod set up a species of
theocracy in which he himself was prophet, priest and king; a theocracy in
which ardent spirits, profanity, tobacco, and litigation were unknown,

32

and where intelligence, morality and piety characterized the whole com
munity. The following testimony to the life and character of Norman
McLeod from the pen of the Rev. Robert Somerville, clerk of the Presby
tery of Auckland, has just come to hand.

"Mr. McLeod was a wonderful man. There was an aloofness about
him that made him a wonder to many. His word was law in church and
state. No one dared contradict him. The Waipu people looked upon him
as almost divine. His influence upon them was marvellous. They were
most obedient to his commands. He kept them in such restraints that the
younger people were glad to breathe a little of the air of liberty occasionally.
He would have nothing to do with the presbytery of Auckland, and yet
one of his dying requests to his people was to keep united, under Mr.
Eneas Morrison, until the Presbytery appointed a successor. He would
not baptize the children, because no parent was good enough to receive bap
tism for his little ones. It was the same with the Lord's Supper. Yet,
with all his peculiarities, he was a genuinely good man, doing good in his
own way, and doing it successfully."

Norman McLeod was a man of great physical, as well as mental and
spiritual strength, and his physical strength remained with him until he
was well over four score years. When in his 8lst year, on a certain Saturday,
he rode twelve miles on horseback to one of his churches and preached at
nine o'clock that night. The following Sabbath he preached four sermons,
two in English and two in Gaelic. On the following Monday he preached
again before returning to his home in Waipu.

His affectionate wife died in the year 1857, three years after reaching
New Zealand. He himself lived nine years longer. His death took place
on the 14th of March, 1866, in the 86th year of his age. His remains were
laid to rest in the Waipu cemetery, a couple of miles out of Waipu. A suit
able tombstone was erected over them, with the following inscription:
"Sacred to the memory of the Rev. Norman McLeod, who as a public
servant of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, preached the Gospel for
sixty years. Born at Stoir Point, Assynt, Scotland, 29th September, 1780.
Died at Waipu, New Zealand, 14th March, 1866. Age 86 years."

In the year 1914, at a reunion of the survivors of the St. Ann's exodus
and their children, which was held at the Presbyterian church, Waipu, a
splendid monument to the memory of the men,women and children who left
Cape Breton, and went to New Zealand between 1851 and 1860, was un
veiled with appropriate services and addresses.

We are indebted to our correspondent, Mr. Neil H. Campbell of Waipu
for a good description of this monument. It stands on a concrete founda
tion, 12 x 12 feet, resting on the solid rock. It is made of Aberdeen granite,
cut hexagonally. It stands twenty feet in height and is surmounted with
the red lion of the flag of Scotland in rampant attitude. On each of its six
faces there is a model inMuistz metal of one of the six ships under full sail
that left Cape Breton with the immigrants aboard. Underneath each model
there is the name of the ship, date of departure and arrival, together with
the names of the different owners and captains. There are a number of

33

inscriptions on the monument, all in gold lettering. This monument cost
seven hundred pounds sterling, or $3,500. One of the numerous inscrip
tions reads as follows: "This monument is erected to commemorate the
arrival in New Zealand of a noble band of Empire builders, who left the
Highlands of Scotland about the latter half of the 18th century, for Nova
Scotia, and emigrated thence during the years 1851-1860; and who by their
undaunted courage, and their steadfast faith in God, did so much to mould
the destinies of their adopted homes. Where the path of duty was plain,
fear had no place; neither danger nor hardship daunted them.

"But oh, what symbol may avail to tell

The kindness, wit and sense we loved so well."

"Erected by their Descendants."

One of the inscriptions on this monument gives the names of thirty
eight clans that took part in this remarkable migration from Cape Breton
to New Zealand. Another inscription is in the Gaelic language, the lang
uage of all the immigrants. It is taken from the Book of Genesis, chapter
twelve, verse one and reads as follows: "Agus thubhairt an Tighearn ri h-
Abram, Rach a mach a d' dhuthaich, agus o d' dhilsibh, agus a tigh
d'athar, do'n tir a nochdas mise dhuit."

Although Mr. McLeod was not a member of the Presbytery of Auck
land, after his death, that Presbytery placed the following minute on its
records regarding him; "The Presbytery desires to enter upon its records
its sense of the great loss which the church has sustained in the removal
by death of the Reverend father, Norman McLeod, minister of Waipu and
Whangarei. Gifted with rare powers of mind and with a heart deeply
imbued by the grace of God, this departed worthy exerted no common
influence over all who knew him; while by his thorough knowledge of the
Word of God, and faithful exposition of its life-giving truths, he was for up
wards of half a century looked up to by a singularly attached people, as one
well qualified, and who ever sought to guide them to the Shepherd of Souls.
"In the Lower Provinces of British America, as well as in New Zealand, his
death will be mourned over by many to whom his ministry has proved a
blessing. Among these mourners the Presbytery desires to take its place,
desiring especially to express its sympathies with the congregation and
family whom death has bereaved of a Patriarch, a pastor and a father."

Rev. William Millar.

The Rev. William Millar was a native of Tarbolston, Ayrshire, Scot
land, and he studied Theology under Dr. Lawson of Selkirk, a minister of
the Associate Church of Scotland. This is all we know of his early life.
He came to Pictou, N. S., as a licentiate of that church in the Fall of 1821
in response to an urgent appeal that was sent to Scotland a year or two
earlier, by the Presbytery of Pictou, for a minister of the gospel for Mabou
and Port Hood on this Island.

That appeal was the outcome of the Rev. Dr. McGregor's visit to
Mabou and Port Hood in the year 1818. Three years later, the Presby
terians in these two places prepared a call and sent it to the Presbytery of
Pictou for presentation to Mr. Millar on his expected arrival from Scot
land. No doubt, Dr. McGregor had by correspondence in the meantime,
obtained the consent of Mr. Millar to come to Cape Breton and take the
oversight of Mabou and Port Hood; and no doubt, moreover, Dr. McGregor
had drawn up that call and sent it to Mabou and Port Hood for signature.
And be it observed that this was the first gospel call signed by any Presby
terian congregation on the island of Cape Breton. This call is still in ex
istence, and our readers will be glad to have a copy of it inserted in this
memoir of Mr. Millar.

Mabou and Port Hood,

August 24th, 1821.

We, the subscribers, being inhabitants of Mabou and Port Hood,
considering the great want of the gospel dispensation in those places, have
this day addressed a Call to the Presbytery of Pictou, praying them to send
us the Rev.Wm. Millar to be settled among us as gospel preacher, and for
his support we promise to pay conjunctly according to our several ability,
in the following manner; for the first year of his instalment we engage to
pay him the sum of ninety pounds currency; for the second year, one hun
dred, and after that to increase his salary five pounds each year until it
amounts to one hundred and fifty poun\ds, which sum we promise from that
time forward to pay him, so long as he may be able to perform the several
functions of his office.

John Gily Benjamin Worth

DavTd Hunter W. W. McKeen

Richard Worth Lewis L. Smith

David Smith Samuel McKeen

James McCallum James Hawley

John Worth Peter Renout

Benjamin Smith Kenneth McCallum

Robert Sinclair DavM Smith

Frances Bowen David O'Brien

Henry Shierer Reuben Young

John Keith George Mulloney

Joseph Worth James Wright

35

Hugh Fraser William Worth

William Bull Christopher Bull

Andrew Stephenson Robert Brownlee

Ebenezer Leadbetter John Adams

James McKeen R. McDonald

Elisha Young William Wrath

James Bull Robert Kindle

Robert Bull Andrew Moore

John Parker W. W. Crawford

Wm. Pollock Isaac Smith

Wm. Crowell Wm. Green

John Smith Parker Smith

Giles Corry Alex. Fraser

Alex. McQuarrie Alex. McCallum
Elizabeth Smyth

Mr. Millar arrived in Pictou about the 1st of November, 1821. As
soon thereafter as convenient, a meeting of the Pictou Presbytery was con
vened at Durham on the West River of Pictou. Mr. Millar was present;
the call from Mabou and Port Hood was put into his hands, and upon his
acceptance thereof , he was duly ordained and designated as minister of that
congregation. But on account of the approach of winter, the distance of
the field and the lack of facilities for travel, Mr. Millar remained in Pictou
•until the following spring. Early in June, 1822, he proceeded to Cape
Breton and reached his appointed field of labor during that month. He
found everything in a very primative condition. There were no highways
at that time. Travelling had to be done on foot, horseback or boat. The
houses were small and cold. There was no place of worship either at
Mabou or Port Hood. All services were held in the homes of the people.
He was one hundred and forty miles from his nearest brother in the minis
try, viz. Dr. McGregor, who was living on the East River of Pictou. Mr.
Millar went to Mabou nearly one hundred years ago, and very little is
known about him today. His name is only a memory even in Mabou
where he spent the whole of his ministerial life. He was out of touch with
the Presbyterianism of Cape Breton for several reasons; firstly, he was a
lowlander, and had no Gaelic, while the Presbyterians on this island were
Highlanders and had little or no English; and secondly, Mr. Millar was an
Antiburger, while all the other Presbyterians in Cape Breton, Norman
McLeod and his followers excepted, belonged to the Church of Scotland or
latterly to the Free Church. The people of the Church of Scotland in
those days had no more dealings with the Antiburgers than the Jews had
with the Samaritans in the time of our Lord.

One of Mr. Millar's successors in Mabou, the Rev. E. Bayne, wrote of
him in the year 1804, as follows; "His name is still fresh in the congregation
as a good, earnest, pious, persevering pastor. He was always at his post,
a faithful, conscientious and godly man." "His life from first to last was a
hard struggle. His books were few for he was unable to purchase many.

36

The bible was his constant companion and study. His ministry continued
for thirty years, but he preached ten or eleven years longer, as opportunity
offered, and when no supply was provided for the congregation by the
Presbytery of Pictou.

"He preached his last sermon on Sabbath, November the 7th, 1861.
The day was cold and wet and stormy. He had a ride of five miles from
Brook Village where he lived to the church at Mabou. He was urged to
remain at home, but he resolved to go, though suffering from indisposition.
"Perhaps," said he, "This is the last time I shall be able to preach." He
preached with unwonted earnestness, as if he had a presentiment that he
would never preach again. Nine days later on Nov. the 16th, 1861, he
died at his home in the seventy-fifth year of his age and the fortieth year
of his ministry. Having lived the good man's life, he died the good man's
death."

Mr. Millar's remains were buried in the old Cemetery, on the south
side of the Mabou River, and close beside the first Presbyterian Church
that was built by the congregation a couple of years after his settlement in
Mabou.

37

Rev. Hugh Dunbar.

The Rev. Hugh Dunbar was a native of Pictou County. He was born
on the West Branch of the East River of Pictou near where Hopewell
is now. The date of his birth is not known, but it must have been about
the year 1792.

lie grew up under the ministry of the Rev. Dr. McGregor, and it is
more than likely that it was through the influence of Dr. McGregor s life
and teaching that early in life he formed the purpose of studying for the
gospel ministry. He was one of the first young men in Pictou County to
recognize the claim of JesusChrist upon their lives, and to devote themselves
to his service. He was also the only one of the pioneer ministers of Cape
Breton that was not of Scottish birth. When Pictou Academy was opened
in the autumn of 1817, twenty-three students were enrolled, and a goodly
number of these subsequently became ministers of the Presbyterian
Church. Mr. Dunbar was one of that first class of students. On com
pleting his studies in theology in the spring of 1824, he was licensed and or
dained by the Presbytery of Pictou and sent to Cape Breton as a missionary
evangelist among the gaelic speaking people on this island.

All that has been said of Hugh Ross and his mission to Cape Breton
applies equally to Hugh Dunbar. Dr. Gregg, in his larger history, says
that efforts were made to secure his services, permanently in Cape Breton,
and that his ability as a gaelic preacher was highly appreciated but we have
nothing definite on these matters. The probability is that his Antiburger
antecedents prevented him from receiving the welcome that his evangelistic
mission might lead him to expect. Be that as it may, his stay on this island
must have been short. The next thing we know of Mr. Dunbar, he was on
Prince Edward Island. On March the 27th, 1827, he was inducted into the
large and important charge of New London North and Cavendiah on that
island.

Dr. John Kier of Malpeque was his predecessor in this charge and the
Rev. John Geddie, our first missionary to the heathen world, was his suc
cessor. Mr. Dunbar gave eight years of efficient service to this field. On
the 15th of June, 1835, he resigned this charge and removed to Norboro,
on the road between Summerfield and Kensington, P. E. I., where he
taught school on week days and conducted public worship in the Summer-
field Church on the Sabbath days during the remainder of his life. When
at New London he married a Miss McEwan of Campbellton, N. L., and his
descendants are still to be found in several parts of P. E. Island. Mr.
Dunbar was considered an excellent preacher both in English and Gaelic.
He dropped dead on the highway between his home and his school house on
Nov. 27th, 1857 in the sixty fifth year of his age. He was buried in the
Cemetery at Summerfield. The Church in which he preached and that
was built during his ministry is still standing. It is now used as a Public
Hall.

38

Rev. Hugh Ross.

The Rev. Hugh Ross was a native of Invernessshire, Scotland, where
he was born in the year 1797. He came to Nova Scotia with his parents in
1813, when sixteen years of age. For a few years after coming to this
country he was employed as a clerk in a mercantile house in the city of
Halifax. From Halifax he came to Pictou town and began to study for
the ministry at the Pictou Academy. This academy was founded in 1817
through the efforts of Rev. Thomas McCulloch, D. D. with whom were as
sociated Rev. Dr. McGregor, Rev. James Ross, and other pioneers of Pres-
byterianism in Nova Scotia. Its primary object was the education and
training of a native ministry. Mr. Ross was one of the first class of stu
dents that entered Pictou Academy after it was opened in the autumn of
1817. He prosecuted his studies in arts and Theology in that institution
during the next seven years. In the spring of 1824 six young men grad
uated from Pictou Academy and were licensed to preach the gospel by the
Presbytery of Pictou, and Hugh Ross was one of the six. The other five
were Angus McGillivary, John McLean, John L. Murdoch, Robert S.
Patterson, and Hugh Dunbar. These six were the first Presbyterian minis
ters to be educated for the ministry of the Presbyterian Church in any part
of Canada.

Three of these, John McLean, John L. Murdoch and Robert S. Patter
son took a post graduate session i"n the University of Glasgow, from which
they received the degree of Master of Arts. One of them, Angus McGilli
vary, took a charge on the East River of Pictou, and spent his whole life
in that congregation. Messrs Hugh Ross and Hugh Dunbar were licensed
and ordained as missionaries to the island of Cape Breton by the Presbytery
of Pictou. Both had the Gaelic language and it was supposed that both
would find spheres of service among the Gaelic speaking population on this
island.

It speaks well for the Presbytery of Pictou that it sent two of the six
first graduates of Pictou Academy to Cape Breton where it hadbut one con
gregation, especially when there were so many gaelic speaking congregations
in Pictou County in need of just such men. No doubt, Dr. McGregor, who
had been in Cape Breton in 1798 and again in 1818, and who knew so well
the destitute condition of the Highland settlements here, was the chief
mover in sending these two licentiates to this island.

But strange to say we have no knowledge of any work done by Messrs
Ross and Dunbar in Cape Breton. They must have come here in the
summer of 1824 immediately after graduation and they must have spent
some time here in endeavoring to discharge their mission by preaching in a
number of our gaelic speaking settlements. Why did these men leave no
trace of their presence, or work done, on this island? The probability is
that their apparent lack of success was due to the strong prejudices of the
Gaelic speaking people of Cape Breton in favor of ministers of the Estab-
1 ished Church of Scotland and of ministers educated in Scotland. Messrs

39

Ross and Dunbar were ministers of the Antiburger Church of Nova Scotia,
and they received their education at Pictou Academy, an institution held
in contempt by all kirkmen in those days. Some of us are old enough to
remember how these prejudices persisted until very recent times. The
kirkmen of Pictou sent their sons to Scotland to be educated for the minis
try at a much later period and they had a great contempt for ministers
trained on this side of the Atlantic.

In any case, Messrs Ross and Dunbar appear to have found the door of
usefulness in Cape Breton closed against them, and they had to leave for
other spheres of labor. Mr. Ross found his sphere in Tatamagouche and
New Annan, Nova Scotia, where he was inducted in the year 1827, and
where he continued to minister until the year 1840, when he resigned the
charge on account of some difficulties that had arisen in the congregation.

A year or two later he connected himself with the Church of Scotland
and was settled for some years as minister of Georgetown and Murray
Harbour in the Province of P. E. Island. In 1844 Mr. Ross left the
Church of Scotland and joined the Free Church of Nova Scotia. A few
years later he went back to the Presbyterian Church of Nova Scotia in
which he had been educated, licensed and ordained.

Mr. Ross died quite suddenly on Dec. the 1st, 1858, in the sixty first
year of his age. He is said to have been "a man of good talents, of kindly
disposition, and a clear, forceful preacher of the gospel in English and in
Gaelic."

40

Rev. Donald McDonald.

This remarkable man is entitled to a place among the Pioneer Presby
terian Ministers of Cape Breton. Mr. McDonald was born in Ranock,
Perthshire, Scotland, on the first day of January, 1783. He was educated
for the ministry at the University of St. Andrews, which he entered in the
fall of 1808, on the twenty fifth year of his age. He was ordained by the
Presbytery of Abertarf on the 23rd of August, 1816, in the thirty-third year
of his age. During the next eight years he labored as an ordained mis
sionary within the bounds of said Presbytery. In the year 1824 he left
Scotland on a sailing vessel with the intention of going to Lower Canada, as
the Province of Quebec was then known. While on the voyage from
Greenock to Quebec, an epidemic of measles broke out on board the ship,
which was very severe, and in many cases, fatal. On this account the Cap
tain put into Sydney Harbor, and cast anchor on the inside of the South
Bar. Here all passengers that had measles were put ashore and the vessel
was fumigated before proceeding on her voyage. A goodly number of
the passengers left the ship while she was in SydneyHarbor and remained in
Cape Breton. Mr. McDonald was one o/ these. Another was Mr.
Charles Cameron, the grandfather of Mr. D. A. Cameron, K. C., of Sydney.
One of Mr. Cameron's children died in quarantine a few days after being
landed at South Bar, and was buried there.

Mr. McDonald found his way to Malagawatch soon after landing and
he made this place the centre of his operations during the nex-t two years
The spot where he lived during those years is still known as "Rudha
Mhinstear" 'The Minister's Point.' Unfortunately we have no record of
Mr. McDonald's work at Malagawatch. It would appear that he left
Scotland without credentials from the Presbytery of Abertarf, on account
of excessive indulgence in alcoholic liquors and that he never obtained such
credentials.

In the fall of 1826, Mr. McDonald left Cape Breton and went to Prince
Edward Island to visit a brother who had recently come from Scotland,
and had taken up land in the vicnity of Orwell, P. E. I. Here he found his
life work and entered upon it in the spirit of a true evangelist. According
to his own statement he was not converted until after he went to P. E.
Island. Shortly thereafter, however, he experienced the great spiritual
change, that Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about as the birth from above, and
henceforth he was an altogether different man. His biographer tells us:
"Multitudes flocked to hear him in barns, dwellings, school houses and in
the open air. Here and there he organized a band of workers and ordained
elders. As years rolled on his interest in his great work increased, and great
success crowned his efforts. Spacious and elegant churches began to take
the place of rude shanties. His people grew in numbers, in wealth, in
respectability and in love for their minister. His eloquence was of a high
order. Before commencing his sermon, he generally gave an introductory

41

address in which he would refer to the national, political and religious ques
tions of the day and comment freely upon them."

"His sermons were masterpieces of logical eloquence. He would begin
in rather a low, conversational tone, but as he proceeded his voice would
become stronger. Then the whole man would preach, tongue, countenance
eyes, feet, hands, body — all would grow eloquent. The audience would un
consciously become magnetized, convicted and swayed at the speaker's
will. Some would fall prostrate in terror, while others would clasp their
hands or drop down as if they were dead.

"Seldom has such pulpit power been witnessed since the days of Wesley,
Whitefield and Edward Irving. He attacked sin and vice with giant
blows. Woe to the opponent that crossed his pathway!

"He had rare conversational powers. His spirits were always good.
He knew the circumstances of every family in his widely scattered flock,
and remembered the names of the children. Mr. McDonald was never
married. He had no certain dwelling place, no fixed stipend, and he be
stowed all he got on objects of charity. He was rather below medium
height, stout and powerfully built. He was hale and vigorous looking to
the last. His dress, appearance and manners always betokened the
Christian gentleman. During his life-time he built fourteen churches,
he registered the baptism of two thousand two hundred children, and
had perhaps baptized as many more, not registered. He had married
more people than any other living clergyman. He had prayed beside
thousands of deathbeds. He had a parish extending from Bedeque to
Murray Harbor and from Rustico to Belle Creek, and he had five
thousand followers more attached to their spiritual leader than ever
highland clansmen to their chief. But he was as humble as a child. "To
God he gave all the glory."

He died at the home of one of his people in South Port, P. E. I., on
Friday, Feb. the 22nd, 1864, in the 85th year of his age and the fifty first
year of his ministry, and was buried at Nigg Cemetery, Orwell. An im
posing monument erected by his affectionate people marks the spot where
rests in peace all that was mortal of this unique but godly man.

Mr. McDonald never connected himself with any church after coming
to this country. He was a Presbyterian by conviction as well as by training
but he preferred to remain outside of all the organized churches as long as
he lived. His followers were known as "McDonaldites" during his lifetime,

Since his death his people have been ministered to by men born and
educated in the Presbyterian Church; but still they hold aloof from the
Presbyterian Church in Canada until this day. That church would gladly
receive them into her communion, but they have such a reverence for Mr.
McDonald and his attitude to the Presbyterian Church that they prefer to
remain outside of the Church to which they are so closely related.

42

Rev. John McLennan.

The Rev. John McLennan was sent out to P. E. Island by the Church
of Scotland in the year 1823. In 1803, twenty years earlier, the Earl of
Selkirk, proprietor of a large block of land in the vicinity of Point Prim,
P. E. I., sent out about eight hundred Scottish Highlanders to settle on his
property. Mr. McLennan came to look after the spiritual interests of
these immigrants. During those twenty years they had increased numer
ically and prospered materially, but they suffered spiritually inasmuch as
they had no minister of the gospel and few means of grace. In the year
1820 the Church of Scotland sent out a lay agent by the name of Mr. Walter
Johnstone to enquire into conditions among the Selkirk immigrants on P.
E. Island and to report to the Church at home. Here is an extract from
that agent's report: "Many of the Protestant settlers who have emigrated
there, although they left a Christian country, in name at least, carried little
religious knowledge with them, or means of attaining it even after they
emigrated; some of them did not even have a bible or the ability to read it.
Living so long without the means of instruction, there was nothing to be
expected but that many vices would be indulged in and many evil habits
contracted. These settlements of Presbyterians that have preachers of the
Antiburger persuasion, are but ill supplied with the gospel, and many other
settlements are not supplied at all. The Highlanders that cannot read
their own language nor understand the English are truly in a pitiable con
dition. It is the duty of every Christian Church, to the best of its ability,
to lend a helping hand; but it must be more preeminently the duty of that
church from under whose wings these people emigrated to send them spirit
ual help, and to send it without delay, lest generation after generation fol
low one another to the chambers of death, nearly as ignorant as the beasts
that perish."

This is a dark picture of the state of things in P. E. Island one hundred
years ago, and it is no wonder that the Church of Scotland in answer to this
and similar appeals sent Mr. McLennan to the rescue as speedily as pos
sible.

Mr. McLennan took up his abode at Belfast and from there as a basis
of operation, he ministered to the Presbyterian people living at Point Prim,
Flat River, Belle Creek, Wood Islands, Valleyfield, and Orwell, for a period
of twenty-six years.

Between 1834 and 1843, Mr. McLennan gave a monthly service to the
Sutherlandshire highlanders living on Mill River and South West River,
New London. After rendering excellent service to Presbyterianism in
P. E. I. for over a quarter of a century, Mr. McLennan returned to Scot
land, where he became minister of the Gaelic church, Cromarty, and later,
minister of the Parish Church of Kilchrennan, where he died on the llth
of February, 1852.

Mr. McLennan spent six weeks in Cape Breton in the year 1827, and
again in 1829, about the same length of time. On his first visit he was ac-

43

companied by the Rev. Donald Allan Fraser, then minister at McLennan's
Mountain, Pictou County.

These two men were sent her to look into the moral and spiritual con-,
ditions of the Presbyterian population then on the island of Cape Breton.
Their visit and especially the reports of their visit, sent to the Glasgow
Colonial Committee, were followed by great benefits to Presbyterianism on
this island. The reports of Messrs McLennan and Fraser awakened the
Church of Scotland to a sense of the religious destitution that prevailed in
Cape Breton at that time, and likewise to a sense of her duty to send minis
ters and teachers to her expatriated people here as speedily as possible.
Extracts from these reports will be found elsewhere in this volume and
they serve to throw a flood of light on conditions in Cape Breton in
the year 1827.

There were two Presbyterian ministers on the island in 1827, but
neither were ministers of the Church of Scotland, the church with which
Messrs McLennan and Fraser were connected and with which at least nine
tenths of the Presbyterian people in Cape Breton were connected. These
two were the Rev. William Millar of Mabou who was connected with the
Presbytery of Pictou, and the Rev. Norman McLeod, who was then a
member of the Presbytery of Genesee in Western New York.

A,s already stated, Mr. McLennan made his second visit to Cape
Breton in 1829. On that occasion he went over all the ground that he had
gone over on his first visit and considerably more. He reached nearly
every Presbyterian settlement on the Island. He travelled over three hun
dred miles, visited fifteen settlements, and baptized two hundred children.
He reports to the Colonial Committee that he found conditions just as
deplorable as on the former visit, and worse than in any other part of the
Maritime Provinces. He claims that there were 16,000 Presbyterians of
Scottish birth on the island at that time, and that, in some settlements, the
population had nearly doubled since his previous visit through immigration;
that 5,000 souls had arrived from the highlands and islands of Scotland
during the past two years; that the Presbyterian population was scattered
over an immense surface of country; that they were separated from each
other by lakes, mountains and forests; that they were without the means of
the commonest education; that they were without any religious guide or
instruction; that they were fast lapsing into barbarism, and that all who
were well inclined were inquiring when a minister of the gospel should come
to them. In view of all this he urged "Speedy action on behalf of that
destitute island."

Mr. McLennan reported that a Methodist minister had been settled
at the Strait of Canso since he was here in 1827, but that he had no Gaelic
and therefore was of little service to our people in that locality. That
Methodist minister was the Rev. James Hennigar. He came from Halifax
to Sydney in the beginning of 1829, and established a Methodist Church
there. When the Rev. Matthew Cranswick came out from England that
same summer, he took charge of the Methodist Church in Sydney and Mr.
Hennigar removed to Ship Harbor, now Port Hawkesbury on the Strait of

44

Canso to form a Methodist Church in that place. This was the beginning
of Methodism in Cape Breton.

The Presbyterian Church had no organization in Sydney until 1849
and none on the Strait of Canso until 1832, when the Rev. Dugald Mc-
Kichan came to River Inhabitants and took the oversight of all the Pres
byterians on that river and on the Strait of Canso and in the intervening

45

Rev. Donald Allan Eraser.

The Rev. Donald Allan Fraser was born on the Island of Mull, Scot
land. His father was a parish minister on that island. As a son pf the
manse, Mr. Fraser enjoyed all the advantages of a good parish school
education. After passing through the regular course of study in Arts and
Theology, required by the Church of Scotland of her ministers, he was duly
licensed by the Presbytery of Mull in the year 1814.

About that time urgent petitions were sent to Scotland by the ad
herents of the Church of Scotland in Pictou County, N. S., for one or more
Gaelic speaking ministers. Mr. Fraser heard the call for help from beyond
the ocean and hastened to the rescue. He reached Pictou in the summer of
1817 and took up his abode in a log cabin amid the hills and glens of Mc-
Lennan's Mountain, seven or eight miles from New Glasgow. There was a
settlement of highlanders there that had been expecting him and that
received him gladly. There was another settlement of highlanders at
Fraser's Mountain in the immediate vicinity of New Glasgow. Mr.
Fraser took charge of both settlements, and also of a third settlement far
ther east at the Blue Mountain.

During Mr. Fraser's ministry in this large territory, he visited and
preached in every Gaelic speaking community from St. Mary's on the East
to Wallace on the west, and from Salmon River on the south to Merigomish
on the north. He also extended his labors to P. E. Island and Cape Breton.
The only visit that he made to Cape Breton was in 1827, in company
with the Rev. John McLennan.

After twenty years of strenuous work in Pictou, Mr. Fraser removed
to Lunenburg, where he became pastor of the congregation over which
the Rev. Bruin Romcas Comingoe was ordained in the year 1770, by the
first Presbytery ever constituted in British America.

-This Presbytery met in the Dissenting Meeting House in the City of
Halifax on the 3rd day of July 1770, in the presence of Lord William Camp
bell, the Governor of Nova Scotia, of several members of his Majesty's
Council and of Representatives of different demominations of Christians.

The Presbytery was composed of two Presbyterian ministers, Messrs
Lyons and Murdoch and two Congregational ministers, Messrs Secombe
and Phelps.

Mr. Comingoe was a godly layman. He was born hi Holland in 1723
and came to Nova Scotia with the first German settlers in 1752. He fol
lowed the calling of a fisherman at Chester, Lunenburg County, N. S. He
was a man of good natural abilities and well acquainted with the scriptures
but he had no training for the ministry. After ordination he laboured as
pastor of the Lunenburg congregation till his death in Janury 1820, in the
fiftieth year of his ministry and at the patriarchial age of ninety-six years.
Mr. Fraser remained in Lunenburg until 1842, when he accepted a
call to St. Andrew's Church, St. John's, Newfoundland. He was the first
Presbyterian minister ever settled on that island, and here he spent the

46

remainder of his life. He died in St. John's in the year 1845 in the fifty-
second year of his life and the thirty-first of his ministry.

Mr. Fraser was a man of rare gifts, of great natural ability, and a
preacher of more than ordinary eloquence and power.

A more detailed account of his mission to Cape Breton will be found in
another place. His report served to stir up the Presbyterians on Boulardarie
n 1827, to apply to the Colonial Society for a minister. The Rev James
Fraser came to Boulardarie in the year 1836,-nine years later in* answer
Breton prepared bv Mr- Fraser ™d forwarded while he was in Cape

Evidently there was not much missionary enthusiasm in the Church
of Scotland at that time, when it took nine years to find a young minister
who was wiling to leave the comforts of his native land and come to the
assistance of the thousands of Scottish immigrants in this island who were
in such spiritual destitution.

47

Rev. Aeneas McLean.

The Rev. Aeneas McLean came from Scotland to Nova Scotia in the
year 1828. He was a native of North Uist in the Hebrides, and a licentiate
of the Church of Scotland. He spent two years as a missionary, partly in
Nova Scotia and partly in this island, and then he spent an additional
two years in Broadcove, Inverness County. While in Broadcove his labors
extended to the Margaree River, Lake Ainslie, Middle River, Whycoco-
magh and Little Narrows.

Mr. McLean was not ordained or inducted at Broadcove. He was
simply acting as a probationer and missionary with Broadcove as the centre
of his evangelistic operations. When Mr. McLean came to Cape Breton
in 1831, there was no Presbytery on the island to ordain and induct him,
however anxious the people may have been to have him as their minister.
At that time, apart from himself, there were only two Presbyterian minis
ters on the island, viz., Norman McLeod at St. Ann's, and William Millar
at Mabou. But these men belonged to different branches of the Presby
terian family and ould not well be constituted as a Presbytery even if they
were so disposed, which they were not. If union is strength, certainly
division is weakness. It was especially so in .those early days when our
cause was so weak and our ministers so few. Happily all division in the
Presbyterian Church on this island and throughout the Dominion of Can
ada is a thing of the past. The Presbyterians of Canada are now all in one
Church from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

Mr. McLean left Broadcove about the end of 1832, and went to the
province of Quebec. Sometime later he was ordained and inducted minis
ter of the Presbyterian Church at Cote St. George in the Presbytery of
Glengarry. While in Broadcove he married Catherine McLean a daughter
of John McLean (Ban) the first Presbyterian to settle in that part of Cape
Breton.

The late Rev. John A. McLean, minister of Arnprior in the Presbytery
of Lanark and Renfrew, was a son of the Rev. Aeneas McLean.

The first church in Strathlorne was started in Mr. McLean's time and
he held services in that church before he left for the west.

Our knowledge of Mr. McLean and his work is very meagre indeed,
but there is every reason to believe that he did a good work for his Master
during those two years, and that he was the instrument in bringing many
of those to whom he ministered to a saving knowledge of 'Jesus Christ, and
to an experimental acquaintance with his saving, comforting and cheering
grace. The day will declare it.

48

Rev. Dougald McKIcban.

We do not know the place of Mr. McKichan's birth, nor yet the Uni
versity at which he studied for the Christian ministry. He was licensed
and ordained at Oban by the Presbytery of Lome on the 12th day of
March, 1829. Twelve days later, on March the 24th, and in the Tron
Church, Edinburgh, he was designated by the Presbytery of Edinburgh
as missionary to Merigomish and Barney's River, Pictou County, Nova
Scotia. On the following day he sailed from Greenoch in the brig "Thetis."

The voyage had a disastrous end. Towards the end of April as the
* 'Thetis" was approaching the Strait of Canso, she got caught in the ice and
was carried on the rocks in the vicinity of Arichat Island. This was on
April 28th, 1829. All the passengers got ashore safely, but they lost nearly
all their baggage and the ship was a total loss.

The following Sabbath, Mr. McKichan preached in the town of Ari
chat in an unfinished, unconsecrated Episcopal Church to about one hun
dred worshippers, Protestant and Catholic. Early that week he started
on foot for Merigomish by way of River Inhabitants and the Strait of
Canso. By the 16th of May he had reached Pictou where he preached for
the Rev. Kenneth J. McKenzie, minister of the Kirk Church in that town.

On the 31st of May he preached in Gairloch and New Lairg. After a
survey of the churches in Pictou County,he finally reached his field and set
tled down to his ministerial work in Merigomish and Barney's River The
following year the people of River Inhabitants and Strait of Canso sent him
a call to be their minister and offered him a stipend of £200 Currency.
This call he declined although the stipend he was promised at Merigomish
and Barney's River was only $150 currency. It would appear, however
that River Inhabitants and the Strait of Canso had some special attraction
for Mr. McKichan. He visited those places in 1830 and again in 1831. In
the latter year he purchased an intervale farm on the Lower River Inhab
itants near where the village of Cleveland is now. About the end of 1831
he left Merigomish, contrary, apparently to the wishes of his brethren in
Pictou County and settled on this farm. It would appear from letters that
were sent by the Pictou ministers to the Colonial Committee that they were
very much displeased with Mr, McKichan for coming to Cape Breton.
At a meeting of the Presbytery of Pictou held in August, 1834, the following
resolution was put on the records; "That Mr. McKichan, having withdrawn
from the Presbytery of Pictou of which he was a member, voluntarily and
without giving any reason, his name be struck off the roll."

The Presbytery of Pictou was constituted in August, 1833, without
Mr. McKichan's name being placed on the roll. He was then at River
Inhabitants, and had been there since the end of 1831. Hence, it is difficult
to understand how his name could be struck off a roll upon which it had
not been placed. However, in August, 1837, with the consent of the
Synod and at the request of the Rev. John Stewart, Mr. McKichan's
name was placed on the roll of the newly organized Presbytery of Cape

49

Breton. Shortly thereafter he was appointed clerk, of this Presbytery, and
so continued until he left the island in 1840. Mr. McKichan gave eight
years of his life to Cape Breton, and no doubt rendered excellent service in
laying the foundations of our church on this island. He lived at River
Inhabitants, and from there as a centre he preached in all the surrounding
Presbyterian settlements including West Bay, River Denys, and Mala-
gawatch, Grand River and Loch Lomond. Late in the year 1840 Mr.
McKichan returned to Barney's River and remained thereuntil 1844, when
like so many of the Church of Scotland ministers in Pictou County at that
time, he returned to Scotland and became Parish minister of Daviot,
where he died in the year 1859.

It should be added that a son of Mr. McKichan returned to Nova
Scotia in the year 1874, and was ordained at Barney's River as minister
of that part of his father's first parish. This son was born at River In
habitants, went home with his father in 1844, and was educated for the
ministry in the University of Edinburgh. His name was John A. Mc
Kichan. He was minister at Barney's River for twenty years, and did
excellent work there. In 1894 he went west and became minister of Rosen-
field, Manitoba, and also of Summerside, Saskatchewan. He died in Colo
rado Springs, U. S., on Jan. the 22nd, 1918, aged 84 years.

50

Rev. Alexander Farquharson.

"The Glasgow Colonial Missionary Society" was formed in the City
of Glasgow on the 15th of April, 1825. The Earl of Dalhousie, then
Governor General of British America, was the patron of the Society; and
the Rev. Robert Burns, then minister of Paisley, afterwards of Knox Col
lege, Toronto was the Secretary and the driving force of the Society. The
object of the G. C. M. S. was "To promote the moral and religious interests
of the Scottish Colonists in North America by sending or assisting to send
out ministers, catechists, and school masters." A large number of mission
aries were sent out to different parts of Canada by this society in subse
quent years, but so far as we know, not one to Cape Breton. The sup
ply of available men was absorbed by the necessities of Nova Scotia, New
Brunswick, and especially of Western Canada.

In the year 1830, another Society was formed for the purpose of sup
plementing the work of the G. C. M. S. by sending ministers, catechists
and school teachers to Cape Breton, especially. This society was or
ganized in the City of Edinburgh by Mrs. Isabella Gordon McKay, the
wife of Mr. John McKay, Rockfield, Sutherlandshire. This Society was
known as the "Edinburgh Ladies Association," and the purpose of this
association was "To raise money to help in sending missionaries, catechists,
and school teachers to the Island of Cape Breton."

Mrs. McKay's attention was directed to the religious and educational
necessities of Cape Breton by the reports of the Rev. John McLennan and
the Rev. Donald Allan Fraser. These men came to Cape Breton in 1827
and their reports of conditions in C. B. were published in Scotland, in the
following year. These reports awakened a deep interest throughout the
Highlands of Scotland, but more especially in Sutherlandshire, and "The
Edinburgh Ladies Association" was the result of that interest.

Hence, Cape Breton Presbyterianism is under an unspeakable debt of
gratitude to Messrs McLennan and Fraser for their timely visit to this
island, and more especially for their bestirring reports. But Cape Breton
Presbyterianism is under an especially deep debt of gratitude to Mrs
McKay and "The Edinburgh Ladies Association" for the self-sacrifice and
generosity with which they came to the assistance of our ancestors in the
lack of ministers and teachers, ninety odd years ago. Between 1833 and
1850 this Association was instrumental in sending eight ministers as well as
several catechists and school teachers to Cape Breton. It also helped to a
greater or less extent in supporting these ministers, catechists and teachers
after they came here. It likewise did a good work in providing bibles,
catechisms, and religious books for our people in those early days when
there was nothing of that kind for sale on this island.

The first missionary sent to Cape Breton by the "Edinburgh Ladies
Association," was the Rev. Alexander Farquharson. Mr. Farquharson
was born in Strathardale, Perthshire, on May the 29th, 1793. He was
educated at the University of St. Andrews, and was sent out to Cape Breton

51

as a Gaelic speaking licentiate of the Church of Scotland. He was landed
at the Strait of Canso, from a ship bound up the Gulf, in the month of
August, 1833. After a brief stay at Plaster Cove, he found a schooner
bound for the Miramichi River, upon which he took passage for New
Castle, in order to obtain ordination from the Presbytery of New Bruns
wick. This Presbytery had been organized on January the 30th, 1833,
and it was to meet at New Castle about the end of August. After receiving
ordination from that Presbytery, Mr. Farquharson returned, with no loss
of time, to his sphere of labor. He arrived at Plaster Cove on the llth of
September, and the following sabbath he preached his first sermon in
Cpae Breton. There was a church built on the old Port Hood Road, in
the rear of McMillan's Point, in the previous year and it was in that church
that Mr. Farquharson preached that sermon. The church has disappeared
but a cemetery, which is still in use, marks its site.

The following week Mr. Farquharson set out to visit as many Presby
terian settlements as he could overtake previous to the coming of winter.
From a report of his itinerary during the next three months which he sent
to the Ladies Association, we learn that he had preached during that time
in Plaster Cove, West Bay,Grandance, Malagawatch, River Denys, Why-
cocomagh, Lake Ainslie, Little Narrows, and Middle River. He spent the
winter months in the latter place. Next spring he resumed his missionary
explorations and by the end of that summer he had visited and preached
in nearly every Presbyterian Community on this island.

During the month of November\ 1834, he returned to Middle River,
and on the last day of the month he was inducted into the pastorate of
Middle River and Lake Ainslie by the Rev. John Stewart.

After seeing all the Presbyterian settlements on the island Mr.
Farquharson drew up a plan for the division of Cape Breton into ten
parishes with two churches to each parish.

At the end of his first year in Cape Breton he sent a full report of his
work to the Glasgow Colonial Society. At the conclusion of that report
he writes as follows: "From what I have written you will learn a little of
the desolate condition of many a precious soul in this place. I really
believe, from what I have seen and learned, that there is not a place in the
whole world professing Christianity, where there are so many families so
near to each other and so utterly destitute as our poor countrymen on this
island are. There is labor enough for seven or eight faithful and laborious
ministers of our church."

Mr. Farquharson spent the whole of his ministerial life at Middle
River and Lake Ainslie. The River section took two thirds of his services,
and the Lake section one third. He married Ann McKenzie, the daughter
of one of his parishioners at Middle River, and by her he had a goodly
family some of whom are still alive. The late Rev. Alexander Farquhar
son, so well and favorably known in eastern Cape Breton, was one of his
sons.

Mr. Farquharson was a man of very fine physique and presence. He
stood six feet two inches in height and was stout in proportion. In dis-

52

position he was quiet, amiable, humble, gentle, affectionate and sympathetic.
He was, moreover, faithful and conscientious in the discharge of his minis
terial duties. He was likewise greatly esteemed and loved by his brethren
in the ministry.

Mr. Farquharson departed this life at his home on the Middle River
on the 25th of January, 1858, in the sixty-fifth year of his age, and the
twenty-fifth of his Cape Breton ministry.

On his tombstone in the cemetery of Middle River is inscribed the
following epitaph; "He was the first missionary sent directly to Cape
Breton by the Church of Scotland, and the first Church of Scotland mis
sionary to spend his whole life here. He lived a life of eminent usefulness,
self-sacrifice, and self-denial, and he finished his course with joy."

53

Rev. John Stewart.

The Rev. John Stewart was the second missionary sent to Cape Breton
by "The Edinburgh Ladies Association." Mr. Stewart was born at Little
Dunkeld, Perthshire, Scotland, in April, 1800. In his boyhood he studied
in the parish school and later in the Perth Academy, where he prepared for
the University of Edinburgh. After graduating in Arts from that famous
institution of learning, he studied medicine for a couple of sessions, with the
intention of devoting his lite to the healing art. But he turned aside from
that honorable profession and studied for the ministry of the Established
Church, under the great Thomas Chalmers, D. D., for whom he always had
the greatest admiration.

After completing his Theological studies, Mr. Stewart was licensed to
preach the Gospel by the Presbytery of Dunkield, on the 26th of June,
1832. During the next two years he taught the higher branches of learn
ing in St. Georges Academy in the City of Edinbrugh. Then hearing of
the need of ministers of the gospel on the island of Cape Breton, he offered
his services to the Edinburgh Ladies' Association as a missionary in that dis
tant field of labor. He left his native land about the end of July 1834 on
board a vessel bound for the Miramichi River, N. B., and after a stormy
passage of twenty eight days, he was landed at Plaster Cove, Strait of
Canso, on Saturday, August the 23rd, 1834. The following day he preach
ed his first sermon in Cape Breton in the unfinished church that had been
built two years earlier on the old Port Hood road, and near where that road
crossed the road from McMillan's Point to West Bay. The cemetery still
marks the site of that old church. The following week he found his way to
Port Hood and on Sabbath, August the 31st, he preached to a congrega
tion of 150 persons in that place. On the next Sabbath, Sept. the 7th, he
conducted public worship at East Lake Ainslie. Here he found the people
building their first church and he encouraged them in their good work. On
the second Sabbath he preached at Broad Cove (now Strathlorne) to
an audience of 200. Then he went to Whycocamagh and met with the
highland settlers of that place on the 3rd Sabbath of the month. At
Whycocamagh he met the Rev. Alexander Farquharson, who had come
from the Middle River to meet him and escort him thither. At the Middle
River he found the people anxious to have Mr. Farquharson settled over
them as their minister. While there he prepared a Call, and after public
worship he invited his hearers to come forward and attach their names
which they did with great heartiness and unanimity. From the Middle
River Mr. Stewart went to River Inhabitants and assisted the Rev.
Dugald McKichan in the dispensation of the Lord's Supper. After the
Communion was over, Mr. Stewart went on to McLennan's Mountain,
Pictou County, in order to meet the Presbytery of Pictou and receive
ordinations at its hands. The Presbytery met on the 6th of October and
Mr. Stewart was duly ordained by the laying on of the hands of the Pres
bytery and by prayer.

54

On the 17th of October we find Mr. Stewart back again in Cape Breton,
and preaching at Plaster Cove. Here he purchased a horse, saddle, bridle
and watch, and thus fitted out he started on a journey to the eastern parts
of the island.

On the following Saturday, Oct. 24th, he reached Sydney, a distance of
about one hundred miles from the Strait of Canso. On the following day,
Oct. 25th, he conducted public worship in the Methodist Church of that
town. The following week he went on to a settlement of Gaelic speaking
people on the Mira River near where Marion Bridge is now. Here he
preached in English and Gaelic to large congregations.

On Tuesday, Nov. the 3rd, we find him at Catalone, and preaching to
a congregation that he had to reprove for restlessness, and that he addressed
on the necessity of building a place of worship. Returning to Mira, he
preached there again on two successive Sabbaths, and got the people to
undertake the building of a church with as little delay as possible.

On November the 8th he preached at Bridgeport Mines in the fore
noon, and in the Methodist Church, Sydney, in the evening. The Bridge
port Mine was opened in 1830 by the General Mining Association and it is
likely that there were some Presbyterians at that colliery in 1834.

The following day he preached at Sydney Mines, and the next day he
went on to the North Side of Boulardarie (Big Bras d'Or), where he spent
a week evangelizing and baptizing. At the eastern end of the Big Bras
d'Or he made arrangements for the erection of a church. At the western
end he found a church under construction, which he encouraged the people
to ceil, seat and finish inside. He gave them the sum of £5 for the
construction of a pulpit.

On the 19th of November, Mr. Stewart preached at Little Bad deck
(Baddeck) and on the 22nd at Big Baddeck (Baddeck Forks) in English
and Gaelic. From the Baddeck River Mr. Stewart went on to the Middle
River, as he writes, "For the purpose of settling Mr. Farquh arson and
introducing him to his charge." This he did on the 29th of November,
1834. In the settlement of Mr. Farquharson, Mr. Stewart had to discharge
all the functions of a Presbytery. He moderated in the Call; he approved
it as a regular Gospel Call; he placed the Call in Mr. Farquharson's hands
for acceptance; he preached the induction sermon; he put the usual ques
tions to the minister; he offered the induction prayer; he addressed the
newly inducted minister, and also the people on their respective duties and
responsibilities; and he gave Mr. Farquharson the right hand of fellowship,
inducting him into all the rights and privileges of minister in the congrega
tion of Middle River, and Lake Ainslie. There was no Presbytery on the
Island of Cape Breton at that time nor for nearly two years thereafter.

Mr. Stewart got to West Bay on the 18th of December, where he
spent the next four or five months very busily preaching and visiting all
parts of that extensive congregation.

On the 1st day of May, 1835, he renewed his itinerary of the island,
on horse back. By the middle of June he had visited Grand River, Mira,
Loch Lomond, Louisburg, Catalone, Mira, Sydney, Leitches Creek, and

55

Sydney, Mines. On June the 14th he was in Aspy Bay. In the month of
August we find him in P. E. Island, and preaching at Brackley Point,
Malpeque Road and North River. After his return from P. E. I., he made
a missionary journey to Whycocamagh, Lake Ainslie, Strathlorne and to
the Margaree River. In these few sentences we have only attempted to
give a brief summary of Mr. Stewart's travails and labors during the first
fifteen months of his life in Cape Breton, but this summary will serve to
show what an energetic man he was. Whatever he undertook to do was
done with all his might. About the 1st of October 1835, Mr. Stewart
returned to West Bay. By this time a call to the pastorate of this con
gregation was ready for him, and he accepted it and settled down for a time
to regular congregational work. His induction took place on the 19th of
October, 1835. It could not have been a regular Presbyterial induction
inasmuch as there was no Presbytery in Cape Breton at that time. No
doubt the Rev. A. Farquharson and the Rev. Dugald McKichan were
present and took part in the induction services on that occasion.

When Mr. Stewart became minister of West Bay there were not less
than one hundred Presbyterian families living on the shores of that ex
tensive bay, and there were not less than 10,000 Presbyterians in the whole
island. But these thousands were settled in groups and colonies generally
many miles apart. And besides, the lots of land held by each family were
large, generally several hundreds of acres. This condition of things, to
gether with the lack of highways, made the work of the pioneer ministers
very laborious. lit also caused an isolation of families and communities
that was very unfavorable to the social, educational and religious life of
our people.

There were thirteen Presbyterian Churches under construction at
different points on the island at that date, butfew if any of them were either
seated, lighted for night services, or heated. The people were anxious
enough to own places of worship, but they were so poor and money was so
scarce that very slow progress was being made in the line of church building.
When Mr. Stewart entered upon his ministry at West Bay, there was a
church near Black River, but it was of little service in cold weather for lack
of heating facilities. Worshipping in such a building with the temperature
hovering about zero was not favorable to the culture' of piety. But Mr.
Stewart tells us that even under such circumstances the services were well
attended.

The people of West Bay promised Mr. Stewart a stipend of £150
currency, one half in cash, the other half in produce. But they were slow
in paying what they promised, as indeed were our people all over Cape
Breton at that time and for many years thereafter. We have it from the
pen of Mrs. McKay, president of the Edinburgh Ladies Association, that
one half of the stipend promised Mr. Stewart remained unpaid, at the end
of the first year. Nor were matters any better in this regard at the end of
the second or third year of Mr. Stewart's stay in West Bay.

There were no manses in those days; Mr. Stewart, like all the pioneer
ministers of the island with the exception of Mr. Wilson, had to provide his

56

own home. He bought a piece of land about three miles to the east of
the Black River, and built a log houste upon it. To this log house he sub
sequently brought his bride from one of the elegant residences of the City
of Edinburgh.

In the summer of 1836 Mr. Stewart returned to Scotland where he took
to wife Miss Alicia Murray Drysdale, daughter of William Drysdale,
jeweller of Lothian Street, Edinburgh. This well connected and highly
educated lady left the "Modern Athens" with all its refinement, privileges
and comforts to live with Mr. Stewart in that log house at West Bay; it
was a great sacrifice to make, surely, but she was never known to regret the
step she had taken. She did her duty by her husband and by his people
faithfully and cheerfully.

In October, 1837, Mr. Stewart received a call from St.Andrews Church,
Fraser's Mountain, Pictou County. He referred the matter of acceptance
to the Presbytery of Cape Breton and the Presbytery advised him to accept
the call. He did not, however, leave West Bay until June 1838. He left
Cape Breton for Eraser's Mountain, very much to the regret of his people
but also and especially to the regret of the "Edinburgh Ladies Association."

Mrs. McKay, the President of the Association, writing to a friend, used
the following expressions regarding the matter; "Do give me some comfort
regarding this Stewart matter." "I am much annoyed about the
Stewarts' removal." "A severe blow to our work in Cape Breton." "It
is bad for our poor little island."

After Mr. Stewart went to Fraser's Mountain, now New Glasgow,
he began to take a very active part in the anti-patronage and anti-intrusion
controversy that preceeded and followed the disruption of the Church
of Scotland in the year 1843. His sympathies were very strongly with Dr.
Chalmers and the evangelical party in that famous struggle for the freedom
of the Church of Scotland from State control.

When the disruption of the Church of Scotland in Nova Scotia took
place in 1844, Mr. Stewart was one of the ministers that came out and that
constituted themselves the Free Church of Nova Scotia. He left St.
Andrews Church, New Glasgow, followed by a large number of his people,
and they formed the John Knox Free Church in that town.

Subsequently Mr. Stewart took a very active and prominent part in
the work of the Free Church, especially in the establishment of the Free
Church Academy and Theologiol Hall on Gerrish Street, Halifax, in the
year 1848, for the purpose of training young men for the ministry.

In the year 1851 Mr. Stewart went to Scotland for the purpose of
raising money for that Theologial Hall and he returned with the handsome
sum of $6,000.

After serving his church and generation faithfully^, Mr. Stewart fell
asleep at New Glasgow on the 4th day of May, 1880, in the 80th year of
his life, and the forty-eighth of his ministry.

57

Rev. James Fraser, M. A.

The Rev. James Fraser was born in the Parish of Fodderty, Rosshire,
Scotland, in the year 1800. He took his Arts course in the University of
Aberdeen, from which he graduated as Master of Arts in the year 1824.
Before entering upon the study of Theology, he taught the parish school at
Lochinver, Sutherlandshire, for a number of years. He studied Theology
partly in Aberdeen and partly in Edinburgh under the great Dr. Thomas
Chalmers, of whom he was ever after a great admirer. He was licensed by
the Presbytery of Dornach in the month of May, 1835. Shortly after
being licensed, he offered his services to the "Edinburgh Ladies Associa
tion" for missionary work in Cape Breton. That Association wanted a
man for Boulardarie and it gladly accepted Mr. Eraser's offer. After or
dination by the Presbytery of Edinburgh, he left Scotland early in August,
1836, and arrived in Cape Breton about the middle of September.

Messrte Farquharson and Stewart were apprised of his coming and were
eagerly awaiting his arrival in order to constitute a Presbytery of the
Church of Scotland in the island of Cape Breton. The Synod of that
church met in Pictou on the 12th of August, 1836, and among other items
of business instructed these two brethren to meet with Mr. Fraser, as soon
as convenient, after his arrival, and constitute a Presbytery to be known as
"The Presbytery of Cape Breton."

We have no record of the time when or the place where this Presbytery
was constituted, but we have the minutes of that Synod for the year 1837,
and we find that the Presbytery of Cape Breton was one of the four Pres
byteries of which the Synod was comprised in that year.

Like Mr. Farquharson and Mr. Stewart, Mr. Fraser spent the greater
part of his first year in Cape Breton itinerating among the Gaelic speaking
settlements in the different parts of the island.

Sometime towards the end of the year 1837 Mr. Fraser was inducted
into the charge of Boulardarie and he settled down to his life work in that
congregation. After a few years he bought a farm at the Big Bras d'Or
and built a house thereon. This was the centre of his activities for the
remainder of his life.

Mr. Fraser was the first Presbyterian minister to take charge of a con
gregation in the Eastern end of Cape Breton. Until the arrival of Mr.
Wilson in the year 1842, a period of five years, Mr. Fraser was the only
minister of our church in this part of the island. On this'account he had to
look after the growing Presbyterian population of Littl Bras d'Or, Sydney
Mines, Upper North Sydney, Leitches Creek, Sydney, Sydney Forks, Mira
and Catalone as well as Boulardarie He also made excursions to outlying
places such as Cape North, Loch Lomond and Grand River. Of course
these excursions were made in the summer season and for the most part
on horse back. There were no roads and no carriages in the early part of
Mr. Eraser's ministry.

These missionary journeys were very trying to flesh and blood, but

58

Mr. Fraser was endowed with a low-set compact body that enabled him to
endure hardships without any prostration or much weariness.

In the course of time other men came to share the labor of this wide
field, and Mr. Fraser was at liberty to devote all his time and energy to the
island of Boulardarie and to the people living on the North side of the Big
Bras d'Or or the "Slios" as it was then known. In the course of time he
had the satisfaction of seeing a God-fearing people growing up under his
faithful preaching, teaching and example. This good man was permitted
to continue his pastoral work to within a few months of his death, which
took place on the 8th of April, 1874 in the 74th year of his life and the 39th
of his ministry.

Mr. Fraser lived in a quiet, unobtrusive life. He lived with his people
and for his people. One who knew him well said of him after his death,
"His piety was decided and deep, but also cheerful. Whatever his trials
bodily or mental, might have been, and they were many, no complaint was
ever heard from his lips. His gentlemanly bearing, genial disposition and
tender sympathy made him a favorite with all who knew him."

His faithful teaching, abundant labors and Christ-like life made a deep
and abiding impression on the people of Boulardarie, an impression that
still persists after an interval of nearly fifty years since he passed to his re
ward.

59

Rev. Peter McLean.

The Rev. Peter McLean was preeminently the evangelist of the Cape
Breton pioneers. He was born at Nigg, in the island of Lewis in the year
1800. By his own account of himself, he was a very wild and reckless
young man. In early life he was engaged in shop-keeping in Stornaway,
the principal town in his native island. In the twenty-seventh year of his
life he had a revelation of himself that led him to cry for mercy and to feel
his need of the sinners' Saviour. After a long and sore struggle with sin
and self, at length he found pardon, peace and joy through faith in Jesus
Christ. Thereupon he lost no time in winding up his business, paying all
his liabilities, and entering upon a course of study that would qualify him
for the ministry of the gospel.

We do not know where his studies were taken, either in Arts or Theo
logy* but we know that after completing his course in both Arts and
Theology he was licensed by the Presbytery of Lewis in the year 1836, when
he was thirty-six years of age. In June, 1837, Mr. McLean was ordained
by the Presbytery of Lewis, at the request of the Colonial Committee, as
missionary to St. Patrick's Channel and Whycocamagh Bay in the island
of Cape Breton. The Edinburgh Ladies' Association furnished the money
necessary for his outfit and passage. This Association also undertook to
pay a certain amount of his support during the first few years of his stay
in those places.

Mr. McLean landed in Sydney by way of Halifax on August the 26th,
1837. Here he spent his first Sabbath in Cape Breton, and here he con
ducted his first service on this island in the Methodist Church. During the
following week he found his way to St. Patrick's Channel and Little
Narrows, a part of his mission field, where he preached to his own people
on the first Sabbath of September from Psalm 104:31, "Oh, that men
would praise the Lord for his goodness and for the wonderful works to the
children of men." The next Sunday he preached in Whycocamagh where
he had his home while he remained in Cape Breton.

The people of Whycocamagh received Mr. McLean with great joy
and as a special ambassador of Jesus Christ to them. During his stay in the
congregation Mr. McLean lived a very strenuous life, but at the same time
he enjoyed many tokens of his Master's presence and blessing upon his
labors. He was a very strong, earnest, fervent preacher of the gospel and
his preaching was wonderfully owned of God in the conviction, conversion
and sanctification of hundreds of his people, both young and old. His
preaching was accompanied by very extraordinary effects upon his hearers,
not only mentally and spiritually, but also physically. Among these effects
there were unconsciousness of surroundings, prostrations of the body, cries
of alarm, fear and distress, followed by exclamations of joy, gladness and
praise of God.

Mr. McLean did not limit his ministrations to Whycocamagh and
Little Narrows. He went everywhere preaching the. Word, and wherever
he went similar effects of his preaching were experienced.

60

But the strain was too much for flesh and blood to endure, and by the
end of the year 1841, his health gave way, and he announced his intention
to leave and return to his native land for rest. But when the people of
Whycocomagh found that he was going to leave them, they made such an
ado and lamentation that he remained till the following spring. Then he
slipped away without letting them know of his intended departure, chiefly
in order to avoid the distress of parting, both to himself and to his people
as well.

By the beginning of 1843, Mr. McLean's health was so far restored
that he accepted a call to the newly formed Free Church Congregation in
Tobermory, Isle of Mull, where he was inducted on the 2nd of August in
that year.

Ten years later in 1853, Mr. McLean revisited the scenes of his former
labors and triumphs, not only in Cape Breton but also in Pictou County and
Prince Edward Island. It was in October, 1853, that he conducted that
memorable communion season at Whycocomagh which has been spoken
about ever since as the most Penticostal experience that Cape Breton has
ever enjoyed. It is said that there were five thousand people present on
that occasion, and that parties were there from nearly every congregation
in Cape Breton. There was never such a time of spiritual blessing on this
island before or since.

In May, 1855, Mr. McLean accepted a call to the Free Gaelic Church of
Stornaway, in his native island. Here again his ministry was distinguished
by a remarkable work of grace. Mr. McLean made a third and last visit
to these provinces in the year 1866. He spent three months on this occas-
sion revisiting old scenes and preaching the gospel with much of the old
fervor and power. The writer has very distinct recollections of hearing
him preach on two occasions in Pictou County during that visit. He
reached Whycocomagh about the end of July and dispensed the Lord's
Supper in his first congregation on the last Sabbath of that month. But
while he preached with a large measure of his wonted life, energy and
pathos, it was manifest to his old friends that he was beginning to fail. His
efforts wearied him more than they used to do in other days. It was
noticed that when the service was over, he would return to his lodging and
rest instead of waiting to greet and talk with old acquaintances as he was
accustomed to do on his former visit. Indeed that transatlantic trip was
too much for his failing strength. He returned to Scotland very much ex
hausted. His physical strength was giving way and his work was nearly
done. After reaching Stornaway he suffered from a bronchial affection,
induced very likely from his energetic maner of speaking in the open air
and in badly ventilated buildings while in Cape Breton. He was bed
ridden during the last eight months of his life. He passed into the Master's
presence on the 20th of March, 1868, in the sixth-eighth year of his age, and
the thirty-first of his ministry.

Mr. McLean was a large, fleshy man, and he was generally spoken of as
"Patrick mor MacLean."

61

Rev. John Gunn.

The Rev. John Gunn was a native of the parish of Far, Sutherlandshire,
Scotland, where he was born in the year 1806.

His classical and theological education was acquired at the University
of Aberdeen.

He came to Pictou, Nova Scotia, under the auspices of the Edinburgh
Ladies' Association in the early summer of 1838, and he came to Cape
Breton in the autumn of that year. He supplied West Bay for several
weeks in the month of November and from there he went to Grand River
and LochLomond, where he labored for the next year and a half or two years.
Early in the spring of 1840 the people of Broad Cove sent a boat and crew
all the way to Irish Cove to meet Mr. Gunn, his wife, three children and
effects, and convey them by way of the Grand Narrows, St. Patrick's
Channel and Whycocamagh to Lake Ainslie and Loch Ban where it was
arranged that he should make his home, and be settled as minister of Broad
Cove and Broad Cove River, now Strathlorne. The place where Mr. Gunn
lived is know known as Kinloch, in the Gaelic language "caennloch," or
head of the lake.

Here he bought a block of land, built a house, and spent the rest of his
life. The land is still in possession of his son, Robert Gunn, M. D., and
other members of the Gunn family.

Mr. Gunn's congregation was very extensive. It included not only
Broad Cove and Strathlorne, but also Chimney Corner, Whale Cove, and
the Margaree River from bottom to top, from the Harbor to the Big Inter
vale. Mr. Gunn labored in this large field for a period of thirty years. His
induction at Broad Cove took place on Sept. the 24th, 1840. He was the
first minister of the Presbyterian Church to be regularly ordained, and in
ducted on the island of Cape Breton.

The Rev. Norman McLeod was neither ordained nor inducted in
Cape Breton. The Rev. William Millar was ordained and designated to
Mabou at Durham, Pictou. The Rev. Dugald McKichan was not inducted
at River Inhabitants and Strait of Canso. He came there from Barney's Riv
er and took charge of our people in those places without the sanction of any
Presbytery. Rev. Alexander Farquharson was ordained at New Castle,
and inducted at Middle River by the Rev. John Stewart. The Rev. John
Stewart himself was ordained at McLennan's Mountain, Pictou County,
and inducted at West Bay by his brethern, Messrs Farquharson and
McKichan, but they did not act Presbyterially. There was no Presbytery
on the Island in 1835. The Rev. James Fraser no doubt had a Presby-
terial induction at Boulardarie in Sept., 1836, and the Rev. Peter McLean
at Whycocamagh in 1837; but both of these men were ordained in Scotland
before coming to Cape Breton. The Presbytery that met at Broad Cove
on the 24th of Sept., 1840, for the purpose of ordaining and inducting the
Rev. John Gunn, was composed of the Rev. James Fraser, Moderator,
Dugald McKichan, Clerk, Alexander Farquharson and Peter McLean.
After Mr. Gunn's induction his name was added to the roll of the Presby-

62

tery of Cape Breton. The second name added to this roll was that of the
Rev. Matthew Wilson. That was in 1842.

In August, 1844, at a meeting of Synod held in the town of Pictou,
every member of the Presbytery of Cape Breton with drew from the Church
of Scotland and attached himself to the newly formed Free Church of
Nova Scotia. From that time the Presbytery of Cape Breton was a
Presbytery of the Free Church of Nova Scotia. All the people followed
their ministers, very cordially in this ecclesiastical change. Not one of the
Cape Breton ministers remained in the Church of Scotland and not one
returned to Scotland for the purpose of getting a parish church as nearly
all the Pictou ministers did in 1843 or 1844.

But in 1860, sixteen years later, when the Free Church of Nova Scotia
and the Presbyterian Church of Nova Scotia united to form the Presby
terian Church of the Lower Provinces, Mr. Gunn declined to enter the
United Body and his congregation was loyal enough to their minister to
remain out with him. A year or two later, Mr. Gunn attached hmself to the
Presbytery of Pictou in connection with the Church of Scotland, and again
the people were loyal enough to their minister to go back to the old Kirk
with him.

Mr. Gunn remained a minister of the Church of Scotland until his
death in 1870, and his congregation remained in that connection until the
general union of Presbyterianism in Canada in June, 1875.

During the first twenty years of his ministry in Broad Cove Mr. Gunn
was accustomed to spend from six to eight weeks of every summer in the
north eastern parts of Cape Breton, in Pleasant Bay, Aspy Bay and Bay
St. Lawrence. The people living in these isolated places were always glad
to see him among them, and they never failed to give him a cordial welcome.
They also listened very attentively to his gospel messages, and were doubt
less very much the better for his ministrations, He never asked for any
monetary reward for his services in these parts. He did not even have a
collection taken at any of his diets of worship. But the good people of
these localities never allowed him to return without ample compensation.
Every one, young and old, gave him something, great or small, according
to their means, and they always placed the gift in his own hand with a re
spectful curtesy or bow. The result was that he returned home, well re
warded financially and also with the satisfaction of having rendered good
service to his Master and to the souls of a grateful people.

Mr. Gunn was a man of very unselfish and generous disposition. He
never had much of this world's goods, but he was ever ready to share his
meagre stock with any one in need. He was not regarded as an eloquent
preacher but he was an evangelical and practical preacher. He expound
ed and applied the Word of God with faithfulness and force. His humble
and sympathetic nature caused him to be very much esteemed and loved
by his own people.

Mr. Gunn departed this life on the 2nd of November, 1870, in the
sixty-fourth year of his age, and the thirty-second year of his ministry in
Cape Breton.

63

Rev. Matthew Wilson, ML A.

The Rev. Matthew Wilson was the Nathaniel of the Pioneers. He was
born at Chryston near Glasgow, Scotland, on the first day of January, 1806.
He studied bothArts and Theology at the University of Glasgow, and
graduated in Theology in the spring of 1837. He was licensed to preach
the gospel by the Presbytery of Glasgow on the 5th of September, 1838.

He spent two or three years as City Missionary in Glasgow under the
supervision of the Presbytery. In the year 1840 and again in 1841, the
Presbytery of Cape Breton sent urgent petitions to the Colonial Committee
begging for a man to break the bread of life to the Presbyterians of Sydney
Mines and vicinity. Mr. Wilson was selected by the Committee as the
best available man for that field.

When the needs of this transatlantic mission were placed before Mr.
Wilson and its claims upon him were urged by the Committee, he promptly
consented to cross the sea and do what he could to preach the gospel to this
destitute people. Thereupon the Glasgow Presbytery ordained him on the
17th of May, 1842, and sent him away with their benedictions and their
prayers.

Mr. Wilson sailed from the Clyde in a barque owned by the firm of
Gammel and Moore of Little Bras d Or. The Captain of the barque was a
Mr. Moore of Upper North Sydney, and William Gammel one of the owners
was aboard as a fellow passenger of Mr. Wilson. Mr. Wilson arrived in
Sydney Harbor in the month of July, 1842, and shortly thereafter he was
inducted by the Presbytery of Cape Breton into the charge of Sydney
Mines, Little Bras d'Or and Upper North Sydney. Here Mr. Wilson spent
the rest of his life doing faithful and efficient work for his Master and for the
souls of his people.

In the year 1883, on account of age and increasing infirmity, he re
signed the charge and retired from the active duties of the ministry. But
still he continued to visit and comfort his aged parishioners and to preach
occasionally until within three weeks of his death.

The circumstances of his last illness and death were particularly sad.
One dark night in the month of November, 1884, a man called at the manse
with a horse and wagon in order to take Mr. Wilson to see a sick and sup
posedly dying woman. He was not at all well and the night was cold, but
he got ready for the journey and went. On the way to the home of the sick
woman, the driver lost control of his horse and Mr. Wilson was thrown out .
of the carriage. The ground was frozen, and in falling his head came in
violent contact with the hard earth of the highway. He was taken up in
an unconscious condition, and carried back to the old manse, in which he
had lived for forty-two years. In the course of a week erysipelas supervened
and after three weeks of great suffering he passed to his rest and reward on
the 13th of December, 1884, in the seventy-ninth of his age, and the forty-
third of his ministry.

The following extract from the pen of his colleague, the Rev. Donald

64

McMillan, will make a fitting close to this short memoir of as godly and
guileless a man or minister as ever lived on the island of Cape Breton, or
anywhere else. "Mr. Wilson's death was lamented by young and old,
of all classes and creeds; for no man was more honored and loved. His
charity knew no bounds of sect or race. Every fibre of his nature was re
sponsive to suffering. His sympathetic nature, with his refined and un
failing courtesy and manifold Christian graces, caused Mr. Wilson to be
esteemed as the most welcome visitor to the bed of the sick and the dying.
He may be said to have died a martyr to his lofty sense of duty in this re
spect; for had he declined, as he very properly and reasonably might have
done, to start on that last fatal visit, he would in all probability, have lived
for years. Mr. Wilson was an excellent preacher, and maintained till the
last the finely rhetorical method and persuasive eloquence for which he was
distinguished in his prime."

65

Rev. Murdoch Stewart, M. A.

This saintly man was born in Rosshire, Scotland, in the year 1809.
His father was the catechist of his native parish, and no doubt Mr. Stewart's
boyhood was spent in a godly atmosphere. He was studiously inclined
from his youth. After passing through the parish school he was sent to
Aberdeen University where he studied both Arts and Theology. On grad
uating in Arts he obtained the degree of Master of Arts in 1834. He was
a fine classical scholar, but he excelled in mathematics. He graduated
in Theology in the year 1838, and was licensed to preach the gospel in the
year 1839.

After teaching in one of the parish schools of his native land for several
years, Mr. Stewart offered his services to the Colonial Committee of the
Church of Scotland as a missionary to Cape Breton and more especially to
the congregation of West Bay. His offer was accepted, and the Committee
sent him out to take charge of that congregation. Fitted out by the Edin
burgh Ladies' Association, he sailed from Liverpool for Halifax on the first
Tuesday of July, 1843. On arriving at Halifax he found a packet that
landed him at Arichat, and from there he found his way to his appointed
field of labor in West Bay, about the first of August. In the month of
September following the West Bay Congregation called Mr. Stewart to be
its second pastor and the Presbytery of Cape Breton ordained and inducted
him into the charge.

