USA > New Jersey > The Catholic Church in New Jersey > Part 18
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Father Bogan, born in Newark, N. J., December 8th, 1858, made his preparatory studies at St. Charles's College and Seton Hall, and is of the class of '81. He was an assistant in St. Paul's and St. Bridget's, Jersey City, and Holy Cross, Harrison, Febru- ary 2d, 1886. St. Mary's parish numbers 1,247 souls.
The property, including church, rectory, school, convent, and parish hall, is valued at $ 50,000. St. Mary's Cemetery, about two miles west of Rahway, is owned and controlled by the church cor- poration. The parish school is in charge of the Sisters of St. Dominic, and one hundred and thirty pupils are in attendance. A Young Men's Club, Holy Name and Rosary Society, Children of Mary, and Blessed Sacrament Society, keep the faith alive among the old and young, and are active in cooperating with the pastor in the work of the parish.
St. Mary's Church, Stony Hill.
THE records of St. Mary's Catholic Church, Stony Hill, Som- erset Co., go back to the year 1847, when the baptismal record shows that Father Raffeiner of Brooklyn administered the sacra-
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ment of baptism to Bartholomew Wormzer, October 17th, 1847. The first settlers of this section were Germans, and as the priests of that nationality were few at the time, their spiritual needs were attended to by the pastor of the Germans of Brooklyn, the Rev. John Raffeiner. The Redemptorist Fathers took charge of the parish toward the close of the year 1847 and attended the congre- gation until the year 1854, when the Rev. Peter Hartlaub became pastor and remained in charge until the end of the year 1857. The Benedictine Fathers from Newark assumed the charge of the parish in the year 1858, and continued their ministra- tions until the year 1874. Father Bergman and the Rev. Gregory Misdziol were pas- tors in 1874. Father Misdziol, born in Budkowitz, diocese of Breslau, Silesia, Poland, was ordained priest in Seton Hall College Chapel, June 22d, 1865. His field of labor was New Brunswick, where he was the first pastor of and built the church of St. John Baptist. He also had charge of the Germans in Trenton. In August, 1871, he was assistant to the venerable Father Lemke in Elizabeth, ST. MARY'S CHURCH, STONY HILL. and in March, 1874, he was appointed pastor of Baskingridge and Mendham.
Owing to the poverty of the congregation the Benedictines again resumed care of the parish and ministered to the people until March, 1878, when Bishop Corrigan sent the Rev. John Schandel to the congregation to reside permanently in their midst. Since that time the congregation has increased in num- bers somewhat slowly, owing to the remoteness of the place from any railroad, but through the indefatigable labors of Father Schandel a neat brick church has been built (the old church was burned a year before) and paid for; the little cemetery has been enlarged and beautified, and the zeal and sacrifice of the pioneers of the forties are still found in the descendants who now worship in the Stony Hill church.
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Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Boonton, N. J.
THE present town of Boonton had its beginning about the year 1830. It was in that year that the Morris Canal was com- pleted, and by its construction the water power at Boonton Falls was developed, and in consequence large tracts of land, including the northern part of the town and the site of the present "works," were purchased by the New Jersey Iron Company. This com- pany immediately began the construction of extensive iron works. It was the building of these works which attracted immigration toward this section. If we are to judge of primitive Boonton from some of her undeveloped parts at the present time, we cannot but feel a sympathy for the pioneer settlers who hewed out their homes upon her rough hillsides.
In the heat of summer and the cold blasts of winter the earlier Catholics trudged all the way to Madison, then called Bottle Hill, to hear Mass.
The parish of the Rev. Father Senez included the counties of Morris, Sussex, and Warren. In making the rounds of this ex- tensive parish, he visited Boonton Falls and said Mass at the house of John Highland, which is still standing on Liberty Street.
The Rev. B. J. McQuaid was appointed to assist Father Senez at Madison, and succeeded him after his departure for France. The spiritual wants of the Catholics of earlier times were looked after by Father Ward and other priests who said Mass at the house of John Long, on Brook Street, and who came from Pat- erson.
The first contributors for a fund for the church were Barthol- omew Hart, Thomas Logan, John Fanning, John Highland, and Bartholomew Russell. Thomas Logan is still an old and faithful member of the church.
