USA > New Jersey > The Catholic Church in New Jersey > Part 13
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It was also during the incumbency of Father Cornell that St. Mary's congregation was incorporated under the laws of New Jersey.
Father Cornell resigned the charge of St. Mary's Church in the spring of 1865, and Father Quin, the old pastor, then living at Rahway and having charge of St. Mary's Church there, resumed the care of this district.
Once more the parish became a mission of the Rahway Catho- lic Church. This arrangement was the best that could be made at the time, for priests were scarce, and the Catholics of the larger towns were demanding their services. Father Quin was ever at- tentive to the wants of St. Mary's congregation, and gave them all the care he could possibly spare from his other two congre- gations. Long drives from Rahway on sick calls enfeebled his already weak frame. The congregation was growing, and the in- creasing number of children was calling for a permanent priest.
In the December of 1861 the Rt. Rev. Bishop Bayley as- signed Rev. Father Connolly to this parish and the mission of Woodbridge. When Father Connolly came the old church, built by the saintly Father Madranno, stood in the cemetery where so many of the faithful pioneers rested, awaiting the resurrection. Catholics were flocking to Perth Amboy in good numbers, for work was plentiful and profitable. Everything
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seemed encouraging, and the members of St. Mary's were de- lighted to have a priest dwelling once more with them. Now the sick would be attended to and the faint-hearted encouraged, and the children thoroughly grounded in the teachings of their Church.
On January 2d, 1872, the fiat went forth, and the dead who had slumbered in peaceful security were transferred to the new ceme- tery on the hill. A new era was to be inaugurated, the church was to be enlarged and beautified, and the Catholics of Perth . Amboy were to have the model church in this section. Some protested against the removal of the bodies, and pointed to other vacant lots, but all to no purpose. Some bodies were removed and others were left undisturbed, and in the spring the work of destruction and reconstruction began.
The old church with all its blessed memories was taken down piecemeal, the two present transepts were added; a sanctuary was built, and sacristies, so that little or nothing was left of the old church. And the wonderful thing about the affair was that ser- vices continued during the remodelling process. In the year 1883 the present school structure arose, much to the astonish- ment of the people and to their joy. The lay teachers were re- placed by the Sisters of Mercy, who now have three hundred children under their care. During the incumbency of Father Connolly the present convent was procured, also the old Tuite property, corner of Mechanic and Centre streets.
In the year 1888 the growth of the Catholic population required a third Mass, and the Rev. Father Hosey was sent to assist the rector. Father Geoghegan succeeded Father Hosey in 1889, and in time came the Rev. Father Carey, who in turn was replaced by Father Geoghegan, who was succeeded by the Rev. Walter T. Leahy in September, 1892.
St. Joseph's Church, Carteret.
IN the late spring of 1890 the mission of St. Joseph's at Car- teret, N. J., was opened by the Rev. Father Connolly, as an annex of St. Mary's, Perth Amboy. Mass was said in a room of Mr. Sexton's house in the spring of 1890. But this was not the first Mass celebrated in Carteret, for the Rev. Edward McCosker, of Rahway, had previously said Mass for the few scattered Catholics . of that hamlet. The services were continued in Patrick Sexton's old boarding-house, called "The Ship," till the following Christ-
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mas, 1890, when a temporary altar was erected in the house of Mr. Radley, near the shore. A church has been erected, and the parish has its resident priest, the Rev. Bartholomew W. Carey.
St. Stephen's (Polish) Church.
ON April 26th, 1892, Rev. Stephen Szymanowski came to Perth Amboy at the request of the Rt. Rev. Bishop O'Farrell, to look after the spiritual wants of the Polish and Slavonic Catholics set- tled in the town. In a short time opened a chapel on New Bruns- wick Avenue, where his little congregation gathered to worship. In the fall of the same year Father Szymanowski purchased a site for his new church on State Street. The corner-stone was laid on October 16th, 1892, by the Rt. Rev. Bishop O'Farrell, assisted by the Rev. Valentine Swinarski and Rev. Walter T. Leahy.
