For the settlers their Christian faith was strong and the church was very important to them. Part of getting a land grant involved proving their faith. I'm not sure how they would do this, whether by letter from their home minister, or by reciting a passage or the Lords Prayer, but the founders of Canada thought it was important to the foundation of the country to have settlers who were not only loyal to the crown, willing to fight if necessary, but also members of the Christian faith.
James Gray would have had his Cromwell's Soldiers Pocket Bible that he'd been carrying as part of his kit for years, but I'm sure the purchase of a complete bible would have been high on his priority list, and reading a few passages of scripture daily would have been normal routine for most of the settlers, and especially on Sundays and on holy days like Christmas and Easter.
In the early years settlers were visited by circuit riders who were primarily methodist, but other denominations as well. The circuit riders would travel long distances through terrible conditions to keep to their route, through all kinds of weather, and over roads that were barely tracks, sometimes having to pick their way through the woods, then on arriving, a service might be held in homes, a barn, a store. Later when there were churches, often the minister had his own circuit which would take him 4 to 6 weeks to cover, then he'd start all over again, taking care of the flock in his district and only being in his home church once a month.
In 1816 an Anglican church was built in York Mills, St. John's Anglican, and though our Gray ancestors were primarily Presbyterian, records from St. John's Anglican show up on occasion in the family tree research.
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St. John's Anglican, York Mills |
In 1820 the First Presbyterian Congregation of York was formed and a church was built on Richmond Street in the Town of York, but this was a long way to travel for families from the Don. It would have been a 3 to 4 hour horse and wagon ride one way.
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| First Presbyterian Congregation of York |
In 1830 the larger St. Andrew's Church was founded, and it became the primary Presbyterian church in the Town of York.
York Mills Baptist Church also plays a part in the Gray family history with some of the family marriages taking place there. It plays a prominent part in the history of the Bond family, who intermarried with the Grays. With most construction being done by work bees, I wouldn't be surprised if our Grays weren't involved in the construction of this church as well.
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| York Mills Baptist |
The church was built in 1833, and was at what is now 102 York Mills Road until 1948. The manse at 106 York Mills Road is a heritage protected property, and the cemetery is at 104 York Mills Road.
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| York Mills Baptist Parsonage |
The manse was a one story Ontario Cottage that was built in 1833 and is now known today as the C.W. Jeffery's house. It was saved from destruction by the Jeffery's family who insisted on the house being moved when Yonge Street was widened.
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| York Mills Presbyterian Manse known as the C.W. Jefferys house |
In the mid 1850's James Hogg's sons decided to subdivide, so the church had to go. It was carefully taken apart and rebuilt on two acres of land on the west side of Yonge Street, with a burial ground on the top of the hill.
According to Harold Grays notes, the church was on the west side of the street from Birrell's Hotel (laterly known as the Jolly Miller Tavern). The congregation would drive their buggies or wagons to the hotel and leave their horses and wagons or buggies in the hotel shed, and walk up the path to the church on top of the hill. By horse and buggy in ideal conditions on good roads the distance from Grays Mills to Hogg's Hollows would take at least an hour. If the weather was bad and the roads muddy this time could probably be doubled.
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| Birrell's Hotel |
In 1885 the congregation left York Mills and built a new church, now known as Bethesda Presbyterian Church at Leslie and Lawrence. The first Bethesda Church was a yellow brick church that the congregation purchased from a Methodist congregation. Harold Gray as a young boy remembers the pews being very uncomfortable and slippery for a small boy. He said that from a ministers point of view this was a good thing as nobody was liable to fall asleep during the sermon, as you couldn't get comfortable enough to do so. Harold remembers his mother having a pair of soft moccasins for him to wear during service so that he wouldn't make a noise when his feet kicked into the pew in front of him.
Harold had fond memories of Church socials, garden parties with suppers, Christmas pageants and parties. He also mentioned a bee to build the 2nd Bethesda Presbyterian Church, recalling as a 14 year old boy being up on the roof shingling.
I think as well as hearing a sermon, the churches also served as a welcome respite after a long week of work, and gave the congregation time to socialize with others, probably the men networking finding out who needed a barn built, who had a horse to sell, who had oxen to lend for pulling out stumps, and for the women time to talk with other women.
