The Griffin Old St. Edward's Church, Clementsport
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December 2004 Volume 29, No.4 The Holiday Edition ISSN 0384 7335 The Griffin A PUBLICATION OF HERITAGE TRUST OF NOVA SCOTIA HERITAGE TRUST OF NOVA SCOTIA is a charitable organization. All donations are tax creditable. Old St. Edward’s Church, Clementsport by Nora Tomlinson Peach “Clementsport, eleven miles from Digby and nine miles granted in 1784 to Captain Douwe Ditmars, a Loyalist from Annapolis. Here is a neat country church in a of Dutch descent from Long Island, New York. beautiful situation and in good repair… .” (Archdeacon Neighbouring lots to the east and west along the Willis reporting to the Bishop of Nova Scotia in 1829) shore of the Basin were granted to other Loyalists of The village of Clementsport grew up around the Dutch and English ancestry. Behind these, inland and to mouth of the Moose River where it flows into the the south, lots of various sizes were laid out, along Annapolis Basin. The village is situated mainly on land Continued overleaf Old St. Edward’s Church, Clementsport, as seen from the south east. Among its features are round- headed windows on the south side, a local fieldstone foundation,a three- part Venetian window at the east end, a Gothic (mediaeval-style) steeple and a triangular pediment over the door. Church: Continued from Page 1 (SPG), founded, funded and what became known as the directed in London by the Church Waldeck Line and the Hessian of England, had sent missionaries Line. These lots were for disband- to the neighbouring areas. Both ed mercenary soldiers from the Reverend Jacob Bailey, the part of Europe now known as Society’s “Frontier Missionary”, Germany who fought on the rector of Annapolis parish from British side in the American 1781 until his death in 1808, and Revolutionary War. Reverend Roger Viets, the Behind these lots, on what was Society’s missionary, who became known as the Negro Line, land rector of Digby in 1786, minis- was granted to former slaves who tered to the people of Clements. had gained their freedom by mov- Both men were Loyalists. ing from the revolutionary side of Clements Township was and is their owners to the Loyalist cause. part of the County of Annapolis The Griffin In 1784, Clements Township, of and, until 1841, part of the Parish which the village of Clementsport of Annapolis. A quarterly newsletter is a part, consisted mainly of Although Pastor Wagner’s published by English, Dutch and German ministry was needed and proba- HERITAGE TRU S T OF Protestants and a few people from bly accepted by the people, it NOVA SCOTIA an earlier wave of settlers, called seems from letters of the time that Unless otherwise indicated, New England Planters, who had Rev. Jacob Bailey resented the opinions expressed in come after the expulsion of the Wagner’s presence and his these pages are those of the Acadians. German Protestant background. contributors and do not Those who were settled in At the end of 1785, the pastor dis- necessarily reflect the Clements Township in 1783-84 appeared from the scene leaving views of were refugees who came to Nova the SPG missionaries to minister HERITAGE TRU ST OF Scotia with few belongings, and, to the people of Clements. NOVA SCOTIA. in some cases, were destitute. At This probably accounts for the first, these people would be fully story that the Church of St. Editorial Committee: occupied clearing land, building Edward at Clements was original- Anthony Lamplugh, shelters and growing crops for ly Lutheran. W.A. Calnek, in his Janet Morris, Nancy O’Brien, food. There would be a great History of Annapolis County, origi- Sandra Sackett. desire for social gatherings to nally published in 1897, writes Contributers to this issue: strengthen the community and that “The old church at Arthur Carter, Pam Collins, maintain traditions through this Clementsport, built by the Dutch Joan Dawson, Janet Morris, disorienting period of their lives and Hessian and other German Nancy O’Brien, in the wilderness of a new land. Loyalists, was originally Lutheran Nora Tomlinson Peach, John Christopher Wagner, for- and called the ‘Church of St. Sandra Sackett, mer chaplain to the 1st Ansbach Edward.’