USA > New Jersey > The Catholic Church in New Jersey > Part 21
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The Rev. Isaac P. Whelan reported some time in the month of December, and the Right Rev. Bishop added to the other duties of the Morristown priests the care of the Whippany mission.
On Christmas Day Holy Mass was said for the first time in Morris Plains in the house of Andrew Murphy. The room was crowded, and the scene recalled to many the stories told them by their fathers of Catholicity forty years ago.
Thereafter Mass was regularly celebrated every Sunday. Be- tween attending to the two Masses in Morristown, one in Whip- pany, and another at Morris Plains, Sunday was a busy day for the priests, who, from early morn to high noon, knew not a mo- ment's rest.
The house deeded by old Thomas Burns, a confessor of the faith in this locality from the early twenties, to Father Flynn per-
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sonally, was converted into a home for the Sisters of Charity, who came to reside here permanently January, 1882.
In March, 1885, Father Flynn purchased the Condit property at the junction of Speedwell and Sussex avenues, embracing ten acres, for the sum of $25,000. The land was surveyed, laid off in lots, and a number of maps were printed for those who contem- plated purchasing. A meeting of the congregation was called to order in the pavilion. The object, it was stated, was to dis- pose of the lots to Catholics, if possible, and, after a reasonable time, to all comers. Father Flynn acted as auctioneer, and most of the best lots were quickly disposed of at good prices. The Water Company laid their pipes through the streets, and thus the location became more desirable for residences.
The streets were named Columba, in honor of the great saint of Iona; Grant, in honor of the great general of the Civil War, who was then in his death agony; and Bellevue Terrace, from the charming prospect visible from the elevation.
The lot looking north, directly in front of Columba Street, was reserved for the erection of a chapel. In the beginning of April the requisite permission was obtained from Bishop Wigger.
No delay was made in the construction of the modest building which was to rear aloft the cross and be a new sanctuary of the Most High. The great devotion of the Celtic race to St. Marga- ret, Queen of Scotland, as witnessed by their family names-for after Mary there is scarcely another more frequently bestowed upon their daughters than Margaret-her sweet and beautiful life, so much in its details like that of St. Elizabeth of Hungary and in some respects more attractive, prompted the pastor to honor, even
in a humble way, this great saint, recognized thus for the first time in the United States. At the close of the month of May every- thing was in readiness for the laying of the corner-stone. It was determined to invest it with all the pomp and ceremony possible. The members of the parish entered heartily into the pastor's plan, and the ceremony was so grand and impressive that few who wit- nessed it will ever forget it. The following accurate report was written by an eye-witness:
Sunday, May 31st, 1885, was a memorable day for the Catho- lics of Morristown. Surrounded by members of the local and visiting clergy, in the presence of a large number of the laity, the Rt. Rev. Winand M. Wigger, Bishop of the Diocese of Newark, laid the corner-stone of the chapel to be erected to the honor of God and St. Margaret, with all the pomp and splendor of ritual
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with which the Roman Catholic Church invests such an important ceremony. But, apart from the interest that such an event natu- rally arouses, the occasion was one of deep significance. It illus- trated and emphasized not only the growth of our city, but it was likewise indicative of the rapidly increasing strength of the Catho- lic Church in our midst. There are some of the members of the Church of the Assumption who can recall the time, not so very long ago, when the nearest Catholic church was at Madison, then known as Bottle Hill. Hence it was determined to give the cere- mony an expression of the significance it justly claimed, to mark it as an era in the history of the Catholic Church in Morristown. And so, despite the threatening weather, the mother Church gathered together her numerous societies, and, preceded by the cross-bearer and the acolytes with waving banners, followed by- the clergy in their sanctuary dress and the bishop in his purple vesture, they marched, over a thousand in number, through the town to Sussex Avenue, where the new chapel is to be erected. A peculiar feature of this procession was the corner-stone, adorned with flowers and carried by four of the oldest members of the congregation, preceded by six little girls in white, all representing the tribute of three generations to this happy event. Arrived at the grounds, the bishop, vested in cope and mitre, and bearing his crosier, solemnly blessed and laid the corner-stone, in which was placed an iron box containing, besides various coins and copies of The Jerseyman, The Banner, and The Chronicle, a parchment de- scribing the event in Latin, and of which the following is a trans- lation :
"D. O. M.
