Rev. James McAlister^[1]

1828 - 1902  (74 years)

• Name	James McAlister
  Prefix	Rev.
  Born	21 Jan 1828	Dunfierth Cross Roads, County Kildare, Ireland   [2, 3]
  Gender	Male
  FindAGrave	https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/180484523
  Immigration	1832	, Canada   [2]
  Name	James McAllister
  Occupation	1856	New Connexion Methodist Church, Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  	minister
  Occupation	1901	North Dumfries Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [2]
  	Clergyman
  Eby ID Number	00023-1736.1
  Died	21 Jul 1902	Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Buried	Mount View Cemetery, Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Person ID	I74145	Generations
  Last Modified	28 Jan 2025

  
  

  Family	Martha Ann Jane Clemens,   b. 31 Aug 1836, , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 16 Mar 1919, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 82 years)
  Married	1 Mar 1855	, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Children	1. James McAllister   2. William George Hector "George" McAlister,   b. 13 Oct 1858, Kilbride, Nelson Twp., Halton Co., Ontario ,   d. 28 May 1924, North Dumfries Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 65 years)   3. Nettie McAllister,   b. 10 Oct 1869, Beverly Twp., Wentworth Co., Ontario, Canada ,   d. 1957, Clinton, Hullett Twp., Huron Co., Ontario  (Age 87 years)   4. Margaret Esther McAllister,   b. 2 Apr 1877, , Halton Co., Ontario, Canada ,   d. 1965  (Age 87 years)   5. Dr. James Clemens McAlister,   b. 27 Nov 1861, Milton, Halton Co., Ontario, Canada ,   d. 30 Apr 1920, Hamilton, Wentworth Co., Ontario, Canada  (Age 58 years)
  Last Modified	29 Jan 2025
  Family ID	F4460	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos

  McAlister-JamesRev.-0001-AncestryPublicMemberTree.jpg Rev. James McAlister - mmcalister24 originally shared this on 11 Aug 2013 to Ancestry Public Member Tree

  
  

