History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 35

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1226

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II > Part 35

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MOUNT VERNON FREE BAPTIST CHURCH .- This church had its origin in the mission spirit of the first Free Baptist Church on Paige Street. Its location, on the corner of Mt. Vernon and Butterfield Streets, was selected because within a half-mile of that spot there had been no church of any denomination established, and the thriving and industrious residents of the neighborhood were fully able to welcome and sup- port a new religious organization in their midst.

As the first step the mother church on Paige Street in 1872 resolved to erect a chapel on the spot desig- nated above, and proceeded promptly to carry out its plan. The chapel was completed at a cost of $10,000 and consecrated on July 10, 1873. Following the con- secration of the chapel was the organization of a Sunday-school, which, with the regular meetings for prayer and the preaching services on Sunday even- inga, made the new chapel the home of an active and

enthusiastic religious enterprise, an enterprise which has ever been attended with harmony and prosperity.

The enterprise rapidly grew and soon warranted the employment of a regular pastor. To this end the Rev. Geo. S. Ricker, of Richmond, Maine, in May, 1874, was invited to assume the charge, and in Decem- ber of the same year a church was formed and Mr. Ricker chosen as its pastor. Under the pastorate of Mr. Ricker the church was blessed with spiritual interest and healthy growth. In its first five years the mem- bership had increased from twenty-six to one hun- . dred and fifty-five.

The second pastor, Rev. C. E. Cate, was settled Dec. 20, 1882. His successor, Rev. E. G. Wesley, was settled Oct. 29, 1884. The present pastor, Rev. J. L. Smith, was settled in Oct., 1888. The membership is about 120.

CHELMSFORD STREET FREE BAPTIST CHURCH .- In October, 1880, Mr. A. L. Russell opened a mission Sunday-school in the Sherman School-house. In a few Sundays it outgrew its home, and Mr. Russell, in two months' time, had built a chapel for its needs. Later, the chapel was moved off, and the present brick church, on Chelmsford Street, was built, Mr. Russell contributing one-half the entire cost of the church and the lot. This church edifice was dedi- cated September 24, 1882.

The cost of the house of worship was about $8000, the seating capacity being 450. The present number of members is 142.

The pastors, with date of settlement, have been as follows: Rev. J. Malvern, November 1, 1882 ; Rev. L. W. Raymond, November 1, 1884; Rev. W. J. Halse, the present incumbent, October 1, 1887.

This church meets a long-felt want in the south- west portion of our city, in which there has been, in recent years, a rapid growth in population and busi- ness. This is an active and aggressive church, and is doing good service in a location in which a church is greatly needed. The ladies of the church support two native teachers in India.

ADVENT CHRISTIAN CHURCH .- This church was organized about 1846. The records of its earlier years are incomplete.

The church worshiped in various halls until the erection of its house of worship on Grand Street. The cost of this house was $6500. The number of members is 101.

Among the pastors of this church have been Elder Cole, Elder Williams, Elder Thurber, Elder Thomas, Elder Emerson, Elder Couch. The terms of office of some of the pastors have been brief, and dates are very generally wanting.

The society at the present time is in a flourishing condition, with a good Sunday-school.

The present pastor is Elder J. Hemenway.

CATHOLIC CHURCHES .- The work of starting the great manufactories of Lowell began in the spring of 1822. The quiet village of East Chelmsford then

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became a scene of intense activity. In four years it was to become the town of Lowell, and in only ten years more it was to receive its charter as a city. The vast amount of labor required in digging canals and erect- ing the mills and the boarding-houses adjoining them invited laborers even from tlic Old World. The town became a centre of attraction to the Irish laborer. Mr. Hugh Cummiskcy, a pioneer in the work, came, with thirty men, from Charlestown, all on foot, to work on the canals. "Kirk Boott met them at what is now the American House, and gave them money to refresh themselves."

They began their work April 6, 1822. Soon, other Irishmen came in great numbers. In those days al- most all the ground between the American House and Pawtucket Falls was an open common. On this ground the Irish laborers put up their rude habita- tions. The spot on which they gathered was known as "The Acre." These exiles from home were not forgotten by their Church. Even in 1822, their first year in Lowell, Father John Mahony, of Salem, came to them and celebrated Mass. The Bishop of the diocese came to Lowell in person, October 28, 1828, and religious services were held in the house which stood on the site of the Green School-house, and in which so many other religious societies had worshiped in their early years. After that, Father Mahony came from Salem once a month to celebrate Mass. But numbers rapidly grew, a larger house of worship was needed, and the building of churches begins.

