History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men, Part 146

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1358

USA > Missouri > St Louis County > St Louis City > History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men > Part 146

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St. Lawrence O'Toole's Church .- Rev. James Henry, the present pastor of St. Lawrence O'Toole's Church, was appointed on the 7th of February, 1853, assistant pastor of St. Patrick's Church, and while serving in that capacity carried on mission work in the outlying districts of the parish, which extended to the old reservoir, and which in those days were an open prairie and almost a wilderness, Seventeenth Street being then the limit of the city. In April, 1855, he was authorized by Archbishop Kenrick to organize a congregation and establish a new parish, to be taken from St. Patrick's, and to be known as St. Lawrence O'Toole's. A lot, eighty-four feet three inches by one hundred and twenty-five feet, at the northwest corner of O'Fallon and Fourteenth Streets, was presented for the purpose by Miss Jane Graham, a member of the Mullanphy family, and upon this site a church thirty- eight by eighty-six feet was erected and dedicated Dec. 16, 1855. Mrs. Jane Chambers, only surviving child of John Mullanphy, gave an additional lot in the rear of the church lot, thirty-five feet on O'Fallon Street by eighty-four feet three inches in depth, on which was erected a building (still oecupicd), twenty-nine by seventy-four feet, for the parochial school, which was opened under the charge of the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1858. Father Henry slept in the basement of the church, in a small space, hardly to be called a room, under the bell-tower, considerably exposed to the ele- ments. The tower was open, and the boys of the neighborhood were much addicted to ringing it at night, startling good Father Henry and the whole neighborhood with false alarms of fire.

In 1864 the church lot was exchanged for the one now occupied on the southwest corner of Fourteenth and O'Fallon Streets, and the old church was demol- ished and its materials used in the construction of a new edifice. The corner-stone was laid by Arehbishop

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Kenrick on the 31st of January, 1864, and the occa- sion was made memorable by the presence of Gen. Rosecrans, who had just been appointed to the com- mand of the Department of the Missouri, and who, in the presence of the ten thousand spectators assem- bled, knelt down to receive the archbishop's blessing. The building had progressed to the roofing, when it Was entirely destroyed by a cyclone. Work was at once begun anew, and the completed structure was consecrated by Archbishop Kenrick in the summer of 1865. Its dimensions are seventy-five by onc hun- dred and fifty fect, and it has held two thousand five hundred persons sitting and standing. The main altar, of white, blue-veined marble, beautiful in itself, is still further embellished by three medallions of white marble (executed by a sculptor who accompanied Maxi- milian to Mexico), the central one of which is the head of Christ crowned with thorns in high relief, and de- serving to rank among the most exquisite gems of modern art. There are two altars, one on each side of the main altar, and similar to it in style and mate- rial, both of which were erected by Mrs. Hudson as memorials of her husband, Thomas B. Hudson, and of her niece, Lizzie Hudson Thatcher. A fourth altar, dedicated to St. Joseph, was also a gift of Mrs. Hud- son. The size of the present church lot is one hun- dred by one hundred and eighty-six feet, and on the rear portion, adjoining the church, stands a commo- dious parsonage. Another lot, eighty-two by one hundred and twenty-five feet, on Fourteenth Street near Biddle, is owned by the church, and upon it a new parochial school, sixty by one hundred feet, is in course of construction. The parish contains a popu- lation of thirty thousand, of which five thousand are connected with this church. Its Sunday-school is attended by thirty-five teachers and eleven hundred scholars, and the parochial school has seven teachers and four hundred and fifty pupils. Connected with the church are a number of religious and benevolent societies.

St. Malachy's Church .- The congregation of St. Malachy's Church, southwest corner of Clark and Summit Avenues, Rev. Charles Zeigler, pastor, was organized on the 30th of October, 1859, by Rev. John O'Sullivan, its first pastor, who received his ap- pointment Oct. 23, 1858, and was succeeded by Rev. M. W. Tobyn, April 26, 1862, and by the present pastor Oct. 20, 1869. The corner-stone of the church was laid Oct. 24, 1858, and it was occupied Oct. 22, 1859, and dedicated 'Sept. 2, 1860. It is English Gothic in style, and built of brick and stone, with fifty-five feet frontage on Clark Avenue by one hun- dred and twenty feet in depth. The interior, richly

