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 3
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Before entering upon the history of the various congrega- tions in the two dioceses, it is proper to pause first and give the reader an idea of the manner in which Catholicity was introduced into the western part of the State. The sources of information are few and meagre, but sufficient, it is be- lieved, to establish what follows .*
* Christian Frederick Post, a Moravian missionary, who had considerable influence with the Indians, and who was on several occasions employed by the English to use his influence with the former in their behalf, thus writes in his journal under date of September Ist, 1758, giving an account of an interview he had with the Indians at Logstown, twenty-two miles below Pittsburg, on the north bank of the Ohio River, and a speech that he had made to them, says : "My brothers, I know you have been wrongly persuaded by many wicked people; for you must know there are a great many Papists in the country in French inter- est, who appear like gentlemen and have sent many runaway Irish Papist ser- vants among you, who have put bad notions into your heads and strengthened "you against your brothers, the English." (" The Olden Time," vol. i. p. 116.) To this the editor adds the following explanatory note : " The Indian traders used to buy the transported Irish to be employed in carrying up goods among the Indians. Many of these ran away from their masters and joined the Indians."
On the fifth of the same month, in another speech, Mr. Post tells the Indians : "Those wicked people who set you at variance with the English by telling you many wicked stories are Papists in French pay ; besides, there are many among
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. CATHOLICS IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA.
The pioneers of Catholicity appear to have penetrated the western wilds by four different routes. The first of these led from Goshenhoppen, already mentioned, through Huntingdon County to Hollidaysburg, where it crossed the main ridge of the Allegheny Mountains, and continued to the spot occupied by St. Vincent's Abbey, Unity Township, Westmoreland County. Here, in the fall of 1787, was laid the foundation of the first permanent Catholic settlement in Western Pennsylvania. It became, in the process of time, the parent of numerous other congregations ; and was long a resting-place for colonists go- ing further west. Many immigrants, leaving the direct route, settled to the north of it in the vicinity of Bellefonte and Hunt- · ingdon ; others found homes to the south, in the vicinity of Newry ; while a few settled on the route or near it, about Sinking Valley, Frankstown, etc. The Unity Township colony was much larger than any of the settlements along the route, and in Nov., 1799, when Rev. Peter Heilbron (or Helbron) came to take charge of it, numbered seventy-five communi- cants .* About two years previous to that time Rev. Father Lanigan, who had but lately arrived in the colony and who was dissatisfied with the state of affairs arising out of the con- duct of the unhappy Father Fromm, led a body of the people of the same mind as himself to West Alexander, Washington County, to establish a branch colony at that place. But not finding the land which they had purchased suitable for agri- cultural purposes, they soon disposed of it, and proceeded south-east to Waynesburg, Greene County, where they made a permanent settlement.
The second route led from Conewago, and, entering Hunt- ingdon County in the south-east at Shade Gap, united with the other route at a point east of Hollidaysburg. Many families, some German, some Irish, came by this route to Unity Town- ship, Westmoreland County, and to Loretto, Cambria County.
us in the French service who appear like gentlemen, and buy Irish Papist ser- vants and promise them great rewards to run away to you and strengthen you against the English, by making them appear as black as devils."-Ibid., p. 120.
From this it would appear that at least a small number of Catholics were scattered through the western part of the State at that time.
* Rev J. A. Stillinger's MS.
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THE FIRST CATHOLIC SETTLEMENTS.
The third route led from Maryland by way of Bedford along the foot of the eastern slope of the Allegheny Mountains to the point at which the first route crossed. By it came the colonies of Bedford and later of Harman Bottom, but princi- pally that of Loretto, from which the greater part of the con- gregations of Cambria County were formed.
