Presbyterian Pioneer Missionaries - 1924. By Rev. Hugh McKellar, D.D.

Cat No.:   CA0239:

This book was authored (although edited might be a more accurate description) by the Rev. Hugh McKellar, D.D. in 1924. In his introduction the Rev. Hugh makes it clear that he was motivated to make a permanent record of the pioneer missionaries who helped to carry the Presbyterian ministries into the developing prairie and western provinces of Canada. The Rev. Hugh does not lay any claim to the completeness of his record but to judge from the listing of ministers and missionaries sent into the western provinces included in the rear of the book it would appear to be quite exhaustive.

The reason I use the term editor rather than author is that many of the later biographies and reminiscences are attributed to other writers, either in answer to Rev. Hugh's inquiries, or in writing about the subjects for other purposes, i.e., church reports. Many of the written reports are accompanied by photographs - or in a couple of instances - drawings - of the subjects, sometimes including their spouses and occasionally showing the buildings from which they conducted their ministry.

Clearly the primary reason for inclusion in this book is work done in the provinces from Manitoba westward but so many of these individuals had previously established ministries in the east and so the book also includes much of the personal history of the Presbyterian church personnel in Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces.

While the book is primarily about the lives of the missionaries their stories are inextricably bound up with the story of the development of the Canadian west so that the reader will find this is also a history of the settlement of western Canada starting with the idealistic settlement along the Red River, championed by Lord Selkirk - the source of so much political wrangling and violence.

A valuable resource both for its personal histories and as a guide to the early history of the Canadian west. Fully computer searchable with searches speeded up by our use of FastFind technology.

You can also reach the Sampler by clicking on the following link Sampler

You can return to this page by closing the Sampler Page when you are ready to purchase.

No. of CDs is:  1 ;   Format is:  PDF ;   Searchable?:  YES;

FastFind:  Yes;  ISBN No.:   978-1-897405-54-3 ;