Presently in Waterford
Parish there are three churches. At one time there were considerably
more churches, but many of them have closed, and some of them have
disappeared from the landscape. Today you will find St John the
Evangelist (Anglican) Church, St Paul's United Church (now closed
except for a few occasions) and the Myer's Meeting House, where a
Baptist congregation still meets especially during the summer. We will
start with the thre churches still in existence today.
St John the Evangelist (Anglican) Church began as a mission point. The present church was built of wood in 1864, however a building must have existed as early as 1862 as the church appears on the Walling Map of 1862 in about the same spot as the present church. The church sits atop a small hill with the cemetery behind it on the hillside. In some of its earlier records it is called the Dutch Valley Mission, taking on the official name of St John the Evangelist later in its existence. The church is a pretty little church and has had at least two major renovations, one about 1906 and the other about 1979.
Myer's Meeting House (Baptist) is a small church at the corner of the road leading from Chambers Settlement to Cedar Camp and a road leading to the Myers' grants as well as the one for Samuel Patterson. If you look carefully at the picture below, just north of center you will see "Bapt Ch" designated where the road to Cedar Camp goes north from the intersection.
Founded in June of 1851, this
was a church of the denomination known as Free Christian Baptist. It's
original membership of seven increased to 38 under its first minister,
Rev. Matthew Smith, of Anagance, and by 1880 consisted of 75 members.
The church was dedicated in 1860. Instrumental in keeping the church in
existence from the beginning were three brothers, Jesse, Henry and
George Myers, for whom the church is named.
As people began to move away from the area and closer to larger settlements, the membership in this church began to decline, and services are normally held only in the summer months. The church was closed in 1922 but was reopened in 1931. However, it closed again after a few years and was reopened in 1946 under Rev. H. D. Hooper, pastor at Penobsquis. In 1951, the 100th anniversary of the church was celebrated, Rev. H. D. Hooper, now the pastor at Centreville, NB, preaching the sermon, and this service was so filled that people had to stand outside. Since the Baptists were seen to be of a dissenting faith, times were hard in the beginning for its preachers, some being imprisoned for holding services and performing marriages.
St Paul's United Church (Presbyterian) was one of four Presbyterian churches built under the ministry of Rev. A. H. Campbell. He had been a summer student minister in the area previously and came back to the area in the late 1890's as a settled minister. The other three churches he built are Bethel at Mechanic Settlement, Knox at Markhamville and St James at Long Settlement. We will say more about Bethel and St James later in this site.
The Presbyterians of Waterford Parish were largely of Scottish or Irish extraction. And of these two, the larger number had come from Ireland. If you were to take the 1861 census, you would find many Presbyterians listed within the bounds of the present parish and Rockville area. Since there was no church building owned by the Presbyterians at this time, they held services in the grist mill owned and operated by James A Moore as well as in a building known as the "Old Town Hall." Services also appear to have been held in school houses in the outlying areas. However, in 1896, Rev. A. H. Campbell had St. Paul's Presbyterian Church built in Waterford village.
In 1925, the Presbyterians joined with other churches to form the United Church of Canada. Although some Presbyterian churches remained as Presbyterian churches, many. like St Paul's, became part of the new denomination. In 1928, St. Paul's and Knox in Markhamville became part of the Newtown-Waterford pastoral charge with St. John's at Sussex corner and the two chrches in Newtown and Smiths Creek. After a time of declining attendance, St. Paul's was closed and people went to Sussex Corner, Sussex or stayed at home. In 2001, a group of descendants from families of Walker Settlement and Waterford began having a reunion every second year with one of the features being opening the church again for a service, where about 70 people gather to worship as did their ancestors in the stately old church.
The other churches known to exist in Waterford Parish over the years will be discussed alphabetically hereafter. Many of the descriptions will be brief. Perhaps this is an indication of how brief their existences were compared with the three above.
