Sagamok First Nation (Ont.)

Gowan Gilmor Memorial Anglican Church (Sagamok First Nation, Ont.) is sometimes referred to as being in Spanish River, Ontario. The Gowan Gilmor Memorial Church is part of the multi-point Rainbow Country Anglican Parish (Espanola, Ont.).

In the 1880's and 1890's, occasional services were held in the Sagamok area by the incumbent of the Sheguiandah mission, ministered by Rev. Frederick Frost . In the summer of 1889 the congregation built a small log church and school house. The Bishop of Algoma officiated the opening of these buildings during the same summer; a bell was added to the church in September 1891. The schoolhouse burned in a fire ten years after its construction, but was quickly replaced in April 1899. Around this time the Sagamok area was moved from the Sheguiandah mission to the Webbwood Mission, which was ministered by Rev. S.H. Morgan. In 1906, this mission was divided and Sagamok was again transferred,this time into the new Massey Mission with Massey and Walford.

By 1938 it appears a new church building was constructed; the interior of it nearly being complete. The date is uncertain, but by this year the church was named the Gowan Gilmor Memorial Anglican Church. 

The church joined the Rainbow Country Anglican Parish in December 1978, after the death of Rev. Douglas Sissenah. Rev. Lorne Sutherland, rector of the parish, tried to include the Ojibway language in his services. 

A year after Rev. Sissenah's death, the congregation held a memorial service on September 19, 1979. A silver chalice and paten were bought in memory of Rev. Sissenah. 

Incumbents have included: Rev. Douglas Sissenah (1930-1978), Rev. Lorne Sutherland (1978-?).

Sources: 

• "Manitoulin Jottings", The Algoma Missionary News 10, no. 6 (1888):2. Algoma University Archives, 2009-081_001_002_1888Aug. 
• "Notes and comments", The Algoma Missionary News 1, no. 4 (1889): 2-3. Algoma University Archives, 2009-081_001_003_1889Dec.
• "Missionary Work in Algoma -- Bishop's Visitation", The Algoma Missionary News 1, no 5. (1890): 6. Algoma University Archives, 2009-081_001_003_1890Jan.
• "Sheguindah Mission", The Algoma Missionary News 3, no. 2 (1891): 3. Algoma University Archives, 2009-081_001_003_1891Oct.
• "Parochial History" in Parish Register, 1896-1983, St. George's Church (Espanola, Ont.) sous fonds, Algoma University Archives, 2009-152/001(001).
• "Notes by the way", The Algoma Missionary News 11, no. 4 (1899): 3. Algoma University Archives, 2009-081_001_005_1899Apr.
• "Webbwood Mission", The Algoma Missionary News 11, no. 8 (1899): 8. Algoma University Archives, 2009-081_001_005_1899Aug.
• "Deanery of Algoma", The Algoma Missionary News 34, no. 4 (1938): 10-11. Algoma University Archives, 2009-081_002_004_1938NovDec.
• "The Rev. Douglas Sissenah of Spanish River Reserve", The Algoma Anglican 23, no. 1 (1979): 7. Algoma University Archives, 2013-086_001_012_1979Jan.
• "Memorial Service with Confirmation at Gowan Gilmor Memorial Church", The Algoma Anglican 25, no. 1 (1980): 6. Algoma University Archives, 2013-086_001_012_1980Feb.

The Rainbow County Anglican Parish (Espanola, Ont) consists of All Saints' Anglican Church (Nairn Centre, Ont.), Gowan Gilmor Memorial Anglican Church (Sagamok First Nation, Ont.), St. Augustine of Canterbury's Anglican Church (Whitefish Falls, Ont.), and St. George the Martyr Anglican Church (Espanola, Ont.). This parish began as the Webbwood Mission, the boundaries of which extended from Whitefish, Ontario to Walford, Ontario. 

The Webbwood Mission began when it separated from Cooke's Mills in 1896 (a small settlement in what is now Welland, Ontario). The first clergyman of this new mission was Rev. S.H. Morgan, a student; his first service was conducted January 3, 1896. The mission used a schoolhouse for its services until December 1896, when they began using a local Methodist church. They built a church of their own between November and December of that same year, and their first service in the new building was held on December 25, 1896. A church of the same style and size was also built in Nairn Centre around this time.

The Webbwood building was dedicated by the Bishop of Algoma on April 2, 1897. A parsonage was built almost ten years later in 1906. 

In 1913, the Worthington and Victoria Mines churches were added to this mission, although they would not remain. 

In 1924, the parish was established with St. George the Martyr Anglican Church (Espanola, Ont.) at its centre and Webbwood, Nairn Centre, and Worthington as outstations. St. George's construction was completed in October 1924. 

St. Augustine of Canterbury (Whitefish Falls, Ont.) joined the Espanola Parish during Rev. Nornabille's incumbency (between 1960 and 1971). Gowan Gilmor Memorial Church (Sagamok First Nation, Ont.) joined the Espanola Parish in 1978 after the death of Rev. Douglas Sissenah. 

Incumbents have included: Rev. S. H. Morgan (1896-1897), Mr. Thomas Scarlett (student) (1897-1898), Rev. B. Storer (1898-1899), Rev. Edward Lawlor (1899-1903), Mr. W.H.G. Battershill (student) (1903-1904), Mr. W.S. Weary (student) (1904), Rev. M.O. Smith (1904--1908), Rev. Arthur J. Oakley (1908-1910), Rev. Archdeacon Gilmor (1912), Mr. A. Arthurs (Lay Reader) (1912), Rev. G. H. Phillips (1913-?), Rev. H. F. Cocks (1924-1926). Rev. S. Turner (1926-1927),  Rev. Donald H. Dixon (1939), Rev. Edwin Wrightson (1940-1943), Rev. F. E. Jewell (1943-1947), Rev. J. Watson (1947-1950), Rev. S. Gilbert (1950-1953), Rev. C. J. Passey (1953-1958), Rev. W. A. C. Banting (1958-1959), Rev. Nornabell (1960-1971), Rev. Lorne R. A. Sutherland (1971-?).

Sources:

• "Parochial History" in Parish Register, 1896-1983, St. George's Church (Espanola, Ont.) sous fonds, Algoma University Archives, 2009-152/002(001).
• "Short History of Webbwood", in Service Register, 1896-1903, Webbwood Mission fonds, Algoma University Archives, 2009-145/001(001).
• "From the Parish Register of St. John's Parish, Webbwood", (1907), Diocesan Heritage Centre History files collection, Algoma University Archives, 2013-078/010(002).
• "A New Parish", The Algoma Missionary News 20, no. 2 (1924): 14. Algoma University Archives, 2009-081_001_013_1924Feb.