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Bedeque United chili-elf

The iiistory of a Methodist iiireult in Prince Edward island

-Tracing its Roots in the Cultural, Educational and Commercial Fields of the Community.

Ill-ED.

0114mm. THREE ivontiuuedl

"on o» Johnstone vrrote. he “found minim: so mwh venting u money and good ministers." He mentioned i-iwii 0H W" pleasant occasion when visiting the home of David Murray at North Bedoque who was ruling elder iii the Presbyterian congregation and member of the House of Assembly. three Presbyterian ministers were persent: Mi. xen- of Malpeque, Mr. ivisoorezvr newly arrived from Scotland and shortly to be inducted as pest-or of Richmond Bey Mid Bedequs, srud Mr. Wilson of 5t. Andrews. N.B.. upon a preaching ex- cursion to the Island. He felt “very cc-rrifortable in their compo/nil’ and sold them small works of the celebrated writers, Fuller and Scott." Mil‘. Johnst-one was much impressed with Rev. John Keirs mental and moral qualifications but found liim of such a "weak frame that he had to strain hmiself to be heard." on the Sabbath.

‘llhe Methodists o1 the Island seldom lacked a lBflflOIl st sli their the sabbath so M.- Jolinstone noted because they c cent hcal preachers, and lie weitt on. "it must be -..»i..1i-~.~ver Mciiic-cints mound. vice and immorality are made iii a great measure lo liirle iilEii‘ iii-ad. and every man and woman LS taught to pra; Y

Leland Customs

Mr. Johnstone who was not a total abstainer himself, condemned the Island custom of drinking rum. delploring very inucli the fact that wen those “qm only a 5110.1 wgy to return from Sabbath worship must need "refresh" themselves at a tavern. The common charge at the mend Inns was six pence ~l0:1 for bed and one shilling i200) for supper, Not only the drinking habits of the settietra but their WhOlO bill of fare was frowned on by ti ‘ Scotzlsh traveller. He found. to his regret that the Lojralists were pa l l0 the culture of wheat. reckon- ing baa-lay and oats fit only‘ for p and horses-s great hermy to a Durnfries man-and that the tiiilis were geared for grinding wheat anti nothing else. Thus instead of a Scotch diet o! plenty of oatmeal poi‘- ridge for breakfast and supper and a noon meal of barley smi-p, moat and potatoes. Mr. Johnstone was offered at every meal Wheaten bread and butter. potatoes and tea lor coffee made from roasted gralnl with often at. the same meal cod~fish. herrings and poi-k.

He noted the women as being "uncommonly fruitful," dacseed mostly in homespun dz-uffles. stuffs and druggetts dyed blue, and more, “s. wife that is e good spinner. knittei- and sewer is a Bwli wqilisitiori here." The girls he thought ‘had nice figures but the roe‘! cheeks of North Britain lassies were never evident for which he blamed the tanning 6f the summer sun and the bleaching of ihe great fires in winter.

"The men." pert. tall and well made in their pen-sons. roving about. frolicim and drinking rum. ever make reslhr good farmers.

P. E. I. cart wheels in 182i were seldom shod and ploughing was done mostly with oxen. The horses. small and light seemed very hardly and. were used mostly for riding. The black horned-cattle common on the Island we're fed only vttloeat straw all winter supplemented with fit they got by foraging in the woods. litany of them appeared

he said. in alight-iv critical tones, “wore for the most but too fond of riding and eating fish and. fishing,” to

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Other travellers who utroto of their island. experiences in this period wen-e Englishmen and Irish-men of an itinerant ministry, whose mis- sionary society sponsored and. paid the missionary travellers in their wide field of labour and charged them. to "keep a Journal and send frequent and copious extracts without high colouring of facts” to the parent moiety. From these reports we have the earliest mention of Bedeque Methodist oivuroh. Mr. Fishpool writing of his year's stay et "It-yon and Bedeque (1317-1818) described it as the most fruitful of ms labours with "many dark zuLrids. enlightened and hard hearts soft- ened." M1". Strong‘; letter to the missionary Corriiiriittae written from Bedeque in 1818 told of hardships oi’ Island travel: bogged in a. svramp- lost at times for hours on lonely wood trails-and twice broken titrmgh the ice in winter with three fa ilhoriis. oi’ icy water bericathi-cii-ouit work "liioh demanded indeed a. Strong minister.

