A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 124

Author: Ross, Peter. cn
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1188

USA > New York > A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 124

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*Register of Clergy Laboring in New York, by Most Rev. M. A. Corrigan, D. D.

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began several other good works. He was suc- ceeded by Rev. Nicholas O'Donnell, O. S. A., who, with his cousin, the Rev. James O'Don- nell, also a Herinit of St. Augustine, came from Philadelphia and labored not only at St. Paul's, but at many other places on Long Island.

Father Nicholas O'Donnell was evidently a man of learning and literary tastes. It was under his editorial management that the first issue of the Catholic Herald, the first Catholic paper published in Philadelphia, appeared on January 3, 1833. In 1844 he appeared in con- nection with his cousin and the Very Rev. John Hughes (afterwards Archbishop of New York) in a suit against the County of Phila- delphia, to recover damages for the wanton destruction of St. Augustine's Church, in that city, during the Native American riots of that year. In 1846 he was recalled to Rome, much to the regret of his parishioners of St. Paul's.

Father O'Donnell was succeeded by Rev. Joseph A. Schneller, whose long pastorate is still remembered by the older Brooklynites. He was ordained by Bishop Dubois in 1827, and was connected with the Society of Jesus in the early part of his career. He was a man of literary tastes and was for a time on the staff of the New York Weekly Register and Catholic Diary. Before taking charge of St. Paul's he had been pastor of Christ's Church, New York, and of St. Mary's Church, Albany. While in the latter place he engaged in con- troversy with the Rev. Dr. J. W. Campbell, of the First Presbyterian Church, in that city, and replied to his pamphlet, entitled "Papal Rome." He also published a reply to Rev. Dr. Sprague's pamphlet entitled, "Protestant Christianity Contrasted with Romanism." Father Schneller died Sept. 18, 1862, and was succeeded by Rev. Robert Maguire.

St. Mary's .- In the meantime Father James O'Donnell had been extending the field of his labors to Williamsburg. In 1841 he built St. Mary's Church. Three years before ( 1838) Father Dougherty went over from St. Mary's Church (Grand Street, New York), and said

Mass in a stable on Grand Street. This was not, as some suppose, the first Mass said in' Williamsburg, because records show that Father John Walsh, of St. James', and his assistant, Father Bradley, visited Flushing, Staten Island and Williamsburg in 1837, and it is probable that they went there as early as 1836. In 1839 Flushing was visited once a month by Rev. Michael Curran, who also at- tended Harlem and Throgg's Neck. Father O'Donnell remained at St. Mary's Church until 1844, and while here visited the Catlı- olics at various points on Long Island. We find traces of him at Sag Harbor, Jamaica, Flatbush and elsewhere.

Father James O'Donnell was a remarkable man. It was just after the disastrous decline in all real estate-and the village of Williams- burg was by no means prosperous-that in February, 1840, he succeeded in securing an eligible site and at once set to work to obtain contributions towards the erection of a church. He succeeded so well that a small building was erected during the year and it was dedicated to our Blessed Lady under the title of St. Mary's.

One of the first steps of Father O'Donnell after organizing his congregation was to es- tablish a Catholic Temperance Society, and in the ensuing year we find the members honor- ing the patron saint of Ireland by hearing Mass in that little church. In 1844 Father O'Donnell was recalled by his superiors to St. Augustine's Church, Philadelphia, just in time to see the church and its most valuable library destroyed by an infuriated mob. After a short stay at Villanova, the Mother House of the Augustinians in the United States, he visited Ireland, and on his return to the United States went to the Diocese of Boston, the Bishop of that See assigning him to the newly incorpor- ated city of Lawrence. Here he erected a fine, large church, dedicated to Our Lady, and la- bored earnestly until summoned from the world by an almost sudden death, on April 7, 1861. His name is still held in benediction in

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Lawrence and should never be forgotten in the Diocese of Brooklyn.

Father O'Donnell was succeeded in Will- iamsburg by the Rev. Sylvester Malone, who, in view of the increase in his flock, which soon numbered three thousand souls, resolved to undertake the erection of a more commodious edifice. He soon found an eligible site on Sec- ond street, between South Second and Third streets, and plans for a fine church in the point- ed style of Gothic architecture were prepared by the eminent architect, Mr. P. J. Keily.

