Rev. Abraham Break Sherk^[1]

1832 - 1916  (84 years)

• Name	Abraham Break Sherk
  Prefix	Rev.
  Born	6 May 1832	Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [2, 3, 4, 5]
  Gender	Male
  Interesting	story, religion
  Name	Abram Sharick  [6]
  Occupation	1861	North Dumfries Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [3]
  	United Brethern Church Minister
  Residence	1861	North Dumfries Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [3]
  	United Brethern
  Occupation	Abt 1866	Breslau United Brethren in Christ Church, Breslau, Ontario
  	minister
  	Breslau United Brethren in Christ Church Begun: c.1866 Closed: c.1893 Part of the Waterloo Circuit of the United Brethren in Christ, the congregation was added to the Circuit in 1866-1867 when the pastors were Revs. A.B. Sherk, D.B. Sherk , Henry Krupp and G. Rutt. At the Quarterly Conference of the United Brethren in Christ on July 18, 1868 approval was given for the purchase of a site for a church at Breslau. The church was built later in that year. Discussion at the Quarterly Conference on February 10, 1883 concerned a refusal to transfer a lease from the Mennonites to the Lutherans for use of the church building - whether because the church premises were being shared with the Mennonites or because the United Brethren in Christ was no longer an active congregation is not known.1a 1aAmbrose, 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]
  Occupation	1871	Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [4]
  	Minister
  Residence	1871	Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [4]
  	United Brethren
  Eby ID Number	00101-5606
  Died	27 Nov 1916	Toronto, York Co., Ontario, Canada   [5, 7]
  Buried	Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto, York Co., Ontario   [5]
  Person ID	I16151	Generations
  Last Modified	6 Apr 2024

  
  

  Father	Samuel Sherk,   b. 19 Apr 1792, Franklin Co., Pennsylvania ,   d. 17 Sep 1874, , Kent Co., Michigan  (Age 82 years)
  Mother	Magdalena Break,   b. 3 Apr 1796, , Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania ,   d. 8 Sep 1862, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 66 years)
  Married	20 Aug 1815  [1, 8]
  Family ID	F1380	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Rebecca Gonder,   b. 7 May 1828, Niagara Regional Municipality, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 27 Apr 1915, Toronto, York Co., Ontario, Canada  (Age 86 years)
  Married	22 Jun 1859	, Welland Co., Ontario, Canada   [9, 10]
  Children	1. Asaph Elihn Sherk,   b. 24 Jul 1859, , Ontario, Canada ,   d. 17 Mar 1925  (Age 65 years)   2. Michael Gonder Sherk,   b. 1862, Of, East Ashford, New York ,   d. 23 Jan 1927, East York Twp., York Co., Ontario, Canada  (Age 65 years)   3. Sarah Hannah "Sadie" Sherk,   b. 1862, , Ontario, Canada ,   d. 19 Apr 1893, Toronto, York Co., Ontario, Canada  (Age 31 years)   4. Daughter Sherk,   b. Abt 1866, Of, East Ashford, New York ,   d. Yes, date unknown
  Last Modified	7 Apr 2024
  Family ID	F1391	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos

  From Fourth Annual Volume of the Waterloo Historical Society Society

  
  

