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CHAPTER VIII Churches
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VII. The Roman Catholics - 1814 BY JOHN J.
CLEARY AS THE episcopal seat of the Catholic diocese of Trenton,
this city occupies a place of dignity and distinction in our religious
annals. It is nearly half a century since the diocese of Trenton was
created. The Right Rev. Michael J. O'Farrell occupied the see from 1881
to 1894. The Right Rev. James A. McFaul succeeded him for twenty‑three
years. Following him came the Right Rev. Thomas J. Walsh, consecrated
July 25, 1918. Upon the promotion of Bishop Walsh to the Newark diocese
in 1928, the Right Rev. John J. McMahon was appointed to the Trenton
see, assuming jurisdiction on May 10 of that year. St. Mary's Church,
1865, originally dedicated for parish purposes January 1, 1871, became
in 1881 the diocesan cathedral by choice of Bishop O'Farrell. It is estimated that
the present Catholic population of the city is nearly 50,000, the foreign
or bilingual congregations numbering about 30,000. PREDECESSORS OF THE SACRED HEART‑1814
St. Mary's is not Trenton's oldest parish. That honor belongs to Sacred
Heart Church which inherited the history and traditions of St. John's,
built in 1848 and destroyed by fire following Sunday
evening service, September 30, 1883. St. John's, itself the successor
of a little church built in 1814, long served the entire Catholic
community from the Five Points and beyond to Riverview. Indeed it drew
faithful worshippers every Sunday from the surrounding country as distant
as Lawrenceville, Hamilton Square, White Horse, Fallsington (Pa.) and
Washington Crossing, many of these devout people travelling afoot. St.
John's, built of stuccoed brick, was erected when the Rev. John P. Mackin
was the local pastor, the growth of the Catholic population at the time
being concurrent on the one hand with the Irish famine of tragic memory
and, on the other, with the opening of several large industrial plants
here, conspicuous among them the Cooper-Hewitt iron mills. In 1856 it
was found necessary to add a wing to the new edifice. St.
John's, as previously stated, was itself the successor of a tiny brick
church dating back to 1814, which had been dedicated under the patronage
of St. John the Baptist. This was the first Catholic church erected
in the State of New Jersey. Occasional services had been held in Trenton
before the date named, the record of priestly visitations going back
to the last decade of the eighteenth century. The visiting clergy usually
came from Philadelphia. Among the places where the faithful gathered
for divine service, tradition names the Fox Chase Tavern on Brunswick
Avenue and the printing office of Isaac Collins which stood at what
is now the southeast corner of State and Broad Streets. Mr. Collins
was a Quaker and evidently practised the broad tolerance of his creed.
The adherents of the faith at that time were chiefly Irish, French and
Germans, who were not only few in number (about thirty families in all),
but poor in pocket. An interesting circumstance of the period was the
settlement in Trenton of John Baptist Sartori, a Roman consul to the
United States, by appointment of the reigning Pope. He arrived here
about the year 1800, and selected as the site for his residence what
was then the attractive river front at the foot of Federal Street. He
erected a spacious frame dwelling and part of it is still standing,
having been long ago incorporated into the offices of the New Jersey
Steel and Iron Company, later taken over by the American Bridge Company.
Mr. Sartori made the visiting missionary fathers of his faith welcome
in this riverside mansion, whose doors on Sundays were thrown open to
the public for divine services. It will be of interest to copy here
one of the distinguished Italian's visiting cards, which is still preserved
by his descendants: IL CONSOLE GENERALE PONTIFICIO GIOVANNI BATTISTA SARTORI PRESSO GLI STATI UNITI D’AMERICA RESIDENTE IN TRENTON, N. J. Captain
John Hargous, formerly of the French navy and evidently a gentleman
of means and standing, came to Trenton also in the first decade of the
new century. Like Mr. Sartori he viewed with concern the need of some
permanent place of worship for his co-religionists here, and the result
was that these two gentlemen led in the purchase from the Coxe estate
of sufficient ground (120 by 160 feet) at Market and Lamberton Streets
for the erection of a church and the laying out of a graveyard alongside,
according to a time-honored European custom. It may be well imagined
that the dedication of Trenton's first Catholic church, which occurred
in 1814, the Right Rev. Michael J. Egan of Philadelphia conducting the
ceremony, was an occasion of marked rejoicing among the faithful, but
the impression created upon the population of the city generally can
be conjectured by the fact that the local press gave the event a bare
line or two. The building was of simple and modest design. It had a
frontage of fifty feet with a width of thirty feet. An arched ceiling
arose twenty feet from the floor. There was a small gallery at the end
of the church farthest from the altar. The entrance was on Lamberton
Street, being reached by a short flight of wooden steps. It was not
until 1830 that the congregation could support a resident pastor. In
1844 Father Mackin succeeded to the pastorate. (For additional details
and a list of the names of the priests before Father Mackin, see The
Catholic Church of the Diocese of Trenton, by the Rev. Walter
J. Leahy, Chapter II. From 1830 to 1844, there were seven successive
clergymen in charge.) The
little Lamberton Street church was dedicated June 12, 1814, the only
local newspaper mention being this item in the Trenton Federalist
of June 6, 1814: “We are given to understand that the Roman Catholic
Church lately erected here will be dedicated on Sunday next and Divine
service in the forenoon and afternoon.”