Thus was laid the foundation of the Polish parish in Perth Am- boy, N. J., and the good priest rapidly pushed his church to com- pletion. The present church building cost over $16,000, and is a notable addition to the town.
There are also in Perth Amboy congregations of Slovaks who have their own church, the Holy Trinity, the Rev. Francis Janu- schek, rector; of Greeks, St. Mary's Church, the Father Kecscs, rector, and of Hungarians, the Rev. Charles Radoczy.
St. John's Church, Lambertville.
TRACES of Catholicity are found very early in Hunterdon County. On the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River were found many Alsatian and not a few Irish families, who settled in and around Haycock, some of whom, doubtless, wandered over into New Jersey. As this portion of the State was attached to the Philadelphia diocese, the spiritual charge of the faithful natu- rally fell to the priests of that diocese. There is a record of the baptism of Anna Canada, the wife of Patrick Mac-gan, then living in Georgia, in the town of Ringwood, in the county of Hunterdon, on October 21st, 1781, by the Rev. John Baptist Ritter. This was in Nicholas McCarthy's house, and the convert to the faith was then nineteen years of age. Later on we find that the Rev. Michael Hurley, D.D. (died May 14th, 1837), among other mis- sions in New Jersey had visited Lambertville. It is also on rec- ord that the Augustinians, if they did not actually build, at least set on foot the building of the church. The Rev. Patrick J. Han- . negan enlarged the church in 1853. For some time it was at-
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tended from St. John's, Trenton, by the Rev. James Mackin. Its pastors were the Rt. Rev. P. J. Hannegan, J. L. Jego, 1854-61; James Carney, 1861-63 ; James Callan, 1863-64; Eugene O'Keefe; Hugh Murphy, 1864-67; Patrick F. Connolly, 1867-73; Michael J. Connolly, 1873-76; B. Henry TerWoert, 1876-78; John F. Brady, 1878-84; William J. Fitzgerald, 1884-91 ; and the present rector, the Rev. William H. Lynch, appointed October Ist, 1900. Under Father TerWoert's administration a school was built.
When the Mulligan family arrived in Hunterdon County in 1850, they found as neighbors the Rupells, supposedly from Ba- varia, who despite the lack of priests held on to the faith. That the Ruppells came very early into Hunterdon County is evident from the baptismal register of the Jesuit Father Ritter, which contains the following entry :
"Ruppell, Anna Maria, of Jacob Ruppell and his wife Barbara, born in New Jersey, June, 1766, baptized in Haycock, June 21, 1767; sponsors, Jerome Grünewald and Ann Mary Grünewald."
Mass was occasionally offered in their home, but by whom there is no record. It is certain that the saintly Bishop Neuman in the early 40's visited them and blessed a cemetery for them. The faith was also kept alive by an itinerant pedler, the brother of John Roach, the shipbuilder. In his travels through the country not only did he fight for his religion, defending it wherever and whenever an opportunity presented itself, but he braced up his co-religion- ists, reproaching the backsliders and strengthening the weak- hearted, and bringing them whenever possible the comforts of a priest. When the Central Railroad was in process of construction frequent disorders broke out along the line, especially after pay- day. On one occasion there was every indication of a riot, and as a measure of precaution the sheriff called upon the militia. The soldiers were not at all eager to take up the wage of battle with the infuriated and maddened railroaders. Some one, wiser than the rest, advised sending word to Father Reardon, then pastor at Easton, Pa. Father Reardon was a relative of Daniel O'Connell, a man of commanding presence and a gifted orator. He hurried to the scene, garbed in his green coat, and gathering his country- men around the hotel he harangued them, and under the charm of his pleadings the wrath of the men was soon appeased. At his bidding they all knelt, and, receiving his blessing, they started off, some to their shanties and the rest to their work, much to the re- lief of the sheriff and the soldiers. One only was arrested, and brought to Flemington for trial. When brought before the court
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he cried out, "Hang me, judge, for God's sake hang me!" "İ cannot go that far, my man, unless you give me some reason. Why ought I to hang you?" He replied, "What would my folks say in Ireland if they heard I was arrested ?" He was not hanged, but dismissed by the court. Father Reardon every now and then visited Clinton and Flemington and said Mass and administered the sacraments.