• Notes

  Rev. Abraham Sherk, "was born May 6th, 1832. When a young man he prepared himself for the ministry. He entered upon the duties of the ministry about the year 1859. During the early part of his pastoral duties he labored in behalf of the Canada Conference of the U. B. Denomination but some twenty years ago he moved to Michigan where he has been doing a noble work for His Master. At present he is stationed at East Ashford, New York, where he is still engaged in the active ministry. He is married to Rebecca Gonder and has had a family of four children, namely: Asaph, Michael, Sarah who died in Toronto in 1893, and a daughter (died in infancy) whoe name was not received" Eby, Ezra E. (1895). 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: as also much other unpublished historical information chiefly of a local character. Berlin [Kitchener, Ont.]: [s.n.]. ________________________ Breslau United Brethren in Christ Church Part of the Waterloo Circuit of the United Brethren in Christ, the congregation was added to the Circuit in 1866-1867 when the pastors were Revs. A.B. Sherk, D.B. Sherk, Henry Krupp and G. Rutt. At the Quarterly Conference of the United Brethren in Christ on July 18, 1868 approval was given for the purchase of a site for a church at Breslau. The church was built later in that year. Discussion at the Quarterly Conference on February 10, 1883 concerned a refusal to transfer a lease from the Mennonites to the Lutherans for use of the church building - whether because the church premises were being shared with the Mennonites or because the United Brethren in Christ was no longer an active congregation is not known. Breslau is listed for the last time in the Financial Report of November 18, 1893. In June 1896 arrangements were made with the "Trustees of the Breslau Church ... to make arrangements to loan [the church] organ for use in the United Brethren Church at West Montrose ... ." In December of the next year, 1897, the Breslau Trustees were given permission to rent the church. Permission was granted later (January 12, 1901) to sell the church. Waterloo County Churches A Research Guide To Churches Established Before 1900 By Rosemary Ambrose _____________________________________ A MEMOIR OF REV. A. B. SHERK. by his son Michael G. Sherk. My father, Abraham Break Sherk, was born Nov. 6th, 1832, near where is now situated the village of Breslau, in Waterloo County, Ontario. His father, Samuel Sherk, was nephew and stepson of Joseph Sherk, who with his brother-in-law, David Betzner, were the first to locate in the township of Waterloo. His mother was Magdalena Break, whose widowed mother came to the settlement with her children in 1806. We need make no fur ther mention of the connection of the family with the beginning of this, one of the most prosperous sections of the province, as this has been fully written up by my father and others, but will endeavor, at Mr. Breithaupt's request, to give a brief memoir of his life. Born of Pennsylvania-German stock, on a "Waterloo Dutch" homestead, he understood all the peculiarities and characteristics of that people, and always spoke lovingly and feelingly of his early home life with "Doddie and Mommie." His parents were for years members of the River Brethren (Dunker) Church, when all their preaching was in private houses and their church societies scattered. He attended school on the "High Banks" near his home till his nineteenth year, when on a summer's day in 1851, he wrapped all his necessaries in a red bandana handkerchief and on foot wended his way to Rockwood Academy, eight miles from Guelph, where he was received kindly by Wm. Wetherald, the Quaker teacher, a devoted Chris tian, and one who took a kindly interest in the moral and intellectual wel fare of the boys under him. After spending the summer session of three months at the academy he went before the Educational Board of Examiners at Guelph * made up of the township superintendents, and taught school near his home, in the school which he had formerly attended. He also taught school in the village of Plattsville, but which year it was I am not prepared to say. He had learned of Oberlin College, Ohio, which at that time had a summer session instead of a winter, to accommodate students who wished to teach in the winter time, from the late I. L. Bowman, and several other Waterloo County boys who had been there. In the spring of 1852 he set out for Oberlin. It might be interesting to know how he first travelled there. By stage from Preston to Hamilton; from Hamilton to Lewiston by boat; from Lewiston to the Falls by stage; from the Falls to Buffalo by train; from Buffalo to Cleveland by boat (as the Lake Shore road between Buffalo and Cleveland was then only in course of construction) ; from Cleveland to Wellington, eight miles from Oberlin, by rail, and the balance of the journey by stage. He also attended this school in 1854 but the Lake Shore road between Buffalo and Cleveland was then completed. It was here he got his ideas of systematic thinking and studying, and also by the reading of Todd's Student's Manual. The religious character of the place, which was at that time being thoroughly grounded and imbued with the principles of evangelical Christianity by Chas. G. Finney, the great preacher and evangelist (who was then and for many years after the presi dent of the college, and whose influence is felt there to-day as if he still walked the streets of the town), so impressed him that he here decided to be a follower of Christ, and to enter the Christian ministry. It was here he also heard some of the great men of the day lecture on moral and social questions; Frederick Douglass, the great abolitionist, on slavery and Elihu Burritt, the "learned blacksmith", on "Ocean Penny Postage." I might say, many of his high ideals of character early received quite an impetus from Henry Krupp (afterwards Rev. H. Krupp) who was for a time a teacher in the public school he attended; from Wm. Wetherald, the Quaker teacher at Rockwood Academy, and at Oberlin College. My father was so true to his ideals of life and character that he never lost sight of them, never wavered from them. After his second term at Oberlin College he taught school for a time and then gave up his life to the Christian ministry. He joined the church of the United Brethren in Christ a church which had its beginning among the Germans of Pennsylvania. They were at that time sending evangelistic preachers to establish churches in Canada, and were meeting with a good deal of success in the Pennsylvania-German settlements. He was to have preached next Sunday (Dec. 3rd) in three churches he established sixty years ago near Wellandport. He continued to preach for the U. B. Church in Canada till 1884, when he moved to the United States. During his ministry in Canada he travelled largely and was well known in parts of the Niagara district, Waterloo, Bruce and Grey counties. It was in the Niagara district he became acquainted with Rebekah Gonder, daughter of the late M. D. Gonder, a U. E. L. descendant who lived on the homestead on the Niagara river, eight miles above the Falls which his grandfather had located in 1796. He was married to my mother in 1859. His ministerial life in Canada took him among all classes of people into the cabin of the pioneer and into the luxurious homes of the well to-do. He was welcome among all, as he was friendly with the lowly and was esteemed by the more prosperous on account of his high character and intellectuality. After moving to the United States he preached for several years for the U. B. Church and then joined the Congregational Church and was pastor of churches in Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York States until 1897 when he came to Toronto to live near his two sons, A. E. and M. G. Sherk, and on account of the advanced age of his wife who was 4 Y% years his senior and who pre-deceased him 1 year and 7 months. This did not end his minis terial labors, however, for he continued to supply churches for months at a time in Pennsylvania and New York States, a mission church in the west end of Toronto, and latterly for four or five years the two Congregational Churches (Pine Grove and Humber Summit), near Woodbridge, Ontario. For the last two years he has been an attendant at the Don Mills Metho dist Church near his home but still he loved to go away occasionally to preach to the churches he had formerly been pastor of. Only last summer he took a trip to New York State to spend a Sabbath and preach for one of the churches at their request, and every month or two he went to see the mem bers of the churches near Woodbridge, who loved and revered him. It can be said of my father that he was a man of God. The Bible was to him an open book and he was familiar with every part of it and yet he was constantly perusing it, and when not attending to other duties he was to be seen Bible in hand or on the table before him. His studious character did not end with his school career he was a student all through life and I might say particularly a student of the Bible. He was early in his ministry and always a strong advocate of our edu cated clergy and the higher education of the laity. It was with this object in view that Freeport Academy (at Freeport, Waterloo Tp.) of which he was one of the promoters, and for a short time a teacher, was started. One of his associates in this enterprise was the late Isaac L. Bowman who was its first principal. Owing to insufficient funds, however, this institution was only in existence a few years. Among his first ministerial colleagues in the U. B. Church and associated with him for many years were Revs. David B. Sherk (his brother), Jacob B. Bowman and Geo. Plowman, the first two being residents of Berlin (now Kitchener), for a long time previous to their death, the last one having his home at Freeport where he lived before and after retiring from the ministry. Although feeling indisposed for the last month he was only seriously ill for a few days previous to his death, Nov. 27th, 1916. He retained his consciousness to the last and although greatly distressed, expressed him self as anxious to go home. As a last tribute to the memory of my lamented father, I wish to say that I knew him to be a man of exceptional Christian character, high ideals, broad knowledge, broad in his sympathies, non-sectarian, respected by all, and revered by many. Toronto', Dec. 2nd, 1916. * Waterloo County was then a part of Wellington County. Fourth Annual Report of the Waterloo Historical Society, 1912, Berlin, Ontario, pg 35 ______________ DEATH OF REV. A. D. SHERK Rev. A. D. Sherk The death occurred Monday morning at the home of his son, 215 Don Mills road, Todmorden. of Rev. Abraham D. Sherk. a pioneer Congregational minister, who had travelled over many of the western counties of Ontario in the days of the early settlement of the province. He was eighty-four tears of age on November 6th, and was born near Breslau, Waterloo county, in 1832. His grandfather, a Mennonite, was the first settler in the county. He came from Pennsylvania in 1800. Deceased attended school near Breslau, and later had one session's instruction in 1851 at Rockwood Academy, which school was attended at the same time by the late J. J. Hill, railway magnate. Following this term of three months he was permitted, after examination by the Council Board at Guelph, to engage in school teaching. In the spring of 1852 he went to Oberlin College, Ohio, where he completed his education, taking short terms and teaching to pay his expenses. He connected himself with the Church of the United Brethren, and for many years preached on circuits in the counties Waterloo, Wellington, Bruce, and the Niagara districts. For some years he preached at Woodbridge, Ont. Then for fourteen years he was stationed in Congregational churches in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York States. Retiring from the active ministry he returned to Canada in 1897. His wife, who predeceased him one 1 year ago, was Rebecca Gonder, daughter of the late M. D. Gonder of Chippewa, Ont. He is survived by his two sons, M. G. Sherk, with whom die had resided in Todmorden, and A. F. Sherk, of Toronto. From his intimate knowledge of pioneer life in Western Ontario, Mr. Sherk was able to make notable contributions to the records of the Waterloo Historical Society, Ontario Historical Society and the United Empire Loyalists' Association. Two grandsons, Harold and Elbert Sherk, are in England with Canadian battalions - Toronto Telegram. Berlin Daily Telegraph, November 30, 1916