Sunday,
August 27, 1848, was the date of the dedication of the new St. John's
at Broad and Centre Streets, the edifice being crowded for the occasion,
indicating that the Catholic population had grown extensively. Although
incomplete at the time, services had been held in the new church on
Christmas Day, 1847. The
story of Father Mackin's ministrations among the Catholics of Trenton
and of extensive rural sections, to which he often drove in the most
trying weather to say mass and administer the Sacraments, forms a glowing
chapter in local Catholic annals, equal to the choicest among the missionary
efforts that witnessed the cradling of the faith in early New Jersey.
Finally his health broke about 1859 and for ten years he travelled or
was assigned to lighter charges. Early in the ‘70’s he returned amid
the loud acclaim of his old parishioners and until 1873, when he died
suddenly of heart disease, he moved among the people of Trenton with
striking manifestations of esteem and affection. Not only was Father
Mackin popular with hit own flock but he was frequently entertained
in the homes of the well-to-do of other creeds. Not a few conversions
to the faith took place during his pastorate, his beautifully human
qualities attracting all comers and, having won their confidence, “Truth from
his lips prevailed with double sway.” After the breakdown in health of
Father Mackin in 1859, Fathers O'Donnell and Young served until 1861
when the Rev. Anthony Smith assumed charge of the parish. His career
and labors will be dealt with under the heading of St. Mary's Cathedral,
his most conspicuous accomplishment. THE
SACRED HEART - 1889
SUCCESSOR TO ST. JOHN'S 1848 BROAD AND CENTRE STREETS With
the coming of the Rev. Thaddeus Hogan to Trenton in 1878 and the erection
a few years later of the Sacred Heart Church on the site of St. John's,
which was destroyed by fire, a new era in Catholic affairs in South
Trenton was inaugurated. In the interval between Father Mackin's death
and Father Hogan's appointment, the Rev. Patrick Byrne had been pastor
and had labored with zeal and eloquence. His strong stand for total
abstinence was noteworthy and he attained such prominence in the movement
that for several years he was president of the national Catholic Total
Abstinence Union. As a result, temperance made remarkable progress locally.
He also was a champion of education and one of the monuments of his
devotion to this cause was St. John's school and parish hall on Lamberton
Street, which was opened in 1876-77. The structure, with sixteen classrooms,
made it one of the largest and finest schools of its day in southern
New Jersey. The
Sacred Heart Church, which was dedicated June 30, 1889, is a massive
structure of grey stone in the Roman style of architecture with two
dome‑shaped towers in front. The interior is unusually spacious
and handsome, the white marble altars being particularly admired. At
the north side a rectory of the same general type as the church and
on the south side a clubhouse, also massive and imposing, were erected
about the same period. The organization of a home within which Catholic
gentlemen should be moulded according to the most approved standards,
was dear to the heart of Father Hogan and he achieved his ambition so
successfully that the Catholic Club became for years a center of literary
and musical activity as well as of physical culture, embracing every
form of clean sport. Within its walls eminent speakers, celebrated singers
and athletes of national reputation often made their appearance. The
audiences were recruited not alone from the parish but from all parts
of the city and from all denominations. Two
incidents of the first magnitude crowned Father Hogan's career. Upon
motion of Bishop McFaul, he was elevated by the Holy See to the dignity
of Monsignor and the ceremonies marking his induction gave occasion
for an outpouring of religious and civic rejoicing. Then came the observance
of his golden jubilee in the priesthood which also evoked an outburst
of affectionate interest, including a lay celebration and an elaborate
program of ecclesiastical events. A man of handsome presence, of splendid
intellect, and of a deeply spiritual nature, a powerful preacher and
an enthusiastic exponent of the rights of Ireland, he passed away amid
general community grief in 1918. The
Rev. Peter J. Hart, pastor following Monsignor Hogan's death,
built an excellent modern school and a sisters' convent of grey stone
on Broad Street above the Sacred Heart Church and otherwise manifested
the qualities of progressive leadership. Father Hart having been transferred
to St. Peter's Church, New Brunswick, the Rev. John H. Sheedy succeeded
to the pastorate of the Sacred Heart Church here, in 1928, ST.
FRANCIS’ CHURCH - 1851
WEST FRONT STREET The
progress of the Catholic body for the first half of the century was
not without untoward incidents. A small mortgage remaining on the original
church, St. John the Baptist, built in 1814, was found to be burdensome
and the sheriff finally intervened; interest in the proposed removal
to the new St. John's at Broad and Centre Streets had doubtless dulled
the feeling o the parishioners with respect to the old property. However,
after several transfers of title, Peter A. Hargous, then of New York
(a son of Captain John Hargous), paid off all encumbrances amounting
to about $500 and in 1851 had the property regularly vested in the name
of the Right Rev. James R. Bayley, bishop of Newark, which diocese then
included Trenton. Mr. Hargous’ action enabled the creation of a separate
parish for the German Catholics of Trenton, their numbers having grown
sufficiently to warrant this step. The Rev. John Gmeiner was the first
German pastor (1853) and he soon added to the land in the rear of the
church where in 1856 he erected a school. Meanwhile, the name “St. John
the Baptist” having been appropriated by the new church at Broad and
Centre Streets, the original church under the Germans became known as
“St. Francis of Assisi.” Other pastors succeeded and the Germans outgrowing
their tiny quarters looked about for a larger edifice. The Rev. William
Storr led the movement which resulted in the purchase in 1865 of the
former Methodist Church on West Front Street for $11,000. The original
little church at Lamberton and Market Streets gradually fell into decay
and was razed in the early ‘80’s to make way for dwellings. Previously
it was for a time used as a St. John's school annex.
