Faith, Death & Memory

Chapter 1

Faith before a church

After a couple of failed attempts in the early 1800’s the colonization of Pictou Island began in earnest in 1819 with the arrival of Campbells, MacDonalds, and MacKenzies from Argyllshire, Scotland, along with a second wave a few years later of MacCallums, MacLeans, and Pattersons from the Inner Hebridean islands of Mull and Tiree. These Highlanders brought the Church of Scotland with them. The “Kirk” was a Calvinistic Protestant faith with Presbyterian roots in the southwest of Scotland. Its ethos of industry and community was the perfect salve to the hard scrabble existence the first settlers faced.

The island had no amenities, certainly no church, but for nearly a century the Scots continued to practice the old ways, in the old tongue - Gaelic. Sunday morning services were held in various family homes, with Sunday afternoons reserved for Sunday school. Additional prayer meetings on Sunday and Wednesday evenings meant there was no shortage of opportunity to worship.

The first record of a ministerial visit is attributed to the Rev. Robert Grant in 1845. The exact charge and place attribution remain unresolved. In 1850, with the population nearing 150, the Islanders built themselves a school; local history says church services and events were held there in the summer months.

Over time the influence of the Church of Scotland waned, and parishioners began to identify as members of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. By the 1880’s, with the population hovering at 200, most were Presbyterian save Lewis Lawrence, a Portuguese fisherman and Roman Catholic who had married Ann Patterson. The 1884 Inveralt salvage disaster had direct Island connections: Lawrence, an Island resident, and native Islander Hugh MacFarlane were among the losses, while Island crews also took part in the rescue.

Each summer, the Presbytery sent a student minister to the Island to stay from June until September. They boarded with various members of the congregation, or stayed in a house that might be vacant. Three of them even found Island brides! Once a year, an ordained minister arrived to hold the Sunday service and offer Holy Communion. On these occasions, children born over the past year, were baptized. The ordained minister would also come across to perform funeral rights if a member died in the summer. In the winter, funerals were conducted by Islanders themselves. Weddings were generally held on the mainland, with everyone returning to the island for a joyous party and celebration.

Chapter 2

A house of worship

By the turn of the century the congregation was ready for a church of their own. In 1908, an approved PIHS account describes young student minister Archibald Sutherland of Trenton as advocating for the project, while “Deacon” Charles MacCallum is credited with donating a plot of land. It was finally agreed that each member would contribute $50, more than a month’s wages, in cash or labour in kind, and the Islanders set about building their very own church. Two years later, after coordination and encouragement from the congregation and its supporters, construction was completed. One approved account identifies Friday, October 14, 1910 as an opening service; A HOUSE OF WORSHIP identifies Sunday, October 16, 1910 as the first Sunday service and reports a congregation of 150 adults, a service in Gaelic and English, and eleven baptisms. The two dates remain distinct. Hector MacDonald and Charles MacCallum served as the first elders of the church.

The Islanders continued as a Presbyterian congregation until 1925 when the national movement to unite the various Protestant denominations, under the Church Union Act, arrived on Pictou Island. A vote left the congregation fairly evenly divided, and it was decided that the Presbyterians would continue to use the church, while the members of the new United Church of Canada moved back to the schoolhouse for their services. Within a few years it became clear to the Presbyterians that maintaining a church required the whole Island and a compromise was reached. Everyone agreed they would all worship together in the church, alternating student ministers, one year Presbyterian, the next year United. In 1961, as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations (a year late) the church officially became Sutherland Presbyterian Church in honour of the recently deceased Archibald Sutherland’s efforts five decades earlier. Over the years, like churches on the mainland, weekly services continued and groups formed, including Canadian Girls in Training, Crusaders, Lady’s Auxiliary, Sunday School, Bible School, and a Church Choir. Many older members of the community have fond memories of the beloved Sunday School Picnic - especially Jack Rankin‘s magic tricks, and the homemade ice cream. The practice of student ministers continued into the early 1970’s. At that point, the loss of government services on the Island led many longtime residents to leave for the mainland to be closer to schools and hospitals. The dwindling population made sending a student minister impractical.

