Commemoration

Born at Ballston Spa near Saratoga, New York, McDowell graduated from the Union  Theological Seminary, Schenectady, and was ordained by the Dutch Reformed Church at Albany in 1797.  A year later he was sent to Canada and ministered to the Presbyterians in the Bay of Quinte area.  He organized congregations in Ernestown and Adolphustown Townships, and in Fredericksburg Township where he settled in 1800.  A zealous missionary, McDowell travelled extensively preaching and performing marriage ceremonies at numerous centres between Elizabethtown (Brockville) and York (Toronto).  His efforts as the first appointed missionary of the Dutch Reformed Church in Canada helped to lay the foundation for the development of Presbyterianism in Ontario.  He died at Sandhurst and was buried in the adjoining cemetery.