Avon River Heritage Society
  • About
    • Avon River Heritage Society
    • Artifacts & Archives
    • The Avon River
    • Meet the People in our Neighbourhood >
      • Dawn Allen, August 21st, 2020
      • Sara Beanlands, July 22nd, 2021
      • Carolyn Connors, July 30th, 2020
      • Carolyn Connors, July 21st, 2021
      • Louis Countinho, August 13th, 2020
      • Sean Countinho, January 13th, 2021
      • Eva Evans, July 24th, 2020
      • Elizabeth Ferguson, July 27th, 2020
      • Nicholas Hughes, August 6th, 2020
      • Olwynn Hughes, August 11th, 2020
      • Kim Lake, January 18th & 21st, 2021
      • Trudy Lake, March 13th, 2022
      • Raymond Parker, August 12th, 2020
      • Raymond Parker, July 7th, 2021
      • Zacchary Paul, August 21st, 2021
      • Tacha Reed, August 27th, 2020
      • Allen Shaw, January 18th, 2021
      • Carolyn vanGurp, July 16th, 2020
      • Abraham Zebian, August 24th, 2020
    • Avondale Walking Tour
    • Fundraising
    • Book an Appointment
  • History
    • Natural History >
      • Highest Tides in the World
      • Tidal Bore
      • Avon Peninsula Ecology
      • Birds of the Avon
      • Marine and Freshwater Species of the Avon
      • Karst Environment
      • Gypsum
      • Avon Peninsula Watershed Preservation Society >
        • Avon Peninsula Watershed Preservation Society, Interview with President, Raymond Parker
    • Mi'kmaq >
      • Mi'kmaq Birch Bark Canoes
      • Mi'kmaq of the Avon River >
        • Treaty Truckhouse 2 & Zacchary Paul
    • The Coming of the Europeans
    • The North American Colonies
    • Acadians >
      • Pisiquit
      • Acadians of the Avon River
      • Village Thibodeau (Poplar Grove)
      • Acadian Families After Expulsion
    • New England Planters >
      • New England Planters in Avondale >
        • Genealogy
        • James and Lydia Mosher
    • Loyalist
    • African Nova Scotians
    • Local Home Histories >
      • 28 Chip Hill Road
      • 51 Avondale Road
      • 38 Avondale Road: The Clifford Mosher House
      • 58 Avondale Road
      • 60 Avondale Cross Road
      • 71 Avondale Road: The John A. Harvie House
      • 354 Belmont Road: The Yellow House
      • 603 Belmont Road: Wallace Point
      • 801 Avondale Road
      • The Acadia House
      • The Avondale Church
      • The Avondale Parsonage
      • The Church Farm
      • The Fred Robart House
      • The Henry Lyon House
      • The House Across From The Church
      • The John E.F. Mosher House
      • The Knowles Homestead
      • The Mounce Mansions >
        • Captain George R. Mounce House
        • The Thomas A. Mounce House (Honeymoon House) >
          • Interior of the Honeymoon House
      • The Mrs. Dunham Hotel
      • The Old Newton Mosher House
      • The Old Stone House >
        • The Mystery of the Fieldstone House
      • The Roley Mosher House
      • The W.H. Mosher House
    • The Avondale School
    • Golden Age of Sail >
      • The Rise and Fall of the Golden Age of Sail in Newport
      • The Mosher Shipyards
      • Sailing Ships, Sugar, and Salt
      • Vessels of the Avon River
      • Shipbuilding Process
      • Shipbuilding Tools
      • Ship Directories
      • The Avon Spirit
      • Kings Wharf
      • The Hamburg >
        • Obituary Capt. Andrew B. Coldwell
        • The Hamburg and Alice Coalfleet’s Diary
      • Captain George Richard Mounce Sr
      • Annie Armstrong Mounce Correspondence 1875-1892
      • Captain Daniel William Dexter & The Emma Payzant >
        • Captain Daniel William Dexter and Family, Interview with Debbie Siler, July 21st, 2021
        • Diary of Sarah Dexter, 1892-1893
      • The Rotundus
    • Avondale Wharf & The Landing
    • Community Orchard
    • Edmund McCarthy
  • Arts & Culture
    • The Great Little Art Show >
      • Great Little Art Show 2021 - Artists
      • Great Little Art Show 2021 - Artwork
      • Great Little Art Show 2022 - Artists
      • Great Little Art Show 2022 - Artwork
    • Artists Landing Art Gallery
    • Open Studio at the Museum
    • Full Circle Festival >
      • Sofa Sundays
      • Solstice Market
    • Artisans in Action >
      • Artist in Residence 2022
      • Paint Avondale
    • Avondale Wharf Day
    • Honey Harvest Festival
    • Yoga, Meditation, Free Writing Series
    • Lyrics & Letters Concert/Workshop
  • Events Calendar
  • Planters Sea Chest Gift Shop
  • Lydia and Sally Cafe
  • Rentals
  • Volunteer and Employment Opportunities
  • How to find us!
The Church Farm
Built in the 1700s from birch and pine, Church Farm in Belmont was occupied by members of the Church family up into the 1970s. While it’s not known who built the house, there were several members of the Rhode Island Church family, including father Edward (married to Grace Shaw) and two of their sons, Edward and William, who were granted land in Newport in the 1760s. Several of his daughters married Newport grantees. As the elder Edward died in 1761, presumably one of his children built the house at Church Farm.

