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to constitute the first Presbytery of Prince Edward Island by deed of the Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Nova Scotia. The historical meeting took place October 11, 1821. Included in the membership of the first presbytery were Rev. John Keir, moderator, Rev. Robert Douglas of St. Peter’s, clerk, Edward Ramsay of Princetown, ruling elder, and Rev. William MacGregor.

Rev. William MacGregor served as minister of the Richmond Bay Charge of the Presbyterian Church for twenty-six years. He lived and farmed at Central Lot 16. Many ministers were required to farm in order to provide for their families. His home was known as Mansfield, (the Manse Field). Rev. MacGregor retired July 15, 1847. He died February 10, 1850 at Mansfield and is buried in the Lot 16 United Church Cemetery.

The Richmond Bay Charge covered the geographical area extending from Lot 11 to Bedeque until 1825, when Bedeque was made a separate charge. The minister in the Richmond Bay charge at the time, Rev. William MacGregor, requested the separation from Bedeque. Minutes of the session meeting of October 12, 1824 record that Rev. MacGregor asked for the disjoining as he felt himself not up to the labor and experi- encing fatigue attending the preaching of the gospel there. Rev. Robert Sim Patterson MA. was settled in Bedeque where he served 56 years until his death in 1882.

The two focal points of the Richmond Bay Charge were the mother church buildings at Lot 14 and Lot 16. Centered out of the Lot 16 Church were preaching stations at Travel- ler’s Rest, the court house at St. Eleanors, and at Green’s Shore later to be known as Summerside. At the time, the Summerside settlement was nothing more than a few houses with neither church nor school. People with a desire to attend a Presbyterian service often travelled miles to attend the ser- vices in Lot 16. People in Summerside, Linkletter, and St. Eleanors gave little thought to walking the paths to Lot 16 for Sunday service. Centered out of the Lot 14 Church were preaching stations at Lot 11, Tyne Valley, and Egmont Bay, now known as Victoria West. 51

Following the death of Rev. William MacGregor there was

LOT 16 UNITED CHURCH AND ITS PEOPLE