frescoed, is of very imposing appearance, the vaulted roof being supported by a double row of fluted col- umns. The church lot measures one hundred and thirty by one hundred and sixty feet, and contains, adjoining the church on Clark Avenue, the parochial school for boys, a two-story brick building, fifty by one hundred and twenty-nine feet, with a seating capacity of six hundred. The school is under the charge of the Christian Brothers, and has six teachers and four hundred pupils. The parochial school for girls is con- ducted in St. Philomena's Orphan Asylum and School, opposite the church, and is attended by four teachers (Sisters of Charity) and three hundred scholars. The schools are supported by voluntary contributions, and the tuition is free. The societies connected with the congregation are St. Malachy's Total Abstinence and Benevolent Society, organized in 1870, now number- ing one hundred and thirty-two members ; St. Vincent de Paul Society, organized in 1864, fifty-seven mem- bers; Young Men's Sodality, sixty-two members ; Boys' Sodality, eighty-three members; and eight other exclusively religious associations. About six hundred families are connected with the church, the actual membership, largely composed of single men, numbering five thousand. The Sunday-school is at- tended by twenty-seven teachers and nearly eight hundred scholars. Rev. M. S. Brennan is assistant pastor.

Church of St. John the Evangelist .- The corner- stone of the first church of St. John the Evangelist, at the corner of Sixteenth and Chestnut Streets, was laid on the 22d of August, 1847, Father Timon officiating. On the 2d of February, 1859, the con- struction of a new church was begun, and on the 1st of May following the corner-stone was laid by Arch- bishop Kenrick. The building was completed in October, 1860, and was dedicated on the first Sunday of the following month. Its architecture is of the Romanesque order, and its dimensions sixty-six and a half by one hundred and thirteen feet. The height of the structure is sixty-four and a half feet, and the front is flanked by two towers of five stories, fifteen feet square, rising to a height of about one hundred feet. The interior was frescoed by Mr. Hoffman with scenes from the Apocalypse, and is otherwise richly adorned. The parochial residence adjoins the church on the east. Bishop Ryan was pastor of the church for some time prior to his consecration, and still preaches in it frequently. The regular pastor, Rev. John J. Hennessey, has for assistants Revs. M. J. Gleeson and Francis Jones. The parochial schools are situated at the southeast corner of Sixteenth and Walnut Streets, in a three-story brick building, with

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accommodations for seven hundred scholars, and are · conducted by the Christian Brothers and the Sisters of St. Joseph. The building, which stands on a lot valued at ten thousand dollars, was erected in 1874, at a cost of twenty-seven thousand dollars. The parish is one of the most numerous in the city, con- taining about eighteen hundred families, or nearly nine thousand persons. Six hundred children attend the Sunday-school.

Annunciation Church .- Annunciation parish was organized in 1859 by Rev. (now Bishop) Patrick J. Ryan, by whose personal exertions the funds for the erection of a church were raised. The corner-stone of the structure, which is one of the finest in the city, was laid Nov. 27, 1859, and the building was dedi- cated Sunday, Dec. 16, 1860. The exercises on this occasion were conducted by Archbishop Kenrick, as- sisted by Bishop Juncker, of Alton, Ill. The dedi- catory sermon was delivered by Father Ryan. The dimensions of the church, which is situated at the northwest corner of Sixth and Labadie Streets, are sixty by one hundred and thirty-six feet, and the total cost was about one hundred thousand dollars. Its architecture is of the Roman order, and the appear- ance of the building is massive and imposing. The interior is richly frescoed and adorned by costly paint- ings, one of which, the " Marriage of Joseph and Mary," was presented by Louis XVIII. of France to Bishop Dubourg in 1818. A colonnade of Corin- thian pillars supports the arched roof, and the altars, three in number, are of the purest Italian marble and very costly. The successive pastors of the church have been Revs. P. J. Ryan, David S. Phelan, and the present pastor, Rev. Philip J. Brady, who is as- sisted by Rev. David J. Dougherty. The Annuncia- tion Free School for boys is conducted under charge of the Christian Brothers in a two-story brick build- ing on the southeast corner of Sixth Street and Chouteau Avenue (nearly opposite the church). The girls' free school is conducted by the ladies of the Sacred Heart in their convent near by. There are about five hundred families or fourteen hundred per- sons in the parish, two hundred and ten communi- cants and over three hundred children in the Sunday- school. Identified with this church there are two benevolent societies, three purely religious societies, an orphan association, two temperance organizations, and the St. Vincent de Paul Society, a benevolent organization.

