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 4
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Two years later a Calvinist minister settled in the town, for the inhabitants were principally Scotch and Irish Presby- terians ; and a church was soon after built for him on the site of the present First Presbyterian Church, Wood Street. It was the first church erected in Pittsburg.
During the excise troubles Pittsburg was the scene of much violence, a circumstance by which it became still better known abroad. On the re-establishment of order settlers were drawn in numbers, and the population increased. It was incorporated as a borough, April 22d, 1794; and char- tered as a city, March 18th, 1816, having then a population of about 6000. Anterior to the latter date the manufacture of glass, iron, and nails had been commenced, which was des- tined to play so important a part in promoting the wealth and prosperity of the city. We shall now turn to the religious history of Pittsburg.
It would appear that a very small number of Catholics, of whom a part at least were French, had settled in Pittsburg prior to the year 1792. Probably the first priest who ap- peared in the town was Rev. Father Whalen, who was sent by very Rev. John Carroll to the Catholics of Kentucky in 1787.t The usual mode of travel to the West in those early days was either to come overland to Pittsburg, and there em- bark on the Ohio in a flat-boat, or to Brownsville, on the Mo-
* The italics are in the original.
t Sketches of Kentucky, by Rev. M. J. Spalding, D.D., p. 42.
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REV. B. J. FLAGET AT PITTSBURG.
nongahela, and embark in the same manner. The former was the more ordinary way ; and if Father Whalen adopted it, as he most probably did, he was the first priest to set foot in Pittsburg, and the first to offer up the holy Sacrifice in West- ern Pennsylvania after the French occupation. In 1792 Rev. B. J. Flaget, afterwards Bishop of Bardstown, Ky., also passed through, and as he was delayed in the town for several months an account of his sojourn will be interesting, and the more so as our means of obtaining information respecting those early days is very limited. Says his biographer : "He set out on his journey (from Baltimore to Vincennes) in the month of May, in a wagon destined to Pittsburg. He tra- velled alone with the conductor of the wagon. . . . In Pittsburg he was detained for nearly six months, in conse- quence of the low stage of the water in the Ohio. He car- ried with him letters of introduction from Bishop Carroll to Gen. Wayne, who was stationed at that point preparing for his great expedition against the Indians of the North-west. . During his detention in Pittsburg, Monsieur Flaget was not idle. He boarded in the family of a French Hugue- not married to an American Protestant lady, by whom he was kindly and hospitably entertained. He said Mass every morn- ing in their house ; and during the day he devoted himself to the instruction of the few French inhabitants and French Catholic soldiers.
" The small-pox having broken out in the place, he was indefatigable in his attentions to those stricken with the loath- some disease. Forgetful of his own imminent danger, he generously devoted himself for their bodily and spiritual comfort. His zeal brought with it a blessing, and his heart was much consoled by these first-fruits of his ministry in America.
" An incident occurred while he was in Pittsburg which presented an occasion for the exercise of his charity and zeal. Gen. Wayne, though a humane man, was a rigid discipli- narian. Four soldiers had deserted, and on being appre- hended they were promptly condemned to death by a court martial. Two of them were Irish or American Catholics, one was a Protestant, and the fourth a French infidel. Mon-
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THE FIRST CATHOLICS IN PITTSBURG.
sieur Flaget visited them in prison ; and though but little ac- quainted with English, he had the happiness to receive the Protestant into the Church, and to administer the sacraments to the two Catholics. They were in the most happy disposi- tions ; and he mingled his tears of joy with theirs of repent- ance. The Frenchman proved obdurate; and the zealous priest could make no impression on his heart.
" He accompanied the convicts to the place of execution ; but his tender heart would not permit him to hear the fatal shot by which they would be launched into eternity. So much was he moved that on his hasty departure from the spot he fell into a swoon; and on recovering, he found him- self lying in a ravine by the wayside. Several hours had already elapsed since the execution, and the whole appeared to him like a dream. The Frenchman was pardoned by Gen. Wayne, the moment before the order to fire, out of regard for the feelings of M. Flaget, who had exhibited the most poignant grief that his unhappy countryman was so totally unprepared to die. In November he left Pittsburg in a flat-boat bound for Louisville." *
In the autumn of the following year Rev. Stephen Badin and Rev. M. Barrieres also passed through Pittsburg, remain- ing for a short time, as may be gathered from the following : " The two missionaries left Baltimore on the 6th of Septem- ber, 1793, and travelled like the Apostles, on foot to Pittsburg, over bad roads and a rugged wilderness country. On the 3d of November they embarked on a flat-boat which was de- scending the Ohio." t
A very small number of Catholics, emigrants from Ireland, for the most part, also settled in Pittsburg about the begin- ning of the century. But so few were they that when Rev. D. A. Gallitzin, the first priest residing in Pennsylvania who is known to have visited the place, made his appearance among them, in 1804, there are said to have been only fifteen souls to assist at his Mass. Rev. P. Heilbron and perhaps one or two other priests are thought to have visited the town at distant
* Sketches of the Life, etc., of the Rt. Rev. B. J. Flaget, by Rev. M. J. Spalding, D D., pp. 31-33.
