USA > New Jersey > The Catholic Church in New Jersey > Part 15
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On the 21st of April, 1861, the Passionist Fathers took formal possession of the church and mission, and were on that day sol- emnly installed by Rev. A. Cauvin, who had built the church and attended to it for the space of ten years. It was Father Dominic, Provincial, accompanied by Father Vincent and Brother Law- rence, who took possession of the church. It was agreed in the sermon of installation delivered in the church on that day between the Passionist Fathers and the people represented by Rev. A.
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Cauvin, that the limits of the new mission would be the hill of the Palisades. Those who lived on the hill were to be under the juris- diction of the church of West Hoboken, whereas the natural limits of the jurisdiction of the church of Hoboken extended to all those who lived at the base of the hill as far as Mr. King's Point or the coal-yard.
In 1851 and 1852 Rev. A. Cauvin established the stations of English Neighborhood, Bull's Ferry, and Fort Lee. These he visited alternately every Sunday to read Mass, hear confessions, and teach the catechism to the children. In English Neighbor- hood he read Mass in the house of Mr. Monahan, a venerable old Irishman. The population of Bull's Ferry consisted in part of two hundred or moremen who were working in the quarry. It was from this place that the Russ pavement used in Broadway, New York, was taken. As there were many children in the place, Rev. A. Cauvin sent a teacher from Hoboken to give instruction in the catechism. More than half an acre of ground on the road between Bull's Ferry and English Neighborhood was given by Mr. Arthur Green, a resident of the latter place, to Bishop Bayley for the purpose of building on the spot a Catholic church.
In Fort Lee neighborhood Mass was first read by Rev. A. Cauvin at the home of Mr. Conway of Pleasant Valley, or as it was sometimes called, Tillietudlum. Later on it was read at the Kenny house, now Dr. Anderson's. Rev. A. Cauvin was accus- tomed to go there on Saturday evening to teach the children the catechism; then on Sunday morning he would hear confessions, preach, say Mass, baptize children, and then return to West Ho- boken to say Mass and preach. Rev. A. Cauvin often read Mass on week-days at Mr. Burns' house near the Palisades at Fort Lee, his only travelling accommodation being a boat. At this place he found young persons of seventeen and eighteen years of age who had never seen a priest, and who were perfectly ignorant of religion, knowing only the few prayers taught them by their par- ents.
From 1852 until 1859 first Communion was given twice in both Fort Lee and Bull's Ferry, and these children were confirmed in Hoboken and West Hoboken. A chalice, two vestments, and a missal were presented to Fort Lee by Rev. A. Cauvin.
In 1853 he bought four lots of ground on upper Fort Lee for a church; but these were afterward sold for the benefit of the Church of the Madonna, built by Dr. Anderson on the ground he gave for that purpose to Bishop Bayley. Rev. A. Cauvin attended
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Fort Lee regularly every fortnight in summer and every month in winter until January, 1859, when it was made a new mission and given to the charge of Rev. Francis Anelli, assistant priest to Rev. Cauvin. This mission included Fort Lee, Hackensack, and Lodi, which last place was also attended by Rev. Cauvin from August, 1858, until January, 1859.
Church of Hoboken.
AFTER having built the Church of Our Lady of Mercy in West Hoboken, Rev. A. Cauvin came to reside in Hoboken, the principal place of his mission. Here he read Mass on week-days and heard confessions in a private chapel in his own apartments in the house on Southeast Washington Terrace, corner of Newark Street. Here he remained until May, 1855, or until the time the church and house on Willow Street were finished.
On the 28th of May, 1852, he applied to the Hoboken Land and Improvement Company for a plot of ground whereon to build a Catholic church. As a result the company gave him on the 3d of August, in consideration of $1, a quit-claim deed to a plot of ground in the Church Square, commencing 265 feet from Garden Street, and running 75 feet along Fourth Street, and being 100 feet deep in the square. The deed was made in the name of Archbishop Hughes, of New York, and his successors. This deed was duly filed in the clerk's office of Hudson County on the sixth day of September in the year 1852, in Liber 25 of Deeds, pages 373, 374.
But after asking the legal advice of Mr. Wright, of Five Corners, and Mr. James Grover, of New York, and examining in Hackensack the original maps of Hoboken, filed in 1804 in the clerk's office of Bergen County, where Church Square is marked only Square, he came to the conclusion that Square, which was improperly called Church Square in a map of Hoboken, published by the Hoboken Company in 1851, was a public square, and there- fore the company had no right to give or sell any portion of that ground, and the Catholics had no right to build a church on it. The Methodists, who obtained from the same company ground on the square, had built their church there in 1846. The conclusion turned out afterward to be true, for in 1864 the city of Hoboken sued the Methodists in a bill of ejectment before the Supreme Court of Hudson County, and the Methodists were condemned by
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a decision of the jury on the 18th of October, 1865, declaring that square a public and an ornamental square.