Dtrouilliflniouzziee

Theflrizdpsstes-oifiitierrince Oourliyoircirltwuceociewlier m came in 1819 and stayed two years. A return mblished in the Wesleyan Missionary reports for the yeaa- ending May 187.0 gives forty- six as the number of members at Tryon and Bcrleque with one hundred end thirty-two at Charlottetown. The nuriistei-‘s donation of one guinea to the Missionary Society was the only contribution from the circuit that year. Most of his annali stipend ivas a. grant from the mission board. ‘Tryon and Bedeque appeared in the list of foreign mission fields together with other circuits in Nova Scuiia. Africa. New Brunswick and India. Flor many years svuocreriiii‘: pastors in the circuit signed their names as Wesleyan Missionaries and for nearly forty years Bede~ Que continued to be listed as a foreign mission circuit in North Alm- ma. Those who do not believe in foreign missions must necessarily ewes iihet Prince Edward Island would have been better without her churches. because sli branches of the (llhristian Church on the Island were sewed by missionaries in the early days.

R/ewd. Thomas Payne came to Bedeque in 1811.1. He was a. little more methodical than his predecessors. starting a. baptismal and mar- riage register which sport from St. Paul's Anglican records st Chu- lottetowu. is the oldest Protestant one on the Island. Mr. Payne and iris wife Jane stayed at Nathaniel Wright's home which, like many time, had a spare room downstairs (generally off the parlor) known as the minister's room. Mr. Fishpcol. the first nrinlstor on the circuit. had stayed at Ti-voii. but all succeeding pastors lived at Bedeque; Mr. Strong and Mfr. Miller moving about from home to hon-re. Beginning however in 1820 (a date which may have marked the erection of a new home-later to be known as the Nconan Cottage) the minister and his family vvero the pennaiieiit free guests of the Wrights at Centreviiic. '

Baptismal Entries

Mr. Payne's bapusrns give a hint u to his circuit which bflended from Dcsable to Lririklettez-‘s shore. including New London on the north. Frequent entries in the first few years reveal names of the early Memo- dist families and of some who were not Methodist but who, like many of the pioneers. accepted baptism for their children from the nearest clergy. Campbell. Moyse. Price. sherran. hiacPhersen, Nicholson, Wilk- inson. Wright. Van Buskirk were naimes of Bedeque and vicinity rggl. dents, while the Tryon names included Dawson. Leeni, Ives, MseWii- llama. Hudson. Clark. Howat, Les. Gumbel. Bestty, Holland 1nd wood. Bentley and Cotton were typical oi New London, with Lanes, Lowthers fimiths snd Wilsons representing the early Crapeud families,

Rev. George Jackson, who succeeded Mr. Payne in i823, hm egnry. two Baptisms during his two year pastorate. New names in the records included Kiniey. Neider. Green, Hall. Chisholm, ‘Iumrbull. Downing ma others. Mr. Jackson thougfn small in staturelhad energy enough for two. e was in Bedeque but a short time when n. decided the Meliho- Qiots id have a preachers house. Nathaniel Wright. the father of Methodiem in Prince County, u-as failing and it did not seem fei: for the minister to continue to impose on the Wright's hospitality. M- aotdingiy in the spring of I824 a mnsli log house arose near the preo~ mt cemetery. and though bx- many years unfinished and unlurnietiod. it no from the etsrt. the Wesleyan Parsonage or Mission house end time the missionary lived.

During Mr. Jackson's pastorate a deed to the church property was itpvm up and registered. Joseph siiiiker and wife Jens, who lived nest‘ the present home of Mn. Joy Hayes end owned the Weodeiae property, ma m five shillings n» slow s mu more of freehold use directly out of lend then appropriated for s burying groimd. The

_ inrstnes in this typical Wesleyan Methodist deed were chsrked to hold the property in trust for the people celled Mefliodisu. Only htothodist preachers were to have use of the chapel and the presch- ei-s were to be conference appointees and to preach only from ‘Wesley's mm an the New Tommi-rt.

