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 34
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ST. BONIFACE'S CHURCH.
at Greensburg, which is only five miles distant. At length the mines were opened and the number of Catholics so far in- creased as to make it expedient to build a church for them. From the beginning this congregation as well as that at Irwin, next to claim our attention, was under the jurisdiction of the pastor of Greensburg, who was assisted on Sundays by a priest from the abbey. A site was secured, the church was undertaken, and the corner-stone was laid by the Bishop October 11th, 1863. It was finished in the course of the fol- lowing summer, and was dedicated by the same prelate under the invocation of St. Boniface. The church is a frame build- ing about 30 by 50 feet, and is surmounted by a belfry ; but it lays no claim to any special architectural style. A cheap frame school-house was soon after built, in which a school was opened by a lay teacher. Mass was now celebrated every Sunday. Upon the appointment of Rev. Michael Murphy pastor of Irwin, in October, 1871, this church was also con- fided to him, and he continued as his predecessors had done to offer up the Holy Sacrifice in both every Sunday, giving each an alternate early and late Mass. But in the summer of 1873 the congregations were separated, and Rev. John Stillerich was appointed pastor of St. Boniface. A frame residence was built near the church for his reception. But the support of a school and a resident pastor was found to be too heavy a tax on the means of the small congregation, and the school was closed and has not since been opened. Father Stillerich was at length succeeded by Rev. Ed. Troutwine, early in the summer of 1878, under whose jurisdiction the con- gregation yet remains. It is composed of German and Irish mixed, the former predominating, and in the days of its greatest prosperity never exceeded eighty families. Like all similar communities it is subject to frequent and sudden vicis- situdes, and it is not unusual to find the condition of the people change from labor to idleness and from abundance to want in a single month.
Penn has at present greatly fallen from its former pros- perity, and numbers, although it is doubtless but temporary, not more than thirty families. But notwithstanding this it is destined, in the nature of things, to go on gradually increasing.
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ST. MARY'S CHURCH, IRWIN.
CHURCH OF ST. MARY OF THE ASSUMPTION, IRWIN.
Irwin borough, or Irwin Station, is on the Pennsylvania Railroad, twenty-one miles east of Pittsburg. The place was so named from Mr. John Irwin, lately deceased, who owned extensive tracts of lands there. Here are located the West- moreland Coal Company's mines, the most extensive in West- ern Pennsylvania. The borough had in 1870 a population of 833 souls, and it has since increased very considerably. Al- though a small number of Catholics lived on farms in the vicinity for many years, the congregation and the town owe their rise to the mines. But the place was settled by Scotch- Irish Presbyterians, a class after Knox's own heart, and it is one of the most bigoted spots in the western part of the State. As an illustration of their hostility to Popery, it will suffice to say that when Mass was celebrated for some time in a house of one of the miners, beginning about the year 1862, before the church was built, it was not unusual for some of the young gentlemen of the place to assemble on the side of the hill above the house and annoy the assembly by throw- ing stones at it. So high did feeling run, that when one of the Benedictine fathers by whom the place was at first at- tended came on the cars on a certain Sunday to offer up the Holy Sacrifice, and did not find a man to meet him at the station, he would not venture alone to the house where the people were assembled, but stepped on the cars again and came to Pittsburg.
But the number of Catholics increased, and they deter- mined to have a church. A site was purchased and work commenced under the supervision of the pastor of Greens- burg, who, aided by one of the priests at St. Vincent's, minis- tered to the congregation until the appointment of a resident pastor. The corner-stone of the church was laid by Very Rev. T. Mullen, V.G., August 15th, 1867, and the church was dedicated by the Bishop on the following Ascension Day, under the title of St. Mary of the Assumption. The church is a brick structure 62 feet in length by 32 in width, and is furnished with a belfry. The style and finish are
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ST. MARY S CHURCH, IRWIN.
chaste and simple. Mass was celebrated from that time for- ward every Sunday, and of late years it has been celebrated twice. At length, in October, 1871, Rev. Michael Murphy was appointed first resident pastor, a position which he con- tinues to fill. Not having ground upon which to build a house, he purchased a large frame residence on a spacious lot adjoining the church in April, 1875. From the time of his appointment until the summer of 1873 he ministered to the congregation at Penn in connection with his own; but since that time, as was stated above, he has devoted himself exclu- sively to the church at Irwin. In December, 1876, he built a frame hall for fairs, entertainments, etc., and it is his intention to open a school in it as soon as circumstances permit. The principal obstacle that stands in his way is the fact that his congregation is distributed along the railroad for perhaps two miles in both directions from Irwin, and owing to the number of trains running parents fear to send their children.
