20
Reverend Alexander David Pringle1859
Church Services in a Tent
One does not need a place of worship for religious devotions. British Columbia in 1859 was of limited civilization, the further north one headed the more rustic the environment. Yale was no different then, the Fraser River Gold Rush was still on and many miners felt few pangs about the lack of a proper church to worship within. But, a church was being built, whether the miners were willing to disrupt their days to see it erected or not.
Reverend Pringle, or the many others that conducted services throughout B.C.'s history, did not let the lack of a church stop them. Rather, Pringle conducted the second church service in Yale in a tent that was erected in the same location where St. John the Divine was later built, and still sits. The first service was conducted by Colonel Moody.
Pringle came over from England in 1859. He wrote to his father and his wife, Mary Louisa Pringle, about the journey from England and his situation in Hope. Mary Louisa later joined her husband in B.C. Pringle likely traveled out of Hope and conducted services in neighbouring communities such as Yale.
Considered Hope's pioneer minister he was also responsible for establishing one of the first ‘libraries' in the Fraser Valley. In 1859 he opened a small library and reading room for the people of Hope and surrounding communities. (1)
1- Davies, John. "Enthusiasm waxed, waned for B.C.'s pioneer missionaries." Valley Magazine. June 25. 1975. Pg 6-7.
21
St. John the Divine Anglican Church during 2001 Renovation.16 October 2001
Yale B.C.
22
Reverend William Burton Crickmer1860-63 Term
Yale's First Dedicated Minister
Reverend Crickmer was the first permanent minister to serve Yale. He was sent there in 1859 by Bishop George Hills in order to establish schools and churches within the community. At the time Crickmer was sent to Yale he was quite happily established in Maple Ridge, for the rectory there was spacious for him and his wife, Sophia, and their daughter Nellie.
By 1860, he and his family were comfortably living in Yale. Utilizing all that was at their disposal they did not let the lack of a church deter them, officially opening services on June 10, 1860. They set up ceremonies in an old store front as a temporary solution. Crickmer then began work on the present structure of St. John the Divine, which was completed in 1863. While stationed in Yale Reverend Crickmer would travel upriver and hold services in various communities along the way. Bishop Hills would often accompany him on these trips.
Reverend Crickmer returned to England in 1862, so did not witness the official opening of the church in 1863. Crickmer and his wife had traveled over from England a mere three years earlier on the HMS Plumper, yet their short duration in the colony left a lasting symbol through the formation of St. John the Divine Church in Yale.
23
St. John the Divine five years prior to its second renovation.1863
Yale B.C.
24
Reverend H.B. ReeveReverend H.B. Reeve was in Yale from 1862 to 1865. When Reverend Crickmer returned to England in 1862, Reeve was pulled away from his work with Chinese people to administer to Yale. Officially opening St. John the Divine on April 19, 1863 he was the first of many to deliver sermons within its walls. Reeve originally came to B.C. as a missionary for Chinese miners and workers in the 1860's and likely returned to this type of work following 1865 when he left Yale.
Reverend Charles Blanchard
Served in Yale for a very brief period in 1881, likely as a temporary minister between the loss of Reverend J.B. Good and the arrival of Revered Horlock
Reverend C.J. Yates
Reverend Yates served Yale for upwards of 13 years, replacing Reverend Croucher after his death in 1917. Yates remained in Yale until 1930, when his departure left the church without a regular minister for two years. Perhaps because of the absence of a clergyman in Yale, Yates returned during the summers of 1931 and 1932 to administer to the church until Reverend Greene arrived in 1932
Reverend Heber Hannington Greene
1888-1968
The last permanent resident clergyman in Yale he arrived in 1932 and delivered services in St. John the Divine for more than 10 years, until 1943. After that, Reverend Scudamore travelled between Hope and Yale to conduct services. The rectory, where the ministers would have lived, was also torn down around this time owing to decay and the lack of permanent placements to occupy it.
