USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Essex county, N.J., illustrated > Part 10
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ST. JOHN'S R. C. CHURCH.
ville, who personally and with great care and labor re-wrote the church's record of births and marriages from the founda- tion to his time, and who was the second incumbent to die {January, 18921; Thomas E. Wallace, administrator, from January, 1892, to February 27, 1892, and February 1892, Rev. J. P. Poels, the incumbent. The assistant rectors were Rev. Fathers Guth, 1837; Farrell, 1838; Bacon, 1838; Donahue 1845: Hanahan, 1846; Callan, 1848; Senez. 1849; Conroy, 1852; McGuire, 1853; Tubberty, 1854: Casted. 1858; McCloskey, 1860; Byrne, 1861; Moran, 1863; Wiseman, 1867 ; Rolando. 1867 ; Nardiello, 1876; Whelan, 1878; Corrigan, 1879; White, 1882; McGahan, 1892 ; Fanning, 1893. and Dooley, at present. Rev. Father Poels, who is now rector of St. John's, is a man of great executive ability, and most zeal- ous ; and people who love the first Catholic church in Newark and cherish its memories, may rejoice that the parish has come under his care, for it already shows many signs of improve-
INTERIOR VIEW OF ST. ALOYSIUS CHURCH.
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ESSEX COUNTY, N. J., ILLUSTRATED.
ment and of renewed life. His administration has been signal- ized by a marked advancement of church affairs and an entire renovation of the church property.
The history of St. John's is in very fact the history of Catho- licity in New Jersey. The "mother of all the churches " of the diocese; from her sanctuary have gone forth several zealous and exemplary missionaries to propagate the faith, and among these may be mentioned Most Rev. Michael Augustine Cor- rigan, D. D., Archbishop of New York ; the late Very Rev. Jamies HI Corrigan, for several years vice-president of Seton Hall College ; Rev. George W. Corrigan, of Paterson, and the Rev. Martin O'Connor, of Peoria, III.
CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF MT. CARMEL.
HIS Church, formerly the Second Reformed, was purchased T for the use of the Italian Catholics of the city, by the advice and with the aid of the Rt. Rev. Bishop Wigger, and the learned and energetic Father Conrad M. Schotthoefer, D. D., became its first rector. Ile was succeeded by Rev. Father Ali, a convert from Mohammedanism, who was a zealous and faith- ful priest, but he died within a year of his appointment to the care of the parish.
The present incumbent, the Rev. Father Ernest D'Aquila, is a graduate of the Seminary of Termoli Boiano St. Catherine, Alexandria, Egypt. He also studied at the Seminary of Saint Joseph, Smyrne, AAsia Minor. Besides being learned in his sacred profession, especially as to canon law, he is an accom- plished musician, having taken a seven years' course in music at Naples, Italy, He is especially proficient with the piano, flute, cornet and organ.
His sister is a valued assistant to the reverend Father in his labors, as she has drawn about her a class of sixty-five of the children of the parish, whom she daily instructs in the elements of education. In this laudable work she is fortunate in having the assistance of Miss Victoria Richmond, a daughter of Dr. John B. Richmond, who gives her services three times a week to the school on instructing the children in English. Miss Richmond is a gifted and accomplished linguist and has acquired a wonderful proficiency in the Italian language in a short space of time.
Under Father D'Aquila's rectorship, the Church of our Lady of Mt. Carmel shows great improvement. both in the character and growth of the attendance of devout wor- shippers and in the improve- ments and em- bellishments which have been wrought in the edifice itself. The most indiffer- ent observer cannot fail to note that the worker is in love with his work, and that KEV. E. D'AQUILA. he is animated
CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF ME. CARMEL.
in all of his undertakings, with the spirit of the Master. A novel feature of the services of the church consists in that they are conducted in a modest way, after the Italian style of elaboration and display. This feature is attractive to the parishioners, as it recalls the life in their beautiful fatherland, and revives an interest in the religious observances of their youth, which perhaps under the asperities of existence in a new world, was beginning to wane.
Father D'Aquila began his labors in America hy organizing the Italian parish of St. Anthony in Elizabeth, and erecting a church of the same name. In addition to his charge in this city, he has also erected the Church of St. Michael the Arch- angel, in Orange, for his countrymen. which has furnished another illustration of his successful management of religious affairs.