Chapter 3

The first burial ground

Opinions vary on the date of Pictou Island’s initial settlement. A numbered plan of division existed by 10 May 1830. A registered 1863 deed identifies Lot 5 and describes its eastern half as approximately 50 acres. The later 1879 cadastral atlas numbers the Island lots through Lot 32. The exact island-wide configuration and lot count of the original 1830 plan remain unresolved. The need for a burial ground quickly arose, and the Church of Scotland heritage of many settlers shaped the cemetery tradition. A small knoll overlooking the sea on the south side of the Island on land owned by John McGregor was selected. The first interred were two boys, born on the Isle of Mull, who drowned off the Island’s west end. It would be remiss not to mention the Irish settlement effort associated with the Island’s early history; the surviving 1817 District of Pictou return does not establish an Island household list or which families remained.

Erosion quickly threatened the original site and in November, 1890, the decision was made to purchase a half acre lot, with a 25 foot wide right of way for a horse and wagon, north of the main road for $40 from Joseph A. McInnes, an elder in the Church community. At 990 feet, the lengthy right of way was intended to keep pesky ghosts off the main road!

The first trustees, Alexander Campbell, James Curry, and John “the Governor” MacDonald, had the task of moving the existing headstones to the new site. By extension, any stones dated prior to 1890 in the Pioneer Cemetery are simply memorials with the associated remains long since lost to the sea. One such memorial is for one of the drowned boys, three year old Donald McCallum (1827-30). Ironically, his and his friend’s bodies, were reclaimed by the sea. Future Lighthouse Keeper, Edward Rankin, reportedly saw bones emerging from the cliff, as a boy, while walking home from school along the beach.

Chapter 4

Death at home

For caskets, being pragmatic Scots, each household selected wood that was dried, sawn and set aside (under the bed) ready for when the need arose. Skilled Island carpenters constructed caskets and lined them with material bought specifically for that purpose. Handles and engraved name plates were attached (see a sample plate in the Heritage Centre). For burial, the caskets were placed in rough boxes to protect them and lowered into the graves. In March 1974, the last Island-made casket carried lifelong resident, Frank “Tom Flynn” Munro to the afterlife. The last official burial in the Pioneer Cemetery, in 1988, was “Red Frank” MacDonald. At the time it was noted that the cemetery was in disrepair and the mourners had to cut back bushes just to get old Frank to his resting place.

That horse drawn hearse, now on display at the Heritage Centre, was purchased in 1910 from McLaren‘s Funeral Home in Pictou to allow for the “dignified transfer of remains”. It was drawn by a black horse with black palls for adults, and a white horse and palls for children. Pallbearers walked beside each wheel, ready should it become stuck in a rut. As horses disappeared from the Island the hearse was modified to fit on the back of a pickup truck.

Residents who passed on the mainland, as Billy MacMillan did, had their remains borne home by ferry, accompanied by pallbearers and mourners, with the casket resting in a place of honour.

Chapter 5

A second cemetery

By 1959, with few lots left in the original cemetery, the people of Pictou Island purchased half an acre of land directly behind the Church. Many families still owned plots in the Pioneer Cemetery and continued to place their deceased along side their ancestors, but in December that year, James MacDonald, and his second wife, Lavinia Glover, became the first to be buried in the new cemetery. They had passed away from carbon monoxide poisoning after falling asleep with an Aladdin’s lamp burning improperly. Their bodies went undiscovered for two days until neighbours realized they hadn’t been seen for a while.

William “Billy” MacMillan from Wood Islands, PEI, came to work in a lobster cannery and married Islander Annie Jane Maclean. With nine children, and no lot in the old cemetery they purchased a large lot in the north west corner. When he died, “Billy” is reported to have been the last to ride in the old hearse.

Chapter 6

Memory can be lost—and recovered

Outmigration accelerated during the late twentieth century as schooling, employment, fisheries, services and other pressures changed. Regular public-school classes ended in 1971, while some later PIHS accounts use 1972 for the broader closure transition. Many Islanders chose Seaview Cemetery on the mainland; cemetery changes formed part of a wider demographic history rather than resulting from school closure alone.

