The following history was written by the late
Edith McMillan and is Number 64 in Volume 6 of the Contributions from
the Charlotte County Historical Society series available at the Charlotte
County Archives in St. Andrews, N. B. It is reproduced here with permission.
Thank you to Shirley O'Neill for finding a copy for posting.
by Edith McMillan
Contributions from the Charlotte County Historical
Society, Vol. 6, No. 64.
Submitted November 1971
The early settlers of Bocabec included Scotch-Irish people from Northern Ireland. Their forbears had been brought to Ulster by Charles I (1625-1649) to introduce the linen industry. After about two hundred years in Ulster, many brave souls, lured by prospects of generous grants of land, emigrated to Canada. They suffered many hardships and privations while establishing homes here.
As early as 1836, these courageous Christians organized a Presbyterian congregation and obtained land for a church and a cemetery. The deed dated 14 May 1842 states Samuel Thompson and others of the Parish of St. Patrick conveyed land to the Trustees of the Presbyterian Church of the Parish of St. Patrick, district of Bocabec. Signed Samuel and Charlotte Thompson (1). This property lies to the east of New Brunswick highway No. 127, approximately one-third of a mile south of a narrow steel bridge over the Bocabec River.
Reverend John Cassilis, one-time schoolmaster in St. Andrews, was the (2) first clergyman to serve this congregation. He also ministered to other congregations in the county.
The Synod of the Presbyterian Church in New Brunswick held an ordination service at Bocabec 4 January 1846 (2). The three candidates were Reverend John Irvine of the Irish Presbyterian Church who later served churches in the Saint John area, Reverend James Law, Rexton, Kent County, N.B., and Reverend William Millen who laboured at Bocabec and surrounding districts. The building was not furnished at the time so a pulpit was improvised by placing planks on barrels.
Except for a few years at Baillie, Mr. Millen continued his pastorate in the area until 1887 when ill health forced him to resign. He died in January the following year. The Reverend Archibald Gunn conducted Mr. Millen's funeral service. Judge Stevens of St. Stephen, a close friend, assisted. Interment was in the Bocabec cemetery. A tall marble monument and smaller slabs mark his resting place and those of his family. A marble tablet to his memory was placed in the church. A photograph of this and Mr. Millen are in the records of the Charlotte County Historical Society (7).
The Millen family lived in the Purvis house less than a mile upriver from the church. This house was burned when daughter Minnie was a few days old. Mrs. Millen and children were taken to the home of a neighbour, Hiram Hanson. The family then moved to Bayside. The Purvis place at present belongs to Jack McCullough. There are no buildings on this property now. The church records were burned in this fire and never replaced.
An organ was first used in the church service 23 November 1879 (2). Miss Martha Kerr was organist for many years (4) and she may have been the first one. Miss Annie Holt followed Miss Kerr in this capacity. This organ was replaced by a new one in 1913.
A communion service was held in the church once a year. A few days before this event, the Session met those planning on joining the church Sacrament Sunday. These persons were questioned and instructed in the responsibilities of church membership. During the pastorate of Reverend J. R. MacDonald (1893-1894), the Session was called to interview a young lady of the congregation who, in their opinion, was not conducting herself in a manner becoming to a church member.
Robert Purvis laid out the lots in the cemetery. The first burial was that of a child, Matilda Quaid, who was drowned in Cathcart Lake. The first tombstone was erected to John McWilliams who died in April 1851.
The first wedding in the church was solemnized 7 July 1898 and united in marriage Martha Herbison, Bocabec, and Cyrus Acheson, Elmsville. The story is told that some members of the congregation disapproved of nuptial music being played on the church organ. The bride's father, John Herbison, solved this problem by taking the family organ to the church for the occasion. Miss Adeline Kerr, cousin of the bride, was organist. Reverend Donald Fraser performed the ceremony. The only other wedding in this church was that of Elaine Taylor and Donald Holt in June 1963. Reverend Wallace McKinnon officiated.
Bocabec was part of the Waweig-Rollingdam charge until 1896. The fields were then re-arranged and Bocabec became part of the St. George-Pennfield circuit. The Bocabec congregation had helped with the building of a manse at Waweig in 1888. The St. George congregation decided to build a manse in the early nineteen hundreds; Bocabec was not asked to contribute. Reverend S.B. Hillock was pastor at this time.
