USA > New Jersey > The Catholic Church in New Jersey > Part 34
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On August Ist, 1864, Father Rolland was succeeded by Rev. P. Leonard. Owing to the rapid growth of the parish, Father Leonard decided to erect a larger and more substantial church. A large plot of ground, selected by the eminent Irish lecturer, the Rev. Dr. Cahill, was purchased for that purpose on April Ist, 1866, and the corner-stone of the new edifice was laid on July 4th, 1866. The church, which is a brick structure, was completed and occupied during the next year. A rectory was built adjoining the church. Father Leonard disposed of the old church and rectory
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in January, 1868. The church was afterward converted into a dwelling and is still standing and occupied. Father Leonard was promoted to the pastorate of St. Mary's Church, Bordentown, N. J., in July, 1869, and later went to St. Michael's Church in New- ark. Rev. Francis O'Neill succeeded Father Leonard at Junc- tion and continued as pastor until June, 1880. During his pas- torate he erected churches at High Bridge and West Portal; he also built a two-story frame school-house at Junction. Succeed- ing Father O'Neill were Rev. M. J. Brennan, June, 1880, to Oc- tober, 1885; Rev. M. Dolan, October, 1885, to January, 1888; Rev. W. J. Donovan, January Ist, 1888, to January 8th, 1893. Father Donovan was recalled by Archbishop Corrigan to the Archdiocese of New York, to which he belonged.
Rev. N. M. Freeman came as successor to Father Donovan and remained until February Ist, 1895, when he was changed to Metuchen, where he died during the summer of the same year. Rev. J. W. Norris, J.C.D., was the next pastor, but on Novem- ber Ist, 1895, he was sent to Rome by Rt. Rev. Bishop McFaul, to pursue a course in canon law, so that his pastorate covered a period of only nine months. The pastorate of his successor, Rev. J. H. Kenney, was also very brief, since, owing to ill health, he was compelled to resign eleven months after his appointment. His death occurred in Trenton in January, 1897. The bishop chose Rev. M. J. Hagerty, D.D., to succeed Father Kenney, and he took charge of the parish on February 26th, 1897, and re- mained until May 27th, 1901, when he was transferred to Bridge- ton. May 27th, 1901, the present pastor, Rev. M. C. McCoriston, was appointed.
The Madonna Church, Fort Lee.
IT is impossible to fix the date of the founding of the parish of Fort Lee, which doubtless was attended to by the worthy pastor of Hoboken, for we find one of his assistants appointed to this field December 6th, 1858, together with the care of Lodi and Hackensack-the Rev. Francis Annelli. One of the greatest benefactors of the parish was the distinguished convert and scholar, Dr. Henry James Anderson. Dr. Anderson was a native of New York City, and was graduated from Columbia College with the highest honors in 1818. He studied medicine and re- ceived his degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, but devoted himself to mathematical investigations and became
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professor of mathematics and astronomy in Columbia College in 1825. While in France, about the year 1850, he was received into the Catholic Church, of which he was ever after a devout and consistent member. He published various scientific works, and died in Hindostan while exploring the Himalayas, October 19th, 1875. Dr. Anderson made a gift of the land on which the church stands. The list of pastors includes the Revs. Patrick Corrigan, Henry A. Brann, D.D., Patrick Cody, A. Smits, O.C.C., G. Spierings, the Capuchin Fathers, and the present rector, the Rev. John A. Huygens, who was appointed July 25th, 1891. Father Huygens was born at Bergen, Holland, and made his classical studies in Ruremonde, Limburg, and his theology in the Grand Seminary, Liege, and the American College, Louvain, where he was ordained by the Most Rev. Archbishop Riordan, of San Francisco, Cal., June 29th, 1888. He was an assistant in Union Hill until his promotion to Fort Lee.
St. Cecilia's Church, Rockaway.
THE church in this little mission was built by the Rev. Bernard A. Quinn, pastor of Dover, to which this charge was attached, in
ST. CECILIA'S CHURCH, ROCKAWAY.
1869. The pastors of Dover, Denville, and Hibernia have at- tended to the spiritual needs of this flock, and among them may be numbered the Revs. Pierce McCarthy, F. v. d. Bogaard, M. A. 24
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McManus, the Franciscan Fathers, A. M. H. Schaeken, Eugene A. Farrell, J. P. Callahan, and M. F. Downes, who located him- self in Rockaway in March, 1885. The Rev. Nicholas E. Sotis succeeded Father Downes, December 22d, 1887, and is the pres- ent rector. Father Sotis has made many improvements in the parish with the limited means at his disposal-moved and en- larged the church and built a rectory.