On May 30, 1847, at four o'clock in the afternoon, a procession, led by the symbol of salvation, and closing with a bishop in full pon- tificals, entered the ground and proceeded to the cross erected where the altar of the future church was to stand. The solemn ceremonies by which the Catholic Church blesses the stone of her sacred edifices, was performed by the illustrious Rt. Rev. John Hughes, D. D., Bishop of New York. A beautiful church, the finest in Williamsburg, and in those days sur- passed by few in the country, with a frontage of sixty feet, facing the East River, and a depth of one hundred feet, soon rose with its spire towering one hundred and fifty feet. On May 7, 1848, the church was solemnly dedi- cated to the service of God, under the invoca- tion of Sts. Peter and Paul.

But we must not anticipate. The year 1841 was a church-founding year for the Catholics of Williamsburg. It was in this year that the Rev. John Raffeiner, the "apostle of the Ger- mans" in this section of the country, gathered his scattered countrymen around him, and out of his own purse bought ground and erected a church which his picus soul led him to dedi- cate to the Most Holy Trinity.

The Assumption .- Old St. James' Church had been growing all these years, and another division of the parish was made, in 1842. This time the new church was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, under the title of the Assump- tion. This church had been commenced some years before by Father Farnan, while under

ecclesiastical censure. It was his intention to establish an independent Catholic Church, but, as his congregation did not respond to his needs, the church remained in an unfinished condition for some ycars. In 1841 it was bought by Bishop Hughes, who placed it under the pastoral charge of Rev. David W. Bacon. He completed the building and had it dedicat- ed under the above invocation, on June 10, 1842. Father Bacon was a hard worker and hesitated at nothing. He would dress the altar himself, and he was known to have cut out the cassocks made for and worn by the altar boys. His congregation grew rapidly and demonstrated the necessity for further church extension. He was largely instru- mental in the erection of the church of St. Mary's Star of the Sea, but before its comple- tion he was called to a higher dignity and a broader field. He was consecrated Bishop of Portland, Maine, in 1855. His successor was the Rev. Wm. Keegan, who had been his as- sistant for some time.

Father Keegan was born in the County Kings, Ireland, in 1824, and came to this coun- try in 1842. He graduated from St. John's College, Fordham, in 1849, and, continuing his ecclesiastical studies, acted as professor until October 16, 1853, when he was ordained by the Most Rev. Cajetan Bedini, Archbishop of Thebes, and Papal Nuncio to the United States. He was immediately appointed assist- ant at the Church of the Assumption, and cn the promotion of Father Bacon to the See of Portland he became its pastor. It was not long before he enlarged and beautified the church. Some time later he erected what was then one of the finest parochial school-houses in the country. In 1880 he was made Vicar General of the Diocese, and held that honored position up to the time of his death, May 10, 1890.

While rector of the Assumption, the Rev. David W. Bacon interested himself in the erec- tion of a new church on Court street, between Luqueer and Nelson streets. But higher hon-

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ors awaited him and before he had time to get the building fully under way he was called, 1855, to preside over the newly erected See of Portland, Maine. He was succeeded by Rev. Edward Maginnis, whose pastorate was very short. In 1856 Rev. Eugene Cassidy became pastor, and continued in that capacity for twen- ty years. In 1872 he put a steeple on the church and in 1873 a clock was added. In 1867 Father Cassidy, finding the "little chapel," which had been used as a school, too small to accommodate his pupils, built a school house 60x100 feet, and three stories high. It now contains some five hundred and sixty boys, taught by the Franciscan Brothers, and six hundred and seventy girls, taught by the Sis- ters of St. Joseph. In 1876 Father Cassidy was succeeded by Rev. Henry O'Loughlin, who remained pastor for ten years .. On March 9, 1888, the Rev. Joseph J. O'Connell, D. D., became pastor. In 1893 he built a large hall for literary and social purposes and has kept the parish up with the times. During his connection with the Star of the Sea, Dr. O'Connell has been honored both by his Bishop and by the Sovereign Pontiff. Pope Leo XIII raised him to the dignity of a Monsignor. He is one of Bishop McDonnell's Diocesan Consultors and holds the position of Defensor Matrimonii, is one of the Urban Deans and is a member of the Catholic School Board for Kings county.

Old St. Mary's .- We have seen that old St. Mary's Church (North Eighth and First streets), Williamsburg, was commenced in 1841 by Father James O'Donnell. It was an unpretentious wooden structure, but it was a start, and the Catholics of that day, for a long distance around, were wont to bury their dead in its immediate vicinity. The little church has long since disappeared, but the old tombstones stood for fifty years, and told the Catholics of a later generation who had been the founders of their parish. In 1890 they, too, disappeared, the dead were removed to Holy Cross ceme- tery and the ground has been devoted to busi- ness purposes.

The history of the old church, though brief, is not devoid of interest, because of the mighty tree that grew from this little mustard seed. It was dedicated in 1843 by Bishop Du- bois and the sermon was preached by Father O'Donnell. On the same day a temperance society was established, the first in Brooklyn, by the Very Rev. Dr. Felix Varela, V. G., of New York. In 1844, just after his ordination, Rev. Sylvester Malone became the pastor. He found a debt of $2,300-no small amount in those days-staring him in the face. His peo- ple, too, were scattered over a large extent of territory, for his parish extended to Hal- lett's Cove on the north, Myrtle avenue on the south, Middle Village on the east, and the East River on the west. Before the end of three years, by energy and trust in God, he secured . not only the payment of this debt but the pur- chase of a site for a new church in a morc eligible locality, "convenient for the Catholics of the Fourteenth as well as those of the Thir- teenth ward, which were the only settled sec- tions of Williamsburg" at that time. We have already referred to the corner-stone laying and dedication of this church on Sunday, May 8, 1848.

The years that followed were years of thought and suffering for the good pastor, and of anxiety to his people. In 1849 Father Malone fell a victim to that dreadful scourge, the small-pox, contracted while attending to his duties among the sick of his parish. Scarce- ly had he recovered when the cholera broke out among his people. It is needless to say that the good priest was at his post and that he again shared the maladies of his people as well as their troubles. Misfortunes never come alone, and hardly had he recovered from his second attack when the scourge of ship-fever fastened its grip upon him. St. Peter and St. Paul must have prayed and prayed hard that he might be spared to his people, for Father Malone was permitted to live on to bless a flock by whom he was revered. He held as warm a place in the hearts of non-Catholics as in the hearts of his own people. In 1854 he

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went to Rome to be present at the definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. During his absence the anti-Catholic prejudice that had manifested itself in the burning of churches in Philadelphia and elsewhere, and in the destruction of the Orphan Asylum in Boston, reached Williamsburg and threatened Father Malone's church. As the Know-Noth- ing rioters advanced they were met at the church door by Mayor Wall (a non-Catholic), who declared that he would protect the church of his absent friend if it cost him his life. The church was saved and stands to-day as a noble monument of charity and good will among men.

Father Malone was noted for his devotion to the American flag, and he was honored be- fore his death by being made a member of the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York. He died, universally re- gretted; on Dec. 29, 1900.

St. Patrick's (Gowanus) .- As far back as 1846, the Catholics of Gowanus and vicinity were attended by the clergy of other parishes as the opportunity offered. Father Peter Mc- Laughlin gathered them together in a small wooden structure and organized a parish. The old church was replaced by a more suitable edifice in 1850. St. Patrick's Church at Fort Hamilton was built in 1849.

It was a long distance from old St. James' and the Church of the Assumption to Father Malone's church, in Williamsburg, and yet they were "adjoining parishes." The number of Catholics was growing in this long stretch of territory and they began to feel that there ought to be a church somewhere in the Wall- about region. The Catholic laymen of old St. James' had gathered together, subject to the Bishop, of course, and built a church and then waited until the Bishop could give them a . priest. Why could not this be done again ? There was a public house on the old Newtown road (now Flushing avenue), kept by a Mr. Markey, an Irish Catholic. Here, some time in the early forties, a number of Catholics were

wont to meet and talk over their need of a church. They were earnest men and meant to do all in their power to meet that need. They agreed that each man should contribute a cer- tain amount, and finding that they had every prospect of success they began to look about for a suitable lot. Their patron saint befriend- ed them. A small frame Methodist meeting- house on Kent avenue, near Willoughby ave- nue, was purchased, with two lots of ground, from the trustees, for something like $3,000. These happy sons of Ireland immediately set to work to make such alterations as would transform their new property into a Catholic church. This done, they petitioned Bishop Hughes to send them a pastor, but he had none to send them; yet, with the example of old St. James', the Mother of Churches in Brooklyn, set them twenty years before, they had learned to labor and to wait, until finally, in 1843, the Rev. Hugh Maguire, who had been laboring among the French Canadians of St. Lawrence county, was given them as pas- tor. Before six months had passed away he found it necessary to enlarge the old church. Later on a basement was added, in which he opened a school for the children of his grow- ing congregation.

Ten years had passed away since the first meeting at Markey's "house of call," and the little mustard seed had been growing steadily Brooklyn no longer had to depend on New York for its priests. It had now a Bishop of its own, and his far-seeing eye was not long in telling him that a new and much larger church must be built at once. The corner-stone of the present beautiful edifice was laid on Nov. 5, 1854, and the new St. Patrick's Church was dedicated in 1856. The old church was turned into a school-house and was used as such for many years. Among its teachers may be men- tioned Manly Tallo, Esq., for many years afterward editor of the Cleveland Catholic Universe, and Mr. John Gallagher, now (1901) principal of the Brooklyn Training School for Teachers. The old building in

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time gave way to the splendid academy for boys, which was placed under care of the Franciscan Brothers. The girls were provided for in the large asylum back of the school and conducted by the Sisters of Mercy. After a pastorate of nineteen years Father Maguire was succeeded by Rev. P. C. Fagan (1862- 1865), Rev. E. G. Fitzpatrick (1865-1872), and the present pastor (1901), the Rev. Thom- as Taaffe.

"Father Thomas," as many of his people love to call him, was born at Dromard, County Longford, Ireland, in 1837. He made his ecclesiastical studies at the well known mis- sionary college of All Hallows, where he was ordained in 1863. He came to this country immediately after his ordination and labored successfully at the church of St. Mary, Star of the Sea, and at Our Lady of Mercy, Brook- lyn. It was while at the latter place that he gave evidence of that executive ability which pointed him out to Bishop Loughlin as the man who alone was able to lift St. Patrick's Church out of the financial difficulties in which it was involved.

Hardly had Father Taaffe put the church of Our Lady of Mercy on its feet and was justly entitled to a season of rest, when he was sent to face a debt of over $70,000 at St. Pat- rick's. He had taken the vow of obedience to the will of his superiors, he had preached obedience to his people, and without a murmur he removed to his new field of labor. But be- fore he could begin to cut down that debt he was obliged to put $20,000 more on it! The parochial house was unfit for habitation; his congregation was growing and would require more priests to meet their wants. A suitable house must be provided, and that immedi- ately. The work was undertaken, the house was built and two additional lots were pur- chased for school purposes ; and what is better still, in a few years the church was out of debt. Arrangements were made for its solemn con- secration as the crowning work of good Father Taaffe's labors and sacrifices. But before he

could accomplish that which was nearest to his heart, the Bishop ordered the purchase of addi- tional lots and the erection of a school-housc. Overwhelmed with disappointment, Father Taaffe set to work to do the work assigned to him. The school-house he erected is a credit to our city, and his parochial school is one of the best conducted in Brooklyn. He has, with- in a year, erected a splendidly equipped school for boys. The church has been renovated sev- eral times, and now the good pastor is strug- gling to get his church property out of debt once more.

New Church of the Holy Trinity .- We have spoken of the Church of the Holy Trin- ity, which Father Raffeiner had built on lots purchased with his own money, in 1841. The German Catholics of Williamsburg had been growing to such an extent that their old church had become too small to accommodate them, and on June 29, 1853, the Most Rev. Arch- bishop Hughes laid the corner-tone of a larger church, the Most Holy Trinity. Father Raffeiner labored here until 1861, when he went to his reward.

Few priests have done more for their peo- ple than good Father Raffeiner. He was born at Mals in the Tyrol, on December 26, 1785, and received in baptism the name of John Stephen. From his tenderest childhood he displayed these qualities of piety, firmness and perseverance which distinguished him in after life. His early manhood was not devoid of struggles. The agitated condition of his coun- try, and the imprisonment of Pope Pius VII made him almost despair of reaching ordina- tion. For a time he devoted himself to the practice of medicine with no little success, but his yearning for a life in which he might spend himself for the benefit of his fellow men grew stronger with his knowledge of the in- ner life of men. He resolved to resume his theological studies at his old home in Tyrol. On May 1, 1825, at the age of forty, he had the happiness of realizing his life-long desires by receiving the commission that enabled him

