THE HISTORY OF
ST.
NICHOLAS ANGLICAN CHURCH
Hammonds Plains, Nova Scotia
A brief essay on the history of the Parish of Sackville,
Nova Scotia with a particular
focus on St. Nicholas Church, Hammonds Plains
by The Reverend Randy D. Townsend January 18, 1999
Halifax was founded in 1749. It had an excellent sea port
backed by a very large and enclosed basin. The community
could easily be protected with batteries being erected on
the many islands and necks of land that fronted the
harbour. The settlement area was shadowed by a fortress on
Citadel Hill. The port was ideal to assist Britain's motive
of maintaining and securing its presence and protection of
the new world. The town flourished and grew with the
increasing trade and military as the harbour became a
common port of call for the fleets coming and going between
Europe and the colonies. Although the French made no direct
attacks on this British town it was continuously plagued by
skirmishes with the native Micmac. In an effort to curb the
Micmacs from coming to town and also to assure that no
French attacks could be made from inland a barracks called
Fort Sackville (named in honour of Lionel Sackville, first
Duke of Dorset) was established at the end of the Bedford
Basin.
A road soon passed from this barracks to the town of
Windsor, a port and fortification at the end of Minas Basin
at the mouths of the Avon and St. Croix rivers. the
population of Halifax was rapidly growing and many people
sought new ground to toil for substance. Many people
settled in the area of Fort Sackville and beyond on lands
along the road to Windsor. the population grew rapidly in
this area. The need to have a place for Christian worship
was definitely in place. The majority of settlers being
Loyalist immigrants or of British origin the predominant
denomination was Anglican. the founding of an Anglican
congregation would be in keeping with the idea of
maintaining sound religious principles and respect for
civil authority as it had only been a few years since the
predominantly Loyalist and British Nova Scotian government
had enacted the Act for the Establishment of Religious
Public Worship in this Province, and for Suppressing of
Property. This act, on the heels of the Act established the
CHurch of England in Nova Scotia, was to fix liturgy as
Anglican, tolerate dissenters with some freedom of
religion, and to ban all popish priests and worship.
A Robinson family (Loyalists) settled in Sackville arriving
from Cornwallis and brought with them materials to build a
church. Records of land grants show 200 acres on the
Windsor Road being conveyed to a Mr. Jack Robinson in 1785.
The date of construction of the first church in Sackville
is unknown. It has been speculated that it may have been a
early as 1790 or it may have been as late as 1805. Seeing
that the census of that area in the late 1700s reported
numerous families and that a Mr. John Robinson is buried in
the cemetery and his son Francis, by 1821 was noted as an
active member of the congregation supports the theory of
the earlier date of construction. This earlier date is also
supported by the vestry book with a report from the minutes
of 1830 that states:
We the undersigned,
Minister, Church Wardens and Parishioners of the Parish of
Sackville do hereby certify that the part and parcel of
land on which the present church has been erected, and on
which the former church had been builded, had been
regularly conveyed to the said parish more than forty years
ago as a site whereon to erect such a
church.
Other inconclusive evidence may be found in a Society for
the Propagation of the Gospel record from 1806 that cites
correspondence from the Bishop Inglis that states that a
small convenient church with a considerable glebe has
existed in the parish for which the Bishop was requesting
the appointment of a Society missionary. Older members of
the parish tell of family stories that recollect the
existence of two churches on the site previous to the
existing building. there is an anomaly in that Bishop
Inglis in his own diary often speaks of passing through
Sackville, on his way to Windsor, but does not mention the
parish or church until an entry in 1807. one thing for sure
is that the current building was erected after the previous
one had burnt down in the sight of parishioners in 1828.
The current building was consecrated on November 18, 1830
by the Right Reverend John Inglis, Bishop of Nova Scotia.
There is evidence from an article in the Acadian Recorder
of December 15, 1928 that there was some opposition to the
rebuilding of the church in Sackville:
For What purpose was
the church to be rebuilt? Was it to be left he asked, as
the old one had been for several years entirely without a
minister, unless one happened to come along in a great
while, and then one half of the parishioners not get
notice?...Until I see money fairly counted for, and some
probability of the parish getting a minister, if the church
is rebuilt, I in common with many others, would withhold my
mite.