…” Garry Shutlak, Battalion, came as a settler to In 1790 the Right Reverend Heather Watts, Jan Zann. Clements in 1783 and was granted Charles Inglis, the first Bishop of lot #16 on the Hessian Line. The Nova Scotia, received a petition Layout: Betsy Chambers church was an important part of from 50 families for a church. The the lives of the early settlers, and Bishop requested funds from the Submissions are welcomed. Pastor Wagner would have minis- government and from the SPG for Deadline for the next issue: tered to the people as they moved the building of a church at February 1, 2005 from the revolutionary struggle to Clements. The site chosen was on Please send your life in Nova Scotia. It is likely that a hill on Douwe Ditmars’ land submissions to there was a modest building in overlooking the Annapolis Basin. HE RITAGE TRUST O F Clements for church and school The story is that the land was NOVA SCO TIA, P.O. Box 36111, use in the years following 1783 given for one peppercorn. On the Spring Garden RPO, and before the building of St. deed, dated February 27th 1797, Halifax, N.S. B3J 3S9 Edward’s officially began in the the price was five shillings. The Tel: 902 423-4807 early 1790s. A variety of buildings, work of building began in the E-mail material to including Ditmars’ barn, were early 1790s and was completed [email protected] used for church services in the around 1795. The church was con- early days. secrated during the Bishop’s visit ef The Society for the Propagation in September 1797. Unfortunately, of the Gospel in Foreign Parts Continued on Page 3 Page 2 The Griffin - HERITAGE TRUST OF NOVA SCOTIA Church: continued from Page 2 Douwe Ditmars died six months earlier; he is buried on the south side of the church. Apparently Bishop Inglis took a great interest in the location and style of the churches in his dio- cese, so we have here an amalgam of the Classical style prevalent in England and New England Meeting House features. We can assume that some among the dis- banded soldiers who settled along the Waldeck and Hessian Lines had tradesmen’s skills, such as carpentry, which they contributed to the building of the church. The foundation of Old St. Edward’s Church is of local field- stone. The sills, squared timbers and boards are from the pine trees felled on the hill nearby. Plaster for the walls and arched ceiling came from burning clam shells on the beach at the mouth of the Moose River. Notable features include the row of round-headed windows on each of the long Rev. William Minns Godfrey,a missionary with the Society for the Propagation of the sides, a three-part Venetian win- Gospel in Foreign Parts. dow at the east end, and a Gothic Pews are Built.” The list that fol- Greenwood Tree, will be aware. (mediaeval-style) steeple, set on a lows includes English, Dutch and Even though the English lan- square base, at the west end. The German names. The plan of the guage and the Anglican form of round window (oculus) in the interior of the church includes 29 worship and church governance west gable and the triangular ped- family pews (23 named) plus four became predominant, a tradition iments over the doorways are pews in the northwest corner, developed at St. Edward’s of the other features characteristic of the under the gallery, reserved for singing of a Dutch hymn before Palladian style, then popular in Blacks (slaves and former slaves). the service and a German hymn at English churches, which Inglis A double-decker pulpit was the end. This continued until 1859 wished to evoke. located in the centre of the eastern with the deaths, at age 87, within Looking around you from the end of the nave under the sound- six months of each other, of John hilltop, you can appreciate how ing board, which still hangs from Conrad Hertrick and Henry well Inglis, with land provided by the ceiling. At a vestry meeting Trimper, the last of the soldiers Douwe Ditmars, succeeded in dated April 24th, 1848, who arrived in 1783. placing his church in a prominent It was Resolved 1) That the Over the years the congrega- position. As well as being a tion at Clements made several symbol of duty to God, the church Pulpit in the old parish church called St. Edward’s be taken requests to have their own mis- also served as an important land- sionary, but it was not until 1841 mark visible from the sea, and for down and put up near the cor- ner of the Chancel and a reading that the Reverend William Minns thirty years after it was built an Godfrey, SPG missionary born in oil lamp was lit in the tower as a desk in the other corner And that a Square Singing pew be fit- England, was received as resident guide.* minister. In May of the same year An early entry in the Vestry ted where the pulpit and read- ing desk stands at present. a request was presented to the Book, dated February 27th, 1797, Lord Viscount Falkland, begins: “We the Subscribers do Up to this point a few musicians, Lieutenant Governor of Nova Promise to Pay to the Church accompanied by bass viol and Scotia, that Clements become a Wardens, for Building Each of us flute, led the singing from the separate parish.