USA > Maryland > A Century of Growth [electronic resource] or, the history of the Church in Western Maryland > Part 13
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Father Gallagher came to Barton immediately after his University course, and, although nearly a year
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old in the priesthood, Barton was his first mission. He was grandly successful from the beginning, and his success has continued to the end. From Barton Father Gallagher was changed to Curtis Bay, Balti- more. He is at pres- ent stationed at St. Patrick's Church, Cumberland.
The century closes with the Rev. John J. Conway in charge of St. Gabriel's con- gregation. Father Conway is by birth an. Irishman. November 12, 1865, he entered St. Charles' College, where he spent three years. His seminary REV. JOHN J. CONWAY. course he pursued at Mt. St. Mary's Semi- nary, Emmitsburg, Md., where he was ordained priest. Father Conway was first appointed assistant priest at the Immaculate Conception Church of Washington. He was soon promoted to a pastorate in Southern Maryland. Here he organized the parish of Surratts- ville. With apostolic poverty, he began saying Mass in a blacksmith shop, but, before he left the mission, he had built a church and pastoral residence. From these missions he was invited by His Eminence, Car-
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dinal Gibbons, to organize and build up the new parish of St. Cyprian, in Washington. He came to Barton in February, 1893.
During his pastorate at Barton, he has succeeded in paying off the last of the church debt; he has also made a number of useful improvements on the church property. Two very fruitful missions have been preached during his administration ; the first, by the Paulist Fathers, Hedges and Menton, of New York; the second, by the diocesan missionary band, Fathers Currier and Dolan.
As a pastor, Father Conway is devoted to his people, self-sacrificing in promoting their spiritual welfare, straightforward and sincere in all of his dealings with them, and carrying out the axiom, "a straight line measures the shortest distance between two points," in denouncing their faults.
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ARTICLE X.
ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH, MIDLAND.
Midland, like Barton, is a daughter of Lonaconing, and, although young in years, she has already become a strong, healthy and very interesting child; or, to speak more accurately, if we contemplate the parish as we would consider a man-its origin, how it grew, how it arrived at manhood's vigor-we should say St. Joseph's parish never had an infancy. Its youth was so brief as to be hardly perceptible, as it con- fronts us with robust maturity almost from the very beginning; in years, a child; in stature and strength, a giant.
The town of Midland is located three miles north of Lonaconing, in the same deep valley. It is charm- ingly situated, on the south bank of the George's Creek, extending south-eastward through the open val- ley called " Paradise." Midland is enlivened by two prosperous railroads. Its location is picturesque to a marked degree; the valley widens to the north, the mountains become lower, the vegetation grows richer, and all combine to render quite cheerful the location of the pretty little city.
The Catholics of Midland found it very inconvenient to attend Mass Sunday after Sunday at Lonaconing ; they began to think that they were sufficiently numerous
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and prosperous to erect a church of their own. The more far-sighted among them realized that Midland, being the very centre of the coal-fields of Allegany County, must have a future before her. Father Man- ning saw the wisdom of the suggestions, and at once acted on them. Architect Stack, of Baltimore, came to Midland and drew up the specifications for the new church. Messrs. Mertens' Sons, of Cumberland, accepted the contract for the building, and, on Christ- mas, 1891, the Church of St. Joseph stood out, beauti- ful and complete, on an elevated plateau, north of the George's Creek, overlooking Midland. Father Man- ning sang High Mass for the first time in Midland's new church on Christmas morning, 1891. In May, 1892, His Eminence, James Cardinal Gibbons, Arch- bishop of Baltimore, solemnly blessed St. Joseph's Church.
