Henry Patton: pioneer missionary of St. James Parish

had expected to pay from his stipend, but with the stipend reduced he was £180.00 in debt.

In 1833 Henry Patton married Harriet Amelia Warner (1813-1844). Along with success came heartbreak, three of the Pattons’ infants and one toddler died: Elizabeth in 1834, Andrew in 1836, toddler William Henry in 1841, and James in 1842. On August 17, 1844 Harriet Amelia Patton died. Harriet and the four children are buried in St. James Cemetery.

submitted by Doug MacDonald

The distinguished gentleman in the portrait is the Venerable Henry Patton, Archdeacon of the Diocese of Ontario. Henry Patton was born in 1806 in Chelmsford, England, son of Major Andrew Patton of the 45th British Regiment. Young Henry was educated in England, in Upper Canada at the Cornwall Grammar School and at the Theological Seminary in Chambly, Lower Canada.

From 1821, there were occasional visits from Church of England clergy to Clothier’s Mill. In 1825, Bishop C.J. Stewart, learning of a proposed church in Clothier’s Mill, promised to appoint a missionary.

One year later, in 1826, the Church of England established the Pioneer Mission Parish of St. James in the wilderness between the Ottawa and the St. Lawrence, appointing Henry Patton, a youth of twenty, to the Parish. St. James Parish included the Townships of Wolford, Oxford, and South Gower and, north of the Rideau, the Townships of Marlborough and North Gower, a tract of land “forty miles in extent, and from sixteen to twenty-five miles in breadth” - with some seven preaching stations.

As the young missionary travelled the Parish, he became aware of the challenges faced by the settlers. Religion was rarely a priority. Life alone was a struggle: building a home, clearing land, raising crops, tending livestock and feeding and clothing a family was the necessary reality for the pioneers.

There were some families of means, and in Cloth- ier’s Mill Squire William H. Bottum had granted to Lyman Clothier Sr., Trueman Hurd, and Abraham Beach three-fourths of an acre on North Main Street (now Clothier Street West) as the site for a church and burial ground. The earliest internments were Eli and Elias Hurd, who died January 4, 1825, eleven month old twin sons of Abagail and Trueman Hurd.

In early 1827, Henry Patton, with his congregation, began excavating for the stone foundation on which a wood frame church was built. St. James became the first church in the village and in the territory, consecrated on September 27, 1829. Patton was one of the most able of the early missionaries and he achieved much in the Parish. He built a second church, Christ Church in Burritt’s Rapids, in 1831 which has survived and continues to open its doors to worshippers. In 1837, he built the original parged stone Holy Trinity in Merrickville. Photographs record all three of Patton’s wood frame churches, built in the same style as his first church in Clothier’s Mill (Kemptville). Henry Patton was a prominent member of the Board of Trustees that established and built the Kemptville Grammar School in 1843 on a lot offered by Patton.

British Parliamentary grants, the source of funding for the Church of England in British North America, were reduced in 1832 and ended in 1834. On October 19, 1833, Henry Patton wrote to his Bishop explaining that in 1831 he had purchased land and built a house in Kemptville, for which he

It was time to move on. Henry Patton was a widower with an eight year old son, Alfred, and a five year old daughter, Elvira, when, in 1845, he was appointed to the Parish of Cornwall. Not yet forty, he had in nineteen years at St. James gained a wealth of experience. He had learned his lessons well; he knew the hardships that faced a travelling missionary in a large isolated wilderness parish. He knew the challenges of supporting a family in any degree of comfort while living on a “wretched allowance”, a “miserable pittance”, and being expected to appear as a gentleman of birth and education.

In 1846, Patton married Georgiana Dodson and they had four children: Henry L., Merriall, Herbert Bethune, and Francis Lawrence. His career advanced as Rector of Cornwall, Rural Dean of Johnstown in 1849, and, in 1862, sole Archdeacon of the Diocese of Ontario (which then included what is now the Diocese of Ottawa). Influential and respected, Patton was the “eyes” of the Bishop for the huge wedge of Upper Canada from Trenton and Deep River, east to the boundary of Lower Canada. Patton was an honourable and scrupulous man and an advocate for and keeper of the missionary conscience of the Diocese.

