Churches of the Parish of New Bandon, Gloucester County
By Wilma Murphy
The Parish of New Bandon, Gloucester County encompasses the region from Teaques Brook to Maisonette. The area studied here consists of the area between Teaques Brook and Pokeshaw – including the communities of Janeville, Clifton, Stonehaven, New Bandon and Canobie.
Attention to scripture and bible reading was very important and a daily event in the home for most families. The earliest record of a church in the parish of New Bandon was in a report of Rev George Best, Ecclesiastical Commissary for New Brunswick, written in 1825. The following is part of that report:
“There are two settlements in the Parish of Saumarez, the County of Northumberland1, called New Bandon and Innishannon which demand more than common notice, both from the rising importance and their anxiety for religious instruction. These settlements … are entirely peopled by Irish Protestants who are represented, in spite of disadvantages under which they have laboured, to be an industrious and exemplary set of people … About eight years ago (1816), Francis Ellis began the clearing and through his representations to his friends in Ireland, nearly all the rest who are settled there have been induced to immigrate thither and now amount to 147 persons, all of whom, save in one instance, are related to each other. They have no Protestant place of worship within 20 miles of the centre of their little colony and never appear to have been visited by a clergyman but once, which occurred about 18 months ago when Rev. Mr. Studdard from Gaspé baptized a number of their children and administered the sacrament. … These people assemble themselves together every Sabbath and read the Church Service in the morning and hold a sort of Methodist Meeting in the evening. They express great anxiety for a clergyman to be sent amongst them to whom they could look up to, not for spiritual instruction alone but for the education of their children, and they mean to make application to that effect.”
In the early church, because there was no clergyman, members of the congregation would lead the service. Also, the session had the right to administer discipline to any member of the congregation and was often called to admonish members of the church who had strayed from the straight and narrow. If the occasion warranted, a person would be admonished from the pulpit on Sunday morning, and unsettled personal disagreements between members of the congregation resulted in immediate loss of membership. Long periods would pass without seeing any clergy. When a clergyman did visit, people of other denominations would come for the Sacrament. Some even changed religion for this purpose.
Map of New Bandon Parish Communities
The Churches in New Bandon
The first church to be built in this “downshore” region was the Presbyterian Church in New Bandon. In 1830, Richard and Martha Dawson as well as Henry Smith deeded land to John Richie, Charles Bateman and others for a church, burying ground and a schoolhouse. This church building, built in 1830, served the community for a good many years. Although this church is no longer there, the cemetery is still there. In 1884 a committee was appointed to build another church and it was decided that the new church would be constructed halfway between the communities of New Bandon and Clifton. William Jennings gave the land in Stonehaven. Work on the building began in 1884 and some of the volunteers were William Jennings, Howard Good, John Breckenridge, Telemachus Rodgers, Wallace Daley, Henry Scott, James Scott, Francis Robinson, Thomas Knowles, Francis Scott and John Daley. Work was completed in 1889.
The Methodist Church
In 1838, the Methodist Circuit was known as the Bathurst – New Bandon Circuit. The church was in Bathurst and this ministry served the communities of Salmon Beach, Janeville, Clifton, Stonehaven and New Bandon.
In 1832, land owned by Richard and Jane Knowles was sold to Richard Dawson, Matthew Parrot, John Parrot and Joseph Bent for the purpose of building a chapel or house wherein to Preach and perform all acts of religious worship in New Bandon. This church served its members until 1882. The following were members of the trustee board: John Dempsey Sr., William Dempsey, Garrett Hodwell Jr., John Dempsey Jr., Samuel Hornibrook, Thomas Dempsey, Nathaniel Dempsey Jr., Garrett Hodnett Sr. and William James Daley – met in 182 to see if a new church was needed by the communities. The new church was erected in 1883 and the old building was sold to the Sons of Temperance for use as a Temperance Lodge. This church and graveyard are still in New Bandon.
The Churches in Clifton
When the Presbyterian Church was built in Stonehaven in 1884, it served the community of Clifton as well.