The accompanying illustration of the church edifice shows it to be a pleasing structure architecturally, from an exterior point of view, and its very central location bids fair to make it in the course of time, a very large and prosperous parish. The in- terior arrangements of the church are excellent, and quite suited to the needs of the present congregation. Until the establish- ment of the Church of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, in 1890, the eastern section of the city afforded no accommodation for the many who resided there of Italian birth and the Catholic faith.
The prosperity and ever growing condition of the parish is good evidence of the need of such a church, and under the able management of the present pastor, the future should have much in store.
The church will have its effect for good among the Italian speaking people of the entire city in making them good Christ- ians, and thereby better citizens. Father E. D'Aquila has entered into a field of great usefulness, and he has the well wishes of the community in the performance of his good works.
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ESSEX COUNTY, N. J., ILLUSTRATED.
ST. JAMES' CHURCH.
T HIS Church which, with its ornate and artistic interior and its beautiful and imposing exterior, is without doubt one of the finest edifices dedicated to divine worship in Newark, is a mon - ument to a life's enthusiastic devotion to God's work, that of the late Father Gervais, and to the unassuming but effective work of his successor, the Rev. Father Cody.
St. James' parish was organized in 1853. Through the efforts of the Rev. Father Senez, at that time rector of St. Patrick's Cathedral, the site was purchased. The Rev. Father Allaire was put in charge of the new parish, and on June IS, 1854, the corner-stone of the old brick church, which is still standing. was laid by the most Rev. James Roosevelt Bayley, first bishop of Newark. This building was completed under the Rev. James Callen, who succeeded Father Allaire. and was dedicated the following November. It was of three stories, and the upper one was reserved for school purposes. Father Callen, was succeeded by the Rev. Father Gervais, (1861). Father Gervais was a man with a character pro- nounced and original almost to eccentricity. If his mission was to build grand and costly structures for the glory of God, he certainly carried it out with an energy and a success, and in an adverse condition that were extraordinary. Up from midst the humble homes of hard working wage-earners, rose imposing structures-church, hospital and convent-as if from under a magician's hand.
And the inspirer of these great works was going about in worn out shoes from door to door of his flock, collecting funds for his enterpises, or was assisting in the manual labor of the builders. In July, 1863, the corner-stone of the present com- modious church building, which is built of dressed brown stone from the old quarries on Eight Avenue, this city, was laid, and three years later, June 17, 1866, in the presence of the largest concourse of people that had ever assembled in that section of the city, it was dedicated to divine worship, most Rev. Arch- bishop Bayley officiating at both events.
The strain of his responsibilities proved too great for Father Gervais, and July 24, 1872, he went to his reward. The Rev. Father M. E. Kane, his assistant, took charge of the parish until the appointment of the regular pastor, the present incumbent, Rev. Father Cody, (January, 1873). Under the latter's able management the unfinished buildings which cover the entire block bounded by Elm, Jefferson and Madison Streets, the hos- pital with its ap- pointments and the church with its graceful and massive steeple have been com- pleted. A chime of ten bells (the largest weighing over three thou- sand pounds) which is judged to be the finest in the State has been placed in the church tower. In addition to this noble instrument a still greater one
REV. J. M. GERVAIS, (deceased).
ST. JAMES' R. C. CHURCH.
has been built in the church, in the grand organ, which is also the finest in New Jersey. The brown stone buildings which cover the rest of the block, now constitute the rectory, the parish school which has an attendance of 1,200 children and is abso- lutely free, a convent for the sisters of charity, and a hospital, which was opened in the fall of 1896. Since the advent of the Rev. Father Cody, all the affairs of the parish have pros- pered. Church societies are nunı- erous and large, the circulating library of the church con- tains over 1,500 volumes, and in general the relig- ious wants of the parish are studi- ously looked after.
Father Cody can . have for the rest of his life, the proud satisfaction that he has brought to a glorious completion what might have been to his people, in less able hands. an unrealized dream.
REV. P. CODY.
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ESSEX COUNTY, N. J., ILLUSTRATED.
W ITEN the people of this country had won their inde- pendence from British tyranny by the arbitrament of the sword. and achieved the right to representation among the nations of the earth, the wise men who framed the Consti- tution of the United States, incor- porated within the provisions of that golden instrument, the broad and comprehensive declaration that Congress should make no law re- garding "the establishment of re- ligion.'
