St. John's Anglican Church (Lunenburg)

St. John's Anglican Church, Lunenburg

St. John's Anglican Church was the first church established in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada (1754). It was the second Church of England built in Nova Scotia, and is also the second oldest remaining Protestant church in present-day Canada, after St. Paul's Church (Halifax). The congregation was mainly Lutheran Germans. The first missionary was sent by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel was the Rev. Jean-Baptiste Moreau (clergyman) (who is buried in the crypt below the church).^[1] The bells in the tower were given by Lt. Col. Charles Edwin Kaulbach (1902).

The Church Building

St. John's Anglican Church (King's Chapel) in Boston before reconstructed in Lunenburg

St. John's Church was built during the French and Indian War, using the wood salvaged from an older disassembled church building. When King's Chapel in Boston, Massachusetts, was expanded, its new stone structure was built around its original wooden church, which continued to be used. Then, when that new stone building was completed in 1754, King's Chapel's old wooden was disassembled from inside, removed through the new building's windows, and shipped to Lunenburg.^[2] On Halloween night, 2001, St. John's church was destroyed by fire, but has since been rebuilt.^[3] St. John's church is a National Historic Site of Canada.

The Crypt

There are 18 people buried in the crypt. 7 people are under age 17. The notable interments include:

Founders of Lunenburg

• Dettlieb Christopher Jessen, (d. 1814), fought in the Raid on Lunenburg (1782); wife of Jessen, Francisca Barbara (Rudolf) Jessen (d. 1807)
• John Creighton, Sr. (d. 1806), fought in the Raid on Lunenburg (1782)^[4]
• Hon. Sebastian Zouberbuhler, (d.1773), fought in the Siege of Louisbourg (1745); became first of 3 Justice of the Peace in Lunenburg along with John Creighton and Patrick Sutherland.^[5]
• Rev. Jean-Baptiste Moreau (clergyman) (d.1770), 1st minister^[6]

Others

Rev. Thomas Shreve, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

• Rev. Paulus Bryzelius (d. 1773), minister^[7][8]
• Rev. Thomas Shreve (d. 1816), minister; soldier during the American Revolution (Captain in the De Lancey's Brigade and Lieut. in 82nd Regiment of Foot (Prince of Wales's Volunteers)); settled in Nova Scotia as a loyalist^[9]
• John Creighton, Jr. (d. 1826)
• Honorable Francis Joseph Rudolf (d. 1823)
• son of Rev. Peter de la Roche, William (age 1, d. 1776)^[10]
• Miss Margaret Cheyne (1748-1821)

Ministers (1754-1852)

Rev. Roger Aitken (d. 1825), missionary at Lunenburg for Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (1817-1825), Old Burying Ground (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

• Rev. Jean Baptiste Moreau (1753-1770);
• Rev. Robert Vincent (clergyman) (1762-1765)
• Rev. Paulus Bryzelius (1768-1773)
• Rev. Peter de la Roche (1771-1787), signed ransom agreement with American privateers in the Raid on Lunenburg (1782)
• Rev. Richard Money (1787-1803)^[11]
• Rev. Thomas Shreve (1804-1816)
• Rev. Roger Aitken (1817-1825)^{[12][13][14][15]}
• Rev. James Cuppaidge Cochran (1825-1852), who afterward supported the establishment of the Halifax School for the Deaf^[16][17]

See also

• Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church (Lunenburg)
• St. Paul's Church (Halifax)
• St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church (Lunenburg)

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to St. John's Anglican Church (Lunenburg).

Coordinates: 44°22′41″N 64°18′40″W / 44.3781°N 64.3112°W / 44.3781; -64.3112