It is stated on good authority that the first money was sub- scribed in 1846; that ground was broken in April of the following year; that the little church was completed and dedicated on the 15th of August, 1847. The ground upon which the church was built was donated by the New Jersey Iron Company, and though the deed was not passed until August, 1848, it is probable that, as the consideration was only nominal, the consent of the company to begin operations before that date was obtained. On March Ioth, 1849, on the occasion of the dedication of the Church of the Assumption, at Morristown, a letter was written to the editor of
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The Freeman's Journal, of New York, describing the same, in which it is stated positively that a church was built at Boonton Falls in 1847.
The church was blessed by Rev. John Callan, who was sta- tioned at Dover. At the first Mass, which was celebrated by Father Callan, there were fifteen persons present. The church was built by Henry Tuttle for the sum of $350.
The first church stood where the rectory now stands, and the plot of ground was used as a burying-ground until 1858, when the new plot was purchased on Green Street, above Wooten Street, and the bodies were removed and interred in the new ground. In
ST. MARY'S CHURCH, BOONTON.
1867 the New Jersey Iron Company donated a small plot adjoin- ing the former one, which has since been enclosed.
The population of Boonton had increased from 300 in 1830 to 2,000 in 1860. On the arrival of Father Castet he found that the little church was inadequate for the needs of the growing parish. He immediately urged the building of a new church, and the handsome stone structure, with some additions and improvements, is the result. The parishioners with willing hands dug out the earth for the foundation, and in October, 1860, the corner-stone was laid by Rt. Rev. James Roosevelt Bayley. It is estimated that the church cost about $12,000. The rectory was built three years after the church was finished, and its cost was much more in proportion than the church, on account of the increase of wages.
Father Castet did everything for the Catholics of Boonton, and
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in return did not receive that grateful recognition to which he was entitled. Bishop McQuaid says there was no parish in the diocese where the services were more regular and more beautiful. He returned to France, where he died about 1898. His successor was the Rev. Louis Gambosville, born at Charenton, Fnrace, Oc- tober 14th, 1829. His theological studies were made in Orleans, where he was ordained priest June 7th, 1852. He had been a member of the Society of Mercy, and for a short time he was an assistant of St. Stephen's, New York. He was then affiliated to the Newark diocese, and appointed pastor of Boonton in 1867, and rector of St. John's, New- ark, October, 1878. He died December 29th, 1891, a most edifying death.
The first parochial school was opened in the basement of the church by Father Castet and was maintained by his successors until 1876. Father Castet also visited Hibernia, to which place the first little church was moved, and attended to the spiritual wants of the parishioners. He also visited Macopin about once a month. Father Gam- bosville maintained the school and instructed the scholars REV. JOHN J. TIGHE. personally. The Rev. John A. O'Grady came to Boon- ton to take the place vacated by Father Gambosville on November 20th, 1878.
It was indeed a gloomy prospect for Father O'Grady. The parish had now dwindled to 60 men, 66 women, and 130 children. The parish of Hibernia was still connected with Boonton. Father O'Grady had the church at Hibernia remodelled and had stained- glass windows placed in the same. He was appointed pastor to New Brunswick in May, 1891. He was succeeded by the Rev. P. F. Downes, who remained in Boonton till 1884, when he went to Paterson to establish a parish. Father Downes purchased a lot on the southwest corner of Birch and Oak streets, and erected the building that was afterward raised by Rev. J. P. Poels, and
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made the second story of the present school building. When Father Poels came to Boonton in June, 1884, he was enabled, by the condition of the times and the good will and generosity of the people, to begin an era of improvement. In 1886 he purchased the lot on the southeast corner of Oak and Birch streets, upon which he built the Sisters' residence. It was opened for occu- pancy on September 1, 1887. Father Poels was appointed pastor of St. John's Church, Newark, February 25th, 1892. The new rector was the Rev. John J. Tighe, of St. Mary's, Hoboken. Father Tighe, like his predecessors, came to Boonton as a hum- ble and obedient servant of God, to perform the duties of his priestly mission. Time will not efface from the people's mind the memory of this genial and learned priest.
The present rector, the Rev. Conrad Schotthoefer, D.D., was appointed to Boonton parish May Ist, 1895. Father Schotthoefer, born in Syracuse, N. Y., October 29th, 1859, studied classics with the Franciscan Fathers in Syracuse and Trenton, and the- ology in the College, Brignole-Sale, Genoa, Italy, where he was raised to the priesthood September 18th, 1886. He was an assistant at St. John's, Newark, and labored with much fruit among the increasing number of Italians. August Ist, 1887, he was appointed pastor of St. Philip Neri's (Italian) Church, and founded the congregations of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St. Lucy, and built the church for the latter flock.
