Stranica 38 [38]
After the “bee,” the project of building a church at
that place, was abandoned.
Although, in early times, there was less ostenta¬
tion and display pertaining to church matters, than
in the present day, yet there are not lacking many
who sincerely believe that genuine piety was quite
as plentiful then, as it is in 1878. Itinerant minis¬
ters were joyfully welcomed to every rude cabin ;
and it was only necessary to send word that services
would be held at any given point, to bring together
the people for miles around.
CHAPTER IX.
EARLY CHURCHES.
METHODISTS.
In early days a Methodist Missionary was quite a
curiosity, the preaching of the itinerant Missionaries
attracting congregations drawn from miles around.
For many years, service was held in the log cabins
and under the shade of the spreading forest ; thus
were the foundations of the church laid, which
through successive generations has kept pace with
the civilization and progress of the country.
The Methodist Church planted its first seeds in
America, in the city of New York, three years after
Canada became a British Province. . When the
Revolution broke out, among the Loyalists driven
from that country were many of the Methodist faith,
who subsequently settled in Canada. In both Upper
and Lower Canada, the first Methodist preachers
were connected with the Britisharmy. Tuffey,a Com¬
missary of the 44th, held services at Quebec, where
his regiment was disbanded in 1783. George Neal,
the Niagara District in 1786. In 1788, Lyons and
James McCarthy entered the Province, laboring in
the vicinity of the Bay of Quinte. Many members
of the Church of England held at that time that
persons not loyal to the Established Church, must of
necessity be disloyal to the Crown. The conse¬
quence was that McCarthy suffered arrest as a vaga¬
bond, and was thrown into Kingston gaol. At his trial
he was sentenced to banishment. Such was the re¬
ception given to a missionary labouring for the con¬
version of the people. The first regular preacher of
the Methodist Church in Canada was William
Losee, who preached several sermons in Leeds and
Grenville in 1790.
The names of Embury and Heck are linked in
was through the intercession of Barbara Heck, wife
of Paul Heck, that David and Philip Embury were
persuaded to commence preaching. David Embury
held services in a ship loft, William street, New York,
in 1766; was driven out of that State during the
Revolution, for his loyalty to the king, and settled
at Hay Bay, in Fredericksburgh. The ashes of
Philip Embury were urned in 1822, by the Metho¬
dists of the United States. The same relentless
persecution drove Paul and Barbara Heck to Canada,
they finding a resting place in the Township of
Augusta. The Hecks were of Irish origin, Barbara
having been converted in that country, at the early
age of eight years. She was a woman of holy life,
fired with a burning zeal for thecause. Her remains
were interred at the "old Blue Church Cemetery,”
between Prescott and Maitland. Beside the blue
waters of the St. Lawrence she sleeps the sleep of
death, her grave visited from year to year by the
followers of Wesley, from distant States and Pro¬
vinces, all ready to drop a reverential tear on the
sod, green as her memory in the hearts of her
countrymen,
Carroll gives the following account of the Hecks:
“Paul and Barbara Heck resided, for a time, at
Camden, where they were the founders of another
new Methodist cause. They lived in Lower Canada
ten years, coming to Augusta in 1785, settling on
Lot No. 4, 3rd Concession, in the neighborhood of
Big Creek, where a class was immediately gathered,
in which was embraced John Lawrence, who mar¬
ried P. Embury’s widow, with Samuel Embury,
Philip’s son, for leader. Barbara died in 1804, her
funeral sermon being preached by Colonel David
Breakenridge, who was magistrate, militia colonel,
and local elder, all in one, and who performed more
baptisms in that region than all the other local
preachers put together. Breakenridge was a U. E.
Loyalist, and an ardent Tory. Possessing a fair
education and a large public experience, he occu¬
pied a foremost position. As a preacher, he was
caustic and severe; he would advise those who
were so strenuous about the quantity of water in
baptism, to make thorough work of it, and have
themselves ‘put to soak over night,’ and those
that carried their divinity in their pocket, ‘to put
a lock and key on it, lest they should lose it.’”
The first Methodist church built in America was
erected on John Street, New York. Among the
original subscribers appears the name of Paul Heck,
for three pounds five shillings,
In 1791, the first Methodist church in Canada was
projected, the spot selected being Hay Bay, on the
farm of Paul Huff.
Darius Dunham, at one time a popular preacher
in this district, was taken on trial, in 1788, and
removed to Canada in 1792, .In consequence of his
faithfulness in reproving sinners, he acquired the
name of “Scolding Dunham,”