Wellesley Township Heritage & Historical Society
  • Home
    • About Us
  • Built Heritage
    • Heritage Designations
    • Historic Neighbourhood Study
  • Cemeteries
    • Rushes Cemetery - Cryptogram Tombstone >
      • Bean Cryptic Tombstone
  • Church History
  • Digital Collection
  • Exhibits
  • Family History
    • Wellesley Roots
    • Family Histories in Our Collection
    • Marriage and Wedding Notices
    • Obituaries and Death Notices
  • Historical Room & Collections
    • Research Guide
    • Photograph Collections >
      • Wellesley Then and Now
      • Charles Ottmann jr Photograph Collection
      • Deborah Glaister Hannay Collection
      • Jessie Harkness Collection
      • Views of Wellesley Village
    • Historical Records in the Township Office
  • History of Wellesley Township
    • Settlement Patterns of Wellesley Townshiip
    • Queen's Bush Settlement
    • Huber Cider Mill Explosion 1908
    • Linwood Clippings 1868 - 1952
    • Linwood Scrapbook
    • Wellesley History In The News
  • Land Ownership
    • Tax Assessment Rolls
    • Maps
    • Township Papers
  • School History
  • Walking & Driving Tours
  • "Wellesley Maple Leaf" Newspaper
  • Wellesley Township Council
    • Wellesley Township Council Minutes
    • Wellesley Township Councillors
    • Waterloo County Councillors from Wellesley
  • Women's Institute
    • Wellesley Women's Institute Minutes
    • Wellesley Women's Institute Poster
    • Wellesley Women's Institute Slideshow
    • Tweedsmuir Histories
  • Gift Shop
  • Events
  • Contact Us
  • Membership Form
Picture

St. Andrew's United Church

15 Martha St., Hawkesville. The church is now used by the Hawkesville Mennonite Church.

Begun: 1865
Closed: 1946

The church was organized in 1865 as a separate congregation connected in a two-point charge with Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Winterbourne; the first minister to serve the two congregations was Rev. Edward Graham who had been ordained on September 28, 1864. A light-coloured brick church was constructed in 1868 on the west side of Church Street. In 1871 the church was joined to Gale Presbyterian, Elmira in a two-point charge, then to
Winterbourne, and back to Elmira on March 28, 1876. The Minister of Gale and Hawkesville, Rev. Andrew Dryburgh, died on March 6, 1878. In October of that year Hawkesville reverted to a Mission Station and Gale was left on its own for a time.

Alexander Russell was ordained on June 2, 1880 and on the same day assumed responsibility for the Hawkesville Mission. In 1881 Hawkesville was referred to as a congregation, and on February 13, 1885 it was united with St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church of Linwood as a joint congregation ministered to by the Rev. Russell. However, Rev. Russell was called to a charge in Chatham Presbytery on August 10, 1886 and the vacant joint charge of Hawkesville and Linwood reverted to Mission status as of September 21, 1886.

There was a fire in 1888, but the church was repaired and renovated. In 1925 the congregation joined the United Church of Canada. St. Andrew's Church closed in 1946 and the building was sold in 1949 to a Mennonite congregation for $100, on condition that the building would be used as a church. The Hawkesville Mennonite Church was dedicated on January 1, 1950.

Records:
Baptism dates: unknown         Location of records: unknown
Marriage dates: unknown        Location of records: unknown
Burial dates: unknown             Location of records: unknown

References: Dick & Longo 1984:20; Riedstra 1979; Hamilton, Rev.  A.M., WHS 1919(7):80; Maple Leaf 1983:96; Ogram, WHS 1986(74):120-121; Presbyterian Church; R. Taylor 1986.

Information excerpted from: Waterloo County Churches, A Research Guide to Churches established before 1900, by Rosemary Willard Ambrose © Waterloo-Wellington Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society, 1993. It is reproduced by permission.

For a complete list of resources mentioned above, please click
here.

                                     -----------------------------------------------------