West Bay was one of the oldest Presbyterian settlements then on the
island of Cape Breton. The earliest settlers came here about the year 1813.
The Rev. John Stewart had been settled as their first minister in the year
1835 and continued with them until 1838, when he accepted a call to St.
Andrew's Church, New Glasgow. That was five years ago, and during
those years West Bay had very few services. When the Rev. Murdoch
Stewart arrived in 1843, he found everything in a very primative and back
ward condition. He had to live in a log house like nearly all his people at
that time. There were very few of the comforts and none of the luxuries
of life in those days. There were no carriages and no carriage roads. He
had to do all his travelling either on foot or on horse-back, or by boat in the
summer time. In winter there were rough sleds that were employed in
travelling from place to place.

His people were by this time well provided with food and clothing,
but there was very little money in circulation and it was really difficult for
them to pay a stipend that would be adequate for the support of a minister.
But Mr. Stewart addressed himself to his pastoral duties with great dili
gence and faithfulness. He itinerated far and near at all seasons of the
year and in all kinds of weather. During the first ten years of his pastorate
he was the only Presbyterian minister in the County of Richmond, and
hence he had to be frequently absent from his congregation visiting and
preaching, in other neighboring highland settlements.

Grandance, Grand River, Loch Lomond, Framboise,River Inhabitants,

66

Plaster Cove, River Denys, and Malagawatch were all without a minister
of the gospel during the first ten years of Mr. Stewart's pastorate at West
Bay, and it devolved upon him to do what he could for these destitute com
munities. The Rev. Wm. G. Forbes took charge of the Strait of Canso,
River Inhabitants, and River Denys in 1852, and the Rev. James Ross
took charge of the Grand River, Loch Lomond and Framborse in 1853,
and the settlement of these brethren permitted Mr. Stewart to give his
whole attention to West Bay.

In the year 1846, after providing a home for himsejf at Black River,
Mr. Stewart returned to Scotland for an helpmeet, and he found one in the
person of Miss Catherine McGregor of Braemar. She was an excellent
woman, and she helped, comforted and cheered him during1 the remainder
of his life. After spending a year in his native land, Mr. Stewart returned
to his arduous field of labor, and resumed his work.

He spent the next twenty years in West Bay, meeting and overcoming
difficulties such as the country ministers of today have no experience or
conception of. Had his people done their duty by him in the matter of
financial support as they should have done, and could have done, his minis
try at West Bay would have been much more enjoyable. They allowed
arrears to accumulate from year to year, until his circumstances became so
straitened that he had to resign the charge in the year 1867.

By appointment of Presbytery he spent the greater part of that year
in Port Morien or Cow Bay, as it was then called. Here he helped to or
ganize the present Port Morien congregation. The Block House and
Gowrie Collieries were recently started and people were coming in from all
parts of the country. Mr. Stewart remained at Port Morien until 1868,
when he received a call to Whycocamagh. This call he accepted, and he
spent the remainder of his ministerial life in that congregation. After
fourteen years of excellent service in Whycocamagh, Mr. Stewart began to
feel his strength failing, and he resigned his charge in September, 1882. In
the following month he removed with his family to the town of Pictou where
two of his sons, John and James, were then living, and practising their re
spective professions, medicine and law.

Mr. Stewart preached his last sermon in Knox Church, Pictou, on July
the 19th, 1884, from Phillippians 11:5-11. He took ill on the afternoon of
Jiily the 27th, and he passed to his rest and reward on July the 30th, 1884.

Mr. Stewart was as intellectual and scholarly as he was modest and
humble. No man could be more unselfish or more considerate of the views
and feelings of others. He was in every sense a Christian gentleman, and
he was emphatically a man of peace. He pled earnestly for the Union of
1860 in the face of strong prejudices among the Free Church people of Cape
Breton. Thoroughly loyal to his own church, he took a deep and prayerful
interest in all the evangelical churches of Christendom, and also in the ex
tension of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ throughout the whole world.

He was moderator of the Free Church Synod that met in Halifax in
June of the year 1851, and no man could discharge the duties of that office
with more urbanity or efficiency.

67

Rev. Hugh McLeod, D. D.

The Rev. Hugh McLeod was the last of the Pioneer Presbyterian min
isters of Cape Breton, but he was not by any means the least. Indeed
he was in many respects the greatest of them all.

Dr. McLeod was born in the parish of Tongue, Sutherlandshire, Scot
land, on the 23rd of April, 1803. After completing his primary and second
ary education in the parish school of his native place he matriculated into
King's College, Aberdeen University in 1822, when nineteen years of age.
Four years later he graduated from this famous University as a Master of
Arts.

He studied Theology and kindred subjects in that University during
another four sessions, and finished his preparation for the ministry of the
Church of Scotland in the year 1830. In the year 1831 he was licensed, by
the Presbytery of Tongue, to preach the glorious gospel of the Grace of God
to sinners, through the merits of Jesus Christ, His son.

In 1832, Mr. McLeod was ordained and inducted as minister of Mel-
ness and Eribol by that same Presbytery. Four years later he was trans
lated to the Presbytery of Edinburgh and inducted into the Gaelic Church
of that city. After a ministry of several years in the Scottish capital, he
was called to the rural charge of Logie Easter, Rosshire, where he labored
until the year 1850, when he left his native land and came to Cape Breton.

It was during Dr. McLeod's ministry in Logie Easter that the disrup
tion in the Church of Scotland took place, and he had an active part in the
stirring scenes that led up to that important event in the history of the
Scottish Church. He was one of the 450 ministers that came out of the
Established Church on the 18th of May, 1843, and that followed Dr. Welsh
and Dr. Chalmers from St. Andrews Church on the Castle Hill to Cannon
Mills' Hall in the New Town where the Free Church was constituted.

His large congregation followed him into the Free Church with the
exception of half a dozen individuals.

The Free Church shewed its appreciation of Dr. McLeod's ability
and worth by sending him out to Nova Scotia in 1845 as its deputy in the
interests of the Free Church movement in these eastern Provinces of Can
ada. Three years later he came again on a similar errand as the agent of
the Scottish Free Church. On this occasion he came to Cape Breton and
preached in a number of our congregations. He made a remarkable im
pression on our people as a preacher. He was dynamic. They had never
heard such preaching before. The Presbyterian population of Eastern
Cape Breton was profoundly stirred. They wanted to know if they could
possibly have him come and stay among them as their minister. After
some correspondence with himself and the Colonial Committee of the Free
Church, they were encouraged to prepare a call and transmit it to Dr.
McLeod through the Presbytery of Tain. Under the benign and per
suasive influence of the Edinburgh Ladies Association, Dr. McLeod was
moved to accept the call and to leave his native land, with all its prospects

68

of usefulness and honor, and come to Cape Breton with all its disadvantages
and difficulties. This call was signed virtually by all the adult Presbyter
ian population of Eastern Cape Breton, including Sydney, Sydney Forks
South Bar, Low Point, Bridgeport, Little Glace Bay, Schooner Pond, Cow
Bay, Big Glace Bay, Back Lands Cow Bay. False Bay Beach, Mira River
from bottom to top, Catalone, Main a dieu, Louisburg, Gabarus, Big Ridge
and Caribou Marsh. It was an immense call and it represented the un
animous desire of an immense territory.

Dr. MeLeod reached Sydney with his family of wife and three children
on Saturday, August the 25th, 1850. On the following day he preached in
the Methodist Church in the absence of the Rev. Jeremiah Jost, who was
away to Ingonish on circuit duty at that time. He preached in the morn
ing in Gaelic and in the evening in English. The next few weeks were
spent in visiting his brethren and their congregations and in making him
self acquainted with the conditions that prevailed in the island at that
time. On the 2nd day of October the Free Church Presbytery of Cape
Breton met at Mira Ferry (now Albert Bridge) for the purpose of inducting
Dr. MeLeod into the pastorate of the Mira Congregation. That Pres
bytery was composed of all the Free Church ministers then on the island
of Cape Breton, viz. Rev. Matthew Wilson, Rev. Alexander Farqu-
harson, Rev. James Fraser and Rev. Murdoch Stewart. Mr. Wilson as
Moderator preached and inducted the minister; Mr. Farquharson preached
in Gaelic from Psalm 102:2; Mr. Wilson preached in English from Isaiah
32:2. Mr. Stewart addressed the minister and Mr. Fraser addressed the
people.

There was no church at Mira Ferry then, but that was the most central
place in the congregation, and the most convenient for the induction ser
vices. The Presbytery was constituted and it conducted the services of the
day under the canopy of a canvas tent, while the people sat in front of the
tent under the shade of the forest trees. There were not less than 2,000
people there on that intensely interesting occasion from all parts of Dr.
McLeod's far flung parish. It was a bright calm autumn day and a day
never to be forgotten by any who were privileged to witness the proceedings.
Many in that great assembly had hoped and prayed and waited for the
settlement of a minister among them ever since they came to Cape Breton.
All this time they had been as sheep without a shepherd. But now the
Great Shepherd had sent them one of the ablest preachers in Scotland to
take the oversight of their souls. It was indeed a day of joy and gladness.

The Rev. Alexander Farquharson remained over the following Sab
bath, and introduced Dr. MeLeod to his people according to the Scottish
custom. He preached in Gaelic from Acts 13 :26, "To you is the word of this
salvation sent."

Mr. MeLeod lived in Sydney until the spring of 1851. He passed his
first winter in a small house on North Charlotte Street, nearly opposite St.
George's Episcopal Church. The following summer he bought a piece of
land and built a house on the South Side of the Mira River and near where
the Marion Bridge is now, in order to be as near the centre of his congre-

69

gation as possible. After living on fhe Mira River for several years, he
purchased the "Sherwood" property in Sydney from the late Edmund
Dodd, Esq. and moved into the town. He spent the rest of his life on this
property.

Dr. McLeod's congregation covered nearly one-half the County of
Cape Breton. It contained in all about five hundred families and three
thousand souls. He continued sole pastor of this extensive charge until
the year 1864, and pastor of a large part of it until 1885, when he retired
from the active duties of the ministry.

In the year 1883, Dr. McLeod's ministerial jubilee was celebrated in
the original St.Andrew's Church on Charlotte Street, with great enthusiasm.
In his reply to a congratulatory address by the Presbytery of Sydney, he
stated that he had spent seventeen years of his ministerial life in Scotland
and thirty three years in Cape Breton; that during his long ministry there
were several precious revivals through which great numbers of men and
women were added to the membership of the church; that he had been
Moderator of Presbytery twenty times, Moderator of Synod four times,
and Moderator of General Assembly once; that he had preached 6000
sermons; baptized over 2000 persons, received 1,200 into full communion
with the church, and solemnized 800 marriages.

Dr. McLeod was an outstanding church man in the Presbyterian
Church, but he was more. He took a deep interest in everything that made
for the welfare of the community, more especially, education and moral
reform. He also took a lively interest in civil and political matters. He
was an all-round man, well posted in current and national affairs. He also
had the reputation of profound scholarship.

In his later years, Dr. McLeod was very much afflicted with a bron
chial affection, induced probably by much speaking in the open air at com
munion seasons. He passed to his rest and reward on Friday, Jan. the
23rd, 1894, in the 91st year of his age, and the sixty-first of his ministry.

Dr. McLeod was a preacher of rare eloquence and power, both in
English and Gaelic. His preachings had several admirable qualities. His
sermons were well arranged, scriptural and evangelical, forceful in utterance
distinct in enunciation, always concise, and never long or tedious. He
knew when to stop, and he always stopped at the point where his hearers
were most deeply interested and anxious that he should continue. He had
a fine, strong, sonorous voice that could be easily heard by the thousands
that often hung on his lips on communion occasions, under the blue canopy
of heaven.

The Presbyterian Witness of Jan. the 27th 1894 had the following
words regarding Dr. McLeod; — "A stronger man, a sturdier Highlander,
a warmer hearted friend, a more powerful and searching preacher, a more
useful leader of a great flock, or one who has done more for the advance
ment of his people, spiritually and materially, we do not know, we cannot
name in the whole history of our Church from ocean to ocean."

70

PIONEERS

REV. NORMAN McLEOD,
Pioneer.

REV. WM. MILLAR,
Pioneer. |

REV. JOHN STEWART,
Pioneer.

REV. JAMES FRASER, M. A.
Pioneer.

PIONEERS

REV. PETER MCLEAN,

Pioneer.

REV. MURDOCH STEWART, M. A.
Pioneer.

REV. HUGH McLEOD, D. D.
Pioneer.

REV. MATTHEW WILSON, M. A.
Pioneer.

PART II.

The Congregations of the Presbyterian Church in Cape Breton and
their Ministers.

St. Ann's and Its Ministry.

This congregation has the distinction of being the oldest Presbyterian
congregation on the Island of Cape Breton. It has also the distinction of
being the most unique in its origin. It was, so to speak, born in a day;
and that day was May 20th, 1820, one hundred years ago. It was on that
day "The Ark", with her living cargo of men and women, ran into St. Ann's
Harbor in order to avoid shipwreck and loss of life and to find shelter and
safety from the storm that was raging outside. When the "Ark" dropped
her anchor inside St. Ann's Harbour, she had the original St. Ann's con
gregation on board. She carried the minister, members, and adherents of
the congregation, with all their possessions, that day on her deck or under
her hatches. Numerically that congregation was not large. In all prob
ability it consisted of less than one hundred persons all told, men, women
and children. But it was complete, with minister and people, all ready
to unite in the worship of God as soon as they landed on the shores of this
beautiful bay. That original congregation, or at least a goodly part of it,
was the congregation that Mr. Norman McLeod gathered about him on the
upper reaches of the Middle River of Pictou, Nova Scotia, between August,
1817, and May 1820. It had even an earlier origin than that. It came
across the Atlantic with Mr. McLeod in "The Frances Ann" in the summer
of 1817. The people that composed the original St. Ann's congregation
were all old acquaintances, friends, admirers, and followers of this extra
ordinary man. He and they had been together in the parish of Assynt,
Sutherlandshire, Scotland. They came to Pictou with him in 1817, and
they came to Cape Breton with him in 1820; aye more, a number of them
went to Australia with him in 1851, and to New Zealand in 1854.

Nothing was further from the intention of Norman McLeod and his
people when they left Pictou Harbour, on that May day in 1820, than to
come to Cape Breton and settle in St. Ann's. They sailed away from Pic
tou with the intention of going to Ohio, U.S.; but an overruling providence
destined them to come to this island, and to make homes for themselves
around this beautiful harbor. They must have been intensely disappoint
ed on finding themselves here, instead of on their way to the mouth of the
Mississippi. But at the same time, no doubt, they were filled with thank
fulness that they had not been wrecked at sea, or on some strange shore.
And so terrible was their experience during the last few days that they lost
all ambition to take another risk at sea. Hence they abandoned their
purpose of going to Ohio, and resolved to make the best of the situation in
which they found themselves placed. They believed in a sovereign, all-
wise and all-determining Providence, and they concluded that it was his
will that they should stay where he sent them. They might have returned

71

to Pictou, but they had disposed of their homes there, and besides, there
was no good, free land available in Pictou at that time; while here, around
St. Ann's Harbor, there was all the free land they could make use of, and
no other people to limit their freedom or effort in any direction whatever.

There was not an acre of cleared land anywhere around these shores
at that time. Heavy forest trees covered the soil in every direction, and
these trees had to be cut down and burnt in order to get at the land and
raise food for themselves and their children, during the long cold winter
that would inevitably be upon them in due time. An encouraging feature
of the situation was the abundance of fish in the rivers and in the neighbor
ing sea. Another encouraging feature was the abundance of wood for
house, barn and fuel purposes. During the years spent on the Middle
River of Pictou, these Highlanders had learned to handle the axe in felling
the trees, and in building houses and barns with the tree trunks; and so no
time was lost in selecting and acquiring lots of land, and in attacking the
forest.

Mr. McLeod obtained a grant of a block of land at the head of the
harbour, and on the north side of the South Gut. This block contained two
square miles. It was two miles in length by one mile in average breadth.
He built a home for himself at Black Cove near the head of tide water.
His followers chose their locations as near to South Gut and Black Cove as
possible, in order to be near their minister and the place of worship that
was shortly thereafter erected near the minister's residence.

Those who came later secured grants of land near the mouth of the
harbour, or on the North Gut; while those who came later still, found loca
tions on the North River and the North Shore, all the way east to Smoky
Mountain.

By the time of the Australian exodus in 1851, all the land on St. Ann's
Harbor, North River and North Shore, was occupied by Gaelic speaking
Presbyterians; and it may be added, that after one hundred years, this large
district of country is occupied almost entirely by Presbyterians, and the
Gaelic language is still their common speech.

The St. Ann's congregation embraced the whole of this territory until
the year 1889, when a division took place; and since that time, the St. Ann's
congregation has been limited to South Gut and Englishtown with contig
uous localities.

The St. Ann's congregation grew steadily in numbers from the very
outset partly by additions from Pictou County, but chiefly by immigra
tion from Scotland, and more especially from the islands of Lewis and
Harris in the Hebrides.

The exodus of more than 800 of the parishioners of St. Ann's to Aus
tralia and New Zealand between 1851 and 1860 depleted the congregation
very materially, possibly by one half. But the vacant farms were readily
bought up by other Presbyterians from other parts of Cape Breton; and so
the population of St. Ann's continued to increase until well on in the sixties
of last century. By that time there was a surplus of young men and women
in the congregation, and another migratory movement began to manifest

72

itself. These men and women left the homes of their childhood and
went for the most part to the United States, to obtain a livelihood. Later,
when coal mining and steel producing industries were established in eas
tern Cape Breton, the surplus population of St. Ann's Englishtown, North
River and North Shore made homes for themselves at Sydney Mines,
North Sydney, Sydney and Glace Bay. In these different localities they
generally identified themselves with the local Presbyterian Churches and
became good and useful church members and citizens.

The story of St. Ann's congregation during the first thirty years of its
history is chiefly the story of the Rev. Norman McLeod, its first minister.
That story is found in another chapter of this book, and need not be re
peated here. Mr. McLeod, in those days, was monarch of all he surveyed.
His personality overshadowed everything. His will or word was law with
his people. He was responsible to no one but God and his own enlightened
Christian conscience. All the influence and power that he possessed was
devoted, not to his own personal welfare, comfort or aggrandisement, but
to the intellectual, social and religious welfare of his people.

When Mr. McLeod left St. Ann's there was but one place of worship
for this extensive and populous congregation, and this place of worship
was at Black Cove on the North Side of the South Gut. It was quite incon
veniently situated for two-thirds of the people, although amply large to
hold them all. This was the second church that had been built since the
arrival of "The Ark" and the founding of the congregation. The first
church was built on the beach at Black Cove, probably in 1821, the year
after St. Ann's was settled. The second church was built in 1846, twenty-
five years later. The congregation had increased probably seven or eight
fold in the meantime, and the church was built large enough to accommo
date them all. It was seated for 1000 worshipers, and in fine weather,
though many of the people had to come from ten to twenty miles there was
not an empty seat.

Before leaving for Australia, Mr. McLeod very wisely and generously
conveyed this immense church to the Free Church of Nova Scotia. He
also advised his people to look to that church for ministers of the gospel,
after his departure. Evidently, by this time, Mr. McLeod came to see
that the principles for which the Free Church had made such great sacri
fices in Scotland were in intimate accord with the principles for which he
himself had contended so long and strenuously, both in Scotland and in
this country.

There was a vacancy of over five years in St. Ann's congregation after
Mr. McLeod's departure. This vacancy was due, partly to the difficulty
of getting a minister of the Free Church at that time, but also to the diffi
culty of getting a minister of any church that could fill the place that this
venerable man had held so long, in the esteem and affections of the people.
He was more than esteemed and loved; he was, in a sense, adored and idoli
zed. No one else could possibly fill his place. In illustration of the vene
ration in which Mr. McLeod was held by a very large proportion of his
people, a story is told of a certain John Smith, who lived at the Barachois,

73

near Indian Brook on the North Shore. Before Mr. McLeod took his de
parture he paid Mr. Smith a farewell visit. After the visit was over, and
Mr. McLeod had gone away, Mr. Smith took down the door by which his
venerated pastor had entered and departed from his house. Then he made
an opening in another part of the house and fitted the door into that open
ing. This he did in order that no other man might ever cross that thres
hold after Norman McLeod. No other man was deemed worthy of such
an honor.

After a vacancy of five years, the St. Ann's people called Mr. Abraham
Mclntosh to be their minister. Mr. Mclntosh was a native of West Bay,
Richmond County, Cape Breton. He was the first Cape Breton born
minister to be inducted into any of our congregations. Mr. Mclntosh was
born in the year 1820, the year that the St. Ann's congregation came into
existence. He received the impulse to study for the Gospel ministry under
the strong and faithful preaching of two of the pioneer ministers of Cape
Breton, viz. Rev. John Stewart, and the Rev. Murdoch Stewart, ministers
successively of the West Bay congregation.

Mr. Mclntosh's preparatory studies were taken at the High School
so efficiently taught for many years on the Island of Boulardarie, by Mr.
Hugh Munroe. He also took lessons in Classics and Mathematics from
his pastor at West Bay the Rev. Murdoch Stewart, who was well versed
in these subjects.

On Nov. 1st, 1848, the Free Church of Nova Scotia opened an Academy
and College on Gerrish Street, Halifax, for the purpose of training young
men for her ministry. Mr. Mclntosh was one of the first class, of fifteen
students, that enrolled in that Academy. After completing his course of
study in the spring of 1854, Mr. Mclntosh was duly licensed to preach the
Gospel. He spent the next two years as a probationer among the Gaelic
speaking charges of Pictou County and Cape Breton Island. In the sum
mer of 1856 he receive a call to the pastorate of St. Ann's congregation,
which included at that time, St. Ann's North Shore and North River. It
was about forty miles in length by about eight miles average breadth
His ordination and induction took place in the big church, South Gut, on
the 21st of August, 1856.

During the first two years of his ministry, at St. Ann's Mr. Mclntosh
boarded with Mr. and Mrs. John Robertson, at Black Cove. The Robert
sons were living, at that time, in the house that the Rev. Norman McLeod
built and occupied during the last twenty years of his life in Cape Breton.

In the year 1858, Mr. Mclntosh purchased a farm at South Gut and
built a house of his own. He occupied that house during the remainder of
his life. There were no manses provided by congregations in these early
days. Every minister was expected to provide a home for himself. The
only Manse on this island in 1858, was at Sydney Mines. It was built for
the Rev. Matthew Wilson in 1843.

On the completion of his house Mr. Mclntosh, copied the example of
the Apostle Peter and took to himself a wife, Miss Anna Ross of Caribou. .
Pictou County. She was, an excellent person and an admirable help-mate,

74

She helped him, to bear the burden of a laborious and ill paid ministry
while God spared them to each other.

It is not our intention, in writing of our Cape Breton Ministers, to say
anything about their wives or families. Our space is too limited, for that,
when over two hundred ministers have to be mentioned and briefly written
about.

Suffice it to say, once, for all, that our ministers' wives have been of
inestimable value, not only to their husbands, but also to our congregations.
They not only made the ministers house, bright and cheerful for the
minister, they, also made it a centre of brightness and cheerfulness for the
people of his charge, old and young alike.

By their strict economy and good household management, they made
the meagre stipend of those days serve all the necessary needs of life.

And right here we might make a diversion and say a few words re
garding the payment of our ministers in those old days. There was, to
begin with, a subscription list prepared, and the subscriber promised to
pay annually the sum that he set down opposite his name on that list,
generally from two to four dollars, never more than four, or one pound
currency. Very few of the subscribers ever paid any part of the amount
subscribed until the end of the year. The minister was not supposed to
need any money until that time. If all would pay then, the minister might
pull through by the help and credit of his merchant. But all did not pay
at the end of the year, and many left their subscriptions unpaid from year
to year, and of course their arrears were increasing from year to year.
The total amount promised as stipend in those days was only $600 or $700
at the most. But when the minister had to buy a farm, and very often
pay for cultivating a bit of it, build a house, keep a horse, carriage, sleigh
and harness, besides other incidental expenses, there were but $400 or $450
left for living expenses, travelling expenses, the purchase of necessary
books and support of the gospel at home and abroad.

Hence when a third to a half of the promised stipend remained un
paid from year to year, the minister and his family had to suffer privations
that no servant of Jesus Christ should have to endure at the hands of those
to whom he ministers the Gospel. We could tell heart-rending tales of
what a number of our ministers and their families had to suffer in those days
on account of unpaid subscriptions and accumulating arrearages.

And the people of St. Ann's were not guiltless in this regard. The wri
ter remembers the time when he was sent to St. Ann's, by Presbytery, on
a delegation, for the purpose of collecting some of the arrearages due Mr.
Mclntosh. That was in the year 1877. On investigation, he found that
St. Ann's and Englishtown were in arrears to the extent of $849.22 at the
end of 1876, and that this part of the congregation only paid $283.95 during
that year; while North Shore and North River were in arrears to the ex
tent of $1170.97, and that this section paid but $162.99 for the year 1876.
The total arrearage due by both sections was $2,020.19. This is a sample
of how our congregations paid their ministers in those days. Other con
gregations were quite as delinquent, if not worse. When one of our most

75

distinguished ministers resigned in the eighties of last century, his congre
gation owed him $3,427.27. Somewhere on the minutes of Presbytery,
we read a resolution in these words, "The Presbytery is happy to find that
the ordinances of the Gospel are well attended, but regret the entire lack
of effort on the part of the congregation to pay its minister." This was in
the seventies of last century, and that congregation owed its minister seven
or eight hundred dollars at that time.

But we ought to mention some extenuating circumstances in the case.
And firstly, our Scottish forefathers had no training in the way of support
ing their ministers in the old country. The heritor or proprietor of the land
built the manses and paid the minister's stipend. It took a long time for
them and their children to learn the grace of giving, more especially the
grace of giving systematically. Then again our people were comparatively
poor in those days. Food and clothing were plentiful and they did not
want for the necessaries of life, but money was very scarce and hard to get.
The wages paid for ten hours of honest, hard, manual labour at that time
in Cape Breton, was not more than seventy-five or eighty cents, a day and
as far as St. Ann's was concerned, under the pastorate of the Rev. Norman
McLeod, the people were not taught to give any money for pastoral ser
vices. He took labour in lieu of money, and that made it more difficult
for them to pay his successor in current coin of the realm, and especially
to pay promptly and systematically. In those days there were very few, if
any, congregations in Cape Breton that did not report arrears of stipend to
a greater or less extent, at the end of the congregational year.

What a happy change has taken place in this matter of arrears of
stipend due the minister, during the last few years; Not one of the forty
Presbyterian congregations on this island reported any arrears at the end
of the year 1919, the last year of our first century. Money is much more
plentiful now than it was, in these old days, and besides, our people are
learning to give of their substance, for the support of the means of grace,
more systematically, liberally, scripturally, than their ancestors gave in
years gone by.

Having served his generation and his Master faithfully and well, Mr.
Mclntosh passed to his rest and reward on the 10th day of March, 1889, in
the sixty-ninth year of his age, and the thirty-fifth year of his ministry.

After Mr. Mclntosh's death, North River and North Shore were sep
arated from St. Ann's and formed into a new charge. This change took
place on the 3rd of December, 1889. Another long vacancy followed Mr.
Mclntosh's death, but finally in 1894, St. Ann's and Englishtown united
in a call to Mr. A. J. McDonald, B. A., a recent graduate of the Presby
terian College, Halifax. Mr. McDonald, like Mr. Mclntosh, was a native
of Cape Breton. He was born at Malagawatch on the 2nd day of June,
1866. His Arts Course was taken at Dalhousie University, from which he
graduated in the spring of 1892. He graduated in Theology in the spring
of 1894. He was licensed, ordained and inducted at St. Ann's by the Pres
bytery of Sydney, on the 6th of June in the year 1894.

Mr. McDonald's ministry in this congregation wras short, all too short.

76

Accepting a call to Union Centre and Lochaber, on the llth of June, 1895,
he was translated to the Presbytery of Pictou, and St. Ann's was vacant
once more.

The congregation found its next pastor in one of her own sons, the Rev.
Malcolm N. McLeod. Mr. McLeod was born at Little Narrows, Vic
toria County, on the 1st of January, 1841, but early in life he came to Big
Hill, within the bounds of the St. Ann's congregation. In spite of very
poor educational facilities at Big Hill, Mr. McLeod qualified himself for a
teacher, and taught school until he was well along in life.

When twenty-eight years of age, he gave his heart to the sinners
Saviour, and his life to that Saviour's service. Thereafter, he took an
active part in every good cause and work that came to his hand. For
several years before entering upon his studies for the ministry, he was an
active elder in the congregation. From 1880 to 1888 he was in the service
of the British American Book and Tract Society as a colporteur. During,
these years he rendered excellent service to the whole island of Cape Breton
by the distribution of the Scriptures and of religious literature in the homes
of our people. In the latter year, the Presbytery of Sydney, recognizing:
Mr. McLeod's piety, prudence and aptness in instructing and in exhorting
asked the General Assembly to prescribe a short course of study for him,,
with a view to entering the Christian ministry. After taking a three year
course in the Presbyterian College, Mr. McLeod was licensed by the Pres
bytery of Victoria and Richmond on the 26th of May, 1891. In Novem
ber, 1892, Mr. McLeod was sent to Cape North by the Presbytery of Syd
ney, as an ordained Missionary. On July 24th, 1894, on the unanimous
request of that congregation, Mr. McLeod was duly inducted as pastor of
Cape North. After a pastorate of sixteen months, he accepted a call to
St. Ann's and was inducted on the 4th of December, 1895. Mr. McLeod
spent the next seven or eight years in the pastorate of his native congrega
tion, with much credit to himself and benefit to the people.

In the year 1906, Mr. McLeod accepted a call to Dundas, Prince Ed
ward Island. He remained in that charge until August, 1914, when he re
signed and retired from the active duties of the ministry. He is now en
joying a well earned rest among his relatives in Baddeck the Shire town of
Victoria County.

In March, 1903, St. Ann's and Englishtown applied to the Presbytery
for the settlement of a Mr. John Buchannan, as ordained missionary over
them for one year. Mr. Buchannan's papers were not quite satisfactory
to the Presbytery; nevertheless the prayer of the congregation was granted
and Mr. Buchannan was installed. Mr. Buchannan's ministry was very
brief. On the 24th of January 1904, he resigned the charge and went to
western Canada.

The next minister of St. Ann's was the Rev. J. A. McLellan, B.A.,
now of Valleyfield, P.E. Island. Mr. McLellan was born at Kempt Road
Richmond County, C. B., on June the 1st, 1874. He graduated from Dal-
housie University in the spring of 1906, and from the Presbyterian College
in the spring of 1908. He was licensed by the Presbytery of Sydney on

77

the 5th of May, and ordained and inducted as minister of St. Ann's and
Englishtown on the 28th day of May, 1908.

Mr. McLellan's ministry continued three years, and during that time
he proved himself to be an excellent pastor, as well as an efficient and
faithful preacher of the Gospel.

On the 16th of May, 1911, Mr. McLellan accepted a call to Malaga-
watch and River Denys. He was inducted into that charge on the llth
day of June following. In June 1920 he accepted a call. to Valleyfield, P.
E. Island.

The successor of Mr. McLellan in the pastorate of St. Ann's and
Englishtown was Mr. John McColl, a native of the Isle of Skye, Scotland.
Mr. McColl was educated partly in Scotland, and partly in the Presbyter
ian College, Montreal. He was licensed by the Montreal Presbytery in
the spring of 1911. He came to Cape Breton during that summer and was
called by the congregation of St. Ann's and Englishtown. His ordination
and induction by the Sydney Presbytery took place on the 23rd of Nov
ember, 1911. Mr. McColl's pastorate was unusually short. On the 17th
of the following May he resigned the charge and removed to Ontario, where
he served as an ordained missionary for three or four years.

On November 3rd, 1915, Mr. McColl was settled in the congregation
of Strathalbyn and Rose Valley in the Presbytery of Prince Edward Island,
where he died on the 21st of August 1917, in the forty-second year of his
life, and the sixth year of his ministry.

The next minister of this congregation was Mr. Norman McLeod, B.A.,
a native of the island of Lewis, but a graduate of Saskatoon College, Al
berta. Mr. McLeod's induction took place on the 18th of May, 1916
Five months later, on October the 31st, he accepted a call to Knox Church,
Port Arthur, and was thereupon translated from the Presbytery of Sydney
to the Presbytery of Superior.

The present minister of St. Ann's is the Rev. J. Allister Murray. He
also is a native of the island of Lewis, an island that has distinguished itself
by the number of great and good men that were born there. Mr. Murray
came to this world on the 9th of September 1865. He took his Arts Course in
the University of Glasgow, after some years spent in lay missionary work in
the highlands and islands of Scotland. Mr. Murray came to Canada in the
year 1901, and was engaged in home missionary work during the summer
months of the next few years. The winter months he spent in Manitoba
College in preparation for the ministry of the Presbyterian Church. After
graduating in Theology from that institution in the spring of 1905, he was
licensed by the Presbytery of Winnipeg.

In order to find use for his Gaelic speaking talent, Mr. Murray came to
Cape Breton in the year 1911. In July of that year he was called and in
ducted into the pastoral charge of Middle River. Here he remained during
the next seven years, and rendered faithful and efficient service.

On May the 3rd, 1918, Mr. Murray was inducted into the pastorate of
St. Ann's and Englishtown, where he is still holding forth the word of life
and making full proof of his ministry.

78

There have been four churches built within the bounds of St. Ann's
and Englishtown congregation during the past century. The first was
built at Black Cove in the year 1821, in the second year of the existence of
the congregation. This was the first Presbyterian Church built on the
island of Cape Breton. It was not large, but large enough for a place of
worship at that time and for many years thereafter. This church was
built on the shore in order that it might be easily accessible to the people.
There were no roads at that time, and everybody went to church by boat.
This church served the settlement as a school-house until a school-house
was built some years later. The St. Ann's people had excellent educational
facilities provided for them by the Rev. Norman McLeod from the very
outset, and during the whole of his ministry.

The second church was built on rising ground, overlooking Black Cove
in the year 1846, and it served the community as a place of worship until
1893, when the present church was built. It was then taken down, and
much of its lumber was used in the construction of the third church. That
second church was an immense structure for those days. There were
probably few churches in Cape Breton at that time so large, commodious,
or well finished. It was sixty feet in length and forty feet in width. The
walls were twenty feet in height. It had four entrances to the ground floor,
and two stairways to the galleries, which ran around three sides of the
building. This church was finished throughout, and seated to accommo
date one thousand worshippers.

The third, or present church, stands a couple of miles west of the
original site and at a point more convenient and central for the congrega
tion of today. It is a well built and commodious structure.

The fourth church was built at Englishtown in the year 1893. Pre
vious to that time, all divine services conducted at Englishtown were held
in the school-house of that district.

St. Ann's has a good manse with a large glebe attached This manse
was built in 1907, during the ministry of the Rev. J. A. McLellan.

St. Ann's congregation has given a goodly number of excellent men
to the ministry of our church; viz. Malcolm N. McLeod, Angus McMillan,
Murdoch Buchannan, Kenneth J. McDonald, William S. Fraser, John W.
Smith, J. R. McLeod, William N. McAulay, and A. D. McAulay.

The presbyteries of Sydney and Inverness, under whose auspices this
centennial celebration is held today, congratulate the people of St. Ann's
"on a hundred years of congregational life.* This congregation has made
an honorable record for itself in the hundred years that are now past. The
hope and prayer of these presbyteries is that it may make a still more hon
orable record for itself in the hundred years upon which it is now entering.

As we recall the past, we are impressed with the great changes that
time has wrought; and the contrast between the conditions that prevailed
in those old days and the conditions that prevail today. In many ways
we live in a new and different world. We enjoy privileges and advantages
that our fathers never dreamed of. Let us remember that these privileges
and advantages carry corresponding responsibilities, that "To whom

79

much is given, of them much shall be required." Our fathers and mothers
did their duty by themselves, their children, their church and their God,
with great faithfulness. Let us be true to their example and walk in their
footsteps. Thus shall we pass on to our children the heritage of prayer-
fulness and piety that our fathers have passed on to us. Let us rise to the
height of our responsibilities in all the relations of life, and let us be stimu
lated in every good effort and duty by the thought of the godly ministers,
elders, fathers, mothers and friends who have gone before us, "who have
fought the good fight, finished their course and kept the faith," and are
now enjoying the "rest that remaineth for the people of God." The writer
6f the Epistle to the Hebrews conceives of those who had lived and died
in faith as interested spectators of living men and women in their efforts
to attain to full Salvation; and writes in Hebrews 12: 1, "Wherefore, seeing,
we also are compassed about" with so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside every weight and the sin that doth so easily beset us, and
let us run with patience the race set before us looking unto Jesus, the au
thor and finisher of our faith."

*This paper was read at the centenary service held at St. Ann's on July
8th, 1920.

80

Mabou and its Ministry.

Mabou Congregation has the distinction of being the second oldest
Presbyterian Congregation on the Island of Cape Breton. It has also the
distinction of being the first to extend a call to a minister as well as the first
to have its call accepted and the first to have a minister settled over it by
the action of a Presbytery. It has a still further distinction for it is the
only congregation on the Island of Cape Breton that was ever under the
supervision of the original Presbytery of Pictou. This Presbytery was or
ganized on July the 7, 1795, and it was the third Presbytery formed in the
Dominion of Canada.

Port Hood was included in the Mabou congregation from its organiza
tion on August the 24th, 1821 until 1909, when it was separated and formed
into a mission field.

The first protestant settlers of this congregation were Capt. David
Smith and his family, consisting of Mrs. Smith, six sons and one daughter.
The maiden name of Mrs. Smith was Rebecca Lambert. Mr. Smith was a
United Empire Loyalist and a seafaring man. He came from Cape Cod to
Port Hood Island in his own vessel in the year 1787. Here he and three of
his sons, Isaac, Parker and John, settled down to fish and farm. Two of
his sons, Lewis and David, found their way to Mabou and took up land
on the north side of Mabou River, between Glendyer and Hillsboro. They
were the first Protestants that settled in Mabou. Harding, the sixth of the
Smith sons, returned to Cape Cod. Samuel A. Smith of Port Hood is a
grandson of Captain David Smith. Capt. Smith came to an untimely end
in the year 1789.

On a fine March morning in that year Mr. Smith took three of his boys,
Lewis, David and Isaac out on the drift ice in order to kill seals. While
thus engaged, the current moved the pan of ice upon which they were away
from the land. Capt. Smith plunged into the ice-cold water with the in
tention of swimming ashore, obtaining a boat and saving his sons. He
reached the edge of the board ice, but was so benumbed that he could not
climb out of the water. He sank and perished. His body was never
found, but a monument in the Protestant Cemetery of Port Hood com
memorates his tragic end. The boys were carried out to sea and given up
for lost. But after spending a night on the ice without food or shelter, on
the following day, the wind changed and drove the ice to the shore again.
The young lads jumped ashore and found their way home, not much
worse for their terrible experience.

One of the early Protestant settlers on the Mabou River was Captain
Benjamin Worth. He, too, was a United Empire Loyalist. He was born
in New Jersey, U. S., in the year 1754, and like Captain Smith he was a sea
faring man. He came to the mouth of the Mabou River in his own vessel in
the year 1786. He spent his life there fishing and trading, and died there
on January 20th, 1827. It was Captain Benjamin Worth that brought Dr.

81

James McGregor from Charlottetown to Pictou in the summer of 1791
after Dr. McGregor's first visit to Prince Edward Island. In 1818 when
Dr. McGregor paid his first and last visit to Mabou he was the guest for
some days of his old friend, Captain Worth.

Lewis Smith, son of Captain David Smith, came to Mabou in the year
1796, in the twenty-fifth year of his age. He married Christena Worth, a
daughter of Benjamin Worth, and had a large family. All the Smiths at
Mabou are descendants of this pair. Lewis Smith himself was killed by a
bull in May, 1846, in the seventy-fifth year of his age. His wife lived to be
eighty-three years of age.

Another of the early Presbyterians was William McKeen, subsequent
ly the Hon. Wi liam McKeen so well and favorably known as a legislative
councillor. Mr. McKeen was born at Truro, N. S., on the 18th of August
and he died at Mabou on May the 17th, 1865, in the 76th year of his age.
When a young man he spent some time in the vicinity of New Glasgow, and
became acquainted with Dr. McGregor. In 1811 he lived for some time
in the Musquodoboit Valley, where he met and married his wife, a Miss
McDougall. It was in the year, 1812, that Mr. McKeen came to
Mabou. He settled at the mouth of the River and for many years he did
a large business as farmer and merchant. Mr. McKeen was the father of
twenty-four children, twelve of them by his first wife and twelve by his
second wife. His second wife was Christianna Smith, a daughter of Lewis
Smith and Christina Worth.

The Hon. David McKeen, late Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia,
was one of the Hon. William McKeen 's sons by his second marriage.

The Murray's and Hawley's have been prominent families in the
Mabou congregation for two or three generations. John Murray came to
Mabou in the year 1825. He was born of Irish and Roman Catholic
parents in St. John's, Newfoundland, in the year 1804. For a number of
years Mr. Murray clerked for Mr. McKeen at the mouth of the River.
After acquiring a good knowledge of business as well as a sufficient amount
of capital, he opened a general store on his own account at North East
Mabou, and later at Hillsboro. Mr. Murray was very successful in busi
ness and he acquired a very considerable amount of substance. He mar
ried Rachael Smith, a daughter of Lewis Smith, and had a large family.
Mr. Murray and his family were very generous supports of the Presbyterian
church in all her enterprises.

The first Presbyterian minister that came to Mabou was the Rev.
James McGregor, D. D., of Pictou. This was in 1818, and it is more than
likely that Dr. McGregor's visit to Mabou on this occasion was made at the
solicitation of his friends, Benjamin Worth and William McKeen. The
reader will find an account of that visit under another head in this volume.

The first minister of the congregation of Mabou and Port Hood was the
Rev. William Millar. He is spoken of elsewhere as one of the Pioneer
Ministers of Cape Breton, and hence we need not say anything about him
in this connection.

82

The second minister of the congregation was the Rev. James McLean
D. D. Mr. McLean was born at Springville, East River, Pictou, on March
2, 1828. He grew up in a pious home and his mind was inclined to the gos
pel ministry from his earliest years. In the year 1848 the Presbyterian
church of Nova Scotia opened a Seminary at Durham, on the west River of
Pictou, for the purpose of training young men for her ministry. Mr. Mc
Lean was one of the first students of that institution. Here he studied
arts and theology under Professors James Ross, John Kerr, and James
Smith. After finishing the prescribed course of study in October, 1853,
Mr. McLean was licensed to preach the gospel by the Presbytery of Pictou
on the first Tuesday of January, 1854.

During the following summer, Mr. McLean received two calls, one
rom the congregation of Gay's River; Lower Stewiacke, and Shubenacadie
in the Presbytery of Truro; the other from the congregation of Mabou and
Port Hood in the Presbytery of Pictou. He accepted the Cape Breton call,
and was ordained and inducted at Mabou on Monday, November the 13th,
1854, by the Presbytery of Pictou. The Rev. D&vid Honeyman of Anti-
gonish preached the ordination sermon on that occasion; the Rev. James
Bayne of Pictou presided and inducted Mr. McLean; the Rev. David Roy
of New Glasgow addressed the minister, and the Rev. James Watson of
Durham addressed the people. The Rev. Wm. Millar who was present
closed the solemn and interesting exercises by pronouncing the benedic
tion.

The congregation had an organized existence of 33 years, and yet this
was the first time that its Presbytery had the opportunity of meeting
within its bounds. It is also to be observed that it was the last. Indeed,
this was the first, last, and only time that the Presbytery of Pictou was
constituted on the island of Cape Breton. By the year 1861, when the
next ordination took place in Mabou, the Union of 1860 had taken place,
and the Mabou congregation had been placed under the care of the Pres
bytery of Victoria in the United Church.

Mr. McLean did not remain long in this charge, but while he was here
he labored with great diligence and great success. In the autumn of 1855,
the congregation of Gay's River, etc., sent him a second call, which he
accepted, much to the disappointment of the Mabou and Port Hood people.

It should be added that the Jubilee of the Rev. James McLean's or
dination was celebrated in the Hillsboro church, Mabou, on September
the 13th, 1904. On the 20th of July, 1904, the Senate of the Presbyterian
College had conferred on Mr. McLean the honorary degree of Doctor of
Divinity, in recognition of his half century of faithful service, and it was
fitting that the Mabou congregation, in which he was ordained, should invite
him back and honor him by such a service.

Dr. McLean lived to a good old age. He died at the home of his son,
in Calgary, Alta., Feb. 25th, 1915 in the eighty-seventh year of his age, and
fifty-ninth of his ministry.

83

The removal of Mr. McLean was followed by a vacancy of six years.

On June the 19th, 1861, Mr. Alexander McDonald, a licentiate of the
Free Church of Scotland, was ordained and inducted as pastor. We do
not know much about Mr. McDonald. In the year 1865 he resigned and
returned to Scotland, where he lived and labored for several years.

Mr. McDonald's successor in the ministry of Mabou and Port Hood
was Mr. William Sinclair, a native of Goshen, Antigonish County, and a
graduate of our own institution of learning at Halifax. His ordination and
induction took place on November the 7th, 1865. Mr. Sinclair's ministry
was cut short by tuberculosis on February the 4th, 1870 His mortal
remains were laid to rest in the old cemetery on the south side of the river
where so many of the early settlers of Mabou are sleeping their long, last
sleep. The congregation shewed their appreciation of Mr. Sinclair and his
work by the erection to his memory of a marble monument.

Mr. Sinclair's death was followed by a vacancy of four years. At the
end of that time the congregation extended a call to Mr. Alexander F.
Thompson, which he accepted, and his induction took place on September
the 8th, 1874. Mr. Thompson laboured in this field until January the
21st, 1879, when he accepted a call to the congregation of Economy and
Five Islands in the Presbytery of Truro.

Mr. Thompson was born on the West River of Antigonish, April 8th,
1842, and was educatd at Dalhousie University and the Presbyterian Col
lege, Halifax. He departed this life at Truro, N. S., on July 18th, 1916,
in the 74th year of his age.

Mr. Thompson was a good preacher and also a very energetic and faith
ful pastor. During his ministry in Mabou and Port Hood, large additions
were made to the membership of the church in both sections of the con
gregation.

The Rev. Edward Roberts succeeded Mr. Thompson after an interval
of three years. Mr. Roberts was a native of Wales, England, and was born
in the year 1822. He received his education in the old land. He was or
dained to the Baptist ministry in his native principality, and served the
church in Wales in that capacity for a number of years. He came to Nova
Scotia in the year 1875, and some years later was received into the Pres
byterian Church. His induction at Mabou took place on Dec 12th, 1828.
He demitted the charge towards the end of 1886. Mr. Roberts died at St.
John, N. B., on Dec. 15th, 1914, in the 92nd year of his age. Mr. Roberts
was a superior preacher, but his temperament and early training in an In
dependent church were not conductive to good success in a Presbyterian
congregation.

The next minister of Mabou, etc., was a Scotchman by the name of
Gloag. He was inducted on the 14th of August, 1888. After a pastorate
of two years he resigned on the first of July, 1880, and returned to Scotland.

The Rev. Ernest S. Bayne succeeded Mr. Gloag. His memory is still
green and fragrant among this affectionate and loyal people, whom he
served so faithfully for a period of twenty-eight years. He was inducted

84

on August 14th, 1890, and passed to his reward on Dec. 30th, 1918. Mr.
Bayne was a son of the Rev. James Bayne, D. D., of Pictou. He studied
at Pictou Academy, Dalhousie University and Princeton Seminary, U. S.
Mr. Bayne was a man of a genial disposition and a guileless character. He
was ever loyal to his master and faithful to the highest interests of his peo-
pie.

Six months after Mr. Bayne's death, the congregation called the
Rev. Donald Fraser, B. A., to the pastorate. The reader is referred to the
chapter on St. Peter's for an account of Mr. Fraser and his work.

Mr. Fraser was inducted at Mabou on September 10th, 1918. He is
here still and it is hoped that his health may be such as to enable him to
spend the remainder of his ministry in the picturesque valley of the Mabou
River.

There have been three churches built in Mabou. The first church was
one of the earliest built on this island. The church at St. Ann's was the
first, the church at Mabou the second, and the church at Malagawatch was
the third.

The first church stood on the South east side of the river and on the
site of the old cemetery still visible there. This church was subsequently
removed to the north-west side of the river and erected near where the New
Cemetery is located.

The second church was built on the site of the present church in the
year 1856. In 1888, the present handsome and commodious church was
built at a cost of $3,500. There is a hall in Mabou village in which services
are held every Sabbath evening.

The congregation had no manse for its minister until 1892, during Mr.
Bayne's pastorate, when it purchased the 'plain, but substantial and com
fortable residence of the late Mr. John Murray from his executors.

Mabou has always done its duty very generously by the missionary
enterprises of the Presbyterian church. It was one of the thirty congre
gations that furnished the funds to send the Rev. John Geddie to the New
Hebrides in 1846.

Port Hood ceased to be a part of the Mabou congregation in the year
1909.

Mabou has had a succession of excellent men in the eldership from
William Watts, John Smith and James Hawley, who composed the first
session down to the present time. On that roll of intelligent and godly
Presbyters are found such names as Benjamin Smith, John McKeen, Wil-
lam McKeen, James Smith, Walter McDonald and others too numerous to
mention.

Mabou has given two excellent men to the ministry of our church
viz. John Hawley and Robert P. Murray. Hawley died a number of
years ago in P. E. Island. Mr. Murray is now minister of Central Econ
omy, Colchester, N. S.

85

Port Hastings, etc., and its Ministry.

It is impossible to determine the time when the earliest Presbyterians
came to the Strait of Canso, probably about the year 1812 or 1815. When
Dr. McGregor paid his second visit to Cape Breton in 1818, he found twenty
families at West Bay and twenty or thirty more at River Inhabitants.
These forty to fifty families were all Presbyterians. Dr. McGregor does not
make mention of any Presbyterian families on the Strait of Canso but there
must have been a few there at that time. Nine or ten years later there was a
fairly large Presbyterian population in this vicinity. This is evident from a
letter that was written at the Strait of Canso on the 10th of April, 1827, and
addressed to the Colonial Committee of the Church of Scotland. This
letter was signed by, John Cameron, J. P,, Hugh Millar, J. P., and Angus
Grant, J. P., three Justices "of the Peace. In that letter these three men
appealed to the Committee to send them a minister of the gospel. They
claim to speak in the name of ninetyPresbyterian families who were then liv
ing within an area of twelve miles in length on the strait and of f out miles in
breadth inland. They state that sixty of the ninety families had already
subscribed eighty pounds for the support of a minister, and that although
they had no church at that time, they were ready to build one as soon as a
minster arrived.

The first Presbyterian service ever held on the Strait, so far as known
was conducted by the Rev. John McLennan of Belfast, P. E. Island, and
the Rev. Donald Allan Fraser of McLennan's Mountain, Pictou. This
service was held either at Port Hastings or Port Hawkesbury, about the
end of October, 1827, as these two men were returning from a missionary
tour to the different Presbyterian settlements then in Cape Breton. In the
report of that visit which Mr. McLennan sent to the Colonial Committee,
on his return home, he says of the Gut of Canso. "Here I met my friend, Mr.
Fraser after returning from his circuit. We both preached on Sabbath to a
numerous congregation and baptised twelve children. Along the sides of this
much frequented sound, there are at least one hundred Protestant families."

On this occasion Mr. Fraser made arrangements by which the Strait
of Canso and River Inhabitants were to form one pastoral charge, when a
minister should be found.

Four years later on January the 1st, 1832, the Rev. Dugald McKichan
became the first minister of this congregation; but the congregation was
formed in October, 1827. The present congregation of Port Hastings and
Port Hawkesbury is the legitimate successor of the congregation that was
constituted at that time. A biographical account of Mr. McKichan will
be found elsewhere. He was one of the Pioneers and is entitled to a place
among them.

About this time there was a Jersey fishing establishment at Ship Har
bor (now Port Hawkesbury), conducted by one Andrew Le Brocq, a
Methodist in religion. He erected a small church here in 1828 and offered

86

that church to the Wesleyan Missionary Society on condition that a Meth
odist minister should be sent to occupy the pulpit. The offer was accepted
and in the following year the Rev. James G.Hennigar came here. He is repor
ted to have preached to large and attentive congregations, and to have made
a number of converts at Ship Harbor as well as at adjacent settlements. In
this way Methodism got an advantage of Presbyterianism at Port Hawkes-
bury and vicinity. The Protestants on the strait at that time were chiefly
of the Presbyterian faith, but they had no minister and did not get one until
1,832, when the Rev. Dugald McKichan came to River Inhabitants. By that
time the Methodists were well established at Port Hawkesbury, Sunnyside,
Port Malcolm and West Bay Road, and Presbyterianism has been weak in
these places ever since.

The first Presbyterian Church built at the Strait of Canso was built in
the early part of Mr. McKichan's ministry, probably in 1832. It stood on
the highway to Port Hood and a little north of Plaster Cove. The ceme
tery on the north west side of the Long Stretch road marks the site of that
first church. All trace of it has now disappeared. This is the church in
which the Rev. Alexander Farquharson preached his first sermon after or
dination by the Presbytery of Miramichi on the 16th of September 1833,
and the church in which the Rev. John Stewart preached his first sermon
on this side of the Atlantic on August the 24th, 1834. Mr. Stewart wrote
of it as "a half-finished church which was supplied on alternate Sabbaths by
Mr. McKichan." The church was never finished, and during the long
vacanacy between the departure of Mr. McKichan in 1840 and the settle
ment of Mr. Forbes in 1853, it was allowed to go to decay. The second
church was built in the year 1852.

This church also stood on the old Port Hood Road, but about a mile
nearer Port Hawkesbury than the first one. An abandoned cemetery on
the east side of the present highway marks the site of this church. This
church was destroyed by fire while undergoing repairs on August llth,
1865.

A third church was built in the following year, 1866. It also stood on
the old Port Hood Road, but on a site intermediate between the other two
sites, and on the western bank of Plaster Cove. This church was never
finished inside.

The present church was built in the year 1881 near the centre of the
town of Port Hastings.

The fifth church was built at Port Hawkesbury in the year 1911. Pre
vious to that time the few Presbyterians at Port Hawkesbury and Sunny-
side were expected to come to Port Hastings to worship. The policy of
leaving Port Hawkesbury so long without a church and services was a ser
ious mistake for our cause in that vicinity. It almost extinguished Pres
byterianism at Port Hawkesbury as it did actually at Sunnyside and Port
Malcolm.

We had no minister at Port Hastings from 1840 to 1852. These were

87

trying years on the loyalty of our people in this community, but there were
a few godly laymen that saved the situation to some extent by conducting
public worship regularly on the Lord's Day. In this connection the names
of John McKinnon, Alexander Cameron and John Campbell are worthy of
special mention. John Campbell was for many years the leader of these
services. He also conducted a Sabbath School as well as a day school at
Port Hastings during many years.

The Rev. William G. Forbes was the second minister of the congrega
tion. He was ordained and inducted by the Free Church Presbytery of
Cape Breton in the month of August, 1852, as minister of "Plaster Cove,
River Inhabitants and River Denys," Shortly after his settlement he
purchased a home for himself at Plaster Cove and here he spent the re
mainder of his life as minister of this extensive charge. He resigned the
charge on account of age and infirmity on the 30th of June, 1881. He de
parted this life on September 20th, 1886, in the 86th year of his age, and the
34th of his ministry.

The Presbyterian Witness of September 25th, 1886, containing the fol
lowing obituary notice of Mr. Forbes.

"Mr. Forbes was the first student of the Free Church College, Halifax,
to be licensed and ordained. He was licensed by the Presbytery of Halifax
in June 1851. He was ordained at Plaster Cove in 1852. His congregation
included River Inhabitants and River Denys, as well as Plaster Cove and
all the surrounding country. This was his first and only charge In 1860,
he was unanimously elected moderator of the Free Church Synod, and was
moderator at the time of the union of 1860, the last moderator of the Free
Church. He was a good preacher, especially in Gaelic. He was of a very
cheerful disposition, and an Israelite without guile."

Mr. Forbes was born in North Ronaldshay in the Orkneys, in 1800.
He taught school for a number of years in Scotland before coming to this
country in 1847. He studied theology at the Free Church College between
1848 and 1851. He was one of the first graduates of that institution in the
spring of 1851.

After Mr. Forbes resigned in 1881, there was a vacancy of six years in
the pastorate of the congregation. During these years several student
catechists rendered good service in the summer time, e. g., Mr. H. K. Mc
Lean, Roderick McLeod and Donald McDonald.

In the summer of 1887, the congregation extended a call to Mr. Donald
McDonald, M. A., B. D., a recent graduate of our own college, Halifax.
Mr. McDonald accepted the call and was ordained and inducted as minis
ter of Port Hastings and River Inhabitants on the 7th day of September.
By this time River Denys had been separated from the congregation and
attached to Malagawatch. This change was made on the retirement of
Mr. Forbes in 1881.

Mr. McDonald was born at the Big Intervale, Aspy Bay, on July the
21st, 1855. He had few educational advantages in his native place, but he
made the best use of those which he had. After attending Sydney Academy

88

for two sessions, and teaching school for a couple of years, he matriculated
into Dalhousie University in the fall of 1881. In the sprang of 1884, he
graduated with the degree of Master of Arts. His theological studies were
taken at the Presbyterian College, Halifax, from which he graduated as
Bachelor of Divinity in the spring of 1887. Mr. McDonald labored dili
gently and successfully in the congregation until the autumn of 1893, when
he resigned. A few months later he accepted a call to Strathlorne congre
gation.

The Rev. Hector McLean was the next minister of this congregation.
He was a native of the Middle River, Victoria County, C. B., where he was
born on Nov. 13th, 1853. When a youth, Mr. McLean started out to learn
the carriage building trade, but having come under the power of the gospel,
and tasted its preciousness, he decided to become a preacher of that gospel
to his fellowmen. After the usual course of study at Dalhousie University
and the Presbyterian College, he was duly licensed in the spring of 1887.
Very shortly thereafter,he was called to be minister of Union Centre and
Lochaber in the Presbytery of Pictou, where his ordination took place in
June, 1887.

Mr. McLean was minister in succession of the following charges: viz.,
Union Centre and Lochaber, Acadia Mines, Parrsboro, Port Hastings,
Onslow and Chicope, U. S.

He was inducted as minister of Port Hastings, River Inhabitants, and
Port Hawkesbury, on September 9th, 1903. He left for Onslow in May,
1906, greatly esteemed and beloved. Mr. McLean died at his old home on
the Middle River August 28th, 1915. He came to Cape Breton to rest,
recuperate and return to Chicope. But his work was done. After a few
days illness he passed to the Higher Service. To quote the words on his
tombstone in the cemetery at Middle River, he was "a man of singular
purity,and nobility of character; a man of rare faithfulness and a spiritual
power."

The Rev. L. H. McLean succeeded his namesake in the pastorate of
this congregation. He too, was one of Cape Breton's sons, having been
born at Strathlorne on July 9th, 1866. His preparatory education was re
ceived at the Normal School, Truro and Pictou Academy. He studied
Arts in Queens University, from which he graduated B. A. in 1894. He
studied theology in the Presbyterian College, Halifax, and graduated in
April, 1897. The same year he received the degree of M. A. from Dal
housie.

Mr. McLean was licensed on May 24th, 1897, and ordained and induct
ed at Port Hastings on the 12th of October in that same year. He took a
post graduate course at Queen's University, and also at the United Free
College, Glasgow, some years later. On his return from Scotland, Mr.
McLean was called to St. Andrew's, Pictou, where he remained until his
resignation on December 31st, 1815.

On March 14th, 1918, Mr. McLean was inducted at Newcastle, N. B.,

89

where he is still, and where he is maintaining his reputation as a preacher,
pastor and scholar.

During Mr. McLean's ministry on May the 16th, 1899, River Inhabit
ants was separated from Port Hastings and a larger proportion of the pastors
labor was given to Port Hawkesbury.

The next minister of Port Hastings and Port Hawkesbury was the
Rev. John C. McLeod. Mr. McLeod was born at Big Glace Bay or Dom
inion No. 6, on January 18th, 1874.

Believing that he should make the best possible -use of his life, he re
solved to study for the ministry of the Presbyterian Church. With this
end in view, he studied at Pictou Academy, Dalhousie University and the
Presbyterian College. After graduating in arts from Dalhousie in the year
1899, Mr. McLeod continued his studied at the college, and graduated in
the spring of 1901. On May the 28th, 1901, he wag licensed by the Pres
bytery of Sydney and in June following, he was ordained and inducted as
minister of Leitches Creek, C. B.

Three years later Mr. McLeod was called to Gairloch in the Presbytery
of Pictou, where he was inducted in August, 1904. After a ministry of
three years at Gairloch, Mr. McLeod received a call to Port Hastings and
Port Hawkesbury, which he accepted, and his induction took place on
June the 27th, 1907. Here Mr. McLeod proved himself to be a "workman
that needeth not be ashamed, rightly divining the word of truth."

In September, 1912, he accepted a call to Lanark in the Presbytery of
Glengarry, and was translated thither by the Presbytery of Inverness.

He is now in Battleford in the province of Saskatchewan.

After a vacancy of over a year, the congregation secured the service,
as temporary supply, of the Rev. John Murray, who had recently retired
from the active duties of the ministry. Mr. Murray remained in Port
Hastings for a period of two years and three months, from January 1st,
1914, to April 1st, 1917. The following winter the congregation recalled
the Rev. Donald McDonald, B. D., to be their pastor after an interval of
twenty-four years. Mr. McDonald was happily situated at Grand River
at the time, but he responded favorably to their call, and his induction took
place on February the 1st, 1917.

This congregation has a good manse and it is located on one of the
finest sites on the Strait of Canso. It was built in the year 1889, during Mr.
McDonald's first pastorate in the congregation.

90

Middle River and its Ministry

The Middle River Congregation takes its name from the river upon
which it is located. The Indian name for this river was "Wagamatook,"
which meant, the clear water, a very appropriate name indeed.

From the outlet, on St. Patrick's Channel to the head waters of the
Middle River,there is a distance of about thirty miles and both sides of the
river are lined with Presbyterian homes and farms There is, no doubt,
bolder and grander scenery on the Margaree, the North River of Aspy
Bay and South Ingonish, but there is no more beautiful scenery in
Cape Breton than is to be found on the Middle River.

The soil on the banks of this river is excellent for agricultural pur
poses and the people are all in good circumstances. They are also intelli
gent, religious and happy. They are all the descendants of Gaelic speaking
highlanders who came to this beautiful valley about one hundred years ago.
Many of them still speak the language of their ancestors, the old Celtic
tongue that was spoken in Caledonia more than two thousand years ago.

The earliest Scottish settlers on the Middle River went to Prince
Edward Island in the first instance and from there they came to this place
about the year 1820, some of them a few years earlier. Among those who
came by way of P. E. I. there was Donald McRae, great grandfather of the
Rev. William McKenzie our first missionary to Korea; Peter Campbell,
great grandfather of Mrs. James Fraser our minister at Dominion No. 6,
C. B.; Kenneth McLeod, great grandfather of the Rev. H. K. McLean,
and Roderick McKenzie, grandfather of the late Rev. Alexander Far-
quharson of St. Andrews, Sydney.

In the year 1833, when the Rev. Alexander Farquharson came to the
Middle River, there were about sixty families living in the valley of the
Wagamatook. The majority of these came from Scotland in the interval
between 1820 and 1833.

During Mr. Farquharson's ministry Lake Ainslie was associated with
the Middle River in the maintenance of gospel ordinances. Middle River
took two-thirds of Mr. Farquharson's services and Lake Ainslie one-third.

After Mr. Farquharson's death in Jan. 1858 a vacancy of nearly six
years took place in the pastorate, which proved very injurious to the inter
ests of religion on the Middle River. During this time an enemy came and
sowed tares among the wheat. For some years there was strife, discord and
confusion in this hitherto peaceful community. That was a very distress
ing episode in the history of the congregation. It would serve no good pur
pose, to go into particulars of that strife at this late date, when nearly all
the parties concerned have gone to judgment.

Mr. Farquharson's successor in the ministry of Middle River was the
Rev. Donald McKenzie, a licentiate of the Free Church of Scotland. He
was sent out from Scotland by the Colonial Committee of that Church in
order to fill the vacancy that had existed for so many years at Middle River
and Lake Ainslie.

91

On his arrival the people united in extending a call to Mr. McKenzie.
He was ordained and inducted at Middle River on the nineteenth day of
April 1864, and he remained in the pastorate until the 7th of March, 1870,
when he resigned the charge and returned to Scotland.

Mr. McKenzie was very highly esteemed in both sections of the con
gregation and all deplored his departure. The early part of his ministry
was rendered very unhappy by the presence at Middle River of a minister
of the Kirk Presbytery of Pictou and by the efforts that minister made to
alienate the good people of the river section from their own church. Hap
pily, these efforts were ultimately a complete failure, but they must have
been very trying to a man of Mr. McKenzie's peaceful disposition, as they
were to a large majority of his people.

The third ministry of Middle River was the Rev. Adam McKay.
Between the departure of Mr. McKenzie and the arrival of Mr. McKay a
re-arrangement of congregational boundaries had been made in this
vicinity. Lake Ainslie had been separated from the Middle River and
formed into a new charge, while Little Narrows had been separated from
Whycocomagh and united to Middle River to form another new charge.
These changes were made by the Presbytery of the bounds on the 6th of
Dec. 1870.

The Rev. Adam McKay was born in Sutherlandshire, Scotland, but
he grew up to manhood, in Earltown, Colchester County, N. S. As a
young man he learned the blacksmith trade and he wrought at the anvil
until over thirty years of age. Hearing and obeying the call to service for
Jesus Christ, he dropped his tools and entered upon a course of preparation
for the gospel ministry.

We are not sure where he studied but we know that he was ordained
and inducted at Culross in the Province of Ontario. He was inducted into
the congregation of Middle River and Little Narrows on the 13th of Nov.
1871. After a very strenuous and sucessful ministry of four years in this
charge he was called to Ripley in t;Jie Presbytery of Bruce, where he was
inducted in the month of Oct. 1875. He died in Ripley some years later.

Mr. McKay was a man of uncommon earnestness and burning zeal in
his Master's service. He excelled as a preacher in the Gaelic language and
the common people heard him gladly.

Mr. McKay was succeeded in the charge of Middle River and Little
Narrows by the Rev. Alexander McRae, a native of Kintail, Rosshire,
Scotland, where he was born in the year 1820. His arts course was taken
in the University of Glasgow, and his theological course, partly in the Free
Church College Glasgow and partly in Knox College, Toronto. He grad
uated from Knox College in the spring of 1871. During the next four
years he supplied various Home Mission fields in Ontario. He came to
Cape Breton towards the end of 1876, and shortly after his arrival he was
called to the pastorate of Middle River and Little Narrows. His ordina
tion and induction took place at Middle River on the 7th day of June 1877.
After a faithful pastorate of sixteen years Mr. McRae resigned this charge
and retired from the active duties of the ministry on the 7th of June 1893.

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The remainder of his life was spent at the Inlet near Baddeck where he died
on the 30th of Oct. 1904 in the eighty-fourth year of his life and thirty-
third of his ministry. He was buried at Little Narrows. Mr. McRae was
a good man, he was diligent in the discharge of his ministerial duties and he
was greatly beloved by his people. On the day of Mr. McRae's retirement,
Little Narrows was separated from Middle River and both Middle River
and Little Narrows became independent charges by action of thePresbytery.

The Rev. M. A. McKenzie followed Mr. McRae in the pastorate of
Middle River. He was the first minister of this congregation as it is now
constituted.

Mr. McKenzie served as ordained missionary in the congregation for a
period of two and a half years previous to his settlement as pastor. He
was inducted into the pastorate on the 3rd of July 1900. Mr. McKenzie
was minister of Middle River until the 15th of July 1904, when he resigned
and went to Manitoba. Here he was settled as ordained missionary for
three years at Hilton in the Presbytery of Glenboro. At the end of that
time he was called to Bowden in the Presbytery of Red Deer, Alberta,
where he was inducted on the 2nd of Dec. 1907. In 1911 Mr. McKenzie
retired from the work of the ministry. He is now living on a fruit farm at
Aldergrove, B. C.

Mr. McKenzie was born in Strathcona, Rosshire, Scotland on July
the 15th, 1854. He studied the Arts in the University of Glasgow and
theology in the Free Church College, Glasgow. He was licensed by the
Free Presbytery of Glasgow in 1881 and came to Canada in 1885. After
spending some years in the Home Mission fields of Ontario, Mr. McKenzie
came to Cape Breton, and was called to Grand River on the Presbytery of
Sydney. He was inducted into that charge on the 30th of May 1888, and
after a ministry of over eight years, he resigned the charge on Nov. 1st,
1896.

Mr. McKenzie was succeeded at Middle River by Mr. Norman Mc
Queen, one of our own young men and a recent graduate of our own Col
lege. Mr. McQueen was ordained and inducted at the Middle River on
the 30th day of July 1905. After a ministry of three years he accepted a
call to St. Lukes congregation Dominion No. 6 in the Presbytery of Sydney
and removed to that place. Mr McQueen was born at Mira Gut but he
grew up to marihood at Port Morien. After a course of study in Arts at
Dalhousie University and theology at the Presbyterian College he was li
censed by the Presbytery of Inverness on the 13th day of July 1905. One
week later he was ordained and inducted into the ministry of the Middle
River congregation. Mr. M Queen is now minister of the Presbyterian
Church in West Somerville, Mass., U. S.

The next minister of this congregation was the Rev. J. Allister Murray
a native of the island of Lewis Scotland, where he was born on the 9th of
Sept., 1865. He took his arts course in the University of Glasgow. After
spending a number of years as a lay missionary or catechist in different
parts of the highlands and islands of Scotland, Mr. Murray came to Can
ada in the year, 1901. During the next three years he was engaged in

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Home Missionary work in summer and in studying theology at Manitoba
College in winter. He was licensed by the Presbytery of Winnipeg in the
spring of 1905 and settled in one of our western charges. Mr. Murray
came to Cape Breton in the spring of 1911 and was inducted into the con
gregation of Middle River in July of that year. After a successful pastorate
of seven years he accepted a call to St. Ann's and Englishtown where he is
still laboring with great zeal and success.

The present minister of this congregation is the Rev. J. W. Smith.
His induction took place on the 27th of August 1918. Mr. Smith is a Cape
Bretonian, having been born at Big Hill, St. Ann's on the 27th of January,
1880.

Coming under the power of the truth while working at his trade in
North Sydney, Mr. Smith entered upon a course of preparation for the
ministry by attending the Missionary Institution conducted by Messrs
Kenyon and Benaur at Nyack, New York. After studying in this school
for three years he returned to Cape Breton in the summer of 1909. In
November of that year he was sent to Cape North as a lay catechist by the
Presbytery of Sydney. Mr. Smith's work at Cape North was so satis
factory that the Presbytery licensed him to preach the gospel on August
the llth, 1911, and on the 31st of August ordained and inducted him as
missionary at Leitches Creek. On June the 29th, 1915, Mr. Smith was in
ducted as minister of Gabarus, and in August 1918, he was settled at Middle
River where he is still faithfully proclaiming the gospel of the grace of God.

The first Church at Middle River was built in 1834, the year in which
Mr. Farquharson was settled here. The present Church is the second
that has been erected by the congregation. It was built in the year 1877,
during the ministry of Mr. McQueen.

There is an excellent Manse provided by the congregation. It was
built during the ministry of Mr. Murray.

Middle River has done its duty very well in the matter of supplying
our church with ministers of the gospel. On the roll of ministers from this
congregation, we find the following names, Alexander Farquharson,
Hector K. McLean, Malcolm Campbell, William A. Morrison, A. K.
McLennan, Neil McLennan, John D. McFarlane, P. K. McRae, and
Daniel McQuarrie.

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West Bay and Its Ministry.