St. Patrick's Church, Hibernia.
THIS is an older mission than Rockaway, having been founded in the sixties. The iron mines brought a num- ST. PATRICK'S CHURCH, HIBERNIA. ber of Catholics to Hibernia, and in the face of many perils and adversities the little flock has held its own, and may be justly proud of the children it has sent out to more elevated spheres with more hopeful prospects of pecuniary results. It came first under the care of Boonton, and was attended by that parish until 1881, when it was united with Rockaway and made a distinct parish.
St. Teresa's Church, Summit.
FATHER MADDEN, of Mad- ison, built the first Catholic church for the faithful of Summit and visited the mis- sion occasionally, and until February 9th, 1874, the priest in charge of St. Vincent's, Madison, ministered to the wants of the Catholics in Summit, when Bishop Cor- rigan appointed the Rev. W. M.Wigger, D.D., pastor. Dr. Wigger built the rectory and ST. TERESA'S CHURCH, SUMMIT. during two years labored earnestly and gained the love of his flock. In 1872 the Rev. G. A. Vassallo took possession of the parish,
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where he has worked all these years. Father Vassallo was born at Murialdo, in the Diocese of Mondovi, October 8th, 1843. He is an alumnus of the Collegio Brignole-Sale, and was ordained June 15th, 1867. Orange, Orange Valley, New Brunswick, and Morristown have been the fields in which he has labored for souls, until his assignment to Summit. He has enlarged the church and the school, into which he introduced the Sisters of Charity. In 1880 he purchased a tract of thirty acres for cem- etery purposes for $3,500, and in February, 1896, he acquired a property, the house of which he refitted as a school, at an outlay of $12,000. The Rev. John J. Maher is at present the assistant.
The Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Trinity, Hackensack, N. J.
ABOUT forty-one years ago a small frame building on Law- rence Street served as a temporary church. Father Patrick Cor- rigan was then pastor and continued to labor in this field from September, 1863, to May, 1866. Dr. Henry A. Brann, now of New York, succeeded him and began the erection of a brick church, but left before its completion, in August, 1867. He was succeeded by Father Patrick Cody, who finished the church and built the rectory in 1868. The church was dedicated April 19th, I868.
The Rev. Dr. Garvey, now of St. Charles's Seminary, Phila- delphia, succeeded him in February, 1870.
On November 17th, 1870, the Rev. J. Rolando was made rec- tor. The cemetery was purchased and laid out by him and a school built in 1875. The Rev. P. Dagnault assumed charge January, 1876, and administered the parish until July, 1878. He was followed by Rev. M. J. Kirwin, who remained for nearly seven years, going to East Orange in September, 1885. His successor was the Rev. P. M. Corr, who labored most zealously, renovating the church, reducing the debt, and building a residence for the Sisters of Charity, whom he invited to take charge of the parochial school.
The Rev. P. J. O'Donnell took up the work of Father Corr, January 7th, 1890, and finished a very successful pastorate in March, 1894, to take charge of St. Joseph's Church in Newark. The present rector, Rev. Joseph J. Cunneely, began his pastorate March 14th, 1894. The debt has been paid off and many im-
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provements have been made, and a new parish building is con- templated to meet the urgent needs of the Catholic people. The congregation numbers 700 souls.
The Newman School.
WITHIN the limits of this parish is the Newman School, which was founded in Orange, N. J., by Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Albert Locke. It was long felt by many members of the hierarchy- and by none more than the late Archbishop Corrigan-that there was need of a private school for boys which could offer refined surroundings of family life, together with a good scholastic and Catholic training. Mr. Locke, before his conversion to the Cath- olic Church, was a clergyman of the Episcopal Church, and had had experience in teaching in some of the best schools belonging to that denomination. Mrs. Locke is a niece of the late Father Hecker, founder and first superior of the Paulist community. Four pupils were received the first year, then fourteen, then twenty, and at present the number is limited to thirty. The growth of the school justified its foundation and made the acquisi-
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THE NEWMAN SCHOOL, HACKENSACK.
tion of more commodious quarters a necessity. An ideal situation was secured in this beautiful, suburban, and healthful locality, where the grounds and charming residence of Mr. F. B. Poor afford a pleasant home and ample room for the faculty and pupils.
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Church of the Holy Cross, Harrison, N. J.
