FromThe Disciples of Christ in Canada since 1830 by Reuben Butchart

A group of young people, referred to as silk weavers, left Paisley for PEI in 1820. The voyage took much longer than expected due to stormy weather. John Stevenson, referred to as " a young man of sterling character, with great intellect and vision", led worship every morning, and during the voyage he "cheered those who became downhearted with his kindly and humourous words".
They landed at Rustico and rowed up the river to "Stevenson's cove", though another source says they stayed in Rustico for three years and then moved to New Glasgow. They assembled weekly for religious instruction and communion at the Stevenson or other home, and "John Stevenson's teaching was the inspiration"
One report says he was a deacon in the Scotch Baptist church at Paisley, while another says he was studying for the Presbyterian ministry, but his interpretation of the teachings he was getting made him becide to quit and that was contrary to his father's wishes. He then became a weaver.
In PEI his son Charles asked to be baptised, and John walked 17 miles to find one to do it. "Failing in this, he was urged to be the baptizer himself " which he did.
John built the first church on a corner of his farm , probably in 1832. He was asked by the Baptists, who had a church in Cavendish, to be ordinated, but he declined, "probably for the same reason which kept him from the Christian ministry in Scotland". He kept on preaching based on the convictions garnered from the scotch Baptists until his death in 1862.
The book goes on to relate the history of the church at New Glasgow and the contributions of the Stevensons to the Disciples of Christ. (To see the present church,Click here New Glasgow church

The second John Stevenson carried on as the local preacher after elder John's death.Grandsons Nelson and Everett were preachers elsewhere in Canada and the USA, and Rufus Stevenson, son of John's son Robert, preached in PEI, Ontario, and the USA. John's sons, Andrew and William, moved to Fredericton. They continued worshipping at New Glasgow, often walking there. Eventually, their families were active in establishing a church at Fredericton.

Another book, In Search of My Ancestors, by Irene D. Wyand, also deals with the Stevenson history, as the authour was a descendant.
In her version, she says Mrs. Nisbet did not want her daughter to marry a Presbyterian minister, so she got John to convert to the Baptist faith. His father then cut him off family support, and John had to resort to manual labour, working for 20 years in the famous Paisley shawl factory. On arrival in PEI, John is said to have lost his identification papers, and could not claim the land he was seeking, and had to go up river to a totally wooded area.
John started church services in his barn, where seating consisted of planks laid across barrels and blocks of wood. A church building was erected in 1848.