History
Established
According to church records, Rev. R. Osgood Morse (a pastor of 1919) suggested “the need of a modern church plant, adapted to the work of the present-day church and properly situated.” “To provide such a plant”, he continued, “is the great task calling the church to action.” Rev. Morse’s advice was taken seriously in March of 1920 under the leadership of a new minister Rev. J. S. Millet. They made the decision to build a new church building after an unanimous vote. With that, the building committee began planning in 1920, and the cornerstone was set in 1921.
The first minister was Rev. W. A. Snelling, who served from 1922–1926.
During the cold winter blasts of January 1927, Rev. Terrence A. Meister began a journey from New Ross to Barrington Passage via ferryboat to Cape Sable Island and his destination—Clark’s Harbour—to serve as the church’s new minister. The new place of worship was now nearing completion, and in August of ’27, Rev. Meister reported to a meeting that “the new church would be ready for occupancy about the first of September.” His was the responsibility, now, of arranging details for the opening and dedication, and the members agreed that anything of use be removed from the former church building to the new premise.
Sunday, September 11, 1927, was a history-making day for Clark’s Harbour and the United Baptist Church there, for on that day, the beautiful new house of worship was formally dedicated to the worship of God and the work of His Kingdom. On the morning of that day, a large gathering assembled at the old house of worship. A brief but touching and solemn service of farewell was held. Then a procession was formed and marched to the new building, bearing the Bible, pulpit, pulpit chair, communion service, the memorial tablets, and other articles of furniture.
In spite of a downpour of rain, the dedication service was held in the afternoon, and the large auditorium was filled. The pastor, Rev. T. A. Meister presided. With him on the platform were Rev. F. W. Patterson, D. D., President of Acadia; Rev. A. M. McNintch of Springhill, NS, a former pastor of the church; Lic. Archibald Adams, student pastor of the Centreville group of churches; and Rev. L. H. Crandall, editor of the Maritime Baptist. A large mixed choir furnished appropriate music, with two mixed quartets rendering beautiful numbers. Mr. Crandall read the Scripture and Mr. Adams led in prayer. The dedicatory sermon was preached by Dr. Patterson, who from the symbol “The Vine and the Branches,” presented a strong and powerful message showing the source of a church’s life and power and the function of the church in the work of the Kingdom of God. It was a most fitting presentation of a great theme and made a profound impression. Pastor Meister led in the dedication formula, and Mr. McNintch offered the dedicatory prayer. The congregation was dismissed with the benediction pronounced by Dr. Patterson.
The Building
To Mr. Thomas Doucette of Springhaven, Yarmouth County, was given the awesome task of constructing the Stone Church from blueprints designed by Halifax architect S. P. Dumaresq, dated July 30, 1920. Thomas began this work soon after this date in 1920. He could neither read nor write but had a fantastic memory and, after having had the blueprints read to him only once, never needed help with them again.
Thomas was a master mason who had learned his trade by working on the building of railroad bridges in the early 1900s in Yarmouth, Digby, and Annapolis Counties. He also observed masons at work on the huge stone Roman Catholic Church at St. Bernard, Digby County.
When Thomas came to Clark’s Harbour, he brought his own workmen: three stonecutters, his son Peter, and other masons, the names of some being Fidele Doucette, Hilaire Doucette, and John C. Doucette, all from Springhaven and Quinan, and Ben Robichaud from Westport. He also brought a teamster with his own team of oxen.
The building took nearly ten years to construct and cost approximately $40,000. The church is eighty-five by forty-five feet, exclusive of the large vestibule, and has a seating capacity of about 300.
The foundation is of native granite, three feet in thickness. The large stone blocks used were cut by hand from rocks found in the fields around Clark’s Harbour or in adjoining communities. None were brought from the mainland, and all were hauled by the teamster and his oxen. The stonecutters used chisels sharpened every day by the blacksmith Tom Crowell. Tom had to know exactly how to do this, as they needed to be sharpened in a special way so the stones would break into even blocks when chisel cuts were made. Any rocks that were too heavy for the oxen to haul to the building site were cut on the spot, but others were hauled to the site and cut there. To facilitate placing the heavy stone blocks correctly, Thomas Doucette built a derrick as he had learned to do when working on the railway. One of the hardest tasks was making the stone windowsills—the blocks had to be cut to size, then nine inches chiseled off on a slope. It took a day to make one windowsill.
From this rise the walls built of cobble stones gathered by fishermen, using trawl dories, from the shore at Clark’s Harbour and the adjacent islands.
Thomas Doucette felt he could not construct the roof but knew of a man in Tusket, Ambrose Pothier, who was a skilled carpenter, having built the Roman Catholic Church at St. Anne de Ruisseau. It was he and his men who built the roof.
At the time of the dedication of the church, all windows were stained glass—having been bought from the T. T. Lyon Company, Toronto, in 1927. These beautiful windows were all subscribed as memorials by families or individuals at a cost of approximately $200 for the large size, $75–$100 for medium, and $25 for the small ones—a considerable amount of money for that time. Unfortunately, three of the original windows have been lost: one each in the furnace room, the kitchen, and side door.
The interior is beautifully finished in light wood. The hand-hewn beams seen in the ceiling were built on the shape of an inverted ship’s hull—the style of a Chesapeake Bay ship’s hull. These are a cut frame instead of a bent frame, probably a basic concept known by carpenters of that time. The woodwork covering the walls were all hand-hewn, carpenters having had special tools to make the tongue and groove.
The original pews were brought from the old church and used until 1976, when new pews were installed. The old ones were given away to various people.