_ All me collected and received, so the deed went. on, we" r4 i» _ used in 6i in! d/ebte end testes on the promises end towsrb the

of the ptssohers. It. was directed thst there should be s len- te mssflng of trustees in the rmntn of my in each yes: at. which nestles the steward of mist monies should produce s else: sooouat. of e1‘: we one paid. iii the uiejerity of the mutees end lenders of: with the approval of conference, wished to dilutes of the

I Nmires. it. would be lwdui for the enutees to demo. sad s ms sirrplus to the erection of another re suitable ohepel in s. To in! vseencies on the trustee bos it wu provided that

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‘rue contours. crumwrrsrown

Annual Meeting - ' 0'i.eary Church

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The annual meetzni °l l3" Diary Dusters! charge of the United Church of Csneds consist- inl of Olreery, Bloomfield, Brae and West Devon was “eld on Jen. 16th in the Sunday School room of the Uheary Church. There was a good attendance and representatives were present from the four

ltiinistsr, Rev. warren G. Dickson. B. A. was Chairman g and the Recording Steward, Mr. Reginald MacAusiu was secretary. The Minister reported for the Session and said that there were 54 baptisms, five marriages and nine

on the pastdral charge as follows; 0‘l'..eery 80, Bloomfield 32, Brae 30 and west Devon 35. There were seventeen young people who united with the Church on profession of their tsltl-i in Chrllt and four more by certificates from other chur- ches.

Fred MacLeorl reported for the Brae congregaLoi-r. Tliey raised $511. for local church purposes which included the painting arid

salary, and lllaln-

for the lliinisters for the Missionary tenant-e Fund. cic Charles Moi-eshead reported for the West Devon congregation. They raised $158. for local expenses ‘ . to the liiinister‘: salary, $16.95 (or the M. 8e M. Filnd etc. Reginald MacAusland reported for the Bloomfield congregation. They raised a total of 1.949. and in addition plld $540. for the Minister's salary, $410. fon- the W. M. 5.. $436. for the Young Peoples Union, $180. for » the

amounts were given to the Chinese Relief Fund, Protestant Orphan-- age, Korea. a barrel of clothing to Labrador etc. Then the con- gregation raised in addition $1879. (which includes a ‘$1000. legacy from the late bliss Jane Bell) and they renovated the Bloomfield Church, bult a new room in the gallery. a new Choir room. a new Minister's roocn. s. new arch-way

installed a new’ furnace. This wonderful givings for only 32

gation.

0'l'..esry congregation. They raised $1,581.34 and in addition raised $488. for the W. M. 5., $358. for the M. A: M.. $351. for the Young Peoples Union, $230. for thq Indies Aid etc. besides giving substantial amounts to the Bible society. the Protestant Orphanage. Chinese Relief Fund. Korea etc. In ad- dition a new furnace was installed in the O’Leary Church.

The allocation for the Mission- ary and Maintenance Fund for the pastoral charge is high, $555. but the different congregations raised their assessments.

Tribute was paid by the Minister to Mi‘. A. J lllatliesorfs long and faithful service of 30 yEES as the treasurer of the OLeary congre- gation and to his 50 years of de- voted service as the supr, oi the

an enrolment of 65. and is one of the largest in Prince county; The

stion for Bloomfield and Brae Sunday Schools under the leader- ship of Mr. John R. Dignsn and Ma's. Ivv MacFarlyeii respectively. and spoke appreciably of the new Sunday School organized at West; Devon with Iii‘. Charles Mei-es- head as Superintendent.

The O‘Leary_ Mission Band under the consecrated learlerrllip of Miss Eva J. .\I:rcLcnnan and Mrs. Louis Bernard won the Certificate for ilie tenth Consecutive year and the Gold Star. The C, G, I. T, Lt, Oiseary is the only such group between Tlgriish and Summerside and do fiie work. The leader ls Mrs. W. G. Dickson. The President

member of the O'Leary Adele MacAuriend end the Vice- Prel. lest year was a mcrrnbei- of the local group. Helen Sheifoon. The O‘Leary Trail Rangers iinrier ihe leadership of the Minister won their "Certificate of Recognition" this year. Many of the pupil; of Bloomfield sunday school Won iiiiilomas for memorizing their catechism and taking s temperance course.

Errol 3teison reported for the

was spent on the O'Lesry meme and new water fixtures were iri-

congrqetions on the chuge. The;

funeralsfiThers are 176 families.

renovating of their church. $225., $21.50.

at the front of the Church and‘ 15'

families in the Bloomfield congre- | A. J. Matheson reported for the:

O'Lei.ry snnday school. which has“

Minilter hsd wei-ar of commend-l

of i.iie C. G. I. T. for P. E. I. is s‘ Emilii. .

