http://www.fepl.ca/localhistory/files/original/fd3c997d5a4651e8dd1b8054c246559e.pdf eaf3c88d03bcd692b0e235654774864c PDF Text Text ab'il'STO?f BRETHREM IN CHRIST: : : The original church of log wa.s the first ii.ennoni te Churoh rea • and stood on the old S-herkston road, which is said to been an Indian trail, and the church is now the S-herston .Urethren The Church property at S'herkston was deeded by Samuel ~herk 'Mennonite S-ociety in 1828, with George Zavitz and Peter S-herk es. ~t is clear that soon after the deed of the proper::t7y was in 1828, by the :Mennonite minister and the Deacon, who were of the C'one:rage.tion; that the log building was erected Church. T'hia became the first ]Kennoni te house of Worship in Townssip, and served for thirty years. In 1853 the first church was replaced by a. brick church and then turn was replaced by a cement block structure in 1917. inf. from Audrey Miller Laurie. �CHURCH AT SHERKSTON , i 'l'~e churoh property at Sherkston was deeded by Samuel to .the Mennonite Society in 1828 with George Zavitz and Peter Trustees. At this time, or ·soon after, there was also a of worship on the Niagara River Road not far from Chippewa. ohurch west of Stevensville was known as the black Creek .l;l. The 'brick church a. t Sherkston was built a.bout,. 1853. This repla.ccid by a cement block structure in 1917. It is not known the tirst building on this site was erected but probably it was t:ime the land was conveyed to the Churc1JJ, (1828) or earlier. Eurkholder 1935 . ) .A. memorial to be registered aooordi g to an Act or Legislature e Province of Upper Canada ot a Deed o bargain and sale bearing ~he 15th day of May in the year of our Lord, 1828, and made by ,tween Samuel Sherk of the township of Bertie in the county or ~ln in the district of Niagara and prov nee of Upper Canada, of o.ne .part, and George Zavitz olr the said township, yeoman, and Sherk of the township of Humberstone n the county of Lincoln ~t and province aforesaid, yeoman, of the other part. Whereby said Samuel Sherk for an in oonsiderat1on of twenty e of current money to me by the said George Zavitz and Peter in hand paid and the receipt thereof is acknowledged and ssed and have granted, bargained, sold, aliened and confirmed the said George Zavitz and Peter Sherk and their heirs forever. All and singular that oertain piece or pa.reel of land lying and .~ situated in the township of Bertie in the county of Lincoln d.1strict of Niagara and the :Province of Upper Canada. · Being composed of part of Lot number 35 in the first concession .b;e said township of Bertie, containing by mdmeasurement two acres said two acres are butted and bounded as follow •. (which said or parcel of land is to be reserved by the said George Zavitz eter Sherk and their heirs for a burying ground for the Mennonite ~Jty forever). i(.'l'o have and to hold the same with the apurtenanoes :freed and rrged :from all inoumbera.noes whatsoever. Unto the said George Zavitz and Peter Sherk and their heirs to 14ale and proper use benefit and behoof of the George Zavitz and ·~· Sherk and their heirs forever. Which said deed of bargain and sale is witnessed by Joseph yeoman of the township of Bertie aforesaid and Isaac H. Johnston, raster, of the township of Bumberstone aforesaid, the memorial thereof is hereby required to be registered by :•'Trustees thereby named. ~r.,t,inited our hands and seals at Humberstone aforesaid the day and .r·1rst above written, signed, and sealed in the presence of Zavitz" "Joseph Sherk 11 . Sherk" '.'H. Johnston 11 ··. 0 .+n ********************* ,he leader of the Beritie congregation from an early date was Zavitz. He was a son of the Jacob Zavitz who came to Canada • '!'bis minister (d. 1858) wa.s held in high esteem by h1s ::-rs.who called him "the peacemaker". Hts leadership was recog.1n both the Black Creek and the Sherkston congregations. GolltE)rs in Sherkston were his brother John ~nd ·his son-1n-law John p... . i Obn 13. Hershey {1816-1904) was most active in his ministry -1 �6 there, that through the Grace of God the church would 1ncreasP. very fast. They have a good comfortable briclr meeting-house, a fine, situation, e.nd a fruitful soil; and I know they would be very thankful if some such one should move there, and they would also be willing to assist him if he was in need of it. Should anyone desire to visit the place in view I would be very happy to go with him. I live 16 miles north-east of Buffalo, and one and half miles north of Harris Hill in Erie Co., l~. Y. John Lapp'' - - - -e It is known that John Lapp served west of the river in the capacity of Bishop in 1864. Appointments fo the autumn communion had been made for John M, Brenneman...___!ndi~na, to be present at Clarence, Erie County New York; Berti~ Welland _Co~:Qt Q!}tario; Cayuga, Haldimand County~tario; and the Twenty, Linco~1 County, Ontario. Circumstances prevented Brenneman's coming ad Bishop La~p proceeded to conduct the special services at each of the ppointments. At Sheraton it was a midweek service. Lapp's 1 intense interest in this congre gation and in the families west of the r~ver was co stant during the remainder of his life. It was not only at the special occasions semi-annually but at frequent intervals that he served the church here. His last public service was conducted in this country1• While called to take charge of a funeral at Black Creek, be became seriously ill, and death followed at his home a few days later. As seen in an earlier record, Bishop Lapp endorsed the use of the English language, This was not generally granted by the conference of Ontario before 1890. However, there was a continuance of German preachini; i; in Bert _~lonz. afteF the language was out of general use in the community. This has been given most frequently as the reason for the decline in the church, Also the decade of dissension and the break which took form at the Twenty in the Annual Conference of 1889 had their effec~ in the remotest congregations. In Welland County, Jonas Zavit~, Abram Sherk, and NeleeR a few other families preferred the conservative viewpoint. The ministers Kelson Michael and Gilbert Bearss with the greater part of the congregation in Bertie