Bethel Presbyterian Church existed for a short time. reflective of the larger community it served. It was built in Mechanics Settlement in 1897. Mechanic Settlement was founded in 1843 by mechanics and labourers from Saint John. It had its own post office from 1853 to 1928. In 1866, about 50 families lived in and around the settlement. In 1871 its population had grown to 250. In 1898 it had two churches and a population of 275. In 1919 it had a Methodist Church and a Prebyterian Church and its population was still 275. Shortly thereafter, people began to move away from the area, and it is now a dispersed community. As the people dispersed, the churches began to close. In the 1928 re-organization of the Newtown-Waterford pastoral charge, Bethel was not included. For a number of years, though, people would flock to the little church again for its annual service in the summer months.
St John the Evangelist (Anglican) Church began as a mission point. The present church was built of wood in 1864, however a building must have existed as early as 1862 as the church appears on the Walling Map of 1862 in about the same spot as the present church. The church sits atop a small hill with the cemetery behind it on the hillside. In some of its earlier records it is called the Dutch Valley Mission, taking on the official name of St John the Evangelist later in its existence. The church is a pretty little church and has had at least two major renovations, one about 1906 and the other about 1979.
There were no steady
missionaries or rectors serving this church
for many years, and many baptisms were performed at St Paul's Anglican
Church in Londonderry. From 1874 to 1889, the people were served by
missionaries who came to serve this community and church. In 1890, Rev.
Dewolfe Cowie took up residence in the area. He had previously served
as a missionary here. At a meeting on Easter 1890, it was agreed that
St. Marks in Sussex Corner would remain connected with the Parish of
Waterford. Today, the rector serves St. Marks in Sussex Corner, St John
the Evangelist in Waterford, All Saints in Jeffries Corner and, once a
year, holds a service in old St. Paul's Anglican in Londonderry, now a
vacant community. McAlpine's
Gazetteer of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and
Newfoundland
for 1919 does not list the Anglican church, but it definitely exsted at
this time. According to the 1861 census, this church would have served
between 40 and 50 families at that time.
Myer's Meeting House (Baptist) is a small church at the corner of the road leading from Chambers Settlement to Cedar Camp and a road leading to the Myers' grants as well as the one for Samuel Patterson. If you look carefully at the picture below, just north of center you will see "Bapt Ch" designated where the road to Cedar Camp goes north from the intersection.
As people began to move away from the area and closer to larger settlements, the membership in this church began to decline, and services are normally held only in the summer months. The church was closed in 1922 but was reopened in 1931. However, it closed again after a few years and was reopened in 1946 under Rev. H. D. Hooper, pastor at Penobsquis. In 1951, the 100th anniversary of the church was celebrated, Rev. H. D. Hooper, now the pastor at Centreville, NB, preaching the sermon, and this service was so filled that people had to stand outside. Since the Baptists were seen to be of a dissenting faith, times were hard in the beginning for its preachers, some being imprisoned for holding services and performing marriages.
St Paul's United Church (Presbyterian) was one of four Presbyterian churches built under the ministry of Rev. A. H. Campbell. He had been a summer student minister in the area previously and came back to the area in the late 1890's as a settled minister. The other three churches he built are Bethel at Mechanic Settlement, Knox at Markhamville and St James at Long Settlement. We will say more about Bethel and St James later in this site.
The Presbyterians of Waterford Parish were largely of Scottish or Irish extraction. And of these two, the larger number had come from Ireland. If you were to take the 1861 census, you would find many Presbyterians listed within the bounds of the present parish and Rockville area. Since there was no church building owned by the Presbyterians at this time, they held services in the grist mill owned and operated by James A Moore as well as in a building known as the "Old Town Hall." Services also appear to have been held in school houses in the outlying areas. However, in 1896, Rev. A. H. Campbell had St. Paul's Presbyterian Church built in Waterford village.