IN the section of Hudson County, between the Passaic and Hackensack rivers, known as West Hudson, previous to the year 1863, there was neither school nor church. The few Catholics
HOLY CROSS CHURCH, HARRISON.
attended St. Patrick's or St. John's, Newark, or St. Peter's, Belleville. Father McQuaid, in 1863, purchased six lots on the corner of Jersey and Third streets, and during his pastorate and that of Monsignor Doane the two-story combination of church and school was built. May 10th, 1871, Bishop Bayley selected the Rev. James J. McGahan as the first resident pastor. Father McGahan was born at Cullyhanna, county Armagh, July 16th, 1840, and made his theology at All Hallows, Dublin. He was one of many who volunteered for the Australian mission, and afterward had great difficulty in withdrawing from that obedi- ence. However, he eventually succeeded, and when in Rome, seeking a release from his engagement, in his last interview with Pius IX., he promised the Pope that the first church he would build he would place it under the patronage of St. Pius. Father
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McGahan enlarged the old church at an outlay of $17,000, bought lots for a new church, and began its erection. He was a man of untiring energy, much beloved by the people, and had his life been spared would have accomplished great things for religion. He died January 7th, 1874. When he first took possession of his new charge there were about four hundred souls in the parish and about fifty children attending the parish school. The land purchased by Father McGahan from Isaac Halsey, of Newark, for a consideration of $15,000, has a frontage on Harrison Avenue of 225 feet and the same on Jersey Street-containing twenty-four lots.
On September 28th, 1873, the corner-stone of a new and hand- some church was laid by Bishop Corrigan. Father McGahan's death put an end to the work. Some years afterward, when the foundation then laid had to be torn up, the following statement, written on parchment, was taken from the corner-stone: "To God the Master of All, in the Year of Salvation, 1873, on the twenty- eighth day of September. With Pius IX. as Pope, Ulysses S. Grant President of the United States of America, Patrick Keely architect, James J. McGahan pastor, the most illustrious and Rt. Rev. Michael A. Corrigan, with sacred ceremonies, has conse- crated, blessed, and laid the corner-stone of the church to be built in honor of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the patronage of St. Pius." Father McGahan was assisted by the Rev. James Mc- Kernan, who took charge after his death until a successor was appointed.
Father McGahan rented and resided for some months in Mr. Gilbert's house, Sussex Street, and ultimately bought of General Halsey the remainder of the property, corner of Jersey and Third streets. March 3d, 1874, Rev. Thaddeus Hogan, of Mount Holly, succeeded as rector.
During his pastorate Father Hogan built the sisters' convent on Jersey Street, purchased the lot where the rectory now stands, and erected the C. Y. M. A. Hall. November 9th, 1878, he was advanced to the rectorship of St. John's Church, Trenton. His assistants were the Revs. D. F. McCarthy, Gerard Funke, A. T. Shutlehöfer, Thomas Quinn. Six Sisters of Charity looked after the school of 400 children. Rev. Pierce McCarthy, rector of St. Mary's Church, Dover, N. J., entered upon his duties as rector of St. Pius, on the same date, November 9th, 1878. A priest of marked ability and executive talent, Father McCarthy left his im- press on the parish and reduced the debt to $15,006.70. His
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health failing, he was transferred as rector to the Church of Our Lady Help of Christians, East Orange, and was succeeded on the same day, December 6th, 1883, by the then rector and founder of the East Orange Church, Rev. Maurice P. O'Connor. Father McCarthy was assisted here by Revs. M. L. Killahy, J. J. Mur- phy, and Charles O'Connor. Seven Sisters of Charity and a lay teacher, Mr. Henry J. Dougherty, were required to teach the parish school. The Rev. Maurice P. O'Connor, in the prime of his manhood, of indomitable energy, which had found an untilled field for its exercise in East Orange, where he built a new church, school, and hall, and left to his successor only $8,000 debt, entered upon his work in Harrison. Father O'Connor was born in Scot- land, of Irish-Catholic famine exiles in 1850, and came to this country when eleven years of age. He attended the parish school in Jersey City and afterward entered St. Charles's College, near Baltimore, Md. Later he went to Seton Hall College, South Orange, N. J., where he was graduated, together with the present Bishops O'Connor and McFaul, in June, 1873, and four years afterward, May 26th, 1877, was ordained priest by the late Arch- bishop Corrigan, the Bishop of Newark, in the seminary chapel of the Immaculate Conception, attached to Seton Hall. During his brief curacy of five years he labored in Trenton and Newark.
When the parish committee of St. Pius's Church waited on Bishop Wigger after the people had learned of Father McCarthy's transfer, they told their ecclesiastical superior that the founda- tions of the new church had been left untouched since January Ist, 1874, and that the people wanted a pastor who would build them one. The bishop replied : " All right, I have my man. I will send him to you."