The whole area quickly grew up in trees and bushes, the worst of which, black locust, was a hardy and thorny tree. It was not native to the Island, but poor Maggie Jane McCallum can be forgiven for buying it from a traveling peddler one spring. Sold to her as a rosebush, she lovingly planted it on the grave of a family member and it spread quickly.

In 1989, Ron MacDonald, a Pictou Island expat and son of former Lighthouse Keeper, Jack Happy, returned to live full time on Pictou Island. Saddened by the overgrown state of the old cemetery and the difficulty of access, he launched a fund raising campaign with the goal of restoring the hallowed ground. He began by reaching out to descendants of those buried there, many of whom had moved away. Those generous donations along with a $3,000 Provincial grant for pioneer cemeteries, was enough to bring across the machinery needed to pull stumps and lift fallen headstones.

In the summer of 1991, Ron and a crew of fellow volunteers reclaimed the cemetery from a jungle of black locust, spruce trees, and thick bushes. Workers recall sharpening their saws after every tree as the rock hard black locust quickly dulled their chains.

The restored site was officially designated a Pioneer Cemetery and has been respectfully maintained by the Pictou Island Community Association (PICA) ever since. A few people who came to Pictou Island in the 1970s and 80s were buried in the old cemetery after its restoration but, as of 2021,­ it is officially closed to new burials.

Pictou Island’s Pioneer Cemetery is truly a place of peace and tranquility, disturbed only by mosquito and horsefly seasons. Walking out the lane and reading the stones offers a clear sense of the hardy folks who came to this faraway Island to eke out a living as farmers and fishers, knowing they would never return to their Scottish homelands in the Highlands and Islands noted on many of their headstones.

Chapter 7

Stories people carry

Documentary records are only one way communities remember. Pictou Island also preserved stories about death, weather, luck and the supernatural. The cemetery ghost story is presented as community tradition and folklore—not as proof of an undocumented burial or historical event.

Chapter 8

A building and landscape kept in use

Stewardship of the Church passed to The Kirk - Saint Andrew’s Presbyterian in Pictou. A group of Islanders, led by Alfred MacLean, Lorraine MacMillan and Janet Rankin struggled to maintain both the building and the congregation. They convinced the Kirk to continue sending an ordained minister once a year to perform Communion. On the allotted Sunday, a minister would arrive, along with a few members of his own congregation, offer Communion, and perform baptisms as required. At one point, Alfred convinced the Presbytery in Ottawa to lend the congregation $10,000 to replace the existing stone foundation with a new cement foundation, no small feat.

Despite difficulties, the Church marched on, and money was found to paint the interior and the exterior on more than one occasion. In 1992, a beautiful stained glass window was donated, in memoriam, by a family member of Mr. and Mrs. William MacDonald (Lena Bill and Bill Cole). Also, in the early 1990’s, several new Islanders joined the Sutherland Presbyterian Church, either by confirmation or transfer, but the financial struggles continued. By the late 1990’s, the Pictou Island Community Association (PICA) had assumed responsibility for the church as the money raised at the yearly service barely covered the insurance costs. In 2010 PICA formed the Church Committee and in 2013, the Committee brought forward the suggestion that PICA seek ownership of the church building from the Presbytery. Despite having paid to build and maintain the structure for over 100 years on donated land, Islanders were surprised by the Presbytery’s offer to sell it for the appraised value. After some negotiation, the two parties agreed to transfer ownership of the Church building if PICA assumed all legal fees. The Church was decommissioned and ownership was transferred early the following year.

Since then, the Church has continued as an anchor in the community, hosting concerts and community events and yes, even a religious service at least once a year. The old windows were replaced when the Church Committee initiated a fund raiser encouraging families in the community to donate a window. In spite of everyone’s best efforts, the upkeep of the exterior, especially the bell tower, exceeded the means of a small community. Then, in 2024, the Church/Cemetery Committee applied for a grant from the Provincial Department of Communities, Cultures, Tourism and Heritage and, to the delight of the community, was awarded enough to cover most of the costs. Combined with funds already on hand, we have been able to restore the Church structure and its exterior.

In 2025, as we celebrate the 115th anniversary of the Sutherland Church, it is the fervent hope of all Islanders that we are celebrating a new beginning for a building that has been uniting the community for over 100 years.