A 1946 article reads, "Rev. Green held Armistice Service in the St. John's Church on Sunday, November 10. The service was well attended."1 The article suggests that Greene would have come to Yale as one of the 'traveling' ministers. To the people of Yale his arrival must have been considered that of a long time friend returning for a visit. For Greene, who held the tiny church in great esteem, would have felt a similar emotion. He once said of the quaint old church that "though her light has been dimmed at times, it has always shone."2
Reverend G.C. Turner
Reverend Turner was a temporary minister in Yale around 1943. His time here was overlapped with that of Reverend Greene. Turner's was an essential role, filling in to administer to the people of Yale after the loss of having a full-time minister.
Reverend H.B. Scudamore
Reverend Scudamore was the minister for Christ Church in Hope and St. John the Divine in Yale from 1944 to 1955. He and his wife were very active in social functions pertaining to both Hope and Yale. Scudamore taught Sunday School and his wife was the treasurer of Christ Church. They also attended the meetings of the elected officials for St. John. Old timers in both Hope and Yale fondly recall Reverend Scudamore and his wife.
Reverend Pope, Chappel and McMullan
Yale was now frequented by ministers traveling to her, not from her as they once had. Yale's position in B.C. was diminishing and the fateful day when the decision would be made to halt visits from ministers' altogether was inevitable. Reverend Scudamore's last service in the Old Church did not spell the end of a 'permanent' traveling minister that would come up from Hope. The next minister, Reverend W.D. Pope was associated with St. John for eight years. For seven years from 1964 Reverend S.G. Chappel drove the 22 kilometers to Yale. The final two years were attended to by Reverend McMullan before the decision to close her doors for all but special services.
1- By Dorothy Clare, Yale Correspondence articles, Ashcroft Journal (?), social column;
2- "Edifice is Full of Historical Associations with B.C. History." Daily Province, June 1, 1940
25
Reverend John Booth GoodTimeless Testimony
A favoured minister throughout the Fraser Canyon, appreciated by all, especially the N'Laka'pamux (Thompson) people, for his unstinting dedication to the cause. Reverend Good was a well liked minister who served Yale from 1866-67; upon his final sermon he recalled all those that attended as "all my old staunch Yale attendants - husbands, wives and children, with pretty well the whole Spuzzum village and many Natives from below." 1
While Good was establishing the Anglican Mission in Lytton in 1867, Reverend David Holmes took over his placement in Yale. Good's ability to administer to native peoples prompted the Thompson first nations to request that he open up a mission in Lytton. Reverend Good returned to serve Yale from 1873-1880.
While attending to the people of Yale Good was constantly concerned for those he left behind in Lytton. "He fretted about the lack of ministration to the people with whom he had lived and worked so closely and gave the Indian followers great credit for remaining '…true and loyal to their first instructions of the faith'." 2
Good made the rectory in Yale his home for six years and the only time he was able to determine for himself how those in Lytton fared was when Bishop Sillitoe briefly assigned him to other duties. Reverend Good need not to have worried about the Lytton missionary for his replacement was Richard Small, a man who would shortly make a name for himself that followed in the vein of Good's; admired and liked by all.
The decision to move to Yale might have been difficult for him owing to the tragedy that struck his life a year earlier. On October 1st, 1872 his daughter passed away in Lytton due to inflammation of the brain, as the result of a fall. Both he and his wife were anguished over the loss of their four-year-old daughter, Elizabeth Booth Good. "A child of rare beauty and singularly attractive winning ways, and to me she was so precious that perhaps nothing could have been taken from me that would have been harder to surrender than this holy and blessed child, and not less dear was she to her mother, whose name was the last upon her lips before they were closed in death on October 1, 1872. We buried her within the fence of the fence of our Indian Church, just opposite the east window, and can thus see her little grave from the parsonage." 3
Good remained in Yale until 1880. It was also in 1880 that he published a dictionary of English, Chinook and Nlaka'pamuxcin. It was the first systematically compiled record of the Nlakapa'muxcin language. In addition to this he also translated the Lord's Prayer. 4
It was in the latter part of the 1860's that John Booth Good had volunteered to work on the mainland, moving to Yale as a temporary centre in 1866. Within the year he would become the native peoples' preferred choice, an honour that led him to establish a mission in Lytton at their urging. Good touched the lives of all he administered to and is remembered for his selfless devotion to the Anglican faith.
