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 22
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DEATH OF REV. THOMAS FITZGERALD.
REV. THOMAS FITZGERALD was born of Irish parents in the cathedral parish, Pittsburg, and at an early age showed signs of a vocation to the sacred ministry. He entered St. Michael's Seminary March 3d, 1863, and eagerly prosecuted the course of studies necessary to fit him for the priesthood. This done, he was ordained December 20th, 1871. Shortly after he was sent to Altoona as assistant to Father Tuigg. A few months later he was appointed pastor of St. Patrick's Church, Sugar Creek. A field of labor was here opened to his zeal that was far from encouraging. The church, with all it contained, had but lately been burned to the ground, and the congregation was forced to retire to the old log church that had not been used for thirty years. He entered upon his labors with an energy that proved at times too great for the strength of his naturally feeble body, and until the close of the year 1872 toiled with unabated zeal for the spiritual and temporal wel- fare of perhaps the most discouraging parish in the diocese. From there he was taken to Meyersdale, as has been already stated. His remains repose in St. Mary's Cemetery, Pittsburg.
He was succeeded by Rev. Philip Brady, who divided his attention between St. Matthew's congregation and that at Dunbar. Having ministered to both until September, 1876, he took up his residence at the latter place, and Rev. R. Brown, the present pastor, was appointed to Meyersdale. The congregation does not exceed twenty-five families, and there are no hopes of increase in the immediate future.
The pastor of St. Matthew's has charge of about half a dozen stations on the line of the railroad in both directions from Meyersdale, nearly all of which are visited once in the month on a week-day. But in none of them are there more than a very few families, principally railroad men. Ursina- sometimes known as Brook's Tunnel-twenty miles west of Meyersdale, is the principal station. Here Mass is celebrated in a school-house on one Sunday in the month.
SAND PATCH, five miles east of Meyersdale, at the summit of the mountain, was during the construction of the railroad an important mission, owing to the large number of hands employed in the tunnel opened through the mountain at that point. A temporary frame church 60 feet by 30 was built for
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WELLSBURG.
their accommodation about the year 1857 and dedicated to St. Patrick. But when the tunnel was completed, a few years later, the laborers withdrew and the church, being no longer needed, was torn down. It is now an unimportant station.
WELLSBURG, across the mountain to the south-east of Meyersdale and near the State line, has had a small number of Catholics for perhaps twenty-five years. No church has ever been erected for their accommodation, and the place has never been more than a monthly station, attended sometimes from New Baltimore, but generally from Maryland. For many years it has been under the care of the pastor of Mount Savage, Md., from which place it is but a few miles distant. Its condition is destined to undergo but little change.
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CHAPTER XV.
BEDFORD AND HUNTINGDON COUNTIES.
General remarks on the early Catholic settlements - Bedford, St. Thomas' Church - Death and sketch of Very Rev. Thomas Heyden - St. John's Church, Clearville-St. Mary's Church, Shade Valley-Huntingdon-Early Catholic settlement - Holy Trinity Church-Death and sketch of Rev. P. B. Halloran-Mount Union-Church of the Immaculate Conception, Broad Top.
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THE tract of country that is now to claim our attention was settled at a very early date in our history, from the fact that it lay in the route west from both Philadelphia and Baltimore. For the same reason it early possessed a number of small Catholic settlements. But notwithstanding this, it has never been a fruitful field for religion, and if we except the congre- gation at Broad Top, which is of recent growth, the Catholic population has not more than doubled itself in seventy years. The difficulty of visiting and ministering to the pioneers, and the more rapid increase of the population of other places, which rendered it necessary to leave a very wide field here in later times for one priest to visit, the stations of which could only be visited at distant intervals, prevented religion from exercising that influence over the minds of the people, but more especially of the young, which was necessary to prevent them from being led astray by the temptations to which they were exposed. Hence there is no place in the two dioceses in which so large a number has fallen from the faith, and no place where the evil effects of mixed marriages are more plainly seen. What the future is destined to bring with it cannot be conjectured in a country like ours, where changes are so frequent and unexpected; but from present indications it offers a prospect by no means flattering.
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BEDFORD.
ST. THOMAS' CHURCH, BEDFORD.
