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
![](images/johnson_wr.jpg)
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.
|