The arrival of several hundred destitute and displaced American settlers at the Head-of-the-Lake following the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War dates from the last two decades of the 18th century. Like the Puritans and Non-Conformists who fled from the persecution of 17th century England, these Loyalists, government officials and soldiers (soon followed by thousands of hopeful British immigrants) brought strongly-held religious beliefs that had long shaped their thinking and way of life.
Into the area came a variety of faiths: Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Quaker, Roman Catholic and Unitarian, but all with one thing in common, a devotion to the Judeo-Christian beliefs, whatever the denomination might be.
Settlement beyond the Niagara Peninsula and around the western end of Lake Ontario was slow, especially to the east in the Flamboroughs, and above the Niagara Escarpment in Binbrook and Beverly Townships. Yet in Saltfleet Township, by 1792, a non-denominational chapel, with strong Methodist Episcopal leanings had been erected in the centre of the present-day Stoney Creek Cemetery. Constructed of logs, it was known as “the chapel in the bush” and was among the very earliest places of worship in Upper Canada. During the War of 1812, at the Battle of Stoney Creek, the Americans occupied the chapel. After the hostilities had ceased, the little building was found to have suffered serious damage.
In 1795, the Niagara area was organized as a circuit of the New York Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Later the same year, at a Quarterly Circuit Meeting in December, there were reports of settlers in Beverly, Ancaster, Stoney Creek and the Fifty Mile Creek area of Winona meeting in homes for worship services. And further east, between 1796 and 1798, according to The Accounts Register, first settlers into the Rock Chapel area of West Flamborough were served by Methodist Exhorters and Class Leaders who had been given the daunting task of establishing a church in the Flamborough wilderness.
During most of the 19th century, Methodism exercised the strongest influence at the Head-of-the-Lake, especially in the surrounding townships, resulting in the name, “Methodist Mountain” being applied to those communities located on the Escarpment.
Sylvia Wray is the former archivist with the Flamborough Archives. She can be reached through the Archives at archives@flamboroughhistory.com.
This article was originally published in the Flamborough Review, 11 February 2016.
