USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Pittsburgh > A history of the Catholic church in the dioceses of Pittsburg and Allegheny from its establishment to the present time > Part 11
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DESCRIPTION OF ST. PETER' S.
door and window jambs, tracery, label mouldings, corbels and string-courses, turrets and pinnacles, are of cut stone, and the plane surface of the walls is chiselled. The tower, on reaching the height of the roof, is finished in a pyramidal spire, and measures 200 feet from the basement floor to the top of the cross. The basement is one single room, having a recess for the altar, with the sacristies on each side, and is thirteen feet high in the clear. There are three rows of cast-iron pil- lars to support the columns and floor of the main story. Here the week-day Masses are commonly celebrated.
The church proper consists of the nave and two aisles, with groined ceilings supported by beautiful clustered col- umns of cast iron. The aisles are 30 feet to the ceiling and the nave 55, but without a clerestory. A spacious gallery over the front supports an organ and affords accommodation to a large number of persons besides. There are three ele- gant marble altars, the high altar being of rare workman- ship. The sanctuary is spacious, and is admirably adapted to the imposing ceremonies of the Church. To the rear of the side altars are the sacristies, which communicate with each other by a passage behind the high altar. The pulpit, which is built against one of the columns, together with the confes- sionals, the altar-rail, and the pews, is of exquisite workman- ship. The ceilings are finished with heavy stucco mouldings, with rich corbels, which with the plane surface is of an im- maculate white and will remain so as long the smoke of the cities permits. The windows are filled with stained glass of home manufacture, which for richness and beauty is not sur- passed by any in the county. The entire cost of this splendid edifice was about $125,000.
The old church has entirely disappeared, and the spot where it stood can with difficulty be recognized by those who for years frequented it.
Soon after the completion of the church the attention of the congregation was turned to the erection of a pastoral resi- dence ; for, strange as it may appear, it was as yet without one, and the priest was obliged to live in a rented dwelling. It was immediately determined upon, and as a result there is the elegant residence, brick with cut-stone front, that stands to
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ALLEGHENY CITY AN EPISCOPAL SEE.
the rear of the church, on Sherman Avenue. It was finished in the spring of 1876.
Upon the formation of the Diocese of Allegheny, St. Peter's became the pro-Cathedral, and Bishop Domenec took up his abode with the pastor. When he made his last trip across the Atlantic, in the spring of 1877, he left Fr. Phelan Administrator of the diocese, an office which he continued to fill until the two dioceses were united under one administra- tion, August 3d of the same year.
St. Peter's is one of the largest and by far the wealthiest and most flourishing English-speaking congregation in Western Pennsylvania ; and in point of substantial, neat, and commodi- ous buildings is not equalled, much less surpassed, by any other. But it is not destined to increase in numbers, being surrounded as it is on all sides by other congregations.
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CHAPTER IX.
CONGREGATIONS FORMED FROM ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL --- (CONCLUDED).
St. Andrew's Church, Allegheny-Death and sketch of Rev. Denis O'Brien-St. Bridget's Church, Pittsburg-St. Joseph's (colored) Church-St. James' Church-St. John's Church-St. Stephen's Church-Death and sketch of Rev. P. M. Ward-St. Agnes' Church-Death and sketch of Rev. P. Kerr-St. Mary of Mercy's Church-Death and sketch of Rev. J. A. O'Rourke-and of Rev. M. F. Devlin-St. Malachy's Church-St. Mary of the Mount.
ST. ANDREW'S CHURCH, ALLEGHENY CITY.
THE borough of Manchester was laid out by John Sampson and others in 1832, and incorporated into Allegheny March 12th, 1867. It now forms .the south-western portion of that city.
In treating of St. Peter's it was stated that Fr. Mullen built a church in Manchester for the accommodation of the Catholics who had there taken up their residence. The lots upon which the church stands are situated at the corner of Beaver Avenue and Brady Street. This church, a plain and neat brick building, seventy feet in length by thirty in width, but without steeple or belfry, was erected in the summer of 1863, and was dedicated, under the invocation of St. Andrew the Apostle, by Fr. Mullen December 20th of the same year. At that time this portion of the city for a considerable dis- tance round was a common. Small as the church was, the congregation was yet insufficient to fill it; and the most sanguine could hardly have imagined that in less than eight years it would be in the heart of a closely built portion of the city, and that people would be demanding a church capable of accommodating four times as many. But no suburb of Pittsburg or Allegheny was built up more rapidly than this.