Church of the Assumption .- The parish of the Assumption was organized in 1862 by Rev. Bernard O'Reilly, and the corner-stone of the present Church of the Assumption, at the northwest corner of Sidney

and Eighth Streets, was laid early in May, 1862. The dimensions of the building are forty by one hundred feet, and its cost was about nine thousand dollars. The architect was Robert S. Mitchell. Rev. Bernard O'Reilly was succeeded in the pastor- ate by Rev. F. O'Reardon in 1864; Rev. F. Kava- naugh, 1866 ; Rev. James Fox, 1868 ; Rev. Edward Shea, 1870; and Rev. C. A. Smith, the present pas- tor, in 1873. The church property has a front on Sidney Street of one hundred feet, on which are erected the church edifice, the parsonage, and the parochial school. It is valued at thirty thousand dollars. The school is taught by the Ursuline nuns, and has an average attendance of three hundred pupils. The congregation numbers fifteen hundred persons, an increase of five hundred in the last three years. Connected with it are two societics, both or- ganized by the present pastor,-the St. Vincent de Paul (charitable and benevolent), organized in 1873, present membership, twenty-five; and Branch No. 169 of the Catholic Knights of America, organized in 1880, and now numbering seventy members.

Church of St. Anthony of Padua .- On the 5th of February, 1863, the Franciscan Fathers or Friars Minor, called Recollects, organized the parish of St. Anthony of Padua, in connection with their monas- tery in the suburbs of St. Louis, near the Work- house Station, Iron Mountain Railroad. Divine scr- vice was held at first in a frame house belonging to John Whitnell, who presented to the order the ground upon which their buildings now stand. The monastery was completed and services held in its chapel Aug. 2, 1863. The corner-stonc of the present church, at Meramec Street and Kansas Avenue, was laid by Archbishop Kenrick, April 10, 1864, and that part of the church which is now used as the sanctuary and oratory of the monastery was completed June 24, 1865, and services were thenceforth held in it until the main church was built and consecrated, Oct. 10, 1869, the rite of consecration being per- formed, in the absence and with the consent of Archbishop Kenrick, by Right Rev. John J. Hogan, Bishop of St. Joseph, Mo., assisted by Father Kilian, Provisional Superior of the Order of Franciscan Fathers. The building was erected at a cost of fifty- six thousand dollars, and its external dimensions are : Length, one hundred and forty-three feet ; width, forty-five feet. Internal : auditorium, length, one hundred and five feet ; width, forty-five feet ; height, fifty feet. Sanctuary, length, thirty-eight feet ; width, thirty feet ; height, forty-three feet.

The pastors, with the dates of their appointment, have been Rev. Servatius Altmicks, O.S.F., who or-

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HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.

ganized the parish Feb. 5, 1863, and who is now superior of the Indian Mission at Keshina, Wis .; Rev. Alardus Andrescheck, O.S.F., Dec. 5, 1869; Rev. Ferdinand Bergmeyer, O.S.F., Sept. 2,.1871 ; Rev. Vincent Halbfas, O.S.F., Jan. 14, 1877; and the present rector, Rev. Liborius Schaefermeyer, ap- pointed July 2, 1879. The church building (in- cluding the steeple) is of stone, in pure Gothic style, and is one of the largest and handsomest church edi- fices in the city. The parochial school for boys was established when the parish was organized, but the building in which it is now held was not completed until 1870. The parochial school for girls is at pres- ent conducted by the ladies of the Sacred Heart, Maryville. In 1872 the monastery adjoining the church was enlarged and made a theological seminary for the students of the order. The number of stu- dents varies from twenty to thirty, the number of priests from fifteen to twenty, including such students as towards the close of their studies are ordained, although not invested with full priestly functions, and there are about ten lay brothers. Since 1879 this monastery has been the ordinary residence of the Superior Provincial of the newly-formed Franciscan province of "The Sacred Heart of Jesus" in the United States, comprising about one hundred priests in the various monasterics and residences of the Western States and the Indian missions in Wisconsin. The present provincial is the Very Rev. Vincent Halbfas, O.S.F. The Fathers of this monastery per- form divine service and attend to spiritual wants for the novitiate of the Christian Brothers, the convent and academy of the Sisters of St. Joseph in South St. Louis and at Nazareth, and the convent of the Sacred Heart, Maryville, as well as for the Catholic inmates of the various city institutions, the sick at the Marine Hospital, etc. They also furnish retreats to various other religious societies, and missions to Catholic congregations in several parts of the United States. Connected with the congregation are the following societies : Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, for boys and girls who have made their first communion ; St. Aloysius' Young Men's Society, St. Clarc's Young Ladies' Society, St. Mary's Ladies' Society, St. Anthony's Men's Society, and St. An- thony's Orphan Society. There are over three hun- dred families and nine hundred communicants in the parish, and about one hundred children attend the Sunday-school.