The fourth route was that opened by Gen. Braddock in his unfortunate expedition against Fort Duquesne, in 1755, which crossed the mountains from Cumberland by way of Uniontown and the Yohioghenny River to Pittsburg. This is known in history as Nemacolin's Path, so called from a Delaware Indian of that name." By this route came the important Irish colony that settled at Donegal Township, Butler County, in 1795. But leaving the route near Stewart's Crossing (now Connellsville), they bore north past the Westmoreland County settlement, and from thence to the Allegheny River, which they crossed at Freeport; and proceeded from that point directly to the term of their journey. Nearly all the congregations of Armstrong and Butler counties were originally formed by members of this colony or their descendants. At the beginning of this century it was the largest settlement in the western part of the State. Brownsville and the upper Monongahela valley were peopled by the same route. Towards the close of the last century a small number of German families settled at Jacob's Creek, a tributary of the Yohioghenny River, about thirty miles south-east of Pittsburg ; but the colony never at- tained any importance. The number of Catholics who had settled in Pittsburg before the beginning of the present cen- tury was so insignificant, it would appear, as not to have at -. tracted the attention of the few missionaries.
As regards the nationality of the early Catholic settlers, they were almost exclusively German and Irish. The former predominated at Unity Township; at the settlements east of the mountains the two nationalities were represented from the beginning, but the Irish soon predominated ; while the Done- gal and Brownsville settlements were exclusively Irish.
History does not inform us that the French missionaries to.
* The Monongahela of Old, p. 25.
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CHARACTER OF THE SETTLEMENTS.
the far west established any post at Presqu' Isle (Erie), or at any other place in the north-western part of the State. Nor do the missionaries appear to have done so who accompanied the French forces in their expeditions in the middle of the last century. Their labors appear to have been confined to the soldiers and the Indians within the fortifications. As to white settlers, there were none at that early day. From a manu- script of Bishop O'Connor, now before me, it would appear that a small body of Irish emigrants settled on Oil Creek about the close of the century. But the south-western part of the State was settled earlier than the north-western. It is super- fluous to remark that the early colonists did not proceed in a compact body to the term of their journey ; many, in fact, did not know where that would be, but that some preferred to settle at different points along the way. It may be further re- marked that the first settlers being solely intent upon agricul- ture, took possession of such land only as was considered fer- tile. But as time went on and the mineral resources of the country, which constitute its principal source of wealth, were developed, and canals and railroads were opened-which, from necessity or the requirements of mining and manufacture, usually follow streams or penetrate mountain regions-the subsequent accessions to the population were principally drawn to these localities, leaving the first settlements without any considerable additions to their numbers. For this reason it is that Brownsville, Uniontown, Waynesburg, Jacob's Creek, Bedford, Sinking Valley, and Shade Gap were as important numerically sixty years ago as they are at present. Almost the same may be said of Huntingdon; while Slippery Rock is entirely forgotten.
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CHAPTER II.
PITTSBURG.
Early history of Pittsburg-French and English claims-Indians-Major Washing- ton's mission to the French-English occupation-Fort Duquesne, and its capture by the English-Baptismal Register of Fort Duquesne-Fort Pitt -A town laid out-The Whiskey Insurrection-First Catholic settlers-Rev. B. J. Flagget-Rev. F. X. O'Brien-First Catholic Church, St. Patrick's- Very Rev. F. De Andreis-Rev. Ch. B. M'Guire-St. Patrick's Church enlarged-St. Paul's Church begun-The Nuns of St. Clare-Visit of Bishops Kenrick and Conwell-Death of Father M'Guire-Biographical notice.
HAVING given the reader an idea, necessarily brief and imperfect, of the manner in which Catholicity was first intro- duced into the western part of the State, we shall now take up the history of the several congregations.
Pittsburg, although not the first place to receive the saving truths of Christianity, will yet be the first to claim our atten- tion, from the fact that it has become the centre of Catholic rule and unity. And first of its civil, as a foundation for its religious, history.
The treaty of Aix-la-chapelle, ratified October, 1748, by which a long-continued struggle between France on the one side and England and other European Powers on the other was apparently terminated, and the two leading nations left in the same condition, as regards their possessions, as before the war, was not without its effect on the relations of their respec- tive American colonies. The Governor of Canada claimed, in the name of his royal master, extensive territory, including within its limits the western half of Pennsylvania, and prepared, with the aid of the forces at his command and the Indians who were ready to fight under the French standard, to take posses- sion by the force of arms. The English colonial authorities prepared to oppose him in the same manner.
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THE ABORIGINES.
