BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME 
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 THE GIFT OF 
 
 1891 
 
 ^atjOuOftQ 3..i:^"./5> 
 
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Cornell University Library 
 
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 HIstorv of the diocese of Ogdensburg / B 
 
 Clin 
 
 3 1924 029 381 831 
 
\B Cornell University 
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 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
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 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/cletails/cu31924029381831 
 
BEV. MICHAEL BUKNS. 
 
A HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 DIOCESE OF OGDENSBURG. 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. JOHN TALBOT SMITH. 
 
 NEW TORK 
 JOHN W. LOVELL COMPANY 
 
 14 AND 16 Vbsey Street 
 
 S 
 
TROWS 
 
 RINTINa AND eOOKBlKDlNQ COMPANY 
 
 HEW YORK. 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 TO 
 
 RIGHT REV. EDGAR P. WADHAMS, 
 
 FIEST BISHOP OF THE DIOCESE, 
 
 ANT) THE FAITHFUL PEIESTS, LIVING AND DEAD, WHO 
 LABOBED, AND AEE NOW LABORING, IN THE 
 TEEEITOEY NOETH OF THE ADIEONDACKS, 
 AMID DISCOUEAGEMENTS AND ANNOY- 
 ANCES, BOENB WITH THE CHEEE- 
 FULNESS OF BEAVE SOLDIEES 
 OF CHEIST, 
 THIS BOOK IS EESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The desire of gathering into a permanent form such 
 facts concernitig the faith in Northern New York, as 
 might be of interest and use to the future historian, 
 was my only reason for composing this history. That 
 reason would justify the appearance of a much poorer 
 book. At the same time it was my desire to produce 
 a volume that would be read with pleasure by the 
 people of the district, and held in esteem as a decent 
 memorial of the work done by their fathers and clergy 
 in earlier times. Therefore I have been generous of 
 details which can be of little interest to outsiders, and 
 have introduced portraits of the clergy, past and pres- 
 ent, to brighten the book for those who may never 
 read it. The labor of gathering the material of which 
 this history is composed has been very severe. My 
 thanks are due to the priests of the diocese for the 
 facilities which they placed so generously at my dis- 
 posal, and their valuable assistance in many ways. To 
 Mr. Hough, the historian of Franklin and St. Lawrence 
 counties, and to John Gilmary Shea, credit is owing 
 for certain particulars of Picquet's mission, 6t. Regis, 
 and the incidents of Split Rock Bay. Otherwise the 
 book is of my own making ; and I place it in the 
 hands of the public with the conviction that they will 
 speak of its faults leniently in consideration of the 
 
 good it has really accomplished. 
 
 Thb Authoe. 
 
GENERAL HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE TEEKITOEY. 
 
 A GLAKCE at the ' map of New York State 
 shows that the territory of Ogdensburg diocese 
 is divided by a natural line from its neighbors. 
 Tho Adirondacks, which lie within its limits, 
 separate it effectually from Albany. Lake On- 
 tario forms its western boundary; and on the east, 
 Lake Champlain is its barrier against the Puritan 
 invader. From Lake Ontario to St. Regis the 
 river St. Lawrence is its northern limit. From 
 the Indian village to the Vermont border it de- 
 pends upon a surveyor's line and customs officials 
 to distinguish it from the diocese of Montreal. 
 The Canadians claim, with much plausibility, the 
 entire territory as a natural appendage of Canada. 
 The Americans assert that the St. Lawrence is the 
 natural boundary line between the two countries. 
 Either party may be right. The French Cana- 
 dians were the first settlers and claimants of the 
 
8 GENEBAL EISTOHY OF THE DIOCESE. 
 
 territory, but having resigned control of the lake 
 to the English, it can be presumed they resigned 
 control of its shores. They were never very par- 
 ticular as to settlements south of the St. Lawrence, 
 which gives color to the American claiin. How- 
 ever, treaties, time, and custom have settled these 
 disputes, the boundary remains an artificial line, 
 nothing more, — and the Canadians rejoice in a 
 future moral possession of the country by reason 
 of large emigration. The St. Lawrence drains the 
 entire diocese from Ontario to Charaplain. Rich- 
 elieu river, outlet of the latter lake, is entirely in 
 Canada. The beautiful Adirondack streams, the 
 Salmon, Raquette, Grass, Chateaugay, St. Regis, 
 and Oswegatchie, pay direct tribute to the St. 
 Lawrence ; the Black River empties into Ontario ; 
 the Saranac, Au Sable, and Chazy into Lake 
 Champlain. The slope of the land is towards the 
 lonely river of the north. 
 
 Drained by so many rivers the soil could 
 scarcely help being fertile; but the rivers are not 
 evenly distributed through the counties, which, 
 consequently, offer odd contrasts of rich vegeta- 
 tion and blooming sterility. Six counties com- 
 pose the diocese: Essex, Clinton, Franklin, St. 
 Lawrence, Jefferson, and Lewis. The two last 
 have but one river between them. The land in 
 its vicinity is good, but away from it flourish the 
 almost impenetrable woods, the sandy tract and 
 the rocky desert. St. Lawrence and Franklin 
 
GENEBAL HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE. Q 
 
 counties are watered by six magnificent streams, 
 and their farming land is of the best quality and 
 very extensive. Essex is simply a mining and 
 lumbering district. Clinton has good land in the 
 neighborhood of Plattsburgh and along the Cham- 
 plain valley, but it also has more rock and sand 
 than can be ^profitably managed. It depends in 
 part upon its mines of iron. These are very 
 numerous in the eastern Adirondacks and in tho 
 Rossie district, and show no signs of exhaustion, 
 but are often seriously affected by depression in 
 the iron trade. Lumbering is becoming a large 
 business, for the woods are extensive and valuable, 
 but exceedingly difficult to reach. Railroads must 
 be built into the mountains, and towns erected at 
 the terminus, with the necessary tanneries and 
 saw-mills. The growth of the business is therefore 
 slow. It is to be wished much slower or better 
 judgment in the stripping of the wood tract should 
 be exacted from the owners. They destroy more 
 lumber than they use. Miles of territory are left 
 naked and bare, given over to the dominion of 
 stumps ; and small mountains, once clothed with 
 soil, forest and vegetation to their very summits, 
 are not only stripped of the latter, but lose the 
 very soil in which these were rooted. The conse- 
 quences are not immediate, but are sure and far- 
 reaching. The sources of the rivers retain each 
 year a scantier supply of water, the rivers dimin- 
 ish, there are torrents in the spring and insignificant 
 
10 GENERAL BISTORT OF THE DIOCESE. 
 
 brooks the remainder of the year, and finally the 
 land watered by these streams becomes a desert. 
 The district is therefore exposed to fluctuations of 
 prosperity which deprive it of healthy and settled 
 routine. 
 
 The climate is agreeable but severe. The ther- 
 mometer falls in winter to 33° below zero on 
 occasions, and when it strikes 20° is prepared to 
 stay. The snow falls in immense quantities, 
 blocking travel for many weeks, and causing other 
 annoyances ; but the air is dry and pure. The 
 cold is not felt so keenly as in New York city, and 
 pulmonary diseases are very rare. The winter 
 comes in December and departs in April, from 
 which time there is a certainty of steady and 
 agreeable weather. At all seasons of the year the 
 natural beauties of the territory are more varied 
 and striking than pen can describe. The moun- 
 tain lakes and charming rivers, the wilderness, the 
 mountains, the cultivated valleys and pretty towns, 
 the soft colors of spring, the repose of summer, 
 the gorgeousness of autumn, the stormy glories of 
 winter, and above all the clear, beautiful, sparkling 
 atmosphere in which these are seen, make the 
 region a perfect delight to those who live among 
 them. 
 
 Samuel Champlain was the first explorer whose 
 eyes beheld the loveliness of the western district. 
 In the same year which saw the Half-Moon sailing 
 up the Hudson, 1609, he entered the lake from 
 the Richelieu, and explored it for its entire dis- 
 
GENERAL HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE. H 
 
 tance. The whole territory is rich in historic 
 interest. Leaving out of question Picquet's mis- 
 sion, St. Regis, and the St. Lawrence, the western 
 district is connected with a troop of romantic 
 names and incidents. Father Jogues, missionary 
 and martyr, was hurried from the Ottawa by his 
 Mohawk captors down the lake to their castles in 
 Central New York. At Crown Point was built 
 the Fort St. Frederic, around which a small town 
 grew, whose streets are still traceable, and where 
 the French chaplains offered up the Mass long 
 before the first settlers of Port Henry were born. 
 The walls of the fort are still standing, as are also 
 those of Fort Carillon at Ticonderoga. Dieskau 
 and the unfortunate Montcalm led their armies to 
 battle in the wilderness of Essex county, and at 
 " Ti." fell the British general Howe in the flower 
 of his youth and popularity. During the Revolu- 
 tion Ethan Allen's stentorian voice often shook 
 the echoes in the big rocks ; Montgomery passed 
 this way to fatal Quebec ; Benedict Arnold defied 
 his stronger enemy below Plattsburgh with a 
 mimic fleet, and retreating to Valcour received a 
 drubbing from the British ; Burgoyne trained his 
 guns on St. Clair — ill-starred generals both of 
 them — and made Ticonderoga forever worthless as 
 a military position. Ten miles from the Richelieu 
 river is Point au Fer, and behind it King's Bay. 
 On the Point once stood a block-house known as 
 the White House, held in turn by British and 
 
12 GENERAL HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE. 
 
 Americans, — ^in the bay often rode the King's ships 
 and the home-made navy of the Continental Con- 
 gress. Great men have been there entertained. 
 General Schuyler dined with its commandant, as 
 did Bishop Carroll, Benjamin Franklin and our 
 own Carroll of Carrolton, besides the many brave 
 officers whose names I have already mentioned. 
 At Plattsburgh, in the war of 1812, MacDonough 
 defeated the British fleet, and turned the tide of 
 war to the west. Wilkinson, after a ridiculous 
 campaign in Canada, wintered around Fort Cov- 
 ington. Finally, in the summer of 1817, President 
 Monroe travelled in state through the north, and 
 was so expensively received at Plattsburgh that 
 the village, as a consequence, went a whole year 
 without a fire-engine. Outside of New York it- 
 self no part of the state so teems with historic 
 interest as this, and none has given to great events 
 and personages so rich and suitable a setting. 
 