The members of the congregation are engaged almost to a man in mining, which is known, here at least, as a very un- certain kind of employment, depending in part on the season of the year, in part on the iron trade, to some extent on the caprice of the operators of the mines, and no little on the strikes of the miners themselves; and hence it is almost im- possible to estimate the numerical strength of such a congre- gation. A single week may effect as great a change as a year would accomplish in other places. But the congregation is the largest in Westmoreland County, and as near as can be estimated may be put at one hundred and seventy-five fami- lies, who are almost without exception natives of the Emer- ald Isle. The church is far too small to accommodate them, and if circumstances permitted would have been enlarged be- fore this. The congregation must increase in the future as it ' has done in the past, and it is not improbable that another church will at some future day be erected between Irwin and Braddock's Field.
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MISSIONS.
SUTERVILLE MISSION.
Suterville is a village on the Youghioghenny River and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, twenty-nine miles south-east of Pittsburg. The mission is composed, like the others last no- ticed, almost exclusively of coal-miners. After the erection of the church at Alpsville, about eight miles further down the river, it was visited from there generally once in the month. Prior to that date it had perhaps been visited occasionally from Elizabeth, on the Monongahela River. No church has yet been built, but Mass is usually offered up in the village school-house. In April, 1877, Rev. H. P. Connery was ap- pointed resident pastor, and in October of the same year he rented a hall which was from that time used as a church. But the mission was unable to afford any kind of support to a pastor, owing to the fact that the small number of Catholic miners in the place did not work more perhaps than one third of their time, and in November, 1878, it was again at- tached to Alpsville and Father Connery was transferred to another congregation. No steps have as yet been taken to- wards the building of a church, nor is it probable that any will be taken until there is a permanent revival of business, for the prosperity of the place depends entirely on the mines. At present there are perhaps fifty families; and the number will increase, as the mines are rich and have been opened at a comparatively recent date.
SMITHTON MISSION.
Ten miles farther up the river, in the same county, is Smithton with ten Catholic families, miners. This place was also visited at first from Alpsville, but after the appointment of a pastor for Suterville it became a part of his mission. On his withdrawal, however, it reverted to Alpsville, and so it remains. Mass is celebrated in the school-house of the vil- lage. Both these missions are composed principally of Irish Catholics.
Although Westmoreland County is the oldest settlement
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INDIANA COUNTY.
in the diocese, and possesses a fair number of congregations, yet they are generally small, so that the Catholic population is not large. In the south-eastern and north-western sections there are no Catholics, if we except a very few scattered families.
INDIANA COUNTY.
It was the misfortune of this county to lie outside the line of canals and railroads, and hence, although all the congrega- tions were founded at an early day, religion has not flourished except at Blairsville. Nature, too, denied it the advantages of mineral wealth and left its population almost exclusively to the pursuit of agriculture, except in the eastern and north- eastern portions, which were covered with extensive pine for- ests. For these reasons the increase of the population has been very gradual, and that of the Catholic population still more gradual, as will be seen.
ST. PATRICK'S CHURCH, CAMERON BOTTOM.
This congregation is located in the eastern part of the county, about three miles north of the State road running from Ebensburg to Indiana, and about equidistant from both places. It is an offshoot of the Loretto colony, and dates as far back at least as the year 1820. Two years later Rev. Terence M'Girr began to pay it an occasional visit from Sportsman's Hall, and it is said to have been visited prior to that time by Father M'Guire, of the same place. A farm of about 360 acres was donated for the site of a church and the support of its pastor by a Mr. Wilcott, of Wilmington, Del .; and a stone church was commenced in 1827. It was dedicat- ed by Bishop Kenrick on his first visit, October 21st, 1832. But it would be impossible to give the names of the numer- ous visiting priests and resident pastors, for it has had more than any other three congregations in the dioceses. The bare list of them is enough to convince a person of ordinary intelligence that life is but a pilgrimage.