t Ibid. p. 75.
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THE FIRST CHURCH IN PITTSBURG.
intervals during the next two years. Rev. F. X. O'Brien was the first to come at regular intervals. Says Mr. Shea, on what authority I know not: "In the first years of this cen- tury the Rev. F. X. O'Brien had the centre of his mission at Brownsville, forty miles south of Pittsburg, which latter city he visited once in the month, to say Mass for the few Catho- lics, who gathered around him in a private house." *
I have not been able to find a confirmation of this state- ment, further than that Father O'Brien visited Pittsburg dur- ing a part of the years 1806 and '7. His name does not occur prior to the former year, and he left Brownsville in the latter, a considerable time before he took up his residence in Pittsburg. Be this as it may, for historical data are neither copious nor exact, he was appointed resident pastor of the little town in October, 1808. The Catholics at this time are said to have numbered only twenty souls; but the future prospects were such as to encourage the zealous missionary to undertake the erection of a church. And here an important question arises. When was the first church erected in Pittsburg ? The date com- monly given is 1808. But this is evidently erroneous. Father O'Brien, as we have seen, did not arrive until the close of that year; and he would not then commence so important a work. It may have been, and probably was, begun the following spring. But, though small, it was a great under- taking for the little, indigent flock; and Father O'Brien was obliged to go elsewhere for assistance. He visited a number of the wealthy Catholic families of Baltimore and other parts of Maryland, and was assisted by the Archbishop himself. The lot upon which the church stood was donat- ed by Col. Jas. O'Hara. This being the first property ac- quired by the Church in Pittsburg, possesses a special in- terest to the historian. It also aids in determining the date at which the church was built. From the records in the court- house which I have examined, I learn that James O'Hara and Mary, his wife, deeded to Philip Gilland and Anthony Beelen a lot of ground 60 by 64 feet, at the corner of Liberty and Washington Streets, in consideration of one dollar, " as of di- vers other considerations them thereunto more especially
* The Catholic Church in the United States, p. 285.
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BISHOP EGAN VISITS PITTSBURG.
moving. On which the Roman Catholic chapel
is erected. IN TRUST for the Roman Catholic congregation of Pittsburg and vicinity, to and for the only proper use and behoof of the said congregation and their pos- terity forever, and for no other use or purpose whatever." The deed is dated November 6th, 1811, and was recorded by Lazarus Stewart, Justice of the Peace, December 8th .* The property of which the church lot formed a part had been pur- chased from Prestly Neville, July 15th, 1799. From this it is evident that the first church of Pittsburg was built before the close of 1811. But how long it had been in course of erec- tion cannot be determined; for the work upon it necessarily progressed but slowly, and it was not yet finished when Bishop Egan of Philadelphia visited the city, in the latter part of the summer of 1811. This was the first visit of a Bishop to the western part of the State ; for although Bishop Carroll set out on a visit in 1802, he was deterred from cross- ing the mountains by the condition of the roads, or, it may be, by the absence of roads. Bishop Egan administered Con- firmation in a private house. There were then about fifteen families.
At length the new church was completed, and was dedi- cated to St. Patrick, a sufficient evidence that here, as in count- less other places, the foundations of religion had been laid by emigrants from the Island of Saints. It was an unassuming brick building, perhaps fifty feet in length by thirty in' width; and stood at the head of Eleventh Street, in front of the pres- ent Union Depot. To this day it is spoken of as "Old St. Patrick's."
The residence of a priest and the completion of a church, added to the erection of manufactories, which pointed out Pittsburg as a good place for laborers, stimulated the Catholic settlement. Numbers of German families came ; but the Irish element always predominated in the city, and still predomi- nates. Time wore on, and the good priest who had been thought too sanguine in erecting so large a church beheld it crowded with an ever-increasing congregation. But neither he nor any other of the pioneer priests confined his labors to
* Deed Book, vol. xvii. pp. 368, 369.
