Rose Hill homestead, the home of Elder-John Ramsay.

93

left my uncles — give my love to him, Grandmother, my Dear sister and all the family and I am my Dear Mother your affectionate and dutiful son —

John Ramsay.19

John made a substantial donation of land from his Rose Hill Farm to house the new wooden frame Presbyterian church and cemetery. No records were available to show the date of the transaction. Ramsay was elected as one of the four original elders, and was appointed as chief collector. In April 1822, Ramsay was selected as Presbytery elder for the

year.

Ramsay quickly ran into difficulties in his career as an elder. The relationship between him and the minister Rev. MacGregor was a stormy one. The trouble between the two strong-willed men started very early in Ramsay’s appoint- ment and canied on for years with the rest of the session taking no stand to resolve the dispute. One of the actions that landed Ramsay in trouble with the moderator (as recorded in session minutes available at the Prince Edward Island Archives) was travelling from town on the Sabbath, after banking the stipend. It took an elder from Lot 14, Thomas Plastid, to bring the two parties back to reality.

John Ramsay was also a politician. He represented Prince County in Colonial Parliament from 1834 to 1838. He also

LEADERS or THE CHURCH