Napier, Ontario - St. Mary's Church

St. Mary's Church

One of the first public buildings constructed by these settlers was Sr. Mary's Anglican Church. The land for the church was donated by Charles Preston. The exact building date is not known but was probably about 1840. St. Mary's still stands, the oldest standing church in Middlesex County. The last regular service was held here in 1920 but yearly services began in 1931 and continue today.

A cemetery surrounds the church. When a sea captain, Christoper Beer, died in 1871, aged 80, he was buried in the southeast corner. His stone says "Anchored in the harbour of eternal rest." In the northwest corner are buried Joe and Mary Wrinkle. Joe was a fugitive slave from the southern US who worked for Captain Beer. Mary, his wife was white. When asked why she married Wrinkle, she replied, "His gracious manners and kindly ways took my fancy. The colour of his skin doesn't matter."

Other churches were built later. A frame Methodist church was built in 1860 and the first Presbyterian church was built in c.1864. The Presbyterian church was rebuilt in 1887 and set on a hill in the southwest part of the village where it still stands today.