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diff --git a/41805-0.txt b/41805-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..16c1077 --- /dev/null +++ b/41805-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3390 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41805 *** + +CONTENTS + + + INTRODUCTION + HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH + Chapter I + Chapter II + Chapter III + Chapter IV + Chapter V + Chapter VI + Chapter VII + Chapter VIII + THE CELEBRATION + HISTORICAL DISCOURSE + + + + + HISTORY + + OF THE + + CATHOLIC CHURCH + + IN + + PATERSON, N. J. + + WITH AN + + Account of the Celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary + + OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF + + ST. JOHN'S CHURCH + + "Press" Print. + + + + + HISTORY + + OF THE + + CATHOLIC CHURCH + + IN + + PATERSON, N. J. + + WITH + + AN ACCOUNT OF THE CELEBRATION OF THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE + ESTABLISHMENT OF ST. JOHN'S CHURCH. + + BY CHARLES A. SHRINER. + + "Sanctuarium tuum, Domine, quod firmaverunt manus tuæ; Dominus regnabit + in æternum et ultra."--EXOD. xv. + + PATERSON, N. J. + PRESS PRINTING AND PUBLISHING COMPANY, 269 MAIN STREET. + 1883. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +The records of the early Catholic Churches in this part of the country +are very meagre and to the historian most of them are almost useless. +There are, however, still living in this and other cities a number of +old people of intelligence and good memory and to these the author is +indebted for most of the facts narrated in this sketch of the growth of +the Catholic Church in Paterson. In many instances it was found that the +memories of these old people were at fault and it was only after +repeated comparisons of the numerous dates and diligent search among +such records as could be found that the author was placed in a position +to give to the public at least a tolerably accurate account of the +remarkably rapid growth of Catholicism in Paterson and its vicinity. +Whenever any doubt existed as to the authenticity of records or the +accuracy of memory the reasons of the author for adopting what he +believed to be the true version are given. + + THE AUTHOR. + + PATERSON, N. J., November 15, 1883. + + + + +[Illustration] + +HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + EARLY PERSECUTIONS ON MANHATTAN ISLAND.--MISSIONARIES FROM NEW + YORK.--THE FREEDOM OF THE COUNTRY AND OF THE CHURCH + ESTABLISHED.--THE FIRST MISSIONARIES IN NEW JERSEY. + + +"History repeats itself" is an old adage and one which has stood the +test ever since the sage first uttered it. The first chapter of the +history of the Catholic Church, take it as a whole, or in whatever +country or nation you like, is written in blood, the precious blood of +the martyrs who died for their God and their faith. The second chapter +is one of adversity, of persecutions; one in which the property and +worldly comfort of the devout are frequently sacrificed to the bigotry +of the infidel or the heretic. Thus it goes on from chapter to chapter, +from generation to generation, but the hand of God is with his followers +and it raises them from the depths of tribulation from which they looked +imploringly but confidingly to the God who had created them, to the God +who had made himself known to them through the Holy Catholic Church. + +The first Catholic missionary who came to Manhattan Island and who +traveled through the adjacent country was the Rev. Isaac Jogues, a +Jesuit. In 1642 he was taken prisoner by the Indians, who tore off his +finger-nails and cut off the thumb of his right hand; in 1646 he was +killed by the Indians. To-day there is scarcely a hill in that part of +the country from which the cross of a Catholic Church cannot be seen. + +In 1658 a French Catholic was fined twelve guilders in a place now +within the city limits of New York because he refused to contribute to +the support of a Protestant clergyman, and even in 1778 Father De La +Mote, an Augustinian friar, was locked up in prison because he +celebrated mass in New York. To-day the triumph of Catholicism in New +York is marked by hundreds of churches and scores of converts. + +It is a peculiar coincidence that the freedom of this country was +established in the same year with the freedom of the Catholic Church, +and that consequently this, the semi-centennial of the establishment of +St. John's Church in Paterson, is also the centennial of the +enfranchisement of the Catholic Church in this country. By the New York +State Constitution of 1777 Catholics coming from foreign countries were +excluded from citizenship, but Congress overruled the action of the New +York Convention. "With this attempt," says the late Archbishop Bayley in +his History of the Catholic Church in the Island of New York, "to keep +up the intolerance of the English colonial government, all legislation +opposed to the free exercise of the Catholic religion ceased; and such +Catholics as were in the City of New York at the time of its evacuation +by the British troops, in 1783, began to assemble for the open +celebration of the officers of religion." + +In 1786 St. Peter's Church--the first Catholic Church in the Diocese of +New York--was erected on the corner of Barclay and Church streets. In +1809 the corner stone was laid for St. Patrick's Cathedral and at the +consecration in 1815 by Right Rev. Bishop Cheverus, of Boston, the Mayor +and Aldermen of New York City and a number of the State officials +attended divine service in the new cathedral. + +In the Catholic Almanac for 1822 was published the following list of the +clergy in the diocese: + + Rev. Dr. John Connolly, St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York. + Rev. Michael O'Gorman, " " + Rev. Charles French, St. Peter's, " + Rev. John Power, " " + Rev. Mr. Bulger, Paterson. + Rev. Michael Carroll, Albany and vicinity. + Rev. John Faruan, Utica and vicinity. + Rev. Patrick Kelly, Auburn, Rochester, and other districts in the + western part of the State. + Rev. Phillip Larissy, attends regularly at Staten Island, and + different other congregations along the Hudson River. + +Such is the brief outline of the early history of the Catholic Church in +this part of the country and it will thus be seen that shortly after the +Catholics were first permitted to worship God in their own way +Catholicism took root in New Jersey. + +The following concerning the first Catholic missionaries who visited New +Jersey is taken from an article which appeared in the Catholic World in +1875: + +"About this period (1757) there were a few Jesuit priests in Maryland +and Pennsylvania; and the earliest account that we have of Catholics in +New Jersey is in 1744, when we read that Father Theodore Schneider, a +distinguished German Jesuit who had professed philosophy and theology in +Europe, and been rector of a university, coming to the American +provinces, visited New Jersey and held church at Iron Furnaces there. +This good missionary was a native of Bavaria. He founded the mission at +Goshenhoppen, now in Berks County, Pennsylvania, about forty-five miles +from Philadelphia, and ministered to German Catholics, their descendants +and others. Having some skill in medicine, he used to cure the body as +well as the soul; and travelling about on foot or on horseback under the +name of Doctor Schneider (leaving to the _Sinelfunguses_ to discover +whether he were of medicine or of divinity), he had access to places +where he would not otherwise have gone without personal danger; but +sometimes his real character was found out, and he was several times +raced and shot at in New Jersey. He used to carry about with him on his +missionary excursions into this province a manuscript copy of the _Roman +Missal_, carefully written out in his own handwriting and bound by +himself. His poverty or the difficulty of procuring printed Catholic +liturgical books from Europe, or, we are inclined to think, the danger +of discovery should such an one with its unmistakable marks of 'Popery' +about it (which he probably dispensed with in his manuscript), fall into +the hands of heretics, must have led him to this labor of patience and +zeal. Father Schneider, who may be reckoned the first missionary in New +Jersey, died on the eleventh of July, 1764. Another Jesuit used to visit +the province occasionally after 1762, owing to the growing infirmities +of Father Schneider, and there still exist records of baptisms performed +by him here. This was the Rev. Robert Harding, a native of England, who +arrived in America in 1732. He died at Philadelphia on the 1st of +September, 1772. But the priest principally connected with the early +missions in New Jersey is the Rev. Ferdinand Farmer. He was born in +South Germany in 1720, and, having entered the Society of Jesus, was +sent to Maryland in 1752. His real name was Steenmeyer, but on coming to +this country he changed it into one more easily pronounced by +English-speaking people. He was learned and zealous, and for many years +performed priestly duties in New Jersey at several places in the +northern part, and seems to have been the first to visit this colony +regularly. In his baptismal register the following among other places +are named, together with the dates of his ministrations: a station +called Geiger's, in 1759; Charlottenburgh, in 1769; Morris County, Long +Pond, and Mount Hope, in 1776; Sussex County, Ringwood and Hunterdon +County, in 1785. The chief congregation at this period was at a place +called Macoupin (now in Passaic County), about fifteen miles from the +present City of Paterson. It was settled in the middle of the last +century by Germans, who were brought over to labor in the iron mines and +works in this part of the provinces." + + * * * * * + +"After the evacuation of New York by the British in 1783, there was a +prospect of collecting the few scattered Catholics on Manhattan Island +into a congregation, and the venerable Father Farmer used to go twice a +year to visit the faithful there, across the northern part of this +State, stopping on his way to officiate at Macoupin. On the 22nd of +September, 1785, the Rev. John Carroll, who had been appointed by the +Pope Superior of the Church in the United States and empowered to give +confirmation, set out on a tour to administer this sacrament at +Philadelphia, New York and (as he writes to a friend) 'in the upper +counties of the Jerseys and Pennsylvania, where our worthy German +brethren had formed congregations.' In this year Rev. Mr. Carroll +computed the number of Catholics under his charge at sixteen thousand in +Maryland, seven thousand in Pennsylvania and two thousand scattered +about the other States. The number of priests was nineteen in Maryland +and five in Pennsylvania." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + THE FIRST MASS SAID IN PATERSON.--INTERESTING ANECDOTES CONCERNING + FATHER BULGER.--PREJUDICE AGAINST THE CATHOLICS. THE OLD CHURCH ON + CONGRESS AND MILL STREETS.--ORIGIN OF ST. JOHN'S CONGREGATION. + + +The first priest who placed his foot within what are at present the +corporate limits of the City of Paterson was Father Philip Larrissy, a +Franciscan monk who came here from New York. Just what year he came here +is not positively known but it seems to be tolerably well established +that he was here for some years previous to Father Langton. The first +mass in Paterson was celebrated in the residence of Michael Gillespie, +which stood in Market street on the site of the present Godwin +homestead. Father Larrissy was a missionary priest who travelled between +New York and Philadelphia and visited Paterson every few weeks. He +generally arrived on Saturday evening and as soon as he reached Mr. +Gillespie's house a messenger was sent to notify the Catholics that mass +would be celebrated the following morning. Up to that time Catholics +were compelled to go to New York, frequently performing the journey on +foot, in order to attend divine service. + +Father Langton was the second priest who celebrated mass in Paterson. +The Gillespies had removed to Belleville and so a room for the holding +of divine service was fitted up in the residence of Barney McNamee on +the corner of Broadway and Mulberry street. Here the Catholics attended +mass for several years. Father Langton was also a missionary priest, +going from New York to Paterson, to Macoupin, Bottle Hill and other +places; then returning to Paterson, which was a more important Catholic +settlement than any in this part of the State. On his return to New York +from Paterson Father Langton stopped at the residence of Mr. Gillespie +at Belleville and after celebrating mass there proceeded to Newark, +where there were very few Catholics, and from thence to New York. This +seems to have been the route taken by the earlier Catholic clergymen, +for even Father Bulger, who was not ordained until 1815, said mass in +the residence of Mr. Gillespie. + +Father Richard Bulger was educated at Kilkenny College, Ireland, and was +ordained a priest in 1815 by Bishop Connolly. He was for some time the +assistant pastor of the Cathedral in New York but spent most of his nine +years of priesthood in administering spiritual consolation to the +Catholics in Paterson and vicinity and continuing the work in which +Fathers Larrissy and Langton had preceded him. It was he who in 1820 +erected the first building used exclusively for divine service by +Catholics in Paterson and he was the first parish priest in this city. +Previous to this time he followed in the footsteps of his predecessors +in journeying from place to place, preaching the Word of God by the way +and saying mass and administering the rites of the Church whenever +opportunity afforded. In 1821 Mr. Roswell L. Colt in behalf of the +Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures offered to all the various +denominations in Paterson ground on which to erect houses of worship. +This generous offer was accepted by the Catholics and in this way they +came into possession of a piece of property situated on the southwest +corner of Congress (now Market) and Mill streets. The deed was given to +the Catholics "for the purpose of erecting, maintaining and keeping a +building or house for the public worship of God," a clause in the deed +providing for reversion of the property to the donor as soon as the +property was used for any other purpose than that of divine worship. +There were at that time only twelve Catholic families in Paterson, but +the prejudice against the Catholic Church which characterized its +earlier history in this country had subsided, and the Catholics received +aid from persons of other denominations. This, added to their own +generous gifts of money and labor, produced a building 25×30 feet in +size and one story high. The room was furnished with a plain altar and a +number of wooden benches without backs, which served as pews, and the +attendance on Sundays did not exceed 50, unless there was an influx of +Catholics from some village not supplied with a church. Mass was +celebrated every Sunday morning and vespers in the afternoon. The church +was named after St. John, the Baptist, and the building still stands +where it was erected in 1821, although it has been considerably altered. +Father Bulger was taken sick in 1824, while assistant pastor at the +Cathedral in New York, where he died in November of that year. He was +buried in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral. + +Although Father Bulger's years as a priest were few they were devoted to +the cause of the Lord with an energy and faithfulness which made him so +prominent a figure in the early history of the church in Paterson. Many +are the anecdotes told concerning him, some of which are illustrative of +his character, and among these the following appear of more than +ordinary interest: + +Archbishop Bayley's book on the History of the Catholic Church contains +the following: "The Rev. Mr. Bulger was first sent on the mission to +Paterson, in New Jersey, where he labored with great fidelity. During +his missionary expeditions through various parts of the State, he was +often exposed to insults, and underwent many hardships, which his ardent +zeal and buoyant spirits enabled him to bear, not only with patience, +but cheerfulness. A large stone was thrown at him through the window of +his bedchamber, which nearly cost him his life. On this occasion he +published a letter addressed to the inhabitants of Paterson, which +excited a great deal of attention, and made him many friends even +amongst those who had been most opposed to him." + +In the same work appears the following: "He was accustomed to tell many +laughable stories of his adventures. Trudging along one day on foot, +carrying a bundle, containing his vestments and breviary, under his arm, +he was overtaken by a farmer and his wife in a wagon. The farmer invited +Mr. Bulger to ride; but it having come out in the course of the +conversation that he was a priest, the wife declared that he should not +remain in the wagon, and he was consequently obliged to get out and +resume his journey on foot. It should be added, that the farmer +afterwards applied to Father Bulger for instruction, and was received +into the Catholic Church." + +This same story is corroborated by persons still living, and was told to +the author of this work with more details. It was a very cold day in +winter and there were several feet of snow on the ground. Father Bulger +was walking from Hohokus, whither he had gone on a pastoral errand. He +was in delicate health and so, when about half way between Hohokus and +Paterson, he felt considerably relieved at hearing a wagon approach +behind him. It was the wagon of a farmer residing in Paterson. Father +Bulger was asked to ride but immediately after he had taken his seat the +farmer and his wife suspected that he was a Catholic priest. They plied +him with numerous questions to which Father Bulger gave evasive answers, +for he was sick and fatigued and anxious to reach Paterson. They asked +whether he was married and had children and he replied in the +affirmative, adding that he had numerous children. The suspicions of the +farmer and his wife increased and Father Bulger was finally asked +whether he was not a Catholic and a priest. Rather than deny his faith +Father Bulger would have faced death and he replied in the affirmative. +He was compelled to leave the wagon and walk to Paterson. When he +arrived here he told of his adventure; the brutal treatment he had been +subjected to so incensed a number of Catholics and others who were +employed in a quarry that they resolved to thrash the inhuman farmer. +Father Bulger heard of this project and it was due to his entreaties +that it was not carried out. This heroic conduct on the part of Father +Bulger was reported to the farmer, who concluded that a religion, whose +priests so faithfully carried out the Christ-given doctrine of "Return +good for evil," could not deserve the opprobium heaped upon it by +Protestants; he applied to Father Bulger for instruction and became a +convert to the Catholic religion. + +The first number of the Sacred Heart Union published at Newark in March, +1881, contains some interesting reminiscences of an early settler near +Macopin and among these is the following: "Our next priest was Father +Bulger, a native of Ireland, a tall, handsome man, but with a beardless +face. He was ordained by 'little Bishop Connolly,' as he was called, and +came to us about 1820. Mr. Littell had been notified to expect a priest, +and vainly looked among the passengers of the mail-coach for his +Reverence. The driver told him that a passenger had booked for Macopin +the night before, but had failed to put in an appearance. Late that +afternoon a stranger drove up to the shop on horseback and thus +addressed Mr. Littell: + +"'Did you expect a visitor, sir?' + +"'I did, sir.' + +"'How did you expect him?' + +"'By the mail.' + +"'Might I ask whom you expected?' + +"'Well,' said Mr. Littell, somewhat nettled by this cross-examination, +'I expect a Catholic priest.' + +"'Well, suppose you take me for a Catholic priest.' + +"Surveying the beardless youth from top to bottom, Mr. Littell tartly +replied: + +"'Go back to your wooden college, sir, and get more beard on your upper +lip before you come to palm yourself off on me as a Catholic priest.' + +"'Well,' said the stranger, 'beard or no beard, you must take me for a +priest.' + +"'Perhaps,' thought Mr. Littell, 'I may after all be mistaken; he may be +a priest,' and giving him another searching look he inquired: + +"'Am I talking to Father Bulger?' + +"'You are,' said the young Father, smilingly; and his laughter drowned +the apologies and put to flight the discomfiture of good Mr. Littell. + +"Father Bulger was a regular apostle; he travelled through Hudson, +Passaic and Sussex counties. I remember he was once invited to preach in +Newton, and the Presbyterian Church was offered to him. But when the day +came for the lecture, the bluelights feared to admit the papist into +their sanctuary. To the dismay of the most prominent member of the +congregation--an Irishman--they gave a point blank refusal to allow him +to preach in their church. Chagrined but undaunted, the Irishman went to +the judge who was then presiding over the Sussex Circuit, related to him +all the circumstances, and asked him to adjourn the Court so that the +priest might give his lecture. Court was adjourned; the judge and a host +of legal fledglings, who have since arisen to fame and honor, listened +to the young priest's masterly handling of the doctrine of the Real +Presence. + +"'I did not believe,' said an ex-United States Senator, still living +among us, 'that the Catholics had such solid proofs for their +doctrines.'" + +Father John Shanahan succeeded Father Bulger. Father Shanahan had been +educated at Mount St. Mary's College and had been ordained in 1823 by +Bishop Connolly. He remained but a short time and left Paterson to take +charge of a mission in Utica, New York, and from thence he went in 1850 +on a mission to California. He subsequently returned to New York, where +he died in St. Peter's parish. + +Father Charles Brennan came next. He had been educated in Kilkenny +College, Ireland, and had been ordained by Bishop Connolly in 1822. He +conceived the idea of erecting a new church, as the Catholics were +rapidly increasing in numbers, and proceeded to carry his design into +execution. He made a number of tours through the surrounding country +soliciting subscriptions and it was while thus engaged that he was taken +sick. He went to New York, where he died in March, 1826, and his remains +were interred by the side of Father Bulger. + +While Father Brennan was lying sick in New York Father John +Conroy--uncle of the late Bishop John J. Conroy of Albany--was sent to +Paterson to look after the welfare of St. John's congregation. Father +Conroy was educated in Mount St. Mary's College and was ordained by +Bishop Connolly in 1825. He was subsequently assistant at the Cathedral +in New York and assistant at St. Lawrence's Church in Eighty-fourth +street, New York. He died when chaplain of Cavalry Cemetery, New York. + +Father Francis O'Donoghue was the next priest. He took up the work left +unfinished by Father Shanahan and collected money for the new church. +The construction of the Morris Canal at this time brought to Paterson a +large number of Catholic Irishmen and it was found that the congregation +of St. John's received such numerous accessions that it was necessary to +construct a gallery in the church building on Congress and Mill streets. +Mr. Colt, on behalf of the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures, +showed a disposition not to extend to the Catholic Church any favors he +had not shown to congregations of other denominations and at first +refused to give the church any more property or permit the sale of the +real estate on which the church was situated. Rt. Rev. Bishop Du Bois +then came to Paterson and he and Father O'Donoghue called to see Mr. +Colt. After a conference Mr. Colt was induced to withdraw his objections +to the sale of the Mill street property and the congregation obtained +from him the tract of land on Oliver street on which stands the church +in which St. John's congregation worshipped nearly a third of a century. + +The consideration mentioned in the deed from the Society for +Establishing Useful Manufactures to the Trustees of St. John's Chapel is +$2,000, but this amount is charged to Roswell L. Colt on the Society's +journal, folio 153, so that the Oliver street property was a gift from +Mr. Colt himself. There is a clause in the will of Mr. Colt by which his +executors are directed to donate to charities one-tenth of his estate +unless it shall appear that he during his lifetime had already disposed +of one-tenth of his estate in this manner. + +Father O'Donoghue was greatly assisted in his work by a young man named +Ambrose Manahan, who boarded at Mr. Hugh Brady's house and who received +his instructions for the priesthood from Father O'Donoghue. Mr. Manahan +was a young man of brilliant genius; he subsequently went to the +Propaganda at Rome, where he was ordained a priest on August 29th, 1841, +by Cardinal Franconi and made a doctor of divinity; he subsequently +returned to this country, where he became President of St. John's +College and pastor of St. Joseph's Church in New York. His remains lie +buried in New York. + +The following inscription is found in the Visitors' Book of the Passaic +Falls, dated July 25th, 1828: + + THOMAS IOANNES O'PHLAEGLI. + + Ioatros kai cheirurgos en enianpto tes chagilos, 1828. F. + Frankiskos O'Donogue, Iereus tes ekklesias tes Romes, os oikei + ente polei tes Patterson kai episatei ente ekklesia epikalumen tes + agiou Ioannou. + + Reverendus Franciscus O'Donoghue, sacerdos Ecclesiæ Romanæ, atque + Thomas Joannes O'Flagherty, M. D., venerunt visum, videruntque cum + maxima attonitu ingentem flumenis Passaici defluxum, vigesimo + quinto mensis Julii, anno Salutis Humanæ 1828. Vivat America, + quamdiu sub auspiciis aquilae Reipublicanæ auram vitalem carpit. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + EARLY CATHOLIC FAMILIES IN PATERSON.--MEN AND WOMEN OF PROMINENCE + WHO ASSISTED IN ESTABLISHING THE CHURCH IN THIS CITY. + + +To give a complete list of the Catholics who assisted in the propagation +of the faith in Paterson and give each one his or her share of praise +for the noble work done in the Lord's vineyard would be a difficult +task. Most of the pioneers have passed away to reap in another world the +reward for their faithfulness and energy; others removed their families +to other States, where their descendants are still prominent in the +affairs of the Church. Some of those who did the hardest work when the +light of the Catholic Church first dawned in this country are more than +dead; they are forgotten, and their names and the remembrance of their +existence have passed away; no historian has chronicled their brave +deeds, their fortitude and their sufferings; no tombstone records the +day of their birth and the day of their death and marks the place where +rests the clay which was once imbued with life and vigor and zeal in the +service of God. Their deeds are recorded on pages more faithful than +those of the historian, more glorious than the tablets of the sculptor, +and an omniscient God, who saw their sufferings and comforted them in +the midst of their tribulations, has taken them to himself to share with +him the perfection of righteousness and happiness. There are, however, +still living men and women who figured prominently in the early history +of the Church and who remember the names and doings of those who took an +active part with them in building up that splendid edifice, the Catholic +Church of Paterson. A glance at the families who constituted the +Catholic Church in the times of Father O'Donoghue and his predecessors, +a glance through the memories of some of the old Catholics of the +present day at the Catholic Church of Paterson in 1830 and thereabouts, +will undoubtedly be of interest to a great many. The following list is +not complete, for the information therein contained was derived not from +records but from the memory of human beings. It will, however, show to +the rising generation to whom they are indebted for the success of the +church in Paterson: who the men and women were whom God made his +instruments in establishing Catholicism in Passaic County. + +AGNEW, PATRICK, was among the earliest Catholic settlers in Paterson. He +was for some time employed in the Phoenix Mill but subsequently kept a +store in Cross street. His son John is in business in this city; his son +Thomas is in business in San Francisco and his daughter Margaret is the +wife of Charles H. O'Neill, of Jersey City. + +BANNIGAN, PETER AND MICHAEL, were two brothers. Peter was a trustee of +the old church in Mill street and also of the Oliver street church and +resided in Ward street; he was the father of Mrs. Robert Hamil. Michael +lived in Cross street, near White's alley; he subsequently erected the +brick buildings at No. 19 Marshall street and there he died. + +BINSSE, DR. DONATIAN, practiced medicine. He was brought up by Rt. Rev. +Bishop Du Bois and in Paterson resided on the corner of Hotel and Market +streets, and subsequently in the old bank building in Main street. He +left Paterson but his remains were returned to this city for interment. +His two sons are still living but not in Paterson. + +BRADLEYS, three sisters, kept a boarding house for some years on Market +street, near Mill. Father O'Donoghue boarded with them, as did also +several other priests; they left Paterson about 1832. + +BROWN, JOHN P., was one of the trustees of the Oliver street church when +it was building. He was in partnership with Joseph Warren in the leather +business in lower Main street and married a daughter of Mr. Warren. + +BURKE, THOMAS, was a contractor. He built a house adjoining the Catholic +Church on Market and Mill streets. His house burned down some years +after it was erected and his wife perished in the flames. His only son +John was a constable and died some years ago.--Edward Burke, no relation +to the foregoing, kept a store on the corner of Oliver and Mill streets. +He subsequently removed to New Orleans. He has no descendant living in +Paterson. + +BURNS was the name of a man who was employed in the Phoenix Mill with +Patrick Agnew. He had resided in Paterson only a few years when he died. + +BUTLER, PATRICK, built a house next to that of Thomas Burke in Market +street. He kept a tavern for some time and subsequently became a +contractor. He was the father of Mrs. Stephen Wall, Mrs. Dr. Quin, +Richard H. Butler, Nancy Butler and Louisa Jane Butler, who are still +residents of this or New York city. + +CHAPMAN, PHILIP, died a few years ago at the age of eighty years. He was +the tender of the water gates of the Society for Establishing Useful +Manufactures at the Falls and his descendants still reside here. + +CONWELL, a distant relative of the late Rt. Rev. Bishop Conwell of +Philadelphia, was employed in a cotton mill. He resided in Jersey street +and his descendants still live in this city. + +CORRIGAN, PATRICK, who still resides in Mechanic street with his child, +was also employed in the cotton mill. + +COUGHLIN, RICHARD AND PATRICK, were two brothers. Patrick for many years +drove a stage between Hoboken and Paterson. He died in this city. +Richard is still alive and is the trusted messenger of the First +National Bank. + +DEVLIN, ARTHUR, was a school teacher, and resided in Prospect street. He +removed to Rhode Island, where his sons still reside. + +DIMOND, JAMES, was a cotton weaver, and resided on Main street, near +Fair. He died in Paterson and none of his descendants reside here now. + +DOHERTY, ROBERT, HUGH AND JAMES, were three brothers. Robert was a +school teacher who came here in 1828 and left in 1848 for New York and +there started in the livery business. He was a bachelor. Hugh was also a +bachelor, and resided in Paterson from 1828 to 1850, when he left the +city. He died in 1867, and in his will he bequeathed the property No. 89 +Cross street to St. John's Church. James lived here about as long as his +brother, and was the youngest of the three. His widow still resides in +Pine street. + +DORIS, JAMES, was a blacksmith, who had a shop in Market street, near +Mill. His daughter married John O'Brien, the father of the late +ex-Assemblyman John O'Brien of the Second District. + +DUNN, the father of James Dunn, was among the earliest settlers here and +for a long time resided in Van Houten street. + +FANNING, JAMES, was a trustee of the Oliver street church for some time, +and was employed in the cotton mill. He resided in Jersey street, near +Market. + +FINNEGAN, FRANCIS, was a contractor who lived in Main street, near +Slater. He subsequently removed to Rhode Island and none of his +descendants live in Paterson. + +FARNON, MICHAEL, resided for many years in Prospect street, and was the +father of Thomas Farnon, of this city, and Peter Farnon of Philadelphia. + +FULTON, was the father of Mrs. Patrick Agnew. He has other descendants +still living in this city. + +GALLAGHER, ANDREW, resided for many years in Prospect street. He was a +shoemaker and subsequently a constable. + +GILLESPIE, MICHAEL, resided for some years on Market street, near +Prince, and it was in his house that the first mass was celebrated by +Father Larrissy. He subsequently removed to Belleville, where Fathers +Langton and Bulger repeatedly said mass. He afterwards moved back to +Paterson and took up his residence in Market street, near Cross, where +several of his descendants still reside. He was employed in the foundry +of Godwin & Clark. At that time the Catholics had no cemetery in +Paterson but Mr. and Mrs. Gillespie, rather than see the body of one of +their children buried in unconsecrated ground, journeyed to New York +with the remains, where they were interred in a Catholic Cemetery. Mr. +and Mrs. Gillespie were the parents of nine children, of whom one still +survives, Mrs. Connolly, who lives with the Gillespies in Market street. + +GRIFFITH, ANDREW AND MICHAEL, two brothers, lived on the corner of Cross +and Van Houten streets, opposite Colonel Kerr's residence. Michael died +unmarried, but Andrew, who was a trustee of the Oliver Street Church +when it was in course of erection, had numerous descendants. His +children were Mary, wife of Hugh Brady and mother of Mrs. Michael A. +Harold, who still resides with her daughter in Marshall street; George, +at one time Captain of the City Blues, whose widow is still alive; +Margaret, wife of James Shorrock, who died some years ago; Sarah, +Michael and Andrew, who died unmarried, and Elizabeth and Augustine, who +still live in Paterson. + +HAGGERTY, JOHN, who still lives with his wife and child on Market +street, near Beech, was in his earlier years employed in the foundry of +Godwin & Clark. + +HAMIL, the father of James, John and Robert Hamil, was among the early +settlers in Paterson. He is dead now as are also his three sons, but the +work that they did still remains and is too well known to need further +reference in this work. + +HAWKINS, JAMES, was a machinist, who resided in Marshall street, near +Slater. He removed with his family to California, where he died. + +HUGHES, some of whose descendants still reside in Paterson, in his +earlier years resided in Van Houten street and was employed in a cotton +mill. + +KELLY, PATRICK, was a constable, who subsequently removed to New York, +where he died. His daughter is the wife of Matthew Nealon, of this city. + +KERR, COLONEL JOHN, was one of the most prominent figures in early +Paterson. For some time he kept a grocery on the corner of Cross and Van +Houten streets, but his principal occupation was that of a contractor. +As such he constructed portions of the race-ways and roads for the +Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures. He also built a number of +houses for himself. He had two daughters and one son, who subsequently +left Paterson and took up their residence in New York City. He was +Colonel of the military of Paterson, and was buried with military pomp, +his horse, bedecked with the trappings of mourning and the empty cavalry +boots hanging on its sides, following the coffin to the grave. + +KILEY, JAMES D., was one of the first trustees of the Oliver street +church. He taught a private school for some years in Passaic street and +then removed to Virginia where his son became Mayor of Richmond. + +LYNCH, BERNARD--the father of Andrew, Bernard, James, Thomas, Mary and +Nancy, all of whom were prominent in church affairs--and his wife lie +buried in Sandy Hill. Bernard Lynch, his wife and children are all dead, +but their descendants still reside in Paterson. The second wife of +Andrew, the oldest son, who was one of the first trustees of the Oliver +street church, still resides in Market street, near Cross, with his two +sons, James and Bernard. Thomas left Paterson and took up his residence +in New York City, where he died. + +MAGENNIS, ARTHUR, came to Paterson from Matteawan, and was the father of +the late Comptroller of the City of Paterson. He kept a store here for +some time and subsequently was employed in his son's factory. + +MALLON, JOHN, was a laborer on the Morris Canal. His children are John, +Alderman from the Eighth Ward; Felix, of Jersey City; Mrs. Roe, the wife +of a police officer; Mrs. Michael Campbell, wife of the Alderman from +the Fifth Ward, and Mrs. Patrick Fitzpatrick. + +MCCARTHY, JOHN, was one of the first butchers in Paterson. He died here +but his descendants have left Paterson. + +MCCOLLOM, three brothers, were employed as cotton spinners. Their +descendants have nearly all sought other places to labor in. + +MCCROSSEN, DANIEL, resided in Prospect street and had a portion of the +original contract for the construction of the Morris Canal. He has a +number of descendants residing in Paterson. His widow subsequently +married William Bacon. + +MCGIVERN, THOMAS, and his brother were employed in the Phoenix Mill. +They both died here but none of their descendants are at present +residents of Paterson. + +MCGROGAN, THOMAS, was a machinist who died in Paterson, but whose +descendants have since left for other parts. + +MCKENNA, ARTHUR AND HUGH, both died in Paterson. Arthur had no children. +Hugh had three children, of whom one became a Christian Brother and the +other is Andrew McKenna, an ex-Alderman. + +MCKEOWN, EDWARD, was a machinist, who, after laboring for some years in +this city, went to the South, but subsequently returned to Paterson +where he has several children living. He first resided in Elm +street.--George McKeown, no relation to the foregoing, was a teamster on +the railroad. He died in Paterson and his children still live here. + +MCKIERNAN, CORNELIUS, was a contractor and subsequently kept a store. +His widow died in this city a short time ago. He has several sons living +in Paterson.--Dennis, was no relation to the foregoing. He was a +laborer and a contractor and subsequently engaged in weaving cotton. A +number of his children are dead but some are still residents of +Paterson. Among his children were Christopher, John, and Samuel. + +MCLEAN, THOMAS, was a cotton weaver residing in Elm street. He +subsequently went to New York where he died suddenly in a store while +making some purchases. His daughter is Mrs. Hugh Rooney. + +MCNALLY, DANIEL, kept a hotel for some years which was made famous by +the fact that General Lafayette stopped there for some time. He built +the large hotel on Market street, running from Hotel to Union street, +which was subsequently destroyed by fire. He died in Paterson but left +no children. + +MCNAMEE, ROBERT, was a laborer who resided on the corner of Broadway and +Mulberry street. His son, Bernard, subsequently occupied the same +building and it was here that Father Langton celebrated mass. Both the +McNamees were cotton spinners and died in Paterson. There are no +descendants of the family in this city. + +MORGAN, DANIEL, was a laborer who came to Paterson in 1826. When a short +time afterwards work was to be begun on the Catholic Church in Oliver +street he and a number of other laborers were sent to the site. Before +they began to dig the superintendent inquired whether there were any +Catholics among the laborers. Mr. Morgan stepped forward and the +superintendent said to him:--"Then you dig the first shovelful of dirt," +and Mr. Morgan did so. Mr. Morgan is still alive and resides at No. 77 +Jersey street. He is the grandfather of Mrs. Dr. O'Grady. + +MORRIS, MICHAEL, came to Paterson from Godwinville and was at first +employed as a cotton weaver, but subsequently devoted his attention to +dealing in waste. He was well known to nearly every Catholic in Paterson +and vicinity, and his death, which occurred a short time ago, was +lamented by all. He has two sons living, Michael J. Morris and the Rev. +John P. Morris. His only daughter died, leaving one child. + +MOONEY, TERENCE, was employed in the cotton mill, and resided on Main +street, near Slater. He died in Troy, N. Y., whither he had removed with +his family; several of his sons are now in Florida. + +MULHOLLAND, CHARLES, a cotton weaver, resided on the corner of Prospect +street and White's alley. He died in Paterson and his children removed +to other places.--James Mulholland, another of the pioneers of the +Catholic Church in this city, died some years ago after a long and +active life. His descendants still reside in Paterson. + +MURPHY, PATRICK, resided on the corner of Pine and Grand streets and was +in the employ of the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures. His +children still live in Paterson. + +MURTAGH, MICHAEL, was the first superintendent of the Paterson level of +the Morris Canal. His son Bernard is dead, but his other son John is in +business in this city and some time ago represented the Eighth Ward in +the Board of Aldermen. + +O'CALLAGHAN, JEREMIAH, was employed in a cotton mill. He left three +daughters, but no sons. One of his daughters is in business in this +city; another is the wife of Thomas Dynan and the third resides in +Baltimore. + +O'DONNELL, WILLIAM, another employee of a cotton mill, removed from +Paterson many years ago and went South. None of his descendants reside +in this city. + +O'KEEFE, THOMAS, resided in Ellison street, near Lynch's alley, and was +employed in the Phoenix Mill. His descendants subsequently removed to +New York and elsewhere. + +O'NEILL, CHARLES, came to Paterson in October, 1828, and went to work in +Prospect street as a shoemaker. Assiduous attention to his business +impaired his health, and his physician advised him either to take a sea +voyage or obtain some employment in which he could have outdoor +exercise. Mr. O'Neill went into the lumber business to which he +subsequently added coal and building material. He has always been +prominently connected with Catholic Church matters in Paterson, and was +one of the first trustees of the Oliver street church. Although +eighty-two years of age he still enjoys the best of health and vigor. +His son Charles Henry is in business in Jersey City and has held a +number of offices, including that of Mayor, to which he was elected for +three terms. His second son, Thomas E., assists him in his business, and +a third son, John, died some years ago, leaving a wife and three +children. His daughter, Susan, is the wife of John Agnew; another +daughter is Mrs. Catherine Sharkey and a third Mrs. Dr. Kane. Another +daughter, Theresa, has taken the veil and is in the convent at Madison. +Ellen and Esther still reside with their parents in Mill street.--John +and Barney O'Neill were brothers of the foregoing. John established the +shoe business conducted by his sons at No. 122 Main street. He and his +wife are dead, leaving three sons and three daughters. Barney married a +daughter of James Wade; he was an insurance agent, a justice of the +peace and a lay judge of the Court of Common Pleas in this county. Three +daughters and two sons still survive him.--Charles and Patrick O'Neill, +two brothers, no relation to the foregoing, were employed in a nail +factory which stood where the Gun Mill is now situated. They resided in +Prospect street and none of their descendants at the present day live in +Paterson.--Edward O'Neill, of another family from the foregoing, was +also employed in the Phoenix Mill and has several descendants living in +Paterson. + +O'REILLY, EDWARD, kept a dry goods store, and subsequently removed to +New York city, where he married and where he is still in business. + +POWERS, JAMES, for some years kept a store in Cross street, opposite +Elm, and erected the brick building situated just below Dr. Quin's +office. His only surviving son is ex-Alderman John Powers. His daughter, +Margaret, became a Sister of Charity and adopted the name of Sister +Regina. She died while at St. Agnes' Institute in this city, and her +remains rest in Paterson. Another daughter of Mr. Powers is Julia, wife +of William McNair. + +QUIN, PATRICK, was a contractor and resided in Passaic street. He was +for a long time one of the trustees of the Oliver street church. All his +children left Paterson after their father's death.--Arthur Quin resided +near Clifton and was a contractor, the principal field of his operations +being New York city. He subsequently removed to Paterson and put up a +number of buildings in West and Main streets. One of his sons is still +alive and is a resident of New York city. Dr. John Quin is distantly +related to Arthur and Patrick Quin, who were brothers. + +RAFFERTY, PETER AND PHILIP, were two brothers. Peter removed to +California, returned to Paterson for some time, but again turned his +face to the Pacific coast; he is now a resident of San Francisco. He was +married in Paterson to Miss Susan Russell, a niece of Charles O'Neill. +Philip was for many years trustee of the Oliver street church. He was +the junior member of the firm of Todd & Rafferty, and died in this city. +His first wife was a daughter of Joseph Warren, and his second a +daughter of Hugh Brady. + +RILEY, HUGH, kept a grocery on the corner of Cross and Market streets. +None of his descendants live in Paterson. + +ROSSITER, MARTIN, whose tragic death by being carried over the Falls in +the freshet of 1882 was deplored by all, was for many years a farmer in +the employ of the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures. His son +Richard is still in the employ of that corporation; another son is a +priest belonging to the order of Passionists, and a daughter is a Sister +of the Sacred Heart. Paul and George, two sons, are employed in New +York. + +SHEA--OR SHAY--BRIAN, was one of the first Catholics who settled in +Paterson. He had a private school on the old York road where it strikes +the river near the present site of the Cedar Lawn Cemetery. Among his +scholars was Henry P. Simmons, of Passaic, recently Lay Judge of the +Common Pleas of this county. The building on the York road was used +partly as a school and partly as the residence of the teacher. The +rising generation of those days referred to it as "The Bellows," from +the fact that the wind blew in at the many crevices in the building. Mr. +Shea had a son, James, who studied law in New York, and a daughter +Harriet. He subsequently owned the property adjoining the Oliver street +church, and sold it to McKinney, from whom the church obtained it. + +SHIELDS, CHRISTOPHER AND PATRICK, two brothers, were in the dry goods +business for some years on the corner of Main street and Broadway. They +removed from Paterson and have no descendants here. + +SLAVIN, JOHN, kept a bowling alley on the corner of Ellison and Prospect +streets. He died in Paterson, but none of his descendants live here at +the present day. + +TAGGART, PETER, was employed in the cotton mill. His widow, a daughter +of Joseph Warren, died quite recently, and his daughter is still living +in Paterson, the wife of William S. Kinch. + +TILBY, DR. JOHN, practised medicine in Paterson and resided in Cross +street, near Market. He died in this city, but his two sons and one +daughter removed to other places. + +VELASQUEZ, J., a Spaniard, owned the Phoenix Mill, and subsequently +formed a partnership with John Travers and embarked in the manufacture +of cotton. He subsequently sold out and left Paterson. + +WADE, JAMES, according to the most reliable accounts, enjoyed the +distinction of having been the first Catholic Sunday school teacher in +Paterson, having a class in the old church building on Mill and Market +streets. He lived at the corner of Cross and Ellison streets. His +daughters are Mrs. B. O'Neill of this city, Mrs. See of Totowa and Mrs. +Coughlin of Hoboken. Mr. Wade was a cotton spinner by occupation. + +WARD, PETER AND JAMES, two brothers, were engaged as butchers, although +James for some time worked in the Phoenix Mill. Both subsequently +removed to Rochester, where they died and where their descendants still +reside. + +WARREN, JOSEPH, in partnership with Brown, conducted a tannery and a +leather store in lower Main--then Park--street, almost opposite Bank +street. Mr. Brown's grandson still resides there. Brown boarded with +Warren and subsequently married his daughter, after which the family +removed to Division street. Mr. Warren was one of the trustees of the +Oliver street church when it was building. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + THE ERECTION OF THE OLIVER STREET CHURCH.--DOUBLING ITS + SIZE.--SKETCHES OF THE LIVES OF ITS PASTORS, FATHERS DUFFY, + O'REILLY, JAMES QUIN, THOMAS QUIN, SENEZ, BEAUDEVIN AND CALLAN.--A + PRIEST'S HEROIC DEATH. + + +The arrangements for the building of a new church in Oliver street were +made in 1828, the year in which the trustees of St. John's Church +obtained the grant of the land from Mr. Colt. Rt. Rev. Bishop Du Bois, +who had so generously interested himself in the welfare of the +congregation, solicited subscriptions and among others obtained one of +$2,000 from a Southern gentleman. Father Duffy and the trustees of the +church were indefatigable in their efforts and in 1829 the foundation of +the new church was laid, the work being done by Thomas Parker. It was +intended to erect a church fifty-five feet front and one hundred feet +deep and the work progressed favorably until the foundation wall had +been erected and the lower window frames fixed in their places. +Unfortunate dissensions among the members of the congregation then arose +and to this was added the debate of the question whether church property +in the State should be held by trustees, as had hitherto been the case, +or whether the title to the church property should be vested in the name +of the Bishop of the diocese. The result was that the work on the new +church was stopped for the time being and the congregation continued +worshipping in the old church, on Market and Mill streets, which had +been somewhat improved. In 1832 the trustees of the church were Charles +O'Neill, John P. Brown, Joseph Warren, Andrew Lynch, James D. Kiley and +Andrew Griffith. There was no question that the church on Market and +Mill streets was too small and that something had to be done to +accommodate the constantly and rapidly increasing congregation. So in +the early part of 1833 the trustees above mentioned, together with a +number of other gentlemen prominent in the church, held a meeting in the +yard of the old church on Market and Mill streets and deliberated what +to do. It was soon apparent that there were two factions. The one +faction favored doubling the size of the church on Market and Mill +streets and abandoning the Oliver street enterprise. The other faction, +of which Mr. O'Neill was the leader, insisted that a new church be +erected on Oliver street and Mr. O'Neill argued strongly in favor of +this project. The meeting finally adjourned without having come to any +conclusion. The friends of the Oliver street church then visited their +opponents at their residences and by dint of argument and persuasion +finally induced them to give their consent to the new project so that at +a meeting held two weeks after the first meeting it was resolved to go +on with the work on Oliver street. It was then discovered that some of +the trustees and a portion of the congregation favored constructing the +church on the foundations as originally built in 1829; the larger and +more conservative element considered the limited resources of the church +and finally prevailed. Changes were made in the plans, a portion of the +foundation was taken down, so as to bring the windows nearer to the +ground, and the second Catholic Church in Paterson was erected. The +church on Mill and Market streets had been sold for $1,625. There were +two bidders for the work to be done in Oliver street, but James +Galbraith being $700 lower than his competitor, the contract was awarded +to him and he erected the church. Subscriptions came in better than had +been anticipated and the church was compelled to borrow but little; that +little was raised on the individual notes of prominent Catholics, but +when the church was completed there was very little debt. + +The work on the church was done under the superintendence of the +trustees and Father Patrick Duffy, the pastor of the church. Father +Duffy had no clergyman to assist him but his energy and untiring zeal +were equal to all occasions; and when he left Paterson in 1836 it was +with the sincerest regrets of all the members of the congregation, and +the most hearty wishes for his future welfare followed him to the new +scene of his labors, Newburg, Cold Springs and Poughkeepsie, N. Y. +Catholicism had not as yet taken deep root in that vicinity and Father +Duffy had a large field but a small flock. With the increase in the +number of the Catholics more priests were needed and Father Duffy +confined his labors to the City of Newburg, where he died on June 20, +1853. + +Father Duffy was succeeded by Father Philip O'Reilly, who still lives in +the pleasant recollections of hundreds of citizens of Paterson. He +continued until 1845 as the sole shepherd of St. John's congregation. He +was a large and powerfully-built man, of commanding presence and very +social qualities. He mixed a great deal with persons of other faiths, +and by his sociability, brilliancy and powerful arguments succeeded in +destroying a great deal of prejudice which had previously existed +against the Catholic religion. Father O'Reilly belonged to one of the +oldest and most respectable families in Ireland. He was born in the town +of Seraba, county Cavan, a county which was once called O'Reilly's +county. Father O'Reilly traced his ancestry back to beyond the time of +James I., and at the time of Father O'Reilly's labors in Paterson some +of his kinsmen were still in possession of the estates which had +belonged to the family for centuries. Father O'Reilly was educated in +Spain, being a member of the order of St. Dominic, and travelled through +Italy, France and England. For some years he was chaplain to the Duke of +Norfolk, a position of ease and honor. The duties there were, however, +not enough for the restless and untiring spirit of Father O'Reilly, and +so when less than thirty years of age he left Europe to seek for sterner +duties in this country. He was first stationed at Poughkeepsie and then +came to Paterson. From this city he went to Cold Springs, N. Y., where +he built the first Catholic church. He was then removed to West Troy, +and afterwards placed in charge of St. Bridget's Church in New York. As +pastor of this church he died in the 62nd year of his life on the 7th of +December, 1854. His remains were interred on the 9th of the same month +in St. Patrick's Cathedral, the funeral being attended by a large +concourse of admiring and sorrowing friends, both of the clergy and +laity. + +In the latter part of the pastorate of Father O'Reilly the congregation +of St. John's had so increased in numbers that it was found necessary to +enlarge the church. Steps were accordingly taken in this direction, but +the project was not carried into execution until some time after the +advent of Father James Quin, who came to Paterson in 1845. There was +considerable discussion concerning the plans of the addition and the +work was not begun until 1846. Instead of erecting the church to the +size of the old foundation walls--which had been entirely torn down and +used in the construction of the first part of the church in 1833--the +building was made thirteen feet longer, so that the present size of the +church is one hundred and thirteen feet deep and fifty-five front. The +original plot of land obtained from Mr. Colt would not have permitted of +the erection of a building of that size, and so an arrangement was +entered into with the county--which at that time was contemplating the +erection of the present county jail--by which the congregation deeded to +the county a gore of land in return for another gore of similar size. +The addition to the church was built by Colonel Andrew Derrom, and +resulted in a vexatious law suit which was decided in favor of the +congregation. Shortly after the completion of the addition the seating +capacity of the church was considerably enlarged by the erection of a +gallery on the sides of the church. The seating capacity of the church +was about 1,300. As was the case with the first half of the church +building the moneys needed for the construction came in in a very +satisfactory manner so that the church had very little debt when the +structure was accepted from the contractors. + +When Father James Quin came to Paterson to take charge of St. John's +congregation his brother, Thomas, was preparing for ordination, and +after Father James Quin had been here about a year he was joined by his +brother, who came to Paterson as soon as he had been ordained. Father +James Quin was of delicate health, and in addition to the assistance of +his brother had the occasional services of Rev. Dr. Cummings, who +frequently came to Paterson from St. Stephen's Church. Father James Quin +died on the 13th of June, 1851, being at the time pastor of the church. +He was the only priest who died in Paterson, and his remains are +interred in the cemetery on Sandy Hill. Father Thomas Quin succeeded his +brother as pastor of the church and remained about a year. He was +educated at St. Joseph's Seminary, at Fordham, and was ordained by Right +Rev. Bishop Hughes on June 14, 1849. His remains are interred at Rahway +in this State, of which place he was pastor. His sister, Mrs. Bridget +Smith, widow of Michael Smith, still resides in this city on Mill +street, near Slater. + +Father Thomas Quin was succeeded by Father D. Senez, who came in 1852 +and remained until 1858. In the latter part of his pastorate he was +assisted frequently on Sundays by Father G. McMahon. Father Senez came +here from Newark and when he left he went to Jersey City, where he built +St. Mary's Church, of which he is still the pastor. He made a number of +improvements to the Oliver street church in this city and it was with +the greatest regrets that the Catholics of Paterson saw him depart for +other fields. + +Father Victor Beaudevin succeeded Father Senez in 1858 and remained +until October, 1861. He was a scholastic of the Society of Jesus and was +ordained a priest by Rt. Rev. Bishop Hughes on May 25, 1850. When he +left Paterson he rejoined the Order of Jesuits and is at present in +Canada. He was assisted by Father J. Schandel, who was subsequently the +first pastor of St. Boniface's Church of this city, in the erection of +which church he received material assistance from Father Beaudevin. + +Father Callan came to St. John's congregation in 1861 and remained about +two years, leaving here in October, 1863. He was one of the most +energetic priests that ever came to Paterson. He was quiet and +unassuming but continually busy with projects for the benefit of the +Catholic Church. His death constituted one of the most romantic episodes +in the history of the Catholic Church in this country. Some time after +he left Paterson he went on a mission to California traveling thither by +boat from New York. While going from San Francisco to his mission in +Santa Barbara the steamer on which he was was discovered to be on fire. +The wildest confusion ensued and an attempt to run the vessel ashore +failed. While most of those on board were busy devising plans for their +personal safety and resorting to all kinds of expedients to save their +lives Father Callan buried himself giving spiritual consolation and +administering the last sacraments and rites of the Church. He had ample +opportunity to save his life but the poor distressed on shipboard, who +had been injured by the explosion which had taken place, and some of +whom were dying, called for the consolations of religion and Father +Callan remained to dispense them. He died while in the discharge of his +duty--the death of a hero and a martyr. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + THE EDIFICE ON GRAND AND MAIN STREETS.--THE ERECTION OF THE PRESENT + CHURCH OF THE CONGREGATION.--THE CORNER STONE LAYING AND THE + DEDICATION.--A DESCRIPTION OF THE CHURCH. + + +In 1863 Father William McNulty, the present pastor of St. John's +congregation, came to Paterson and took charge of the fortunes and +spiritual welfare of the constantly increasing congregation. The Oliver +street church had become too small and could no longer hold the large +numbers which crowded to it every Sunday for the purpose of attending +divine worship. Father McNulty consequently set to work preparing a new +edifice. It was his intention to provide a church which should be large +enough to afford every Catholic in the city all the conveniences of +attending mass and receiving the sacraments and at the same time he +intended to erect a structure which would be a credit to the liberality +and enterprise of the congregation. He accordingly entered into +negotiations with the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures and +in 1865 he purchased from it sixteen lots on the corner of Grand and +Main streets. The new enterprise seemed to infuse new vigor into the +members of the congregation and the full amount of the purchase money of +the real estate was raised in two months. Preparations were made for the +construction of the new church and on September 10, 1865, the corner +stone was laid. + +The following account of the corner stone laying of the church is taken +from the Paterson Daily Press of September 11, 1865: + +"An immense concourse of people, numbering probably ten thousand, +gathered at three o'clock at the site of the new Catholic Church of St. +John the Baptist, to witness the ceremony of laying the corner stone of +the edifice, by the Rev. Bishop Bayley, Roman Catholic prelate of this +diocese. Music was furnished by the band attached to the Church of the +Assumption at Williamsburgh, and a large choir of male and female +voices. The procession of clergy, preceded by a cross, and accompanying +the Bishop in full and splendid canonicals reached the southeast corner +of the church about half past two, at which time the pressure was +fearful. The corner stone after being crossed and blessed by the Bishop +was then laid with the ceremonials prescribed in the Pontifical. It is +carved with a cross on the two exposed faces, and has a cavity within, +wherein were placed the following articles: + +"Specimens of the United States currency, gold, silver, copper and +paper; also copies of Paterson Press and Guardian of Saturday, copies of +the New York Tablet and Herald, and the following document: + + "JESUS HOMINUM REDEMPTOR. + +"Lapis hic angularis Templi ad Dei Unius Omnipotentis cultum, sub +Patricinio Sancti Joannes Baptistæ in hoc Patersoniensis urbe ædificandi +ab illustrissimo et Reverendissimo Jacobo Roosevelt Bayley, hujus +Novarcensis dioceseos, Episcopo Pio IX P. M., ecclesiam, per orbem +regenti, Patricio Moran Vicario Generali, Gulielmo McNulty Parocho, +Jacobo D'Arcy sacerdote coadjutore. + +"Foederatarum Americæ Septemtrionalis Provinciarum Preside Andrea +Johnson, Novae Cæsareæ Gubernatore Joele Parker, urbis hujus Proctore +Henrico A. Williams, Architecto Patrico C. Keely, ædificationis, +delectis Carolo O'Neill, Roberto Hamil, Gulielmo Watson, Michaeli Morris +et Patricio Curran. Benedictus et positus est III Idus Septembri, Anno +Salutis MDCCCLXV. Hoc operato, concionem, maxime facundam magna civium +adstantium corona, habuit jam laudatus præsul decus gregis, quem diu +sospitem nostro sæculo servet, + + "DEUS, + +"Cui sit honor, laus et gloria in Sempiternum. + +"The Bishop, and attending clergy, then traversed the foundations of the +edifice, the Bishop blessing them and sprinkling them with holy water. +Then returning to the corner-stone the Bishop proceeded to deliver the +following address:--'It is the custom of the Bishop in laying the +corner-stone of a new church to say something upon the occasion, and it +is always a source of great pleasure for me to lay and bless the +corner-stone of a new church. The circumstances, it is true, are not +always the most agreeable, the ceremony being performed in the open air, +and it is sometimes too hot, and sometimes too cold, or it may rain, +although to-day the sun has shone out most opportunely. But these, after +all, are slight inconveniences. As I officiate upon these occasions, it +is impossible for me to separate them from the source of the blessings +to follow to the individual and to society. The thought that is always +uppermost in my mind when I lay the corner-stone of a church is of those +wells in the desert spoken of so beautifully in the old Scriptures; +those fountains in the dry and sandy deserts of the East, made by the +old patriarchs, which still spread beauty and fertility around them, and +still refresh the weary traveller. The wild Arab ranging the desert as +he sees and drinks of those living waters, blesses the names of those +old patriarchs who made them flow. So it is with the Church of Christ. +That Church is, indeed, a fountain of living waters in the desert, +spreading fertility and blessings around it and refreshing and blessing +the weary traveller on his journey through life. It is indeed a great +and a good work we are engaged in. It is a work for the glory and honor +of the Good and Supreme Ruler of all things, and it cannot fail to bring +down blessings on ourselves and all who come after us. The erection of a +church is a noble and substantial act of faith; not expressed in words +but built up in enduring brick and stone, and thus stronger and more +complete than mere words. It shows that you honor God and love your +religion; that you are anxious for the glory of the House of God, and +wish its rites to be fitly celebrated. It shows, too, that you are +anxious that those who come after you shall bow at the same altars, and +be guided by the same precepts that you are guided by. Some would say, +looking at the foundations I have blessed to-day, Why an expense that +seems disproportionate to the means! It is, perhaps, a natural question, +and yet it is one that always sounds badly to the Catholic ear. We +should not speak of cost in connection with the house and glory of +Almighty God. The question I allude to was first asked by Judas, +concerning an act of charity and love done for our Divine Master. Let us +recognize by our generosity, by the size, cost and magnificence of the +temples we erect to Him, that God is ruler not only over the world, but +in our hearts. If you will visit Catholic cities you will find the most +beautiful buildings erected, not to purposes of science and art, but to +the glory of God, and for works of charity done in His name. The +Catholic Church has always been a church builder. She began with the +Catacombs, which you will find in many parts of Europe and particularly +at Rome. To those places the faithful were wont to flee from the light +of day to offer their rites and worship God in their own way. As you +pass along those corridors, cut from the solid rock and lined on either +side with the bodies of the dead, you find in places they expand into +chambers where church rites were held. I recall one near Naples, a +church called after St. Agnes, near the scene of her martyrdom, where +there is a beautiful church, with an altar and a seat for the Bishop. In +some of these churches where the light of day does not shine the walls +are decorated with frescoes, from subjects of the Old Testament. I need +not say that when the Church came up to worship God in the light of day +she continued to erect noble edifices to the glory of God, hence those +noble basilicas, churches and cathedrals we see in the old countries. +Those noble structures have been stigmatized as creations of the Dark +Ages. Some of you may have seen them. Those who have not can form no +idea of their beauty and grandeur, which impress even those of other +faiths who enter them. They are truly noble poems, built in stone under +the light of Heaven. It would be quite as easy for an ordinary person to +compose a stanza of Paradise Lost, or Dante's Divina Comedia, as to +construct even the slightest portion of one of those beautiful works. It +has been the theory of a certain school, now I am happy to say fast +passing away, that these noble buildings were the result of +superstition; that they were built by men of habits of great violence +and crime, who compounded with God, as it were, to keep a portion of +their stolen goods, while with the remainder they erected those noble +churches and monasteries. This theory was entirely false. These were men +like unto ourselves, as regards human nature: when they did wrong they +might offer reparation, but it was no superstition that found means to +build these churches. In our days men are recognizing a better theory; +that it was faith, piety and love for God that prompted these works. +Those men in erecting their churches gave expression to their faith, and +showed their love to God as you are showing it now.' + +"(The Bishop said he could not enter into a description of these +churches. He would only refer briefly to one, the Cathedral of Chartres, +France, of which he found it noted in the chronicle of Haman that it was +seventy years in building. One is not surprised that it should have been +so, when he looks upon it. It has suffered from the tooth of time, but +many of its interior features, and especially its noble old stained +windows, are very perfect still. He had been told by an archæologist +that it would cost three or four millions of francs to restore it. This +noble cathedral was built not by the rich and titled, but by the hands +of poor men. There must have been thousands working on it night and day +for those seventy years. Thousands of noble persons were busy in +supplying provisions to the laborers. Delicate maidens might have been +seen carrying stones for the church. The whole population labored, not +merely the citizen, but the dweller in the province, to erect that +building that should stand until the end of time.) + +"'They did not build in vain. Their time was well spent. That church has +been a constant sermon telling for over a thousand years the glory of +God. Who may tell what force such a church may add to a preacher's +words? Such churches have stood bearing witness against heresy and false +doctrine and