Writer: Andrew Hind
Christmas magic, the enchantment that casts that warm spell of the season, takes many forms. For some it’s the serenity of a church service. For others it’s the crooning of Bing Crosby, the scent of Grandma’s sugar cookies baking in the oven, the joy-filled squeal of delighted children. Maybe it’s the simple pleasure of an evening walk with fat flakes falling from above and snow crunching underfoot.
I found that magic while researching the long-gone Spence Church.
Spence is a ghost town in Parry Sound District that straddled the Nipissing Road just south of Magnetawan. The hamlet is gone now, and with it the church that played such an important part in communal life.
The church can trace its roots to 1884 when homesteaders pooled their resources to build a dedicated house of worship so that services no longer needed to be held in the school. Gilbert McCracken donated land, and men went into the bush to cut trees that were then pulled out by horses and oxen to a sawmill, where the logs were milled into lumber. There was little money for nails or windows, so work lagged. The first service was held that Christmas, even though lack of money meant the church was still not finished.
Reba Garnett (nee Keppy), who was born in Spence in 1925 and resided there until 1942, left us with a recollection of the church so evocative that it suggests her heart never truly left the little village:
“How vividly I recall the high frame building by Nipissing Road with an outer woodshed which doubled as a drive shed for the horses and conveyances in the winter. A lean-to shed had been built at the back of the church and served useful, equipped with wood-burning cook stove, tables, and a bookcase. It was used as a dressing room at the annual Christmas concert. The interior of the sanctuary, with its gothic type windows, seemed very impressive.”
Christmas was a particularly special time. There was an evening service, and the school children put on an eagerly anticipated Christmas concert – referred to by the community as ‘the entertainment’ – within the church.
Spence was a hardscrabble community. People didn’t have much. There was little money for store bought gifts. And yet, on this night there seemed to be a sprinkle of yuletide enchantment.
“As long as I live, I will never forget the magic of those evenings, fortified by the fragrance of the evergreens,” Reba remembered. “Because Spence church was a mission charge a huge box was sent to us from a Presbytery in Galt. We referred to it as the ‘Galt Box.’ It was filled with goodies, toys and books for everyone, which solved Santa’s problems. I cannot describe the anticipation when the Galt Box arrived by CNR.”
For a few hours all was joyous in a world otherwise filled with hardships and labour.
Should anyone be interested in more information on Spence, I explore the community in Ghost Towns of Ontario’s Cottage Country and detail the history of its church in Founded on Stone 3: Even More Tales of Early Parry Sound District.