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to minister to souls as well as bodies. He re- to "summarize the record of Father Raffein- mained at Tyrol for seven years, acting as pas- tor of a church and chaplain to a hospital near by. About this time the church in America was calling for zealous missionaries to labor among her German population. The Rt. Rev. Dr. Fenwick, of Cincinnati, appealed to the Emperor of Austria, through his Vicar Gen- eral, Father Rese (who subsequently became Bishop of Detroit), and the Leopoldine Asso- ciation was formed. Its object was to assist foreign missions, and Father Raffeiner's mis- sionary spirit was aroused by its work. He resolved to set out for America and devote his life to the propagation of the faith among the Germans who had settled first in Pennsyl- vania and later on sprcad into Ohio, then a comparatively new country, where church and priest were rarely seen. He arrived in New York on Jan. 1, 1833, with the intention of going to Cincinnati, where his friend, the Rev. Father Henni, afterwards Archbishop of Mil- waukee, was laboring with great success. Bish- op Dubois received Father Raffeiner very warmly and pleaded with him on behalf of the Germans in and around New York, and final- ly prevailed upon him to remain in his diocese. From that time until the day of his death he devoted himself to the service of God and of his people. His countrymen were poor, but he managed to forni a congregation of devoted men and women. He leased an old Baptist church at the corner of Pitt and Delancey streets and transformed it into a Catholic church. Next he purchased lots for a building of his own and soon laid the cornerstone of St. Nicholas' Church ( Second Street ). This was the first German Catholic Church in New York; it was dedicated on Easter Sunday, 1836.

But New York was not the only field to which Father Raffeiner devoted his labors. Bishop Fenwick, of Boston, invited him to his diocese and in a little while he was building churches there too. We cannot follow him through all his works: it will be enough here

er's church buildings: 1850, St. Francis' Church, Bedford; 1853, St. Benedict's, New Brooklyn: 1853, St. Boniface's, Brooklyn; 1855. St. Mary's, Winfield ; 1856, St. Fidelis', College Point : 1857. St. Boniface's, Foster Meadow ; 1860, St. Michael's, East New York ; and St. Margaret's, Middle Village. In addi- tion to this, he founded the Orphan Asylum Society and introduced into the Diocese, from Ratisbon, the Dominican Sisters, committing to them the care of the school and of the or- phans. # Father Raffeiner also extended the fruits of his labor to Buffalo, Syracuse and Patterson, so that at the time of his death he could point to thirty churches in the state of New York that owed their origin and pros- perity in one way or another to his zeal and de- votion. No wonder that Bishops Dubois and Hughes honored him with the appointment of Vicar General for the Germans, and Bishop Loughlin continued him in the same capacity for the new Diocese of Brooklyn. He died on July 16, 1861, in the arms of his devoted as- sistant. Rev. Michael May, who succeeded him as Pastor of the Church of the Holy Trinity Rev. Michael May was born at Waldkirch, Bavaria, June 2, 1826, and after taking a thor- ough ecclesiastical course was ordained on July 19, 1851. After eight years of service in his native land, he determined to come to this country and arrived in New York on March 2, 1859. Bishop Loughlin accepted his ser- vices and at once assigned him to do duty at the church of the Most Holy Trinity as assist- ant to Father Raffeiner, who was not long in discovering that Father May was ein Priester nach dem Hertsen Gottes, and that in him he would have a successor who would carry on the work of the parish as he had planned it The care of the young, the orphan and the sick, commended itself to Father May, and his wisdom and prudence may be seen in the magnificent church he has reared to the ser-

*John H. Haaren, in the Catholic Annual for 1895.

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vice of God, a church costing some $300,000; in the flourishing schools, with their 800 chil- dren ; in the Orphan Asylum, with its four or five hundred inmates; in the hospital which has opened its doors to thousands of unfort- unate men and women who have received the best ward and dispensary treatment that the latest discoveries in medical science can afford. Bishop Loughlin fully appreciated Father May's work by making him Vicar General, and shortly before his death Father May was honored by Pope Leo XIII with the dignity of a Monsignor. Father May died, universally regretted, on the IIth of February, 1895.

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A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 124

Author: Ross, Peter. cn Publication date: 1902 Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1188

Author: Ross, Peter. cn
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1188