The father of Presbyterianism in Norfolk County, was Jabez Culver, the grandancestor of the most numerous branch of that family.[1] He was ordained in New Jersey in 1760, and came to Long Point settlement with his family in 1794, and built the first log cabin in Windham. He was not only the first Presbyterian minister, but the first regularly ordained minister of the Gospel that came into Norfolk as a permanent settler. He was an indefatigable worker in the Master’s vineyard, and as early as 1806 he had succeeded in organizing a little church at his own house, which stood near the site of the old Windham meeting house. This was the pioneer Presbyterian church of Norfolk, and after it was organized its founder organized a congregation at Turkey Point, and also one at Oakland. He was known as “Priest Culver” in the early days of the settlement, and was a man well advanced in years when he came. The character of the man, the incidents connected with his settlement and the manner in which he conducted his ministerial labors among the settlers, are given elsewhere in connection with the family history.
It does not appear from the evidence handed down to us, that any effort was made to gather these primitive congregations into a Presbytery or union of any kind; and when the fatherly old pastor was no longer able to travel through the forest and care for his little flocks, they wandered away from the fold and were gathered in by other shepherds. While the old veteran was able to sit in his arm-chair and preach, the Windham church was kept together; but when his life’s work came to an end, in 1819, the Windham church also ceased to exist as a church organization. Soon afterwards the Methodists effected an organization, and finally built a church edifice near the spot where Jabez Culver ministered to his little pioneer flock. At the dissolution some affiliated with the Methodists, some were absorbed by the other denominations, while others stood aloof until the Rev. John Bryning came over from Mount Pleasant and gathered up the fragments and organized a Presbyterian congregation in Simcoe in the year 1820.[2]
The original membership of the pioneer Windham church, as far as can be learned, consisted of the following persons:
Aaron Culver and his wife, Elizabeth; Jabez Culver, jun., and his wife, Anna; John Culver and his wife, Miriam; John Beemer, Esq., and his wife, Hannah; and Miss Susanna Horton. The latter was a daughter of Samuel Horton, the old Windham pioneer blacksmith, of “Buckwheat Street.” Miss Horton was about seventeen at this time—1806—and subsequently she became the wife of Abraham Young, the old Windham pioneer, who lived to be nearly a hundred years old.[3] Mrs. Nelson Culver, of Normandale, one of the staunchest Presbyterian mothers in Norfolk to-day, is a daughter of Mrs. Young, nee Susanna Horton.
Rev. John Bryning was an indefatigable worker also. He travelled through the woods and went about the settlement from cabin to cabin, gathering up the lost sheep, and soon he had them organized into a congregation. Services were held in the school-house, and the cause grew and flourished.
After eighteen years of prosperity it was decided to erect a church edifice. The old subscription list has been preserved, the following being a correct copy:
“December 16th, 1838.
“At a preliminary meeting held at the house of Alexander Craik, in Wellington, preparatory to a general meeting to be held to-morrow evening at the same place, for the purpose of devising measures for the erection of a place of worship in Simcoe, of the Presbyterian Order, in connection with the United Synod of Upper Canada.
“We, the undersigned, agree to pay (for that purpose) the sums severally attached to our names:
£ s. d. £ s. d.
Peter O’Carr 25 0 0 Oliver T. Ashbough 1 5 0
Abraham Young 12 10 0 I. Fero 1 5 0
John Polly 4 0 0 B. B. Smith 1 5 0
Joseph Tilney 5 0 0 Mrs. Davies 1 5 0
Alexander Craik 7 10 0 Samuel Chadwick 5 0 0
Francis Byfield 2 10 0 Jabez L. Culver 2 10 0
John Bryning 2 10 0 Robert Culver 1 5 0
William Wilson 2 10 0 John Brooks 1 5 0
T. J. Mulkins 3 10 0 Alexander Crawford 1 5 0
William Hardy 2 10 0 Francis P. Rose 1 5 0
William P. Wilson 1 5 0 Archibald McEwen 1 0 0
William Salmon 2 10 0 Andrew McInnis 5 0 0
John McGill 5 0 0 Jacob Langs 2 10 0
Thomas Tate 1 5 0 Robert Waddel 1 0 0
J. W. Powell 2 10 0 D. Sutherland 2 10 0
Daniel Matthews 2 10 0
In 1843 contentions arose in the church which resulted in a separation. Those who were in sympathy with the Free Church movement went out from their brethren and organized themselves into a new church, and erected a church edifice on Norfolk Street. The “Auld Kirk” division retained the old church edifice which had been built on the gore in front of Alexander McCall’s residence. In 1875 the two branches were reunited, and the Free Church building on Norfolk Street was sold to the Grangers. In 1884 the present St. Paul’s church was erected at the cost of $12,000. The first regular pastor of the “Auld Kirk” was the Rev. George Bell, and the first “Free Church” pastor was the Rev. Andrew Wilson. After the reunion the first pastor was the Rev. W. M. McNeil, and the present pastor of St. Paul’s is the Rev. W. J. Dey, M.A., a gentleman of scholarly attainments and winning manners.
There are eight Presbyterian churches in Norfolk to-day under the charge of four pastors, having a total membership of about 1,280, and about half that number of communicants. These pastoral charges are located as follows: Simcoe; Port Dover and Vittoria; Lynedoch and Silver Hill; Delhi, Windham and Waterford.
The Norfolk churches are included in the Hamilton Presbytery, which includes forty-five ministers and sixty-five churches.
[1] Jabez invariably signed his surname “Collver”. His son Aaron adopted the “Culver” spelling, as did Jabez’s cousin Joseph Culver of Woodhouse Township.
[2] Reverend John Bryning was first a minister of the Anglican Church in England then converted to the Congregational faith. He came to New Brunswick, Canada in 1820, followed soon after by a move to Charlotteville Township, Norfolk Co. During the 1820’s he was an independent preacher then on August 31, 1830 was licensed by the United Presbytery of Canada as a Presbyterian minister. Earlier, during the 1820’s Reverend Bryning moved to Mount Pleasant, Brant County. He established churches at Mount Pleasant, Simcoe and several other locations. Source: Obituary of John Bryning in The Presbyterian newspaper, issues of October and November 1853. See The Long Point Settlers Journal, Vol. 6, No. 2.
[3] Abraham and his family spelled their surname “Youngs”.