In the days of the pioneers, this congregation was known as the con
gregation of St. George's Channel. That was then the name of the large
bay that now goes by the name of West Bay. The earliest Presbyterian
settlers on the shores of this extensive bay came from Pictou County in the
year 1813. They were all Scottish Highlanders who had gone from Scot
land to Pictou some years earlier, but decided that they could do better
for themselves by leaving Pictou and coming to West Bay.

When Dr. McGregor came to this island in 1818, he found twenty
Presbyterian families at the head of this bay and a number more at River
Inhabitants, which is at present included in the West Bay congregation.
Betwen 1818 and 1827 when the Rev. John McLennan and the Rev. Donald
Allan Fraser paid their first visit to Cape Breton the population had greatly
increased, chiefly by immigration from the Scottish highlands and islands.
Mr. McLennan reported to the Colonial Committee that "around this Bay
there are no less than one hundred and fifty families without a minister,
school-master or catechist."

Apart from a few services by Mr. Donald McDonald between 1824
, and 1826, by Aeneas McLean in 1828 and 1829 and by Alexander Far-
quharson in 1833, this large body of Presbyterians had no regular gospel
ministry, until the Rev. John Stewart became their minister in the year
1835. And Mr. Stewart's ministry at West Bay was very short. In the
year 1838 he became minister of St. Andrews Church, New Glasgow, Nova
Scotia. From that time until 1843, when the Rev. Murdoch Stewart came
out from Scotland to look after their spiritual interests, they were indeed
like sheep without a shepherd. Murdoch Stewart was minister of this con
gregation from Sept. 1843 to June 1867, when he demitted the charge on
the ground of inadequate support and went to Port Morien.

Biographical sketches of John Stewart and Murdoch Stewart will be
found under the heading of "The Pioneers."

The third minister of West Bay was the Rev. John Sutherland, a
native of Sutherland shire, Scotland. He was educated in his native land,
and came to Cape Breton in the year 1872, as a licentiate of the Free
Church. Accepting a call to West Bay, he was ordained and inducted as
pastor on the 18th of March 1873. At that time the congregation included
St. Peters, Grandance, the Points and the North Mountain as well as
Black River and the head of the Bay. Mr. Sutherland remained but one
year in this extensive field. In March 1874 he was translated to the Pres
bytery of P. E. I. and by that Presbytery inducted into the congregation of
Wood Islands and Little Sands. In the Spring of 1881, Mr. Sutherland
resigned this charge and went to Australia. A number of years later he
returned to P.E. Island and became minister of the Caledonia Congregation
where he died. Mr. Sutherland's departure was followed by a vacancy
in the pastorate of more than five years. During this time the congregation
was supplied by probationers and catechists more or less regularly.

95

At the end of this period the people of West Bay united in a call to the
Rev. Donald McDougall, then minister of Port Morien. Mr. McDougall
had by this time made full proof of his ministry by successful pastorates in
New London, P. E. I. and Port Morien C. B. The congregation was in a
disorganized condition on account of being so long vacant and Mr. Mc
Dougall was precisely the man for the work to be done. His induction
took place on the 10th of Sept. 1879 and his ministry at West Bay was
abundantly fruitful both in material and spiritual results. After thirteen
years of strenuous labor, Mr. McDougall accepted a call to Greenwood
Church, Baddeck,and was inducted there on the 28th of Sept. 1892.

The Rev. Angus McMillan was the next pastor of West Bay. Mr.
McMillan was born at Big Hill, St. Ann's, in the year 1848. He grew up
in surroundings that were highly conducive to seriousness and piety.
Tasting of the grace of God in early life, he formed the high purpose of
serving his Saviour and Master in proclaiming the gospel. His preparation
for the ministry was obtained at the Baddeck Academy, Pictou Academy,
Dalhousie University and the Presbyterian College. He graduated in
theology in the spring of 1881, and was licensed by the Presbytery of P. E.
Island a few weeks thereafter. Responding favourably to a call from
Malagawatch and River Deny's, Mr. McMillan was ordained and in
ducted into the pastorate of that charge by the Presbytery of Victoria and
Richmond on the 25th of Jan. 1882. Mr. McMillan spent the next four
teen years in this extensive and laborious congregation and left for West
Bay with the esteem and affection of all the people.

Mr. McMillan came to West Bay in the year 1893. His induction
took place on the 22nd of November in that year and he was minister of the
congregation during the next sixteen years. At the end of that time he
accepted a call to the congregation of Marion Bridge in the Presbytery of
Sydney. He was inducteti at Marion Bridge on the 30th of Stept. 1909.
During Mr. McMillan's ministry at West Bay, Cleveland and Princeville
on the River Inhabitants were separated from Port Hastings and attached
to West Bay. At the same time the Points and North Mountain were
separated from West Bay and other arrangements made for their supply.
This change was made by the Presbytery of the bounds on the 28th of
Sept. 1905. Mr. McMillan was followed in the pastorate of West Bay by
the Rev. Alexander Ferguson, B. A. Mr. Ferguson was born at Long
Beach, Port Morien. He studied at Dalhousie University and the Pres
byterian College. After graduating from that College in the spring of
1909, he was licensed by the Presbytery of Inverness on the 14th of May
in that year. Accepting a call to the pastorate of Strathlorne congregation,
he was ordained and inducted by the Presbytery of Inverness in the
Strathlorne Church on the 9th of July, 1909.

Mr. Ferguson's ministry at Strathlorne was short — only a few months.
On Dec. the 15th 1909 he was inducted into the charge of West Bay, where
he remained during the next three years. In Dec. 1912 Mr. Ferguson de-
mitted this charge and went to our western Home Mission field. After
about a year in the West he returned East again and was settled for a few

96

years in the congregation of Strathalbyn and Rose Valley, P. E. Island.
Mr. Ferguson returned to C. B. in the early part of 1915 and was inducted
into the charge of Little Narrows on the 1st of June in that year.

The Rev. J. C. McLennan, B. A., succeeded Mr. Ferguson at West
Bay after an interval of about nine months. Mr. McLennan is a native of
New Campbell.ton, Big Bras d'Or, where he was born on Dec. the 29th,
1879. Like the large majority of our Cape Breton born ministers, Mr.
McLennan acquired his education at Dalhousie University and the Pres
byterian College. He graduated from the University in the Spring of
1909 and from the College in the spring of 1912. He was licensed by the
Presbytery of Halifax shortly after graduating from the College.

Immediately upon being licensed, he went West and labored for a year
or more at Fort William in the Presbytery of Superior. At the end of
that time West Bay sent him a call which he was pleased to accept and his
induction took place on the 23rd of Sept. 1913. Mr. McLennan spent fives
happy and useful years in this congregation. In the year 1918, Mr. Mc
Lennan accepted a call to Warden Church, Glace Bay and his induction
into that charge took place on the 14th of November of that year.

The first church built in the West Bay Congregation was built at
Black River in the year 1836 — the second year of the Rev. John Stewart's
ministry. Rev. Murdoch Stewart conducted public worship in this
Church during the greater part of his ministry. The present church at
Black River was built in the year 1870. This is the principal church in the
congregation. There was also a small church built at West Bay Points
during the pastorate of the Rev. John Stewart. In 1876 there was a
church built at Lime Hill on the north side of the Bay. This church is now
in possession of the Marble Mountain congregation.

In the year 1891 there was a large hall built at the head of the bay as a
place of worship and it is still used for that purpose.

In the year 1905, the Points and Marble Mountain were both separ
ated from the congregation and formed into Mission stations. The
Church at Prince ville was built in 1864 by the Kirk people but not finished.
It was repaired and finished in the eighties. The church at Cleveland was
built in 1874. The Rev. John Stewart had a farm about three miles from
Black River oh the way to the Points. The Rev. Murdoch Stewart had a
farm in the immediate vicinity of Black River. The congregation pur
chased this farm and the Rev. Mr. McDougall lived for some years in the
house that Mr. Stewart built. Subsequently Mr. McDougall bought a
farm nearer the head of the bay upon which he lived for some years.

In the year 1887 the congregation built a Manse at the head of the
Bay.

It remains but for to speak of the ministers that were born within the
bounds of this congregation. The first was the Rev. Abraham Mclntosh,
minister of St. Ann's from 1856 to 1889. The second was the Rev. Donald
Morrison, Missionary to the New Hebrides, where he died in Oct. 1869.
The third was the Rev. James William McKenzie the first missionary of
our church to Korea, where he departed this life in the year 1895. Another

97

was the Rev. John Calder a former minister of St. Peters, where he died
in the year 1917. Another departed minister, born in West Bay was the
Rev. Malcolm N. McLeod, D. D., who died in Pueblo, Colorado in Feb.
1919. The ministers from this congregation, who are with us still and doing
good work in their different spheres are the Rev. J. A. McLellan of Valley-
field, P. E. I., the Rev. J. W. Nicholson of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

98

Boulardarle and Its Ministry

This Boulardarie congregation takes its name from the island upon
which it is located, and the island is named after Sieur de la Boulardarie, a
French officer that came to Gape Breton immediately after the signing of
the Treaty of Utrecht in the year 1713. This island is thirty miles in length
and about six miles in average breadth. It contains over 100,000 acres
of the best soil in Cape Breton.

Boulardarie is situated at the eastern end of the Bras d'Or Lake,
which is really an inland salt water sea. The tides of the Atlantic ebb and
flow into this sea by two narrow channels called respectively the Big and
the Little Bras d'Ors. The Big Bras d'Or flows on the north side of
Boulardarie island and the Little Bras d'Or flows on the south side. The
name Bras d'Or was originally Bras de Eau, Arm of Water, not arm of
gold as is generally supposed. »ais\d

The people connected with the congregation of Boulardarie, live on
the north side of the island for the most part. A small proportion of them
live on the north side of the Big Bras d'Or at the Slios, New Campbellton
and eastward to Cape Dauphin.

The ancestors of these people came here from Gairloch, Rosshire,
Scotland in the early part of the last century, between 1802 and 1820.
When the Rev. Donald Allan Fraser, the first Presbyterian minister to visit
Boulardarie, came here in 1827, he found upwards of forty families between
Kemp Head and the Big Bras d'Or entrance. . ,. •.*,.

Under Mr. Fraser's inspiration these forty families together with a
number of other families from Little Baddeck sent a petition to the Colo
nial Committee of the Church of Scotland, praying that a minister of the
gospel might be sent to them as speedily as possible, and this petition
was accompanied by a guarantee of Stipend amounting to one hundred and
fifty pounds.

The Rev. James Fraser was sent out to Cape Breton, by the Colonial
Committee in 1835 in answer to that and subsequent similiar petitions. It
took eight long years to find a man willing to leave the home land and come
to this then distant part of the Kingdom.

When Mr. Fraser took charge of the congregation in the year 1836 it
was not limited to its present boundaries. He had to take the oversight
of Eastern Cape Breton. His field included the Presbyterians at Little
Bras d'Or, Sydney Mines, Upper North Sydney, Leithes Creek and all east
of Sydney Harbor and River. It was not until the Rev. Matthew Wilson
came to Cape Breton in 1842, and took charge of our people at Little Bras
d'Or, Sydney Mines and Upper North Sydney that Mr. Fraser was at
liberty to confine his labors to Boulardarie Island. Mr. Fraser's life story,
or as much as is known of it, will be found among the pioneer ministers of
Cape Breton.

The second minister of Boulardarie was the Rev. David Drum-
mond. Mr. Drummond was a native of Ardchattan, Argyleshire, Scotland,

99

where he was born on the 16th of July 1828. He entered Glasgow Univer
sity in the fall of 1853, when twenty five years of age with a view to the
gospel ministry. He graduated in theology from the Free Church College,
Glasgow, in the spring of 1865. That summer he was licensed at Portree
by the Free Presbytery of Skye. During the next five years he was em
ployed as Gaelic assistant, first to the Rev. John McRae of Carloway Lewis
and then to the Rev. George Kennedy, D. D., of Dornach, Sutherlandshire.
In the year 1841 Mr. Drummond left Scotland for Cape Breton with ex
cellent recommendations from the above named ministers and also from
the Colonial Committee of the Free Church. He reached Cape Breton in
the month of October and received a warm welcome from the brethren on
this island. Both of the island Presbyteries were short of men at that time
and they were glad to have a man of Mr. Drummond's experience and
character come to their assistance.

The following spring Mr. Drummond was ordained and inducted as
minister of Gabarus and Framboise. After the death of the Rev. James
Fraser in the autumn of 1874 Mr. Drummond was called to be his suc
cessor in the large and important parish of Boulardarie. He was inducted
at St. James Church, Big Bras d'Or on the 25th of Feb. 1875. He spent the
remaining twenty nine years of his life in this charge, doing faithful and
self-denying service for his Master.

On account of age and infirmity, Mr. Drummond resigned the charge
of Boulardarie on the 31st of Oct. 1904, and retired to Sydney, where after a
brief illness, he finished his course on the 18th of Feb. 1905, in the seventieth
year of his life and the fortieth year of his ministry. Few of our ministers
have ever won so large a place in the affections of their people as Mr.
Drummond did in Boulardarie. He was wise, conscientious and faithful
in the discharge of all his duties. As a preacher, he was loyal to revealed
truth and he never failed to declare the whole counsel of God.

It was not easy to fill Mr. Drummond's place, either in the pulpits of
Boulardarie or in the hearts of its people, but, after a year and nine month's
vacancy, the congregation found a worthy successor in the person of the
Rev. John Mclntosh, B. D., of St. Columbia Church, Pictou. Mr. Mc-
Intosh was born at Malagawatch, C. B. on the 27th of Dec. 1865. He ob
tained his education for the ministry at Pictou Academy, Dalhousie Uni
versity and the Presbyterian College, Halifax. He graduated from the
latter institution as a Bachelor of Divinity in April 1897. Upon gradua
tion Mr. Mclntosh was licensed by the Presbytery of Halifax. On the
20th of Sept. following he was ordained and inducted at Kennetcook as
minister of Gore and Kennetcook. Six months later Mr. Mclntosh re
ceived a call from St. Columbia Church, Hopewell, Pictou which he ac
cepted. His induction into that charge took place on the month of April
1828. After a faithful and successful ministry of eight years in St. Columbia,
Mr. Mclntosh received a call to Boulardarie. This call he accepted and he
was inducted by the Presbytery on the 12th of July 1906. By the end of
three years in this extensive and laborious field, Mr. Mclntosh found the
work too much for his strength and he accepted a call to St. James Church,

100

Sydney, a much smaller and more compact charge. His induction into
this young and rapidly growing congregation took place on the 5th of Nov.
1909.

Boulardarie had no regular pastor during the next three years. It
was supplied by students and probationers for the greater part of the time.
Mr. Mclntosh's successor in the ministry of Boulardarie was Rev. John
Fraser, M. A. Mr. Fraser was one of Boulardarie's own sons, having been
born at Big Bras d'Or in the year 1858. He obtained his education at the
Common School of his native place, Pictou Academy, Dalhousie University,
and Queen's College, Kingston. He graduated from Queen's in the Spring
of 1892, and was licensed by the Presbytery of Sydney on the tenth of May
following. The people of North Shore and North River, lost no time in
calling Mr. Fraser to be their first minister and on the 21st of June 1892, he
was ordained and inducted by the Presbytery of Sydney into the pastorate
of that romantic and extensive charge.

Mr. Fraser remained with the people of North Shore and North River
during the next fourteen years. In those years, the congregation entered
upon a new phase of existence in matters both spiritual and financial.
The people awakened to a sense of their privileges and responsibilities as
they had never done before. During those years, one of the best manses
in the Presbytery was built at Indian Brook, the three churches were re
novated and put in a very creditable condition, the means of grace were,
generously supported, and the spiritual life of the congregation was greatly
augmented.

On the 27th of Feb. 1906 Mr. Fraser accepted a call to Loch Lomond
and Framboise and his induction to that charge took place on the 31st of
the following May.

After four and a half years of the most strenuous labor in Loch Lomond
and Framboise, Mr. Fraser's health gave way and he was under the neces
sity of resigning and taking a rest. His resignation was accepted on the
4th of October 1911.

By the end of the following year Mr. Fraser's health was so far re
covered that he was able to resume work and his native congregation in
vited him to become its pastor. The call was issued on the 7th of Nov.
1912 and Mr. Fraser's induction took place in St. James Church, Big Bras
d'Or on the 21st of the same month.

During the next six years, Mr. Fraser discharged the duties of his
calling in Boulardarie, with ever increasing acceptance and success.

But a deadly disease had fastened itself upon him, and under the
advice of his physician he entered the Massachusetts General Hospital for
an operation, in the hope of prolonging his life. The operation proved
unsuccessful, and Mr. Fraser passed away on the 19th of Nov. 1918, in the
sixtieth year of his age and the twenty sixth of his ministry. His mortal
remains were taken to Boulardarie for burial and laid to rest in the Ceme
tery at St. James Church amid the profound and universal sorrow of his
late people, his brethren in the ministry and all who knew him.

The Rev. John Mclntosh, Mr. Fraser's immediate predecessor, wrote

101

of his brother as follows: "He was a prince of men. His was a deep piety
coupled with the most practical sagacity and eminently a man of prayer but
equally a man of good works and generosity; a man of the highest honor and
integrity of character but with the tenderness of his Master for the erring.
He was a splendid preacher, one, who out of a deep religious experience
could bring comfort and help to others. But it was in the Gaelic tongue
that he excelled. His Highland fervor and mysticism intensified by grace
made him without a peer in his power to stir the Highland heart as he pro
claimed the evangel of God."

There are three fine churches and four good halls for holding religious
meetings in this congregation, and they were all built during Mr. Drum-
mond's long and active ministry. These churches and halls represent an
outlay of from fifteen to twenty thousand dollars.

The sons of Boulardarie that devoted their lives to the Christian min
istry are a noble band; only second in numbers to those of Lake Ainslie.
There are thirteen of them all told, and their names are, John Fraser, John
A. Matheson, Lauchlin Beaton, William McNeil, David Patterson, W.
A. Fraser, James Fraser, Kenneth M. Munroe, J. C. McLennan, W. K. Mc
Kay, D. C. McLeod, A. C. Fraser and John McDonald.

102

Whycocomagh and Its Ministry.

This congregation takes its name from the name of the beautiful bay
where it is located. Whycocomagh is a Micmac word and means, the head
of the waters. This locality is situated at the western end of St. Patricks
channel, an arm of water that runs inland from the Bras d'Or Lake about
thirty miles and is not over one mile in average breadth. Whycocomagh
is certainly at the head of the waters and is well named. There is an In
dian Reserve here and twenty five or thirty Micmac families living on this
reserve. They are all Roman Catholics and they have a church and school
of their own. The white people in Whycocomagh are practically all Pres
byterians.

The first Presbyterians that settled in this part of Cape Breton came
from the island of Lewis in the Hebrides about the year 1815 or 1816. We
have no record of the names of these early settlers nor of the exact date of
their arrival. Nearly all the later immigrants to Whycocomagh came from
that same island, no doubt through the solicitations and encouragements of
the friends who had preceded them.

In the year 1827, when the Rev. John McLennan came to Cape Breton,
on his first visit, he found a large number of Gaelic speaking people, not only
at Whycocomagh but also on both sides of St. Patrick's Channel.

In his report to the Colonial Committee, speaking of "Lake Hogomach"
as he calls the place, he 'says "The number of Protestant families along the
sides of this lake, I do not exactly know, but I am sure they cannot be less
than eighty or ninety. They are all new settlers and with few exceptions
very poor." But they were increasing in numbers and in worldly sub
stance from year to year; — in, numbers by immigration and natural in
crease, in worldly substance by God's blessing on their own industry and
frigality. As early as the year 1830 they sent urgent petitions to the
Church of Scotland to send them a minister of the gospel. No man came
in answer to these petitions until the year 1837, when the Rev. Peter
McLean arrived to take charge of their spiritual interests. The reader
will find Mr. McLean and his work in Cape Breton spoken of elsewhere.

Whycocomagh and Little Narrows constituted one congregation from
1834 to 1870, when, during the ministry of the Rev. Murdoch Stewart,
Little Narrows was separated from Whycocomagh and connected wtih
Middle River.

Since that time Whycocomagh has been an independent and self-
sustaining charge. After five years of singular success in the ministry of
this congregation, Mr. McLean's health gave way and he left for Scotland
in the spring of 1842, literally amid universal lamentations.

His departure was followed by a long and deplorable vacancy of
fifteen years, from 1842 to 1857 when his successor was installed. These
long vacancies have been the weakness and bane of our Church in Cape
Breton all down the years. They were due, partly to the scarcity of minis
ters to supply all our congregations and partly no doubt to the poverty of

103

our people in these early days, but too often to the indifference that pre
vailed in many of our congregations to the highest and best things in life.
And even today with ministers more plentiful and money more abundant,
some of our country congregations suffer severely from long vacancies.

In the spring of 1854 Whycocomagh and Little Narrows extended
a call to Mr. Charles Ross, a student who had just graduated from the
Presbyterian Collage at Halifax. This call, Mr. Ross accepted and he was
ordained and inducted as pastor about the end of May. Mr. Ross had been
supplying the congregation as student catechist during the two preceding
summers. Mr. Ross was a native of Caribou, Pictou County. He was a
man of fine presence. He was an exceptionally fine preacher in English
and Gaelic and his ministry was for several years one of great usefulness
and power.

Unfortunately in the year 1864 for reasons that need not be related
here, Mr. Ross came under the discipline of his Presbytery, and was de
posed from the ministry of the Presbyterian Church.

Some years later he was received into the ministry of the Congrega
tional Church in Ontario, where he rendered good service to that deno
mination.

After Mr. Ross' removal there was another vacancy in the pastorate
of Whycocomagh of nearly four years.

The third minister of Whycocomagh and Little Narrows was the ven
erable Murdoch Stewart, a saintly and scholarly man. Mr. Stewart's
ministry began in the year 1868 and ended with his resignation on account
of age and infirmity in the year 1882. Mr. Stewart was one of our pioneers
and he is spoken of more particularly in another place.

On the 6th of Dec. 1870, during Mr. Stewart's ministry, Little Nar
rows was separated from Whycocomagh and joined to the Middle River.
At the same time Whycocomagh was constituted into an independent and
self-sustaining charge.

The next minister of this congregation was the Rev. John Rose, a
licentiate of the Free Church of Scotland, who had recently arrived in
Cape Breton with good credentials from the Colonial Committee.

Mr. Rose was a native of Aberdeenshire. He was educated at the
University of Aberdeen and at the New College, Edinburgh.

The Whycocomagh people extended a hearty call to Mr. Rose and his
induction took place in the month of August 1884. Mr. Rose was minister
of this large and loyal congregation until Sept. 1892, when he was translated
to the Presbytery of Maitland, Ontario, and became minister of Ashfield
there. Four years later, Mr. Rose returned to Cape Breton in answer to a
call from Malagawatch and River Denys. This was in the summer of
1896. His induction took place on the 27th of August, and Mr. Rose was
minister of Malagawatch and River Denys until 1909,when he received a
call from Crossbost, in the island of Lewis and returned to his native land.

The Rev. Alexander Ross, M. A., succeeded Mr. Rose in the ministry
of Whycocomagh. Mr. Ross was inducted as pastor of this Church on
Dec. the 24th 1895. On July the 21st 1903 he resigned the charge and re-

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tired from the active duties of the ministry on account of infirmity. After
that he made his home in London, Ontario, where he departed this life, on
the 18th of December 1919 in the eighty-ninth year of his age and the
fifty-ninth of his ministry.

Mr. Ross was a native of Rosshire, Scotland, where he was born in the
year 1830. He was educated at Fain Academy, the Normal School
Edinburgh, Aberdeen University, where he obtained his M. A., and the
New College, Edinburgh. On completing his theological studies he was
licensed by the Presbytery of Fain on June the 6th 1860. Immediately
thereafter he left for Pictou, where he arrived on the 28th of June. On
Sept. the 19th 1860 Mr. Ross was ordained and inducted into the charge of
Knox Church, Pictou by the Free Church Presbytery of Pictou — just in
time to take part in the Union of 1860, which took place at Pictou on the
4th of October, following. After nineteen years in Pictou, Mr. Ross ac
cepted a call to Woodville in the Presbytery of Linsday. This was in June
1879. After a ministry of fourteen years in Woodville, he was under the
necessity of resigning on account of failing health, but after a rest of two or
three years his health was sufficiently restored to undertake the pastoral
charge of Whycocomagh. To quote from the Presbyterian Witness:
"Mr Ross was a man of ripe and broad scholarship. He kept abreast of
modern thought in theology and philosophy and was an able expositor of
the Scriptures. He was equally at home in the English and Gaelic languages.
His sermons were evangelical, rich in thought, practical. He excelled as
a teacher of the Bible.

Mr. Ross was a man of modest and retiring disposition. Few knew
that he had a Doctor's degree of which he never made any use.

There was a certain aloofness and almost austerity about his manner,
which quickly vanished on acquaintance. He was one of the kindest and
most genial of men among his friends, and his rich fund of quaint lore and
anecdote made him one of the most entertaining of men."

The present minister of Whycocomagh is the Rev. John W. McLean.
He was inducted as Mr. Ross' sucessor on June the 30th 1905. Mr. McLean
is a native of Scotland. He was born on the island of Bernera, in the
Hebrides, in the year 1865. His father was Free Church Catechist of that
island. Mr. McLean came to Canada with his parents in the year 1889.
His studies for the ministry of the Presbyterian Church were taken at
Queen's University, Manitoba College and Knox College, Toronto. He
completed his theological studies at Knox in the spring of 1897 and was
licensed by the Presbytery of Glengarry in the month of May thereafter.
Mr. McLean's first charge was at Kirkhill, Glengarry, where he was or
dained and inducted June 1st, 1897. From Kirkhill, he was called to
Strathalbyn, P. E. Island, where he was inducted in Dec. 1902. Three
years later Mr. McLean accepted a call to the congregation of Whycoco
magh, where he is still and where he is ministering faithfully to a large and
loyal people. Mr. McLean's induction at Whycocomagh took place on
the 30th of June 1905.

Whycocomagh has had a succession of great preachers. From the

105

first to the last they were all able ministers of "the gospel of the grace of
God. The people in this congregation have been highly favoured in this
matter, and it is to be hoped that they fully appreciate their privileges
in this regard and their responsibilities likewise.

The first Church in Whycocomagh was built in 1835 or 1836 under the
inspiration of the Rev. John Stewart who, wherever he went on his mis
sionary journeys, urged the people to build houses where they could meet
on the Lord's Day for the worship of God. This church like so many of
the early churches on this island was never finished inside. And besides it
was too small to contain all the people, especially in summer time. At
that season, for several months every summer, the services were held in the
open air. This was the Church in use during the Rev. Peter McLean's
ministry, from 1837 to 1842 and indeed until the year 1857 when the pre
sent Church, known as McLean Church was built on the site of the old one,
at Stewartdale. McLean Church is a large structure, seating not less
than eight hundred worshippers. Though built in 1857, it was not finished
until the spring of 1861. There is another Church in the village of Why
cocomagh. It is called Stewart Church in memory of the Rev. Murdoch
Stewart. McLean Church commemorates the Rev. Peter McLean.

Whycocomagh has a fairly good manse on a very fine site. It was
built in the year 1872 during Mr. Stewart's pastorate.

This congregation has supplied the Presbyterian Church with a num
ber of excellent ministers. A few of them are with us still but the majority
have finished their labors and are enjoying the rest that remaineth for the
people of God. The names of the ministers from Whycocomagh are
John McDonald, Allan McLean, Donald McDougall, Peter McLean, Mc
Donald, Donald M. Gillies, D. D., Bunyan McLeod and Daniel Dunlop.

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Strathlorne and Its Ministry.

This congregation is in the County of Inverness, and under the care
of the Presbytery of Inverness. In the early days it was known as the con
gregation of Broadcove. The first Presbyterian that came to Broadcove
was a man by the name of John McLean, commonly known as Ian Ban.
He was born on the Island of Rum, on the west coast of Scotland. He
came here in the year 1810 by way of Pictou,Antigonish and the Strait of
Canso. Mr. McLean took up four hundred acres of land on the shore
about where the Inverness Colliery is now. Soon after acquiring his land,
he wrote to his friends in Rum concerning the many advantages of his
location, its abundant fish, its good soil, its plentiful supply of timber, etc.
Upon Mr. McLean's representations, four of his brothers, Murdoch,
Allan, Neil and Rory, were induced to leave the old land and come to
Broadcove. All four took up land, either on the shore or farther inland on
the Strathlorne River. During the next fifteen or twenty years, a goodly
number of Presbyterians from several islands of the Hebrides come out
and settled in the vicinity. The Presbyterians of today are nearly all the
descendants of these early immigrants. The Rev. John Morris McLean,
one of our ministers, is a grandson of Ian Ban McLean.

The Presbyterian population of Broadcove must have attained con
siderable proportions before a minister of the Gospel was settled among
them. Possibly the Rev. William Millar, who was settled at Mabou in
1822, may have visited them, but as he had no Gaelic, and they had no
English,it is very doubtful if they derived much benefit from Mr. Millar's
ministrations.

The First Presbyterian minister who gave any continuous services to
the people of Broadcove was Mr. Aeneas McLean, a licentiate of the Church
of Scotland, who came to Cape Breton in the year 1828. Mr. McLean
spent four years on this island, two of them itinerating from place to place
among the Presbyterian settlements and two of them, 1831 and 1832, in
this congregation. During these two years he did not confine his labors to
Broadcove. He made missionary tours to the northeast and southeast of
that place. He preached in Chimney Corner, Whale Cove, Margaree Harbor,
Margaree River, Middle River, Little Narrows, Whycocomagh and Lake
Ainslie. There were Presbyterian settlements in all these places, and they
were without anyone to break the Bread of Life to them.

Mr. McLean was not ordained or inducted at Broadcove. Indeed
there was*no Presbytery on the island at that time, and no ordination or in
duction could take place. It is true there were two Pesbyterian ministers
in Cape Breton in 1831, when Mr. McLean came to Broadcove, viz., the
Rev. Norman McLeod in St. Ann's, and the Rev. William Millar at Mabou
but they belonged to different Presbyterian churches and could or would not
unite in the services of ordination.

While at Broadcove, Mr. McLean married Catherine McLean, a

107

daughter of Ian Ban. One of their three sons, Rev. J. A. McLean, was
minister of Arnprior, in the Presbytery of Lanark and Renfrew, for many
years. Mr. McLean left Cape Breton for Lower Canada towards the end
of the year 1832. He was subsequently ordained and inducted as minister
of Cote St. George in the Presbytery of Glengarry.

The next minister to do any Christian work in Broadcove was the Rev.
Alexander Farquharson. He arrived in Cape Breton in the summer of
1833, an din his itinerary of the Presbyterian settlements, no doubt, spent
some time in this one. Nor would he forget the people of Strathlorne after
his ordination at Middle River the following year. The Rev. John Stewart
preached in Broadcove once or twice after his arrival in 1834,and during his
stay on the island.

The first inducted minister of Broadcove was the Rev. John Gunn, a
sketch of whose life and labors will be found among the pioneers. He was
the first regularly ordained and inducted minister of our church on the is
land of Cape Breton.

Norman McLeod was licensed and ordained by the Presbytery of
Genesee, Western New York, in 1826. The Rev. William Millar was or
dained and designated at Durham by the Presbytery of Pictou in the
month of November, 1821. The Rev. Dugald McKichan, who took
charge of the Strait of Canso and River Inhabitants in the 1st of January,
1832, was ordained in Scotland before coming to Cape Breton. There was
no Presbytery on the island of Cape Breton until September, 1836, when
the Presbytery of Cape Breton was constituted by order of the Synod of
the Church of Scotland, that met in the town of Pictou in August of that
year. Tne members of that first Presbytery were — Alexander Farquhar
son, John Stewart and James- Fraser, Mr. McKichan, tho then at River
Inhabitants, was not a member of that Presbytery until the following year.

No doubt the Presbytery of Cape Breton held several meetings be
tween 1836 and 1840, but there are no records of such meetings extant and
we do not know when or where such meetings were held. But we have good
reason for believing that there was a meeting of the Presbytery of Cape
Breton held at Broadcove on the 24th of September, 1840, for the purpose
of ordaining and inducting Mr. Gunn into the pastorate of the Boadcove
congregation. Our account of the life and ministry of Mr. Gunn is to be
found among the Pioneers, and will throw light on this subject.

Mr. Gunn's death took place in November, 1870, and was followed by
a vacancy of six or seven years. During these pastorless years, the spiritual
necessities of the congregation were partially supplied in summer months
by student catechists from the Presbyterian College, Halifax. Meantime
the General Union of the four Presbyterian churches in Canada had taken
place at Montreal in June, 1875, and the congregation of Strathlorne, as it
came to be known by this time, came into line with the united church —
"The Presbyterian Church in Canada."

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The second minister of Strathlorne was the Rev. John McLean, a native
of Strathalbyn, P. E. I., and a graduate of our own Theological College. He
spent the summer of 1876 as catechist in the congregation and after grad
uation in the spring of 1877,he received a unanimous call to the pastorate.

Accepting this call his ordination and induction took place on the 4th
of July 1877. After a very strenuous and successful ministry of fifteen
months, Mr. McLean was obliged on account of failing health to resign
and rest a while. Some months later, he was settled for a short time at
Kempt and Walton in the Presbytery of Halifax, where he died of tuber
culosis on November 19th, 1880, in the thirty-fourth year of his life, and the
fourth of his ministry, Mr. McLean's burning zeal,fervent manner, and
evangelical preaching made a deep impression on the people of Strathlorne.

Two years after Mr. McLean's resignation the congregation called
Mr. Malcolm Campbell, another graduate of our own literary and
theological college. Mr. Campbell had been a catechist at Strathlorne in
the summer of 1880. After completing his studies he was licensed by the
Presbytery of Sydney on the 29th of June, 1881. He was ordained and
inducted at Strathlorne on the 30th of August following. Mr. Campbell
was born at the Middle River, Victoria Co., N. S. on the 21st of February,
1845. He taught school for a number of years before entering upon a course
of study for the ministry. Mr. Campbell was minister at Strathlorne for
four years and during that time he rendered excellent service to his Master
and to the church. About the end of 1884 he received a call to Wood
Islands P. E. Island, where he was inducted on the 3rd of January, 1884.
From Wood Islands he was called to Strathalbyn, where he was inducted on
the llth of November, 1890. In 1904, Mr. Campbell became minister of
Marsboro in the Presbytery of Quebec, where he is still and is rendering
excellent service.

The Rev. Roderick McLeod followed Mr. Campbell as minister of
Strathlorne. Mr. McLeod was born in the island of Harris, one of the
Scottish Hebrides. He was educated partly in Scotland, and partly in
the Presbyterian College, Halifax. His ordination and induction took place
in the church at Strathlorne on July 26th, 1886, and his pastorate continued
till October 14th, 1890, when he was translated to the congregation of
Kenyon in the Presbytery of Glengarry. From Kenyon he went to Ripley
in the Presbytery at Maitland. Subsequently Mr. McLeod returned to
Scotland and became a parish minister on the island of Lewis.

Mr. McLeod was succeeded by the Rev. Donald McDonald, B.D., on
April 4th, 1894. After a very successful ministry of twelve years in Strath
lorne, Mr. McDonald accepted a call to St. Luke's Church, Dominion No.
6, Cape Breton, where his induction took place on November 1st, 1906.

The next minister of Strathlorne was the Rev. Alexander Ferguson,
M. A., a native of Port Morien, C. B., where he was born.

Mr. Ferguson graduated as a Bachelor of Arts from Dalhousie in the
spring of 1904, and from the Presbyterian College in the spring of 1907.
He was licensed by the Presbytery of Inverness on May 14th of the same

109

year. Mr. Ferguson supplied the congregation as catechist for a summer
while taking his theological course. After completing his studies for the
ministry, he was called to the pastorate. His ordination and induction
took place on the 9th of July, 1907. In December, 1909, Mr. Ferguson
was translated to the congregation of West Bay, where his induction took
place on Decembr 15th, 1909.

The next pastor of Strathlorne was the Rev. Roderick McKenzie, a
native of Scotland, and educated partly in Scotland, and partly in Manitoba
College. Mr. McKenzie was inducted on September 24th, 1912. On the
8th of May, 1917, he resigned the charge. Subsequently, he received a call
to the congregation of Cape North, where he is at the present time. His in
duction at Cape North took place on the 6th of December, 1917.

The first church at Strathlorne was commenced in the year 1831,
during the time of Aeneas McLean. This church was in use until the year
1856. It was in this church that the Rev. John Gunn was ordained on
September 24th, 1840, by the original Presbytery of Cape Breton.

The second church was built during Mr.Gunn's ministry in the year
1856.

The present church was built during the ministry of the Rev. Donald
McDonald, in the year 1895. It is a very handsome and commodious
structure. These three churches were built on the same site.

The congregation built two manses. The first was built in the year
1877 during the ministry of the Rev. John McLean, and the second during
the ministry of the Rev. Donald McDonald in 1899. The first manse was
consumed by fire on the 4th of February, 1899, in the absence of Mr.
McDonald, and very unfortunately, all the records of the Presbytery pre
vious to that time were in the manse, and were consumed with the manse.
Mr. McDonald was clerk of Presbytery at that time, and he had the
records in his possession.

The people lost no time in rebuilding the second manse. It was ready
for occupation by the end of November that same year. This manse cost
$2,300.

It was during Mr. McDonald's ministry that the Inverness Colliery
was opened within the bounds of the congregation; and he supplied our
people in that locality with religious service, until they were numerous
enough and strong enough to assume the support of a minister of their own.

Strathlorne has a number of professional men to its credit. Among
Presbyterian ministers, there are Hector McQuarrie, for many years a
successful teacher at Grand River, Richmond Co. and later minister at
Leitche's Creek; J. Morris McLean, for some time minister of St. John's
Church, Chatham, N. B.; L. H. McLean, B. D., of Newcastle; Daniel Mc
Gregor, formerly of Amherst, but now dead; Murdoch McGregor, who
died as he was through college and about to begin the work of the min
istry; John B. McKinnon, B. D., now minister of Baddeck; Charles
Mclnnes, and John McQuarrie.

There is but one church in this rural charge. There are two outlying

110

settlements where the minister is expected to hold week-evening services
occasionally, viz., Scotsville and Hay River.

The Gaelic language is still spoken in many of the homes, and the
minister is expected to conduct public worship and to preach in Gaelic
every other Sabbath.

Ill

Sydney Mines and Its Ministry.

Like a number of our congregations in Cape Breton, Sydney Mines
owes its existence and growth to the presence of coal in this vicinity. There
is this difference however; Sydney Mines was the first congregation in
Cape Breton that came into existence through the development of the coal
industry. Others followed and most of them followed many years later.

The General Mining Association began to produce coal at Sydney
Mines in the year 1830. For this purpose, the Association had to import
miners, engineers and mechanics from the old country and a large number
of these were from the lowlands of Scotland. A large proportion of these
Scottish workmen were Presbyterians. Among them there were Bonnars,
Browns, Scotts, Campbells, Caldwells, Andersons and Carmichaels. Those
Scottish Presbyterians constituted the first members and adherents of the
Sydney Mines congregation. They had no Gaelic and of course they did
not require a Gaelic speaking minister like the large majority of our people
on this island.

In the year 1836, the Rev. James Fraser took charge of the Presbyter
ians on the island of Boulardarie, and finding a growing Presbyterian popu
lation at Sydney Mines, he gave, what attention he could to their spiritual
interests.

Under Mr. Fraser's fostering care our cause at Sydney Mines grew
and prospered until it was strong enough to be self-supporting.

On the 25th of April 1840 Mr. Fraser had the satisfaction of dedicating
to the service of God, the first Presbyterian Church that was built at the
Mines. The site of this Church with enough land for a cemetery was
given to the congregation by the G. M. A. as a gift. The cemetery is there
still although the church has disappeared. This original church was
seated for three hundred worshippers, it cost the sum of $2,000 and it was
finished inside as well as outside before its dedication. It even had a bell
in the belfry to call the people to worship. This was the first Presbyterian
church in Cape Breton to be finished before being used for worship. It was
also the first to be furnished with a bell.

By 1840 Sydney Mines had a population of 650 persons all told and a
majority of these were of the Presbyterian faith. One hundred and fifty
of the employees of the Association at that date were Presbyterians and in
receipt of good wages for those days. This condition of things enabled the
Sydney Mines congregation to start on a self-sustaining basis and to offer
a stipend of £150 with the prospect of a Manse to their first minister. The
Manse was not built at this time but it was proposed and it was built short
ly after the Rev. Mr. Wilson's settlement, a few years later. This was the
first Manse in the Island of Cape Breton. Sydney Mines was also the
first charge on the Island to be self-sustaining from the start. In Sep
tember 1840 the Presbytery sent an urgent appeal to the Glasgow Colonial
Committee for a minister of the gospel for this congregation. It was in
answer to this appeal that the Rev. Matthew Wilson, M. A. came out to

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Cape Breton in the summer of 1842. Mr. Wilson's story will be found else
where and shall not be repeated here. Suffice it to say, that Mr. Wilson
was well adapted to the work that required to be done among the lowland
Scotch people of the Mines. He was from the lowlands of Scotland him
self and had much in common with his parishioners. By his unwearied
labors and his sympathetic nature he won and held the affections of his
people to the end of his life in the year 1884.

After over thirty years of arduous, persevering and successful work at
Sydney Mines, the Ponds, Little Bras d'Or and North Sydney, Mr. Wilson
began to feel the need of an assistant to share his burden and carry on
the work of an ever growing congregation efficiently.

Having expressed his desire in this matter to the congregation, the
Rev. Donald McMillan was duly called to be colleague with Mr. Wilson in
the whole charge and successor at Sydney Mines after his retirement.
Mr. McMillan was a Cape Bretonian, having been born at Lake Ainslie on
the 25th of Dec. 1835. He entered the Free Church Academy, Halifax as a
candidate for the ministry of the Presbyterian Church in the year 1850. In
1861 he graduated from the Free Church College and on Dec. the 4th of
that year he was ordained and inducted as minister at La Have and New
Dublin in the County of Lunenburg, by the Presbytery of Halifax. Mr.
McMillan remained in this charge until he was called to be Mr. Wilson's
assistant and successor at Sydney Mines, Little Bras D'Or and North
Sydney. His induction took place in St. Matthew's Church, North
Sydney on Nov. the 12th, 1879. On the retirement of Mr. Wilson in May
1883, North Sydney was constituted a new congregation and Mr. McMillan
became sole minister of Sydney Mines and Little Bras D'Or. This charge
he continued to serve until June the 30th 1904, when he resigned and re
tired from the active duties of the ministry, after forty two years of service
— sixteen of which were spent in La Have and twenty five of which were
spent in North Sydney and Sydney Mines.

Mr. McMillan was striken with paralysis in the autumn of 1907, but
lived until March the 15th 1912 when he died on the 77th year of his life
and the 51st of his ministry. Mr. McMillan was a man of fine physique,
genial disposition, a good mixer and a good preacher.

The next minister of Sydney Mines was the Rev. Hector McLean
McKinnon, B. D. Mr. McKinnon was also a Lake Ainslie man.

He was one of five brothers who studied for the ministry of the Pres
byterian Church and who brought much honor to their native place by the
excellent service they rendered to the Presbyterian Church in Canada and
in the United States as well.

Mr. McKinnon's education for the ministry was acquired at Queens
University, Kingston from which he graduated with the degree of Bachelor
of Arts in the Spring of 1897 and with the degree of Bachelor of Divinity
in 1900 and also a Scholarship in O. T. Hebrew and N. T. Greek.

After licensure by the Presbytery of Edmonton on May the 30th 1900
Mr. McKinnon spent some time in Home Missionary work at Olds, Alberta
and from there he was called to be colleague and successor to Mr. McMillan

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at Sydney Mines, where he was inducted on the 8th of Dec. 1903. Mr.
McMillan resigned in June 1904, whereupon Mr. McKinnon became sole
pastor of the congregation. Mr. McKinnon was minister of Sydney
Mines for a period of fourteen years, during which the church continued
to grow and flourish from year to year. On the 31st of August, 1917, Mr.
McKinnon resigned this charge and removed to Medford, Mass., U. S.,
where he took the oversight of a Congregational Church.

In Feb. 1920, however he returned and became pastor of St. Andrew's
Church, Fort William in the Presbytery of Superior.

The Rev. A. D. Wauchope, B. D. succeeded Mr. McKinnon in the
pastorate of St. Andrews Church. Mr. Wauchope was a native of Vir
ginia, U. S., where he was born of Scotch-Irish parents in the year 1878.
He was the son of a Presbyterian minister, a Bachelor in Arts of Sydney
College, Hampden, Virginia and a Bachelor in Divinity of Union Seminary,
Richmond, Virginia.

Mr. Wauchope had several charges in the United States before coming
to Nova Scotia in 1916. He was minister of Hopewell, Pictou Co. fora
year or two before coming to Cape Breton. His induction at Sydney
Mines took place on the 3rd of Jan. 1918. Mr. Wauchope received the
offer of Superintendent of Evangelistic Work in his native state about the
end of the year 1919. This offer he accepted, and resigning the charge
of St. Andrew's Church he left Sydney Mines on Nov. the 30th, 1919. Mr.
Wauchope was of a decidedly evangelistic disposition and his brief ministry
in Sydney Mines was highly appreciated by the people and very helpful
in the upbuilding of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ in that place.

There are now four Presbyterian congregations within the bounds of
Mr. Wilson's original congregation. These are, Sydney Mines, North
Sydney, Florence, etc and Leitches Creek. Mr. Wilson conducted services
in Leitche's Creek occasionally for over twenty years after coming to this
country.

The first church, opened in 1840 was replaced by a larger and more
commodious church in the year 1876. This second church had a seating
capacity of 500 and cost $6,000. After the Nova Scotia Steel and Coal
Company purchased the interests of the General Mining Association at
Sydnes Mines in the year 1900, the centre of population moved a mile or
more to the north of where it had hitherto been. Hence it was found
necessary to secure a new site and move the church there. This was done
at a cost of not less than $2000 in the year 1903. But so rapid was the
growth of the congregation on account of the expansion of the steel and
coal industry, that this church became utterly inadequate to the needs of
the congregation. Hence a new, larger and more modern place of worship
had to be provided. This church was completed in May 1907 at a cost
of $20,000. The dedication services were held on May the 12th of that
year. This is one of the finest sanctuaries owned by the Presbyterian
Church on the island of Cape Breton.

Very shortly after Mr. Wilson arrived at Sydney Mines the congrega
tion implemented its promise, and built a Manse. Mr. Wilson spent the

114

whole of his life in that manse. After his death, in 1884, St. Andrews con
gregation disposed of the old Manse and purchased a larger and better
house, for a Manse. Mr. McMillan lived in this house until his retirement
when the congregation made it over to him as his own, Mr. McMillan
continued to live in this house until the end of his life.

The congregation had no manse during Mr. McKinnon s ministry.
He lived in a rented house.

After Mr. Wauchope came to Sydney Mines, the congregation built a
manse for his own and his family's accommodation. This manse is con
venient to the Church and is in every way a credit to the congregation.
It is modern in every respect.

The Rev. Francis Fraser McKenzie Ph. D. was inducted into St.
Andrew's Church, Sydney Mines,on June the 17th, 1920, as Mr. Wauchope's
successor.

Notwithstanding a long able and faithful ministery Sydney Mines has
given but a very few young men to the ministry of the Presbyterian Church.
Alexander Smith was one of the earliest. He became a minister of our
church away back in the fifties of last century. Mr. Archibald McDonald
was ordained in 1911. He is now a Presbytrian minister in the United
States. Mr. John D. McLellan was studying for the ministry of the Pres
byterian Church, but he died in the year 1910 before graduating.

115

Mira and Its Ministry.

This congregation takes its name from the remarkable River, on the
banks of which a large proportion of the people live. The Mira River is
not strictly speaking a river at all, but a long narrow arm of the sea with a
tidal outlet on Mira Bay. This arm of the sea runs inland a distance of
about thirty five miles, while the average breadth is not more than a few
hundred yards.

The late Dr. George Patterson, one of our best historians and anti
quarians, claimed that the name of Mira was given to this arm of the sea by
the Portuguese, in the sixteenth Century, on account of its likeness to an
inlet of that name in Portugal.

In superficial extent the present Mira congregation covers but a very
small part of the territory covered by the original Mira congregation.
There are today fifteen congregations within the bounds of the congrega
tion that called the Rev. Hugh McLeod of Logie Easter, Scotland to be its
minister in the year 1849. At that time the Mira congregation covered
nearly half the County of Cape Breton. It included all the Presbyterians
living east of Sydney Harbor. It embraced the Mira River, from the
outlet to Salmon River, Sydney Forks, Sydney town, South Bar, Low
Point, Glace Bay, Big Glace Bay, Port Morien, Mira Bay, Catalone,
Mainadieu, Louisburg, Gabarus, New Boston, Big Ridge and Cariboo
Marsh.

This immense congregation continued unchanged and unbroken until
the year 1864, when Canoe Lake, Gabarus and Kenington Cove were set
apart as a congregation and placed under the care of the Rev. Isaac Mc
Kay as minister.

In the Spring of 1867 the congregation of St. Pauls, at Little Glace
Bay was formed out of the Mtra congregation. St. Pauls at that time
embraced the whole shore from Lingan Bay to Schooner Pond. In the
autumn of 1868 the congregation of Cow Bay (now Port Morien) was
organized out of the Mira Congregation. On July the 6th 1875, Falmouth
St. Church, Sydney was by order of Synod, organized out of this Congre
gation. A few weeks later, on August the 25th 1875, St. Andrews Church,
Sydney, upon the induction of the Rev. Alexander Farquharson, as col
league and successor to Dr. McLeod, Sydney, became a separate charge
from Mira.

In 1898, Marion Bridge was disjoined from Mira and constituted a
distinct congregation, and finally in the year 1900, Louisburg was separted
from Mira and erected into a new and separate charge. Between 1850
and 1900 a period of half a century, seven congregations were carved out of
the original Mira congregation and nevertheless, Mira is still a congrega
tion of no mean proportions.

The original settlers on the Mira River and Catalone Lake came from
the island of North Uist, in the late twenties and early thirites of last
century. In the year 1828 three ships laden with immigrants from North

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Uist came into Sydney Harbor and the large majority of those immigrants
settled on the lower Mira and at Catalone Lake. For a number of years
these people had few opportunities of hearing the gospel. They had no
church and no minister. After 1833, the pioneer ministers paid them an
occasional visit during the summer months, but during the long and dreary
winter months, they had to depend upon a few pious laymen of their own
number for any Sabbath or week day services that they enjoyed.

The Rev. John Stewart visited Mira and Catalone in the fall of 1834.
We are told that on this occasion, he preached several times to large con
gregations at Catalone Lake and also at a place in the neighbourhood of the
present Marion Bridge. In both places Mr. Stewart urged the people to
build churches as speedily as possible. A few years later three churches
were built in the congregation, one near Marion Bridge, one at Catalone
and one at Black Brook, Cow Bay. The Church near Marion Bridge and
the church at Catalone were built in the year 1838. The church at Black
Brook was built in 1842.

On account of the difficulty of getting ministers from Scotland to
supply the people with the means of grace, the Presbytery of Cape Breton
about the year 1840, found itself under the ncecessity of appointing godly
laymen to act as catechists in certain very needy places. Under this ex
pedient the Presbytery persuaded Mr. Donald Ross to leave Peter's Brook,
Victoria County and to settle at the back lands of Cow Bay. Mr. Ross
bought a farm near what is now known as Belloni post office and from there,
as a centre, he ministered to the spiritual needs of the people settled on
Mira Bay, Cow Bay and the adjacent country, for the next thirty years,
with remarkable efficiency, acceptance and power.

The first minister of Mira was The Rev. Hugh McLeod, D. D. He was
one of the pioneers and his life and work is dealt with in another place.
Dr. McLeod was minister of this congregation from 1850 to 1885 a period of
thirty five years. In the summer of 1886 the Mira people called Mr. W. R.
Calder to be their minister. Mr. Calder was a young Scotchman of popu
lar gifts, but to the great disappointment of the congregation and of the
Presbytery he proved to be deplorably lacking in rectitude of character.
After the exercise of much forbearance the Presbytery found itself under the
necessity of deposing him from the ministery of the Presbyterian Church.
This action was taken on Dec. 4th, 1901.

The next minister of Mira was the Rev. John McKinnon, B. D., a
native of West Lake Ainslie, where he was born in the year 1865. Mr.
McKinnon studied his arts and theology at Queens University, Kingston,
Ontario. He graduated Master of Arts in the spring of 1894, and Bachelor of
Divinity in the spring of 1897. He was licensed by the Presbytery of
Glengarry on May the 4th 1897, and on the 25th of that month he was or
dained and inducted by said Presbytery into the charge of Dalhousie Mills.

Mr. McKinnon was inducted as minister of Union Church, Mira by
the Presbytery of Sydney on the 27th of January, 1903. In August, 1905,
he received a call from Calvin Church, Louisburg, which he accepted and
his induction into that charge took place on Sept. 12th 1905. After eight

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years of efficient service in Louisburg, on Dec. the 31st 1913, Mr. Mc-
Kinnon was translated to the Presbytery of Inverness and by it inducted
into the pastoral charge of Greenwood Church, Baddeck, where he is still
and is doing good and faithful work for his Master.

A few months after Mr. McKinnon's departure to Louisburg, the Mira
congregation extended a call to the Rev. Donald McLeod, M. A., minister
of Little Narrows, to be their spiritual counsellor and guide to the better
land. Mr. McLeod is a native of the island of Lewis and was born in the
year 1855. He studied in the University of Aberdeen and took his Master
of Arts degree in 1884. He graduated in theology in the spring of 1890
and was licensed by the Presbytery of Dornoch a few months later. Mr.
McLeod came to Canada in the year 1893 and after spending some time in
the Presbytery of Winnipeg, as an ordained missionary, he came to Cape
Breton in the summer of 1897. In October of that year he was inducted
into the pastorate of the congregation of Little Narrows in the Presbytery of
Inverness. From that charge he came to Union Church Mira where his
induction took place on the 21st of Dec. 1905.

When Dr. McLeod took charge of the Mira people in the year 1850 as
we have already stated, there were three small churches within the bounds
of his extensive congregation. In that same territory there are now more
than wenty churches and most of them are fine specimens of ecclesiastical
architecture.

In the year 1858 the present large church was built at what was then
known as Mira Ferry, but now as Albert Bridge. The situation was central
and the intention of the Doctor was to dispense with the use of the three old
churches and to have all the people worship together in one large Central
Church and hence the name given to this place of worship was "Union
Church." This scheme worked all right in Dr. McLeod's time. The
Church near Marion Bridge was not used any more. The church at Cata-
lone was used very little and finally disappeared. The Church at Black
Brook continued to be used on an occasional Sabbath during the summer
season, but some years later, it too went into decay and disappeared. In
those early days of Dr. McLeod's ministry the people were accustomed
to walk ten and twelve miles every Sabbath morning to worship with the
multitude in Union Church and to enjoy the inspiring preaching of their
eloquent pastor. The Church was built to accommodate a thousand wor
shippers and in summer time and on fineSabbaths it was full to its capacity.
But after Dr. McLeod had served his day and generation, there was no such
attraction and these immense audiences melted away. It was really
too much to expect people to go so far to church anpl churches had to be
built for their accommodaton on the outskirts of the congregation again —
at Marion Bridge, Catalone and Milton, so that the people might be
reached with the gospel. The consequence is that the church at Albert
Bridge is twice as large as the requirements of today.

The first church at Marion Bridge was built as we have seen in 1838,
and the first Church at Catalone about the same time. There were two
churches built at Black Brook. The first of these was built in 1842. This

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church was blown down by a gale the following year. But a second church
was built on the same site in the year 1844. This church was in use as late
as the early seventies, but very occasionally. It had to be taken down in
1874 to prevent it from falling and destroying the tombstones in its im
mediate vicinity. This church was 32 ft. in length by 28 ft. in breadth
and 14 feet post. It had a gallery in one end and a pulpit and precentors
box in the other. It had a two leaved door on the west side facing the
highway. It stood on the crown of the hill in the centre of the Black Brook
Cemetery. The last service in this church was held in October 1870. Dr.
McLeod preached in Gaelic from Eph. 5:14 and the writer, then a student
catechist in English from John 15:11-24. That was a memorable day in
the life of all who were present.

The great revival of 1870 was in progress and during Dr. McLeod's
sermon, so loud was the weeping of the congregation that he had to stop
in the middle of it and give out some verses of a psalm. The singing
calmed the commotion and the Dr. was enabled to go on and finish his
discourse in comparative quietness.

There is a hall at Catalone in which services are held on alternate
Sabbaths. There is also a church at Milton, near Broughton, where ser
vices are held occasionally.

The Manse is at Albert Bridge and conveniently near to the Church.

Mira congregation has not been lavish in its contribution to the minis
try of our Church, but it has given us two good men viz. John Angus
Morrison and John Mclnnis.

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Grand River and Its Ministry.

This congregation takes its name from the river that flows through it.
That river drains the Loch Lomond Lakes and pours its waters into the
Atlantic Ocean. The people have their homes, for the most part, on the
banks of the Grand River. The church is on the east side of the river and
the manse on the west side. A substantial bridge spans the river in the
vicinity of the church.

The grandfathers and grandmothers of the present generation came
from Lochalsh in Rosshire, a few of them as early as 1813, and the majority
of them between 1820 and 1830. When the Rev. John McLennan came to
Cape Breton in 1827, Grand River was the first place he visited in his round
of the different Presbyterian settlements. He found forty-three Scot
tish families on the Grand River at that time. In his report of that
visit to the Colonial Committee, he says that with the exception of one
other, he was the first minister of the gospel that ever came to this place.
Who that other was he does not say and we cannot tell. It must have been
either Donald McDonald of Malagawatch, or Norman McLeod of St.
Ann's. These were the only Presbyterian ministers on the island previous
to the year 1827, with the exception of Mr. Millar of Mabou, who hadno
Gaelic and as far as is known, never went beyond the bounds of his own con
gregation during his ministerial life. Mr. McLennan came to Cape
Breton a second time in the year 1829, and the probability is that he took in
Loch Lomond and Grand River in his itinerary, though he does not say so.

Between 1833 and 1837, no doubt, our people in these settlements had
an occasional visit from the Rev. Alexander Farquharson and the Rev.
John Stewart; also from the Rev. James Fraser and the Rev. Dugald Mc-
Kichan. These were the only Presbyterian ministers in Cape Breton
during those years, with the exception of the Rev. Wm. Millar and Rev.
Norma McLeod. We know from his own letters that the Rev. John
Stewart preached at Grand River for a week in May 1835, when he
says he "had to do battle with witchcraft." He wrote to the Colonial
Committee "I got the people to proceed with their church and then left for
the Lakes of Loch Lomond," where he also preached. He found the people
of Loch Lomond too poor to attempt the building of a church, but got them
to build a school-house as there was one in the settlement who could teach.

Three years later the Loch Lomond people built their first church;
That was in 1838.

The Rev. John Gunn came to Cape Breton in the summer of 1838.
He served as a probationer between Grand River, Loch Lomond and con
nected settlements until the summer of 1840 when he went to Strathlorne,
where he was subsequently settled as pastor.

We cannot learn that any minister of the Presbyterian Church spent
any length of time in this large Presbyterian community between 1840
and 1853, when the Rev. James Ross became minister of the congregation.
Apart from the services conducted by a few local laymen, who acted as

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leaders and catechists, the people were left almost entirely destitute of the
means of grace during those thirteen years. The wonder is, that under such
conditions and for so long a time, our people in these parts did not relapse
into heathenism or drift away from the church of their fathers. Such
consequences were only averted by the characteristic loyalty of these High
landers to their own church, to the prevalent custom of family worship,
and to the sabbath services and midweek prayer meetings which were
regularly conducted by pious laymen of their own number during all those
years.

At length however, in the year 1853, the neglected but long-suffering
people of Grand River obtained a faithful minister of the gospel in the person
of the Rev. James Ross. The congregation over which Mr. Ross was
settled included St. Peters, Lardoise, Grand River, Loch Lomond, Fram
boise, St. Esprit and L'Archeveque, a territory in which there are four con
gregations today. Mr. Ross assumed the duties of this extensive and
laborious field with characteristic courage and he continued to labor therein
during the next twenty-three years. In the year 1876, Mr. Ross, on ac
count of decreasing strength, resigned the Loch Lomond and Framboise
sections of his charge. But by this time his work was nearly done. On
the 12th of July, 1877, after a brief illness, he entered into rest, the rest
that remaineth for the people of God.

Mr. Ross was a native of Redcastle, Rosshire, Scotland. We do not
know the date of his birth. He studied for the ministry at Aberdeen
University. He came to this country as a licentiate of the Free Church in
the year 1851. He labored within the bounds of the Presbytery of Pictou
for a couple of years before coming to Cape Breton. Mr. Ross was a gospel
preacher of no mean order. The common people heard him gladly. He
was also a man of rare uprightness of character. In all the relations of life
he conducted himself as an ambassador of Jesus Christ. He commanded
the esteem of his brethren in the ministry and they all loved him as a father.

Mr. Ross was succeeded in the pastorate of Grand River by the Rev.
George Lawson Gordon. Mr. Gordon was a native of Brora, Sutherland-
shire, Scotland, where he was born in the year 1853. He came to Cape
Breton in the Spring of 1874 as a catechist. He spent that summer at
River Inhabitants. He studied for the ministry of our Church at Dal-
housie University and the Presbyterian College, Halifax. He graduated
from the latter institution in 1879. He was licensed to preach the gospel
by the Presbytery of Sydney on the 10th of September 1879 and on the
same day he accepted a call to Grand River. His ordination and induction
took place on the 6th day of October thereafter. After several years of
successful service, Mr. Gordon, on account of failing health resigned the
charge of Grand River on the 27th of May,1885 Not long thereafter he was
called to Salem Church, River John, where he labored for twenty-two years.

In the year 1911, his health failed again. This caused him to resign
Salem Church and go to Alberta in the hope of regaining his health. Find
ing the change beneficial, he accepted a call to Redcliffe, Alta., in 1912,
and continued pastor of that charge until his death on Jan. the 22nd, 1919,

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in the sixtieth year of his life, and the thirtieth of his ministry. As, a
preacher of the gospel, Mr. Gordon was fluent, earnest, scholarly and
evanelical. He was equally at home in English and Gaelic.

The Rev. Murdoch A. McKenzie followed Mr. Gordon in the pastoral
charge of Grand River on May the 30th, 1888. For further particulars of
Mr. McKenzie and his ministry the reader is referred to the article on the
Middle River Congregation.

The next minister of Grand River was the Rev. William Grant. He
was inducted into this charge on the first day of June, 1899, and he died
here on the 18th of December, 1906, in the seventieth year of his age. The
reader is referred to the chapter on Port Morien for a fuller account of Mr.
Grant and his ministry, in Cape Breton and elsewhere.

The Rev. Donald McDonald, B. D., succeeded Mr. Grant. Mr.
McDonald was not only born in Cape Breton, but he has given the whole
of his ministerial life to Cape Breton. He has been minister of four
different congregations on the island, and he is now minister of one of the
four, a second time. He began his work at Port Hastings and he is now
back at Port Hastings again. This is a mark of his worth as a minister
that very few receive. A more extended notice of Mr. McDonald and his
work in Cape Breton will be found in connction with his pastorates in Port
Hastings, Strathlorne and Dominion No. 6.

The present pastor of Grand River is the Rev. Lauchlin Beaton. Mr.
Beaton, like so many of our ministers, is a native of this island. He was
born at Boulardarie in July, 1863. He prepared for the ministry by
studying at Sydney Academy, Dalhousie University, Auburn Seminary,
U. S., and the Presbyterian College, Montreal, from which he graduated
in April, 1898. Mr. Beaton was licensed by the Presbytery of Montreal
on the 28th of June, 1898. On August the 2nd, 1893 he was settled at Cape
North as an ordained missionary. Since that time he has been pastor in
several congregations. He was inducted at Roxborough, Presbytery of
Glengarry, in December, 1900; at Caledonia, Presbytery of P. E. I., in
May, 1910; at Blackville, Presbytery of Miramichi in May, 1912. His
induction at Grand River took place on Oct. the 10th, 1917.

The first church was built at Grand River in 1836. It was not finished
on the inside until the year 1852. The present church was built in 1891,
during the ministry of the Rev. Murdoch A. McKenzie. It is a very
creditable, commodious and convenient country church. There are no
churches at the out stations, Lardoise, St. Esprit, Larchevique. Services
held in these places are held in school houses or private residences.

There is a very good manse. It too, was at least started, in Mr.
MacKenzie's time. The Rev. James Ross owned his own house with a large
block of land attached. The congregation bought this property from Mr.
Ross' heirs and built the manse on the site of Mr. Ross' house.

The ministers that were born in Grand River were; Angus W. McKay,
E. D. McKillop, Lake Ainslie; John A. Shaw, West Virginia; F. Kemp,
San Fernando; D. G. McLennan, Colorado; D. J. McKay, J. K. Murchi-
son; G. J. Patterson and Edward J. Shaw.

122

Baddeck and Its Ministry.

This congregation is named after the town in which it is located, the
shire town of Victoria County.

The name Baddeck is derived from the Micmac name for the small
island immediately opposite the town. The Indians called that island
Abaduckt, which means in the Micmac tongue, the island near the land.
The name of this island came to be applied to the opposite shore and
country and finally to the town that came into being on that shore.

Baddeck is famous for the natural beauty of its surroundings and also
for the salubrity oi its atmosphere. For these two reasons, Baddeck is the
resort, in summer time, of many Americans in search of health or pleasure.

Beinn Bhreagh the summer home of Professor Graham Bell, the in
ventor of the telephone is situated on a very picturesque site near Baddeck.

The earliest information that we have regarding Presbyterianism in
Baddeck comes to us through the Rev. Donald Allan Fraser, who came on
a missionary excursion to Cape Breton in the year 1827. On that occasion
Mr. Fraser spent ten days between Boulardarie and Baddeck and he
preached several times in both places.

There were a number of Presbyterians here at that time and Mr.
Fraser proposed to them that they should join with their brethren on
Boulardarie island in applying to the Colonial Committee for a minister
who would preach in both places. As a result of this proposal, a joint
petition from the people of Baddeck and Boulardarie was actually pre
pared and transmitted to the Committee in the following year, together
with a guarantee of adequate financial support for the man that might be
sent.

Seven years later the Rev. James Fraser was sent out in answer to that
petition but in the meantime the Presbyterians on Boulardarie and its
vicinity had increased numerically to such an extent, that they required
the whole of Mr. Fraser's time and also that they were able to provide for
his support themselves without the assistance of Baddeck. Hence after a
year spent in general missionary work, Mr. Fraser settled down as minister
of Boulardarie, about the end of the year 1836.

The Rev. Donald Allan Fraser, in his report to the Colonial Committee
made special mention of two men, who were ready to give their "active
support and liberal aid" to the settlement of a minister between Boulard
arie and Baddeck. These two were Lieutenant Duffus, R. N. residing on
Duffus' Island Baddeck and his brother William Duffus at Big Bras d'Or
on Boulardarie Island. "These two" he adds "had fostered the strong
partiality of their neighbours for our church." Lieutenant Duffus was at
that time conducting a general business on the island. There was no
town on the opposite shore at that time — indeed there was hardly a tree
cut on the site of Baddeck town at that time. All communications with
the Duffus establishment was by boat and by this method of transportation

123

there was easy access to the Duff us store from all parts of the Bras D'Or
Lake.

After the death of Lieut. Duffus, William Kidston, another Scotchman
from Glasgow, married the widow of Mr. Duffus and carried on the island
business for a number of years. Among the earliest settlers on the present
site of Baddeck were four men that gave the town a decidedly Presbyterian
complexion. These were: Robert Elmslie, who came here in 1841 and
started a general store, Dougall Robertson, who came from Pictou a year or
two later and opened a second general store and Alexander Taylor, who
came from Halifax in 1845 and opened a third general store.

The town was flanked and backed by Presbyterians from an early
date. They settled all round Baddeck Bay, westward along the shore of St.
Patrick's Channel; back towards the Big Baddeck River and on both sides
of that river. After the Rev. Alexander Farquharson became minister of
Middle River and Lake Ainslie in 1834, he attended to the spiritual needs
of Big and Little Baddeck as best he could until the year 1857, when the
Rev. Kenneth McKenzie was ordained and inducted minister of Baddeck
and Baddeck Forks.

Mr. McKenzie was born in Caribou, Pictou County on the 8th of
June 1826. His preparatory studies were taken at Pictou Academy, his
Arts studies at the Halifax Academy and his theological studies at the Free
Church College, Halifax. He was one of the earliest students of that in
stitution and one of the earliest graduates of the college. He supplied
Baddeck and Big Baddeck as probationer for a year or more after licensure.
At the end of that time he was called to the pastorate. He was ordained
and inductd as minister in the first church that was ever built in Baddeck
on the 2nd of Dec. 1857. Mr. McKenzie purchased a home in Baddeck,
soon after his induction, married a good wife and settled down to a long
pastorate of forty six years. The work was arduous and the remuneration
small, but Mr. McKenzie went on perserveringly to the end. Mr. Mc
Kenzie was a man of great meekness and patience. He was never known
to complain of the hardness of his lot, although his toil was incessant and the
cupboard often very bare. In order to replenish his exchequer and keep
the wolf from the door, he took the school Inspectorship of the County of
Victoria for a period of six years, in addition to his pastoral and ministerial
duties. He was clerk of his presbytery for thirty four years and he dis
charged the duties of that office with admirable efficiency.

On the 31st of March 1901, Mr. McKenzie resigned the charge and
removed to Halifax, where the remainder of his life was spent. On June
the 20th 1904, the end came and he passed peacefully into the presence of
the Master whom he served so faithfully, in the 78th year of his age and
the forty-seventh of his ministry. After Mr. McKenzie's resignation,
Baddeck Forks was separated from Baddeck and the latter became a self-
supporting and independent congregation. The Rev. Donald McDougall
succeeded Mr. McKenzie as minister of Baddeck. Having dwelt at some
length on Mr. McDougall's ministry in Port Morien and in West Bay, we
need not say much of his ministry in Baddeck. Suffice it however to add

124

that as he grew in years, he grew in faithfulness to the souls under his care
as well as to the Master and Saviour whom he loved and served, so long and
well. Mr. McDougall was inducted at Greenwood Church, Baddeck on
Sept. 28th 1892. On Sept. the 3rd 1907, he resigned the charge expecting
to spend many happy years in his own home in Baddeck as ex-pastor of
the congregation. But that was not to be. In the following spring,
while at Glace Bay on his way to Broughton to fulfil an appointment he
was taken suddenly ill and after a few days of suffering he passed into his
Saviour's presence on the 4th of May,1908, in the seventy-second year of his
age and forty-third of his ministry.

The Rev. Charles C. Mclntosh, B. D. followed Mr. McDougall in the
pastorate of Baddeck. Mr. Mclntosh was a native of Malagawtach, C. B.,
and was born there on Feb. 25th 1871. Mr. Mclntosh's preparatory stud
ies were taken at Sydney Academy.

He studied the Arts in Dalhousie University graduating in 1899 and
obtaining the degree of B. A. He studied theology in the Presbyterian
College, Halifax and graduated from the latter institution in the Spring of
1901. He was licensed by the Presbytery of Halifax in April 1901, on the
completion of his theological course. On Jan. the 2nd 1902 Mr. Mclntosh
was ordained and inducted as minister of Gordon Church, Reserve Mines.
After six years of excellent service in this church, he was called to Baddeck,
and on April the 16th 1908, he was inducted into the charge of Greenwood
Church by the Presbytery of Inverness.

Five years later Mr. Mclntosh was translated to the Presbytery of
Pictou and by that Presbytery inducted into Sharon Church, Stellarton,
on the 4th of Dec. 1903. After graduation Mr. Mclntosh took a post
graduate course in theology at the United Free Church College, Glasgow,
Scotland.