It was generally attended from Loretto or Ebensburg at distant intervals, until 1850, when the farm was transferred to
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CAMERON BOTTOM.
the Franciscan Brothers of the former place by the Bishop upon certain conditions, the most important of which was that they should establish a monastery and lodge and board the pastor of the church. When Bishop O'Connor visited the place in 1847 there were, as he states, 300 souls in the con- gregation, a larger number than at present, owing to the fact that a few families withdrew and attached themselves to the church at St. Nickolas, seven miles distant.
Upon the transfer of the property to the Brothers, a colony was sent from Loretto who built a frame house to serve as a temporary monastery until a more substantial one could be provided. From that time forward the congregation has been blessed with the presence of a resident pastor, and Mass is celebrated every Sunday. The first pastor was Rev. W. Lambert, but the changes were as frequent from that time as they had been before.
The little stone church began at length to show signs of age, and the people felt able to replace it by one more becom- ing the sacramental presence of our Divine Redeemer. Work was commenced, and the church was finished in the fall of 1853. The ceremony of the dedication was performed by Rev. Michael Corbett, of Loretto, on the 13th of November. The church is a small frame building capable of accommodat- ing about three hundred, and makes no pretensions to archi- tectural style. No steeple was built until 1868, when Rev. P. M. Sheehen was pastor.
About the same time the Brothers began the erection of the present stone monastery, which was finished in 1854. It is a large substantial building with small windows, and re- minded me of a fort the first time I saw it from a distance. But it is very comfortable, and has a chapel where the priest offers up the week-day Masses. The remaining portion of the congregation's history is uneventful. In February, 1861, a number of the larger male orphans was sent to the Brothers from Pittsburg to work on the farm till they should be larger, and then to find homes with Catholic families in the surround- ing county. There were generally from twenty to thirty at the farm until about 1868. But this disposition of the orphans was not successful, as will be seen more fully hereafter.
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CHURCH OF THE SEVEN DOLORS.
It was my lot to be pastor of the congregation during the early part of 1870, and at that time there were forty-five fami- lies, all farmers, and with a few exceptions Irish or of Irish de- scent. The present pastor is Rev. Philip J. Colwell. The future of the congregation is likely to be extremely monoto- nous.
CHURCH OF THE SEVEN DOLORS, STRONGSTOWN.
For several years two or three of the wealthier members of the southern part of the Cameron Bottom congregation complained of the distance they had to travel to hear Mass, and requested permission from the Bishop to build a church at Strongstown, four miles south of the present church. Per- mission was granted, and a miniature frame building was erected in the summer and fall of 1871. It was dedicated by Rev. James Canivan, pastor of the Cameron Bottom church, January 24th, 1872. Mass is celebrated in it once or twice in the month, the priest riding from one church to the other be- tween the Masses. But on the whole it may be regarded as a supernumerary.
ST. BERNARD'S CHURCH, INDIANA.
Indiana, the county-seat of Indiana County, was laid out in 1805 upon a tract of 250 acres of land granted for that pur- pose by George Clymer. The turnpike from Ebensburg to Kittanning passes through it ; but the principal outlet is the Indiana branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad, which connects with the main line near Blairsville. There are said to have been some traces of an ancient fortification about three miles south-west of the town .* The population in 1870 was 1605 souls. Father Bradley informs me that he visited the place occasionally during the two years he resided at Ebensburg, from 1830 to 1832, at which time there were but one English and two German families there. From the latter date until a resident pastor was appointed it was under the jurisdiction
* Day's Historical Collections, p. 378.
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ST. BERNARD'S CHURCH, INDIANA.
of the pastor of Blairsville. Little is known of its subsequent history until 1846, except that the Catholic population in- 'creased gradually by settlement and conversions. In that year the building of the first church was commenced, the cor- ner-stone of which was laid by Rev. J. A. Stillenger, of Blairs- ville, on the 6th of June. When Bishop O'Connor visited the congregation the following year, it numbered, as he states, two hundred and fifty souls. At the same time he dedicated the church under the invocation of St. Bernard. The build- ing was quite small and simple in style. It is but proper to state, in passing, that the greater part of what follows is taken in substance from the German history of St. Vincent's Abbey already referred to.
