The pioneers on the St. Mary's River were Presbyterians, of that branch of Presbyterianism known as the Secession group, a break-away from the Established Church of Scotland. At first they had no minister or church, but they gathered in some home for worship. The Rev. John Waddell came from Truro to visit members of his old congregation and Dr. James MacGregor travelled from Pictou to preach in homes in the district.(93)
The first settled minister in St. Mary's Township was the Rev. Alexander Lewis, from the Presbytery of Truro, who served Glenelg and Sherbrooke from 1818 to 1836, when he moved to Upper Canada (Ontario).(94) Mr. Lewis was a native of Ireland, who had studied at the University of Glasgow.(95)
The Rev. John Campbell was called to St. Mary's and ordained over the various churches there from Caledonia to the mouth of the St. Mary's River in 1837 and served his congregations for 35 years until his death.(96) He had been born at Scotch Mill, about four miles from Pictou, in 1809 to hardworking, God-fearing Gaelic-speaking parents. The boy walked the four miles each day to the Grammar School at Pictou, graduated to Pictou Academy, and eventually studied theology under the great scholar Dr. Thomas McCulloch.(97) He preached his sermons in Gaelic as well as English, for many of the Highlanders did not understand English.
In 1838 there was not a road fit for a carriage, the roads being openings cut in the woods with a pathway full of holes, roots and rocks. A group of ladies arrived from Halifax by ship and landed at Sherbrooke under the impression that they could reach Pictou overland. A heavy double seated wagon, which had been purchased by Alexander Archibald from Jonathan Blanchard of Pictou, was patched up for the journey. This cumbersome vehicle was used in 1841 by a party of the minister's friends who accompanied him to Pictou to his wedding to a daughter of Dr. James McGregor. Mr. Campbell had to hire a chaise at East River to take home his bride. In 1842 Hugh MacDonald imported the type of wheeled carriage known as a "fly" into Sherbrooke.(98)
At the time of his marriage there was no shop at Glenelg or Sherbrooke so that family supplies had to be brought from Pictou, New Glasgow or Halifax. There was little cash in circulation, because the farmland was poor except on the intervals of the river and the people relied largely on lumbering for subsistence. They were far from market to sell farm produce, and most of the lumber was shipped to Halifax where often little was left after all the expenses had been paid and the middlemen had made his profit. The minister's salary was 100 pounds, annually, and this was not paid fully or regularly.
Sherbrooke had only 14 members of the Presbyterian Church when Mr. Campbell was ordained (many attended although they had not joined the church) but this had grown to 243 members when he died in 1872.
On March 29, 1838 a meeting was held by the Dissenting Presbyterian Congregation of Sherbrooke Village to form a corporate body. Hugh MacDonald, William Bent and John McDonald were selected as trustees and took over the property which had been used since 1818 for both school and church. The congregation continued to grow and in 1852 plans were made for a new church 50 feet by 40 feet with a 19 foot post and a belfry on the roof - to be constructed on a site bought from Henry Cumminger. The building committee was Henry Cumminger, David K. McKeen, and Samuel W. McKeen who was also the contractor while John H. Scott finished the interior. In 1859 the congregation approved of the union between the Free Church and the Presbyterian Church in Nova Scotia.(99)
The large increase of population in the neighbourhood of Sherbrooke in 1861 and 1862 because of the Gold Mines at Goldenville, and his failing health decided the Rev. John Campbell to confine his ministerial activities to Sherbrooke, and the congregation built a manse for him there.(100)
After the death of the Rev. John Campbell in September 1872, the Rev. C. A. Gillis became pastor of Sherbrooke in 1874, and in1876 removed. Rev. James Quinn was inducted May 1st, 1877, and on March 31st, 1880, another vacancy occurred. Rev. J. L. George was ordained on December 20th, 1881, and on April 10th, 1887 removed to Dartmouth. He was succeeded by the Rev. William Maxwell who was inducted on August 30th, 1887 and removed on the May 1st, 1894. The Rev. W. J. Fowler followed on November 19th, 1895, and after a three years' pastorate accepted a call to South Richmond, N. B. In 1898. Rev. R. McKay succeeded Mr. Fowler and was inducted on July 17th, 1900. The Rev. V. N. Purdy entered upon his work on the first of August 1903 and removed 21st September 1913.(101)