That was a gala day in the history of Midland. All the Church associations of Allegany County had been kindly invited to participate; a gorgeous procession of horsemen and carriages formed at Lonaconing, with Philip McMahon as chief marshal. There were the temperance societies, speaking the zeal of the sainted Bishop O'Sullivan ; there, too, were St. Mary's men, recalling the success of Father O'Brien. More numer- ous than all, with their green flags and banners float- ing high in air, were the Ancient Order of Hibernians. Many priests honored the occasion: Father Patterson, all the way from Boston ; Father Boland, from Balti- more; Father Dillon represented the National Capital ;
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Very Rev. Dean Brennan stood for Allegany County ; and Cardinal Gibbons, in his red robes of Empire and Martyrdom, represented the Universal Church of God. Amid the strains of exquisite music from the best bands along the George's Creek, the procession en- thusiastically moved on. The sun, as if showing approbation and delight, smiled benignly on the scene, rendering the air balmy. At Midland, Father Dillon sang Mass in the new church and preached a master ora- tion, enlightening and charming his audience ; whilst in the open air, under the broad canopy of heaven, Father Clarke "offered up the pure Host, REV. THOMAS J. STANTON. the holy Host, the im- maculate Host, the bread of eternal life and the chalice of everlasting salvation." The psalms of the royal prophet, which were sung by David on Mt. Sion, and which have gone on sounding through the centuries, were chanted by consecrated voices over Midland, and last of all, His Eminence, in God's name, pronounced the final benediction. The great day is over.
Father Manning continued in charge of Midland, attending the new church, as a mission of Lonaconing,
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until September 15, 1892, when he was transferred to St. Andrew's Church, Baltimore, and Midland fell into the hands of Rev. Thomas J. Stanton. The parish was still attended, as a mission. of Lonaconing, until the $7,000 debt, with which it was burdened in 1892, was paid. The parish being entirely free from debt, His Eminence, Cardinal Gibbons, wisely decided to separate Midland from Lonaconing, as each was easily capable of supporting a pastor. In September, 1898, the Rev. Don Luigi Sartori became the first resident rector of St. Joseph's Church, Midland. Father Sartori did not come to Allegany County as a stranger; he had formerly been assistant pastor at St. Patrick's Church, Cumberland. He had also been a visitor to Westernport and Lonaconing, and, as a consequence, the Rev. Father was well known to his new con- gregation.
Since the beginning of Father Sartori's pastorate, Midland has made gigantic steps forward; the Lord has sent forth His Spirit "and renewed the face of the earth." A model pastoral residence has been erected, as well as a comfortable convent and school- house. The parochial school, under charge of the school Sisters of Notre Dame, was opened September 1, 1899, and the progress made in this particular com- pares favorably with the rest of the parish progress. The school, although in its first year, has enrolled more than two hundred pupils, whose earnestness, in pursuit of knowledge, warns the older schools to look out for their laurels. The church has been enlarged
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sufficiently to accommodate the ever-increasing con- gregation, and crowned by a neat but strongly con- structed tower, in which swings a musical chime of
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bells. The improvements indicate sound judgment and good taste, and have an appearance of stability the more remarkable when we consider that all the work was finished in one year and at the low sum of $20,000.
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Father Sartori is a really courageous pastor, not afraid to build and not afraid to erect grand buildings. He believes, with Solomon, "By wisdom is a house built, and by understanding is it established." He is familiar with Ruskin's Seven Lights of Architecture, and realizes that "we cannot arrest sunsets nor carve mountains, but we can turn every home into a picture, a perfect image of true life." He is an earnest, zealous worker; a man of excellent taste; a musician of reputation throughout the whole archdiocese; a scholar, well versed in book learning; a traveller who has visited nearly all of Europe and America; above all, a devoted priest. His past has been successful, and his future prospects are bright. Midland will certainly. prosper under his zealous and benign administration. Although the youngest parish in Allegany County, she has a great future before her. Her people have strong faith, are in earnest in Church work, generous in support of religion, docile to their lawful superiors, endowed with the natural virtues which fit men for this life, and the supernatural virtues, which fit them for the life to come.
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ARTICLE XI.
OUTLYING MISSIONS.
The rapid growth of the Church in Allegany County · may be judged from the small number of outlying missions without resident pastors. Fifty years ago, nearly all our congregations consisted of a few scattered Catholics, obliged to content themselves with an occa- sional call from a visiting priest. Fifty years have passed away, and we find firmly established parishes with resident pastors, as well as assistant pastors, wherever it is deemed expedient; a parochial school in nearly every parish, under the care of one or another of the authorized teaching communities of the Church. This, we may say, is the general rule. The exception is the outlying missions, the oldest and most remote of which is
ST. PATRICK'S CHURCH, LITTLE ORLEANS.