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A PARISH EQUAL TO TEN DIOCESES.
one congregation, or even to one county. Their mission fre- quently embraced a circuit of fifty, seventy-five, or even a hundred miles, which they traversed and ministered to as fre- quently as circumstances permitted.
The following extracts from a letter of the Very Rev. Felix De Andreis, who, passing through Pittsburg in the autumn of 1816, remained in it a short time with his eleven companions, members like himself of the Congregation of the Mission, will be read with interest, conveying as they do an idea of the means of travel afforded in those days, and the condition of religion in Pittsburg :
" Having set out in two parties from Baltimore," he writes, under date of September 16th, to Mr. Sicardi, Vicar-General of the Congregation at Rome, " we crossed, partly on foot and partly on wretched vehicles, the rugged mountains of Penn- sylvania ; some of us accomplished the journey in nineteen, others in ten days; but for all it was attended with great expense and inconvenience. The distance we had to go was about three hundred miles ; and, not meeting with any Catholic church on our way, we could neither celebrate nor hear Mass. The worst of it was, however, that even when we reached Pittsburg, a pretty considerable town, in a commercial point of view, there was no means of obtaining this consolation. Among a population of ten thousand the Catholics scarcely number three hundred. They are all generally very poor, so that the church is almost destitute of everything ; the pastor, who has under his care a parish nearly equal to ten dioceses, is constantly employed in visiting his parishioners ; he was absent when we arrived, and having taken with him the chalice, our devotion, no less than that of the people, was dis- appointed, for all seemed most anxious to see us officiate. At last a pewter chalice was found, but there was no paten ; how- ever, yesterday, late in the evening, having gone with one of my companions to our lodging in the house of a worthy Catholic family, a paten was found most unexpectedly. I sent my companion to bear the good news to the others, and to the principal Catholics of the place, who soon spread the tidings from house to house; so that this morning we cele-
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FATHER O'BRIEN RETIRES.
brated our five Masses, including one that was chanted. This afternoon we had Vespers." *
Writing in his journal, he says : " We had to remain until the 23d of October at Pittsburg, the waters of the Ohio being too low to allow us to proceed on our way. On the above- named day we started in a sort of vessel called a flat-boat, made precisely like a small house, the roof of which served as a deck. It was a moving sight to see the banks crowded with persons who came to bid us farewell ; many of them gave us considerable sums of money, and exhibited lively marks of sorrow for our departure."t During their stay they were aided materially by Mr. Anthony Beelen, whose name figures prominently in the early history of the Church in Pittsburg. He was a Belgian, and his father had been the ambassador of Joseph II., Emperor of Germany. Upon the death of the emperor, in 1790, Baron De ·Beelen determined to remain in Philadelphia. His son Anthony came to Pittsburg about the beginning of this century, and, being possessed of wealth and education, he soon attained to an honorable position. He received Louis Philippe when passing through the city, also Lafayette on his visit in 1825 ; and he ably seconded whatever was undertaken in the interests of religion. But he at length became entangled in the meshes of Freemasonry and a mixed marriage, and died without having been reconciled to the Church.
Father O'Brien, who was naturally of a delicate constitu- tion, soon found that his strength was not equal to his zeal. But so far from rest and repose being in store for him, his labors were destined to increase ; for at this time a number of State roads, or "pikes" as they were familiarly called, were laid out and to be opened; and as they would be mainly con- structed by Catholic Irishmen, a new field was opened for him. But nature, if not a motive of self-preservation, will impose a limit to zeal. Father O'Brien's strength was finally so far exhausted as no longer to permit him to continue his labors, and he retired to Maryland, his native State, early in 1820, where he remained until his death, with the exception of a
* Sketches of the Life of the Very Rev. Felix De Andreis, PP. 95, 96. t Ibid p. 98.
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REV. CHARLES B. M'GUIRE.
short time spent at Conewago. Little more is known of this good priest except that, worn out more by labor than by age, he died, most probably at Annapolis, on the Feast of All Saints, 1832.
