The pioneers of Methodism in the Maritime Provinces endured hardship, suf- 
     
     fered persecution, and sacrificed as they preached the truth which makes men free 
     
    
   
   
    
     and the righteousness that exalteth a nation.7 
     
    
   
   
    
     11. FIRST SETTLED METHODIST MINISTER IN 
     
     PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND 
     
    
   
   
    
     In 1807 in Bedeque, Rev. James C. Bulpit, the first settled Methodist minister in 
     
     Prince Edward Island, gave the first Methodist sermon by an ordained Methodist 
     
    
   
   
    
     minister. This was the year in which he and his wife arrived in Murray Harbor where 
     
     they were welcomed by a large number of Methodists. With consent of Governor 
     
     Fanning, he preached in the Courthouse in Charlottetown to large congregations, 
     
     some coming from as far as fifteen miles from settlements around Charlottetown. 
     
    
   
   
    
     According to the Methodist Magazine, Rev. Bulpit said, “I waited on the 
     
     governor . . . He asked me if the Methodists would fight, and if they were loyal 
     
     subjects. I assured him they were inflexibly loyal. He then desired me to go and 
     
    
   
   
    
     ”a 
     
    
   
   
    
     exhort all the people to be honest and industrious . 
     
    
   
   
    
     Rev. James C. Bulpit was born about 1757, received on trial in 1799 by the 
     
     British Conference, ordained, and sent to Newfoundland, where his natural gifts, 
     
     retentive memory, and agreeable manner, endeared him to all. With Rev. Bulpit 
     
    
   
   
    
     building his own house in Charlottetown and his wife teaching school, the Bulpits 
     
     gave every indication that they were prepared to remain in Charlottetown. Since his 
     
    
   
   
    
     congregation consisted of small groups from Murray Harbor to Bedeque, he 
     
     acquired the reputation of being a hard-working minister. As the only Methodist 
     
     preacher in Prince Edward Island, his duties as superintendent of the society’s 
     
     interests throughout the Island required his attention and ministrations at all 
     
     seasons, and the toil and hardships of pioneer missionary life of that period can 
     
     better be imagined than described. 
     
    
   
   
    
     In 1808, Rev. Bulpit reported that timber had been cut and hauled for a forty by 
     
     thirty foot chapel in Charlottetown, that a chapel was needed in Murray Harbor, 
     
     and that he had a congregation of about one hundred and forty in Cherry Valley, 
     
    
   
   
    
     and also Methodist congregations in Tryon and Bedeque. However, he was 
     
     throught to have ignored the authorities of the Methodist District, was retired in 
     
    
   
   
    
     1814, and dropped in 1817. The Rev. James Bulpit continued to reside in Prince 
     
     Edward Island until his death, which occurred in December, 1849 at the age of 
     
    
   
   
    
     eighty—two years. 
     
     12. METHODISTS PURCHASE LAND IN CHARLOTTETOWN 
     
    
   
   
    
     On the 5th of October, 1810, one—half part of town lot No. 53, in the 
     
     second hundred of town lots, was granted to Joseph Robinson, Thomas Murphy, 
     
     Thomas DesBrisay, Jr., Joseph Avard and Paul Mabey, as trustees of the 
     
     Wesleyan Methodist Society, for the purpose of erecting a preaching place in 
     
     Charlottetown. This land was situated on the north side of Richmond Street, 
     
    
   
   
    
     between Queen and Pownal Streets. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     7 Stephenson, op. cit., p. 27 
     
     8 The Methodist Magazine, 1808, p. 141 
     
    
   
   
    
     10