USA > New Jersey > The Catholic Church in New Jersey > Part 7
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62
This brings our narrative to the establishment of the first regular Catholic parish in the State of New Jersey, and this credit belongs to Trenton.
Sacred Heart, Trenton. Formerly, St. John's Parish. 1799-1899.
IT is impossible to say when Mass was first said in this city. Dr. John Gilmary Shea, in his History of the Catholic Church in the United States, writes that in October, 1799, Rev. D. Boury, a Catholic priest from Philadelphia, officiated in Trenton. Bishop Carroll, of Baltimore, in a letter dated September 8th, 1803, wrote that he was called to Trenton because of some trouble that had arisen in the congregation. "Next Monday, 12th, I will leave this place (Philadelphia) for the neighborhood of New York. The devil is always busy to raise obstacles in my way. He or his agent has made a disturbance at Trenton, where I did not expect any business, which will perhaps cause me some delay-so that I expect to cross Hobuck ferry before Wednesday." (Letter of Bishop Carroll to Jas. Barry, Esq., N. Y., September 8th, 1803.) In the following year, 1804, services were held in the printing-
6I
IN NEW JERSEY
office of Isaac Collins, which stood on the corner of Broad and State streets, but then called Queen and Second streets. From the year 1811 to 1814, Mass was said at intervals in the house of John D. Sartori, a Catholic gentleman, who lived on Federal Street. The priests who officiated were Fathers Carr and Hurley, of St. Augustine's Church, Philadelphia, and the Dominican Father, Rev. William Vincent Harold, also of Philadelphia. In 1814 Mr. Sartori, Capt. John Hargous, and some other Catholic gentlemen, with the approval of Rt. Rev. Michael Eagan, Bishop. of Philadelphia, purchased ground at the corner of Market and Lamberton streets, and erect- ed thereon a small brick church, which was dedicated by Bishop Eagan, in the same year, and called St. Francis'. It was attended, more or less regularly, by priests from Phil- adelphia until about 1830, when Father Geoghen became its first resident pastor. He remained about two years, when on account of failing health he was obliged to give up the parish. Between that time and 1844, when the Rev. John P. Mackin took charge, the parish had no less than seven different pastors.
REV. JOHN MACKIN, Pastor of St. John's Church. (1843-1873.)
Father Mackin, finding his church too small for the growing congregation, bought, in 1844, ground on Broad Street, the site of the present Sacred Heart Church, and erected quite a large brick church, which was dedi- cated to St. John the Baptist. The congregation increased so rapidly that it soon outgrew the capacity of this church, which in 1853 was considerably enlarged. Father Mackin continued to labor faithfully for the good of the parish until, his health failing, he was obliged to suspend his labors and go abroad. Dur- ing his absence Fathers O'Donnell and Young, in succession, had charge of the parish. In May, 1861, Rev. Anthony Smith, who was afterward to become so important a factor in the religious and secular life of Trenton, was appointed pastor of St. John's. In the following year he opened an orphan asylum
62
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
on Broad Street, and brought the first Sisters of Charity to Trenton.
When the Rev. Anthony Smith, in January, 1871, resigned St. John's parish to assume charge of St. Mary's, he was suc- ceeded by Father Mackin, who some years before had been pastor of St. John's, but was compelled to leave on account of ill health. Father Mackin died March, 1873, and Rev. Patrick Byrne was appointed his successor. Father Byrne saw at once the necessity of better school accommodations for the children, and in 1874 began the erection of St. John's school on Lamberton Street. This is a large brick building with sixteen rooms and a large hall on the top floor. The Sisters' house adjoins the school. After five years' zealous and successful labor, Father Byrne resigned charge of the parish and was succeeded by the present rector, Rev. Thaddeus Hogan, in the autumn of 1878. On Sunday even- ing, September 30th, 1883, St. John's Church was destroyed by fire. Father Hogan began immediately to prepare plans for a new church to be erected on the same site. The corner-stone was laid while Bishop O'Farrell was in Rome on his visit ad limina on August 3d, 1884, by Bishop Shanahan, of Harrisburg, Pa. It was nearly five years in the course of erection, and was solemnly dedicated, on June 30th, 1889, by Bishop O'Farrell. This was a notable occasion; Archbishop Ryan, of Philadelphia, celebrated pontifical mass, and Archbishop Corrigan, of New York, preached the sermon. The new church was called the Sacred Heart, and while it could not have been dedicated to an object more holy, many people regretted that the old name St. John's was not retained. The church is a massive stone structure in the Roman style of architecture, with two dome-shaped towers in front. The interior decorations and furnishings are in keeping with the building. The altars are made of white marble and onyx. Besides the church proper, there is a large basement which is used for week-day services. The stone rectory and club house were also built by Father Hogan. These grand structures are an evidence of Father Hogan's zeal and activity. The population of the parish is about three thousand, and the number of pupils in the school about four hundred and fifty.