The Dutch Reformed, who had already built the foundation of their church on the northeastern corner of that square, hearing that the Catholics would not venture to build their church, stopped the work and purchased ground in Hudson Street, be- tween Fifth and Sixth streets; and shortly afterward Rev. A. Cauvin bought from them the window frames they had already prepared and placed them in his church.
On the 14th of May, 1853, Rev. Cauvin wrote to the company, enclosing a copy of the legal advice, and even sent to Mr. Edwin Stevens a deputation of the principal Catholics of Hoboken; but he refused to give other ground, saying that that square was dedi- cated by his father, John Stevens, for church purposes.
On the 5th of November, 1852, Rev. A. Cauvin called the Catholics of Hoboken to a meeting in the public-school house, situated on Church Square, for the purpose of devising means of building a church in Hoboken. Peter Meehan was called to the chair, and John Kerrigan elected secretary. Rev. Dr. Cummings, pastor of St. Stephen's Church, New York, was present and ad- dressed the meeting. They subscribed $745 for the erection of the church. On the 6th of December, 1852, they had a second meeting, Mr. Francis Bolting in the chair. They subscribed $203, and appointed collectors for each ward.
On the 10th of June, 1854, Rev. Cauvin bought from the Ho- boken Land Improvement Company three lots of ground on Wil- low Street, fronting the public square, corner of Fifth Street, running 75 feet on Willow Street and 95 on Fifth Street, for the sum of $2,600; that is, $1,000 for the corner lot and $800 for each of the other two lots. Of this sum $250 was paid on account. The deed of these three lots was made on the 28th of November, 1856, in the name of Rt. Rev. James R. Bayley, Bishop of New- ark; and was filed on the 6th of March, 1857, in the clerk's office of Hudson County, and the balance of the whole amount paid to the Hoboken Company.
On the 4th of September, 1854, the corner-stone of the new church was laid by Bishop Bayley, of Newark, at 4 P.M., a large number of clergymen being present. The labor and temperance societies of Jersey City and Hoboken, accompanied by their band, marched from Mrs. Martha Cook's house on Hudson Terrace, down Hudson Street and Fifth. Their number was about seven hundred and fifty. After the ceremony Bishop Bayley preached
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to a very large audience, although the weather on that day was extremely warm. A collection was afterward taken up.
From July, 1854, until June, 1855, a low Mass was read every Sunday in Hoboken, in the public-school house, on the square, at eight o'clock. The men were to pay one shilling and the women six cents. These contributions with the collections amounted at the end of that time to $745.40.
The amount received for building the church from January, 1844, until June, 1855, is as follows :
Collected in 1844 and 1848, with its interest $51I 70
Legacy of Michael Kelly 212 00
Subscriptions in Hoboken and other places in 1852-54, with interest 1,818 84
Laying of the corner-stone on the 4th of September, 1854. 295 92
Excursion on the 24th of September, 1854. 141 25
Collected in New York. 125
Collection in the temporary chapel from 2d of July, 1854, until 24th June, 1855. 741 40
$3,846.1I
The expenditures for building the church and the house, altar, furnace, furniture, and the $200 paid on account of the organ, amounted to $10,142.40. A loan of $5,000 was obtained in the year 1855 from Bishop Bayley. On the 24th of June the church was solemnly blessed and dedicated by Bishop Bayley to Our Lady of Grace, in presence of a large congregation. The beauti- ful painting at the back of the altar is an excellent copy of the Madonna of Foligno, painted by Raphael in 1509, made by order of Charles Felix, King of Sardinia, and bequeathed to him by the Duke of Genoa, second son of Charles Albert, his successor on the throne of Sardinia, and brother of Victor Emmanuel, present King of Italy. This painting with its frame was given by the Duke to Rev. A. Cauvin, who, in turn, gave it to the church.
In spring, 1856, the two side altars were added to the church, the one to be dedicated to St. Quietus, the other to the Society of a Good Death, Bona Mors. Mr. Noguet, of New York, presented to the church the painting of the Crucifixion, which is at the altar of the Bona Mors. At this time, also, were made the baptismal font and the two confessionals.
