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 40
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In 1849 or 1850 an attempt was made by the Franciscan Brothers from Loretto to open a male orphan asylum on the farm in accordance with the stipulations of the donor. An additional building was erected and the larger orphan boys transferred thither, but the distance from the city, the difficulty of access, and other causes induced the Bishop to regard the work as impracticable, and the farm with its buildings was sold to the Bishop of Cleveland in 1851 for $3000. But the use of the church was permitted the people for some time ; nor does it seem that the chaplain of the community that took possession of the farm ministered to the people until recently. The Sisters of Charity from Cleveland first occupied the farm and opened an orphan asylum, having for their chaplain Rev. Fr. O'Callaghan, and after him Rev. Fr. Pugh. But they were succeeded in 1854 by the present community, the Sisters of the Humility of Mary, with their founder, Rev. J. J. Begel,
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as chaplain. The community numbers at present thirty-two Sisters and thirty novices, and they have an asylum with about fifty orphans. The object of the institute is the care of orphans and the sick, and the instruction of the children of the poor. They teach school at different places in the dioceses of Cleveland and Erie.
The erection of churches at New Castle and at Youngs- town, Ohio, drew away many of the families that originally belonged to St. James', and the few that remain live at a con- siderable distance from the church. The difficulty of access to the place and the absence of minerals and manufactories make it improbable that it will ever have a considerable Catholic population. Mass has not been celebrated in the church since about the year 1873; for when the Sister sen- larged their house they built a chapel in which the few families-perhaps not a dozen in all-hear Mass. The church was moved to a spot nearer the house about a year or two later, and is now used as a school for the orphans.
ST. MARY'S CHURCH, NEW CASTLE.
New Castle, the county-seat of Lawrence County, is situ- ated on the Shenango River,* at its junction with Neshannock Creek, and is on the line of the Erie and Pittsburg Railroad, 50 miles north-west of the latter city. The town was laid out about the year 1800, but owes its importance to the con- struction of the Beaver Canal, which traverses the valley, and which was opened in 1832. The town was at first confined to the delta between the two streams, but is now spread far over the gently rising hills on both sides of the Shenango. The present population is estimated at 11,000. For the size of the place it has very extensive manufactories of iron and glass, and to these is due its recent rapid growth. A creature of the iron trade, its fortune changes with it, and the same may be said of the Catholic population.
A small number of Catholics settled on farms in the vicin-
* The principal stream of the Beaver valley bears this name till its junction with Little Beaver Creek, when it takes the name of Beaver River till it flows into the Ohio, 16 miles below.
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ity of New Castle at an early date in its history ; but although Mass was undoubtedly offered up for them in a private room as often as their necessities, or rather the time at the disposal of the missionary priests of the district, made it practicable, we have no reliable record of it. This much, however, is known, that priests from Pittsburg ministered to the few scat- tered families along the canal at such points as was necessary. When Fr. Reid first said Mass at New Castle, August, 1851, there are said to have been no more than ten or fifteen fami- lies of farmers and a small number of others. In 1852 he built a frame church, about 40 feet in length by 20 in width, on the side of the river to the west of the town in the most unlikely spot imaginable, and dedicated it to the Blessed Vir- gin. He was then succeeded by Rev. Peter M. Garvey, who became the first resident pastor, offering up the Holy Sacri- fice alternately at that place and New Bedford. The constant residence of a pastor from that time would seem to argue a considerable increase in the Catholic population. But there was a strong Presbyterian element of a very illiberal school in the town and county, and the Catholics were, and still are, looked upon as a generation that fears the light. In June, 1855, Fr. Garvey was succeeded by Rev. Thos. O'Farrell, who ministered to the congregation and missions until August, 1859, when he gave place to Rev. John C. Farren. Upon his withdrawing in May, 1862, the congregation was visited monthly for a year by Rev. Thos. Walsh, of Brady's Bend, Armstrong County. Rev. Jas. Canivan then became pastor ; and during his residence the iron trade of the town began to assume its present proportions, and to draw thither a large number of Catholics, principally Irish, who sought employ- ment. The church was now no longer capable of accommo- dating them, nor could it be sufficiently enlarged. Desiring a more suitable locality, Fr. Canivan purchased a large lot in the older part of the town, corner of Beaver and North streets, and soon after commenced to build the church. The corner-stone was laid by the Bishop July 4th, 1866, but the church was not finished for five years. March 10th, 1871, Fr. Canivan was succeeded by Rev. W. F. Hayes. The congre- gation was now large and increasing rapidly. In April, after
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his arrival, Fr. Hayes opened a school in a rented room, un- der the direction of a lay teacher, and in May purchased a large frame dwelling across the street from the church for a pastoral residence ; for previous to that time the pastor had occupied a rented house. The church was finished the same year, and dedicated by the Bishop September 17th. It is built of brick, is 110 feet in length by 45 in width, has a well- proportioned tower in the centre in front, and follows the Gothic style of architecture with some modifications in the plan of its construction. There are no columns in the inte- rior, but the ceiling is groined over the windows and rises moderately from the side walls toward the centre, at which point it reaches the height of 33 feet from the floor. There are three altars, a large gallery, and stained-glass windows. But the lot is low and the church is damp.
