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United Church Pamphlet Historical Background In 1862, Thomas Crosby left Woodstock, Ontario, to begin a missionary career that was to last 45 years. For some years, he worked among the native Indian people of Nanaimo and the Chilliwack Valley. Ordained in 1874, Crosby was sent to the mission opened the year before at Port Simpson by C. M. Tate. Travelling by canoe with a crew of recent converts, Crosby sought out the people on the fishing grounds and in their isolated villages. His work grew rapidly and it was soon obvious that a larger, power-driven boat was required. Methodists across Canada responded to Crosby's appeal, but a young Scottish shipwright actually began the mission fleet. In response to a sermon preached by Crosby in New Westminster, William Oliver offered to build the necessary boat at cost, provided he would be allowed to sail her. The "Glad Tidings" was launched in 1884 and plied the coast from Victoria to Port Simpson until she was blown ashore and wrecked in 1903. In 1908, William Oliver built and launched the "Udal" only to see her strike a rock and sink the next year. The "Homespun" served the Church until she was replaced in 1912 by the first THOMAS CROSBY. She was replaced in 1920 by three smaller vessels, of which the THOMAS CROSBY II served the north coast until she dragged her anchor and was blown ashore at Sandspit. With the backing of the Methodist Church, Captain Oliver built and launched the THOMAS CROSBY III in 1923. This vessel was used by the Methodist, then the United Church, following Union until 1938, when the THOMAS CROSBY IV was purchased. The Thomas Crosby V A new vessel, the THOMAS CROSBY V is expected to be in service in August, 1967. It is built of steel and powered by a diesel marine engine capable of speeds up to 11 knots (nautical miles per hour). The CROSBY V has, in addition to crew's quarters, a dormitory and two staterooms, one of which can be converted into a dispensary when a doctor is aboard. A library will stock books for sale as well as to lend. A radio-telephone, a depth sounder and radar are part of the navigational equipment. For lighthouse stops, a hydraulic crane and a work boat can be called into service. The crew consists of a captain, two engineers and three seamen. It will sleep 20 people and carry up to 35 on a day trip. Like her predecessor, the THOMAS CROSBY V will be based at Prince Rupert, B.C., and will average over 10,000 miles per year, serving over 50 ports of caB in isolated communities. Her area of concern extends from Pine Island in the south to Green Island in the north, just a few miles from the Alaska border. In addition to making calls on the people of the area, the CROSBY serves as a liaison between the ministers who serve the settled pastorates along the north coast. (See map in centre of leaflet). Memorial Chapel It is a great joy to all who knew the late Dr. Peter R. Kelly that the CROSBY V has a memorial chapel in his name. It has been furnished by friends of this outstanding man, a British Columbia Indian who served for 16 years as a missionary on the coast and skipper of the CROSBY IV. He died in 1966. CAPITAL COSTS Contract price for THOMAS CROSBY V ___ _____ ____ $269,416.59 Board of Home Missions ________________ $129,062.44 Federal Government subsidy, 25% 67,354.15 United Church Women _________ _________ 55,000.00 B.C. Conference Fund _______ __________ ___ 15,000.00 B.C. Special Gift _______ _____ ________________ 3,000.00 $269,416.59 The "Crosby" Visits­ ! Lighthouses ... Hundreds of automatic unattended lights along the B.C. coast guide navigators to their destination. Where fog horns and radio beacons are required as well as lights, no mechanical or electronic substitute has been found to replace men. Almost all of the manned light stations are far from villages and towns. Two, sometimes three families live on these stations. The visits of the CROSBY mean mail, often a time of informal worship, sometimes a movie, always a friendly visit. Landing at most of these stations is made hazardous by almost constant swell conditions which can turn a slip of the foot into an icy swim. Green Island Lighthouse Pine Island Lighthouse Telephone Repeater Stations ... Communications on the northwest coast depend upon the men who man the FM and "scatter" repeater stations. These stations are in as isolated locations as are the lighthouses. Of the three repeater stations at which the CROSBY calls, two are one-man stations with family, and one is manned by six men, also with their families. Happily, all these stations are sheltered from gales and