St. Mary's Church, Dover, N. J.
THE frame building erected by Father "Dominic," as Father Senez was called, gave way to a stone building, commenced by the Rev. Pierce McCarthy, which was dedicated in 1873. School was inaugurated in the basement of the frame church by Father Callan in 1866. A new frame school-house was built in 1868 by Father Quinn. The school was discontinued in 1870, but was taken up again in 1881, after Father Hanley had built a frame house for the Sisters. The small frame school-house was supplanted in 1889 by a substantial brick building erected by the Rev. G. Funke, at a cost of about $18,000. The rectory, a frame structure, was built by Rev. B. Quinn in 1868, and in its place the present rectory was built by Rev. G. Funke in 1899, at a cost of $14,000. The old cemetery laid out by Rev. L. Senez in 1846 becoming too small, a new one was purchased by the Rev. P. McCarthy in 1874, to which an addition was made in 1903 by the Rev. G. Funke.
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About 1844 Father Senez attended Dover from Madison. The Rev. B. J. McQuaid often went from Madison to say Mass. Father Senez, after building the church, left in 1846 and was suc- ceeded by Rev. S. Ward. In 1847 Father John Callan was made pastor and remained until 1867; he also attended Rockaway, Mount Hope, and Stanhope. His successor was the Rev. B. Quinn until 1869, when he was succeeded by Rev. P. Byrne, who visited the parish, alternating with Rev. P. Fitzsimmons until November, 1870.
Then Rev. P. McCarthy, a professor in Seton Hall, was made rector, who was transferred to East Newark in November, 1878, and was succeeded by Rev. James Hanley, who had been pastor in Mount Hope.
Father Hanley assuming charge of St. Bridget's, Jersey City, in January, 1883, the Rev. John A. Sheppard, then assistant at the Cathedral, became pastor and remained till August, 1884, to be succeeded by Rev. Nicholas Hens, who remained only eleven months, and was succeeded by the present rector, Rev. G. Funke, August Ist, 1885, who had been pastor of St. Joseph's Church, Carlstadt, N. J., for eight years.
Father Funke, born at Cappenberg in 1848, made his theologi- cal studies at the American College, Münster, where he was or- dained May 30th, 1874. He served as an assistant in St. Mary's, Elizabeth, St. John's, Newark, and St. Pius', East Newark.
St. Mary's Church, Gloucester, N. J.
PREVIOUS to the year 1848 Catholics of this vicinity attended Mass in Philadelphia, and were considered members of the Cathe- dral parish in that city.
The idea of making Gloucester a separate parish took definite shape in 1848, when a petition was presented to Bishop Kenrick, who ruled the diocese at that time, and as a result the Rev. E. Q. S. Waldron was appointed. Mass was first said in a private house, but the accommodations soon proved too small for the growing congregation. The superintendent of the school hall, though a non-Catholic, gave the use of the hall to Father Wal- dron, who for a time said Mass there every Sunday. Bigotry and ignorance soon deprived the little flock of this privilege. One Sunday morning the hall was rendered loathsome and unfit for services by a society of bigots who held a meeting there the Sat- urday evening previous, and who, to show their contempt for all
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things Catholic, scattered around the hall dirt and filth of every description. The school hall was abandoned.
In 1849 a generous and large-hearted Protestant gentleman named Mr. Robb donated the ground for a church, Pastor and people immediately made every effort to erect a suitable edifice, their exertions meeting with great opposition. The first and second corner - stones were stolen, but a third, laid by Father Matthew, the great apostle of temperance, was buried ten feet under the earth. The church was built of limestone on the site of the present parochial school, and had a seating capacity of 400.
Catholics labored earnest- ly indeed for the honor of God in these early years of Gloucester's history. Tradi- tion tells us that non-Cath- olics were surprised and wondered at the stupendous work assumed by Catholics. Father Waldron ministered to the Catholics of Gloucester until May, 1849, when he was succeeded by the Rev. Jer- emiah Donoghue, who con- tinued his ministrations until September, 1850. Father H. ST. MARY'S CHURCH, GLOUCESTER. B. Finnegan attended the parish from 1850 to 1851, when the Rev. J. N. Hannigan was appointed resident pastor.
He remained until 1858. He died in the West, but his remains lie in St. Mary's Cemetery. Father Hannigan was succeeded by Father James Daly. During Father Daly's administration a brick school was erected and two classes were formed, with Miss Annie Whittington as teacher.