Church of the Immaculate Conception, Clinton.
THE Catholics in this hamlet were attended from Lambertville, and divine service was held in the homes of the Mulligans, Lough- ertys, McLoughlins, and in the house of a Mr. Coxe, a Spanish consul, resident in Clinton. Old Mrs. Lougherty, in her ninety- seventh year when she died, was a veritable treasurer of historic lore, but unfortunately none had the thoughtfulness to gather from her what now would be of surpassing interest. Of the Mulligans there were three brothers, who settled in the county in 1845, Frank, Jeremiah, and James, the father of the worthy pastor of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Camden, the Very Rev. Dean Bernard J. Mulligan. They were of the good old Irish stock, strong in the faith, and the wife of James was a woman of strong character, possessed of sterling virtue, who would have reared a Christian family in the desert, as well as under the shadow of a church. This was the compliment Bishop Bayley paid her when on the occasion of a visitation to that part of his diocese he visited her home, and saw in her children the evidences of solid Christian virtue. Father Jego bought a barn from the Mulligans and converted it into a church. In the rear was a car- riage house, which once occasioned an amusing incident. Father Jego was preaching one Sunday, and although he was very earnest in his remarks, he observed that his audience were in a mirthful mood, and becoming more and more inclined to levity. At length it seemed impossible to restrain themselves, and all burst out in loud laughter. The good priest was indignant, and plainly said so to the congregation. One of them asked him to look behind him, and turning he saw the head of his horse thrust through the open- ing of the carriage house, wonderingly looking from side to side at the worshippers. "Ah, Fanny, so you are responsible for this disorder !" And sending one of the men to put away the source of distraction, the services continued in a becoming manner. A more suitable structure was afterward built.
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Church of St. Mary Magdalene of Pazzi, Flemington.
FATHER JEGO built a little church for the Catholics in Flem- ington under the patronage of St. Mary Magdalene of Pazzi. In 1858 Bishop Bayley administered the sacrament of confirmation to six candidates, of whom one was Dean Mulligan, and another Sheriff Corcoran. In 1859 the Rev. Claude Rolland, a native of Brittany, France, who had been exercising the ministry in the isl- and of St. Martin, West Indies, was placed in charge of these missions, and remained until June, 1864, when he returned to France. He was succeeded by the Rev. Patrick Leonard.
Church of the Immaculate Conception, Somerville.
FATHER FARMER in his visitation is known to have stopped in Somerville, but there are only the faintest traces of those to whom he brought the joy of his presence. We find, however, Father Timothy Maguire, the pastor of South Amboy, making a station there in 1841, which was attended regularly from 1842-46 by the Rev. Hugh McGuire, the incumbent of New Brunswick. When a pastor was sent to Raritan the flock was attended by him, and by the pastor of Plainfield, until 1882, when Bishop O'Farrell ap- pointed the Rev. Martin A. V. d. Bogaard resident pastor. He bought a site in the most beautiful part of the town and erected a fine Gothic church, 50 by 100 feet, and a rectory. Besides, he secured six acres of land for a cemetery. Father Bogaard con- templates the erection of a school in the near future.
St. Mary's Church, Newark.