Bedford, the seat of justice of the county of the same name, is on the Philadelphia and Pittsburg turnpike, 200 miles from the former and 100 from the latter place. It is situated in a luxuriant limestone valley, and enjoys every advantage that pure mountain air and water and picturesque scenery can im- part. By order of the governor of the colony the town was laid out in June, 1766, by the surveyor-general, John Lukens. The settlement had originally been called Raystown, but from the time of laying it out it was called by its present name .*
The population in 1870 was 1247. The growth of the town, it will be seen, has been very moderate, owing to the · want of ready communication with other places and the ab- sence of minerals, upon which, as is well known, the pros- perity and in a great measure the increase of the Catholic population in Western Pennsylvania depend. But it has been long famous for its mineral springs, and has for many years been a summer resort. Within a few years the Huntingdon and Broad Top Railroad has been extended through Bedford to Cumberland, Md., which increased the facilities for com- munication, but did not materially benefit the town.
Being on the route from Maryland to the west, along which many of the pioneer Catholics passed, a small number of fam- ilies settled there, making it the second Catholic settlement in the two dioceses. Doctor Gallitzin visited it soon after his arrival at Loretto, and very probably before it, inasmuch as it lay on the route from Taneytown, where he was stationed, to the colony which he established on the mountains. The Holy Sacrifice was offered up in a private house-most probably that of Mr. Heyden, a merchant of the place-until a church was built. This church was erected, as Father Bradly in- forms me, during the time Dr. Gallitzin continued to visit the town ; that is, prior to the year 1820. But the exact date can- not be ascertained with certainty. It is needless to state that the visits of a priest were necessarily made at distant inter-
* Day's Historical Collections, pp. 115-122.
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ST. THOMAS' CHURCH, BEDFORD
vals. In 1806 a Rev. Mr. Phelan was for a time at Bedford contrary to the wishes of Dr. Gallitzin, as may be learned from a letter of his to Bishop Carroll dated December 19th of that year.
Thomas Heyden, son of the merchant of Bedford, was destined to become the most prominent figure in the congre- gation's history. Having completed his studies at Mt. St. Mary's College, Maryland, he was ordained to the sacred ministry by a dispensation before he had attained the canoni- cal age, May 21st, 1821. For a short time he was stationed at St. Joseph's Church, Philadelphia, after which it appears. -for the biographical notices of him differ-he was sent to minister to the congregation of Bedford. In October, 1826, he was appointed assistant at St. Mary's Church, Philadel- phia, of which he soon after became pastor. The length of time he remained cannot now be determined, but it must have been short. Again we find him at his native town, but it is said that he returned to St. Mary's for a short time in 1835. His firmness, moderation, and tact admirably adapted him to the management of difficult undertakings ; and the care of St. Mary's congregation in those days is admitted on all hands to have been pre-eminently such. Returning to Bedford he re- mained until April Ist, 1837, when he was appointed pastor of St. Paul's Church, Pittsburg, a position which he filled until the 22d of November of the same year, when the bish- opric of Natchez, Miss., was offered to him. He declined the proffered dignity, which was the highest tribute that could have been paid to his zeal and administrative ability, and once more betook himself to his native town. Again he was called to Pittsburg, May, 1843, when Very Rev. M. O'Connor set out for Rome. Upon the return of that prelate as Bishop of the new See of Pittsburg, Fr. Heyden came back to Bedford, never again to leave it until called to his final rest.
He replaced the old church by another, the time of which is uncertain ; but he lived in a house which he had inherited, and had no occasion to build a pastoral residence. As the Catholic population increased and priests became more numerous new missionary centres were formed, and the sphere of his labors was gradually narrowed down to Bed-
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DEATII OF VERY REV. THOS. HEYDEN.
