Peter Crandall (1770 - 1838)

Born 1770 in Tiverton, Newport, Rhode Island

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 2 Apr 1838 at about age 68 in Trout Cove, Digby, Nova Scotia

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Jim Hall [send private message]

Biography

Rev. Peter Crandall was born in 1770 on Tiverton, Newport, Rhode Island.^[1] While there are conflicting theories, the best evidence points to Peter's parents as being Wilbor Crandall and Mary Vaughan.^[2][3] His parents moved from Rhode Island to Chester, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia in 1775, when Peter was five years old.^[4]

Peter's first marriage was to Rebecca Vaughan. The details of this marriage have not been located, but based on the birth dates and birth places of his children appears to have been in Chester about 1795.

Peter was ordained as a New Light Baptist minister on June 28, 1809.^[5] In 1809 he visited Digby Township, the church at Sissiboo, and travelled down the Neck and onto the Islands. He and 24 others formed the Second Baptist Church on Digby Neck on Dec 11, 1809 and he became their pastor. The spot where he preached the first Baptist discourse in Digby is now adorned by a church of that denomination.^[6] He conducted revivals in 1812, 1818, & 1831, baptising nearly a hundred.^[7] His missionary travels also crossed the Bay of Fundy, where he organized the first St. Martins Baptist Church in 1813.

Rebecca died before 1809, and Peter remarried in 1810 Nancy Titus.^[8] On Nov 11, 1811 purchased 200 acres of land at Little River where he and his family lived for a number of years. About 1828 he moved to Trout Cove and occupied the homestead of his father-in-law. He was recorded as owner in his last will and testament. His illness was reported in the Christian Messenger of Halifax on March 16, 1838. He died on April 2 and was buried in Lot 4 of the Old Schoolyard Cemetery, Centreville, Digby, Nova Scotia. His monument was destroyed bout 2007. Photo from Admiral Digby Museum.

This is an extract from Peter's will held by Jim Hall ) my will is that said lot be divided equally between my Children viz first Benjamin David Daniel Lydia Mary Mercy & (Elcey?) ( Alice)

Sources

1. ↑ Elder John Crandall of Rhode Island and his Descendants.
2. ↑ Elder John Crandall of Rhode Island and his Descendants.
3. ↑ Bill, Fifty Years with the Baptist Ministers, p. 204
4. ↑ Bill, Fifty Years with the Baptist Ministers, p. 204
5. ↑ Henry Hale Journal
6. ↑ A Geography and History of the County of Digby, p. 414-417.
7. ↑ Baptist Archives, Acadia University, Baptist collection Y717.067528. Rev Chipman Morse by Rev George Stanley McGray.
8. ↑ Bill, Fifty Years with the Baptist Ministers, p. 229

See also:

• Rev. I. E. Bill. Fifty Years with the Baptist Ministers and Churches of the Maritime Provinces of Canada. Saint John, NB: Barnes & Co.,1880.
• John Cortland Crandall. Elder John Crandall of Rhode Island and his Descendants. New Woodstock, NY, 1949. p. 27, 78-9
• Isaiah Wilson. A Geography and History of the County of Digby. Halifax: Holloway, 1900. (Admiral Digby Historical Society reprint, 1999.)

http://digbybaptistchurch.ca/?cat=78 ( History of Digby Baptist Church)

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/KPW8-YS7

• Baptist Archives, Acadia University, Baptist collection Y717.067528. Rev. George Stanley McGray. Rev. Chipman Morse.

Acknowledgements

The information contained in this profile is largely based on thorough research done by Jim Hall, who has graciously provided his notes.