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The following are among the early marriages recorded in the Parish Register : February gth, 1815.—Abel Wright and Sally Landon. February 26th,.1815.—John White and Sally Weldon, February 26th, 1815 — William Bottum and Martha Hurd. April Smith. March 27th, 1818.—Asael Wright and Eleanor Carpenter. April 29th, 1818.—John Henry Bolton and Eliza Jones, December ist, 1819.—Lawren Fulford and Sus2nd, 1815.—William Evertts and Trene anna Purday. December 14th, 1819.—William Healey and Sarah Evertts. February 13th, 1820.—Samuel Parish and Francis Dack. August 28th, 1820.— Charles D. Wickwire and Elizabeth White. December roth, 1820.—Truman Wiltse and Eleanor Smythe. February 4th, 1821.—Luther Houghton and Sabra Billings. THE ROMAN CATHOLICS. The first Roman Catholic Priest to visit this section of Upper Canada, after its settlement by the English, was the Rev. Alex. McDonnell, afterwards created the first Bishop of Upper Canada. Froma memorandum furnished by J. P. McDonnell, of Belleville, we learn that the father of the church in Upper Canada was born in the year 1760, in Glengarry, Scotland : educated for the Priesthood at Valladolid College, in Spain; for at that time no person professing the Roman Catholic faith could be educated for a Priest in any part of the United Kingdom. He was ordained a Priest before the year 1790. He returned to his native land, and officiated in Badenoch, a small district in the north of Scotland ; also in the city of Glasgow. In 1798 he joined the Glengarry Fencibles, then on duty in Ireland, under the command of Lord McDonnell of Glengarry. In 1804, the reverend gentleman came to Canada, and was consecrated first Bishop of Upper Canada, in 1822. He died in Dumfriesshire in 1840. His body was laid in St. Mary’s Church, Edinburgh, until removed to Canada, in 1862. His remains were Ontario, and carried to St. Raphael’s Church, in which church he had spent some of his most useful his numerous co-religionists. His remains were escorted by thousands—by people of all denominations—to St. Andrew’s Church, and thence to Cornwall depot, in order to convey his dust to the head of the See, at Kingston, where it now lies in the Cathedral of that ancient city, in which he, as Bishop, officiated for years, a favorite alike with both Protestant and Catholic. About the year 1806, when en route for the West, he celebrated Mass in Leeds, and on many subsequent occasions came up to Brockville, and held Mass in the house of Dr. Hubbell, although that gentleman was not a Roman Catholic. The deceased Bishop is well remembered by many of our oldest citizens, and is invariably spoken of in terms of the highest respect. The history of Bishop McDonnell is the early history of the church in this Province. Not only did he attend faithfully to the spiritual wants of his parishoners, but his name and influence are indissolubly linked with the principal events bearing upon the growth and prosperity of the country. Driven from his native land to obtain an education, he was as loyal to the British Crown as any man that ever trod the heather of Scotland, or wandered through the wilderness of Canada. On many occasions he carried his vestments on his back from Glengarry to Kingston, undergoing privations and hardships with Christian fortitude and unwavering resolution. For many years he occupied the responsible position of Legislative Councillor, possessing great influence, not only with the Colonial, but also with the Imperial authorities. Not unmindful of the material interests of the church, he secured all the land which it at present possesses. In reply to a charge which was at one time made against him by malicious enemies, he said: "In 1804, there were but two Catholic clergymen in all Upper Canada, one of whom soon deserted his post. For ten years I had the whole of the Province in charge. During that period, I had to travel over the whole country from Lake Superior to the Lower Province line.” Through the instrumentality of the Bishop, two corps were raised for the defence of the British flag; the first being the Glengarry Fencible Regiment of Scotland, and the second the Glengarry Fencibles of this Province. For several years, a priest was stationed at Prescott, who held occasional services in Brockville. Sketches of the various parishes and of His Lordship Bishop O’Brien, will be found in another i PR ig oer sroery tbe: I=