Allusion has frequently been made to the causes which brought so many French to different parts of the United States and to so many localities in our own State. The French settlement at Madison, formerly Bottle Hill, was important not only in point of numbers, but on account of their wealth, lineage, and refinement.
63
IN NEW JERSEY
The Rev. Peter Vianney, stationed at St. Peter's, New York, 1804-09, is said to have celebrated the first Mass in the house of Lavielle Duberceau, and for some time it continued to be cele- brated there and in the old academy which stood on the corner of the Convent Road and Ridgedale Avenue.
Fathers Vianney, Malou, Powers, Kohlman, Bulger Donohue, from Paterson attended successively to the needs of this little mission.
It is related of Father Power that once on his way to Madi- - son, after having landed at Elizabeth, the carriage which was to have conveyed him to Bottle Hill broke down, and he was con- strained to accept the invitation of a passing farmer to ride into the village, seated on a load of hogs.
In 1789, Washington, then occupying the presidential chair, by a proclamation ordered Thursday, November 26th, to be ob- served for the first time by the citizens of our country as a day of thanksgiving, in these noble and memorable words: "I recom- mend and assign this day to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be, that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation, . . . for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed." He prays "God to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue."
We are straying far afield from these lofty principles, built on the only solid foundation which can afford permanency to the cause for which the Father of his Country fought and pleaded.
The visit of Bishop Carroll, before alluded to, brings to our notice two important cities in our diocese hardly distinguishable in their ancient vocable. "I am advised to go to Hoebuck's ferry, two miles above Powles' hook, to cross over in a boat always ready to the wharf of the new state prison " (Letter of Archbishop Carroll to James Barry, August 25th, 1803).
Hoebuck's ferry has developed into Hoboken, and Powles' hook has become our important seaboard mart-Jersey City.
The steady growth of Catholicity made it necessary for Bishop Carroll to apply to the Holy See for a division of his immense diocese, as it would be for the best interests of religion, and would best promote good order and discipline.
April 8th, 1808, Pius VII. divided the see of Baltimore, and
64
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
erected the sees of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Bards- town. The learned Dominican, the Rev. Richard Luke Con- canen, was chosen for New York, and consecrated with great pomp in the church of the nuns of St. Catharine, Rome, April 24th, 1808.
He was unable, because of war between the French and English, to embark until June 17th, 1810, when his preparations to start for his new diocese seemed complete. But an unexpected embarrassment with the civil authorities at Naples, on the pretext that his papers were not satisfactory, thwarted him in his purpose. A sudden attack of illness carried him off, and on the 20th of June he was buried in the church of San Domenico Maggiore, in Naples.
Through the interference of Archbishop Troy of Dublin and other Irish bishops, who busied themselves overmuch in American affairs, the Holy See was led into the blunder of appointing as successor to Bishop Concanen a worthy man, but a subject of Great Britain, then at war with the United States. Another country would have resented this as an insult.
The Rev. John Connolly was appointed bishop and consecrated November 6th, 1814. The relations between himself and the archbishop and the other prelates seem to have been of a strained nature. He arrived in the ship Sally, December 2d, 1815, un- announced and without a single one of his priests to greet him.
In the division of the diocese of Baltimore, Hunterdon, War- ren, Burlington, Gloucester, Salem, Cumberland, and Cape May counties in New Jersey were assigned to the Philadelphia diocese ; and Sussex, Morris, Essex, Bergen, Somerset, Middlesex, and Monmouth counties to the diocese of New York.
For almost half a century, then, the bishops of New York and Philadelphia must look after Catholic interests in the respective divisions of our State, and this will explain to the present gener- ation the presence in New Jersey of priests who are to be found later on laboring and honored in the great metropolis of our coun- try and the City of Brotherly Love.
Industrial schemes, meanwhile, were in an active stage of development, and the little drops of that mighty flood of emigra- tion were beginning to fall in various parts of the State. At the beginning of the nineteenth century Morris County alone was able to supply all the iron ore needed in the United States. There were in the county two furnaces, two rolling mills, two slitting mills, and thirty forges-to say nothing of the iron mines.
65
IN NEW JERSEY
The Morris Canal and Banking Company was chartered, Decem- ber 31st, 1824, to build a canal from the Delaware River, near Easton, to Newark, and in 1828 was authorized to extend it to the Hudson River.
In 1815, February 6th, the legislature granted what was per- haps the first railroad charter ever granted in the United States, by an act creating a company "to build a railroad from the river Delaware, near Trenton, to the river Raritan, at or near New Brunswick," and thus inaugurated that vast system of commer- cial highways which has so promoted the prosperity of our State. In the furthering of these enterprises and the construction of these works labor was needed. Unavailable at home, it had to be sought abroad, and in the main these men of brawn and muscle were English, Irish, and Scotch. The first emigrants, coming from a condition of peonage, cowed by oppression, warped to duplicity, if not lack of veracity, by the too human effort to shield themselves from the iron hand of the oppressor, be he the land- lord or his agents, made suspicious of everybody and everything by the swarms of spies set upon them by a harsh government, no sooner did they breathe the air of freedom than, intoxicated by it, they cast off all restraint, which often led to disorders, fraught with scandal and annoyance, and disastrous to the faith of not a few.
In the first fifty years of our history there was scarcely a par- ish which did not suffer from these evils, and the heart of many a worthy priest was broken and his spirit crushed, and the flock torn by dissension from precisely these causes, which were inevit- able then, but now have happily passed away. The culprit was not the Celt alone, but his Gallic, Germanic, and, at a later period and in a lesser degree, his Slavic, Polish, and Italian brother. With these remarks, the unpleasant memories of their past mis- deeds may sleep with the dust of the victims and promoters, of whom these lived to regret and the others hastened to forgive.
From the moors and glens of old Ireland, from its valleys and mountains they came, their hearts filled with sad memories of stately ruins of the grandeurs of that old faith for which they together with their sires had sacrificed so much, and mindful of the desolation that had swept over their fair land in the stubborn effort they had made to uphold the glory and integrity of their national honor. And, as they strained their eyes with one long, lingering look at the bold headlands of Kerry's coast, and saw the · mad waves leap in fury and dash their crested foam, helpless and 5
66
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
impotent, against the eternal hills, the tears veiled from their gaze a land they never hoped and, most of them, were never destined to see again.
And the Sassenagh, the ripened fruit of the bloody Hengist and Horsa, of the cruel Dane, of the freebooting, pitiless Norman and the unconquerable Briton, met again the old foe of their fore- bears, met them with that instinctive hatred which so often has characterized nations, clans, and families, and perpetuated feuds, enmities, and bloodshed for no other reason than a traditional pledge of mutual antagonism. Hence, the odious laws, the out- breaks, which go echoing along the cycles, bursting forth again and again into those unjust and cruel manifestations of Know- nothingism and Apaism. Even then this addition of a new ele- ment in our population did not fail to excite the alarm of many, and to them, when the question of emigration was discussed in Congress, in 1790, Representative Lawrence had this to say: "If the immigrant bring an able body, his labor will be productive of national wealth, an addition to our national strength."
These Irish lads and lasses distributed themselves over our State, as faith cultures, some settling in the larger towns, where employment might be had as laborers in factories or at service in families; others trudged through the country, finding occupation on farms; or others still along projected lines of railroad and canal. And the priests were on their trail, and did not fail, even if there were no church, to build an altar of logs and stones, and under the shadow of God's own Gothic temple-a widespreading oak or chestnut tree-to offer the holy Sacrifice while the kneel- ing throng, bowed in silence, their hearts filled with consolation, and their memories carried back beyond the seas to other shrines and other Soggarths, not less loved and reverenced than the priest before them, whose language they could hardly understand, rever- ently adored their Eucharistic God.