In 1925, the Presbyterians joined with other churches to form the United Church of Canada. Although some Presbyterian churches remained as Presbyterian churches, many. like St Paul's, became part of the new denomination. In 1928, St. Paul's and Knox in Markhamville became part of the Newtown-Waterford pastoral charge with St. John's at Sussex corner and the two chrches in Newtown and Smiths Creek. After a time of declining attendance, St. Paul's was closed and people went to Sussex Corner, Sussex or stayed at home. In 2001, a group of descendants from families of Walker Settlement and Waterford began having a reunion every second year with one of the features being opening the church again for a service, where about 70 people gather to worship as did their ancestors in the stately old church.
The other churches known to exist in Waterford Parish over the years will be discussed alphabetically hereafter. Many of the descriptions will be brief. Perhaps this is an indication of how brief their existences were compared with the three above.
Bethel Presbyterian Church existed for a short time. reflective of the larger community it served. It was built in Mechanics Settlement in 1897. Mechanic Settlement was founded in 1843 by mechanics and labourers from Saint John. It had its own post office from 1853 to 1928. In 1866, about 50 families lived in and around the settlement. In 1871 its population had grown to 250. In 1898 it had two churches and a population of 275. In 1919 it had a Methodist Church and a Prebyterian Church and its population was still 275. Shortly thereafter, people began to move away from the area, and it is now a dispersed community. As the people dispersed, the churches began to close. In the 1928 re-organization of the Newtown-Waterford pastoral charge, Bethel was not included. For a number of years, though, people would flock to the little church again for its annual service in the summer months.
Creightonville Methodist Church is listed in Grace Aiton's book, The Story of Sussex and Vicinity,
but I have come across little information on the church, other than it
was supposedly built in 1863, quite possibly by Michael Creighton. It
does not appear on the Walling Map of 1862. Today there is a cemetery
there, known as the Creightonville United Church Cemetery, and the
church once stood in front of this cemetery. Creightonville is often
included as part of Rockville or Waterford. In McAlpine's 1919
Directory, the Methodist church is listed as being in Waterford.
St. James Presbyterian Church was
situated in Long Settlement. It was built by Rev. A. H. Campbell in
1898, but the population had already begun to move away and it quickly
disappeared, being removed from its site and remodeled into a home.
Known as Long Settlement in 1866, it had 11 resident families. As the
larger community of Elm Valley in 1904, it had a population of 100. In
1919, it still had a population of 100. The church still existed in
1919.
St. Patricks Roman Catholic Church was first located in Philmunroe beside the Philmunroe Roman Catholic Cemetery. The church was a mission church of St Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Cu\hurch, which originally stood within the bounds of the cemetery in Wards Creek. It is uncertain as to when the church in Philmunro was built, but
sources
reveal that it closed about 1910. However, since the earliest stones in
the cemetery date to the 1860's, it is probable that the church existed
about this time. One source gives the date of its building as 1845.
However, upon its closing, a new church was built in Waterford in 1910.
Services were held at least once a month in the church. In 1963 it was
sold to The Ski Club and burned in 1972.
Donegal Methodist Church
was situated on a short road from the main road through Donegal leading
to the homesteads of John McAfee Sr and John McAfee Jr. It appears on
the 1862 Walling Map, just west of the Bustard 
homesteads.
This church was built some time in the 1850's. According to reports,
the membership in the 1880's was around 35. It became a student field
in 1909. Donegal, as a community, was a large tract of land just east
of Cedar Camp, but it also included the mountain behind the Myers'
homesteads and stretched to Mechanic Settlement. In 1866, it had about
34 resident families. In 1871, it had a population of 150, but that
population shrunk to about 40 by 1898. In 1919 it still had about 40
residents in the area. The Methodist Church mentioned in McAlpine's
1919 Directory as being in Mechanic Settlement is undoubtedly the
church in Donegal.St. Patricks Roman Catholic Church was first located in Philmunroe beside the Philmunroe Roman Catholic Cemetery. The church was a mission church of St Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Cu\hurch, which originally stood within the bounds of the cemetery in Wards Creek. It is uncertain as to when the church in Philmunro was built, but