Soon after the completion of the church the congregation was in the zenith of its prosperity, and contained perhaps four hundred families, besides many single men employed in the manufactories. There was also at this time a considera- ble number of Germans. An assistant to the pastor became necessary, and one was first appointed in February, 1873. But the panic of the same year bore heavily on New Castle, and the iron-works, after struggling against it for a time, either entirely suspended or greatly reduced the number of the hands employed. This was especially trying for the congre- gation, which had purchased sixty acres of land about a mile from the town in May of that year, part of which was to be used as a cemetery, and the balance to be disposed of in lots to members of the congregation according to an agreement the conditions of which they were now unable to fulfil. A new and larger school-house was also needed, and after some necessary delay it was built in 1876. It is one of the most substantial and best arranged school-houses in the diocese, and is 60 feet in length by 35 in width, and three stories high. The first and second floors are each divided into two rooms, while the third is a hall with stage for exhibitions, fairs, etc. The schools were placed under the care of the Sisters of St. Joseph, from Ebensburg, in September, 1875. As yet a con- vent has not been built for their accommodation.
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ST. FRANCIS', STONERSTOWN.
In February, 1877, St. Teresa's Church, Clinton, which had to that time been under the care of the pastor of New Castle, was detached to form part of a new parish, and with it the assistant withdrew from St. Mary's.
The congregation is now greatly reduced in numbers, and will not count more perhaps than one hundred and fifty fami- lies, with many single persons. But this is only temporary. With the revival of the iron trade New Castle will be itself again, and St. Mary's will enjoy its wonted prosperity. Fr. Hayes was succeeded February 8th, 1879, by the present pas- tor, Rev. Jos. Gallagher.
ST. FRANCIS XAVIER'S CHURCH, STONERSTOWN.
The little village of Stonerstown is situated on Slippery Rock Creek, about twelve miles east of New Castle. The scenery along the creek, especially at the mouth of Muddy Creek immediately above, is very romantic and beautiful. Tradition also points to this as the spot where the Indian tribes for a great distance round were accustomed to hold their annual council. A blast-furnace was built here many years ago, which was replaced by another more recently, and since the latter date a few Catholic families settled in the vil- lage and around it. But Mass is not known to have been celebrated there until after the appointment of Fr. Hayes to New Castle. For a few years he offered up the Holy Sacri- fice monthly on a week-day in a private room, but in the summer of 1875 he built a frame church 47 feet in length by 22 in width, with a steeple. It is dedicated to the Apostle of the Indies, and is one of the most chaste and beautiful little churches in the diocese. A priest from New Castle visited it on one Sunday in the month until the furnace blew out about a year later, when all the Catholics, with the exception of half a dozen families, moved elsewhere. It is now visited once in the month on a week-day. Little change is likely to take place in the miniature congregation for many years to come.
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ST. TERESA'S CHURCH, CLINTON.
.ST. TERESA'S CHURCH, CLINTON.