THE beginning of St. Mary's parish dates back to the year 1838, when the Rev. John Stephen Raffeiner (born 1785 in Tirol, ordained 1825, died 1861 as Vicar-General of Brooklyn), of St. Nicholas' Church on Second Street, New York, or his assistant, the Rev. Father Nicolaus Balleis, O.S.B. (born 1808 in Salzburg, ordained 1831, died December 13th, 1891, in Brooklyn, after having celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of his ordination), came to Newark twice a month and held services for the German Catho- lics in St. John's Church on Mulberry Street. When about sixty
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families had been gathered Father Balleis decided to stay in New- ark, and began to erect a frame church, 50 by 30 feet, with a school and rectory in the basement. This church was dedicated to the "Immaculate Conception " in the fall of 1842 by Bishop John Hughes, of New York, but services in it had been held as early as January 31st, 1842. This first church was situated on the corner of Grand (now Court) and Howard streets. The property where the church now stands was bought in 1846, and the old
ST. MARY'S CHURCH, NEWARK, N. J.
frame church moved to High Street, services being continued during the three weeks it took to move the building. Soon after Father Balleis obtained from St. Vincent's Abbey, Pa., an assistant in the person of Father Charles Geyerstanger, O.S.B. (born in Salzburg, 1820, ordained March 18th, 1847, died in St. Vincent's, Pa., April 22d, 1881).
In 1843 the first German Catholic parochial school was opened with forty children.
September 4th, 1854, the old church was sacked and plundered by a mob of Orangemen. Father Geyerstanger succeeded in sav-
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ing the Blessed Sacrament, thereby exposing his life to danger. As a monument of this sacrilegious Know-nothing outbreak a statue of the Blessed Virgin that had been disfigured by the mob is still kept under glass in the church near the side altar on the gospel side.
In 1855 Father Balleis resigned the parish into the hands of Bishop Bayley and made a trip to the old country. For a short time the church services were continued by a German secular priest, the Rev. Father Hasslinger.
In 1856 Bishop Bayley gave the parish into the hands of the Benedictines in the person of the Superior, afterward Arch- abbot, Boniface Wimmer, O.S.B., of St. Vincent's, Pa., who ap- pointed as pastor the Rev. Valentine Felder, O.S.B. (born 1830), who arrived in August of the same year, and November Ist appointed a committee for the purpose of building the present church. Messrs. Charles Vellinger, John Radel, Joseph Criqui, Hermann Plagge were the members of the committee. Before the new building was finished Father Valentine Felder, O.S.B., was killed by a horse-car in New York City, May 28th, 1857. Shortly before the Rev. Father Eberhard Gahr, O.S.B., had been appoint- ed his assistant. The new pastor, Father Rupert Seidenbusch, O.S.B. (born 1830 in Munich, ordained 1853, first Abbot of St. John's in Minnesota, 1866, Bishop of Halia, i. p. infid., and Vicar Apostolic of North Minnesota, 1875, resigned 1890, died June 3d, 1895, in Richmond, Va.), finished the church and it was dedicated by Bishop Bayley, December 20th, 1857. In the same year ground was bought for a cemetery in the township of East Orange, known as St. Mary's Cemetery, in which in 1860 the body of Father Valentine was buried. The cemetery holds the bodies of the
following Benedictine Fathers: P. Beda Bergmann, 1860; P. Casimir Seitz, 1867; P. Isidor Walter, 1867; P. Leonard Mayer, 1875; P. Wendelin Mayer, 1881; P. William Walter, 1882; P. Nicolaus Bruch, 1883; P. Benno Hegele, 1885; Rt. Rev. Abbot James Zilliox, O.S.B., December 31st, 1890; P. Leo Szczepanski, 1895. Also more than a dozen Benedictine Sisters have found their last resting place in this hallowed spot.
P. Utho Huber, O.S.B., died 1896, was the next prior and pas- tor, by whom the present St. Mary's parochial school was built.
The next prior was Father Oswald Moosmueller, O.S.B., died 1901, who had the two side altars of the church erected by Brother Cosmas Wolf, O.S.B., of St. Vincent's, Pa.
Father Oswald having been called to Rome, Father Ro-
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man Heil, O.S.B., succeeded; both of his assistants died in 1867, P. Casimir Seitz, O.S.B., July 23d, P. Isidor Walter, O.S.B., Oc- tober 23d.
