If you’re a descendant of the founders of Napanee, Ontario’s Old Hay Bay Church, the oldest surviving Methodist building in Canada, or related to the families of the young people who drowned in 1819, you’re invited to a reunion, called Roots 2016.
Old Hay Bay Church is located on the shores of Hay Bay, part of the St. Lawrence River, in what was formerly known as the town of Adolphustown. Image: GoogleMaps.
Reunion organizers want to hear from people who are descended or related to the church founders, Joseph Allison, John Bininger, William Casey, Joseph Clapp, Daniel Dafoe, Henry Davis, Andrew Embury, Arra Ferguson, Peter Frederick, Christopher German, John or William Green, Henry Hover, Paul or Solomon Huff, William Ketcheson, Elizabeth Roblin, Peter or William Ruttan, Daniel Steel, or Conrad VanDusen or those related to the families of the youth who drowned in 1819, John and Jane German, Mary and Jane Detlor, Mathilda Roblin, Elizabeth “Betsey” Clark, Mary Cole, Hukla Madden, Elizabeth McKay, or Peter Bogart.
The reunion will take place at the church, from August 26 to 28.
Old Hay Bay Church was erected in 1792 by settlers, including United Empire Loyalists, who had recently arrived and established the community of Adolphustown (in modern-day Greater Napanee).
There is a 10-minute video, Drowning Tragedy of 1819, narrated by the late historian Rev. J. William Lamb, about the drowning of the ten young people that is worth watching.
You can learn more about the church and reunion on the Old Hay Bay Church website.
Thanks to the Quinte Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society for sharing this on their Facebook Page.