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ST. ANDREW'S CHURCH, ALLEGHENY CITY.
The church was attended from St. Peter's until the Ist of February, 1866, when it became independent, and Rev. M. J. Mitchell was appointed first resident pastor. One of his first undertakings was the erection of a neat and commodious brick residence by the side of the church. He was succeeded April Ist, 1868, by the late Rev. P. M.C. Morgan. During these years the common was laid out in building-lots and built up, and manufactories sprung into life on all sides. The cloud from the consumption of coal gradually grew darker over- head, and the " Smoky City" gratefully recognized the flour- ishing borough as one of her suburbs. The Pittsburg Loco- motive Works was built on Beaver Avenue, directly opposite the church.
After ministering to the congregation until February 3d, 1870, Fr. Morgan withdrew on account of declining health, and was succeeded by the present pastor, Rev. Mathew Carroll.
The growth of the congregation was more rapid than that of the town, and St. Andrew's became daily less capable of accommodating the number that thronged to hear Mass. The erection of a larger church could no longer be deferred ; and Fr. Carroll undertook it in the summer after his appointment. The corner-stone was laid, in the presence of an immense mul- titude, by the Bishop September 11th, 1870, the day of his return from the Vatican Council. At the end of two years it was dedicated by the same prelate, October 28th. The church is 135 feet in length by 65 in width, is of brick, and constructed after a style of architecture in which the Gothic elements predominate. The tower in the centre in front is finished at present to the comb of the roof, its completion being reserved to a future time. The heavy trusses that support the steep roof rest upon massive buttresses, a circumstance which en- abled the architect to dispense with pillars in the interior to sustain the ceiling, that rises from the sides toward the centre, ribbed in a semi-Gothic style now much in vogue. There are three altars, of which the main one has a spacious sanctuary. A gallery over the entrance supports the organ. The pulpit is built against the wall, and the pews in front of it are re- versible. Through the prudence and energy of Fr. Carroll
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DEATH OF REV. DENIS O'BRIEN.
the church was almost entirely free from debt at the time of its completion.
St. Andrew's is without a basement, and until recently no school-house was erected. Nor need we be surprised at this if it be remembered that the congregation built two churches and a pastoral residence in the brief space of nine years.
At the date of the completion of the new church the con- gregation was so large as to require an assistant to aid the pastor in the discharge of his duties. Rev. Denis O'Brien, then ordained, was appointed in the summer of 1873, and continued to fill that position until declining health forced him to retire early in the autumn of the following year. He withdrew to St. Joseph's Hospital, Philadelphia, where he re- mained for a short time, and afterwards came to the residence of Rev. Thos. Ryan, an uncle of his, at Gallitzin, on the summit of the Allegheny Mountains, where he breathed his last, of consumption, November 5th, 1874.
REV. DENIS O'BRIEN was born in the parish of Burgess, county Tipperary, Ireland, in the year 1849. After pursu- ing his studies for some time in his native land, he came to America in the spring of 1869 and entered St. Michael's Sem- inary at the commencement of the September session. Hav- ing finished his course of theology, he was ordained June 7th, 1873, and soon after appointed to St. Andrew's. Although he was not permitted to attain a ripe age, his career was yet sufficient to endear him to all with whom he came in contact and impress them with a high idea of his zeal and virtue. His body reposes in the cemetery of St. Patrick's Church, Gallitzin, on the summit of the montains, over the tunnel of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Soon after his interment a taste- ful monument was erected by Fr. Ryan to mark the spot.
The duty of ministering to the Catholic inmates of the House of Refuge, which, until its removal in the year 1876 to Morganza, stood a short distance from the church, devolved upon the pastor of St. Andrew's. After the passage of the last act elsewhere referred to Mass was offered up every Saturday, and instruction given and confessions heard on Friday evening. About one third of the children are Catho- lics.
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ST. BRIDGET'S CHURCH, PITTSBURG.