Younger Edward’s grandson, ship’s carpenter John Campbell, was listed as a Newport farmer in the 1871 census. His eighth child, George Ezra (1843-1926) and his wife are both buried in the Belmont cemetery. Their 11th child, Edwin Dexter (1887-1980, married Arabella Wallace) was the last Church family member to live in the house. 

In November 1972, James and Jane McGregor, immigrants from Scotland, purchased the property. James, having grown up on a croft (small agricultural unit) in Helmsdale and studied Agriculture in University, had an immediate attraction to the farm. One of the conditions of the purchase was that the last Church family member of the house, Dexter Church, could live in the house for the rest of his life. For the next few summers the McGregors along with their son lived in a camper on the property and began repairs. 

After Dexter Church moved out of the house, the McGregors began work. The chimney was rebuilt from the middle of the house up. There are four fireplaces in the house, each with its own flue. The side entrance section was completely rebuilt. The living room floor was replaced in sections where it had rotted through. All new wooden windows were installed. The roof was re-shingled with cedar. Basic electricity and plumbing were installed. Using steam and chemicals, Jane removed many layers of wallpaper until she reached the original ochre paint, made from local red and grey clay. Eighteen layers of floor covering were removed to reach the original floor planking. In her book "North Along The Shore", Author Edith Mosher documents, ”The sills of The Old Church House are all of imported red pine brought to Halifax on schooners. The floors are of wide pine boards." Found during the restoration was Captain Dexter’s logbook of the barq, Emma Payzant, which chronicled a journey in 1874 to 1875 from Dublin to Mobile, Alabama. Later generations had used it as a scrapbook, a typical fate for one of these logs. The MacGregors provided for the restoration of the logbook and donated it to the museum. They also donated the King Bird log book, also repurposed as a scrapbook. The inside cover of the logbook is inscribed with, "Sarah Dexter, Philadelphia 1866”, and the first page indicates the log included a journey from Liverpool to Boston in 1864. Sarah Dexter was the wife of Captain Daniel Dexter, who, along with their two daughters, accompanied her husband on his voyages. Presumably there was a family connection between the Churches and Dexters. 

​
In 2019, the McGregor's son, Robert McGregor, inherited the property. He plans to continue his parents efforts of preserving the house and its history. In 2021 he had the south-facing basement stone wall foundation completely rebuilt as It had collapsed due to tree roots.

​Captain Daniel William Dexter & The Emma Payzant
Walace Point
Avon River Heritage Society Museum, 17 Belmont Road, Avondale/Newport Landing, Hants County, Nova Scotia, B0N 2A0
Email us at infoavonriver@gmail.com
Telephone us, May through October, at (902) 757-1718