1 Laforet, Andrew and Annie York. Spuzzum: Fraser Canyon Histories, 1808-1909. Vancouver: UBC Press, 1998 pg 108
2 Williams, Cyril E.H. & Pixie McGeachie. Archdeacon on Horseback, Richard Small 1849-1909. Merrit: Sonotek Publishing Ltd, 1991. Pg 39
3 Williams, Cyril E.H. & Pixie McGeachie, Pg 37
4 Laforet Andrew and Annie York.
26
Spuzzum Anglican Church1860
Spuzzum, B.C.
27
Reverend David Holmes1937-1915
Priceless Contribution to Native Records
Reverend Holmes replaced John Good in Yale in 1867 and served there until 1873. Owing to the fact that he administered to a variety of people upon taking over Good's post at Yale, he kept separate baptism and confirmation records for aboriginal parishioners; "his entries for the years around 1868 are an important record of the population of Spuzzum and Yale at that time." 1
As a matter of fact, he kept one of the only really comprehensive records of the native people of Spuzzum and Yale that exists to this day. Most Department of Indian Affairs records were burnt in a fire at the Lytton Indian office years ago, lost forever to history. The Catholics kept good records but they are largely unavailable today.
David Holmes, upon his arrival in Yale, had just come from St. Augustine's College in Canterbury. Immediately upon setting up residence at his new post it came to his attention that there had been plans to set up a schoolroom at Yale, a plan that had come to naught due to lack of funds. "Holmes, however, felt the importance of a school and began operations in the parsonage." 2 With the Bishop sending him a bit of money for supplies, and a few benches, from there "he went to work." The school, within a few weeks, was attended by approximately thirty pupils.
Like his predecessor, Holmes took an active interest in the affairs of the native people in the area. During the 1870's the Spuzzum people "were not only attending services but also singing in the choir and studying the liturgy." So much so that on "New Years Day, 1870, Holmes wrote to the Bishop: "The next enterprise that seems to meet my attention is a small chapel for Spuzzum…If a friend in England could be prevailed upon to give £10 for this purpose, it would be sufficient with Indian help, and I would assist them to construct it." 3
Upon arriving in Yale, Holmes not only concerned himself with the minds and souls of the local first peoples, but intervened in their traditional ways of dealing with sickness. "In the late 1860s David Holmes had presented medicine and theology as two connected parts of one European system of power, with himself in control of both. In a N'Laka'pamux house where he interrupted the work of a sexwne?m, Holmes entered into a competition with the healer." 4
Whether this decision was a wise one or not it was undoubtedly done in a sense of duty and for what he believed to be the better good. Holmes, although young when he arrived to take over the responsibility of administering to the people within the Yale area, was guided by a sense of responsibility combined with the knowledge that the Roman Catholics too were looking to impart their beliefs on the Natives throughout B.C.
1- Laforet, Andrew and Annie York. Spuzzum: Fraser Canyon Histories, 1808-1909. Vancouver: UBC Press, 1998 pg 108
2- Peake, Frank. A. The Anglican Church in British Columbia. Pg 70
3- Laforet, Andrew and Annie York Pg 115-6.
4- Laforet, Andrew and Annie York, pg 24.
28
Cowley FathersReverends Horlock, Sheppard & Hall
Reverends Hall, Sheppard, and D.W. Horlock came to B.C. as a part of the Cowley Fathers. Brought out by Bishop Sillitoe in the early part of 1880's the Cowley Fathers all played a role in Yale's religious endeavors.
The Cowley Fathers were an establishment of men's religious communities, or orders. Their origin began "in 1865, [when] Richard Meux Benson founded the Society of Saint John the Evangelist in the Oxford suburb of Cowley. The order, known as the 'Cowley Fathers,' established houses in India, North America, and South Africa." 1
Reverends Hall and Sheppard's stay in Yale was brief, with Sheppard's arrival in 1882 and Hall arriving in Yale from Ottawa in 1883. Yale, despite being the head of railway construction, was not large enough to support three ministers, as Horlock was already stationed there. Hall, and his wife Mary Jane, moved onto Clinton and served there for three years. In the following years he administered to Chilliwack, Kamloops, New Westminster, Nanaimo, Eburne, Revelstoke and Sardis. He died in Sardis, B.C. in 1911. 2
Reverend Darrell Horlock attended to Yale through the days of railway construction. The town did not possess the best reputation in regards to God-fearing men, but during Horlock's reign he was praised by Sillitoe for bringing about an increasing willingness to accept religion within Yale. 3 A worthy achievement indeed! One way in which he accomplished this feat was through opening a reading room and club to help people combat the desire to fall into temptation. Payday in Yale, it must be understood, sent the children and respectful citizens of the town scurrying for the safe haven of their homes.