The
Rev. Francis Gerber, D.D., succeeded Father Storr and in 1867 built
the priests’ house adjoining the church on Front Street. He improved
the church itself by alterations, including a graceful set of towers.
A parish school was also opened in the rear of the church, The Rev.
Peter Jachetti (1870-74) was the next pastor, of whom more below. The
Rev. Avellino Szabo then served as pastor for eight years (1874-82),
with the Rev. Conrad Elison (1882-83) and the Rev. Joseph Thurnes in
turn succeeding. Upon the death of the latter in 1902, the Rev. Joseph
Rathner, D.D., entered upon a popular pastorate that continued until
his tragic death while gunning in 1926. The Rev. Bartholomew B. Doyle,
Dr. Rathner's assistant, administered parish affairs, pending the appointment
of a permanent pastor. ST.
MARY'S CATHEDRAL CHURCH - 1865
WARREN AND BANK STREETS When
the Rev. Anthony Smith assumed the pastorate of St. John’s Church, some
time after Father Mackin had to vacate because of ill-health, the city
generally gained a far-visioned, energetic churchman and citizen who
for many years was a stimulating influence for religious and secular
advancement. He came here in 1861 with a reputation for the courageous
inauguration of large building enterprises, A mere listing of what he
accomplished here for the extension of religion and the promotion of
civic enterprises would be eloquent of his capacity, his indefatigable
spirit, his unusual foresight. Almost immediately on his arrival he
purchased an asylum on South Broad Street, particularly for orphans
of Civil War soldiers, at the same time introducing the Sisters of Charity
to care for the forlorn and to teach in the parish schools. As the years went on,
one important work after another was taken up and pushed to a successful
conclusion. The story of this tireless, devoted priest’s work is graphically
told in the Right Rev. John H. Fox’s A Century of Catholicity
in Trenton (1899) and it may only be briefly summarized here. It
soon dawned on Father Smith, as he travelled afoot over the great stretches
of his parish, that a new church north of the Assunpink was a necessity
of the immediate future. In 1865 he purchased the ground an which St.
Mary’s Cathedral stands, at Warren and Bank Streets. It was the geographical
center of an area that is today most thickly populated, but in addition
the site is valuable beyond price for its historic associations. Here
the Battle of Trenton of glorious memory was waged with hottest fire
and the position of the property covered today by the cathedral rectory
was occupied by the Stacy Potts house where Colonel Johann Gottlieb
Rall, the Hessian commander, made his headquarters and where, after
being mortally wounded, he received the sympathetic visit of General
Washington and a little later breathed his last. Ground
was broken for St. Mary's April 23, 1866, and so formidable was Father
Smith’s noble design and so inadequate the means of his people at that
period, that the work proceeded slowly. Parishioners contributed much
of the labor; at the sight of Father Smith himself in the midst of excavating
and construction, there was no resisting his enthusiasm. With
solemn ceremonies this really beautiful Gothic temple, adorned with
sacred frescoes and enriched with a white marble altar, was finally
dedicated January 1, 1871, and coincidentally Father Smith was transferred
from St. John’s to the pastorate of St. Mary’s. A parish school, a sisters’
convent, a rectory, a parish cemetery, the building of a combination
school and chapel for East Trenton (now St. Joseph’s), the starting
of a needed church for Hopewell, the raising of a spire 256 feet high
over the cathedral in 1878 - these achievements are to the credit of
one who by universal assent towered among the ablest New Jersey clergymen
of his day. When the diocese of Trenton was created in 1881, its first
bishop selected St. Mary’s for his ecclesiastical seat, and Father Smith
became his vicar-general, an office he administered, apart from his
pastoral duties, so as to endear himself alike to his spiritual superiors
and the priests of the diocese. In the well-chosen yet modest phrasing
of Monsignor Fox: “When Father Smith died August 11, 1888, he was mourned
not alone by his own people for whom he labored so well for more than
twenty-seven years, but by the public generally who recognized in him
a faithful servant of God and an eminently good citizen.” Following
Father Smith’s death, St. Mary’s affairs were temporarily administered
by the Rev. J. Joseph Smith and the Rev. John McCloskey up to October
1890, when the Rev. James A. McFaul was appointed pastor. Father McFaul
had been a curate under Father Smith eleven years previously and he
was destined to further honors at the cathedral as time went on. He
was appointed vicar-general to Bishop O’Farrell, November 1, 1892, and
upon the bishop’s death he was made administrator of the diocese, succeeding
to the episcopate three months later. Bishop McFaul continued also as
rector until February 1, 1895, when he appointed to that office the
Rev. John H. Fox, LL.D. During
the several pastorates, just named, temperance societies for men and
women were organized, a new organ was installed, the standard of studies
in the parish schools was improved, a handsome convent for the teaching
sisters was erected at Warren and Bank Streets, an unusually fine parish
hall and gymnasium were built on Bank Street and various important
renovations were effected in the cathedral. The various cathedral properties
represent a valuation of close to a million dollars. The Right Rev.