"On the 31st day of May, in the year of our Redemption 1885 - Pope Leo XIII. happily reigning, Rt. Rev. Winand M. Wigger being the Bishop of Newark, and Rev. Joseph M. Flynn, rector, with Rev. Eugene A. Farrell, his assistant, of the Church of the Assumption; Grover Cleveland being President of these United States; Leon Abbett Governor of the State of New Jersey; and John Taylor Mayor of Morristown-Rt. Rev. Winand M. Wigger, D.D., in the presence of the clergy and before a large concourse of people, laid the corner-stone of this chapel to be erected to the honor of God under the invocation of St. Margaret."
After the ceremony the Rt. Rev. Bishop made a short ad- dress to the people, congratulating them on the progress of the Church in Morristown, and in particular commending the zeal they uniformly manifest in the furtherance of every good and praiseworthy work in the interests of morality and religion. He concluded with the hope that the day would not be distant when they and their labors would be so blessed that the humble begin- ning of to-day would ripen into a new, a large, and a flourishing parish.
Huge masses of black clouds rolled up from the southwest;
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the wind was momentarily increasing in violence, and great drops of rain admonished all to seek shelter from the impending storm. Banners were taken from their poles and put away; white veils were hurriedly removed, and soon all were in shelter from the tempest, which disappeared almost as quickly as it sprang up.
The patriarchs who carried the corner-stone from the mother church were Thomas F. Burke, Thomas Degan, Martin Murphy, and John McGuire, and they were accompanied as a guard of honor by the little Misses Genevieve Welsh, Lulu Clifford, Rose Corcoran, Agnes Lucas, Marguerite Kenny, and Marguerite Mar- tin. The Rev. William D. Hughes, Paulist, a guest at the rec- tory, took part in the ceremony.
The corner-stone laid, an effort was made to raise the money to pay for the chapel as the work went on, so that, if possible, by the time of dedication it should be absolutely free from debt. To this end a bazaar was held, and in three days $1,089.05 were realized. All worked with a will, and the parishioners showed their enthusi- asm by their attendance in large numbers and generous liberality.
The old church, converted into a school, was no longer in a condition to accommodate the children. Hence it was determined early in 1886 reverently to remove the dead from the old cemetery, and erect on the land the new school.
Ground was broken in the spring, and on Thanksgiving Day the corner-stone of the Bayley Grammar School was laid by Bish- op Wigger, and after the ceremony the old pastor, now Bishop McQuaid, preached a sermon of rare historical interest to the crowded congregation in the church. In closing he said :
"When the providence of God removed me to New Jersey my first thought was to get these sisters; so I went to Mount St. Vincent on October 18th, 1853, and asked for two sisters, the first to come to New Jersey. And what a blessing they are! It is those women who are creating a Catholic atmosphere; the prayers of the mother at home are continued in the schoolroom. Who can take their place? You have this blessing in Morris- town.
"May God bless all those here and never forsake them! Bless this congregation with added prosperity year after year, and all those who have gone before us, who are now looking down from heaven upon the good work we are doing! And when to- day I looked down upon the old graveyard on the bodies I placed there, when I looked upon that place where those remains are gathered up and removed to a more beautiful cemetery, the
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thought came to my mind: Those souls, now in heaven, gladly make way for the Christian school that is to stand there; gladly resign their resting-place for the foundations of the large, beauti- ful schoolhouse; the saints in heaven-for many holy ones I placed there-are now looking down upon us."
The new school was blessed by Bishop Wigger and opened October 9th, 1887. A desirable property, in the very centre of the city, in the heart of its business, was put on the market. Dean Flynn invited the original members of the Young Men's Catholic Association to meet him in the rectory January 17th, 1887, and there proposed to secure a lot and erect a permanent home. It was thought that $25,000 would be the limit of the out- lay for site and building.
On Tuesday, May Ist, 1888, took place the formal dedication of the Young Men's Catholic Association building.
A large flag floated from the front of the attractive building, while the interior decorations were superb, a wealth of pictures everywhere gracing the walls, supplemented by banks of palms and flowering plants, sprays of cut flowers and smilax, festoons of bunting, and other decorations pleasing to the eye. The commit- tee on decorations were Messrs. W. V. Dunn, M. F. Lowe, J. T. Murphy, and Thomas Holton, the latter furnishing the floral dis- play that on every floor delighted the beholder.