St. Elizabeth's Church, for colored people, is situ- ated at the corner of Fifteenth and Gay Streets, and the pastor is the Rev. Ignatius Panken, S.J. The building, which is a small Gothic structure of brick,

was erected about 1849, by the Southern Methodists, and was known as Asbury Chapel. It was sold in December, 1864, to the Jesuits, who devoted it to the use of the colored Catholics. The building was renovated and refitted, and will now seat about three hundred persons. The pastor resides at St. Louis University, but devotes his whole time to the duties of his parish and its schools, About eight hundred persons compose the congregation, and all attend the Sunday services with considerable regularity.

St. Teresa's Church, Grand Avenue, between North Market and Summer Streets, Rev. W. H. Brantner, pastor, was organized in October, 1865, by Rev. F. P. Gallagher, its first pastor, who was ap- pointed Oct. 1, 1865, with Rev. E. J. Fitzpatrick as assistant. The corner-stone was laid on the 14th of May, 1865, and the building was dedicated Sept. 23, 1866. It was thirty-two by sixty-five feet in size, and had a capacity of three hundred sittings. An addition, forty-eight by sixty-five fcet, was subse- quently built, and dedicated Dec. 22, 1878, raising the seating capacity to seven hundred. The building is of brick, in the Byzantine style, and the church lot is two hundred and thirty-six by three hundred and fifteen feet. The church property is valued at fifty thousand dollars. Father Brantner succeeded the first pastor Sept. 1, 1875. On the 1st of August, 1876, the congregation was incorporated under the laws of Missouri as "St. Teresa's Roman Catholic Parish Association," with nine trustees. The societics connected with the church are the St. Teresa's Con- ference ; St. Vincent de Paul Society, organized in 1868, and now numbering forty members; Young Ladies' Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary, organ- ized Dec. 8, 1881, ninety members ; Holy Name Society, organized May, 1879, sixty-five members ; Married Ladies' Sodality, organized Feb. 2, 1882, forty-two members; Confraternity of the Holy Ro- sary, organized Oct. 1, 1875, one hundred and sev -. enty members; Confraternity of the Sacred Heart, organized June 1, 1878, one hundred and eighty members; St. Teresa's Branch, No. 99, Catholic Knights of America, organized Dec. 1, 1879, one hundred and thirty-one members ; St. Teresa's Coun- cil, No. 7, Knights of Father Mathew of Missouri, organized Aug. 10, 1881, seventy-five members ; St. Teresa's Altar Society, for providing all things pertaining to the altar and sanctuary, organized No- vember, 1875, two hundred members; St. Teresa's Purgatorian Association, organized Nov. 2, 1875, one hundred and fifty members. The parochial school was organized in 1870, and is conducted by four teachers. It is located in a building, thirty-

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five by seventy fect, which is situated in the rear of the church, and which accommodates three hundred pupils, the number now attending the school. Since the organization of this parish four other parishes have been formed within its boundaries,-St. Augus- tine's (German), Church of the Holy Ghost (German), St. Alphonsus' (Redemptorist), and Church of the Visitation. The present boundaries of St. Teresa's parish are from Natural Bridge road and Salisbury Street on the north to Lucas and Easton Avenues on the south, and from Jefferson and Garrison Avenues on the east to Goode Avenue on the west. On the 15th of October, 1882, the church celebrated the tri-centenary of the death of St. Teresa, its patron- ess, in the presence of a vast concourse of Catholics from all parts of the city. About two hundred and sixty families are connected with the congregation, and the Sunday-school is attended by twenty-one teachers and four hundred and fifteen children. The present officers of the board of trustees are Hon. Henry F. Harrington, president ; John L. Zwart, secretary ; John Staunton, treasurer. They reported $6923.45 as the amount of church collections for 1882, and a church debt of $9245.85.

Church of the Holy Angels. - The congrega- tion of the Church of the Holy Angels, St. Ange Avenue, between Chouteau Avenue and La Salle Street, Rev. Francis M. Keilty, pastor, was organ- ized by Rev. M. Welby, its first pastor, under direc- tion of Archbishop Kenrick, in 1866. The corner- stone was laid on the 1st of July, 1866, and the building was dedicated by Archbishop Kenrick on the 1st of January, 1867. It is a neat brick structure of Gothic architecture, and will seat four hundred and fifty persons. The dimensions of the church lot are one hundred and eighty-nine fect eight inches by one hundred and thirty-six fect. The con- gregation numbers about thirteen hundred persons, and the Sunday-school is attended by twelve teachers and one hundred and eighty scholars. No parochial school has as yet been established in the parish.