 The first settlers were Frenchmen and Cana- 
 dians, born soldiers and travellers. A De Freden- 
 burgh, presumably an Englishman, owned, pre- 
 vious to the Revolution, the land in and around 
 Plattsburgh. His nearest neighbors were two 
 Frenchmen at Chazy, John La Framboise and his 
 brother. On his estate he had housed a number 
 of Canadian laborers, whom the troublous times 
 along the lake afterwards dispersed. The Aca- 
 dian volunteers in the Revolutionary army having 
 been granted land by the Legislature of New 
 
GENERAL HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE 13 
 
 York, settled north of Plattsburgh in Clinton 
 county. Their descendants form no inconsiderable 
 portion of the present dwellers in that neighbor- 
 hood. Along the border, as far west as Wadding- 
 ton, many Canadians built their houses, but were 
 ejected as squatters whien the colonies had gained 
 their independence, and American citizens began 
 to pour into the territory. The settlement of 
 portions of Lewis and Jefferson counties were 
 made at a very early date by Frenchmen. Two 
 agents of the " Compagnie de New York," Simon 
 Desjardines and Peter Pharoux, together with one 
 Mark Brunei, bought land in the neighborhood of 
 Carthage in 1793, and there erected a saw-mill in 
 1795. Peter Penet, in 1789, purchased consider- 
 able land along the St. Lawrence ; and in 1820 
 Joseph Bonaparte built a chateau at Natural 
 Bridge, which he occupied but a short time and 
 sold to Mr. Lafarge. These gentlemen did but 
 little in the way of colonization. To Mr. Vincent 
 Le Ray de Chammont are the counties of Jeffer- 
 son and Lewis most indebted for his arduous and 
 very successful labors in settling the district. As 
 the agent of a French land company, he repre- 
 sented many thousand acres in both counties, and 
 for years was conspicuous in the work of coloniza- 
 tion. The Germans at Croghan, the Irish at Bel- 
 fort and Carthage, and the French at Cape Vin- 
 cent, Rosiere, Chaumont, Therese, and Le Rays- 
 ville, were brought by him to these villages, — the 
 
14 GENEBAL BISTOBT OF THE DIOCESE. 
 
 last five of which were named in his honor. At 
 Belfort, Carthage, and Rosiere, he built or assisted 
 to build substantial churches for the people. In 
 his old age he visited for the last time the scene 
 of his labors, and attended Mass in the ancient 
 church at Carthage, dying a few years later at his 
 ancestral home in France. Of these settlements 
 by Catholics, I shall speak more particularly in 
 the next chapter. 
 
 Settlers poured into the newly opened territory 
 from Vermont and Southern New York in increas- 
 ing numbers. Capital followed them, and by 
 1820, Carthage, Ogdensburg, Waddington, Fort 
 Covington, Malone, and Plattsburgh were villages 
 of importance, while many minor towns sprang 
 into existence. Farming and lumbering were the 
 principal occupations ; a carrying trade was com- 
 menced on the St. Lawrence and the lakes ; schools 
 were opened, churches arose, and a brisk business 
 and social life began under circumstances so favor- 
 able and unexpected as to justify hopes of the 
 brilliant future pictured by the inhabitants, but 
 never to be realized. These early settlers were 
 people of considerable piety, kindly manners and 
 good principles, very liberal-minded in dealing 
 with Catholics, and careful to conceal any feeling 
 which might be thought bigoted. It is to be re- 
 gretted that their descendants have either immi- 
 grated or failed to catch their good qualities. The 
 territory rapidly increased in wealth, and the 
 
GENERAL HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE. 15 
 
 cities in population ; railroads were built and 
 mines opened. The carrying trade on Lake 
 Champlain and the St. Lawrence became more 
 extensive. Emigrants from Ireland and Canada 
 settled everywhere. A few manufacturers, in- 
 duced by leading residents, opened establishments 
 in the leading cities. It was thought by many 
 that this northern region would rival in wealth 
 and importance the agricultural paradise of the 
 Mohawk valley. Vain expectation ! The war of 
 the Rebellion came, and in a single decade changed 
 the conditions of life in the north. The region 
 touched the tide-mark of prosperity in 1865, and 
 stayed at that point for a few years ; but already 
 the influences were at work which have since de- 
 stroyed its importance, and marked it everywhere 
 with the melancholy tinge of decay. 
 
 The army drew to its ranks the young men of 
 the territory, and never returned them. They 
 came back indeed to find the old habits of life irk- 
 some, and the old limits too confining for natures 
 used to a large measure of action. The good 
 farming land was occupied ; the poorer kind called 
 for a laborious outlay, and returned small profit. 
 There were no manufacturies. Desultory labor in 
 saw-mills and tanneries, and dangerous mining, 
 were not attractive. The young men went west, 
 and the young women followed them or sought 
 the factories south and east, and the cities. Since 
 that day this disastrous emigration has continued. 
 
16 GENERAL HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE. 
 
 In population the territory only holds its numbers 
 — the natural increase passes from the soil. The 
 saddest misfortune that can happen a country has 
 fallen upon these northern counties, — they are 
 doomed to lose their young. There is nothing to 
 feed the meanest ambition of ambitious youth in 
 the entire district ; no place to learn a trade ; little 
 opportunity for advancement ; rarely a chance to 
 labor steadily. Therefore the young go to Mont- 
 real, to Boston, Albany, and the West ; and the 
 laboring population shift uneasily from town to 
 town, from the woods to the mines, from the mines 
 to the lakes, in an eternal round of uneasy strug- 
 gling for a living. What an effect this steady 
 drain must have on every department of business, 
 and on the social and religious life of the district, 
 can easily be imagined. The social life is practi- 
 cally dead ; the business and religious life, with 
 certain marked exceptions, are dying. 
 
 Nothing is at present so marked as the decay of 
 religious feeling among Protestants, the neglected 
 condition of their churches, and the shiftless man- 
 agement of their mission work outside the cities 
 and more important towns. In these latter places 
 the sects are in full vigor. In the country shabby 
 churches and dull congregations are the rule, and 
 not only dull, but slim and indifferent. The min- 
 isters find their flocks scattered over a large terri- 
 tory, and are compelled to attend many villages, 
 and attending are not consoled by the sound faith 
 
GENERAL BISTORT OF THE DIOCESE. 17 
 
 or orderly lives of their people. The one mark is 
 everywhere — indifference and decay. Ingersollism 
 rejoices in a strong following ; the children even 
 are infected with it in some districts, and go out 
 into the world with as much religious knowledge 
 as savages. Religious papers do not circulate 
 among the people largely, and religious literature 
 is practically unknown; but the dime novel, the 
 weekly sensational, and the deposits of printed 
 ■ filth can be found in the most insignificant villages. 
 The schools are mere channels for the free flow of 
 vice. The corruption existing among the children 
 is something before which the sects stand in ap- 
 palled helplessness, at which the indifferent and 
 the atheists smile as natural flaws in human nature. 
 Unbelief and immorality have a powerful overflow, 
 and have drenched the Catholic body to an unex- 
 pected extent. The salt has indeed lost some of 
 its savor : it is miraculous that it did not lose all. 
 