ford and New Baltimore, which latter place he visited on one Sunday in the month till a resident pastor was appointed in 1854, as has been elsewhere stated. From this time there re- mained to him only Bedford and Clearville, yet to be noticed. When Bishop O'Connor visited the congregation in 1847, there were, as I learn from his Notes, 250 souls ; a fact which proves the extremely moderate growth of the Catholic popu- lation. Gradual, however, as was the growth of the congre- gation, it was found necessary to replace the old church by a larger one, and the present edifice was undertaken. The corner-stone was laid by the Bishop October 22d, 1868, and the basement was dedicated by the same prelate July 18th of the following year. In this condition it remained for several years, until it was finished by the present pastor. It is of brick, 75 feet in length by 40 in width, neatly but not elegantly finished in the interior, and has a steeple rising from the centre in front. -
But the career of Father Heyden was run, and the time had come for him to enter into the joy of his Lord. Naturally of a robust constitution, he gave little indication of his coming dissolution. He performed the usual routine duties of the Sunday, and preached with his wonted vigor and eloquence August 23d, 1870, but was almost immediately prostrated by sickness. The malady increased in an alarming manner, and, strengthened by the sacred rites which he had so often ad- ministered to others, he expired at five o'clock on Tuesday morning, August 25th, at the age of 72. .
REV. THOMAS HEYDEN was born in county Carlow, Ire- land, in 1798. His parents emigrated to this country in his infancy and settled at Bedford, where he spent his childhood and youth until he entered Mt. St. Mary's College. His sub- sequent career is before the reader. He was somewhat above the medium height, of a gentle but dignified and commanding appearance, and very measured and deliberate in his motions and in the expression of his opinions. He was a diligent student during his whole life, a profound scholar, an able administrator of the affairs of the Church, and one of the most eloquent and impressive preachers of this country. But he loved retirement and seclusion, and seldom appeared outside
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ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, CLEARVILLE.
the limits of his parish, unless duty or the earnest request of a fellow-priest called him to assist at some of the more solemn functions of the Church. Although of a literary turn of mind, he has left but few writings after him. With the exception of a small number of printed lectures and sermons, there is nothing save a Life of his early and devoted friend, published in 1869, and entitled " A Memoir on the Life and Character of the Rev. Prince Demetrius A. de Gallitzin, Founder of Loretto and Catholicity, in Cambria County, Pa., Apostle of the Alleghenies." The work, although containing considerable information and a fair estimate of the character of the illus- trious subject, did not realize the expectations of the author's numerous friends.
Father Heyden's remains repose in the cemetery at Bedford.
He was succeeded by the present pastor, Rev. Andrew J. M. Brown, A.M., formerly president of St. Francis' College, Loretto. Since his appointment he finished the church, as has been stated, and built a brick pastoral residence.
The growth of the congregation has been somewhat more encouraging in later than in former times, but it has no pros- pect of becoming large. It has never had the advantage of a parish school, from the fact of its being spread over a large tract of country.
ST. JOHN'S CHURCH. CLEARVILLE.
The only mission at present attached to Bedford is Clear- ville, about twelve miles to the south-east. Having visited the few Catholic families in the village for a time, Father Heyden built a chapel for their better accommodation, the corner-stone of which was laid by him October 10th, 1853. It was finished and dedicated at the end of about two years, and has since been visited once in the month on a week-day. Besides this there are no other missions in Bedford County, the whole Catholic population of which will not exceed three hundred souls.
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SHADE VALLEY.
ST. MARY'S CHURCH, SHADE VALLEY, HUNTINGDON COUNTY.
The congregation that I am now about to notice is, with two or three exceptions, the oldest in the diocese. Shade Valley lies between the Shade and Tuscarora mountains, two spurs of the Alleghenies, and is about twenty-five miles in a direct line south-east of Huntingdon. It lay on the route from Baltimore, Taneytown, and Conewago, to the western part of the State, which passed through the mountains at Shade Gap. The fertility of the soil, the strongest attraction for pioneers, induced a small number of emigrants to settle there between the years 1790 and 1800. The disturbances which then agitated the Westmoreland settlement, to which nearly all emigrants directed their steps at that early day, were not without influence on the minds of those who had been taught to look upon a disagreement between a pastor and his people as one of the greatest of evils. To the same lamentable cause is due in a measure the early settlements of Frankstown, Sinking Valley, and other places in Huntingdon and Blair counties. The settlement at Shade Valley was visited by Dr. Gallitzin from Taneytown in 1796. After locating himself at Loretto three years later, he was accus- tomed always to call at the settlement when on his way to Baltimore, and at such other times as his circumstances per- mitted. Besides these periodical but rare visits the people were sometimes favored with a call from the priest at Cone- wago. The tracing of their history prior to 1820 is attended with difficulties. Archbishop Hughes is said to have preached there when but a deacon, and the echo of his praise has not died out to the present day. When Rev. Thos. Heyden was stationed at Bedford in 1820 Shade Valley was embraced within the field of his missionary labors, and received a visit from him once in the month or once in two months. He continued to minister to the little flock until about the year 1850, although during that time it was occa- sionally visited by other priests. It was then for a time attended by one of the priests of the Philadelphia (now Har- risburg) diocese. But since 1853 it has formed a part of the Huntingdon mission.