The pretty little village of Orleans is situated on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and Fifteen-Mile Creek. It is noted for the fine sulphur springs abounding in the vicinity and the high grade of iron ore found in the neighborhood. The church is located near the town, forty miles by rail east of Cumberland, and fifteen miles west of Hancock, Washington County.
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For the sake of convenience, the mission, although situated in Allegany County, has always been con- nected with the missions of Washington County.
It is certain that there were Catholics living at Little Orleans as early as 1835, because the canal was finished to that point during the above-named year, and many of the employees were Irish Catholics. It is certain also that the Rev. Fathers from Hagerstown and Hancock paid occasional visits to the mission and offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in private houses. The best remembered Rev. Fathers are Michael Guth, Henry Meyers, George Flautt and Edmund Didier. In the year 1861, Rev. John Gloyd, of Hancock, began to attend this mission regularly. It was under his administration that the present pretty brick church was built. The funds were largely sup- plied by Lady Stafford, a pious Catholic English woman, who owned large land estates in the vicinity. Other contributors were the Callans, Bevans and Shercliffs.
Since the building of the church, the parish has been regularly attended by the priest from Hancock. At the close of the century, the principal Catholic families residing in the parish are the McKnights, Dyches, Stottlemyers, Doyles, Donnigans and Higgins. Rev. Romanus Mattingly has charge of the mission.
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BEAN'S COVE, BEDFORD COUNTY, PENN.,
is a mission which has been attended, off and on, from the Cumberland monastery, as far back as 1855. Strictly speaking, this little mission belongs to the diocese of Pittsburg, as it is located north of Mason and Dixon's line; it has, however, always been at- tended by Maryland priests. The century closes with the Rev. Father Aloysius, O. M. C., in charge of this thriving little vineyard.
Another interesting mission, which has a bright future in store, is
ST. AMBROSE'S CHURCH, CRESAPTOWN.
This beautiful little church owes its existence to the influence and zeal of Very Rev. Edward J. Wunder, of Cumberland. During the pastorate of Rev. Edward Brennan, of St. Patrick's Church, Cumberland, it was noticed that a number of Catholics who lived at Cresaptown and vicinity were not able to attend Mass regularly in Cumberland on account of the great dis- tance. To Father Wunder, the energetic young assist- ant of St. Patrick's, was assigned the duty of looking after the wants of this section. He accordingly, to all practical purposes, became pastor of the territory west of Cumberland and north of the Potomac River. The little parish included Cresaptown, Rawlings Station and Brady's Mill. £ Father Wunder went to work with his characteristic zeal and courage, and, whilst
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attending to his numerous and onerous duties as 1 assistant pastor of St. Patrick's, found time to visit the "scattered sheep that were perishing from the house of Israel." After taking the census of the Catholics, he viewed the available sites for the new church, and, at last, wisely decided to build at Cresap- town. The church was dedicated on the second Sun- day of September, 1886, a day long to be remembered by the vast assembly present. His Eminence, Car- dinal Gibbons, came from Baltimore to dedicate the new temple to God. Special trains ran from Cum- berland, and, notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather, a large congregation braved the elements to show their appreciation of Father Wunder's zeal and to hear His Eminence preach.
This little church has done a great deal for the honor and glory of God by giving an opportunity to the Catholics of the neighborhood to hear Mass and to be instructed in their religion. Since 1888, the mission has been regularly attended by the good Capuchin Fathers from the Cumberland monastery.
The century closes with the Rev. Father Benedict, O. M. C., acting pastor of St. Ambrose's Church. One of the most generous supporters of the parish is Mr. John Gunning.
It may sound paradoxical, but it is nevertheless true, that the newest mission of the county is the
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OLD TOWN MISSION.
