CLERGY
| Anderson
Rev. James Webster Biography: b. Oct. 1874 m. Elizabeth McKail McNidder (1896) d. 1961 Claims: In 1927 they accepted a call to Killarney Erskine Church where they continued for the next five and a half years. Mrs Anderson died in Dec 1932. In 1933 Mr. Anderson moved to Hartney Probable Significance: Modest Source: Trails & Crossroads to Killarney p. 183, 326 / Reflections p. 183, 326 Elliott, Rev. William Biography: Claims: Methodist minister 1882 Probable Significance: Source: Reflections P. THE REV. WILLIAM ELLIOTT came to the Methodist Church in Killarney in 1885 and the following year he married Hannah Robinson of Manitou. There were eight missions in his cir- cuit: Killarney, Maple Grove, Northcote, Victoria Lake, Tisdale, Overdale, Bellafield, and Rowland. Contributions from the whole field were $6.80 for the first quarter, and $51.95 for the second. Nevertheless it was during his pastorate that the first Methodist Church and parsonage in Killarney were built. Mr. and Mrs. Elliott left Killarney in 1888 and after a short time on another circuit went far afield to a mission in Japan. They both had quarter sections in the Killarney district which they held for some years. Floyd, Rev. M.P. Biography: Claims: arrived in Killarney in March 1898 to be pastor of Erskine Presbyterian Church. At first he held services regularly at Highview, Wakopa, Lyonshall, Lena and sometimes at Hullett. He kept cows and delivered milk in Killarney. Some of the elders of the church thought this undignified for their clergyman but he paid no attention to their protests. He was proud of his cattle and exhibited them at the Killarney Fair, in fact, he became a Director of the Fair. He left Killarney in 1909. When he preached at Highview, he used to announce his itinerary of visits for the following week and "was welcomed by all”. It usually meant roast chicken for dinner which was a welcome change from salt-cured pork. Probable Significance: Modest Source: Trails & Crossroads to Killarney p. 180,191,299,363 / Reflections p. Johnson, Rev Walter Robert  Biography: (1858- 1949) In 1885 he married Sarah Olver (1859-1942) Claims: Came to Alcester district to farm. Was a licensed lay preacher and catechist. Preached at Killarney in 1884, and 1886 Anglican. He returned to Manitoba as a missionary at Killarney in July 1888, was ordained deacon in 1889, priest in 1891, and appointed incumbent of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church at Killarney. He was also a school trustee and a member of the COF. Probable Significance: Source: Reflections p. 265 From the Local History Sources... THE REVEREND WALTER ROBERT JOHNSON (1858- 1949) one day was working on his mother's farm near Mitchell when he suddenly threw down his shovel and declared "I can do something better than this." He apprenticed himself to a druggist, who sent him to take charge of a drug store in Emerson in 1881. The next spring he resolved to take a homestead. "It was not with me," he wrote in a letter printed in the Mitchell Times, "as with many coming from Ontario, 'a leap in the dark'. I had made inquiries from farmers . . . relative to their difficulties and the mode of procedure of taking up land and the kind of life which must follow, and thus when I found things rather primitive I was not surprised or discouraged." He went with friends, one of whom was John Metcalfe, to the Alcester district where his older brothers, James and George, were. Walter and John Metcalfe filed for 4-5-19 and James for 2-5-19 on March 22, 1882. In Mitchell, Walter Johnson had been active in church work, having been licensed as a lay preacher and catechist. His former Sunday School class sent him a watch for Christmas and with it came a letter from the clergyman saying "Don't give up your studies and planning for the sacred ministry." Though the youngest of the homes ers, he was the one who conducted services on Sunday in his shanty. On a visit to Mitchell in 1883, he addressed the Temperance Society giving glowing reports of Manitoba. He preached in Killarney in 1884 and he was given a presentation at Maple Grove when he preached the farewell service for the season. As it was not an organized parish, this was probably his only remuneration. In 1885 he married Sarah Olver (1859-1942) whom he had known in Mitchell before she came to Alcester with her parents. That fall they went to Toronto where he attended Wycliffe College. After a summer on the homestead acting as student min- ister' he went back to Wycliffe in 1886 where he reported, "My field comprised an area of five ranges and twenty-five townships in which there were six stations and as far west as the Rockies if I chose to go. I held service one Sabbath at Maple Grove 10.30, Wako- pa 2.30, Killarney 6.30, and the next Sabbath at Boissevain 10 a.m., Mr. Code's 2.30 p.m., Alcester 6 p.m. Of Killarney he wrote "When I commenced in May it was the first regular service they had had, and at the end of three months we had an organ and a full choir." Attendance was about fifty. On account of ill-health he was not able to return to Wycliffe but he studied extra-murally and completed his studies in Winnipeg. In March 1891, he was ordained priest by Bishop Machray and appointed incumbent of Holy Trinity, Killarney, and St. George's, Holrnfield. He brought his family to Killarney where they remained until 1895. He was a man of many interests and skills. For years he reported the migration of birds to the Department of Agricul- ture of the United States. He was able to 'witch' for water, an important gift in a district where it was often difficult to locate wells. The next five years were spent in Old St. Andrews parish on the Red River but in 1900 he came back to his beloved Killarney. A new rectory was built and the bare grounds around it became a well-kept garden. In 1901 he was made Rural Dean of Turtle Moun- tain. He took three services each Sunday and allocated students or lay readers to the other stations in his field. He left Killarney in 1918 to take charge of Ninette, Belmont, and Pelican Lake, and in 1922 moved to Winnipeg where he spent a very active retirement, taking services when needed in nearby places, assisting Canon Heeney in St. Lukes for fifteen years, and doing hospital visiting for the Anglican Church. Lewis, Re. Henry Biography: Claims: Methodist minister 1882 Probable Significance: Source: Reflections P. From the Local History Sources... THE REV. HENRY LEWIS came from Newfoundland in July 1891, to be pastor of Killarney Methodist Church for three years. There were six children in the family and two more were born in Killarney. He drove many hundreds of miles with his white mare, Old Flirt, on his circuit which included Killarney, Maple Grove, North- cote, Victoria Lake, Tisdale, Overdale, Bellafield, and Rowland. These pioneer preachers had a heavy schedule, driving in the bitter cold of winter and the scorching heat of summer. Mrs. Lewis was a great help in the choir. She loved the wild flowers of the prairie, declaring that no one could grow more beautiful flowers. Mrs. Lewis died in Melita in 1934, her husband having predeceased her. Lowery, Rev. J.W.S. Biography: Claims: Came in 1888, was the first of the Presbyterian clergymen to stay longer than a year. Probable Significance: Modest Source: Trails & Crossroads to Killarney p. 347 / Reflections p. McIvor, Rev. Dan Biography: 187 – 1965) Claims: Minister of Erskine Presbyterian Church 1908 – 1913. Boy Scouts Probable Significance: Source: Reflections P. Stewart, Rev. Andrew Biography: Claims: Methodist minister 1882 Probable Significance: Source: Reflections P. Whyte, Rev. C.W Biography: Claims: Rev. C. W. Whyte, published the The Killarney Times, in addition to his work as pastor for several congregations scattered throughout the district. "Mr. Whyte used to type his sermons and send them out if it was too stormy for him to get out on the Sunday," wrote Annie Crawford, "and he got us children to write out Sunday School lessons and send them to him in the winter when we had no Sunday School. He also typed a little paper which he called Word and Wark." Probable Significance: Modest Source: Trails & Crossroads to Killarney p. / Reflections p. |