" At that time the country adjacent to the forks of the Ohio was occupied by various tribes, or nations. The Shawa- nese, who may scarcely be said to have had a permanent abid- ing-place, were settled along the Ohio and Allegheny rivers. The Delawares were intermingled with Shawanese, having removed westward from their former homes on the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers. Their king, Shingiss, was found by Washington in 1753, located at the mouth of Chartier's Creek, about two miles below the Forks, and their queen, Aliquippa, at the mouth of the Youghiogheny. The Delawares also had a town, called Shanopin's Town, on the left bank of the Alle- gheny, two miles above the Forks. The Senecas of the Six Nations were also dwelling on both the Allegheny and Ohio; and these distinct nations appear to have been living peaceably together, at the same time preserving their manners, customs, and dress." *
After referring to the warlike preparations of the represen- tatives of the two powers, the historian continues : " The year 1753 begins the interesting history of the region around the present city of Pittsburg. The eyes of two of the most powerful European nations were upon it, each determined to occupy and hold the grand strategical point at the conflu- ence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, or rather at the mouth of the latter stream, for the Allegheny was then called the Ohio by many.t
" Here among the rugged hills of Western Pennsylvania, on the head-waters of the Ohio, began the conflict apparently
" History of Allegheny County, p. 18.
t In the "Baptismal Register of Fort Duquesne," to which reference will hereafter be made, the Ohio is called "Oio;" in Charlevoix's "History of New France" it is named "L'Oyo, au la Belle Rivière;" and in Kip's "Early Jesuit Missions" (Father Marest's journal) it is termed the "Ouabache" River. May not the good father have confounded this river with the Wabash ? The name Ohio appears to be from the Seneca word Ho-he-yu, meaning clear water .- Olden Time, vol. i. p. 426.
The term Allegheny is derived from Yallagawe, or Allegewi, the name of a powerful tribe, which, as tradition has it, inhabited this and other parts of the country prior to the advent of the tribes found by the first white men .- History of Allegheny County, p. II.
The name Monongahela is also of Indian origin, and signifies "Falling in Banks."-Craig's History of Pittsburg, p. 190.
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WASHINGTON'S EXPEDITION TO THE FRENCH.
for the control of the site where now stands one of the great manufacturing centres of the globe, but which eventually enveloped America, Europe, and Asia in the sulphur-clouds of war, precipitated the American Revolution, and, finally, broke up' the ancient feudalism of Europe. The grandest character in this great drama, as the curtain arose upon the opening scene, was far in the background of the glittering throng of crowned and jewelled monarchs, and princes, and famous commanders who crowded to the front: a plain, unpretending lieutenant-colonel of colonial militia-George Washington." *
Robert Dinwiddie, Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia, was the first to take active measures for asserting the claims of the British crown. On the 31st of October, 1753, he appointed Major Washington the bearer of his despatches to the com- mander of the French forces in the north-western part of Pennsylvania. He set out immediately, and arrived at the Forks November 24th.t At that time no white man as yet occupied the spot. In his journal of the expedition he thus describes it: "The land in the Fork I think extremely well situated for a fort, as it has the absolute command of the two rivers. The land at the point is twenty-five feet above the common surface of the water, and has a considerable bottom of flat, well-timbered land all around it, very convenient for building." He arrived at the end of his journey, a fort on French Creek, some distance from its mouth, December 4th, delivered his letters, and took accurate notes of all he could see of the French armament. They were determined to take possession of the Ohio early in the spring, an undertaking which their armament seemed able to accomplish without much difficulty. With this intelligence Washington returned with all speed to the governor. The latter despatched Captain William Trent with about seventy-five men, January 4th, 1754, with orders to construct a fort at the Forks and prepare to defend it. Captain Trent did not, however, arrive until the 17th of February, when he reached the Forks in company with
* History of Allegheny County, p. 19.
t The Indian name for the site of Pittsburg is said to have been De-un-daga, which simply means " The Forks."
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FORT DUQUESNE.
the celebrated pioneer, Christopher Gist, who lived not far from where Connellsville now stands. It was a memorable day in our history, for then was commenced the first residence of a white man in what was destined to be the greatest iron- manufacturing city of the world.