Monsignor Fox - he was made a domestic prelate of the Holy See in 1904
and had been appointed vicar-general by Bishop McFaul four years previously
- has repeatedly received testimonials from his parishioners and the
public generally, attesting the success of his spiritual work in Trenton.
These testimonials have taken the form of great gatherings in the principal
halls of the city with highly complimentary addresses, and in various
other expressions of popular approval. THE CHURCH OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION - 1875 CHESTNUT AVENUE Among
the rectors who administered successfully at St. Francis' Church on
Front Street special mention should be made of the Rev. Peter Jachetti,
O.M.C., who, noting the growth of the Catholic population, notably Germans
and Italians, beyond the canal, set to work to create a new parish with
the consent of his spiritual superiors. The Convent of St. Francis (1874),
O.M.C., and the modest frame Lady of Lourdes Chapel on Chestnut Avenue
(1875) were the results, the latter being succeeded by the present spacious
and imposing Gothic Church of the Immaculate Conception (1890), wherein
representatives of all nationalities have been served by the Franciscan
order. This church is one of a group of parish buildings, including
rectory, grammar and high school and a general auditorium, all of fine
architectural proportions, thoroughly equipped and covering a valuable
city block. The Revs. Anselm Auling, Francis Lehner, Bonaventure Zoller,
Bernardine Ludwig, Peter Shardun and Alphonse Lehrscholl served in turn
as pastor. The Very Rev. Austin Fox, O.M.C., is the present rector,
the parish enjoying an era of prosperity under his management. Father
Peter Jachetti died in his native province in Italy in 1921. ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH - 1893 NORTH OLDEN AVENUE St.
Joseph's Church, which had been served from St. Mary's up to April 1893,
with the Rev. James A. McFaul as first pastor, was then made an independent
center, and the Rev. John H. Fox was appointed as its first resident
pastor. Located in East Trenton, the pottery district, this parish has
had its ups and downs due to industrial conditions. When Father Fox
was promoted to the rectorship of the cathedral in 1895, the Rev. Bernard
J. O'Connell and the Rev. Michael O'Reilly were named to St. Joseph's
consecutively, and on September 8, 1898, came the Rev. Henry A. Ward.
A handsome church of grey stone with bell tower graces St. Joe's Avenue
at Olden Avenue in evidence of his devotion, zeal and progressive spirit.
The rectory, a three-story edifice of Stockton granite with Indiana
limestone trimmings, is also a creditable structure while the parish
school in close proximity, which was erected about 1891, has been brought
up to every modern demand. Father Ward has completed over thirty years
of intelligent supervision of this portion of the Lord's vineyard, and
has by his broad public-spirited views earned the warm regard of all
concerned with the advancement of East Trenton. THE BLESSED SACRAMENT CHURCH - 1912
BELLEVUE AND HERMITAGE AVENITES The
Blessed Sacrament parish, which was created in 1912, has experienced
a marvellous development, owing largely to the sudden growth of Catholic
population, following the general residential trend towards the West
End. A valuable and well-located property at the corner of Bellevue
and Hermitage Avenues, purchased 1911, embraces the rectory and a well-constructed
three-story stone building combining church and school, with accommodations
also for the teaching sisters. The original church, which was of limited
size and would soon have had to go anyway, was burned down a few years
ago and the site which runs along Hermitage Avenue from Bellevue back
to Rutherford, will before a great while accommodate a stately new edifice
for divine worship, The Rev. Michael H. Callahan was the first pastor
and was succeeded by the Rev. Martin F. Casey (1914), upon whose shoulders
most of the building responsibilities have fallen. Father Casey is an
indefatigable worker and under his care the parish has prospered spiritually
and in its temporalities. He has added to the real estate holdings,
which now run six hundred feet on Bellevue Avenue, three hundred feet
on Rutherford Avenue, and two hundred and fifty feet on Hermitage Avenue. ST.
ANTHONY'S CHURCH - 1921
OLDEN NEAR HAMILTON AVENUE St.
Anthony's Church on Olden Avenue immediately below Hamilton Avenue,
represents the desire to meet church needs in the extreme eastern section.
The parish, established in 1921, has grown by leaps and bounds, so that
the original sacred edifice now accommodates the faithful only by five
successive services each Sunday morning. Overflow congregations attend
the various other church gatherings. There is ground for a much larger
church, which doubtless will be constructed in the near future. A handsome
two-story school in light stone, a sisters' convent and a priests' house,
all substantially built, are already provided. The entire property has
a frontage of 425 feet with a depth of 275 feet and is now the center
of a fast-growing district which within easy memory was fields
and commons. The
Very Rev. Alphonse Lehrscholl, O.M.C., was the first pastor and the
Very Rev. Sylvester Albaus, O.M.C., is now in charge, and doing fine
work. The parish contains 2,800 souls and the school 660 pupils, at
the present writing. CHURCH
OF THE HOLY ANGELS - 1927
SOUTH BROAD NEAR CEDAR LANE The
new Church of the Holy Angels, located on South Broad Street near Cedar
Lane, marks the progress of religious effort in the extreme southern
section of the city. It was opened for service at the midnight mass,
Christmas, 1927, and was dedicated a few months later. There is seating
capacity for seven hundred and fifty people. The exterior is
of granite, of stately proportions, while the interior is of the early
renaissance style. It was erected at a cost of $100,000, succeeding
a combination church and chapel opened in 1921. The Rev. John F. Walsh
is the progressive pastor and the church is a monument to his spiritual
zeal and administrative capacity. He is an eloquent preacher, and his
record as a war chaplain overseas was such as to make him exceedingly
popular with all classes of our citizens. OTHER CHURCHES (FOREIGN-SPEAKING PEOPLES) There
are in Trenton today eight English-speaking Catholic churches and eleven
in which the congregations are addressed bilingually. Among those of
the latter class are several of notable size and in which beautiful
edifices serve the purposes of religion. St. Hedwig’s (Polish), of which
the Right Rev. A. B. Strenski is pastor, is located at Brunswick and
Olden Avenues and includes an imposing stone church of fine architectural
proportions, together with a parish school with over a thousand pupils.