In 1869 Rev. W. J. Wiseman was appointed pastor and re- mained until 1873. Dr. Wiseman had a new school built, and the
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old brick church was occupied by the Sisters of St. Dominic, who were introduced into the parish. The ground whereon these buildings stood was low and marshy. The brick building proved an unwholesome habitation. Three Sisters died in it from the dampness of the structure. In 1873 Rev. Egbert Kars was ap- pointed pastor. With characteristic generosity he gave up the rectory to the Sisters and went to live in the old brick building, . which served as his parochial residence up to his death, in the spring of 1886. He was a good and pious priest and his memory rests over Gloucester as a benediction. In the prime of manhood he was called to his reward. The Rev. Thomas J. McCormack was appointed his successor. There was great work to be done in the parish, as the number of Catholics increased with the growth of the town. The happy and laborious task of putting Catholicity on a broader field fell to the lot of Father McCormack, who proved himself equal to the work, as the results of his labors and zeal amply testify. In the autumn of 1886 he secured twelve lots, bounded by Somerset, Atlantic, and Monmouth streets. The last mentioned is the principal residential centre of Gloucester. The present substantial parochial residence was built at the cost of $14,000. In the beginning of March, 1888, Father McCor- mack moved into the new rectory. The lots and rectory were paid for, a few old debts were wiped out, and immediately, March 24th, 1888, ground was broken for the new church. On July 15th Bishop O'Farrell, of happy memory, laid the corner-stone. The church was brought to completion without delay, and dedi- cated on November 24th, 1889. The cost of the structure was $65,000. In the spring of 1893 the last dollar of debt on St. Mary's property was paid.
St. Mary's Church, one of the most beautiful churches in New Jersey, is built of hard sandstone of a bluish-gray color. The stone trimmings are tool-dressed and the front has a fine stone gable cross. The style of architecture is the early deco- rated Gothic, with French feeling in the treatment of all the de- tails. The church is 140 feet in length by 70 feet in width; add- ing to the beauty of a magnificent structure is a tower and spire, together 160 feet in height. Sweet-toned chimes in the tower announce the hours of services, and on Sundays and festivals the dulcet cadences of favorite anthems are musically pealed forth by the harmonious bells.
With the church complete and clear of debt, Father McCor- mack next turned his attention to the school. He had the old
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church and school torn down, and erected the handsome school at the corner of Cumberland and Sussex streets. It is built three stories high, of brown stone and brick, surmounted by a belfry in which is the bell of old St. Mary's Church. Besides having many large class-rooms, the building has a fine enter- tainment hall that will seat 900 persons. The corner-stone of the new school was laid by Bishop O'Farrell July 3d, 1893. The school was dedicated September 30th, 1895, by the Rt. Rev. James A. McFaul.
Father McCormack worked zealously and well, and his name will ever be associated with St. Mary's parish, which he made one of the best equipped in the State. He was born in New York City, October 26th, 1852, and died on the field of his labors in the midst of the flock he loved, July 30th, 1898.
The next pastor of St. Mary's was the Rev. Peter L. Connolly, who administered to the parish for three years. His short admin- istration in St. Mary's parish closed the career of this zealous and venerable priest. He died after a short illness September 29th, 1901.
The Rev. Charles G. Giese was appointed October 2d, 1901, to take up the work laid down by the late Father Connolly. For upward of twenty-one years the present pastor labored in Mill- ville, and with such marked success that the people grudgingly gave consent to his removal by Rt. Rev. James A. McFaul to the larger and wider field of Gloucester City. His coming was greeted with as affectionate a welcome by the parishioners of St. Mary's as his departure from Millville was sad.
St. Patrick's Pro-Cathedral, Newark.
BEGUN by the venerable Father Moran, finished by Father Senez, and consecrated during the pastorate of the Rt. Rev. Mon- signor Doane, St. Patrick's is embalmed in the sweetest and holiest as well as the saddest memories of the past.
