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BradfordToday received the following Letter to the Editor from Leila Lloyd and Carolee Mason of St. John's Presbyterian Church, who hope to gather a database of families who have a stake in the preservation of the church building, the cemetery and its many family plots as well as find support for ongoing improvements:
Dear Friends of Coulson’s Hill Cemetery,
If you have family ties to St. John’s Coulson’s Hill Church and Cemetery, you may well have moved away from this place that was so important to your ancestors. Many of our forebears were involved in establishing the church building and its congregation in the 19th century. Some of us may even have taken part in the social life of the church before it closed in the 1960s. For all of us, the churchyard is where our family members have been interred for almost two centuries.
We are reaching out to you for two reasons. First, we want to establish a database of families who have a stake in the preservation of the church building, the cemetery, and its many family plots. While the ongoing care and maintenance of the cemetery are supported by an active fund, we are looking ahead in planning for perpetual care of existing family plots and monuments.
Second, we hope you will become involved in the ongoing support and development of the St. John’s Church building and its cemetery property. Generous bequests and donations have already made an impact. We have a sound building, with a newly replaced roof. The antique iron fence was recently restored. However, there will always be ongoing maintenance requirements to preserve the integrity of the building, with pressing needs including eavestroughs and new entrance steps. Further, we have the potential to develop the building for many more years of interments. As development pressures increase in the GTA, we have the opportunity to establish a columbarium for the interment of ashes on the site.
Your support of St. John’s Coulson’s Hill can be in different forms. You are all invited to participate in the annual maintenance days, and the May 30, 2021 Decoration Day event. As well, your support in future fundraising and development initiatives can ensure that the legacy of our ancestors will be preserved long into the future.
Please reply with your contact information, including an email address if possible, so that we can keep you informed about our common goals for St. John’s Presbyterian Church and Cemetery at Coulson’s Hill:
Leslie Gunn, Administrative Assistant, St. John’s Presbyterian Church,
2940 10 Sideroad, Bradford, ON L3Z 2A8
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://stjohnspresbyterian.ca/
Kind regards,
Carolee Sturgeon Mason and Leila Lloyd
