In Search of the Ancients – The Black Oaks of Vineland

Our trekking brought us to Vineland to the oldest Mennonite church in Canada. In 1786, after the American Revolution, Mennonites immigrated from Pennsylvania to Ontario due to concerns over religious freedom. As pacifists, they were afraid of religious persecution or being conscripted into the US colonial militia. Also, there was dwindling good farmland in Pennsylvania but vast amounts in Ontario. The main west migration trail had a stop-over point near Twenty Mile creek. One of the immigrating families had lost a child on their journey to Ontario and buried the child at this resting point. This point was the beginnings of the Vineland Mennonite church and the 1 acre burial area.

And it is this historic cemetery associated with the Mennonite Church that we were in search of.. Throughout this old cemetery are 200 + year old black oaks. They tower over the gravesites of the early colonists to the Twenty Mile creek area. Of interest are the black oaks shading the Rittenhouse family plot.

Moses Rittenhouse (1846 – 1915) was born in Vineland but moved to Chicago in 1864 to make his fortunes in lumber. But he never forgot his roots and donated monies back to his community. He is famous throughout the Niagara region for being a co-founder of the Vineland Research station. He donated the land for the research station that is renowned for its research on tender fruit production.