The date not being exactly known the Parish of Sackville
was founded, although its boundaries were set out by Royal
declaration in 1804 to include all areas from, known today
as, Birch Cove to Grand Lake across to Mount Uniacke on to
Tantallon and then back to Birch Cove. Such a vast area was
to be serviced by only one priest from the mother church of
St. John the Evangelist. Settlements grew in these
surrounding areas and along with the people came commerce
and institutions including the village church. Within
decades there were churches of the parish in Hammonds
Plains, BeaverBank, Bedford, and Waverley, and services
being held in homes in three other villages. Congregations
grew and division of the parish ensued. The area of Bedford
to Waverley was set aside as a parish in 1912 and at a
later date divided into two self determining parishes. The
congregation of the mother church of St. John the
Evangelist grew beyond the capacity of the church building,
which is now the oldest standing structure in Sackville
honoured in 1998 by a designation from the heritage
society. In 1976 a group of parishioners from St. John
formed a new parish in Sackville known as St. Francis by
the Lakes. In December of 1997 the Bishop of Nova Scotia
approved a trial restructuring of the parish for the three
remaining congregations of St. John the Evangelist in
Sackville, St. Nicholas in Hammonds Plains, and the Church
of the Good Shepherd in BeaverBank. This trial structure,
by request of the members of St. John to be a self
determining parish of its own, is such that each of the
three congregations are functioning as an independent
parish. In December of 1999, after review, a new structure
may be canonized with each congregation being
self-determining parishes therefore ending the era of the
multi-point parish of Sackville. In just over two centuries
the parish of Sackville has been reshaped from being a
single point charge with a vast area within its parish
bounds, to being the largest geographically and numerically
in the diocese, to return again to a single point charge
but with much smaller bounds.
The records of the parish and those of the diocese offer
numerous interesting facts, stories, and anecdotes of this
parish, history and people. It would take many words to
note or retell all of these in this essay - a project that
may be revived at a later date. Turning to focus on what
was known as the smallest congregation and church, St.
Nicholas in Hammonds Plains, here is an offering of detail
of its own.
The growth of the outlying areas of Halifax was astounding
for those days and areas like Hammonds Plains, situated on
the cross road to St. Margaret's Bay, became thriving
villages. This area saw its residents gain their livelihood
from farming and cooper mills. In its historical hay day
Hammonds Plains and the immediately surrounding communities
were home to seventeen cooper mills. The people of this
area saw their need for a church building as services were
being held on lawns and in homes when the rector of
Sackville, the Rev. Archibald Gray, made regular journeys
over to Hammonds Plains beginning around 1839. In 1842 the
Anglican congregation took it upon themselves to build the
first church in Hammonds Plains which was a little church
known as St. John. This church built in the heart of the
community was consecrated in the following year on May 28
by Bishop John Inglis. Bishop Inglis wrote of his visit to
the church:
I drove to Hammonds
Plains, in the Mission of Sackville, fourteen miles, where
I consecrated a neat little church. It was crowded by one
hundred and twenty persons, and nearly half as many more
were compelled to remain without, at the doors and windows.
I gladly preached and endeavoured fully and plainly to
encourage all in their duty to God, and to His church, and
to their souls. This little church, like that at Douglas,
has led to the forming of a little flock, more numerous
than ever hoped for when the undertaking was commenced. Its
completion is a credit to the missionary the Rev. A. Gray,
and those who have zealously cooperated with him. Several
of the people of colour, who are settled a few miles from
the church attend, but the greater portion of them call
themselves Baptist. This was the first Episcopal visit to
Hammonds Plains whither I hope, ere long, to have a second
call.
Disaster struck when the little church of St. John was
destroyed by fire in 1888. As they were zealous people with
a driving force behind them in their rector, Father William
Ellis, they built themselves a new structure over the
following two year period. Services began in the new
structure in 1890 and it was consecrated the church of St.
Nicholas in 1891 by the Bishop of Maine during his visit to
Nova Scotia between June 14 and 17 since the Bishop of Nova
Scotia was ill at the time. It was also at this service
that long time member W.A. Schmidt was inducted as a lay
reader. This church that they built is the one which still
proudly stands today.
The ministry to the early congregations of St. John and
later St. Nicholas was not the greatest even at its best.
Short lived stays by rectors, then missionaries sponsored
by the SPG, within the vast parish of Sackville was not
conducive to good pastoral care in the Hammonds Plains
area. We must also keep in mind the travelling time and the
fact that a majority of the parishioners lived within the
area of the mother church in Sackville. The church in
Hammonds Plains saw many services conducted by laity and by
visiting clergy. This kind of ministry, as well as the loss
due to the fire of 1888, could be the reason for the lack
of records and historical accounts of the congregations of
early years. A big change occurred in the early 1900s when
the parish of Sackville was divided and the parish of
Bedford was formed. This lightened the load of the
Sackville rector as he would have less of a territory to
cover and fewer churches to service. Shortly after this
change in parish structure came the appointment of the
Reverend Arthur Tyers as rector. This was a windfall to the
parish and especially to the outlying congregations. The
Rev. Tyers' rectorship was the longest in the history of
the parish, twenty-six years, probably because of his
unwavering faithfulness and his sheer stamina.