favore~ the action of the conference for a more general use of English preaching, and of Sunday schools and evening services. As there was only this one place of worship in Wellan~ at that date, the membership was weakened by the division of 1889, It is conclusive that the harmony of the congregation in Bertie was not repeatedly disrupted to the extent that it was at the Tweny, ~et there were influences being exerted there that did not prove strengthing to the organization. Some time in the fifties Danrel Hoch of the Twenty was invited to do evangelistic work in the churches of the peninsula. His labors among them were at least su~ficiently general to bring him recognition. Nothing is known of a definite immediate organization resulting. Evangelistic efforts by the Methodist society had been fairly re gular for some years previously, Young people of Kennonite homes were among the interested attendants at thos special spiritual assemblies, The foundations of what came to be strong religious bodies were laid in this manner. Particularly was this true with the Ne~hodist, the United Brethren, and the Evangelical Societies of the Niagara Peninsula. OTHER MiM~ ONITE GROUP3 I TH£ MENNONITE BRETHREN IN CHRIST ! I ' ~I Evidently the ministerial efforts of Da:nlel Hock of Lincoln, John Steck.lz of Markham, and Menno Bowman of ~laterloo left some !'esults t in Bertie Twp, Some are of the opinion that t~e latter man had a; ,f l I �5 I • for the Mennonite Church during the life of George Zavitz. The congregation at Bertie was under the supervision of Bishop John Lapp after .the death of George Zavitz. The home of John Hershey was open to the ministers from Clarence, New York, who came occe.sionally and also attended the semi-annual meeting. Many a Scriptural discussion continuing late into the night is credi~ed to th•se men. Doubtless they did not have the advantages of ' Church periodicals then to help them in po+nts of doctrine. I Hersey lived on a farm east of Ridgewal and gave the land .for the cemetery. His intentions were to have a church built t0ere, probably in the sixties at the time 'of the erection of the brick church at Sherkston. His plan lacked suppf rt and never developed. He used English in his preaching . Later i life, however, he was quite inactive as a minister. His closing years were spent with his daughters at Fort Erie until hi~ death in 1904. 1 - The first deacon at Sherkston was prob We learn of him first as a Trustee of the c He is thought to have been a man of decided his time. Upon his death in 1853 his son B the office of deacon. Benjamin Sherk (1836 ation during a period of comparative streng bly Peter Sherk. urch property in 1828. influence and renown in njamin succeeded him to 68) served the congregh. Before 1860, the first log church was meeting house. The labors of George Zavitz during the years preceding his death in . 185 that after the close of his life the seeds manifest. Early experiences in the new chu adva nced in years, and a feeling favorin g t B. Hershey was not strong enough to be unam eplaced by a brick tended tows.rd peace . It was unfortuna te f discord began to ch found John Zavitz e lea dership of John nous. John Zavitz (1798-1872) was a minister of amiable disposition, seventeen years younger than George. After the de a th of Geor3e , he took a leading part in the guidance of th~ little flock at Black Creek, thou gh he lived in Bertie. Since he pe rformed baptisms and marriages, he was re ga rded as bishop by a number of those who remembered him. This is not fully verified since other minist e rs at Black Creek are said to have baptized at the river. John Zavitz sometimes preached in English. His sermons were appealing because . of his sincerity in manner and presentation. ~ In 1865, Bishop John Lapp , an active minister at Clarence Center, New York, east of Buffalo, had served many times in th e Bertie cong re ga tion. By agreement in the Sherkston cong re ga tion he was requested to assume t he responsibilities of le adership, Tha t he was deeply concerned for the welfare of this ~ rou p is shown by his ca ll in the HERALD OF TRUTH, Ma rch, 1865 , for pastora l hel p , The lett e r r eads as follows: "Ha rris Hill, J an. 31, 1865 'r o John F. Fun1c: l~ow the r e is a place for anyone who is thu s changing his resid ence , or h a s been thrown out of a situa tion and a home by th e above-mentioned recent cala,mities in Virg inia, at Shlrk's Crossing in Canada , about 12' miles from Buffalo, where he wou ld ve ry wel come a nd acceptable indeed. Th is h a small cong re gation of Menn ~nit e Brethern there, who have as yet no minister but are long ing for a man to brealc t:-i3m t he bread of life. I believe if such a man who has the g ift of God to speak, both in th e German and English laneua ~e , should s e ttle l I r. f I � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Louis McDermott Collection Subject The topic of the resource Local history, Fort Erie and surrounding area. Description An account of the resource A collection of historical documents, photos, news clippings, letters, and writings, assembled by local historian, Louis McDermott, and donated to the Fort Erie Public Library. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Louis McDermott Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived FEPL-LH -Louis McDermott Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Included in this collection are writings, historical documents, news clippings, images, maps, and more. They were written and compiled by Louis McDermott into a series of binders. The digital collection has been scanned from these physical copies. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fort Erie Public Library and Louis McDermott Document A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Sherkston United Brethren in Christ Subject The topic of the resource . Description An account of the resource Listed here is a document pertinent to the history of Sherkston United Brethren in Christ, a Mennonite institution established in Black Creek during the 19th century. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Louis McDermott Collection Black Creek churches Louis Mcdermott Collection