• Notes

  Rev. James McAlister One of the oldest and best known of our ministers of the former generation has fallen by the way. The Rev. James McAlister, at his residence in Galt, on Monday morning, July 21, exchanged mortality for life. The deceased. was in his seventy-seventh year, and was in apparent good health up to the morning of his death. Mr. McAlister entered the ministry of the New Connexion Church in 1850, his circuits being Goulburn and Drummond, Crosby, Prince Edward, Yorkville, Waterloo, Galt, Nelson, Milton, Waterford, Ancaster, and Nelson, for a second term. With the New Connexion, he was chairman three times. After the union he went to Kilbride, Hespeler, Oakville, Wiarton, Tara, Kincardine, Palmerston. Following the union, he was chairman during almost his entire ministry; he was delegate to the General Conference in 1878, and in 1892; he was president of the Guelph Conference in 1894, and was superannuated in 1896. He was stationed in Galt in 1856, beginning in New Connexion work there, but did not return to Galt until his superannuation, seven years ago. Mr. McAlister was a Methodist of the old type, original, sturdy, warm- hearted, and fearless in his advocacy of what he considered the truth. He was a manly man, loyal to the church of his choice, and self- sacrificing for her advancement. Upon all his fields of labor he rendered efficient and success- ful service, and was pre-eminent as a wise winner of souls. His wife, two daughters, and two sons survive. The former are the Misses Nettie and Maggie McAlister, both at home; the latter, the Rev. W. George H. McAlister, Aylmer, and Mr. McAlister, Jerseyville. The priceless heritage of a good name and a holy life is theirs. ___________ Rev. James McAlister dropped dead at his home on the Preston road this morning from heart failure. He was 76 years of age; entered the Methodist ministry of the New Connexion in 1850, his circuits being Gouldourn and Drummond, Crosby, Prince Edward, Yorkville, Waterloo, Galt, Nelson, Mil- ton, Waterford, Ancaster, and Nelson for a second term. With the New Con- nexion he was Chairman three times. After the union he went to Kilbride, Hespeler, Oakville, Wiarton, Tara, Kincardine, Palmerston. Following the union he was Chairman during almost his entire ministry; he was a delegate to the General Conference in 1878 and in 1892; he was President of the Guelph Conference in 1894, and was superannuated in 1896. He was stationed in Galt in 1856, beginning the New Connexion work here, but did not return to Galt until his superannuation seven years ago. ine late Mr. MoAlister was in many ways a remarkable man, and a self-made one. he was progressive, energetic, optimistic, broad-minded and sympathetic. He was a prominent figure in the agitation for the union of the New Connexion and the Wesleyan bodies, working for it with both pen and tongue. His pastoral work was a lasting tribute to his successful ministry, and all over Ontario hearts will grieve that he is no more. His wife, two sons and two daughters, survive: Rev. W. Geo. McAlister, Aylmer; Dr. McAlister, Jerseyville, and the Misses Nettie and Maggie McAlister, at home. The funer al will take place at 2 o'clock on Wednesday afternoon to Mount View Cemetery. _________ Wesleyan Methodist and Methodist New Connexion St. Paul's United Church The earliest Methodist services were said to have begun in 1861 when the Rev. E.W. Frazee arrived in Preston. He organized a congregation which met at first in the upper room of a woolen mill on Eagle Street and then in the frame Lutheran church on King Street; members of the New Connexion Methodists began to meet in the Town Hall at about the same time. Rev. Charles Freshman, the German Wesleyan Methodist missionary, began preaching to English and German-speaking congregations on May 3, 1862. In his autobiography Rev. Dr. Freshman is quoted: "I preached at St. George in the morning, Paris in the afternoon and at Preston in the evening. Our other regular appointments were Strasburg, Roseville, Conestoga [sic], New Dundee, Doon and occasionally in Princeton" (Freshman 1868: 214). A stone church was built at the corner of Duke and Argyle Streets in 1864 on property which had been donated by Jacob Hespeler; the church was opened on September 25, 1864. Dedicatory services were held in English by Mr. Rice and Mr. Carrol and in German by Rev. Freshman. Four acres of land between King and Queen (now Queenston Road) Streets were purchased from Jacob Hespeler on July 15, 1868 by the trustees of the Wesleyan Methodist and New Connexion churches. A newer, larger church was built on this property and completed on October 18, 1868. Although union of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Canada and the Methodist New Connexion Church did not occur until 1874 it is quite possible that the two congregations in Preston had already formed their own union with the building of the church in 1868. For some years it was a community church where other denominations also worshipped. In 1871 the church was enlarged; the tower and spire were added at the same time. A Sunday School was built in 1875-1879 during the ministry of Rev. James McAllister. In 1877 the congregation was given permission to sell the old New Connexion Church and to apply the proceeds towards improvements on the new church. The Circuit was divided in 1883 when Preston, Zion and Doon were separated from Hespeler. In 1887 Preston was by itself, but at the Annual Conference in 1897 of the Methodist Church, Guelph Conference, Galt District, Preston was divided into a circuit consisting of Preston and Doon. The church became self-supporting at that time. Preston later was with Hespeler until 1909 when each became an independent charge. The congregation of Preston Methodist Church became Preston United Church in 1925 and later, in 1933, St. Paul's United Church. The cornerstone for a new Sunday School was laid in 1921; the addition was completed in 1922. Further additions were constructed in 1955 and 1967. Waterloo County Churches A Research Guide To Churches Established Before 1900 By Rosemary Ambrose ______________________ New Connexion Methodist Church Begun: 1840 Closed: 1875 Early services were held in an upper room of a building erected in 1840 by Isaac Sours (or Sauer) on the east side of Water Street South, just south of the future location of South Water Street Baptist Church. Although not an ordained minister, Mr. Sours preached to this Methodist New Connexion group. Some years later he built a small stone chapel on the north side of Dickson Street, just west of Ainslie Street, which he gave to the congregation. Mr. Sours died on August 16, 1852 in his 50th year and was buried in Mount View Cemetery in Galt. The congregation continued on without a leader until Rev. James McAllister became minister in 1856. Of interest: Mr. Sours' name has been spelled Sours, Sowers, Sauer, and Sauers The cemetery stone is recorded as Sours and his widow was referred to as Mrs. Sours. Churchmen in Waterloo Township referred to him as Rev. Sauer. The New Connexion Church on the north side of Dickson Street between Ainslie and North Water Streets is shown on Pollock's 1867 Map of Galt. The Minutes of the 46th Annual Conference of the Methodist New Connexion Church of Canada in May, 1874 recorded that the Galt Mission, with David Smyth of Galt as preacher, had 1 Chapel, 1 parsonage, a Sunday School, and a congregation of 160. In 1874 the New Connexion and Wesleyan Methodists joined to form the Methodist Church in Canada. The Galt Methodist New Connexion Church is reported to have been sold c.1880. Records: Baptism dates: unknown Location of records: unknown Marriage dates unknown* Location of records: unknown Burial dates: unknown Location of records: unknown *See Waterloo County Marriages 1858-1869 for Marriages 1860, 1862-1867. Refer also to Huber (1986) for possible early marriages. References: Cant 1915: 58; Hamilton 1941: 35; Methodist New Connexion Church; Semple 1985:i(chart); R. Taylor 1986; Wesley United Church 1954; Young 1880: 185,242. Ambrose, Rosemary. Waterloo County Churches A Research Guide to Churches Established Before 1900. Kitchener, Ontario, Canada: Waterloo-Wellington Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society, 1993. [used the kind permission of Rosemary Ambrose 2011]

  
  

• Sources

  [S3] Book - Vol I A Biographical History of Waterloo Township and other townships of the county : being a history of the early settlers and their descendants, mostly all of Pennsylvania Dutch origin..., 414. [S180] Census - ON, Waterloo, North Dumfries - 1901, Dumfries (North) B-2 Page 3. [S2508] Ancestry Public Member Trees.

  
  

• Event Map

  Immigration - 1832 - , Canada Married - 1 Mar 1855 - , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Occupation - Clergyman - 1901 - North Dumfries Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Died - 21 Jul 1902 - Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Buried - - Mount View Cemetery, Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth