Appendix C. The Clergy

The history of Richmond Hill's churches and their ministers is closely entwined with the history of Richmond Hill itself.

Although the officially recognized church of Upper Canada was the Church of England, religious life in Richmond Hill revolved around the Methodists and Presbyterians for most of the first half of the 19th century.

The Methodists

Yonge Street Circuit

The Yonge Street circuit riders spread the word of Methodism to the community from 1803, meeting in members' homes or the open air until the Presbyterians offered to share their accommodation in the 1820s.

Date	Minister
1803	Bangs, Nathan
1807	Prindle, Andrew
1808	Perry, Robert
1809	Reynolds, John
1810	Lockwood, Joseph
1811	Prindle, Andrew
1812	Gatchell, Joseph
1815	Rhodes, John
1817	Culp, David
1818	Jackson, James &
	Youmans, David (west)
	Rundle, William (east)
1819	Youmans, David
	Culp, David (assistant)
1820	Pearl, J. G. (west)
	Demorset, T. (east)
	Youmans, David (assistant)
1821	Culp, David
1822	Shepherdson, Daniel &
	Ryerson, John (west)
	Slater, William (east)
1824	Williams, William H. (west)
	Atwood, Joseph (east)
1826	Ryerson, William
	Beatty, John (assistant)
1827	Wilson, James
	Beatty, John (assistant)
1829	Youmans, David "now elderly"
	unnamed assistant who "fell into some trouble"
1834	Stoney, Edmund (west)
	Williston, John (east)
1835	Beatty, John (west)
	Mulkins, H. (east)
1839	Campbell, Robert
1840	Bevitt, Thomas (west)
	Hutchinson, James (east)
	Wilson, James "Superan" (assistant)
	Culham, John "Supernum" (assistant)
1852	Jones, Richard (west)
	Blackstock, William S. (east)

Richmond Hill Methodist Church

In 1846, the congregation undertook to build their own Wesleyan Methodist chapel on the east side of Yonge Street, south of Centre Street. This church was served by Robert Campbell until 1860, after which a series of ministers oversaw the needs of the congregation for a decade. During this period, a manse was built on Centre Street East, perhaps to persuade their ministers to put down roots for a while.

However, the preachers continued to move on every 2 or 3 years until the turn of the century, when the average term became 4 years.

Date	Minister
1847	Campbell, Robert
1860	Willoughby, William
1861	Wilkinson, H.
1862	Webber, Edwin
1863	Ferguson, T. A.
1865	Bathick, Nathaniel
1868	Bredin, John
1871	Fish, Charles
1873	Goff, E. F.
1874	Hunt, John
1875	Dundas, Rev. Mr.
1875 - 1877	Starr, J. H.
1875 - 1876	Brown, A. (assistant)
1876 - 1877	Howson, W. G. (assistant)
1877 - 1880	McCallum, J.W.
	Pickering, John (assistant)
1880 - 1882	Addison, Peter
1882 - 1883	Barkwell, J. W.
1884	Betts, J. E.
	Starr, J. H. (assistant)
1884 - 1885	Booth, W. B.
	Barker, William R. (assistant)
1886	Leonard, T.
	Wilson, W. R. (assistant)
1887	Rutledge, G. N.
1888 -1889	Simpson, J. M.
1890	Morris, T.
1890 - 1893	Speer, James C.
1890	Gardner, J. (assistant)
1891	Oliver, J. H. (assistant)
1892	Dean, S. W. (assistant)
1893 - 1896	Vickery, John
	Paul, A. J. (assistant)
1896 - 1898	McCullough, George
1896 - 1897	Powell, Gideon L. (assistant)
1898	Sanderson, A. R. (assistant)
1898	Large, R. S. E.
1899 - 1902	Wellwood, Nathaniel
1889 - 1900	More, J. H. (assistant)
1901 - 1902	Peacock, Percy M. (assistant)
1902 - 1906	Campbell, Thomas
1902 - 1904	Smith, William G. (assistant)
1904 - 1906	Irwin, W. S.
1906 - 1910	Brace, A. Philip
1906 - 1908	Toye, H. E. (assistant)
1908 - 1910	Trench, W. (assistant)
1910 - 1914	Smith, G. Sydney
	Rowe, A. (assistant)
1914 - 1918	Aikenhead, J. R.
1918 - 1922	McNeil, A.
1922 - 1925	Warren, H. S.
1925 - 1929	Wall, A. A.
	McIntosh, J. W. (assistant)
1929 - 1934	Coulter, G. E.

