Burns Presbyterian Church Mosa Celebrates 190 Years

Burns Presbyterian Church Mosa Celebrates 190 Years

Stories about the Kilmartin community who established Burns Presbyterian Church in the hills of North Mosa.  

Jennifer Grainger reporting from Mosa Township: On Sunday, March 30 at 2:00 pm I attended a rare event, an historic church celebrating an anniversary. At a time when many rural churches are closing, it’s a pleasure to see one commemorating the 190th anniversary of the congregation. 

The March 30th event wasn’t an actual church service, mind you, but a celebration of the surrounding community and the role Burns Presbyterian played in it. The occasion, more historical than religious, was entitled “A Stroll Through Time.” Actors portrayed fictional, but plausible, characters from the church’s past, including an early Scottish settler, a later Dutch arrival, the last Precentor, a member of the women’s auxiliary, etc. Sometimes amusing and often poignant, the stories of former congregants were well written and allowed the modern audience to imagine life in Middlesex County, Ontario in the Good Old Days. 

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We need County support for a Total Archives

We need County support for a Total Archives

Call to Action for A Middlesex County Archives


The Canadian Government created the Public Archives of Canada in 1872.  In Europe, archives retained government records only with personal papers going to libraries as manuscripts.  The Dominion Archivist of Canada determined that all personal records of historical and cultural value should be collected as well as government records, with both being stored in the Public Archives.  This Total Archives approach was a departure from other countries and is known as a Canadian contribution to archival theory and practice.  Over time, multi-media records were added to collections in addition to traditional paper records.  Many other national, regional archival programmes, as well as those in municipalities or universities, have adapted the total archives concept.  The area municipal and university archives adopt this strategy as does the Provincial Archives of Ontario. 

The benefit of this approach is that archives hold records for researchers about family history such as searching houses, land or any other item of interest. The government records also provide some of the information required in these searches.  Having municipal records available – if they are open to the public – are advantageous to researchers and also to Municipal Clerks or staff, who sometimes are contacted by genealogists with family history requests.  Municipal staff benefit by being able to transfer those questions to properly-trained staff who have access to, not only government records, but also personal papers and other resources.  This removes the need for municipal staff to answer questions in an already busy day and provides researchers with a one-stop location.   Genealogists account for over 40% of archives’ users who travel to areas specifically to visit Archives.  While there, their tourist dollars support restaurants, hotels, local merchants and other local amenities.  

An Archives is a program, not a project. Continued funding and municipal support are required to ensure the success of the Middlesex County Archives.

Written by the Committee to Establish a Middlesex County Archives, July 2021

Daniel Perry researches Thomas Gardiner

Daniel Perry researches Thomas Gardiner

Marie Williams:  A large crowd packed into the Glencoe and District Historical Society Archives on Wednesday evening, March 12, 2025. Following announcements, a brief membership report and some unfortunate technical difficulties, Society president Mary Simpson introduced the evening’s guest speaker, Glencoe native and author Daniel Perry.

Perry spoke about his newest work, a non-fiction memoir focussed on his own research into the life of Thomas Gardiner and Gardiner’s connection to the hamlet of Cashmere in the former Township of Mosa.

Born in 1774 in Ireland, Singleton Gardiner sailed for New York State in 1804. He moved to the Talbot Settlement in 1816 and to Mosa Township in 1825. He built a mill in 1834 on the site of what became Cashmere.

His brother Thomas Gardiner, born in Ireland in 1767, sailed for New York in 1804 and arrived in Upper Canada in 1807. Perry outlined charges laid against Thomas Gardiner which were subsequently dismissed, the connections between Thomas Gardiner and John Parker Jr., tales from the War of 1812, his years serving as a teacher, disputes over land, family friction and his pleas for help as an aging man.

Singleton Gardiner was the first person buried at the Cashmere Cemetery in 1834 but there is no stone marking what could be the grave of Thomas Gardiner.

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