It was during the Rev. Tyers' term of office that we start
to see a growth in St. Nicholas and the keeping of detailed
records. The Rev. Tyers' records shows us that at his first
service at St. Nicholas on March 30, 1919 at 3:00 p.m., and
the first of continual regular services, there were 35
present with an offering of $2.49. We have to respect the
people of that day since most journeyed several miles by
foot and only a few by horse to attend church. For this
reason there was often low attendance or no service at all.
In January 1921 the Rev. Tyers tells us in his remarks in
the vestry book that he was "late, heavy walking, no
service, failed to reach" and the 11 congregation members
who did make it to the church had to return home without
having being preached to but they did make their offering
of 59 cents.
Regular Sunday services seem to be making headway in
Hammonds Plains and attendance was averaging 30 to 45
people. In 1925 a substantial increase was seen, perhaps it
was the lean years after the war bringing the people to
God's house, and several times that year the vestry book
had to be marked "full" attendance as so many were there to
make an accurate count impossible. the rapid appearance of
the automobile made it easier for more to attend church and
also made it easier for the rector to get from one church
to the others. Occurrences beyond our control have and
always will affect the attendance as was the case on May 8,
1926 only 11 attended due to the whooping cough epidemic in
the community and there were only 18 women and children at
the service of October 26, 1947 as all the men were off
fighting forest fires. The weather has always played a part
in attendance and it showed on days when there was heavy
rain or snow and sometimes services had to be cancelled. As
avid a walker as the Rev. Tyers was the service of Nov. 27,
1932 was cancelled because he could not get his car to
start in the heavy rains. Though the worst weather stretch
had to have been in 1951 as no services were held for the
month of January due to the roads being blocked.
The congregation of Hammonds Plains always have been
charitable people as they seemed to give of themselves to
help many causes. records show on several occasions the
giving of collections to such as widows and orphans, the
Bible Society, and the people of Springhill after their
mine disaster. Collections were always made available in
covering shortages for the Hospital Chaplains, Home
Missions, and other Diocesan appeals. Monetary concerns
always seemed to plague this church and parish throughout
all of its history. the parish lost its main source of
funding after the English government withdrew its support
of the SPG. Volunteerism as a source of funding took a long
time to become a viable and stable means of financial
support. Several vestry or council meetings were given to
discussion of the rector's salary of which St. Nicholas
contributed about $50.00 per year in the early 1900s
climbing to $100.00 in 1920 and then to $532.00 in 1957.
This seems all to small in today's terms especially knowing
that the Rev. Tyers never took a vacation until 1937 and
just for that year and not again until his retirement after
the second world war. Several times the vestry or council
looked for ways of easing the financial burden. The
envelope system which was introduced to the parish in 1890,
to replace the pew rental fee, was not tried in St.
Nicholas until 1913 but was abandoned two years later and
did not become a permanent method of collection until 1942.
The cost of maintaing the St. Nicholas building did not
seem to be very high but neither was its income. Repairs to
the church in 1906 forced the vestry to withdraw $100 from
its savings account. Operating expenses were such as the
payment of $1.25 per day to Mr. James Melvin for clearing
up the graveyard back in 1917 and the $15 per year payment
approved in 1939 to hire a sexton (Douglas Eisenhauer for
many years) to light the wood fire and ring the bell each
Sunday. We have to weigh these small expenses against the
average annual income of $35.00 in the 1890s, $120.00 in
the 1920s, to a high of $1600.00 in the 1950s.
The big financial blow came in the 1950s when the parish
instituted its obligation of paying the total rector's
stipend and therefore went to a system of levy against each
congregation within the parish. St. Nicholas was assessed
to pay approximately $532.00 per year of the stipend and
1/6 of the other parish expenses of $1040.00 or $173.00 per
year as well as having to pay the diocesan apportionment of
$94.00 per year. The Sewing cCircle came to the rescue and
bailed the church out as they did so many times in the past
such as their payment of $100.00 towards the rector's
stipend in 1947. This Sewing Circle, which was formed in
1925 separating from the mother group which was founded
almost a century earlier, seemed to have a knack for
raising money as it always seemed to have more money in the
bank at year's end than did the church. Today the Sewing
Circle still raises a large amount of funds for the church
mostly by its participation in the ABC (Anglican, Baptist,
Catholic) bazaar, a Hammonds Plains institution of 23
years.