The new pastor, in surveying the field of operations, discovered that while there were in the parish some polished diamonds, the majority were in the rough, and that the church-school brick build- ing of 1871 needed extensive renovation. To show the necessity for the latter, an accident occurred shortly after his advent to his first assistant. One Sunday evening as Vespers had just begun nearly the entire plastered ceiling over his head came suddenly down upon him. Men attending the service rushed to his aid and conveyed him in a dazed condition to the sacristy.
December 31st, 1885, found the people well organized and the necessary renovations completed, with no parish debt, but a bal- ance on hand of $1,659.56. May 26th, 1886, the ninth anniversary of the ordination of the rector was joyously celebrated by begin-
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ning work for the new church. The old foundations of the new church, begun in 1873, were removed, as competent authorities had pronounced them unsafe. August 15th, 1886, was an auspi- cious day. The corner-stone of the new church, to be known hereafter as the Church of the Holy Cross, Harrison, N. J., taking its title from the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Sep- tember 14th, was laid by the Rt. Rev. W. M. Wigger, D.D., Bishop of Newark, with imposing ceremonies before an immense concourse of people, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Cath- olic Young Men's Associations, and other societies taking part. The attendance of the rev. clergy, secular and regular, was large and representative. Governor Abbett, of New Jersey, and other distinguished citizens added éclat to the solemn occasion.
February 16th, 1890, marks the dedication of Harrison's mag- nificent rock-faced, ashlar brown-stone Church of the Holy Cross. Nearly three thousand people witnessed the ceremonies; hundreds of men, women, and children were obliged to stand, but as the services were intensely interesting they did not feel the fatigue. Immediately after the dedication ceremony the bishop and assistant priests retired to the sacristy and robed for the Solemn Pontifical Mass. Bishop Wigger was the celebrant. The Rt. Rev. Monsignor G. H. Doane, Prot. Ap., preached the ser- mon and spoke feelingly of the memories of the past, especially of the departed ones of the flock. Solemn Vespers in the evening in presence of the bishop and an eloquent sermon of the Rev. John J. Tighe, once a lay trustee of the church, closed Harrison's most eventful day.
In March, 1893, the parish had grown to such an extent nu- merically that a division was found necessary, and thus the new parish of St. Cecilia's, north of the railroad, came into existence. A minute in the book of the church records says : " At the Rt. Rev. bishop's request, the Rev. M. P. O'Connor, rector, was present at a meeting of the bishop and his council and consented to a divi- sion of the parish of the Holy Cross of Harrison, N. J. The boundary line was fixed at the N. Y., L. E. & W. Railroad, as found on the map of Scarlett & Scarlett, 1890, all south of that line being included in the aforesaid parish." May 10th, 1896, was another red-letter day for the parish, its silver jubilee, 1871-1896. A large audience filled the spacious church, both at the morning and evening services.
At 10:30 A.M. a Solemn Pontifical High Mass was celebrated by the Rt. Rev. James A. McFaul, D.D., LL.D., Bishop of Tren-
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ton and a classmate of Father M. P. O'Connor, the Rt. Rev. Bishop Wigger, being present on his throne. The Rev. John J. Tighe, rector of St. Paul's, Greenville, preached the sermon.
Rev. Thaddeus Hogan, formerly rector of the parish, delighted the people at the evening services by a sermon full of thought and piety.
In November, 1900, the material work on the church was completed. A number of artists and workmen had been busily engaged all summer in decorating and frescoing the interior, in- stalling electricity, and a number of other improvements.
In 1901 a parish hall was added to the other buildings. May 26th, 1902, the rector celebrated his own silver jubilee as a priest, surrounded by a large number of his brother priests from Newark, Trenton, New York, Scranton, Springfield, and Brook- lyn dioceses, and in the midst of the thousands of his devoted flock. Bishops O'Connor and McFaul honored him by their presence on the happy day of his life.
The year 1902 witnessed the beautiful marble altar to Our Blessed Lady placed in the church, the gift of a loving people to their beloved pastor. This same year beheld two large wings or extensions added to the parochial school to make adequate room for the ever-increasing number of children. The year 1903, last but not least, saw the rich marble altar of the jubilee completed. A beautiful white Carrara marble statue of the Immaculate Mother, imported from Italy, the gift of the Rev. M. P. O'Connor, in mem- ory of his saintly Irish mother, was placed in the niche prepared for it, on Sunday, October Ist, and presented to the parish. .
The assistant priests of the parish have been the Revs. A. M. Brady, B. M. Bogan, James F. Mooney, James Nolan, J. F. Boy- lan, Dr. Dillon, G. F. Brown, Thomas Lee, M. J. Welch, E. M. O'Malley, and, at present, the Revs. H. G. Coyne and L. J. Bohl.