Mali-a Repair Fimd. Over siino.‘

Kensington Hockey

._._ The Bentley teem m: the nes- i sure o! the Kenslngten Legion by I score of 5-2 on the night. sfJsn. 22. . The same was fest end rugged with both teams handing out some else:

i body cheeks. ~ The first period yrs: but tye minuteljflie when L Kelly on s pen 1mm A- Pendei-gsst opened

the scoring for the Legion, Dernisy’

came back after the face of! and G. Woodside scored the equalizer. i Shortly alter SW60 Moe-Sends put. Dusky ens up gt the four minute mart but thh telly was mstched by one for legion. from ‘the stick of A. Pendeciust. Period ending 2-3. . The second period ww Detnley using their passing plays to better advantage and they added two more goals to their tots! without l reply from the ugiori.

In the third period. Dernlsy Kept piling up a commending lend end, it was only by the stelisr lorJ tending of MseInnl-s that the score wes not in the tmo figures. Tem- pers flared st. more than one point in the closing minutes, so the players brought their sticks up higher and higher but no flrl- wcrks started. Game ending Darn- ley B. Ifillflfl I.

Llnups:

LEGION: Oéul. D. Mcfnhiil; De- fence, E. Clark. I... Clark, Forwards. ‘ A. Pendergast, L, Kelly, L. Glydon.

I... Thibsult. C. Watson.

DARNLEY: Goal J. Hltdini. De‘ fence G. Woodside. B. MecKei-ilrie,

R. Craig, 0. MeoKeneie. ,

Forwards, E. Harding, 11'. Thompson,

G. Wall. L Harding. E. MscKenlse.

Refree - 1". sample, Stars of game: G. Woodside.

A. Pendorgast I, Bsrding.

SUMMARY First Period

l-iegion-L. Kelly (A Ponder- gast)

2—Darnley-G. Weedsids (F. Thomipson)

3-Dariiley--.B. MacKerizie, MscKenzio, C. MecKenzie)

4--L.egion—A_ Pendergut.

Ne penalties.

8000M Period

k-Darnley-F. Thmnpon.

tl-Darnley-J‘. Harding. Wall)

..Perialiies A. Pendergast. Third Period

M. 6e Mf Fund etc. In addition substantial‘

(E.

(Ci.

'r—Darnley-4. Herding a-Darnley-B. MscKei-ids, e-Dei-niey-G. Woodside i0-Darnley-G. “roadside. Penalties. E. Clark.

' and Bras and West. Devon 1.2 1/2 per cent each. .

The Manse Committee was given authority to purchase a new stove for the Manse. A new Trustee Board was Iomied as follows: Fred iviacLeod and Robert ouiton of the Brae; Al Grlgg and Charles Moree- heed of West Devon; moi sietson and Alban ci-aswell of Bloomfield

.sn'd Bruce MiseDoulall and Jack Matthews of O'Lesry. The Minister ivas granted a $100. transportation allowance foi- i948. Over $6.3m. was parsed yo: all purposes by the four congregations 6n the OLeai-y pastoral charge. which was indeed i.‘ record your and s most successful one from every stand- point.

A very eueeedsmi "essay eels” ‘was held by the O Women's Institute on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 35th at McWillissns and Farmer's store. Many kinds of delicious carfldy were on sule and the enterprising ladies enioyed s good patrohlgg and took in about sixteen ($16.) dollars.

Miss Ferns Oultoii ‘who was employed at the starts o! Claude ltfacNeili for the fell months and iras also relieving operator at the oLeei-y exchange, befiln her new duties on Monday as one of the operators at the Summerside Exchange.

A very enjoyable and happy time wse held en Wednesday afternoon Jen. 21st st thy horns of Mr. and Mrs. Claude MsoNgill, when their little daughters Barbers and Claudette held s. joint birth- day,‘ party. The little girls received many pretty gifts from their little friends and good wishes for many more happy birthdays. Delicious refreshments mid ice- ‘ci-esm were served and e most delightful and jolly time We! hid.