Father O'Brien was succeeded, March, 1820, by Rev. Charles B. M'Guire, O.S.F., who had been pastor of the church in the Westmoreland County settlement for some time, and who had visited Pittsburg at intervals during the previous year. "Moved by the wants of the Catholics of Pittsburg, he was transferred, or transferred himself thither," as Father Heyden remarks in one of his letters, " for there was no great order in those days. . . He made the Church at Pittsburg what it is." But his labors, like those of his predecessor, were not confined to the city. They extended to the scattered families in the country for many miles around. Soon after his arrival he purchased a small two-story brick house on Liberty Street, Nos. 340 and 342, in which he lived, and which is yet standing as a relic of the past.
The little church at length became too small for the con- gregation, and Father M'Guire determined to enlarge it. Col. O'Hara had donated an addition to the original lot, about the same size as it, some time prior to 1815; and about the year 1824 or 1825 Father M'Guire built an addition to. the church in the form of a transept across the rear of the existing building. It was ready for occupation about the commencement of 1826, but was not finished in the interior until later, and was as simple in its style of architecture as the original building. The congregation had now sufficient accommodation ; but only for a short time. The cemetery was for many years attached to the church. Father M'Guire also purchased a farm on the hill south of the Monongahela, and a short distance east of the spot now occupied by the Passionist Monastery, but at what precise time is uncertain, upon which he contemplated the erection of a house of his order. But circumstances, and especially the death of Rev. Anthony Kenny, then his companion, prevented him from carrying out his plans.
In the early part of the summer of 1819 Bishop Flaget, of Bardstown, passed from Erie down the. Allegheny River to
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ST. PAUL'S CHURCH.
Pittsburg, where he remained two days and administered Con- firmation.
Soon after the addition was made to St. Patrick's a fresh impulse was given to business in the city, and a more rapid increase to the population, in which the Catholics more than others were likely to be benefited. The Pennsylvania Canal, to traverse the entire length of the State from Phila- delphia to Pittsburg, was laid out, and work was commenced upon it in 1826. In view of the increase of the Catholic popu- lation which must necessarily accompany and follow the con- struction of the canal, Father M'Guire conceived the idea of erecting a new church, which should be the greatest work of his life. His mind, schooled in the pomp with which religion is surrounded in Catholic countries, was not disposed to satisfy itself with such a church as circumstances force upon a country in its infancy. He would raise an edifice such as few dioceses, if any, in the United States could then boast, one which he could contemplate with feelings of pride and leave at his death to an admiring future.
A meeting of the Catholics of Pittsburg was called, August 27th, 1827, at which he presided, to take the matter into consid- eration. A committee, or board of trustees, was selected, with himself as president, who should purchase a site, and hold it in trust for the congregation. They selected the lots on the north-west corner of Fifth Avenue and Grant Street, the site of the present magnificent cathedral, which was then in the outskirts of the city. This location, for its central position and elevation, could not be excelled. The lot had an elevation of about twenty feet above the present level of the street, the latter having been cut down on two different times, as we shall hereafter have occasion to remark. It was most probably about this time that Father M'Guire received his first assistant, and Pittsburg became the residence of two priests. Work was soon after commenced on the foundation of the proposed church, the hill was graded off in view of a future grading of the street, and the corner-stone was laid without ceremony by Father M'Guire, June 24th, 1829. It appears that in the report of the proceedings by a local paper the church was styled a cathedral, whereupon the U. S. Catholic Miscellany expressed
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THE NUNS OF ST. CLARE.
its surprise that Pittsburg should have been raised to the dignity of an episcopal see without its knowledge, and it there- upon read Father M'Guire a very orthodox lecture on his duties of submission to his ecclesiastical superiors. Poor man! Although St. Paul's did become a cathedral, it was not his fault.
In the year 1828 or 1829 a colony of Poor Clare Nuns opened a house of their order in Allegheny town .* With this colony came Rev. Vincent Raymacher, O.S.D., who was their chaplain until he was succeeded by Rev. A. F. Van de Wejer, a Belgian of the same order, some time after the fall of 1830. Both these chaplains assisted Father M'Guire, especially in ministering to the Germans. The Germans were encouraged to contribute towards the erection of the new church by the promise that upon its completion St. Patrick's would be given to them, and they would be organized into a separate congre- gation. During the progress of the work Bishop Kenrick visited the city, June 26th, 1830, in company with Bishop Con- well, on their way to Philadelphia after the consecration of the first-named prelate. Says the correspondent of the U. S. Catholic Miscellany : " They were, after their arrival, visited by Father M'Guire and his assistant, Rev. Patrick Rafferty. Shortly afterwards the prelates visited the ground whereon the new and spacious church intended to be dedicated to St. Paul is now erecting. They found the building in progress, and had occasion to admire the great increase of Catholics in the city, where, in the memory of a layman then present, only six Catholics existed, whilst now nearly 4000 are calculated to be enclosed within its precincts. They inquired the number of baptisms on record in the pastor's register during the last ten years, and learned that 1214 had received this sacrament. Emigration from Europe had partially swelled the congrega- tion; but conversions had also contributed to its increase. Forty-three converts had been received in 1828, and twenty- seven in 1829. On Sunday, the 27th, Bishop Conwell admin- istered Confirmation in St. Patrick's."