helping Catholics to keep the faith. They have been +beacon-lights to warn men who wished to serve the true God from their +false philosophy. The spirit shown in the project of the large and +costly church here commenced is that which has always animated the +Catholic heart. I congratulate you, then; I congratulate your zealous +and faithful pastor; I congratulate you all; Catholics of this city, and +Protestants too; for this is a matter which concerns the interests of +all who believe in and love God, who reverence law, order and public +security, because all these are founded upon religion. In the place +where people do not believe in God, there must be degradation, violence, +insecurity and sometimes anarchy. Here we erect another bulwark against +irreligion, indifference and vice, which all must acknowledge are +spreading over our fair republic. He did not feel the necessity of +spending any more breath in exhorting them to carry on generously and +faithfully the great work they had undertaken. The rubric in the +Pontifical which I hold in my hand imperfectly translated says that it +is the duty of the Bishop before he lays the corner stone of a church to +take care that means are provided for its completion, and for the +support of its clergy, and the proper celebration of worship. But the +times are not as they once were. Now we do not find it necessary to wait +until all the means are provided. We depend now upon the wide-spread +liberality of our people, many of whom, it is true, are poor. We saw +to-day a woman, who from her dress and appearance, was evidently casting +her all into the treasury of the Lord's House. I cannot condemn her, +since the Lord once blessed such an act as hers. How dear will this spot +be henceforth! Here you shall worship God; here receive the holy +sacraments; here come to hear the words of eternal truth. May it indeed +be to you in the language of the old Patriarch, the House of God and the +Gate of Heaven. May you here obtain the grace of a good death and be +hence admitted to everlasting glory, to a habitation not made with +hands, eternal in the heavens.' + +"While the address was in progress, baskets were passed among the crowd +for contributions, a handsome sum being realized. The congregation was +dismissed with the Pontifical benediction." + +The erection of the walls of the church was at once proceeded with. P. +C. Keely, of New York, was the architect, but every day while work was +going on Father McNulty was present supervising the erection and +attending to the many matters which require attention in the +construction of so large a structure as St. John's Church. The building +was erected by day's work and is one of the most substantially built +churches in the country. Father McNulty was assisted by an advisory +building committee consisting of Charles O'Neill, Robert Hamil, William +G. Watson and others. The stone used in the construction of the church +was brought by canal from Little Falls and dressed on the ground as +required. The slate used in the roof was imported from England. The +chime of bells, the only one in the city, which had been used in the +Oliver street church, was transferred to the new edifice. Before the +completion of the main building a neat little chapel was built on the +north east corner of the property; this was at once fitted up and is at +present used for confessionals and other purposes. The total seating +capacity of the new church is 1750. The following brief description of +the church is taken from the recently published History of Bergen and +Passaic Counties: + +"The church is eighty-eight feet front and one hundred and eighty feet +deep; twin turrets rise on each side of the front to the height of the +peak, ninety feet, but are to be carried thirty feet higher; on the +Grand street side there is a square tower, about one hundred feet high +at present; it is to be adorned with a spire rising to the height of two +hundred and twenty-five feet from the ground. The main entrance is on +Main street, through a fine doorway, the arch of which is about thirty +feet high. The roof is supported in the interior by graceful stone +columns, sixty feet high, from which spring stout arches of wood painted +to resemble stone. The ceilings and walls are decorated in the mediæval +style by two celebrated artists from Munich, Messrs. Lang and Kinkeln. +Symbolic paintings adorn the side walls, depicting the twelve stations +upon a background of gold flecked with blue. The windows are of stained +glass each contributed by some member of the congregation." + +The sanctuary also contains five masterpieces of the painter's art, +being representations of the five principal mysteries of the life of +Christ, the Annunciation, the Birth, the Institution of the Holy +Eucharist, the Resurrection and the Ascension. + +The following are the positions of the windows and the names of the +persons or societies who donated them: + + ALTAR. + + Rev. L. G. Thebaud, Rev. W. McNulty. + John Agnew, Charles O'Neill. + W. G. Watson, S. H. Wall. + Miss E. Carr, Mrs. M. Freel. + Christopher McKiernan. + Robert Hamil, Mrs. B. Mack. + St. Agnes' Society, Rosary Society. + St. Patrick's T. A. B. Society, Mrs. C. Cameron. + United Sons of Erin, United Sons of Erin. + + ENTRANCE. + + P. J. St. Lawrence, In memory of P. McKenna. + +The stained glass windows in the chapel were given by Elizabeth Mooney, +Mary Freel, Anna Sullivan and Hannah St. Lawrence. + +The following is the estimated cost of the various parts of the work: + + Cutting of the doors, windows, columns, corbels, &c. $ 30,000 + Interior decorations 7,000 + Main altar--a gift from a member of the congregation 2,000 + Windows 8,000 + Organ 10,000 + Masonry and rest of the work 143,000 + -------- + $200,000 + +The present debt of the church is $27,000, and its annual income about +$30,000 from all sources, barely sufficient to meet all the large and +numerous demands on the treasury. The number of Catholics in the city +is estimated at 20,000, more than one-third of the population. + +The church was dedicated on the 31st of July, 1870. The following +account of this ceremony is taken from the Paterson Daily Press of the +next day: + +"Yesterday was a great day for the Roman Catholic population of +Paterson, and a proud day for the Rev. Father McNulty, the energetic +pastor of St. John's Church, to whose remarkable energy and zeal his +people are indebted for so grand a design as the erection of the +splendid church which was solemnly dedicated yesterday with all the pomp +and magnificence of the Roman Catholic ritual. Before the hour for +commencing the services an immense throng had collected in the vicinity +of the old and the new church in upper Main street to witness the +ceremonies outside while the church was crowded by a vast congregation, +admitted by tickets at one dollar each to see and hear the splendid +service within. Of the church itself, its main architectural features, +dimensions, etc., we have so often spoken that we need not refer to it +particularly here save to notice what has been added by the way of +furnishing and decorations. The building is yet far from completion and +no doubt its full embellishment will be the work of years. It already, +however, gives promise of being a very beautiful church. It is frescoed +in stone colors, crimson, green, blue and gold. The sculptured capitals +of the stone columns are elaborately decorated and gilded. The arches of +the clere-story are stone color, edged with maroon, and gold stars, the +tracery in relief being light green. The side walls are salmon drab. The +seats are of hard wood, walnut, ash, etc., seemingly fashioned more for +durability than beauty. The altar, reached by two steps, is placed in a +spacious chancel, flanked by commodious chapels. The walls and ceiling +of the chancel are frescoed in the same colors as the body of the +church, and contain numerous paintings of scenes in the life of our +Savior and St. Peter, and other saints. Its large east window has not +its glass in yet. The other stained windows of the church are complete. +They are very beautiful, and each bears the name of its donor, some of +the faithful of the congregation having contributed the money for each, +and as long as the church stands the indelible record of their +generosity will endure. The chancel is covered by a handsome carpet of +brown and blue. The altar is painted white, mauve and gold. It is +elaborately ornamented with vases, pictures and flowers, and hung with +white lace embroidered with gold grapes. A wreath of vivid green leaves, +interspersed with white lilies, is twined in the front. It contains a +multitude of tapers, and is surmounted by a figure of Christ upon the +cross. The pulpit placed within the body of the church is small, and far +from imposing in its appearance. + +"The ceremonies of dedication commenced outside of the church, where a +procession was formed of the clergy and societies, the latter consisting +of the Sons of Erin, and the St. John's and St. Patrick's Temperance +Societies. The procession was headed by two taper bearers and a crucifix +bearer, several of the officiating priests, and the Right Rev. Bishop +Wood, of Philadelphia, who conducted the ceremony of dedication. The +Bishop was clad in magnificent robes of white satin superbly embroidered +in gold devices, and silk flowers of glowing colors. He wore his mitre +and carried a gorgeous crozier. The procession marched around the church +chanting the Miserere, the Bishop sprinkling the walls with holy water. +It then entered the front door and proceeded up the centre aisle to the +alter, the Bishop and procession chanting alternately the Litany of the +Saints. The Bishop and attendants then traversed the interior limit of +the church, the walls of which were sprinkled with holy water by the +celebrant, the priests solemnly chanting the while. During this ceremony +the candles on the altar were lighted, and all was made ready for the +celebration of a solemn mass in the presence of a Bishop. This was +celebrated with the utmost pomp. The Bishop commenced the mass and +proceeded as far as the Confitieor when the celebrant, Father Senez, of +Jersey City, proceeded in the usual form. Father Hennessy, of Bergen, +acted as Deacon, Dr. Garvey, of Hackensack, as sub-Deacon, and the Rev. +P. McCarthy, of Seton Hall, as Master of Ceremonies. Among the clergy +present were the Rev. Monsignor Seton, Chaplain of the Convent at +Madison; Dr. Corrigan, President of Seton Hall College; Father Corrigan, +of St. Peter's, Jersey City; Father Byrne, of Camden, and the clergy of +the church, Fathers W. McNulty, Thebaud and Vescelle. The Bishop's +secretary and several of the seminarians of Seton Hall College were also +present. + +"The sermon was preached by the Rev. Mr. Byrne, of Camden, from the 6th +Chapter of the Second Book of 'Paraleipomena,' or 'Book of Things +Omitted,' and was an earnest and eloquent appeal in behalf of the +Catholic faith, which he said makes sermons even of stones, and by its +grand and solemn services impresses the mind even of the stranger. The +preacher told an anecdote showing how powerfully a Baptist lady had been +impressed while visiting Bishop Wood's Church in Philadelphia, so that +she dropped upon her knees and prayed as fervently as any. The speaker +paid a glowing compliment to the zeal and generosity of the +congregation, and especially to the worthy pastor, for the erection of +this noble offering to God. It was beautiful architecturally, but it had +a beauty for the child of faith, the earnest Catholic, before which all +its outward beauty vanished as the glory of the earth before the glory +of the heaven. It is the glory and beauty of the indwelling of Christ. + +"After the close of the mass, the Bishop addressed a few words of +congratulation to the congregation. He said they had reared a beautiful +and spacious temple and had reason to be grateful to God who gave them +so earnest and devoted a pastor to lead them. It is an evidence of His +special love. They should have but one sentiment. Thanks be to God; from +God all good things come. They must give him all he asks with grateful +hearts. He regretted that their own noble Bishop was not there and yet +he ought not to regret it, for in that case he (the speaker) should have +probably lost the great pleasure of being there. Remember the more God +bestows, the more he requires. Their struggle here will only cease with +life. There are signs on the horizon, that a special struggle may be +coming following the action of the General Council now in session. The +storm may come but God will direct it, and it will pass away, and be +succeeded by a longer and more glorious sunshine. + +"The music of the mass was remarkably fine, under the skillful direction +of Prof. Davis, the organist of St. John's church. Only a small +temporary organ had been set up, it being the intention to order a +superb new organ, of dimensions suitable for the church. The full +effect, therefore, of the pieces could not be given, but they were +rendered with great skill and effect. The Kyrie and Gloria were by +Cerutti, the Offertory by Millard, the Credo by Farmer, the Sanctus by +Mercadante, and the Agnus Dei by Farmer. The solos were finely rendered +by Misses Graham and Maggie O'Neill and Mr. Hensler, bass, and Nauwerck, +tenor. The latter is the only one who does not belong to the regular +choir of the church. The other members, all of whom did admirably, are +Misses Theresa O'Neill, Bowen, Quin, McGuire, Sheehan and Hawley. + +"The entire services were very impressive and occupied three hours in +all. Among the crowded congregation were a great many prominent citizens +not of the Roman Catholic faith. The ushers attended with great courtesy +to the comfort of all." + +The time occupied to build the church as it stands at present was +fourteen years. + +In 1872 the congregation purchased four lots of land on Grand street, +east of the church building, from the Society for Establishing Useful +Manufactures, paying therefor the sum of $10,800. The property was +bought for the purpose of erecting a parsonage and work on this was +begun soon after the acquirement of the real estate. The parsonage is a +handsome structure built in the same style as the church and of similar +materials. The mason work was done by Patrick J. St. Lawrence, the price +being $7,000. The erection of the building cost altogether about +$15,000. + +The congregation retained the old church property in Oliver street but a +number of important alterations were made. The building was changed into +a hall for lectures, concerts, entertainments and the like and is known +as St. John's Hall. A portion of the building is used for school +purposes to relieve the parochial school which adjoins it. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + SKETCH OF THE PASTOR OF ST. JOHN'S CHURCH.--A SILVER JUBILEE.--A + LIFE DEVOTED TO THE SERVICE OF THE ALMIGHTY.--THE CHOIR OF THE + CHURCH.--VARIOUS SOCIETIES OF THE CONGREGATION. + + +No person in Paterson has done harder and more energetic work in the +cause of Catholicism than the reverend pastor of St. John's +congregation, Father William McNulty. His pluck, untiring zeal, kind +disposition and many other laudable characteristics have endeared him to +all. Never was this more plainly shown than at the celebration of the +twenty-fifth anniversary of his ordination. On this occasion, August 6th +and 7th, 1882, the clergy, of whom there were nearly half a hundred +present presented Father McNulty with an address giving a short sketch +of his life and paying him tributes which he had so richly deserved. As +this address faithfully depicts the character of the worthy priest and +tells of some of the many worthy and more prominent actions it is here +reproduced in full: + +"We are met here to-day to congratulate you on this auspicious occasion, +the twenty-fifth anniversary of your elevation to the sacred priesthood. +Not to many is it given to see your years in the holy ministry, though +years constitute no merit; but to few indeed is it granted to accomplish +works such as you have achieved, for you are fuller of works than of +days. + +"Imbued with the missionary spirit of your countrymen, you early left +your native land, 'the island of Saints and Apostles,' bidding 'adieu to +Ballyshannon and the winding banks of Erne.' Arriving in New York in +1850, you entered the celebrated halls of the Jesuits at Fordham, where +you drank deep of classical and philosophical lore; and graduated with +distinction. Thence you repaired to that illustrious seat of learning, +so justly styled 'the nursery of priests and bishops'--Mt. St. Mary's +College, Emmettsburgh, Md., where for four years, guided by the spirit +of the saintly Dubois, and the indomitable Brute; under the tutorship of +the learned McCaffrey and the gentle Elder 'you were nourished up in the +words of faith and good doctrine.' There, under the peaceful shadow of +'the old mountain,' you were taught the chief characteristics of a true +minister of Christ; who, according to the Apostle, should be 'of +blameless life, sober, prudent, of good behaviour, chaste, modest, not +quarrelsome, not greedy of filthy lucre, holding the mysteries of the +faith in a pure conscience, an example of the faithful in word, in +conversation, in charity, in faith.' + +"Thus prepared, and having received ordination at the hands of the late +lamented Archbishop Bayley, you went forth five and twenty years ago +to-day, 'to labor as a good soldier of Christ' in the Diocese of Newark. + +"You were first selected to assist as Vice-President the present +distinguished Bishop of Rochester in conducting at Madison the college +of Seton Hall which has since developed into the far-famed institution +at South Orange, much of whose success may be traced back to the fact +that you reproduced at Madison the zeal which you had seen exercised, +and the discipline which you had seen enforced at your mountain 'Alma +Mater.' + +"You were afterwards placed over the missions of Morris county, +including Mendham, Basking Ridge and other neighboring stations, where +you erected churches and attended to the spiritual wants of that +extensive district, at the same time discharging the office of chaplain +to the infant community of the Sisters of Charity at Madison, and +assisting them very materially in the management of their temporal +affairs. + +"In 1863 the church of St. John the Baptist, Paterson, was without a +pastor. The Right Rev. Bishop, knowing the importance of this growing +city, which has since become one of the most successful manufacturing +centres of the country, and thoroughly appreciating its religious wants, +cast his eyes over his clergy, to find one capable of holding the reins +of its destiny with a vigorous hand. He knew that in large manufacturing +cities, there were numerous dangers to souls, and none more to be +dreaded than those arising from intemperance. With that correctness of +judgment which always marked his appointments, he fixed his eyes on the +Vice-President of Seton Hall, and commissioned him to enter on a new +sphere of labor on the banks of the Passaic. Here, indeed, you found a +field not wholly uncultivated, for zealous priests had preceded you. +That veteran missionary and church-builder, Father Senez, now the highly +esteemed pastor of St. Mary's, Jersey City, had labored some years on +this mission with distinguished success. The lamented Fathers O'Reilly, +Quinn and Callan had left the impress of their zeal and piety on the +Catholic population of Paterson. Here you found a spacious church, and a +large congregation of generous and devoted Catholics. Nevertheless your +penetrating mind soon perceived that the wants of your growing flock +were not sufficiently provided for, and that the church was too small to +accommodate the crowds which presented themselves Sunday after Sunday +for divine worship. In 1865, therefore, having purchased a most suitable +location, you laid the corner stone of this magnificent temple, one of +the noblest monuments of religion in the United States. After five years +of ceaseless toil, at night collecting from your generous flock the +necessary funds, by day laboring even with your own hands in the quarry, +measuring the stone, mounting the walls, and giving directions to the +builders, with untiring zeal and unremitting effort, after an +expenditure of $200,000, you at length beheld your church ready for +dedication to God. The Archbishop of Philadelphia in the absence of your +own ordinary, did you the honor to come from his archiepiscopal city to +consecrate this magnificent edifice to the worship of the Most High. +This was indeed a proud day not merely for yourself and your devoted +people, but also for the entire population of Paterson, all rejoicing +that they had in their midst a pastor capable of conceiving and +executing so grand a work. + +"Had you rested here you had done enough to enshrine your name and +perpetuate your memory in the grateful hearts of the people of Paterson. +But happily this was only the first of your great achievements in their +behalf. Having completed the new church of St. John, you next turned +your attention to the wants of the orphan, and the need of a suitable +cemetery for the burial of the Catholic dead. In 1868, you purchased the +beautiful site two miles from the city on the banks of the swift flowing +Passaic. Here you erected St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum, and laid out the +cemetery of the Holy Sepulchre. In that asylum, under the direction of +the Sisters of Charity, ever ready to care for the fatherless, you have +every year maintained nearly a hundred orphans, while the cemetery of +the Holy Sepulchre, so charmingly situated, and so elegantly laid out +bids fair to become one of the most admired repositories of the dead in +this State. Finding in 1870, that notwithstanding the immense +proportions of St. John's Church, the entire Catholic population could +not be accommodated within its spacious precincts, you purchased a very +desirable property on Broadway, whereon you erected St. Joseph's Church, +which you attended for seven years, and which when ready to be erected +into a regular parish, you found to have a value of $30,000. The good +work which you began there was successfully carried on by the lamented +Father Molloy, and is now being continued with no less success by the +present distinguished pastor, the zealous and learned Dr. Smith. + +"A few years afterwards, perceiving that the Catholic population on the +left bank of the Passaic had increased very considerably, you purchased +a suitable plot of ground at Totowa, and erected thereon a commodious +brick edifice, making the lower story answer for religious, and the +upper for educational purposes. At the same time you introduced, and +provided a residence for the Sisters of St. Dominic, to take charge of +the schools there. Three years ago, after accumulating a property of +$20,000, for the new foundation, you recommended the Right Rev. Bishop +to erect this second daughter of St. John's into a regular parish +church, and had the satisfaction of seeing appointed to its first +rectorship Rev. Father Curran, the courageous founder and indefatigable +editor of the 'Paterson Times.' + +"One of the most pressing needs in a great city like Paterson, where in +consequence of extensive manufactures there is great liability to +accident and disease, was a hospital for the sick and wounded, to the +establishment of which in 1869, under the management of the Sisters of +Charity, you largely contributed. Under your fostering care and liberal +encouragement, this institution of benevolence has gone on for fourteen +years in its career of mercy, sheltering the sick and disabled without +distinction of country, creed or color. Long may