By this is was decreed that re- ligious freedom was ever to be a necessary part of that personal liberty for which the early patriots struggled and fought.
REV. J. P. POEI.S.
Thus it was that America became RIGHE REV. MICHAEL. WINAND WIGGER, D D. known and designated throughout the world as " the land of the free and the home of the brave." This proud title was somewhat obscured until about thirty-three years ago, when President Abraham Lincoln, in the midst of a fearful struggle for the perservation of the Union, issued his famous proclamation sun- dering the shackles from millions of human slaves, and removed forever the foul blot that obscured the country's glorious title. Since the adoption of the constitution its scope has been broad- ened by several amendments, made necessary by the require- ments of a growing population and an increasing civilization ; but the fundamental provisions guaranteeing religious freedom has endured without change, and will always remain as long as this people exist as a free nation. Each year sees an influx of natives from every country in the world, who have somehow heard that America is the land of great opportunities ; that here they can live as they choose, so they do it honestly, and that they can worship whom or what they will, without let or hinderance, or can proclaim their disbelief in any religion and deny the ex- istence of any deity whatsoever. Hence it is that at the present time, in this grand country, with perhaps a population of seventy- five millions of human creatures, while Christians of various denominations predominate. Hebrews worship God in their Synagogues, the humble native of the Celestial Kingdom bows
MONSIGNOR GEORGE H DOANE.
are there to be found more devoted min- isters ; men noted at home and abroad for their scholarly at- tainments, broad philanthropy and faithful devotion to their labor in their various fields. Each sect or denomination have able and distinguished repre- sentatives, whose life-work would form a very interesting subject for comment, but this being an illustrated work, we are content in beautifying its pages with the life-like photos of a few of the many divines of Newark, whose names and ser- vices as well, are identified with the many public and private charities of the city, and few men have done more for mor- rality and good citizenship.
down to his little gods in the Joss house, and the faithful Moslem sends up his prayers to Allah when and where he pleases. Each has his own peculiar form of worship, and carries it out peacefully, without interference from the other. The wonderful diversity of religious worship is nowhere more strikingly illustrated than in this great industrial city of Newark, whose complex population of perhaps two hundred and fifty thousand souls includes people from every land under the sun. Here in this great manufacturing centre of the new world, where the operations of trade and industry assume grand proportions, and millions of money is invested in vast business enterprises, the few are engaged in a mad pursuit of greater wealth, the toiling masses follow the unchanging tread-mill of labor, yet at the end of each six days the clink of the hammer and the buzz of the saw is stilled, and the doors of the factories, shops and banks are closed.
Then, with the coming of the day of rest, rich and poor alike are free to seek religious instruction as they may choose. There is no lack of opportunity, for there are numerous houses of worship and plenty of religious teachers. In no city in the country
REV. W. J. WISEMAN, S. T. L.
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ESSEX COUNTY, N. J., ILLUSTRATED,
ST. BRIDGET'S CHURCH.
THE parish of St. Bridget was founded in 1887 by the Rev. Michael J. White, who was assigned to the task by the Bishop of the Diocese of Newark, Rt. Rev. William Wigger, D. D. Father White was at that time an assistant priest in St. Patrick's Cathedral. He entered upon his new field of labor and for the first time offered up the holy sacrifice of the mass in the chapel now used as a school-house, on Sunday, April 3. 1887. The corner-stone of the neat and elegant structure which appears in the illus- tration was laid by Bishop Wigger on Sun- day, October 18, 1891, and through the untiring and energetic efforts of Father White the church was completed and, in the presence of the Governor of this State, Hon. Leon Abbott, the Mayor of the city, Hon. Joseph E. Haynes, with other State and city officials and a large congregation, was solemnly dedicated to divine worship by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Wigger, on Sunday, June 12, 1892.
Father White is an accomplished and highly educated clergy- man and possesses good judgment. He established religious and benevolent societies in the new parish and surprised some of the older stewards in the vineyard with his rapid success in his new field of labor. After the death of Rev. Father Holland, of St. Columba's parish, Bishop Wigger transferred Father White to the rectorship of St. Columba's Church, in September, 1896, and there is no doubt but that his administration in the new field assigned to his care will be characterized with the same zeal and energy displayed in building up the former parish of St. Bridget's.