St. Mary’s (Greek), at Malone and Grand Streets, also has a fine church
building dedicated in 1893, and a large school. The Rev. Desider Simkow
is the pastor. Following are the other bilingual congregations: Holy Cross (Polish), Cass and Adeline Streets, originally
erected in 1891 but since enlarged. Pastor, the Rev. Martin J. Lipinski;
school, 900 pupils, St.
Basil’s (Roumanian), Adeline and Beatty Streets (1910). Pastor, the
Rev. Aural Bungardenn. St.
James’, Paul Avenue. Pastor, the Rev. Joseph Monacho, with a school
attended by 350 pupils. St. Joachim's (Italian), Butler Street (1901). Pastor, the Rev. Alphonse
Palonbi; school, 810 pupils. The Right Rev. Aloysius Pozzi, former pastor, built the church and school. St.
Michael the Archangel (Slovak), Brunswick Avenue and Pine Street, Pastor,
the Rev. Michael J. Kallok. St.
Nicholas Greek Catholic (Hungarian), Adeline and Hudson Streets. Pastor,
the Rev. Gabriel Chopen. St Peter and St. Paul (Slavish), Second Street (1899).
An unusually handsome stone church has recently been erected, and the
school with 650 pupils is also strictly modern. Pastor, the Rev. Colonan
Tomchany. St.
Stanislaus (Polish), 60 Randall Avenue, dedicated in 1892. Pastor, the
Rev. Ignatius Kusz, O.M.C. There is also a school for Polish children. St.
Stephen's (Hungarian), 210 Genesee Street, (1903). Pastor, the Rev.
John Szabo, D.D. A school is also maintained. BIOGRAPHICAL
SKETCHES
Michael
J. O'Farrell,
first bishop of the diocese of Trenton, was born in Limerick, Ireland,
December 2, 1832, and was educated at All Hallows College, Ireland,
and at St. Sulpice in Paris. Joining the Sulpitians, he taught Dogmatic
Theology in the Grand Seminary at Montreal, but his health failed and
he engaged in missionary service in the United States, subsequently
performing pastoral work in New York City, notably in old St. Peter's
Church, Barclay Street. He was consecrated bishop of Trenton November
1, 1881. His was the task of organizing a new diocese, comprising the
southern tier of New Jersey counties, and to the task he brought zeal,
piety and kindly manners which won him friends everywhere. A great scholar,
especially erudite in Irish history, he assembled about him in the episcopal
residence an immense and varied collection of books, constituting possibly
the finest private library of its kind in the city. A champion of education,
he conducted a campaign of school building. Many churches here were
erected through his care. He was an eloquent speaker in the pulpit and
on the lyceum platform and was constantly in demand. It was the irony
of fate that so gentle and winning a personality should have to deal
with rebellious priests on several occasions, one of them the result
of disordered intellect, but he was fully sustained in all his rulings.
He passed away April 2, 1894, after only thirteen years in the episcopate,
and is buried at St. Michael's Home for Orphans, Hopewell, one of the
most useful of the diocesan institutions, which he himself had endowed
to the extent of $25,000. James
A. McFaul,
second bishop of Trenton, was born in County Antrim, Ireland, June 6,
1850, and was brought to this country as an infant by his parents who
settled temporarily in New York City; afterwards, at Bound Brook, N.J.,
where as a youth he displayed brilliancy of mind and unusual powers
of application in his studies. Later, he attended St. Vincent's College
in Westmoreland County, Pa., for four years and finished his collegiate
course at St. Francis Xavier's College, New York City. After a theological
course at Seton Hall Seminary, South Orange, N.J., he was ordained to
the priesthood, May 26, 1877. After various assignments in North Jersey,
he became assistant to Vicar-General Anthony Smith, at St. Mary's, Trenton.
In 1884 he was made pastor at Long Branch; in October 1890, Vicar-General
Smith having died, he was returned to St. Mary's, Trenton, as pastor.
On November 1, 1892, Bishop O'Farrell made him vicar-general of the
diocese, having previously served as chancellor. Upon Bishop O'Farrell's
death in April 1894, he succeeded to the see of Trenton, October 18,
1894. Bishop
McFaul proved an administrator of masterful traits; plain in speech
and manners, he was charitable to a degree and was noted for his rich
fund of Irish humor. He carried on the episcopate with ability and vigor
and manifested a great capacity for work. The diocese felt the spur
of his ceaseless activities and prospered both in spiritual life and
in temporalities. He thought, labored and lived for his priests and
people. He was also proud of the historic city which formed his see,
and his public addresses often glowed with patriotic enthusiasm. He
was earnest to the point of aggressiveness in defense of religion and
never shirked a battle in the press or forum. A number of scholarly
pastoral letters emanated from his pen. He was one of the organizers
and most eloquent promoters of the American Federation of Catholic Societies,
which is still in power in its reorganized form as the National Welfare
Society. He showed his love for the helpless and unfortunate by the
institutions he erected for the aged and orphans, including St. Michael's
Children's Home at Hopewell and Morris Hall at Lawrenceville, at the
latter of which he is entombed. When he passed away June 16, 1917, a
giant in intellect, courage and spirituality was lost to the Church
which he had loved with all the depth of a great nature. Thomas
Joseph Walsh,
third bishop of Trenton, was born at Parker's Landing, Butler County,
Pa., December 6, 1873, the son of Thomas and Helen (Curtin) Walsh. He
was educated at the college and theological seminary of St. Bonaventure,
Allegheny, N.Y., and at the University of St. Appollinaris, the Pontifical
Roman Seminary, Italy, from which he received the degrees of D.D. and
D.C.L. In 1913 he received an I.L.D. from St. Bonaventure's. He was
ordained to the priesthood by the Right Rev. James E. Quigley in Buffalo,
January 27, 1900. He was appointed third assistant rector of St. Joseph's
Cathedral, Buffalo, January to June 1900; private secretary to Bishops
Quigley and Colton 1900‑15; chancellor of the diocese; rector
of St. Joseph's old cathedral, 1915‑18; and reappointed chancellor
of the diocese upon the installation of Bishop Dougherty, 1916-18. He
was consecrated bishop of Trenton, N.J., July 25, 1918. Both in Buffalo
and since he was elevated to the episcopate here, he has been distinguished
for his special interest in the bilingual peoples under his care. With
a particular view to the promotion of religion and good citizenship
among the Italians who constitute a considerable fraction of the Catholic
population in all the larger communities of his diocese, Bishop Walsh
has established in the suburbs of Trenton the Villa Victoria, Pontifical
Institute of Religious Teachers, comprising mother-house, novitiate
and normal school. The benevolence of James Brady of New York provided
the funds for this purpose, and the same gentleman at his death left
a generous endowment. Recent figures give the number of sisters in the
community at 38; novices, 20; postulants, 18; and candidates, 12. The
general purpose is to enroll young women of this country of Italian
extraction who will be thoroughly educated according to American methods
and who, speaking both languages, will be the better able to make good
Americans and well informed Catholics of the young people of their
race who otherwise would grow up in more or less of a foreign atmosphere.
English will be the language of all these Italo‑American schools.
Arrangements have been made to erect at Villa Victoria several additional
buildings to carry out the scope of this great educational work. Bishop
Walsh is a man of progressive ideas, intensely devoted to American institutions,
possessing executive qualities of a high order, personally affable and
simple in his tastes, earnest and energetic in religious and civic affairs,
and just now in the full flower of vigorous manhood. He was consecrated
bishop of Newark in May 1928. The
Right Rev. John J. McMahon, D.D., LL.D., fourth bishop of the
diocese of Trenton, N.J., was born at Hinsdale, Cattaraugus County,
N.Y., September 27, 1875. His early education was received at the Belfast
(N.Y.) Seminary and Union High School, where he graduated at the head
of his class in 1893. He received the degree of B.A. at St. Bonaventure's
College, Allegheny, N.Y., and completed his theological studies at Rome,
Italy, where he was ordained May 20, 1900. By appointment of Bishop
Quigley of Buffalo he served as assistant priest in Jamestown and Buffalo,
and was acting pastor in New Fane, N.Y. He administered the affairs
of other parishes. Later Father McMahon was appointed to the office
of assistant diocesan superintendent of schools. He established the
parish of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Buffalo, being the first American
priest to exercise jurisdiction over an Italian parish in Buffalo diocese.
The parish contained 12,000 souls, three Italian priests serving as
his assistants. The school with an enormous attendance was his special
care. In 1908 he was commissioned to establish St. Mark's parish, Buffalo,
which started with 32 families and now has 1,684 souls. The church,
school and rectory cost $750,000 with only $96,000 debt remaining. As
director of the Holy Name Society of the diocese he raised the adult
membership to 51,000 men, with 24,000 junior members. He also performed
many assignments of an episcopal nature up to March 7, 1928, when he
was elevated by Pope Pius XI to the bishopric at Trenton. He was given
a Doctor of Laws degree at St. Bonaventure's College in 1919. He was
consecrated on Thursday, April 26, 1928, in St. Joseph's Cathedral,
Buffalo, and installed in St. Mary's Cathedral, Trenton, May 10, 1928. Thaddeus
Hogan, Right
Rev. Monsignor, was born in County Limerick, Ireland, May 17, 1843.
After preliminary studies in local schools he made his theological course
at All Hallows and was ordained June 29, 1865, having barely reached
the appointed age. Fired with missionary zeal he went to Australia,
a virgin country, to labor for religion, but after three years his shattered
health compelled a return to Europe. After various assignments in Dublin
diocese, he came to the United States and in 1871 was sent to East Newark
as pastor. Seven years later his assignment to Trenton occurred, and
for two score years thereafter he wrote his name in splendid achievements
which are summed up elsewhere in this chapter. John
H. Fox,
Right Rev. Monsignor, vicar-general of the diocese of Trenton, was born
July 7, 1858, in New Brunswick. After a collegiate and theological course
at Seton Hall, South Orange, N.J., he was ordained June 7, 1858. When
the diocese of Trenton was created, Father Fox was serving in the northern
Counties, but at the request of Bishop O'Farrell he entered the more
sparsely settled section of the State and ever since has been an outstanding
figure. His first pastoral assignment was at Sea Bright, where after
a struggle of some years he found a site and erected the first Catholic
church in that fashionable resort. He also bought land and put up churches
at Highlands and Atlantic Highlands. On April 23, 1893, Bishop O'Farrell
appointed him pastor of St. Joseph's Church, East Trenton, where he
labored assiduously despite a labor panic that prostrated industries
in that industrial section. About the time the lowering clouds began
to lift, he was called to the pastorate of St. Mary's Cathedral, February
1, 1895. The marvellous success of his pastorate here and the various
ecclesiastical honors which have come to him in recognition of his labors
have been referred to in the sketch of St. Mary's in this same chapter. Monsignor
Fox died Christmas Day, 1928. MISCELLANY
The
visit of the Most Rev. Francis Satolli to Trenton, June 5 to 12, 1893,
was an occasion of splendid note. Cardinal Satolli was the first apostolic
delegate to the United States from Rome, the American Delegation having
been established at Washington, D.C., on January 24 of that year. On
his arrival here on a Saturday evening, he was met at Clinton Street
station by a huge procession of Catholic societies, several bands participating,
and was escorted en fete to the episcopal residence. Next day,
Sunday, he presided at brilliant ceremonies in the cathedral and the
Sacred Heart Church and a reception, largely attended by the public
generally, was given in his honor at the Catholic Club the same
evening. The
explanation of Trenton's having the first Catholic church in New Jersey,
antedating such important places as Jersey City and Newark, is that
the Catholics of the northern section of the State were long accustomed
to go to old St. Peter's Church, New York City, for worship, See
the Catholic Encyclopaedia (fifteen volumes, Robert Appleton
Company, 1907) under the headings “New Jersey” and “Diocese of Newark”
(to which see Trenton formerly belonged). Under “New Jersey” (p. 792)
we read: “St. John's parish at Trenton, now the parish of the Sacred
Heart, was the first parish established in New Jersey (1799).” Under
“The Diocese of Newark” (p. 780) mention is made of Trenton's first
Catholic church (1814) and we learn that Newark’s first church was opened
in 1828; Jersey City's in 1837. An
unusual function having both a sacred and a civil character took place
at St. John's Church April 30, 1861, when the Rev. Alfred Young, a Princeton
graduate and a convert, was the local pastor. Despite the divided feeling
in New Jersey over the war he held a large meeting in the church, displayed
an American flag in front of the altar, blessed it with elaborate ceremony,
led in the singing of the "Star‑Spangled Banner," and
then had the stars and stripes raised to the steeple where it floated
amid the rolling of drums, the ringing of the church bell and a salute
from the commands of Captains Yard and Stafford of Camp Perrine. The
Hon. Charles Skelton, the Hon. Andrew Dutcher and the Hon. David Naar
delivered patriotic speeches. The
Rev. John P. Mackin is said, besides his herculean labors in Trenton,
to have for a time attended to the spiritual needs of Lambertville,
Princeton, Bordentown, Burlington and Bristol, in some of which he erected
churches. At his funeral services in St. John's Church in 1873, such
was Father Mackin's popularity that the edifice was packed with people
including many non-Catholics, and a panic ensued upon a cry that the
gallery was falling. As a matter of fact a kneeling‑bench had
been broken. In the rush from the church, numbers were crushed under
foot and several jumped from the windows. The wildest excitement prevailed,
the fire department hurried to the scene and all the available doctors
in town were summoned. A dozen or more persons were injured, some of
them seriously, but only one death resulted, that of Bridget Clark,
seventy-five years old. The requiem ceremonies proceeded when quiet
was restored. The writer, as an altar boy, witnessed the tragic incident. St.
Francis' Church on East Front Street is the oldest Catholic edifice
in the city, although not the oldest church organization. It has been
in constant use as a Catholic house of worship since 1866. Peter
P. Cantwell was the first male teacher in Trenton's parochial schools;
a native of Ireland, he began teaching in old St. John's in the early
'6o's. The late Right Rev. Monsignor William P. Cantwell and the late
Dr. Frank V. Cantwell were his sons. John
D. McCormick, editor of the Potter's Journal and a Catholic local
historian, performed a signal service by researches which gave due prominence
to John Tatham, New Jersey's "Missing Governor" (1690-97).