The next minister of Baddeck was the Rev. John B. McKinnon, B. D.
His induction took place on the 7th of January 1914. We have already
spoken of Mr. McKinnon's life and work in connection with the congrega
tion of Mira and hence need to say nothing farther in this connection.

Suffice it to say that Mr. McKinnon is still minister of Baddeck and
that he is doing his work with efficiency and success.

The first Presbyterian Church in Baddeck was built about a mile to
the east of the village on the road to St. Ann's. This was for the purpose of
accommodating members and adherents of the congregation living at Red
Head and at the head of Baddeck Bay. This church was built in 1841
and according to the custom of these days in the congregational graveyard.
This church was never finished inside, but it served the purposes of a church
after a fashion until the year 1865; when it was taken down and a second
and larger church was built on the same spot, and named after the great
Scottish Reformer, Knox Church.

After some years it was felt that this church ^as inconveniently sit
uated, especially for the people living in the town. The congregation
owned a central and suitable site within the town and in 1890, Knox Church
was abandoned and Greenwood Church was erected on that site.

125

The Church of Scotland had a church built on this same site in 1862*
but it was never finished and very rarely used.

A few Antiburger people living in Baddeck in the early fifties of last
century also built a church in the town, but after the Union of 1860 it was
of no farther service.

The congregation built a manse on a very fine site, nearly opposite the
present church in the year 1893 during the pastorate of the Rev. D. Mc-
Dougall.

The men born in this congregation, who have entered the ministry of
our church include Rev. J. Fraser Campbell, D. D. for fifty years mission
ary in Rutlam, India. The Rev. D. A. McRae, B. A., missionary in
Corea; A. A. McLeod, the present pastor of Trenton, N. S.; Farquhar
McRae, D. D., one of the pastors of Philadelphia, U. S.; Rev. Mclntosh
McLeod and Rev. J. D. McLeod.

126

Cape North and Its Ministry. .

The Cape North Presbyterian congregation is not appropriately
named. It should be known as the Aspy Bay congregation, rather than
the Cape North congregation. Cape North is not habitable and no one
lives there. The church is in Aspy Bay, and nearly all the people con
nected with the congregation live at Aspy Bay, indeed all except about
twenty families that live in Bay St. Lawrence, seven miles distant.

Aspy Bay means the last bay. And this is indeed the last bay, not
only in Cape Breton, but also on the continent of North America, in a
north-easterly direction. Three rivers drain the country to the south west
of Aspy Bay and they empty themselves through as many harbors into the
bay. These rivers and harbors are known respectively as the North,
Middle and South Rivers, and harbors. The people live upon the banks of
these rivers and harbors, and upon the ridges that rise between them. The
habitable area of Aspy Bay is flanked by two ranges of mountains, one on
the north side and the other on the south. These ranges are known as the
North and South Mountain respectively. There is nothing remarkable
about the South Mountain, but the North Mountain is a particularly bold,
precipitous and imposing range of high land. It rises to a general elevation
of 1,100 feet above the North River which flows at its base. From several
vantage points on the Big Ridge, this mountain can be seen for a length of
twenty miles, from Money Point on Cabot Strait to the Head of the Big
Intervale. The Sugar Loaf, a peak in this mountain range, rises to a height
of 1,250 feet. The Sugar Loaf is believed by many to be the "Prima Terra
Vista" of the Cabots, and the first part of North America ever seen by the
eyes of a European. This was on June 24th, 1497, when John Cabot and
his son Sebastian Cabot, made their famous voyage of discovery to this
western world. Be that as it may, one thing is certain, there is no grander
mountain scenery in Nova Scotia than is to be found in Aspy Bay.

The first white man that we know of, who came to Aspy Bay, was a
fisherman by the name of Captain Harris. He belonged to Mass., U. S.,
and came to this bay in the year 1812. Captain Harris settled near the head
of the North Harbor. In the year 1813, Captain Harris was followed by
John Gwynne and his three sons, James, William and Joseph. The
Gwynnes were friends of Captain Harris, and came from the same place in
the United States. Captain Gwynne and his sons took up land near the
head of the North Harbor, and under the shadow of the North Mountain.
There are a number of their descendants here still. John Gwynne was a
pious man, and he was accustomed to hold religious services among the
people of those days in Aspy Bay.

The earliest Scottish settler of Aspy Bay came from the Isle of Skye.
They began to come as early as 1820, and continued to come until the year
1841, when the last immigrant arrived. The ancestors of the McLeod's
and the McPherson's arrived in 1828, some of them by way of Prince Ed-

127

ward Island. The Morrisons, McGregors and McLennans followed short
ly thereafter. The McDonalds came in 1840.

Sandy McDonald came to Sydney Mines from the Isle of Skye, in
1838 but at the end of two or three years he removed to the Big Intervale,
Aspy Bay. In 1841 he removed to the north end of the north harbor
beach, and settled under the shadow of the Sugar Loaf, where some of his
descendants are still found. Apsy Bay was then a particularly easy place
in which to obtain all the necessaries of life. The soil was good, and the
fishing was the best on the coasts of Cape Breton. There was a good mar
ket at St. Pierre for all their surplus products, consisting chiefly of split oak
for puncheon staves, sheep, cattle, butter and cheese. Here they obtained
at a very cheap rate, tea, sugar, molasses and tobacco; also French brandy
and wine. There was no custom house at Aspy Bay until 1872, and all
these articles were imported duty-free, and of course cheap.

The first Presbyterian minister to reach Aspy Bay was the Rev. John
Stewart. This was in August 1835. There was no road to the Bay at that
time. Hence, Mr. Stewart went by a small schooner from North Sydney
to that, then, so inaccessible a place. Mr. Stewart spent two Sabbaths
here. He preached several times, and baptized a number of adults as well
as children. Mr. Stewart wrote, "1 had now to retrace my steps if I should
not remain at the Cape. There was everything to entice me to this. The
scenery there is on a grand scale, and the settlement one of the finest in
Cape Breton." The probability is that the Rev. Alexander Farquharson
visited Aspy Bay between 1835 and 1840, but we have no record of such a
visit.

Between 1840 and 1860, the Rev. John Gunn of Broadcove was in the
habit of making an annual missionary journey to Pleasant Bay, Aspy Bay
and Bay St. Lawrence. On these occasions he spent from four to six weeks
among the people, preaching, teaching, baptizing and visiting the aged and
the sick. Old and young showed their appreciation of Mr. Gunn and his
services by slipping a coin of more or less value into his hand while he was
among them. Any remuneration that he received for his services at Cape
North was a personal and free-will offering given in this way.

Aspy Bay had no settled minister until 1860, when the Rev. Donald
Sutherland was called to be the first minister of the congregation. He was-
ordained at Baddeck on June 6th, 1860, and the Rev. John Gunn was
appointed by Presbytery to proceed to Cape North and introduce Mr.
Sutherland to his people. At that time the congregation was composed of
all the Presbyterians between Smoky Mountain in Victoria County, and
Fishing Cove in Inverness County, a distance by the shore line of not less
than one hundred miles. The people were then living, as they are still, in
groups in the bays and coves that are found on that shore line, viz., South
Ingonish, North Ingonish, Neils Harbor, New Haven, White Point, Aspy
Bay, Bay St. Lawrence, Pouletts Cove, Pleasant Bay and Fishing Cove.
There were a few Presbyterians in all these places and not very many any
where except in Aspy Bay, where there were seventy or eighty families^
There was not a carriage or a carriage road within the bounds of the con-

128

gregation at that time. All the travelling had to be done either on foot
or on horse-back, over mountains or bridgeless rivers, or by boat from bay
to bay and cove to cove.

There was one small unfinished church at Aspy Bay in 1860, when Mr.
Sutherland became pastor, but it was only used for a few months in the
summer season. It was built in the early forties, forty-one or forty-two.
It was never heated and was not fit for use in winter time.

Mr. Sutherland was born in Earltown, Colchester Co., N. S., in the
year 1834.. He received his education at Pictou Academy, the Truro
Seminary, and the Free Church College, Halifax. He completed his pre
parations for the ministry in the spring of 1857. Mr. Sutherland remained
in Cape North until November 4th, 1863, when he resigned the charge and
accepted an appointment to Newfoundland and Labrador for a couple of
years. In 1867 he went to Ontario and from there to Kansas in the
United States.

In June, 1870, Mr. Sutherland returned to Cape Breton, and spent
some years at Pleasant Bay, within the bounds of his first congregation.
On the 17th of August, 1875, he was inducted into the pastoral charge of
Gabarus, Kenington Cove, and Eorchu. He labored in this congregation
with great diligence and faithfulness until July 29th, 1903, when he died
suddenly, sitting in a chair on his own verandah at Gabarus. Mr. Suther
land was a man of many parts. He was a linguist, geologist and mineral
ogist as well as a theologian and preacher.

After Mr. Sutherland's resignation of Aspy Bay in 1863, there was
no settled pastor in this congregation for a period of nine years. The
field however obtained a supply of Gospel ordinances from probationers
and catechists during the summer season, and pious laymen conducted
services during the winter. The late Rev. Wm. Grant was there in the
summer of 1867 and 1868. The Rev. Samuel C. Gunn was there in the
summer of 1869, and the writer was sent there by the Presbytery of Syd
ney in May, 1870, and again in May, 1871. The memory of those two
summers in that romantic place is still fresh and inspiring.

In the autumn of 1873 the congregation called the Rev. Peter Clarke
to be its minister. His ordination and designation took place at St. James
Church, Big Bras d'Or, on November 12th, 1873. Mr. Clark was born in
Scotland. We do not know where he was educated nor the Presbytery by
which he was licensed. After serving as a probationer of the Free Church
of Scotland for a number of years, he came to Cape Breton, with good re
commendation from the Colonial Committee of the Free Church, in June,
1872.

Mr. Clarke spent the rest of his life at Apsy Bay. He labored with
perseverance and faithfulness. He entered into the Joy of his Lord on the
27th of August, 1887. Mr. Clark was a good preacher, a diligent pastor
and a saintly man.

The next minister of Aspy Bay was the Rev. Ewen McKenzie, a native
of Rosshire, Scotland. He was educated at the Glasgow University, and
the Free Church College, Glasgow. He came to Cape Breton as a licen-

129

tiate of the Free Church in the summer of 1888. The Presbytery of Sydney
sent him down to Aspy Bay as an Ordained Missionary for one year, in the
following spring. At the end of that year he was called to the pastorate of
the congregation, and his induction took place on the first of August, 1890.
After two years of praiseworthy service, Mr. McKenzie resigned the charge
on the 8th of October, 1892, and went to our Northwestern Mission Field,
where he received an appointment to the Indian Reserve at the Hurricane
Hills. He labored here with diligence and success until his death on the
31st of January, 1915, in the sixtieth year of his life* Mr. McKenzie was a
meek, retiring, humble and godly man.

Mr. McKenzie was succeeded in the pastorate of Apsy Bay by the
Rev. Malcolm N. McLeod. The reader will find an account of Mr. Mc-
Leod's life and work for the Master in the Chapter on St. Ann's and its
ministry.

The next minister of Aspy Bay was the Rev. Lachlan Beaton. For an
account of Mr. Beaton's life and ministry, the reader is referred to the
Chapter on the Grand River Congregation. Rev. John McFarlane fol
lowed Mr. Beaton in this charge. By turning to the Chapter on Loch Lo~
mond, the reader will find a summary of Mr. McFarlane's life and ministry.
Mr. McFarlane was succeeded in the ministry of Aspy Bay by the Rev.
J. W. Smith, now of Middle River. Under the head of Middle River the
reader will find a brief account of Mr. Smith and his work on this island.

Rev. Hugh Michael followed Mr. Smith in the pastorate of Aspy Bay.
Mr. Michael was a native of Kilmorach, Invernesshire, Scotland, where he
was born on the 15th of May, 1862. He studied his Arts in Glasgow Uni
versity and finished his preparation for the ministry in the spring of 1893.
He studied theology in the Free Church College, Glasgow, from which he
graduated in the spring of 1898. Mr. Michael was licensed by the Free
Church Presbytery of Tongue, on June 17th, 1898. He came to Canada in
August, 1906, and was ordained and inducted at Orwell by the Presbytery
of P. E. Island on November 27th, 1906. Two years later he came to
Cape Breton and was appointed Ordained Missionary at Broughton in the
Presbytery of Sydney on July 19th, 1908. On March 26th, 1912, he was
sent by the Presbytery to Aspy Bay as Ordained Missionary, and on the
17th of the following July he was inducted and settled as minister. On
August 17th, 1917, Mr. Michael resigned the charge and went to Quebec.
He is now ordained missionary at Jersey Mills in that Province. While in
Cape Breton, Mr. Michael proved himself to be an honest, earnest worker
in the Lord's vineyard.

The present minister of Cape North is the Rev. Roderick McKenzie.
He was born in the parish of Lochs, Lewis, Scotland. He took his Arts
Glasgow University and his theology in the New College, Edinburgh,
graduating in 1898. After licensure, Mr. McKenzie served some years in
Mission work as minister of the U. Free Church. After coming to Canada
he was called to the pastorate of Winslow, Quebec. After eight years in that
charge Mr. McKenzie came to Cape Breton and was inducted at Strath-
lorne in 1912 and at Cape North in Dec. 1919. The present church

130

was built in the year 1868 by the late Samuel W. McKeen, of
Sydney. This church was not finished inside until the year 1875 during
the ministry of Rev. Mr. Clark. It was renovated and modernized during
the ministry of Rev. Mr. McFarlane, and it is now a comfortable and ser
viceable place of worship. There is a good manse near the church, built
in 1876 while Mr. Clark was minister, at a cost of $600. The people fur
nished most of the lumber and did much of the labor gratuitously.

There is a church at Bay St. Lawrence seven miles from the central
church. There are about twenty families living in this outpost of our
church and they receive a service every alternate Sunday. The only young
man from Cape North who entered our ministry was Rev. Donald Mc
Donald, B. D. now of Port Hastings. Murdoch McPherson, another Cape
North man of great promise, entered upon a course of study for the minis
try but was called to his rest and reward before completing his course of
preparation for service.

131

Gabarus and Its Ministry.

The name Gabarus is a transformation into English of the French name
Chapeau Rouge, which means Red Head. Chapeau Rouge was the name
by which the French knew this locality when they owned Cape Breton
Island. The original settlers of Gabarus were English. They located on
the shore where the .village of Gabarus is now. The early Methodist
preachers got among them between 1835 and 1840, and the result was that
the people living in Gabarus Village are largely Methodists in religion.

We do not know exactly when the Gaelic speaking highlanders and
islanders began to settle in the vicinity of Gabarus Bay. When they came
they took up land at Kennington Cove and Canoe Lake. Hence, there are
few Presbyterians in Gabarus Village. They are to be found farther inland.

The Rev. John Stewart went to Gabarus in the spring of 1835, and
spent some days among the few Presbyterian people who were there at that
time. It is very likely that others of the pioneers followed his example in
later years, but we have no definite information on this matter.

There is a tombstone in the cemetery of Gabarus that commemorates
a minister of our church that died there in the 1855, by the name of Wil
liam Dunbar. It appears that he came from Scotland to Gabarus in 1853,
and that he labored among the Scottish people there during the next two
years. He is said to have been a good man and a good preacher, in English
and Gaelic. He dropped dead on the streets of Gabarus. In the year
1878, the Rev. Donald Sutherland, had this tombstone erected to the
memory of a brother he had never seen, but of whom his people had told
him many favorable things.

The Gabarus congregation was originally a part of the extensive con
gregation of Mira. It was given a separate existence in the year 1864, and
placed by the Presbytery at that time under the care of the Rev. Isaac
McKay as its first pastor. As at first constituted, the congregation in
cluded Kennington Cove, Canoe Lake and Gabarus.

Mr. McKay was a native of Sutherlandshire, Scotland and a nephew
of the Rev. Hugh McLeod, D. D. He came to Cape Breton in the year
1862 as a licentiate of the Free Church. During the first two years of his
stay in C. B. Mr. McKay was employed as principal of the Sydney Acad
emy. He was a good scholar, and in this capacity gave every satis
faction to citizens and trustees. On the 18th of July, 1864, Mr. McKay
was ordained and inducted as minister of Gabarus. In October 1866, he
resigned the charge and left for Scotland. Subsequently he went to Aus
tralia, where he died.

In the year 1869, by arrangement of Presbytery, the Rev. Cornelius
E. McLean, then minister of Leitches Creek, gave Gabarus one third of his
time, and this arrangement continued for a couple of years. On the 18th
of June, 1872, the Rev. David Drummond was ordained and inducted into
the pastorate of Kennington Cove, Gabarus, Fourche and Framboise. Mr
Drummond labored in this wide field with characteristic diligence until his
translation to Boulardarie in February, 1875.

132

Not long after Mr. Drummond's departure, the Rev. Donald Suther
land was called. His induction took place on the 17th of August, 1875.
Some months after Mr. Sutherland's settlement, Framboise was separated
from Gabarus, and connected with Loch Lomond. This change lightened
his labors very considerably.

Mr. Sutherland's ministry continued during a period of twenty-eight
years, and ended with his sudden and unexpected death on the 29th of
July, 1903. He died sitting in his chair on the verandah of his manse.
Apparently, he fell asleep and never awakened. The Lord's Supper was
to have been dispensed at Gabarus the following Sabbath, and all arrange
ments had been made for commemoration of the death accomplished for
sinful men at Jerusalem, but other members of the Presbytery had to dis
pense that sacred ordinance.

The Rev. Donald Sutherland was a man of uncommonly fine physique;
tall, stout and handsome. He was rather eccentric at times, but he had a
very tender and sympathetic heart.

About a year after Mr. Sutherland's death, the congregation called the
Rev. Malcolm Campbell, at that time minister of Strathalbyn, P. E. Island
Mr. Campbel responded to this call, and was inducted as minister of.
Gabarus on August 23rd, 1904. Mr. Campbell spent ten fruitful years in
this congregation. At the end of that time, on August the 5th, 1914, he
accepted a call to Marsboro, in the Presbytery of Quebec, whether he was
translated, and where he is still proclaiming the Gospel of the Grace of God.
Mr. Campbell had two pastorates on this island; one at Gabarus; and
one at Strathlorne. He also had two pastorates on P. E. Island; one at
Wood Islands and the other at Strathalbyn. In all these spheres of labor,
he proved himself to be a diligent and faithful worker.

Gabarus lost no time in finding a successor to Mr. Campbell. They
found him in the person of the Rev. J. W. Smith at that time minister of
Leitches Creek. Mr. Smith was inducted into this charge on the 29th of
June, 1915, and he remained until the 20th of August, 1918, when he was
translated to the Presbytery of Inverness, and subsequently inducted into
the congregation of Middle River, where he is still, and where the Lord's
work is prospering under his strong, clear proclamation of the Gospel.

The present minister of Gabarus is the Rev. T. R. Davidson, M. A.,
Ph. D. Mr. Davidson is a son of the manse and was born on the island of
Harris in the Hebrides. He took his Arts course in Aberdeen University,
specializing in Science and Classics. He also studied theology in Aberdeen
and at the Free Church College there.

He was licensed by the Free Presbytery of Skye on the 7th of February,
1899. After coming to Canada, he obtained the degree of M. A. from
Oskaloosa College, Iowa, U. S., in June, 1916, and the degree of Ph. D.
from the same institution on October 27th, 1917.

Mr. Davidson was ordained and inducted at Little Narrows on Octo
ber 16th, 1906, and inducted into the congregation of North Shore and
North River on December 8th, 1907; and into the congregation of Har-

133

court, New Brunswick, on October 18th, 1917. His induction at Gabarus
took place on July 3rd, 1919.

The first church was built in Gabarus in the year 1860, and continued
in use until January 29th, 1911, when it was consumed by fire. The present
church was built on the same site in the year 1912, at a cost of $6,000.

A hall for exclusively religious purposes was built the same year about
four miles west of the church on the Forchu road, at a cost of $2,000.

The first manse was built in 1876 during Mr. Sutherland's ministry,
and on a lot of fifty acres. After Mr. Smith became minister in 1916, a
new, larger and better manse was built at a cost of $4,000.

Gabarus has not given any of her sons to the ministry of our Church.

134

Leitches* Creek and Its Ministry.

This congregation includes four church centres, viz. Lietches Creek,
Upper Leitches Creek, Beachmont and Edwardsville.

Leitches Creek is an extensionof the north west arm of Sydney Har
bor. It takes its name from a Lowland Scotchman, who came here about
the year 1780 and squatted on lands by the Creek. Subsequently, in 1789,
he took out a grant of land on the Little Bras d'Or where he spent the re
mainder of his life.

The first Gaelic speaking Presbyterians that settled at Upper Leitches
Creek were six brothers by the name of McDonald. Four of them came
here from North Ui?t in the year 1827 and the other two in the year 1829.
John Beaton came from the same island in the year 1832. Beaton had
seven sons and five of them settled in this vicinity. The descendants of
these McDonalds and Bea'ons are the majority of the population at the
present time.

There was no place of worship in the congregation until 1841 when the
first Church was built at Upper Leitches Creek. From 1836 to 1842 the
few Presbyterians that were here received more or less attention from the
Rev. James Fraser of Boulardarie. From 1842 to 1864 they shared to
some extent in the ministrations of the Rev. Matthew Wilson, the minister
of Sydney Mines. In 1864 Upper Leitches Creek, Leitches Creek proper
and Ball's Creek were constituted into a congregation, by the Presbytery of
Cape Breton and the Rev. Alexander Farquharson Jr. was called to be its
first minister. Mr. Farquharson was born at the Middle River in the
year 1835 and was the son of one of the pioneer Presbyterian ministers of
Cape Breton. He received his training for the ministry at the Free
Church Academy and College on Gerrish Street Halifax. He graduated
from this college in the Spring of 1863. During the following summer he
labored as a missionary within the bounds of the Presbytery of Miramichi
N. B. He received licensure at the hands of that Presbytery sometime
during the same summer. In the autumn of 1864 Mr. Farquharson re
ceived a call from the recently formed congregation of Leitches Creek,
which he accepted. His ordination and induction took place in the old
church at Upper Leitches Creek on Dec. 14th, 1864. Mr. Farquharson
had the peculiar distinction of being the first minister of three congregations
within the bounds of the same Presbytery viz. of Leitches Creek, St. Pauls,
Glace Bay and of St. Andrews, Sydney.

The second minister of Leitches Creek was the Rev. Cornelius E. Mc
Lean, a native of Rosshire, Scotland, and a licentiate of the Free Church.
He came to Canada in the year 1857. His first charge was at Winslow in the
the Presbytery of Montreal, where he was ordained and inducted in the
year 1858. In the Spring of 1869, Mr. McLean came to Cape Breton and
shortly thereafter he was called to the pastorate of Leitches Creek con
gregation, into which he was inducted on the 24th of August. Mr. McLean
was minister of Leitches Creek until Sept. the 30th, 1876, when he re-

135

signed and removed to Consecon, Ontario, where he died some years later.
During his pastorate at Leitches Creek Mr. McLean gave a part of his time
to Gabarus. He also gave a monthly service in Gaelic for some time at
Sydney Mines.

After Mr. McLean s departure this congregation was vacant for eight
or nine years and dependent for public services upon such probationers
and catechists as were available.

On July the 1st 1885, the Rev. Hector McQuarrie was ordained and
inducted into this charge. Mr. McQuarrie was born at Mabou Mountain
in the congregation of Strathlorne. He began to study for the ministry
early in life and with that end in view he attended the Free Church Acad
emy Halifax for several sessions. Then he seemed to lose his ambition in
this direction and settled down as a school teacher at Grand River, Rich
mond County. In the year 1880 when well along in life, he renewed his
studies and after a short course at the Presbyterian College, he was li
censed by the Presbytery of Sydney on August the 2nd, 1882. He was
ordained and inducted at Leitches Creek on the 1st of July, 1885. He
labored in this charge, with much acceptance until 1891, when his health
gave way and he had to demit the congregation.

He departed this life on April the 18th 1893. While teaching at Grand
River, Mr. McQuarrie was accustomed to conduct public worship in the
absence of the Rev. Mr. Ross.

The Rev. John C. McLeod succeeded Mr. McQuarrie at Leitche's
Creek. The reader will find an account of Mr. McLeod's life and ministry
in the chapter on Port Hastings and Port Hawkesbury. The Rev. W. S.
Galbraith was the next minister of the congregation. Mr. Galbraith was
born on the island of Arran, Scotland. He took his Arts course in Scotland
and his theology in the Presbytrian College, Halifax. He graduated in the
spring of 1908, and was licensed by the Presbytery of Sydney about the
first of May. On the 18th of May 1908 he was ordained and inducted into
the pastorate of this congregation. On Feb. the 15th 1911, Mr. Galbraith
was translated to the Presbytery of London and settled in St. Andrew's
Church, Thamesford, where he is still.

The Rev. J. W. Smith succeeded Mr. Galbraith. A fuller notice of Mr.
Smith and his ministry will be found in the chapter on Middle River, where
Mr. Smith is minister at the present time and ministering to his fourth
congregation on the island.

In Nov. 1916 the Presbytery appointed Mr. M. D. McDonald, a lay
preacher, who had recently come to Cape Breton from the great Home
Mission Field of the West, to look after the spiritual interests of Leitches
Creek. Mr. McDonald went from Leitches Creek to Framboise and the
reader is referred to the chapter on Framboise for further information con
cerning him. Shortly after Mr. McDonald's appointment to Framboise
in May 1818, the Rev. William McLeod came to Leitches Creek, and re
mained for a couple of years.

Mr. McLeod was born on the North River of Colchester Co., N. S.,
on the llth of October, 1856. He is one of three brothers that devoted

136

their lives to the ministry of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. The
other two were the Rev. W. A. McLeod, Ph. D. and the Rev. John W.
McLeod. Both ceased from their labors a number of years ago. Dr.
McLeod was minister of Thorburn, Pictou Co. for a number of years and
his brother was one of our missionaries to Trinidad. Their father was a
man of mark in the religious life of his time first in Pictou County and sub
sequently in Colchester County.

The Rev. William McLeod studied for the ministry at Dalhousie
University and the Presbyterian College. He graduated from the latter
institution in 1889. He was licensed at New Castle by the Presbytery of
Miramichi in July of that year. He was ordained and inducted at Har-
court by the same Presbytery on the 12th of the following month. He was
inducted at Leitches Creek by the Presbytery of Sydney as ordained mis
sionary on August the 6th 1918. Mr. McLeod's ministry has been an
unusually prepatetic one. He has been regularly inducted into the pas
torate of four charges and he has been appointed to supply fifteen vacant
charges for a year or more, in Labrador, Newfoundland, Prince Edward
Island, New Brunswick and Quebec as well as Nova Scotia. He is ani
mated by a restless spirit and is ever seeking new worlds to conquer for
his Master. His forte is along the line of evangelism, and he has done
much good in many places in the exercise of the evangelistic gifts with
which he is endowed.

A second church was built at Upper Leitches Creek in the year 1912.
The church at Lower Leitches Creek was built in the year 1872, and the
Manse along side of this church' was built in the year 1901, during the
ministry of the Rev. J. C. McLeod, at a cost of $2,250. There is a Church
at Beechmont and another at Edwardsville.

The Rev. J. K. Mclnnis of Upper Stewiacke, Nova Scotia is the only
young man from Leitches Creek that has given his life to the ministry of
our Church.

137

Saint Paul's, Glace Bay and its Ministry.

Saint Paul's congregation, Glace Bay, takes its name from the church
in which it worships. St. Paul's was not adopted as the name of this
church, however, until the year 1895, twenty-eight years after the congre
gation was organized. Previous to 1895 this congregation was known as
the congregation of Little Glace Bay, although it included all the Presbyteri
ans on both sides of Little Glace Bay from the Gardiner Mines on the West
to Schooner Pond on the east.

Rev. Hugh McLeod, D. D., was pastor of the few Presbyterians on this
shore from 1850 to 1867. In the year 1860 there were only sixteen Pres
byterian families between Lingan Bay and Schooner Pond. But in 1867
there were enough to require the formation of a new congregation and with
a little assistance from the augmentation fund to support a minister. The
increase of our people in this part of the island between 1860 and 1867 was
due to the development of the coal mining industry during those years.
This statement is equally true of the increase that has taken place in the
Presbyterianism of this region between 1867 and the present time, when we
have six large and prosperous congregations in this same territory We
owe all our growth to the existence of valuable coal seams in this vicinity
and the development that has taken place in the coal mining industry. The
soil is not adapted to farming and but for the presence of valuable seams of
coal the Glace Bay shore would be occupied only by a few fishermen until
the present day.

Rev. Alex. Farquharson, junior, was the first minister of St. Paul's
congregation. While Mr. Farquharson was minister of Leitche s Creek
between 1864 and 1867, by arrangement of Presbytery, he gave one-third
of his time to Little Glace Bay and its vicinity. About the end of 1866
there was a move made to secure the whole of Mr. Farquharson's time in
this locality. A little later he was called to the pastorate of Little Glace
Bay and his induction took place on the 13th March, 1867. The stipend
promised by the congregation was $600 — but the Presbytery undertook to
obtain an additional $150 from the augmentation fund. There was no
church at that time in Little Glace Bay. There was a church however at
Big Glace Bay for a number of years previous to that time. The first
church in Little Glace Bay was built in 1869 on a site at the corner of Com
mercial and Yorke streets. Between 1867 and the autumn of 1869 when
this church was ready for use the people of Little Glace Bay met for wor
ship, first in private houses and then later in a hall' situated in the vicinity
of Table Head, or "The Roost" as it was then known. That first church
was remodelled after the present church was built in 1895 and used as an
Orange hall. Recently it has been moved and it now stands next to Knox
Church, facing Commercial Street. The second church was built in 1895
at a cost of about $20,000. It was opened for divine worship by the late Rev.
James Robertson, D. D., the great home missionary superintendent of our
church in the west.

138

Rev. A. Farquharson was minister of this congregation during eight
and a half years and by the end of that time the foundations of the church
were well and truly laid. In August, 1875, Mr. Farquharson accepted a
call to St. Andrew's Church, Sydney, as colleague and successor to Rev.
Hugh McLeod, D. D., in the Sydney section of the doctor's charge.

Fourteen months after Mr. Farquharson's departure this congregation
called the Rev. Allan McLean to be its minister. He was inductee! by the
Presbytery of Sydney on December 5th, 1887. Mr. McLean was born in
one of the western Islands of Scotland, but he was brought to Whycoco-
magh by his parents in his childhood and grew up in that romantic spot.
He studied for the ministry of our church in the Halifax Academy and the
Free Church College. He was ordained and inducted into the congrega
tion of Dundas and Bay Fortune, by the Presbytery of Prince Edward
Island, in the early sixties and he spent the greater part of his ministerial
life in that charge. Mr. McLean's ministry in St. Paul's was very short,
only nine months. In September, 1878, he resigned and returned to Prince
Edward Island, where ha was called and settled for a number of years at
Tryon and Bonshaw. He died in 1893, while pastor of this congregation.

Mr. McLean's resignation and departure from Glace Bay was almost,
if not entirely due to the depressed industrial conditions that prevailed in
Cape Breton at the time of his settlement. Between 1875 and 1882 the
coal trade in Cape Breton was in a most deplorable condition. A number
of our collieries were under the necessity of closing down. Employment
at Glace Bay was very scarce and wages very small. Laboring men were
receiving only from 80 to 90 cents a day, and there was no work for two,
three and even four months in the winter time. Consequently congrega
tions like St. Paul's, Glace Bay and St. John's, Port Morien, that were en
tirely dependent upon the coal industry for their financial necessities were
at their wits end to keep their church doors open.

Finally conditions became so bad that St. John's Church, Port Morien,
and St. Paul's Church, Glace Bay, petitioned the Presbytery to send them a
Gaelic-speaking catechist, on the understanding that he would give half of
his time and services to the one and half to the other. After trying this
expedient and finding it unsatisfactory, these two congregations petitioned
the Presbytery to unite them and permit them to call a minister to the
united charge. The Presbytery granted their request and the union of
these two churches was effected on March 2nd, 1881.

Shortly after this the united churches extended a unanimous call to
Rev. John Murray of Falmouth Street Church, Sydney, to become their
minister. This call Mr. Murray declined chiefly on account of the difficulty
involved in ministering efficiently to so extensive and laborious a field.

By this time, however a favorable crisis was reached in the coal trade
in Cape Breton and the outlook began to brighten. The union of St. Paul's
and St. John's, which was designed to meet an emergency, was dissolved
by the Presbytery of Sydney on June 29th, 1881. In September following
St. Paul's Church called Mr. James A. Forbes, a recent graduate of the
Presbyterian College, Halifax,to be its minister. Mr. Forbes accepted the

139

call on the understanding that he would be permitted to spend the following
winter in post graduate studies in the New College, Edinburgh. Mr.
Forbes' ordination and induction took place in St. Paul's Church on October
6th, 1881 and on the following day he left for Scotland. Mr. Forbes re
turned in May 1882, and began a ministry of uncommon strenuousness.
The field wras large and by this time, growing rapidly on account of the
revival of the coal trade. Mr. Forbes' congregation included Schooner
Pond, Port Caledonia, Reserve Mines, Gardiner Mines and Bridgeport, as
well as Caledonia and Little Glace Bay.

By 1884 a tide of prosperity had begun to flow that carried St. Paul's
and its minister on its bosom to such a measure of, at least temporal, pros
perity^ few congregations or ministers have ever experienced in Cape Bret
on. During the next ten years this congregation had grown to such an extent
that a new church had to be built in Glace Bay with seating accommodation
for one thousand people. Churches had also to be built at Bridgeport; and
Reserve Mines to accommodate the people living in these localities. By 1901
the work of the pastor had become so onerous that another man had to be
obtained to assist him in the discharge of his duties, notwithstanding that
Bridgeport and Reserve Mines had already been separated from the con
gregation and constituted into a distinct charge some years earlier.

On May 29th, 1901, Rev. Wm. Meikle, M. A., was inducted as co-
pastor with Mr. Forbes, and the co-pastorate continued until August 31,.
1903, when for various reasons that need not be related, both pastors re
signed and their resignations were accepted by Presbytery. On his retire
ment, in recognition of faithful services rendered to the congregation for a
period of 21 years, Mr. Forbes was presented with the manse, on South
Street, in which he lived for nearly twenty years and $500 in cash. By this
time the congregation had a second manse. It was built for Mr. Meikle's
use in the summer of 1901 on Yorke Street.

After his retirement from the pastorate of St. Paul's, Mr. Forbes ren
dered good service for a number of years in supplying vacant congregations
and mission fields in Cape Breton. On August 31, 1911, he was inducted
into the congregation of Earltown and Waugh's River in the Presbytery of
Wallace. He was minister of this charge until December, 1919, when he
resigned and retired from the active duties of the ministry.

Shortly after Mr. Meikle's resignation of St. Paul's Church, Knox
Church was organized in the town of Glace Bay and Mr. Meikle was called
to be minister of this new congregation. Mr. Meikle had conducted evan
gelistic meetings in the town of Glace Bay in the year 1905 and he was very
well known and highly esteemed.

Rev. Donald McMillan Gillies, D. D., succeeded Messrs Forbes and
Meikle in the pastorate of St. Paul's. He was inducted on the 24th of
November, 1903. Dr. Gillies is a native of Cape Breton having been born
near Whycocomagh. He obtained his education at Pictou Academy,^ Mani
toba College and the San Francisco Seminary, California. He was or
dained and inducted pastor of the Holly Park Presbyterian Church, San
Francisco, on May 10, 1897. While attending Manitoba college he rend-

140

ered valuable service as a catchist in the home mission field of Western
Canada. Dr. Gillies returned to the Maritime Provinces in the year
1902 and was settled as pastor of Phillips' Church, Westville, in October
of that year. During his pastorate this church came into the Presbyterian
Church in Canada. About one year later he came to Glace Bay as minist
er of St. Paul's church, and he is here still doing faithful service for the
Master. In the year 1911, on representations of his friends regarding the
good work Mr. Gillies was doing in St. Paul's as pastor and preacher,
Oskaloosa College, Iowa, conferred on him the honorary degree of doctor of
divinity. St. Paul's congregation has a fine manse on Yorke Street.
It was built in 1901 and was occupied by Rev. Meikle while pastor of this
church. This manse cost $4,000 when it was built twenty years ago and of
course is worth very much more at this date on account of the great in
crease in prices of labor and material.

141

Port Morten and its Ministry.

During the early part of last century Port Morien was known by the
name of Cow Bay. The Protuguese in the sixteenth century named it
Baie le Morrienne. Evidently the present name of this bay is an Anglican-
ized form of the original Portuguese name.

The earliest settlers of this bay were United Empire Loyalists. They
came here about the year 1784. They settled at the head of the bay, in the
vicinity of Homeville, and were of the Episcopal persuasion.

The first Scottish and Presbyterian settlers came to this locality about
the year 1832. They were men by the name of McAulay. They ob
tained land where the town of Cow Bay is now. The Fergusons came to
this locality in 1842 and they settled at Long Beach.

The first Presbyterian Church was built in 1842 about two miles south
of where the town is now and on the site of the present Black Brook Ceme
tery. There was no church in the town of Port Morien, until the year
1866.

The first religious services that were conducted in this locality were led
by Mr. Donald Ross, who was a distinguished catechist in this part of the
country between 1844 and 1877.

The first service held on the site of Port Morien by any Presbyterian
minister was held by the Rev. Hugh McLeod, D. D. This service was con
ducted at what was then known as the Block House Mines, on July the
24th 1865. The locality was included in Dr. McLeod's extensive parish
but up to this time there were but few Presbyterians living here. The
Block House Mines were opened in 1860 and the Gowrie Mines in 1864.
As a consequence of the opening of these two collieries our people began to
flow in from the surrounding country and provision had to be made for
their spiritual needs. Early in 1865; the Presbytery applied to the General
Mining Association for a free site upon which to build a place of worship
for our people at Port Morien.

The request was readily granted and preparation began for the erec
tion of a church. The site chosen for the new church was conveniently
situated about midway between the two collieries. This church was built
in the summer of 1866, and it was opened for worship in August of that
year, by the Rev. Hugh McLeod, D D., and the Rev. Peter McLean of
Stornaway, Lewis Scotland, who was on a visit to Cape Breton at that time.
This church had seating capacity for 400 worshippers on the ground floor.
It had no end or side galleries in the first instance, but these were supplied a
few years later, chiefly to strengthen the building. Members of Presbytery
assisted Dr. McLeod in giving occasional services at Port Morien during
1865 and 1866. The first regular services conducted at this place were by
the Rev. Murdoch Stewart of West Bay acting as assistant to Dr. McLeod.
Mr. Stewart supplied from Oct. 1866 to August 1867.

On January the 1st 1868, Port Morien was separated from the Mira
congregation and formed into a distinct charge.

142

A few weeks later, steps were taken to call the Rev. Donald Mc-
Dougall as pastor. The call was cordial and unanimous and Mr. Mc-
Dougall was duly inducted on the 26th of Feb. 1868.

Mr. McDougall was born at Whycocomagh on August the 15th 1837.
He studied at the Boulardarie Academy, the Halifax Academy and the
Free Church College. He graduated from that College in the spring of
1865 and he received his license to preach the gospel on June the 14th,
1865; from the Presbytery of Prince Edward Island. Mr. McDougall was
ordained and inducted at NewLondon South P. E. I. on the 15th of Novem
ber, 1865. After a brief pastorate in New London, Mr. McDougall re
signed that charge and returned to Cape Breton.

When Mr. McDougall was inducted at Port Morien, there were only
ten communicants in the congregation, but under his faithful ministrations
the membership increased rapidly. During the summer of 1870, a most
remarkable religious movement originated under Mr. McDougall's minis
try that swept over a large part of Cape Breton and that continued for
about a whole year. While this movement was in progress, thousands
came under the power of gospel truth and identified themselves with one
or other of our churches.

"The Revival" as it was known, began in the mid-week prayer meeting
at Port Morien, and it began without any special effort on the part of either
the minister, the session or anyone else — spontaneously, so to speak. The
attendance at this social service began to increase and the interest to deep
en. Then the worshippers were moved as a field of wheat is moved by the
breeze on a summer's day. Many were deeply convicted of sin and cried
aloud for mercy, while others shouted for joy on account of the knowledge
of sin forgiven through faith in the sinner's Saviour. There was no human
instrumentality at work to account for this wonderful movement among
the people.

It could only be accounted for by the presence and operation of the
spirit of God, the penticostal Spirit. And wherever men met for prayer, in
those days, the same power was felt and similar manifestations of the power
were exhibited. These meetings were continued for months in Port Morien
and elsewhere during the autumn of 1870 and the following winter On
Nov. the 15th 1870, the Presbytery of Sydney met at Sydney Mines and
placed the following minute on its records regarding that revival movement
"Thereafter the Presbytery had a conference on the State of religion within
their respective congregations from which it appeared that the Lord has
been pleased to pour out of his spirit on certain congregations so that min
isters have been enabled to preach with much greater liberty than they
used to do; that sinners have been awakened, and from what men can see,
hopefully converted; that prayer meetings have been established in many
places in which both old and young take part with life and great earnest
ness. A largely increased interest in hearing the word of God is manifested
by the attendance of the people on the means of grace, both on Sabbath
and week days."

At the next communion at Port Morien, on the first Sabbath in Jan.

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1871, forty persons were received into the fellowship of the Church. The
impulse of that revival continued during Mr. McDougall's ministry in this
congregation. Every subsequent communion saw large additions to the
membership and many of these became active and liberal in the service of
Christ at home and abroad.

Mr. McDougal continued in Port Morien until Sept. 10th 1879 when
he was translated to the Presbytery of Inverness and by it inducted into the
pastoral charge of West Bay. After twelve laborious and fruitful years in
West Bay, Mr. McDougall accepted a call to Greenw.ood Church, Baddeck
and was inducted into that congregation on the 22nd of Sept.1902. Five
years later on Sept. the 30th 1907, he resigned the charge and retired from
the active duties of the ministry, in the seventy second year of his life.
Mr. McDougall did not live long to enjoy his respite from congregational
toil and responsibility. He died at St. Joseph's Hospital, Glace Bay after a
brief illness on the 4th of May 1908.

Mr. McDougall took his work as a minister of the gospel very seriously.
No man could be more faithful as an Ambassador of Jesus Christ, than he
was. Nor did he labor in vain. In all the fields in which he labored,
he gathered fruit unto eternal life.

After a vacancy of over two years during which the congregation was
fairly well supplied by catechists and probationers, on May the 23rd, 1882,
the Rev. John McDonald became minister of Port Morien. Mr. McDon
ald was a Scotchman. His pastorate was short. He demitted the charge
on the 31st of Oct. 1884 and returned to his native land where he died in the
year 1896.

The Rev. William Grant was the third minister of Port Morien. Mr.
Grant was born at Sunny Brae, Pictou Co. on March the 21st, 1843. He
studied for the ministry at Dalhousie University and the Presbyterian
College. He took his last session in theology at Princeton, New Jersey
U. S. and graduated in the spring of 1869. He was licensed by the Pres
bytery of Pictou on the first day of June in that year. His first charge
was at Earltown in the Presbytery of Wallace, where he was ordained
and inducted on the 28th of Sept. 1869.

After eight years in Earltown, Mr. Grant accepted a call to West River,
Clyde River and Brookfield in the Presbytery of Prince Edward Island.
That was in 1877. In the year 1886 Mr. Grant was called to Port Morien
and inducted on the llth of May into the pastorate of that church. Thir
teen years later, on June the llth 1899, he was inducted into the congrega
tion of the Grand River, where he labored until his death on Dec. the 18th,
1906 in the 67th year of his life and 37th of his ministry. Mr. Grant pre
pared for the pulpit carefully, preached earnestly and wrought diligently
in the four congregations of which he was minister. In the spring of 1886,
during Mr. Grant's pastorate in Port Morien, Messrs Meikle and Gerrior
held a series of evangelistic meetings in this and several neighboring
congregations that proved very helpful to the interests of the Kingdom of
our Lord. As a result of these special meetings, one hundred and sixty

144

persons were received at one time into the fellowship of the Port Morien
Chur.cn.

The next minister of this congregation was the Rev. Kenneth J.
McDonald, B. D. Mr. McDonald was born in Port Morien, but he grew
up at Big Hill, St. Ann's. He got his primary education at the feet of the
Rev. Malcolm N. McLeod, who was teaching the Big Hill School in Mr.
McDonald's boyhood. His secondary education he received at the Bad-
deck and Sydney Academies.

Mr. McDonald went to Queens, Kingston for both Arts and theology.
He graduated bachelor of Arts in 1894 and bachelor of divinity 1896. He
was licensed by the Presbytery of Sydney in June 1896. In November
1896, Mr. McDonald was ordained and inducted into Knox Church, Beaver-
ton in the Presbytery of Lindsay. Four years later he became minister of
Port Morien, where he was inducted on the 22nd day of May 1900.

Mr. McDonald's ministry in this congregation was short. The
humidity of the climate disagreed with him and he resigned the charge
on the 19th of May 1903, and went west, where he has had several charges-
in the mean time. He is now minister of First Church Gait in the Pres
bytery of Guelph.

Mr. McDonald was followed by the Rev. J. W. McPhail, a native of
this island. Mr. McPhail was born at Upper River Denys, on the 1st of
May 1870. He studied both his Arts and theology at Bangor, Maine.
His last session in theology was spent in the Presbyterian College, Halifax,
and he was licensed by one of our own Presbyteries. Mr. McPhail was
minister in Wallace before coming to Port Morien, where his induction took
place on the 23rd of Feb. 1904. On the 30th of Nov. 1909, Mr. McPhail
resigned the Port Morien Church and went to the United States, where he
has had several charges. He is now in Leechburg, Pennsylvania.

Mr. McPhail's successor in St. John's Church, Port Morien, was the
Rev. J. A. Mackeigan, B. A., a native of the North West Arm of Sydney
Harbor. He was born on the 5th of Nov. 1879. Mr. MacKeigan grad
uated from Sydney Academy in the spring of 1897 with a grade B certificate.
He taught in our public schools during the following six years. He was
principal of the Whitney Pier School for four of these years. In the aut
umn of 1904 he entered Dalhousie University and in the spring of 1908,
he graduated with a bachelor of Arts degree. In the Spring of 1910 he
graduated with honors from the Presbyterian College and was licensed by
the Presbytery of Halifax immediately thereafter.

On Nov. the 26th, 1910, Mr. MacKeigan was ordained and inducted
into the St. John's Church, Port Morien and he continued in the pastorate
of this church until the 8th of April 1912, when he was translated to the
Presbytery of St. John, and ten days later inducted into the charge of St.
Davids Church, St. John, where he is still and where he is doing excellent
work for his Master. During the late war Mr. MacKeigan rendered good
service to his King and Country as a chaplain to the Canadian forces. The
Rev. A. J. Hoyt Fraser was the next minister of St. John's Church. Mr.
Fraser is a native of Pictou County and was born at Bridgeville on Sept.

145

the 6th 1870. After studying at Pictou Academy and the Provincial Nor
mal School, he went to the National University of Ohio for his classical
education. He studied theology at Auburn, New York. Returning to
Nova Scotia on the completion of his theological studies in 1898 he was
licensed, ordained and inducted by the Presbytery of Lunenburg into the
charge of New Dublin and Conquerall.

In 1903 Mr. Fraser became pastor of our people at Port Royal, Annap
olis County and in 1907, he succeeded the Rev. M. G. Henry at St. Croix
and Ellershouse.

In 1912 Mr. Fraser became minister of Port Morien, where he remained
until 1917 when he was under the necessity of resigning on account of ill
health.

The present minister of Port Morien is the Rev. J. F. Policy, B. D.,Ph.
D. Mr. Policy was born at St. Stephens, N.B. on May the 3rd, 1867.
After graduating from Dalhousie University in the Spring of 1895, Mr.
Policy studied theology at the Presbyterian College, Halifax and was
licensed by the Presbytery of Halifax in April 1895. He received the de
gree of B. D. from the Presbyterian College, Montreal in 1905 and the
degree of Ph. D. from Dalhousie University in 1907. His first charge
was at Lower Musquodoboit, where he ws ordained and inducted on June
the llth, 1895.

After holding three or four other charges in Nova Scotia and New
Brunswick, Mr. Policy was inducted at Port Morien on Dec. the 20th, 1917.

The present Church was built in the year 1901 at a cost of $10,000. It
was dedicated on the 16th of Feb. 1902.

The Manse was built on the year 1886 during the pastorate of the Rev.
William Grant.

Port Morien has given four men to the ministry of the Presbyterian
Church viz. Daniel McVicar, Alex. Ferguson, A. Gordon McRury and
J. Allison McRury.

146

Lake Alnslle and Its Ministry.

The" congregation of Lake Ainslie derives its name from the lake on the
north east side of which our people have their comfortable and happy
homes. This Lake was named after General Ainslie, the last Governor of
Cape Breton as a separate province. The first grant issued to settlers on
this lake were issued by Governor Ainslie between the years of 1816 and
1820, the last year of his administration. His memory is perpetuated by
the name of this lake. Lake Ainslie is twelve miles in length by about six
miles in average breadth. It is the largest sheet of perfectly fresh water
on the island of Cape Breton. The overflow waters of Lake Ainslie run to
the north and empty themselves into the Margaree River at Margaree
Forks. This lake lies in a hollow on the height of land betweenWhycoco-
magh Bay and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It is surrounded by hills of con
siderable elevation on the north east and south west. There is no grandeur
in the scenery around Lake Ainslie,but there is a quiet picturesqueness that
is very pleasing to the eye. One his truly said of this locality, "Nature has
done much to make this locality famous, but the highland folk have done
more. The beauties of the lake and hill and river must be sought after to
be admired, but the stalwart sons who were cradled in the rustic cottages,
under the shadows of her hills and crooned to sleep by the lapping of her
waters, have gone forth from their birth place to force the world to ad
miration and esteem. Scores of them are today standing in pulpit and on
platform and behind the desk proclaiming to their fellowmen that push and
perseverance lift men from the valley to the hilltop of life; and that no ob
stacle can block the way of the man, who has high aspirations."

Yes verily, the sons of Lake Ainslie have done honor, not only to the
place of their birth, but also to the Celtic race from which, they sprang and
to the Presbyterian faith in which they were nurtured. They have found
their way to the top both in the church and in the state.

The earliest account that we have of the Lake Ainslie people comes
to us from the pen of the Rev. John McLennan of Belfast, P. E. I., who
visited this locality in 1827 and again in 1829. He reported to the Colonial
Committee of the Church of Scotland that, on his fist visit, he found sixty
Presbyterian families on the north east side of the lake and all in very poor
circumstances. Nor is it to be wondered at that they were poor. A few
years previously they were driven from their small crofts on the islands of
Mull, Tiree or Coll in the Scottish Hebrides, by cruel landlords or factors
in, practically a penniless condition. They were landed in Sydney Harbor
and from there they found their way to the unbroken forest around this
distant lake. Few of them had ever seen a tree and fewer of them had ever
learned to cut a tree down. And yet they had to cut down, junk, pile and
burn the trees that grew so tall and stout on their grants before they could
raise a mess of potatoes with which to feed themselves and their families.
It took a number of years of the hardest kind of toil to produce enough
from the soil to supply the merest necessities of existence.

147

But it was, do or die, and these early settlers made the most of their
slender opportunities. They feared God and kept his commandments and
he blessed them and their children, in things temporal and spiritual alike.
Mr. McLennan says in his report to the Colonial Committee; "There is an
excellent young man settled here as school master among them, whom by
his example as well as by his diligence in instructing both old and young, I
consider of great benefit to the settlement." That young man, whomsoever
he may have been, left his mark on the people of Lake Ainslie and that mark
is there till this day. It is evident in the fondness of the Lake Ainslie
people for education and in their characteristic piety.

The first Presbyterian minister that labored in Lake Ainslie was the
Rev. Aeneas McLean. Mr. McLean came to Broadcove early in the ye"ar
1831 and remained there till the end of 1832.

During this time he conducted religious services at Lake Ainslie.

The second minister of our church that supplied Lake Ainslie with
gospel ordinances was the Rev. Alexander Farquharson. Mr. Farquharson
arrived in Cape Breton in August 1833. He was settled as minister of
Lake Ainslie and Middle River in Nov. 1834 and he continued to minister
in both of these places until his death on the 25th of Jan. 186:8.

After Mr.Farquharson's death, Lake Ainslie and Middle River con
gregation was without a minister during a period of six years. At the end
of that time the Rev. Donald McKenzie was ordained as minister. His in
duction took place at the Middle River on the 1st of April 1864. Mr. Mc
Kenzie continued in the congregation until Dec. the 6th 1870 when he re
signed and returned to Scotland, his native place. Upon Mr. McKenzie's
departure the Presbytery separated Lake Ainslie from the Middle River
and constituted it a new and independent charge. At the same time the
Presbytery attached Whale Cove, Margaree Harbor and the Big Intervale
of Margaree to Lake Ainslie in order to increase its strength numerically
and financially. The first minister of this new congregation was the Rev.
Alexander Grant, a native of Rosshire, Scotland, where he was born in the
year 1817. In the year 1843 Mr. Grant heard a sermon preached that was
the means of his conversion and of turning his attention to the work of the
ministry.

He studied in the University of Edinburgh and in the New College. He
was licensed by the Free Presbytery of Lewis on the 4th of August 1862.
During the next eleven years of his life he was employed as assistant to
several Free Church ministers in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.
Mr. Grant came to Cape Breton in the summer of 1871, .and receiving a call
from the people of Lake Ainslie, he was ordained and inducted at East
Lake Ainslie Church on the 6th of Dec. 1871.

During the following ten years he continued to supply Whale Cove,
and the Margaree River from bottom to top, notwithstanding the distance
of these places from his home at Lake Ainslie. In the year 1881 these dis
tant stations were separated from the central congregation and Mr. Grant
became minister of the lake only. Here he continued te labor until the 6th
of Dec. 1894, when on account of failing strength he resigned the charge and

148

retired to Whycocomagh, where he spent the last seven years of his life and
where he departed this life on the 13th of May 1911 in the 94th year of his
age and the 49th of his ministry.

Mr. Grant was very highly esteemed by his brethren in the ministry
and greatly beloved by the people of Lake Ainslie. He walked with God
and the gospel from his lips was a savor of life unto life to many a precious
soul in Lake Ainslie and elsewhere.

The Rev. Neil Currie followed Mr. Grant in the ministry of the con*
gregation. Mr. Currie came from Scotland to Cape Breton by way of the
United States. On his arrival, he was appointed ordained Missionary at
Lake Ainslie for one year and at the end of that time he was called to the
pastorate. His induction took place on the 16th of Nov. 1897. After
rendering good and faithful service for a period of nine years he resigned
the charge on the 18th of Sept. 1906. Subsequently he went west and was
employed in our great western Home Mission field. He is now retired
from active duty.

Mr. Currie's successor as minister of Lake Ainslie was the Rev.
Alexander Miller. Mr. Miller was born in Scotland. He was minister at
Ashfield, in the Presbytery of Maitland for some years before he came to
this island. His induction at Lake Ainslie took place on Jan. 20th 1910
On Dec. 1914, Mr. Miller resigned this charge and returned to Scotland,
where he became minister of Melness in the United Free Presbytery of
Tongue, Sutherlandshire.

The present minister of Lake Ainslie is the Rev. E. D. McKillop. Mr.
McKillop was born at Grand River on the 24th of August, 1869. He was
brought up on the farm and he spent the earlier part of his life farming
and school teaching. He taught school in Cape Breton for twenty five
years, and for fifteen of these years he taught in his native school section.
He likewise took an active part in Sabbath Schools and prayer meetings
during all this time. Mr. McKillop was well advanced in life before
he entered upon a course of study for the ministry. He took a partial
course in Arts but a complete course in theology. He graduated from the
Presbyterian College, Halifax on the 26th of April 1916, and on the same
day he was licensed to preach the gospel by the Presbytery of Halifax. On
the 30th of May 1916, Mr. McKillop was ordained and inducted by the
Presbytery of Inverness into the pastorate of Lake Ainslie congregation.
He is still in this field and laboring with much acceptance and success.

Three churches were built at Lake Ainslie since our people came here
in 1818. The first was built about 1835, shortly after the settlement of the
Rev. A. Farquharson. The present Church was built in 1880. It was
renovated in 1919 and is now a very comfortable place of worship.

The Manse was built during the pastorate of the Rev. Alexander
Grant.

Lake Ainslie has given a large number of young men to the ministry
of the Presbyterian Church more indeed than any other congregation on the
island. Fifteen of her sons have studied for the ministry and dedicated
their lives to the proclamation of the message of mercy and of grace through

149

Jesus Christ. The names of these fifteen are; Hugh McMillan, Donald
McMillan, Duncan McMillan, Donald Campbell, Allan McKay, A. D.
McKinnon, Murdoch McKinnon, Hector McKinnon, Archibald McKin-
non, John J. McKinnon, C. C. McLean, John McKinnon, Robert McKin
non, A. D. McMillan, and C. R. F. McLennan.

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Falmouth Street, Sydney and Its Ministry.

This congregation takes its name from the street in Sydney upon
which its place of worship stands.

It was organized by the authority of the Synod ofthe Maritime Pro
vinces. It is the child of the Synod and not the child of the Presbytery, as
all other congregations are. It is also the first born child of the Presbyter
ian Church in Canada, inasmuch as it was the first congregation in this
great church that was organized after the union of all the Presbyterian
Churches in Canada on June the 15th, 1875. On July the 6th, three weeks
later, the Falmouth Street Congregation was organized by the Rev. Donald
McDougall and the Rev. Cornelius McLean, the commissioners appointed
by the Synod for this purpose.

Falmouth Street was the fourth congregation 'that was organized
within the bounds of the original Mira Congregation of 1850. Gabarus
was the first in the year 1864; St. Paul's Glace Bay, was the second in 1867,
St. John's, Port Morien, was the third in 1868, and Falmouth Street was
the fourth in 1875.

This congregation was the outcome of some dissatisfaction that arose
in the Sydney section of the Mira congregation in the early seventies of last
century. This dissatisfaction was due to the limited supply of ministerial
services which this section was receiving at that time. By that time this
section was about a third of the Mira congregation numerically, and it was
receiving about a third of the services of the minister; but that was not
sufficient to meet the needs of a growing town like Sydney, which was
just then waking up from a long sleep. New conditions had come into ex
istence in the old town that required new conditions in the Presbyterian
church of the town. In 1871 the "Glasgow and Cape Breton Coal Co"
opened a colliery at Reserve Mines and built a railway right into Sydney,
and a shipping pier on the harbor almost abreast of the town. The result
was a large influx of people. The town which had hitherto been practically
limited to the north side of Pitt Street began to grow southward towards
Falmouth and Townsend streets. Sydney was in fact having a second
boom after an interval of eighty six years.

In these circumstances it was eminently reasonable that the Presby
terians living in Sydney should be inspired by a desire to get out of the old
ruts and adapt themselves to the new conditions and the new needs.

Accordingly it was proposed that Sydney and neighborhood should be
disjoined from Mira and formed into a new and separate charge. It was
also proposed that the Rev. Hugh McLeod, D. D., the then minister of
Mira and Sydney, should be retained as minister of this new congregation.
There was entire unanimity among the Presbyterians of Sydney with re
gard to both of these proposals. A subscription list was circulated about
that time, which shewed, that the people of Sydney were well able to sup
port a minister of their own and to maintain ordinances among themselves.

In these circumstances the way seemed clear for a united and harmon-

151

ious forward movement of Presbyterianism in the town of Sydney. But the
expectations of the people in that regard were not to be realized. Dr.
McLeod, no doubt for reasons good and sufficient to himself, would not
consent to a separation of Sydney from Mira congregation. However, he
was willing that the Sydney section of his congregation should call a col
league and successor to himself and that this colleague and successor should
give the whole of his time and attention to the Sydney section of his con
gregation.

This was not what the Presbyterian people of Sydney desired, but
the large majority of them acquiesced in their pastor's wishes in the matter
and in the course of a few years a colleague and successor to Dr. McLeod
was called and settled in St. Andrew's Church, Sydney.

But there was a minority that did not acquiesce in this solution of the
difficulty. They wanted separation from Mira and the formation of an
independent congregation in Sydney, and this they were determined to
have. After a struggle, that lasted for several years, to get St. Andrew's
separated from Mira and formed into a new and distinct charge this min
ority in the early part of 1875, decided to abandon the effort and to peti
tion the Synod of the Presbyterian Church of the Lower Provinces, to
"erect them into a separate charge."

The Synod met that year on the 10th of June in the City of Montreal
for the purpose of forming a general union of all the Presbyterians in the
Dominion of Canada. The petition of the minority came up for considera
tion of Synod on the 14th of June, and the Rev. George Patterson, D. D.,
was heard on their behalf and in support of their petition. The Presbytery
of Cape Breton was then heard in opposition to granting the request of the
petitioners.

Parties being removed from the bar it was moved by the Rev. C. B.
Pitblado and seconded by Dr. Watters "That the prayer of the petition be
granted." It was moved in amendment by the Rev. T. Sedgewick, D. D.,
and seconded by the Rev. M. Stewart "That the Synod cannot see their
way clear in the meantime to grant the prayer of the petition and therefore
refuse it."

"On a division the motion was preferred and the Synod resolved ac
cordingly that the petitioners be organized into a congregation under the
supervision of the Cape Breton Presbytery."

Three weeks later, as already stated, this congregation was duly or
ganized in the Temperance Hall, Charlotte Street, Sydney.

It certainly had a very inauspicious birth; its mother theSynod prompt
ly passed the new born child over to the Presbytery of Gape Breton as its
foster mother. It was an unwelcome gift. Its foster-mother had no love
for the child and the child received no care from its foster-mother. In
deed for a while she expected it to die an untimely death and would have
rejoiced over its demise.

But it had wonderful vitality and it surprised friends and foes by its
steady if not rapid growth.

At the time of its organization the congregation was composed of two

152

elders, fourteen members, one hundred adherents and twenty-five families.
The elders were Samuel W. McKeen and Frederick Falconer, both for a
number of years active office bearers in the Sydney section of the Mira
congregation. The members were Mrs. S. W. McKeen, Mrs. F. Falconer,
Alexander D. McGillivary, M. D., and Mrs. A. D. McGillivray, Cassie
McKeen, George K. McKeen, Duncan McQueen, Angus Ferguson, Jeannie
Lepper, Emma Barnhill, Mrs. John Gillis, Isaac Archibald, Henry Sinclair
and Mrs. Abner McKeen.

At the time of its organization the congregation had no church and but
few members, adherents or families; but it had an abounding courage, a
determined purpose and unlimited confidence in the righteousness of its
aims. Small though it was, it started out on a self-sustaining basis. It
has never either asked for, nor received any aid from any fund of the
church.

The Rev. John McGillivray conducted the first public service with this
congregation on the llth day of July, 1875, in the old Temperance Hall on
Charlotte street. On the 31st of August the Rev. Donald McDougall pre
sided at a meeting for moderation in a call to a minister, in the same place.
The call came out unanimously and heartily in favor of the Rev. John
Murray at that time minister of New London, Prince Edward Island.
Mr. Murray accepted this call on the 17th of November following. He
arrived in Sydney on the 9th of December and took charge of the congrega
tion from that date. His induction took place on the 26th of January,
1876.

At a New Year service held in Temperance Hall on the 1st day of
January, 1876, the congregation decided to build a place of worship on the
corner of Falmouth and Bentick streets during the following summer, and
also that the congregation should be known as "The Falmouth ^Street Con
gregation." It was arranged that until the proposed church was com
pleted the Sabbath services should be conducted in the Temperance Hall
and the week night services in the Baptist church on Pitt Street.

On the 19th of March 1876 the first Communion Service was held in
Temperance Hall. By this time thirty-five additional members had con
nected themselves with the congregation, making forty-nine in all, more
than quadrupling the membership in the first eight months of the congre
gation's history.

During the summer of 1876, about thirty families living at Lingan
Mines and Victoria Mines applied to the session of the new church for a
portion of the pastor's services, and promised to pay a certain amount to
the pastor's support. This request was granted and Mr. Murray had these
two places under his care during the remainder of his stay in Sydney.

The new church was commenced early in May and was ready for
opening by the middle of November. It was dedicated to the service of
God by the Rev. Robert Ferrier Burns, D. D., of Fort Massey Church,
Halifax, on November the 19th, 1876. The church and site cost $5,500,
all of which was paid on the opening day with the exception of $1,400.
About this time there was great depression in the coal trade in Cape Breton

153

and this depression continued well on into the eighties. Nevertheless
Falmouth Street church continued to grow, slowly but surely.

It was distinguished for its liberality, both in the matter of self support
and in its contributions to the schemes of the church. On February the
18th, 1887, the Presbytery of Sydney put the following minute on its re
cords regarding this church: "The Presbytery would record its admiration
of the" remarkable energy that has always characterized Falmouth Street
church and its pleasure in finding, that notwithstanding serious losses this
congregation has multiplied its families threefold and its communicants
ninefold since its organization; also its surprise at the extraordinarily high
average liberality per family, both for all purposes and for schemes, which
has been attained and sustained; its delight, moreover, at the efficient state
of affairs indicated by the reports of session and managers for the past year.
The Presbytery recognizes the good influence which the example of Fal
mouth Street Church is calculated to exercise on other congregations in the
matter of Christian giving. The Presbytery congratulates the congrega
tion and pastor on having surmounted all the difficulties they had to en
counter in the past and prays that the future of Falmouth Street church
may be one of great enlargement, usefulness and prosperity."

After fifteen years of hard, self-denying labor in Sydney, Mr. Murray
left for a new field in which to continue his ministry, but Falmouth Street
has gone from strength to strength under the efficient ministry of his several
successors, until it is now one of the largest and most efficient congregations
in the Synod of the Maritime Provinces. The Rev. John Murray was born
at Scotsburn, Pictou Co., on the 16th of September, 1843. He was edu
cated for the ministry at Dalhousie University, The Presbyterian College,
Halifax, and the New College, Edinburgh. He was licensed by the Pres
bytery of Prince Edward Island on the last day of August, 1872. He was
ordained and inducted at New London, South P. E. 1. on the 2nd of Jan
uary, 1873. He was minister of Falmouth Street Church, Sydney from
December 12th, 1875 to February the 4th, 1891, when he was translated to
the Presbytery of Halifax and inducted into the Congregation of Shuben-
acadie on February the 9th, 1891.

Towards the end of 1903, Mr. Murray was recalled to his first charge,
New London, P. E. 1., and inducted there a second time on the 29th of
September. On the 1st of October, 1913, Mr. -Murray resigned his charge
with the permission of the general assembly, and retired from the active
duties of the ministry, after more than forty years of service.

Mr. Murray's successor in the pastorate of Falmouth Street church
was the Rev. Edward Rankine, M.A., a native of Greenock, Scotland, where
he was born in 1863. He was a graduate of Glasgow University in Arts,
and of the Edinburgh University in Theology. He was licensed by the
Presbytery of Greenock and came to Nova Scotia in 1889. His first con
gregation in this country was St. John's Church, Stellarton, into which he
was inducted shortly after his arrival.

On the 26th of August, 1891, Mr. Rankine was inducted into the pas
torate of Falmouth Street Church where he remained during the next

154

twelve years, doing admirable work for his Master and for the congrega
tion. On the 15th of August, 1903, Mr. Rankine resigned his charge much
to the regret of his attached congregation, and returned to his native land.
In the following year he received the presentation to the White Kirk Parish
Church where .he rendered good service until his death by drowning on the
21st of August, 1916.

Mr. Rankine's ministry in Sydney was remarkably successful. Out
ward circumstances were abundantly favorable to success. It was during
Mr. Rankine's ministry in Sydney that the Dominion Coal Co., and the
Dominion Iron and Steel Co. came into existence. Millions of money were
invested and expended in Sydney and vicinity during those years.

The population trebled and quadrupled in a few years, and all the
churches shared in the general material prosperity that followed. The
families, membership and contributions of Falmouth street church more than
doubled during the twelve years of Mr. Rankine's pastorate. The church
accommodation was enlarged to meet the demand for pews, and a manse
was built for the use of the pastor. Mr. Rankine was spoken of as the saint
of the Sydney Presbytery. He was a thoughtful and instructive preacher,
a diligent pastor and a wise administrator.

Mr. Rankine was followed in the pastorate by the Rev. William H.
Smith, B. D., Ph. D., D. D. Dr. Smith, like so many of our ministers, was
a Pictonian, having been born in Piedmont Valley, Pictou Co., on the 21st
of March, 1867. He is a graduate in arts of Dalhousie University, and in
theology of the Presbyterian College, Halifax. He was licensed by the
Presbytery of Halifax on the 28th of April, 1896 and ordained and inducted
by the Presbytery of Pictou into the charge of Zion Church, Ferona, on
the 2nd of June following.

After two years in Ferona, Dr. Smith was translated to the Presbytery
of Prince Edward Island and inducted into the Presbyterian Church at
Summerside. Called from thence to Sydney he was inducted into Falmouth
Street church on April the 29th, 1904. In November, 1908, Dr. Smith
accepted a call to St. Paul's church, Fredericton, New Brunswick, and in
1916 to St. John's church, Vancouver, B. C. In October, 1919, Dr. Smith
was appointed Principal of Westminster Hall, our theological College in
British Columbia, and about the same time the senate of the Presbyterian
College, Halifax, conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Divinity in re
cognition of his scholarship and efficient work in the ministry.

During Dr. Smith's ministry in Sydney, Falmouth street" continued to
grow and prosper at such a rate that a second and much larger church be
came necessary. The first church was moved back and remodeled for
Sabbath school and social purposes,and the new church was built on the site
of the old one.

The corner stone of the second church was laid by the Rev. E. D.
Millar, Moderator of Synod of the Maritime Provinces in October, 1905,
and the church was dedicated by Sir Robert Falconer, principal of Toronto
University on the 6th of May, 1906. This church has a seating capacity
of nearly one thousand. It cost $25,000. During his ministry of four and

155

a half years, Dr. Smith rendered splendid service to the city as well as to the
church. Dr. Smith is now well and favorably known from the Atlantic to
the Pacific as a scholar, preacher and author. His book, entitled "The
Church and Men" is a valuable treatise on an important theme.

Dr. Smith was followed in the pastorate of this church by the Rev.
Finlay H. Mclntosh, M. A. He, too, is a son of Pictou County. He was
born at Sunny Brae on August 28th, 1871. His preparation for the minis
try was obtaind at Pictou County, Academy, Dalhousie University, and
Presbyterian College. He graduated in arts in the spring of 1898 and in
theology in the spring of 1900. He was licensed by the Presbytery of
Halifax shortly thereafter. Mr. Mclntosh was ordained and inducted as
minister of Onslow by the Presbytery of Truro on May the 15th, 1900. He
spent the winter of 1905 and 1906 in Glasgow attending theological lectures
in the United Free College there. After returning from the Old Land in
1906, he was called to the pastorate of the Presbyterian church at Antigon-
ish where he was inducted on September, 1906. On the 4th of February,
1909, Mr. Mclntosh was inducted into Falmouth Street church, Sydney.
In this charge he continued the good work of his predecessors until Novem
ber the 22nd, 1914, when he accepted a call to Lindsay, Ontario, and was
translated thither by the Presbytery of Sydney.

Mr. Mclntosh was a man of fine intellectual gifts, and a scholarly
preacher. The next minister of Falmouth street church was the Rev. Al-
vin H. Campbell, B. A. Mr. Campbell was born at Milford, Hants County
N. S., on the 2nd of October 1869. He qualified for matriculation into
Dalhousie at the Halifax Academy. He obtained the degree of B. A. from
the senate of Dalhousie in 1896, and he graduated from the Presbyterian
College in the spring of 1898. He was licensed by the Presbytery of
Halifax immediately upon graduation and one week later he was ordained
and inducted at Waterford, N. B. by the Presbytery of St. John. The fol
lowing winter he spent in post graduate work in the United Free College,
Glasgow, Scotland.

