Description

CEM 105-Rev_bowman_united_church_cemetery

Bowman United Church was built in 1803

Street Address: 880 Garner Road East

Location: Lots 50-51, Concession 4, Ancaster

Type of Cemetery: Religious (Methodist/United)

Responsible Agency: City of Hamilton

Size:         Medium, 250 monument

Fencing: Iron railings and hedgerow with open section Monument Types:    Flat, upright, cairn and columns Monuments of: Marble and granite

Fencing: Iron railings and hedgerow with open section Monument Types:    Flat, upright, cairn and columns Monuments of: Marble and granite

Located on the south side of Highway #53 (Garner Road) Ancaster, at the Bowman United Church. The cemetery is the final resting-place of some of Ancaster’s original settling families. It is owned and maintained by the Bowman United Church and is still being used for burials.

The earliest known burial at this site is in 1803 for Susannah Smith. This is the site of the first log chapel of any denomination in Ancaster, built in 1808 for local Methodists on the property line of the Hagle and Bowman farms. In the 1820s, the church was the site of great controversy, as an internal Methodist split lead to continued physical movement of the building between the Hagle and Bowman lots. The chapel became infamously known as the “Sliding Church” or “Old Slide”. In 1845, a brick building was built, and was part of a two point circuit with Bethesda starting in 1854. The brick structure burnt down in 1881, and the congregation built a third church on the site, which remains to this day.

At a rear corner of the cemetery there is a collection of 38 stones now laid flat, contained within a ground level stone wall. The site holds many of the oldest stones within the cemetery, including that of Susannah Smith

Notable Burials:

Andrew Prindle (1780-1855) Minister