There is an old saying, “April showers bring May flowers, what do Mayflowers bring?” The answer, for the future township of Flamborough, would be the Methodist Church.
In 1620, the Mayflower, the most famous of all the ships that took colonists to the eastern seaboard of the United States departed from Plymouth England, and embarked on a sixty-five day journey, which would see her land at present day New York. On board the ship, was a young man named Francis Eaton. Upon reaching the New World, Francis married, and one of his sons, John Eaton, settled in Connecticut. A subsequent descendent also named John Eaton fought for a time with the British during the American Revolutionary War. After completing his service, he followed a relative, David Eaton to Nova Scotia and raised a family of his own. Upon John’s death, his wife Martha and three children (John, Elam, and Daniel) moved to the Niagara region in 1796. this John Eaton resided in Brantford for a time, and later moved to Saltfleet, served in the War of 1812, and finally settled in 1826, in present-day Carlisle.
The village which began to take shape around the Eaton homestead was initially named Eatonville, then Centreville, and finally Carlisle. The Eatons were devout Methodists, and as such, they converted one room of their home into a place of worship. Local preachers, and John Eaton himself would lead services there. He and his wife Catherine played a crucial role in bringing the first church to Carlisle, as well as introducing Methodism into the East Flamborough area.
In 1808, East Flamborough was added to the growing number of stops along the Ancaster circuit which was frequented by itinerant preachers. Among the early ministers who became known as ‘saddle bag preachers’ was Rev. William Case, appointed to the Ancaster circuit by the New York Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church to Canada. His territory ran around the western perimeter of Lake Ontario, an area commonly referred to as “Methodist Mountain.”
Methodism exerted a powerful influence upon Upper Canada, as many adherents of the faith were among the loyalist founders, and “late loyalists”, who fled north into Upper Canada before the war of 1812. With these late loyalists came the ‘saddle bag preachers’, who in turn brought the Methodist Episcopal Church to the Canadian frontier.
Following the War of 1812, many Upper Canada Methodists were suspected of carrying pro-American leanings. As a result of these suspicions, by 1828, many of these Methodists sought to sever their American ties, and thus shed the spurious allegations. In 1833, they negotiated a union with the English Methodists who first entered the colony in 1817. Although most were amalgamated into the Wesleyan Church, some retained their ties with the American church.
The first Methodist Church in West Flamborough was located in Rock Chapel, and was built on land purchased from Daniel Morden, on Lot 21, 2nd Concession. In the course of its use, the original Rock Chapel Church was frequented by several noteworthy circuit riders. Between 1822 and 1876, the Rock Chapel congregation was ministered to by such preachers as Rev. Egerton Ryerson, James Spencer and William Jeffers. By 1876, the original structure had become dilapidated, and the need for another church was apparent. A new brick structure was built on Rock Chapel Road, adjacent to the cemetery, on property owned and donated by the Lyons family.
With the erection of the first Flamborough church in 1822 and the arrival of fervent Methodists such as John Eaton, the Methodist Church spread throughout Flamborough. Community Congregations exist in East Flamborough, West Flamborough and Beverly. The Methodist Church is the most prevalent in the escarpment area, and contributed greatly to the growth and development of Flamborough. Besides the Wesleyan congregations in Carlisle and Waterdown, the Methodist Episcopal Church was also one of the first churches to be established in the area. This was due largely to its affiliation with the American Methodist Episcopal Church, and the many settlers in the village with their origins in the United States.
In Beverly Township, Methodist congregations were also established in several communities. By 1840, settlers in Lynden began holding weekly Methodist services. In October of the same year, land was purchased and a church was erected. In 1870, a new church was built on the corner of Main Street and Governors Road in Lynden, where it stands to this day, and in 1871, the Lynden congregation had the honour of hosting the national conference for the Methodist Episcopal Church of Canada.
Other Beverly communities which at one time supported Methodist congregations include Westover, Rockton, Sheffield, and Troy. The Westover congregation joined the United church in 1924, however, by 1940, a declining congregation forced it to close. Established in 1835, the Rockton Methodist congregation initially worshipped in local homes, until the present church was built 1871. In 1846, a group of Methodists broke away from the United Brethren Church of Sheffield and started their own church just outside the village. In Troy a group of Methodists began worshipping in 1835, and by 1844, a frame church had been erected on land donated by Conrad Misner. This church functioned for 29 years, until the growing congregation forced the construction of a new church. The new brick church, called Mount Carmel, was built across the road from the old frame church.
When the Church Union came in 1925, all the Methodist churches in Flamborough became part of the United Church of Canada, and were joined by one other congregation, that of the Presbyterian church in Strabane.
© The Waterdown-East Flamborough Heritage Society 2003, 2023.