In May, 1901, Mr. Campbell became minister of the church at Lower
Musquodoboit; in March, 1904, minister of Lower Stewiacke, and in April,
1913, minister of Bridgewater. Mr. Campbell came from Bridgewater to
Sydney and was inducted pastor of Falmouth street church on the 15th of
December, 1915.

We need add nothing more regarding Mr. Campbell and his work in
Sydney. He is here still, and his success speaks for his personal worth,
and the energy and wisdom with which he is doing his duty.

The congregation owns a comfortable manse, which was built during
the pastorate of the Rev. E. Rankine.

Only one young man has gone into the work of the ministry from this
congregation, viz., the Rev. John P. Falconer, now in Rodney, Ontario,
son of Frederick Falconer, one of the first elders of Falmouth street church.

156

Loch Lomond and Its Ministry.

Loch Lomond was originally included in the congregation of Grand
River and Loch Lomond, the congregation of which the Rev. James Ross
was minister from 1853 to 1875. In the latter year, Mr. Ross demitted
the Loch Lomond part of his charge. Thereupon the Presbytery con
stituted Loch Lomond into a new and independent charge. This was done
on the 21st of July 1875. On March the 1st 1876 Framboise was separated
from Gabarus and attached to Loch Lomond. This was done in order to
strengthen Loch Lomond, financially as well as numerically, but the change
added very considerably to the labor of the minister.

The first pastor of Loch Lomond and Framboise was the Rev. Gavin
Sinclair. Mr. Sinclair was born on the island of Arran, Scotland. He
studied for the ministry at the University and Free Church College of
Glasgow. He came to Canada in the year 1873, as a licentiate of the Free
Church of Scotland. After spending two or three years as a probationer in
the Province of Quebec, he came to Cape Breton in the autumn of 1876.
The following winter he was called to the pastorate of Loch Lomond and
Framboise and he was inducted at Loch Lomond on the 20th of April 1877.
After a ministry of over six years, Mr. Sinclair resigned the charge on Dec.
the 31st 1883 and removed to New Mills, New Brunswick, where he spent
the remainder of his life. The second minister of Loch Lomond was the
Rev. Malcolm McLeod. Mr. McLeod was a native of the island of Lewis,
Scotland, and he had all the perfervidum Scottorum of his coun
try men, without their traditional caution and judgment. The greater
part of Mr. McLeod's studies were taken in Glasgow University and the
Free Church College there. The remainder was taken in our own College
at Halifax. His first charge was at Linwick, Quebec. His induction at
Loch Lomond took place on the 18th of Oct. 1887. His pastorate contin
ued until July the 12th 1904 when he resigned and returned to Scotland.
Not long thereafter he was settled in the Free Church parish of Kinloch
in the Lewis, where he died a few years later. The next minister of this
congregtion was the Rev. John Fraser, a native of Boulardarie, Cape
Breton, where he was born in the year 1857. Mr. Fraser studied at Pictou
Academy, Dalhousie University and Queens College, Kingston. He grad
uated from Queens in the spring of 1892. In June of the same year he
accepted a call to North Shore and North River in thePresbytery of Sydney
and was ordained and inducted into that charge on June 21st 1892. His
labours in this congregation during the next four years were abundant and
fruitful.

Mr. Fraser was inducted into the charge of Loch Lomond and Fram
boise, on May the 31st 1906. His coming was like the breath of Spring
upon the cold, hard frozen earth. A new life appeared in the congregation.
Old divisions were healed, the liberality of the people, greatly stimulated
and the membership greatly multiplied. Two fine large churches were
•built during Mr. Fraser's pastorate and one old Church was renovated.

157

But Mr. Fraser's strenuous ministry in this congregation was too
much for his physical strength and he was under the necessity of resigning
and taking a rest. The Presbytery accepted his resignation on the 4th of
Oct. 1911.

After a rest of nearly a year Mr. Fraser's health was so far restored
that he accepted a call to the pastorate of Boulardarie, his native parish.
He was inducted at the Big Bras d'Or on Nov. 1st 1912, and he spent the
remainder of his life in this congregation. He died at the Massachusetts
General Hospital, Boston, after an operation for cancer of the kidney on the
19th of November 1918.

The Rev. John Fraser was succeeded in the ministry of Loch Lomond
by his cousin, the Rev. James Fraser. He also was a native of Boulardarie,
a congregation that has given a number of excellent men to the ministry
of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. James Fraser was born on January 7th,
1883. He studied for the ministry of our Church at Dalhousie University
and the Presbyterian College, Halifax. He completed his curriculum in the
University in the spring of 1909 and his curriculum at the College in the
Spring of 1912. While prosecuting his studies, he did excellent work as a
catechist in several congregations and mission fields. He was licensed
by the Presbytery of Halifax in April the 24th, 1912.

On the 29th of May 1912, Mr. Fraser was ordained and inducted at
Framboise. He continued to labor in this congregation with admirable
zeal,wisdom and success until the 1st of February 1916, when he accepted
a call to St. Luke's Church, Dominion No. 6, and was inducted there on the
8th of that month. On the 2nd of May 1916 at its own request, Framboise
was separated from Loch Lomond and constituted an augmented charge.

The Rev. J. D. McFarlane followed Rev. James Fraser as pastor of
Loch Lomond. He was inducted on the 30th of July 1918. Mr.
McFarlane is a native of Middle River, Victoria Co., where he was born on
the 28th of March 1850. He took his literary course in Dalhousie Univer
sity and his theological course in the Presbyterian College, graduating in
the spring of 1888. He was licensed by the Presbytery of St. John, on the
1st day of May 1888. His first charge was at Springfield in the Presbytery
of St. John, where he was ordained and inducted in Oct. 1888. From there
he was translated to the Presbytery of Pictou and inducted at the East
River of Saint Mary's on July the 18th, 1893.

On Jan. 1st 1901, Mr. McFarlane was appointed ordained missionary
to Cape North by the Presbytery of Sydney. In Sept. 1902 he was called
and inducted into the pastorate of this congregation. On Oct. the 6th
1908, Mr. McFarlane was translated to Margaree Harbor, where he re
mained till he was called to Loch Lomond.

Mr. McFarlane has labored in a number of our congregations. In all
of them he did good and faithful work and left with the esteem and affec
tion of his people.

The early name of the beautiful sheet of water around which the Loch
Lomond people live, was Grand River Lake. This was a very natural and
appropriate designation in view of the fact that the Grand River consti-

158

tutes the channel by which the surplus waters of Loch Lomond and Loch
Uist are drained into the Atlantic Ocean. It was Mr. Dugald McNabb, so
well known in Cape Breton as a Government Land Surveyor, in the 30's
and 40's that applied the name Loch Lomond to this lake, and Loch Lo
mond it has been ever since. The first settlers of this part of the country
came from the western Islands of Scotland, more especially from Harris
and North Uist. Most of them came between 1820 and 1842, when the
tide of Scottish emigration ceased to flow into Cape Breton.

The hardships to which these early settlers were subjected in hewing
out homes for themselves in the primeval forest, it is impossible for us to
understand or even imagine. But they faced their task with great courage
and often with much cheerfulness. Nor did they flinch until they had ob
tained their objective. Today their grandchildren are enjoying the fruits
of their toil, and perseverance. The greatest trial experienced by these
God-fearing ancestors of ours at Loch Lomond and elsewhere in Cape
Breton was the absence of the means of grace, to which they had been ac
customed in their native land. Apart from an occasional service by one or
other of the pioneers, spoken. of elsewhere, Loch Lomond had no regular
gospel services until 1853 when the Rev. James Ross became their minister.
But many of these early Gaelic speaking immigrants from the western
islands of Scotland "knew the grace of God in truth." They had their
Gaelic Bibles and they read, loved and obeyed them. They remembered
the Sabbath day and kept it holy. They had no church, for many years in
which to meet for the worship of God, but like the Christians in Apostolic
days, they met "from house to house" under the leadership of pious men of
their own number, such as Donald McMillan, a young man of unusual
piety. Then in later days they met under the leadership of Angus Bethune
and Roderick Bethune, his brother, men of considerable learning, as well
as of remarkable ability in prayer and in exposition and application of the
word of God. In addition to these, there were Angus McLean and Donald
Munroe, men of equal piety though not of ability. Roderick Bethune,
Angus McLean and Roderick Bethune were lay catechists and they ren
dered invaluable service to the Loch Lomond people during many years
before they had a settled minister. And even after Mr. Ross became min
ister one or other of these men conducted the services on alternate Sab
baths when their pastor was at Grand River.

The Rev. John Stewart was one of the first Presbyterian ministers to
spend any time in Loch Lomond so far as our record goes, although it is
very probable that the Rev. John McLennan visited Loch Lomond in 1829
and the Rev. Alexander Farquharson in 1834.

Mr. Stewart spent a week here in May 1835. He wrote of that visit
as follows: "The people were too poor to attempt the building of a church
but I succeeded in getting them to build a schoolhouse as there is one in
the settlement who can teach school."

That school house served the purpose of a church for several years.
The first church was built at Loch Lomond in the year 1838. Like all the
early churches in Cape Breton it was rectangular and very plain. There was

159

no attempt at ornamentation of any kind. It was about twenty four feet
in width by about thirty feet in length. There was a door at each end and:
the pulpit was on one side of the church. This church was replaced by
another in the year 1878. The present church was built in the year 1909,-
during the ministry of the Rev. John Fraser, and it is probably the most
commodious, handsome and expensive country church in Cape Breton.
It cost about thirteen thousand dollars in that day of comparatively cheap
lumber and labor.

The Rev. John Gunn supplied Grand River and Loch Lomond with
religious services during the greater part of the years 1838 and 1839. After
he left for Strathlorne in the spring of 1840, we cannot learn of any one who
who preached in this large Presbyterian Community until 1853 when the
Rev. James Ross became their minister.

Unfortunately, in the early sixties of last century there were divisions
among the people of this lake, as there were among the Corinthians in the
days of the Apostle Paul. But these divisions are all healed now and have
been for many years past.

For too long a time, the people of the north side of the lake and the
people of the south side of the lake spoiled their tempers and wasted their
energies over fancied distinctions between Kirk Church and Free Church.

Now, however, there is entire harmony and cordial cooperation all
round those peaceful and beautiful lakes, illustrating "How good and how
pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." The following
young men entered the ministry of the Presbyterian Church from Loch
Lomond viz. William C. Morrison, Norman A. McLeod Duncan McKenzie
and John B. McCush.

160

St. Andrew's, Sydney and its Ministry

St. Andrew's congregation is located in the city of Sydney,one of the
most important cities in the Dominion of Canada. This city was founded
m the Spring of 1785, as the capital of the Province of Cape Breton by
Major Frederick Willets Des Barres, the first Governor of said Province.
The Island of Cape Breton was constituted into a Province by the British
Government in the year 1784. In 1820, after an existence of thirty six
years this Province was annexed to the Province of Nova Scotia and it has
remained in that connection ever since. Governor Des Barres named the
new capital Sydney in honor of Lord Sydney, the British Colonial
Secretary of that time

Sydney has had what we might call three boom periods during its
history of 135 years. The first was in 1785 when Governor Des Barres
landed on the peninsula to start the town. He was accompanied by 800
men, partly military and partly civilian. Immediately on landing all
started in to cut down the forest, clear the land, lay out streets and build
houses for civilians and barracks for soldiers. Six companies of the thirty-
third regiment were on their way from Halifax and accommodation had to
be provided for them. The old town never had a busier season than it had
in the summer of 1785. The northern end of the peninsula was set apart
for military purposes. The remainder of the peninsula from Des Barres
Street to Fresh Water Creek, was laid out in street blocks and lots. There
were four streets laid out lengthwise of the peninsula viz. the Esplanade
Charlotte Street, Bentick Street and George Street. George Street was'
so named in honor of the reigning Sovereign, King George the Third.
Charlotte Street was so named in honor of his wife, Queen Charlotte!
Bentick Street and all the cross streets were named after prominent civil
and military men of that day. There is an important chapter of history
in the names of the streets of Sydney.

The second boom came in 1869 to 1871. In 1869 the International
Coal Company invested in coal at Bridgeport, built a railway from the
mines to Sydney Harbor, a pier on the Harbor and began shipping coal in
the vicinity of Sydney. Then in 1871 The Glasgow and Cape Breton
Company invested in coal at Reserve Mines, built a railway into Sydney
and began to ship coal on the harbour front between Wentworth and Fal-
mouth Streets. A great deal of money was expended by these two com
panies in and around Sydney and nearly every one had money to burn in
those days.

The third boom occurred in 1899 when the "Dominion Iron and Steel
Company" was incorporated and began to build the immense steel plant
for which Sydney is so distinguished and which is the main cause of its
present growth and prosperity.

It is well known that the first and second booms were followed by re
actions that left Sydney for a time, in a worse condition than if they had
never taken place. Let us hope that the third boom will have no such a

161

reaction and that this city will continue to flourish for generations yet un
born.

The first Presbyterian minister that came to the vicinity of Sydney
was the Rev. James McGregor, D. D., the Apostle of Presbyterianism in
Pictou, Nova Scotia. Dr. McGregor came from Pictou Harbor to Sydney
Harbor in a sail boat in the summer of 1798, in answer to the urgent request
of George Sutherland and his wife, Janet Sutherland. The Sutherlands
came here from Banffshire, Scotland, some years earlier and got a grant
of land on Sydney River, about three miles south of Sydney town, where
the Steel Company's Pumping Station is now. Dr. McGregor, after spend
ing several days with the Sutherlands, returned by the same boat to Pictou.
It does not appear that he came ashore at Sydney on this occasion and the
probability is that there were no Presbyterians in the town at that time,
unless there may have been a few among the soldiers in the barracks.

The next Presbyterian minister that came this way was the Rev.
Donald Allan Fraser, minister of McLennan's Mountain, Pictou County.
He came to the town of Sydney in November 1827. From a report of this
visit sent by Mr. Fraser to the Colonial Committee of the Church of
Scotland, we learn that Mr. Fraser "was greeted with unequivocal cord
iality and preached twice to a respectable and appreciative audience."
In that report Mr. Fraser speaks of Judge Marshall as a man who "Is
well calculated to give useful information regarding the religious wants of
the island generally and who is well disposed towards our cause." We
learn moreover that Mr. Fraser "has himself been personally supplicated
to reside among them. Nor does he doubt that if a minister of our
church could be found willing to endure some little privations and zeal
ous to preach Christ and Him crucified, a congregation might speedily
be formed in that place."

Mr. Fraser is silent as to the presence of Presbyterians in Sydney at
that time, and the probability is that there were very few, if any. It is
true that Scottish immigrants had been arriving in Sydney Harbor since the
year 1802 but there was nothing in Sydney to detain them there. These
highlanders and islanders came here to get land and they lost no time in
getting out into the country in order to select their lots, get their grants
and grow food for themselves and their families.

The respectable and appreciative audiences to which Mr. Fraser
preached were composed of Judge Marshall and other like minded persons
who had left the Episcopal Church some years earlier and had built a
place of worship of their own.

This company of spiritually minded persons were at that very time
and had been for several years seeking an evangelical man to fill their
pulpit. They had already applied to the Congregational Church in the
United States for a man, and the Rev. J. S. C. Abbott (John Stevens Cabot
Abbott) was sent to them. But he only remained a short time. He sub
sequently became famous as a preacher and writer in the United States.
They then applied to Scotland for a Presbyterian minister but without
success. They desired Mr. Fraser to remain and break the bread of life

162

among them, but he was unable to comply with their wishes. At length
Judge Marshall and his friends applied to the Methodist District Meeting
of Halifax. The District Meeting responded favourably and sent the Rev.
James G. Hennigar to minister to their spiritual necessities in the year
1829. In this way Judge Marshall and his dissenting friends became Meth
odists rather than Presbyterians; and a Methodist Church was formed in
Sydney in 1829 instead of a Presbyterian Church. The Presbyterians
could not supply the needed man and they lost the opportunity.

• The next Presbyterian minister that came to Sydney so far as the
record goes, was the Rev. John Stewart, afterwards of West Bay and later
of New Glasgow, N. S. Mr. Stewart came here on the 25th of October
1834 as he was on his first missionary journey to Mira and Catalone. Mr.
Stewart conducted public worship in the first Methodist Church, North
Charlotte Street on this occasion and he does not speak of any Presbyterians
being in Sydney at that date. The Rev. Alexander Farquharson and the
Rev. James Fraser may have conducted services in Sydney between 1834
and 1840, as they passed and repassed through the town on their mission
ary journeys to the Mira River and Catalone Bay, but we have no record
of such services. It is doubtful if there were any number of Presbyterians
in Sydney during these years. The Episcopalians, Methodists, Baptists,
and Roman Catholics were well represented, but there were few if any
Presbyterians in Sydney in the year 1840, and even later. In the year
1848, the Rev. Hugh McLeod, D. D., came to Cape Breton as the Deputy
of the Free Church of Scotland and in the interests of the Free Church on
this island. He preached in Sydney on that occasion, but in the Methodist
Church. There was no Presbyterian place of worship here at that time
nor for four years thereafter.

In the year 1849, however, we have decisive evidence of the presence of
Presbyterians in Sydney. In that year the Presbyterians living in Sydney
and vicinity, had themselves Incorporated by an Act of the Provincial
Legislature as "St. Andrew's Congregation, Sydney" with Hugh Munro,
M. P. P., Donald McQueen, Barrister; John Ferguson, merchant; Hugh
Sheriff, William Turnbull, merchant and William Kynoch, as Trustees.

In their application for incorporation they represent themselves as
"Having not more than twenty families and but six communicants" in
Sydney and its vicinity which would include all from South Bar to Black-
ett's Lake.

In that same year all the Presbyterians in Eastern Cape Breton joined
in a call to Dr. McLeod to come out from Scotland and take the oversight
of their souls. The "twenty families and six communicants" in Sydney and
vicinity joined heartily in this call.

After Dr. McLeod's arrival here similar Acts of Incorporation were
passed by the Legislature of Nova Scotia for Catalone, Mira, Cow Bay and
the Forks.

The story of Dr. McLeod's life and ministry will be found elsewhere.

When Dr. McLeod was inducted as minister of the Mira congregation
in October 1850 there were only three small churches within the bounds of

163

his extensive charge. One near Marion Bridge, one at the head of Catalone
Lake and one at Black Brook, Cow Bay. There was no Presbyterian
Church in Sydney then and any services held in Sydney during the first
two years of Dr. McLeod's ministry were by the courtesy of the Methodists
and of the Revd. Jeremiah Jost, their pastor at that time, conducted in
the Methodist Church on North Charlotte St.

The first Presbyterian Church in Sydney was built in the year 1852.
It stood on the west side of North Charlotte Street and a little north of
Dorchester Street. It was a plain rectangular building with no architect
ural pretensions whatever; but amply sufficient for the accommodation of
all the Presbyterians then in and around Sydney.

The Presbyterians in connection with St. Andrew's Church, Sydney
were never but a fraction of the people under Dr. McLeod's care and of
course the proportion of services to which they were justly entitled was
small. Even as late as the year 1870 the Sydney Section of the Mira
congregation only had a service every fourth Sabbath. But a change was
near at hand and Presbyterianism in Sydney was about to enter upon its
modern career of numerical growth and Christian activity. In the years

1869 and 1870 there was a goodly addition to the population, of the town
for reasons already stated and a considerable proportion of the new citizens
were of the Presbyterian faith. Then again towards the end of the year

1870 a remarkable wave of religious interest swept over the eastern end of
Cape Breton that proved a great blessing to many of our congregations,
and to St. Andrew's among the rest. That "revival" was tlje beginning of
a new era for Presbyterianism in Sydney. On January the 15th, 1871 the
Lord's Supper was dispensed for the first time under Presbyterian auspices
in the town. That revival and that first communion season gave an im
pulse to our Church in Sydney that has been felt ever since. The following
item regarding that communion appared in the Presbyterian Witness of
Jan. 22nd, 1871: "The Presbyterians celebrated the Lord's Supper here on
the 15th, for the first time. They occupied their own church and Temper
ance Hall at the same time, and both buildings were literally packed full and
running over. God is among them of a truth. There were nearly 100 new
communicants from town and country. Their preaching is almost pure
Methodism. The Christian Association is doing well — no lack of young
men to pray. We had a glorious Week of Prayer, the best Sydney ever
saw."

This item was written by a Methodist in Sydney to a friend in Halifax
and found its way into the Witness. From that time and as a result of a
quickened interest in divine things, there sprang up among the Presbyterians
of Sydney an agitation for regular services every Lord's Day in St.
Andrew's Church.instead of srvices every third or fourth Sabbath,as in the
past.

This laudable object was partially gained during the next two or three
years by the employment of Assistants to Dr. McLeod in Sydney. But
the demand for daily Sabbath services and adequate pastoral supervision
in the town of Sydney was only fully satisfied when Falmouth Street con-

164

gregation was organized by order of Synod on the 6th of July 1875 and St.
Andrew's was separated from Mira by action of Presbytery on the 25th of
August following. Falmouth Street enjoyed regular supply from the
date of its organization until the settlement of its first pastor and St. An
drew's had the Rev. Alexander Farquharson inducted as its first pastor on
the date of its separation from Mira on August 25th, 1875.

There was, no doubt a great deal of friction and strife before things
came to this pass; but looking back upon the intervening years, we think
all must acknowledge that the great Head of the Church has overruled all
that happened to his own glory and to the welfare and growth of Presbyter-
ianism and godliness in Sydney.

The Rev. Alexander Farquharson was the first minister of St. Andrew's
as a distinct charge. He was the son of a pioneer missionary of the church
of Scotland to Cape Breton. Mr. Farquharson was born at the Middle
River, Victoria County on the 16th of June 1835. He received his training
for the ministry at the Free Church Academy and the Presbyterian College
Halifax. After finishing his studies at the college in the spring of 1863 he
was licensed at Newcastle, N. B., by the Presbytery of Miramichi. The
following year he was called by the congregation of Leitches Creek, where
he was ordained and inducted on the 14th of Dec. 1864. On the 13th of
March 1867 Mr. Farquharson was inducted into the pastoral charge of the
newly formed congregation of Little Glace Bay. After nine years in Glace
Bay, Mr. Farquharson accepted a call to St. Andrew's, Sydney as colleague
and successor, in the Sydney section of Mira congregation to the Rev. Hugh
McLeod, D. D. His induction took place on the 25th of August, 1875.
After a faithful and successful ministry of more than seventeen years in
Sydney, Mr. Farquharson departed this life on the 21st of October, 1892
in the fifty seventh year of his age and the twenty-ninth of his ministry.

Mr. Farquharson was an excellent preacher and pastor. He was also
a man who was greatly beloved by his parishioners and very highly
esteemed by all who knew him, on account of his genial and affectionate
disposition.

The Rev. John Franklyn Forbes was the second minister of St. An
drew's. Mr. Forbes was born at the Blue Mountain, Pictou County on the
2nd of Feb., 1834, but his early years were spent in Goshen, Guysboro
County, whither his parents removed when he was but a child. He
studied for the ministry at Dalhousie College, Knox College and Princeton
Seminary, New Jersey. He was licensed by the Presbytery of New Bruns
wick, New Jersey, U. S., in the spring of 1866 immediately after the com
pletion of his theological studies. In Feb. 1867 Mr. Forbes was ordained
and inducted into the charge of Union Centre and Lochaber by the Pres
bytery of Pictou. After nineteen years of strenuous and successful labour
in this field he accepted a call to West River and Green Hill, Pictou County
and was inducted at Durham in the year 1886. On the 14th of Feb. 1894
Mr. Forbes was inducted into the charge of St. Andrew's, Sydney and he
continued to labour here until his sudden and lamented death on Jan. the
4th 1905, in the seventy first of his life and the thirty eighty of his ministry.

165

Mr. Forbes had a very happy disposition. He brought sunshine with him
wherever he went. He was also a good preacher and under his strong
ministry St. Andrew's continued to grow and prosper. The Synod of the
Maritime Provinces called Mr. Forbes to preside over its deliberation in
the session of Oct. 1898 in St. Matthews Church, Halifax and no man ever
discharged the duties of Moderator with more tact and efficiency than he
did. For a year or two before his death, Mr. Forbes had an efficient as
sistant in the person of the Rev. F. C. Simpson. Mr. Simpson was born
in Hull, England in 1859. He came to Nova Scotia in the early eighties.
He finished his theological studies in the Presbyterian College, Halifax in
the spring of 1888. He had several charges, in the Maritime Provinces
and Newfoundland before coming to Sydney. After leaving Sydney he
was employed as Agent for the circulation of the Presbyterian Witness.
Mr. Simpson died very suddenly at Bridgetown, N. S. on March the 17th.
1918 in the 59th year of his life and 30th of his ministry.

The third pastor of St. Andrew's Church was the Rev. Clarence Mc-
Kinnon, D. D., LL.D. Dr. McKinnon was called from Park St. Church,
Halifax as colleague and successor to Mr. Forbes and his induction took
place on August the 6th 1902. After Mr. Forbes' death Dr. McKinnon
became sole pastor and so continued until the 20th of May 1905,when he
accepted a call to Westminister Church, Winnipeg and went west. Dr.
McKinnon was born at Hopewell, Pictou Co. on March the 12th 1868.
He was the son of the Rev. John McKinnon, minister of Hopewell at that
time. While Clarence was yet a boy, his parents went to Scotland and his
father became minister of a Free Church congregation in Rosshire. This
charge brought the young man within reach of the Tain Academy, where
he prepared for the University of Edingburgh, where he received his M.A.
in 1889. He studied theology at the New College, Edinburgh and received
his B. D. in 1894. Meantime he had been licensed by the Presbytery of
Truro and likewise ordained and inducted at River Hebert in the year
1892. Dr. McKinnon became minister successively of Middle Stewiacke
in 1894, of Park Street, Halifax, 1896, of St. Andrews, Sydney in 1902 and
of Westminster Church, Winnipeg in 1905. Dr. McKinnon was appointed
Principal of the Presbyterian College, Halifax by the General Assembly
in 1909. He received the degree of D. D. from Manitoba College in 1909
and the degree of LL. D. from the Senate of Dalhousie University in 1919.

Dr. McKinnon enlisted in the military service of his country in March
1916 and after rendering excellent service to the Empire as Chaplain,
during three years of the late war he received his discharge on the 9th of
April 1919.

Dr. McKinnon is well known from ocean to ocean and it would be
superfluous to add anything regarding his eloquence, versatility, tact, wis
dom and activity in all lines of Christian effort.

The Rev. F. W. Anderson, M.A. was the next minister of St. Andrew's.

He was called from Brantford in the Presbytery of Paris alnd inducted
on the 1st day of August 1905. After a very creditable ministry of less
than three years, Mr. Anderson resigned and returned to Ontario.

166

Subsequently he became minister of the Presbyterian Church in
Orillia in the Presbytery of Barrie. During the late war, Mr. Anderson
was on active service as a Chaplain for several years. Since his discharge
and return, he has been settled in St. Paul's Church, Port Hope, Ontario.
During his pastorate in St. Andrew's, Mr. Anderson was assisted by the
Rev. A. D. McKenzie, B. D., a native of Strathalbyn, P. E. 1., and a grad
uate of the Presbyterian College, Montreal. Mr. McKenzie was ordained
and inducted as Mr. Anderson's colleague in May 1906. Mr. McKenzie
went from St. Andrew's to Trinidad, but for climatic reasons was not able
to remain long in that mission field. He was subsequently settled as
minister of St. Luke's Church, Montreal. He is now minister of
John's Church, Vancouver, where he was inducted on the 1st of April
1920. The Rev. Mr. Anderson was succeded in the pastorate of St.
Andrews by the Rev. John Pringle, D. D., LL. D. Dr. Pringle was in
ducted on the 10th of Feb. 1909 and is still in charge. The space at our
disposal is too limited to say anything adequately about Dr. Pringle and
the work he has done for Canada and the Empire as well as for the Church
as a whole and St. Andrew's Church in particular. Nothing less than a
volume could do justice to that subject and we forbear to touch it in this
sketch of St. Andrew's and its ministry. Neither can we speak of the Rev.
T. A. Rodgers, who was Dr. Pringle's assistant and locum tenens from
Dec. 15th 1915 to Dec. 3rd 1919, when he went to Toronto and became
assistant in St. John's Church there. He is now sole pastor of that church.

The first St. Andrews Church was built in 1852 on a site on North
Charlotte Street which was donated to the congregation by the late Judge
Edmund Dodd.

The second St. Andrew's Church was built during the Rev. Alexander
Farquharson's ministry. This church was built on Pitt Street and was
dedicated to the worship of God on the 24th of March 1888. It was en
larged in 1897, after the Dominion Steel Company began operations in
Sydney, in order to provide accommodation for an ever growing congrega
tion.

The third church was built on Bentick Street in the year 1910. This
is a very fine brick structure. It seats 1000 people and it cost $70,000. It
has the only set of chimes in the city or on our island, so far as the Presby
terian church is concerned.

There is a church at the Forks, seven miles from the City and also a
Hall at Sydney River. Services and Sabbath Schools are conducted in
both of these places every Sunday, by either the pastor, Dr. Pringle or his
assistant.

The first Sunday School in connection with St. Andrew's Church was
opened on the 26th of May 1867. Previous to that time the few Presby
terian children in Sydney attended the Methodist Sunday School.

The late A. D. McGillivary, M. D. was appointed Superintendent of
that school and he was succeeded by the late Frederick Falconer.

The young men that were born in connection with St. Andrew's
Church and studied for the Presbyterian ministry make a goodly company.

167

They are John W. McLennan, John A. MacKeigan, D. H. McKinnon,
William McLean, D. W. McLeod, Kenneth McLeod, Stewart McLennan,
Gordon McLennan and J. C. McDonald.

168

St. Matthews, North Sydney and Its Ministry.

St. Matthews Church, North Sydney, perpetuates the name of the
late Rev. Matthew Wilson. North Sydney was included in the Sydney
Mines Congregation from 1842, when Mr. Wilson arrived in Cape Breton,
until May 20th 1883, when he resigned the charge. Thereupon North
Sydney was constituted a new and independent congregation.

The first Presbyterian service conducted within the bounds of the
North Sydney Congregation was held at Upper North Sydney on the first
Wednesday in August, 1802. This service was conducted by the Rev.
Alexander Dick, one of the Pioneers, "On the Western Arm of Sydney
Harbour." The precise spot cannot now be determined, but that service
was held at or near the farm formerly occupied by the late Belcher Moore.
There were from half a dozen to a dozen Presbyterian families in the
vicinity at that time, and a number of their descendants are there still
They bear the good old Scotch names of Moore, Moffatt, Musgrave and
Jackson. They came from Aberdeenshire, Scotland between 1780 and
1790. They had no Gaelic.

The first church of any denomination on the north side of Sydney
Harbor was built in this vicinity in the year 1828, and it was built through
the instrumentality of the Rev. William Hull, a Baptist Minister who came
here about that time. He made a number of converts among the mixed
people that he found there, and a place of worship was built as the common
property of Presbyterians, Baptists and Congregationalists. About the
year 1840, the Baptists built a church of their own at Maloney's Creek,
and the original church became the exclusive property of the Presbyterians
Indeed this original church was built on property owned by a Presbyter
ian by the name of William Campbell. The Rev. Matthew Wilson con
ducted public worship in this church from 1842 to 1849, when the old
"Bethel" was built at the "North Bar," and occasionally for several years
thereafter. The first church was standing, though not in use, as late as
1860. The "Bethel" was built at the "North Bar" for the use of all the
Protestants living in that vicinity in the year 1849.

North Sydney had practically no existence until the year 1834, when
the General Mining Association built a coal shipping pier under the shelter
of the North Bar and extended a railway from Sydney Mines to said pier,
for the shipment of their coals.

The construction work, in connection with this pier and railway, as
well as the shipping that followed, created a considerable demand for labor
and a heterogeneous population began to gather in the neighborhood of the
shipping pier. The Bethel was built for the convenience of these people.
That Bethel was the only Protestant place of worship in North Sydney
until 1876, when St. Matthews and one or two other denominational church
es were erected. It is still to be seen standing on the same site, dark, dingy
and vacant.

The first St. Matthews Church was dedicated on the 3rd of December,

169

1876. By the year 1898, this church was not adequate to the needs of the
congregation, and a second church was built. It was dedicated on the
sixth of March, 1899. The first church cost between five and six thousand
dollars. The second church cost about eight thousand and was destroyed
by fire on the 30th of September following its dedication. The present
church was dedicated on the 9th of June, 1901. It cost eighteen thousand
dollars.

The Rev. Matthew Wilson conducted divine worship regularly in
that first church from the time of its opening in 1876 until Nov. the 12th,
1879. On this date the Rev. Donald McMillan was inducted as colleague
and successor to Mr. Wilson. Mr. McMillan had special charge of St.
Matthews and Little Bras d'Or until the date of Mr. Wilson's resignation
on May 20th, 1883, when he became sole pastor of Sydney Mines and
Little Bras d'Or. At the same time St. Matthews was constituted a new
and independent congregation.

The first pastor of this new charge was the Rev. Isaac Murray, D. D.
Dr. Murray was inducted on August the 13th, 1884, and he labored in this
field for a period of twelve years. He resigned the charge on account of
age and infirmity on April the 14th, 1896, and retired to New Glasgow
Pictou County, where he spent the remainder of his life.

Dr. Murray was born near Scotsburn, Pictou Co., on March the
24th, 1824, and he died at New Glasgow on December the 7th, 1906, in the
83rd year of his life, and the 56th of his ministry. He studied at Pictou
Academy, the West River Seminary, and Princeton Seminary, New Jersey,
U. S. He was licensed by the Pictou Presbytery in connection with the
Presbyterian Church in Nova Scotia in May, 1849.

Dr. Murray was ordained and inducted into the charge of New London
North, and Cavendish, as successor to the Rev. John Geddie, who had gone
to the New Hebrides, on the 16th of January, 1850. On July the llth,

1877, Dr. Murray was inducted into the newly formed charge of New
London North and New London South. His ministry here was very brief.
On Nov. 27th, 1878, he was inducted into the resuscitated Prince Street
Church, Charlottetown. After a brief struggle, this congregation was
under the necessity of closing its doors, and Dr. Murray accepted a call to
Thorburn, Pictou Co. After a few years in Thorburn he came to North
Sydney.

Dr. Murray received the degree of Doctor of Divinity in the year 1876
from Queens College, Kingston, in recognition of the excellent work that
he did on P. E. Island in the interests of the Public Education, and also in
the interests of Presbyterianism and Christianity, on that island, and in the
Maritime Provinces in general.

He was Moderator of Synod twice, first in 1873 and again in 1892.
He was Clerk of the Sydney Presbytery for the eight years immediately
preceding his resignation. Dr. Murray was a fluent speaker, a deep
thinker, a well read theologian, a strong evangelical preacher and a dilig
ent pastor.

His Jubilee was held at Cavendish, P. E. Island, on Jan. 16th 1900.

170

The present manse at North Sydney was purchased for the accommodation
of Dr. Murray and his family when he came here in 1884.

The Rev. T. C. Jack, D. D., succeeded Dr. Murray. Dr. Jack was
a native of St. Stephens, N. B., where he was born on Oct. 26th, 1850.
His father was the Rev. Lewis Jack, one of the pioneer Free Church Minis
ters of New Brunswick. Dr. Jack obtained the M. A. degree from the
University of New Brunswick in the spring of 1876, and the degree of B. D.
from the Presbyterian College, Halifax, in the spring of 1879. He was
licensed by the Presbytery of Lunenburg and Yarmouth in August the
18th, 1879, and ordained and inducted into the pastoral charge of Maitland
by the Presbytery of Halifax on Oct. the 14th, 1879. Seventeen years
thereafter he was translated to the Presbytery of Cape Breton and by it
inducted into St. Matthews, North Sydney, on Sept. 2nd, 1896. He spent
the remainder of his life in this congregation.

On account of a fatal disease he resigned his charge on May the 7th
1918, but by request of his affectionate people his name was retained on
the roll of Presbytery as pastor Emeritus until his death.

His nephew, the Rev. Wilmer Rosborough, by request of the congre
gation and by appointment of Presbytery, carried on Dr. Jack's work
until after his death on August the 14th, 1918, in the 68th year of his
life and the 39th of his ministry.

The senate of the Presbyterian College, Halifax, conferred the degree
of Doctor of Divinity upon Dr. Jack in 1906. He was Clerk of Presbytery
during the last nine years of his active life. Dr. Jack was small physically,
but big mentally and morally. He was pre-eminently a student and a great
lover of books. He had them stacked around him in his study. He took
a very prominent part in meetings of Presbytery, Synod and General
Assembly. As a preacher he was crisp, fresh and forceful. As a pastor
he was uncommonly diligent in the oversight of his people. He was a good
judge of the value of a new book, and he was always adding the best new
books to his library.

The third pastor of St. Matthew's Church is the Rev. Kenneth M.
Munro, B. A. Like so many of our ministers, Mr. Munro is a native of
Boulardarie and a grandson of Mr. Hugh Munro, at one time a famous
school teacher on Boulardarie Island.

Mr. Munro was born on August 5th, 1885. He grew up in a Christian
home and under the spiritual influence of the Rev. David Drummond's
ministry. He prepared for the ministry of our church by studying at the
North Sydney Academy, Dalhousie University and the Presbyterian Col
lege, Halifax. Hie graduated from the University with the degree of B. A.
in the spring of 1909, and from the college in theology in the spring of 1911.
He was licensed by the Presbytery of Halifax in April, 1911.

On May the llth, 1911, he was ordained and inducted into the charge
of our church at Inverness by the Presbytery of Inverness. Here he re
mained for the greater part of two years and abundantly proved his ap
titude for the work of the ministry. In March, 1913, Mr. Munro was

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translated to the Presbytery of Boston and duly inducted into the first
Presbyterian Church in that city on the llth of April, 1913.

In the spring of 1919, St. Matthews extended a call to Mr.Munro.
This call he accepted, and his induction took place on the 27th of March,
1919.

In North Sydney, Mr. Munro has a fine sphere of usefulness and there
are no more loyal and liberal people in our church than the people of St.
Matthews.

The Rev. A. P. Logan and the Rev. John Beaton, of Calgary are sons
of St. Matthews. The Rev. Wilmer Rosborough might be credited to this
congregation, though born at Sheet Harbor.

172

North Shore, etc., and its Ministry.

The original settlers of the North Shore and North River Congrega
tion, came chiefly from the Hebrides, especially from Lewis and Harris
between 1828 and 1840.

A large number of Sutherlandshire people followed the Rev. Norman
McLeod from Pictou, but these came earlier than 1828, and they settled
on St. Ann's Harbor in the vicinity of their venerated minister. Few, if
any of them settled as far away from him as the North River or the North
Shore.

When the emigrants from Lewis and Harris came to Cape Breton they
found the land about the Harbor already in possession of Mr. McLeod and
his followers, and they had to make homes for themselves farther north and
east. They availed themselves of the ministry of the pastor of St. Ann's,
and most of them became as much attached to him as were the people that
came with him from Pictou.

The Celt is by instinct and training a hero worshipper. The clan
system that prevailed for so many centuries in the Scottish Highlands and
Islands was well fitted to inspire and cherish reverance for and loyalty to
the chieftain or head of the Clan. The Chief was regarded as the father of
the clan and the clansmen thought of themselves as his children. Clan
is a contraction of "clann," the Gaelic for children.

Norman McLeod had all the necessary characteristics of a Highland
Chief. He had a fine personal appearance. He was tall and stout and
strong. He was kind, generous, patronizing and paternal to his friends;
but at the same time he was stern, haughty, autocratic and implacable to
his enemies. He was in short a masterful man, and when the Celt finds a
man of that stamp he is ever ready to admire, adore, obey and follow him
at almost any sacrifice.

The devotion of many of the North Shore and North River people to
Norman McLeod is very strikingly illustrated by a story that is told of one
John Smith, who lived at the Barachois, near Indian .Brook.

After Mr. McLeod had made his last visit to Mr. Smith's home, before
leaving for Australia, this devoted parishioner boarded up the door-way
by which his minister had entered and departed from his house so that no
other man should ever cross that threshold after Norman McLeod.

By this peculiar action he meant to show his devotion to his minister
and his conviction that no other man could possibly arise who would fill the
place about to be left vacant by the Rev. Norman McLeod.

It was this spirit of devotion and loyalty that caused so many Suther
landshire people to come to Pictou with Mr. McLeod in 1817. It was this
same spirit that induced so many to come with him to St. Ann's in 1820
and it was that same spirit of loyalty that moved over eight hundred to
leave St. Ann's thirty years later and go on a voyage of 14,000 miles to
Australia and New Zealand. Nor ought we to forget that many of those
who remained behind were as deeply imbued with this spirit of loyalty as

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those who went away. Some of them showed their loyalty to Norman
McLeod by never going to hear any other preacher of the gospel. They
believed that no other minister could be worth going to hear by any one
who had sat under the teaching of Norman IVEcLeod. And in addition some
of these people were so loyal that they thought it would be a disparage
ment and belittlement of Norman McLeod to sit under any other man.

Doubtless these people allowed their devotion to this good man to
carry them too far. Their conduct was little short of worship of the man,
idolatry!

The Rev. Abraham Mclntosh ministered to the people of North
Shore and North River from his settlement in St. Ann's in 1856 to his death
in 1889.

There were three churches built in this part of his congregation during
Mr. Mclntosh's ministry, one at North River, one at Indian Brook and one
at French River. They were all built between 1857 and 1865,
but none of them were finished inside until much later. The congregation
al chariot moved slowly and heavily in those days. The congregation was
too large for any man to do the work that needed to be done, with much
efficiency. It contained not less than three hundred families and these
families were scattered over an immense territory. It was from forty to
fifty miles in length and from ten to twelve miles in breadth. After Mr.
Mclntosh's death this congregation was divided. North Shore and North
River was set apart by the Presbytery of Sydney and in response to the
wishes of the people into a new and distinct charge. This action was
taken on the 3rd of Dec. 1889.

The Rev. John Fraser, M. A. was the first minister of the North Shore
and North River congregation. His induction took place on the 21st of
June 1892. Mr. Fraser was born at the Big Bras d'Or, Boulardarie, in the
year 1857.

Like a goodly number of the young men from Cape Breton, that
studied for the ministry of our church, Mr. Fraser went to Queen's College
for both Arts and theology. On the completion of his studies, he came
back to Cape Breton and was licensed by the Presbytery of Sydney, on the
10th day of May 1892. Six weeks later he was ordained and inducted at
Indian Brook, into the pastorate of extensive congregation.

Mr. Fraser entered upon his ministerial work with great enthusiasm
and energy and he was not long in awakening both enthusiasm and energy
in the people of his charge. His preaching was of the fervent, emotional
and energetic kind that the Celt especially delights to hear, and that he
hears with deep interest, admiration and profit.

Mr. Fraser's ministry on the North Shore and North River was
abundantly fruitful both materially and spiritually. The old Church at
Indian River was finished inside after standing unfinished for over thirty
years. It was also painted throughout and made to look like a place of
worship rather than like a barn. The churches at North River and French
River were similarly renovated.

174

A very fine Manse was built at Indian Brook in 1894, the second year
of Mr. Eraser's pastorate at a cost of $3,500.

These outward and material improvements were a visible token of
the spiritual change that came over the people. They were roused, stim
ulated and enthused in spiritual matters by Mr. Eraser's fiery eloquence and
devotion to duty.

In 1896, Mr. Fraser accepted a call to Loch Lomond and Framboise
congregation, and he left North Shore with the esteem and love of his
people.

The second minister of this congregation was the Rev. T. R. Davidson,
Ph. D. Dr. Davidson's life and work is spoken of in connection with our
article on Gabarus.

After Dr. Davidson left for New Brunswick in the autumn of 1917,
the congregation was without a pastor until the 7th of July 1920, when
Mr. Archie C. Fraser was inducted. The congregation received religious
attention from Student Catechists during the summer months of 1918 and
1919.

North River and North Shore has given a number of excellent young
men to the ministry of our Church. Their names are D. J. Nicholson, M.
D. McLeod, A. D. McLeod, D. J. McLeod, D. J. McRae, John Montgom
ery, John McAskill and A. D. Sutherland.

175

Baddeck Forks and Its Ministry.

The micmac aborigines of Cape Breton named the island opposite the
town of Baddeck Abaduckt. The white man transformed Abaduckt into
Baddeck and then he applied this transformed Indian name to the country
between the island and the mountain range that lies about eight miles in
land. The portion of the country bordering on the Bras d'Or waters he
called Little Baddeck and the portion of the country that lies toward the
mountain range he called Big Baddeck. Baddeck Forks is the name given
to the place on the Baddeck River, where Peters Brook joins that River.
Here the Church and Manse of Baddeck Forks congregation are located
and it would be hard to find a more beautiful place for either a church or a
manse.

The congregation is entirely rural. The people are living on the
banks of these two streams and cultivate the rich, alluvial soil formed by
the river and the brook. The scenery is enchanting Summer and winter,
day and night the rushing waters of brook and river, as they descend from
the mountains to the sea make perpetual music in the ears of an honest,
industrious and happy people.

Baddeck River was settled very early in the last century by United
Empire Loyalists. Some of these Loyalists came here about the end of the
eighteenth century, a few of them as early as 1782. Others came in 1817,
among them the Lavers, Jones, etc. Highland Scotch immigrants began
to arrive a few years later and in the early twenties. By the year 1834
when the Rev. Alexander Farquharson settled on the Middle River there
were between thirty and forty Gaelic speaking families in the Baddeck
River valley. Mr. Farquharson gave these people all the religious at
tention they received between 1834 and 1850. The first Presbyterian
Church was built at the Forks under Mr. Farquharson's encouragement and
direction in the year 1837. Among those who helped to build that Church
were Thomas Rice, Kenneth McKay, Alexander McKay, Donald McRae,
Farquhar McRae, Duncan McRae, Mark Crowdis, Styles Ingraham,
William Watson, John Buchannan, Donald Buchannan, George Watson,
Malcolm McLeod, John Maple, Malcolm Beaton, Donald Buchannan and
Norman Buchannan.

The present Church was built in the year 1865 during the ministry of
the Rev. Kenneth McKenzie. It is centrally situated and the only church
in the congregation. The manse was built in the year 1900 during the pas
torate of the Rev. P. K. McRae.

There was no session until after Mr. McKenzie's settlement in the
year 1857. The first session was chosen and ordained in the year 1859.
The elders that composed that session were Donald McAulay, Archibald
McDearmid, Donald McDearmid and Donald Campbell, generally known
as the catechist.

Mr. Campbell deserves more than a passing notice. He was one of a
class of laymen that rendered great service to the cause of true religion in

176

many of our congregations in Cape Breton when ministers were few. Mr.
Campbell came to C. B. from the island of Harris with his parents in 1830
when eleven years of age. He attended the school taught by the Rev.
Norman McLeod at St. Ann's when a young man and acquired enough
education to fit him for teaching school. After teaching in Little Bras
d'Or for some years he removed to Big Baddeck, in the year 1858 and
taught the school there for many years. He was an elder in Big Baddeck
for forty one years from 1859 till his death in 1900. He was also precentor
during all these years, and no man could lead in the Gaelic service of song
with more harmony and power. Every alternate Sabbath, Mr. Campbell
had charge of the services in the sanctuary at the Forks on account of the
absence of the Rev. Mr. McKenzie in the village church. He was a
favorite speaker at the men's service on ceist day in connecton with com
munion services. He was a man of God and he was a tower of strength to
the minister and to the cause of truth and righteousness at Baddeck Forks
during his whole life.

The Rev.Kenneth McKenzie was the minister of Baddeck and Baddeck
Forks during the whole of his active ministerial life — from 1854 to 1901 a
period of forty four years. After his resignation in 1901, Baddeck Forks
was constituted an augmented charge by the Presbytery of the bounds.

The first minister of Baddeck Forks congregation was the Rev. P. K.
McRae, whose induction took place on the 24th of Oct. 1891. Mr. McRae
was born on the Middle River, Cape Breton on the 2nd of Nov. 1856. He
studied at the Sydney Academy. He took his Arts Course in Queens
University, Kingston and graduated in April 1892. His theological
studies were taken in the Presbyterian College, Halifax, from which he
graduated in April 1895. He was licensed by the Presbytery of Halifax at
the same time. Mr. McRae was called to the pastorate of Earltown and
West Branch as soon as he was licensed and his ordination and induction
by the Presbytery of Pictou took place on the 22nd of May 1895. He was
called from Earltown and West Branch to Baddeck Forks and inducted by
the Presbytery of Inverness on Oct. the 24th 1899. Mr. McRae was
minister of Baddeck Forks for nearly ten years during that time he rendered
excellent service to the congregation and earned a good degree for himself,
in educational matters as well. At the end of that time he was called to
Little Narrows and inducted on the 2nd of March 1909. In January
1913, Mr. McRae received a call to Lament in the Presbytery of Vermillion
Alberta, where he is still working faithfully and happily.

After Mr. McRae left for the Little Narrows, the Baddeck Forks
people found a worthy successor in the Rev. John McNeil, who is with them
still and happy in his work among them. Mr. McNeil was inducted on
Jan. 4th, 1910.

Mr. McNeil was born at lona, C. B., in the year 1856 of Roman Cath
olic parents. In his boyhood he lived for some time in a godly Presbyterian
home, where he learned the simple, short, sure and scriptural way of pardon
and peace for the sinner through trust in the Person and work of Jesus
Christ alone. He embraced the true and only way of Salvation by faith in

177

Jesus, and came to know the blessedness of the man whose sins are par
doned, whose iniquities were covered. The darkness had passed away
and he was now basking in the light of the divine favour through Jesus
Christ. Was it any wonder that a man who had experienced such a change
as this should, like Paul, make up his mind to preach Christ and Him
Crucified? He resolved to sttrdy for the ministry of the Presbyterian
Church so that he might preach to his fellowmen the gospel that he had
found so precious to his own soul, the gospel of the grace of God.

Mr. McNeil took his preparatory studies in Pictou Academy. From
there he went to Queen's for Arts and Theology. He graduated in theology
in the spring of 1888 and was licensed by the Presbytery of Kingston very
shortly thereafter. His ordination and induction took place at Maxwell,
Ont., by the Presbytery of Orangeville on the 26th of Sept. 1888.

Mr. McNeil has had charges in the Presbyteries of Barrie, Huron,
London and Inverness. One can hardly conceive a more desirable charge
than Baddeck Forks for a man who likes a quite studious life, far from the
strefes and strain of modern conditions.

178

Bridgeport and Its Ministry.

By the end of the year 1891, the Presbyterian population of Glace Bay
and its surroundings had multiplied to such an extent that it was utterly
impossible for the pastor of St. Paul's Church, the Rev. James A. Forbes,
adequately to overtake the work that required to be done. On this account
it was proposed that the Presbyterians of Bridgeport and Reserve Mines
should be separated from Glace Bay and given an organization of their own.
Accordingly, on November the 10th 1891, a deputation from Bridgeport
and Reserve Mines consisting of Alexander McLennan, Norman Mc
Donald, and William McLennan, appeared before the Presbytery of
Sydney with a petition asking that Bridgeport and Reserve Mines be sep
arated from Glace Bay and constituted into an independent congregation.
Upon being shown that these two sections of the Glace Bay congregation
were able and willing to support ordinances among themselves, the Pres
bytery granted the prayer of this petition.

The new congregation was organized on Jan. the 1st, 1892. On the
10th of May, 1893, a meeting for moderation in a call to a minister was held
in Gordon Church, Reserve Mines. The call came out in favour of Mr.
J. A. McGlashen, M. A., B. D., a recent graduate of the Presbyterian Col
lege, Halifax.

This call Mr. McGlashen accepted, and on the 31st of May he was
duly ordained and inducted to the pastorate of the congregation. Eight
years later, on October 30th, 1901, Reserve Mines was separated from
Bridgeport, and formed into a new congregation, but Mr. McGlashen con
tinued to be minister of Chalmers Church, Bridgeport. Mr. McGlashen
was minister of this church until Nov. the 7th, 1916, when he accepted a
call to the Stairs Memorial Church in the Presbytery of Halifax and left
for this new field. Mr. McGlashen was a Pictonian. He was born at
East French River, Pictou County, on the 6th of May, 1862. He received
his preparation for Dalhousie University at the New Glasgow High School
and the Pictou Academy. He graduated as B. A. from Dalhousie on April
26th 1891, and from the Presbyterian College on April the 3rd 1893. He
received his B. D. from this college in April, 1894.

Mr. McGlashen was licensed by the Presbytery of Sydney on the 31st
of May, 1893, and ordained and inducted at Reserve Mines on May 31st,
1893. The following winter he spent in post graduate studies in the New
College, Edinburgh. Mr. McGlashen spent twenty-three years in the
congregation of Bridgeport, and in the Presbytery of Sydney, and he was
always ready for every duty required of him by that court. He was an
excellent preacher and a diligent pastor. He has been a member of the
Foreign Mission Board since his induction in 1893, and the Commissioner
of that Board at the World Conference on Missions in Edinburgh in 1910.

Mr. McGlashen wields a facile pen, and he has been special corres
pondent for the Presbyterian Witness and the Morning Chronicle for many

179

years. His reports of meetings of our Synods and Assemblies are always-
full of life and interest.

The present minister of Chalmer's Church is the Rev. William A.
Whidden, B.A., who was inducted on the 4th of May, 1917. Mr. Whidden
was born at Brookfield, Colchester County, N. S., on the 26th of March,
1888.

He obtained his preparation for Dalhousie University at his home
school and Truro Academy. He graduated from Dalhousie with a B. A.
in April, 1910, and from the Presbyterian College, in- April, 1912. He was
licensed by the Presbytery of Halifax on April the 24th, 1912. A few weeks
later Mr. Whidden was ordained and inducted by the Presbytery of Truro,
as minister of the Clifton congregation within its bounds.

The first service ever held by a Presbyterian minister in Bridgeport
was conducted by the Rev. John Stewart in the month of November, 1834.
There were very few families of the Presbyterian faith between Lingan and
Big Glace Bay at that time and for many years thereafter. After Mr.
Farquharson came to Little Glace Bay, Bridgeport was within the scope of
his supervision and he held an occasional service in the home of Donald
Mclsaac there. This was between 1867 and 1875. In the year 1887 a
Union Church was built and used by both Presbyterians and Methodists.
The Rev. James A. Forbes conducted public worship in that church. Soon
after, Mr. McGlashen became minister, steps were taken for the erection
of a Presbyterian Church, and the church was dedicated to the worship of
God on the 23rd of December, 1894. In the year 1900, on account of the
development of the coal mining industry at Dominion No. 1, this church
became too small for the accommodation of the congregation, and a second
church was built in that year and dedicated on the 17th of February, 1901.
On September the 17th, 1917, this church was destroyed by fire and a third
church had to be built. This third church was built on the site of the
second and dedicated on the 16th of March, 1919. "The new Chalmers
Church is of gothic construction and is rectangular in plan, measuring 32
feet in length by 46 ft. in width, with an extra bay shaped extension at the
rear for a choir space. The front is flanked by two massive towers, one of
them containing a forty-eight inch Bowl den Bell, and rising to a height of
67 feet, while the other is 47 feet, in height. There are three entrances
from the front opening into a spacious and well lighted vestibule with steps
at each end leading to the auditorium. The entire basement is finished
and is well lighted and airy. It has a large assembly room, separate class
rooms for Sunday School, Secretary's room, Library, Parlour, Kitchen and
boiler room. The building is lighted by the semi-indirect system of electric
lighting, and is heated by the Trane System of Vapor Heating, the most
modern system of steam heating.

"The Auditorium which seats 450 is furnished in clear spruce grained
to a light oak finish. The pews are in solid oak and of modern construction."

This is one of our latest and best appointed churches. What a con
trast this church is to the very plain, rough, unseated, unpainted, unlighted
and unheated churches that were built by our grandfathers in the early days;

180

What a happy change in circumstances and tastes is suggested by the kind
of churches our ancestors worshipped in and the churches in which we wor
ship. Our grand-fathers no doubt built the best churches that they could
afford, and we only build the best we can afford.

But let us never forget that the Being Whom we worship in our church
es is a Spirit and that He requires us to worship him in spirit and in truth.
We can't build a church big enough to hold God, nor beautiful enough, nor
costly enough to be a fit habitation for Him. Heaven is His throne, the
earth is His footstool. His favourite dwelling place is the lowly, the hum
ble and the contrite heart.

Chalmers' Church has not given any ministers to the Presbyterian
Church. Our ministers come almost exclusively from our rural charges.
Industrial centres are not good breeding ground for preachers of any de
nomination. There is a large demand for labor at good pay and the boys
yield to the ever present temptation to become wage-earners, rather than
students.

Indeed it is difficult to keep them in the common school long enough
to be more than half prepared for the duties of life.

181

St. Peter's and Its Ministry.

Saint Peter's is the English for Santo Pedro, the name the Por
tuguese gave to this part of our Island in the sixteenth century, when they
were accustomed to come to our Northern waters to catch fish. The
French name for the place was Thoulouse. They had a strong fort at the
portage between the ocean and the Bras d'Or Lake, called Fort Thoulouse.
When the British got final possession of Cape Breton in 1758, they named
the place St. Peter's, the name it has borne ever since. There was a canal
cut through the narrows between the Atlantic and St. Peter's Inlet in the
year 1865 by the Province of Nova Scotia Government. This canal has
been of very great advantage, not only to St. Peter's, but to the whole
island. Two years ago this canal was greatly enlarged and improved.

There were a few Presbyterians at St. Peter's previous to the year
1865. They were R.G. Morrison, D. Urquhart, Duncan McRae, Alexander
McKeen, Joseph Humes, John Morrison, John D. Matheson and Mur
doch Smith. About the time the canal was under construction, some more
came from the neighboring Presbyterian settlements, such as West Bay
and Loch Lomond. Among these were Alexander McCuish, Archibald
McCuish, John M. Kemp, Angus McAskill, J. W. Morrison, W. R. Morri
son, John McDonald, and Donald McKenzie. These early settlers re
ceived an occasional service from the Rev. Murdoch Stewart of West Bay
until he left for Port Morien in 1867. Between 1865 when the canal was
opened and 1877 when he died, the Rev. James Ross, Minister of Grand
River, was accustomed to conduct divine service in the school house of the
village. After Mr. Ross's death, his successors in the pastorate of Grand
River, Rev. G.L. Gordon, Rev. M.A. McKenzie and Rev. Wm. Grant gave
a proportion of their time and labor to St. Peter's.

On May the 10th, 1892, St. Peter's was raised to the status of an aug
mented charge by the Presbytery of Sydney. The first minister of this
charge was the Rev. Alexander B. McLeod, a native of Strathalbyn,
P. E. I., where he was born on the 17th of March, 1853. In early life he
started out to prepare himself for a mercantile career. He clerked at
New London and Summerside for several years. It was while clerking in
New London South, during a series of Special Meetings conducted by the
writer that Mr. McLeod came under the power of the gospel and decided
to study for the ministry. He prepared for Dalhousie by studying at the
Grammar School at Alberton, P. E. I. He entered Dalhousie University
in the fall of 1875 and after a four years course in Arts, he studied theology
for two sessions in the Presbyterian College and for another session in
Auburn Theological Seminary, New York from which he graduated in the
spring of 1882. He was licensed at Mt. Stewart by the Presbytery of
P. E. Island in the following June.

On the 31st of October, 1882, Mr. McLeod was ordained and inducted
into the pastorate of West Cape, Campbellton and Brae, by the Island
Presbytery. On the 29th of May 1886 he was inducted into the charge of

182

Mt. Stewart and West St. Peter's, where he labored for seven years. His
next charge was St. Peter's, C. B., where he was inducted on the 13th of
June, 1893. On account of family illness Mr. McLeod left St. Peter's in
October, 1894, and on the 18th of that month he was inducted into the
congregation of Coldstream, in the Presbytery of Truro. Mr. McLeod
was minister of Coldstream for twelve years. During that time the con
gregation became self-sustaining and its missionary givings were doubled.

In August, 1906, Mr. McLeod was inducted into the charge of Souris
and Bay Fortune, where he remained for the next five years, and resigned
on account of ill health. After a rest of two years he took charge of
Marshfield, P. E. I., as ordained missionary, but he had to resign at the end
of six months and return to Charlottetown. Subsequently he served as
chaplain to the P. E. I. Hospital, but his strength failed, and he passed
away on the 19th of April, 1916, after a ministry of 35 years.

The second minister at St. Peter's was the Rev. Joseph Greenlees.
Mr. Greenlees was born in the City of Glasgow, Scotland. See the Chap
ter on St. James, Sydney, for an outlines of Mr. Greenlees' life and work.

The third minister of St. Peter's was the Rev. John Calder, B. A., B. D.
Mr. Calder was a native of the island, having been born at West Bay on
the 10th of October, 1860. His early education was obtained at the com
mon school of West Bay. After obtaining a teacher's license he taught
school for a couple of seasons. He prepared for matriculation into Dal-
housie by attending Pictou Academy. He graduated from Dalhousie
University with a B. A. in the spring of 1886. After attending the Presby
terian College for three sess'ons he graduated with a B. D. in the spring of
1889. Shortly after graduation he was licensed by the Presbytery of Pic
tou and also ordained and inducted at Sunny Brae by the Presbytery of
Pictou. At the end of three years, Mr. Calder, on account of ill health was
compelled to resign this charge and rest for a couple of years. At the end
of that time he felt well enough to resume the work of teaching, for which
he had a great aptitude. He taught first in the West Bay and then in the
Port Hood Academy.

In 1897 Mr. Calder accepted a call to Port Mulgrave, where he spent
two years in the faithful discharge of his pastoral duties. In 1899, he was
called to St. Peter's, where he spent the next thirteen years, and labored up
to the measure of his strength. In February, 1913, Mr. Calder went to
Boston and became minister of the Scotch Church there. In the summer
of 1916 he returned to Cape Breton in search of health, but some weeks
later he met with a railway accident, thatcompelled him to resign his
Boston charge. He spent the last years of his life in St. Peter's where he
departed this life on the 15th of November, 1917.

"Mr. Calder was an excellent scholar and an efficient teacher. As a
preacher he was easily among the best in the land, — clear, strong, sympathe
tic, evangelical. As a man he had many gifts and graces,fine qualities of
head and heart, humble, devout, cheerful, bright, gracious, companionable
and true to his own high ideals."

183

After Mr. Calder went to Boston, St. Peter's called its fourth minister
in the person of the Rev. Donald Fraser, B. A.

Mr. Eraser's induction took place on the 2nd of October, 1913. He
was born in New Glasgow, N. S., in March, 1864. His parents removed to
Pictou Town some years later and Mr. Fraser grew up to manhood in that
far famed educational centre. After graduating from P ctou Academy
in 1883, as a George Munroe Bursar, he entered Dalhousie University in
the autumn of that year. In the spring of 1887 he graduated with a B. A.
During the next two years he was principal of the Baddeck Academy on this
island. He studied theology at Princeton Seminary, New Jersey, for one
season, and then at the Presbyterian College, Halifax, for two more. He
graduated in the spring of 1892. After licensure by the Presbytery of
Halifax on the 5th of May, 1892, Mr. Fraser was ordained and inducted
into the congregation of Gore and Kennetcook on June the 1st 1892.

Mr. Fraser's health has been very precarious during the whole of his
ministry and for this reason he has never been able to remain in one con
gregation for any length of time. He had to retire and rest quite fre
quently. Mr. Fraser was inducted into the following congregations in
succession, viz. Hampton, N. B., June 1st, 1894; Richibucto, N. B., Oct.
14th, 189T; Lahave, N. S., March 24th, 1904; Riverside, N. S., December
12th, 1906; Portapique and Bass River. Cardigan, P. E. I., June 14th,
1910; Riverfield and Howick, Quebec, June the 10th, 1912; St. Peter's,
Oct. 12th, 1913; and Mabou, C. B., Sept. 10th, 1918.

The fifth minister of St. Peter's is the Rev. C. R. F. McLennan, B. D.
Mr. McLennan was born in Waipu, New Zealand, on the 4th of March,
1892, and he was the son of the Rev. Neil K. McLennan, a native of
Middle River, Cape Breton. He received his primary education at Lake
Ainslie, his secondary education at Inverness Academy and his classical
and theological education at Queens College, Kingston. He graduated
B. A. in the spring of 1916, and as B. D. in the spring of 1918. He was
licensed by the Presbytery of Kingston on the 25th of April, 1918, and or
dained and inducted at St. Peter's on Sept. the 25th, 1918.

The first church was built at St. Peter's in 1873, but only stood for a
few weeks when it was blown down by the great gale of August the 24th in
that year. It was subsequently rebuilt and served its purpose until the
present church was erected in 1888. The St. Peter's Manse was built in
the year 1893.

St. Peter's has not given any ministers to our Canadian Church. The
Rev. A. J. McDonald grew up here, but his birth-plape was Malagawatch.

184

Little Narrows and Its Ministry.

The early settlers at Little Narrows came here between 1812 and 1820
and chiefly from the island of Lewis, Scotland.

The Little Narrows congregation was included in the congregation of
Whycocomagh from the year 1837 when the Rev. Peter McLean came to
Cape Breton until the year 1870. In the latter year Little Narrows was
separated from Wljycocomagh and attached to Middle River. On Dec.
the 6th 1870 Lake Ainslie was separated from the Middle River and formed
into a new and independent congregation. This change left Middle River
too weak to be self-sustaining and Little Narrows was added to make it
strong enough to maintain a minister. At the same time Whycocomagh
was constituted a self-sustaining congregation under the ministry of the
Rev. Murdoch Stewart.

The Little Narrows remained in connection with the Middle River
until the 7th of June 1893, when the connection was dissolved and both
became independent congregations, and so remain until the present time.

The Rev. Peter McLean ministered to the people of Little Narrows
from 1837 to 1842, when, on account of broken health, he left Cape Breton
and returned to Scotland.

The Rev. Charles Ross succeeded Mr. McLean in the pastorate of
Whycocomagh and Little Narrows in the year, 1857, after a vacancy of
fifteen years. Mr. Ross was minister of this charge until the year 1864.
In the year 1868, the Rev. Murdoch Stewart was inducted into the pastor
ate of Whycocomagh and Little Narrows. In the year 1871, Mr. Stewart
resigned the Little Narrows part of the congregation on account the labor in
volved in ministering to that section, and confined his ministrations to Why
cocomagh There upon LittleNarrows was connected with the Middle River.

In November 1871, the Rev. Adam McKay was inducted into the
charge of Middle River and Little Narrows. Mr. McKay also preached
at Malagawatch on the afternoon of the Sabbaths he was at Little Narrows.
After a very strenuous and successful ministry of four years, Mr. McKay
received a call from Ripley, Ontario and left Cape Breton for that field in
Sept. 1875. His departure was followed by a vacancy of two years, when
the congregation called the Rev. Alexander McRae. He was ordained
and inducted by the Presbytery on the 7th of June 1877.

Mr. McRae was a native of the island of Lewis, Scotland. He con
tinued to serve the Little Narrows and the Middle River with commend
able diligence until the 7th of June 1883, when on account of age and in
firmity he resigned the charge and retired from the active ministry. Mr.
McRae spent the remainder of his life at the Inlet, between Badd«;ck and
Nyanza. He departed this life on the 30th day of Oct., 1904 and his re
mains were buried at the Little Narrows Cemetery. On June the 7 h 1893,
Little Narrows was separated from the Middle River and both were con
stituted into independent charges.

The first minister of Little Narrows congregation was the Rev. Rod-

185

erick S. McLeod. He was a Lewisman and he was educated in Scotland.
He was inducted into the charge of Little Narrows on the 29th of Jan.
1888. On the 31st of Oct. 1890 Mr. McLeod resigned and returned to
Scotland. His ministry was not a happy one, either for himself or for the
congregation. Instead of confining his attention to his ministerial duties
exclusively he assumed the duties of the Managers as well and also the
duties of the collectors and treasurer. Of course there was trouble involved
in such a line of action and his resignation became a necessity. During
Mr. McLeod's ministry the first manse was built on the north side of the
Narrows. This manse was too far from church and school and inconven
iently located. The next minister of Little Narrows was the Rev. Duncan
Campbell, a Scotchman and a Lewisman. We have not been able to as
certain either the date of Mr. Campbell's induction or resignation, but his
ministry only lasted about two years.

During most of this time he was in a nervous condition bordering on
insanity and hence incapacitated for the duties of the pastorate. After
his resignation, Mr. Campbell returned to Scotland.

The third minister of Little Narrows was the Rev. Donald McLeod,
M. A. He also was a native of the Island of Lewis. He was inducted into
the church at Little Narrows on the month of October 1907. Mr. McLeod
is now minister of the Mira congregation and a fuller biographical notice of
him will be found in our account of that congregation. Mr. McLeod was
translated to the Presbytery of Sydney and inducted at Union Church
Mira in Dec. 1905.

The fourth minister of Little Narrows was the Rev. T. R. Davidson,
M. A., Ph. D.

Mr. Davidson is of Scottish birth. The reader will find a fuller
account of Mr. Davidson under the article on Gabarus, where Mr. David
son is now minister.

The Rev. P. K. McRae followed Mr. Davidson. His induction took
place on the 2nd of March 1909. In 1913 he accepted a call to Lamont in
the Presbytery of Vermilion, Alberta. For a more particular account of
Mr. McRae the reader is referred to our account of Baddeck Forks and its
ministry. The present manse, on the south side of the Little Narrows,
was built in Mr. McRae's time. Mr. McRae did good work at the Little
Narrows and his ministry is still affectionately remembered.

The next minister of the Little Narrows was the Rev. Alexander Fer
guson, M. A., a native of Port Morien, C. B. The reader is referred to our
article on West Bay and its ministry for a more detailed account of Mr.
Ferguson and his work in connection with our church in C. B. He re
signed the charge of Little Narrows on the 31st of March, 1920. Some
months later he accepted a call to Earltown in the Presbytery of Wallace.

There is but one church in this country congregation. It was built
in the year 1856 and opened for divine service on the 24th of March 1857.
It stands on the north side of the Narrows, although two thirds of the con
gregation live on the south side and are under the necessity of using a
ferry boat to get to their church.

186

It is to be hoped that a bridge will be built at this point in the near
future. During the summer of 1919, the Little Narrows Church was re
novated internally as well as externally. It is now a very handsome as
well as comfortable place of worship.

The following ministers were born at or near the Little Narrows, viz;
D. C. McLeod, D. D., St. Lewis, U. S., John Mclvor, D. D. U. S., J. J.
McAskill, Montreal, John S. McKay, Angus iviclnnes and Daniel McLeod
all in the United States.

187

Margaree and Its Ministry

This congregation has great length but small breadth. It extends
from the head of the Big Intervale of the Margaree River to Margaree
Harbor, at the mouth of that river, a distance of twenty-five miles, and
then westward along the shore to Chimney Corner, a distance of from
eight to ten miles more. The Presbyterians are found in small groups
along this distance of thirty-five miles. There are seven or eight families
at Chimney Corner, four or five at Whale Cove, twenty-five or thirty at
Margaree Harbor, three or four at Margaree Forks, a few at the North
East Margaree, and twenty-five or thirty at the Big Intervale.

The Protestant Families at North East Margaree are nearly all con-
gregationalists. There are thirty or forty families of these in all, at the
North East, where they have a church and minister of their own. There
is every prospect that the Prebyterians and the congregationalists on this
magnificent river will ere long be one congregation. Such a union would
be greatly in the interests of Protestantism and true religion in the Mar
garee Valley. The first Protestant settlers on the Margaree River were
United Empire Loyalists who found their way to the North East after the
American Revolution. The congregationalists of today are the descend
ants of these loyalists.

Presbyterians from the Highlands and Western Islands of Scotland
began to arrive in this part of Cape Breton as early as the year 1810. One
Hector McKay came to Chimney Corner in that year, and there are six
families of McKays there today, and all descendants of that original Mc
Kay. One John McLean came to Whale Cove in 1827 and his descendants
are found there at the present time The cemetery at Whale Cove is on
the site of the first clearing made by John McLean.

