|
|
|
1
|
1639 - 1649
(Confirmed)
|
-
Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons
-
Sainte-Marie, the first French mission centre west of the Ottawa River, was established in 1639 as the headquarters for the Jesuits in Huronia (Wendake) and as a refuge for Christianized Huron Indians. It was constructed by skilled artisans and members of the community directed by Father Jérôme Lalemant, superior of the Mission (1638-45). Sainte-Marie eventually comprised a hospital, church, chapel, residences, workshops, farm buildings and minor fortifications; at times, it housed some 60 Europeans. By 1649, the centre served 12 mission villages. Following the defeat of the Huron by the Iroquois, Sainte-Marie was burned by the Jesuits and abandoned in the spring of 1649.
|
|
2
|
1648 - 1650
(Confirmed)
|
-
Jesuit Mission to Manitoulin 1648-50
-
The Jesuit Mission of St. Pierre on Manitoulin Island was established in 1648 in order to reach the Algonkian-speaking First Nations of Lake Huron’s north shore. Father Joseph Poncet (1610-75) was the first known European resident of Manitoulin Island – then called Ile de Ste. Marie by the missionaries and Ekaentoton by the Huron (Wendat). It is not known in what part of the island he worked, but it is understood that he journeyed from village to village to meet and convert the Huron to Christianity. As Huron communities across Upper Canada became split between converts to Christianity and those maintaining traditional Huron spiritual beliefs, the Huron of Manitoulin Island were similarly divided. Poncet returned to the Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons mission (Midland) in May 1649 in the midst of ongoing attacks on the Huron by the Iroquois. Weakened by European diseases and internal conflicts over the increasing influence of the Jesuits, the Huron could not withstand the superior weapons of the Iroquois. In June 1649, the Jesuit priests and their followers burned Sainte-Marie and abandoned the site in anticipation of further Iroquois attacks. Poncet returned to Manitoulin in the fall of 1649 to continue the mission, but abandoned it to join the remaining Sainte-Marie priests as they fled by canoe for Quebec in June 1650.
|
|
3
|
1668 - 1680
(Confirmed)
|
-
Kenté (Quinte) Mission
-
The Jesuit mission at Kenté (Quinte) was established in 1668 by priests from the Order of St. Sulpice, based in Ville-Marie (Montreal). In 1649-50, the Five Nations Iroquois attacked and defeated their Huron enemies, and Iroquois communities expanded into the Great Lakes region. By 1665, Iroquois bands had established villages on the north side of Lake Ontario, including a Cayuga Nation settlement called “Kentio” by the Iroquois and “Kenté” by the French. In 1668, Claude Trouvé (1644-1704) and François de Fénelon (1641-79), Sulpician priests who had studied the Cayuga language, established a mission at Kenté. Buildings were erected in the village and livestock brought from Ville-Marie (Montreal). Letters written by missionaries indicate that their Christianizing efforts met with indifferent success at best. Following the establishment of nearby Fort Frontenac (Kingston) in 1673, the Kenté Mission collapsed due to heavy costs and the gradual dispersal of the Iroquois from Kenté in search of new hunting grounds. The mission was abandoned in 1680.
|
|
4
|
1734 - 1803
(Confirmed)
|
-
Rev. Johann Samuel Schwerdtfeger
-
The first Lutheran minister to settle in Upper Canada (Ontario), Johann Samuel Schwerdtfeger (1734-1803) was born in Burgbernheim, Bavaria and studied theology at the University of Erlangen. He emigrated to America in 1753 and served as pastor of congregations in Pennsylvania, Maryland and New York. Persecuted for his allegiance to the Crown during the American Revolution (1775-83), Schwerdtfeger moved to Dundas County, Upper Canada in 1791. He settled in Williamsburg Township and became pastor of a congregation of German settlers that had been established in 1784. By the end of the 18th century, Schwerdtfeger had organized Lutheran congregations in several neighbouring townships. He died in 1803 and was buried in the St. John’s Lutheran Church cemetery in Riverside Heights, near Williamsburg.
|
|
5
|
1740 - 1811
(Confirmed)
|
-
Rev. John Stuart
-
Born in Pennsylvania, John Stuart (1740-1811) was an Anglican missionary at Cataraqui (Kingston). In 1770, Stuart was ordained and sent to Fort Hunter, New York, as missionary to the Mohawk residents of the Fort. After refusing to sign the oath of allegiance to the Continental Congress during the American Revolution (1775-83), Stuart escaped to Canada with his family in 1781. They eventually settled at Cataraqui in 1785, and Stuart became the first resident Anglican clergyman in Upper Canada (Ontario). He ministered to European settlers and First Nations communities in the Cataraqui area, and visited as far west as Niagara and the Grand River. Stuart was responsible for the building of Cataraqui's earliest church, St. George's Anglican Church, where in 1792 the new lieutenant-governor of the province of Upper Canada – John Graves Simcoe (1752-1806) – took his oath of office. Stuart died in 1811 after his eldest son George succeeded him as rector of Cataraqui.
