USA > Maryland > A Century of Growth [electronic resource] or, the history of the Church in Western Maryland > Part 1
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A CENTURY
OF
GROWTH
OR THE CHURCH In WESTERN MARYLAND
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA LIBRARY
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Presented to, W. I. Mullan! by the Author.
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CHARLOTTESVILLE LIBRARY
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HIS EMINENCE JAMES CARDINAL GIBBONS, Archbishop of Baltimore.
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A CENTURY OF GROWTH;
OR,
THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH IN
WESTERN MARYLAND.
BY REV. THOMAS J. STANTON, M. A.
VOLUME I.
. BALTIMORE: JOHN MURPHY COMPANY, 1900.
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EX 1415 , Ma JS 1100 v. 1
COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY REV. THOMAS J. STANTON.
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TO MARY IMMACULATE VIRGIN AND MOTHER,
-"Our Life, our Sweetness and our Hope"-
THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED
WITH LOVE AND GRATITUDE, :
" Neath thy guidance tranquilly reposing Now I face life's toils and cares anew. All through life and at its awful closing, Mother, tell me, What am I to do ?"
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PREFACE.
The desire to know the lives of our fellow-men, who have been successful in the battle of life, is natural to man ; and the records of human events and transactions are so obviously pleasing and profitable that our minds naturally love to dwell on historical pictures. A praiseworthy curiosity impels us to know what is going on in the world, far and near; and to gratify this curiosity we have recourse, day after day, to our newspapers. The same longing for knowledge makes us strive to ascertain what happened long ago here where we live, and elsewhere the world over. We stand in imagination with the warrior by the camp-fire. With delight we read of wars and battles, conquests and treaties, dynasties and revo- lutions, diplomatic intrigues and political defeats; and in all we find a fascinating interest. We are aware, however, that " peace hath her victories no less renowned than those of war," and, consequently, equally interesting, we may suppose, to the Catholic reader is the history of the Church. The husbandman is interested in his fields, because they are his; the shepherd, in his flocks, because they are his; the father loves his family, because they are his own, and he experiences as much delight in the prattling of his youngest child as in the wisdom of his eldest. Just so we find an especial interest in the simple, local events of our parishes, because they are our own or nearly related to our own efforts and our own achievements. Add to this that in the early ages of the Church persons were set apart to collect and preserve the authentic acts of the saints and martyrs, that the memory of their virtues, their sufferings and their triumphs might be transmitted to future generations. It is, therefore, in conformity with the natural promptings of the human heart and the spirit of the holy Church that the author of the following crude
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PREFACE.
pages has made an effort to "gather up the fragments lest they be lost," to sketch, as fully as the spare moments snatched from a busy life would allow, the holy priests and faithful people who have " borne the burden of the day and the heat," in planting the first seeds, and reaping, to some extent, the first harvests of Catholicity in Western Maryland.
There is nothing strange, nothing startling in the lives here de- picted. They were lives hidden from the gaze of the great outside world, lives spent in the discharge of ordinary duties; yet they gave glory to God, became instruments in His hands for the saving of souls, and therefore they are worthy objects for our admiration and imitation.
So conscious is the author of the many defects in his work, such as awkward phrases, inaccurate dates, and stray quotation points, that he cannot help feeling like the old painter of Sienna, who after standing for a long time in silent meditation before his canvas, with hands crossed meekly on his breast and head bent reverently low, turned away, saying: "May God forgive me for doing it so badly." He takes this opportunity, however, to thank the reverend clergy, without whose help and sympathy the work might have been worse than it is.
"Go, little book, from out our solitude, We cast thee on the waters. Go thy ways! And if, as I believe, thy vein is good, The world may find thee after many days."
LONACONING, MD., August 15, 1900.
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CONTENTS.
PAGE.