* The establishment of religious orders, opening of educational and charitable institutions, and organization of congregations mentioned in the text will be treated of at length in their proper places.
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DEATH OF FATHER M'GUIRE.
But the force of circumstances obliged Father M'Guire soon after to suspend work on the new edifice, and before it could be resumed he was called to his reward, July 17th, 1833. During his pastorate Father M'Guire had for assistants Rev. Anthony Kenny, Rev. P. Rafferty, Rev. A. F. Van de Wejer, Rev. John Grady, Rev. Thos. Gegan, and finally Rev. John O'Reilly, who came in November, 1832, and succeeded him after his death.
Father Kenny died soon after his ordination. The follow- ing notice of his death, from the American Manufacturer, is all we know of Father Gegan : " Rev. Thomas Gegan, late and amiable assistant of the late Ch. B. M.Guire, died at Newry, Huntingdon County, July 15th, 1833, in the 33d year of his age. He was on his way from this city (Pittsburg) to Philadelphia, when his stay with Rev. Jas. Bradley was prolonged by an aggravation of his disease, consumption, which has thus ter- minated his useful and disinterested labors in the ministry of the Catholic Church."
The following biographical notice of Father M'Guire is compiled principally from an article published in the American Manufacturer immediately after his death, and which was evidently written by one intimately acquainted with him. Many of his relations then lived in the city, and could have furnished the writer with all the particulars of his life. If space permitted, many interesting incidents could be given of his life and character; but it is necessary to omit them. The distinguished services which he rendered to religion in Pitts- burg entitle him to a more extended notice than could be given to many others.
REV. CHARLES BONAVENTURE M'GUIRE was born near the town of Dungannon, in the county Tyrone, Ireland, in the year 1768. (Another account states that he was born Decem- ber 16th, 1770.) From an early age he was destined for the sacred ministry, and having received the rudiments of an education at home, he went to the university of Louvain to finish his studies. Upon attaining the proper age he was ordained, and exercised the duties of the sacred ministry in various parts of the Netherlands and Germany. During this period he acquired a remarkable knowledge of the German
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF FR. M'GUIRE.
language. Soon the fury of the French revolution extended to the Netherlands. "He was among the clergy who in defence of their own rights and the interests of religion took part with the French Government against the revolutionists. For this he, in common with the rest of the clergy, was pro- scribed and his life forfeited. On one occasion he was seized and dragged towards the guillotine, when a cooper, who knew him, heroically attacked with an edged instrument of his trade the persons who had him in custody, and effected his rescue. He fled and escaped, but not until he had witnessed the mas- sacre of his noble-souled and lion-hearted deliverer, who was instantly cut to pieces by the infuriated insurgents. From Louvain he escaped to the city of Rome, where he remained for six years in the performance of his clerical duties. He left that city at the time that the armed legions of Napoleon tyrannized over the Pope and his adherents throughout Italy. He then travelled over the most of the Continent of Europe, making observations. In 1815 he was engaged by the King of Bohemia to perform a religious office towards a member of the royal family who was at Brussels. In the performance of this mission it so happened that he reached the city just at the time of the memorable battle of Waterloo. To many of the wounded and dying he administered the last rites of the Church. We have heard him speak of fragments of military equipments which he collected on the battle-field, and which he preserved as relics of the scene. Shortly after this period he started for America, and reached our shores in 1817. He was not stationed until nearly a year after his arrival, although engaged in the discharge of pastoral duties. He was then stationed as pastor of the congregation in Westmoreland County, where he remained until transferred to Pittsburg. With his appearance a new era commenced with the entire Catholic body. Religion found in him an expositor worthy of herself, and the Catholic body gradually assumed, and maintained henceforward, a dignity and respectability in the opinions of dissenting Christians which were not allowed them before his arrival. As a man, as a priest, as a scholar, none knew him but to respect and love him. He was one among those rare beings who unite the traits of liberality, urbanity,
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