A neat and substantial brick school-house, 60 by 40 feet and three stories high, was built in the summer of 1876, con- sisting of four rooms, and a spacious hall on the third floor. But owing to the difficulty of obtaining religious to teach, the school was not opened until September, 1877, when the Sisters of Mercy, from the House of Industry, took charge of it.
This congregation more than any other in the cities suffered from the financial crisis of 1873. Perhaps one third of the people sought employment elsewhere, and many of those that remained were reduced to the verge of starvation. But it is gradually recovering from the shock, and must continue to do so and to increase in numbers in the future.
ST. BRIDGET'S CHURCH, PITTSBURG.
St. Bridget's Church stands on the hill about a mile from the Point and equidistant between the two rivers. Origi- nally it was formed from St. Patrick's and the Cathedral, but the greatest part has grown up since the congregation was organized. Early in the spring of 1853 Rev. J. Tuigg, then one of the assistant priests at the Cathedral, now its Bishop, was deputed by Dr. O'Connor to organize the congregation and erect the church. A site was purchased on what is at present Wylie Avenue, above Arthur Street, and the church was undertaken. Father Tuigg lodged at the episcopal resi- dence. The building was planned to be two stories, the lower of which should serve as a church, the upper as a school. By the time the first story was finished Father Tuigg was trans- ferred to Altoona, and was succeeded in July, 1853, by Rev. James Treacy, then assistant at St. Patrick's. He also came to lodge at the Cathedral, and together with the care of the congregation took charge of the Mercy Hospital. The church was finished the same year, and was dedicated by Rev. Thomas Malone in December. The building, which is of brick, small, and simple in style, is yet standing. When it was completed the pastor portioned off " a suite of apartments" for himself on the second floor, and furnished them in a style not unlike that in which the Sunamitess furnished the cell she had built for the prophet Eliseus. Here he lodged for
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BURNING OF ST. BRIDGET'S CHURCH.
many years, laboring and studying by day and resting by night, and taking his meals at such places as were found to be most advantageous.
A school was opened in the remaining portion of the second story, which was conducted by a lay teacher until it passed into the hands of the Sisters of Mercy.
The hill portion of the city, offering no inducement to manufacturers, was built up but slowly ; and the congregation was in its infancy for about eleven years. At the end of that time residences began to spring up rapidly, and soon St. Bridget's was a flourishing parish. A new and larger church now became necessary, and measures were taken to supply the want in the spring of 1865. The corner-stone was laid by the Bishop with the imposing ceremony customary in those days, July 30th. According to the plan the building should occupy a part of the original lot, front on Enoch Street, and be 110 feet in length by 53 in width, with basement of cut stone and superstructure of brick. The basement was finished as soon as possible, and occupied by the congregation ; but work on the superstructure progressed more slowly. In the spring of 1871, when $25,000 had been spent on the building, and both pastor and people looked forward to its completion at no distant day, it took fire early on Holy Saturday morn- ing, April 8th, and was entirely destroyed. The congregation was forced to return to the old church. The loss, though great, was not irreparable, and a meeting was called on Sun- day to deliberate on what was best to be done. Forced by necessity, they determined to begin anew. The outstanding debt of $15,000 was covered by the insurance. The con- gregation, however, had increased since the commencement of the church, and it was necessary to make the second new building larger than the first had been. Want of space pre- vented its extension in length, but an addition was made to its width, making it 70 by 110 feet. The foundation walls of the ruins were used as far as they were deemed safe and the proportions of the building permitted. The corner-stone was laid by the Bishop July 16th, 1871, and the basement was occupied before the beginning of winter. About this time an assistant to the pastor was appointed. The church was
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THE NEW CHURCH.
finished and dedicated by the Bishop April 28th, 1872. But it was not completed without entailing a burden of debt that it will require many years to liquidate.
St. Bridget's, though differing in style from all the churches of the city, is superior to many of them. It con- sists of a nave and aisles separated by seven octagonal pillars on each side that support the ceiling, which is modelled after the tunnel vault of the Romanesque style. The altar-rail extends across the entire building, separating the main and two side altars from the body of the church. The pulpit is not yet erected, and the high altar is temporary. The win- dows, filled with stained glass, are of the Romanesque pat- tern. The large organ in the gallery over the entrance is perhaps richer in tone than any other in our churches. Since its completion the church has been tastefully frescoed.
