Craigvale
History of Craigvale and Stroud
Church History
In 1855 a parsonage was built for Stroud Methodist Church on what is
now Highway 11 and it is still standing. The present parsonage was built
in 1875. The lot was bought from F B Barclay for $225. Stephen Maneer
received $13 for clearing stumps away. George Stott was the contractor
and the total cost appears to have been about $361 including stable, well,
cistern and cistern pump.
In 1875, the blacksmith shop and house west of the church was purchased
by the church. The house was resold. The smithy was torn down and evergreen
trees were planted on the property line.
In the "Contributions to Minister's Salary, Innisfil Circuit, 1899/1900"
for Stroud Methodist church, Mrs R J Black (Mary Mgt Maneer) donated $4.00;
George A Maneer, $4.00; and members of William Maneer's class donated
$36.00.
In the fall of 1905 the Methodist Church buildings were destroyed by
fire. William Maneer made the motion to replace it. A piece of land was
purchased from Mr H Young across the road from the old church and soon
the walls were going up. Lighting in the building was gas generated by
a plant in a small room now used for primary children.
In 1912 the issue of union with other denominations was brought before
the officials.
In 1914 an enclosed shed was built to give shelter to the horses. Before
a great many years people no longer came to church with a horse and buggy
or cutter. The shed was torn down recently (early 1950s) and the land
became a parking lot.
In 1925 the United Church of Canada came into being, uniting the Methodist
Church, the Presbyterian Church and the Congregational Church. The Stroud
Presbyterian Church voted to remain out of the union. The new United Church
congregation at Stroud chose as its name, 'St James' after the brother
of our Lord. The first pastor was, the Reverend James Brown.
One hundred years of church life were celebrated in 1952. The church
was redecorated and improvements made in the lighting and the choir loft.
This section contains material collected by Jeanne Groce about the history
of Stroud and Craigvale. It contains "information collected from libraries,
books, newspapers, the Centennial History of Innisfil, Historical Revue,
word of mouth, and anywhere else I could find it." Reference to the source
of the material is given where possible.
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