On April 30, 1874 Archdeacon Patton died. In Kemptville, at a special Vestry in July, it was agreed to “make an earnest effort to obtain the funds required to erect a neat stone church to the honour of Almighty God and in memory of the late Venerable Archdeacon Patton”. The 1827 St. James church was by the 1870's too small for its congregation and the spire, damaged in a gale, was a safety hazard. The Ottawa Free Press on August 24, 1874 reported that Rev.

John Stannage planned to build a new church “to be called the Archdeacon Patton Memorial Church”. As early as 1873, Rev. Stannage had commissioned William Tutin Thomas, one of the foremost architects in Canada, to design and construct a “little cathedral” in memory of the first Rector of the Parish. The Archdeacon Patton Memorial Church was built with funds raised by parishioners, Stannage’s contacts in England, and Patton’s friends and family. Stannage and Patton were not only friends of long standing but also connected by marriage. Elizabeth and John Stannage’s daughter Anne was married to Har- riet and Henry Patton’s son Alfred.

On May 28, 1878 the cornerstone for the new church was laid. To the names most associated with the 1880 church, two others must be acknowledged: Albert Spencer, Curate for Stannage, the man who guided the Parish during Stannage’s frequent fund raising trips, and Robert White, Overseer of Works for architect Thomas, who supervised the two year construction project. There are also the now anonymous craftspeople: stone masons, carpenters, plasterers, blacksmiths, who actually built the church, constructed at a time when society val- ued craftsmanship; when chiselled stone, handcrafted door and window frame, oak beam, stained glass, comfortable pew, and memorial furniture, were treated and respected as works of art. Both the handsome exterior of enduring cut limestone, and the simple beauty of the interior are a tribute to and reminder of the generations of faithful who’ve gone before us.

Someone asked if there is among the magnificent stained glass windows one dedicated to the first Rector fo the Parish. There is not, for the St. James Anglican Church itself is the memorial to Henry Patton.

Grenville OPP see an increase in business email compromise scams

The Grenville County Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) has seen a rise in Spear Phishing incidents, also known as Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams.

In the case of BEC scams, the online attack is aimed at businesses, governments organizations and associations. The fraudsters take their time collecting information from various sources about their targets, to send convincing emails that appear to be from a trusted source. The fraudsters will infiltrate/ spoof a business or individual email account.

Fraudsters launch their attack when the owner of the email account can't be easily contacted by email or by phone. It may look like a top executive sending an email to their accounts payable department requesting an urgent payment to close a private deal. If the fraudsters haven't infiltrated the executive's email account, they may set up a domain similar to the company's and use the executive's name on the account. The contact informa- tion they need is often found on the company's website or through social media.

The goal of the fraudster(s) is gaining personal information and or the delivery and installation of malware, which is used for fraud and the information can be sold for financial gain.

According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC), Business Email Compromise frauds represented $58 million in reported losses in 2022. Ontario victims reported losing over $21.1 million.

Warning Signs:

· Unsolicited emails

· Direct contact from a senior official you are not normally in contact with

· Pressure or a sense of urgency

· Unusual requests that do not follow internal procedures

How to protect yourself

· Educate yourself and your employees on frauds targeting business

· Include fraud training as part of new employee onboarding

· Have detailed payment procedures including a verification step for unusual requests

· Avoid opening unsolicited emails or clicking on suspicious links or attachments

· Confirm the email address or link is correct (the variation is usually very slight)

· Be cautious with the amount of company information shared on social media

· Routinely update computer and network software

· Consider getting your business certified with CyberSecure Canada

Protect yourself and your business. For more information on fraud, visit the CAFC at www.antifraudcentrecentreantifraude.ca.

Anyone who suspects they have been the victim of cybercrime or fraud should report it to their local police and to the Canadian AntiFraud Centre's online reporting system or by phone at 1-888-495-8501. If not a victim, report it to the CAFC anyway.

FRAUD…Recognize it… Report it…Stop it.