PW 1-29 St Marks Anglican Church and Elizabeth Campbell



Built 18-4-1808. Burnt by invading American forces on December 10, 1813. Restored 1820. This photo ca. 1920. (NFLS Library)
 


 


 


 

Introduction

This is St. Marks Anglican Church and Cemetery.

St Marks parish dates back to 1790. The area around the church was used as a burial ground before the church was granted the land. It's likely that is was also an original burial site used by the First Nations.

During the war of 1812 it was used as a hospital and storehouse by the invading American forces.

The American army also used the gravestones as chopping blocks, and the scars can still be seen today. And if you look straight down the path leading from the gate, into the cemetery, you can see the trenches used by the soldiers during the American invasion.

The Burning of Newark

In 1813, the American forces burned the Church along with the rest of the town. The wooden roof burned, but not its stone walls. Today it is the oldest church and cemetery in continuous use in Ontario.

Veterans of both world wars are buried here, and more than 100 members of the militia and British army from the War of 1812.

Fort-Major Donald Campbell died in 1812, and his home was destroyed, leaving his widow Elizabeth homeless with three young children. Many years later their eldest son Edward was buried here….

Meet Mrs. Campbell.



 


 


 


 

Elizabeth Campbell's Story

Elizabeth Campbell - Mrs. Donald Campbell - Fort Major Campbell's widow - built a snow shelter for her three young children, while Newark burned. She watched as their handsome Niagara home, their two acres of land, fruit trees, and stables – all burned to ashes.

She lost one child, a newborn. The others survived. But it would be many years before her eldest son, Edward C. Campbell, returned to Niagara. When he did, he became the town's first member of the Union Parliament in 1841, and one of Niagara's most respected and reliable judges.

 
 

Elizabeth Campbell's War Loss claim, dated December 1813 - Source: http://images.ourontario.ca/1812/70310/image/169821


Directions to next Point of Interest

From the cemetery, continue walking straight along Byron Street.

In about 400 metres you'll pass the grand entrance to Queens Landing Hotel on your left. Keep walking straight on Byron Street.

References

Elizabeth Campbell's War Loss claim- December 1813:
http://images.ourontario.ca/1812/70310/data?n=6

Letter from Alexander Wood, a Magistrate in Upper Canada, to William Campbell describing Mrs. Elizabeth Campbell Losses during the War of 1812- January 13, 1816:
http://images.ourontario.ca/1812/70289/data?n=3

Letter from Alex Stewart, a Niagara lawyer, to Alexander Wood, a magistrate in Upper Canada, Describing Property lost by Mrs. Elizabeth Campbell During the War of 1812- 1823:
http://images.ourontario.ca/1812/70288/data?n=2

Carnochan, Janet. 1914. History of Niagara (in part) : with fifty illustrations.
http://www.ourroots.ca/toc.aspx?id=3742&qryID=2169256d-cb6b-4d84-afc5-5b1b029fe037

Edward C. Campbell reference:
http://www.ourroots.ca/page.aspx?id=782960&qryID=2169256d-cb6b-4d84-afc5-5b1b029fe037&pageSizeToggle=large

National Parks Service. Undated. "Exposed for three days & nights upon the snow" (an account of the sutterings of Mrs. Elizabeth Campbell).
https://www.nps.gov/articles/war-widow-suffers.htm

Niagara Falls Public Library Digital Image Collection. 2011. [Image].St. Mark's Anglican Church (Built 1804 - 1808), Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario - Details.
http://www.nflibrary.ca/nfplindex/show.asp?id=389451&b=1

Google Map


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