The census of the parish shows 7,496 souls, nearly 1, 100 chil- dren in the parish school, with fifteen Sisters of Charity and two lay teachers, and sixteen societies for young and old, numbering nearly 4,000 members, engaged in religious, charitable, and intel- lectual work. In addition to the church, school, hall, rectory, convent, and C. Y. M. A. hall, the congregation owns valuable property on which there are houses now rented, purchased a few years ago to protect the church buildings, and which in future years may serve for church extension.
The present debt on the church property, valued at $250,000, is the comparatively small sum of $45,000.
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St. Luke's Church, Hohokus.
PREVIOUS to the year 1864 the territory north of Paterson, as far as the New York State line, comprising nearly all of Bergen County, was without church or priest. The Very Rev. Dean McNulty in that year began the work of spreading the influence of Catholicity by saying Mass in a private house in Chestnut Ridge.
The venture having promised success, in the same year, on Palm Sunday, a new attempt was made at Hoppertown, and through the efforts of John J. Zabriskie the use of the school building was obtained. Ground was then bought in Hohokus, and the corner-stone of the present St. Luke's Church was laid on October 16th, 1864.
For many years it was attended by the assistants of St. John's Church, Paterson. In the early eighties it was given in charge of Rev. J. W. Grieff, succeeded in turn by Revs. N. Hens, M. F. Downes, and Father Justin, O.S.F.
In 1887 Rev. G. W. Corrigan became pastor and soon set to work to form a new mission, now known as St. Andrew's, at West- wood, at present in charge of Rev. James P. Corrigan, who is erecting a new church, St. Mary's, at Park Ridge, five miles north of Westwood.
Two years later, the popu- lation of the neighboring Par- amus valley having consider- ably increased, it was deemed advisable to begin a new church in Ridgewood. Rev. F. Nevins undertook this work. It was thought best at the time to close St. Luke's and build a larger church at Ridge- ST. LUKE'S CHURCH, HOHOKUS. wood to accommodate all the Catholic population of the northern section of Bergen County. But the parishioners of St. Luke's strongly objected to this arrangement, and petitioned the late Bishop Wigger to reopen their church. This was done, but St. Luke's was opened as a mission, the rectory abandoned, and a new church, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, built. A rectory, do-
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nated by Joseph F. Carrigan, was occupied by Rev. Dr. Müll, who succeeded Father Nevins in the latter part of 1889.
In 1892 Rev. J. A. Sullivan was appointed rector, and during his term he did much toward the instruction of the people, the improvement of the church property, and the lessening of the heavy debt left by his predecessor. Five years later, in July, 1897, Rev. E. A. Kelly succeeded to the pastorate and labored four years with untiring zeal in the work of improving the spiritual and temporal condi- tion of the parishes confided to him and still further re- ducing the debt.
ST. ELIZABETH'S CHURCH, WYCKOFF.
The present rector, Rev. P. T. Carew, was appointed in 1901. Ridgewood cherishes great prospects for Catholic growth, as it is a very healthful village, delightfully situated within easy reach of New York, and has ex- cellent train facilities. Altogether it is an ideal residential place. A large percentage of the inhabitants, many Catholics among them, have moved thither from Brooklyn and Jersey City.
Within the past year an additional mission was opened in Wyckoff, and in July, 1903, was dedicated the new Church of St. Elizabeth.
This year ground was purchased for still another mission at Ramsey, where in the near future a chapel will be erected. The two chapels are to be built not because of any notable increase in the number of Catholics. although the outlook for the future is very bright-but as a means of arousing some from their indiffer- ence, and stimulating the lukewarmness of other Catholics in this section, for whom lack of facilities for hearing Mass and coming in touch with the priest have resulted in all but a complete loss of faith, especially in sparsely settled localities remote from the cities.
St. Boniface's Church, Jersey City.
ST. BONIFACE's parish, Jersey City, N. J., was founded on the 15th of November, 1863. The first meeting at which this was accomplished took place in the old so-called Hudson House, at the Five Corners-corner of Newark and Hoboken avenues, and
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West Newark and Bergen avenues-Jersey City, N. J. Rev. Dominic Kraus, the first rector, and Father Prieth, of St. Peter's, Newark, were present, and twenty-eight laymen. On May 7th, 1865, the corner-stone of the present church was laid, and on November 11th, 1866, the church was opened for services. The legal title is St. Boniface's Church, Jersey City. The pastor at the time was Rev. Dominic Kraus. The old school and rectory were built in 1864. The new school was begun in March, 1888, and finished in November, 1888.
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