The congregation at Blairsville had by this time so far in- creased as to demand the undivided attention of Father Stil- lenger, and the church at Indiana was confided to the care of the fathers of the Benedictine Order at St. Vincent's Ab- bey. The church was at first visited on one Sunday in the month, as it had formerly been, but as it lay on the route to St. Mary's, Elk County, where the Benedictines had recently established a priory, the Father Superior wished to found one there also, both for the better management of the congrega- tion and also as a station on the journey to St. Mary's. The requisite permission was granted by the Bishop July 15th, 1852. Hereupon the Superior purchased a property near the church with a building on it which had been used as a tav- ern, for $3700, and also a farm of 310 acres, four miles from the town, for $2400. Two priests were at first stationed at the priory, who ministered to the spiritual necessities of the congregation and also visited a few families at Perrysville, twenty-three miles north of Indiana; Plum Creek, twelve miles, and Crooked Creek, eight miles west; and Mechanics- burg, eight miles south-east. But regular visits to these places were not long continued, and in the autumn of 1855 one of the priests was withdrawn. In 1861 a school-house was built and a school opened by a lay teacher. In the following year a stone priory was erected.
The church at length became too small to accommodate the congregation, whose means as well as number justified
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BLAIRSVILLE.
them in undertaking a new one. The lot upon which it was to stand was donated by Paul Vogel & Brothers; work was commenced, and the corner-stone was laid by the Bishop August 17th, 1869. Two years later the church was com- pleted, and was dedicated by the same prelate September 26th. The sacred edifice, which is of brick, is built after the Roman style of architecture, and is 95 feet in length by 64 in width in the transept and 54 in the nave. It is surmounted by a steeple 135 feet high. The interior is well finished, and altogether the church will compare favorably with almost any in the diocese. The entire cost was $18,000. This quite naturally left a considerable debt on the congregation, which at that time numbered 450 souls, with fifty children in the school. ·
In 1876 the Benedictine Order withdrew, and the congre- gation passed into the hands of the secular clergy. The present pastor, Rev. Geo. Allman, was appointed to the va- cant office. The following year he built a convent and school- house combined, and introduced the Sisters of St. Agnes to take charge of the schools, a duty which they continue to fulfil. But this improvement and change, considering the debt and the circumstances of the congregation, though de- sirable, are thought to have been premature.
The congregation was from the beginning almost entirely German, and that nationality still predominates, but the younger portion is rather American, and the parish may be termed a mixed one. It has, if anything, declined in the last few years, but it must increase-although it will be very slowly-as it is composed principally of farmers.
BLAIRSVILLE.
Blairsville is situated on the north bank of the Cone- maugh River and on the northern turnpike, 40 miles east of Pittsburg. It was laid out about the year 1819, and was named in honor of John Blair, of Blair's Gap, Allegheny Mountain, then president of the Hollidaysburg and Pittsburg Turnpike Company. The land upon which the town is built originally belonged to a Mr. Campbell. The construction of
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CATHOLICS IN BLAIRSVILLE.
the turnpike fostered the growth of the town, and in March, 1825, it was incorporated as a borough. From 1827 to 1834 were the palmy days of Blairsville. In 1828 the western divi- sion of the canal was completed to the town, and the eastern was gradually advancing toward the mountains. In 1834 com- munication was made between the eastern and western divi- sions of the canal, traffic and travel by the turnpike almost ceased, and Blairsville lost its former importance, for the canal did not pass through the town, but on the opposite side of the river .*
The Pennsylvania Railroad runs within three miles of the town, with which it is connected by the Indiana branch. The West Pennsylvania Railroad, which was built on the line of the canal from Allegheny City to Blairsville, about the year 1864, has its shops in the town. But the place no longer en- joys its former prosperity, as will be seen from the fact that in 1840 it had a population of 990, which had risen in 1870 to but 1054.