CHAPTER I .- WESTERN MARYLAND,
1
II .- ALLEGANY COUNTY,
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ARTICLE I .- ST. MARY'S CHURCH, -
9
II .- ST. PATRICK'S CHURCH, - 19
III .- STS. PETER AND PAUL'S CHURCH, 43
Under the Redemptorists, 43
Origin of the Paulist Congregation,
59
Under the Carmelite Fathers,
64
Under the Capuchin Fathers,
68
¥ IV .- ST. PATRICK'S CHURCH, MT. SAVAGE, 78
V .- THE COAL MINERS,
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104
VI .- ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH, FROSTBURG, 111
VII .- ST. MARY'S CHURCH, LONACONING, 137
VIII .- ST. PETER'S CHURCH, WESTERNPORT, 170
IX .- ST. GABRIEL'S CHURCH, BARTON, 204
" X .- ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH, MIDLAND, 222
" XI .- OUTLYING MISSIONS, 228 St. Patrick's Church, Little Orleans, 228 Bean's Cove, Bedford Co., Penn., 230 St. Ambrose's Church, Cresaptown, 230 Old Town Mission, 232
XII .- HON. WILLIAM WALSH, 233
CHAPTER III .- GARRETT COUNTY, ʻ 242
ARTICLE I .- ST. MARY'S CHURCH, BLOOMING ROSE, 244
II .- ST. PETER'S CHURCH, OAKLAND, 267
III .- OUTLYING MISSIONS,
291
St. James' Church, Johnstown, 291
Forty Water Station, 293
Hutton's Switch, 293
St. Ann's Church, New Germany, 293
Deer Park,
294
Grantsville,
294
IV .- MESHACK BROWNING,
295
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A CENTURY OF GROWTH.
CHAPTER I.
WESTERN MARYLAND.
W ESTERN Maryland includes Garrett, Allegany, + Washington and Frederick Counties, and, as the name denotes, is the extreme western por- tion of the State. It is a land of much beauty and remarkable fertility. The mountain scenery is singu- larly grand, ranging in variety from the soft lines of the picturesque Blue Ridge to the rugged ramparts of the lofty Alleghanies.
No great stretch of imagination is required to take the mind back two hundred years, when Western Maryland was little else than a magnificent forest, with here and there a small cultivated patch, impart- ing a rare charm to the wild landscape. Bird and animal held almost undisputed sway, rarely disturbed by intrusion of the white man. The mountain streams flowed pure and limpid, gracefully winding onward in cascades and cataracts, from the little fountain on the
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mountain's summit, to the mighty Potomac in the lower valley. All was peace and quiet. But a great change was in store.
About the middle of the eighteenth century, the long-standing animosities between France and England, which had asserted themselves on many a field of battle in the Old World, began to manifest themselves in the New World; and the rivalries and jealousies of those two great nations have left their imprint on the fair face of Western Maryland. In the historic French and Indian wars this section of the State was brought into marked prominence, and has since remained an important and interesting portion of American history. In the year 1753, the youthful George Washington, at that time a comparatively unknown surveyor, made a journey through Western Maryland, being on his way from Alexandria, Virginia, to Lake Erie, as the bearer of important diplomatic papers.
But it is only in connection with the famous Brad- dock road that Western Maryland really finds a place in early American history. This road takes its name from General Edward Braddock, an officer of the British army, "a man of more vices than virtues." He arrived at Alexandria with a small army early in the spring of the year 1755. From there he took up his line of march north-westward along the Potomac, reaching Fort Cumberland towards the end of the fol- lowing May. Here, at the confluence of Wills Creek and the Potomac River, he rested with about fourteen hundred soldiers. On the tenth day of June, General
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WESTERN MARYLAND.
Braddock and his army left Fort Cumberland, on the ill-fated or ill-managed expedition to capture Fort Du Quesne, located where now stands the great city of Pittsburg. Progress was necessarily slow, as the army was obliged to march in Roman fashion, making a road as they went along. The soldiers, encumbered by a train of artillery, were able to advance over the rough country at the slow rate of about two miles a day; while the Indian auxiliaries of the French, who needed no roads, were quick in action, harassing the English army on the march, and occasionally swooping down on the unhappy settlers, who sympathized with the English, burning their homes, scalping, slaughtering and carrying off the unfortunate inhabitants. In start- ing from Cumberland, General Braddock seems to have ignored the natural route, up Wills Creek through the Narrows, and to have taken a more westerly route by Wills Mountain and Jenning's Run.
All the road from Alexandria to Fort Cumberland had been surveyed by George Washington, so that comparatively little or no credit is due to General Braddock, as there was practically no original engin- eering done by him, at least, east of Cumberland. The expedition was undertaken by Braddock with full con- fidence of success. On the ninth day of July, the British army marched down the left bank of the Mon- ongahela river; at noon, Braddock crossed the stream near the confluence with Turtle Creek. The country was uneven and thickly wooded; on both sides could be seen dense undergrowth of bramble and thicket.