But while Ensign Ward, who had command of the place during a temporary absence of Captain Trent, was engaged on his little fortifications, the French and Indians suddenly appeared, April 16th, to the number of one thousand, with eigh- teen cannon, in sixty bateaux and three hundred canoes, under the command of Captain Contrecœur. Their landing was fol- lowed by a summons to Ward to surrender immediately. Nothing was left but to comply with it; and the next day he was permitted to retire with his men to Redstone, the site of the present Brownsville. The French then built a fort, to which they at first gave the name of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, but afterwards changed it to that of Fort Du- quesne, in honor of the Marquis Duquesne, the Governor of Canada. This little fort stood in the Point, while that of Trent stood on the bank of the Monongahela, a very short dis- tance from the Point. " It at once became the centre of all the military operations of the French in this country, and its commanding position rendered its restoration to the English a matter of the first importance. In 1755 General Braddock, at the head of the largest expedition that had ever crossed the Alleghenies, was sent to recapture it. On July 9th he was met and defeated by the French and Indians at a point on the Monongahela ten miles above the fort (since known as Brad- dock's Field). A force of 800 men under Major Grant was cut to pieces in a second attempt in 1758; but a third of 6000 men under General Forbes was successful, November 15th, 1758, the French, disheartened by the failure of several attacks on the advancing army, having abandoned and set fire to it on the previous day."
During their occupation of the fort the French were at- tended, as they were in all their expeditions, by a Catholic chaplain, and the chapel in which he offered up the holy sacri- fice-the first religious service in the city of Pittsburg-was
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PITTSBURG DEDICATED TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN.
dedicated under the title of "The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin of the Beautiful River."
The French, it may be stated by way of explanation, desig- nated the Ohio and Allegheny rivers by the common term Ohio, or rather Oio; but on account of its limpid waters and enchanting scenery it was more generally known as "the Beautiful River." This occupation by the French, though transitory, forms an interesting episode in the city's history. But for the Catholic it possesses a special interest. It shows how the August Queen of Heaven claimed what was after- wards to be the diocese of Pittsburg as she had claimed from the beginning the entire New World. Commenting on the title and dedication of this chapel, Bishop O'Connor says : "It is presumed it was dedicated under this title on the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin after their (the French soldiers') first arrival, as it is only after that day that it is designated by that name in the Register. It would appear that this dedication was accepted by the Blessed Virgin, as at the first Synod of the new Diocese of Pittsburg the new Dio- cese was placed under the protection of the Holy Virgin under the title of the Assumption, though no one was aware at that time of the previous dedication under the same title, the Bishop having been led to make this selection of a patron in consequence of the bull of erection being dated a few days before that feast, and he himself having been consecrated as its first Bishop on that festival .*
Reference will again be made to this title and dedication under the head of the Church of St. Mary of Mercy.
I have before me a copy of the register of the baptisms and deaths as kept by the army chaplain, which, although professing to be of Fort Duquesne only, contains entries from the other posts, at Presqu' Isle (Erie City) and those on " La Rivière aux Beufs" (French Creek), a stream that flows into the Allegheny River from the west at Franklin, 124 miles above Pittsburg. The history of this volume is interesting, and will not be out of place here. Bishop O'Connor, who took a lively interest in all that related to the early days of the Church in his diocese, found that the register, such as we now
* Diocesan Register.
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THE BAPTISMAL REGISTER OF FT. DUQUESNE.
have it, was kept in the archives of the city of Montreal. He had an authenticated copy made from it, from which he caused a small number of copies to be printed in the original French, in the year 1859. It is an octavo volume of 52 pages, entitled "Re- gistres des Baptêmes et Sepultures qui se sont faits au Fort Duquesne pendant les années 1753, 1754, 1755 et 1756." The register is divided into three parts, each duly authenticated by Contrecœur, and containing fifteen baptisms, of which two only are French, eight English, two Irish, and three Indians, one being that of Jean Baptiste Christiguay, "great chief of the Iroquois," who was then in the ninety-fifth year of his age. The number of interments is forty-two, all of which are French except two English and four Indians. The first entry is dated July 11th, 1753, and the last October 10th, 1756.
