St. John’s Anglican Church, originally built as a frame structure in 1848 and now brick-clad, is the oldest church building in Richmond Hill.
On the church grounds, you'll find a historic marker commemorating the de Puisaye settlement of Windham (1799–1806), founded by exiled French royalists.
Cemetery Overview
The cemetery at St. John’s is a resting place for many of Jefferson’s pioneer families, with grave markers dating back to the 19th century. Most are made of marble or granite in slab, block, or obelisk styles — some with intricate carvings.
Burials are arranged in orderly family plots, flanking a central east-west lane.
Older markers have been gathered near the church into a section called the "pioneer frame."
A picket fence was added along Yonge Street in 1861.
Notable Burials
Captain Martin McLeod of Drynoch – Donated the land for the church and cemetery.
His son, Colonel James McLeod, became a founding father of Alberta and namesake of Fort McLeod.
Henry St. George – Son of Laurent Quetton St. George, an original de Puisaye settler.
Multiple members of the Legge and Kerswill families — among the area’s founding families.
Henri Nouwen: A Legacy of Love and Joy
One of the most well-known people interred at St. John’s is Henri Nouwen (1932–1996), a Dutch Catholic priest, theologian, writer, and professor.
About Henri Nouwen:
Known for blending psychology, pastoral care, and Christian spirituality
In 1986, he made his home at L’Arche Daybreak in Richmond Hill — a community where people with and without intellectual disabilities live together in mutual care
Authored over 30 books, deeply exploring human vulnerability, connection, and spiritual life
Nouwen chose to be buried at St. John’s, near others from the Daybreak community he loved.
A Word from Henri on Joy:
“Joy is essential to the spiritual life.
Whatever we may think or say about God, when we are not joyful, our thoughts and words cannot bear fruit...
Joy is the experience of knowing that you are unconditionally loved and that nothing—sickness, failure, emotional distress, oppression, war, or even death—can take that love away.
Joy is not the same as happiness...
We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day. It is a choice based on the knowledge that we belong to God... and that nothing, not even death, can take God away from us.”