Former Senator Smith, at the banquet given by Bishop O'Connor to the laymen of the diocese who had contributed to the Special Jubilee Cathedral Fund, November 4th, 1903, respond- ing to the toast, "Old Cathedral Charms," said: "St. Patrick's was built because some members of old St. John's, in Mulberry Street, objected to the enlargement of that edifice, and urged the erection of a new church in the centre of the city. Then Father Moran, called 'the Father of Catholicity in Newark,' with the
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authority of Bishop Hughes, succeeded, in spite of the prejudice against the Catholic Church, in buying the land which St. Pat- rick's now occupies. Therefore, in any reference to the old cathe- dral, Father Moran should get credit, for he drew the plans for St. Patrick's, the second Catholic church in Newark, and he laid the foundations of the building [and carried it on to the clere- story .- Author]. He had trials in prosecuting the work, but with the aid of Father Louis Dominic Senez, who became the first pas- tor, the church was completed in 1850. The work, begun in 1846, was delayed a year by the builder running away. Arch- bishop Hughes, the great pre- late and statesman, laid the corner-stone and officiated at the dedication. . . . The par- ish first extended from Belle- ville to the south end of the city, and west to Orange, with the exception of St. Mary's German church parish. Har- rison was also in St. Patrick's parish. The streets and roads were not paved, and in wet weather the priests had to wade through mud, and they had to do a great deal of walk- ing in those days."
What scenes has the old cathedral witnessed! What RT. REV. MONSIGNOR G. H. DOANE, P.A. voices have resounded through its arches! Here was the first bishop of the diocese installed and from its portals, on a bleak October morning, was his body borne to his distant archiepiscopal see, to be afterward laid be- side the remains of his sainted aunt, Mother Seton, in the humble God's-acre of Mount St. Mary's. Here were his three successors consecrated to the episcopal office with all the rev- erent pomp and solemnity of the Roman ritual. Here lay the body of Bishop Wigger, and after the solemn requiem had been chanted over his remains, through slush and sleet, ac- companied by thousands, the third bishop was laid away in the Cemetery of the Holy Sepulchre. Here a glorious company of young Levites, the children of the parish, raised to the sublime dignity of the priesthood, have celebrated their first Mass, and
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ST. PATRICK'S PRO-CATHEDRAL.
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crowds thronged the altar rails to kiss their consecrated hands. Here Father Anthony, the emaciated, ascetic son of St. Paul of the Cross, like another John the Baptist, terrified the sinner and in thundering tones warned him of his eternal doom if he neglected
SCENE DURING CONSECRATION OF BISHOP O'CONNOR IN ST. PATRICK'S PRO-CATHEDRAL.
to turn from the error of his ways. Here the great Smarius alternately swayed his audience to tears and laughter. Here the great Father "Tom " Burke electrified his hearers by that match- less eloquence, which has never been surpassed and will hardly be equalled in our day, and which captivated and enthralled the thousands whose privilege it was to listen to this gifted son of St. Dominic. Hither came the very flower of pulpit eloquence, the standard-bearers of the faith, the McQuaids, the Heckers, the Hewitts, the Spaldings, the Lynches-each in his day a master of the divine gift, each powerful in word and work. Here have min- istered almost threescore of pastors and assistants, of whom Senator Smith, in the above-mentioned speech, said: "Within the walls of old St. Patrick's labored men whose lives were conse- crated to the service of God, from Moran to Doane, every one of whom gained an honorable place in the hierarchy of the Church. Bishop Corrigan was not a member of the cathedral parish, but the people claimed him, for at one time a majority of the Catho-
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lics of Newark were in the parish. He liked the old cathedral. Bishop Wigger was not a Newarker, but he received his training in church work as a curate under Monsignor Doane at the old cathedral, where among sixty other curates Bishop James A. McFaul, of Trenton, Monsignors Sheppard and O'Grady, Dean Flynn, and others were trained. From the children of this ven- erable parish were sent many priests, who went to other fields of labor and erected churches for the people to worship in, and schools in which their children are given a good religious and secular education, fitting them to be good citizens. Many young women of the old parish have joined religious orders and conse- crated their lives to the education of the young, the care of the . orphans, the sick, and the aged. And, finally, from those who labored within this sanctuary have sprung institutions of learn-
THE DIOCESAN GOLDEN JUBILEE, NOVEMBER 3d. 1903.
ing second to none, institutions for the physical and religious welfare of those who are bereft of home and parents, and for the treatment of the afflicted."
In September, 1853, came the news that the Rev. James Roosevelt Bayley, the secretary of Archbishop Hughes, was
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appointed first Bishop of Newark, embracing the whole State of New Jersey. Father Senez hastened to New York and placed his resignation of the pastoral charge of St. Patrick's in the hands of the bishop-elect. In vain were argument and cajoling used to induce him to remain, and having been asked who was qualified
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