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HUNTINGDON.
A small stone church was built by Father Heyden about the year 1848. The congregation is now and has for many years been visited on one Sunday in the month, and it num- bers about thirty-five families, all farmers and native born. The number was as large perhaps fifty years ago. The absence of mineral resources and of railroad communication with other places makes it very probable that it will not in- crease for many years.
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HUNTINGDON.
Huntingdon, the seat of justice of the county of the same name, is situated on the north bank of the Juniata River, just above the mouth of Standingstone Creek. The town is built upon an elevated bank sloping gently up from the river, and behind the town rising into a hill. It was laid out a short time previous to the Revolutionary war by Rev. Dr. W. Smith, Provost of the University of Pennsylvania. When in Eng- land soliciting funds for the university he found the Countess of Huntingdon a munificent donor, and in return for her liberality he gave her name to the town. Previous to that time the place had been noted as the site of an ancient Indian village called Standing Stone. A tall slim pillar of stone, four inches thick by eight inches wide, had been erected herc by the resident tribe many years before, perhaps as a sort of Ebenezer, or "Stone of Help." *
* Day's Historical Collections, pp. 368-370.
The same author gives the following account of the superstitious veneration with which this stone was regarded : " A tradition is said to have existed among the Indians that if the stone should be taken away the tribe would be dispersed, but that so long as it should stand they would prosper. A hostile tribe once came up from the Tuscarora Valley and carried it off during the absence of the warriors ; but the latter fell upon them, recovered the stone, and replaced it. It is said that Dr. Barton, of Philadelphia, learned in some of his researches that Oneida meant standing stone ; and that nation, while living in New York, is said to have had a tradition that their ancestors came originally from the south. It is generally understood about Huntingdon that the original stone had been de- stroyed or taken away by the Indians, but that the whites erected a similar one, a part of which remains. It is certain that the whites removed it from its original position (at the east end near the river) to the centre of the town. When Mr. M'Murtrie came here in 1776-77 it was about eight feet high, and had on it the
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FIRST CATHOLIC SETTLERS.
The scenery around Huntingdon is beautiful beyond de- scription, being mountainous and broken and generally wooded. To one who ascends the hill or mountain to the north of the town there is presented a prospect on the north, west, and south, extending in places to the distance of more than thirty miles over a broken mountainous country until the view is intercepted by the loftier summit of the main ridge of the Alleghenies.
The growth of the town has been very moderate, and in 1870 it had a population of but 3034. The increase since that time, however, has been considerable, and it will now proba- bly reach 5000 souls.
Catholics were among the first settlers in the town and surrounding country, and there is no part of the two dioceses in which so many have been lost to the faith by intermarriage and apostasy. Dr. Gallitzin visited the place as early as the year 1796, and from that time forward continued to do so until Father Heyden was stationed at Bedford, who then re- lieved him of all the missions on the eastern side of the mountains. It was a preacher of this town, a Rev. Mr. Johnson, who by his violent attacks on the Church gave oc- casion to Dr. Gallitzin to publish his world-renowned "Defence of Catholic Principles," etc., as we shall see more fully hereafter. The laborers who were employed on the northern turnpike, some of whom settling in and near the town after the completion of the work, increased the Catholic population. Rev. John O'Reilly, who was ordained in 1826, relieved Fr. Heyden of the northern portion of his extensive district, and resided for a time at Huntingdon. Immediately after his arrival work was commenced on the canal, and there being a large number of Irish Catholics among the laborers, he determined to build a church for his increasing flock. The dedication was performed July 4th, 1830, by Bishop Conwell, assisted by his coadjutor, Bishop Kenrick. But it
names of John Lukens, the surveyor-general, with the date of 1768; Charles Lukens, his assistant ; and Thomas Smith, brother of the founder of the town and afterwards judge of the Supreme Court. It stood there for many years until some fool in a drunken frolic demolished it. It is evidently a stone from the bed of the creek, bearing marks of being worn by water." (p. 370.)