The first Presbyterian Church built within the bounds of the congre
gation was built where this cemetery is situated in the year 1830. A sec
ond church was built at this Cove in 1869, but on a different site. This
building is still standing, but has not been in use since 1887, when a church
was built at Margaree Harbor, a couple of miles distant from the Cove.

Gaelic speaking people, chiefly from the Isle of Skye, began to arrive
at the Big Intervale in 1827 and they continued to come until about 1840.
The first of these was a man by the name of Angus Ross. His son Murdoch
Ross is still alive in the hundredth year of his age, and living on the farm
cleared by his father in those early days. One of the earliest settlers at the
Harbor was a lowlanderfromSaltcoats, Scotland, by the name of Henry
Taylor. He came here in 1808, and for many years he conducted a large
business in fish and fishermen's supplies. He died in 1853 and his grave is
still to be seen in the old cemetery at Whale Cove. Mr. Taylor was noted
for his hospitality, especially to Presbyterians who might pass that way.

Aeneas McLean, was the first Presbyterian minister that ever went to
Chimney Corner, Whale Cove, Margaree Harbor or the upper reaches of

188

the Margaree River. This was in 1831 or 1832, while he was stationed at
Broadcove.

The Rev. Alexander Farquharson had the people at the Big Intervale
under his care during the time he was minister at Middle River, between
1834 and 1858.

The Rev. Alexander Grant of Lake Ainslie had charge of Chimney
Corner, Whale Cove, Margaree Harbour, and the Big Intervale from 1871
when he was settled at Lake Ainslie until 1880 when he resigned those dis
tant places on account of the labour involved in attending to them.

From 1880 to 1895 this extensive field was supplied with the means of
grace to some extent, by means of probationers, students, and catechists,
more particularly during the summer season. In the summer of 1894
Mr. A. M. Thompson was catechist on this river and he did such excellent
work that, .on his graduation from the Presbyterian College in the following
spring, he received a hearty and unanimous call to be the first minister of the
congregation. Mr. Thompson was ordained and inducted on June the
5th, 1895. He spent the next four years with this people and his ministry
was greatly appreciated and blessed. On May the 10th, 1899, Mr. Thomp
son was translated to the Presbytery of Pictou and shortly thereafter in
ducted minister of Ferona, Pictou County.

Mr. Thompson was a native of Kennetcook, Hants Co., N. S. He
studied at Dalhousie University and the Presbyterian College. He is now
minister of the Presbyterian church in Houlton, Maine, U. S.

After a vacancy of five or six months the Rev. W. B. Morrison, a native
of Loch Lomond, was appointed ordained missionary on the Margaree.
This was on Oct. 24th, 1899. Early in 1903 Mr. Morrison resigned and
went to Jamaica. He is now in charge of our cause at Grand Falls, New
foundland.

In November, 1903, the Rev. R. H. McPherson was appointed or
dained missionary in Margaree by the Presbytery of Inverness. Mr.
McPherson remained on the river until December, 1906, when he accepted
a call to Marble Mountain, where he was inducted on the 3rd of July, 1907.
Mr. McPherson was a native of Malagawatch. He obtained his education
chiefly in Bangor, Maine.

The Rev. William McLeod followed Mr. Morrison at Margaree, as
ordained missionary. He was appointed on Jan. 22nd, 1907, for one year.
Mr.McLeod's life and work is spoken of in connection with Leitche's Creek.

The next minister of this congregation was the Rev. John D. Mc-
Farlane, who was called from Cape North and inducted on October the
20th, 1908.

Mr. McFarlane and his work is spoken of more particularly in con
nection with Loch Lomond and the reader is referred to that chapter.

The church at Big Intervale was built in the year 1868. The manse
is located at the Harbour and was built in the year 1904 during the ministry
of the Rev. R. H. McPherson.

189

Marion Bridge and its Ministry.

This congregation was organized by the Presbytery of Sydney on Jan.
10th, 1898, in answer to a petition from the Presbyterians living in the
vicinity of Marion Bridge. The people of this community were originally
an imporant part of the great Mira congregation. The earliest settlers on
this part of the Mira River, came from the island of North Uist between
1824 and 1834. They bore the name of McNeil, McPherson, McLean,
Morrison, Lamond, McDonald, Ferguson, McOdrum, etc. They were
a reverent, God-fearing people and their descendants have not departed
from the good old paths in which their fathers walked so humbly, prayer
fully and uprightly.

The first Presbyterian minister to visit them and break the bread of
life to them, so far as the record goes, was the Rev. John Stewart. Mr.
Stewart came here in Nov. 1834 and preached several times about a mile
to the east of where Marion Bridge now spans the Mira river. There was
no place of worship here at that time and Mr. Stewart urged the people
to build a church as speedily as possible. They took his advice and two
years thereafter a small church was built and finished outside. It was
never finished inside. This church was in use until 1858 when the big
church at Louisburg Ferry was built and this one was closed. Between
1858 and 1887 all the Presbyterians on the Upper Mira as far as Sanfield
worshipped in Union Church at the Ferry. Good people from Morley's
Road walked 30 miles in going and coming to Union Church; in 1887,
however, St. Columba Church was built at Marion Bridge for the conven
ience of the large population living in this part of the Mira congregation.
This church was dedicated to the worship of God on the 1st day of January,
1888. It cost about $5,500. There is a manse at Marion Bridge also. It
was built in 1898, during the pastorate of Mr. McOdrum at a cost of
$3,500. The Rev. Donald McOdrum was the first minister of the Marion
Bridge congregation. His ordination and induction took place at St.
Columba Church on the llth of June 1894. Mr. McOdrum was born at
Mineral Rock within the bounds of the congregation. He is the grandson
and namesake of Donald McOdrum one of the earliest settlers and one of
the first elders ordained in the Mira congregation. Mr. McOdrum Sr. was
a man of distinguished Christian character. At the beginning of last cen
tury, religious life in many parts of Scotland and the Hebrides was in a
very flourishing condition, and many of the people who were compelled
to leave their native land and seek homes for themselves beyond the sea,
were truly pious. They brought their piety with them to Cape Breton,
and they were sources of light and life where ever their lot was cast. It was
from among these men that the catechists and elders of pioneer days were
chosen.

The Rev. Donald McOdrum studied at Pictou Academy, Dalhousie
University and the Presbyterian College. After graduating from this
college in the spring of 1899, Mr. McOdrum was called to Marion Bridge,

190

and on the 6th of June he was ordained and inducted into the pastorate
of St. Columba Church. Two and ahalf years in this congregation proved
Mr. McOdrum to be fitted to fill a larger sphere. On Feb. the 12th 1900
he received a call to Moncton in the Presbytery of St. John. This call he
accepted and he was translated thither by the Presbytery of Cape Breton.
After Mr McOdrum's departure, this congregation called the Rev. W.
A. Fraser, a recent graduate of our own College to be its second minister.
Mr. Fraser was a native of Big Harbor, Victoria Co., where he was born in
the year 1868. He prepared for the ministry by studying at Baddeck
Academy, Sydney Academy, Queens University, Kingston and the Pres
byterian College, Montreal.

He was licensed by the Presbytery of Halifax in May 1902 and or
dained and inducted as minister of Marion Bridge on May the 20th, 1907.
Mr. Fraser laboured in this congregation with great faithfulness until the
25th of Sept. 1906, when he was compelled to resign on account of failing
health. After spending some time in Graniteville, Vermont, U. S. A. he
went to Colorado Springs in the hope of prolonging his life. But all was
in vain. He died on a train on Jan. the 18th 1906, a victim of tuberculosis;
and he was buried among strangers at Holly, a few days later. Mr. Fraser
was a man of a very fine Christian spirit, and he was very much esteemed
and loved by all who knew him.

The Rev. Angus McMillan succeeded Mr. Fraser in the pastorate of
this congregation. Mr. McMillan came to St. Columba after a long and
successful experience in the Christian ministry in two of our Cape Breton
congregations. Mr. McMillan is a native of this island. He was born at
Big Hill, St. Ann's in the year 1848. He studied at Baddeck and Sydney
Academies. His Arts Course was taken at Dalhousie College and his
theological course at the Presbyterian College, from which he graduated in
the spring of 1881. He was licensed by the Presbytery of Prince Edward
Island shortly after graduation.

Mr. McMillan's first charge was at Malagawatch and River Denys,
where he was ordained and inducted on he 23rd of Jan. 1882. After
eleven years of hard work in this charge he accepted a call to West Bay,
and was inducted at Black River in 1893. Here he spent the next fifteen
years and rendered excellent service to that congregation. In Sept. 1908,
Me. McMillan accepted a call to St. Columba Church, Marion Bridge and
his induction took place on the 30th day of that month. He is here still,
and he is serving his Master with diligence, perseverance, patience and
wisdom.

The Marion Bridge congregation has given four good men to the minis
try of the Presbyterian Church, viz., Donald McOdrum, Donald McGuire,
John H. Mclnnes and Alexander Morrison.

191

St. James', Sydney and its Ministry.

St. James' Church, Sydney, was organized on the 3rd day of July,1900.
There were only a few Presbyterian families on the north east side of
Muggah's Creek previous to 1892, when the Dominion Coal Company was
formed, and began to ship coal at the old International pier in this vicinity.

Most of the Presbyterians that were here had come from St. Ann's
about ten years earlier and bought farms that were in the market at a very
low price. Town lots in Sydney, and farms in the vicinity of Sydney went
a begging for a purchaser in those days. Among those who came from St.
Ann's and bought land in this quarter were Allan McLeod, John McDonald,
John Morrison and Donald McLennan. These all worshipped in St. An
drew's Church, Sydney. In the year 1899, the Domionion Iron and Steel
Company, Limited, was organized and began to build its blast furnaces,
coke ovens and rolling mills immediately to the east of Muggah's Creek.
The result was a very large addition to the population of this part of the city,
and of course a goodly proportion of the newcomers were of the Presbyter
ian Faith, and required attention from the Presbyterian Church. In these
circumstances, St. Andrew's Church, with which a majority of these people
were more or less connected, applied to the Presbytery for assistance in
supplying the religious needs of a rapidly growing Presbyterian population.

The Presbytery thereupon, made an arrangement by which the Rev.
F. C. Simpson, who was then assisting the Rev. John F. Forbes, minister
of St. Andrew's Church, should give half his time and labor to the 'Pier
District" as it was then called.

This arrangement continued from Nov. 1st, 1899 to June the 1st, 1900,
when this district was constituted into a Home Mission Field. One month
later, however, on July 3rd, 1900, on account of the promising outlook
and the rapid growth of the Presbyterian population, the Presbytery de
termined to organize a Presbyterian Church here to be known by the name
of St. James' Church. Since that date, the city of Sydney has had three
Presbyterian Churches within its bounds, viz. St. Andrew's, Falmouth
St., and St. James. The Rev. Frank Baird was missionary during the
short time this field was a mission station.

The first minister of St. James' Church was the Rev. A. J. McDonald,
B. A. Mr. McDonald was a native of Malagawatch, C. B., where he was
born on the 2nd of June, 1866. He is a graduate in Arts, of Dalhousie
University, and in Theology of the Presbyterian College, Halifax. He
graduated in Arts in 1892, and in Theology in the spring of 1894. He was
licensed by the Presbytery of Sydney in June the 6th, 1894, and on that
same day he was ordained and inducted as minister of the St. Ann's and
Englishtown congregation.

After a short pastorate at St. Ann's, and a longer pastorate at Union
Centre and I^ochaber in the Presbytery of Pictou, Mr. McDonald was
called to St. James' Church and inducted by the Presbytery of Sydney, on
the 3rd day of July 1901. Mr. McDonald's ministry in St. James' con-

192

tinued to August the 31st, 1909 when he was translated to the Presbytery
of Truro, and inducted into the First Church, Truro, on the 9th of Septem
ber following. After some years in Truro, Mr. McDonald received and
accepted a call to Lunenburg, where he remained until the year 1915, when
he received an appointment as Chaplain to the 85th Highlanders, and went
overseas to do duty for his King and Country against the Germans. When
the war was over, after rendering admirable service as chaplain, Mr. Mc
Donald accepted a call to Bridgewater where he is engaged in the service
of the King of kings.

The second minister of St. James was the Rev. John Mclntosh, D. D.,
who was inducted on the 5th of November, 1909. He is still in charge,
doing faithful and effective work.

Mr. Mclntosh, like Mr. McDonald, is a native of Malagawatch
wherehe was born on the 27th of December, 1865. He took his Arts course
in Dalhousie University, and graduated Master of Arts in the spring of
1894. His theological studies were taken in the Presbyterian College from
which he graduated as a Bachelor of Divinity in April, 1897. Mr. Mclntosh
was licensed by the Presbytery of Halifax immediately after graduation,
and some weeks later he was ordained and inducted at Kennetcook as
Ordained Missionary of Gore and Kennetcook congregation. Six months
later, Mr. Mclntosh received a call to St. Columba Church in the Presby
tery of Pictou, where he was inducted in April, 1898. Mr. Mclntosh was
minister of St. Columba until 1907 when he accepted a call to Boulardarie
congregation in this island. His induction took place at St. James Church,
Big Bras d'Or in July, 1907. The work in this large and laborious charge
proving too much for Mr. Mclntosh's strength, on October the 19th, 1909,
he accepted a call to St. James Church, Sydney, where he was inducted on
Nov. 5th, 1909, where he is still, and where he is doing excellent work for
the congregation and for the Master.

The first church was built in the year 1901. This church was de
stroyed by fire on July the 29th, 1906. But the people lost no time in re
placing it with another and a better one. The corner stone was laid on
July the 1st, 1907, and on the 2nd of October, 1907, the new church was
dedicated to the worship of God.

The congregation has a good manse on a fine site overlooking Sydney
Harbor. This manse was built in the year 1902, during the ministry of the
Rev. A. J. McDonald.

And just here it is fitting that something should be said about St.
Mark's Church, a church that the Presbytery amalgamated with St. James
Church in 1919.

This Mission Church was started on Laurier Street near the Coke
Ovens by Falmouth Street Church, in March, 1901, in order to bring the
means of grace to a growing population in that vicinity.

This mission had a varied experience during its existence of eighteen
years. It passed from a mission station to an Ordained Mission Status
and then to the status of an Augmented Charge. It was served by a num
ber of excellent men while passing through these different stages; e. g.

193

E. S. Ramsay, A. P. Logan, A. F. Thompson, J. A. Greenlees R. J. Cap-
bell and William McKenzie. But after all the time, effort, and money ex
pended on St. Mark's, our cause at this point never became firmly estab
lished. This fact was no doubt, due to the heterogeneous character of the
people that crowded into that community. Few Presbyterians cared to
remain there for any length of time. Finally the Presbytery abandoned
the effort, and put the few people connected with St. Mark's under the care
of St. James, on Feb. the 4th, 1919.

The Rev. J. A. Greehlees ministered to our people at St. Mark's from
Nov. 25th, 1902, to Mar. 16th, 1911. Mr. Greenlees was a Scotchman
born in the city of Glasgow, a Master of Arts of Glasgow University,
from which he graduated in the year 1889. He studied theology in the
Glasgow University for two years, and in the Presbyterian College, Halifax,
for a third, graduating in the spring of 1891.

He was licensed by the Presbytery of Halifax on April the 26th, 1891,
and ordained at New Mills, N. B., on the 8th of December, following.
After a ministry of four years at St. Peter's, C. B.— 1894 to 1898,— in
1899, Mr Greenlees took a post graduate course at the Presbyterian Col
lege, London, England. On his return, he went, by appointment of the
Home Mission Board, to Wabana, Nfld., where he spent the next three
years. After leaving Sydney in 1911, Mr. Greenlees was settled at Upper
Stewiacke for one year. Then he did missionary work at Grand Falls,
Nfld. In Dec. 1914, Mr. Greenlees was called to Georgetown, P. E. I.
where he is still.

The Rev. A. F. Thompson also labored diligently in St. Mark's for a
period of two years. Mr. Thompson was inducted at St. Mark's as
ordained Missionary on Jan. 18th, 1912. He demitted the charge, and
retired from the ministry on Feb. 28th 1914. He died at Truro, some time
later. The Rev. A. P. Logan was born at North Sydney, and graduated
from our own Nova Scotian Educational Institutions. After several pas
torates in several parts of the province, he was inducted at St. Mark's on the
24th of May, 1914. On the 3rd of August 1915, he resigned the charge
and left the Island.

St. James' Church has not, so far, given any young men to the minis
try of our church. It is a deplorable fact that we rarely get young men from
our town and city congregations to consecrate their lives to the greatest
of all callings, to be ambassadors of Jesus Christ to a lost world.

194

Loutsburg and Its Ministry.

This congregation was raised to the status of an independent charge
on the 17th of July, 1900, after a long and tedious struggle for existence.

Although Louisburg is one of the oldest and most famous commun
ities in Cape Breton, there were very few Presbyterians in the town until
1872, when the Glasgow and Cape Breton Railway Company extended its
railway from Reserve Mines to Louisburg, built a pier there, and began to
ship coal in the old French Harbor. After that time Presbyterians began
to come in from the surrounding settlements and make homes for them-
•elves here.

In the year 1873, the Rev. David Drummond, who was then minister
of Gabarus, gave an occasional service in a private house to the half dozen
families that were in the place at that time. irn

About this time, Cape Breton began to experience a period of stag
nation in the coal trade, of extreme severity. A number of collieries were
closed. The Glasgow and Cape Breton Company was forced into liquid
ation, and Louisburg relapsed practically into a fishing village. This period
of stagnation continued until well on in the eighties. It was not till the
year 1889 that the Presbytery of Sydney felt justified in constituting Louis
burg into a Mission Station. By that time there were thirteen Presbyter
ian families in the town. Louisburg continued to be merely a Mission Sta
tion until the year 1897. During these seven or eight years, a number of
excellent young catechists labored in this Mission Field during the summer
season. Among them were Louis Jordan, D. O. McKay, Duncan Mc
Millan, W. A. Morrison, K. J. McDonald, and John Mclntosh.

In October, 1897,Louisburg was advanced to the Status of an Ordained
Mission Charge, and Mr. John B. Falconer, of Sydney was ordained and
inducted as missionary for one year.

Mr. L. H. McLean of Strathlorne was ordained and inducted as the
second missionary of Louisburg, on May the 25th, 1899. During all this
time the people of Louisburg had no church. They met for worship first of
all in private houses, then in a school house, and later in a building known
as Mitchell's Hall. In June, 1892, the Presbytery selected a site for a
church and a manse. During that same summer the Lord's Supper was
dispensed for the first time to the few members of the Presbyterian
Church, who were living there the by the Rev. David Drummond of
Gabarus.

The present church was built on the site chosen by the Presbytery in
the year 1894 at a cost of $3000. It was dedicated by several members of
the Presbytery on June the 10th, 1895. The manse was built in the year
1902, during the ministry of the Rev. Murdoch Buchannan. It stands be
side the church, and is a very superior building.

The Rev. Murdoch Buchannan, B. A., was the first minister of the
Louisburg Congregation. He was ordained and inducted on the 17th of

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July, 1900. But unhappily, his ministry was very short. He died of
tuberculosis at Brooklyne, Mass., U. S. He went there in search of health,
but he became suddenly worse instead of better, and passed away on the
28th of April, 1905. Mr. Buchannan was born at Big Hill, St. Ann's, on
Dec. the 26th, 1869. After his conversion, in early life, he resolved to
study for the ministry and devote his life to the preaching of the Gospel.
After studying at Baddeck Academy for a term and at Sydney Academy
for a second term, he matriculated into Dalhoitsie University in the autumn
of 1894. He graduated as Bachelor of Arts in April, 1898. He studied
theology at the Presbyterian College, and graduated from that institution
in April, 1900.

During Mr. Buchannan's ministry, the congregation became self-
sustaining and began to realize it's mission. The families and members
multiplied, and the liberality of the congregation increased, in proportion.

In September, 1900, Kennington Cove was detached from Gabarus
and connected with Louisburg. This Cove is made famous by the landing
of General Wolfe at this point on June the 8th, 1768, a few weeks before
Louisburg was finally surrendered to the British Forces on July the 27th,
of that year.

There is a neat little church at Kennington Cove in which a service is
held once a month by the pastor of Louisburg.

The Rev. John McKinnon, B. A., B. D., succeeded Mr. Buchannan as
pastor of Calvin Church. He, too, is a Cape Bretonian, having been born
at West Lake Ainslie in the year 1856. Mr. McKinnon is a graduate in
both Arts and Theology of Queen's University. He graduated in Arts in
1894, and in Theology in 1897, when he obtained the degree of Bachelor of
Divinity. He was licensed by the Presbytery of Glengarry on the 4th of
May, 1897, and he was ordained and inducted by that same Presbytery,
into the charge of Dalhousie Mills twenty-one days later.

Having accepted a call to Mira and Catalone, Mr. McKinnon was
inducted into that charge by the Presbytery of Sydney, in Union Church,
Albert Bridge, on the 27th of January, 1903. After rendering good service
in this congregation for nearly three years, Mr. McKinnon accepted a call
to Calvin Church, Louisburg. His induction into this charge took place
on the 12th of Sept., 1905. On Dec. the 31st, 1913, he accepted a call to the
congregation of Baddeck in the Presbytery of Inverness, and was duly in
ducted in Greenwood Church. Baddeck, on the 7th of January, 1914.

The next minister of Louisburg was the Rev. D. A. McMillan. He
also, is a Lake Ainslie man.

He took his Arts course at Dalhousie University; and his Theological
Course at the Presbyterian College, Halifax. He graduated from the
University in 1913, and from the College in April, 1915. He was licensed
by the Presbytery of Halifax on the 28th of April in that year. On the
27th of May, 1915, Mr. McMillan was ordained and inducted into the pas
toral charge of Louisburg congregation, where he is still. Under his faith
ful ministry, this congregations has prospered materially and spiritually.

This congregation, like all our congregations, owes much of its success

196

to its loyal, generous laymen, and especially to its Elders. The latter have
been men of good judgment, fine Christian character, and much zeal in
forwarding the interests of the Kingdom of God in connection with Calvin
Church.

Two young men from Louisburg are studying for the ministry of our
Church viz., A. E. Kerr and J. A. Nicholson.

197

Reserve Mines and Its Ministry.

This congregation was constituted an independent charge on the 30th
day of October, 1901.

The locality where the Reserve Colliery is now situated was under forest
until the year 1871, when mining operations were commenced by a company
of British capitalists, which was known as "The Glasgow and Cape Breton
Company." This company had millions of borrowed capital at its dis
posal. But it spent its money recklessly and the consequence was that
in less than three years it became bankrupt and thousands of working men
were out of employment. A few years later, another British Company, by
the name of "The Sydney and Louisburg Company," got possession of the
colliery and began to develop its mineral wealth. But after working the
mine for a couple of years, it also went into liquidation and a large popula
tion was once more without anything to do. This fine coal property con
tinued to a large extent in this unsatisfactory condition until 1893, when the
Dominion Coal Company got possession of it. Since that time this col
liery has been one of the best coal producers on the island.

When the Reserve Mines was originally opened, it was within the bounds
of the St. Paul's congregation, Glace Bay, and the Rev. A. Farquharson
supplied the Presbyterian population with more or less services. From
1875, when Mr. Farquharson left St. Paul's for St. Andrew's, Sydney, until
May 1882, when the Rev. James A. Forbes began his work at Glace Bay,
our people at the Reserve Mines received but few services. During the
greater part of that time there was no mining and the Presbyterian popula
tion was but small. In 1882 the depression that had prevailed for seven or
eight years, in the Cape Breton coal trade, began to pass away and popula
tion began to return to this colliery.

Mr. Forbes gave a monthly service to Reserve Mines, from the time of
his settlement in St. Pauls' until Jan. 1st 1892, when Bridgeport and Reserve
Mines were organized into a new and separate charge. For several years
the services were conducted in the Reserve School house, but in the year
1885 the people built a church at Lorway and named it "The Gordon Me
morial Church" in memory of the hero of Khartum.

The Rev. J. A. McGlashen was minister of Bridgeport and Reserve
Mines from 1893 to 1901 when these Mines were separated from Bridge
port and formed into a new congregation.

The Rev. C. C. Mclntosh, B. A., was the first minister of Reserve
Mines congregation. His ordination and induction took place on the
2nd day of January 1902.

Mr. Mclntosh is a Cape Bretonian. He was born at Malagawatch on
the 25th of Feb. 1871. His education for the ministry of our church was
obtained at Pictou Academy, Dalhousie University and the Presbyterian
College, Halifax.

Mr. Mclntosh's pastorate at Reserve Mines continued for five years
and four months. At the end of that time he received a call from the

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congregation of Baddeck in the Presbytery of Inverness and was translated
thither by the Presbytery of Sydney on the 16th of April, 1908. Mr. Mc-
Intosh's pastorate at Reserve Mines was crowded with work, well and
faithfully performed. During those busy years, he proved himself to be
possessed of qualities that fitted him for wider spheres of usefulness.

The congregation did not remain long vacant. On the 23rd of July
1908, the Rev. D. J. Nicholson was inducted as minister of the charge.
Mr. Nicholson was likewise a Cape Bretonian, having been born at Jersey
€ove, North Shore, St. Ann's on Oct. the 6th 1872. He entered Dalhousie
University in the fall of 1898 and graduated in the Spring of 1902, as a
Bachelor of Arts.

After a three years' course in Theology at the Presbyterian College,
he graduated on April the 20th 1905. He was licensed by the Presbytery
a few weeks later. On the 23rd of May 1905. Mr. Nicholson was ordained
and inducted by the Presbytery of Pictou as minister of Union Center and
Lochaber. Three years later he was called to Reserve Mines, where he was
inducted on the 20th of July 1908. Mr. Nicholson was minister of this
charge until April the 15th 1918 when he was translated to the Presbytery
of Pictou and inducted as pastor of Union Church, Hopewell. About this
time Mr. Nicholson's health began to fail and by Dec. 1919 he was under
the necessity of resigning Union Church and taking a rest.

Mr. Nicholson's successor at Reserve Mines was the Rev. Charles
H. Ballard. He was born in England, came to Canada in the year 1909.
He studied theology at Queen's College, Kingston, and was licensed by the
Presbytery of Kingston on the 2nd of April 1917. Mr. Ballard was in
ducted at Gordon Memorial Church on July the 16th 1918. He spent the
winter of 1919-20 in post graduate work in the University of Chicago with
the permission of his congregation and leave of absence of the Presbytery.

This congregation has a good manse. It was built in 1904 during the
ministry of the Rev. C. C. Mclntosh.

The Rev. A. F .McDonald of New Annan is the only minister that this
congregation has given to the Presbyterian Church.

199

Knox, Glace Bay and its Ministry

Unlike most of our churches in Cape Breton, Knox Church, Glace Bay
had no infancy and very little youth. It came into existence as a full
grown congregation on the 16th of September, 1903, with 112 members,
152 families and 700 adherents. Previous to that time these members,
families and adherents, were connected with St. Paul's Church, but for
reasons that need not be mentioned here, they came to the conclusion that
they could do more and better work for the Presbyterian church, as well as
for themselves, by being formed into a new and distinct charge.

On the 31st of August, 1903, Rev. James A. Forbes and the Rev.
William Meikle, who had been joint pastors of St. Paul's Church since May,
1901, laid their resignations on the table of the Presbytery. These resigna
tions were in due time accepted and St. Paul's church ipso facto became
vacant. This vacancy cleared the ground for a new arrangement of the
Presbyterian forces in Glace Bay. Those who believed that a second con
gregation should be formed in the town lost no time in pressing this matter
to the front. Accordingly those in sympathy with such a movement ap
peared before the Presbytery of Sydney at its next meeting, on the 2nd of
September, with a petition signed by 370 persons, all members or adherents
of St. Paul's Church praying that they might be organized into a new Pres
byterian congregation in the town of Glace Bay.

After due consideration and investigation, the Presbytery at a meeting
held on the 16th day of September, granted the prayer of the petition and
constituted the petitioners a new congregation. The first service by this
new congregation was held in Victoria hall on the following Sabbath and was
conducted by Rev. E. D. Millar, D. D., of Yarmouth who happened to be
in Cape Breton at the time. The offering made by the congregation on that
day amounted to over eighty dollars.

The first business meeting of the congregation was held in the same
hall on the 12th of October for the purpose of completing organization
and electing trustees and managers. At that meeting it was resolved that
a church should be built as speedily as possible and that that church should
be designated "Knox Church," in honor of the great Scottish reformer. It
was also resolved to extend a call to Rev. William Meikle and that a salary
be offered of $1,200 and a free house.

Some weeks later a member of Presbytery moderated in a call which
came out in Rev. Mr. Meikle's favor. This call was signed by 112 com
municants and 259 adherents. Mr. Meikle accepted this call and he
was duly inducted in Victoria Hall, where the congregation worshipped
until the new church was ready on November 14th, 1913.

The new church was built on Commercial street during the following
summer. It was opened for divine service by the Rev. Clarence McKin-
non, D. D., on the 30th of January, 1905. On the following evening the
presbytery of Sydney met with the congregation and held a dedicatory
service. On that occasion members of presbytery spoke in the highest

200

terms of the energy and liberality shown by the people of Knox church in
erecting so large, handsome and convenient a place of worship in so short
a time. Knox church has a seating capacity of 800. It has also a basement
to accomodate 500 and is well suited for Sabbath school, prayer meeting
and social purposes. The church cost $28,000. Two years later the con
gregation built a fine manse on Yorke street at a cost of $5,600.

The first minister of Knox Church, Rev. William Meikle, was born in
New Glasgow, in 1856, and lived to be one of the most widely known and
successful evangelist that the Presbyterian church in Canada has ever had
in her ministry.

In the Spring of 1875 during a series of special evangelistic meetings
conducted by the late Rev. E. A. McCurdy, in St. James Church, New
Glasgow, William Meikle came under the power of the gospel of Jesus
Christ. Immediately hereupon, he made a complete surrender of himself
to Christ and His service. There were never any half measures with
Meikle in the service of his Master.

The meetings were hardly over when Mr. Meikle and two other young
men with a similar experience started out to hold evangelistic meetings in
the country districts of Pictou County. A few months' experience taught
these young men the need of a better education than any of them had in
order that they might preach the gospel with more efficiency. All three
determined to study for the ministry and all three were ultimately ordained
as ministers of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. The other two were
John Gerrior and James Murray, both now deceased.

In the Fall of 1877, Mr. Meikle matriculated into Queen's University,
Kingston, and he distinguished himself during his undergraduate course by
taking prizes in chemistry, natural science, history, metaphysics, ethics and
Hebrew. He obtained his bachelor of arts degree in the Spring of 1881.
In the autumn of that year he went to Princeton seminary, and after a
brilliant course in theology at that institution he graduated in the spring of
1884. He was licensed by the Presbytery of Lanark and Renfrew the fol
lowing May and immediately thereafter entered upon his career of evangel
ization. During the next twelve years he was constantly engaged in holding
evangelistic meetings on the northern end of the continent of America, in
Canada from Cape Breton to British Columbia, in Newfoundland and in a
number of places in the United States from Maine to California.

In 1896 Mr. Meikle was ordained as minister of a Presbyterian Church
in Vancouver, B. C., where he remained two years. During that time 150
persons became members of his church. In 1901 Mr. Meikle became co-
pastor with Mr. Forbes in St. Paul's Church, Glace Bay and then in 1903
minister of Knox church where he labored until September 30th, 1906,
when he resigned to resume evangelistic work. After a number of strenu
ous years in this line he suffered a nervous breakdown that laid him aside
from all work. During the last two years he has been in the Provincial
Hospital, Battleford, Saskatchewan.

During the years of his active ministry scores of young men through his

201

instrumentality became ministers of the gospel and thousands of souls
tasted of the grace of God in truth.

On Mr. Meikle's departure, Knox began to look around for a worthy
successor and it found one in the person of Rev. D. N. McRae, Ph. D., of
Griswold, Man. Mr. McRae was a son of the late Rev. Donald McRae,
D. D., formerly minister of St. Stephen's Church, St. John, and latterly
principal of Morrin College, Quebec. He was born in St. John and re
ceived his elementary education in the St. John public schools and high
school. After attending Pictou Academy he took his literary and classical
course in McGill University and the University of Manitoba. His theo
logical training was received in Manitoba college and the University of
Indiana.

Mr. McRae was inducted into Knox Church, Glace Bay, on the 14th
of April, 1904. He served this church with great efficiency and success
for a period of three years and six months. At the end of that time he ac
cepted a call to the Presbyterian church in Mitchell, Ont., and was trans
lated thither on the llth of July, 1914. He remained in this charge until
April, 1920, when he resigned to spend a year in travel and special studies.

The next pastor of Knox church was Rev. Hugh Millar, M. A., B. D.
Mr. Millar was born at the Garden of Eden, Pictou County, December
13th, 1878. After graduating from Pictou Academy, Mr. Millar studied
at Dalhousie and graduated from that institution with the bachelor's degree
in the spring of 1905. He obtained his Master's degree from Dalhousie
in 1907. After attending the Presbyterian college for three sessions he
graduated in theology in 1908 and obtained the B. D. degree in 1916. He
was licensed by the Presbytery of Pictou in May, 1908, and ordained and
inducted into Union Church, Hopewell, on the 28th of that month. On
October 17th, 1911, Mr. Millar was inducted into Knox Church, Glace Bay
and remained here during the next four years and eight months. On June
15th, 1915, Mr. Millar was translated to the presbytery of Miramichi and
inducted into St. Andrew's Church, Campbellton, on June 18.

The fourth minister of Knox church was Rev. Albert McLeod, M. A., a
native of Lome, Pictou County, where he was born on December 24th^
1874. Mr. McLeod like a majority of young men of Pictou county who
studied for the ministry of the Presbyterian church, went to Pictou Academy
for his secondary education and from there to Dalhousie University and the
Presbyterian college. He graduated from Dalhousie in the spring of 1899
as Bachelor of Arts. He graduated from the Presbyterian college in 1901
and was licensed by the presbytery of Pictou a few weeks afterwards. On
the 23rd of May, 1901, Mr. McLeod was ordained and inducted at Miller-
ton, N. B., by the Presbytery of Miramichi. In March 1903, he was in
ducted into the congregation of Canard by the Presbytery of Halifax.
In 1909 he was called to Clifton in the Presbytery of Truro and inducted
by that presbytery into said charge. Two and a half years later Mr. Mc
Leod accepted a call to the Presbyterian church at Hyde Park, Boston
where he labored for over four years. On December 16th, 1915, he began
his ministry in Knox Church, Glace Bay, where he is at the present time

202

and where he is performing his ministerial duties with diligence and success.
The young men from Knox Church for the ministry of our church were
George McAulay and Peter McAulay, his brother, both Presbyterian minis
ters in the United States; John N. Morrison, also in the United States;
Hector Ferguson, Pas, Manitoba and William McKenzie, who has nearly
completed his studies for the ministry at the Presbyterian College, Halifax.

203

Dominion No. 6 and Its Ministry, May 10th, 1915.

The field embraced in this congregation was included in the original
Mira congregation from 1850 to 1867 and in the congregation of St. Paul's,
Glace Bay from 1867 to 1905. Dr. Hugh McLeod was probably the first
Presbyterian minister to conduct public worship and preach in this locality.
Mr. Donald Ross, catechist held services here between 1844 and 1870.
The Rev. Alexander Farquharson, supplied this section of his congrega
tion with gospel ordinances between 1867 and 1875 while he was minister
at St. Paul's, Glace Bay, and the Rev. James A. Forbes did likewise
between 1882 and 1903, while he was at Glace Bay.

There were twelve or thirteen Presbyterian families all told between
Schooner Pond, Big Glace Bay and Sand Lake in 1860. They were,
Roderick McLellan, Ewen Robertson, Archie McQueen, Angus McDonald,
Rory McLean, John McDonald, Hugh McDonald, Donald McRae, Donald
McDonald, Angus McPherson, John McPherson and Neil McDonald.

These men came from Scotland between 1830 and 1843. They had
no place of worship until the year 1860. In that year a site for a church
was selected by Dr. McLeod, where the Cemetery is now, and a Church
was erected thereon. Of course it was a small building as were all the early
churches in Cape Breton except the big church that the Rev. Norman
McLeod built at St. Ann's in the year 1846.

Some years later, when the Ontario mine was opened at Big Glace Bay
and Port Caledonia was made at the Eastern end of Big Glace Bay beach,
this Church was moved to the vicinity of the new harbor and coal mine, in
order that it might be more convenient to the mines and laborers in this
vicinity. In the year 1906, when the Dominion Coal Company began to-
raise coal where it is operating now, this Church was moved back again to
the vicinity of its original site. It was, some time thereafter, enlarged to
accommodate an increasing Presbyterian population, but becoming again
too small, it was finally sold. That old building is now used as a public
hall.

The present church was built in the year 1913 and 1914. It was
opened for public worship on the 18th day of May 1914, during the ministry
of Mr. Gardener.

On the 2nd of May, 1905, the Presbyterians, who were then living in
this community asked the Presbytery of Sydney to separate them from St.
Paul's, Glace Bay, and constitute them into a Home Mission Station, and
to appoint the Rev. James A. Forbes, who had retired from the pastorate
of St. Paul's Church in 1903, as Ordained Missionary over them for one
year. The Presbytery granted their request on the 10th of May, 1905,
and thereupon, Dominion No. 6 started on an independent career of its own.
At the expiration of the year, the Mission Station was raised to the Status
of an Augmented Charge under the name of St. Luke's Church, Dominion
No. 6. On the 10th of September, 1906, St. Luke's Church called the Rev.
Donald McDonald, B. D., then of Strathlorne, to be its first settled minister

204

Mr. McDonald was inducted on the 5th of Nov., 1906. Mr. McDonald's
ministry was short, only about eighteen months, but during that time the
congregation became self-sustaining.

In May, 1908, Mr. McDonald accepted a call to Grand River, and was
translated to that field.

Thereupon, St. Luke's extended a call to the Rev. Norman McQueen,
who was then settled at Middle River, Victoria County. Mr. McQueen
was born at Mira Gut but he grew up in Port Morien. He studied at
Dalhousie University, and the Presbyterian College. He graduated from
this College in the spring of 1905; and was licensed by the Presbytery of
Inverness on the 13th of July in that year. Mr. McQueen was ordained
and inducted at Middle River by the Presbytery of Inverness on July the
20th 1905. He was inducted into the charge of St. Luke's on the 21st of
August, 1908. Mr. McQueen's ministry in this charge was very short.
He resigned it on the 5th of September, 1909. His resignation was due to
a general strike of the miners and laborers that paralyzed the operations
of the colliery from July, 1909 to May, 1910. After his resignation, Mr.
McQueen was for some time assistant in St. Andrew's Church, Sydney.

Mr. Gordon McLennan supplied St. Luke's during the dreary winter of
1909-10 as cate.chist.

After the strike was ended and work resumed at the colliery, the con
gregation called the Rev. G. S. Gardener, then Ordained Missionary at
Mulgrave, to be its minister. Mr. Gardener accepted the call, and he was
inducted on the 30th of November, 1911. It was on May the 1st, 1914,
during Mr. Gardener's ministry, that the second (the present) church was-
opened and dedicated. On the 30th of September, 1915, Mr. Gardener
accepted a call to the congregation of Rexton and Richibucto in the Pres
bytery of Miramichi.

The present minister of St. Luke's is the Rev. James Fraser. He was
called from Loch Lomond on Dec. the 16th, 1915, and inducted at No. 6
on Feb. 1st, 1916. We have already spoken of Mr. Fraser in connection
with his ministry at Loch Lomond, and we need not add anything more in
this place except to say that he is as faithful, diligent, and successful in the
Master's work at No. 6, as he was at Loch Lomond. The colliery has
been working steadily since he came here, and the church has prospered
under his care.

The congregation has a good manse. It was built in the year 1906,
and was ready for occupation when Mr. McDonald took charge in Decem
ber of that year.

The only young man that studied for the ministry from Dominion No.
6 is the Rev. J. C. McLeod, now minister in Battleford, Saskatchewan.

205

St. Matthews, Inverness and Its Ministry.

St. Matthews Congregation is located in the town of Inverness, an
important mining centre in the County of Inverness. The original name
for this locality was Broadcove, a very appropriate name from a geographi
cal point of view, inasmuch as it is situated on a broad open Cove facing the
Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The first Scottish immigrants of the Presbyterian faith that came to
these parts settled on the shore of this Cove and on the site of the present
town of Inverness. Those who came later settled farther back and up
the Strathlorne valley. It was in this valley that the first Presbyterian
Church was built in the year 1832. When these settlers formed themselves
into a congregation they were known as the Broadcove congregation. Sub
sequently the name was changed and for many years this congregation has
been known as the Strathlorne congregation. The Presbyterians living
on the Broadcove shore were in connection with the Strathlorne congrega
tion until the 1st of August, 1905, when they were formed into a new and
independent charge.

The formation of this new congregation was due to the presence of
coal at this point and the commencement of coal mining. In the year 1900
the Inverness and Richmond Railway Company got control of the coal
areas in this vicinity and began to extract coal from them. They also built
a railway to the Strait of Canso and began to ship coal at Port Hastings.
In consequence of this industrial development, miners and laborers began
to flow into the colliery and the town of Inverness began to have an exist
ence. Some of those who came to the new mining town were Presbyterians
and it became the duty of the Strathlorne session to see that their spiritual
wants were supplied. The first step was the formation of a Sabbath School
in the summer time and that was followed by a prayer meeting in one or
other of the homes of the people occasionally. As early as 1900 a Christian
Endeavour Society was organized and the Rev. Donald McDonald, the
then pastor of Strathlorne, began to hold an occasional Sabbath afternoon
service in the schoolhouse at the "Corner." In the following year a fort
nightly Sabbath afternoon service was commenced. At the end of 1901
steps were taken to build a hall for religious purposes. This hall was ready
for use by the following Spring. It served as a place of worship until the
church was built several years later. By the beginning of 1904 a service
was conducted in this hall every Sabbath evening either by Mr. McDonald
or by any one else whom he could get to take his place.

In June of that year, a staff of elders was chosen and ordained. These
elders were Adam Spiers, Malcolm McFadyen and William D. Lawrence.
In Dec. 1904, a series of special evangelistic services were conducted by
Evangelist Joseph S. McKay, which proved of great service in stimulating
saints and converting sinners.

'#- By this time there were sixty Presbyterian families and about as many
communicants in the town and a movement was set on foot in favor of

206

separation from Strathlorne and the formation of a congregation of their
own in the town of Inverness. The steps to this end were duly taken and
the congregation was organized by the Presbytery on the 1st day of August
1905. Four months later this congregation called the Rev. J. W. A. Nichol
son, M.A. to be its first minister and he was inducted into the pastorate on
the 18th of Jan. 1906.

Mr. Nicholson was born at Urquhart's Mountain, Richmond Co.
His primary education was obtained in the district common school of his
native county, and his secondary education in the Arichat Academy and
the Halifax Academy. He is a graduate in Arts of Dalhousie University
and in theology of the Presbyterian College.

Upon graduating in Theology in the spring of 1901, Mr. Nicholson
was licensed and ordained by the Presbytery of Pictou and appointed to
supply Mulgrave for the summer months. In the month of Nov. 1901
Mr. Nicholson went over the sea and spent a year and a half in post grad
uate studies at the New College, Edinburgh, and in Marburg and Berlin,
Germany.

Returning in the Spring of 1903 Mr. Nicholson supplied Calvin Church
St. John, N. B., as an ordained missionary from June 1903 to April 1905.
Early in 1906 he became pastor of the Church at Inverness. He remained
with the people of this town until the beginning of 1911 when he was trans
lated to the Presbytery of Halifax and inducted minister of St. James
Church, Dartmouth on the 31st of March.

Mr. Nicholson is Convener of the Synods, Committee on Systematic
Giving and he is rendering excellent service to the Church along financial
lines.

After Mr. Nicholson removed to Dartmouth, this congregation found a
successor in Mr. Kenneth M. Munroe, B. A., who had but recently grad
uated from the Presbyterian College, Halifax. Mr. Munro was born on
Boulardarie Island.

He obtained his education for the ministry at Pictou Academy,
Dalhousie University and the Presbyterian College. He completed his
theological studies in the spring of 1911. On the llth of May following
he was ordained and inducted in St. Matthew's Church, Inverness by the
Presbytery of Inverness. Mr. Munroe's ministry in this congregation was
brief, but efficient. In March 1913 he was translated to the Presbytery
of Boston and inducted into the First Presbyterian Church in that city.
Mr. Munroe remained in Boston until March 1919, when he returned to
his native land and was inducted into the congregation of St. Matthews
Church, North Sydney.

Mr. Munroe's successor in the pastorate of Inverness was the Rev.
Archie D. McKinnon, B. A., a native of East Lake Ainslie, where he was
born on the 24th of February 1877. After a course of study in his home
school, Whycocomagh School and the school at North Sydney, Mr. McKin
non took third year in the Boston English High School. In the fall of 1900
he matriculated into Queens University, Kingston and graduated in the
spring of 1904. After completing his Theological course at the Presbyter-

207

ian College, Halifax in the Spring of 1908, he was licensed by the Presbytery
'of Halifax and also ordained and inducted into the pastoral charge of Water-
ville, Kings Co., N. S. on May the 28th of that year.

In the year 1911 Mr. McKinnon was called to St. Paul's Church in
Boston and in 1912 to St. Andrews in the same city.

In the summer of 1913 Mr. McKinnon was called to St. Matthews
Church, Inverness and in August 1916 to St. Andrews Church, Lunenburg,
where he is now laboring, with commendable diligence and success.

Mr. McKinnon's induction into St. Matthews Church took place on
the 24th of June 1913.

Mr. McKinnon, was succeeded in the pastorate of St. Matthews by the
Rev. Alexander Stirling, B. A., a native of Scotsburn, Pictou County,
N. S., where he was born on the 31st of Dec. 1874.

Mr. Stirling obtained his preparation for Dalhousie University at
Prince of Wales College, Charlottetown, P. E. Island. He graduated from
Dalhousie as Bachelor of Arts in the Spring of 1896, and from the Presby
terian College, Halifax two years later in the spring of 1898.

After licensure by the Presbytery of Halifax, Mr. Stirling was ordained
and inducted into the pastorate of Cylde River, in the County of Shel-
burne, N. S., by the Presbytery of Lunenburg and Yarmouth, on the 13th
of July 1898.

He was subsequently inducted into the charge of East River and
Glenelg in the Presbytery of Pictou, and from there he went to Kensington
and Long River in the Presbytery of P. E. Island, where he was inducted
on the 10th of October in the year 1904.

In December 1910 Mr. Stirling was inducted into the congregation of
Scotsburn, Pictou County, where he was born.

After a successful pastoral of six years in his native parish, Mr. Stirling
accepted a call to St. Matthews Church, Inverness. His induction into
this charge took place on the 23rd of November, 1916. At the end of
March 1920, Mr. Stirling accepted a call to the congregation of Brookfield
and Middle Stewiacke in the Presbytery of Truro, where he was duly in
ducted and where he is laboring at the present.

There is a good church and Manse in this congregation. The Church
was built in the year 1908 at a cost of $12,000 and the Manse was built in
the year- 1907 at a cost of $3,000.

St. Matthew's Church has not yet given any of her young men to the
ministry of our Church.

208

Warden Congregation, Glace Bay and Its Ministry.

This is the third Presbyterian Congregation that was formed in the
town of Glace Bay. This congregation was a long time in coming to ma
turity. As early as 1892, the Rev. James A. Forbes, at that time minister of
St. Paul's perceived the growing need for religious services in the western
end of the town of Glace Bay. Under his direction the session of St. Paul's
started a Sabbath-School in this vicinity, in a private house. Mr. William
McKenzie, one of the elders, took charge of the school as superintendent.
That Sabbath School was continued from year to year until the year 1903.
On November the 10th, 1903, in answer to the petition of the people re
siding in New Aberdeen, as this part of the town came to be called, and with
the approval of St. Paul's Session the Presbytery of Sydney organized a
mission station here. Mr. F. S. Vance, a student of the Presbyterian
College, Halifax, spent the summer of 1903 here as catechist and did ex
cellent work.

Warden Church was built during that summer at a cost of $6,000.
It was dedicated to the worship of God by the Rev. Clarence McKinnon,
D. D., the then Moderator of the Presbytery of Sydney, on the 22nd of
November, 1903.

On the 3rd of May, 1904, Mr. Vance was ordained and inducted into
the charge of Warden Church as ordained missionary. On the 10th of
July in the same year the first elders were ordained and the first session con
stituted. These elders were H. A. McMullen, A. D. McCuish, J. G. Mc
Kenzie, and D. L. McKay. On August the 27th, 1904, the congregation
held its first communion service. The members at that time numbered
twenty-seven. In February, 1905, Mr. Vance, on account of the state of
his health, was compelled to resign his charge. His work was done.
Tuberculosis had marked him as its victim. He lived two years longer but
he grew weaker and weaker until he breathed his last in Sept. 1907. Mr.
Vance gave promise of great usefulness. He won the hearts of the people
and they deeply lamented his resignation and death.

"The Lord buries His workmen, but carries on His work." On the
25th of May, 1905, the Rev. Robert B. Layton, B. D., was put in charge of
Warden Church by the Presbytery of Sydney as Ordained Missionary.
Under his ministrations during that year, the congregation became self
sustaining and assumed the full burden of self-support. At the end of the
year the congregation called Mr. Layton to be its pastor, and he was in
ducted as the first minister of the congregation on Jan. 29th, 1906.

On December the 31st, 1907, Mr. Layton resigned in order to continue
his studies. He spent the winter of 1908 and 1909 in post graduate work
in the United Free Church College, Glasgow. On his return from Scotland
he accepted an appointment by the Foreign Mission Committee to Trinidad;
He spent the next two years as Missionary in Susamachar Church, San
Fernando in that island. Returning to Nova Scotia in the summer of 1911
in broken health he supplied Bethamy Church, Northwest Arm for a year

209

or two. In November, 1913, Mr. Layton was inducted into the Presbyter
ian Church at Kentville, N. S., where he is at the present time.

Mr. Layton is a son of the Rev. Jacob Layton. He was born at Upper
Stewiacke, Colchester Co., N. S., on February the 13th, 1879. He was
educated at Elmsdale, N. S., the Halifax Academy and Dalhousie Univer
sity. He graduated from this University with the degree of B. A. in April,
1901. After a year, as a missionary, in Labrador, Mr. Layton entered the
Presbyterian College, Halifax, in 1902, and graduated in the Spring of
1905. Mr. Layton obtained the degree of B. D. from the senate of the Pres
byterian College, Halifax, for postgraduate work in history.

The second minister of Warden Church was the Rev. D. H. McKin-
non, B. D. Mr. McKinnon was born near Sydney, C. B., on December the
20th, 1877. After attending Sydney Academy for a couple of sessions he
entered Dalhousie University and after completing his course in Arts he
entered upon the study of Theology in the Presbyterian College, Halifax,
from which he graduated in the Spring of 1902. He was ordained and in
ducted by the Presbytery of Miramichi at Flatlands, N. B., on the 27th of
May 1902. Resigning that charge he supplied at Bethany and Rockingham
in the Presbytery of Halifax, from May the 1st, 1903, to September the
30th, 1906. His induction into Warden Church, Glace Bay, took place
on March the 8th, 1908. After a pastorate of ten years he resigned this
charge on the 30th of June, 1918. He is now settled at Great Village, Col
chester County, in the Presbytery of Truro.

Warden Church has a good manse. It was built in the summer of
1908 at a cost of $3,500. In the year 1913, the church was considerably
improved by the erection of a belfry, the installment of a good bell and also
of steam heating apparatus. It was still farther improved in the summer of
1920.

Mr. McKinnon took a post graduate course in the United Free Church
College, Glasgow, in the winter of 1907. After leaving Warden Church in
1918. Mr. McKinnon spent some months in post graduate studies in
Union Seminary, New York.

The Rev J. C. McLennan, B. A., followed Mr. McKinnon in this
charge. Mr. McLennan was born at New Campbellton, Victoria County,
on December the 29th, 1879. He prepared for Dalhousie University at
North Sydney Academy and Sydney Mines Academy. He graduated from
the Presbyterian College, Halifax, in the Spring of 1912, and was licensed by
the Presbytery of Halifax immediately thereafter. He labored as an or
dained missionary at Fort William, Manitoba, during 1912, and part of
1913. On Sept. the 23rd, 1913, he was ordained and inducted into the con
gregation of West Bay by the Presbytery of Inverness. After some years
of hard and successful work at West Bay he accepted a call to Warden
Church, Glace Bay, where he was inducted on the 14th of Nov., 1918.

Mr. McLennan graduated in Arts from Dalhousie University in the
Spring of 1909 -with the degree of Bachelor of Arts.

No young men from this congregation have hitherto studied for the
ministry of the Presbyterian Church.

210

Florence and its Ministry.

There are four churches in the Florence congregation; viz, Wilson
Church at Florence, Chalmer's Church at Grove's Point, St. Andrew's
Church at Little Bras d'Or, and George's River Church at George's River.

Wilson Church was built in the summer of 1907, and dedicated to the
worship of God on the 28th of July in that year. Chalmer's Church,
Grove's Point, was also built in 1907. Any services held at that Point per
vious to 1907 were held in the School House of the district. The present
St. Andrew's Church at Little Bras d'Or was built in 1896 and it was
opened for Divine Worship in the month of July in that year. This is the
second St. Andrew's Church that was built at the Little Bras d'Or. The
first was built in the year 1843, the year after the Rev. Mr. Wilson came to
Sydney Mines. Little Bras d'Or was at that time in connection with
Sydney Mines Congregation, and under the care of Mr. Wilson. Mr.
William Gammel was doing business at the Little Bras d'Or at that time.
He took a very prominent part in getting Mr. Wilson to Cape Breton. He
also took a very prominent part in the erection of the church, and in the
support of ordinances in connection with the church. The second St.
Andrew's Church at Little Bras d'Or was built on the site of the first St.
Andrew's. That original St. Andrew's was taken down and rebuilt at
George River where it is still in use as a place of worship.

Some of the first Presbyterians that came from Scotland to Cape
Breton settled at the Little Bras d'Or. They obtained grants of land there
between 1785 and 1800. Others came later and settled at the Ponds,
Groves Point and Georg River.

The Rev. Matthew Wilson conducted religious services at Little Bras
d'Or from 1842 to 1883 when he resigned and retired from active work.
The people of George's River worshipped at Little Bras d'Or during Mr.
Wilson's time, and the people at the Ponds worshipped at Sydney Mines.
The people at Grove's Point got more or less attention both from the minis
ter of Boulardarie and the minister of Sydney Mines.

The Rev. Donald McMillan, assistant and successor to Mr. Wilson,
conducted services at Little Bras d'Or, Georges River and Grove's Point
from 1879 to 1883, when he became sole pastor of Sydney Mines. Then
George's River, Little Bras d'Or and Grove's Point were constituted into a
Mission Field, and so continued until 1901. During these years this
Mission Field was served by a number of catechists; among them, William
Rainnie, A. F. Fraser, K. J. McDonald, L. H. McLean, A. D. Archibald,
A. H. Denoon, Melville Grant, and A. M. McLeod. In 1902, Little Bras
d'Or, George's River and Grove's Point were connected with St. Matthew's
Church, North Sydney, and the Rev. Gordon Dickie, M. A., became as
sistant to Dr. Jack in order that the whole field might receive due attention.
This arrangement only continued for a couple of years. Meantime, in the
year, 1903, the Scotia Steel Company began mining operations at Florence

211

by opening up Slope'No. 3. This caused an influx of population at this point,
and many of the new-comers were Presbyterians.

In November, 1904, the Presbytery of Sydney met with our people
at Florence in conference, and the result of that conference was that the
Florence people were constituted a mission station, under the care of the
session of St. Matthew's Church, North Sydney. A year later, in Dec.,
1905, the Presbytery constituted Florence, Little Bras d'Or, George's
River and Grove's Point into an Ordained Mission Charge, and appointed
he Rev. J. H. Hattie as Ordained Missionary in this field.

Mr. Hattie served this mission faithfully until August, 1906, when he'
resigned and left to take charge of a congregation in Prince Edward Island.

Shortly after Mr. Hattie's departure, the Presbytery of Sydney
erected Florence, Grove's Point and Little Bras d'Or and George's River
into a regular charge with the right of calling a minister of its own.

The congregation called the Rev. G. W. Murray, B. A., to be its first
pastor; and Mr. Murray, accepting their call was inducted on the 3rd of
January, 1907. Mr. Murray rendered excellent service to the congrega
tion for a period of nearly two years. On the 30th of November, 1908,
he demitted the charge and removed to New Brunswick, where he became
minister of Glassville in the Presbytery of St. John. It was during Mr.
Murray's brief ministry that Wilson Church, Florence, and Chalmer's
Church, Grove's Point were built and dedicated. The manse at Florence
was also built while Mr. Murray was minister of the congregation.

The second minister of this congregaton was the Rev. Harry Burns,
B. A. His ordination and induction took place on the 27th of May, 1909.
Mr. Burns was born at Murray's Corner, Westmoreland, N. B., on Decem
ber the 25th, 1877. He studied the Arts in the University of New Brunswick
and Theology in the Presbyterian College, Halifax, from which he grad
uated in April, 1909. After being licensed by the Presbytery of Halifax,
he accepted a call to Florence, etc., and was ordained and inducted at St.
Andrew's Church, Little Bras d'Or on the 27th of May, 1909.

Mr. Burns remained in the congregation during the next nine years.
In that time, he did a lot of hard, faithful work, and when he left, he left
with the esteem and affection, not only of his own people, but also of all
classes of the community. The congregation was augmented to a greater
or less extent until January 1st, 1913, during Mr. Burn's ministry, when it
became self-sustaining.

Mr. Burns was followed in the pastorate of Florence by the Rev. F.
M. Milligan, B. A. His induction took place on the 2nd of January, 1919.

Mr. Milligan is a native of St. John, N. B., where he was born on the
30th of July, 1887. After preparing for the University at the Digby
Academy and the Bear River High School, he entered Dalhousie in the
autumn of 1906, and graduated on the 25th of April, 1910 with the degree of
B. A. After three sessions at the Presbyterian College, Halifax, he com
pleted his Theological Course in April, 1913. Mr. Milligan was licensed
by the Presbytery of Halifax a few days later. His ordination and indue-

212

tion took place by the Presbytery of Truro at Upper Londonderry on the
8th of May, 1913.

Mr. Milligan was inducted into the charge of Little Bras d'Or etc., on
the 2nd of January, 1919.

About the end of April, 1920, Mr. Milligan resigned to become tra
velling secretary of Sabbath School work in connection with the Maritime
Synod of the Prebyterian Church.

213

New Waterford and Its Ministry.

The New Waterford congregation is of comparatively recent origin.
It was organized by the Presbytery of Sydney on the 15th of Dec. 1908.

Its existence is due to coal mining at this place by the Dominion Coal
Company. That Company acquired its leases in this vicinity from the
General Mining Association in the year 1890 and it began to mine coal in
the year 1907. The General Mining Association had been mining at Lin-
gan and at Old Victoria between 1854 and 1890.

The earliest settlers on the Low Point shore, between Lingan and
South Bar were Irish Roman Catholics, but there were a few Presbyterian
families among them. These families were from Ulva in the Hebrides.
They were all Gaelic speaking people, bearing the name of Livingstone,
McGillivray, McPhee and Petrie. The Livingstones were closely related
to Dr. Livingstone, the great African missionary.

The descendants of these Presbyterians are now all Roman Catholics,
on account of the way in which the Church of Scotland neglected her
children, exiled to Cape Breton, in the early part of last century.

The first lighthouse at Low Point was built by the Government of
Nova Scotia in Sept. and Oct. 1832. In June 1833 that Government ap
pointed Mr. Robert McNab, keeper of that lighthouse. Mr. McNab was a
lowland Scotch man, born in the city of Glasgow and a good Presbyterian.
The lighthouse has been in the care of Mr. McNab's descendants ever since.
After the General Mining Association began to win coals, first at Lingan
and later at Old Victoria, a few Presbyterians gathered round these two
. mines, but they received littl or no attention from their own church until
the summer of 1876, when the Rev. John Murray, then of Falmouth Street
Church, Sydney, began at each of these places, to give an occasional ser
vice on week nights. The result was that the Presbyterians at both these
places connected themselves with the Falmouth Street Church, and support
ed Falmouth Street Church during the ministry of Mr. Murray in Sydney.
At Lingan, services were held in one end of an Association house, and at
Victoria, by the kindness of the then manager, Mr. Donald Lynk, a
whole Company house was fitted up and placed at the disposal of the
people for religious purposes.

When the Dominion Coal Company opened its Coal Seams at New
Waterford in 1907, Presbyterian officials, miners, mechanics and la
borers began to gather at the new colliery, and there sprang up a demand
for the means of grace.

During the summer of 1908, Mr. M. D. McLeod,- student in Theology
conducted service at New Waterford as Catechist. The services were held
in a boarding house owned by the Company. The average attendance
during that summer was only about twenty persons. The total contribu
tions only amounted to $54.88 for about twenty Sabbaths. The bill that
had to be paid by the Home Mission Board for services supplied was
$147.82. Mr. J. H. Hamilton was Catechist for about eighteen months
beginning with May, 1909. During that summer a Hall was built in which

214

the people gathered for worship. It was built on a site selected by the
Presbytery, in the preceding October, when the people were organized
into a congregation. On the 14th Feb. 1910, a Kirk Session was elected
and ordained, consisting of William F. Hamilton, John D. Keith, and Archi
bald G. Graham.

On the 30th of August, 1910, the congregation petitioned the Pres
bytery to grant Moderation in a Call to a minister. The prayer of the
petition was granted, and the Call came out in favor of the Rev. Norman
McQueen who was then assisting the Rev. Dr. Pringle, St. Andrew's
Church, Sydney. This Call was signed by thirty-seven members and
forty-nine adherents. A stipend of $800 and a free house was offered with
this Call, and his induction took place in the Hall, on the 14th of Novem
ber, 1910. Mr. McQueen remained in New Waterford until Feb. the 6th,
1912 when he resigned his charge and removed to West Summerville,
Mass., U. S., where he is still.

The second pastor of the congregation was the Rev. J. H. Hamilton,
B. A. He had been catechist here during eighteen months and was well
known by the people. Mr. Hamilton was born at Westville, Pictou Co.,
on the 1st of Nov., 1887. His secondary education was obtained at the
Pictou Academy. He graduated as Bachelor of Arts from Dalhousie
University in the Spring of 1908. He studied Theology at the Presbyter
ian College, Halifax, and the United Free Church College, Glasgow, Scot
land. He graduated in theology in the Spring of 1912.

After licensure by the Presbytery of Halifax in April, 1912, he accepted
a call to New Waterford and was ordained and inducted into that charge
on the 4th of June, 1912. Mr. Hamilton remained at New Waterford for
over five years. During that time he wrought strenuously and successfully
in building up the congregation. On Sept. the 1st, 1917, Mr. Hamilton
accepted the position of Superintendent of Work among the Foreigners in
Cape Breton.

Mr. Hamilton was succeeded by the Rev. George E. Whidden in the
pastorate of New Waterford.

Mr. Whidden was born at Hilden, Colchester Co., N. S., on the 21st
day of August, 1877. He was educated at Truro Academy, Queen's
College, Kingston; Bangor, Maine; and the Presbyterian College, Halifax.
He was ordained and inducted at Maitland, Hants Co., N. S., on the 7th of
May, 1914. He was called to New Waterford on January 3rd, 1918, and
inducted on February 1st, 1918.

The Hall that was built in 1909 had to be enlarged in 1912 to accommo
date the congregation. This Hall served for all purposes until 1918 when
the present fine church was built at a cost of $24,000.

This church was dedicated to the worship of God by appropriate ser
vices on September 14th, 1919. This building is 110 feet in length and 45
feet in width. The auditorium is seated for the accommodation of 400
worshippers. There is an end gallery that will seat forty or fifty more.
There is also a large, well lighted basement for Sabbath School and Social
purposes. This young and vigorous congregation has a fine manse in
which it houses its ministers.

215

Orangedale, etc., and Its Mlnlstery.

This congregation was constituted by the Presbytery of Inverness on
the 10th day of November, 1914, under the ministry of the Rev. J. A.
McLellan by separating Malagawatch from River Denys and forming it
into a Mission Station.

From March the 8th, 1881 to November 10th 1914, River Denys and
Malagawatch constituted the Presbyterian Congregation in this vicinity.
This was the congregation of which the Rev. Angus McMillan was minister
from Jan. 25th, 1882, to October, 1893, and of which the Rev. John Rose
was minister from August 27th, 1896, to March 31st, 1909, when he re
turned to Scotland. This was also the congregation into which the Rev.
J. A. McLellan was inducted on July 21st, 1911.

The change in congregational boundaries was made on Nov. 10th 1914,
for several reasons; more particularly on account of the growth of our cause
at Orangedale, and also the difficulty that Mr. McLellan experienced in
ministering to his people while living in the Malagawatch manse at the
eastern extremity of the congregation.

The Orangedale Section of the congregation built a manse near
Orangedale Station in the year 1913, on the assumption that Mr. McLellan
would be glad to leave Malagawatch and live in Orangedale, a much more
central and convenient place for him to reside in, and from which to do his
work. When this manse was finished, Mr. McLellan availed himself of the
better facilities which it afforded for doing the work of the congregation.
He left the old manse at Malagawatch and took up his abode in the
new manse at Orangedale.

The Malagawatch people were much displeased on account of all
this, and they petitioned the Presbytery for disjunction from Orangedale
and River Denys, and erection into a Mission Station. The Presbytery
complied with their request, and thereupon, Orangedale and River Denys
became a new congregation, as already stated, upon the 10th of Novem
ber, 1914. This change lightened Mr. McLellan's labor very considerably,
and made it possible for him to give River Denys a larger proportion of ser
vice.

The first church was built at River Denys in the year 1835. The Rev.
Dugald McKichan was at that time minister of River Denys as well as of
River Inhabitants and Strait of Canso. The present church at River Denys
was built in 1854, and called Forbes Church, out of' compliment to their
minister the Rev. William G. Forbes. It has been repaired since then, and
is now in good condition. After Mr. Forbes came to Plaster Cove in 1852,
River Denys was a part of his congregation and he was accustomed to
preach in that old church. Port Hastings, River Inhabitants and River
Denys were together until 1881, when Mr. Forbes resigned the whole charge
and retired from his arduous labors.

There is no church, properly speaking, at Orangedale so far, but there

216

is a good large Hall which is owned by the people, and used as a place of
worship.

Mr. McLellan was called from St. Ann's and inducted in Forbes
Church, Upper River Denys, on July 21st, 1911. He is a native of Cape
Breton. He was born at Kemp Road, Richmond County, on June 1st,
1874. He took his Arts Course at Dalhousie College, graduating in the
spring of 1906; and his Theological Course at the Presbyterian College,
graduating in 1908. He was licensed by the Presbytery of Sydney on the
5th of May, 1908. On the 28th of May, he was ordained and inducted as
minister of St. Ann's and Englishtown.

After' three years of faithful labor in, St. Ann's, Mr. McLellan accepted
a call to Malagawatch and River Denys. In the year 1920 Mr. McLellan
was called to Valleyfield, Prince Edward Island and left his charge in Cape
Breton at the end of June witji the universal esteem of his people and all
who knew him.

This congregation has given a number of good men to the ministry of
the Presbyterian Church viz., R. H. McPherson, now in Alberta, J. W.
McPhail in Pennsylvania, U. S., M. McL. McPhail, Ph. D., also in Penn
sylvania, A. J. McNeil in New Brunswick and D. M. Gillies, D. D., in
Glace Bay, Cape Breton.

03

217

Malaga watch etc., and Its Ministry,

Malagawatch and Marble Mountain were united to form a new con
gregation on Nov. 14th, 1916.

Malagawatch is one of the oldest Presbyterian communities in Cape
Breton, while Marble Mountain is one of the youngest. A number of
Gaelic speaking families found their way to Malagawatch between 1810
and 1820. The Rev. Donald McDonald came to Malagawatch in the
year 1824, and remained here until 1826, when he left for Orwell, Prince
Edward Island. The place where he lived is still called the Minister's
Point; in Gaelic, Rudha a Mhinistear.

The third Presbyterian Church built on this island was built at
Malagawatch. The first was bui.t at South Gut, St. Ann's, in 1821 or
1822; the second at Mabou in 1824 and the third at Malagawatch in 1829.
The Malagawatch church was opened for public worship by the Rev.
Dugald McKichanin 1830, the year after he came to Nova Scotia. The
second church at Malagawatch was built in 1874, and was opened by the
Rev. Adam McKay, at that time minister of Middle River and Little
Narrows. The text of Mr. McKay's sermon on that occasion was 1 John
3; "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we
should be called the sons of God."

There was a manse built at Malagawatch in 1883 during the ministry
of Rev. Angus McMillan in the congregation of Malagawatch, and River
Denys. Mr. McMillan was ordained and inducted into this charge on
Jan. 25th, 1882.

On Nov. 10th, 1914, Malagawatch was separated from River Denys
and formed into a Misson Station. After two years in this condition, on
Nov. 14th, 1916, it was united to Marble Mountain to form a new congre
gation.

Malagawatch was supplied with occasional services by the Rev.
Dugald McKichan when he was at River Inhabitants, between 1832 and
1840. It also received some service from the Rev. John Stewart while he
was at West Bay between 1835 and 1838; also from the Rev. Peter McLean
while he was at Whycocomagh and Little Narrows between 1837 and 1842.

The first Presbyterian Sabbath School on this island was opened at
Malagawatch by Mr. Lauchlan McDonald, a young man who was sent out
from Scotland, by the Edinburgh Ladies Association, in the autumn of
1838 as a school teacher. He opened a day-school at Malagawatch on the
1st day of December, 1838, and a Sabbath School in the spring of 1839.
Both the day school and the Sabbath School were conductd in the Malaga-
watch church. The pupils in the day school ranged from six to twenty-
five years of age, and the enrollment of the school was about eighty. Mr.
McDonald also taught for a year at West Bay Points.

After spending three years in teaching in these two places, Mr. Mc
Donald went back to Scotland and studied for the ministry. A number
of years after completing his studies, he came back to Cape Breton as a

218

minister of the Free Church of Scotland. He was subsequently settled in
Earltown, Colchester Co., N. S., where he ended his days in 1868, aged 58
year.

Malagawatch gave several excellent young men to the ministry of the
Presbyterian Church, viz., John Mclntosh, Charles C. Mclntosh, and A.
J. McDonald.

The Marble Mountain section of this congregation was originally
included in the West Bay Congregation. It was during the ministry of
Mr. McDougall, about 1882, that the North Mountain part of the West Bay
congregation was separated and connected with Malagawatch and River
Denys. This North Mountain is no doubt the finest body of limestone and
dolomite on this island. Some belts of this dolomite are very much like
marble. This large deposit of lime stone rock was discovered by a Mr.
Brown of Prince Edward Island in 1868. He quarried marble and dolomite
for agricultural and building purposes here between 1869 and 1884. In the
latter year the late Dugald McLachlan bought the property, and formed
the McLachlan Lime Company.

This Company sold its interests to the Dominion Steel Company in the
year 1902, and Marble Mountain is now the principal source of limestone
and dolomite for iron smelting in the steel furnaces at Sydney.

After the Steel Company began operations in 1902, the population in
creased very considerably and the Presbytery of Inverness sent Catechists
here for several successive summers.

A church was built at Marble Mountain in the year 1903, and the
Mission was raised to the status of an Ordained Mission Charge in 1906,
The Rev. R.H. McPherson was inducted here as Ordained Missionary about
the end of December in that year.

The following summer Mr. McPherson was called to the pastorate,
and he was inducted on July the 3rd, 1907, as the first minister of the con
gregation. Mr. McPherson remained in charge unti. Sept. the 3rd, 1910,
when 'he resigned. From that time till May, 1917, the Mountain was
supplied by catechists in the summer season.

On November 14th, 1916, Marble Mountain and Malagawatch were
united, and on the 13th of May, 1917, the Rev. W. K. McKay, B. A., was
inducted as minister.

