The History of the Presbyterian Church in Cape Breton by Rev. John Murray

Cat No.:   CA0080:

This book was written on the order of the Presbyteries of Sydney and Inverness to, discover and record the history of Presbyterianism on the island of Cape Breton from the time of its introduction to the present time - that present time being about 1917. The work was to be done by committee but it appears that the bulk of the work was actually done by the author, who had then been a minister in Cape Breton for about 46 years.

And what a wonderfully thorough and detailed job he made of it. He decided to tackle the task in three parts: Part I; Individual biographies of the 19 Pioneer ministers who first came to the young communities of Cape Breton. (8 portraits of pioneer ministers are included.) Part 2; Descriptions of the 43 identified congregations and three Mission Fields, in which he describes each congregation's development and provides short biographies of all their ministers. In all over 200 biographies are given. (10 portraits of early ministers are included.) Part 3: A collection of articles all of which relate to the establishment of the church but which didn't find a place in either Part one or Part two. (8 portraits of missionaries are included.)

The strength of the Scottish heritage inherent in the Presbyterian church in this area comes through very strongly with virtually every minister bearing a recognizably Scottish name. While this book is obviously a gold mine for anyone researching an ancestor who was a minister in the Presbyterian church it will also provide some wonderful background material for anyone whose ancestors lived in the area, because of the great influence the church had on their lives.

The text of the book is fully searchable using the Find or Search facilities of Adobe Reader or any similar PDF file reading application.

To help you better understand exactly what is contained in the book the table of contents is transcribed below:

PART I - The Pioneer Presbyterian Ministers of Cape Breton.

Rev. James McGregor D. D.; Rev. Alexander Dick; Rev. Norman McLeod; Rev. William Millar; Rev. Hugh Dunbar; Rev. Hugh Ross; Rev. Donald McDonald; Rev. John McLennan; Rev. Donald Allan Fraser; Rev. Aeneas McLean; Rev. Dugald McKichan; Rev. Alexander Farquharson; Rev. John Stewart; Rev. James Fraser; Rev. Peter McLean; Rev. John Gunn; Rev. Matthew Wilson; Rev. Murdoch Stewart; Rev. Hugh McLeod, D. D.

PART II - The congregations of the Presbyterian Church in Cape Breton and their Ministers.

St. Ann's; Mabou; Port Hastings; Middle River; West Bay; Boulardarie; Whycocomagh; Strathlorne; Sydney Mines; Mira; Grand River; Baddeck.; Cape North; Gabarous; Leitche's Creek; St. Paul's, G. Bay; Port Morien; Lake Ainslie*; Falmouth St; Loch Lomond.; St. Andrew's, Sydney; St. Matthew's, Nr. Sydney; North Shore, etc; Baddeck Forks; Bridgeport; St. Peters; Little Narrows; Margaree; Marion Bridge; St. James, Sydney; Louisburg; Reserve Mines; Knox, G. Bay; St. Luke's No. 6; St. Matthews, Inverness; Warden G. Bay; Florence; New Waterford; Orangedale; Malagawatch; Framboise; Broughton; Neil's Harbor

Mission Fields; Pleasant Bay; West Bay Points; Port Hood

(Part II contains the biographies of over 200 ministers for these congregations)

PART III - Related and Supplementary Chapter.

The Centenary of Presbyterianism in Cape Breton.

The growth of the Presbyterian Church in C.B. during the past century

Presbyterianism in C. Breton in 1827.

The Presbyteries of C. Breton.

Conditions under which our Presbyterian Ancestors lived in the early part of last century.

The Communion Services of our Ancestors.

Our Celtic Ancestors their Origin, History, Language Literature and Religion.

The Men and Women that have gone to our Foreign Mission Fields from Cape Breton.

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

FastFind:  No;  ISBN No.:   1-897338-26-0;