Whether the chaplain withdrew at that time, or, which is more probable, the register for the remaining two years was destroyed with the fort, or lost, cannot now be determined. The first entry from Fort Duquesne-there are a few at the beginning from other posts-is an interment, dated June 5th, 1754, in which there is no other title than that of "Fort Du- quesne of the Beautiful River." So the other entries until August 6th, when the designation is changed to that of " Fort Duquesne under the title of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin." But from September 12th of the same year the entries to the end of the register are made " at Fort Duquesne under the title of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin of the Beautiful River." All entries are signed Fr. Denis Baron, P.R., Chaplain, except three at the beginning of the register, two of which bear the name of Gabriel Anheuser, Royal Chaplain, and the other his name in conjunction with that of Fr. Baron. The whole is preceded by an introduction, of which the following is the most interest- ing part : " As a parish register the following pages would not deserve to be printed; but they are of great importance by reason of the light they shed on the bold attempts made by the French in seizing the peninsula which commands the Ohio, after having driven out the colonists of Virginia; and these pages become the more interesting from the curious details they furnish of the battle of the Monongahela and its
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FORT PITT-PITTSBURG.
hero, Daniel Leonard Sieur de Beaujeux .* Before marching against Braddock he prostrated himself before the altar and prepared himself for death. He evidently did not think that he would return as the conqueror of an army so numerous and important as that of the English ; yet he considered it his duty as a French nobleman to face death in so unequal a struggle. His courage and self-sacrifice inspired his soldiers with hopes greater than his own ; and though a simple captain of infantry, he died in the midst of the conflict, after having gained one of the most glorious victories in the French annals- a victory so complete that English and American historians mention it by no other name than Braddock's Defeat.t
Gen. Stanwix succeeded Gen. Forbes immediately after the evacuation of the fort by the French in 1758, and built a large fortification at the point, which he named Fort Pitt, in honor of the British prime minister. From this the city takes its name. The first plan of a town was laid out by Col. John Campbell in 1764, which embraced only the four squares of the present city bounded by Water, Market, and Ferry streets and Second Avenue.
A warrant was issued January 5th, 1769, for the survey of "the manor of Pittsburg," # which then embraced 5766 acres. In his third visit to the spot in 1770, Washington thus de-
* In the register of his interment he is called Leonard Daniel.
t I have carefully examined "The Olden Time" and "Craig's History of Pitts- burg" for references to Catholicity, but all they contain beyond the remarks of Mr. Post, already quoted, is the following precious item, which, from what is known of the French, as well as from the matter-of-course manner in which it is given, goes to show that the army chaplain not only ministered to those who remained at the forts, but also followed the different expeditions and scouting parties. In the journal kept by M. de Villiers of an expedition which he led against the English, who were posted near the Great Meadows, now in Fayette County, we read : " The 28th (June, 1754) I posted myself at a short distance above the first forks of the Monongahela ;" that is, a short distance above M'Keesport, on the Youghiogheny River. "The 29th. Mass was said in the camp, after which we marched," etc .- Olden Time, vol if. pp. 210, 211.
That no further reference should be found is accounted for by the fact that it was not until March, 1859, that Bishop O'Connor brought the Baptismal Register of Fort Duquesne to light.
# The first use of the name Pittsburg, so far as is known with certainty at present, was in a communication dated "Fort at Pittsburg, March 21st, 1760."- Craig's History of Pittsburg, p. 87.
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PITTSBURG A CITY.
scribes the incipient town : " The houses, which are ranged in streets, are on the Monongahela, and I suppose may be about twenty in number and inhabited by Indian traders." The town was laid out on a larger scale in June, 1784, by Thomas Vickroy, of Bedford County. Arthur Lee, who visited it in December of the same year, gives a sorry picture particularly of its religious condition. He says, " There is a great deal of small trade carried on, the commodities of exchange being money, wheat, flour, and skins." There were then in the town four attorneys, two physicians, " but not a priest of any per- suasion, nor church, nor chapel ; so that they are likely to be damned without the benefit of the clergy. The place I believe will never be very considerable." *
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