St. Patrick's Church.1-It is safe to conclude that amongst the early pioneers of Lowell, a few, at least, were Catholics-Irish Catholics, no doubt-driven from home and country, perhaps, because of partici- cipation in the brave but unsuccessful attempt of 1798 to win independence for their native land; an attempt whose strongest encouragement had, doubt- less, been the success of the Americans in a similar cause, and the important part the Irish race had taken in achieving that glorious result. Yes, they were prob- ably here. Wherever earnest, enterprising men came together throughout the land, and the laborious and hazardous work of the early settler had to be done, there the strong, willing sons of Erin have been found, with the noble simplicity and confiding trust of their country's faith still in their brave, generous hearts. They were needed, and because needed, wel- come. The bone and sinew, "the muscle and the mind that spring from Irish soil," were helpful in such emergencies; years of toil and endurance, with little more than mere existence as requital, had in- ured them to the privations of a pioneer life ; and, never disheartened, they determined to win from the stranger what their Motherland was often debarred from providing-a home. If any such there were, however, it is more than probable that they received little encouragement in the practice of their religion.

Even at the comparatively recent period of Lowell's carly development, Massachusetts' towns werc not very liberally disposcd towards Catholics. Many of the severe laws and bigoted customs that had pre- vailed during Colonial times had, perforce, been set aside when Catholic aid was found so cssential and so ready in the Revolutionary crisis ; but "prejudice dies hard," and is often resuscitated in "the piping time of peace." In many cases, it was long before the few Catholics that were scattered here and there were in a condition to assert themselves, and meet together openly for the practice of their religion. As soon as it was possible, we may be certain they did so; and that period in Lowell appears to have been about the year 1822, when, according to the most re- liable accounts, Mass was for the first time celebrated here in what was known as the "Irish Camp," on ground now occupied by Wheeler's Block, Tilden Street, for the benefit of a number of workmen em- ployed on the canal, under the direction of Mr. Hugh Cummiskey. From that time forth, different clergy- men attended them as often as was possible, consider- ing the small number of priests and the large district in their charge. In the latter part of 1827, however, their spiritual care was assigned to Rev. John Ma- hony, who had charge also of the Catholics of Salem, in which latter place he, for some time, resided.

Rev. Father Mahony, Lowell's first pastor, was born in Kerry, Ireland, 1781. After his ordination he came to this country, where he faithfully labored six years in the Maryland, and eight years in the Virginia diocese, prior to his affiliation to the diocese of Boston in 1826. After a visit to Lowell, the 8th of October, 1827, he reported to Rt. Rev. Bishop Fenwick, of Boston, that the d were twenty-one fami- lies and thirty unmarried men settled here. These were visited by Bishop Fenwick| himself, the 28th of October, 1828,. when the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was offered in the Merrimack Company's School- house on Merrimack Street. Father Mahony, though still living in Salem, visited Lowell occasionally for the discharge of his pastoral duties ; and, at length, in 1830, encouraged by the increased number of Cath- olics-who, as a result of Lowell's rapidly developing industries, numbered then about four hundred-com- menced, in July of that year, the erection of a frame building, seventy by forty feet, on land donated for religious purposes by the Locks and Canals Company. In just a year it was completed, and the exiled chil- dren of St. Patrick dedicated to God this first monu- ment of their religion, under the patronage of that Apostle who had blessed their native land with the light of faith. This dedication-an event long re- membered by Lowell's first Catholics-took place July 3, 1831, the ceremony being performed by Rt. Rev. Bishop Fenwick, who, on the same day, adminis- tered Confirmation to thirty-nine persons.

Meanwhile, the increasing duties of both places, Salem and Lowell, having rendered a resident priest

1 By Katharine A. O'Keeffe.

PAROCHIAL RESIDENCE

BOYS SCHOOL.

ST. PATRICK'S CHURCH.

BROTHERS HOME.

CONVENT NOTRE DAME AND CHAPEL

ST. PATRICK'S CHURCH AND PAROCHIAL BUILDINGS, LOWELL, MASS.

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in each place a necessity, Father Mahony was ap- pointed for Lowell ; and the erection of the church was immediately followed by that of a pastoral resi- dence close by, which was finished in 1832.