On the Ist of June, 1856, there took place the solemn transla- tion of the relics of St. Quietus, martyr; the ceremony being per- formed by Bishop Bayley. The procession started from the par-
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sonage, the young Levites carrying palms, the priests singing the Litany of the Saints, and the Bishop carrying the relics in their shrine, which, after being incensed on the main altar, were placed on the altar destined for them. The Bishop preached an eloquent sermon. "He was certainly inspired by the Holy Ghost," said a French lady of great learning and piety. It was the first cere- mony of this kind that had taken place in America. It attracted a great number of people from the surrounding cities. All the newspapers throughout the land spoke of it, and Leslie's Illustrated Magasine contained in its next number an article accompanied with illustrations showing the interior of the church, the shrine, the altar of St. Quietus, and the likeness of the Bishop. The relics of St. Quietus were found on the 29th of January, 1849, in the Cem- etery of Pretextatus in Rome, together with the vase con- taining his blood, and the marble slab on which was engraved the following epi- taph : Quietus qui vixit annos quinque menses duo in pace. FIRST CATHOLIC PUBLIC SCHOOL, HOBOKEN. Built by Rev. A. Cauvin, in August, 1864. These relics were given to Rev. A. Cauvin by His Holi- ness Pope Pius IX., through the protection of His Eminence Cardinal Brignole, on the 27th of July, 1850, with the faculty of retaining, giving to others, or ex- posing to the public veneration of the faithful in any church, chapel, or oratory whatever. The decree of donation of these relics was signed on the 21st of July, 1850, by Fr. Joseph Cartel- lani, Episcopus Prophyriensis Sacrarii Apostolici Prefectus. At early Mass on the day of the translation Bishop Bayley admin- istered the sacrament of Confirmation to one hundred and one persons.
At the end of September and at the beginning of October, 1856, the first mission was given at the church by the Paulist Fathers of New York, at which time about eight hundred persons approached the sacraments. In October of this year Five Cor- ners, now Hudson City, was detached from the mission of West Hoboken, and a little church was built there by Rev. J. Coyle, of Jersey City, who had it in charge.
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In December, 1856, the Society of the Living Rosary was es- tablished in Hoboken, and twelve circles of fifteen members each were immediately formed, making in all one hundred and eighty members. The following Sunday another circle was formed, there being then two circles of men and eleven of women. Rev. John Hogan, pastor of Belleville, addressed the society on that occasion. The members of the society meet in the church on the first Sunday of every month, an instruction is then given, tickets are distributed, contributions are collected, and rosary is said. In 1856, before Lent, the Stations of the Cross were estab- lished.
In 1857 many improvements were made in the church and house. The ceiling of the church was made with canvas covered with painted paper, and the walls of the church were painted and frescoed. The sanctuary was treated in the same manner. The Bishop's throne and pulpit were also made; and to the house were added a kitchen and piazza.
On the 17th of January in 1857 the Bishop lent $3,000 to the church; and this, with the $5,000 lent in 1855, made $8,000. With this $3,000 was paid the balance due to the Hoboken Land Company for the three lots of ground bought. The deed, which was given on the 28th of November, 1856, with interest from the Ioth of June, 1854, amounted to $2,775.
On the 29th of March, 1857, by a rescript of Archbishop Be- dini, secretary of the Propaganda a Fide, His Holiness Pius IX. granted to Rev. A. Cauvin, pastor of the Church of Our Lady of Grace of Hoboken, and its successors forever, the privilege of im- parting the Papal benediction three times a year to the faithful of the Church: on the festival of the patronage of St. Joseph for the Bona Mors Sodality; on the festival of Our Lady of Grace on the first Sunday of July; and on the festival of Our Lady of the Rosary on the first Sunday of October, for the Living Rosary Society. The Bishop approved the privilege.
On the 5th of June, 1857, Rev. Peter Beckx, Superior General of the Jesuits, granted to Rev. A. Cauvin the privilege of erecting in the church of Hoboken the Sodality of Bona Mors, and aggre- gating it to the mother sodality in Rome, with all the indulgences, etc. The sodality has since been in a flourishing condition. There has always been a service in the church for that sodality every Friday evening at 7:30 o'clock, the services consisting in the recitation of the rosary, a sermon, the singing of the Litany of the Blessed Virgin, prayers for the sick, the afflicted, and the
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dying, for the souls in purgatory, benediction of the Blessed Sac- rament, and the recitation of the De Profundis.