A number of names have been attributed to having served the Richmond Hill Methodist congregation but no dates are available for them.

Hughes, J.	Warner, L.
Mesmore, Mr.	Jones, Benjamin
Cunningham, Mr.	Corson, Mr.
Fawcett, Mr.	Ware, Mr.
Brown, G. T.	Squires, Mr.

Those of whom photos are available must have served sometime after the late 1850s or later, when photography was available locally.

Stephenson, Mr.	Dean, H.
Rose, Samuel	Jeffers, Wellington
Jones, R.	Sanders, J. L.
Hunter, S. J.	Ryckman, E. B.
Garbutt, Mr.

Headford Methodist Church

The Headford area was served by the Markham circuit from 1849, meeting in a small frame building known as Leek's Chapel until the brick church was built in 1882.

The Markham Circuit

Date	Minister
1849 - 1850	Jones, Appleton
1851 - 1853	Sutton, William
1853 - 1854	Crossfield, George,
	and local preachers
	Cunningham, J.
	Forsyth, J.
	Gilray, James
	Cobbit, T.
1855 - 1856	Lawrence, G.
1857 - 1859	Cascadden, D.
1859 - 1860	Miller, G.
1860 - 1861	Fraser, C. W.
	Hartley, G. (assistant)
1861 - 1862	Benson, W.
	Hiscocks, J. (assistant)
1862 - 1863	Lyman, B.
	Benson, W. (assistant)
1864 - 1865	Lake, C. E.
	Glover, T. E. (assistant)
1865 - 1866	Wilson, J.
	Watt, E. G. (assistant)
1866 - 1867	Pomeroy, D.
1867 - 1868	Ormerod, J.
1868 - 1870	Morrison, S.
1871 - 1872	Watts, J. H.
1873 - 1874	Scott, N. E.
1875 - 1877	Byam, G.
1878	Bennett, G.
1878 - 1879	Taylor, Charles
1881 - 1882	Pimlott, William
1883 - 1884	Scott, N. E.

In 1884, the Headford church was supplied by the Richmond Hill circuit (see Richmond Hill Methodist Church, 1885 to 1921) until it became part of the Richvale charge in 1922.

Richvale Charge

Date	Minister
1922 - 1923	Warren, H.
	Smith, J. Lavelle (assistant)
1923 - 1924	Smith, Waldo
1924 - 1925	Kell, Jack C.
1926 - 1927	Fox, Reverend Mr.
1927 -1932	Lunau, Austin E.

Temperanceville Methodist Church

The Yonge Street circuit also served the congregation at Love's Corners (later Temperanceville) from about 1809 to 1834, probably in the Love's home and then later in a log cabin. In 1834, the ministers were supplied by the Newmarket Circuit. It was during this period, in 1854 under Reverend W. Willoughby, that a brick church was built about 30 feet east of the present building.

(See Yonge Street Circuit, 1803 to 1834.)

Newmarket Circuit

Date	Minister
1834 - 1835	Corson, Robert
	Fawcett, Thomas (assistant)
1835 - 1854	Unknown
1854	McDonagh, William
1854 - 1855	Willoughby, William
1855	Clarke, John S.
1856	McCallum, J. W.
	Hill, William
	Hunter, W. J.
1857 - 1858	Campbell, A. R.
	McFadden, William (assistant)
1859	McFadden, William
	Potts, John (assistant)
	Scott, John (assistant)
1860 - 1861	Meachman, George M.
	Creighton, Kennedy (assistant)
1862	Creighton, Kennedy
	Feather, Thomas (assistant)
1863 - 1864	Bell, Thomas
	Shepley, Joseph (assistant)
1865	Shepley, Joseph
	Will, P. D. (assistant)
1866 - 1868	Shaw, John
1866	Colling, Joseph (assistant)
1867	Chambers, Andrew B. (assistant)
1868	Cunnington, A. (assistant)
1868	Woodsworth, Richard W.