Horlock also possessed a unique sense of humour. During a visit from Sillitoe it was noted in the Yale service book, the entries read that for two weeks that there was no service due to illness of the Rector and the subsequent lack of voice, but the third week it read "and the Lord opened the mouth of the ass." 4
When Horlock left Yale in 1884 he left the residents without a minister, including many of the local native people, for whom he used to hold special services. The rectory sat empty until the Anglican sisters arrived to establish All Hallows in the West, and took up residence in the rectory while teaching classes out of the church. Reverend Croucher would be the next permanent minister to make the rectory in Yale his home.
1- Revered John D. Alexander. "Men's Religious Communities." Internet: http://www.sstephens.org/
2- North, W.H. Personal Correspondence. Yale & District Historical Society Archives
3- By H.H. Gowen. Pioneer Church work in British Columbia: A Memoir of Bishop Sillitoe.
4 Sillitoe, Violet. Pioneer Days in B.C. Pg 22.
29
Reverend Richard SmallLytton's Missionary
1849 - 1909
Richard Small was instrumental in establishing Indian Missions in South Western B.C., a position that generated a great deal of respect and fondness for him and his horse, Jupiter, on whom he rode while travelling between Lytton and Nicola. From 1884 until his death in 1909 he spent his years in missionary service between Yale, Lytton, Lillooet and Nicola region. "Richard Small, with his seemingly unlimited supply of missionary zeal and physical energy, brought new life to the Anglican Mission work in British Columbia's Interior."1
One of the most enduring symbols that he was involved in while at Yale was the All Hallows in the West School. The sisters came from the Community of All Hallow's, in Ditching ham, Norfolk, England and upon arriving they began establishing the school that would become known as All Hallow's Girl School. Small served as the school's chaplain until 1892 when Reverend Croucher took over his duties as chaplain.
On May 30, 1884 Small was inducted in the 'secluded valley of Botanie.' From this location Small would go on to conduct services ranging from Lytton, 42-Mile House, Ashcroft, Lillooet, Lower Nicola and all of the various camps in-between.
Richard Small felt a keen commitment to his missionary services as well as a measure of respect for the work that he was doing, and their response to it. "The manner in which he kept track of his flock became legend among both Whites and Natives. A tribute to his zeal was paid by the diocesan publication: 'For indomitable courage, perseverance and zeal, no one has or will likely excel Reverend Mr. Small'."2
Small departed his post for a short period of time in order to do missionary work in Korea. Bishop Sillitoe had great difficulty finding a replacement for him at the Indian Mission in Lytton. When word reached Small that his post had yet to be filled in Lytton he offered to come back. Sillitoe was happy to have him return and reported that "Christmas, at latest, will see him back among the Indians, who so dearly love him. This is joyful news…Mr. Small offered, of himself, to come back, as he heard his post was not filled, and the Bishop of Corea would not stand in his way."3
That would be the last time that Small would travel away from Lytton with little intention of returning. He remained until his death in 1909, and was buried in the place where he had devoted so much of his time and effort.
1-Williams, Cyril E.H. & Pixie McGeachie. Archdeacon on Horseback, Richard Small 1849-1909. Merrit: Sonotek Publishing Ltd, 1991. Pg 43.
2- Archdeacon on Horseback, pg 47-8
3- Gowen, H.H. Pioneer Church work in British Columbia: A Memoir of Bishop Sillitoe. London: G.R. Mowbray &Co. Ltd, 1899. Pg 178.
30
Reverend Ebeneezer RobsonYale's Methodist Minister
1835-1911
Chances are, for Ebeneezer Robson, his future was mapped out for him by his father who would have desired his son to take over the family sawmill. It was not until the 1850's that Ebeneezer realized his path was far different than envisioned for him while growing up.