 Under the conditions described in this chapter 
 the territory has grown and now exists. I think 
 its future can be clearly pictured by their aid. 
 Without manufacturies or any prospect of obtain- 
 ing them, depending on forests and rivers which 
 will be exhausted within half a century, losing 
 regularly the natural increase in population, the 
 district north of the Adirondacks must speedily 
 settle down into a farming country, a mere depot 
 of supplies for the south, with the meagre business 
 life which the exchange and cartage of commod- 
 
18 GENERAL HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE. 
 
 ities require. The stripping of the forest land will 
 leave the rich farming district of St. Lawrence <ind 
 Franklin counties a wretched desert. The depart- 
 ure of the capital invested in lumber will reduce 
 the population of the cities one-third, — the crowd 
 of laborers will disappear. Into a settled routine 
 of crop-raising and food-selling, the people will 
 fall gradually ; and the traveller from New Zea- 
 land, on his way to sketch the ruins of St. Paul's, 
 may fill his sketch-book with studies of silent saw- 
 mills, ruined mining machinery, stony farms 
 where once the rich wheat blossomed, and cities 
 which use the surplus buildings, formerly occupied 
 by the happy laborer, for firewood. This is no 
 fancy picture ; — the shadow of this coming desola- 
 tion already lies on Ogdensburg. It behooves the 
 authorities, civil and ecclesiastical, to keep this, 
 future before them, and not to lay foundations too 
 large and deep and costly. They may never be 
 able to raise the superstructure, or, having raised 
 it, may find too late that the district is too weak 
 to support the weight on its bosom. Poor terri- 
 tory, north of the Adirondacks ! Many bright 
 hopes have died in its embrace ; but it charms the 
 adventurous emigrant no more. Its poorly-paid- 
 inhabitant regrets the hour which brought him to 
 it, and sighs over 'the bad judgment which turned 
 him from the West. 
 
GENERAL HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE. 19 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 CATHOLIC SETTLEMENTS. 
 
 As we have seen in the preceding chapter, 
 Catholics had considerable to do with settling 
 certain parts of the Adirondack and St. Lawrence 
 territory in the earliest days of colonization. Had 
 capital been more plentiful with a class of people 
 just liberated from the intolerance and bigotry of 
 the colonies, their share in the work would have 
 been more important and lasting. Had the Irish 
 emigrants of the first years been possessed of any 
 means, the results which they have obtained since 
 the war would not have been so slow in arriving. 
 They were forced to contend with poverty and 
 social ostracism. Driven out of Ireland starving, 
 they received a cold welcome in Canada, whose 
 people look with natural suspicion and dislike on 
 those who speak the English tongue. A few 
 brought small sums of money with them, and some 
 earned a few hundred dollars after their arrival. 
 Thus provided they entered the wilderness. What 
 they have won from it in the shape of present 
 comfort was the result of labor and suffering ; and 
 it is to their credit that they have preserved in the 
 
20 GENMUAL HISTOBY OF THE DIOCESE. 
 
 midst of poverty a spirit of generosity as cheering 
 as unexpected. The subject of Catholic settlement 
 in the north naturally divides itself into the fol- 
 lowing heads : 
 
 Acadian settlers on the northwest 
 
 bank of Champlain, . . 1790 
 Black River settlements, . . 1818 
 Settlements on the west bank of 
 
 Champlain, .... 1820 
 Settlements along the St. Lawrence, 1820 
 Canadian exiles of Papineau's re- 
 bellion, .... 1837 
 Immigration of railroad laborers, . 1848 
 Immigration of mining laborers, . 1865 
 
 These dates and divisions represent the time at 
 which emigration of Catholics began, and the 
 nature of the emigration, and give the reader a 
 clear idea. of its extent and general character. 
 Mining settlements were among the very first with 
 which Catholics had to do in the Champlain dis- 
 trict and around Rossie, but for the sake of con- 
 venience they are included under a general head- 
 ing to distinguish them from the later mining 
 settlements of French Canadians. 
 
 1. The Legislature of New York, in 1789, 
 granted lands in Clinton county to the children of 
 Acadians ejected by the English during the famous 
 French wars, and to Canadian refugees. When 
 the American colonies raised the standard of re- 
 volt against British rule, they found it expedient 
 
GENERAL HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE. 21 
 
 to secure the assistance of Canada, and sent 
 Messrs. Franklin and Chase, and Father Carroll, 
 as agents to bring about that object. The mission 
 had a fair chance of success. But fifteen years 
 had passed since the fall of Quebec, and the inso- 
 lent conqueror had crowded the Canadians with 
 restrictions, and hindered the free exercise of 
 religion in many ways. There was no affection 
 for England in Canadian bosoms. In fact tl^e 
 young men were enthusiastic over the revolt of 
 the colonies, and many joined the American army 
 in Montreal. The commissioners failed to win 
 over the Canadian authorities. The address of 
 Congress was assuring, and promised non-inter- 
 ference with their religion ; but the English pro- 
 cured and published another Congressional address, 
 presented to Parliament previously, in which Mr. 
 John Jay had expressed very different sentiments 
 concerning the Catholic religion. The commis- 
 sioners returned unsuccessful ; the English Privy 
 Council granted toleration to Catholicity in Cana- 
 da to cut off further advances from Congress, and 
 the American army evacuated Montreal. The 
 Canadians who had enlisted in it, and its public 
 sympathizers, became exiles unexpectedly, and 
 were reduced to great poverty long before the 
 war closed. The New York Legislature came to 
 their relief, and they settled comfortably on a 
 stretch of excellent farming land around Chazy 
 and Corbeau in 1790. 
 
22 GENERAL HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE. 
 
 Industry and economy are two fixed traits in 
 the Canadian character, carried occasionally to a 
 disagreeable excess. The exiles were close to their 
 beloved Canada, and they were happy. In a short 
 time the land was cleared of its forest, log-houses 
 were built, and the crops began to brighten the 
 lonely neighborhood. Two hundred and fifty 
 families had settled within a territory fifteen miles 
 square, and consequently social life must have 
 been brisk and pleasant. A few of the more pious 
 assembled regularly in certain houses to recite the 
 beads, and the prayers of the Mass, and to sing 
 the hymns of Canada and Acadia. They were not 
 many, however, and religious spirit declined per- 
 ceptibly as the wealth of the colonists increased. 
 For twenty-eight years the majority never looked 
 upon the face of a priest. A stray missionary from 
 Fort Laprairie occasionally visited them ; and on 
 great occasions the more venturesome stole into 
 Canada and attended a religious service. The 
 children grew np indifferent, and ready for various 
 impressions concerning religion. They had noth- 
 ing of the Catholic spirit which residence in a 
 Catholic country gives. The schools were few 
 and far apart, and were hothouses of Protestantism. 
 Many never entered a school. Abuses and evil 
 results arose in consequence, which years of 
 patient labor on the part of the priests have not 
 uprooted and cannot uproot under present con- 
 ditions. The early settlers reached a fair degree 
 
GENERAL HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE. 23 
 
 of prosperity, and had they been blessed with a 
 spirit of business enterprise, might be holding the 
 palin of superiority to-day.. Content to follow the 
 routine of their fathers they have sunk into a dull 
 obscurity, and allowed their children to fall away 
 from the faith. Many of the best names in Clin- 
 ton county, fajnous in business and the professions, 
 pillars of the sectarian churches, are those of the 
 descendants of Catholic Acadians. 
 
 2. The settlements on the Black River were 
 begun principally under supervision of a French 
 land company, whose agent was Mr. Vincent Le- 
 Ray de Chaumont, a gentleman of means and 
 culture, a devoted Catholic, and a generous and 
 enterprising landlord. These settlements were 
 located on the north bank of the river, which for 
 the most part does not possess as fertile a soil as 
 the south. The colonists were Irish, French and 
 Germans, of limited means or of no means at all, 
 but industrious and steady, to whom Mr. Le Ray 
 was disposed to grant every assistance and favor. 
 The Germans settled remotest from the lake in 
 the neighborhood of Croghan, and were blessed 
 from the beginning with a singular freedom from 
 blunders, and with practical Catholie organization. 
 Almost at the start the priest and the school were 
 in their midst ; and they prospered not only finan- 
 cially but spiritually, raising up a generation 
 which is no discredit to the faith and virtue of 
 those who went before. They paid for the land 
 
24 GENERAL SISTOBY OF THE DIOCESE. 
 
 in easy instalments, — and as they increased in 
 wealth and importance, liberally endowed every 
 effort made for their salvation. The church and 
 schools are not unworthy the material importance 
 of the congregation. 
 
 The Irish settled near Carthage, fifteen miles 
 from Croghan, and were provided with a church 
 by Mr. Le Ray, for which, however, they were 
 compelled to pay in part. Their history is a mel- 
 ancholy record of decay of faith, and consequent 
 displays of disobedience and discord, which read 
 like the shameful stories of the Lutheran revolt. 
 Their land was acquired in the same fashion as at 
 Croghan, and Mr. Le Ray was equally generous 
 and paternal in his dealings with them. They 
 grew prosperous with years. The land was not 
 first-class, but it yielded a fair return for the labor 
 spent upon it. They had priests almost from the 
 beginning, and were considered the most import- 
 ant Catholic community of the north after Ogdens- 
 burg. The liberal spirit seized upon them with a 
 violence not even surpassed by New York in the 
 palmiest days of trusteeism. From that date, 
 1835, they earned most deservedly a reputation 
 for turbulence, disobedience, and poor faith, 
 which remains to be excelled. They have never 
 possessed Catholic schools, nor wished for them, 
 and their parish has been a hotbed of disorder to 
 supply the neighboring parishes with similar 
 growths. A heavy responsibility rests upon them 
 
GENERAL HISTORY OF TEE DIOCESE. 25 
 
 for their ingratitude to Heaven, and the scandal 
 and bad example they have given their neighbors. 
 They have in part suffered for their viciousness : 
 forest fires some years ago injured them severely 
 in life and property, and only last year Carthage 
 itself was totally destroyed by fire. 
 