it prosper in its +Godlike work, and long may you be spared to be a father and guide to the +self-sacrificing sisters who so successfully conduct it. + +"In 1874, the old pastoral residence having become too small for the +accommodation of the clergy, you erected at a cost of $15,000 this +elegant parsonage, which forms a fitting appendage to the church of St. +John, at the same time converting the old rectory into a home for the +good sisters. + +"But amid all the excellent works of religion in which you have been +engaged, not one has claimed more of your attention than the providing +of sufficient school facilities for the education of your children, for +you have been thoroughly convinced that without the solid groundwork of +a sound Catholic education, the Catholic faith cannot take a firm hold +on the hearts of our people. Hence from the very commencement of your +administration, your most strenuous efforts have been directed to +promote the welfare of your numerous spiritual children in this respect. +In 1880, although your school facilities were by no means contemptible, +yet you saw that the growing wants of the parish demanded more school +room, and you accordingly gave orders to your architect so to alter old +St. John's Church as to afford you additional school accommodation for +one thousand children, while at the same time you entered into +negotiations with the Brothers of Mary to conduct those of your schools +which were designed for the larger boys. You have now the satisfaction +of knowing that, with the Sisters of Charity to teach your schools for +girls and smaller boys, and the Brothers of Mary to direct the schools +for the larger boys, there are few if any parishes in the diocese that +can claim the same advance in education as you can in this great city of +Paterson. Again do we say long may you be preserved to preside over the +destinies of the Catholic education in this portion of the diocese of +Newark. + +"In 1873, flying from the tyranny of a Bismarck, the Franciscan Fathers, +bidding adieu to their native land, arrived in the City of Paterson, +friendless and well nigh penniless. Learning that it was their +intention, with the permission of the Right Rev. Bishop, to establish +themselves in this city, and anticipating no small good to religion from +the presence of so zealous and self denying a body of religious men, you +extended to them a friendly hand, gave them every encouragement, and +permitted your generous people to aid them in the erection of their +beautiful church and monastery on Stony Road. Thus St. John's church has +had the satisfaction of beholding another of her children snugly +ensconced on the banks of the Passaic. + +"Three years ago, finding that the city was largely extending itself in +the direction of the new hospital, and there were numerous children who +resided too far away from St. John's schools to avail themselves of +their advantages, you erected a frame building for the accommodation of +these children, placing it in charge of the devoted Sisters, ever ready +to second your efforts in behalf of Catholic education, and it is +believed that in a short time the spiritual wants of that portion of the +city will enlist your zeal for the erection of a new church and the +foundation of a new parish in that section. We may also be permitted to +allude to the new church now in course of erection near the river for +the Catholic Hollanders under the zealous care of the Rev. Father Hens +and not without your encouragement and cooperation. Thus, then, we may +on this day congratulate St. John's church upon being the joyful mother +of a numerous offspring, which cluster round about her on every side, +and may indulge the hope that while each is guarded by its own titular +saint, the spirit of the Baptist will still hover over them all. In +addition to your labors within the limits of Paterson, you did not fail +to extend your pastoral zeal to the neighboring missions of Hohokus and +Pompton, where you built churches, and for many years attended to the +spiritual wants of the Catholics of those extensive districts, which are +now under the zealous charge of the Fathers of St. Boniface's church. + +"There is another department of your labors to which we cannot close +this address without referring. We allude to your efforts in the great +temperance movement, which indeed we may say you were the first to +inaugurate both in this city and throughout the diocese. Upon your +taking possession of this great parish, you were not slow to perceive +that one of the greatest evils, and one of the most formidable stumbling +blocks to the advancement of religion in your parish was the prevalence +of the soul destroying vice of intemperance. We do not by any means wish +to insinuate that Paterson was worse in this respect than any of the +other great cities of the diocese, but it will be easily understood that +in a city like this where the manufacturing interests are so extensive, +requiring the employment of so many men and women, and even boys and +girls, and distributing such liberal amounts of money in compensation +for labor, the temptations to the abuse of intoxicating drinks are +indeed very great. Your earliest efforts, therefore, were directed to +the restraint if not the total destruction of the vice of drunkenness in +your parish. Hence you were not slow to organize temperance societies, +not merely for the older men and women, but also for the young men, and +even for boys, and from the very day on which you entered the City of +Paterson, up to the present moment, you have never relaxed your energies +in the promotion of the cause of temperance, and in checking the ravages +of intemperance in your parish. And it is not by means of temperance +organizations alone that you have succeeded so well in this noble work, +but by your personal exertions in visiting the home of the drunkard, in +entering the rumshops even at the dead of night to chase away to their +homes the resorters of these places, and to reprimand with the boldness +and freedom of the Gospel the keepers of these dangerous haunts. Often +have you been seen after a hard day's work on the Lord's Sabbath +parading the streets of Paterson as if with police authority, to see +whether any of your people were staggering along the sidewalk, after +filling themselves with drink, or gathered in the beershops indulging in +the noise and riot for which such places are notorious. In this +persevering effort to maintain sobriety and good order you have had the +countenance and support not merely of your own people, but of the entire +population of Paterson, and for this work you have received from your +fellow citizens, without distinction of creed, the esteem and gratitude +it has so eminently merited, while your name has become a household word +in Paterson. Even in times of riot and disorder, when the civil +authorities found them unable to cope with violence, they did not fail +to call upon the pastor of St John's to co-operate with them in the +re-establishment of peace and order. + +"The very children as you move about the city, without distinction of +religion, never fail to recognize their dear 'Father Mac,' and you +yourself make it your special delight to stop and salute these +children. And if by any chance you passed by without noticing them, even +Protestant children would run after your carriage and say 'Father Mac, +you know me.' Nor did you neglect the young men and the young women of +your parish. For the former you provided suitable halls with libraries +and reading rooms, and organized them into literary and benevolent +societies, where, drawn away from the temptations of the rumshop, and +the professional billiard-room, they might have harmless recreation and +innocent enjoyment. Many of these young men under your fostering care +and liberal encouragement entered the ranks of the priesthood, and are +now edifying the Church in various positions of the Diocese, while +others similarly favored, are now fitting themselves for the sacred +ministry in the principal seminaries of the Church. The young women you +gathered into pious sodalities under the direction of the saintly +Sisters, and the patronage of the Immaculate Virgin, thus furnishing +them with every safeguard against the numerous temptations to be found +in populous manufacturing cities, and your labors for both classes have +been crowned with success, as any one can see, on Sundays in St. John's +Church, whose altar rails are crowded with those devout young men and +women, coming forward to nourish themselves with Christ's life-giving +bread. Of these young women, not a few, under your fatherly care, and +liberal patronage, have joined themselves to the good Sisters, devoting +their lives and energies to the teaching of the young and the nursing of +the sick. + +"During the long course of those twenty-five years, with the exception +of two brief trips to your native land, you never found the necessity of +taking any recreation, but felt it to be your pleasure to increase your +labors for your flock. You have worked with the energy of one who truly +loves his Divine Master '_Nullo fatigatus labore_.' And your +disinterestedness may well claim for you the words of the Apostle, +'_Nulli onerosus fui_.' Your patient self-denial, your affability to +all, your readiness to listen to the tale of woe, and to relieve the cry +of distress, your unflagging zeal in the confessional, your never +failing attendance on the sick at the dead of night as cheerfully as at +midday, your unwearied earnestness in preaching the word of God, 'in +season and out of season,' holding up to your people the beauties and +happiness of a virtuous life, and denouncing to them the terrible +consequences of wickedness and wrongdoing, your ceaseless efforts to +prepare your numerous children for the holy sacraments, all this +entitles you to the praise and reward of a true apostle of Christ, and +has endeared you to the hearts of young and old--'_pueris senibusque +carus_.' In the exercise of your sacred ministry you have been ably +seconded and encouraged by your bishops, by the lamented Bayley, the +zealous and learned Corrigan, and the amiable, scholarly and energetic +prelate who now rules the destinies of this diocese. Nor should we omit +to mention the material aid which you have received from the many worthy +assistant priests that have labored with you,--the indomitable Kirwan, +the polished Moran, the lamented Darcy and Cantwell, the self +sacrificing Thebaud, the gentle Zimmer, the hardworking Downes, the +zealous Hanly, the laborious McGahan, the eloquent McFaul, the +historian Brennan, the courtly Whelan, the genial White and the +patriotic Corr, and last but not least the energetic Hickie, most of +whom are now filling with distinction the pulpits of flourishing +churches. You have won from your fellow-priests the highest esteem and +love, which they on this occasion endeavor to express, however feebly, +by the accompanying testimonial. Commemorating to-day your +five-and-twentieth year of ordination we earnestly hope and pray that +your silver crown may be transmuted into gold on your fiftieth +anniversary, and that the next quarter century of your ministry may be +characterised by the same fruitfulness in good works which we however +imperfectly have endeavored to record of the five and twenty years just +ended. + +"Eternal praise and thanksgiving be to the Great Head of the Church and +Chief Shepherd of the Flock, Jesus Christ, who has given you the grace +and the strength, the health and the perseverance to pass with so much +profit to religion this long period of your ministry. Nor should we fail +to thank in your name the people of St. John's Church, who for all this +time have never faltered in their fidelity and generosity, always +responding with liberal hearts to the numerous calls made upon them for +religion, education and charity. Well may we conclude with the poet:-- + + "Non usitato congredimur modo + His in jugosis atque sacris locis + Hasque inter umbras hospitales + Insolitum celebrare festum." + +The following is a list of the clergymen present at the silver jubilee: +Rt. Rev. W. M. Wigger, Most Rev. M. A. Corrigan, Rt. Rev. Edward +Fitzgerald, Rt. Rev. G. H. Doane, and the Revs. A. J. Thebaud, S. J., +Isadore Daubresse, S. J., John A. Kelly, Thomas M. Killeen, Patrick +Cody, Patrick Hennessy, James H. Corrigan, Patrick Leonard, M. J. +Kirwan, Pierce McCarthy, L. G. Thebaud, Martin Gesner, Theodore +McDonald, O. C., F. Feehan, O. C., Augustus Brady, P. F. Downes, +Nicholas Hens, Louis Gambosville, James F. Salaun, John P. Morris, +Dennis McCartie, James Curran, Patrick J. McGahan, Isaac P. Whelan, +Daniel McCarthy, Michael J. White, Patrick Corr, Michael J. Hickie, Dr. +Larkin, David B. Walker, S. J., John J. Sheppard, Michael A. McManus, +Ferdinand Muller, O. S. F., and Hugh Murphy. Scores of letters and +telegrams were received from priests and others who regretted their +inability to be present at the celebration. + +During his pastorate Father McNulty has been assisted in his labors by a +number of priests. His first assistant was Rev. James A. D'Arcy, who was +here in 1864. After this time Father McNulty had two assistants. The +names of his assistants are Fathers L. G. Thebaud, T. R. Moran, M. J. +Kirwan, P. McCahill, P. F. Cantwell, P. F. Downes, Joseph Zimmer, James +Curran, James Hanley, I. P. Whelan, M. J. White, Patrick McGahan, James +J. Brennan and M. J. Hickie. Of these, Fathers D'Arcy, Moran, Kinwan, +McCahill, Cantwell, Downes, Curran, Hanley, White, McGahan and Hickey +were natives of Ireland; Father Thebaud was born in New York City, +Father Zimmer in Brooklyn, Father Whelan in Elizabeth and Father Brennan +in Newark. In addition there were priests who were assistants only for +a few weeks, including Fathers McFaul, Corr and others. + +Father McNulty's present assistants are Fathers McCarthy and Quin. +Father D. F. McCarthy was born in Newark and educated at St. Charles +College in Maryland and at Seton Hall. Father Thomas Quin was born in +Ireland and educated at Seton Hall. + +The first choir of St. John's church consisted of the Bradley +sisters--elsewhere referred to--who sang in the old church on Market and +Mill streets; their brother played the flute and at times James Powers +assisted on the clarionet. A Professor Wedell was organist in the Oliver +street church in 1853 and he remained until 1856, although for about a +year of this time Professor Anthony Davis, a brother of the present +organist, presided at the organ. Professors Burke and Becker came +afterwards and in the first part of 1868 Professor Frank Huber played +the organist. He was succeeded in October, 1868, by Professor William +Davis, who is still in charge. Miss Ellen O'Neill also frequently +presided at the organ in the absence of the regular organists. At the +time Professor Davis took charge the choir consisted of Misses Howard, +Murphy, Bowen, and Esther O'Neill, who sang soprano and Henry Hensler, +who sang bass. Masses in two voices were rendered, until 1869, when, by +the addition to the choir of Daniel Sheehan, tenor, the choir was +enabled to sing masses in three voices; Misses Maggie O'Neill and Julia +Graham, soprano, were also added to the choir. This state of affairs +lasted only about one year when some of the choir withdrew and the vocal +music for St. John's congregation was furnished for about six years by a +quartette consisting of Misses Maggie O'Neill and Frances Lawless and +Louis Schmerber and Henry Hensler. The latter died and Frank Hart was +put in his place. About six months after this Professor Davis began to +form a larger choir and of the original selection a number still remain. +Among those who have left are Emil Legay, the present choir master in +St. Joseph's church, and John Stafford, who is studying in Rome for the +priesthood. + +The present choir of St. John's Church consists of the following: + +Organist and Director.--Professor William Davis. + +Soprano.--Minnie Coniffe, Mary E. Drury, Minnie Dynan, Nora Gannon, +Maggie Doyle, Lizzie Lavery, Lizzie Fitzpatrick, Nellie Clark, Mary +Stafford, Maggie McCormack, Mary McLean, Ellen Odell.--12. + +Alto.--Martha Drury, Frances Lawless, Alice Fitzgerald, Nellie Reed, +Lizzie Constantine, Maria Hogan, Annie Beresford, Mary McAlonan, Nellie +Dunphy.--9. + +Tenor.--William Stafford, Thomas Canning, Edward Cavanagh, John Carlon, +John Van Houten.--5. + +Bass.--John Best, John Anderson, James Anderson, James Fitzpatrick, +William Burns, Thomas Sheeron, Charles Lavery, David Forbes, Alexander +Doyle, Philip Bender.--10. Total, 36. + +The following are the societies attached to St. John's Church: + +Benevolent Society of United Sons of Erin. This society was founded in +1846 and incorporated in 1859. It has about 100 members and its objects +are the relief of the sick and assistance for distressed members, for +which purpose it expends about $1,500 per year. + +St. Patrick's Total Abstinence Benevolent Society was organized by +Father McNulty in 1863 and has about 100 members. Its objects are the +furtherance of the cause of temperance and the relief of the distressed, +for which latter object about $600 per year are expended. + +St. John's Total Abstinence Benevolent Society was organized in 1867 and +has the same objects as the foregoing; it has about 100 members and +expends annually about $600 for the relief of distressed members. + +St. Joseph's Total Abstinence Benevolent Society has the same objects as +the foregoing and about 40 members. It was organized in 1875 and expends +annually about $300 per year in the relief of the distressed. + +The Catholic Young Men's Literary Association was organized in 1873 and +its object is indicated by its name. It has a library and reading room +on the lower floor of the Catholic Institute in Church street. Its +membership numbers about 100 and the entertainments it gives +occasionally are for the benefit of its library or some charitable +institution. + +The Catholic Sunday School Teachers' Association was organized in 1874 +by Father McNulty, who had found it difficult to obtain competent men to +teach Sunday School. Almost immediately after its organization a number +of its members resolved themselves into the Entre Nous Dramatic Club +which gives entertainments for the benefit of its library or for +charitable purposes. This dual society has about 100 members and +occupies the upper floor of the Catholic Institute in Church street, +property originally bought by Father Senez for an orphan asylum. + +The Sodality of the Children of Mary was organized in 1862 and has about +250 members. It consists of young ladies and is in charge of Sister +Regina. + +The Sodality of the Sacred Heart has about 160 members and was organized +about 7 years ago. It also consists of young ladies and is in charge of +Sister Stanislaus. The latter has done a great deal of effective work +during her 23 years' sojourn in Paterson as a Sister of Charity. + +The Rosary Society is one of the oldest and most numerous of the +societies of St. John's congregation and consists of persons of both +sexes and all ages. It is in charge of Father McNulty. + +The Society of the Sacred Thirst is a temperance organization, and +embraces in its membership persons of all ages and of both sexes. It is +in charge of Father McNulty. + +The Society of Holy Angels was organized about thirteen years ago and +has about 200 members. Girls from 10 to 16 are eligible to membership. +It is in charge of Sister Angelica. + +The Infant Jesus Sodality consists of about 200 little boys and was +organized in 1869. It is in charge of Sister Stanislaus. + +The Sodality of the Immaculate Heart of Mary was organized about two +years ago. It consists of young ladies between 14 and 20 years of age, +and is in charge of Sister Immaculata. + +The Knights of the Sacred Heart are in charge of Sister Stanislaus. This +society consists of 172 boys between the ages of 10 and 16 years. + +Ave Maria Council, Catholic Legion of Honor, was instituted on November +16, 1883, and has about 50 members. Its object is the insurance of +lives, and the amounts insured for are between $500 and $5,000. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + THE DAUGHTERS OF ST. JOHN.--CHURCHES WHICH TOOK THEIR ORIGIN IN ST. + JOHN'S CHURCH.--YOUNG MEN AND YOUNG WOMEN FROM PATERSON WHO HAVE + DEVOTED THEIR LIVES TO THE SERVICE OF GOD. + + +It has often been stated that the church at Madison--which in the early +part of the century was called Bottle Hill--was an offspring from St. +John's Church of Paterson; this statement has also been frequently +contradicted, and it is certainly safe to say that it is doubtful +whether Paterson can lay claim to establishing Catholicism in Madison. +St. John's has, however, sufficient glory, for it is the undoubted +source of the origin of a number of churches in this vicinity. There is +no doubt that the same missionary priests who labored in Paterson also +visited other places; thus it has been ascertained that Father Larissy, +who according to well authenticated statements was the first priest to +read mass in Paterson, subsequently attended the churches in Staten +Island and a number along the Hudson places; still St. John's could +hardly lay claim to the parentage of these churches, no more than St. +John's could be called a child of the church in Newburg because Father +Langton paid periodical visits to Paterson from Newburg.