Mr. McKay was born at Kempt Head, Boulardarie, on the 26th of
July, 1886. He studied with a view to the ministry at North Sydney
Academy, Dalhousie University, and the Presbyterian College. He grad
uated from the latter in the spring of 1916. During his College Course he
was missionary on the Labrador Coast for two years. He was licensed by
the Presbytery of Inverness on the 6th of October 1916. jodirru-rJ fj

There is a fine manse at Marble Mountain. It was built in the year
1918 at a cost of $6,000.

There are three churches in the congregation; viz, one at Malagawatch,
one at Marble Mountain and one at Lime Hill, seven miles to the west of
Marble Mountain. The Lime Hill Church was built in 1876.

219

Framboise and Its Ministry.

On May the 2nd, 1916,the people of Framboise appeared before the
Presbytery of Sydney, asking to be separated from Loch Lomond, and to
be constituted an Ordained Mission Field. With the consent of Loch
Lomond, the request was cordially granted, and thus Framboise, that had
always hitherto been a part of either Grand River, Gabarus, or Loch Lo
mond, became an independent though an augmented charge.

While connected with Grand River, Framboise was ministered to by
the Rev. James Ross. While it was in connection with Gabarus, it was
ministered to by the Rev. Isaac McKay and Rev. David Drummond; and
while it was in connection with Loch Lomond, it was ministered to by the
Rev. Gavin Sinclair, Malcolm McLeod, John Fraser and James Fraser.

At the close of the ministry of the Rev. James Fraser in May, 1916,
though not more than fifty families the people of Framboise were so en
thusiastic, optimistic, and self-reliant, that they determined to have a
minister of their own. They were supplied by catechists in the summer of
1916 and 1917. In the spring of 1918, the Presbytery appointed Mr. M.
D. McDonald to labor among them for one year.

Mr. McDonald was born in the island of Lewis, on the 7th day of
February 1868. He was ordained an elder in the Free Church of his native
parish, before coining to Canada, in April 1895, to labor in our great west
ern mission field. He was employed for some time at East Selkirk, near
Winnipeg in the Presbytery of Manitoba. In 1904 he was appointed to the
mission field of Prairie Rose, in the Presbytery of Yorkton, Saskatchewan.
In 1907 he was appointed to the Princeville Mission in the same Presbytery.
In 1911 he was sent by that Presbytery to labor in the Poynton Mission
field.

By invitation of Dr. Jack, clerk of the Sydney Presbytery, Mr. Mc
Donald came to Cape Breton in 1916 and spent two years in the congrega
tion of Leitche's Creek. At the end of that time the Presbytery appointed
him to Framboise for one year.

Mr. McDonald has not had a classical or theological education, never
theless he has done good work in the various mission fields that have been
under his care.

In the spring of 1919 the Presbytery of Sydney applied to the General
Assembly for permission to license Mr. McDonald to preach the gospel.
This request was granted and Mr. McDonald was licensed in December
1920.

The Framboise people built a very convenient manse in the summer of
1919. They have also engaged with the Presbytery to pay their minister a
stipend of one thousand dollars and by so doing they have qualified for aid
from the Home Mission Fund.

This congregaton has a very creditable church. It was built during the
ministry of the Rev. John Fraser in the year 1909. The first church in
Framboise was built in the year 1862.

220

One young man of Framboise has studied for the ministry of our
church, viz., Mr. D. J. Morrison. He finished his theological studies at
the Presbyterian College, Halifax in the spring of 1920. He was ordained
and inducted as minister of Strathlorne on the 15th of June following.

221

Brought on etc., and Its Ministry

Broughton is located near Belloni Station on the Sydney and Louis-
burg Railway. Birch Grove, an other section of this congregation is lo
cated near Port Morien Station on the same line of railway. Both places
are coal mining centres of considerable importance. Birch Grove was in
connection with Port Morien from the time the Dominon Coal Company
began operations there in the year 1998 until Dec. the 7th, 1920,
when the Presbytery connected this Colliery with Broughton and raised
the two places to the status of a congregation. Neil's Harbor and asso
ciated stations, South Ingonish, North Ingonish and St. Paul's Island were
constituted a congregation at the same time.

Broughton Colliery has had a very checkered career ever since its in
ception in the year 1903. It was in that year that an English Company
under the name of "The Cape Breton Coal Iron and Railway Company"
opened a coal seam at Loon Lake and began to mine coal. At that time all
the people in that vicinity were Presbyterians. About two thirds of them
belonged to the Mira Congregation and about one third of them to the Port
Morien Congregation. There was a church on the Milton Road, not far
from where the new colliery was established, in which the minister of Mira
had been accustomed to hold services occasionally. This church was built
in the year 1892 in order to accommodate the people living in this vicinity.
They were too far away to worship at the central church, Albert Bridge,
except on fine days and in summer time.

In the year 1905, when the mining population had multiplied consider
ably, it was thought well to have a place of worship near the colliery and
near the residences of the miners. A petition was thereupon drawn up
and transmitted to the Presbytery representing conditions at Broughton
and praying for a student catechist under the supervision of the Mira
Session. The prayer of this petition was granted and a student was sent
accordingly. By the end of 1905, the Presbytery erected Broughton into
a Mission Field and it continued in that status until it was joined to Birch
Grove to form a new congregation at the end of 1920.

On the 1st of January 1906 the Rev. F. C. Simpson went to Broughton
and remained there five or six months. In the beginning of July in that
year the Rev. James A. Forbes was sent here by the Presbytery and re
mained until the month of Sept. 1907.

From Sept. to the end of the year the Rev. Malcolm Campbell attend
ed to the religious needs of this people.

On Jan. 2nd 1908, the Rev. Donald McDougall took charge of Brough
ton in the expectation of remaining during the whole of that year, but in
April following he was called to rest from his earthly labors. In Sept
1908 the Presbytery appointed the Rev. Hugh Michael as Ordained Mis
sionary at Broughton for two years, and at the end of that time he was re-
appointed for two years more.

222

The Rev. S. C. Gunn and the Rev. R. H. McPherson supplied this
field during the year 1912.

Mr. Wiliam McKenzie of Glace Bay supplied from March 1914 to
May 1915. During the next six months a student from Ontario, by the
name of Angus Mclntosh gave his services to this community. At the
end of that time he enlisted and went to France where he was subsequently
killed in the service of his country.

In the summer of 1917 Mr. J. D. McLeod, student, looked after the
interests of this station for several months. The Rev. Malcolm McLeod
of Baddeck spent four months among this people in the summer of 1918
and the Rev. John Murray of Glace Bay about the same length of time in
the summer of 1919.

The families in connection with Broughton have been few, not more
than thirty at the most, but they have been very energetic and very liberal.

The colliery has been closed since the fall of 1914, but we are in hopes
that it will open again before long and that there is a good future in store
for this field. The place of worship is a Hall, but it is amply large for
present requirements, well seated, heated and lighted. It was built in 1914
at a cost of $1,200. It was dedicated to the worship of God, by the Pres
bytery of Sydney on Jan. the 10th, 1915.

Birch Grove is a prosperous colliery and it is hoped that this new
congregation will shortly become one of the largest and best within the
bounds of the Sydney Presbytery.

Neil's Harbor and its Ministry.

In this congregation there are four distinct centres of population,
South Ingonish, North Ingonish, Neil's Harbor and St. Paul's Island.
South Ingonish Church is seven miles from North Ingonish Church, North
Ingonish Church twelve miles from Neil's Harbor Church and Neil's Har
bor Church, twenty five miles from St. Paul's Island. From South In
gonish at the one extremity to St. Paul's Island, at the other is a distance of
over forty miles. St. Paul's Island is, of course, only to be reached by
water and for a few months in the summer season. There are only about
thirty Presbyterian families in the whole field. Of these families, there are
eight at South Ingonish, twelve at North Ingonish, twelve at Neil's Har
bor and four or five on St. Paul's. There is no church on St. Paul's Island.
There are good churches at the other three places. The church at Neil's
Harbor was built in 1890 and finished in 1893. The churches at the two
Ingonishes were built a few years later.

Ingffhish and Neil's Harbor were in connection with the Cape North
congregation from 1860 when the Rev. Donald Sutherland was inducted
there until May the 30th 1897, when they were separated by Presbytery
and constituted into a Mission Field. Since that time, this mission field
has been supplied by student catechists, during the summer months.
There are a number of Methodist families at North Ingonish, but it is
hoped that ere long they will identify themselves with their Presbyterian
neighbours and help to strengthen the cause of religion in this place.

The principal employment of the people in the Ingonish and Neil's
Harbor, is fishing. The people on St. Paul's Island are in the service of
the Dominion Government as light-house keepers, etc. The minister in
charge of this field is expected to visit this lonely island, at least once during
the summer and to spend a Sabbath or two there.

St. Paul's is so little known by our people, that we shall devote the re
mainder of this article to that isolated part of our church's jurisdiction.
It is in telephonic connection with the world all the year round by means of
a cable laid between Bay St.Lawrence, C. B., and Atlantic Cove, St. Paul's
Island.

The writer was the first Presbyterian minister or indeed minister of
any denomination to visit St. Paul's Island. That was in the summer of
1880. He went out by schooner, spent ten days there and conducted a
number of services with the people.

As a result of that visit, the Superintendent, Mr. Samuel Cunnard
Campbell and the other four heads of families, then on the island con
nected themselves with Falmouth St. Church and supported that church
until 1891, when his pastorate in Sydney came to an end.

Between 1891 and 1920 St. Paul's was supposed to be looked after by
the minister of Cape North.

During the time, he was in Sydney, the writer tried to make an annua 1
visit to St. Paul's, usually in the month of August, when he spent from two

224

to four weekfe under the hospitable roof of his very dear friends, Mr. Camp-
bel and his admirable wife. What delightful memories are associated
with these visits. Both Mr. and Mrs. Campbell are now in the better
land, but their kindness can never be forgotten.

After his return from one of his annual visits to St. Paul's island,
he penned the lines that are appended to this article.

As a Life Saving Station, St. Paul's Island is entirely under the control
of the Dominion Government, while for educational and electoral purposes
it is under the control of the Government of Nova Scotia. The island lies
in Cabot Strait, at the mouth of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It is situated
fifteen miles from Cape North, Nova Scotia and thirty five miles from Cape
Ray, Newfoundland. This island is about three miles in length and about
three quarters of a mile average breadth. The highest land is not more
than five hundred feet and the average height of the land above the sea,
is about one hundred feet. The surface of the island is covered with
scrubby spruce for the most part. There are two small lakes on the island,
named respectfully Lena Lake and Ethel Lake, after the late Superintend
ent, Samuel C. Campbell's two youngest daughters.

The island is indented with coves, but there is no harbor. Landing is
always difficult except at two or three points and then only with the wind
off the shore. There is a Life Saving Station on Atlantic Cove, a light house
on the south west end of the island and another on the north east end. There
is a fog-alarm of tremendous power situated about the middle of the island.
In foggy weather, this alarm is kept going day and night, in order to warn
ships in the vicinity of their danger.

Between forty and fifty vessels of all kinds and sizes have been wrecked
on the rugged reefs and towering cliffs of this dangerous island, and many
brave men have found a watery grave in its surf; while a number more have
starved to death on the island after escaping death by drowning.

A number of the coves and headlands are named after vessels that
were wrecked at those particular spots. Jessie Cove at the south-west
end of the island, is a case in point.

The brig Jessie was built in New London Harbor, Prince Edward
Island in the early part of 1824, by Captain Donald McKay, a Sutherland-
shire man. After loading her with square timber in Pictou Harbor, Mr.
McKay sailed for the Clyde, Scotland, on the afternoon of Dec. the 24th,
1824, with a crew of twenty men.

The night proved dark and stormy and the following morning found
the Jessie stranded on St. Paul's Island. Her crew managed to reach the
shore, only to die of starvation by the following spring. There was no
shelter and what provision they saved did not last long. The tragic fate
of Capt. McKay and his crew was discovered by fishermen from Cape
Breton, who went out to St. Paul's in the following summer.

Two years later, the Government of New Brunswick built a place of
shelter for shipwrecked mariners at Petrie's Cove, on the west side of the
island and sent two men out there to take care of shipwrecked crews.

In 1826, the government of Nova Scotia built a place of shelter at

225

Atlantic Cove on the south east side of St. Paul's and sent a man by the
name of Hector McKenzie out to spend the winter there and help to save
shipwrecked seamen. This arrangement continued till 1837, when at the
request of the Imperial Government, the Government of Nova Scotia built
two light-houses on St. Paul's, one at north east end of the island, an
other at the south west end and also a life saving station at Atlantic Cove.
Mr. John Campbell, a native of the island of Coll, Scotland, was sent
out to superintend the construction of these buildings, and two years later
when the work of construction was completed, Mr. Campbell was ap
pointed Governor of St. Paul's, and he held this position until 1858, when he
resigned and retired. On Mr. Campbell's retirement his son, Samuel Ctfn-
nard Campbell received the appointment of Governor, and when he re
tired in the year 1904, his son, John Malcolm Campbell was appointed to
the position that this father and grandfather had filled so efficiently for a
period of sixty five years.

In the summer of 1919, John M. Campbell was promoted to the Gov
ernorship of Sable Island, and Abraham McLeod of Wreck Cove, Victoria
County was appointed his successor.

The Rev. Malcolm N. McLeod, minister of Cape North visited St.
Paul's Island in the summer of 1895. and wrote as follows: "When I visited
the island first I was agreeably disappointed in the opinion I had of the
social and moral condition of that small community. There were then
there five families and a large number of young men and women who were
in the employ of Governor Campbell. They had an excellent day school
and an admirable Sunday School under the efficient management of Mrs.
Campbell. To this school, young and old gathered on the Lord's Day, and
it was to them a little sanctuary. The children were excellent singers —
even the little girls were not ashamed to lead the singing at my services
there."

We are sorry to say that a great change has taken place on St. Paul's
since these words were written. There are no children on the island at the
present time, and of course no Sunday School or day school.

Ex-Governor S. C. Campbell was born at Whycocomagh in the year
1836. He died at the Victoria General Hospital, Halifax on March the
31st 1911. Mr. Campbell was very highly esteemed by all who had the
pleasure of his acquaintanceship. He was a manly man, and, as good and
true a friend as the writer ever had. He left one son and four daughters
and all are filling places of usefulness in different parts of Canada at the
present time.

St. Pauls ! 0 lonely sea-girt isle;

Thou stand'st apart, so still and calm

While restless waters round thee roar

In everlasting turmoil wild.

Twixt Newfoundland and bold Cape North

Thou guard'st St. Lawrence's stormy gulf,

Gainst broad Atlantic's mighty waves.

Thy rocky cliffs receive the shock
226

Of every crested wave that rolls

In majesty before the winds

From North and South, from East and West

Thou art the dread of sea-men bold.

The bones of thousands lie around

The bases of thy towering cliffs

And in thy caverns deep and dark.

But on thy storm-swept bosom wild

Is generous hospitality.

A Campbell's hearty welcome greets

The friend who lands to spend a while

In converse sweet, with much loved friends

In their secluded island home.

Nor can an ever grateful heart

Recall the scene, the time, the host,

The hostess too, without a flood

Of tender recollections sweet,

As I do here today and now.

Sydney, October 24, 1882.

227

Pleasant Bay Mission Field.

In the early days of last century this bay went by the name of Grand-
ance Bay and locally by the name of Grandtosh Bay. It was the Rev.
Donald Sutherland that popularized the present name when he was living
there between 1870 and 1875. Pleasant Bay is located on the Gulf of
St. Lawrence and about midway between Cheticamp and Bay St. Law
rence. Rugged mountains rise behind the bay and threaten to shut it off
from the rest of the world.

During five months of the year Pleasnt Bay can be reached by water,
quite easily, but during the winter months the only way of access is by a
narrow foot path over the mountains, either by way of Cheticamp from the
west, or by way of Aspy Bay and Big Intervale from the south. There is
no carriage road to Pleasant Bay from any direction, although there are a
few carriages in use at the bay itself.

Three rivers, the McKenzie, the Pond and the Red, drain the plateau,
of the mountains that encircle Pleasant Bay and they empty their waters
on its shores.

There are thirty-five families living in this isolated but romantic lo
cality. They are all, practically, Presbyterians and all are in very comfort
able circumstances. They have few luxuries, but they have plenty of good
food, warm clothing and neat houses, with contentment and happiness — all
that any man really needs on his short pilgrimage through time to eternity*

They live partly by farming, but chiefly by fishing. In the waters of
the gulf, just in front of them, there is an abundance of fish — lobster,
herring, cod, haddock, halibut, salmon and mackerel. The inhabitants of
Pleasant Bay are all expert fishermen, and they make the most of their op
portunity to gather the harvest of the sea in its season. There is a sub
stantial government wharf at the eastern end of the bay, which is a very
great convenience to these people. There is also a lobster factory at the
shore end of the wharf.

The primitive sail boat has been discarded in the operation of fishing
and the motor boat has taken its place, to the great advantage of that in
dustry.

Previous to May, 1895, Pleasant Bay was included in the Cape North
or Aspy Bay congregation. Since that time it has been under the care of
the Presbytery of Inverness as a Home Mission Field. This Presbytery
is generally able to provide the people with a student catechist during four
or five months in the summer time. During seven or eight months of the year
they have to depend on their own resources for spiritual food. And, to their
very great credit, be it said, they have never failed to meet the demand in
this regard. Indeed, the people of Pleasant Bay have been largely depend
ent upon themselves for religious services since the beginning of their his
tory. As a matter of fact, public worship on the Lord's Day and a mid
week prayer meeting has been regularly conducted in Pleasant Bay ever
since the first settlers came from the Isle of Skye over ninety years ago.

228

In these early days they had no church, but they met in one or another of
their own houses for the worship of God. Now, however, and for many
years, they have a very comfortable church in which they meet regularly
for divine worship on Sabbath and on week-nights. In the absence of a
minister or catechist, one of the elders takes charge of the service, while the
other elders and members assist in prayer and praise. A sermon is always
read at these Sabbath services and occasionally an exhortation given by the
leader.

Such services by laymen were quite common among our godly fore
fathers, both in Scotland and among the early settlements of our people
in Cape Breton, Pictou county, and P. E. Island. Our godly Presbyterian
ancestors believed that where two or three disciples of Christ meet together
in His name, they could count on the Master's presence with them, ac
cording to His promise. It is highly advantageous to have a minister of
the gospel to lead the worshippers in their devotions, and also to instruct
them in religious things, but that is not essential. The essential things are
praise and prayer and reading of God's Word by spiritually minded men
and women under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. "God is a Spirit and
they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." "Where
the spirit is there the church is."

The Pleasant Bay people from force of circumstances have persisted
in this admirable custom, much to their own and their children's benefit.
They never let the fire burn out on the altar. They added the fuel of their
devotions Sabbath after Sabbath and year after year ever since they land
ed on these rock-bound shores.

In their isolation and lack of many privileges enjoyed by other places,
these loyal Presbyterians have always laid much stress on three things, viz.,
the home, the sanctuary and the common school. And hence they have
been distinguished above many more favored settlements, for character,
piety and intelligence. From this small community has come one of our
best ministers, Rev. John Peter Mclntosh, who died at Bridgewater on
February the 23rd, 1918, and also a professor in Dalhousie College, Mr.
D. S. Mclntosh Professor of Geology in that famous institution.

The first settlers of Pleasant Bay came from the Isle of Skye nearly
one hundred years ago. Like so many others of their kindred they were
driven from their native land by the proprietors of the soil in order to
make room for sheep and deer — four footed animals. There were six
families of them, three McLean's and three Mclntosh's with their wives and
children. The three McLean's were John, Donald Junior and Donald
Senior. The three Mclntosh's were James, Donald Senior and Donald
Junior. These six families came to the bay about 1828, and their descend
ants are the principle citizens of the place at the present time.

Donald McLean, Jr., was known as "the bard." He was highly gifted
in the expression of profound thought in measured words. A number of
his poems are still to be seen in manuscript as they were taken down from
his own lips by the late Rev. Donald Sutherland and written out in Gaelic.

The next arrivals were Donald Sutherland, a Caithnessshire man, and

229

Andrew Moore. The latter came from Mabou, and his name is found on
the call that the people of Mabou extended to the Rev. Wm. Millar in 1821.
Mr. A. D. Moore, one of the elders of Pleasant Bay at the present time is a
grandson of Andrew Moore. Another of the early settlers was James
Hingley with his excellent wife. Mrs. Hingley was a woman of fair
education as well as of deep piety. She started the first Sabbath School
in the bay soon after her arrival. She took a great interest in the welfare
of the young, and she is still spoken of with respect and esteem.

These eight families were in Pleasant Bay as early as 1830, and they
were all pious, God-fearing people. They laid the foundation of industry,
sobriety, morality and religion, upon which their children have been building
ever since.

It is doubtful if any minister of the gospel ever went as far as Pleasant
Bay before 1841, when the Rev. John Gunn of Broadcove is supposed to
have made his first missionary journey to the far north-east of Cape Breton
including Pleasant Bay, Aspy Bay and Bay St. Lawrence. After that time,
Mr. Gunn made an annual journey to these parts and spent one or two
Sabbaths at Pleasant Bay in going or returning. These one or two
Sabbaths a year of gospel privileges must have been very highly appreciated
and enjoyed!

In the month of May, 1847, the religious life of this locality was greatly
helped by the arrival of Mr. John Mclntosh with his family. He was a
brother of James and the two Donalds that came in 1828. John Mclntosh
left the Isle of Skye in his boyhood and found his way to Aberdeenshire
on the east coast of Scotland. Here he met and married his excellent wife,
Helen Watt, by whom he had five children. At the time of the Disruption,
in 1843, Mr. Mclntosh joined the Free Church and began to take an
active part in church work. On his arrival at Pleasant Bay, on account of
his intelligence and piety, he became very appropriately, the leader in all
religious services, and he held this position during the next thirty-five
years, when age and infirmity compelled him to retire.

John Mclntosh departed this life on the 2nd of March, 1884, in the
84th year of his age, greatly esteemed and lamented by all who knew him.
His son, Alexander Mclntosh, took up the fallen mantle of his father
and carried it with much credit to himself and benefit to the congregation
for many years. Then when he became infirm and unable to attend to-
duty, his nephew, Mr. A. H. Mclntosh took the place of leadership in the
Sabbath services, Sabbath school and prayer meetings. Thus the Lord's
work has been carried on from generation to generation in this, the most
out of the way part of our church in Cape Berton.

The Rev. Donald Sutherland was settled at Aspy Bay in the year 1860
and he suppli d Pleasant Bay with gospel ordinances while minister in that
place. The Rev. Peter Clark ministered to this field from 1873 to 1887,
and the Rev. Malcolm N. McLeod from July, 1894, to March, 1895, when
the bay was placed under the care of the Presbytery of Inverness. Since
that time nearly every summer has found a catechist among this people for at
least a few months.

230

There are four elders and thirty communicants. The only minister
that we have had from Pleasant Bay is the Rev. J. P. Mclntosh, already
referred to. During the last few years the people of Pleasant Bay have
experienced great difficulty in getting teachers for their school. Conse
quently the education of their children is \n a backward way at the present
time. They have a good school house and between thirty-five and forty
children growing up to manhood and womanhood, without such an educa
tion as they ought to have and such an education as the children of Pleasant
Bay have been receiving in past year.

West Bay Points Mission Field.

West Bay Points were included in West Bay Congregation until July
the 4th, 1905, when they were separated by action of Presbytery and formed
into a Mission field. Since that time, this somewhat isolated locality has
been quite regularly supplied by Students in the summer season.

There are 42 families in this field. They have a good church and they
are liberal in their support of the means of grace.

231

Port Hood Mission Field.

Port Hood was connected with Mabou from 1821 to Feb. 16th, 1909,
and received a share of the Mabou minister's services during all these
eighty-eight years. In 1909, however, the people of Port Hood thought
the time had come when they could do better for themselves by having a
separate organization. The coal mines of Port Hood were in active oper
ation at that time, the population was growing and the outlook for the
future was good. In these circumstances the Port Hood people petitioned
the Presbytery of Inverness to constitute them an ordained Mission Charge.
They engaged to raise and pay an ordained Missionary the sum of $500.
The Presbytery complied with their request and decided to apply to the
Augmentation Committee for the sum of $300 in case of a settlement.

In November, 1909, the congregation called the Rev. D. Stiles Fraser
to be its pastor. He accepted the call and was inducted some weeks later.
But Mr. Fraser did not remain long. At the end of his first year in Port
Hood he resigned. Then for the best part of a year the congregation was
supplied in succession by the Rev. John D. McGillivray and the Rev. Alex.
F. Thompson. On the 13th of February, 1911, the Presbytery appointed
the Rev. R. H. McPherson ordained Missionary for one year. But a few
months thereafter the colliery \vas closed and he was under the necessity
of resigning and withdrawing. The collapse of the Colliery caused prac
tically the collapse of our cause in Port Hood. The Presbytery sent student
catechists to Port Hood in the summers of 1912 and 1913, but there was
very little financial support forthcoming, during that time.

Finally, our people at Port Hood asked the Presbytery not to send
any more catechists in the meantime, nor until such time as they would be
able to pay for a catechist's services. That time has not come yet. Mean
time the dozen Presbyterian 'families in this place are worshipping with
the Methodists on Sunday morning and evening, but they keep up their
own Sabbath School. They have the Lord's Supper dispensed in their
own church once or twice a year and they contribute to the Missionary
funds of the Presbyterian church.

This is a place where a union of the Presbyterians and Methodists
would be for the best interests of Protestantism and religion.

There is a large and valuable coal field at Port Hood and doubtless,
some day, that coal will be mined and there will be a large increase in the
population and wealth of the town.

232

EARLY MINISTERS

REV. ISAAC MURRAY, D. D
Early Minister.

REV. KENNETH McKENZlE,

Early Minister.

REV. JAMES ROSS,
Early Minister.

REV. ABRAHAM McINTOSH,
Early Minister.

EARLY MINISTERS

REV. D. SUTHERLAND,
fc_ Early Minister. ,

REV. A. FARQUHARSON,
Early Minister.

REV. JAMES McLEAN,

Early Minister.

REV. ADAM McKAY,
Early Minister.

EARLY MINISTERS

REV. D. McDOUGALL,
Early Minister.

REV. DAVID DRUMMOND,

Early Minister.

PART III.

The Centenary of Presbyterlanlsm In. Cape Breton.

The hundredth anniversary of organized Presbyterianism on this
island was a notable event in our history.

The day selected for the celebration of that event was looked forward
to with ever deepening interest by our people and when the day arrived,
they were present in large numbers, and from nearly every congregation
within our sea-girt shores.

The movement to celebrate the centenary of the arrival of the Rev.
Norman McLeod with his followers at St. Ann's on the 20th of May, 1820,
originated in the Presbytery, Sydney on the second day of Dec. 1919, with
the adoption of the following resolution; "That the Presbytery of Sydney
cordially approves of celebrating the centenary of organized Presbyterian-
ism on the Island of Cape Breton in May 1920 or on such date thereafter as
may be most convenient to all concerned in such celebration; that the Pres
bytery of Inverness be cordially invited to co-operate with this Presbytery
in a fitting and worthy celebration of this important event in our common
history and that all arrangements for this centennial celebration be en
trusted to the Historical Committee."

The Presbytery of Inverness responded very cordially to the invitation
of the Presbytery of Sydney for co-operation in the proposed centennial
celebration. The pastor of St. Ann's and his people were also found willing
and eager to co-operate with the two Presbyteries in making the celebration
a complete success. The 8th of July was chosen, by the Historical Com
mittee, as the most convenient day for holding the centenary services and
the church at South Gut, St. Ann's as the most suitable place. A pro
gramme was drawn up by that committee that provided for two sessions,
with an interval between for dinner.

The forenoon session was to begin at 10.30 a. m. and end at 12.30 p. m.
and the afternoon session at 2 p. m. and end at 4.30 p. m. The morning
session was intended to give special prominence to the life and character
of the Rev. Norman McLeod by the reading of a suitable paper on that
subject while the afternoon session was to lay special emphasis on Mr.
McLeod's people and the congregation of St. Ann's by the reading of a
suitable paper on that subject.

The preparation of these two papers was entrusted to the Chairman
of the Historical Committee.

The programme provided that the Rev. D. A. McMillan, moderator
of the Presbytery of Sydney, should preside at the forenoon session and
that the Rev. E. D. McKillop, moderator of the Inverness Presbytery
should preside at the afternoon session, and also that certain members of
both Presbyteries, as well as certain expected visitors from abroad should
take some definite part in the exercises of these sessions. It was also pro-

233

vided that each session should open and close with suitable religious ex
ercises, in both English and Gaelic. July the 8th arrived in due time
and though overcast and a heavy mist was resting on the hills surrounding
St. Ann's the day was quite favourable for the celebration. By ten
o'clock people began to arrive at South Gut from the most distant parts of
the island, such as Louisburg, St. Peters, Port Hastings, Port Hawkesbury,
Mabou, Strathlorne and Cape North.

Interested outsiders were there from New Glasgow, Halifax and Lunen-
burg. One man came all the way from New Zealand to show his interest
in the event. We may be sure that he was a worthy descendant of one
of those men who emigrated to that distant island from St. Ann's, some
sixty or seventy years ago. Unfortunately this man arrived a day too
late to take any part in the exercises.

It was also a matter of regret that the S. S. Aspy, with several hundred
passengers aboard from Port Morien, Glace Bay, Sydney and North Syd
ney, was an hour or more late in arriving on the scene, almost too late indeed
to participate in the forenoon session.

By the time for commencing the celebration had arrived the South
Gut Church was crowded to capacity and there were scores on the outside
seeking admittance.

The Rev. A. Murray, pastor of the congregation began the day's
exercises by calling upon all to join heartily in singing the one hundredth
psalm. After reading the seventy second psalm, he called upon the
Rev. W. A. Whidden to lead in prayer, in English and upon the Rev. J. W.
McLean to lead in prayer, in Gaelic.

After some appropriate introductory remarks by the Chairman and the
singing of four verses of the forty eighth psalm, the Rev. John Murray read
his paper on the life and character of the Rev. Norman McLeod. This
paper will be found in Part I of this volume.

The reading of this paper was followed by short reminiscent addresses
by John Morrison Esq., an aged St. Ann's citizen, who remembered
Norman McLeod very well and who received his first lessons at school
from that great teacher; the Rev. Malcolm McLeod, who was born in the
congregation and was its minister for a number of years, and by the Rev.
J. A. McLellan, who was also a former minister of St. Ann's.

Mr. Peter H. Ross, a native of St. Ann's, and a son of the late Senator
William Ross, but now a citizen of Lunenburg, N. S. brought congratula
tions from the Presbyterian Church in Lunenburg to the Presbyterian
Church in St. Ann's from a church that had recently celebrated its one
hundred and fiftieth anniversary to one that was celebrating its one hun
dredth anniversary.

Mr. W. D. Stewart, of New Glasgow, N. S. and a son of the Rev. John
Stewart, one of the pioneer ministers of Cape Breton, took the platform
at this stage and made a very happy and appropriate address.

A written message from the Rev. A. J. McDonald of Bridgewater,
a former pastor of St. Ann's, was read expressing best wishes for the success
of the centenary celebration and for the congregation of St. Ann's.

234

After singing a portion of the forty sixth psalm the Rev. D. M. Gillies,

D. D. moved the adoption of resolution appropriate to the occasion for
engrossment in the minutes of the Presbytery of Sydney and the Pres
bytery of Inverness. This resolution was cordially adopted after Dr.
Gillies had eloquently supported it in English and the Rev. Donald McDon
ald as eloquently in the Celtic tongue.

The old paraphase, "0 God of Bethel, etc" was then sung, the Apos
tolic benediction pronounced and this session adjourned to partake of the
refreshments that the St. Ann's people had so bountifully provided.

The afternoon session opened under the Chairmanship of the Rev.

E. D. McKillop, with a Gaelic service of praise and prayer, the Rev. James
Fraser leading in prayer, and an admirable Gaelic choir leading in praise.

The large audience then listened to a paper on the St. Ann's congre
gation. It was read by the Rev. John McKinnon, B. D., of Baddeck,
and will be found in the second part of this volume.

The reading of this paper was followed by a number of appropriate
addresses by several gentlemen.

The first was by the Hon. George H. Murray, Premier of Nova Scotia
and representative of the County of Victoria, in which St. Ann's is sit
uated. Mr. Murray was among his friends and his address was very happy
and very highly appreciated.

The Rev. Angus McMillan followed the Premier in a very interesting
address on the early days and the early ministers of St. Ann's. Mr.
McMillan was born in this congregation, was one of the first young men to
study for the ministry from the congregation, and of course he spoke from
intimate knowledge as well as with much feeling.

By this time it was getting late in the afternoon, and the remaining
addresses had to be curtailed and some of them left unspoken. We had
only time to hear from the Rev. John Mclntosh on "The Growth of our
church in Cape Breton from 1820 to 1920;" from the Rev. Kenneth M.
Munroe on "The Growth of our Church in Canada from 1820 to 1920"; and
from the Rev. John Pringle, D. D., on "The Future of our Church in Can
ada."

These addresses were all admirable and every one was sorry that they
had to be crowded into so short a space of time.

After singing the long meter Doxology, the Apostolic Benediction was
pronounced and the St. Ann's Centenary was a thing of the past. We
had entered on a new centenary of Presbyterian history on the Island of
Cape Breton.

What the century may have in store for the Presbyterian church in
days to come, time alone will reveal. All will depend under God on the
consecrated energy that we put into the work of the church as ministers,
elders, members and adherents. God will not fail to help if we adequately
help ourselves.

235

The Growth of the Presbyterian Church In Cape Breton In the

Past Century.

The population of Cape Breton Island in the year 1820 was 15,000.
Of that number 500 were Indians, 1600 were French, 500 English and
12,400 were Scotch — all from the highlands or islands of Scotland and all
Gaelic speaking. The lowland Scotch never came to Cape Breton in any
considerable numbers. The only place on this island where people from
the lowlands of Scotland made homes for themselves to any extent was at
Sydney Mines and in connection with the mining industry there.

The 12,400 Gaelic speaking people in Cape Breton, one hundred years
ago, were all either Presbyterians or Roman Catholics. These were
practically the only two faiths in Celtic, Scotland at the beginning of last
century, and, of course, the only two faiths the Scottish immigrants brought
with them to this country.

The Roman Catholics came from western Invernesshire and from the
adjacent islands; more especially from Barra and South Uist.

The Presbyterians came almost entirely from the Hebrides, and more
especially from North Uist, Harris, Skye and Lewis. Very few if any
Presbyterians came here from the mainland of Scotland, except those who
came from Assynt, Sutherlandshire with the Rev. Norman McLeod.

The Roman Catholic immigrants began to arrive by way of Pictou,
Antigonish and the Strait of Canso in the last decade of the eighteenth
century. The Gaelic speaking Presbyterians did not begin to arrive until
the first decade of the nineteenth century.

By the year 1820 there were, to the best of our knowledge, over five
thousand Presbyterians on the Island and over seven thousand Roman
Catholics.

The adherents of these two churches settled for the most part in groups
at different points within our island.and their descendants are still found to a
large extent in clusters, Presbyterians by themselves and Roman Catholics
by themselves. Loch Lomond was settled exclusively by Presbyterians
while Grand Mira was as exclusively settled by Roman Catholics.

In the beginning of the year 1820, the Presbyterians of Cape Breton
did not have a single minister, church or organized congregation.

They were busy hewing out homes for themselves in the primeval
forest and subsisting upon fish and potatoes with more or less oatmeal,
butter, cheese, etc.

They were living in small log houses, spinning their own wool, wearing
their own home made clothing, tanning their own leather, making their own
boots and shoes and building their own boats. They owned few, if any,
horses, ploughs or carts. They had no roads and of course waggons were
not dreamed of. The axe, the hoe and the sickle were the chief agricultural
instruments. The Ox was the principal draft animal in those days. Tra
velling was done almost entirely on the water and by boat or small vessel.

There were no schools and no teachers and hence the children were

236

growing up without any instruction in reading, writing or arithmetic, ex
cept what their parents might be able to give them.

There were few merchants on the island at that time and these were
far apart.

There was very little money in circulation and there was practically
no market for anything that our ancestors could gather from sea or land.
Trade was conducted almost entirely by barter or exchange of commod
ities.

One hundred years ago there were no books for sale on this island. The
few books that were to be found in the homes of the people were taken
from the motherland and were much read and dearly cherished. They
were all of a religious character and the Gaelic Bible held a pre-eminent place
among them. Religious services were unknown, except in settlements
where there happened to be a pious layman who could read God's Word
and conduct public worship with his neighbors. In such cases, the people
of the settlement gathered, on the Lord's Day, in one or other of their
own houses for the worship of God. On such occasions a sermon by one of
the old divines, such as Thomas Boston, Richard Baxter or John Welsh
was usually read.

There was not a newspaper published on this island at that time and
very few in Canada. How little our ancestors must have known of what
was transpiring in the great world outside of their own little community !

Very few of our forefathers could write letters, and if they could the
rate of postage was almost prohibitive of correspondence for people in their
circumstances. As late as the year 1850, it cost three shillings, or seventy
cents of our money, to carry a letter from Pictou, Nova Scotia toJLondon,
Ontario.

One hundred years ago there was not one dollar given by the Pres
byterians of Cape Breton for the support of the gospel at home, nor for the
spread of the gospel abroad.

Missionary effort and missionary giving had not then been thought of.
That was indeed the day of small things. What a change has taken place
in the mean time!

The growth of the Presbyterian Church on this island has been slow
but steady and gratifying. The greatest drawback has been the emmigra-
tion of our young people from the farm to the town and from our island to
the United States and to Western Canada. Had we been able to retain our
young men and young women in Cape Breton, our Presbyterian population
would have been, by this time, two or three times as great as it is. But
they are not lost to our Church by any means. They and their children
are, with very few exceptions, found loyal to the Church of their fathers
the church of the elders and the Church of the blue banner.

The first Presbyterian congregation or pastoral charge that was
formed on the island of Cape Breton was the congregation of St. Ann's.

The nucleus of this congregation landed on the shores of St. Ann's
Harbor with the Rev. Norman McLeod, its first pastor on the 20th day of

237

May 1820. It had been at sea in a raging storm. It ran into this harbor
for shelter and it remained here.

The second congregation came into existence at Mabou on the 24th of
August 1821 when under the inspiration of Dr. James McGregor the people
of Mabou and Port Hood signed a call to the Rev. William Millar of
Ayrshire, Scotland.

This call was signed by fifty two men and one woman.

Eleven years later the third cogregation of our Church came into ex
istence.

This was on the 1st day of January 1832, when the Rev. Dugald Mc-
Kichan came to River Inhabitants from Barney's River, Pictou County and
assumed the oversight of all the Presbyterians on River Inhabitants, the
Strait of Canso and the intervening country.

On Nov. the 29th 1834 a fourth congregation came into existence. It
was on that day that the Rev. Alexander Farquharson was inducted by the
Rev. John Stewart into the pastoral charge of Middle River, Lake Ainslie
and surrounding territory, including Baddeck River.

On October the 15th, 1835 the Rev. John Stewart was inducted into
the congregation of West Bay. There was no Presbytery on this island at
that time, but the Rev. Alexander Farquharson of Middle River and the
Rev. Dugald McKichan of River Inhabitants presided at the induction
service on that occasion.

In September, 1836, Boulardarie was added to the list of our Cape
Breton congregations, on the arrival of the Rev. James Fraser as its first
minister. On Mr. Fraser's arrival there were three ministers of the Church
of Scotland on the island in good and regular standing, and no doubt the
Presbytery of Cape Breton was constituted that autumn in accordance
with the instructions of the Church of Scotland Synod that met in Pictou
town on the 12th of August, in the year 1836.

Probably Mr. Fraser's induction as minister of the congregation of
Boulardarie was one of the first Acts of the Presbytery of Cape Breton.

In any case, his was the first induction by a regularly constituted
Presbytery, that ever took place on this island.

About a year later, on Sept. the 1st 1837 Whycocomagh fell into line
with our multiplying congregations with the induction of the Rev. Peter
McLean as minister of Whycocomagh and Little Narrows.

Then followed Strathlorne by the induction of the Rev. John Gunn on
the 24th of Sept. 1840; Sydney Mines by the induction of the Rev. Matthew
Wilson in the end of July 1842; Mir a, by the induction of the Rev. Hugh
McLeod, D. D., on the 2nd of October 1850; Grand River by the induction
of the Rev. James Ross sometime in the summer of 1853; Baddeck, by the
induction of the Rev. Kenneth McKenzie on Dec. 21st 1857; Cape North
by the induction of the Rev. Donald Sutherland on June 6th 1860; Ga'barus
on the induction of the Rev. Isaac McKay on July 18th 1864; Leitches
Creek on the induction of the Rev. Alexander Farquharson on Dec. 14th
1864; St. Pauls, Glace Bay on the induction of the Rev. Alexander Far
quharson in March the 13th 1867; Port Morien on the induction of the

238

Rev. Donald McDougall on Jan. 1st 1868; Lake Ainslie on the induction
of the Rev. Alexander Grant on Dec. 6th 1870; Falmouth Street Church,
Sydney, by its organization according to the instructions of Synod on July
the 6th 1875; Loch Lomond by authority of Presbytery on the 21st of
July 1875; St. Andrew's, Sydney upon the induction of the Rev. Alexander
Farquharson and by action of Presbytery on August the 25th 1875; St.
Matthew's, North Sydney on the retirement of the Rev. Matthew Wilson,
on May the 20th 1883; North Shore and North River on Dec. the 3rd
1881; Baddeck Forks on Sept the 1st 1891; Charlmers Church, Bridgeport
on Jan. 1st 1892, St. Peters on May the 10th 1892; Little Narrows on June
the 7th 1893; Margaree on June the 5th 1895; Marion Bridge on Jan. 10th
1898. St. James, Sydney on July the 3rd 1900; Louisburg on July 17th
1900; Reserve Mines on Oct. 30th 1901; Knox Church, Glace Bay on Sept.
the 16th 1903; St. Luke's, Dominion No. 6 on May the 1st 1905; Inverness
on August 1st 1905; New Aberdeen on Jan. 29th 1906; Little Bras d'Or on
Dec. 15th 1908;0rangedale and River Denys on Nov. 10th 1914, Malaga-
watch and Marble Mountain on Nov. 28th 1916, Framboise on May the
2nd 1916.

On the 7th of December 1920 Broughton and Birch Grove, and also
Ingonish, Neil's Harbor and St. Paul's Island were raised to the status of
Congregations by the Presbytery of Sydney.

There are three Mission Fields on the island, and all in the Presbytery
of Inverness. They are Pleasant Bay, which was constituted a Mission
Field on May the 22nd 1895; Port Hood was similarly constituted on Feb.
16th 1909 and West Bay Points in the year 1905.

We have thus forty three congregations and three Mission Fields
under the Supervision of our two C. B. Presbyteries at the end of the cen
tury.

We have a Presbyterian population of not less than thirty thousand.

We have in our congregations and stations 5,752 families, 8,087 com
municants, 373 elders, 146 Sabbath Schools, 765 teachers and 7,288 schol
ars receiving religious instructions in these Sabbath Schools.

Over five hundred persons were received into full communion with our
Church during the last year of our first century.

We have eighty-five places of worship within our bounds at the be
ginning of our second century and a number of them are well appointed
and costly structures.

And now what of our standing in the matter of finance at the end of
the century? During the year 1919 our congregations gave for all pur
poses the sum of $186,944. They gave for local purposes the sum of
$143,363 and for missionary and benevolent purposes the sum of $43,585.

Our church property is valued at $813,600 of which only $86,140 re
mains unpaid.

Then a rather remarkable fact in this connection is that there were
no arrears due on minister's stipend by any of our congregations at the end
of 1919. All had paid the full amount of stipend which they had pro
mised. That was not the usual state of things in days gone by. Forty,

239

fifty and sixty years ago, when stipends were, on an average, considerably
Jess than half what they are now, there were few congregations in Cape
Breton that entered upon a new year without arrears, and in many cases
these arrears were accumulating from year to year.

Yes verily, we have grown and prospered as a church during the past
century, but we have nothing to boast of. It becomes us, rather to
acknowledge that we have been unprofitable servants. We have not
by any means done what we might and should have done by ourselves, by
our f ellowmen, nor by the Kingdom of our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.
We must confess that we have been slothful and half-hearted in the great
work that He has given us to do in our beautiful island home.

Let us give Him all the glory for any success that we have had in the
past and let us address ourselves with redoubled earnestness, consecration
and prayer to the extension and establishment of the Redeemer's Kingdom
in Cape Breton in the days that lie before us.

240

Presbyterlanlsm In Cape Breton In 1827.

For our knowledge of Presbyterianism in Cape Breton in 1827, ninety-
two years ago, we are indebted to two of our pioneers, the Rev. John Mc
Lennan and the Rev. Donald Allan Fraser. They came here in the
autumn of that year in order to ascertain the conditions that prevailed at
that time among the Presbyterian population of the island and to report
to the Glasgow Colonial Society, for the information of that society and of
the Scottish Church in general. They made their reports early in the fol
lowing year. Mr. McLennan directly and Mr. Fraser through the Rev.
Mr.. Martin, of Halifax. These reports are now in the archives of Knox
College, Toronto and the writer has had the privilege of perusing them.

The following extracts from these reports are taken from Dr. Gregg's
History of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Mr. McLennan wrote to
the Glasgow Colonial Society as follows early in the year 1828: "A general
plan having been formed by the few ministers of our connection that are in
this part of the world to extend their labors as much as possible among
those remote and scattered districts which are destitute of the means of
religious instruction, I beg leave to transmit for the information of your
society the following brief account of my journey through Cape Breton in
the months of September and October last. On the 12th of September I
sailed from Pictou in company with the Rev. Donald Allan Fraser, and after
an agreeable passage arrived the next day at the Strait of Canso. Here
Mr. Fraser and I parted, as we considered that the object of our Mission
would be best served by taking different routes. The first Presbyterian
settlement which I have visited is called Grand River, situated on the south
side of the island, and distant about 35 miles from the Gut of Canso. It is
inhabited exclusively by Scotch Highlanders, about forty-three families,
and very few of them are able to read or write. Some of them have been
settled here for the past fifteen years, and during all these years did not see
any clergyman but myself, except once and that was three years ago. They
had a school master among them, who was in the habit of reading on the
Sabbath days, but from whatever cause, I regret to say that this laudable
practice has been for some time back entirely given up. A few among them
I was happy to observe, seem deeply concerned about the things belonging
to their Eternal Peace. The great bulk alas, are careless and ignorant."

"I preached to them on Sabbath and the following Monday and bap
tised twenty children together."

"The people all appeared to be very anxious to procure a minister to
preside among them, but I fear without efficient aid from some foreign
quarter, that there is very little prospect of this desirable event taking
place. The settlers are, generally speaking, very poor. Their position is
so isolated and so remote that they can hardly ever expect to share with
any other settlement the labors of a clergyman."

Mr. McLennan does not appear to have heard of the presence of High
landers at Loch Lomond, within six or seven miles of Grand River on this

241

occasion and the probability is that there "were very few here at that early
date.

"The next place I visited is called the entrance to St. George's Chancel,
on the north-west arm of the Bras d'Or Lake" — the West Bay of today.
"Around this Bay there are no less than one hundred and fifty Protestant
families, without a minister, school-master or catechist. In the north side
of the Bras d'Or Lake are the settlements of Merrigonish (Malagawatch),
Denny's Lake (River Denys Basin) and River Denys, consisting of two
hundred families scattered over a surface of twenty or thirty miles, much
indented with water and consequently of very little access. Each of these
I visited in turn and baptised thirty children among them. These three
settlements might be joined under one minister." "At present .they
are under exactly the same deplorable situation respecting gospel ordinances
with those already mentioned. Next in order lies the settlement of Lake
Hogomah (Whycocomagh) a most beautiful basin of water about twenty
miles long and from one to two broad. The number of Protestant families
al ong the sides of the lake I do not know, but I am sure they cannot be less
than eighty or ninety. They are all new settlers and with few exceptions
very poor. They will be unable for many years to come, to support a
minister by their own resources. Here I preached on a week day to a
numerous audience and baptised five children."

"On the morning of the 23rd of September, being Sabbath Day, I
arrived at River Waga-Matkook (Middle River), and although the weather
was remarkably rough and stormy a large congregation soon assembled.
There are upwards of fifty families on this river, pretty compact together
and some of them are in very independent circumstances. This settlement
joined with those of Brodeck (Baddeck) on the south, distant fifteen miles,
and Margaree on the north, might form one charge for an active and
zealous clergyman." "Having again preached at Waga-Matkook on Mon
day and baptized 20 children at once, in the evening I continued my journey
to the settlement of Margaree already referred to."

"Here I preached to about sixty people,those from a distance not having
heard of my arrival. The great bulk of the inhabitants are American re
fugees or their descendants, and very much divided in their religious senti
ments. There are not more than a dozen families who could be depended
upon as attached to the doctrines or mode of worship of one church, but
they declared with one voice, if there was a faithful minister of the gospel
settled in that place, that they would all join him."

"About seventeen miles to the north west of Margaree lies Lake
Ainslie, a fine sheet of fresh water, twelve miles long and six broad, inhab
ited on the east side by Highland Scotch Presbyterians and on the west by
Roman Catholics. Of the former there are about sixty-three families, all
very poor. There is an excellent young man settled as school-master
among them, whom, by his example, as well as by his diligence in instructing
both old and young, I consider of great benefit to the settlement. H ere I
also preached and baptized six children."

"The north-westerly extremity of Lake Ainslie lies about four miles

242

from the settlement of Broadcove on the north shore of the island. In this
place there are only a few Protestant families scattered here and three over
a great extent of surface." "About two years since, a considerable number
of families settled in the neighborhood of a high promontory called Cape
Mabou." "The Lake Ainslie people and those settled about Broadcove
would be a sufficient charge for one clergyman. They have last year
transmitted a bond to Scotland, by the hands of Judge Marshall of Cape
Breton, a man as eminent for his piety as for respectability in his own pro
fession, but whether they have succeeded in their object I have not heard."

"From Broadcove to the Gut of Canso is a distance of fifty miles
settled all by Roman Catholics with the exception of a small number of
Protestants in and about Mabou. Here the only Protestant minister
on the island resides (Rev. William Millar) and it is only lately that I
knew of this same one. He is of the Antiburger Connection and bears an
excellent character, but however diligent and laborious in discharging the
duties of his office, the benefits of his ministrations, must necessarily be
circumscribed more especially as he is totally unacquainted with the Gaelic
the only language spoken or understood by nine-tenths of the Protestant
population of the island."

"After leaving Broadcove I made no stay until I arrived at the Strait
of Canso. Here I met my friend Mr. Fraser after returning from his cir
cuit. We both preached on the Sabbath day to numerous congregations
and baptized 12 children. Along the sides of this much frequented sound
there are at least a hundred Protestant families. They made several at
tempts to procure a clergyman, but they are so disunited and many of
them are so callous about the matter that they have hitherto failed. The
great bulk of them are poor, but there are some who are well able, and I
doubt not, willing also, to contribute handsomely to the support of a
minister."

"There are several other Protestant (Presbyterian) settlements in
Cape Breton which I did not visit on my last visit through the island, such
as River Inhabitants, Grandanca, Broderick, Boulardarie Island, Sydney,
etc.; most of these were visited by Mr. Fraser. They are equally des
titute of the word of Life."

"It was superfluous to offer any comment on the facts above stated
they show the religious wants of these Provinces of North America and
especially of Cape Breton in a stronger light than any language can do.
Here are literally many thousands of poor creatures perishing for lack of
knowledge, none caring for their souls, and verging fast to a state of bar
barity. They raise their public appeal to their country-men, professing
the same religious belief with themselves for aid in their distress. Oh, let
not their cry be heard in vain!"

This is Mr. McLennan's testimony regarding the condition of Presby-
terianism in Cape Breton as he saw it in the year 1827, nearly one hundred
years.

Now let us hear Mr Fraser's testimony on the same subject. Mr.
Fraser did not report directly to the Glasgow Colonial Society, regarding

243

his experiences on that missionary journey. He sent his report to the Rev.
John Martin at Halifax and M.r. Martin sent a summary of that report to
the society. From that summary we quote the following extracts: "In
the month of September last, the Rev. Donald A. Eraser of Pictou proceed
ed on a missionary journey to Cape Breton accompanied by the Rev. John
McLennan of Prince Edward Island. These gentlemen separated at the
Strait of Canso, the latter proceeding in such a direction as would enable
him to take the northern part of the island in his route and the former pur
suing his tour southward. Mr. Eraser states that he found much difficulty
in gaining the object of his mission on account of the peculiar manner in
which Cape Breton is intersected with water." "By perseverance, how
ever, and at the expense of much personal fatigue, he arrived at the beau
tiful and interesting island of Boulardarie, situated in the Bras d'Or Lake.

"The south side of this island is almost entirely occupied by persons of
the Roman Catholic persuasion but the north side presents one unbroken
line of families earnestly desirous of obtaining a minister from our mother
church. They are chiefly from the district of Gairloch in the Highlands
of Scotland, and almost all exhibit those features of industry, sobriety and
decorum, which peculiarly distinguishes emigrants from that district. To
them Mr. Eraser preached repeatedly, and was highly delighted not only
with the affectionate warmth which distinguished their inception of him
self, but more especially with the zeal they manifested in attending his
public ministry. There are upwards of forty families, extending along a
coast somewhat more than thirty miles in length and on every occasion on
which he preached, he represented them as following him by families in their
boats."

"They are not far from the settlement of Baddeck, where he also
preached and where these affectionate beings accompanied him. The
population of Baddeck is not exclusively Scottish, but they all seemed
willing to united with the islands' population in applying to your society for
a clergyman. Mr. Eraser remained fourteen days in their settlements, and
found frequent occasions to exercise his ministerial functions. From
thence he proceeded to Sydney, the capital of Cape Breton. There he was
also greeted with unequivocal cordiality and preached twice to a respectable
and highly appreciative audience. Many persons have been awakened to a
sense of a coming judgment in that place and some have given undoubted
evidence that Christ is precious to them. It was here alone that Mr. Eraser
encountered any but Roman Catholics or Presbyterians. The Baptists
have gained a few proselytes and there is a clergyman of the Church of
England settled there; still the general feeling seemed leaning towards the
simplicity of our forms, and Mr. Eraser has himself been supplicated to
reside among them. Nor does he doubt that if a minister of our church
could be found willing to endure some little privations, and zealous to preach
Christ and Him Crucified, a congregation might be speedily formed in that
place. He is particularly anxious to direct your attention toChief Justice
Marshall, who is well calculated to give useful information regarding the
religious wants of the island generally, who is well disposed to our church

244

and above all who feels an earnest desire for the salvation of souls. He
resides in Sydney, and occasionally corresponds with Mr. Fraser concerning
the state of that place." "After a stay in Sydney which was delightful
in everything but its shortness, Mr. Fraser returned again to Boulardarie
Island, and finally bidding adieu to his countrymen in this sequestered spot,
who followed him with prayers and tears he proceeded by water to the head
of the northwest arm of the Bras d'Or Lake (West Bay) visiting in his pro
gress the coasts and islands of that superb expanse of water.

Generally speaking the inhabitants are, as far as could be ascertained
either Roman Catholics or Presbyterians, and while he found the former
tolerably well supplied with priests of their own communion, the latter
are, alas! perishing in ignorance and with few means of instruction."

"From the Bras d'Or he pursued his journey to River Inhabitants
and onwards to the Strait of Canso, where after many toils and pleasures,
he once more met with his fellow laborer, Mr. McLennan." "On the fol
lowing day, which was the Sabbath, they both preached to respectable
congregations in the English and Gaelic languages." Further on Mr.
Martin writes to the Society as follows, — "Mr. Fraser wishes you to be
aware of the active co-operation and liberal aid with which Lieutenant
Duffus, R. N., residing at Baddeck, and his brother, Mr. William Duffus
of Boulardarie Island, have fostered the strong partiality of their neighbors
for our church." "Mr. Fraser represents Cape Breton as an object wor
thy of all Christian sympathy and of your most serious consideration. The
present generation still bears the impression of men who heard the joyful
sound of the word of Life. They are all more or less alive to the destitution
of their situations and many amongst them are mourning in sorrow of soul
over the remembrances of privileges once enjoyed and the anticipations of
privations yet to be endured. But if this feeling be not cherished — if those
kinsmen according to the flesh and members of our own church are left to
experience that sickness of heart which is caused by hope deferred, it is to
be feared than another race will spring up who feel little of this desire, and
that moral darkness will fall upon these poor people which it were probably
easier to prevent than remove. There is little doubt that if the vivid and
living reality of Cape Breton were placed before the eye of the Scottish
public it would call forth bursts of benign sympathy which would enable
your Society to dispel the gloom which palls the hopes of our countrymen
in these wilds."

Dr. Gregg from whose history these paragraphs are extracted remarks:
"The publication of the affecting details contained in the reports of Messrs
McLennan and Fraser's visits awakened in Scotland a deep interest in the
Spiritual conditions of the settlers in Cape Breton. Several years however
lapsed after the visits were made before a missionary was sent to their re
lief."

"The Glasgow Colonial Missionary Society, or rather "the Society for
promoting the Religious interests of Scottish Settlers in British North
America" was organized in the city of Glasgow in the year 1825. Its ob
ject was to "Promote the Moral and Religious interests of Scottish Colo-

245

nists in North America by sending or assisting to send out ministers, cate-
chists and school-masters."

The reports of Messrs McLennan and Fraser were sent to the Society.
But that Society's resources were already overtaxed in providing for the
necessities of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and
Western Canada in the matter of both men and money. Hence five years
passed away before any Presbyterian minister came to relieve the destitu
tion so prevalent in Cape Breton.

Providentially, the reports of Messrs McLennan and Fraser regarding
the religious destitution of the Scottish Presbyterian immigrants in Cape
Breton came to the knowledge of a benevolent lady by the name of Mrs.
Isabella Gordon McKay, widow of John McKay, Esquire, of Rockfield
Estate, Reay County, Sutherlandshire.

The sympathetic soul of Mrs. McKay was so deeply affected by the
deplorable condition of our people on this island that she gathered a num
ber of like minded women friends in the City of Edinburgh about her and
organized "The Edinburgh Ladies Association" with a view to help Cape
Breton.

This Association was formed in the year 1828. The object of the As
sociation was to supplement the work of the Glasgow Society, more es
pecially in providing for the spiritual necessities of Cape Breton by sending
out ministers school teachers, catechists Bibles and other good books.

The Association rendered admirable service to our people on this island
in after years. "The Edinburgh Ladies Association" was instrumental in
sending out to Cape Breton eight ministers, and several school teachers.

It also sent out hundreds of Bibles and thousands of other religious
books.

The first missionary sent to Cape Breton by this Association was the
Rev. Alexander Farquharson who arrived in August 1833. He was fol
lowed in succession by the Rev. John Stewart in 1834, the Rev. James
Fraser, in 1836, the Rev. Peter McLean in 1837, the Rev. John Gunn in
1838, the Rev. Matthew Wilson in 1842, the Rev. Murdoch Stewart in
1843, and the Rev. Hugh McLeod, D. D., in 1850.

Mrs. McKay died on the 15th of November, 1850, but the Association
went on doing its benevolent work under the Presidency of Mrs. Tennant
for a number of years longer.

When Messrs. McLennan and Fraser were here in the year 1827, the
entire population of Cape Breton was 18,700. Of that number 500 were
Indians, 2000 French Acadians, 600 were of English descent and language
while 15,600 were Gaelic speaking people from the Highlands and Islands of
Scotland, chiefly from the islands.

In fact these 15,600 were all either Presbyterians or Roman Catholics —
the RomanCatholics preponderating by a couple of thousand at least. In the
year 1827 there were only two Presbyterian ministers in Cape Breton to
supply the religious needs of between seven and eight thousand Presby
terian people, scattered all over the island from the Strait of Canso to Cape

246

North and from Main a Dieu to Port Hood. These two were the Rev.
Norman MacLeod at St. Ann's and the Rev. William Millar at Mabou.

Five years later in 1832, the Rev. Dugald McKichan came to River
Inhabitants and began to minister to our people on that River, and also to
those living on the Eastern side of the Strait of Canso, that is to say in
Port Hawkesbury and Port Hastings with adjacent localities.

'

247

The Presbyteries of Cape Breton.

In this Chapter we shall consider the Presbyteries that have exercised
authority in Cape Breton for longer or shorter periods and to a greater or
less extent during the past one hundred years.

There are two Presbyteries in Cape Breton at the present time viz; the
Presbytery of Sydney and the Presbytery of Inverness. The former ex
ercises presbyterial jurisdiction in the eastern half of the island and the
latter in the western half.

The Presbytery of Sydney supervises twenty nine congregations while
the Presbytery of Inverness supervises fourteen congregations and three
Home Mission Fields.

These congregations and fields are pretty well distributed over the
whole island from Louisburg on the east to Port Hood on the west,
and from Port Hawkesbury on the south, to Bay St. Lawrence on the north.
These forty three congregations and three mission fields comprise eighty
five places of worship or churches.

It is a matter for regret that in the year 1920, the first year of our
second century, there should be several of our forty-three congregations
without ministers. This state of things is due chiefly to a shortage of men
and especially of Gaelic speaking men, to man the pulpits of our Gaelic
speaking churches. For it is true that after the hundred years of our his
tory, our people are still a Gaelic speaking people and they require ministers
who can speak to them an.4 preach the gospel to them in their Celtic mother
tongue. There are really only five or six of our forty-three congregations
where Gaelic is not required to a greater or less extent.

The first Presbytery that had anything to do with Cape Breton was
the Presbytery of Pictou in connection with the Presbyterian Church of
Nova Scotia. This Presbytery was formed on the 7th day of July, 1795, in
a barn, at McCulloch's Brook, between New Glasgow and the Middle
River of Pictou. It was composed originally of three ministers, James
McGregor, Duncan Ross and John Brown, with one elder from the town of
Pictou.

Dr. McGregor, the senior member of the Presbytery, came to eastern
Cape Breton in the year 1798. In the year 1818 he came to Mabou and
Port Hood on a missionary journey. As the direct result of that visit, the
Presbytery of Pictou three years later had the satisfaction of ordaining and
designating the Rev. William Millar as the first minister of Mabou and
Port Hood. In this way the Presbytery of Pictou came to have oversight
of one of our Cape Breton congregations and it continued to exercise super
vision of that congregation from the year 1821 until the union of the Pres
byterian Church of Nova Scotia, and the Free Church of Nova Scotia, at
Pictou on the 4th of October, 1860. During these years the Presbytery of
Pictou met but once on the island and that was on November the 13th,
1845, when it came to Mabou for the purpose of ordaining and inducting
the Rev. James McLean as Mr. Millar's successor in the pastoral charge of

248

Mabou and Port Hood. This Presbytery sent two young men to Cape
Breton in the year 1824 as ordained evangelists. Their names were Hugh
Ross and Hugh Dunbar. They had just completed their course of study
for the ministry in our oldest Theological College in the town of Pictou.
The Presbytery of Pictou licensed and ordained them for missionary work
on the island of Cape Breton immediately after graduation in theology.

Unfortunately we know nothing about their work here. No doubt
they came and attempted to carry out their commission from the Presby
tery, but where and how we do not now. Two years later we find them at
work in other places in the Maritime Provinces, the one in New London,
P. E. I. and the other in Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia.

The second Presbytery that was represented in Cape Breton was the
Presbytery of Genesee. This Presbytery has its seat in western New York
and was organized on the 13th of April, 1819. It was represented on the
island by the Rev. Norman McLeod from August, 1827, when he was or
dained by the Presbytery of Genesee, until November, 1851, when he sailed
away to Australia.

At. St. Ann's, Mr. McLeod was over a thousand miles beyond the
bounds of his Presbytery. It is not known that he ever attended a meet
ing of his Presbytery, and it is very certain that his Presbytery never met
with him on the island of Cape Breton. He may have corresponded with
the Presbytery, but there is no evidence of such correspondence. In these
circumstances, conditions were precisely to his liking. There was practi
cally no supervision of himself or his congregation by the Presbytery of
Genesee. He had all the freedom of an independent church minister, while
at the same time he had all the authority of a Presbyterian Chrch minister.

Norman McLeod kept the fact of his licensure and ordination by the
Presbytery of Genesee and the fact of his status as a Presbyterian minister
a close secret during all the remaining years of his life in Cape Breton. The
Presbytery of Cape Breton was not aware of these facts in the autumn of
1840, when it addressed the latter to Mr. McLeod that called forth such a
staggering reply.

The Presbytery's letter and Mr. McLeod's reply will be found farther
on in this article.

The third Presbytery that had something to do with Cape Breton was
the original Presbytery of Pictou in connection with the Church ofScotland.

This Presbytery was organized on August the 30th, 1833. It con
sisted of Donald Fraser, Kenneth J. McKenzie, John McRae, and Alex
ander McGillivary.

In the month of September 1834, this Presbytery ordained the Rev.
John Stewart as a missionary in and for Cape Breton. This was the only
thing that that Presbytery ever did for the island. Mr. Stewart's name
was placed on the roll of that Presbytery and he must have been a member
of the first Kirk Presbytery of Pictou during the next two years, while
laboring on this island.

This Presbytery became extinct in 1843, when six of its seven ministers
left Pictou in order to occupy parish churches in Scotland that were va-

249

cated by ministers who, for conscience sake, had thrown up their emolu
ments and joined the Free Church. The only one of the Pictou Kirk min
isters that remained after that exodus was the Rev. Mr. McGillivary, then
of McLennan's Mountain.

The fourth outside Presbytery that exercised some suthority in Cape
Breton was another Pictou Presbytery connected with the Church of Scot
land. The Church of Scotland Synod that was organized in Halifax in
August, 1833, became extinct in 1844, through the return of so many of its
members to Scotland on the one hand, and the organization of the Free
Church of Nova Scotia on the other.

By the year 1854 a nuhiber of Church of Scotland ministers had come
to Nova Scotia and by them that Synod was resuscitated on the 4th of
July of that year.

It was the Presbytery of Pictou, in connection with that reconstructed
Synod that exercised an influence in Cape Breton to a certain extent be
tween 1860 and 1875. Unhappily there was some dissatisfaction in some
of our congregations on this island over the union of 1860. Some of our
people could not reconcile themselves to merging the Free Church with the
Antiburgers, as they were called.

The Kirk Presbytery of Pictou, much to its own discredit, took ad
vantage of the dissatisfaction that existed and sought to turn it to its own
denominational advantage. The Rev. John Gunn, of Strathlorne, was the
only Presbyterian minister in Cape Breton that was opposed to the union.
He remained out and his congregation remained out with him.

The following year both Mr. Gunn and his congregation placed them
selves under the care of the Presbytery of Pictou, and both remained in
that connection during the remainder of Mr. Gunn's life.

Strathlorne congregation continued under the supervision of the Pres
bytery of Pictou until 1875, when the general union of Canadian Presby-
trianism took place in the city of Montreal.

There was considerable dissatisfaction with the union in Middle River.
In 1864 the Rev. Neil Brodie, a member of the Presbytery of Pictou, came
to Middle River and tried to swing the whole congregation into connection
with the Kirk Presbytery of Pictou. His efforts proved utterly abortive
in the end, but at the time very discreditable to himself and all the parties
associated with him in that attempt. His efforts also proved very deplor
able in their effects upon religion in this congregation.

Decisive courses were also encouraged by the Presbytery of Pictou at
several other points within the island; for example, River Inhabitants and
Loch Lomond where delegates from the Presbytery of Pictou were sent, and
catechists were located during a number of years, especially in the summer
time. Kirk churches were built at several points in those days.

Happily the union of 1875 put an end to this very unseemly and un
christian experience.

The fifth Presbytery that exercised authority on this island was a local
Presbytery and it was very appropriately designated the Presbytery of
Cape Breton.

250

The fourth Synod of the original Presbyterian Church of Nova Scotia
in connection with the Church of Scotland was constituted in the town of
Pictou, on the 12th of August, 1836.

At one of the sessions of that Synod the Rev. Alexander Farquharson
and the Rev. John Stewart were instructed to meet with the Rev. James
Fraser, who was then on his way from Scotland to Cape Breton, and to
constitute a Presbytery on this island to be known as the Presbytery of
Cape Breton. We do not know the day on which the Presbytery met and
was constituted, but we know that Mr. Fraser arrived about the middle of
September and the probability is that the Presbytery of Cape Breton was
organized about the end of that month.

The following year the Synod met in New Glasgow on the 9th of
August. On the roll of that Synod the Presbytery of Cape Breton appears
for the first time. It contained the following names— Alexander Far
quharson, John Stewart, James Fraser, Peter McLean and Dugald Mc-
Kichan. Peter McLean was then on his way to Whycocomagh and his
name was placed on the roll of the Cape Breton Presbytery in anticipation
of his early presence on our Island. Dugald McKfchan's name was placed
on the roll of the Cape Breton Presbytery at this meeting, on the motion of
the Rev. John Stewart. Mr. McKichan came to River Inhabitants about
the end of the year 1831. He was there in 1833 when the original Kirk
Synod was constituted and the Presbytery of Pictou was organ! Bed, but his
name was not given a place on the roll of that, or either of the other two
Presbyteries, that were formed at that time. He was still at River In
habitants in 1836 when the Presbytery of Cape Breton was organized but
he was not given a place among its members. All this is rather strange.
But there is an explanation, and the explanation is that Mr. McKichan
was persona non grata, outof favor, with his brother Presbyterian ministers
in Pictou at that time, and he was out of favor for this reason: vizi that he
had left his charge at Barney's River in 1831 and came to River Inhabit
ants, C. B. without their consent and contrary to their wishes. Hence the
absence of his name from the roll of the original Presbytery of Pictou in
1833 and its absence from the roll of any Presbytery until 1837.

We have no record of any meetings held by the Presbytery of Cape
Breton earlier than the 24th of September, 1840. On that date this Pres
bytery evidently held a meeting at Broadcove for the ordifcation and in
duction of the Rev. John Gunn i'nto the charge of Broadcove, Whalecove
and Margaree. This was the first ordination and induction by a regularly
constituted Presbytery on this Island. The Rev. James Fraser was in
ducted by the Presbytery of Cape Breton several years earlier, but he was
ordained in Scotland.

The Presbytery that met at Broadcove made an ill-advised attempt to
bring the Rev. Norman McLeod under its control. It sent him an official
and manditory letter requiring him to appear before the Moderator within
forty days with certain documents or be prepared to sufier the conse
quences or refusal.

The correspondence that took place between the Presbytery of Cape

251

Breton and Mr. McLeod on that occasion is an interesting episode in our
history and should be preserved. It was as follows: —

Broadcove, September 24th, 1840

Reverend Sir: — We, the undersigned forming the only Presbyterial
and the highest ecclesiastical authority acknowledged by the Established
Church of Scotland in this Island, and in that capacity possess jurisdiction
over all the members, probationers and ministers of that church residing
within the bounds of Cape Breton.

We have learned that you claim the status of a minister of that church.
Therefore, we, in the exercise of the jurisdiction competent to us, call upon
you to produce at our bar or before our Moderator, within forty days of
this date, the documents on which you found your claim.

We add that in the event of no satisfactory credentials being within
that tima produced, we may at the expiration thereof feel ourselves called
upon to take more public* measures in reference to the claim you advance.
We, are, Rev. Sir,
Yours, etc.,

JAMES FRASER, Moderator,
DUGALD McKICHAN, Clerk,

JOHN GUNN,
PETER MCLEAN,
ALEX. FARQUHARSON.

Rev. Norman McLeod,

St. Ann's,
Cape Breton.

This joint letter of the Presbytery of Cape Breton shows how well Mr.
McLeod had kept the secret of his connection with the Presbytery of
Genesee, N. Y. After the lapse of thirteen years the supposition was that
he was, or claimed to be, a minister of the Church of Scotland.