Soon after, in 1833, Father Curtin was sent to Father Mahony's assistance, and remained here until 1836, when he was transferred to the cathedral at Bos- ton, and his place at Lowell filled by Rev. James Con- nelly, who had come some time previous, It was largely through the efforts of the latter, under Father Mahony's direction, that two wings were added to the church.

From his first advent in Lowell, Father Mahony had taken steps towards educating the children of his parish, who were brought together for that purpose as early as 1828; but the pov- erty of their parents and the scanty means at his disposal, rendered aid from some other quarter necessary. From the school records we learn that " At the annual town-meeting in May, 1830, an article was inserted in the warrant for the appoint- ment of a committee 'to consider the expediency of es- tablishing a separate school for the benefit of the Irish population.' The committee reported in favor of such a school; the report was accepted, and the sum of $50 was appropriated for the establishment and maintenance of a separate district-school for the Irish. It was kept only part of the time and sus- pended. All the arrangements hitherto were unsatis- factory. In 1834 Rev. Mr. Connelly carried on a pri- vate school in a room under the Catholic Church. In June, 1835, this gentleman made application to the School Committee for aid, and an arrangement was entered into between them."

Now that this subject of Catholic schools has been mentioned, it may be as well to continue it for a brief period, though it somewhat anticipates other points of our sketch.

The School Committee appears to have, under this arrangement, assumed supervision of a private school already existing in a room under the Catholic Church, and elected its teacher, Mr. Patrick Collins, as a mem- ber of the corps of public instructors. The following September, another Catholic school, in the vicinity of Chapel Hill, was adopted as a public trust, and its teacher, Mr. Daniel McIlroy, confirmed as a teacher in the town's employ. The school term of 1837 saw still another room under the Catholic Church prepared for educational purposes ; and another school, with conditions similar to the first two, was opened with Miss Mary Ann Stanton as its teacher. The following June Mr. Collins' and Mr. McIlroy's schools were united under the name of the Fifth Grammar School, with Mr. McIlroy as principal, and moved to Liberty Hall, on Lowell Street. January 8, 1844, this school was moved to a new building on Lewis Street, ever since called the Mann School. The arrangement that the teachers of schools made up of Catholic children should be Catholics, but subject to examinations and

visitations of the School Committee, like all the other public schools and teachers, continued some time; till finally, "in 1848 a large private school which had been kept in the basement of the Catholic Church was disbanded, and most of the pupils entered the public schools."

In 1833 the charity of the Irish Catholics led to the organizing of the Lowell Irish Benevolent Society, whose first president was Mr. Michael Cassidy, who was also president when it was incorporated in 1843. The gentleman holding that office for the current year (1890) is Mr. John Dougherty.

An idea of the increasing numbers and influence of the Lowell Catholics may be gleaned from the fact that St. Patrick's Day, 1838, was appropriately cele- brated by them, not only by a High Mass in the morn- ing, at which Father Mahony preached an eloquent panegyric of the saint, but also by a procession and banquet under the auspices of the Lowell Irish Be- nevolent Society, on which occasion the mayor, Dr. Elisha Bartlett, made an address in which he com- mended their industry and their fidelity to their reli- gion and country.

Lowell's first pastor labored most faithfully for the spiritual and temporal welfare of the Catholics here, until, in February, 1836, he was placed in charge of St. Augustine's Church, South Boston, where he con- tinued his good work until his death, December 29, 1839. His remains, with those of many others of the Catholic pioneers of Boston, rest in the old cemetery of St. Augustine's, which is looked upon " as a shrine of historic interest and of reverent pilgrimage."

Father Mahony's successor at Lowell was Rev. E. J. McCool, who remained from February 14, 1836, to August 24, 1837, when he was succeeded by Rev. James T. McDermott.

Father McDermott was ordained by Rt. Rev. Bishop Fenwick, in 1832; and, after a short time in Hartford, was sent to aid Rev. James Fitton in at- tending New Haven, Bridgeport, Norwalk and other places in Connecticut, besides several missions in the western part of Massachusetts, all of which were then included in the Boston diocese. Having built the first Catholic Church in New Haven, and had it ded- icated in May, 1834, he continued liis duties in that part of the diocese until August, 1837, when, as has been stated, he came to Lowell. Owing to the increase in the congregation in Lowell, and the neighboring places attended from there, an assistant became neces- sary, and Rev. James Conway was, in December, .1839, appointed to that position, after having spent several years on the Maine missions, and, subsequently, some time at the Cathedral in Boston.