 The French* settlers chose a site a few miles 
 from Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence, and 
 with an affectionate remembrance of the country 
 they had left, named its central point Rosiere. 
 Mr. Le Ray lived among them, having his oflSces 
 at Cape Vincent. They gradually spread over the 
 district west of Watertown, and passing through 
 the same phases of existence as at Croghan, lived 
 through a half century with faith intact and the 
 primeval honesty and simplicity unimpaired. Many 
 of the settlers were old soldiers under the great 
 Napoleon, and handed to their children a military 
 pride and dignity and generosity of soul which 
 marked the community favorably. Attended by 
 good priests from the beginning, although for a 
 short period without schools, they were well 
 taught in the faith, and were not only a docile and 
 easily governed people, but self-restraining and 
 self-respecting. Their business capacity, ability, 
 and shrewdness prevented the political power and 
 business interests of their district from falling into 
 the hands of a clever and unscrupulous minority. 
 Their schools were taught by Catholic teachers. 
 They are now emphatically their own masters as 
 
26 GENERAL HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE. 
 
 are the Germans at Croghan, and are not dictated 
 to, and lorded over, and led by the nose like those 
 unfortunates who have been faithful neither to 
 truth nor heresy. The district in which they re- 
 side will ever remember them. Its villages are 
 named Therese, Le Raysville, Cape Vincent, and 
 Chammont, in Vincent Le Ray's honor. Lafarge- 
 ville honors a French gentleman named La Farge, 
 who bought the estate of another Frenchman 
 named Penet. Around them lingers an air of ro- 
 mance in connection with the Bonapartes, whose 
 beauty is as subtle and fascinating as the history 
 of that great name. To Cape Vincent Napoleon 
 was to be hurried when his daring friends had torn 
 him from the stronghold of St. Helena. The house 
 was prepared ; a few nobles haunted the neighbor- 
 hood for a brief period ; a charming mystery hung 
 about their movements. Napoleon's death cut 
 short mystery and expectation. The only memo- 
 rial of his expected presence is a ribbon of the 
 order of St. Helena, saffron-colored, which, with 
 his own hands, he pinned to the coat of a general 
 in his suite. It is now in the possession of the 
 Beauforts of Cape Vincent. 
 
 3. Steamers began to navigate Champlain be- 
 tween St. John's and Ticonderoga in 1816. In 
 that year, therefore, it became an easy matter for 
 Canadian immigrants to reach the region once 
 subjected to their dominion. Only the more dar- 
 ing attempted it, for the States had become an 
 
GENERAL HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE. 27 
 
 object of honor to the average habitant. Another 
 class of emigrants appeared. British vessels 
 brought yearly to Quebec numbers of Irishmen 
 anxious to enter and join the Eepublic which had 
 given to hateful England its first defeat. Had 
 their wishes alone been consulted, their direct 
 journey woul4 have been to New York or Boston. 
 It was treason at that time to sympathize with 
 America, and American vessels were searched for 
 British citizens. Fear of this calamity forced 
 Irish emigrants to emigrate in English ships, and 
 thus they reached Canada first. Many fled into 
 Maine, and scattered thence through the New- 
 England States. Others followed the St. Lawrence 
 and settled around Ogdensburg and Hogansburgh. 
 The first Catholic settlers of the west shore of 
 Champlain came direct from Montreal to Platts- 
 burgh, and settled in the valley of the Au Sable 
 and along the Saranac. A few settlers came from 
 Boston, and some from New York. All were 
 farmers and took up land as soon as they were 
 able. Later immigrants having brought a little 
 money with them, were enabled to begin life in 
 comfort. They were a cheerful people and not 
 ungenerous. Many were settled on excellent land, 
 and grew wealthy before the war, while the less 
 fortunate by industry acquired somewhat later a 
 decent, competence. Plattsburgh Catholics had 
 risen to importance by 1825. A priest was sent 
 to take charge of them at that time, and they have 
 
28 GENERAL HISTOItY OF THE DIOCESE. 
 
 since remained under the watchful care of the 
 church. They acquired with time considerable 
 culture, contributed a number of young men to 
 the church and the professions, and are favorably 
 known in business circles. The latest immigrants, 
 principally laborers, were speedily subjected to the 
 same influences which had moulded the first, fall- 
 ing quickly into line, and largely adding to the 
 credit of the Catholic settlement. The faith has 
 been preserved with moderate fervor, and if the 
 rising generation does not own the excellence of 
 the past, it is partly because good schools have not 
 existed in the district. 
 
 4. The settlers in St. Lawrence and Franklin 
 counties came to America under conditions similar 
 to those of their Champlain brethren. The wil- 
 derness which they entered was more oppressive, 
 however, if the land was richer, and the triumphs 
 of the faith more brilliant because of the sharper 
 difficulties to be overcome. The first Catholic 
 settlers reached the neighborhood of Waddington 
 in 1820, coming down the St. Lawrence from 
 Montreal. They were farmers, and took up such 
 land as their limited means could procure. In ten 
 years their numbers had so increased that very few 
 places in these counties did not enjoy their indus- 
 trious presence. The opening of the mines some 
 years later brought a stronger emigration. Many 
 of the intended miners turned their attention to 
 farming ; and when mines and saw-mills ceased to 
 
GENERAL HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE. 29 
 
 employ a large number of hands, the unemployed 
 also fixed themselves to the soil. In this way the 
 Catholic farming population of St. Lawrence and 
 Franklin counties grew into importance. It is 
 now the wealthiest portion of the diocese, and the 
 faith flourishes there, Ogdensburg excepted, with 
 rare and vigoious beauty. 
 
 5. The so-called Papineau rebellion in Canada, 
 1837, forced from their homes many French Cana- 
 dians, who settled principally in Clinton county, 
 and became useful and upright citizens of the 
 United States. They were possessed of some 
 means, purchased land, and were enabled in time 
 to leave to their children handsome properties. 
 Their material success drew many Canadians to 
 follow in their footsteps; and the building of rail- 
 roads in various parts of the district also made a 
 heavy draft on Canadian labor. The old dislike 
 of the States wore off among the common people. 
 Churches having become plentiful south of the 
 St. Lawrence, there was less danger to be appre- 
 hended in the matter of their faith. The fears of 
 their pastors were, however, in many cases realized. 
 Those who settled in the large towns were speedily 
 taken care of by pastors of their own nationality, 
 or at least French, but not before many lament- 
 able apostacies from self-interest or indifference 
 occurred. Mixed marriages also made havoc 
 among them. The country populations in the 
 neighborhood of churches succeeded better in re- 
 
30 GENERAL HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE. 
 
 taining their faith. Those in the remoter wilder- 
 ness may be said to have lost it altogether, — for 
 many of them never looked upon the face of 
 a priest until, grown up and entered into the 
 civilized world, they met the men of whom 
 their fathers had spoken with varying degrees of 
 affection and respect. With wonderful fecundity 
 these Canadian settlers multiplied until they now 
 form one-third of the population in Clinton County, 
 and are to be found in every nook and public spot 
 of the whole diocese. The revival of the mining 
 interests brought some thousands of them to 
 Plattsburgh and its neighborhood during and after 
 the war. The tide of European emigration having 
 turned westward, capitalists were compelled to 
 invite them to cross the lines. They have estab- 
 lished a number of respectable communities in the 
 counties, and seem to enjoy prosperity even in 
 most discouraging times. The building of the rail- 
 roads in 1845 added somewhat to the Irish popula- 
 tion, and many good parishes owe their existence 
 to these public works ; but by later emigrations 
 they benefited only slightly, and their communi- 
 ties are now stationary. 
 
 Isolation has been the chief cause of many of 
 the evils which afflicted the northern Catholics. 
 Shut off by difference of language and nationality 
 from Canada, and closed in by mountains from 
 Boston and Albany, they shared in none of these 
 impulses which moved the faithful in the fortunate 
 centres. They were dependent, and yet independ- 
 
GENERAL HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE. 31 
 
 ent, suffering the miseries of the former condition 
 without enjoying the blessings of the latter. All 
 their impressions and ideas of church government 
 were derived from tradition or their Protestant 
 surroundings, and the surroundings in most cases 
 destroyed tradition. They had no schools and no 
 literature : unttl this hour they are still without 
 them. Hence the revolts and disturbances which 
 occurred too often for the honor of the faith ; and 
 hence, too, the unlimited number of mixed mar- 
 riages which have occasionally destroyed an entire 
 community. It is wonderful that worse results have 
 not followed the absence of so many necessary 
 influences. The condition of the faith is quite 
 marked in the three districts of the diocese. The 
 Black River valley and the neighborhood of Og- 
 densburg are notable for a cool, complacent faith 
 somewhat resembling the religious disposition of 
 the modern Presbyterian. Croghan and Rosiere 
 are honorable exceptions ; Carthage is statuesque 
 indifference. The Champlain district is fair to 
 middling, having to deal with new and unsettled 
 populations, that may yet become enthusiastic 
 Catholics. The Hogansburgh district seems to 
 possess the faith in its purity. As we shall see in 
 the succeeding chapter, the priests worked equally 
 well in all these districts ; and the difference of 
 religious disposition can only be accounted for on 
 the ground that the first settlers were too eager 
 to please their neighbors by adopting opinions 
 foreign to their faith. 
 
