The Chignecto Covenanters: A Regional History of Reformed Presbyterianism in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, 1827-1905

Richard Wilbur is supervisor of the Legislative Research Service at the
New Brunswick Legislature, and the author of The Rise of French New
Brunswick.

Religious scholar Eldon Hay has produced a first-rate study of a
fascinating chapter in Maritime cultural history.

The Rev. Alexander Clarke and his wife, Catherine, traveled from
Ireland to New Brunswick in 1827. After a brief stay in Saint John, they
moved on to the Chignecto Isthmus. They had been sent out by the
Reformed Presbyterian Synod of Ireland, better known as the Irish
Covenanters. Covenanters refused to hold public office, to swear oaths,
or to vote. In their church services, hymns were prohibited, as were all
musical instruments. They could not belong to secret societies.

For two decades, Clarke traveled thousands of miles in a quest to
convert his fellow newcomers, some from the British Isles and others
from New England. He could not escape the political battles being waged
around him, notably the movement for responsible government in Nova
Scotia, which persisted into the late 1840s. (Clarke violated the
Covenanter dictum by voting in 1836 and again in 1847.) Neither could he
ignore economic facts. New churches and even missions required a paid
clergy, and when the Irish Synod ignored his pleas for aid he turned to
the Reformed Presbyterians of Pennsylvania.

Meanwhile, the Presbyterian Church in Canada, “a Church [more]
adaptable to Canadian conditions,” won over more and more Covenanters,
including some key clergy. There were other reasons for the decline of
the Chignecto Covenanters: their isolation, deprivation, and alienation,
as well as “ferment from within.” Despite the decline, Rev.
Clarke’s fierce tenacity and his intense conservatism are traits that
are still evident in Chignecto to this day.