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All at once a quick and heavy firing was heard in front. It became evident to Braddock that the French had left Fort Du Quesne and laid an ambuscade for the English; and the unsuspecting army had marched straight into the net. In a short time twenty-six officers were killed and seven hundred and fourteen private soldiers. General Braddock himself fell mor- tally wounded, and died soon afterwards. Lieutenant George Washington rallied the remains of the army, and retreated to Fort Cumberland, where he rested a short time, and then moved by Braddock's road to Fort Frederick, a substantial stone fort, which had been built by Governor Sharpe, near the site of the present town of Hancock.
The Braddock road was famous in its day, and was an important factor in the making of Western Mary- land. It is hardly remembered now, because in many places full-grown trees bear delicious cherries, plums, pears and apples in the centre of the road, which, one hundred years ago, was the celebrated highway between the East and West.
So numerous and marvellous are the romantic and tragical stories told of happenings along this thorough- fare in the dim and dreamy past, that we are inclined to believe
"They wove bright fables in the days of old, When reason borrowed fancy's painted wings,
When truth's clear river flowed o'er sands of gold, And spoke in song of strange and mystic things."
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WESTERN MARYLAND.
Western Maryland again finds a place in colonial history in connection with the famous Mason and Dixon's line, which has come to be considered the separating line between the Northern and Southern States. Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, two English surveyors, of eminent reputation as mathe- maticians, were employed by the Proprietaries of Mary- land to determine the parts of the boundaries that had not yet been completed. They began their survey in the year 1763, "and having determined the starting point, or the north-eastern angle of Maryland, pro- ceeded to run the parallel westward. By 1767 they had carried it two hundred and forty-four miles from the Delaware river, when they were stopped from further advance by the hostility of the Indians." These boundaries were marked by mile-stones, every fifth stone bearing the arms of Baltimore on the one side, and those of the Penns on the other.
After the organization of the general government in the year 1789, the tide of immigration from East to West increased rapidly, and, accordingly, the need of a great national road across the country became more and more evident to many of the clear-headed states- men in Congress. The renowned orator, Henry Clay, fathered the undertaking, and, as a consequence, his name is irrevocably linked with the growth of West- ern Maryland. On account of the earnestness with which Senator Clay labored to promote the grand project, he came to be affectionately known as "The Father of the Cumberland Road." During the forty-
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five years of his public life, the great Southerner pleaded untiringly for the National Pike. In the year 1806, Congress appropriated thirty thousand dollars to open and make the National Road from Cumberland to the Ohio River. This appropriation was followed by others more and more generous, until, altogether, Congress had appropriated at different times more than three millions of dollars for the building and improving of this national thoroughfare. When com- pleted the road extended from Baltimore to St. Louis. It has appropriately been called the Appian Way of America; and, when we consider its great length, it is no exaggeration to say that it was probably the finest road in the world. It would be simply impossible to estimate the value of the National Pike in the de- velopment of Western Maryland. It was wisely and judiciously located. It passed through Frederick City, Hagerstown, Cumberland, and a great number of our large and small towns. Many distinguished travellers passed over it, among the most renowned of whom must be mentioned Henry Clay, and at least four of the Presidents of the United States-Messrs. Andrew Jackson, William H. Harrison, James K. Polk and Zachary Taylor.
An old stage driver used to relate that Mr. Clay, "who was courteous, but not familiar," was once coming East on the mail-coach, which was suddenly upset on a pile of limestone on the streets of Uniontown. The distinguished senator re-lighted his cigar. looked after the comfort of the other passengers, and remarked,
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WESTERN MARYLAND.
"This, gentlemen, is undoubtedly mixing the Clay of Kentucky with the limestone of Pennsylvania."
President Jackson's journey over the Old Road is well remembered. He was honored by delegations all along. When he came near Hancock some excava- tions were being made in the neighborhood, and several blasts were fired in honor of the occasion as "Old Hickory" approached. "Didn't the detonations alarm your horse, General ?" inquired a solicitous com- mitteeman. "No, sir," said the President, emphati- cally, "my horse and I have heard a similar sort of music before."