In 1857 services were held for the Germans in the eastern part of the city, called the " Neck." Father Eberhard Gahr, O.S.B., was the first pastor. In 1864 it was attended by P. Bruno Hegele, O.S.B .; in 1866 by Father Bernardine Dolweck, O.S.B. The other pastors were P. Lambert Kettner, O.S.B., to 1883; P. Theodorius Goth, O.S.B., to 1894. The original title of the church, St. Joseph's, was changed to St. Benedict's. The present pastor since 1894 is the Rev. Leonard Walter, O.S.B., a brother of Fathers Isidor and William Walter.
September IIth, 1858, is the date of the deed by which Bishop Bayley gave to the Benedictines the property of the church on High Street, the church forever to be a par- ochial as well as a conventual ( and since 1883 an Abbatial) church.
Owing to sickness P. Roman Heil went to St. Vin- cent's in 1871, where he died May 3d, 1873. His successor ARCH-ABBOT BONIFACE WIMMER, O.S.B., D.D. was P. Leonard Mayer, O.S.B., who died May 18th, 1875. He was succeeded by P. Bernhard Manser, O.S.B., who departed for Europe in September, 1879, leaving the church in charge of Father William Walter, O.S.B. After his death June 17th, 1882, Father Gerard Pilz, O.S.B. (born 1834, in Bavaria, or- dained 1859, September 20th, 1891, in Mary Help Abbey, North Carolina).
The foundation of St. Benedict's College, 522 High Street, dates back to the year 1868. The present building was solemnly blessed by Bishop Bayley February 2d, 1872.
There had been a frame house on the site which was occupied by the Sisters of St. Benedict. To make place for the college the frame building had to be torn down; therefore a convent was
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built for the Sisters on Shipman Street, next to the school; in fact, a continuation of it. This, St. Scholastica's Convent, was blessed by Bishop Corrigan in April, 1870.
Father William Walter, O.S.B., was the first director of St. Benedict's College; his successor, 1875-77, was P. Alphonse Heil- mer, O.S.B. Then came Father Mellitus Fritz, O.S.B., 1891, till 1882. The next director was Father Frederick Hoesel, O.S.B., up to 1888, who died August Ist, 1889. Then came: 1888, P. Hugo Paff, O.S.B .; 1890, P. Leonard Walter, O.S.B .; 1891, P. Cornelius Eckl, O.S.B., November 22, 1894, in Manchester, N. H .; 1893, P. Ernest Helmstetter, O.S.B .; 1897, P. George Biln, O.S.B., who still continues in office.
The present rectory and abbey was begun by Prior Gerard Pilz in the year 1882, and its solemn dedication and blessing by Bishop Wigger took place April 16th, 1883; Arch-abbot Boniface Wim- mer of St. Vincent's (born 1809 in Bavaria, ordained 1831, solemn vows 1833, died December 8, 1887).
December 6th, 1881, Father Nicolaus Balleis, O.S.B., cele- brated in this church his golden jubilee.
April 24th, 1884, Father Gerard celebrated his silver jubilee.
From the time of the appointment of Father Valentine Felder in 1856 to Father Gerard's appointment in 1885 the parish of St. Mary's had been ruled by men sent there by the Abbot of St. Vincent's.
The time had arrived to raise the Priory to the independ- ent position of an Abbey. A request to that effect had been granted in Rome by brief dated December 19th, 1884. This brief arrived January 14th, 1885. Thereupon an election was held February 11th, 1885, in St. Vincent's, in which Father James Zilliox, O.S.B., a native of Newark, and a child of St. Mary's parish, was elected the first Abbot. His blessing and installation by Bishop Wigger took place July 22d, 1885, in St. Mary's Church. The Abbot is pastor or rector of the church, ipso facto, but usually appoints an acting or vice-rector. Father Cornelius Eckl, O.S.B., acted in that capacity during the term of Abbot Zilliox. His two assistants were Fathers Alexander Reger, O.S.B., and Polycarp Scherer, O.S.B. Owing to failing health Abbot Zilliox resigned and his resignation was accepted by the Holy See in October, 1886. In a new election, Novem- ber 16th, 1886, Father Hilary Pfraengle, O.S.B., then director of St. Vincent's College, was chosen as the second Abbot. He was blessed by Bishop Phelan of Pittsburg in St. Vincent's,
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February 17th, 1887. He appointed Father Polycarp Scherer as pastor of St. Mary's, and he still performs this office, to the satis- faction of his superiors as well as the people.