Upon the completion of the new building the old church was transformed into a school-house. The erection of a pas- toral residence, which was about this time in contemplation, was abandoned on account of the heavy debt on the church, and the pastor was left as before to occupy a rented dwell- ing. It has fallen to the lot of few priests to contend against greater difficulties, trials, and disappointments than Father Treacy has found thickly strewn on his path; and there is no one who has enlisted a larger share of public and of Catholic sympathy than he.
The financial embarrassments consequent on the panic of 1873 were felt in all their force by the pastor and congrega- tion of St. Bridget's. With a debt which it would have been sufficiently difficult to liquidate in times of prosperity, they found themselves unequal to the task when the panic pros- trated business. The payment of the interest was then a work of no ordinary magnitude. The schools were discontinued in the summer of 1876 with a view of reducing expenses, and a year later the assistant was dispensed with. In addition to these the zealous pastor, who for a quarter of a century had devoted his days and nights to the service of his flock, had other difficulties of a trying nature to disturb his brief mo- ments of repose; and, regretted by all, he was forced to with- draw from St. Bridget's and from the diocese at the close of
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ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH (COLORED), PITTSBURG.
the year 1877. He was succeeded by Rev. Jerome Kearney, from Latrobe, the present pastor.
For several years the assistant pastor of St. Bridget's was chaplain of the Ursuline Convent, which is located but a short distance from the church. Mass is at present celebrated by one of the priests of the Catholic College.
St. Bridget's congregation must continue to increase gradually with the growth of the city until its outer portions are cut off to form new congregations. In 1879 Father Kearney built a spacious brick residence.
ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH (COLORED), PITTSBURG.
On his return from the Second Plenary Council of Balti- more, in the fall of 1866, Bishop Domenec turned his attention to the care of the colored Catholics of Pittsburg. As they lived principally within the limits of St. Bridget's parish he committed them to Rev. Jas. Treacy, who by his advice pur- chased a lot for a church on Arthur Street, near St. Bridget's, toward the payment of which the Bishop donated $1000. A small church was begun; but when the first story was built a temporary roof was put on it, and so it remained. Vespers and instruction were given regularly from that time, and a school was opened by the Sisters of Mercy ; but the people heard Mass at St. Bridget's. They are generally poor, many of them are not constant in their attachment to the Church, and it is difficult to effect great permanent good among them. Besides, the more influential among them did not attend the new church. For this reason St. Joseph's, although produc- tive of good, did not fully realize the expectations of the Bishop. The poverty and inconstancy of the people rendered it im- possible for them to pay the debt already contracted, much less to finish the building. The crisis came, and, every effort to save it proving unavailing, it was sold by the foreclosure of the mortgage, November, 1876. It is not probable that another effort will ever be made to erect a church for this people ; nor is it necessary : they will find ample accommoda- tions in the other churches of the city.
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ST. JAMES CHURCH, PITTSBURG, SOUTH SIDE.
ST. JAMES' CHURCH, PITTSBURG, SOUTH SIDE.
The portion of the city embraced within the territory now claiming our attention was at first a part of Lower St. Clair Township. Later the village of Temperanceville sprung up at the mouth of Saw Mill Run, and in 1872, when all the boroughs south of the Monongahela River were incorporated into the city, this went to form the extreme south-western wards.
The first Catholic settlers either attended the Cathedral or St. Philip's Church, Broadhead. But when their number had sufficiently increased the Bishop recommended them to erect a church for their own accommodation. In the spring of 1853 he purchased a lot which is by no means eligible, and presented it to the incipient congregation. The church was undertaken in July, and, although not finished, was opened for divine service on Christmas Day. Work was continued on the interior with all the speed which the season of the year permitted, and Rev. Jas. M'Gowen, under whose pastoral care the congregation had been from its organization, had the pleasure of seeing the building finished early in the summer of 1854. It was dedicated, under the invocation of St. James the Apostle, by the Bishop on the 11th of June. The build- ing is of brick, small, and with little attempt at architectural style. Fr. M'Gowen was succeeded in October by Rev. J. B. O'Connor, and he in February, 1855, by Rev. Con. M. Sheehan. November of the same year saw him give place to Rev. John Hackett, and at the end of two years he was suc- ceeded by Rev. M. Carroll. During this time the congrega- tion had undergone but little change beyond a very gradual increase in numbers. That portion of the city's suburbs was not naturally calculated to invite settlers, and while other parts were built up rapidly it kept the even tenor of its way.