Having been a Jacobite, Mr. McCormick surmised that Tatham was of the
Catholic faith. Mr. McCormick’s sketch of the "Missing Govermor's"
career appears in full as Appendix H in Smith's History of New Jersey,
Sharp's reprint (1890 edition), which may be found in the State
Library. Fitzgerald's Legislative Manual, since Mr. McCormick’s
discovery, has carried John Tatham's name in its list of governors of
East Jersey. Patrick
McCaffrey, M.D., was Trenton's first resident Catholic physician, practising
here from the early '50's to 1871. Three of his daughters attained high
rank in the Sisters of Mercy whose mother-house is near Pittsburgh,
Pa., and a fourth daughter, Anna, was church organist and among the
earliest teachers (1854) in St. John's school. Dr. McCaffrey died in
1890 in his eighty-ninth year. John
B. Sartori, one of the benefactors of the early church here, as mentioned
in the allusion in this chapter to the original St. John the Baptist
Church, was not only pontifical consul to this country but also is mentioned
in the secular histories as a manufacturer of calico and again of macaroni
near his home at the foot of Federal Street. His career was invested
with various romantic details, including his friendly association with
the distinguished colony of European refugees, settled in and around
Trenton in the early years of the nineteenth century, such as the former
King of Spain, Joseph Bonaparte, and General John Victor Moreau, the
latter of whom built a home at Morrisville in 1805. It is said that
Bonaparte was godfather to one of Sartori's fourteen children, while
Madame Moreau was godmother to another. The Sartori offspring played
prominent parts in the commercial and social life of New York, Philadelphia
and other cities, but none remained in Trenton. Madame Sartori whom
he married in 1804, at Lamberton, Father Stafford, O.S.A. of Philadelphia,
officiating, was descended from a noble family of Brittany, which had
a checkered career. Her father went to Santo Domingo on a royal mission
and there Henriette, de Woofoin (Mrs. Sartori) was born in 1787. At
the outbreak of the French Revolution the family fled to this country
and settled at Lamberton below Trenton. They for a time occupied historic
Bloomsbury. The history of the de Woofoins runs the gamut of high station,
persecution and assassination, details of which it is unnecessary to
relate in this place. Nor can we follow the Sartoris further than to
say that John B., sometimes referred to as "the lay founder
of the Catholic Church in Trenton," afflicted by the death of his
wife, aged forty-two, following the birth of twins, returned to his
native home in Leghorn, Italy, where he eventually died at the age of
ninety-eight. Captain
John Hargous, associated with John B. Sartori in the promotion of Trenton's
first Catholic church, had served in the French navy and while cruising
in the vicinity of Martinique, which echoed with the tumult of the French
Revolution, was able to rescue from mob fury a Madame Boisson with her
son and daughter, and eventually all found a refuge in the United States,
the adventure ending in Captain Hargous' marriage to Miss Boisson. They
apparently were among the hunted royalists of France who found security
and peace in Trenton. Thus the Sartori and Hargous families, being of
the same faith, became intimate. A son was born to the Hargous in 1800
and in time Peter A. Hargous and Eugenie Victorine, Sartori's marriage
cemented the family friendship. This younger Hargous later became prominent
in New York as a commission merchant and shipowner and there developed
a warm intimacy between him and Archbishop Hughes of the metropolis.
It was he who in 1851 saved the little church at Lamberton and Market
Streets from the sheriff. A cousin, Louis, became a professor of French
at Princeton. Peter A. had one sister, Marie Melicie, who never married
and lived her life out in Trenton, a devout and generous member of St.
Mary's parish. Before the development of building operations on North
Clinton Avenue, members of the Hargous family established themselves
in a beautiful property on that street (then called the Millham Road),
which ran back to the Assunpink and included terraced lawns to the water
front, wel-kept gardens, orchards famed for their fruit and a home where
generous hospitality was dispensed to the best local society of the
period. As part of the old Sartori home still remains in the American
Bridge Company's office building on Federal Street, so the Hargous home
can still, though with difficulty, be traced in a pair of frame tenements
on Seward Avenue. Another relic of this interesting family is found
in the bell-tower of the Sacred Heart Church. The bell which has been
in use there for nearly three-quarters of a century bears the names
of Louis and M. M. Hargous as donors (1857). CATHOLIC
CEMETERIES
The
first Catholic graveyard in the city was opened in connection with the
first church at Lamberton and Market Streets. Later, burials were made
in a plot on Lamberton Street below Bridge, where St. John's schools
were afterwards erected. Both of these cemeteries were in time abandoned
and the bodies of the pioneers buried therein were removed to St. John's,
St. Mary's, Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Francis' cemeteries. St.
John's Cemetery, on Lalor Street at the southerly end of Chestnut Avenue,
was acquired by the Right Rev. James R. Bayley, bishop of Newark, November
17, 1859, the purchase having been previously negotiated from William
I. Shreve to John Cahill and wife, and title was passed October 17,
1864, from Bishop Bayley to the church of St. John the Baptist. The
original plot contained eight acres and burials probably began early
in the '6o's. Many of the early Catholic settlers of the city are interred
there, not a few having been transferred from the older graveyards.
The Rev. John P. Mackin, the Right Rev. Monsignor Thaddeus Hogan and
a number of clergymen, who had been raised in the parish, are among
those whose dust reposes in St. John's Cemetery. It is the oldest Catholic
cemetery in Trenton. St.
Mary's Cemetery, located on Olden Avenue south of Liberty Street, consists
of nearly thirty-three acres, about fourteen acres of which were purchased
from Joseph W. Elberson November 1, 1872, about ten acres of Nathan
Wright March 26, 1886, and ten acres from Abner C. Mitchell in 1922.
Its most historic monument is a mausoleum of the Hargous family, early
benefactors of the Catholic Church in this city. St. Francis' Cemetery, at Washington
and Emory Avenues, is the last resting place of numerous of the early
German Catholics of the city. It was dedicated with elaborate ceremonies
October 9, 1870. Our Lady of Lourdes Cemetery is
On Cedar Lane, between Olden Avenue and Chambers Street. St. Peter and St.
Paul Cemetery is also located on Cedar Lane.
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