0n serum-r Jln. filth the ‘ thermometer showed 0 below lore

stalled. new well dug. new pump‘ at 8.90 e. m. and at .30 p. m. it installed. manse painted etc, Jnl 91W"! ""-

ldfiliion the old barn-garner: was: sold and the congregation buiitl Mrs‘ Wesley min.“ mmmfle“ ‘s spending e short time in it; iizirzlggr n nlwtserr-se Collins] Cherlotdtetownhthel guest of nei- l Oil . Mr- Seteori f9ported,~ son an dell! n-i-lsw. Mr. and on,” PM 45 p" can, o, moi Mrs. Weldon pinion. m. Dignsn _ is a young war veteran end is on "Pulse. BloomLeld 3O per cent; the staff of "The Guardian." -O.

the preacher and class leaders could nominate memrbers of the Methodist tslwiei-iv It Bedmue or elsewhere. and no others. frown vrtiioh nomine- "$01120 m new trustees were to be elected by the lurvivinfl

‘me trustees nanned in the original deed warez-N tha iisl W ht 5r» Stephen Wright 57., Nathaniel wright Jr., swpilen ‘liilriglstrlfltt, gmh Wood. Elisha Hooper and Jesse $trang Si‘. Only two of this m 1 "ih-‘iiiifliih Wood of ‘Ii-yon. who represented the oircuitfs inter-

" "WWW and Elisha items: of nerleeue. were not members

of the Wrilht ferrniiy. Outstanding Membc

Nathaniel Wei t Denier’; “m” l-Ie was the fstherfldf n» ciruiicnl-flll: iYrlZEeMoQunryJ m» "it "Mi iibml monomer. one rm first. class-lemon an sons Nsrtiieniel .12.. who was also a clans leader. having been in" Iigtilétlbnamenwiu were the minaret members of the time. the v-tlvree- lites/hen Wright Sr. brother of mai- eniel Wrlsht as. had dmtbtless been led into n’. Met-Moist fold

£1112?“ i” “m” °' h" Wife» Prelim lore. one his brother ruin.

Jesse strong. whose name appeared‘ the original elders of the Bedeque figs“: town oonsrentien hevind been ordained in i001 or 1008. its end Jee- eph Biiiiiter st silukere Brook, Lower nedeque, shared e mother (they were half-brothers) and also shared the honour of donating u» m,“ for the respective Methodist and Presbyterian ciruiiettes in Iedeque Jesse Bt-rsnfe father is presumed to hm been Daniel‘ line; (s Mel ieh reomititlt Kent. shot. as s spy with the approval d 0mm} w“, itnligmtzhoze widow married Jacob sums.- ehortiy esters they one 0 0 an .

reach of all.’

ers, with years Business. They

lls.

Ar iiiiLMAii? A

‘Style. - Qualit); - yflllle.

Worsted Suits

' ‘There's a lot of talk about the rising ooet el Clothing. We are proud to present oufrange ofMerfsWereinJs in nawpettumondcvur- iet-y of shades, at prices which are within the

These Suits are mode by veil known rriamrfaoiur-

iit, they are ad-lustsd te your personal measure- ments on the spot by our Master Tailor._ Come in and see these Men's Worsted Suits in a full range of sizes-in both and double mod-

Moderately Priced 27 I

l0 BIN!

I.

of experience in‘ the Clothing are sold with e guarantee to

-—'-—"WIIERE ill-B FRIENDS MEET"

Pt. Roch Ami Vicinity

Illr. Guy Myers has returned frrcm New Brunswick.

Roads in the vicinity sre once more after the recent storm.

Mrs. Joseph Blanchard was s recent visitor to Summerside.

Friends of Mire. George Dsltodie wiiihsplensedtolemmilsatdieis recovering from Iver recent mane.

Mr. Ernest Ar ult and Mr. Jerry Deftoche left or New Bruns- wick where they wui in mviwso in the limbs! woods.

-Nlre. Addresses tie/redeem end Mn. Smith Mari-in loft. for I short. visit to Halifax, [mete of Mr. and Mrs. Howard Gsudet. '

Mr. Pshrtck Maoists hes lust rs- turrnd from e visit to the United States where he has been for the pest few mamas.

Due to the recent snow storm Humor-ion perti-idges and pigeons IE6 staying MU‘ bufldlitlll 1G‘ shelt-

°“ er one ma. m spite or sil the