One man from this congregation entered the Christian ministry, Reverend James Kerr, son of Stewart and Mary McMillan Kerr (5). Mr. Kerr graduated from U. N. B. in 1888. He received his theological training in Princeton, N. J. His entire ministry was spent in that same area.
Many devoted clergymen ministered to these people. Reverend W.C. Calder (1888-1892) followed Mr. Millen. After that, divinity students conducted the services for a few years. Those serving after the Bocabec church became part of the St. George-Pennfield circuit were: Reverend Donald Fraser (1896-1901), Reverend S. B. Hillock (1902-1906), Reverend Edward Thorpe (1908-1913), Reverend Thomas Harrison (1913-1914), Reverend B. H. Penwarden (1915-1918), Reverend J. C. Mortimor (1919-1921), Reverend E. J. Kerr (1922-1926), and Reverend J. C. Britton (1930-1934).
The United Church of Canada came into being by Act of Parliament in June 1925. This united the Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregational churches. A majority of the members of the St. George charge, which included Bocabec congregation, were opposed to entering the union. They continued to be a part of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. This was during Reverend E. J. Kerr's pastorate. Since 1925, the church has been served, for the most part, by “student supplies” during the summer months. During the 1960's, the St. Andrews pastors, Reverend Wallace McKinnon and Reverend Lyall Orr, assumed oversight of all the Presbyterian congregations in Charlotte County.
Elders who served this church during its first sixty years included John McMillan Sr., Robert Kerr, Stewart Kerr, James McMillan Sr. In the early nineteen hundreds, Andrew McCullough, James McMillan, James A. McCullough were inducted into this office. More recently, probably in the nineteen forties, Albert Holt, James McGill and George Brown were chosen for these responsibilities.
The Bocabec congregation missed the friendly relationships with Waweig after they became part of the St. George field. They felt the St. George section received more than its share of the pastor's services. They agreed to build a barn on the manse property if the minister would keep a horse–thinking he could do more pastoral work. When Reverend Thomas Harrison came in 1912 he had a horse. The barn was built. Mr. Harrison's pastorate was short as he joined the armed forces shortly after the outbreak of World War I.
Through the years, this congregation have taken pride in the appearance of its church building by keeping it well painted and in good repair. When first built the interior design was patterned on that of Presbyterian churches “back home”, namely Northern Ireland. About 1900, the interior of the building was modernized in keeping with present day trends. The seating was re-arranged and doors removed from the pews. There is no one living now who recalls further details.
An impressive dedication service was held in the church 21 August 1959 to commemorate the installation of electric lights in the sanctuary(6). Other repairs and improvements were made that same year. Reverend James R. Weir, minister (1957-1959), conducted the service. Guest speaker was Reverend Wallace MacKinnon, St. Andrews.
In May 1968, a house fire on the Ridge Road was fanned into a forest fire that swept across the Bocabec River and burned both the United Church and the Presbyterian Church to the ground. The Presbyterian Church has not been rebuilt. The grave stones and a small sign, “Presbyterian Kirk Cemetery. Church Est. 1836-1968" are the only reminders of this historic church. Time and fate erode physical reminders of the past.
REFERENCES
1. Charlotte County, New Brunswick, Records of Deeds, Book 5, Page 588, St. Andrews, N. B.
2. Three Former Churches on Whittier Ridge, Charlotte County, New Brunswick. By Reverend Charles Smith. Contribution from The Charlotte County Historical Society, No. 54, 1971.
3. Anniversary Leaflet. First Presbyterian Church, Carleton, Saint John, 1907.
4. The Saint Croix Courier, a St. Stephen, N. B., weekly newspaper. November 1939, “Sixty Years Ago”.
5. Do. 15 January 1942. Letter, “Many Happy Memories”.
6. Do. 25 August 1959. “Dedicate Lights.”
7. Woe
onto you, ye Bocabecers. By J. C. Medcof. Contribution from The Charlotte
County Historical Society, No. 14, 1964.
Besides the above documents to which I have referred specifically in my paper, I have drawn on the following information sources.
8. “Waweigh [sic] United Church through the years.” By Mrs. Allen Armstrong, 1948. Privately printed.
9. Supplement to 8. By Mrs. Allen Armstrong.
10. Traditional stories of the Bocabec area that have never been documented.