Apto (St. Patrick's) Catholic Cemetery, Springwater

Apto (St. Patrick's) Roman Catholic Cemetery is located on the north side of Horseshoe Valley Rd. east of Hwy 26 (Bayfield Rd) in Springwater (formally Flo's Twsp).

The land that the cemetery is situated on was donated by Patrick McAvoy in 1855 and was deed to the Roman Catholic Church in 1856.  There are burials on this land that predate the deed, probably by the McAvoy family who had buried several family members starting in 1847.

Back in the mid 1800's, Apto was a stop over for those travelling between Barrie and Penetanguishene. 

The site supported a church building and rectory until 1904 when the buildings were sold for $ 2,400.00. and eventually demolished. The parish was relocated and a new cemetery was established in Midhurst. The old cemetery continued in use until 1908 when the last burial of Michael Kelly took place.

In 1998, what was left of the old head stones were gathering into a cairn. The cairn was positioned between three family monuments, Hayes, McMahon and Savage, which still stand in there original positions. 

St James Anglican Cemetery, Crown Hill, Springwater ON

Grave or Gilbert Ord Lightbourn  O.B.E, M.A, D.D
Archdeacon of Simcoe

Grave of The Honorable Ernest Charles Drury
Premier of Ontario 1919 - 1923

 

St. James Church circa 1900.

St. James Anglican Church Cemetery is located next to the now Holy Cross St. Nektarios Greek Orthodox Church on Penetanguishene Road, in Crown Hill. 

The land for the Anglican Church and cemetery was donated by Thomas Mair in 1852. Services were held for over a century, then the last Anglican service was held on Easter Sunday in 1970.  Since 1984 the Greek Orthodox church has held services here. 

The cemetery contains the final resting place for many of the original settlers of the area. Some of the more notable burials are that of the Honourable Ernest Charles Drury, Premier of Ontario 1919 - 1923 and Gilbert Ord Lightbourn, O.B.E, M.A., D.D, Archdeacon of Simcoe.

Burials still continue for both the Anglican and Greek Orthodox parishes.

Bethesda Congregational Cemetery, Oro-Medonte ON

Bethesda Congregational Cemetery is located on the north side of Old Barrie Rd, just west of Line 2 in Oro-Medonte.  The congregation was originally established in 1838 by Rev. Ari Raymond and his wife who were sent to the area by the Congregational Church Mission in Boston to administer to the black community.

The original church on this site burnt to the ground in 1845. In 1846 Rev. Raymond built another house on this land and held services in the kitchen for many years.  In 1859 another wooden framed church was built and it was bricked over in 1890.  The congregation closed in 1899 and the church building was finally removed in 1965. In 1971 a memorial cairn was erected on the property.

The first burial took place around the early 1830's the last was in 2010.  The cemetery still receives burials for those who hold family plots.

Knox Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Oro-Medonte

Located on the north west corner of Old Barrie Road and the 9th Line is Knox Presbyterian Church Cemetery.  In 1842 a log school house was built on the south east corner of lot 12 conc 9 on the farm of Samuel Jermey. The Presbyterians held services there until they had built their own place of worship.

A church was eventually built by volunteer labour on lot 11 conc. 9 in 1844 with the assistance of a grant from the Hon.Isaac Buchanan of Hamilton Ontario.  The church was open for service in 1845 and held its last service in 1900.  Over the years the wooden church fell into disrepair, but was restored and is now used only for an annual memorial service held on the last weekend of June.

If you look inside of this small white washed building you will still see the wooden pews and pulpit. As well as the wood burning stove with the long pipe that runs the length the building to provide heat during the cold Canadian winters.

The cemetery is large and well maintained and is still in use to this day. 

Lone Plots - Old Barrie Road. Oro Medonte

Located on the north side of Old Barrie Rd, next to the new entrance of the Oro-Medonte Landfill Site, sit two lone grave sites.  If you blink you will miss them, there is no plaque or cairn to provide a history.  

One grave however has been marked with a modern marker slab that identifies Elizabeth Tuck, wife of David Thompson along with an infant daughter, died in 1879.  The other grave on this site is unknown, the marker long gone.

The Illustrated Atlas of the County of Simcoe 1881 shows that this land was jointly owned in 1881 by J. McIntyre and M. Bush.  Was Elizabeth Tuck related to one of these people and buried in a family plot on the side of this hill.  Who knows,

The author has come across some additional information while researching other cemeteries in this area. There appears to be a number of burials for Tuck in the Old Edgar Congregational Cemetery just a few kilometers east of this location.  It is highly possible that Elizabeth Tuck was related to these people. There are also burials for the Tuck family in the West Oro Baptist Cemetery on Bass Lake Rd & Line 4. 

Ebenezer Wesleyan Methodist Cemetery, Deerhurst

Cemetery was actually est in 1830 along with the first church.
The above date  references the building of last church on this site.

History of Deerhurst

Headstone of James and Joanna Tindall
who donated the land for the church & cemetery in 1830

Corner stone of the last church built on this site
in 1880.

The Samuel & Mary Neilly Cairn
who settled in this area in 1831. Cairn was erected in 1931
by their descendants

Marker of an unnamed infant

Early Graves from 1830's

Ebenezer Wesleyan Cemetery is located in the hamlet of Deerhurst in Bradford West Gwillimbury, on lot 16 concession 12.  It is just north of the Line 12 on the east side of Yonge Street.  

The land was donated by James Tindall a native of Yorkshire England in 1830 for the building of a church and establishment of a cemetery.  There have been a total of three church buildings, the second was built in 1850 and the third in 1880.  The corner stone of the third church is located to the north side of the property where the building once stood, the building was removed in 1966.  

James Tindall and his wife Joanna are both buried in this cemetery along with a number of his descendants.

The cemetery is still receiving burials for those with family plots. It is maintained today by the town of Bradford West Gwillimbury and is designated as an historical site. 

Lawrence Cemetery, Barrie

Graves for the Lawrence family are just to the right
of this sign.  All are unmarked.

Lawrence Cemetery is located on the west side of Penetanguishene Rd south of Georgian Drive at Lot 5 Concession 1 on the out skirts of Barrie. 

The land was purchased in 1844 by the Wesleyan Methodist Church as a site for a chapel and burial ground from John and Clarissa Lawrence.  John and Clarissa along with their son, John Duffield Lawrence and his wife, a native woman (no name provided), are all buried in unmarked graves near the front of the property on the north side.  

The burials according to the OGS are mostly for the Lawrence and Hickling families, who are located at the rear of the property and are the only family that have marked graves on this site. 

There are twelve known burials; with the last burial probably occurring in 1909.  Shortly afterwards the site was abandoned. 

Today the area is a designated historical site, although in the early part of 2013 the City of Barrie has proposed closing the unused rear of the property.  It is the intention of the city to rezone and re developed this section of land.  They claim that there are no burials in this location.

Charles & Mary Hickling
Charles' grave is believed to be the last burial in this cemetery

More Hickling Family graves

Grave marker of Silas Hickling