In 1869 the Aurora Circuit was assigned to serve the Temperanceville church, and then in 1888 yet another change was made, with the congregation coming under the jurisdiction of the Temperanceville Circuit.

Aurora Circuit

Date	Minister
1869	Cattanach, Daniel
1869 - 1871	Hunt, John
	Mills, William (assistant)
1871	Lancely, John E.
	McIntyre, George (assistant)
1872 - 1874	Barrass, Edward
1872 - 1873	Pickering, John (assistant)
1873 - 1874	Stephenson, John C. (assistant)
1874 - 1876	Bishop, G. H.
	Shuttleworth, James (assistant)
1877 - 1879	Gee, Daniel E.
1877 - 1878	Madden, William H. (assistant)
	Wass, Jabez (assistant)
1879	Langford, Charles
1880 - 1881	Keam, Frank
	Howell, Jacob E. (assistant)
1882	Howell, Jacob E.
	Bacon, William (assistant)
1883 - 1884	Sanderson, Joseph E.
	Wilkinson, James W. (assistant)
1884 - 1886	Savage, J. W.
1884 - 1885	Phelps, Leonard (assistant)
1885 - 1886	Chapman, J. A. (assistant)
1886	Rankin, J. A.
1887	Idle, D.

Temperanceville Circuit

Date	Minister
1888 - 1890	McDowell, Henry
1891 - 1893	Roach, W. R.
1894 - 1895	Scott, Thomas G.
1896 - 1898	Lee, Herbert
1899 - 1900	Strachan, Richard
1901 - 1902	Brown, William P.
1903 - 1906	Stonehouse, James H.
1907 - 1910	Madden, William H.
1911 - 1914	Learoyd, William H.
1915 - 1918	Scott, Thomas
1919 - 1922	Fox, J. Wesley
1923 - 1929	White, Thomas R.
1930 - 1936	Lynd, Garnet Watson

In 1897 the cold and uncomfortable congregation, meeting in a decaying church, elected to erect a new brick church to better serve their spiritual and community needs.

The Presbyterians

The Richmond Hill Presbyterian Church

The Presbyterian congregation was the first to have its own church building in Richmond Hill. The first service was held in 1817, by William Jenkins, but it was not until 1821 that the Presbyterians were able to meet in their new frame church. Reverend Jenkins continued to serve the spiritual needs of his congregation until 1843.

Date	Minister
1817 - 1843	Jenkins, William
1845 - 1849	Scott,Walter
1849 - 1877	Dick, James
1877 - 1884	Campbell, Isaac
1884 - 1887	Cameron, J. W.
1887 - 1894	Percival, W. Webb
1894 - 1909	Grant, James A.
1909 - 1913	Currie, Edward C.
1914 - 1918	Herbison, Robert
1919 - 1923	Hay, W. M.
1924 - 1925	McIntosh, J. W.
1926 - 1927	Campbell, M. C.
1928 - 1929	Mullin, Charles A.
1929 - 1933	Marshall, David

The Anglicans

St. Mary's Anglican Church

The Church of England parish for the Richmond Hill area was established at Thornhill in 1815 under the guidance of the master and students of Upper Canada College. Isaac Fidler took over for a year, but he and his wife did not find Upper Canada to their liking. George Mortimer was then appointed to the charge until 1844, assisted by Adam Townley for the first year.

In 1844, Richmond Hill residents established their own congregation but continued to meet in Thornhill until Dr. John Duncumb offered the use of his hall about 1863. In 1872 the congregation proudly dedicated their new church building on the west side of Yonge Street, just north of what is now Major Mackenzie Drive.

Census records list adherents of this congregation variously as Church of England, English Church, or Episcopalian. In more recent times the congregation has become known as Anglican.