Records, being as they were, never gave any insight into
the life of the Sunday School at St. Nicholas. The only
mention in the minutes was in 1948 where it was reported
that there were 12 pupils and 2 teachers. We know from the
older members of this community that the Sunday School was
an intricate part of the church and community. The
enrollment has fluctuated from lows of a handful to as high
as fifty or more children at times. Other things that seem
to pass by the records books were the social events hosted
by the church. Many church suppers, teas, bake and craft
sales have been held by various church groups over the last
century. Though one thing mentioned in a financial
statement was the purchase of goods for the church picnic
of 1937 and it is interesting to note what was bought. We
should all have pleasure in knowing that those attending
enjoyed corned beef and ham along with tea, chocolates,
peanuts, Doublemint gum, and yes we must not forget those
Marguerite cigars.
The physical structure of the little church on the road's
edge has changed very little over its century long life
even though its surroundings have greatly changed. Only a
few things of any apparent consequence have been done to
change the face of St. Nicholas. the addition of the belfry
in 1937 was thanks to the donation of long time members Mr.
and Mrs. W.A. Schmidt. The picket fence which surrounded
the church and graveyard was replaced several times but was
finally removed int he 1950s with the upgrading of the
Hammonds Plains Road. A big change for long time members
was the purchase of a new wood stove in 1940 but this was
topped off by the pouring of the basement floor in 1942 and
the eventual purchase of the first furnace in 1949. The
interior saw some changes in 1955 when the church was
closed with no Sunday services for two weeks so that the
redecorating could be completed. Further interior work
which brought it ti its current state was completed in
1978. Recent years have seen the completion of the
landscaping in the cemetery, the application of vinyl
siding on the exterior of the church, installation of an
indoor composting toilet, and the erection of a free
standing sign.
The one thing that did not seem to change much until recent
years was the names of those who attended St. Nicholas and
held offices within its vestry or council. Several of the
family names that have always seemed to appear are:
Eisenhauer, Schmidt, Haverstock, Romans, Wright, Harris,
Johnson and Langille. The hierarchy of the community can be
traced by noting the names of the people that constantly
reappeared holding offices in the church (some spanning
four decades): H.A. Schmidt, Clifford Eisenhauer, Samuel
Eisenhauer, Earl Haverstock, Weilder Haverstock, and Owen
Eisenhauer.
In the last decade the community of Hammonds Plains has
been claimed to be the fastest growing community in Nova
Scotia. The proliferation of suburban housing developments
has been beyond anyone's imagination. The population has
exploded and there is no end in sight to the increasing
numbers of new residents. The quaint little congregation
and church of St. Nicholas is to be little no more. Most
Sundays during the past three years the attendance could be
called "full" as it would take a shoe horn to squeeze any
more into the 14 short pews. The congregation is now
comprised of young families who have recently moved into
the area and most of the old family names can no longer be
found on the congregational list. The congregation now
faces the challenge of meeting the ministry needs of the
rapidly growing community and the need for larger and more
modern facilities.
Most definitely St. Nicholas has not changed from being the
warm, loving, little church on Hammonds Plains Road that
has nurtured the faith of all who have or ever will don its
doors. Now they move on into their own future to write a
new chapter of unique history as the carry on in the
proclamation of the good news, the mission of the Church,
as the body of Christ in their place and time.
* * *
Leap of Faith
A
New Beginning at Westwood Hills
With a lack of modern conveniences and parking, our
historic little church on Hammonds Plains Road could not
accommodate the physical needs of the growing congregation,
especially those with young families. By the late 1990s, it
was self-evident that a new St Nicholas church building
would be needed, sooner rather than later.
Through faith and dedication, the leadership of then
Priest-in Charge, The Reverend Arthur Nash, and generous
Diocesan support, the first phase of our new building was
completed in February, 2004. This new site in Westwood
Hills, set among nature and a growing residential
neighbourhood, was God’s answer to our prayers.
While it was sad to leave the old church, our new building
represents another major milestone in St Nicholas’ growth
in ministry and outreach. In keeping with the church’s
heritage, some of the original furnishings have been
incorporated into the new building, proudly displayed and
used in our worship services.
In June 2004, Reverend Nash retired from full-time ministry
after 43 years of service in the Anglican Church.
Fortunately, Chaplain Donald Lawton, Mission to Seafarers,
Halifax, who resided in the area, was available to lead us
during the summer months, until a new rector was selected
by Bishop Hiltz.
In September 2004, The Reverend Jane Reid was appointed to
lead St Nicholas and with a subsequent Diocesan “Growth in
Ministry” grant, she commenced full-time ministry in May
2005. With Jane’s guidance, Diocesan support and God’s
will, we look forward to planning Phase II of St Nicholas
Church in the not-too-distant future.