There were two receptions-one in the morning to the ladies, and one in the afternoon and evening to the gentlemen. The re- ception committee was Very Rev. Dean Flynn, pastor of the Church of the Assumption; President C. H. Knight, and Messrs. P. Farrelly, T. Clifford, M. E. Condon, M. F. Lowe, John Mur- phy, Thomas Malley, T. J. O'Brien, D. L. Fox, and P. Welsh.
In the morning the committee was assisted by a number of ladies, friends and relatives of the members, and the scores of vis- itors were lavish in their admiration of the arrangement, finish, and equipment of the building. Voss's orchestra was placed in an alcove of the lobby outside of the parlor, and sweet strains of classic music added to the delight which the inspection of the building gave.
In September, 1888, it was determined to open a school for the children of St. Margaret's. Some five and twenty little ones at- tended the Mass of the Holy Ghost celebrated by the pastor, and the chapel, as a matter of necessity, had to be used for a school- room; but what more fitting place than His sanctuary who said " Suffer the little ones to come unto me " ?
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October 24th, 1888, brought the tidings that Bishop Wigger had honored the parish by making it one of the seven in the Dio- cese of Newark which fulfilled all the conditions for a permanent rectorship, and the pastor, by appointing him the first irremovable rector.
The year 1890 was to bring additional improvements. On Sunday, March 2d, Dean Flynn announced at all the Masses that, with the bishop's permission, he had sold the sisters' house for $4,000, and that this was virtually a donation of that sum to the parish, since it came to them from him as a gift. He furthermore stated that a rectory would be built on the site of the old church, and when completed the priests would take possession of it, and the sisters of the old rectory.
Satisfactory progress had been made with the new rectory, and to such an extent that on St. Catherine's day, November 25th, the furniture was put in place, and the priests took posses- sion of their new home. The same day the busy hands of the sisters and scholars enabled the former to be transferred from their temporary house to the more comfortable and commodious quarters of the old rectory. Early in December the congregation was invited to inspect the new building. All day long throngs of ladies passed in and out. In the evening the men imitated their example. Lunch was prepared for all, and served by the willing hands of the Young Ladies' Sodality.
It had long been apparent that the growth of this section called for some provision for the sick, injured, and infirm. For a long time the matter occupied the attention of bishop and pastor. The distance to the city hospitals was considerable; the demands made upon them by the exigencies of their surroundings some- times rendered it difficult to accommodate patients from afar. In the month of November, within the octave of All Souls, the ever- recurring thought returned; but, while the building was attaina- ble, it was a rather more difficult task to obtain sisters trained and devoted to this kind of work.
On Sunday, November 22d, 1891, the announcement was made to the congregation that the old Arnold Tavern, venerated for its Revolutionary memories, on Mt. Kemble Avenue, had been pur- chased for a hospital, and that the Grey Nuns of Montreal, Can- ada, had consented to assume the charge of it. Unbounded en- thusiasm was manifest on every side. The old Arnold Tavern, removed some years ago from the square in Morristown, had long awaited a purchaser. This building sheltered General Washing-
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ton in 1777. It was his first headquarters. There he spent several months with his chiefs of staff. This became the Morris- town home of the Grey Nuns. The ballroom of General Wash- ington was turned into a chapel. The dining-room became a hos- pital ward. The broad corridors that a century ago resounded with noise of spur and clank of sabre took on new life, and were filled with the soft-falling footsteps and rustling garments of the gentle sisters, there to nurse the sick and afflicted of all races, colors, and creeds. In the building at the rear of the main struc- ture a home was provided for the aged and the orphans.
On a single Sunday afternoon and evening $6,500 in cash was given by the men and women of the congregation for the further- ance of this work. Men were seen hurrying off to borrow money in order to share in the joy each one seemed to take in helping this great work of charity.
On Labor Day, September 5th, 1892, the hospital was blessed by Bishop Wigger, assisted by the rev. clergy of Sussex and Mor- ris counties. It was a beautiful autumn morning, and early in the forenoon carriages and pedestrians were seen wending their way out to Mt. Kemble Avenue by the hundreds. It is estimated that 2,500 people visited and inspected the institution. The women of the parish provided a bountiful luncheon for all, and the visitors were waited on by the Young Ladies' Sodality and the Young Men's Catholic Association.