The Anglican Church
In 1825 the people of New Bandon and Innishannon began to consider the idea of building a church. In 1836 a church was constructed in Clifton, where the cemetery is today. Land was purchased from William Knowles to the Venerable Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. Finished in 1841, the church was consecrated by Bishop Inglis in 1843. This building served the congregation until 1901, but was replaced by another in 1886 – which was built across the highway. Shingles for the new church were hand-carved by Mrs. Fred Ellis (Gertrude Knowles) assisted by her sister, Mrs Temple Hornibrook (Thersa Knowles) and Mrs Knowles (Melinda Jagoe). This church was consecrated as Christ Church, Clifton in 1901. In 1917, the old church across the street was dismantled and the land became part of the graveyard. Christ Church is still in use today.
The Catholic Church
In Clifton, land was deeded in 1870 from James Murphy to the Roman Catholic Corporation of Chatham. Founded by Rev. William Morrisey, then the pastor of Holy Family parish in Bathurst in 1868, the Clifton mission was known as St. Colomban. It was founded at the same time as the parish of St Simon and St Jude in Grande-Anse. There were 15 families who attended this parish but the church is no longer standing. Records for this parish are now with the parish records in Grande-Anse.
Janeville
The Presbyterian Church in Janeville was built in 1890 on land deeded to John McEwan, James Morrison and Thomas Scott. It was purchased from Robert Caie. Today, this church is a Senior Citizens Club.
Canobie
Trinity Union Church
In the 1890’s, services in Canobie were held in the schoolhouse. Mr Hepworth (the husband of Kate Smith) encouraged the people of the community to erect a church building. In 1896 the land was deeded from Richard Ellis, a farmer, and his wife Alice, to Thomas H Smith, Walter Glendenning and Robert Sealy, all of Canobie. The church was erected on the corner of the Middle Canobie Road and used by the Presbyterian, Anglican and Methodist congregations. It became known as Trinity Union Church. Ministers from different denominations served the church on alternate Sundays. After Church Union in 1925 and the opening of the Central United Church in Clifton in 1961, the Trinity Union Church became an Anglican church. The building was sold and moved in 2007.
Salmon Beach
The Anglican Church
Located between Bathurst city limits and Janeville, this land was originally granted to French settlers. As early as 1827, land was granted to incoming Irish settlers. In the following years, lands were divided and sold to other Irish immigrants so that by the 1830s Salmon Beach was entirely English speaking and predominantly of Irish descent. Many of the present area residents can trace their ancestors back to these early settlers. Names such as Bateman, Norton, Watson, Willis, Egan, and Dempsey have disappeared in the last decade. However, other names such as Lidell, Ferguson, Flowers and Barry are long forgotten. Many of the residents were Anglican.
In 1827, Rev. D. G. Street reported to Bishop Medley that there was a great need for a church in Salmon Beach. Tied at the time to the Parish of Bathurst, worship was held at the Miller Brook School as early as 1870. The building of the church began in 1896 on land donated by Robert Miller and his wife Clara. There were many volunteers including John Miller and his two sons, John B and Franklin, John Norton Sr., Fred Buttimer, Robert Miller, and John Bateman and his sons, Arthur and Charles. Mrs. E. D. White donated the logs for the building. This church is still in use today and at the same location.
The Methodist Church
James Barry donated the land for the Methodist Church in Salmon Beach. It is not known when the first church was built but in 1832 there was a quarterly collection of eight shillings. Records show that there were 11 members in 1838. The present church was erected on land donated by Mr. Edmund Ellis. The cornerstone for this church was laid in 1903 and Rev. Mr. Goldsmith of Bathurst presided at the ceremony. Volunteers for the construction of the church were William and Abel Ellis, Augustus and Allen Buttimer, Lorne, Harvel and Milton White, Albert and Thomas Smith, Richard and Ernest Smith, T.J. and Leslie Smith, Archie Chapman, and George Willis. This church is still standing but today it is privately owned.
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[1] Now known as Gloucester County
Bibliography
______, Atlantic Canada Back Road Atlas, Oshawa, Peter Heiler Ltd, 2008
Hunter, Margaret M., Pioneer Settlers of the Bay Chaleur, Sackville, The Tribune Press, 1978.