On St. Patrick's Day, 1841, we again find mention of a celebration of the event, when High Mass was offered by the pastor, Father Mahony, and an able discourse delivered by Father Conway. At a banquet in the evening, at which were present many of the leading citizens of other denominations, one of the

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toasts proposed gives some indication of the spirit of the time. It referred to an event that disgraces thic annals of Massachusetts-the burning, by a mob of bigots, of the Ursulinc Convent at Charlestown, and was as follows: "The Convent Ruins of Mt. Bene- dict .- Massachusetts may yet boast of a Legislature with spirit and liberality sufficient to blot from her escutcheon that disgraceful stigma. But while there is a Lindsey to vindicate them, there will be a rabble to desecrate the most sacred institutions of the country."

Rt. Rev. Bishop Fenwick having visited Lowell in 1841, found the Catholics here so numerous, that he directed Father Conway to set about erecting a second church. Before the bishop's departure a parish meet- ing was held in St. Patrick's Church, at which he was present, and at which $8000 was contributed or pledged as a beginning by members of the congrega- tion, in sums of $100 each. That August a lot of land, on the corner of Gorham and Appleton Streets, was purchased from the Hamilton Company; and on this the brick church, ninety by sixty feet, afterwards known as St. Peter's, was built at a cost of $22,000. That Christmas the building was so far advanced that Divine service was held there, and it was com- pleted less than a year after, when it was dedicated October 16, 1842, and Father Conway, who had su- perintended the work from its inception, was ap- pointed its first pastor, a position he held until March, 1847, when he was transferred to the Church of the Immaculate Conception at Salem, which he very con- siderably enlarged.

To return to Father McDermott's pastorate. In 1846 he deemed it advisable to purchase an edifice near the corner of Lowell and Suffolk Streets, in the near neighborhood of St. Patrick's. This had been built and dedicated for religious services July, 1831, by the Second Baptists, and sold in January, 1838, for $12,000 to the Methodists, who called it Wesley Chapel, and who afterwards sold it, as above stated, to Father McDermott. The latter, having had it handsomely prepared for Catholic worship, it was dedicated as St. Mary's by Rt. Rev. Bishop Fitzpat- rick, Sunday, March 8, 1847, on which occasion an appropriate sermon was delivered by Very Rev. Dr. Ryder, then president of the College of Holy Cross at Worcester. Father McDermott became pastor of the church, and so remained for several years, when, the increased accommodations at the enlarged St. Patrick's having rendered St. Mary's no longer ne- cessary, it was closed, and remained so until it was purchased by Rev. John O'Bricn from the heirs of Father McDermott, who had meanwhile died, in September, 1862. It was then again opened for ser- vices until 1879, and in 1880 the present rector, Rev. Michael O'Brien, commenced remodeling it into a parochial school for the boys of St. Patrick's Parish, which will be described later on.,

On Father McDermott's appointment to St. Mary's,

Rev. Hilary Tucker, of the Cathedral, was sent, March 17, 1847, as his successor, to St. Patrick's. In the fall after his coming, the citizens of Lowell, Catholic and Protestant, manifested their charity by contributing nineteen hundred and ninety dollars towards the relief of Ireland, then stricken by one of her most appalling famincs,-famines caused not so much by crop failure-for in her worst years she has produced more than enough for all her children --- but by the rapacity and injustice of tyrannical land- lords.

Father Tucker remained until December, 1848, when he returned to the Cathedral, and was succeeded by a pastor whose memory time has but rendered dearer and more revered by the Catholics,-indeed, by all denominations in Lowell,-Rev. John O'Brien. As the details of his edifying life will be given else- where, here will be mentioned only those particularly connected with the pastorate of St. Patrick's.

One of the memorable events in the early days of Catholicity in this city took place the year following Father O'Brien's advent,-the visit of Rev. Theobald Mathew, the famous Apostle of Temperance.

The Lowell Courier, dated Monday September 10, 1849, thus announced his coming :

"The Committee of Arrangements for the reception of Father Mathew beg leave to announce that he is expected to arrive at the de- pot of the Lowell and Lawrence Railroad, on Middlesex Street, at eight o'clock to-morrow (Tuesday) morning. He will then be received by the Committee and such other gentlemen as may unite with them, and thence be escorted through Middlesex, Central to Tyler, through Tyler, Lawrence, Church, Andover, Nesmith, Merrimack, Dutton, Lowell, Cabot and Merrimack Streets to the Merrimack House.

