Seguin Falls (Ont.)

Almaguin Anglican Parish is a multi-point parish in the Anglican Diocese of Algoma within the Deanery of Muskoka. Active churches in this parish include Grace Anglican Church (South River, Ont.), St. George the Martyr Anglican Church (Magnetawan, Ont.), and St. John's Anglican Church (Eagle Lake, Ont.) (seasonal). Inactive churches within the parish include St. Andrew's Anglican Church (Dunchurch, Ont.), St. George's Anglican Church (Amyot-Heron Bay, Ont.), St. John's Anglican Church (Dufferin Bridge, Ont.), St. Paul's Anglican Church (Seguin Falls, Ont.), St. Paul's Anglican Church (Sundridge, Ont.), St. Peter's Anglican Church (Midlothian, Ont.) and All Saints’ Anglican Church (Burk's Falls, Ont.).

The earliest recorded church erected was St. George the Martyr Anglican Church (Magnetewan Ont.), pioneered by Rev. William Crompton. The church was founded in 1880 and was later considered the centre of the area’s mission. The church later united with Burk’s Falls. Rev. Crompton was responsible for starting two other churches in the Almaguin Anglican Parish: All Saints’ Anglican Church (Burk’s Falls, Ont.) and St. Andrew’s Anglican Church (Dunchurch, Ont.). The former was established in 1882 and has unfortunately been destroyed by fires twice: once in 1884 and again in 1908. The church was built for the third time on November 1, 1909. As for St. Andrew’s, it was not built until the end of 1896 even though services were being held as early as 1890. The church went through a period of disuse until a peak of attendance in 1957. This did not last long and the church was closed in 1961.

Rev. George Gander was responsible for opening most of the other churches in the parish; he remained in the area until approximately 1900. One of these churches was St. Paul’s Anglican Church (Sundridge, Ont.), opened on December 30, 1888. The church was destroyed by fire on March 5, 1960 and rebuilt May 26 later that year. St. Paul’s in Sundridge is closely associated with Grace Anglican Church (South River, Ont.), another Rev. Gander church. The South River church held its first service on July 3, 1892, and was later rebuilt in 1903. The last church on record opened with Rev. Gander’s help was St. John’s Anglican Church (Eagle Lake, Ont.). This church was built in 1888 largely with thanks to the Quirt, Smythe, Ardiel, and Ralstone families. The first service was held on July 22, 1888. This church is currently operating during the summer only.

Finally, not much is on record for St. Peter’s Anglican Church (Midlothian, Ont.), aside from its short life; it was consecrated in September 1902 and closed in 1957.

St. Paul's Anglican Church (Seguin Falls, Ont.) is a church in the Almaguin Anglican Parish, which covers the eastern part of the Parry Sound District of Ontario.

The first St. Paul's Anglican Church was built between 1880 and 1884 as a simple frame structure. In 1890 a resident missionary, Rev. A.J. Cobb, was appointed and the settlers were overjoyed. By 1898, the church was served by lay readers. In 1900 villages began moving closer to railways if they were a few miles away, such was the case with Seguin. The church was "losing its neighbours," so the process of moving the church to Seguin Falls, where the people were, began.

In May of 1902, the Rev. J. Waring and the church-goers of Seguin were still looking for a new site for their church. By December 14th, 1902 a new church was built and opened to accommodate the shifted population due to the railway construction. The people of Seguin Falls, poor as they may have been, contributed greatly towards the construction of their new church. The new church, also called St. Paul's Anglican Church, was consecrated in 1906.

This mission, along with others in the back parts of Parry Sound, continued to persevere into 1907 despite much competition and little growth. The attitude of improvement of circumstances persisted and in 1908 the mission was still alive, though, by this point, some church families had moved on to go West. In 1909 Rev. J. Waring was replaced by Mr. Thos. O. Curliss. Also in 1909, there were thoughts of creating a joint mission between Aspdin, Maganatawan, Novar, Seguin Falls and Sprucedale missions as they were without promise of growth, but there was no action that came from these discussions.

By 1912 the mission was still holding on, but very few families remained with many having left the district. However, there was still justification for continuation of services. Services were still continuing in 1933 under Rev. R. K. Bamber, but it is unclear when the services ended. Sometime before the 1950s the church closed and many things from St. Paul's Anglican Church (such as hymn books and candlesticks) were donated to St. Thomas' Anglican Church in Orrville.

Early incumbents include: Rev. W. Crompton (1880-1884), Rev. A. J. Young (1884-1889), Rev. A. J. Cobb (1890-1898), Lay Readers (1898), Rev. J. Waring (1899-1906), Mr. T. O Curliss (1906-1911).

Sources:

• "History of the Mission to Magnetawan", 1969, St. George the Martyr Anglican Church (Magnetawan, Ont) sous fonds, Algoma University Archives, 2009-211_001_001.
• "Broadbent Mission", The Algoma Missionary News 1, no. 7 (1890): 56. Algoma University Archives, 2009-081_001_003_1890Mar.
• "Report of the Missionary Bishop of Algoma", The Algoma Missionary News 10, no. 11 (1898): 83. Algoma University Archives, 2009-081_001_005_1898Nov.
• "Seguin and Broadbent Mission", The Algoma Missionary News 12, no. 6 (1900): 45. Algoma University Archives, 2009-081_001_005_1900June.
• "Notes by the Way", The Algoma Missionary News 14, no. 5 (1902): 33. Algoma University Archives, 2009-081_001_006_1902May.
• "Seguin Falls Mission", The Algoma Missionary News 15, no. 1 (1903): 7. Algoma University Archives, 2009-081_001_006_1903Jan.
• "Diocesan Notes", The Algoma Missionary News 3, no. 3 (1906): 30. Algoma University Archives, 2009-081_001_007_1906Mar.
• "Magnetawan and Seguin Missions", The Algoma Missionary News 4, no. 5 (1907): 55. Algoma University Archives, 2009-081_001_007_1907May.
• "Seguin Falls Mission", The Algoma Missionary News 5, no. 3 (1908): 29. Algoma University Archives, 2009-081_001_007_1908Mar.
• "Report of the Executive Committee", 1909, Synod Journals, Algoma University Archives, 2009-078_001_012-1909.
• "Parry Sound Deanery Visitation", The Algoma Missionary News 9, no. 3 (1912): 29. Algoma University Archives, 2009-081_001_008_1912Mar.
• "83-year-old St. Thomas' Church, Orrville, to be replaced?" Algoma Anglican 33, no. 6 (1986): 4. Algoma University Archives, 2013-086_001_014_1986JunJul.