First Presbyterian Church, Fort William

The Fort was dependent on anyone who came along to take up services. In 1873 Mr. McKeracher, a student, arrived and became an ordained missionary in Fort William. He built a lecture room at Prince Arthur's Landing, and the First Presbyterian Church in Fort William. Peter McKellar was chairman of the committee that chose the site, and it was decided to build in West Fort, as the people in the east end had carriages and could drive. A large part of the congregation lived in West Fort, and most of the workers. The lumber was from the mill of Mr. Oliver, father of Dr. Oliver.

Miss Jessie Oliver, sister of Dr. Oliver, sent up the windows from Toronto, after she had returned from her summer holidays here. Oliver and Davidson also presented the site for the church. On the first board of management were A. McKellar and J. McKellar, F. C. Perry, and Mr. Middleton, the Scotch engineer. The carpenter in charge of the construction of the church was the late Colin McDonald. He was assisted by many of the adherents who gave willingly of their labours and means. The late Andrew Crawford of Slate River, then in business in West Fort, and his brother Neil, gave great assistance in the building of the church.

The first elders of the church were Dr. Smellie and Mr. Livingstone of Silver Islet. They went all over the district whenever duty called them. For a few years the church was served by missionaries.

Then in 1881 it was considered strong enough to require the services of a minister for this field alone. For some time the Rev. Mr. McKay held the appointment, being succeeded by the Rev. J. G. Shearer [1] who is known all over Canada for his Social Service work.

https://electriccanadian.com/history/ontario/papers1921thunuoft.pdf, page 215