A History of Carlisle United Church
The Chapel at the Twelve
It was not many years before more than the Eaton's home was required
to accommodate the worshippers. In 1839, a new building was erected. It
was really a school, but from the beginning was intended to be used as
a chapel as well. It became known as " The Chapel at the Twelve"
An interesting document of the day was a receipt which read: "
Received 10th Sept. 1839 two pounds of John Morden for building chapel
and school house. - L.H. Eaton"
We know very little about this schoolhouse-cum-chapel . We don't know
where it was situated, what it looked like or how big it was (although
even in 1839 it is doubtful that you could get much of a building for
L2) We do, however, know a few things.
We know that when this land in East Flamborough was originally surveyed,
after it was purchased from the Mississauga Indians, 1/8 of it ( 1/7 by
some interpretations ) was supposed to be set aside for the support of
"a protestant clergy" Between c.1826 and 1842 the following
clergy reserves were sold: Concession 8 Lot 5 to Fatten family; Concession
9 Lot 6 to Vance and Freeman families; Concession 9 Lot 9 to Edward Burton.
We have no record of a chapel on any of these lots. Besides, the Methodist
"Society" probably did not qualify for a Clergy (read Church
of England) Reserve. Although the Methodists began in England as a Revivalist
Movement within the Anglican Church, by the time they reached Canada they
were a separate denomination. (These clergy reserves were secularized
by an act of Parliament in 1854 and the proceeds applied to other purposes,
chiefly educational.)
We know, too, that sometime in the mid to late 19th century a public
building existed across the road from our present Church on land that
is now 1427 Centre Road. It became The Good Templar Lodge home to a temperance
society formed to help counteract the influence of the several hotels
in the village. This building would have been on Lot 8 - part of the original
Eaton property. Since the "Chapel at the Twelve" was built by
L.H. Eaton ( Levinus H. son of John he might have built it on Eaton land
and this building might have first been a chapel/schoolhouse.
We also know, again from the Land Registry Records, that one acre of
Lot 7 Concession 8 was granted to the Wesleyan Methodist Church from John
Sherman for no fee. ( He had obtained the 200 acres from James Butler,
who had them from Thomas Butler and back again to George Law Jr.., the
Crown Patentee. The "Date of Instrument" for this transaction
of the Wesleyan Methodist Church was 4 Oct. 1839, with the Date of Registration
being 2 Oct. 1840. ( John Sherman then sold the remaining 199 acres to
Isaiah Millard the same year, 1839.) This one acre of land which is part
of our present Church property, situated just far enough from the Twelve
Mile Creek to prevent flooding, seems the most likely location of the
"Chapel at the Twelve" because of the 1839 date and the fact
that it is still church land; but we may never know for sure.
By the time this chapel was built there were 41 "class" members,
including Catherine Eaton, with Mark T. Crooker as class leader and John
Morden as assistant. Mr. Morden later became leader and Mr. Crooker a
local preacher who often walked from his home on the Eighth Concession
Road to Hamilton to preach on Sundays.
In 1839 there was one ordained minister, a Rev. McNab, on the Dundas
Circuit, five local preachers and two "exhorters" as well as
the class leaders - all helping in the work of the church.
From: A History of the Carlisle United Church: From Its Beginnings to
1991
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