Catholics were among the first settlers in the vicinity of Blairsville. Prior to the construction of the canal, the West- moreland colony, the centre of which was but ten miles dis- tant, had extended across the Conemaugh into Indiana Coun- ty. Upon the completion of the canal a number of the laborers employed upon it took up their residence in the town and its environs. The first Mass celebrated where the town now stands was by Dr. Gallitzin; the date is uncertain, but the circumstances will show that it was most probably before the town was laid out. I have the account from a man who was present. The Holy Sacrifice was offered up in the open air, under a tree in a grove back of the present church. When the grove was cut down to convert the place into a cemetery, the stump of the tree was religiously guarded by Father Stillenger, until time itself removed it. Mass was af- terwards celebrated in the house of a Mr. Devinny, but for how long a time is uncertain. During the construction of the canal Mass was celebrated by Rev. Terence M'Girr, of Sportsman's Hall, but Dr. Gållitzin also paid the line an occa- sional visit.
* Day's Historical Collections, pp. 378, 379.
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STS. SIMON AND JUDE'S CHURCH.
STS. SIMON AND JUDE'S CHURCH, BLAIRSVILLE.
The building of the church appears, however, to have been the spontaneous work of the people themselves. Be that as it may, the congregation cannot be said to have been organ- ized until the arrival of Rev. James A. Stillenger, who was the first, and the only pastor for forty-three years.
The people, anxious to enjoy the advantages of a resident priest, sent a delegation to Pittsburg in the latter part of June, 1830, to meet the newly consecrated Bishop Kenrick on his way from Kentucky to his see, and lay their petition before him. But he preferred to stop at Blairsville on his way, as he did July Ist, when he administered confirmation and learned the condition of the congregation. He promised to send them a pastor, and on November 28th Father Stillen- ger took up his residence in the town. He finished the little church, which had not yet been completed, had it dedicated, and continued to offer up the Holy Sacrifice twice in the month ; at the same time he attended the scattered families over a large tract of the surrounding country. In 1832 he was directed by the Bishop to visit the few Catholics residing east of the Allegheny River as far north as the New York State line, a distance of 110 miles, and two years later Fay- ette and other counties in the south of the State were placed under his jurisdiction, and received the benefit of his minis- trations four times in the year. His parish during this time -which was not more than three years embraced the entire breadth of the State, a distance of about 160 miles. About the same time, as we have seen, he built a new church and a house at St. Vincent's, and transferred his residence thither. There he resided until September, 1844, and visited Blairsville as usual on two Sundays in the month.
In the mean time, however, the congregation had so far increased as no longer to find accommodations in the church. A new one was called for, and was commenced in 1841. When finished it was dedicated by Very Rev. M. O'Connor, V.G., October 2d of the following year. It is a brick build- ing 90 feet in length by 48 in width, having a steeple in the
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DECORATIONS OF THE CHURCH.
centre in front, and is modelled after the Gothic style of archi- tecture. The main altar occupies a recess with a sacristy on each side, in front of which are the side-altars. Upon the re- turn of Father Stillenger to Blairsville, his labors were con- fined exclusively to that congregation, with the exception of a monthly visit to Indiana until 1852. He built or bought a brick residence, and some years later-the date is uncertain -built a brick school-house and opened a school with a lay teacher. About the year 1858 he added greatly to the deco- ration of the interior of the church by placing nine large oil- paintings on the walls. On the right hand, uniform in size and about 6 by 9 feet, are the Agony in the Garden, the De- scent from the Cross, and the Resurrection. On the left hand, and of the same size, are the Nativity, the Transfiguration, and the Ascension. Over the side-altar on the right, the titular saints, Simon and Jude, stand side by side in full- length portraits in a painting about 8 by 10 feet. Over the other side-altar is the Annunciation, of the same size. The altar-piece of the main altar is a Crucifixion, about 10 by 12 feet. These paintings are all mounted on rich gilt frames, and although of different relative merit are all works of rare excellence. They have been visited and admired by thou- sands, many of whom came from a distance to see them. Their history as far as it is known is briefly this, as told me by Father Stillenger a short time before his death. " When I used to kneel before the altar of the old church," said he, " and look up at the little picture of the Blessed Virgin and Child over the altar, I would wish and pray that I might be able to decorate my new church, when it should be built, with beautiful oil-paintings. The Blessed Virgin heard my prayer. There was a young man here at that time, a particular friend of mine, whose godfather was a celebrated painter in Ger- many, and it was through his influence that I got these pic- tures. I paid something for them, but of course not as much as they are worth."
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