The Rev. Father Carroll, who was formerly an assistant in St. Mary's Church, of Elizabeth, has been called by the Bishop of the Diocese to continue the good work commenced in the new field, and from all indications the new rector of St. Bridget's will fulfill the expectations of his superior.
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REV. M. A. MC MANUS.
new charge. Under his enter- prising guidance matters had taken such a bright look that in October, 1879, he purchased eleven city lots, and in May of 18So, contracts were made for the building of the new church. Work went ahead at a surpris- ing rate and the corner-stone was laid with appropriate cere- monies on June 20, 18So. It is a handsome edifice of Belleville brown-stone, Gothic in style and in dimensions is 65 feet wide and 137 feet long. Father Fleming died in January, 1892, after eigh- teen years of continuous labor, admired as a man, and beloved as a Priest. His successor was Rev. M. A. Mc Manus. He is still in charge and carrying to successful issue the good work inaugurated by the founder of the parish.
ST. ALOYSIUS' R. C. CHURCH, COR. BOWERY AND FREEMAN STREETS.
ST. ALOYSIUS' CHURCH.
NOTHING of the venerableness of great age clings about St. Aloysius'. Even the young men and women of the parish have seen the digging of the church's foundations, the erection of the superstructure and the establishment of the various church societies. It is as young as they are. They have grown with it and are closely identified with its progress. They can recall the time when the ground on which the church stands was almost part of the meadows, and when the only building of a character that spoke of Catholicity was old St. Thomas' school.
In July, 1879, Rt. Rev M. A. Corrigan, then Bishop of New- ark, appointed the Rev. Father Fleming pastor of the new parish formed from the north-east end of St. James' parish. By actual count resulting from a house-to-house visitation of the parish, Father Fleming found that he had 1,487 souls under his
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REV. FATHER FLEMING, DECEASED
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ESSEX COUNTY, N. J., ILLUSTRATED.
Nº 0 theme which the writer of ESSEX COUNTY, N. J., ILLUSTRATED, has touched-always excepting the chari- table institutions within her bounds-has taken a deeper hold than her church history. When the early settlers came on from Connecticut and made their homes upon a part of the plot of ground upon which now stands the great industrial city of the Western Hemisphere, they brought their church organiza- tion along, and the little town of Branford, from whence they came, was left without a church, except in name, until after several years of loneliness the people of the town joined hands and hearts and established a new church. Here in Essex County, then, flourished and steadily grew the trans- planted church, and among the stately oaks by the side of the Pasaick the people worshipped according to the dictates of their own conscience, there being none to molest or make them afraid. We make the quotation fearlessly enough, for certainly had there been any fear on the part of the fearless settlers of our own beautiful county and now matchless city, their church historians would have doubtless hastened to write it down. As the reader no doubt understands how relentlessly some of the sister churches had been molested, and how they had been made afraid ; but with that we have little to do in the work in hand.
That the reader may have some satisfactory idea of how the churches have grown and prospered, our artists have taken no little pains in satisfying the collater that his true spiritual view has been carried out by the transference to these pages, illus- trative pictures of several of our churches. The old First Church, as it is now denominated, is rightly named, when it is understood that it was the first indeed. It will not be under- stood though, we trust, that the First Church building was shipped over from Connecticut, but the congregation only, and it was they who constructed the first place of worship or church building, on the site selected by that eminent divine, Rev. Dr. Abraham Pierson, Deacon Ward and Judge Treat.
Away back in 1668 the first meeting-house was built and made to serve the purpose, not alone as a place of divine worship, but a place for the transaction of all public business as well. The little structure. with a frontage of about thirty- six feet and with a lean-to in the rear, was a mere mite of a church edifice, compared with the imposing structures with massive walls of marble or Essex County brown-stone, with towers mounting heavenward, in which their descendants worship in our day, the photo pen pictures of which adorn this
ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH, WALLACE PLACE.
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ST. BRIDGET'S CHURCH, PLANE STREFT.
book. For comparative purposes it might as well be stated, that when in 1669 there was a single church in Essex County. there is now more than two hundred places of worship, wherein people gather in acknowledgment of the fact that we are all children of one great Heavenly Parent, to petition his omnis- cience and sing his praises. It must not be forgotten that the early Essex church furnished from its divines the first presi- dent of Yale, Dr. Pierson, and the first president of our own Princeton, Dr. Burr, the memories of both of whom are revered by those great institutions of higher education.
