Ninian Holmes was a Methodist circuit rider.
Holmes was born in New York, and moved to Upper Canada as a child. The details of his childhood are not known well, but he may have lived in Elizabethtown, as he was later known to have some connection to the place. Holmes was received on trial as a circuit rider by the Methodist Conference of New York in 1807. He was assigned to the Niagara Circuit that year.[1] In 1808 he rode the Bay of Quinte Circuit, and in 1809 the Augusta Circuit. The membership of the Methodist Church remained roughly constant during his year on the circuit.[2] In 1810 he was assigned to the Detroit Circuit, covering mostly the south-west tip of Upper Canada. Holmes built upon the previous year's success there by William Case, further increasing church membership.[3] He remained on the Detroit Circuit in 1811, working alongside Silas Hopkins.[4] Holmes was reassigned to the Niagara Circuit in 1812, working with Andrew Prindle.[5]
Holmes probably spent the War of 1812 in the Detroit and Thames area, but records of assignments during the war were lost or not kept. Holmes did marry a Miss Newkirk, whose family resided in that area, and Holmes left circuit riding, and worked as a local preacher. He also owned a small farm, and worked as a schoolteacher. He died on May 5th, 1829.[6] A small statue was erected in his memory by his parishioners.[7]
- ^ Carroll, John (1867). Case and his cotemporaries, or, The Canadian itinerants' memorial constituting a biographical history of Methodism in Canada, from its introduction into the Province, till the death of the Rev. Wm. Case in 1855. Vol. I. Toronto: Wesleyan Conference Office. p. 146.
- ^ Carroll, volume I, page 178
- ^ Carroll, volume I, page 225
- ^ Carroll, volume I, page 239
- ^ Carroll, volume I, page 259
- ^ Carroll, volume I, page 264
- ^ Carroll, volume I, page 267