[A] + +It will suffice for the purposes of writing a history of Catholicism in +this county to take a glance at the churches whose origin was +undoubtedly in St. John's congregation. As has been stated on a previous +page, missionaries visited Macopin before they came to Paterson, but +there is no doubt that a church was erected in Paterson long before the +erection of the church in Macopin. It was not until 1830 that the +Catholics of Macopin proceeded to erect a building to be devoted +exclusively to the service of God. This church, under the patronage of +St. Joseph, was dedicated in 1830 by Rev. Dr. French, from New York, and +Rev. Mr. O'Donoghue, from St. John's Church, this city. For many years +this church was attended by priests from St. John's Church and +subsequently from St. Boniface's Church. Even to this day it has no +stated pastor and is attended by priests having charge of churches in +the vicinity. + +The German Catholics of this vicinity did a great deal towards +establishing the Catholic Church on the firm footing it has found in +this county and too much praise cannot be bestowed on the work of the +early German Catholics and their priests. The most prominent figure in +the work among the German Catholics is Father Nicholas Hens, the +respected and zealous pastor of St. Boniface's Church in this city. This +gentleman has spent the best days of an active and useful life among the +German Catholics and his labors in the Lord's vineyard have borne +excellent fruit. Rt. Rev. Bishop Bayley kept a journal of the more +important actions of his life and from this journal the following +extract is made: + +"On Sunday, July 1st, 1860, at half past five, I laid the corner stone +of the new German Catholic Church of St. Boniface, which Father Schandel +is endeavoring to build. We went in procession to the spot--the cross +before, with acolytes, children--Erin's Society as a guard--banners +flying--the big missionary cross borne before my carriage by the +Germans. There must have been from 8,000 to 10,000 persons present--hot +and dusty, but no disturbance. I pitched into Martin Luther for the +edification of the multitude." + +The following is another extract from the same journal: + +"December 1st, 1861, on Sunday, I blessed the new German church at +Paterson." + +Before this time, however, the few German families gathered once a month +or once a fortnight in the basement of St. John's church in Oliver +street to have special German services. Among those who attended were +John Ratzer, Martin Bauman, Christian Geissler, Leander Kranz, Michael +Thalhammer, Joseph Merklin, Joseph Durgeth, Philip Brendel, Mr. Zentner, +Mr. Yost, Mr. Schnell and a few others. The services were conducted by +Father Hartlaub as early as 1854. On April 18th of that year Father +Hartlaub baptized in this church Joseph August Geissler, at present +parish priest in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and on December 18th following +Emma Mitch, who subsequently attained considerable renown as a singer, +was baptized there. Father Hartlaub attended for four years to the +spiritual wants of the German Catholics and was succeeded on July 18th, +1858, by Father Louis Fink, at present Bishop of Leavenworth, Kansas. +About the first of August, 1859, Father J. J. Schandel succeeded Father +Fink and was appointed permanent priest for the Germans. His first +baptism was performed on August 11th, and the first marriage at which he +assisted was on the 30th of the same month, the contracting parties +being Michael Courtade and Miss Anne Mary Brotchie. Father Schandel was +very popular amongst all classes of people and his name is still +frequently mentioned with reverence and affection. He worked very hard +among his countrymen and it was he who conceived the idea and furthered +the project of building a church for German Catholics. He purchased the +ground on the corner of Main and Slater streets where St. Boniface's +Church now stands, and erected that structure which has a seating +capacity of 900. The German Catholics in Paterson were few in number and +not blessed with worldly riches and Father Schandel was obliged to work +for his support in outside missions, a labor to which he devoted himself +with assiduity. For a long time he visited regularly every month St. +Joseph's Church at Macopin; he also visited occasionally the Catholics +in Ringwood and attended to the spiritual needs of the Catholics at St. +Francis Church, Lodi. + +In 1869 he visited Passaic regularly and secured ground for and erected +St. Nicholas' Church. Before that time the Catholics of Passaic had +worshipped in a room in one of the factories. The interest awakened in +the Catholic Church by Father Schandel and the immigration of a number +of German Catholics soon gave the worthy priest more to do than he could +attend to. He accordingly asked Bishop Bayley for an assistant priest. +His prayer was granted and on August 5th, 1869, Father Nicholas Hens, +who had just been ordained, came to Paterson. This worthy priest +followed in the footsteps of his predecessor, and Fathers Schandel and +Hens worked together energetically and in the greatest harmony. The silk +mills at this time attracted large numbers of persons to Paterson and +Father Schandel concluded that it would be well to erect the Catholics +in Passaic into a separate congregation. Bishop Bayley thought well of +the plan and on July 21st, 1871, Father Schandel was transferred to +Passaic and Father Hens was appointed pastor of St. Boniface's in this +city. Father Schandel remained in Passaic until 1873 when he was +succeeded by Father Schneider, the present efficient and well-beloved +priest of the church. At present there are about 250 families in the +congregation in Passaic, and the parochial school, in charge of the +Sisters of Charity, is attended by nearly 300 children. + +Being already in possession of a good and commodious church Father Hens +devoted a great deal of time and energy to the establishment of a +parochial school, that almost indispensable adjunct to every church. In +October, 1871, he opened the parochial school in Main street with 35 +children, the teacher being the organist of the church. The number of +children continued to increase during the winter and in the following +spring there was an attendance of over 80. An additional teacher was +employed but during the summer of 1872 the Sisters of St. Dominic were +engaged to take charge of the school. Father Hens at once provided a +residence for the Sisters, purchasing the house and lot adjoining the +church for $4,600. The parish grew rapidly under the able care of Father +Hens. The modest church was improved and embellished both outside and +inside; the school was enlarged several times and another story added to +it. In 1874 the residence of the Sisters was rebuilt and in 1877 a +chapel, 65×25 feet in size, was added to it. In 1879 the boys' +department of the school was placed under the care of some Brothers of +Mary who came to Paterson from Nazareth, near Dayton, Ohio. In the same +year the present rectory, in the rear of the church, and a residence for +the Brothers was erected. About this time the congregation sustained a +serious loss in its membership, twenty families leaving it to attend St. +Mary's Church on Totowa for greater convenience and the thirty-five +families residing in the Stony Road district allying themselves to St. +Bonaventure's Church. + +Despite this defection the congregation of St. Boniface continued to +grow, and soon the church was not able to hold all that wished to +worship within its walls. On March 19th, 1882, the feast of St. Joseph, +the patron of the Catholic Church, Father Hens bought a plot of ground +on River street, near the crossing of the New York, Lake Erie and +Western Railroad. Here the corner-stone of a new church was laid on +September 4th, 1882, and on May 14th in the following year the new +church was dedicated by Rt. Rev. Bishop Wigger. The church was placed +under the protection of Our Lady of Lourdes. The erection of this church +cut off from St. Boniface's congregation over one hundred German and +Holland families, but their places were soon filled, so that at the +present day, six months after the dedication of the new church, St. +Boniface's congregation is as large as it ever was. Three masses are +said every Sunday and the church is crowded every time. The number of +families belonging to the church is about 400, and its parochial schools +have an attendance of 350. + +In addition to his many other duties Father Hens has since 1879 had +charge of St. Luke's in Hohokus. The ground for this church was given in +1864 by John Jacob Zabriskie, and the erection of the church was the +work of Father McNulty. A cemetery adjoins the church. + +Father Hens's first assistant was Father Kars, who is now the pastor of +St Mary's Church in Gloucester, N. J. Then came Father Dernis, at +present pastor of the Catholic church in Salem, N. J. Father Dernis was +succeeded by Father Geissler, who was the first person baptized in +Paterson by Father Hartlaub. After Father Geissler came Father J. W. +Grieff, who by his eloquence, affability and energy has made himself +beloved and respected by all. Father Hens also derives material +assistance from the Franciscan Fathers in this city. Complete baptismal +and marriage records of St. Boniface's Church from 1854 are still in +existence, and from these the following statistics were collected:-- + + Name of the Priest. Baptisms. Marriages. + + Father Hartlaub 88 --- + " Fink, O. S. B. 24 8 + " Schandel 775 187 + " Hens 1,120 221 + " Dernis ----- 1 + " Geissler 109 13 + " Dyonisius, O. S. F. 10 --- + " Fidelis, O. S. F. 5 --- + " Grieff 186 26 + " Kars 29 7 + ----- --- + Total 2,346 463 + +Bishop Bayley from 1869 to 1871 confirmed 109 persons of St. Boniface's +congregation; Bishop Corrigan from 1871 to 1882 confirmed 448 persons, +and Bishop Wigger from 1882 to 1883 confirmed 183 persons, making a +total of 740 confirmations. + +The following are the societies attached to St. Boniface's Church: + +St Boniface's Benevolent Society was organized by Father Schandel in +1867 and has a membership of 70. + +The Rosary Society was established by Father Hens in 1873 for the +purpose of providing decorations for the altar. It has 115 members. + +St. Aloysius' Boys' Sodality numbers 57 members and was established by +Father Grieff in 1882. + +The Children of Mary numbers 87 members and was established by Father +Hens in 1874. + +The Confraternity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was established by Father +Hens in 1878. + +The Confraternity of the Poor Souls in Purgatory was established in 1877 +by Father Hens and numbers 107 members. + +In 1867 Father McNulty bought a piece of property on Broadway near East +Eighteenth street, running back as far as Fair street. In the front part +of this property he erected St. Agnes' Institute which was very popular +for a number of years. In the rear of the Institute Father McNulty +erected a large frame building which was used as a church by the +Catholics who had settled in the eastern portion of Paterson. In a very +short time there was a large attendance and regular services were held +every Sunday. In 1875 St. Joseph's parish was created and Father +Nicholas Molloy assigned to it as regular pastor. Finding that there +were more Catholics in a more southerly direction Father Molloy bought a +tract of land on Market and Carroll streets and erected thereon the +present St. Joseph's church. It is a frame building having a seating +capacity of about 600. The lower floor is used for school purposes and +the upper as a church. In 1880 Father Molloy left Paterson on account of +ill health; he died shortly afterwards in New York city. Rev. Dr. Smith, +one of the best scholars and most learned theologians of the country, is +the present pastor of this church and he is greatly assisted in his many +labors by the Franciscan Fathers. + +In 1872 Father McNulty bought eight lots on Sherman avenue, near Union +avenue, for the purpose of erecting there another Catholic Church. A +substantial brick chapel was built, 40×90 feet in size, and two stories +high, one floor being used as a chapel and the other for school +purposes. The attendance was large from the first, and in 1880 the +portion of the city near it was erected into a separate parish under the +patronage of St. Mary. The first priest was Father Curran, who did a +great deal of energetic work in Paterson, including the establishment of +a Catholic weekly paper. In 1883 Father Curran was removed to Arlington, +N. J., where he continues to edit _The Catholic Times_. He was succeeded +in Paterson by Father Samuel Welsh, who has still charge of the church +and who by devotion and ability is rapidly building up a large +congregation. + +Three Carmelite Fathers came to Paterson in 1873 and established +themselves on Stony road, where they had purchased a frame dwelling. +They erected a neat two-story brick house, the lower floor being used as +a chapel and the upper as a residence for the friars. They were recalled +to Europe, but on the 26th of August, 1876, two priests, three students, +and four lay brothers of the Order of St. Francis came to Paterson and +obtained possession of the property vacated by the Carmelites. The +Franciscans came from Fulda, in Germany, from which place they had been +driven by the German government. In February of the following year Rt. +Rev. Bishop Corrigan gave them charge of the Catholics in the vicinity +with authority to form a parish under the patronage of St. Bonaventura. +On November 24th, 1878, Bishop Corrigan laid the corner-stone of a new +church in the presence of a large concourse of people. The Franciscan +Fathers went to work with a will and when the new church was completed +the property was not encumbered by any mortgage or other claim, as the +small debt that remained was in the shape of a note. The Catholic Church +provides for the dedication of churches that are not paid for, but no +church can be consecrated to the service of God as long as there is a +claim on it the prosecution of which might result in the sale of the +property and its conversion to other uses. St. Bonaventure's Church, a +large and handsome structure, was consecrated on July 4th, 1880, by +Bishop Corrigan. Fathers McNulty and Hens, who by their influence had +done a great deal towards securing the success of the new project, acted +as deacons of honor; Very Rev. Aloysius Laur, Provincial Superior of the +Order of St. Francis, as assistant priest; Fathers Muller and Trumper as +deacons, and Father Burk, from St. Mary's Church, Hoboken, as master of +ceremonies. The cost of the new church was about $30,000. The +congregation increased steadily and more priests and students arrived at +the monastery, and to-day the order as well as the congregation is in a +flourishing condition. + +For a long time the French and Italian residents of Paterson worshipped +in the churches which were most convenient to them, and no attempt was +made to provide for them opportunities to attend services in their own +language. In 1882 Father Hens induced some of the Fathers of Mercy from +New York to come to Paterson occasionally, and services were for some +time held in French and Italian in St. Boniface's Church. The numbers of +attendants at these services increased, and in 1883 they rented a room +in the Smith and Jackson building in Market street. Here religious +services are held every Sunday, Father Porcille, one of the Fathers of +Mercy in New York, coming to Paterson every Saturday and returning to +New York on Monday. + +The oldest Catholic church in Bergen county, and one of the few Catholic +churches out of debt, is St. Francis de Sales' Church in Lodi. It was +erected in 1855 and dedicated by Bishop Bayley. It has been attended +ever since its organization by priests from Paterson and Hackensack. + +St. Joseph's Catholic Church at Carlstadt is another daughter of St. +John, and was organized in 1872, January 1st, and in the same year the +church was built at a cost of $11,000. It has a flourishing congregation +and a numerously attended parochial school. + +The Catholics of Hackensack at one time formed a part of the +congregation of St. John's, but in 1861 Father Annellie erected a small +church. There were then only 25 Catholic families in Hackensack. In 1866 +the corner-stone of the present church was laid, and the building was +completed under the pastorate of Father P. Cody. The congregation is +steadily increasing. + +A few months ago Mr. Robert Beattie, of Little Falls, donated enough +land to the Catholics in that village on which to erect a church. The +corner-stone was laid by Right Rev. Bishop Wigger, and the church is now +nearing completion. + +Catholic priests and religious fraternities have undoubtedly done a +great deal for Paterson, but the city has not been ungrateful, and a +number of young men and young women from this city have devoted +themselves to the service of the Almighty. The following are the priests +who grew up in St. John's congregation:-- + +Father John P. Morris was educated at the American College at Rome and +is at present pastor of the Catholic Church at Avondale, N. J. + +Father M. A. McManus was educated at Seton Hall and is parish priest in +Newton, N. J. + +Father Robert E. Burke was educated at Seton Hall and is parish priest +in Mt. Holly, N. J. + +Father John Sheppard, also educated at Seton Hall, is parish priest in +Dover, N. J. + +Father Alphonsus Rossiter was educated in the convent of the Passionist +Fathers at Pittsburgh, Pa., and is at present Superior of that +institution. + +The following young men from the congregation have joined the Christian +Brothers in New York: + + Hugh J. Gallagher--Brother Joseph, 1877. + Robert J. Foley--Brother Charles, 1877. + Joseph Fitzpatrick--Brother Daniel, 1878. + John S. Thornton--Brother Clement, 1879. + Arthur McKenna--Brother Felix, 1879. + Jeremiah A. Maher--Brother Andrew, 1880. + Patrick Lawlor--Brother B. Joseph, 1880. + Thomas Hone--Brother B. Edward, 1881. + +The following are the names of Sisters of Charity at Madison, N. J., who +were born in Paterson: + + Sister Mary Agnes O'Neill, entered the community, Nov. 26, 1858. + " " died, Nov. 9, 1877 + Sister Mary Ambrose Sweeney, entered, May 24, 1862. + " " died, Feb. 19, 1868. + Sister Mary Rosina Flynn, entered, July 21, 1862. + Sister Adele Murray, entered, Sept. 27, 1862. + " " died, April 14, 1871. + Sister M. Angela O'Brien, entered, Feb. 19, 1863. + Sister M. Genevieve Gillespie, entered, July 18, 1863. + Sister M. Regina Powers, entered, Nov. 26, 1863. + " " died, June 26, 1873. + Sister Teresa Angela O'Neill, entered, Sept. 24, 1866. + Sister Margaret Clark, entered, Feb. 12, 1869. + " " died, Aug. 23, 1874. + Sister Mercedes Sweeney, entered, July 17, 1879. + +The following are the names of other Sisters of Charity in the same +institution who were not born in Paterson but who came from St. John's +congregation: + + Sister Mary Peter Daly, entered, July 19, 1863. + Sister M. Lucy Blake, entered, July 20, 1868. + Sister Frances Dougherty, entered May 6, 1869. + Sister M. Christina O'Neill, entered, Nov. 8, 1869. + " " died, Dec. 5, 1875. + Sister M. Pelagia Mackel, entered, June 15, 1871. + " " died, Oct. 30, 1876. + Sister M. Adele Sheehan, entered, Aug. 15, 1871. + Sister Marie Vincent Mitchell, entered, April 20, 1872. + Sister Borgia Hanley, entered, August 15, 1873. + Sister M. Clandine Van Nort, entered, July 19, 1876. + Sister M. Placida Hunt, entered, April 30, 1878. + Sister M. Francis Lewis, entered, August 1, 1879. + Sister M. Barbara Bushill, entered, Feb. 27. 1879. + Sister M. Fidelia McEvoy, entered, July 17, 1880. + Sister M. Clotilda Kehoe, entered, July 19, 1880. + +The following is a list of the names of the young ladies from St. John's +congregation who joined the Sisters of St. Dominic: + + Entered, 1874, Sister Bridget Margaret Mahoney. + Entered, 1876, Sister Angela Julia Phelan. + Entered, 1877, Sister Emmanuel Mary Phelan. + Entered, 1877, Sister Eustochium Katie Phelan. + Entered, 1879, Sister Baptista Nora Phelan. + Entered, 1870, Sister Innocence Bridget Duffy. + Entered, 1880, Sister Evangelista Mary Meaghar. + Entered, 1880, Sister Sylvester Katie Meaghar. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[A] It may be proper to state that there are grave doubts as to the +spelling of the name of the second priest in Paterson. In some of the +earlier prints he is referred to as Father Langam, Father Langham, and +Father Langrey. Mrs. Connolly, in whose father's house the first mass +was said in Paterson, calls him Father Langdale, and the fact that a +priest named Langdale travelled through the western part of New York +State in the early part of the century, after Father Langton had +disappeared from the missions in this part of the country seems to +corroborate Mrs. Connolly. The late Barney McNamee, who was personally +acquainted with Father Langton, in a conversation had some time before +his death with Mr. William Nelson assured that gentleman that the name +of the first priest he remembered was Father Langton; Mr. McNamee was +positive on this point. Mr. Nelson made some researches, and these +convinced him of the accuracy of Mr. McNamee's memory. It is for these +reasons that the author of this work adopted the spelling Lang-t-o-n in +preference to others. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + CATHOLIC CEMETERIES IN AND ABOUT PATERSON.--THE ORPHAN ASYLUM AT + LINCOLN BRIDGE.--ST. JOSEPH'S HOSPITAL. + + +The histories of the Cemetery of the Holy Sepulchre and the Catholic +Orphan Asylum are so closely connected that they will be treated +together. The history of the cemeteries in and about Paterson was +written some years ago by Mr. William Nelson and published in pamphlet +form. To this history the author of this work has little to add. The +following are such selections from Mr. Nelson's history as concern the +burial places of dead Catholics:-- + +"Paterson is one of the very few cities in the country--perhaps the only +city in the Eastern States--where it has not been usual for the churches +to be surrounded by grave-yards. No church has ever been built here, +since the city was founded, in 1792, with this appendage, so universal +elsewhere. The old Dutch burying-ground at Totowa met the needs of the +people in this respect for twenty years after the town was established. +The First Presbyterian church being organized in 1813, the Trustees +looked about for a suitable cemetery, and with wise forethought selected +a spot far remote from the built-up portion of the village. In 1814 they +obtained from the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures, a +triangular plot of about half an acre, at the corner of Market and Vine +streets. This became at once the burial-ground for the whole town, and +people of all denominations, Protestants and Roman Catholics, were +interred there. In the course of the next ten years or so, the +Methodists bought a plot on Willis street, 121×333 feet; and the Roman +Catholics secured a burial place, 100×175 feet, on the north side of +Willis street, near William, by gift or purchase. In 1826 the +Presbyterians bought of the State (which in 1816 had taken 300 acres of +land at Sandy Hill and thereabout, in exchange for $100,000 of stock in +the S. U. M., subscribed for by the State in 1792) three acres adjoining +the first cemetery, the sale being authorized by act of the Legislature +of December 28, 1824. In 1835 the Society U. M. sold to the Reformed +church a burial plot on Willis street adjoining that of the Methodists, +and in the same year the Episcopalians bought of the State (by virtue of +an act of February 14, 1833), five acres of land lying at Sandy Hill, +between Oak and Cedar streets. Under the authority of an act of February +2, 1838, St. John's R. C. church bought of the State three acres +adjoining the Presbyterian cemetery; and the First Baptist church bought +three acres near by. In 1851, the Methodists enlarged their cemetery on +Willis street by the addition of a plot about 143×333 ft., bought of the +S. U. M., and adjoining their first burial ground. Their old cemetery +not being popular, in 1854 the Presbyterians bought another tract of +3.74 acres, on Market street, north side, a short distant east of their +first purchase. This completes the history of the location of the 'Sandy +Hill' cemeteries." + +"The deed for the Roman Catholic plot on Willis street has not been +found on record.