This Settlement is one of the oldest in Allegany County. In the year 1741, the famous pioneer and Indian fighter, Col. Thomas Cresap, established a frontier post at what is now Old Town. In the Mary- land Gazette, March 19, 1767, Thomas Cresap and Michael Cresap advertise that they "have a piece of ground in Old Town commodiously situated, and lying on the road that leads to Pittsburg and Redstone from Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania." Green Spring, on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, is within one-fourth of a mile of Old Town, and, as a conse- quence, it was easy for the few Catholics of the dis- trict to hear Mass at Orleans or Hancock. Since 1890, the Catholics have been in possession of a small church, erected through the generosity of a non- Catholic gentleman. There are, however, only a few Catholics in the sparsely-settled vicinity, but the few are being faithfully attended at the close of the century by the learned and zealous Rev. Thomas E. Gallagher, of St. Patrick's Church, Cumberland.
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ARTICLE XII.
HON. WILLIAM WALSH.
It cannot be considered a disparagement of the other Catholic laymen of Allegany County to say that not one of them has exerted a more beneficial influence in the Church's favor than that illustrious model Christian and model gentleman, the Hon. Wil- liam Walsh. The singularly beautiful life and death of Mr. Walsh are, in the strict sense, closely linked with St. Patrick's Church, of Cumberland, but his influence and example are the common property and enviable glory of the whole Western Maryland Church.
This great and good man, whose admirable career may well stand as an example for every Catholic young man, was born in King's County, Ireland, May 11, 1828. The father, John Walsh, died soon after the birth of his talented son, and thus the dis- tinguished subject of our sketch was left to battle with the world and depend upon his own resources almost from his infancy. His good mother, whose maiden name was Sarah Doran, came to America after her husband's death, and made her home with her brother, Richard Doran, a successful business man of Harper's Ferry. Young William remained at home until his fourteenth year, working in the fields and attending school whenever he had an opportunity.
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He managed, however, to make good use of his time, and succeeded in acquiring a thorough primary educa- tion before leaving Ireland. We must notice here that Mr. Walsh, like the majority of really great men, was averse to talking about himself; he, never- theless, reluctantly and very modestly admitted, that "the education which he received at home was not more than rudimentary, but, as far as it went, it was thorough." He admitted also, with every sign of lasting gratitude, that "he owed a great deal to a certain parish priest of Ireland," who, no doubt, recog- nized the high order of talents with which his promising young pupil was endowed, and did all in his power to train those talents along the line of true Catholic ideals.
In 1842, young William arrived in America. He was then "an overgrown, fourteen-year-old boy, with well-developed muscles, strong, Catholic faith, and anxious to get along in the world honestly." For two years he stood behind the counter in his uncle's store at Harper's Ferry, spending his spare time learning men and books, and "saving as much money as he could without being stingy." He was even then an omnivorous reader, practically devouring and digesting every really good book that fell into his hands. His uncle, Mr. Doran, was a gentleman of means, and sufficiently observant to see that young William was no ordinary youth. Arrangements were accordingly made for the talented young Irishman to enter Mt. St. Mary's College, Emmittsburg, Md. Here
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Mr. Walsh spent four laborious years of intense appli- cation to study; and during that time, he mastered, at least to all practical purposes, the Latin and Greek classics, acquired a vigorous English style, became an expert accountant, a civil engineer, and, to some extent, a metaphysician. His knowledge, of course, on completing his college studies, was necessarily super- ficial, but he had reached the proximate end of a col- lege education. He was a man of general culture, of competent science, with a real love of knowledge, and, most important of all, he had learned how to study. During his vacations, he devoted his spare time to the study of history, choosing, in preference to all other, the biographies of successful men. He next went to Ballston, near Saratoga, where he remained long enough to master the rudiments of law. From Ballston he went to Charlestown, Va., and, as Saul of Tarsus sat at the feet of Gamaliel, he sat at the feet of that great lawyer, Andrew Hunter, until he was admitted to the bar, in 1850, after passing a brilliantly success- ful examination. He continued to study two years longer, and in the meantime practised law in the office and under the guidance of his preceptor, Mr. Hunter.