It may be said by some who wish to detract from their glories of the past, that in the early day, when the churches of Newark, the capital city of Essex County, furnished the pre- siding officers to these now world-renowned edu- cational institutions, they were in their infancy. We answer, yes, that is true, but there is an old adage, beautiful, and contains just as much truth when applied to the early conduct and growth of colleges and institutions of learning, as well as to the ideal tree, " Just as the twig is bent the tree's inclined." The truth should be told at all times, and while we take to it naturally, we cannot per- mit our recollection of the two college incidental facts to sever us. We are in somewhat the condi- tion of our Quaker friend, when he declared, with a merry twinkle in his eye, when speaking of the foot- ball record of these colleges: "It is my candid opinion that both have gone a trifle crooked," but he thought he could stand it. So can we.
While the Quaker may have gotten close up to trouble, we have the way open to get out, since col- lege athletics have been introduced into the college learning curriculum since those good old first presidents handled the twig ; and if it has grown a trifle crooked through the influence of the heroic
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ESSEX COUNTY, N. J., ILLUSTRATED.
latter-day football game, we can be excused by falling back on the two prominent facts. When college athletics were first introduced as a leading classical study, "Old Eli" had not a spot on his cheek, neither was he bald, and the " Tiger" hadn't any stripes at all. After all, Presidents Pierson and Burr are not the only college officials which have gone out to other fields from the Essex County band of clergy, for few places indeed have been honored by the presence of a more eloquent and better learned body of pulpit orators, than have from year to year sown the good seed, and it would be a trifle strange if from among these some had been called, and the same is true that not only the few but many have been called away to the field of the stranger and to pastures new.
To no pleasanter task could the pen of the writer be called than the work of naming the divines who have thus gone forth from among us, and of tracing their career and describing the battles they have fought and the victories won. To whatever field our clergymen have gone-whether educational or minis- terial, whether in obeyance to the command of the Master, "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." as missionaries to the heathen who are continually repeating " How could we believe, having never heard, and how understand without a preacher?"-they have fought the good fight and such victories won as to not alone satisfy all, but to delight the close, warm friends they left behind them.
As it is no part of our duty to sing the praises of one and hoist him high on the feathers of our pen, but alone to do equal and exact justice to one and all, we shall, after calling attention to the results of illustrative work among the churches, say a few words by way of admonition where injustice has usurped the place of justice, where and how we think to the best of our judgment (not always infallible) there would be a fine place to let fall again the "scourge of small cords," sparing not any, whether standing in the pulpit or, Becket-like, clinging to the horns of the altar or sitting in the soft-cushioned pews away up or well toward the front.
We are sincere in the belief that we make no mistake in the declaration that never before since book-making began, has there been introduced into any one volume a larger number of correct photos, illustrations of educational institutions, school- houses and churches than can be found between the lids of the
CHURCH AND SCHOOL OF ST. MARY MAGDALEN.
ST. BENEDICT'S CHURCH, SCHOOL AND RECTORY, ON NIAGARA, KOMORN AND BARBARA STREETS,
book now being perused. As they number so few, indeed, who would question the propriety of the combination the writer has taken the liberty of keeping the schools and churches intact ; therefore, no further harm, if any, can accrue from its continu- ance. Taken as a whole, while the educators in the public and parochial school-rooms, the pulpits and Sabbath schools may not be any better prepared for the work than their brethren engaged in like callings in other places, we feel fully justified in challenging the world to produce their superiors.
When we approach the pulpit we know that not an injustice is done to a single individual anywhere, when the statement is made and placed upon record that for advances in learning, for depth of piety and for pulpit eloquence, taken as a whole, the clergy of Essex County are equal to the best. Did they always have their way, the thunder of that mighty eloquence which is kept at bay for reasons best understood by the possessor there- of would be much oftener heard, and while the lions in sheep's clothing would do a little less of that quiet roaring that, we regret to say, keeps so many hungry souls away from the sanctu- ary, for the reason that the wool in the soft coat so many wear is all exhausted and there is not enough left to make garments fit for those poor souls who hunger and thirst ST. LEO'S R. C. CHURCH, IRVINGTON.
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