Hi list, I have been following this string for a few days and thought the following might be of some help towards getting things straightened out. The book, "History of the Presbyterian Church in Cape Breton" - 1921, by Rev. John Murray (1843-1935) was written by the order of the Presbyterian Church to record the beginnings of its ministry in Cape Breton while a few of the settlers who actually remembered, or had heard tell of, the events were still available to be interviewed. As has been pointed out in this string, the initial ministry took the form of traveling ministers, holding services where and when they could. It was quite a bit later that more dedicated structures, or churches, were built. The initial part of the book deals with each of the 19 "first" ministers, starting with Rev. James McGregor who landed in 1798, and continuing with the others up to about 1850. The second part carries the story of the church forward by reviewing the beginning and development of 43 congregations and their ministers. The final part of the book contains a miscellany of other useful and varied information concerning Presbyterianism in Cape Breton, but which didn't fit within the structure of the first two parts. Like many similar subjects it is a complicated topic, embroiling many characters, and it's "lines" frequently cross and become tangled making it difficult to keep straight in memory. This book, however, is the key to keeping the facts straight and to - for instance - knowing which churches were established where and when and what, if any, disasters beset them - and their records. Our digital edition of the book can be found in our online catalogue with catalogue number CA0080. Regrettably I cannot offer similar level of detailed information of the other churches (faiths) established in Cape Breton through this early period although we are always on the lookout for suitable books to digitize. We do have some more general book on the development of organized religion in Canada, and have more to come. Malcolm Archive CD Books Canada Inc. President: Malcolm Moody PO Box 11 Manotick Ontario, K4M 1A2 Canada. (613) 692-2667 WEB SITE: http://www.ArchiveCDBooks.ca FACEBOOK: http://tinyurl.com/ACDB-Can-on-Facebook On 5 Oct, 2010, at 11:20 PM, can-ns-capebreton-request@rootsweb.com wrote: > Message: 5 > Date: Tue, 05 Oct 2010 20:20:17 -0700 > From: fenenga@connpoint.net > Subject: Re: [Cape Breton Co NS] early marriages > To: <can-ns-capebreton@rootsweb.com> > Message-ID: <53793.1286335217@connpoint.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > > > I haven't been able to find my own ancestor's marriage. I've checked > most online databases to no avail. > > Allan McDonald m. abt 1835 +-5 years to Sarah McPhail probably in > River Dennys or a nearby town. > > can anyone help me find their marriage, if extant? > > Cornelia