In 1852, William Walsh, attorney-at-law, opened an office at Cumberland; he soon arose to eminence at the Allegany County bar, and retained his exalted position for forty years. His career has been as a lawyer rather than politician-in fact, Mr. Walsh was in no sense a politician; he was a statesman, however,
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and, as such, he was twice elected, and served with distinction two terms in the United States Congress. He was also approached by leaders of his party, who desired to use his name in connection with the nomination for State Governor, but, shrinking from political honors, he would not permit it. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1867, and the present Constitution of Maryland is, to a great extent, his personal work.
In 1858, Mr. Walsh married Miss Marian Shane, of Cumberland, a cultured, refined, Catholic lady, of great piety. Seven of their children died in infancy; but the most severe blow to mar their domestic happi- ness was the death of their oldest daughter, Mary, an accomplished and amiable girl of seventeen summers.
Mr. Walsh died in April, 1892, and was soon fol- lowed to the better world by his loving wife. Their sole surviving children are William Edward Walsh, a successful young Cumberland lawyer, and Clara Teresa, now Mrs. Peter J. Seaver, both worthy in- heritors of the fame and virtues of their distinguished parents, whose memory they cherish as their most sacred legacy.
In this study, we are interested in Mr. Walsh, especially as a great, successful, Catholic layman, in- terested in those qualities of mind and heart that made him near and dear to the Church, and that made the Church so dear to him; the very qualities, in fact, in which lay the secret of all his public worth. It has been well said by Archbishop Keane, the great
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rector of the Catholic University, that "a man's life is noble in proportion as he places before himself a noble ideal, and strives manfully to live up to that ideal." Now, the ideal, which from his infancy was
HON. WILLIAM WALSH.
placed before the mind of William Walsh, was the ideal of Catholic faith, which kept constantly saying to him, "God made me to know Him, to love Him and to serve Him." When we understand this, we understand his life, and we perceive how easy it was
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for the supernatural element in that life to manifest itself so visibly in his daily actions. It was the supernatural element that moulded the strong charac- ter and enabled William Walsh to impress his per- sonality on the community, and so loftily to hold up the Irish Catholic character. He was the conspicuous Catholic layman of Western Maryland for forty years. He stood up before the world, a Catholic lawyer, a Catholic man of affairs, not defiant, but stood in his integrity, where largely race and religious prejudices were against him; but, withal, he stood undismayed, unshattered, a victor, and at last a hero.
William Walsh was a man strangely constituted in many ways; he worked along after his own manner, but it somehow happened that his own manner always led to the right end, whether in law, or politics, or social problems. He was a man who worried very little about the passing accidents of the time. His associates were frequently the heroes of Plutarch; his excursions, with Alexander, Cæsar or the Crusaders ; his philosopher, St. Thomas Aquinas; his orator, St. Bernard or Peter the Hermit; his hero, poor Patrick, whose fidelity to his religion at home made him ply the shovel abroad. He was one of those men who are lifted far above the harsh realities of life, and whose thoughts often dwell on the great questions which have their conclusions beyond the grave.
Mr. Walsh made vast fortunes, accumulated much valuable real estate. His private library was so com- prehensive as to embrace everything of value; but he
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could never become a millionaire-he valued money too lightly and his heart was too generous for that. It was in the domain of thought and feeling, of head and heart, that William Walsh towered high above his fellow-men, and, on that account, he gave a di- rection to men's thoughts and made an impression on men's hearts that will outlive the monuments which pride erects or the fashionable schools of agnosticism and atheism which millionaire robbers endow. His influence during his life was enormous; his word was equal to law with all classes, and his memory is pre- served in the hearts of the living and the loving who knew him. The law-books of the State speak his industry, the Constitution of the State bears the im- print of his talents; and for every conscientious young man of brains and virtue, who is willing to work his way, no matter how poor he may be, there are sign- boards for his guidance by land and lighthouses for his guidance by sea, which the Hon. William Walsh has erected for him.
Mr. Walsh attended, as a diocesan delegate, the Catholic Lay Congress, which was held in Baltimore in 1889. He declined, however, to take any active part in the deliberations, on the ground that Church affairs should be left in the hands of churchmen, and, when laymen interfere in such matters, they often preach heresy on account of their ignorance of theo- logical terminology, and even when their intentions are the very best, they are apt to do more harm than good. No man was more timid than he in expressing
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