Born in 1835 on the 17th of January, he was raised in Ontario. Ebeneezer attended public and grammar school close to home. After completing his education he worked as an ox driver before taking over his father's sawmill. It was here that he discarded the occupation of a sawmill operator in preference of a higher calling-that of the Christian Ministry.
Returning to school he completed the required education to make the church his vocation. He was appointed the assistant pastor at the St. James Methodist Church in Montreal, Quebec.
Ordained on September 31, 1858 he was sent to British Columbia during the initial stages of the gold rush. The Fraser River Gold Rush was a period of B.C.'s history where many of the new inhabitants preferred the lure of riches and the ability to lose their newfound wealth in an unsavoury manner, to the preservation of their souls or their pocket books. Living in the rural areas the miners often had only their wits to survive on; a trip into town was accompanied with all the celebration as would be expected from a miner re-acquainted with civilization.
Upon arriving in Yale "Robson and his colleagues were appalled by what they saw in town, where, for many, the Sabbath meant only a day off to shop for supplies and to whoop it up in the saloons and gaming-houses."1
Headquartered in Hope he began his trying job and met with a great deal of appreciation for his efforts. Recognition of church work in the area is often in reference to Ebeneezer Robson. He served faithfully for six years the areas of Hope, Yale, New Westminster and Nanaimo as well as places further upriver.
"Reverend Robson made at least one convert. "Terrible" Jim McLaughlin, Yale's tyrannous butcher, bully and drunkard until an outraged customer purged his soul with an almost fatal beating, greeted Robson with hat in hands and an open heart. He even attended Robson's first service and joined in singing the hymns. After the service he blushingly told the missionary, "You know, I used to belong to a choir when I was a young fellow back in Maine." Thereafter McLaughlin swore off drinking and gambling. How many of Yale's other blackguards heeded Robson's call is not recorded-but can be imagined."2
Ebeneezer married his wife, Ellen Mary Hall, in 1859. Mary's roots were also in Ontario so when she grew sick in 1864 she and Ebeneezer returned to Eastern Canada. Ebeneezer returned to B.C. in 1880, complete with his family, and once again resumed work amongst the gold miners, current settlers and railway workers. Reverend Robson stayed in B.C. until his death on May 4, 1911.
1-T.W. Paterson. British Columbia's Ghost Town Series: Fraser Canyon . Langley: Sunfire Publications Limited, 1985. Pg 66-67
2- T.W. Paterson. British Columbia's Ghost Town Series: Fraser Canyon . Pg 66-67
31
Reverend H.B. ReeveReverend H.B. Reeve was in Yale from 1862 to 1865. When Reverend Crickmer returned to England in 1862, Reeve was pulled away from his work with Chinese people to administer to Yale. Officially opening St. John the Divine on April 19, 1863 he was the first of many to deliver sermons within its walls. Reeve originally came to B.C. as a missionary for Chinese miners and workers in the 1860's and likely returned to this type of work following 1865 when he left Yale.
Reverend Charles Blanchard
Served in Yale for a very brief period in 1881, likely as a temporary minister between the loss of Reverend J.B. Good and the arrival of Revered Horlock
Reverend C.J. Yates
Reverend Yates served Yale for upwards of 13 years, replacing Reverend Croucher after his death in 1917. Yates remained in Yale until 1930, when his departure left the church without a regular minister for two years. Perhaps because of the absence of a clergyman in Yale, Yates returned during the summers of 1931 and 1932 to administer to the church until Reverend Greene arrived in 1932
Reverend Heber Hannington Greene
1888-1968
The last permanent resident clergyman in Yale he arrived in 1932 and delivered services in St. John the Divine for more than 10 years, until 1943. After that, Reverend Scudamore travelled between Hope and Yale to conduct services. The rectory, where the ministers would have lived, was also torn down around this time owing to decay and the lack of permanent placements to occupy it.