In the great national conflict which divided the North and South, in 1861, members of our parish were found under both flags. The roll is an illustrious one. On the battle-field, in the prison, in rank and file, the children of St. Mary's gave ample proof of courage and patriotism.
Among all names there is one conspicuous above the rest- Gen. Joseph Warren Revere. Descended from a French Hugue- not family, his grandfather was Col. Paul Revere, of Revolutionary fame.
At the age of fourteen young Revere entered the United States Naval School, and began a long career of service on sea and land in almost every portion of the globe. In his sixteenth year he sailed for the Pacific, and was attached to the squadron employed in suppressing the African slave-trade. After narrow escapes from disease, wreck, and mutiny, he was detailed to the European squadron, and visited every country of Europe, and the Mediterranean shores of Asia and Africa. His knowledge of many languages secured him a favorable position, through which
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he met the most distinguished personages of the day. He was an eye-witness of the Carlist War, and served with the Mosquito fleet on the coast of Florida during the Seminole War. In 1838 he sailed in the first American squadron which circumnavigated the globe.
When in India he saved the British man-of-war Ganges from shipwreck, and was presented for his service with a sword of honor by the governor-gen- eral.
Throughout the Mexican War he was on the coast of California. At Sonoma he raised the first American flag north of San Francisco. Soon after this he resigned, and was employed by the Mexi- can Government in reorgan- izing the artillery service. At the outbreak of the Civil War he offered his services to the general government and re- ceived a commission as col- onel of the Seventh New Jersey Volunteers. The bril- liant record of this gallant regiment, second to none in the service, has been largely attributed to the severe dis- GEN. JOSEPH WARREN REVERE. cipline it received under Gen- eral Revere, whom General Hooker pronounced the best disciplinarian in the army. He was in all the battles of the Peninsular campaign; was pro- moted to the rank of brigadier-general, and commanded the Second New Jersey Brigade until after Fredericksburg. He was assigned to the command of the New York Excelsior Brigade, and at Chancellorsville Revere's brigade led the van in the desper- ate struggle after the rout of the Eleventh Corps, when Howard's men retreated before the impetuous onslaught of Stonewall Jack- son. Censured by General Sickles for his conduct in this battle, Revere was for a time deprived of his rank; the opinion of his troops, and of Generals Meade, Sedgwick, and other high officers, held him innocent of any offence. President Lincoln declared
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that he had been unjustly treated and restored to him his rank, and he was subsequently named brevet major-general. It was after the Peninsular Campaign that one day, in Washington, brooding over the severe losses his regiment suffered from the terrific struggle, he was led almost unconsciously to a Catholic church. On the moment he felt the impulse, or rather inspira- tion, to become a Catholic. For years he had carefully studied religious matters, and consequently, when he presented himself to the priest and asked to be baptized, he was found thoroughly in- structed in the principles of the Catholic Church. He received holy baptism October 19th and his first holy communion October 26th, 1862. Some years later he was confirmed by Archbishop Bayley in our own church. During the period of well-merited re- pose in his delightful home he published in 1873 Keel and Saddle, a retrospect of his stirring life, and various magazine articles. The picture of the "Espousals of the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph," which hangs in the church in Our Lady's aisle, attests his artistic ability. He died April 20th, 1880. One of his sons, Mr. Paul Revere, was received into the Church some years after his father, and cooperated with every good work in the parish until his untimely death November 10th, 1901.
Many of the daughters of the parish have entered different religious communities, and in the priesthood are the Rev. Eugene P. Carroll, Newark; the Rev. James J. Mulhall, Newton; and the Rev. William P. Dunn, Passaic.
St. Mary's Star of the Sea Church, Cape May.