For twelve years Fr. Carroll remained with the congrega- tion, identifying himself with it in all that related to its spir- itual and temporal prosperity. By the end of this time the mining and manufacturing interests of the place were consider- ably developed, and many Catholics had made their homes
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THE "SOUTH SIDE."
here and found employment. Additional accommodations were required, and Fr. Carroll planned an improvement in 1869 which consisted of a frame wing with its end resting against the side of the original edifice. The capacity of the church was in this way doubled. Scarcely had the addition been completed when Fr. Carroll was transferred to St. Andrew's, Manchester, and was succeeded, February, 1870, by the present pastor, Rev. F. L. Tobin.
The appointment of a resident pastor of St. Malachy's Church about this time drew away a number of families from the eastern portion of the congregation.
The large basement under the new portion of the church afforded rooms for a school, and one was opened with three lay teachers in December, 1870, and has since been continued. A school had been opened some years before, but it had been long discontinued. As yet the congregation was without a residence of its own for the pastor ; but in September, 1871, a house and lot adjoining the church were purchased, and in the following summer the house was raised and remodelled, mak- ing of it a neat and comfortable residence.
What the congregation is destined to become in the future it would be difficult to conjecture. The locality is not favor- able for a rapid or considerable growth of population; and the nature of the employments in which the greater part of the people is engaged makes their residence precarious. Still the congregation, which numbers at present about two hundred and fifty families, must gradually increase ; and the time is not far distant when a larger church will be required for its accom- modation. The congregation has already purchased a very eligible site for a church, and has collected a considerable sum of money towards its erection.
ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, PITTSBURG, SOUTH SIDE.
The borough of Birmingham, which forms the principal part of the South Side, was laid out by Nathaniel Bedford in the autumn of 1811, incorporated as a borough April 14th, 1828, and consolidated with the city of Pittsburg January Ist, 1873, in conjunction with the other boroughs south of the
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ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, PITTSBURG, SOUTH SIDE.
Monongahela. Since that time the whole is known as the "South Side."
Simultaneously with the election of St. James' Church was the formation of another parish from the eastern as that was from the western portion of the Catholic population south of the Monongahela River. As early as the year 1820 Fr. M'Guire preached, by invitation, in the house of Mr. Ihmsen to an assembly in which there was not one Catholic. Beyond this, however, nothing was done, and the few Catho- lics who settled there heard Mass at the Cathedral.
At length the erection of extensive iron and glass manufac- tories attracted a large population of laborers, among whom were sufficient Catholic families to make the erection of a church for their accommodation both practicable and neces- sary. Lots were purchased from Mr. Ihmsen on Fourteenth Street,* near the foot of the hill, and Rev. T. S. Reynolds was appointed pastor June Ist, 1853. At that time the Catholics numbered about twenty-five families. Fr. Reynolds addressed himself with energy and zeal to the work before him, and in the mean time offered up the Holy Sacrifice in an old store- room near the spot where he was erecting the church. The building, which is brick, was finished early in the summer of 1854, and dedicated by Very Rev. E. M.Mahon, V.G., on the 7th of May. But the style of the church of that day cannot be conjectured from the appearance of the stately edifice in which the people now perform their devotions. It was constructed with a basement, which for several years served the purpose of a school-room, and in which a school was opened by a lay teacher immediately after the dedication of the church.
Fr. Reynolds accompanied Bishop O'Connor when he travelled in the Old World for the benefit of his health in 1855 and 1856. On his return, however, he resumed his former charge, and continued to minister to the spiritual necessities of the congregation until November 29th, 1859, when he ex- changed places with Rev. W. Pollard, of Loretto.
The congregation had increased considerably, and would
*The numbered streets on the South Side are those that run at right angles from the river ; they are numbered from west to east, the highest being Thirty- third Street.
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