A 1946 article reads, "Rev. Green held Armistice Service in the St. John's Church on Sunday, November 10. The service was well attended."1 The article suggests that Greene would have come to Yale as one of the 'traveling' ministers. To the people of Yale his arrival must have been considered that of a long time friend returning for a visit. For Greene, who held the tiny church in great esteem, would have felt a similar emotion. He once said of the quaint old church that "though her light has been dimmed at times, it has always shone."2
Reverend G.C. Turner
Reverend Turner was a temporary minister in Yale around 1943. His time here was overlapped with that of Reverend Greene. Turner's was an essential role, filling in to administer to the people of Yale after the loss of having a full-time minister.
Reverend H.B. Scudamore
Reverend Scudamore was the minister for Christ Church in Hope and St. John the Divine in Yale from 1944 to 1955. He and his wife were very active in social functions pertaining to both Hope and Yale. Scudamore taught Sunday School and his wife was the treasurer of Christ Church. They also attended the meetings of the elected officials for St. John. Old timers in both Hope and Yale fondly recall Reverend Scudamore and his wife.
Reverend Pope, Chappel and McMullan
Yale was now frequented by ministers traveling to her, not from her as they once had. Yale's position in B.C. was diminishing and the fateful day when the decision would be made to halt visits from ministers' altogether was inevitable. Reverend Scudamore's last service in the Old Church did not spell the end of a 'permanent' traveling minister that would come up from Hope. The next minister, Reverend W.D. Pope was associated with St. John for eight years. For seven years from 1964 Reverend S.G. Chappel drove the 22 kilometers to Yale. The final two years were attended to by Reverend McMullan before the decision to close her doors for all but special services.
1- By Dorothy Clare, Yale Correspondence articles, Ashcroft Journal (?), social column;
2- "Edifice is Full of Historical Associations with B.C. History." Daily Province, June 1, 1940
32
Rufus Gibbs1945
British Columbia
33
Rufus Charles Gibbs1882-1968
Greatest Benefactor to the Yale Church, and to Many More Organizations
Few people ever existed within the history of mankind that were so generous and devoted to the cause of doing good. His list of generous donations makes the sum of $12,000 to restore Yale's church seems inconsequential. But, to the people of Yale and to the history of B.C. the donation he gave to the church is anything but that.
Gibbs claimed that his motive to help others was dictated by wherever his spirit said it was needed. He made his money through sport fishing, inventing among many things his own line of fishing tackle. His store, now known as Gibb/Nortac, is located in Vancouver, B.C.
Gibbs was born in Petersborugh, Ontario on February 5, 1882. By 1906 he was working in Quebec and then moved on to Ohio, where he made his way to Vancouver and built his store in 1912. By 1915 he had gone into the fishing tackle business and has earned himself a reputation that places him within the B.C. Sport Fishing Hall of Fame.
Gibbs was involved in numerous clubs and organizations throughout his lengthy career. Remembered for more that just his contribution to sport fishing, he is recalled for his numerous donations within Vancouver and beyond. He received the award of Vancouver Good Citizen of 1959 in recognition of his generosity within the city. Among his notable donations is the $50-60,000 that went towards the establishment of a boys club, $100,000 to the Vancouver Aquarium, $12,000 to St. John the Divine in Yale, $60,000 to the Canadian Arthritic and Rheumatism Society and $50,000 to Trent University. For this and more he was made the ‘Freeman of the City of Vancouver' in 1963.
The money that he donated to the Church in Yale went towards new exterior siding, a new floor, an enlarged vestry, furnace room, pulpit and electricity. At the time that Rufus made his generous contribution the local Anglicans from Hope and Yale had nearly exhausted their fundraising efforts.
Foster Isherwood, treasurer of the church during the 1950's, estimates that 90 to 95% of the money to restore the church came from Gibbs. Among the renovation costs was replacing the old cedar post foundation with cement blocks. The rotting of the posts was causing the building to sag forlornly in different places. "We saved the old thing from completely falling down," said Isherwood. Those involved in the fundraising included Foster Isherwood, Clara Clare, Judge C. E. Barry, and Gladys Chrane of the Teague family. The efforts of the fundraisers, and Gibbs, came just in time for the old church.
Rufus Gibbs never married, perhaps preferring the bachelor life. He was a man that valued the power of the dollar and utilized this knowledge to ensure that it would do the most good. Despite the fact that he never had children his name and memory are forever entrenched in history as a result of his unfaltering generosity. Rufus Gibbs died on December 10, 1968 at the age of 86.
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