Various other agents and influences have been of assistance in the growth of Western Maryland, until to-day the hand of progress is visible on all sides ; and the changed scene presents to the observer's view, in place of the wild forest of two centuries ago, tele- graphs, railroads, canals, magnificent cities, luxurious homes, beautiful churches, romantic groves, together with dingy factories and gloomy mines. The popula- tion of Western Maryland is at least one hundred and fifty thousand souls, scattered over an area of about two thousand three hundred square miles.
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CHAPTER II. ALLEGANY COUNTY.
A LLEGANY County has been called "the flower garden of Catholicity in Western Maryland." The title is well merited, because, in the num- ber of parishes and in the rapidity of the Church's growth, she easily surpasses her sister counties. Alle- gany lies between Garrett and Washington Counties ; the Potomac river separates it from West Virginia on the south, and on the north it is bounded by Penn- sylvania. The name is derived from the great Indian tribe of Allegewi. It was formed into a separate county in the year 1789. Tradition says that the first white man that penetrated the wilds of Allegany was an Englishman named Evart. The time of his coming is not exactly known, but it is more than probable it was prior to 1740. He built a log cabin on the top of Evart's Mountain, about seven miles east of Cumber- land, where he led the life of a hermit until his death in 1749. Evits Creek and Evits Mountain have taken their names from this first settler.
Cumberland, the County Seat, known as "the Me- tropolis of Western Maryland," also called the " Queen
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ST. MARY'S CHURCH.
City of the Alleganies," is a city of about twenty thousand population and the business centre of a wide region, embracing not only the territory of Maryland, but also West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
ARTICLE I.
ST. MARY'S CHURCH.
St. Mary's Church of Cumberland may truthfully be called the mother of all the Churches of Allegany County. It is historically certain that Catholicity had an existence in Cumberland, although very shadowy at the beginning, as far back as the French and Indian War. John Mattingly is entitled to the dis- tinction of being the first Catholic immigrant to what is now the City of Cumberland. The time of his coming was probably anterior to the close of the French and Indian War. Patrick Burns, Peter Dugan and Gabriel Mckenzie had settled on land west of Fort Cumberland soon after the close of the war. As far back as 1770, Joseph Frost must be added to the pioneer Catholics; and ten years later, the Arnolds, the Porters and Logistons were dwelling at what became Arnold's settlement. The first Catholic death recorded is that of John Arnold, April 26, 1791. His last will and testament is the third filed for record in the Orphans' Court of Allegany County. Naturally, in those days, Catholics in Western Maryland were
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few and far between. When Bishop Carroll was con- secrated the first Bishop of the United States, August 15, 1790, according to the Bishop's own statement, the total number of Catholics in the United States was only thirty thousand; of this number, sixteen thousand resided in Maryland; but it would be impossible to say just how many of them resided in and around Cumberland.
The first priest, of whose visits to Cumberland we have any authentic records, was an Irish priest named Dennis Cahill. This Rev. Father is with great re- spect mentioned in John O'Kane Murray's History of the Church. We find him again referred to in Father Heyden's life of the Reverend Prince Galitzin. All that we can glean from history in regard to Father Cahill is that he was a fearless Irishman, a zealous priest of remarkably strong faith. Here is a copy of a letter from him to Rt. Rev. Bishop John Carroll, dated 1791 :
" I have been successful since I came to these parts. The congrega- tions are growing numerous and the members of each mostly exemplary and pious. I attend at Elizabeth Town, Hagerstown, Martinsburg, Shepherdstown, Winchester, Fort Cumberland and Chambers Town, (Chambersburg, Penn.,) the four former more frequently than the latter. Mr. Hager has given land for a burying-ground. Mr. Shep- herd has also given a lot and ten pounds towards a Chapel at Shep- herdstown. Mr. Maguire a lot at Winchester, Va. Mr. Bell one at Fort Cumberland, and Mr. Logsdon another at said place. Mr. Hart- ley one at Chambers Town, (Chambersburg, Pa.) I expect to have four chapels within the next 12 months. I may have a few other items scattered through my notes but cannot place my hand on them just now."
(Signed) DENNIS CAHILL.
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ST. MARY'S CHURCH.
We infer from this letter that about the year 1792, Father Cahill built in Cumberland the old log church, which stood on the site of the present Carroll Hall.