Mr. McLeod's answer to this letter was very prompt and very em
phatic. It reveals his attitude to the Church of Scotland as well as to the
members of the Presbytery of Cape Breton, in a way that cannot be mis
understood or gainsaid. Here it is: —

St. Ann's, C. B.,

October 6th, 1840

Rev. Sirs: — Your letter of the 24th, ult., signed at Broadcove by
yourself and the rest of your Rev. Brethren on the Island, I received this
morning, to which I beg to answer that it requires a piece of self-denial in
me to take any notice of such a fulminating farce; but the sacred proverb
says, "Answer a fool according to his folly lest he be wise in his own con
ceit." And of all fools, I seriously consider religious fools at the pinnacle
of the profession, to be the most seared up to every mode of conviction of
their own religious miscarriage.

I flatly deny having ever claimed the "Status of a minister of the
Church of Scotland," and in all humility and sincerity, desire to bless
heaven for having enlightened my mind to dread and abhor that status.

252

I have certainly from time to time professed myself in my own estim
ation a poor and unworthy member of the once venerable and glorious
Church of Scotland, but the meagre pitifuL and degenerate thing that
passes now under the pompous and bloated sanction of that name, I utterly
and indignantly disclaim with all its alarming 'bar* and awful authority, in
the most open and unreserved manner possible, so that you or any other
cannot make this avowal, more public than I freely allow,and without down
right and wilful misrepresentation. I openly defy all the information in the
country to substantiate anything beyond the scope of this plain declaration
against me on the subject.

t I feel no diffidence on this stable ground, and since ever I arrived at
my convictions on these points, I have never felt desirous of evading candid
and dispassionate investigations of them.

I do not wish to excite your anger, which is, alas! but too manifestly
shown on the least occasion, but in consideration of your dangerous and
wilful extravaganace, wild and fanatical charges, under the name of con
versation worked up by the silly and disgustful art of some of you and
fostered by all of you together with your openly profane and indiscriminate
administration of the most solemn and sacred ordinances, exclusive of
many similar means of conviction, in the obvious tenor and tendency of your
conversation and conduct, cannot but infer, without contradicting all
scriptural reasoning on the point that the church that gives place and sup
port to the like of your characters in her highest office, must in fact be any
thing other than but a living church of Jesus Christ. This has been my
most serious and deliberate view of the subject for the long space of forty
years together, and every day confirms me more in this grievous though
unavoidable determination.

In fine, I heartily regret that your unfortunate, offensive and confirm
ed insolence and pride, so conspicuous in your letter as a true specimen of
your general disposition and conduct as ministers towards all who dare
obj ect to your measures, render it impossible for me to answer you in a more
agreeable style. "With the forward thou shalt shew thyself forward. ' '

I am Rev. Sir,
Yours etc.

NORMAN McLEOD.
Rev. James Fraser,

Boulardarie Island.

To say the least, the Presbytery of Cape Breton did not get much
satisfaction out of their efforts in this matter. But Norman McLeod's
reply is important as a revelation of the man, of his opinions, his character
and his style.

He is certainly unjust in his strictures on the members of the Pres
bytery of Cape Breton but they were ministers of the Church of Scotland,
and that was enough in itself, in his estimation, to warrant the worst that
could be said, regarding them. He had very strong prejudices in that di
rection and not altogether without cause, in view of his experience in the
homeland.

253

But to return from this digression, the Presbytery of Cape Breton con
tinued to be the only local Presbytery for a number of years. From its
formation in the autumn of 1836, to August, 1844, it was a Presbytery of
the Church of Scotland in Nova Scotia.

In the year 1843, the disruption of the Church of Scotland took place
and the Free Church of Scotland came into existence. In that great
struggle the sympathies of all the Presbyterian ministers of Cape Breton
were strongly and unanimously with the Free Church movement. The
result was that there was a miniature disruption on this side of the ocean
in 1844, and the Presbytery of Cape Breton became a Presbytery of the
Free Church of Nova Scotia. The membership of the new Presbytery wqs
the same, but the Presbytery itself became a Presbytery of a new and
different ecclesiastical body.

This Presbytery was the fifth Presbytery that exercised jurisdiction
on our Island, and it continued to exercise control within our bonds until
the year 1857.

By that time our congregations and ministers had considerably in
creased in numbers and it was thought that three Presbyteries could super
vise the work of our Church in Cape Breton more effectually than one.
Accordingly the Free Church Synod that met in Halifax on June the 18th,
1857, with the concurrence of all parties interested, formed three Presby
teries for this Island, viz., the Presbytery of Cape Breton.the Presbytery of
Richmond and the Presbytery of Victoria. The Presbytery of Cape
Breton was enlarged to embrace the Rev. Moses Harvey of St. John and the
Rev. Alexander Ross, of Harbor Grace, Newfoundland. These three
Presbyteries were duly constituted sometime during the summer of 1857.

Hence it came about that in October, 1860, when the Synod of the
Free Church of Nova Scotia united with the Synod of the Presbyterian
Church of Nova Scotia to form the Presbyterian Church of the Lower Pro
vinces, there were three Presbyteries in Cape Breton.
They were composed of the following ministers: —
The Presbytery of Cape Breton

Rev. Hugh McLeod, D. D., Mira
Rev. James Fraser, Boulardarie
Rev. Matthew Wilson, Sydney Mines
Rev. Moses Harvey, St. John's, Nfld.
Rev. Alex. Ross, Harbor Grace
The Presbytery of Richmond

Rev. Murdoch Stewart, West Bay
Rev. William G. Forbes, Port Hastings
Rev. James Ross, Grand River
Rev. Charles T. Ross, Whycocomagh
The Presbytery of Victoria

Rev. John Gunn, Broadcove
Rev. Abraham Mclntosh, St. Ann's
Rev. Kenneth McKenzie, Baddeck
Rev. Donald Sutherland, Cape North
254

These three Presbyteries continued for some years, but they had serious
disadvantages and they were subsequently reunited.

The Rev. John Gunn did not enter the United Church and his name
was dropped from the roll of the Presbytery of Victoria. The Rev. Don
ald Sutherland of Cape North was too far away to attend the meetings of
his Presbytery with any regularity. That left the Presbytery of Victoria
with but two members, practically. It was too weak to do any effective
work. Then again Messers Harvey and Ross were too far away to attend
the meetings of the Presbytery of Cape Breton and in their absence that
Presbytery was too wea c to do its work efficiently.

In these circumstance? another reconstruction of Presbytery bounds
was felt by all parties to be necessary, and this reconstruction was made by
the Synod of 1854 at the request of the Presbyteries themselves. At that
meeting of Synod the three Presbyteries were reunited under the original
name of the Presbytery of Cape Breton, the reunited Presbytery con
sisting of the following ministers, viz.,

Rev. Hugh McLeod, D. D., Mira

Rev. James Fraser, Boulardarie

Rev. Matthew Wilson, Sydney Mines

Rev. Murdoch Stewart, West Bay

Rev. Wm. G. Forbes, Port Hastings

Rev. Abraham Mclntosh, St. Ann's

Rev. Kenneth McKenzie, Baddeck

Rev. Donald McKenzie, Middle River

Rev. Isaac McKay, Gabarus

Alexander Farquharson, Leitches Creek

Under this arrangement the Newfoundland ministers were left off
the roll of the new Presbytery and their names were transferred to the roll
of the Presbytery of Halifax.

This reunited Presbytery was however, short-lived. At the meeting
of Synod held on the 27th of June 1865,this Presbytery petitioned for a
division into two Presbyteries, to be known as the Presbytery of Cape
Breton and the Presbytery of Victoria and Richmond. The Prayer of the
petition was granted and the new Presbytery of Cape Breton held its first
meeting in St. Andrew's Church in Sydney, on the 26th day of July, 1865,
while the new Presbytery of Victoria and Richmond held its first meeting
at Lake Ainslie on the 24th day of July, 1865.

The Presbytery of Cape Breton was constituted with the following
ministerial members, viz:

Rev. Hugh McLeod, D. D., Sydney.

Rev. James Fraser, Boulardarie

Rev. James Ross, Grand River

Abraham Mclntosh, St Ann's

Rev. Isaac McKay, Gabarus

Rev. Alexander Farquharson

255

The Presbytery of Victoria and Richmond constituted with the fol
lowing ministerial members, namely,

Rev. Murdoch Stewart, West Bay

Rev. Wm. G.Forbes, Port Hastings

Rev. Kenneth McKenzie, Baddeck

Rev. Donald McKenzie, Middle River

Rev. Wm. Sinclair, Mabou

The boundaries of these two Presbyteries have remained ever since as
they were fixed by the Synod in June, 1865, although the names of the Pres
byteries have been changed.

On June the 12th, 1875, the Synod of the Maritime Provinces met in
Cote St. Church, Montreal for the purpose of entering into a union of all
the Presbyterian Churches in Canada at that time. At one of the sessions
of that Synodical meeting, the Synod changed the name of the Presbytery
of Cape Breton to the Presbytery of Sydney, and this has been its name ever
since. At its meeting in the city of Montreal in June, 1892, by the request
of the Presbytery of Victoria and Richmond, the General Assembly changed
the name of that Presbytery to the Presbytery of Inverness. And so it
comes about that we have two Presbyteries on the island of Cape Breton at
the present time, the Presbytery of Sydney and the Presbytery of Inverness.
What about the records of the Cape Breton Presbyteries from 1836
to 1920? Had they been carefully preserved, what a mine of information
regarding the History of Presbyterianism in Cape Breton would be avail
able! But, alas, a large proportion of these records is lost. There is not a
minute of any Cape Breton Presbytery in existence earlier than July 1857
an,d there are great blanks in these records between 1857 and 1866. We
have no records of the original Presbytery of Cape Breton organized in
1836, nor of the Free Church Presbytery of Cape Breton organized in 1844
and divided into three Presbyteries in 1857. Fortunately the records of
the Presbytery of Victoria, during its existence of seven years (Jidy 1857
to July 1864) have recently been discovered in the possession of a private
party. The records of the Presbytery of Richmond during those seven
years are in the vault of the College at Halifax. The records of the Pres
bytery of Cape Breton, during those seven years, are lost.

The records of the Presbytery of Cape Breton that was f oimed in 1864
by the reunion of the Presbyteries of Richmond, Victoria and Cape Breton
are also lost. We have complete records of the Presbytery of Cape Breton
which was formed in July 1865 and of its successor the Presbytery of
Sydney which was formed in 1875.

The records of the Presbytery of Victoria and Richmond which came
into existence in July 1865 and also of its successor the Presbytery of In
verness from its inception in June 1892 to Feb. 1899 were destroyed ;n the
Strathlorne manse, by fire. The Records of the Presbytery of Inverness
from 1899 to date are intact and in the custody of the clerk of the Inverness
Presbytery. All our written up records should be in the vault of the
Presbyterian College at Halifax in order to be entirely safe from destruction
or loss.

256

Conditions Under Which Our Presbyterian Forefathers Lived In
Cape Breton In the Early Part of the Last Century.

The Island of Cape Breton constitutes the north-eastern extremity
of the continent of North America. It is separated from the mainland by
the Strait of Canso. This island has an exterior coast line of not less than
three hundred miles, and a land surface area of 3,700 square miles. In the
centre of Cape Breton Island, there is an inland Sea which is generally
known by the name of the Bras d'Or Lakes. This inland sea is connected
with the Atlantic Ocean by three channels, viz. The Big Bras d'Or, the
Little Bras d'Or and St. Peters Canal. The two Bras d'Or Channels
are navigable and the ocean tides flow regularly into and out of this inland
sea by said channels. The waters of the Bras d'Or Lakes cover an area of
four hundred and fifty square miles, and, on account of the numerous
bays, inlets and channels connected with these lakes, they have a coast line
of about on five hundred miles.

The Bras d'Or Lakes make the enterior of Cape Breton much more
accessible than it would be without them. They also add very materially
to the picturesqueness of the island.

The ambitious tourist can never be satisfied until he has spent some
days sailing on these beautiful lakes and in admiring the prospects that open
up on every side.

When our Scottish forefathers began to arrive in Cape Breton _at the
beginning of the last century, they found the primeval forest almost un
broken. There were about 500 French speaking people at Isle Madame on
the south coast and as many more at Cheticamp,on the north west side of
the island. There were a few English-speaking people from the United
States at Port Hood, Mabou, Northeast Margaree and Homeville, and a
few more from Aberdeenshire, Scotland, on Sydney Harbor and Sydney
River.

The only Gaelic speaking people on this island in the year 1800 were a
number of Roman Catholic families that had settled at Craignish and
Judique, some eight or nine years earlier.

The policy of the British Colonial office, in not issuing grants of land
in Cape Breton, until 1784, when the island was given a government of its
own, prevented settlers from coming here. As soon, however, as grants
were available, immigrants began to arrive. Our Presbyterian forefathers
began to come here in summer of 1802 and they continued to come, with
more or less interruption, during the next forty years. The tide of immi
gration reached its maximum height in the year 1828, when it began to sub
side. In the year 1842, this immigration suddenly ended, with the arrival
of two immigrant ships, at Sydney, the Salinas and the Hercules. The
Hercules arrived about the middle of September with 400 passengers aboard,
chiefly from North and South Uist, in the Hebrides. It has been estimated
that during these forty years, not less than 20,000 Gaelic-speaking people,
Protestant and Catholic, were landed on the island of Cape Breton.

257

Perhaps Cape Breton was not the best place in the world for our fore
fathers to go to, but they had to go somewhere and this island was easier to
get to than any other part of the American continent. It was the nearest
available place to their native land. It also cost less money to come here
than it would cost to go anywhere else, arid money was a very important
consideration with these poor people. They loved their native mountains,
glens and islands, and it was with unspeakable grief that they left them,but
they had to go. They were driven away by cruel landlords. The special
attraction that Cape Breton had for them was the prospect of getting all
the land they could use, at a nominal price. In Scotland they could never
hope to own any land, while in this island, they could be landlords in their
own right. With this prospect in view, they left the land of their birth in
thousands, braved a long and dangerous voyage across the Atlantic and
landed on these strange shores. They came, for the most part in families,
parents, children and grandparents. They brought little worldly substance
with them but they brought the fear of God, abounding courage and a de
termination to work and prosper. Some of them settled on the long shore
line around the island or on the numerous bays and harbors of that shore
line. Others settled on the still longer interior shore line of the Bras d'Or
Lakes. Others still found their way to Lake Ainslie or to the lakes of Loch
Lomond or Loch Uist, while many more sought locations on the numerous
fine rivers that drain the uplands of Cape Breton, the Mira, the Grand, the
Inhabitants, the Denys, the Middle, the Baddeck, the Mabou, the Skye,
the Margaree, the North and the North Aspy.

But wherever they made their selection for a home, they found the
soil covered with a thick and heavy growth of forest trees. There were no
roads at that time, and the only way to reach their future home-sites was
either by boat or by a blazed path through the woods. Having found
the spot selected, the first thing to do was to cut down a few trees and build
a small house with the trunks. Having provided a rude shelter for himself
and his family, the settler attacked the surrounding forest with axe and
fire in order to get at the soil and grow food.

Year by year the little farm grew larger and larger as the primitive
forest was cut down and burnt.

The ashes of the consumed trees fertilized the virgin soil and caused it
to produce abundant crops of potatoes, wheat, oats, barley and hay. There
was no potato blight in these early days, and no potato bug either. There
was no weavil in the wheat, nor rust on the oats. Everything planted, or
sown, yielded an abundant return. The waters of the rivers, the lakes
and the ocean were swarming with all kinds of fish. Cattle, sheep and hogs
increased as fast as food could be provided for their sustinence. The sur
rounding forest supplied an abundance of fuel and of timber. In such cir
cumstances a few years sufficed to provide our ancestors with a plentiful
supply of food and clothing. As their substance increased, they built a
better class of houses and barns. The women brought the art of making
woolen and linen garments with them from Scotland. They sheared the
sheep, spun the wool into yarn, wove the yarn into cloth and finally tailored

258

the cloth into coats, trousers, etc for their men. They also made sheets and
table linen from home grown flax, as well as drugget for their own garments
and blankets for bedding.

The men soon learned to tan the skins of their animals and to make
moccasins, shoes and boots. At a later stage peripatetic tailors and shoe
makers were employed to make clothing and footwear, for the family.
They came around about once a year and usually made all the garments or
footwear required by the household during the next year.

The new settler needed a blacksmith to make his axes, hoes, dogirons,
and build cranes etc; also a carpenter to frame and build his house and barns
and to make doors, sashes, cupboards, etc.

But "necessity is the mother of invention" and it was not long until a
number of these people became expert in shaping wood, moulding iron,
building boats, and even small trading schooners. Merchants were few and
far between in those early days. The demand for the products of the farm
and of the sea was small, and money was very scarce. Trade was chiefly
carried on by barter. Pork and fish and butter were exchanged for tea, sugar,
cotton and household utensils. But their wants were comparatively few.
The beginning of winter soon found their larders well supplied with corned
beef, corned pork, salt herring, dried cod, tubs of butter, home made cheese
and of course plenty of oat meal, which was to them the very staff of life.

Fuel was abundant in the surrounding forests, and at night fall when
the big back log was in place in the broad chimney and the hard wood fire
blazed brightly on the hearth, our forefathers and their children were incom
parably happier than the landlords who drove them from their small crofts
in the western islands or in the highland glens.

Many of them, moreover, had the felicity that can only come to
the individual, and the home, in connection with the fear of God and of
obedience to His will. Nearly every home in those days was a "House of
God" the family altar was found there, and the morning and evening sacri
fice of prayer and praise, was regularly offered around that altar.

Our forefathers brought their piety with them from Scoland. Moderat-
ism was prevalent in the Church of Scotland about the time they
emigrated. But there was also a decidedly evangelical movement abroad,
that produced blessed results, in the conversion of sinners, in the edification
of Saints and in raising up laymen of extraordinary gifts and graces. This
latter class were generally known by the designation of "the men." At
the head of this evangelical movement there were such fervent gospel
preachers as Lauchlan McKenzie of Lochcarron, Alexander McLeod of
Lewis, Roderick McLeod of Skye, John Kennedy of Killearnan, John Mc
Donald of Ferintosh and many others. Under the preaching of these men,
there was a deep and genuine revival of spiritual life in many of the churches
in the highlands and islands of Scotland, and some at least of those who
tasted of the grace of God in that revival of religion were among the im
migrants to Cape Breton.

Dr. Kennedy, in "The Days of the Fathers in Rosshire" writes as fol
lows: "It is worthy of remark, that it was at the climax of its spiritual

259

prosperity, the cruel work of eviction began to lay waste the hillsides and
the plains of the north. Swayed by the example of the godly among them,
and away from the influences by which less sequestered localities were cor
rupted, the body of the people of the Highlands became distinguished as
the most peaceable and virtuous peasantry in Britain" and again, in speak
ing of a certain locality in the north of Sutherlandshire, Dr. Kennedy says:-
"The homes of this blessed hamlet, were close together, around the sides of
an amphitheatre, through which a small river had torn a course for itself.
Standing on the edge of the declivity above this glen, on a quiet summer
evening, one could hear the songs of praise from all these houses, mingling
together, before they reached the listeners ears. One at least felt, while
listening to the psalm-singing, in these blessed homes, as if the place were
none other than the house of God and the very gate of heaven. By one
ruthless eviction, all the tenants of that glen were banished from their
homes, and most of them found no resting place till they reached the
back woods of Canada. '

What Dr. Kennedy says of the people of Rosshire and Sutherlandshire
was equally true of the people of Lewis, Harris, Skye and North Uist —
the people that came to Cape Breton between 1802 and 1842.

They were distinguished for their fear of offending God and the practise
of prayer, in the closet, the family and the social meeting. And it was well
for themselves, their children and religion on this island that our fore
fathers were so pious and prayerful, inasmuch as no ministers of the gospel
came with them to instruct and shepherd them. Nor did any minister of
the Church of Scotland follow them to their far distant homes during the
first thirty years of their stay in Cape Breton. In these circumstances,
godly men were found in nearly every settlement, that conducted Sabbath
services and prayer meetings regularly. These good men kept the fire of
piety burning, in the different Presbyterian communities on this island, until
ministers arrived to instruct and guide the people. Nor were the services
of these pious men dispensed with after the arrival of ministers from Scot
land. They had already abundantly proved their value and worth, and
Ministers were glad to avail themselves of their help in their congregations.
A number of the ablest, wisest and best of these pious men were chosen to the
eldership. A few of those who were prominent for scriptural knowledge and
ability to teach others were appointed catechists, some of them in the
congregations in which they lived and some of them in other congregations
than their own. All of them received more or less remuneration for their
services, either from the Session or from the Home Mission Board, after that
board was organized. Since the general union of the Presbyterian Church
es in Canada, no lay catechists have been employed in Cape Breton only
Student Catechists. Angus McLean of Cape North was the last lay cate-
chist that served our church in Cape Breton.

The Rev. Malcolm Campbell has published a short account of eight
of these catechists, viz. Angus McLeod, of Hunters Mountain, Duncan
McDonald of Boulardarie, Donald McDonald of North River, Malcolm
McLeod of River Deny's, Donald Campbell of Big Baddeck, Donald Mac-

260

Aulay of Baddeck Bay, Angus McLean of Cape South and Donald Ross of
Cow Bay. The name of John Mclntosh of Pleasant Bay, Inverness County
might well be added to that number. He did the work of a catechist, at
Pleasant Bay for a period of thirty-seven years, without appointment by
any church Court and without any remuneration,except the satisfaction of
doing good. During all these years, Mr. Mclntosh conducted public
worship with the people every Sabbath day. He also conducted a Sabbath
School and a prayer meeting every week. He likewise visited the sick and
buried the dead. Few men have left a more honorable record, in our Church
of services well done, than John Mclntosh of Pleasant Bay.

The special du\ty of the lay catechist in Cape Breton as in Scotland
was to teach the Shorter Catechism to young and old. This duty he usual
ly discharged by holding periodical meetings in the homes of the people,
at which the catechism was recited and its teachings explained. But the
duties of the catechist were not confined to teaching the catechism. He
was expected to conduct public worship in the absence of an ordained min
ister, expound the scriptures and exhort the people. And some of the Cape
Breton Catechists excelled in these duties. This was especially true of
Donald Ross, probably the best known, most highly gifted and greatly
esteemed of them all. His glowing exhortations were greatly blessed to
the conversion of sinners and the upbuilding of the saints.

Donald Ross was born in the parish of Uigg, island of Lewis, in the
year 1802. He was converted in the year 1824 under the ministry of the
Rev. Alexander McLeod,said to have been "the first evangelical minister
settled in either Lewis or Harris." Alexander McLeod was a native of
Stoir Point in Assynt, where the Rev. Norman McLeod of St. Anns was
born, and both of these men were converted under the preaching of the Rev.
John Kennedy, minister of Assynt in the year 1807 or 1808.

Mr. Ross received a good common school education in his native parish
and after his conversion he became very active and useful in Christian
service in Uigg and elsewhere in the island of Lewis.

In the year 1830, in the twenty-eighth year of his age, he came out to
Cape Breton under the patronage of the Edinburgh Ladies' Association, to
assist in establishing and maintaining religious services in our Highland
settlements. He spent the first fourteen years of his life in Cape Breton,
at Peters Brook, near Baddeck Forks. In the year 1844, the Presby
tery of Cape Breton appointed Mr.Ross a Catechist for the eastern end of
Cape Breton County, and more especially for Cow Bay and Mira Bay.
Four years later he bought a farm, near where Belloni Railway Station is
now, and here he lived during the remainder of his life. He died in the
home of one of his sons, at Port Morien, after a few days' illness, on the
14th day of' July 1877, in the 75th year of his age.

Mr. Ross was catechist of this large district for a period of thirty three
years, and during that time, he rendered services of incalculable value to
the people, through the faithful discharge of his duties. After, Dr. Hugh Mc
Leod became minister of Mira, in 1850, Donald Ross was made an elder.
He was also clerk of Session, precentor and treasurer of the congregation.

261

He was likewise a Justice of the Peace and Land Surveyor for the com
munity. During his life time Mr. Ross distributed thousands of copies of
the Bible and of other religious books. These Bibles and books were sent
from Scotland by the Edinburgh Ladies' Association, to his care, for dis
tribution among his fellow country men. There was no literature of that
kind for sale in Cape Breton at that time and we may be quite sure that
these books were very highly appreciated, and that they served a very im
portant purpose.

The earliest opportunity that our Gaelic speaking ancestors had of
getting their children baptized was when Dr. McGregor came to Cape
Breton in the year 1818, but this opportunity was limited to a small pro
portion of the population. The next opportunity was in 1824, when the
Rev. Donald McDonald came to Malagawatch, where he spent the next
two years. But comparatively few could avail themselves of Mr.
McDonald's services in this regard.

The first general opportunity to obtain baptism came in 1 827 when the
Rev. John McLennan and the Rev. Donald Allan Fraser, made a tour of
nearly all the highland settlements on the island and baptized hundreds
of children and many adults. After Mr. McKichan came to River In
habitants in 1832 and Mr. Farquharson and Mr. Stewart to the island in
1833 and 1834 respectively, facilities for obtaining baptism became quite
common.

The first account we have of the dispensation of the Lord's Supper
in Cape Breton was in 1834, when the Rev. Jonn Stewart assisted the Rev.
D. McKichan in dispensing that ordinance at River Inhabitants. After
Messrs Farquharson, Stewart, Fraser and McLean were settled here the
Lord's Supper was observed regularly, once a year in the congregations to
which they ministered. No doubt this ordinance was observed in the
English speaking congregation of Mabou, and Port Hood from the time
Mr. Millar took charge in the year 1822. The Lord's Supper was not dis
pensed in St. Ann's until after the settlement of the Rev. A. Mclntosh in
the year 1856.

Between 1840 and 1890, the dispensation of the Lord's Supper or "The
Communion" as it was called was the great event of the year in the Presby
terian Congregations on the island. It was generally observed in the
month of July. It was looked forward to and prepared for during several
weeks preceding. It was an occasion of generous hospitality to all comers.
The ministers of all neighboring congregations were usually present and
a goodly proportion of their people likewise.

The services began on Thursday morning and continued daily till
Monday afternoon. Thursday was the day of fasting and humiliation
and was kept with appropriate sermons and services. Friday was the
"ceist" or question day. The ministers conducted the opening devotional
exercises, but the speaking was chiefly by laymen, elders, catechists and
others from far and near, who had a reputation for godliness and who were
endowed with the power of speaking intelligently and experimentally.

262

Saturday was the day of preparation for the specially sacred services to be
observed on the morrow.

Sabbath day was the "great day of the feast," when the emblems of
the Saviour's body and blood were uncovered, set apart by prayer, distribut
ed to communicants and partaken of with profound solemnity, reverence,
and devoutness.

Monday was observed as a day of thanksgiving to God for all the
tokens of His favor which he bestowed in His providence and in His grace,
more especially during that communion season.

These precious services were closed by singing a psalm of thanks
giving and then the worshippers bade each other an affectionate farewell
and dispersed to their respective homes.

There were only three Presbyterian places of worship on this island
previous to 1830. There were only about a dozen in 1835 and all of these
were very plain, unfinished structures.

The first church to be finished throughout before being used was a
church at Sydney Mines. This church was built in the year 1840. During
these churchless years the people met for divine worship as the early
Christians did, in apostolic days, in private houses.

Our Presbyterian ancestors were under very great disadvantages
from an educational point of view. Few of them could teach their child
ren the elements of learning and teachers were not available, and besides
they were too poor to pay for their services.

There was an excellent school opened by the Rev. Norman McLeod,
at St. Ann's about 1825. This school rendered excellent service, not only
to St. Ann's, but also to a large part of Cape Breton until 1851, when Mr.
McLeod left for Australia.

There was another good school at Lake Ainslie as early as the year
1827, conducted, we believe, by a Mr. John Campbell. Some years later Mr.
Campbell removed to near Port Hastings, where he taught school for many
years. In the year 1838 there was a school opened in Malagawatch by a
young man, sent out from Edinburgh, Scotland, by the Edinburgh Ladies'
Association, whose name was Lauchlan McDonald. He taught in the
first church that was built in Malagawatch. He reported eighty pupils in
attendance, on the 28th of January 1839. Mr. McDonald taught a Sab-
bath School in the same place — probably the first S. School opened in Cape
Breton. About the same time the Edinburgh Ladies' Association sent
out another teacher, a Miss Gordon, who afterwards became the wife of the
Rev. Hector McQuarrie of Leitches Creek. Miss Gordon taught first at
Middle River and later at Kinloch by Strathlorne. There was a superior
school opened on Boulardarie by Mr. Alexr. Munro and his wife, Mrs.
Munro, on Nov. the 21st 1839. The Munros were sent out by the Ladies
Association. This school was opened in the church at Boulardarie with
sixty pupils. By March 24th, 1840, there were one hundred pupils in at
tendance, a number of them from distant parts of the island. Several of
these were studying Latin, Greek, Algebra, Geometry etc. Some of them
were preparing to teach school while a number more were looking forward

to the Christian ministry. Mrs. Munro gave special attention to the
girls and taught them ewing, cooking, etc.

This school came to be known as the "Boulardarie Academy." It had
an attendance of over two hundred pupils, some years later.

Our ancestors were great believers in co-operation, "that many hands
make light work." When anything more difficult than usual was to be
done, they called their neighbors to their assistance. In other words they
made a frolic, as they called it. The men had their chopping, rolling, house
or barn raising frolics, the women had their spinning and quilting frolics.
The men and women together, had their planting, reaping, and fulling
frolics. These frolics were frequently followed by a f orenight of dancing,
four and eight hand, Scotch reels, to the music of the fiddle or the bagpipe.

They were also accustomed to exchange social visits between neigh
boring homes,especially in the long winter and fall evenings, after the day's
work was done. The Gaelic name for those social visits was Ceilidh.

How quickly the hours passed when 6ne was on ceilidh. There was
so much to talk about and all were so happy. The young people talked of
the current events and laughed the time away in innocent amusement.
The old people gradually fell into a reminiscent mood, their thoughts would
wander back to the Hebrides and they talked of the hardships they experi
enced at the hands of cruel landlords and the pain with which they left their
native land. If piously inclined, as many of them were, they would re
cite "notes" from the lips of the ministers or catechists that they heard on
certain occasions in the old land. These "notes" or sayings were treasured
like jewels and were only produced on special occasions and in the hearing of
those who could appreciate them.

When the time for departure came the "brand" a stick with one end
burning, was ready. There were no lanterns in those days and the brand
had to serve the purpose of a lantern in lighting the way home. The path
through the woods was very dark and wild animals were plentiful. It
was no unusual thing for the fire of the brand to be reflected from the
eyes of a wild cat as the visitor found his way home.

It would be interesting to speak of many other things in connection with
the lives of our ancestors in the early part of last century but we forbear.

What a change has come over Cape Breton since the time when that
first generation of Scottish people passed away! The material improvement
of later years is much in evidence, in our industries, railways, electric power
plants etc., etc.

Has our moral, social and religious progress kept pace with our material
progress? The seen and temporal is ever the enemy of the unseen and
eternal.

264

The Communion Services of our Presbyterian Ancestors in Cape

Breton.

Our Celtic forefathers brought their customs, as well as their language,
with them, when they came to this island, about one hundred years ago.
They left their age-long clan feuds behind them, but little else that was
distinctive, whether good or bad.

Perhaps the only bad traits that they brought with them to Cape
Breton were their superstitions regarding witches, fairies, ghosts, etc and
their fondness for whiskey.

Happily, by this time, these ghostly superstitions are almost unknown
to their descendants and whiskey drinking, in a social way, has almost, if
not entirely disappeared. Some of us, however are old enough to remember
a time when telling stories of fairies and witches was a common pastime,
around the big hardwood fire on the old fashioned kitchen hearth, and when
the health of visiting friends was drunk from the decanter that was always
kept in the cupboard for the purpose of shewing hospitality to old acquaint
ances and remembering "the days of auld lang syne."

We are also old enough to remember the time when bread, cheese and
whiskey were provided at funerals for all comers. And as for weddings,
whiskey was considered indispensible on such occasions.

In those days houses of entertainment were found every few miles,
all along our principal highways, where whiskey was openly and freely sold
to thirsty travellers, for the purpose of keeping them warm, if the weather
was cold, of keeping them cold if the weather was hot, and of keeping
them happy whether the weather was cold or hot.

But our ancestors brought a number of good customs with them
from their native land. Among these good customs we might make men
tion of a few. There was first of all a strict observance of the first day of the
week as a day of rest and worship. They remembered the Sabbath day and
kept it holy. Then again, they practised family worship daily,both morn
ing and evening.

The family altar was erected in every home, the bible was placed upon
it and prayer was offered around it. Then too, they were very regular in
their attendance on the public means of grace. The house of God had a
large place in their affections and they attended public worship often
under very adverse circumstances, such as having to walk long distances
to church.

Another good custom that our good God-fearing forefathers brought
to this island and practised in their homes was the custom of committing
the Shorter Catechism to memory and of having a recitation of a portion
of that Catechism on the Sabbath evening, with such explanations as the
father and mother were able to give.

There were no Sabbath Schools in those early days, nor were such schools
required when there was virtually, a Sabbath school in every home.

And still another custom which our pious ancestors brought from the

265

old land, demands attention, and that was the Annual Open Air Communion
Season. The observance of this custom is still in existence in several of our
Gaelic speaking congregations, but it is on the decline in proportion as the
use of the Gaelic language is on the decline." The likelihood is that the
time is not far distant when, both the open air Communion Services and
the Gaelic language will be things of the past on the island of Cape Breton.
For this reason, if for no other, it is desirable that an institution which was
so profitable and so dear to our ancestors, both in the old country and in
this, should receive some special attention in these pages.

We have no means of ascertaining the precise time when this custom
came into existence. The probability is that it was a gradual growth.
In any case, it arose out of the religious and political conditions that exist
ed in Scotland between 1581, when the "National Covenant" was adopted
by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and 1688 when the
Revolution Settlement was effected when Episcopacy was abolished by Act
of Parliament and when Presbyterianism was fully recognized by law as the
religion of Scotland.

The Covenanters in the South of Scotland, as we are well aware,
had to flee from their persecutors and find shelter in the moors, glens and
mountains, where there were no churches and where, of necessity, God
had to be worshipped and the Lord's Supper observed under the blue
canopy of heaven. But there were Covenanters in the north of Scotland
as well as in the South and they too, had to endure persecution and to wor
ship God in secluded places among the hills where there were no churches.
It was under such circumstances that the open air communion with its
peculiar accompaniments of fast day, self examination day, preparation
days, communion day and thanksgiving day had its rise and progress.
By the time that the Stuart dynasty had ceased to reign and William and
M.ary came to the throne, this custom had become quite general among the
Presbyterians of northern Scotland and it has survived to our own time.

The open air communion in the summer season grew in favor with the
Gaelic speaking people of Argylshire, Invernessshire, Rosshire, Sutherland-
shire, Caithnesshire and the adjacent islands on the west coast, until it
became at length the special religious event of the year in many of the
northern and western parishes. This practise attained its highest develop
ment towards the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth
century, between 1750 and 1850, and it was always associated with the
fervent and evangelical preaching of eminently godly men like Lachlan
McKenzie of Lochcarron Rosshire, John McDonald of Ferintosh and John
Kennedy of Kilearnan. There were many other consecrated gospel preach
ers in Scotland during that time, but these three were universally recognized
to have a preeminence, like David's three mighty men nearly two thousand
years earlier.

This custom was ever associated with the preaching of evangelical
ministers. Moderatism, which prevailed so extensively in Scotland at
that time, did not furnish the warm gospel atmosphere in which the open
air communion with its adjuncts could flourish, but wherever there[\vere

266

fervent preachers of Christ and Him Crucified as the only Savior of sinners,
there the open air communion was observed, appreciated and enjoyed.

The most remarkable and characteristic feature of the Highland Com
munion was the services on Friday, when the godly laymen occupied a large
part of the time in speaking to a question or ceist propounded by one of
themselves. The propounder of the question was supposed to have a
difficulty of an experimental nature, regarding which he desired help from
the varied and larger experience of his lay brethren who were present. The
men who took part in "Ciest" day services were not formalists or nominal
Christians. They were men to whom the gospel came, "not in word only
but also in po wer and in the Holy Ghost.' ' Without the preaching of a pure
gospel, there would be no "men" to speak of an experience of divine things
and without the "men" the open air communion would have lost much of
its interest and usefulness. Our open air communions in Cape Breton
began to lose their interest to our people, when the prayerful, humble
holy and spirit-taught men who came out from Scotland in the early part of
last century, began to pass away.

They are all gone now and we shall never see their like again. They
were sui generis. Their type of religion was peculiar to themselves. It was
emphatically subjective and introspective. They thought a great deal about
their own states and feelings and they were ever lamenting that these
states and feelings were so far from being what they ought to be, longed to
be and hoped to be. They were familiar with Paul's experience of himself
when he exclaimed, "0 wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from
this body of death?" But they also could say with Paul, "I thank God
through Jesus Christ our Lord." They could find no rest or peace from
anything in themselves. They found the source of their peace only in
Christ; in Him who "made peace by the blood of his cross." But they look
ed within for evidence of a saving interest in Christ, for the fruits of the
spirit which are "Love, Joy, Peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, etc."

We shall bring this article to a close with two extracts; the first from
Dr. Kennedy of Dingwall in his well known "Memoir" of his father, the
Rev. John Kennedy of Killearnan, and the second from a letter that was
written from Cape Breton to an Ontario paper, by the late Rev. Professor
McKerras of Queens College.

To quote from the said Memoir:

"Mr. Kennedy was a man eminent for piety to a degree seldom sur
passed in any age and probably scarcely at all equalled in his own gener
ation. The years of his ministry at Killearnan were times of peculiar and
valued privilege, not only to those in the parish who "hungered for the
bread of life," but also to many in the surrounding districts, and to not a
few in distant parts of the north and West Highlands. Many of the choic
est of the Lord's people travelled steadily between 12 and 18 miles (the
double journey being from 24 to 36 miles), and a few walked from the re
mote parishes of the west of Ross and Sutherland, distances varying from
about 100 to 160 miles to hear the savory preaching of the famous minis-

267

ter of Killearnan. Distance, was no obstacle in those pedestrian days.
Killearnan, like the parish of Ferintosh in the immediate vicinity was a
centre to which the most noted of God's heritage flocked in vast numbers.
On communion occasions, as many as fifty parishes have been represented
at Killearnan, and two thousand have been known to partake of the sacred
elements at those solemn gatherings. Those were times of high festival
at Redcastle. The minister was assisted at these special services, by the
most gifted and popular preachers in the Highlands. His saintly brother,
Mr. Kennedy of Loggie, and his immediate neighbor, Dr. McDonald of
Ferintosh, the famous "Apostle of the North", also Mr. Lachlan McKen-
zie of Lochcarron, were invariably there together with other ministers of
noted preaching power. The heritage of God was refreshed and strengthen
ed. During the services, the burdens and fears of many were removed, and
souls were plucked as brands from the burning. After enjoying sweet fel
lowship with God, the source and fountain of all blessing and joy, the multi
tude "that kept holiday day" dispersed to return to their homes, renewed
in spiritual energy and revived in hope."

Similar experiences were enjoyed in Whycocomagh, Mira and else
where in Cape Breton under the preaching of the Rev. Peter McLean. Hugh
McLeod and others.

"In the month of August, 1872 the Rev. Dr. Masson of .Edinburgh
and the Rev. Professor McKerras of Queen's College, Kingston, Ont. paid
a visit to Cape Breton and dispensed the Lord's supper at Strathlorne.
Professor McKerras wrote of that communion as follows:

"Here we witnessed a genuine Highland Sacrament of the olden time.
Let me attempt a description of it. The day succeeding our arrival
opened the services connected with the annual Communion season of the
Congregation.

"As is customary and felt to be desirable on such occasions there was
a "spate" of ministers. There was Dr. Masson of Edinburgh, Mr.
Stewart of Pictou, Fraser Campbell of Halifax, Mr. A. Grant of Lake Ains-
lie, Mr. G. L. Gordon, Catechist of River Inhabitants and myself. Thurs
day was the fast day. Services were conducted in the English language
inside and in the Gaelic outside the Church.

On Friday was the "Ceist" i.e. The Question. After the opening serv
ices the presiding minister asked "the men" — a class of communicants
peculiar to congregations in the North Highlands of Scotland composed of
those grey-haired fathers, who combine rich stores of experimental religious
and fluency of speech and are looked up to with a veneration only second
and sometimes superior to that accorded the minister — if any of them had a
case of conscience or subject for edifying discussion to propose. A vener
able elder suggested "the one thing needful" as a topic suitable to the solemn
occasion.

This, on the spur of the moment and without any previous intimation
of the question to be spoken, was ably opened up in the* principal bearings
by Mr. Stewart. Then followed remarks by about a dozen of the men, who

268

offered in a tone of becoming humility practical suggestions, more or less
pertinent, based on their own experience of the truth as it is in Jesus.

What a crowd was there drawn together from all directions by the time-
hallowed associations of the sacred ordinance!

Hundreds on hundreds eagerly bent over to catch the tones of the
several speakers, as if listening to the utterances of an oracle. Many had
come thirty, several forty, some fifty and one seventy-five miles in order
to enjoy the occasion.

The diets of worship were well attended on Saturday, but the Sabbath
was the great day of the feast. On this day the interest and solemnity
culminated.

But alas! the weather had changed and become unpropitious in the
last degree. On Saturday, the sky began to assume an ominousappear-
ance and by night-fall a "down-pour" set in. Morning dawned, but with
it came no abatement of the storm and everything betokened a day of
rain.

As I was to conduct all the English services in the church, I congratu
lated myself on the thought that the "dry" would on that day assuredly be
the popular preacher. Accustomed to the fairweather Christianity of
our town congregations, 1 despaired of seeing a large turnout of people.
However, the church was well filled, but not crowded.

When the services inside were concluded, I repaired to the tent.

Though I could not hope to be edified by hearing, as the exercises were

conducted in a tongue unknown to me, I certainly was by the sight which

then presented itself. To reach the place I had to cross the public highway*

Far as the eye could reach were vehicles of every description.

Beyond the billow-shaped graveyard and up into a retired glen, 1 found
myself at the outskirts of a mass of people hanging on the lips of the
speaker.

The ministers, being in a tent constructed like a large sentry-box, alone
were protected from the weather. Before them extended a row of support
ed planks improvised into a communion table. On the slopes rising around
in the shape of an amphitheatre sat at least 1000 persons, from the grand-
sire of eighty winters to the youth of twelve summers! M-en in their prime
and girls in their teens; here a line of aged women, eye glassy with the tear
of emotion, much covered with dark silk handerkerchief, the black shawl
held up by one corner to the mouth with one hand; there a clump of old men
with head bare of bonnet or protecting locks, leaning each on his staff
and devouring the preached word.

For five hours and twenty minutes that multitude sat upon the soaking
sward as if glued to it. During the first two hours of that time, the rain
came down incessantly. Comparatively few had umbrellas to raise and
every male had his head uncovered.

As I cast my eye over the scene my first thought was "Does not God
love mercy rather than sacrifice." But as I continued to gaze and saw
that every look, every gesture,every shade of expression betokened intensed
earnestness, high-wrought interest and soul-wrought devotion, other the

269

thoughts suggested themselves and I was led to pay the tribute of admir
ation to the robustness of their religion. While the preacher was serving
the last table from the text "Behold the Lamb of God" the feelings of
many seemed to master them and a swell of agitation heaved the bosoms
of the communicants. Awe crept over me as I looked from face to face
and took in the impress of the whole scene. A new light was thrown
upon my mind as to the deep meaning of these passages in which the
Psalmist gave expression to his fervent devotion. "As the hart panteth
after the waterbrooks, so panteth my soul, after Thee O God, my soul
thirsteth for God, for the living God. My flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and
thirsty land where no water is. My soul followeth hard after Thee." Again
those features lighted up with a glow indicative of such spiritual joy as to
render them insensible to physical discomfort gave me an insight into the
spirituality of that outburst of the Bride, representing the Church; "I
sat down under his shadow with great delight and his fruit was sweet to my
taste."

They did not stir from that spot until nearly half past four o'clock,
and yet two prayer meetings (the one conducted in gaelic in the church
and the other in English in a neighboring school house) held at six o'clock
were numerously attended. Greedier hearers of Gospel truth, it has never
been my privilege to witness.

The more they got, the more thirstily desirous were they to receive
more preaching. Who can doubt that the Holy Spirit was working might
ily in many an anxious heart then present? As I looked out from the tent
upon that congregation, I could not help contrasting with these noble
highlanders of Broadcove, who will rise up in the judgment and condemn
us, many of those wretched apologies for Christians found in so many of our
congregations, who seated on crimson cushions yawn and frown and count
the passage of time by the second hand of their watches, if the preacher
exceeds by five minutes the fashionable half hour, no matter how frought
with the fire of scripture truth or how well delivered the sermon may be."

270

Our Celtic Ancestors, Their Origin, History, Language, Literature

and Religion.

It would be a large contract to deal in any adequate way with so large
and varied a subject as is involved in the heading of this Chapter. All
that we can attempt is, to give a general outline of these subjects for the
benefit of the ordinary reader, who may not have literature on these differ
ent matters under his hand.

Jehovah said to his people, through the prophet Isaiah "Look unto the
rock whence ye were hewn, and the hole of the pit whence ye were digged.
Look unto Arbraham your father and unto Sarah that bare you." It
should be both deeply interesting and highly profitable for us, who are of
Celtic extraction, to think back to our ancestors and to reflect on their
origin, racial affinity, history, language, literature and religion.

When Columbus discovered this western world in the year 1492 he
found the red-man here ahead of him, and the red man had been here many
centuries before Columbus was born.

In like manner, when the Roman armies, under Julius Caesar reached
the British Isles, in the year 55 B.C. they found our Celtic ancestors there
ahead of them. And these ancestors of ours had been there many centuries,
earlier than that time.

It is supposed that the American Indians came to this continent from
Asia by way of Behring Strait; at a remote period in the world's history;
and we have good reasons for believing that our ancestors came from the
head waters of the Euphrates, in Asia, to Britain, by way of Asia Minor
Southern Europe and France, at least 1500 years before the Christian era.
We can trace the course of their migration, in the Keltoi, of the Greeks and
the Celtae, of the Romans. The Galatians of Asia Minor, in the Apostle
Paul's time, were a fragment of the Celtic race which had been left behind
in their westward march.

One writer says: "At the beginning of the historic period, the domain
of the Celts included no mean portion of the soil of Europe, including, Brit
ain, Gaul, a part of Spain and the north of Italy. Some of the provinces of
Central Europe were also in their possession." From France (the
Gallia of the Romans) the Celts passed over to England, and thence to
Wales, Ireland and the Highlands and Islands of Scotland where their
descendants are to be found at the present time. Probably the purest Celtic
blood in the world today is to be found in the highlands and western islands
of Scotland.

When the Roman armies reached the Scottish Highlands, under Julius
Agricola, in the year 80 A.D. they met our Celtic ancestors at Ardoch,
Perthshire. Here the battle of Mons Grampius was fought, and the Cale
donians, as the Celts were then known, suffered a decisive defeat, at the
hands of the Romans under the great chief, Galgacus. But the Caledon
ians were not utterly conquered on that occasion. They retreated to the
shelter of their rugged mountains for a time but only to recruit and prepare

271

to resume the attack on their world conquering enemies, at a more conven
ient and favorable season. Finally, in the year 367 A.D., they followed
their retreating foes into England and overcame them there. Collier, in
his British History tells us "That they marched as far as London itself,
which they emptied of all its treasures, carrying away the citizens to be
Slaves."

The men of the Scottish Highlands were never beaten in War but
once, and that was in the year 1746, when Charles Edward Stewart per
suaded a large number of them to follow him in the hopeless and crazy effort
to regain the throne, and Crown of Britain for the discredited Stewart
dynasty. On Culloden Moor, Charles and his followers met with a crush
ing defeat at the hands of the British under the Duke of Cumberland.

That was a disastrous defeat for the Celtic population of the
highlands and island of Scotland. It was followed by legislative measures
that destroyed the paternal relations, which had existed for more than a
thousand years between the Scottish Chiefs and the members of their res
pective Clans. To this change was primarily due, the emigration of our
forefathers to Cape Breton and other parts of the world, in such large num
bers in succeeding years.

On the 1st of August 1847, the British Parliament passed, what was
known as "An Act of Indemnity." To get the benefit of that Act every
highlander had to take the following dreadful oath, or suffer the conse
quences of refusal.

'% A. B. do swear, as I shall answer to God at the great Day of Judg
ment, I have not, nor shall I have in my possession any gun, sword, pistol
or arm whatsoever, and never use tartan, plaid or any part of the Highland
garb; and if I do so, may I be cursed in my undertakings, family and pro
perty; may I never see my wife and children, father, mother or relations;
may I be killed in battle as a coward and lie without Christian burial in a
strange land, far from the graves of my forefathers and kindred. May
all this come across me if I break this oath."

This Act created the deepest dissatisfaction throughout the whole of
the north and west of Scotland, and multitudes voluntarily left the country
rather than take the oath. It broke up the ancient feudal system that had
existed among the Celts for ages. The leaders, in the rising under "Prince
Charlie," were executed and their followers left the country rather than take
the oath and remain under the new conditions. A large number of high-
landers went to North Carolina, U.S., in the year 1760. The famous
ship "Hector" landed a number more in Boston in the year 1770. Then
again in 1773, the same ship landed two hundred persons, from Loch-
broom, Rosshire, in Pictou Harbor, Nova Scotia. About the same time
a large number of Gaelic speaking people emigrated to Caledonia in Western
New York and a number more to the State of Ohio.

In the year 1803, the Earl of Selkirk, sent three ship loads of high-
landers to Prince Edward Island. There were eight hundred souls in all,
aboard these three ships.

The Celtic emigration to Cape Breton began as early as the year 1792,

272

and continued during the next fifty years. During that time not less than
20,000 Gaelic speaking people left their native land and settled on this island.

In 1745 every strath and available piece of land in the highland and
islands of Argyleshire, Invernesshire, Rosshire and Sutherlandshire were
full of people. Since that time, the emigration has been so great that
these places are now almost a desolation, with the inhabitants few and far
between.

When the Romans reached North Britain at the beginning of the
Christian Era, they found the Celts divided, into two large groups, the
Picts on the East and the Scots on the west. The Scots were pure Celts
but the Picts had a strain of Norwegian blood in their veins on account of
intercourse with the Norse peoples.

These two groups were subdivided into twenty-one Clans and each
Clan inhabiting a different strath or island and was ruled by its own Chief.
The term Clan is from the gaelic word Clann, which means children.

The Clan system was patriarchal, and old as the human race. The
Chief was regarded as the father of the Clan, and all the members of the
clan were regarded as his children. The land belonged to the chief and
to the clan in common. They shared the soil of the domain with him but
on the understanding, firstly that they would follow the chief to battle
against the common foe and secondly that they would pay the chief,
annually, a certain amount of tribute or homage money. There was no
rent to be paid by the Clansman to his Chief under the feudal system.
The land belonged to all the members of the Clan. This condition of
things continued until after the rising that ended so disastrously at
Culloden. After that all was changed. The Clan system was broken up.
The chief disappeared and his clan was either dispersed or made to pay rent
for their small crofts, to strangers, who got possession of the land and be
came proprietors of the soil.

Towards the end of the eighteenth century, these proprietors discover
ed that they could make more money by keeping sheep, cattle and deer on
their lands, than by renting it to human beings. Thereupon they began to
evict their tenants and replace them with dumb brutes.

Nearly every island on the Hebrides and every strath on the main
land suffered, sooner or later, from this merciless procedure. The evicted
tenants were under the necessity of leaving their native land in thousands
and of seeking homes either in the cities of the south or beyond the sea.

The Rev. Donald Sage, author of "Parish Life in the North of Scot
land" gives us a striking account of the Sutherlandshire evictions, which
took place while he was minister in Achness at the head of Strathnaver.
We give the following extract from Chapter XVI of said book:"The period
of my ministry at Achness, however was fast drawing to a close. The reck
less, lordly proprietors had resolved upon the expulsion of their long stand
ing and much attached tenantry, from their widely extended estates, and
the Sutherland clearances of 1819 was not only the climax of their system
of oppression for many years before, but the extinction of the last remnant
of the ancient highland peasantry in the north" "Summonses of eject-

273

ment were issued and despatched all over the district. These must have
amounted to upwards of a thousand, as the population of the mission alone
was 1600 souls, and many more than those of the mission were ejected.
The summonses were distributed with the utmost preciseness. They were
handed in at every house and hovel alike. All were made to feel the
irresponsible power of the proprietor" "On the Sabbath, a fortnight prev
ious to the fatal day, I preached my valedictory sermon at Achness, and
the Sabbath thereafter at Ach-na-h'uiaghe. Both occasions were felt by
myself and my people, from the oldest to the youngest to be among the
bitterest and most overwhelming experience of our lives. I preached and
the people listened, but every sentence uttered and heard was in opposition
to the tide of our natural feelings, which, setting in against us, mounted at
every step higher and higher.

At last all restraints were compelled to give way. The preacher
ceased to speak, the people to listen. All lifted up their voices and wept,
mingling their tears together. It was indeed the place of parting and the
hour. The greater number parted,never again to behold each other in the
land of the living."

"The middle of the week brought on the day of the Strathnaver clear
ances. It was on a Tuesday, At an early hour of the day Mr. Sellar, ac
companied by the Fiscal and escorted by a strong body of Constables,
Sheriff, Officers and others commenced work at Gummore, the first
inhabited township to the west of Achness district. — Their plan of oper
ations was to clear the cottages of their inmates, giving them about half
an hour to pack up and carry off their furniture, and then set fife to their
cottages. To this plan, they ruthlessly adhered, without the slightest
regard to any obstacle, that might arise, while carrying it into execution."

The following week Mr. Sage had occasion to pass down the evicted
Strath and he tells us what he saw in the following terms: "The spectacle
presented was hideous and ghastly. The banks of the lake and the river,
formerly studded with cottages, now met the eye as a scene of desolation.
The thatched roofs were gone off all the houses, but the walls remained.
The flames of the preceding week still slumbered in the ruins; and sent up
into the air spiral columns of smoke, whilst here a gable and there a long
side wall, undermined by the fire burning within them, might be seen
tumbling to the ground." "The sooty rafters of the cottages, as they were
consumed, filled the air with a heavy and most offensive odor. In short,
nothing could more vividly represent the horrors of grinding oppression,
and the extent to which one man, dressed up in a little brief authority will
exercise that power without feeling or restraint,to the injury of his fellow
creatures."

And Mr. Sage adds: "The Strathnaver clearances of 1819, dissolved
my connection with my first congregation and extinguished a ministerial
charge in that part of the Highlands."

The writer, a number of years ago, drove up Strath Kildonan, from
Helmsdale, for a distance of nine or ten miles, in order to see for himself the
desolation wrought in that beautiful strath between 1810 and 1819, when

274

more than three hundred houses were burnt down in one day and their
tenants scattered to the four winds of heaven. The sites of their former
homes are still quite visible in the green grass plots that line the sides of
the highway that leads to the head of the strath. For over one hundred
years, Strath Kildonan has been occupied by a few shepherds, whose busi
ness it is, with their Collie dogs, to look after the thousands of sheep that
graze in this beautiful valley.
Robert Burns wrote: —

"Man's inhumanity to man

Makes countless thousands mourn;"

and the world has seldom seen greater "inhumanity to man" than was per
petrated on our Scottish Ancestors in their native land and as to the mourn
ing and suffering that accompanied that inhumanity, it is utterly impossible
to form any adequate conception. The descendants of these evicted
Sutherlandshire people are found today in Pictou, N.S., Glengarry,0ntario,
and on the Red River Manitoba.

The language spoken by our ancestors was the Gaelic. They brought
that language with them from the head waters of the Euphrates, the origin
al home of the Celtic race.

In its original form the Gaelic was one of the oldest languages of the
world. It has been claimed by ardent celts that Gaelic was the language
spoken by our first parents in the garden of Eden. Of course that claim
cannot be substantiated, but there can be no doubt about the great anti
quity of this language. It can be shown, that Gaelic is closely related to some
of the older languages, such as the Sanscrit, Hebrew, Greek and Latin.
In the course of time this language underwent many changes, as all un
written languages have done.

We have several dialects of the Celtic tongue at the present time in
Britain, we have the Welsh, the Manx and the Erse, or Irish, as well as the
Scottish gaelic; but all have grown from the one common stock in the course
of the centuries. Of course we hold to the fond conceit, that the Scottish
Gaelic is the oldest and purest of these different dialects. It is now stand
ardized for all time by a very considerable literature, but more especially
by the publication of the Holy Scriptures in gaelic in the year 1826.

Similarly, the English language was standardized by the publication
of King James version of the old and New Testament Scriptures in the
year 1611 A.D.

The first book that was printed in the Scottish Gaelic was a vocabulary
or list of words, prepared by one Alexander McDonald, a school teacher in
Moidart in the year 1741. Mr. McDonald also published the first original
poem in Gaelic under the title of: Ais-eiridh na Seann Chanain Albannaich.

The first translation of the scriptures into Scottish Gaelic was made in
the year 1766, by the Rev. James Stewart of Killin with the assistance of
McDougald Buchanan. This translation consisted of the New Testament

275

only. It was published by the Society for Propagating knowledge in the
following year.

A translation of the old Testament into gaelic was made by Dr. Stew
art of Luss and Dr. Smith of Campbellton between 1783 and 1807. It was
published in the latter year. Subsequently these translations were revised
and the whole Bible was printed, as we have it now, in the year 1826, by
the Scottish Bible Society.

The golden age of gaelic poetry did not arrive until after the year 1745.
"The Beauties of Gaelic Poetry" was published 1841. This book is a col
lection of the best poems in the gaelic language. It contains the best
poems of about forty composers, the very cream of the Celtic boards of
Scotland.

There was little, if any, prose literature published in the gaelic before
the middle of the eighteenth century. Since that time, a number of
English books of a religious character have been translated into gaelic and
published by Societies, interested in the welfare of the people of the high
lands and islands of Scotland. These translations include for example
Bunyan's Pilgrims Progress, Doddridge's Rise and Progress, Boston's
Fourfold State and Alleine's Alarm.

Of original prose works in the gaelic, we have very little. There is a
history of the "Forty Five" by John McKenzie, author of the Beauties of
Gaelic Poetry, first published in 1845 and republished in 1906.

We have also "Caraid nan Gaedheal" by the Rev. Norman McLeod
D.D. The latest edition of this work was issued in 1910. It contains "The
most accurately printed specimens of the language, which have hitherto
been issued, and it contains a rich store of indomatic gaelic?"

It must be admitted, however, sorrowfully, that the gaelic is a decadent
language in Scotland as well as in Canada. Desperate efforts have been
made from time to time, at home and abroad to stimulate its use and keep
it alive, but these efforts have not been attended with very great success.
The English language, is evidently crowding the gaelic language, steadily
and persistently into a smaller and still smaller space, in our own island.

Its use in the homes of our people is decreasing and the demand for
gaelic speaking ministers is decreasing.

Our Celtic ancestors were pagans, when the curtain of history was
lifted over the British islands, at the beginning of the Christian era, and
they continued to be pagans for a number of Centuries thereafter. The
religion of Jesus Christ reached the lowlands of Scotland about the begin
ning of the third century. How it came, we cannot tell. It may have been
by Roman soldiers who had learned of a Saviour in Italy. It may have been
by means of sailors, trading between Scotland and ports on the Mediter
ranean sea. It may have been by missionaries of the cross who had
found their way to this distant part of the Roman Empire. In any case,
by the end of the third century, there were a few Christian churches on the
banks of the Clyde and these churches suffered persecution during the reign

276

of Diocletian, the Roman Emperor. At Bonaventure, now Kilpatrick,
near Dumbarton, there was born of Christian parents, in the year 372
A.D. a child that was named Sucat. This child subsequently became
known as St. Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland.

When sixteen years of age, Sucat was kidnapped by Irish pirates, and
taken to Ireland where he was sold as a slave. During his captivity he
thought seriously of the Christian instruction which he received in his early
home and as a result he was converted to .faith in Christ as His Saviour.
After six years in Ireland, he escaped from his master and returned to his
native place. Some years later he went back to Ireland as a missionary and
spent the remainder of his life there as a preacher of the gospel. He died
in461.

As the lowlands of Scotland gave St. Patrick to Ireland, so a number of
years later, Ireland gave St. Columba to the western islands and the high
lands of Scotland. It was in the year 565 that Columba landed at lona,
Argyleshire, with twelve like minded followers, in order to evangelize the
pagan Celts of the Scottish islands and highlands.

Druidism was then the religion of that people. From lona, as a centre,
Columba and his disciples travelled all over that north country on their
mission of love mercy and grace. Nor did they labor in vain. Through
their preaching and teaching, multitudes renounced paganism and em
braced Christianity. Bruide, the King of the Picts, whose castle was at
Craig Phadric, near Inverness, was converted and through his influence the
stronghold of paganism in the highlands was surrendered and Christianity
became, nominally the religion of a large portion of Scotland.

The character of the Christianity that Columba; his disciples and suc
cessors disseminated in Scotland, during the next five hundred years, may
be gathered from the following extracts from Dr. Merle D'Aubigne's
history of the Reformation." A school of theology was founded there
(lona) in which the word of God was studied, and many received through
faith the salvation which is in Christ Jesus." "The judical sacerdotal
ism, which was beginning to extend in the Christian church found no
support in lona. They had forms, but not to them did they look for life
It was the Holy Ghost, Columba maintained, that made a servant of God.
When the youth of Caledonia assembled around the elders, on these savage
shores, or in their humble chapel, these ministers of the Lord would say
to them: The Holy Scriptures are the only rule of faith. Throw aside
all merit of works and look for salvation to the grace of God alone. Beware
of a religion which consists of outward observances. It is better to keep
your hearts pure before God than to abstain from meats. One alone is
your head, even Jesus Christ. Bishops and Presbyters (or elders) are
equal. They should be the husbands of one wife and have their children
in subjection, "The sages of lona knew nothing of transubstantiation,
or of the withdrawal of the cup in the Lord's Supper, or of auricular con
fession, or prayers for the dead, or tapers, or incense." "Synodal assemblies
regulated the affairs of the church, and the papal supremacy was

277

unknown. The sun of the gospel shone upon these wild and distant
shores."

The testimony of another historian, Rev. K. McDonald, is to the
same purpose. He says Columba founded a monastery in lona, or more
correctly speaking, a theological institution. It was not a monastery in
the modern sense of the term. Columba and his associates were mission
aries. Their work was to make arrangements for spreading the know
ledge of the truth among their fellow men. They studied the doctrines
of Salvation for the sake of their fellow-creatures, as well as for themselves.
Students from Caledonia were attracted to the institution and they proved
to be apt scholars. After a course of training they were licensed and or
dained for missionary work in the true Presbyterian form. There was no
mixture of Romanism and Ritualism in their ecclesiastical proceedings.
At that date a true Presbyterian Church existed among our Gaelic speaking
people."

Columba died in the year 597 and was buried at lona, where his grave
may be seen at this day, but his work was carried on by faithful disciples,
Baithean, Coinneach, Ciaran, Donnan, Malruba and others.

Malruba founded a monistary or theological seminary similar to the
one at lona, at Applecross Rosshirein the year 673 and from that place as
a missionary centre, he labored in the districts of Lochcarron and Lochbroom
also on Skye and other islands of the Hebrides. To quote Mr. McDonald
again "The Culdee Church in the highlands refused to the end, to come
under the jurisdiction of the church of Rome. Nectan, the Pictish King,
in his misguided zeal drove them out of his dominions in the year 717, but
he failed to extinguish them. They were active in some parts of the north
and north west Highlands for upwards of four centuries after that date.

We can trace them in Applecross up to the fourteenth Century and we
find them there at that late period in undisturbed possession of their
rights and privileges." Mr. McDonald says farther, "Prelacy was
established by King David in 1124 and this was followed by the suppres
sion of Prebtyerianism. We are not to suppose, however, that the Culdees
disappeared as preachers of the gospel. They maintained their own tenets
and they had their followers among the people. When driven from the
more public places of the south, they found shelter in the highlands and
they were permitted to carry on the good work among some devoted people,
in some places up to the time of the reformation. I do not mean to speak
in detail of the successive stages through which the Church
in Scotland had passed, during the centuries that intervened be
tween David and the reformation. Generally speaking, as popery advanc
ed, the religious life of the nation was ebbing away. The preaching of the
gospel was neglected. The bishops were ignorant of the doctrines of
free grace. They were zealous enough about such matters as shaving the
crown of the head and observing Easter after the Romish fashion, but they
paid no heed to the needs of immortal souls." "If any one had the courage,
to lift his voice against the errors of his day, he did so at the cost of his life.
Pope, Bishop and King all combined to keep the light of life away from

278

Scotland. Matters went on from one decade to another in this fashion,
till the darkness and the wickedness of the time began to be felt by the
nation." "The good seed sown by the Culdees brought forth fruit which
then appeared in the number of people who were ready for the reformation
when the Lord raised up men to lead them."

"Relief came at last. An act of Parliament which abrogated the papal
jurisdiction was passed in the year 1560. In consequence of this the Presby
terian Church was set free from the tramels of popery and prelacy, and she
was permitted to exist according to scriptural arrangement to which the
Scottish people have ever been so strongly attached. This state of things
continued for about a century, till Charles the Second, the deceitful man
he was, made another attempt to restore prelacy and extinquish Presby-
terianism. This was in 1660. The scenes that followed are well known to
readers of Church history, and certainly they are not creditable to king or
prelate. Some of the best men of the nation, who were the very salt of the
earth, were summarily condemned to be burnt or executed, for no other
reason than that they dared to obey God rather than man. For long twenty
eight years, matters went on in that troublesome manner till the Revolution
Settlement in 1688 restored to the people of Scotland the rights and privi
leges for which they contended."

We, the Presbyterians of Cape Breton are the heirs of these blood
bought rights and privileges and we ought to appreciate them at their real
worth, preserve them at any cost, and hand them down to our children and
to future generations without any diminution in quantity or quality.

279

Men And Women who Have Gone From Cape Breton, To One Or
Other Of Our Foreign Mission Fields

After the preceding chapters had been in the hands of the printer, it
occurred to the writer that he should add a chapter on the Missionaries that
have gone to heathen lands from Cape Breton and also insert cuts of as
many of these missionaries as might be obtainable within a few weeks.

If cuts of all our Missionaries do not appear and if sketches of them are
meagre, the reader will be kind enough to recognize that this defect is due
to the short time at the writers disposal till the work must go to press.

Nine missionaries in all, have gone from Cape Breton to the Foreign
Field, six men and three women. The men were Reverends, Donald
Morrison, William J. McKenzie, J. Fraser Campbell, Duncan M. McRae,
J. C. McDonald and H. F. Kemp. The women were Mrs. D. M. McRae,
Mrs. E. J. 0. Fraser and Miss Maude J. McKinnon. Possibly the names
of Mrs. R. B. Layton and Mrs. C. G. Gumming should be added.

The Rev. Donald Morrison was born at West Bay Points, in July 1828
By private tuition at the hands of his pastor, the Rev. Murdoch Stewart,
he was fitted to teach school and also to enter the Free Church Academy
Halifax. He graduated from the Free Church College Halifax, in the spring
of 1860. He was ordained and inducted at Strathalbyn, P. E. Island, in
the following summer. In the month of March 1862, he resigned this
charge in order to go to the New Hebrides, as a missionary. On Oct. the
22, 1863 he sailed for that distant field, aboard the "Dayspring," arrived
on the 5th of June 1864 and was settled on the island of Fate on the 5th of
August.

But, he had hardly acquired the language of the natives before his
health failed and he had to leave for New Zealand, where he died, on the
23 of October 1869.

The Rev. Wm. J. McKenzie was born at West Bay, on the 15th of
July 1861. He taught school in his native place when only fourteen years
of age. After studying at Pictou Academy, he entered Dalhousie Univer
sity, from which he graduated with an M.A. in 1888. Entering the Pres
byterian College, in 1889, he graduated in 1891. He labored as mis
sionary on the bleak coast of Labrador, from May 1888 to Oct. 1889.

After a short pastorate at Lower Stewiacke, he spent a year in the
study of medicine with a view to missionary work in Korea. The Presby
terian Church had no mission in that part of the world at that time, but
the women of the church supplied the funds and Mr. McKenzie left Nova
Scotia for Korea in the autumn of 1893.

In Feb'y 1894 he began his work at Sorai, and by the end of June, he
had gathered a group of converts and built a church. But death ended his
life and work, on June the 24th 1895. No more consecrated missionary
than Mr. McKenzie ever lived or died in the service of Jesus Christ*

280

The Rev. J. Fraser Campbell was a native of Baddeck. He studied
for the gospel ministry in the University of Glasgow, between 1863 and
1871. After graduation he returned to Nova Scotia and was settled in
1872 as minister of Richmond and Northwest Arm, a Kirk congregation in
Halifax County.

In 1874 he offered his services to his church as a missionary to India
and was accepted. In 1876 Mr. Campbell reached Madras. Subsequent
ly, he labored in Mhow and later still in Rutlam, Province of Indore, where
he remained until 1820 when he resigned after spending forty-five years in
India.

The Rev. Duncan M. McRae was born in Baddeck. He studied at
the Baddeck and Pictou Academies. He matriculated into Dalhousie
University in the anthem of 1891, and graduated in 1895 He studied
theology in the Presbyterian College, and graduated in the Spring of 1898.
By this time the synod of our church had taken up missionary work in
Korea and Messrs W. R. Foote and Robert Grierson were under appoint
ment to that new field. Mr. McRae went to Korea in the autumn of 1898
under the auspices of the students missionary Society of the College. That
society undertook to support Mr. McRae for two years. With the excep
tion of a couple of furloughs, Mr. McRae has been in Korea ever since. He
resigned at the end of last year and is now on his way back to Cape Breton.

Mrs. McRae was also a native of Cape Breton. Her birth place was
Port Hastings. As Mr. McRae's wife she rendered excellent service in
North Korea.

The Rev. J. C. McDonald was born in Sydney and grew up in connec
tion with St. Andrew's Church there. He studied for the ministry in the
Sydney Academy, Dalhousie University and the Presbyterian College.
Mr. McDonald went to San Fernando, Trindad in the year, 1914. He is
there still and doing excellent work.

Miss Maude J. McKinnon was also born in Sydney C. B., and in con
nection with St. Andrew's Church. After graduating from Sydney Acad
emy, she took a course in Business College. Subsequently she became a
graduate nurse of St. Joseph's Hospital. She also took a course in a Bible
Training School in New York.

She was designated to North Korea as Missionary and trained nurse,
in Sept. 1914. After serving as superior of Native Nurses, in Korea and
Manchuria, for nearly five years, her health failed and she returned for
rest, and treatment, with the intention of resuming the work among the
Koreans.

281

The Rev. H. F. Kemp, B.A., was born in L'Archeveque, Richmond
County. He is a graduate of Dalhousie University and the Presbyterian
College Halifax. He went to Trinidad in the year 1913 and he labored in
the San Fernando district there until June 1920.

Mrs. Fraser is the wife of Rev. E. J. 0. Fraser of Wonsan in North
Korea. She was born in Pleasant Bay, Inverness County. As Mr.
Fraser's wife she has been helping to evangelize the Koreans since the year
1914.

282

MISSIONARIES

MRS. D. M. McRAE AND MR. MoRAE,
Missionaries to Korea.

REV. J. c. MCDONALD,

Missionary, Trinidad.

REV. H. F. KEMP,
Missionary, Trinidad.

MISS MAUD J. McKINNON,
Missionary to Korea.

MISSIONARIES

THE LATE REV. DONALD MORRISON,
Missionary to the New Hebrides.

1

REV. WM. J. McKENZIE,
Missionary, Korea.

REV. J. FRASER CAMPBELL,

Missionary, India.

REV. DUNCAN M. McRAE,
Missionary to Korea.

fO

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