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CHANGES OF PASTORS.
had then been finished for a considerable time. Speaking of the church and its dedication, a correspondent of the United States Catholic Miscellany says: "The church, which was commenced towards the end of September, 1828, under the care of Rev. John O'Reilly, is of brick, solid and substantial. 62 by 35 feet, including a sanctuary, which is built in the form of an offset with a small vestry-room on the left, which is also used as a confessional. It has a front gallery, supported by four columns, which together with the nave numbers 57 pews. The height of the ceiling from the floor is 25 feet. The whole is tastefully executed, for the most part, according to the Gothic style of architecture. . It is but just to remark that this church, as well as many others recently erected, has been raised principally by the generosity of poor Irishmen working on the canal."
Father O'Reilly remained until the autumn of 1831, and built churches in Bellefonte and Newry. He was then trans- ferred to Pittsburg, where he became the assistant and after- wards the successor of Fr. M'Guire. Huntingdon was then visited for a short time by Rev. Jas. Bradley, then as now pastor of the church at Newry. In 1834 Rev. Patrick Leavy resided for a time in the town, attending it and the surround- ing missions. After the erection of the church Mass was usually celebrated on one Sunday in the month. In 1837 Father Bradley again visited it; and in 1844 it was under the care of Rev. Patrick Pendergast, of Bellefonte. Soon after it was attached to the new mission of Hollidaysburg. When Bishop O'Connor visited the congregation in 1847, there were, according to his Notes, 130 souls. When the Pennsylvania Railroad was opened, about the year 1851, Huntingdon became, and has since remained, an independent mission, embracing the entire county. From that time Mass was celebrated twice in the month until the Broad Top con- gregation was detached from it in 1863, since which time Mass is offered up on all the Sundays but the one given to Shade Valley. The first resident pastor was Rev. Peter M. Doyle, who remained until the breaking out of the Rebellion, when he was succeeded by Rev. Peter Hughes. But in the beginning of the year 1863 the growing importance of Broad
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DEATH OF REV. P. B. HALLORAN.
Top induced the Bishop to make a further division of the mis- sion, and the latter became an independent congregation. Father Hughes was transferred to it, and Rev. S. Wall be- came pastor of Huntingdon. Having ministered to the con- gregation until October, 1865, he was appointed president of the diocesan seminary, and Rev. O. P. Gallagher succeeded him. During his pastorate he built a brick residence by the side of the church, besides making other improvements in the church and its surroundings. In July, 1868, he was trans- ferred to Wilmore. Among his successors changes were fre- quent until July, 1871, when Rev. Martin Murphy was ap- pointed. His immediate predecessor was Rev. Patrick B. Halloran, whose feeble health forced him to retire from ac- tive duty. Soon after withdrawing from the congregation he determined to cross the ocean to his native land, in the hope of recruiting his failing health. But it was not so ordained; for no sooner had he landed than he was obliged to retire to the hospital of the Sisters of Mercy at Cork, where a few days later, October 11th, 1871, he gave up his soul to God, being then in the 26th year of his age, and not having quite com- pleted the second in the sacred ministry. His remains were taken to Broadford, in the county Clare, where they were honored by interment in the same church in which he had been baptized.
REV. PATRICK B. HALLORAN was born at Broadford, county Clare, about the year 1845, and having almost com- pleted his studies at Killaloo College, Waterford, he came to this country in the summer of 1868 and entered St. Michael's Seminary. Upon the completion of his course of theology he was ordained and stationed at Broad Top, but was soon after transferred to Huntingdon, from which he also visited Lewistown, in the Diocese of Harrisburg, where he commenced the erection of a church.
Father Murphy, soon after his appointment, purchased a piece of ground near the town for a cemetery. A new im- petus has been given to business in the last few years, and the population has considerably increased. The congrega- tion has also been benefited a little, but the increase is not considerable, and it will not number more than fifty families,
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