"Father Mathew will remain in the city three days, and spend a por- tion of each day at the Catholic Church. During his visit an opportu- nity will be offered to such of your citizens as may desire it, for an in- troduction to him, of which due notice will be given.

"ELISHA HUNTINGTON, Chairman. "E. B. PATCH, Sec'y."

The programme, as thus announced, was carried out. An immense crowd gathered at the railway station to welcome him ; but, owing to Father Math- ew's desire, because of indisposition resulting from his extraordinary labors in the temperance cause, his reception was as quiet as possible. After arriving at the Merrimack House, as the crowd insisted on hearing him, he addressed them briefly. During his stay he was the guest of Rev. Father O'Brien, who rendered him valuable assistance in his noble work. That day, Father Mathew administered the pledge at St. Patrick's Church, after which he visited the mills, accompanied by Father O'Brien, aud attended by members of the committee and prominent mill offi- cials, and was everywhere received with the greatest courtesy. Returning again to St. Patrick's, although he worked until after ten o'clock that night, and ad- ministered the pledge to over a thousand people, many were still obliged to go away without it, owing to the lateness of the hour. Wednesday, he spent at St. Mary's, where he was fully occupied the greater portion of that day; Thursday, the same at St. Pe-

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ter's, nntil three in the afternoon, when he went to the City Hall, where a large audience had gathered to meet him. Short addresses were given by Dr. Huntington and Father Mathew; and the latter, after being introduced, shook hands with large num- bers of citizens, and administered the pledge to all who desired it.

It was estimated that in all, he administered over five thousand pledges. Friday, he was obliged to depart for Lawrence, owing to other engagements.

The Lowell Daily Journal and Courier, dated Thurs- day, Sept. 13, 1849, contained the following tribute to his worth and successful endeavors :

"Our citizens are under lasting obligations to Father Mathew for the amount of good he accomplish- ed and will yet accomplish. Although there has been no strong public demonstration-owing to a wish ex- pressed on his part that he might be allowed to work -there is a deep feeling of respect for him pervading our community, whose hearty good wishes for his future prosperity will accompany him wherever he goes."

The following letter, written the evening before Father Mathew's departure, may be of interest not only as a souvenir of the great temperance advocate, but also as recording the impressions of an experi- enced and cultured stranger on a visit to Lowell, more than two score years ago.

" LOWELL, Thursday Night, 13th Sept., 1849. " To His Honor, the Mayor :

" MY DEAR SIR :- The high estimation that I had always entertained of the rapid growth of Commercial enterprise and Industry, for which Lowell is so pre-eminently distinguished, is in no small degree enhanced by the gratification afforded me of personally inspecting your extensive and flourishing Manufactories. I have been equally delighted and astonished at the Fabrics submitted to me as specimens of Native Manu- facture.

" The spirit of landahle emulation to develop to their fullest extent your industrial resources affords the best earnest that, at no distant day, America will have reason to he as justly prond of the products of her looms, as she now is of her widely-spread and rapidly-extending com- merce.

" But to the Moralist, the aspect of your factory population pos- sesses a still deeper interest. Yon have proved to a demonstration, the important fact, that, the busiest operations of industrial activity are per- fectly compatible with a high standard of Christian morality, of intel- lectual refinement and conscious self-respect.

" Your factory operatives, amounting to nearly fourteen thousand, may fairly challenge comparison on these points with any similar class in the world. The air of comfort, happiness and health, so visible in the appearance of the men ; and the taste, industry and intellectuality, which characterize the female assistants in those hnsy hives of national wealth and industry, are features as novel as they are interesting to the friend of human progress.

" It was the boast of Italian royalty that it annually bestowed a marriage dowry on a few unportioned females. Into what paltry in- significance does this pony specimen of Regal munificence sink, when compared with the great modern fact that many of the ladies of Amer- ica, who now, as wives and mothers, adorn the domestic circle, have laid the foundation of their wealth and comfort, not hy debasing dependence on Prince or Noble, but by the exercise of their own industry and lahor In those extensive mannfactories of which not only your city, hut the whole Republic, may feel justly prond.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 35

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1226

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1226