[B] + +"In the Roman Catholic cemetery there are 871 lots, 9 x 12 ft. in area, +all sold, and containing fully 3,000 graves. + +"The Roman Catholic cemetery at Sandy Hill being filled, and all the +lots sold, the authorities of The Catholic Church of St. John the +Baptist bought, January 30, 1866 for $21,000, what was known as 'the +Lynch Farm,' sixty-nine acres, at the southeast corner of Market street +and Madison avenue, for a cemetery. One or two interments were made, +when, March 27, 1866, an act of the Legislature was approved prohibiting +the location or establishment of cemeteries or burial grounds 'within +the distance of six thousand feet from the street monument, as +established at the corner of Market and Willis streets,' in the city of +Paterson, and the proposed cemetery was abandoned, and the property +sold. In the Fall of the same year, on September 7, 1866, Mr. William G. +Watson bought at an auction sale of the estate of Cornelius P. Hopper, +deceased, 24.92 acres of land, on the east side of Haledon avenue, and +north of East Main street, and the next day conveyed it to the same +church, for $10,770, the object being to locate a cemetery there. A few +interments were made in the new grounds, but an act of the Legislature, +approved February 26, 1867, prohibited the location or establishment of +'any cemetery or burial ground within the limits and boundaries for the +city of Paterson,' and further prohibited the use 'for the purposes of +burial,' of 'any cemetery or burial grounds established within one year +within said city.' May 1st, 1867, the church bought of Bartlett Smith +and wife, of $15,500, three adjoining tracts of land, embracing 73.19 +acres in all, at Totowa, just west of the city line, and near the +Lincoln bridge, extending from the river back to the Preakness mountain. +Here was located the 'Cemetery of the Holy Sepulchre,' tastefully laid +out, containing 3,208 lots (1,126 consecrated and 2,082 unconsecrated), +and ornamented and improved as well as the exceedingly sandy soil will +allow." + +The interments in this cemetery in 1867 were 17; in 1870 they had +increased to 216, and at present they are about 300 per year. + +The farmhouse situated on the property purchased from Mr. Smith was +changed into an orphan asylum; since that time a number of alterations +and additions have been made. There are about eighty children in the +institution which is under the charge of the Sisters of Charity. These +Sisters first came to Paterson in 1853 from Mt. St. Vincent, N. Y., and +an orphan asylum was established in Church street. After the removal of +the orphanage to its present location the building was changed into the +Catholic Institute. + +St. Joseph's Hospital, also in charge of the Sisters of Charity, was +founded on September 11, 1869, the day on which the Sisters bought from +the late Alexander P. Fonda a tract of land lying on the east side of +Main street, just north of the Newark branch of the New York, Lake Erie +& Western Railroad. The tract of land had an area of nine and +three-quarters acres, and only a fraction of the purchase money was paid +in cash; the balance was secured on mortgage. In 1875 the Sisters, by +hard work and economy, had reduced the mortgage to $46,000 and at the +present date it is $41,000. When the property was bought there was on it +a three-story house, 45×45 feet in size, which had been used as a +residence. This was changed into wards for the sick poor, sleeping rooms +for the Sisters and one room was changed into a chapel. In addition to +this building there was a small barn. In 1871 the Sisters erected +another building, two stories high and 130×24 feet in size. The good +done by the Sisters in this city for the poor unfortunates who found +themselves sick and homeless has been incalculable and has been exceeded +only by the zeal and perseverance with which the good Sisters devoted +themselves to their truly heroic work. In the first year after the +establishment of the hospital 170 patients were cared for; in the past +year 740 were received and treated. The money needed in the hospital for +the care of these many patients is derived from the pay received by the +Sisters who belong to the order and who are engaged in teaching school, +and from collections made by the Sisters, as the institution has no +endownment. Persons who cannot have the care they might desire at home +in times of sickness and who can afford to pay for nursing and treatment +may be received in the hospital, but experience shows that less than +three per cent. of the patients received pay their board. The sick +receive the attention of the ablest physicians of Paterson, who take +turns in visiting them; in addition to this there is a house physician +who resides in the hospital and who is annually appointed by the Board +of Physicians after a very severe examination and who is generally some +young physician. The physicians receive no pay for the work they do and +thus form an able and very acceptable corps of assistants in the noble +work of charity. The total expenses of the institution amount to $14,000 +annually and for nearly the whole of this the Sisters are compelled to +depend on their own individual efforts. The largest sum ever received +from any one source came to hand a few days ago in the shape of a legacy +of $1,000 from a Mr. Van Arsdale, who died a short time ago on Long +Island. Mr. Van Arsdale was an almost total stranger to Paterson. +Several years ago he visited some friends residing in the upper part of +Passaic County and while there his attention was called to the noble +work done by the Sisters; he paid a visit to the hospital and was so +favorably impressed by the workings of the institution that he +bequeathed it $1,000. Several months ago the Sisters also received $500 +from a gentleman on condition that his name be not published, so that +the present year was an unusually fortunate one for the Sisters. Large +sums received in this manner are always applied towards paying off the +indebtedness on the property. There are at present nine Sisters employed +as nurses and in other capacities about the hospital and three are +employed in teaching in St. Agnes' school which stands on a portion of +the original plot purchased by the Sisters in 1869. St. Agnes' school +belongs to St. John's congregation and was erected a few months ago, +the congregation having purchased four lots from the Sisters for $2,800. +The school is a handsome brick structure and it is expected that in a +short time it will form the nucleus to a new congregation. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[B] Although I have been unable to find any trace of the deed of this +property I have been informed by several old persons that the property +was obtained by purchase from a man named Post.--C. A. S. + + + + +THE CELEBRATION. + + +Without doubt the most impressive religious ceremonies ever held in +Paterson were those in commemoration of the semi-centennial anniversary +of the dedication of the first building erected by Roman Catholics for +church purposes in Paterson--the old St. John's church in Oliver street. +The commemorative ceremonies began on Sunday morning, the 18th of +November, in the present large and splendid church of St. John Baptist +at Main and Grand streets, and ended on Monday morning with a requiem +mass for the dead. At all the masses the building was thronged with +Catholics, who at the earlier masses pressed forward to the altars in +great numbers to receive Holy Communion. + +The principal service on Sunday was at half-past ten in the morning, +when a solemn high mass was celebrated. The edifice was crowded to its +utmost capacity, and although benches in the aisles gave extra +accommodation, hundreds stood patiently all through the long service. In +the immense throng were many Protestants, attracted by the unusual +preparations for elaborate music which had been made by Professor +William Davis, the organist of the church, and by the announcement that +the renowned Bishop McQuaid, of Rochester, was to preach a historical +sermon. + +The music was rendered by the church's choir of 36, reinforced by a +boys' choir of 30: an orchestra of 20 pieces (including tympani bought +for the occasion) and the great organ of the church, and was conducted +by Prof. William Davis, with that perfect knowledge of his art and rare +taste which equip him so well for his important position. The musical +programme was no doubt the most elaborate ever rendered at a religious +service in Paterson, and was carried out in a fitting manner. The +singing was most creditable in its precision of time and accuracy of +intonation, and the orchestral accompaniments left little to be desired. +The programme of the morning was: prelude for orchestra and organ, "The +Lost Chord," by Sullivan; Asperges Me, chorus with organ, by Werner; +Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus and Agnus Dei from Haydn's second mass; Credo +(scored for the occasion by Prof. Davis) from Rossi's mass in D minor; +Domine Deus, from same mass, as cornet solo with organ accompaniment; +and after mass, a Gregorian Te Deum sung antiphonally by the church +choir and sanctuary choir of boys, and for postlude, overture to Auber's +"Masaniello," by the orchestra. Rev. Father MacCarthy was the celebrant +and his intonation of the mass was most impressive. He was assisted by +the missionary priest, Father Walker, as Deacon, and Father Quin as +Sub-deacon. Father McNulty was assistant priest, with Fathers Murphy and +Van Riel as Deacon and Sub-deacons of Honor. Rev. Dr. Larkin was Master +of Ceremonies. The altar boys were arrayed in new royal purple cassocks, +scarlet lined, and white gloves, and to each was assigned the care of a +portion of the Bishop's vestments. + +On Sunday evening the congregation was again limited only by the +capacity of the edifice to hold those who came, hundreds being compelled +to turn away, unable to obtain even standing room. The services were of +deep interest, and the music was remarkably fine. After the prelude, by +the orchestra and organ, Rossi's vespers were sung, followed by the +"Salve Regina," by Spath; "O Salutaris," Giorza; "Tantum Ergo," +Hattersly, and a triumphal march on the organ. The rendition of the +"Magnificat," bass solo, by Mr. Anderson, the exceedingly brilliant alto +solo, "O Salutaris," by Miss Lawless, and the tenor parts, as sung by +Mr. Stafford, were commented upon as among the finest features of the +evening service. The Papal blessing was imparted by Bishop McQuaid, to +whom the duty was delegated by the missionary priest, Father Walker, who +was compelled to absent himself, this prerogative being conferred upon +missionary priests by the Holy See. Following came a very able discourse +on the progress of the Church by Rev. Father Patrick Corrigan, of +Hoboken, after which the usual benediction closed the evening services. + +There was a larger attendance of priests at the service on Monday +morning than at any time on the previous day, many being prevented by +their ecclesiastical duties in their own parishes from coming before. +Bishops Wigger and McQuaid were both present, and the service, which +consisted of a solemn requiem mass for the dead of the congregation, was +beyond description impressive. A portion of Singenberger's Requiem was +rendered, Bishop Wigger officiating as celebrant, with Father Kirwan as +Deacon and Father Morris as Sub-deacon. Rev. Father Larkin was Master of +Ceremonies. The officiating Bishop was robed in black, as usual in +saying masses for the dead. The service began with "Prayer for the +Dead," by Dressler, after which came "Requiem" and "Dies Iræ," by +Singenberger, "Domine Deus," by Ett, "Sanctus," "Benedictus" and "Agnus +Dei," by Singenberger. Bishop Wigger wore a white mitre, instead of the +usual golden one, during the services, until, at the close of the mass, +the episcopal robes were removed, the incense was brought forward and +the "Libera," from Ett's Requiem, was chanted, when absolution was +solemnly pronounced by the officiating Bishop, following which came a +funeral march by Chopin, and the services of the day were closed. The +vocalism at this service was by about sixty children and ten ladies of +the regular choir. + +The following is a list of the prelates and priests who assisted or were +present at the services: + + Bishops Wigger and McQuaid, Rev. M. J. White, + Rev. P. Corrigan, Rev. P. Corr, + Rev. L. Gambosville, Rev. Dr. Larkin, + Rev. J. Salaun, Rev. T. Macky, + Rev. M. J. Kirwan, Rev. Hugh Murphy, + Rev. P. Hennessy, Rev. D. F. McCarthy, + Rev. Pierce McCarthy, Rev. Thos. Quin, + Rev. Jas. Curran, Rev. Porcille, O. M., + Rev. Father Van Riel, O. C., Rev. Gallant, O. M., + Rev. D. B. Walker, S. J., Rev. M. Schacken, + Rev. P. F. Downes, Rev. I. Gillen, + Rev. J. P. Morris, Rev. S. Walsh, + Rev. L. P. Whelan, Rev. M. O'Connor. + Rev. J. Zimmer. + +[Illustration] + + + + +HISTORICAL DISCOURSE + +DELIVERED IN ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, PATERSON, N. J., + +SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1883, + +BEING THE + +FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BUILDING OF THE FIRST STONE CHURCH IN 1833. + +ECCLESIASTICUS, CHAP. XLIV., 1-15v. + + +The why and the obligation of this celebration are found in the verses +of Ecclesiasticus just read. + +The latter half of this century may, with some propriety, be called an +epoch of celebrations, commemorations and jubilees. Many of these are +trivial in character and restricted in territory; others are full of +meaning, cheering and ennobling to those who participate in them and to +many who come within their influence. The celebration to-day is one +worthy of a Christian people, commemorating a work wrought in God's name +and for His honor, and fruitful of untold religious blessings to a +devout congregation. The Church in the United States can, with justice +and without a blush, hold up to the gaze of the world the record of her +first days, humble and insignificant though they be; for, reversing the +tablet, an exhibition of a century's work, partakes of the +marvellous,--of the miraculous. + +Relatively, the accomplishments of the Church in particular localities +are as astounding and wondrous as in dioceses, or in the whole country. +The beginnings of religion were the humblest conceivable. The priest to +whose care was entrusted a territory now covered by one or more +dioceses, journeyed from hamlet to hamlet and from house to house, +wherever a child of the Church might have his home, to administer the +consolation and the helps of the sacraments, and preach the word of +life. His altar was a rough board or a table; his vestments and all +needed for the mass were carried in a sack on his back, when no +conveyance could be had. The conveyance might be an ox cart, a farm +wagon, or a stage. It was such in all cases as the country in its days +of poverty and simplicity afforded. The heart of the priest was +gladdened when he was able to bring the blessings of religion to +children of the Church who, few in number and greatly scattered, still +held tenaciously to the old teachings and prayers; as it was saddened +when one of the faithful pointed out the homes of others who had +apostatized, or who, blushing in their ignorance under the contumely +heaped on their fellow-religionists, concealed God's gift of faith. +These fallings-away from religion are not unknown to-day. We may pity +the weakness of the unfaithful in those early times; there is no reason +to extend pity to the apostates of these days. + +In September, 1836, Dr. England, Bishop of Charleston, addressed a long +communication to the Society of the Propagation of the Faith at Lyons in +relation to the condition and progress of the Catholic Church in the +United States. In this document the thoughtful and observant Bishop +details the heavy losses the Church has suffered and is still suffering, +and assigns the causes therefor with a straightforwardness and boldness +eminently characteristic. He does not hesitate to assert that more than +two-thirds of Catholic emigrants and their descendants had ceased to +profess the Catholic religion, and of these most had united with some of +the Protestant denominations. The causes he gives may be briefly +summarised as follows:-- + +1. The large influx of Catholic emigrants into a new country unprepared +for their coming. + +2. The absence of Catholic schools for Catholic education. + +3. Catholic orphans, picked up by proselytizing institutions, because +there were few or no Catholic asylums. + +4. The want of a clergy sufficient in number, and adapted to the +peculiar circumstances of the country, often not able to speak correctly +its language. + +5. The sending to America of priests not wanted in the European +countries. + +6. Injudicious appointments to places of administration. + +7. Diversity of nationality ending in jealousies and inefficient +co-operation. + +8. The active work of wealthy Protestant sects, united in hindering the +growth of the Catholic Church, if in nothing else. + +There are heavy losses to-day in the new portions of our country where +priests and churches are few in number and far apart. This a +disagreeable fact whose existence and disastrous consequences are not +lessened by denial. It is a fact that comes home to the consciences of +all concerned. The causes of these losses are somewhat modified from +what they were in the days of Bishop England. The Protestant sects are +weaker and less earnest in their efforts against the Catholic Church, +and have enough to do to hold their own without going after others. The +priests, whether born in America or elsewhere, are for the most part +educated in the country, are in hearty sympathy with its political +institutions, and most devoted to their ministerial duties. Schools, +orphanages and hospitals arise so rapidly all over the land that a +reasonable hope is cherished that soon no losses will follow through +this cause. The broad liberality of treatment which freely grants to all +large groups of Catholics the privilege of a church under a pastor of +the nationality to which they belong, gives all an opportunity of +hearing the Word of God in the language familiar to them from childhood, +and of enjoying church customs, music and ceremonies, peculiar to their +native province, but not objectionable to established rule and +discipline. The Catholic Church is broad enough for harmless +peculiarities. The rights of the clergy and those of the laity being now +better defined by wise legislation than in the time of Bishop England, +there is less of that friction, jarring and revolutionary +insubordination which he and others encountered. It is a singular note +to make that but few of the first churches established escaped +disturbances caused by the ambition, the ignorance or the infidel or +heretical notions of a handful of the parishioners. And, what is again +to be noted is that the leaven then infused worked for long years, and +made itself felt in these parishes after the last of those disturbers +had been laid in his grave. + +It is an unsatisfactory task to try to write the history of one of those +early missions or parishes. In those primitive times the wearied +missionary made light of his acts and works, and failed to keep a record +of his doings, or to write the history of the mission. It was great +humility on his part, but it is very disappointing to us. He never +dreamt that his humble beginnings would grow into monumental grandeur. +It is hard to blame him. The wandering life he led; the lack of +facilities in passing from place to place; the hardships he endured; the +absorption of his mind in the daily routine of administering the +sacraments filling up his whole time left him no inclination to write +down what in his eyes seemed of little consequence, or of no special +merit. + +This defect in parochial administration is now in a great degree +remedied by the canonical visitations of the Bishop of the diocese, +whose duty it is to see that a historical record is kept in every +parish, and that all important facts relating to the mission are duly +written therein. The religious orders and chiefly that of the Jesuits, +have been careful to keep a full history of their transactions in all +their missions. It is to the "Relations" of the Jesuits that we owe +whatever information we have with regard to the beginnings of +Catholicity in New York and the New England States. + +Wherefore, assembled in this monumental mother church, looking at her +daughters, near and far off, beholding around her the fruits of her +maternity--the churches, the schools, the hospitals, the orphanages, +that have sprung from her loins, we grieve that a fuller account of her +incipient struggles and successes is not at hand, and that due honor +cannot, therefore, be rendered to the memory of the pioneers, clerical +and lay, whose prayers and sacrifices blessed and helped the founding of +religion in this town and neighborhood. + +The story told of the beginning of religion in a particular district is +much the same everywhere. It runs in this wise and generally has four +stages: 1. One or more families drawn to a locality by the prospect of +employment, clinging to the faith of their fathers in the land of their +birth,--clinging to it all the more if the hand of oppression for +conscience's sake weighed heavily on them at home, journeyed many miles, +sometimes hundreds of miles, to New York City or to some other city +equally fortunate in having a church and priest, to obtain the succors +of religion. At the opening of this century, there was the one church, +old St. Peter's, in Barclay street, New York City,--the one star of +hope, shining in the firmament which covers the states of New York and +New Jersey. Thus, the Catholics of northern New Jersey, craving for the +bread of life and the Word of God, from time to time found their way to +old St. Peter's. Thus, as I have often heard in Western New York, the +parents of ex-Senator Kernan brought their son from Steuben county to +New York City for baptism; so also did the Klems of Rochester bring +their child to New York City, a distance of 400 miles, where it was +baptized by Bishop Connolly. It was a two weeks' ride. There were no +canals or railroads in those days; nor were the wagon roads remarkable +for smoothness, or well-adapted for speed. The Kernans were from +Ireland; the Klems from Germany. They worthily represented a large class +of intelligent and devout Christian people who believed and lived +according to their belief. The descendants of both families are very +numerous, and keep the faith. + +The second stage of progress in the introduction of Catholicity is the +occasional visit of a priest coming oftentimes from a great distance. +Thus, we are told that the Rev. Mr. Farmer (Steenmeyer), came from +Philadelphia and Conshocken, twice a year, to visit the few scattered +families of northern New Jersey. These visits began several years before +the Revolutionary War, were discontinued while the contending armies +were encamped in that part of the country, and resumed on the return of +peace. His visits were chiefly to a settlement of German Catholics at +Macoupin in Sussex Co. They had been brought over from Germany about +1767 to work in the iron mines and forges and to burn charcoal. They are +not to be confounded with the Hessians who had been shipped to America +to fight against the colonists. After Father Farmer ceased to visit +Macoupin, the settlers were left for forty years without a priest. +During these years of spiritual deprivation, old Marion, the patriarch +of the settlement, kept alive religion by rendering such services as +were within his power. On Sunday, he gathered together the inhabitants +of the place for mass, prayers and the rosary. He taught the children +their prayers and catechism. The zealous labors of this pious man not +only kept alive the faith, but nourished a spirit of piety among the +people. + +During the war, while the American soldiers and their French allies were +encamped around Morristown, the French chaplains officiated about +Morristown as their services were sought. + +In the early years of this century refugees from San Domingo, Guadaloupe +and Martinique settled in New Jersey, at Elizabeth, Springfield and +Bottle Hill, now known as Madison. Rev Mr. Tisseraut lived for some time +at Elizabeth and gave religious services. In 1805, Rev. Mr. Viauney +began to pay regular visits to Bottle Hill. He came from St. Peter's, +Barclay street. Other priests from St. Peter's attended this French +settlement; notably among them was the Very Rev. Doctor Power, whose +visits were frequent for several years. Father Malon, at one time +assistant to Dr. Power, took up his residence at Madison. + +Revolutions drove the French to Madison. The hope of employment brought +many from Ireland to Paterson. These were only too glad to escape +political and religious bondage at home. About 1812, the first priest +visited Paterson, saying mass in the house of James Gillespie on Market +street and after the removal of Gillespie to Belleville, mass was +celebrated yet more regularly in the house of Bernard McNamee on +Mulberry street in a room which he had prepared and reserved for this +purpose. For some time this room gave accommodation to all the Catholics +in Paterson. Among the first to make use of this temporary chapel in +McNamee's house was the Rev. Arthur Langdill. Bishop Bayley copies from +Bishop Connolly's diary: "Oct. 22, 1817, I