32 GENEBAL HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 CATHOLIC OKGANIZATION. 
 
 Catholic settlers, ■with the single exception of 
 those at Chazy, were not divorced from their priests 
 longer than ten years. Father Peter Huet de la 
 Valiniere, attended the Canadians at Split Rock 
 Bay, and there built a church and residence. 
 His eccentricities displeased the people. After a 
 few years' stay among them they burned the 
 church property to get rid of him. The design 
 succeeded, but as if in punishment for their 
 wanton act, all trace of them has disappeared 
 from that neighborhood. Father de la Valiniere 
 shares with three others the distinction of being 
 the first missonary to the North — Fathers Mignault 
 of Chambly, Canada, O'Callaghan of Burlington, 
 and Farnham of Utica. Father Mignault in 1818 
 sought out the numerous Catholics of Clinton 
 County, and faithfully attended them until the 
 bishops of the State were able to provide for 
 them. For nearly fifty years he was connected 
 with ecclesiastical doings in the county. He 
 officated at the corner-stone ceremonies of all the 
 
GENERAL UISTOBT OF THE DIOCESE. 33 
 
 Canadian and a few of the mixed parishes, and 
 was present, an honored and distinguished guest, 
 at other important assemblages. The bishop of 
 New York made him vicar-general, an office also 
 held by him, under the bishops of Albany 
 until his death. Father Farnham of Utica, in 
 1819, made a "journey on horseback from Utica 
 to St. Eegis, and visited all the Catholics whom 
 he could discover, baptizing, marrying, preach- 
 ing, confessing, and saying Mass for them. It 
 was not a small undertaking in those days, 
 for roads and bridle-paths were scai'ce and the 
 wilderness dangerous. Father Jeremiah O'Cal- 
 laghan evangelized the shores of Lake Cham- 
 plain from 1830 until 1845. He was stationed 
 at Burlington by the Bishop of Boston, and 
 although eccentric was devoted to his work. 
 Not a single family escaped his watchful eye, 
 and his forcible instruction must have had some 
 influence on the rather wild people of that time. 
 He died afterwards in Boston at a good age, and 
 is humorously as well as piously remembered 
 by his book on " Usury." 
 
 These missionaries for the most part had no 
 churches. Father De la Valiniere built his own, 
 and under Father Mignault's direction the people 
 of Corbeau raised a log-cabin to the service of 
 God. At Waddington there was a second log- 
 church in which Father Salmon officiated, and 
 at Belfort and Carthage Mr. LeRay had erected 
 
34 GENERAL HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE. 
 
 more imposing and desirable structures. These 
 were the priests and the churches of the first 
 decade from 1820 to 1830. It is pleasant to com- 
 pare with them the solid edifices which now adorn 
 every town in the North. Bishop Dubois of New 
 York made a tour of this part of his diocese 
 in the year 1827, and visited St. Regis and Wad- 
 dington. His object was to discover the actual 
 condition and needs of his diocese. It must have 
 pained him deeply to find at the North the same 
 proud spirit which prevailed in New York City 
 and hindered every good work undertaken for 
 the benefit of the people and God's honor. 
 
 When, in 1835, he made his second visit, the 
 aspect of the country had changed for the better, 
 but the spirit of trusteeism was even more 
 rampant. He found a neat stone church at 
 Ogdensburg in charge of Father Foley. At 
 Watertown the Catholics had just purchased a 
 sectarian edifice, and he dedicated at Rosiere a 
 stone building amid splendid ceremonies. Mr. 
 LeRay de Chaumont welcomed him, and the old 
 soldiers of Napoleon presented arms as he entered 
 the church. Croghan and Mohawk Hill were 
 also providing themselves with small chapels, 
 and Father Rogers had finished the church at 
 Keeseville. The bishop, wearied but not dis- 
 couraged by the incessant troubles in his see, 
 must have looked upon the hard but appreciated 
 labor in the. wilderness as a real holiday. The 
 
GENERAL HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE. 35 
 
 people came from long distances to look upon 
 him, to receive his blessing, and to bear it home 
 to their children. Unlawful marriages were 
 ratified, and all sorts of spiritual troubles calmed. 
 Only at Ogdensburg and Carthage did he catch 
 the murmur of that spirit which had eaten the 
 Catholic heart in the metropolis. With him 
 travelled one whose destiny it was to strangle 
 that parent of rebellion in the very moment of 
 its highest strength and power, the Rev. John 
 Hughes afterwards Archbishop. On his return 
 to New York the bishop appointed Rev. John 
 McNulty to the charge of the Hogansburgh 
 district, and the Rev. Michael Gilbride to Car- 
 thage, and before the close of the second de- 
 cade of our ecclesiastical history Hogansburgh 
 and Fort Covington owned stone churches of 
 good size, while Massena and Malone had built 
 wooden chapels. 
 
 Father McNulty's stay in the district was short 
 but memorable. He was a man of fine appear- 
 ance and of great energy. The work which he 
 did in his term was very enduring. He was 
 forced to fly to Canada to escape the conse- 
 quences of a charge made against him by inter- 
 ested parties at Malone. He resided in Canada 
 for the rest of his life, being known as an ex- 
 emplary priest. Dying in Hamilton in 1880 he 
 left to the poor such property as he had acquired. 
 His nearest neighbor was the missionarj' to the 
 
36 GENERAL HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE. 
 
 Indians of St. Regis, Father Marcoux, who for 
 fifty years labored among this remnant of the 
 Iroquois and died two years ago full of years 
 and honor. At Plattsburgh the indefatigable 
 Father Rooney had just begun to labor at the 
 new church for his parish, which he was not 
 afraid to dream of extending as far as Malone. 
 Rough and energetic, he suited the wilderness 
 far better than less emphatic characters, and 
 shaped his parish into a form suggestive years 
 afterwards of his personality. When years had 
 overtaken him Bishop M'Closkey gave him a 
 home with himself in Albany, where he died 
 shortly afterwards, bequeathing to Plattsburgh 
 parish his blessing and a legacy. 
 
 In the western districts labored two men whose 
 history will always remain an important feature 
 of our annals. Rev. John Raffeiner, a native of 
 Brixia, in the Tyrol, came to America in 1833, 
 and began his work among the German emigrants. 
 He was stationed in New York where he built the 
 church of St. Nicholas, and died in Brooklyn at an 
 advanced age. Not only did he labor without 
 stint in the metropolis, he also attended all the 
 Germans in the state, as far as Rochester and Car- 
 thage, and those in various parts of New Jersey 
 and Massachusetts. The people of Mohawk Hill, 
 seem to have received special care from him, and, 
 under his instructions, built the first church in 
 their mission. He was assisted in his care of the 
 
GENERAL HISTORY OF TBE DIOCESE. 37 
 
 German missions by Rev. Francis Guth, rector of 
 the theological seminary at Lafargeville. This in- 
 stitution, so far from the episcopal see, and fairly 
 buried in the remote wilderness, was founded 
 under singular conditions. Bishop Dubois had 
 vainly endeavored to establish his seminary in 
 New York CitJ. Opposition from his trustees, on 
 the one hand, and the burning of the first seminary 
 by incendiaries on the other, forced the despairing 
 bishop to erect a seminary on the St. Lawrence, 
 far from the haunts of bigotry and bad faith. 
 Father Francis Guth became its first and last rec- 
 tor, for after a few years of fitful existence it was 
 closed. One of its pupils was Father Mackey. 
 During his stay in the seminary. Father Guth at- 
 tended the Catholics in all parts of the country, 
 and was particularly devoted to the Germans in 
 Lewis, whose ignorance of English placed them 
 in unfortunate isolation. After many years of 
 labor Father Guth returned to New York, leav- 
 ing behind him a reputation for devotedness and 
 piety of the highest order. Such were the men 
 who, in the years between 1830 and 1840, gave 
 the best part of their lives to the severe, almost 
 thankless, labor in the wilderness. Their parishes 
 or territories were fifty miles in any direction, 
 poorly provided with roads, houses and villages 
 far apart, money scarce, the Catholic population 
 scanty and poor, the climate very severe. Isolated 
 and poor, they worked well and faithfully, and it 
 
38 GENERAL HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE. 
 
 is with deep gratitude I record the fact that the 
 whole tenor of their later lives was as self-denying 
 as these first years. "When honors, and position, 
 and competence came to them, they were not 
 changed, but simple-minded and cheerful they 
 pursued their way to the grave, dying with every 
 hope of a blessed eternity. 
 
