Item
In memory of John Cassilis, A. M. died July 18, 1850, aet. 71 yrs. Also Mary, his wife, died April 15, 1867, aet. 73 Yrs. Both natives of Scotland Main
Title
Reverend John and Mary Cassilis
Content
In memory of John Cassilis, A. M. died July 18, 1850, aet. 71 yrs. Also Mary, his wife, died April 15, 1867, aet. 73 Yrs. Both natives of Scotland Item
Excerpt from Melville N. Cockburn's history Greenock Church, 1904:
The Rev. John Cassils, whose name is at the head of the list of elders appointed on April 17th, 1825, resigned from that office on September 3rd, 1829, but maintained his interest and activity in the work of the Church until the time of his death in 1850. One who did so much in the early part of the last century to advance the interests of the Presbyterian Church in this and the sister Province; one whose efforts and influence in this place undoubtedly had very much to do with the erection and establishment of a Scotch Church here; one whose precept and example did so much to improve the moral, educational and religious con- ditions in this part of the country during the greater part of the first half of the nineteenth century, should, in an article of this kind, receive more than a passing notice, and should, in fact, occupy a more prominent place than it is here possible to give. Mr. Cassilis, as before stated, was the first teacher in the Charlotte County Grammar School, at Saint Andrews, which position he filled from 1818 to 1838. He resigned his school when fifty- nine years of age to resume his work in the ministry, and then took charge of a country circuit with churches at Bocabec, Whittier's Ridge and Mascarene, where he labored very acceptably and successfully until the time of his death. He died on July 18th, 1850, at the age of seventy-one years, survived by a widow and twelve children. His remains lie under the shadow of Greenock Church. His dust has mingled with the soil of that enclosure, a portion of which he once owned and conveyed as a site for Greenock Church. On April 15th, 1867, his wife, Mary MacPherson, joined her husband on the other side of the Great Divide, and her remains were laid by his side. Near the entrance of Greenock Church a white railing and a plain marble slab, erected by their daughter. Mrs. Robert Cockburn, mark the rest ing place of two who" were lovely and beautiful in their lives, and in death they were not divided,"