addressed a letter to Rev. +Arthur Langdill, empowering him to celebrate mass, etc." This diary of +the Bishop settles the name of this priest. Father Langdill made his +home for a time at Newburg, visiting Northern Jersey and especially +Paterson. + +About 1820, the Rev. Richard Bulger, the second priest ordained by +Bishop Connolly, was sent to Paterson as its first resident pastor, or +rather as a missionary to Northern New Jersey, with his headquarters at +Paterson. God only knows the patient and uncomplaining services, the +whole-souled zeal of this truly Apostolic priest, as he travelled +through the counties of Passaic, Sussex and Morris. Of a cheerful and +gay disposition he delighted in telling amusing incidents connected with +his travels. Some have come down to us by tradition curtailed or adorned +as the narrator's imagination was lively or dull. One day when the snow +was on the ground, trudging along with his pack on his back, making his +way to Newton in Sussex County, he was overtaken by a farmer. The +latter, as is customary in country districts, kindly "gave a lift" to +the stranger, placing him at his side in the sled. Of course, the +farmer's curiosity made him forget the world's politeness, and institute +a series of leading questions. Are you a peddler? No. Perhaps you will +open a store in town? No. A physician? No. A lawyer? No. Then, may I +ask, what do you do for a living? Thus driven to the wall by the +persistent questioner the priest was obliged to confess that he was a +Roman Catholic priest. People in New Jersey had curious notions of what +a priest might be: they attributed strange things to them, and had a +holy horror of them. Our farmer was not exempt from the prevailing +ignorant superstitions with regard to priests, and ordered Father Bulger +to quit the sled. After driving on a bit the farmer repented of his +severity, again took the priest into his sled, and after suitable +instruction ended by receiving baptism as a Catholic. + +Nearly thirty years later another missionary working in the same field +which Father Bulger had cultivated reached the hamlet of Franklin +Furnace. At this period, 1848, many Irishmen were engaged in iron mining +in this neighborhood. For their spiritual help mass was celebrated in a +miserable shanty, a dwelling built before the revolution. Among those +who came to assist at it was a venerable gentleman, a Dr. Lawrence, +whose history as a Catholic was by request briefly given. In the +missionary days of Father Bulger Dr. Lawrence had made the acquaintance +of the holy apostle, and by him was instructed, baptized and received +into the church. In the long years intervening, he had kept the faith, +and availing himself of all favorable opportunities, he received the +sacraments, often going to New York city for this purpose. + +A saint like Father Bulger must have impressed some of his own piety and +zeal on the Catholics of Paterson and its outlying districts. It was +while he was pastor here, in 1821, that the "Society of Useful +Manufactures" gave a plot of ground on the corner of Mill and Congress +streets, for the purpose of erecting, maintaining and keeping a building +or house of public worship of God. On this plot the Catholics built +their first church, a one-story building 25×35 feet, costing $1000. We +may smile at the smallness and inexpensiveness of the structure, but any +priest of the olden time who labored to build churches when his few +parishioners were glad to give a hard day's work for 50 or 60 cents, can +readily understand that the building of that first church, at a cost of +one thousand dollars, was as great and appalling a task as the +construction of the stone church in 1833, at a cost of $15,000. In +remote country districts the experience of Paterson and Rochester is +repeated year by year. In one place a gutted house is made to play the +part of a church; in another, even a smaller edifice than the first of +Paterson, and costing less, answers the first demands of religion that +the souls of the scattered few may not perish. Blessings on these small +and modest shanties, surmounted by a cross and holding an altar. Warmer +prayers from loving hearts go not up to heaven from marble basilicas, +nor were priests' hearts crushed and broken in the strain to meet +interest on debts incurred beyond the power to pay. Father Bulger was +soon called to New York to assist Bishop Connolly, and in November of +1824 died after a short illness, and his remains lie under the monument +at the left hand as you enter the gateway of old St. Patrick's on Mott +street, and side by side are those of Father O'Gorman, the first +ordained by Bishop Connolly, who followed to the grave his +fellow-missionary within a week. In the dearth of priests to do the work +of the diocese the Bishop felt keenly these losses, and in January, +1825, he himself while suffering from a severe cold was called from his +bed at night to administer the sacraments to a dying Christian, and +within a week, on the 5th of February, joined his devoted assistants in +eternity. At one time both Rev. Richard Bulger and Rev. Michael O'Gorman +had been stationed at Utica, N. Y. + +You will allow me, I am sure, the liberty of linking Northern New Jersey +and Western New York. Though so far separated they formed parts of the +one diocese, and often the priests that labored here were sent to what +was then called "The Far West" to hunt up and save the scattered sheep +of the one fold. Bishop Timon, in his history of missions in Western New +York, writes: "The Catholics of Auburn, then numbering four or five +families, and having several children to be baptized, sent to New York +for a Catholic priest. The Rev. Mr. O'Gorman came. This was the first +visit that Auburn had ever received from a Catholic clergyman." + +The church built in Paterson by Father Bulger, in 1821, is mentioned in +the Catholic Directory for 1822, as the only one in New Jersey, with +Rev. Mr. Bulger as pastor. + +Father Bulger was succeeded by Father Brennan, assisted by Father John +Conroy. The latter made the first attempt to build a church in Jersey +City. But building on a bed of quicksand the foundations gave way, and +the courage of the people was lost for some years. In 1826 Father +Brennan died and lies buried near his companions; then came Father +Shanahan, the fifth priest ordained by Bishop Connolly. He was followed +by Father J. O'Donohue, who afterwards exercised the ministry in Auburn, +in Seneca Falls and other places in Cayuga and Seneca counties. It was +during his pastorate in 1830 that the church in Macoupin was dedicated +by Father Chas. D. French, sent from New York to perform this function. +He was assisted by Father O'Donohue. Father French afterwards spent some +time in charge of the mission of Greece, a settlement of well-to-do +Irish farmers, about six miles west of Rochester. + +In 1827, the construction of the Morris Canal brought many Irishmen to +Paterson. Religion followed in the track of commerce. The first church +no longer afforded room for the largely increased congregation. While +realizing the need of additional accommodation the parishioners did not +venture to do more than secure the lot on Oliver street, and determine +to build a suitable church. In 1832, Father Duffy was sent to Paterson +as pastor, and it was under his administration, that in 1833 the first +half of the stone church on Oliver street was built. It is the 50th +anniversary of this building that we this day commemorate with becoming +pomp and solemnity. Its erection marked the third stage in the growth of +religion. The missionary days were passing away to be replaced by fixed +and well ordered ministrations. + +Here let us pause a moment to give "praise to men of renown, and our +fathers in their generation." They that were born of them have left a +name behind them, that their praises might be related. And there are +some, of whom there is no memorial; and are perished as if they had +never been; and are born, as if they had never been born, and their +children with them. "But these were men of mercy, whose godly deeds have +not failed." ... "Their bodies are buried in peace; and their name +liveth unto generation and generation. Let the people show forth their +wisdom, and the church declare their praise." + +So with praise and with prayer we wisely honor the memory of the +Gillespies and McNamees whose homes had welcomed the priest. Like +Zacheus they sought to see Jesus, and Jesus came to abide in their +houses and bless them, when the holy and unbloody sacrifice was offered +up under their roof. With them, in just meed of honor, we join the +Kerrs, the Burkes, the Wades, and the Bradleys; the Lynches, Griffiths +and Farnons; the McNallys, Bannigans, Powers and Butlers; the Quins, +Morrises, Mulhollands and Plunketts; the McDonalds, Mooneys, Warrens and +McEvoys. Nor can we omit the names of others of later date, who are held +in veneration for their good deeds, munificent generosity and exemplary +lives, the O'Neills, the Hamils, the Raffertys, the Watsons and +numberless others. + +We have brought our narrative along through the early struggles, the +humble beginnings, and the great triumph of the Catholics of Paterson, +until the day when with exulting hearts they assembled for the solemn +dedication of their new church edifice in 1833, while the Rev. P. Duffy +was their pastor. Rev. Mr. Duffy was removed from Paterson in 1836 and +sent to Newburgh, where he died in 1853. + +Father Duffy was succeeded by Rev. Philip O'Reilly, an ex-Dominican, and +at one time Chaplain to the Duke of Norfolk, and he gave way in 1845 to +the Rev. James Quin. On Easter Monday of 1846 Rev. Mr. Quin began the +enlargement of the church, making it 113×55 feet, and with the galleries +giving seating accommodations for 1300 persons. It cost $15,000. On the +6th of February, 1847, the enlarged and improved church was dedicated by +Bishop Hughes. + +In 1851 Father Quin died, and was succeeded by his brother the Rev. +Thomas Quin. + +This brings us to the erection of the State of New Jersey into a +separate diocese, which was placed under the Episcopal administration of +the Rt. Rev. James Roosevelt Bayley. The See of Newark was erected on +the 29th of July, 1853, and Bishop Bayley, preconized on the same day, +was consecrated on the 30th of October, 1853. On the first of November +he was installed in his Cathedral, and promptly began the work of caring +for the interests of religion. + +From the outset of his administration two ideas became fixed and +unchangeable in Bishop Bayley's mind. He saw that whatever else might be +useful and needful in a diocese, its first wants were churches and +priests,--schools and teachers. You who knew him so well, who so often +listened to his earnest words pleading the cause nearest his heart, do +not require to be told that in those days your Bishop was wrapped up in +the carrying out of these ideas. Always gentle, always kind, ever +pleasantly smiling, yet he was ever urgent and determined that the +churches and schools should be ready as they were needed to meet the +necessities of the flock over which he was placed. Bishop Bayley +understood clearly that churches and schools which the people's money +might build would avail little without priests and teachers. He had the +advantage, a great advantage, of being the first Bishop of a diocese, +and one whose prospects for growth and prosperity were most promising. +He was fresh, vigorous and anxious to spend and be spent. He had the +moulding and directing of the work before him according to his own +judgment and the carrying out of his own ideas unhampered,--untrammeled. +His plans embraced a college and theological seminary as a nursery and +training school for priests; a Mother House and Novitiate for a +religious community of teaching Sisters. Hence as early as 1856, he +founded Seton Hall College and Seminary at Madison, removing them in +1860 to South Orange. Soon after he began the formation of the community +of Sisters of Charity at Newark, transferring the Mother House to +Madison in 1860. These few words describe the small beginning of each +institution; the results of their successful achievements are best +estimated by the fact that priests from this seminary cover the State of +New Jersey, and 400 Sisters of this community are for the most part +engaged in the school-room. The sentiment expressed by the Bishop in his +"History of the Church on the Island of New York" was given effective +play in his work as a Bishop. He wrote: "If we desire to keep the +children in the faith of their fathers, we must, above all things, take +measures to imbue the minds of the rising generation of Catholics with +sound religious principles. This can only be done by giving them a good +Catholic education. In our present position, the school-house has become +second in importance only to the House of God itself." When Bishop +Bayley was translated from Newark to Baltimore he had the happiness--and +for him it was a great one of knowing that there was scarcely a mission +in the diocese he was leaving without a Catholic school, and that the +foundations for the continuance of the good work were so broad--so +solid--that they never could give way. + +Soon after taking charge of the new diocese of Newark, Bishop Bayley +changed the Rev. Thomas Quin from Paterson to Rahway, where he remained +until his death. Father Quin was amiable and unassuming, but lacking in +the energy and determination demanded by the requirements of the rapidly +developing congregation of St. John's. The Rev. Dominick Senez was sent +to this mission to replace Father Quin. Father Senez's success as a +pastor in many missions was a guarantee that the populous and important +parish of Paterson would not suffer under his leadership. The +development of many industries called for artisans and laborers. After +the famine in Ireland in 1846 and 1847, the prime of the industrial +classes flocked to our shores, and many found their way to centres of +employment like this city. St. John's of Paterson was a large and +growing congregation when Father Senez came here. Much had been prepared +for him by others; and much remained for him to do. His great work has +always been in the pulpit, in the confessional and in pastoral +visitations. With excellent administrative ability he has never allowed +debts to accumulate beyond easy control. Soon after taking charge of +Paterson he brought to his help the Sisters of Charity of Mt. St. +Vincent. The first of these religious women, and the first of any +community that worked in the State of New Jersey were brought to Newark +on the 18th of October, 1853, by Bishop Bayley, and placed over a girls' +orphan asylum and the parochial school for girls. The Sisters of Charity +of Newark and Paterson returned to Mt. St. Vincent as soon as the new +community founded at Newark, now at Madison, was able to replace them. +The Sisters who were at Jersey City on the same terms did not leave +according to agreement. + +On Father Senez's change of field of work to Cincinnati he was replaced +by Father Beaudevin, and he by Father Callan, transferred from St. +James', Newark. + +In 1863, the Rev. William McNulty, after a school of preparation in +small things, if anything can be called small that belongs to a priest's +ministry, was assigned to Paterson. We come now to the fourth stage in +the history of Catholicity in this town. It is the period of large +developments and remarkable growth. It needed in the pastor, youth, +energy, zeal, disinterestedness and a spirit free and unfettered by old +ways and traditions. It found all these in the young and almost untried +priest. His Bishop in calling him to this responsible post did not +blunder into his choice, but made it in full knowledge of what was +needed to build up religion in Paterson as well as of the fitness of the +selection he was making. It was precisely the capability and exactness +of the young priest in the fulfilment of his duties in Seton Hall as +chaplain to a convent, and as pastor of a small rural mission, which led +his Bishop to believe that the same qualities fitted him for a more +onerous and trying field of work. This young priest never disappointed +the well founded expectations of his first Bishop, nor has he failed in +the estimation of Bishop Bayley's successors, nor has he left it in any +parishioner's power to complain that Paterson lagged behind in the race +to the goal of great works in which the earnest, generous and self +sacrificing priests and people of the United States were running. No one +of the causes indicated by Bishop England in explanation of the losses +of the Catholic Church can be cast as a reproach at Paterson since the +present pastor took charge of this mission. If there are any losses here +they must be accounted for by other reasons. + +This new church, so large, substantial and grand, worthy of Keily's +architectural skill, is Father McNulty's enduring monument. I am not an +admirer of large churches in America, except where they are demanded in +cathedral cities by the necessities of special functions. I would not +hesitate for one moment to withhold all praise even here, if I did not +know that this church has not been built at the expense of other +religious interests; if I did not know that school-houses giving room +for all the Catholic children in the parish were provided; as well as +homes for orphans and hospitals for the sick. Nor would I lavish +commendation on my friend, the pastor of this parish, if I did not know +that other parts of this growing city had been cared for and that new +parishes had been formed as they were needed. Within the limits of +Paterson are the daughters of the mother church, are St. Boniface's and +St. Mary's; St. Joseph's, St. Bonaventure's and St. Agnes'. Beyond these +limits are the churches at Macoupin, Passaic, Lodi, Hohokus, +Bloomingdale and Germantown. There are pastoral residences everywhere; +schools in all the parishes; an asylum for orphans; a hospital for the +sick; consecrated cemeteries for the dead. + +Yet the works above ennumerated, praiseworthy and necessary though they +be, would be as dross, so much are they in the material order, were they +not beautified and enlivened by that spiritual life and glory which make +them acceptable in the sight of God. All these material things are but +as helps to grace and spiritual advancement. When a congregation flocks +to the church, blocks up the way to the confessional and crowds around +the altar rail, all know that there is spiritual power in that mission; +when homes are Christian, when father, mother and children kneel +together in prayer, when the sanctuary of the house is sacredly guarded +like the sanctuary of the church, a race of Christian people is +preserved. From such Christian homes come forth Christian men and +women--come forth priests for the altar, brothers and sisters for the +schools. It is the glory of this congregation that religious communities +have been largely recruited here; it is the crowning glory of the pastor +of this church, as it is unspeakable joy to his heart, that his labors +bring forth such fruit, for his work will not end with his days on +earth; but will be continued long after by those that have learned from +his lips and drawn spiritual life from his example and the outpouring of +his own soul. + +It is a withered and dead parish that yields no laborers for the Lord's +vineyard. He is a barren pastor who brings forth none to take his place +when he is gone, or who has never summoned to his aid one recruit of his +own drilling. + +For the work accomplished, for blessings received, for a growth and +prosperity wondrous indeed, it is a duty for the children of the early +Catholic settlers of Paterson not to forget their fathers who "were men +of mercy, whose godly deeds have not failed;" it is a joy for them and +their children, and for their pastors, and the church, "to show forth +the wisdom and declare the praise" of those who builded that Church of +St. John in 1833. + +Blessings on their memory! Prayers for their souls! We pray for the +souls of all who in their day helped this church; to-morrow with solemn +dirge and rite this duty will be yet more markedly fulfilled. The +performance of this sacred duty honors and helps the Bishops, the +priests, the people, who toiled under adverse and trying circumstances +to lay good foundations for future building; it gratifies the loving +hearts of a grateful posterity to acknowledge the rich inheritance of +religion that has come down to them, as it will be their earnest +endeavor to transmit to their children the glowing faith, the warm piety +and the noble spirit of self-sacrifice inherited from "men of renown, +and our fathers in their generation." + +[Illustration] + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + + +The Villanova University copy that this text was prepared from contains +several handwritten corrections. The original text of the book has been +retained for this electronic edition, but since the corrections are +probably accurate, they are noted below as "VU corrections." + +Some inconsistent spelling and punctuation has been retained from the +original (i.e. "cooperation" vs. "co-operation," "traveling" vs. +"travelling"). + +For this text edition, oe ligatures have been expanded to oe for Latin-1 +compatibility. + +Table of contents was not present in the original print edition. + +Page 5, added missing "t" the "the" in "within the city limits." + +Page 6, VU correction: "Father De La Motte" instead of "Father De La +Mote." + +Page 6, VU correction: "Rev. Phillip Larisey, O.S.A." instead of "Rev. +Phillip Larissy." Note that this differs from "Larrissy" / "Larrisey" +(two r's) found elsewhere in the text. This may be intentional since it +is quoted from another source. Research suggests that "Larisey" may be +the most appropriate spelling, but there is enough conflicting +information that no attempt has been made to normalize the text in this +edition; all references are left as-is. + +Page 8, VU correction: "Father Philip Larrisey, O.S.A." instead of +"Father Philip Larrissy, a Franciscan" (with a later instance of +"Larrissy" also changed to "Larrisey"). + +Page 9, VU correction: "Larrisey" instead of "Larrissy." + +Page 15, VU correction: "Larrisey" instead of "Larrissy." + +Page 19, changed comma to period after "employed in a cotton mill." + +Page 22, changed "a Southern gentlemen" to "a Southern gentleman." + +Page 22, added missing apostrophe to "O'Neill was the leader." + +Page 23, changed "succeded" to "succeeded." + +Page 26, added missing open quote before "DEUS." + +Page 26, changed "Auno Salutis" to "Anno Salutis." + +Page 28, changed "shem" to "them." + +Page 28, added missing open single quote before "They did not build in +vain." + +Page 34, changed "Chior" to "Choir." + +Page 34, changed double quotes to single quotes after "the nursery of +priests and bishops" and after "the old mountain." + +Page 35, changed "includ-" to "including." + +Page 39, changed double quotes to single quotes after "Nulli onerosus +fui" and around "pueris senibusque carus." + +Page 40, added double quotes around poem. + +Page 41, changed comma to period after "Fathers McFaul, Corr and +others." + +Page 43, VU correction: "Larisey" instead of "Larissy." Most likely a +typo for "Larrissy" / "Larrisey" but left as-is due to other internal +inconsistencies in the text (see page 6 note). + +Page 55, changed "Singerberger's" to "Singenberger's." + +Page 58, changed "ircumstances" to "circumstances." + +Page 59, changed "langguage" to "language." + +Page 59, changed "heavil yon" to "heavily on." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of History of the Catholic Church in +Paterson, N.J., by Charles A. Shriner + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41805 *** |