"I will never forget the Mass I once heard in a country chapel. I happened one day at the foot of a lofty eminence. It was crested with fir trees and oaks. Up its sides I climbed until I found my- self in presence of a man on his knees. Soon I saw others in the same posture; and the higher I went the more numerous was the throng. As I reached the summit I saw a humble building in the form of a cross, built of stones without mortar, and with a thatched roof. All around were crowds of big, brawny men, on their knees, with uncovered head, despite the pelting rain and the liquid mud under them. A stillness as of death hung over them.
67
IN NEW JERSEY
It was the Catholic chapel of Blarney, and the 'Soggarth ' was saying Mass. I reached there just at the Elevation, and one and all bowed down to the very earth.
"I managed to edge my way within its crowded walls. No pews, no decorations, not even a floor. Everywhere the damp and pebbly earth; open windows and tallow dips instead of wax tapers. The good priest made the announcement in Irish, that on such a day he would hold a station in such a place, where he would hear confessions, say Mass, and visit the sick. Soon Mass was over; the priest mounted his horse and was off; little by little the crowd broke up and trudged off, some to their cabins, others with the sickle over their arm to the harvest, and others lolled along the road, stopping at some near-by cabin to accept its humble hospitality, not as a charity, but as a right. Others with their wives mounted behind them rode off to their distant homes. Full many, however, remained praying a long time before the Eucharistic God, prostrate on the ground, in that silent spot so dear to a poverty-stricken people, but so faithful in the hour of persecution. The stranger who sees such sights, and on his knees side by side with these poverty-pinched creatures, rises up with a heart overflowing with pride and happiness at the thought that he too belongs to that Church which knows not death, and which at the very time that unbelief is digging its grave, feels the throbbing of a new life in the desert places of Ireland and America, but free and poor as it was at its cradle " (Montalembert, Avenir, January, 1831).
Our theme brings us now to the first Catholic settlement in the episcopal city of the diocese.
St. John's Church, Newark, N. J.
THIS beautiful edifice, located on Mulberry Street, is a land- mark, standing in an atmosphere of interesting memories. Its architect was the Very Rev. Patrick Moran, who was also the architect of St. Patrick's Cathedral and St. Peter's, of Belleville. It consists of the original church with a façade designed by Father Moran, and the whole structure is built of Newark brown- stone from the old quarry on Eighth Avenue. A rude hickory cross about six feet high, unstripped of its bark, surmounted the gable of the original structure, and was the first emblem of salva- tion reared in this State, spreading its arms to all.
The Rev. Paul McQuade, ordained in Canada, September 23d,
68
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
1805, labored in Albany, N. Y., 1813 to 1817, according to tradi- tion, offered the holy Sacrifice for the first time in the city of Newark in an old stone house, which stood for many years on the corner of High and Orange streets, or, ac- cording to another tradition, in the Turf house, corner of Durand and Mulberry streets. In 1829 the Rev. Gregory Bryan Pardow was named first pastor of the Catholics of Newark. ST. JOHN'S FIRST CATHOLIC CHURCH IN NEWARK. (1828.) Built by Rev. Gregory Bryan Pardow. Father Pardow, born in Warwickshire, England, on November 9th, 1804, of George Pardow and Elizabeth Seaton, was educated in Stony- hurst, entered the Society of Jesus, but left and went to Rome. His father came to this country later, and was manager of the Truthteller, the first Catholic newspaper in this country. Father Pardow was ordained by Bishop Dubois, and after his appointment to Newark or- ganized the congregation then and now known as St. John's. It was designated St. John's Roman Catholic Soci- ety of Newark, N. J.