 The next ten years were not unlike the last de- 
 cade. Church work moved slowly, and organ- 
 ization was slow. Under Rev. Victor Dugas a 
 solid stone building was built at Corbeau, to pro- 
 vide the increasing population with fitting accom- 
 modations, and a similar one was put up in Port 
 Henry by Olivetti. Both remain to the present 
 day, and are destined to last at least another cen- 
 tury. Clayton, Ticonderoga, Potsdam, Rossie, 
 Trout River, and Constableville were provided 
 with frame structures by their respective priests. 
 At Antwerp, a Union church was bought of Mr, 
 George Parish for a nominal sum, and converted 
 to Catholic uses, while the gentle MacFarlane, of 
 Watertown, built a stone church at Redwood. 
 The most important church building of the decade, 
 however, was the square stone edifice in Platts- 
 burgh, erected by Father Rooney. It was capable 
 of seating four or five hundred, was very plainly 
 but solidly built, and, for that day, was a work of 
 considerable magnitude. Bishop Hughes dedi- 
 cated it, and delivered one of his very best dis- 
 courses, highly complimenting the people and the 
 
GENERAL HISTOET OF TBE DIOCESE. 39 
 
 pastor for their energy. The compliment was 
 ■wholly due to Father Rooney, who worked, trav- 
 elled, planned and struggled to complete it. The 
 people were not blessed with much energy at that 
 period. Their deficiency was more than made up 
 for by the business spirit and tact of their clergy. 
 Father Rooney was the incarnation of this spirit. 
 In Lewis county, Father Howard, a gentle man- 
 nered but high-souled man, led the newly-gathered 
 faithful in the contest with poverty and ignorance, 
 and evangelized his district from north to south. 
 He still survives in a delicate old age, and is ten- 
 derly remembered by a people who seem to have 
 forgotten all of the faith but its illustration by his 
 piety and kindness. Among the wild tribes of 
 Carthage, the eccentric Father Clark fought for 
 the dear life of the faith, and built a church wher- 
 ever and whenever the slightest excuse offered. 
 His energy in this respect saved many a com- 
 munity from the sad fate of apostacy. Father 
 MacFarlane, in Watertown, was the essence of 
 gentleness and piety. His stay was short, but his 
 time was actively employed in various parts of the 
 country, and there are scattered through it many 
 monuments of his sturdy labor. Above all is he 
 remembered for the tact and courtesy which made 
 him dear to all classes of Christians, and for an un- 
 affected piety that placed him beyond his kind. 
 He died afterwards bishop of Hartford. His 
 nearest neighbor, northward, was the indomit- 
 
f 
 
 40 GENERAL HISTORY OF^ XJIE DIOCESE. 
 
 able Father Mackey, whose history is elsewhere 
 fully written. At Hogansburgh, Father James 
 Keveny was planning the erection of Brasher 
 church, had improved all the churches under his 
 care, and as the decade came to an end divided 
 his parish and placed the Rev. Bernard M'Cabe 
 in Malone. He was afterwards removed to Keese- 
 ville, where he built a few churches, and died in 
 Troy a few years ago at an advanced age. The 
 last notable priest of the time was the Italian, 
 Olivetti, at Port Henry, a man of considerable 
 learning and high business ability, who dreamed 
 of colonizing the whole available territory with 
 Catholics, and would have worked the scheme 
 successfully but for the tragic death which over- 
 took him. 
 
 These men were all of rare ability, and gave the 
 deathblow to trusteeism in the north. Their peo- 
 ple became docile, intelligent and charitable, and 
 ready for every good work proposed by their pas- 
 tors. It is to be regretted that in this opportune 
 moment they did not establish schools. The chil- 
 dren who would thus have been educated in the 
 faith are now the fathers of the present day, and a 
 more unsatisfactory class to deal with could hardly 
 be found. However, no schools were opened, and 
 many years passed before that institution made its 
 appearance in the limits of the diocese. 
 
 From 1850 to 1860 was a period of great activ- 
 ity. The mines and railways were in full opera- 
 
GENEBAL HISTOIiY OF THE DIOCESE. 41 
 
 tion, and emigration was large. At Olmsteadville, 
 Chateaugay, Brushton, Dannemora, Harrisburgh, 
 Pinckway, Brasher, Redford, Rouse's Point, Au 
 Sable, substantial churches were built, mostly of 
 a temporary character, although the majority have 
 been used until the present hour. The Canadians 
 at Watertown .bought the old church from St, 
 Patrick's parish, while the English-speaking Cath- 
 olics erected a handsome brick building, capable 
 of holding one thousand people. The log church 
 at Waddington gave way to a stone building of 
 good size ; and the cramped proportions of Father 
 Foley's chapel at Ogdensburg disappeared before 
 a magnificent building which serves to-day as the 
 Cathedral. Potsdam was provided with a large 
 and more fitting church. Father Lemercier put 
 up a large structure for the Canadians of Ogdens- 
 burg ; and the Oblates of Plattsburgh did likewise 
 for their people, besides purchasing a sectarian 
 church for the Canadians of Keeseville. A round 
 dozen of new parishes were formed. The terri- 
 tory resounded with the noise of church-building, 
 and drowned completely, for thirty years at least, 
 the cry for schools. The money needed to com- 
 plete the churches left nothing for schools. Father 
 Lemercier brought the Grey Nuns of Ottawa to 
 Ogdensburg to open an institution for young 
 ladies ; and the Germans at Croghan established 
 a day-school for their children. The Oblates of 
 Plattsburgh distinguished themselves by their 
 
42 GENERAL HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE. 
 
 laborious and fruitful work in Clinton County 
 among the Canadians, building many churches 
 and ruling their congregations with wisdom and 
 success. Father Lapic at Watertown, and later 
 at Corbeaii, also won for himself an enviable rep- 
 utation ; and Father M'Cabe, at Malone, reorgan- 
 ized the neglected district, and left it in good con- 
 dition for his successors. Under Bishop M'Closkey 
 of Albany, this good work was done. He visited 
 the territory shortly after his consecration, and 
 worked hard to supply it with good priests and a 
 careful administration. 
 
 During the next decade the school question 
 received some attention in the centres. Father 
 Mackey opened a school in Ogdensburg, — and 
 Father La Salle another in Champlain. There 
 were some attempts here and there in addition, 
 which came to nothing. Church-building con- 
 tinued with great vigor. Six new parishes were 
 formed, and good churches were built in Cape 
 Vincent, Lowville, Ellenburgh, Mooer's Forks, 
 Cherubusco, Mineville, Cadyville, and Madrid. 
 Norfolk bought a sectarian church ; a convert pre- 
 sented to the mining town of Clintonville a similar 
 building ; and Champlain turned a Methodist 
 chapel to better uses. Malone was provided with 
 a new and elaborate church ; and, later, its Cana- 
 dian population erected a neat and suitable build- 
 ing for themselves. A new church was put up at 
 Dannemora. The most elegant structure in the 
 
GENERAL HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE. 43 
 
 diocese was the church of St. James at Carthage, 
 erected under supervision of Father Barry, now 
 stationed in Oswego. It is the wonder of those 
 who understand the peculiarities of the parish ; 
 and was one of the few buildings spared by the 
 late disastrous fire. At Watertown Father Hogan 
 made some nesessary radical changes in the church, 
 a task equal to the work of building a new edifice. 
 Of the priests eminent at this time all are living 
 but three. Father Francis, Father La Salle, and 
 Father Hogan. The first of these was a Belgian, 
 of a restless disposition but devoted to his duties. 
 He worked in various parts of the State, and 
 churches sprang up at his bidding like mush- 
 rooms. He died lately in Baldwinsville. The 
 gentle and amiable La Salle was the founder of a 
 school in Champlain, a work at that period of 
 great merit and entitling him to distinction. He 
 was one of the very few who perceived its neces- 
 sity, and endured many privations to secure its 
 success. For that matter his life was one of 
 voluntary privation. He died in Cohoes beloved 
 by his people and the citizens. The circumstances 
 attending Father Hogan's last years are too pain- 
 ful and recent to be dwelt upon. He was the 
 victim of the trustee spirit, and his cruel per- 
 secutors still live and flourish in pretended igno- 
 rance of the wrongs they did him. He was the 
 type of the perfect gentleman, a true priest in his 
 gentle submission to suffering. He died happily 
 
44 GENERAL HISTOBY OF THE DIOCESE. 
 
 a few years ago, after a long service among the 
 people of Watertown. 
 
 This closes the account of ecclesiastical growth 
 in the territory up to the moment when the new 
 see was formed. In half a century the number 
 of priests had leaped from one to forty and the 
 two insignificant log-churches had bloomed into 
 fifty stately edifices whose value, including their 
 appendages and properties, could not fall short of 
 a million dollars at a low calculation. The or- 
 ganization was perfect almost, weak only in the 
 utter absence of schools. The priests, though 
 lacking many of the best qualities of their pre- 
 decessors, were a respectable body. It was a fit 
 time to make the district an independent diocese. 
 It needed special supervision. The new bishop 
 was appointed in 1872, and took possession of his 
 see in May of the same year. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE DIOCESE. 
 
