The Presbyterian Church of
York, Upper Canada (1823)
Richmond Street (between Yonge and
Bay)
Architect: Unknown? Building planned and funded by Jesse Ketchum, and built on land donated by
Jesse Ketchum
Brick building erected: 1821
Service of Dedication: February 18, 1822
Accidentally Burned to the Ground: May, 1847
Seating Capacity: 400
Ministers:
Reverend James Harris, 1820 - 1844
Dr. Robert Burns, 1845 - 1847
Also described as Knox Free Church
on this City of Toronto webpage:
www.city.toronto.on.ca/torontoplan/lost_examples1.htm
Knox Church first gathered as a congregation five years
after the war between the British Empire and the United States; it was the
year 1820 when Reverend James Harris preached his first sermon in the muddy
town of York (population 1,200). Reverend Harris was sent as a missionary
from a Presbyterian society in Ireland to strengthen ties amongst the Presbyterians,
who until then had no place of worship in York. Reverend Harris was most welcomed
by Jesse Ketchum and his wife, devout Christians and influential land holders
in both York, UC and Buffalo, NY.
Jesse Ketchum had come to the town of York around 1803, following the footsteps
of his older brother Seneca. He quickly became established as a shrewd business
man, purchasing large tracts of land and a tannery, which had served most
profitable during the war of 1812-15. He had married a young girl of 18, already
a widow with one little girl. Her first husband had been mistaken for a bear,
and was shot and killed during a night hunting expedition.
Jesse Ketchum was known as a very moral and temperate man, abstaining from
tobacco, alcohol, and any kind of work on Sundays (he would establish Temperance
Street as a street where no alcohol was to be sold). Jesse had been a pew-holder
in St. James's Anglican Cathedral since the day of his arrival in York, but
it was his wife, a devout Presbyterian at heart, who helped influence his
most generous gift to Knox.
On Christmas Day in 1820, Jesse Ketchum donated land and £125 to cover nearly
the entire cost of the first church building. It is not known for certain
who was the architect of the first church building, a brick structure designed
to fit 400 people (an ambitions figure, from the looks of the above illustration).
It could have been Jesse Ketchum; after all, Jesse Ketchum even landscaped
the grounds with his own hands. What’s more, in time the Ketchum’s would give
the hand of their second daughter, Fidelia, in marriage to the Reverend Harris,
and Jesse had a manse built next to the church for the pastor and his new
bride.
The land of the first church was situated between Hospital Street (Richmond
Street) and Lot Street (Queen Street), and until their first building was
complete, the congregation worshipped in a brick potato house. Construction
began in 1821, and the first service held in the building was in 1822. On
July 23, 1823 Reverend James Harris was officially inducted as the church
Minister, and the first communion was held two months later, on September
23, 1823. It was known as the only Presbyterian Church in the area until St.
Andrews was established in 1827, supported by the Church of Scotland.
Eleven years after the Presbyterian Church of York, UC had been so named,
the muddy town of York became the City of Toronto (1834). Ten years later,
the Presbyterian Church of York joined with a group of 84 evangelicals from
St. Andrews to form Knox Presbyterian Church (1844). Reverend Harris retired,
and was replaced by Dr. Robert Burns of Paisley, Scotland.
In May of 1847, the church building above
burned to the ground in only two hours. Only the pulpit was rescued, which
would later be used in the next church basement. Plans to rebuild proceeded
with haste. On June 4, 1847, a meeting at City Hall unanimously resolved that
a new church building be erected in its place. Plans for the new church were
presented on July 19, 1847, and the foundation stone for
the new church building
was laid on September 21, 1847.
Primary source: Knox Church Toronto; Avant-Garde, Evangelical, Advancing,
by William Fitch. Toronto 1972.
![[Picture of first church; looks a bit like a small schoolhouse]](York-1823.gif)