On the 20th of June, 1858, the ceremony of the solemn coro- nation of Our Lady of Grace took place. This ceremony had been announced to the people since April, and they were waiting for it with impatience. The Bishop had granted forty days' indul- gence, and the Pope a plenary indulgence to those who would be present at the Papal Benediction; and, in consequence, an im- mense crowd of people came from New York and surrounding places, even from other States. The crown had been given by Her Highness the Duchess of Genoa, the widow of the Duke of Genoa, to Rev. A. Cauvin. It was given to him in 1856, when he went to Turin and applied to the Duchess for the donation. A platform with steps was raised behind the altar to reach the head of the Blessed Virgin. The procession, which started from the house, was composed of many priests, a crowd of small choir boys, young girls dressed in white, each carrying a bouquet of flowers, and lastly, the Celebrant, carrying the crown on a red velvet cush- ion. On arriving at the altar, the crown was deposited upon it; the Bishop blessed it, and then ascending the platform, placed it over the head of the Blessed Virgin. He then returned to the altar where a solemn Te Deum was sung. During the High Mass the Bishop preached an appropriate sermon. At the early Mass the sacrament of Confirmation was administered to one hundred and thirteen persons.
A fair was held in May, which gave a profit of $1, 115. On the 2Ist of August, 1858, Rev. A. Cauvin bought from the Hoboken Land Company two lots of land in the rear of the church and house, fifty feet along Fifth Street and one hundred feet parallel with Willow Street, for the sum of $750. The deed, given in the name of Bishop Bayley, was recorded on the 2d of September, 1858.
The Paulist Fathers Baker and Hecker from New York preached in the church at Mass and Vespers, it being the first Sunday of September, 1858, the feast of St. Quietus. The col- lections taken up on this day were given to the Paulist Fathers for their new church and monastery at Fifty-ninth Street. This was the first money collected for the new building.
On the 15th of December, 1858, Fort Lee, Hackensack, and Lodi were erected by the Bishop into a new mission, and therefore detached from that of Hoboken; and on the 5th of January, 1859, Rev. Francis Anelli, assistant priest of Rev. A, Cauvin, left Ho- boken to take charge of it.
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On the 18th of July, 1859, Mr. Richard Conover, who had already begun to dig the foundations of tenement houses on the two lots south of the priest's house on Willow Street, kindly con- sented to exchange these two lots of ground for two other lots south of them, if Rev. Cauvin would pay him $1,000 for the stable he had built in the rear of the two lots. Rev. Cauvin accepting this proposition, on the 22d of September, 1859, the Hoboken Land Company gave him in his own name the deed of these two lots of ground joining the house, with a mortgage of $1,800, the value of the two lots. Besides this Rev. Cauvin gave $115 to the - architect who had obtained that exchange from Mr. Conover.
On the 14th of September, 1859, Rev. Cauvin bought, in his own name, from the same company some ground in the rear for $450. As soon as the mortgage was paid, he transferred the three lots to Bishop Bayley by an indenture of the 14th of April, 1860, which was recorded on the 28th of January, 1862.
The Hoboken Land Company gave to Bishop Bayley a lease for 999 years of the alley-way, 10 feet wide and 125 feet deep, from Fifth Street, between the church ground bought on the 28th of November, 1856, and the ground bought afterward on the 21st of August, 1858, and on the 14th of September, 1859. This lease was renewed.
As soon as possible Rev. A. Cauvin repaired the stable pre- viously purchased from Mr. Conover, and converted it into a select temporary school and a dwelling-house for a teacher. On the first Monday of September a select school was opened in that house with Miss Sarah Mahoney for the teacher. For fifteen years she had been teacher of the English department in St. Vin- cent de Paul's French Church of New York, under the direction of Father Lafont, to whom Rev. A. Cauvin had been an assistant for the four years preceding his coming to Hoboken. This select school for young ladies and small boys continued to flourish until the parochial school was built in 1864, Miss Mahoney still being the teacher. The contributions of the children sufficed for the support of the teacher and the repairs of the school and house. In August, 1859, the gas was introduced in the church and in the house. It cost $762.
In November, 1859, Rev. A. Cauvin established a ladies' benevolent society for the poor of Hoboken. Mrs. Peter Mahon was elected president, Mrs. Frances Bolting vice-president, Mrs. Pychowska treasurer, Miss Celestine Arras secretary, and Miss Sarah Mahoney in charge of the wardrobe. These ladies con-
II
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tinued in office and worked very hard and with great zeal in be- half of the poor until the Sisters of the Poor came to Hoboken in January, 1863. To pay for the ground purchased in 1859, a fair was held in November, 1859, which gave a profit of $1,313; and an excursion was given with a net profit of $653.73.