 The new diocese was formed at the very mo- 
 ment when the material prosperity of the district 
 had begun to decline, and it cannot but be re- 
 garded as a most providential circumstance that 
 a bishop was appointed over it to perfect the 
 
GENERAL HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE. 45 
 
 work done and prevent the evil effects sure to 
 follow the emigration of capital and labor. The 
 population of the North owe much to this action 
 of the Holy See and the bishops of the State. 
 The formation of a diocese led to the more per- 
 fect administration of church affairs, and was a 
 double incentifve for Catholics to remain in a 
 territory so happily situated in religious matters. 
 The West was ill-provided with the means to 
 educate and evangelize. Careful and thoughtful 
 people hesitated to expose their children to its 
 disadvantages, and endeavored to bear with al- 
 tered circumstances in the East. Hence, a pop- 
 ulation which would have surely departed for 
 better lands remained to enrich the district with 
 their labor. If it could not prevent decay, the 
 diocese certainly prevented collapses and dis- 
 missed the emigrant at long intervals well-pre- 
 pared for his adventurous career in the West. 
 Closely connected with their natural head the 
 bishop, the clergy no longer felt themselves exiled 
 and disregarded. Ogdensburg, not Albany, be- 
 came the centre of attraction. The parishes were 
 given a new impulse towards perfection. Many 
 light abuses were corrected, and every energy 
 possessed by the faith in the North w^s brought 
 into fullest exercise. A similar organization of 
 the business interests of the territory would cer- 
 tainly produce similar results in its natural 
 condition. If Ogdensburg were made its centre. 
 
46 GENERAL BISTORT OF THE DIOCESE. 
 
 and the men of capital became interested and 
 active enough to manufacture the supplies needed 
 by the inhabitants of the six counties, the district 
 would not sink to the level of a mere depot of 
 supplies and human nursery for the over-grown 
 cities of the South. Our business enterprise is 
 dead. Our leading men are the merest slug- 
 gards, afraid and unwilling to undertake anything 
 which does not promise to double their invest- 
 ment within a decade, and as selfish as sluggards 
 usually are. 
 
 In the diocese church-building continued with 
 unabated vigor. Necessity and circumstances 
 dictated the style and location of the buildings, 
 rather than fanciful ideas of cost and architecture. 
 Very fine buildings were erected at Croghan by 
 the Franciscans, at Rosiere by Rev. James J. 
 Sherry, at Rossie by Rev. Michael Kelly, at 
 Massena by Rev. Father Brennan, at Canton by 
 Rev. James J. DriscoU, at Malone by Revs. Jas. 
 Sherry and William Rossiter, at St. Regis by the 
 veteran Marcoux, at Redford by Rev. N. Z. Lor- 
 raine, at Hogansburgh by Rev. Thos. Walsh, and 
 at Plattsburgh by Rev. M. J. Maloney, an Oblate. 
 These edifices were all costly and beautiful, and 
 built with fitness and elegant taste. They will 
 remain many years an evidence of the people's 
 generosity and the energy of the pastors. Of a 
 less costly character were the churches erected 
 at Watertown by the Sacred Heart missionaries, 
 
GENERAL HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE. 47 
 
 at Crown Point by Rev. Joseph Butler, at Con- 
 stable and Highmarket by Rev. James H. Mc- 
 Kenna, and at Chazy by Rev. Father Brosseau, 
 but all were distinguished by neatness and good 
 taste. Churches of varying size and appearance 
 were erected at Port Leyden by Rev. Eugene 
 
 Carroll, at ColUDn by Rev. , at Hopkinton 
 
 and Norwood by Rev. Thos. "Walsh, at Lisbon 
 and North Lawrence by Rev. John E. O'Haine, 
 at Constable and Titusville by Rev. J. B. Le- 
 grand, at Burke by Rev. E. M. DePauw, at St. 
 Regis Falls by Rev. Mr. Ouillette, at Rogersfield 
 by Rev. N. Z. Lorraine, at Hammond, Westport, 
 and Elizabethtown by Rev. John O'Rourke, at 
 Essex by Rev. Hugh Shields, at Gouverneur by 
 the congregation at Heuvelton by Rev. John 
 Murphy, at Dayanville by the Franciscans, and 
 at Black Brook by Rev. James Smith. In the 
 smaller missions there are also chapels, occa^ 
 sionally attended, to the number of twenty, all 
 erected since the formation of the diocese with 
 a view of attaching the people still more firmly 
 to the district. Thirteen new parishes have been 
 erected in' thirteen years, and the number of 
 priests rose from forty to sixty. 
 
 The numerous debts paid, contracted in build- 
 ing churches of the lapt decade, was a work of 
 which little can be said, although one of the first 
 magnitude and of the highest difficulty. At 
 Watertown, Rev. Tobias Glenn in a brief period 
 
48 GENERAL HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE. 
 
 raised a bankrupt parish to life, and cleared away 
 a debt of fifteen thousand dollars. Rev. M. J. 
 Brown at Hogansburgh, Very Rev. Thos. Walsh 
 at Plattsburgh, Rev. Mr. Rossiter at Malone, and 
 Rev. John O'Rourke at Port Henry, have strug- 
 gled and are still struggling with these heavy bur- 
 dens. Nor can much be said of the churches im- 
 proved, embellished, and almost rebuilt ; the resi- 
 dences constructed, and the properties improved. 
 This work is going on almost constantly. At 
 Champlain and Clayton, two stone churches of 
 great beauty are going up at the present writing, 
 and will be soon dedicated. From this record it 
 can be seen what energy the new bishop infused 
 into diocesan work. These material improve- 
 ments are the indication of the deep interest 
 which priests and people gave to the religious life 
 of this country. 
 
 The most hopeful aspect of the period, however, 
 was the introduction of schools. Immediately 
 upon his arrival the bishop invited the Clerks 
 of San Viateur to take charge of a school in Og- 
 densburg, and by every means in his power urged 
 upon his clergy and people the great necessity of 
 the hour. In consequence, the Franciscans opened 
 day and boarding schools at Croghan and Mohawk 
 Hill, in charge of Sisters of the order; at Water- 
 town the Fathers of the Sacred Heart opened a 
 boys' college, the Sisters of Mercy two day-schools ; 
 a day-school was opened for the Canadians of 
 
GENERAL HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE. 49 
 
 Ogdensburg by Father Jeannott ; the Sisters of 
 Mercy started a boarding-school for young ladies 
 at Hogansburgh and Brasher, which have pros- 
 pered ; and similar institutions were begun by the 
 Oblates at Plattsburgh, under care of the Ottawa 
 Grey Nuns, and by Father Lorraine at Redwood, 
 under care of the Franciscan Sisters. To these in- 
 stitutions will soon be added many important day- 
 schools, the need of which is felt more keenly 
 than ever, at the present moment. The Catholics 
 of the present generation possess a faith whose 
 fervor, and very existence, perhaps, depend less 
 upon strong principle than upon the personal char- 
 acter of the parish priests. They have been edu- 
 cated in the district schools, and their faith is a 
 one-sided affair, the result of habit and association 
 as much as conviction. Unless educated in the 
 Catholic spirit from -the cradle, the next genera- 
 tion will be practically godless. Nearly forty 
 thousand confirmations have been administered by 
 the bishop in his thirteen years of labor. From 
 every cranny of the diocese the faithful priests 
 have gathered the children and prepared them to 
 receive these inestimable graces — Christian instruc- 
 tion and confirmation ; and although many of the 
 children have borne to other dioceses their healthy 
 labor and youthful virtues, it is a satisfaction to 
 know that they do the diocese no dishonor. 
 
 Besides churches and schools as a medium for 
 bringing the grace of God to the minds of the 
 
50 GENERAL HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE. 
 
 people, the improvement of the clergy has been an 
 object of episcopal care and attention. The priests 
 of the Ogdensburg diocese have nothing now to 
 fear from a strict comparison with their brethren 
 elsewhere, or from a merciful examination of their 
 work. They are all men of probity and honor, 
 devoted to their duties, fairly educated, and per- 
 vaded as a rule by a strong spirit of piety. Tliey 
 have what their congregations lack — youthfulness. 
 They are all young, few beyond their prime, and they 
 carry to their work a buoyancy and cheerfulness 
 that only youth can give. The toil they endure 
 being common to all, is borne without a murmur. 
 It is of the severest kind, and the material com- 
 pensation is so scanty that poverty has made her 
 home among them and been received with uncom- 
 plaining courtesy. The annual retreat and con- 
 ferences, and examination of the youngest priests, 
 are faithfully attended and carried out in the letter 
 and the spirit. The ritual of the church is ob- 
 served with fidelity in its public ceremonies, al- 
 though the situation precludes any splendor unless 
 on rare occasions. In all things these men are 
 leaders. Their faults and weaknesses, the com- 
 mon inheritance of all men, rarely interfere with 
 their duties ; their common and peculiar virtues are 
 the safeguard and honor of their people. 
 
