Halesboro Christ Church Anglican Cemetery

Taken from an article in the Montreal Gazette, 25 June 1992 byHilda Kearns

You won’t find Halesboro on any road map, but once a year people, gather in this deserted village, 9 kilometres north of Portneuf on the north shore of the St. Lawrence, to honour our forbearers in a memorial service at the little church on the hill, which comes to life for the day

The early settlers came to Halesboro in the early years of the 19th century; they were married there, baptized there, and now rest in the churchyard.  This year’s get-together has an added importance because it’s the 150th anniversary of the tiny church as a place of worship.  The church was built in 1842, and for years before that, travelling priests ministered to Anglicans of the area.     

The annual service in Christ Church takes place in the last week of June. The Church is located by a densely wooded area known as “la route d’Irlande” by the French Residents of the early 1800’s.  That the church continues to exist is a tribute to the tenacity of the residents of Portneuf and Portneuf Station, two separate municipalities.  An impressive stone fence, separating the church and its cemetery from the road, was built with contributions from interested families from many different cities.

The little church, the oldest building of wood construction in the area, can with luck seat about 60 people.  For the 150th anniversary, it was standing room only – including in the tent outside – as upwards of 200 people attended.

In the cemetery next to the church are graves of soldiers who settled in Canada after completing terms of service under Governor James Murray in the late 1700’s.  The church and cemetery are on land donated by Edward  Hale, the first English seignior of Portneuf.  His father, General John Hale, served with Wolfe, and his sons played a prominent role in the development of Portneuf county, Quebec City and the Eastern Townships.

In the late 1860’s, there was a major shift in population as it became clear that subsistence farming on marginal land, even though supplemented by cash tree crops from bush lots, could no longer support the rural community of Halesboro.  This demographic shift deprived the Church of its congregation.  The arrival of the railroad provided new mobility for the population and many of the young people  moved south to the pulp and textile mills in the “Boston states”.

Update:  Sadly, this church burned to the ground in October 24, 2005.

Transcriptions provided by D. Clark McIntosh, 1996.

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