There took place on the 10th of June, 1860, the solemn inaugu- ration of forty-two oil paintings which Rev. Cauvin procured from Italy to decorate the church. Some of these paintings are origi- nal; some as old as one hundred and fifty-seven years. The cere- mony was performed by Bishop Bayley, who preached at the High Mass. The proceeds of the ceremony and the funds of the Rosary Society paid for the paintings and their frames. This was the third ceremony of a new kind performed in America, and it served to excite the zeal of the clergy in adorning and ornamenting the churches, according to the true Catholic spirit, and thus distin- guishing them from the Protestant churches. At the early Mass Bishop Bayley administered the sacrament of Confirmation to sixty-seven persons.
On the 24th of November, 1861, Dr. Cahill delivered a lecture on the Holy Eucharist and transubstantiation for the benefit of the Ladies' Benevolent Society. On the 21st of April, 1861, the church of West Hoboken with all the territory on the hill of the Palisades was detached from the parish of Hoboken, and given to the Passionist Fathers.
On the 29th of January, 1862, a deed was given by the Hobo- ken Land Company to Bishop Bayley of a piece of ground 5 by 75 feet, on the rear of the school ground and Mr. Conover's houses, 100 feet from Fifth Street to 175 feet south. This was done to make square the ground bought on the 14th of Septem- ber, 1859. Confirmation was given in April, 1862, to one hundred and seventeen persons.
On the IIth of January, 1863, the Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis came to Hoboken from Cincinnati, and established a house of their order on Meadow Street, No. 134. Sister Antonia was Superior and Sister Felicita the Mother Superior in America. As there was no house to be rented, Mr. Bryan Smith, a worthy Catholic of Hoboken, bought a house and rented it to the Sisters for $200 a year. Before their arrival, Rev. A. Cauvin made an appeal to the congregation to help him in paying the rent, furnish- ing the house, and preparing some provisions. The people con- tributed very liberally. More than $700 was paid in cash, the house was furnished with twenty-eight beds, all the necessary
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kitchen utensils and furniture, and provisions for four months. The ceremony of their installation took place in the church at the High Mass. After the High Mass Rev. Cauvin presented the Sisters with a painting of St. Mary of the Poor, under whose pro- tection he placed them, recommending them to take care of the poor without distinction of creed or nationality. In the afternoon their house was blessed and opened to the public for inspection. The Sisters took immediate charge of the poor, the sick, and the orphans. The ladies of the benevolent society, who had taken care of the poor for the space of three years, placed in the Sisters' hands all their funds, and their most precious treasure, the poor themselves. The little association of St. Vincent de Paul that had been formed in Hoboken two years previously did the same, and both societies were dissolved.
In August, 1863, Rev. Cauvin called the male members of the congregation to a meeting, where it was resolved to build a school house on the two lots of ground bought in 1859 for that purpose. Mr. A. Lockwood, the architect, made the plan, Mr. Timothy Foley, of Hoboken, was the contractor for the masonry work, and Daniel Meystre for the carpenter work. It was immediately begun, and in October, 1863, Bishop Bayley came to lay the corner-stone, and preached an eloquent sermon on the necessity for Catholic schools. The school was finished in August, 1864, at the cost of $11,892, which was all paid in 1865, as can be seen by the reports of 1864 and 1865.
On the Ist of September, 1864, the parochial schools were opened for both sexes. The Sisters of Charity of Madison were invited to come and take charge of the girls and small boys, and a layman for the large boys. Then the select school was dismissed, and the worthy teacher entered the Order of the Visitation in Brooklyn.
As soon as the school was organized a Mass was read every Sunday at nine o'clock for the children, who sang hymns under the direction of their music teacher, Miss Catherine Hogan, of Ho- boken. The children also sang every Friday evening during the service for the Bona Mors.
In June, 1861, Bishop Bayley came to give confirmation in the church to one hundred and four persons, and in the evening after Vespers he delivered a lecture on his journey to Rome for the benefit of the school.
On the 20th of September, 1864, in pursuance of an act ap- proved February 17th, 1864, the Church of Hoboken was incor-
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porated under the name of the Church of Our Lady of Grace, Hoboken, recorded October 3d, 1864. On the 10th of March, 1865, the trustees elected Bishop Bayley president, Rev. A. Cau- vin treasurer, and L. DeGrand Val secretary. On the same day they adopted the by-laws.
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