The village of Churchville is a designated historic conservation district in the southwest corner of Brampton, Ontario and can be reached by travelling west on Steeles Avenue from Highway 410 and turning south on the Churchville Road.

 

The village was settled in 1815 by Amaziah Church and celebrated its 200th birthday in 2015.  It became part of the City of Brampton in 1974.

 

From 1836 to 1839, Churchville had a thriving branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Missionary work done here by Isaac Russell, Parley P. Pratt, John Taylor and others brought many converts into the Church.  A 1913 article by Rob Roy in the “Weekly Sun” on April 9, 1913 said “immense crowds attended the services.”  It is estimated that there were 100 members in the Churchville branch, and baptisms were performed in the Credit River.

 

Joseph Fielding, who had joined the Church in Toronto in 1836, wrote  “…at a conference held in Churchville, U.C. (Upper Canada) Brother John Taylor prophesied with much of the Spirit and great Power upon several of us present.  He said the Spirit of God should be upon Bro. Fielding and he should lift up his voice in his native land, etc.  I have not heard a prophecy delivered more manifestly by the spirit of God than this was.  From this I began to believe that the Lord had called me to go to England.”  Diary of Joseph Fielding, p. 4   Brother Fielding was with the first group of missionaries who went to England in June, 1937.

 

The Prophet Joseph Smith visited Churchville in 1837 and urged members to join with the body of the Saints in the United States.  Many left their homes and families and formed wagon trains to follow their new-found faith.

 

In 2017, a historic marker was dedicated in the Churchville Cemetery by Richard E. Turley Jr., a descendant of Theodore Turley, one of the early Churchville converts to the Church.