Churches and Cemeteries

The Pioneer Spirit of Faith

It was not long after the appearance of French traders in the area now known as southern Hastings County that missionaries also began to press forward into lands previously unexplored by Europeans. At the request of the Cayuga, Mohawk and Oneida peoples, missionaries began to arrive in this area about 1667. Jesuit and Sulpician missionaries developed a mission field in the Bay of Quinte area by 1668. This mission remained active until 1680.

Missionary activity then remained dormant until 1710 when Mohawk leaders requested that formal religious instruction be provided by the British Crown. Various representatives arrived over time and with the arrival of Father John Stuart in 1775 the church was founded in Upper Canada. The thinly scattered population drew the attention of various circuit preachers, primarily travelling from across the Bay of Quinte. One of the first was the Reverend Darius Dunham who in 1795 was attracted to a relatively unknown settlement in what is now known as Belleville. As the surrounding area grew from humble beginnings around Meyers' Creek, circuit preachers like Dunham travelled by horseback or canoe to establish meeting houses in various expanding settlements.

The first congregation of record was organized in 1815 in Meyers' Creek with the Reverend Israel Chamberlain serving as pastor. This growing congregation opened the doors of the first church in the area with the dedication of Pinnacle Street Church in 1818. By 1864 a familiar sound could be heard as the first church bell installed in a church spire called the congregation to worship at the then Methodist Bridge Street Church.

Four years later, records indicate, "thirty-seven souls" were worshipping in homes in the newly created township of Madoc which had been added in 1821 to the now flourishing townships to the south. These pioneers were served mostly by Methodist preachers, who established the church as part of the new settlements. Other denominations followed the Methodists. Anglican, Roman Catholic and Presbyterian congregations began to take root in the developing townships throughout Hastings County.

- Stevan Spicer