Homewood Furnace, about thirteen miles down the river from New Castle, employed in its day a number of Catholic laborers, and was for many years while it was in blast at- tended at regular intervals; but these visits ceased after the erection of the church at Clinton. This church is situated at Clinton station, on the Erie and Pittsburg Railroad, twelve miles below New Castle.
There is neither town nor village, and the congregation is composed principally of miners, although there are a few farmers and railroad men. From the beginning it was at- tached to the New Castle mission, from which it was visited monthly for four or five years prior to the erection of the church. When the congregation had so far increased as no longer to find accommodations in a room, the church was undertaken in May, 1871, and the excavations were dug and foundations laid by the people under the guidance of Fr. Hayes, then pastor of New Castle. The building was completed the same year, and was dedicated by the Bishop October 15th, under the invocation of St. Teresa. It is an elegant frame building, 66 feet in length by 33 in width, and surmounted by a chaste steeple. After its completion it was attended twice in the month on Sundays. But the congrega- tion was increasing rapidly, and the church immediately after its completion was no longer able to accommodate it. An addition was then built to the rear, consisting of an apse for the altar with a sacristy on each side; the interior was fres- coed, and it was reopened by the Bishop November 16th, 1873. The congregation consisted at this time of about sixty families, besides a large number of unmarried men employed in the mines. But with the well-known financial crisis came an almost total suspension of work, and the congregation declined rapidly. At present it will not exceed thirty families, who are for the most part farmers residing in the vicinity.
In February, 1877, the church was detached from the New Castle mission and with St. Rose's formed into a separate
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pastorate, as has already been remarked. The fortunes of St. Teresa's are bound up with the coal-mines which called it into existence, and these depend in a great measure on the iron trade. This last is reviving slowly from its recent pros- tration, but it does not appear at all probable that this con- gregation will attain its former prosperity for many years to come. It is still visited on two Sundays in the month, but for obvious reasons it has never enjoyed the advantages of a parochial school.
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CHAPTER XXVII.
RELIGIOUS ORDERS OF MEN-COLLEGES.
Remarks-St. Michael's Seminary-The Brothers of the Presentation-St. Vin- cent's Abbey and College-The Franciscan Brothers-St. Francis' College- The Congregation of the Holy Ghost and the Immaculate Heart of Mary- The Pittsburg Catholic College-Other religious orders-The Passionists-
- The Oblates of St. Charles Borromeo-Death and sketch of Rev. P. M.C. Morgan.
FROM the fact that the members of several of the religious orders now established in the diocese are engaged in teaching, and from the impossibility of treating of their colleges without at the same time entering more or less into the history of the orders themselves, it has been thought best to give in the present chapter a combined sketch of both. The first place has for obvious reasons been given to the diocesan seminary.
ST. MICHAEL'S THEOLOGICAL AND PREPARATORY SEMINARY.
Conscious of the advantages of having the candidates for the sacred ministry trained under his immediate supervision, one of the first objects that attracted the attention of the newly consecrated Bishop O'Connor was the opening of an ecclesiastical seminary. Humble in its beginning, it was yet destined to be productive of incalculable benefit to the dio- cese. Early in the year 1844 he assembled a small number of students at his residence on Smithfield Street, not far from the Cathedral, under the presidency of Rev. R. A. Wilson, D.D. As this was only meant to be temporary, he resolved to build a seminary on the Cathedral lot. But this idea was abandoned, and the students remained with him; and when his new residence was built by the side of the Cathedral they followed him to it. Here they remained for a short time.
Soon after his arrival in Pittsburg, Bishop O'Connor pur-
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chased a farm of about one hundred acres from the Econo- mites for $16,000. It lies on the side and top of the hill to the south of the Monongahela River in what was then Birmingham borough, but which is now a part of Pittsburg. The invest- ment was a profitable one ; for after building lots, to the amount of about $100,000, had been sold, and after other large lots had been donated to the orphan asylum, the Passionist monastery, and St. Michael's Church, the remainder was valued by the city at $162,000 before the panic. Parts of it were sold for as much as $6000 an acre. A frame dwelling stood on it at the foot of the hill, near St. Michael's Church, and this the Bishop transformed into a seminary at the close of 1846 or early in the following year. Rev. Thomas M'Cullagh was appointed president. But failing health soon obliged him to relinquish the arduous duties connected with it and the mis- sions, which, owing to the scarcity of priests, he was also obliged to visit, and to seek repose for a time. He according- ly withdrew to St. Xavier's Academy, and the seminary was placed in the hands of the fathers of the Congregation of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, in November, 1848. But they did not succeed in laying a permanent foundation in the dio- cese. On the event of their withdrawal, in the course of the following year, Rev. James O'Connor was appointed president. Little change took place beyond a gradual in- crease in the number of students, until the summer of 1851, when the cholera broke out with great violence in the city, and it was deemed advisable to close the seminary. The students were transferred to other institutions, and the semi- nary became soon after a boys' orphan asylum.
