Rev. John Towler

1813 - 1887  (73 years)

• Name	John Towler
  Prefix	Rev.
  Born	25 Dec 1813	, Yorkshire, England   [1]
  Gender	Male
  FindAGrave	https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/80356190
  Occupation	1851	Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [1]
  	Minister
  Residence	1851	Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [1]
  	Primitive Methodist
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-292836
  Died	11 Mar 1887	Wingham, Turnberry Twp., Huron Co., Ontario
  Buried	Wingham Cemetery, Wingham, Huron Co., Ontario
  Person ID	I292836	Generations
  Last Modified	3 Mar 2025

  
  

  Family	Ann Flesher Bradley,   b. 31 Jul 1811, , England ,   d. 16 Feb 1893  (Age 81 years)
  Children	1. Dr. William Bradley Towler,   b. 1843, Toronto, York Co., Ontario, Canada ,   d. 12 Aug 1919, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States  (Age 76 years)   2. Annie Elizabeth Towler,   b. 1845, Etobicoke Twp., York Co., Ontario, Canada ,   d. , Fresno Co., Califorian   3. Martha Towler,   b. 1846, , Ontario, Canada ,   d. Yes, date unknown
  Last Modified	4 Mar 2025
  Family ID	F236890	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  The Rev. John Towler, a superannuated Methodist minister, died at the residence of his son, Dr W. B. Towler, Wingham, on Friday last. Deceased had been ill for some time past, and his death was not unexpected The Clinton New Era Clinton, Ontario, Canada Fri, Mar 18, 1887 Page 4 ___________ JOHN TOWLER \endash Primitive Methodist Minister May 19, 2013 by krassoc Rev. John Towler was born in 1812 in England Primitive Methodist Charges: 1842-1843 Toronto (York Cty), 1844-1845 Etobicoke (York Cty), 1847 Toronto (York Cty), 1848-1851 Paisley St. Guelph (Wellington Cty), 1851 Talbot, 1861 Wellesley (Waterloo Cty), 1871 Brantford (Brant Cty), 1883 Woodstock (Oxford Cty) superannuated JOHN TOWLER \endash Primitive Methodist Minister (2015) fadedgenes. Available at: https://krassoc.wordpress.com/2013/05/19/john-towler-primitive-methodist-minister/ (Accessed: 8 August 2024). ________________ What labors and hardships the first ministers had to undergo! The Rev. Wm. Towler and his brother, Rev. John Towler, belonged to the vanguard. Rev. Wm. Towler came from England in 1845 or 1846, as a Superintendent of Missions, visiting the churches both in Canada and the United States. He died very suddenly in New York in 1846. Mrs. Wm. Towler was also a very attractive preacher, and was engaged for church openings. In 1843 Rev. John Towler was sent as a missionary from England. We insert a sketch of his life, kindly favored by his son, Dr. Towler, of Wingham : "The Rev. John Towler was born in Yorkshire, England, December 25th, 1813. He entered the ministry of the Primitive Methodist Church in England when about twenty-two years of age, and soon became quite popular and successful as a preacher and platform speaker, filling pastorates in Leeds, Halifax and other places in the Old Land. In the year 1843 the English Conference sent him as a missionary to Canada, where, after a long and stormy passage across the Atlantic, he, with his wife and accompanied by the late Thomas Adams, arrived in May of that year. The old Bay Street Church, Toronto, was the centre of his first missionary charge. After some time spent in the city he was stationed in Brampton, Etobicoke, Guelph and other places. As a sample of pioneer missionary work in those early days of hardship and toil, it may be mentioned that Guelph station, so called, comprised an area of thirteen townships, requiring four weeks to make the circuit of the entire field, and that mostly on horseback. Nine years of such toil was too much for even a rugged English constitution, and in 1851 Mr. Towler was forced, through broken health, to take a supernumerary relation, and a year or two later he was superannuated. After living for about nineteen years near Hawksville, in the County of Waterloo, he removed to Brantford, where he resided until November, 1886, when he, with his wife and youngest daughter, again removed, to make Wingham his home, in order to be near his son, W. B. Towler, M.D., and his daughter, Mrs. Robert McIndoo. He was not spared, however, to live long there, for on the eleventh of the following March he did not survive a stroke of paralysis, and passed away in happiness and peace, one of his last utterances being 'It is all peace within.' "A funeral service was held in the Methodist Church, when a sermon was preached to a crowded house by the late Rev. Robert Boyle, D.D., who was an old-time associate and fellow-laborer with him on mission fields, and who was taken into the Primitive Methodist Church as a probationer by Mr. Towler. He died in his seventy-third year and was laid to rest in the Wingham Cemetery. His widow, Ann Flesher Bradley, who survived him for nearly six years, was a niece of the late Rev. John Flesher, of England, a prominent preacher, author, and compiler of the Primitive Methodist Hymn Book, and her only brother, William Flesher Bradley, was also for a short time one of the early pioneer young preachers in Canada. Mr. Towler's cabinet photograph may be seen, along with those of other pioneers, in the Carlton Street Methodist Church, Toronto, OLD-TIME PRIMITIVE METHODISM IN CANADA [1829-1884] By MRS. R. P. HOPPER

  
  

• Sources

  [S242] Census - ON, Waterloo, Wellesley Twp. - 1851, Div. 2 Page 12.

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 25 Dec 1813 - , Yorkshire, England Occupation - Minister - 1851 - Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - Primitive Methodist - 1851 - Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Died - 11 Mar 1887 - Wingham, Turnberry Twp., Huron Co., Ontario Buried - - Wingham Cemetery, Wingham, Huron Co., Ontario  = Link to Google Earth