|
|
6
|
1744 - 1817
(Confirmed)
|
-
Rev. John Langhorn
-
Born in Wales, John Langhorn (1744-1817) was an Anglican minister who served parishes in western Quebec (present-day Ontario). In 1787, he was appointed resident missionary to Loyalist settlements by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. Langhorn’s territory comprised Ernestown and Fredericksburg, which had been settled in 1784 by disbanded soldiers of the King's Royal Regiment of New York. The two townships contained a large majority of Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Lutherans and Methodists, and Langhorn often faced hostility from other denominations. Langhorn was the first resident Anglican clergyman in the Bay of Quinte region. He travelled throughout the area, calling at various preaching stations he had established. Langhorn was largely responsible for the erection of St. Paul's Church at Sandhurst in 1791, St. Warburg's in Fredericksburg in 1792 and the second St. John's at Bath in 1793-95. The continuous travel Langhorn undertook throughout Upper Canada was a strain on his health, and he returned to England in 1813.
|
|
7
|
1751 - 1815
(Confirmed)
|
-
Rev. John Bethune
-
Bethune emigrated from a Scotland to North Carolina in 1773 and fought for the British during the American Revolution. Stationed at Halifax and Montreal near the end of the war, he eventually settled in what is now Glengarry County with his wife, Veronique Waddens. Bethune became the first Presbyterian minister in Upper Canada, founder of the first Presbyterian congregation of St. Andrew’s in Williamstown, and was responsible for the church’s construction in 1812.
|
|
8
|
1761 - 1833
(Confirmed)
|
-
Peter Lossing
-
Born in New York City, Peter Lossing (1761-1833) was a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) who established a settlement at Norwich, Upper Canada (Ontario). Lossing moved to Upper Canada with the hopes of founding an agricultural settlement. In June 1810, Lossing and his brother-in-law Peter Delong purchased 15,000 acres in Norwich Township. The Lossings and at least nine other families were settled in the tract by the end of 1811. Many of the newcomers were Quakers from Dutchess County. Prior to the construction of a frame meeting house at Norwich in 1817, Quaker services were held in Lossing’s home. The Quakers built two schools before 1816; the first post office was set up at Lossing’s house in 1830. He was instrumental in the establishment of a mill and ironworks in Norwich. He also assisted leasing smaller lots to poorer settlers. Lossing actively encouraged the growth and expansion of the community until his death in 1833.
|
|
9
|
1761 - 1835
(Confirmed)
|
-
Rev. George Buchanan
-
Born in Scotland, George Buchanan graduated in medicine from Edinburgh University. He later became a Presbyterian minister and was called to Upper Canada (now Ontario). In 1822, he arrived in Beckwith Township – a largely Presbyterian Scottish settlement that was ministered by Rev. William Bell from Perth. Buchanan became Beckwith’s first resident minister, teacher and physician. In 1833, a stone church was completed and the congregation informed Buchanan that he would be allowed to preach in it only if he joined the Church of Scotland. The demand reflected the bitterness existing between the Church of Scotland and the Secession Church, which had split. Buchanan, a secessionist, refused and was consequently barred from preaching. From then until his death, Buchanan held services in his home for those of the congregation who supported his views.
|
|
10
|
1762 - 1840
(Confirmed)
|
-
Bishop Alexander Macdonell
-
Alexander Macdonell, born in the Scottish Highlands, was a legislator and Roman Catholic priest and bishop. After being ordained a priest in 1787, Macdonell formed a Catholic Highlanders regiment and served in Guernsey and Ireland. The regiment was disbanded in 1802. Father Macdonell petitioned the home government for land grants for his disbanded regiment. In 1803, the veterans sailed for Upper Canada. Macdonell came to Upper Canada in 1804 as chaplain of this disbanded regiment. During the War of 1812, Father Macdonell was a driving force in reforming his regiment into the Glengarry Fencibles for the defence of their new home. The regiment saw much service during the war – with Father Macdonell as its chaplain – and was highly regarded as a fighting unit. Macdonell became the first Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kingston, formed in 1826. In 1831, he was appointed to the Legislative Council of Upper Canada. In 1837, he founded Regiopolis College in Kingston.
|
|
|