Any of the Fathers residing at St. Mary's may be called upon to perform the duties of an assistant; and while the parish pays the salary of but one, it frequently has the services of three or four. It ought to be mentioned that the Benedictine Fathers have deserved well of the Newark diocese, as they have in the olden days attended missions that have now grown into flourishing and wealthy parishes. They have lent willing assistance always to the secular clergy, whenever and as far as it was possible for them to do so.
April 6th, 1880, Bishop Corrigan of New York, in presence of Cardinal John McCloskey, celebrated a pontifical high Mass in St. Mary's Church in honor of the fourteen hundredth anniversary of the birth of our holy Founder St. Benedict (born 840, in Italy). Bishop Becker, of Wilmington, delivered an eloquent sermon on the occasion.
Dependent upon St. Mary's Abbey are two parishes in the diocese: the one already mentioned, St. Benedict's, of Newark, in charge of P. Leonard Walter, O.S.B., and the Sacred Heart Church in Elizabeth, in charge of P. Ambrose Huebner, O.S.B. The assistant in the former place is P. Henry Becker, O.S.B., in the latter P. James Cullinane, O.S.B. (a native of Eliza- beth).
The Fathers of St. Mary's, Newark, also have charge of the Sacred Heart Church of Wilmington, Del. (founded by P. Wen- delin Mayer, O.S.B.), P. Hugo Paff being the present pastor with P. Meinrad Hettinger for assistant; and of St. Raphael's Church in Manchester, N. H. (founded by P. Sylvester Joerg, O.S.B.).
The greatest undertaking by St. Mary's Abbey was the foundation of St. Anselm's College in Manchester, N. H. P. Hugo Paff supervised the building and was the first director from 1893 to 1896. Fathers Sylvester and Florian followed as directors. For the last three years Abbot Hilary Pfraengle re- sides there and is acting director. There is a regular course of philosophy and theology for the younger members of the order at the college, and more than twenty priests have already finished their studies at St. Anselm's.
August 17th, 1890, St. Mary's Church, after having been thoroughly renovated, was solemnly consecrated by Bishop Wig-
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ger, and the Sunday within the Octave of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin was fixed as the day of the yearly commemoration of this event.
St. Mary's Church, Elizabeth.
IN the very dawn of the settlement of Elizabethtown is found Catholicity in the several Alsatian families-a weakly exotic. which struggled awhile for existence, weakened, and to- tally perished. The French Revolution drove hither many noble and distinguished exiles, among whom are found the names of Lady Anne Renee Defoerger de Mau- perrins, widow of the Baron of Clugny, Governor of Gua- deloupe, Marie de Rouselat Campbell, the De Clots (who entertained Jerome Bona- parte and his wife, née Patter- son), the De Touchimberts, De Maroles, Malherbes, Ca- hierres, Libertons, Du Bucs, Godets, Triyons, Cuyers, Du- fors, Mosquerons, as well as Terrier de Laistre and Al- monde Tugonne. The most prominent, without doubt, was Joseph Louis, Count d'Anterroches, born at the chateau of Puy Darnac near Tulle, Limousin, France, ST. MARY'S CHURCH, ELIZABETH. about August 25th, 1753. As the second son, in accordance with the custom of his country and his day, he was destined for the church, and was educated in the palace of his uncle, Alexander Cæsar d'Anterroches, bishop of Comdom. But as his elder brother died in exile at the outbreak of the revolution, and pre- ferring a military career to that of the sanctuary, he ran away and accepted a commission in the English army. Captured by the Continentals at Saratoga, he wrote to his kinsman, Lafayette, and,
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