  
  

• 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..., 295. [S10] Book - Vol II 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..., 233. [S1778] Census - ON, Waterloo, North Dumfries - 1861, Div 4 Page 35. [S2767] aaaWaterloo Township 1871 South, Sect. 2 Page 32. [S3231] Find A Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/109593644. [S131] Census - ON, Waterloo, Waterloo Twp. - 1851. gives age and country of birth [S39] Book - Fourth Annual Report of the Waterloo Historical Society, pg 35. [S10] Book - Vol II 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..., 231. [S39] Book - Fourth Annual Report of the Waterloo Historical Society, pg 35. "It was in the Niagara district he became acquainted with Rebekah Gonder, daughter of the late M. D. Gonder, a U. E. L. descendant who lived on the homestead on the Niagara river, eight miles above the Falls which his grandfather had located in 1796. He was married to my mother in 1859." [S3231] Find A Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/109593483.

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 6 May 1832 - Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Married - 22 Jun 1859 - , Welland Co., Ontario, Canada Occupation - United Brethern Church Minister - 1861 - North Dumfries Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - United Brethern - 1861 - North Dumfries Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Occupation - minister - Abt 1866 - Breslau United Brethren in Christ Church, Breslau, Ontario Occupation - Minister - 1871 - Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - United Brethren - 1871 - Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Died - 27 Nov 1916 - Toronto, York Co., Ontario, Canada Buried - - Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto, York Co., Ontario  = Link to Google Earth