Present Day Garden River First Nation's Reservation was formally created in 1850 with the signing of the Robinson Treaty. Chief Shingwaukonce, a veteran of the War of 1812 on the side of the British, was an important influence in the establishment of the a church in Garden River. It is a single point parish comprising the congregation of St. John's Anglican Church (Garden River, Ont.). The parish began as a branch of the Sault Ste. Marie mission in 1832 by Rev. William McMurrray. The first church was built in 1832 but destroyed by fire in 1882. The new church was opened for services October 20, 1883, and consecrated July 6, 1884.
Incumbents of St. John's Anglican Parish (Garden River Ont.) include: William McMurray (1832), Rev. O'Mera (1838-1856), James Chance (1864-1873), Fred Frost (1874), E. F. Wilson (1874 –1879), P. T. Rowe (1880-1881), J. H. Glass (1881-1882), P. T. Rowe (1882 188[3-4?]), J. H. Gallaher (1884– 1885), John Esquimaux (1884), George Kabaoosa (1886), C. A. French (1887–1888), Mazagun (1888), Lea Keik Wilson (1888-1889), James Irvine (1889–1893), R. J. Renison (1893–1897), R. Atkinson (1897), Frederick Frost (1897-1906) , Edward H. Capp (1900-1903), L.F. Hardyman (1903), H.A. Brooke (1907), T. B. Holland (1907-1911), George Kabaoosa (1908), S. H. Ferris (1911-1919), B. P. Fuller (1911-1920), D. A. Johnston (1919 –1933), Alfred Greaves (1943).
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