From Almonte Gazette,
Reverend John McMorine, Pioneer Pastor, and His Family
(BY EDNA G. ROSS)
Reverend John McMorine was an early pastor of the Auld Kirk, Ramsay. He was born in 1799 or
1800 of Scottish parentage, son of Mr. McMorine, a farmer of Sanquhar, Dumphrieshire and his
wife, Margaret Kerr. John McMorine was granted a degree in theology from the
His first appointment in
The three children attended part time at the school on the Eighth Concession, then situated
near the north fence of the cemetery. The father, Reverend John McMorine taught them such
subjects as "English, Letters, Geography, Latin and Greek" according to a letter
to a relative. A message written by John Kerr as he was approaching the age of
nine to his uncle, Robert McMorine of
“Ramsay Manse, 21st May , 1851.
My Dear Uncle,
I
hope you can come to see us when Papa comes home and he can tell you all about
Mama
tells me I am a great romp, she is afraid I will break my neck with climbing. I have
entirely forgotten
Mag and Sam join me in love to my aunt and cousins.
I remain your affectly,
J. K. McMorine.”
Another reference to the early school days in the Eighth Line school is found in a story in the Almonte Gazette. The writer, Mrs. Gilmour, the former Margaret Templeton, recounts that when she was seven years old and attending the school, the teacher threatened to put her in the cupboard. Her cries aroused the chivalrous spirit of a boy, Jack McMorine, son of the Presbyterian minister. The lad crept up behind the master, seized her by the hand and took her out and home before the teacher was aware of his intentions. Since Margaret Templeton's father was a trustee and the Reverend John McMorine was inspector of schools for the area, the action of the teacher was investigated.
Minutes of session of this church era have been preserved. A photograph of the minister also survives and hangs today in the Auld Kirk. The village of Almonte was growing with mills and shops and it was thought expedient to move the church to the people. Accordingly when a new Presbyterian Church was completed an Elgin Street in 1863, the McMorine family went to live in the thriving textile community.
Church records speak of the Reverend John McMorine as highly respected and an article in the
Almonte Gazette calls him "a man of ripe scholarship."
He was a trustee of Queen' s College,
The elder McMorine son, John Kerr, went off to Queen's College, Kingston, in 1857 at the age
of fourteen. He graduated in Arts and later in Theology, as well as taking a Master's
degree. He was licensed to preach in September, 1863
and on
The minutes of the Presbytery for January 8, 1867, state: "The Reverend John Kerr McMorine, M.A., Minister of Douglas, demitted his charge on the ground of a change of his views in regard to the Scriptural authority of Presbyterianism, and his purpose to join The Episcopal Church." This change was noted in news items in the Almonte Gazette and the Carp Review. In a letter dated in February 1867, John McMorine Senior told his brother of John Kerr's desire to change to the Anglican ministry. He mentioned that he and his wife were hurt by this decision but that they would not stand in his way for "he is a good and serious boy." In the letter he mentioned his own failing health and his fear that he might have to retire. While taking further studies in the winters at Queen's, John Kerr served the parish of Lanark and Innisville during the remainder of the year until 1869. From 1870-1877 he served very acceptably at St. Paul’s, Almonte parish. A new church had been completed in 1864 and this church with an enlargement still serves the people.
The Almonte that Mr. McMorine knew as a booming town. The railway had come through in the 1860 linking the Front with the Upper Ottawa. By the late 1870's Almonte had thirty stores and other establishments such as millinery shops, bakers, butchers, tailors, shoemakers and tinsmith shops. It had become a manufacturing town with grist and flour mills, two large foundries and machine shops, one pump factory, two cabinet factories, two planning, sash and door factories, three sawmills, a shingle mill, four wagon and carriage shops, four blacksmith shops, four carpenter shops, a boat-building establishment and a dog-powered churn factory. Most important of all it had shoddy mill and three large woollen factories, among them Rosamonds.
Apparently Almonte was too civilized for Mr. McMorine. His was a pioneer spirit and
he had long had a desire to serve in a mission field. In 1877 he went off with his
wife and five children to the mission of
On Whit Sunday, 1885, he preached his first sermon at his new parish of St. James,
During his
As well as carrying on his clerical work, John Kerr McMorine
was for forty years an ardent botanist. Some twelve hundred of his collected plants are
preserved at Queen’s university and at the department of Agriculture,
The second child of the Ramsay manse family, Margaret, married a Presbyterian clergyman,
Reverend Frederick Percy Sym who served several congregations in
Ontario
,
among them,
Samuel, the youngest child of Reverend John McMorine of Ramsay and Almonte, also became a
minister. After preaching at
Reverend John McMorine and his wife gave worthy service to the early church and community
life of Almonte and Ramsay. Several of their great-grandchildren and great-great
grandchildren are living in