The hamlet of Eversley is gone. The empty land south of Dufferin Street and the Fifteenth Sideroad was once a bustling cluster of buildings including a school, a general store, a post office, a blacksmith shop, a wheelwright shop, a sawmill, and even a unique cheese factory. Eversley was especially known for its picnics on the First of July, where food was plentiful and young people, accompanied by the Aurora Band, danced well into the night. Of this thriving village, only the Presbyterian church remains.

The history of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church dates back to 1834 when a missionary, Mr. Gordon, rounded up a congregation and conducted services in
a log schoolhouse. He was followed by Rev. John Tawse who acted as both the schoolteacher and the minister. He must have found it very handy to have both of his responsibilities located in the same building. Legend describes one particular wedding ceremony which was being held during school hours. When the groom failed to show up, an older student in the school stepped in as groom, and the couple are said to have “lived happily ever after.”

By 1834 the congregation apparently got tired of sharing with the school and purchased a plot of land across the road, for five pounds. The beautiful stone
church was built in 1848. John Tawse stayed on until 1860, at which time he was succeeded by Dr. James Carmichael, who served as pastor for the next 50
years. The church congregation remained loyal until 1958 when their dwindling numbers joined with another parish from the village of Strange, and formed
St. Andrew`s Presbyterian Church in King City.

In 1960, Lady Eaton, who owned nearby Eaton Hall, became aware of the story of the Eversley Church and its courageous, resourceful early congregations.
They symbolized to her, she said, all the brave pioneers who first settled in Canada. In 1967 she placed the building in the custody of the York Pioneer and Historical Society, where it remains today.

If you take a peek through the mullioned windows of the church you will see the original box pews and the wood stove in the middle. This would have been a cosy spot for parishioners to sit through the two-hour services in Gaelic, and the spiritual music of the choir accompanied only by the blacksmith’s tuning fork. Today it is a picturesque but forlorn stone building resting quietly in a field.

Behind the church is the cemetery with its weatherworn tombstones dedicated to the short lives of the pioneers who could not survive the hardships of Canadian winters. Here also is the tombstone of Henry Frost,
originator of music education in Ontario Schools, and a special obelisk honouring the first minister, Reverend Tawse. Overhead, the majestic walnut trees rustle peacefully.

*With notes from Elizabeth Gillham’s book,
“Early Settlements of King Township”