Rev. Roland Davidson (1915-1922) Rev. Davidson was born in Tidnish, Nova Scotia in 1864.

He was educated at Mt. Allison University, Pine Hill Divinity College, and Princeton University. He was ordained by the Presbyterian Church in 1898. He married Margaret McCor-

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REFLECTION: Vera Forbes

At one point in the early days, the Presbyterian Church in Lot 16 and the Presbyterian Church in Lot 14 were part of the Richmond Bay Parish.

The minister lived in the manse in Lot 14. This made travel very difi‘icult as he ministered to the two charges. During the summer months, he took the ferry across Grand River from Bayside to Lot 16. When the ferry was not in operation, he took the long road with horse drawn vehicle through the community of Grand River across two bridges to Lot 16. In winter, when it became safe to travel on the ice on Grand River, the minister chose the well—travelled, well—bushed road across the ice landing on the shore of Mick’s Creek (Michael McNeill Creek) and made his way through Alexander McLean’s farm (19205) to the Southwest Road—what we know as Gleryrord MacLean’sjarm in 2002.

On one winter Sunday morning Rev. Mr. Davidson, the minister at the time, arrived at the home of Clayton and Lorna Forbes, Erskine’s parents. Mr. Forbes hitched one of his horses and took Davidson to church in the Forbes’ sleigh. After the men had left for church, Mrs. Forbes discovered that she did not have enough bread for the men’s lunch when they returned. She was in a dreadful predicament. Would she commit the terrible sin of making biscuits on Sunday? She didn’t seem to have much choice so she made the biscuits feeling guilty all the time.

At dinner, Mr. Davidson ate one of the biscuits. As he reached for a second one and held it to his mouth, he said: “wonderful biscuits, Mrs. Forbes. I’ve never eaten better. ” The better the day the better the deed!

Folks from as fizr away from here as Ellerslie used the winter ice road that Mr. Davidson followed. They continued on the way through the New Road as they travelled to Summerside. This short cut took many miles of the trip. As soon as the ice was safe, men from the area put bushes out to make roads safe by avoiding the thin ice over the oyster beds. Roads went from Henry Thompson’s ‘shore (Cackleberry Farms today) to Williams shore, from Grand River Chapel to Alexander MacLean’s shore, and from several places on the Bayside shore to

Manderson’s shore.

112 LOT 16 UNITED CHURCH AND ITS PEOPLE