A Glance at the Past
By John-Paul Stewart
Over the course of the next few months this new column we will be discussing some of the historical photos from the church's archives. There are many photos in the gallery on the church website but those are just a small sampling of what is in the collection.
Before we delve into the photos, our first journey into the past we will start with a look at some of the historical documents from the church. These booklets tell the stories to go with the photos and will provide much of the source material for future columns. Regular readers will likely want to understand where the information is coming from.
First Baptist celebrated its 100th anniversary 90 years ago in 1936. At that time a very detailed booklet was compiled documenting our church's history so far. One of the interesting tidbits mentioned is that 50 years prior, for the 50th anniversary in 1886, Nathan Pegg compiled a history of the church to that point. He may well have been the first “church historian” at First Baptist. (One of the stained glass windows in the northeast corner of the church is dedicated to his memory.) The church has lost track of his direct descendants, but Nathan’s brother, Phillip, is an ancestor of both the Crabb family and the Duckworth/Duke family who continue to be involved with the church today.
Archie Culver
Even more interesting than the contents of the 100th anniversary booklet is its author. At the time (1936) the church historian was a gentleman by the name of Archie Culver. He writes that he was baptized here in 1884. More importantly, he was the grandfather of Wray Knox, who now attends regularly with his own grandchildren. So the next time you see them all at church take a moment to reflect on the fact that their family represents at least 5 generations and more than 140 years of service to Simcoe First Baptist.
Another key source of information is a book that was prepared for the 50th anniversary of the sanctuary in 1972. The church historian and editor of that book was John Wallace. His tenure in that role spans more than 50 years, and still counting!
J. Alex Wallace
His dedication to church history should come as no surprise. In the 1920s when the sanctuary was under construction, his grandfather, J. Alex Wallace, was the church historian. There is a time capsule behind the building's cornerstone that was placed by the original Mr. Wallace. That is yet another family which has been heavily involved in the work of First Baptist for more than a century.
There are even more families in today's congregation that had ancestors here more than 100 years ago. In the coming months we will look at more of the old photos in the historical collection and those connections to church families. None of this would be possible without the work of the prior church historians who preserved the information for us.
