“I Believe in The Communion of Saints:”
Ordained
Ministers of the Reformed Baptist Church 1888-1966
by
Vesta Dunlop Mullen
When
we drove up Grampy’s driveway, he was sitting on the front steps
smoking his pipe.
Although he never appeared to be interested in our schoolwork, Cliff
and I jumped out of the car and hurried over to him to show off
our grading reports.
He read Cliff’s and then commented, “Sometimes getting an education can
put you on the road to success. William Wiggins received a first-class
license from Normal School in 1870 and was a graduate with the Degree
of B. A. from the University of New Brunswick and then he went on to
become a Baptist preacher.”
No more mention was made of our grades as he continued, “There have
been quite a few fellows from this area who became Baptist
ministers. E. A. Allaby was from Salt Springs, Bamford Colpitts
ran the old Jeffries Mill above Sussex and started preaching in the
early 1870s, Horatio H. Cosman came from Midland and E. Walter Lester
was born in Millstream.”
As Grampy continued to talk about preachers, it suddenly hit me that
those guys were once kids just like us. The years rolled by, they grew
up, married and had children. Many knew at a young age, their calling
would be to the ministry.
If you are interested in learning of the personal lives of the ordained
ministers of the Reformed Baptist Church, 1888 to 1966, a very
informative book has just come off the press after three years of
research. “I Believe in the
Communion of Saints” compiled by Vesta Dunlop Mullen whose life
has been inextricably bound up with the founding and history of the
Reformed Baptist Alliance. Her father was an ordained clergyman in the
denomination and she married Laurence Mullen, a minister’s son who
followed in his father’s footsteps plus he is a collector of church
history, having the most complete collection in existence of the paper,
The King’s Highway and other material.
In her 400-page book, Vesta has compiled a collection of life sketches
about the ordained men and women of the Reformed Baptist Alliance of
Canada.
William Burnett Wiggins was born in Central Norton in 1849. His
marriage to Alice N. Goodspeed, the daughter of Benjamin Goodspeed and
Deborah McNeil took place in 1900. She was a pianist and organist,
having received musical training from Professor Codwallader. She
accompanied her husband as his journeys took him not only through New
Brunswick but to the United States.
In 1901, in Saint John, Ella Hadassah Kinney Sanders, who married the
Rev. Dr. Herbert Clayton Sanders in 1893, was the first woman in the
Dominion of Canada to be ordained.
George W. McDonald was born in 1836, the son of Patrick and Harriet
McDonald of Southern Head, Grand Manan. He worked as a fisherman.
S. Harleigh Clark was born in 1860, one of eleven children of Simeon
and Rebecca (Jones) Clark of Upper Hainesville. He went to Saint John
to attend school. In 1909, he accepted his first pastorate and moved to
Perth.
Fraser Arden Dunlop was the youngest of ten children. His father
Simpson Dunlop was the first deacon of the Maple Ridge Church when it
was organized in 1889. At the age of sixteen, Fraser put formal
schooling on hold and went to the lumber woods to help his father.
In perpetuating the memory of one hundred forty-three ordained
ministers of Reformed Baptist denomination, Vesta Dunlop Mullen has not
only given a glimpse of the men and women they were, the times they
lived in, the challenges they faced and the accomplishments they
achieved, the churches they served but also biographical information as
to the names of their parents, siblings, wives, children and other
personal details.
*********
A Copy of “I Believe
in The Communion of Saints:”
Ordained Ministers of the Reformed Baptist Church 1888-1966
by Vesta Dunlop Mullen available at http://www.rubycusack.com/Book-mullen-communion-saints.html
**
Query 1488
Kenidean: Minnie
Kenidean Williamson was supposed to have been born in Saint John and
her birth family lived near Lansdowne Avenue and Main Street. The story
goes that her birth parents died when she was three, she was then
adopted by John and Catherine (Boyne) Williamson and raised in
Clones, where she later married my great grandfather of Headline.
I cannot find the "Kenidean" name anywhere. Her tombstone says
Minnie Elcie Kenidean McKinney. Any help greatly appreciated
F. W. McKINNEY
E-mail frankie1975@rogers.com
Query 1490
McLeod: Thomas McKenzie
McLeod was born in 1888 at Hill of Fearn, Fearn, Ross and Cromarty,
Scotland, to Margaret Munro and James McLeod. From correspondence
I have, it appears this family came to New Brunswick and settled in
East Saint John, New Brunswick about 1925. They had a son, James,
who served in WWII. I would like to correspond with anyone descended
from this family.
JEAN OLAJOS
R. R. #4, 1719 - 6th Line
Peterborough
Ontario, Canada
K9J 6X5
E-mail sherlockjj@sympatico.ca
