Bruce County (Ontario, Canada)
Extinct Mennonite congregations in Bruce County, Ontario, include the Port Elgin Church located near Port Elgin in Saugeen Township. Several Mennonite (Mennonite Church) families left Waterloo County in 1854 and located in this area. Within four years a congregation was organized and Solomon Eby was ordained as minister and his father, Martin Eby, as deacon. The first meetinghouse was built at Port Elgin in 1861 on a farm near the lake. The congregation was a part of the Mennonite Conference of Ontario until 1868, when Eby, with most of the members, left the conference and began a movement which resulted in the Ontario wing of the Mennonite Brethren in Christ Church (later United Missionary Church). After this, services were held in the homes with ministers supplied from Waterloo County. From 1876 communion services were provided twice a year at one or another of the homes which were located in the two townships of Culross and Brant, which were accordingly listed in the Meeting Calendar of the Ontario Conference as preaching places. In 1876 communion was held on three successive days beginning with Sunday at Port Elgin, Hanover, and Culross, and this arrangement was followed twice a year for three years; then continued for Hanover and Port Elgin in this regular order until 1901. At the beginning of the 20th century services were discontinued because some families returned to Waterloo County and others were absorbed in the Mennonite Brethren in Christ and German Lutheran churches in that neighborhood. Among families in these upper townships were the names of Schwartz, Reier, Bergey, Dirstien, and Haase.
See also Elmwood
| Author(s) | Joseph C Fretz |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1953 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Fretz, Joseph C. "Bruce County (Ontario, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1953. Web. 18 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Bruce_County_(Ontario,_Canada)&oldid=170617.
APA style
Fretz, Joseph C. (1953). Bruce County (Ontario, Canada). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 18 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Bruce_County_(Ontario,_Canada)&oldid=170617.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 443. All rights reserved.
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