This year marks the 175th Anniversary of the Oro African Methodist Episcopal Church. The exact dates of construction and of the first service are not known, but there are records in the Simcoe County Archives’ holdings that document some of its history.
The church is located on the north-west corner of Lot 11, Concession 4, of the geographical Township of Oro. A patent to the full west half of the lot, amounting to 100 acres, was issued by the Crown to Noah Morris on March 3, 1840.
Morris, a Black settler and Episcopal Methodist who was born in Connecticut ca. 1790 (1), had acquired the lot on February 28, 1840, through the sale of a clergy reserve (2). An entry in the Abstract/Parcel Register Book, available through the OnLand portal, shows that on May 26, 1849, for the sum of £1, Morris sold one square acre of the north-west corner of the lot to Henry St. Dennis, Luther Barber, Henry Montgomery, Benjamin Johnson, and George Eddy, “Trustees of the ‘Coloured Episcopal Methodist Church of Canada.”
The church was listed in the Return of Public Institutions, Real Estate, Vehicles and Implements, of the 1871 Census of Canada, Township of Oro.
Ten years later, it was depicted on the map of Oro Township that was included in H. Belden & Co.’s Illustrated Historical Atlas of the Dominion of Canada (County of Simcoe edition).
By the early 1900s, regular worship services had ceased, though anniversary services may have continued through the 1930s.
In November 1946 Simcoe County Council’s Standing Committee on Education submitted a report to Council regarding the preservation of the church (3). Restoration work was done over the following three years and included new shingles, a cement foundation, and the rebuilding of the chimney. During that time, a stone cairn was erected in memory of the families who worshipped in the church and were buried in the adjacent cemetery. On August 14, 1949, a Centennial Anniversary Church Service was held on the grounds of the church. Among the invited guests were Mr. Wilfred Sheffield of Collingwood, who sang a solo, and Rev. Benjamin A. Gearo, of North Buxton, Ontario, who delivered the sermon. Both had family connections to the original members of the church. The Edgar Women’s Institute Tweedsmuir History contains a copy of the printed Order of Service.
The Simcoe County Clerk’s Office fonds includes an envelope with a note written on it to indicate that Minnie Miller’s donation was made “In Memory of Mark Bush (childhood’s fond recollections).”
Between the mid-1950s and 1999, further maintenance and improvement work was done on the church and grounds, including after the church was vandalized in 1981, and other plaques were installed. Special anniversary services continued to be held during that time, along with occasional public events. In 1999, there were special celebrations for the Sesquicentennial and Rev. Wilfred Sheffield returned to the church to deliver the message. A year later, on November 15, 2000, the Oro African Methodist Episcopal Church was formally recognized as a National Historic Site of Canada. The Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada held a commemoration service at the church on June 15, 2003 (4).
A Cultural Heritage Assessment was conducted in 2013 and it found that the building was in a severe state of decay. Funds were raised through public grants and private donations, and extensive reconstruction work was carried out from 2014 to 2016. The Archives holds a photographic journal that Eileen Murdoch created as the work was being completed.
The Oro African Methodist Episcopal Church was built by African Canadians, many of whom were veterans of the War of 1812 who took up military land grants along nearby Wilberforce Street. While the Black members of the community gradually moved elsewhere, their church remained, a testament to their history and heritage.
For more Black History resources, visit the Archives’ Guide to Researching Black History in Simcoe County.
End notes:
- 1861 Census of Canada West, Oro Township, page 30 line 26.
- Ontario Land Records Index, Alphabetical Listing by Township/Town/City, page No. 99, I 13
- 1998-111 Council Minutes, 1949, County of Simcoe, and 2008-122 Simcoe County Restoration of African Church in Oro Township Committee minutes.
- 2008-063 Programme for the commemoration of African Methodist Episcopal Church as a Canadian National Historic Site, 2003.
Sources consulted:
- County of Simcoe. Printed Proceedings of Council, 1949.
- County of Simcoe. Restoration of African Church in Oro Township Committee minutes, 1947-1949.
- County of Simcoe. Simcoe County Land Patent Book.
- Crawford, Tim, Ed. The Oro African Church: A History of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Edgar, Ontario, Canada, Township of Oro-Medonte, 1999.
- Edgar Women’s Institute. Tweedsmuir History of Edgar, ca. 1967.
- Murdoch, Eileen. A Pictorial History of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
- ONLand: Ontario Land Registry Access https://www.onland.ca/ui/, Accessed 2024-01-30.
- Ontario. Ontario Land Records Index, Oro Township.
- Statistics Canada. Census of Canada, Township of Oro, 1861.
- Statistics Canada. Census of Canada, Township of Oro, 1871.
- Illustrated Historical Atlas of the Dominion of Canada (County of Simcoe): H. Belden & Co., 1881; Port Elgin, Ontario, Cumming Atlas Reprints, 1975.