"In 1829, the Rev. Greg- ory Bryan Pardow, of New York, organized, under the patronage of St. John, the association of Catholics who founded St. John's church. The first trustees were Pat- rick Murphy, John Sherlock, John Kelly, Christopher Rourke, Morris Fitzgerald, REV. GREGORY BRYAN PARDOW. Born Nov. 9th, 1804. Died April 24th, 1838. John Gillespie, and Patrick Mape. Previous to the build- ing of St. John's church, the Catholics of Newark had met for divine service at a house on Mulberry Street, occupied by
69
IN NEW JERSEY
Charles Durning. The trustees set about erecting a suitable place of worship. Ground was purchased on Mulberry Street and the erection of the church was begun in 1827. When the foundation was laid, the trustees found that their funds were ex- hausted, and they decided to have a committee wait on the Rev. Dr. Power, of St. Peter's Church, New York, to ask him to assist them in their work, by delivering a lecture in Newark for the benefit of the struggling parish. He cheerfully consented, and advised the committee to have the lecture early and well adver- tised. As there was no public hall in the town at the time, the committee were at a loss how to proceed. This quandary was answered by the vestrymen of Old Trinity Church in the park. At the suggestion of Rev. Dr. Power, the committee called upon them to ask the use of the church for the lecture. After due consideration the vestrymen unanimously granted the request. On the appointed evening the lecture was given to a large audi- ence which filled the church and was about three-fourths non- Catholic, as at that time the Catholic population was very small. The proceeds netted over three hundred dollars, quite a sum of money to realize from such an occasion in those days. The liberal and generous action of Trinity has been and always will be remem- bered by the Catholic citizens of Newark. But through the base- ness of one individual the money was lost to the struggling parish. The treasurer of the committee proved himself a veritable Judas, by making off with the entire receipts, and he was never heard of again. Let him be nameless! Under the untiring zeal and energy of Rev. Father Pardow the building was finished and dedicated to divine service in 1828. In the dedication ceremonies the Very Rev. John Power, who represented Rt. Rev. Bishop Dubois on the occasion, officiated.
"The old pioneers, now all passed to their reward, used to say that the front and rear ends of the first St. John's were of rough boards, and not infrequently the rain and snow were blown through the crevices on the worshippers seated on planks, raised on big, rough stones. The cross was of Jersey hickory, with the bark on it, six by four feet, and no doubt was the first raised on a sacred edifice in the State. Those not of our faith looked askance at it, for it was then regarded as superstitious to venerate the cross, as it had not yet become fashionable, as it is now, to place the emblem of salvation on the churches of Presbyterians, Meth- odists, Baptists, and Episcopalians.
"The late Rev. Michael J. Holland, St. Columba's, Newark,
-
70
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
gave a pen-picture of places and persons in that city and it is con- sidered worth reproducing.
"Just about the time of the erection of St. John's Church, Newark as a city had begun to awake to quickening impulses. The Morris Canal was being completed, and work had already commenced on the railroad, which, the only one in the State, was about to connect the city with New York. Statistics give the population at that time as ten thousand white Americans, six hundred Irish, three hundred Germans, and three hundred and fifty negroes. The central portion of the town, still unincor- porated, was lighted with oil lamps sparsely scattered, and pos- sessed few buildings of any importance. There were but four wards, the north, south, the east, and the west, and but two docks upon the river above Bridge Street. Where now stands Clark's manufactory, in the writer's own recollection, was an old frame iron foundry, and above nothing but the marshy river banks. State Street on the north, High Street on the west, the line of the Passaic, and thence down River Street and Mulberry to Fair Street-the extreme southern boundary-might be called the city proper, though a number of outlying habitations existed beyond. A wide and swift-running brook, reaching into the interior, ran through a deep valley down a line parallel with Eighth Avenue, which formed four large and picturesque sheets of water above Broad, High, Sheffield streets, and the woodland district above, each of which supplied as many mill-wheels with power. This stream formed the water-shed of a wide extended territory, and after storms frequently rose very high. But two bridges, at Broad and High streets, spanned its current, and these were frequently overflowed. On this account many at times could not attend Mass from the North Ward and Belleville.
"As early as 1824 the holy Sacrifice was weekly offered in Newark, where thirty or forty attendants were considered a good congregation. It was for some time continued at the home of Mr. Durning in Mulberry Street, but was first celebrated at the residence of Mr. Sherlock, below Mulberry Street. Persons from Orange, Elizabeth, Belleville, Arlington, Springfield, and Rahway came here for divine service.
"The original church was constructed in a very primitive manner, having unplastered walls and boards arranged upon stone supports for seats. Men from the quarries dug its foundations, contributed the material, and performed most of the work. A graveyard large enough for the wants of the time existed in the
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.