Thornhill congregation

Date	Reverend
1815 - 1822	Masters and students, Upper Canada College
1832 - 1833	Fidler, Isaac
1833 - 1834	Mortimer, George
1833 - 1834	Townley, Adam (assistant)

Richmond Hill congregation

Date	Reverend
1844 - 1859	Blake, Dominic E.
1859 - 1863	Dewar, Edward H.
1863 - 1872	Shanklin, Robert

St. Mary's Anglican

Date	Reverend
1872 - 1882	Shanklin, Robert
1872 - 1877	Carryl, John (assistant)
1883 - 1889	Bates, William Wheatley
1883 - 1898	Jupp, William
1899 - 1912	Gibson, John
1913 - 1918	Lawrence, Samuel Albert
1915 - 1920	Haughton, Thomas Reginald (assistant)
1918 - 1922	McDonald, Joseph William
1920 - 1921	Buchlee, Thomas William (assistant)
1922 - 1928	Battersby, Herbert Francis
1928 - 1929	Eakins, Clarence Gray
1929 - 1936	Secrett, Claude

St. John's Anglican Church

In 1848 under the Reverend Dominick E.Blake, a new congregation was established just south of Oak Ridges known as St. John's Anglican. The congregation met for a time in the old school house, but by 1851 were meeting in their own frame church building. Over the years the original structure has changed, eventually with the raising of the roof and the addition of a belfry with brick-cladding.

Date	Rector
1848 - 1857	Blake, Dominic E.
1857 - 1860	Beaven, J. J.
1860 - 1861	Stewart, H. W.
1862 - 1871	McCollum, J. N.
1871 - 1878	Fidler, Arthur John
1879 - 1880	Paterson, C. W.
1880 - 1882	no resident rector
1882 - 1900	Mussen, E. H.
1900 - 1912	Kirkby, L. H.
1912 - 1917	Despard, D. S.
1917 - 1930	Soanes, Percy Renaud
1917 - 1930	Worrall, E. W. G. (assistant)
1930 - 1936	Wrixon, W. F.

The Roman Catholics

The Roman Catholic Church was the first to minister to the needs of its adherents in the Richmond Hill area. The French ‚migr‚s who settled at Windham, near Oak Ridges, had occasional masses said by Reverend Edmund Burke, Vicar General. However the ‚migr‚s soon returned to France or settled in more populated areas.

It was not until 1830 that Catholics in Richmond Hill had regular masses under Father Edward Gordon. In 1857 they built a frame church on the north side of Mill Street, which served their needs until a new church was built on Yonge Street north of Dunlop in 1894.

Windham (Oak Ridges)

Date	Priest
1797 - 1805	Burke, Rt. Reverend Edmund
	Vicar General (occasional masses only)

Richmond Hill

Date	Priest
1830 - 1840	Gordon, Father Edward
1840 - 1852	Proulx, Father
1852 - 1858	McNulty, Father
1858 - 1860	Griffa, Reverend Lewis
No dates available	Rey, Father
	Gribbin, Father
	Morris, Father
	Finan, Father
1871 - 1875	Cassidy, Father
No dates available	Beausang, Father
	McGinley, Father
	Egan, Father
1893 - 1907	McMahon, Father Patrick
No date available	Grant, Father
1913 - 1930	Kelly, Reverend Edward

The Mennonites

The Mennonites had a much less structured approach to meeting their spiritual needs. The local deacons and elders played an important part in the religious life of their community. Meetings were often held in members' homes.

Clergy 1830 - 1883

Elders	Deacons
Baker, Peter	Doner, John
Baker, John	Heise, Christian
Baker, Jonathan, Sr.	Heise, Christopher
Baker, Samuel	Heise, Jacob
Cober, Peter	Heise, John, Sr.
Doner, John	Heise, John W.
Elliott, Fred	Lehman, David
Eyer, John	Steckley, Daniel
Heise, Daniel
Heise, Henry	Ministers
Heise, Jacob	Baker, Samuel
Holm, Peter	Byer, John J.
Hoover, Christian	Doner, Samuel
Horner, Emmanuel	Doner, T.S.
Snider, Samuel	Hoover, Christian
Steckley, Christian, Sr.	Snider, Samuel
Steckley, Peter

For more information on all Richmond Hill occupations, please consult the local historical collection at the Central Branch of the Richmond Hill Public Library.

Copyright © Richmond Hill Public Library Board, 1991