heavy seas, although rough water must sometimes be crossed in order to reach them. Stores and Marine Gas Stations ... Like consumers everywhere, the people of the north coast need stores. Unlike most people, they need boat and engine parts, rope, fishing gear, etc. The stores along the coast are the successors to the vanishing rural general store. Ladies' wear stands alongside anchors and traps. Engine parts share the shelves with patent medicines. Pots and pans hang from the ceiling. In a heavy sea, the din is terrific, for the stores are built on large rafts which heave in the swell, banging the pots and pans together. Instead of pro­ viding parking lots for cars, the storekeepers must provide mooring space for boats. The storekeeper and his family occupy homes either attached to the store or tied immediately alongside on rafts of their own. This is part of the CROSBY'S charge. Wharf at Prince Rupert. Capt. Jack Gosse walks toward spot where CROSBY V will berth. Logging Camps To reach the village, the CROSBY is tied at Rivers Inlet Cannery, and the missionary hikes a mile and a half to the village. If the The day of the small logging outfit on the B.C. coast is drawing to people are forewarned they meet the missionary at R.Le. and take a close. The expense of equipment and camps and the gradual him up the river to the village by riverboat or outboard-powered logging off of easily-accessible timber, has brought about fewer dugout canoe. These visits are real occasions in the life of the and larger camps operated by large companies. Some small outfits village. A day of pastoral visiting usually culminates in a hymn still log in the mainland inlets, but most of these are on float sing and service in someone's living room. On rare occasions a camps which are moved with the logging operation. Children grow movie is shown. up to regard their life jacket as a normal and certainly necessary part of their wearing apparel. The boys are usually competent Approximately 200 miles to the north on Wright Sound at the small-boat operators by the time they are eight or nine years old. entrance to Douglas Channel lies the village of Hartley Bay. Schooling must be provided either by correspondence courses or by sending the children away from home to larger centres. This village, nestled between the hills on the shore of the mainland, has a population of 125 people. Here the missionary on the CROSBY is able to share in worship services in a lovely small church, visible evidence of the Christian leadership of his predeces­ sors in the marine work on the coast. In this village, Sunday School is held and services continued by the elders whether the missionary is present or not. Fish 'n' Ships""" A fish-cannery village, N amu has a winter population of 60-100 people. This figure swells to three or four hundred at the height of the fishing season. A student minister serves Namu during the summer months. During tPe winter, monthly services are held and pastoral work is carried on by the missionary from the CROSBY. Rev. John C. Kay visits logging camp Community Church at Port McNeil. in Queen Charlotte Islands, Owned by the United Church, Sandspit, B.C. it is also used by Anglican and Roman Catholic congregations. Oweekano Village and Hartley Bay""" In a beautiful location on the bank of the Whonok River at the head of Rivers Inlet, lies the native Indian village of Oweekano. There is a community hall, ten or twelve homes, and a one-room school, to Grade 7; over 40 of the children are away at residential schools. The village boasts a good water supply, and electricity is provided by a community plant. Several new houses are built each year. Sunnyside Cannery near Prince Rupert. CENTRAL MAINLAND MARINE MISSION Place names outlined D indicate separate pastoral charges OWIKENO NORTH ISLAND PASTORAL CHARGE Smaller Fishing Centres ... At one time there were thirteen canneries operating at the Rivers Inlet area alone. Now, the fish are carried for processing by large boats-packers to central locations such as Namu, Prince Rupert or Vancouver. Stores, boat repairs and net services are still maintained during the season at some of the old cannery locations. During the long winter months, a watchman with his wife and family, guard each of these locations against fire and storm. The only connection these people have with the rest of the world is by boat and radio-telephone. Occasionally, the CROSBY is able to gather these isolated people together in one place for a service . .. movie, and time of fellowship. When this is not practical, separate visits are made.
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