The Cathedral had been burnt down in the previous May, and the present imposing structure undertaken, which, owing to the limited resources of the diocese, made it expedient to curtail expenses as much as possible, and not open the semi- nary for a few years. In the mean time the diocese was di- vided and the new See of Erie erected.
At length, after no little speculation as to the most suitable place for reopening it, the seminary was located at Summit- ville, Cambria County, in September, 1856, under the presi- dency of Rev. C. M. Sheehan. Here it remained for a year.
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ST. MICHAEL'S SEMINARY.
But the site was not a happy selection. The buildings were very indifferent ; the place, being on the summit of the moun- tains, was extremely cold in winter; and the distance from Pittsburg, 102 miles, added to its other inconveniences. To secure a more fitting place a lot of ground consisting of about eight acres, with a large frame summer hotel standing on it, and lying at Glenwood, on the east bank of the Monongahela River five miles from its mouth, but at present within the city limits, was purchased April 8th, 1857, for $6600. Here the seminary was opened in the beginning of September of the same year, and Rev. James O'Connor was soon after appoint- ed president. Besides the preparatory and theological de- partments, there was also a separate department for lay stu- dents until the summer of 1863, when it was discontinued. The building soon became inadequate to the accommodation of the number of students required to meet the demands of the diocese, and an additional wing was built in the summer of 1862.
At the end of October, 1863, Father O'Connor was suc- ceeded in the presidency by Rev. James Keogh, D.D., who had long been vice-president ; and Father O'Connor soon af- ter withdrew to the Diocese of Philadelphia. Ill-health pre- vented Dr. Keogh from discharging the duties of his office during a considerable part of his administration, and he re- signed at the close of June, 1865, and made his home also for several years in Philadelphia. Rev. S. Wall was appointed to the vacant post October 23d of the same year, a position which he occupied until the seminary was finally closed.
A public chapel, as we have stated when speaking of St. Stephen's Church, was opened in the seminary when it was located at Glenwood, for the benefit of the Catholics living in the vicinity. It was not closed until after the erection of St. Stephen's Church. The largest number of students in the semi- nary at any time was about seventy-five, but that was more than the building was capable of accommodating properly.
After the division of the diocese and the erection of the See of Allegheny, the Bishop of the latter withdrew his stu- dents and placed them in other institutions. The parent dio- cese, burdened as it was with debt and deprived of a large
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THE PRESENTATION BROTHERS.
portion of its former revenue, was no longer able to maintain the seminary, and it was closed at the end of the year 1876. The pastor of St. Stephen's Church is now the sole occupant of the deserted building. Such of the students as were ne- cessary to supply the wants of the diocese were transferred to other institutions and the remainder were dismissed. It is not probable that the seminary will be again opened for many years, owing to the financial straits of the diocese, and when it is opened it will not be in the old building, for it is now al- most ready to fall with age.
THE BROTHERS OF THE PRESENTATION.