What a joy to the Catholic heart that this first humble little Chapel was dedicated to God under the sweet name of Mary! Those poor children of Mary away off in the barren wilderness anticipated the beautiful thoughts of Father Faber :
" We have none but thee to love us, With a Mother's fondling care ; And our Father, God above us, Bids us fly for refuge there.
All the world is dark before us, We must out into the strife ; If thy fondness watch not o'er us, Oh, how sad will be our life."
From 1795 to 1799, the only priest that visited Cumberland, in fact, the only one that could have conveniently visited Cumberland, was the illustrious missionary, Rev. Prince Galitzin, whose parish ex- tended from the Susquehanna to the Potomac. Accord- ing to his biographer, Father Heyden, the Rev. Prince first exercised the ministry in the time-honored settle- ment of Conewago. He subsequently made missionary excursions to Upper Maryland and Virginia, where, we learn from one of his letters, " he had to ride forty or fifty miles a day, and undergo difficulties and dangers of every description." According to the records of the Allegany County Courthouse, the following marriage
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licenses were issued to Catholics : October 31, 1795, Ralph Logisdon and Margaret Arnold ; Sept. 11, 1796, John Mattingly and Onea Arnold; May 10, 1797, Gabriel Porter and Rebecca Frost; Nov. 11, 1799, John Logisdon and Patience Arnold: all of whom were married by "D. A. Galitzin, Catholic priest."
Demetrius Augustine Galitzin was born at The Hague, Holland, December 22, 1770. His father, Prince Demetrius Galitzin, was at the time Russian ambassador at the court of Holland. His mother was Countess Amelia von Schmettau, whose brother was the Prussian field marshal.
Young Galitzin's studies were made principally in the city of Muenster, Westphalia At the age of 17 he was received into the Catholic Church. In 1792, at the age of 22, he undertook a voyage to the young republic of the United States, in order to complete his education and to see the New World. He was given letters of introduction to President George Washing- ton, Bishop Carroll and Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Inde- pendence, and was accompanied by Reverend Felix Brosius, an exemplary priest.
On arriving at Baltimore and seeing the state of the country, he resolved to devote his life to a mis- sionary career. He was one of the first students of St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore, and was ordained to the priesthood, March 18, 1795. He was the second priest ordained in the United States, but the first to receive all the orders up to the priesthood.
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ST. MARY'S CHURCH.
On account of his becoming a Catholic, and especially a priest, Father Galitzin was disinherited by the Rus- sian government and declared incapable of succeeding
REV. DEMETRIUS A. GALITZIN.
to his parental estates. But after the death of his parents, his sister Mariana promised to divide with him the income from the patrimony. Occasionally he would receive remittances from Europe, and cal-
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culating on these, he contracted debts, which he found great difficulty in paying. He spent very little, if any, on himself, but with it he bought land, which he sold to new settlers on easy payments, and built up in- dustries for the welfare of his people. During his whole missionary life he lived in poverty that he might benefit others. In all he must have spent $150,000 of his own in building up the Loretto community. This was but a small portion of what he should have re- ceived from his patrimony, and he would have spent a great deal more, but his sister, unfortunately, late in life, married Prince Salm-Salm, a dissipated charac- ter, who wasted his wife's and Father Galitzin's sub- stance in riotous living.
In 1827 his debts were so pressing that he issued an appeal to the public for assistance. In the book in which his appeal was inscribed, Charles Carroll of Carrollton wrote a recommendatory letter, and started the subscription by writing his name for $100. The Russian and Spanish ministers at Washington sub- scribed $100 each. Cardinal Capellari, afterwards Pope Gregory XVI, sent $200. The Irish laborers along the canal gave fifty cents or a dollar each. On one occa- sion the Russian minister in Washington invited him to dinner, after which he lit his cigar with Father Galitzin's note for $5,000, thus cancelling the debt. The amount of labor and fatigue that he underwent during his pastorate of forty-one years on the rugged Alleghanies cannot be comprehended in our day. He was of a frail physique, yet his energy was enormous. He
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was a strict teetotaller, drinking nothing, as he himself wrote, but water or milk. Living simply and frugally and mostly in the open air, he hardened his consti- tution and prolonged his life. His immediate parish comprised what are now Cambria and Blair Counties, Pennsylvania, but his jurisdiction extended much farther.
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