It was 1781 when when the British Government started purchasing land from the Mississauga Nation. In 1819 the government began offering free land grants and this was the beginning of the colonization of the southwestern part of Esquesing Township (today Halon Hills) was first known as “Scotch Settlement” and later as “Scotch Block”. As the name suggests these were mostly settlers coming from Scotland.
The Scott’s brought their faith with them and the Boston Presbyterian Church was the first Presbyterian congregation in the area.
The first service in the “Scotch Block” was conducted by the Reverend William Jenkins in June 1820.
He conducted the service on the farm of Andrew Laidlaw. A stump served as the pulpit and the people sat on logs.
A short history of Boston Presbyterian Church.
The first house of prayer began to be built in 1824, when land was purchased from Andrew Laidlaw for a cemetery and a wooden church, which was built eleven years later in 1835.
The first preacher, Rev. Peter Ferguson, was installed on April 11, 1832.
In 1844 the church was renamed “Boston Presbyterian” after Rev. Thomas Boston, a theologian from Ettrick, Scotland.
The present limestone church was begun in 1868.
Church was designed by Toronto architect James Avon Smith in the Gothic Revival style. Built with locally sourced stone and timber.
The church history specifically says the stone came from Hume Quarry, sand from Thomas Duff’s farm, and timber from the farm of Hames Lindsay.
The cornerstone was laid in 1868, and the first service in the new church was held in January 1870.
In 1960 the church was rebuilt.
A basement hall was built and a church hall and classrooms were added at the rear of the church.
In June 1995, Boston was designated a historic preservation area.
The cemetery was established in 1824!
The book:
Halon’s Scotch Block – The People and Their Stories by Gloria Brown and Jim Dills.
More: www.miltonhistoricalsociety.ca
The surviving historical records of the Boston Presbyterian Church have been deposited at the National Archives of the Presbyterian Church in Canada.