Having provided teachers for the girls of the city by the foundation of a house of the Sisters of Mercy, Bishop O'Con- nor sought out an order to take charge of the boys. When on his visit to Europe in 1845, he called at the city of Cork, Ireland, and applied to the mother-house of the Brothers of the Presentation for a foundation. His request was granted, and a small number accompanied him on his return to America. They took charge of the boys' school attached to the Cathe- dral, and lived in Birmingham, not far from St. Michael's Church. But the time did not appear to have arrived for the Brothers to locate themselves in this part of the country. One of them died, another returned to Ireland, and a third joined the Augustinian Order at Philadelphia and became a priest. At length, as if to show that Providence did not wish the foundation to be permanent, two of the three remaining Brothers, Paul Cary and Francis Ryan, were struck by light- ning, on the street, July 2d, 1848, as they were returning to their residence after teaching Sunday-school in the school- house attached to the Cathedral. Their death was most ex- traordinary. They had almost reached their home, when, as they hastened along, one on each side of Mr. H. S. Bowen, who carried an umbrella, it was struck by the lightning and both were instantly killed, while Mr. Bowen remained unhurt. Many years after he was ordained a priest, and he is now a professor at St. Francis' College, Loretto. But one professed Brother and two novices now remained, and they were not
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THE FRANCISCAN BROTHERS.
sufficient to continue the foundation. It was consequently abandoned, and no attempt has since been made to revive it.
ST. VINCENT'S BENEDICTINE ABBEY AND COLLEGE, WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
I have already treated at length of these institutions when sketching the church of the same name, to which the reader is referred.
THE FRANCISCAN BROTHERS-ST. FRANCIS' COLLEGE, LORETTO.
Catholic education was ever dear to the heart of Bishop O'Connor, and he spared no pains to place it within the reach of the children and youth of his diocese. The Sisters of Mercy, whom he had introduced in the beginning of his epis- copate, were meeting with the most encouraging success in training the girls, but the boys were not as yet so well prc- vided for. The Presentation Brothers, who were destined to flourish but for a brief period, had charge of a small portion only of the children, and although the Benedictine fathers were preparing to open a college, the Bishop felt that still more could be done. He accordingly resolved to introduce the Brothers of the Third Order of St. Francis. Applica- tion was made to the Archbishop of Tuam, Ireland, upon whose solicitation the communities of Clifton and Round- stone gave six members to the new diocese. They arrived at Pittsburg in 1847, and located themselves at Loretto, the spot made famous by the labors and sacrifices of Dr. Gallitzin. Part of the land left by the illustrious missionary was trans- ferred to them upon certain conditions, and they took posses- sion of some old buildings standing upon it until such time as more suitable ones could be erected. A monastery was com- menced in the following summer, the corner-stone of which was laid by the Bishop on the Feast of St. Joseph Calasanc- tius, August 27th. The Order flourished; numerous candi- dates sought admission, and the Brothers soon found them- selves enabled to extend the sphere of their usefulness. A
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house was established at Pittsburg in the fall of 1848, and on the 4th of October the Brothers took charge of the boys' school attached to the Cathedral after the withdrawal of the Presentation Brothers from the diocese. Later they also, for several years, taught the boys of St. Peter's, Allegheny.
When the new buildings were completed at Loretto in 1850, an academy for boys was opened, which, four years later, was chartered by the Legislature and empowered to confer col- legiate honors and degrees. The college has since continued . to hold an honorable place among our institutions of learning. The average number of students in attendance is a little less than one hundred.
In 1849 or the following year a number of Brothers took possession of a farm at New Bedford, Lawrence County, and opened a male orphan asylum, a's was elsewhere stated; but it was abandoned at the end of about a year. In 1852 they opened a house at Cameron Bottom, an account of which was given in connection with the church at that place.
But the great work of the Order, the erection of the new college buildings, was not undertaken until the year 1863. At that time the energetic Brother Lawrence commenced the work, and it occupied his attention for about eight years. They consist of a central building 75 feet front by 50 feet deep and four stories high, which is flanked by two wings each 50 feet front by 30 deep and three stories high. Against the north wing is the exhibition-hall, 40 feet front by 80 deep and four stories high ; while to the south wing is the chapel building, 40 feet front by 100 deep and four stories high. This gives a front of 255 feet, which, with the study-hall built some years before, and standing north of the college, with which it is connected, presents an imposing appearance. All the build- ings are brick and have finished attics. Although the entire college is finished in good style, the chapel is deserving of special mention. It is modelled after the Gothic style of architecture, and is finished in the interior in immaculate white, which, far from smoke and dust, will long retain its original lustre. The windows are filled with stained glass, and the little marble altar is one of the most beautiful in the diocese.
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