St. Nicholas Church .- The corner-stone of St. Nicholas (German) Church, northeast corner of Twenticth Strect and Lucas Avenue, Rev. Joseph J. Schaefers, pastor, was laid by Archbishop Kenrick on the 29th of April, 1866, and the building was dedi- cated on the 19th of May, 1867, in the presence of an immense concourse of people, including the different Catholic societies in regalia. The architecture of the church is in the early English Gothic style, and the building is of brick, its dimensions being eighty by one hundred and forty feet. From a tower one hun- dred and thirty feet high rises a spire to an altitude

of one hundred feet. The interior is divided into a nave and aisles by a series of clustered columns, from which spring moulded Gothic arches, and is beauti- fully finished. The architects were Mitchell & Des- lonne. The building and ground are valued at one hundred and ten thousand dollars. The parochial schools are located on Christy Avenue, between Twen- tieth and Twenty-first Streets, in a brick building of two stories and basement, whichi, with the grounds, cost twenty-four thousand dollars, and are under the charge of the Sisters of St. Joseph, who live in the building, and a secular teacher. Rev. Charles Brock- ineier is assistant pastor. The congregation numbers about four hundred families, or two thousand persons, and three hundred and fifty children attend the Sun- day-school.

St. Alphonsus Church, Grand Avenue, between Finncy and Cook Avenues, Rev. Michael Müller, pastor, is one of the stateliest and most imposing buildings in the city. It was erected under the direc- tion and is still in charge of the Redemptorist Fathers, by one of whom, Father Louis Dold, the original plans for the structure were prepared. Subsequently these plans were modified by the architect, Thomas Walsh. The corner-stone was laid Nov. 3, 1867, by Very Rev. Joseph Melcher, vicar-general of the arch- diocese of St. Louis, and the building was first occu- pied, although in an unfinished condition, Nov. 30, 1868. About this time Rev. L. Dold, its first rector, with three lay brothers, removed from the Cathedral, of which they had charge since 1861, and occupied temporary residences which had been erected on the site. On the 4th of August, 1872, the church was dedicated by Bishop Ryan, in the presence of many priests and an immense concourse of people from all parts of the city and surrounding country. It re- mained a mission church until Sept. 1, 1881, when it was erected into a parish by Most Rev. Archbishop Kenrick. Its pastors have been Revs. I. Dold, E. Grimm, W. Meredith, and (since July, 1880) Michael Müller. The ground on which it stands fronts thrce hundred and eighty-nine fcet on the east side of Grand Avenue, with a depth of four hundred and thirty feet on Cook Avenue, and three hundred and ninety-six feet on Finney Avenue. The building is eighty fect in width, and one hundred and eighty feet in length to the sanctuary, and has a seating ca- pacity (including the gallery) of thirteen hundred and fifty. It is pure Gothic in style, built of rough- dressed white limestone (whence its popular name of the "Rock Church"), and above the principal en- trance rises a main tower two hundred and twenty-five feet in height, flanked by two smaller towers, each

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HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.

seventy-five feet in height, above the entrances to the aisles. The main entrance under the middle tower is a Gothic arch twelve feet wide and forty feet high. The church contains five altars, the most important of which are the main or high altar, under which rests the body of St. Abundius, a Roman martyr, and the altar of "Our Lady of Perpetual Help." The entire cost of the structure amounted to about two hundred thou- sand dollars. As soon as the mission became a parish it was determined to build a parochial school, and the corner-stone of a school building (not yet finished) was laid on the 6th of August, 1882. The building (of brick) will be fifty-nine by one hundred and twenty- nine feet, three stories in height, will contain on the lower and second floors each six rooms, twenty-two by thirty-six feet, and on the third floor a hall the full size of the building. It stands thirty feet back from Grand Avenue, and forty feet from the church, and will be one of the largest parochial schools in the city. The cost of its construction will amount to about forty thousand dollars. The school will prob- ably be under the charge of the Christian Brothers for the boys' department, and of the Sisters of Notre Dame for that of the girls. There are now about three hundred families in the parish, and the average attendance at masses and at evening service on Sunday is about four thousand. Many of the congregation come from other parishes. The Sunday-school, of which Rev. Jos. Distler is director, is attended by twenty-four teachers and four hundred children.

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History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men, Part 146

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898 Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts Number of Pages: 1358

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1358