THE church records of St. Augustine's, Philadelphia, show that the Very Rev. Michael Hurley, D.D., officiated frequently at Cape May island, and that he made his first visit about 1803. The Augustinian Fathers seem to have given this mission what- ever attention it demanded, which, no doubt, was little except in the summer months; and no notice of it appears in the Catholic Directory until 1848, when the name of the church appears-St. Mary's-and the attendant priest, the Rev. E. Q. S. Waldron, with the admonition, " During bathing season divine service every Sunday. Once a month the rest of the year." The names of those who ministered to the spiritual needs of the Catholics until the formation of the new diocese are the Revs. Hugh Kenny, E. J. Sourin, and J. McDermott, Salem. From 1854-56 the Rev. John Ford was the pastor; and from 1857-64 it was attached to
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the pastoral charge of Salem, and from 1864 until 1869 to Mill- ville. The Rev. Martin Gessner was pastor of Millville during this latter period, and under his administration the churches of Bridgeton and Millville were built. Father Gessner, born at Sonderhoff, Bavaria, November 10th, 1837, studied at Mount St. Mary's, and after in Munich. He was ordained priest July 26th, 1863, and after laboring nine years in South Jersey was appointed pastor of St. Patrick's, Elizabethport. He was succeeded by the Rev. Theophilus Degen, a secularized Capuchin (d. October 31st, 1900), who, by purchase of the cottage adjoining the church, established in it a convent and school, taught by the Sisters of Mercy. Father Degen also built St. Agnes's Church at Cape May Point, added a chapel to the Cape May church, and built an addition to the rectory. He was succeeded by the present in- cumbent, the Rev. D. S. Kelly.
St. Francis's German Church, Trenton.
BEFORE the year 1844 all the Catholics of Trenton worshipped together in the old St. Francis's Church on Market and Lamber- ton streets. In that year Father Mackin gave up this church for the new one which he had erected on Broad Street and called St. John's. The Ger- man Catholics thought this a favorable time to secure a church of their own where the German language would be spoken, but they were too few to pay for the church and support a pastor. The church was, in consequence, sold in 1851, and bought by Mr. Peter Hargous, a prominent Catholic, who presented it to Bishop Neumann for the use of the Germans. The first ST. FRANCIS'S CHURCH, TRENTON. pastor, Father Gmeiner, was appointed June 21st, 1853. Three years later he purchased two lots on Market Street, in the rear of the church, on which, in October, 1856, he erected a school which for several years was in charge of the Sisters of Notre
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Dame. Soon after the erection of the school, he left St. Fran- cis's for another mission, and was succeeded by the Rev. Anton Muller. In 1859 Father Gmeiner again became pastor and re- mained until 1865, when he was followed by Father Storr. At this time the Methodist church on Front Street was for sale. Father Storr seeing that it would accommodate his congregation better than their own, bought it for $11,000. After some neces- sary changes were made it was dedicated in the following year and called St. Boniface's, but afterward at the command of Bishop Bayley the name of the first church, St. Francis's, was substituted. Father Storr left before the church was opened for services, and was succeeded by Rev. Francis Gerber, D.D., who, in 1867, built the priest's house and the tower of the church, and in January, 1869, placed the Sisters of St. Francis in charge of the school. He soon after left for Europe, and was succeeded by the Rev. Peter Jachetti, whose zeal and labors for the church are so well known to the people of Trenton.
In 1870 Bishop Bayley gave the church to the Franciscans, and Father Jachetti was continued as pastor. In 1874 Father Jachetti resigned St. Francis's in order to start a parish in that part of the city then known as Chambersburg, and was succeeded by Rev. Avellino Szabo, who remained in charge for about eight years. His most important work was the building of the present parochial school. He was followed by the Rev. Conrad Elison, who was in care of the parish until November Ist, 1883, when, in obedience to the wishes of Bishop O'Farrell, the Franciscans re- signed the charge of St. Francis's for that of St. Peter's German Congregation in Camden. The Rev. Joseph Thurnes was trans- ferred from Camden to St. Francis's. Father Thurnes greatly improved the appearance of St. Francis's Church. He also made some additions and improvements to the rectory. He erected a little frame church in Pennington, which is attended every other Sunday from St. Francis's. St. Francis's parish has about one thousand souls and two hundred and fifty children in the parochial school.
In connection with this church the following letter of Arch- bishop Bayley will be interesting :
NEWARK, August, 1856.
M. L'ABBÉ O'BÉRCAMP : I hasten to reply to your kind letter of July 5th with reference to the dimensions for the picture to be placed in the church of St. Francis of Assisi, Trenton, which his Majesty King Louis of Bavaria has so graciously offered us. The
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