 Such is a brief history of the diocese. It is not, 
 though the territory may be, dying. The work 
 becomes more arduous with every year, but the 
 
GENERAL HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE. 51 
 
 enthusiasm only increases. There will yet be 
 greater things done, for newer and better methods 
 are arising and the old generation gives place to 
 the new, with its new ideas and its brilliant hopes 
 and cheerful optimism. From Picquet to Main- 
 ville and from Pontbriand to Wadhams there lies 
 a space of a century and a half, filled indeed with 
 good works in behalf of the church, and yet only 
 the pathway to that beautiful house which time 
 and the faith will surely build. We can be grate- 
 ful that our names and our deeds lie at the begin- 
 ning. They may be mean compared with those 
 that are to come ; still, as the vanguard, we shall 
 be' remembered, as those who dig the earth and 
 cut the stone without the reward of seeing the 
 building rise ; as the first dead in battle over whom 
 the whole nation weeps. 
 

 I^^/ 
 
 -'""4'. <-, -7, %^-T / 
 
 BEY. FKASTCIS PICQUBT. 
 
HISTOEY OF THE 
 
 DIOCESE OF OGDENSBUM. 
 
 THE FOUNDING OF OGDENSBURG. 
 
 The territory now embraced by the diocese of 
 Ogdensburg has no history which ante-dates the 
 history of the see. There are no evidences that 
 at any time the wild Indian tribes, north or south 
 of the St. Lawrence, made a permanent dwelling- 
 place of a region so uninviting at the first sight, 
 which has no navigable rivers and is so far re- 
 moved from the centres of activity, and which, in 
 early times even more so than at present, was 
 shut off from the south 'by the Adirondack wilder- 
 ness. The curiosity of the northern savage stop- 
 ped at the St. Lawrence, so that for long centuries 
 the territory remained an unbroken solitude even 
 while the continent resounded with the uproar of 
 the French and English wars. 
 
 Along its borders there was often considerable 
 activity. Champlain, the explorer, first stepped 
 
54 THE FOUNDING OF OGDENSBURG. 
 
 upon its soil, and, after navigating, gave his name 
 to the lake which forms its eastern boundary. 
 French missionaries to the Six Nations in Central 
 New York made their trying journeys from 
 Montreal to Oswego by the St. Lawrence and 
 Lake Ontario. Count Frontenac, governor of 
 Canada, once voyaged from Quebec attended by a 
 large retinue, and with much ceremony founded 
 the city now known as Kingston ; a few military 
 expeditions destined for the punishment of the 
 Iroquois followed the same route at various times, 
 and forts were erected for their advantage always 
 on the northern side of the river, and in the last 
 days of French dominion in America victorious de- 
 tachments of the English armies sailed down the 
 river to assist in completing the capture of Montreal 
 and Quebec. Often the bloody Iroquois made his 
 camp-fire where now stand prosperous villages, 
 and his war path crossed and recrossed their sites 
 frequently. No doubt his battle-ground was 
 occasionally here placed, as the old and scarcely 
 visible fortifications attest. Lake Champlain was 
 the natural roadway for the French from Montreal 
 to Albany. Missionaries, voyageurs, merchants, 
 and armies made their way along its shores during 
 the season of navigation, and in 1732 the Fort 
 Frederic at Crown Point was built and garrisoned. 
 Here was said the first recorded Mass within the 
 limits of the present diocese, and its celebrant was 
 probably the Rev. John Baptist Lajus, first of the 
 
THE FOUNDING OF OGDENSBUEG. 55 
 
 military chaplains of Fort Frederic. In 1755 the 
 French built still anotherfort, — Ticonderoga now, 
 then Carillon, — much nearer to Albany, and held 
 both until their final evacuation in 1759. What- 
 ever hopes they had of returning to retake them 
 were destroyed by the almost immediate surrender 
 of Quebec to tlje English, and the utter destruc- 
 tion of their power on this continent. 
 
 The first permanent settlement was made where 
 now stands the city of Ogdensburg. For years 
 the spot had been passed unnoticed by missionary, 
 savage, soldier and voyageur, until in the spring of 
 1748 the Abbe Picquet set out to select a con- 
 venient spot for the carrying out of his plans in 
 converting the Iroquois. The Six Nations had 
 their cantons not many miles south of the spot 
 where the Oswegatchie empties into the St. Law- 
 rence, and by the treaty of Utrecht having lost 
 thfcir French missionaries, were eager and anx- 
 ious to migrate to some point where they could 
 receive the ministrations of the priests, whom they 
 regarded with reverence and love. Very few saw 
 a, clear way to the execution of such an enterprise 
 until the Abb6 Picquet gave the matter his atten- 
 tion. 
 
 Francis Picquet, Sulpician, was born in France 
 on the 6th of December in the year 1708. From 
 his boyhood he displayed a strong inclination for 
 the ecclesiastical life, and at the age of twenty 
 entered the order of St. Sulpice. Being clever 
 
56 THE FOUNDING OF OGDFNSBURG. 
 
 and zealous there were many opportunities open 
 to him at home, but he preferred to take his 
 weakened constitution to the wilds of America, 
 and to give himself to the hard and toilsome 
 Indian missions. In 1733 he came to America 
 and for some years was stationed in Montreal, 
 until he saw in the mission known till this day as 
 the Lake of the Two Mountains an opportunity of 
 displaying his ability as an energetic missionary 
 and business man. The mission at the lake had 
 been some time deserted when Abbe Picquet took 
 it under his charge. In its neighborhood were the 
 Algonquin and Nipissing Indians, wanderers 
 from one place to another without any fixed 
 abode, and with little or no attachment to the 
 white invaders. The Abb6, partly at his own 
 expense and partly at the expense of the king, 
 built a stone fort surrounded by redoubts and pal- 
 isades. The position was important, for it com- 
 manded the neighborhood through which the 
 Indians roamed. He set himself earnestly to the 
 task of winning the affections of the savages, and 
 having done this satisfactorily, was not content 
 until he had also taught them to till the soil and 
 raise every year crops for their own support. In 
 fact Abbe Picquet's revival of the fallen mission 
 was a great success, and recommended him to his 
 superiors as a man of uncommon ability and steadi- 
 ness of purpose. He secured the assistance of the 
 Indians to the French in their war with the 
 
THE FOUNDING OF OGDENSBURG. 57 
 
 English in 1742, and accompanied his own warriors 
 as chaplain in an expedition against Fort Edward 
 and Saratoga. 
 
 It was during this expedition that the Ahb6 was 
 made acquainted with the good dispositions of cer- 
 tain of the Six Nations towards Catholicity. The 
 Iroquois had long been acquainted with the priests 
 and had respected them; nor were they much 
 pleased with the change from French to English 
 masters. The Protestant missionaries took little 
 interest in them and had among them no success. 
 Their professions of regard for the missionaries 
 were, however, doubted by many, and it was fore- 
 seen that any attempt to renew the old missions to 
 the Iroquois would meet with some opposition. 
 In the attacks made by savage sympathizers of the 
 English on the Canadian settlements the route 
 chosen by the Indians was direct from the cantons 
 in Central New York to the St. Lawrence, across 
 that strip of country now traversed by the Utica 
 Railway. From this fact Abb6 Picquet took the 
 idea of establishing a fort and mission at the mouth 
 of the Oswegatchie, both as convenient for the 
 gathering of the Indians and suitable in a military 
 point of view to check English incursions into 
 Canada from this direction. Opposition came 
 strongly from the hunters, traders, voyageurs, and 
 others who had some knowledge of the country, 
 but the Abbe was in high favor with the heads of 
 the government and succeeded in holding -his 
 
58 THE FOUNDING OF OGBENSBUBG. 
 
 ground against both envy and opposition. His 
 success as a missionary, his eager and ardent spirit, 
 his business skill, and his knowledge of the 
 Iroquois tongue, together with the simple fact 
 that a military post at Oswegatchie was a neces- 
 sity, made him triumphant over all ; and on the 4th 
 of May of the year 1748, he set out for his new 
 mission with a small detachment of soldiers, a 
 number of mechanics and a few savages. 
 
 The difficulties which beset Father Picquet from 
 the outset were neither few nor inconsiderable. 
 To retain his favor with all the authorities it was 
 necessary that the new mission should be in every 
 way a success. It must prove itself a real military 
 post of some importance in order to satisfy his 
 military opponents, draw to its neighborhood In- 
 dian families who would both accept the faith and 
 defend the post against their marauding brethren, 
 and be at the same time almost self-supporting, 
 and a depot of supplies for the forts in the district 
 and for all sorts of travellers. Father Picquet was 
 bound to make the post all that was expected of 
 it, and the success which he met with testifies to 
 the genuineness of his abilities. He received 
 scant help from the king. He had met with much 
 opposition from enemies of the project, and more 
 ridicule, and it was a wonder that he had per- 
 suaded the king's officers into looking with silent 
 favor on the scheme. 
 
 On that point of land south of the St. Lawrence 
 
THE FOUNDING OF OGDENSBURG. 59 
 
 and west of the Oswegatchie, where now stand, 
 among other buildings, the depots and offices of 
 the Utica and Rome railroads, Abb^ Picquet, with 
 his small party of soldiers and mechanics, on the 
 30th of May, 1748, settled. Near its extremity he 
 built a fort and a palisade, surrounded on three 
 sides by water. . An old map in the history of St. 
 Lawrence county, bjj- Hough, shows the fort, with 
 four towers, and a large gate in the east wall. 
 On the river Oswegatchie is a saw-mill and a 
 church, which were not erected until the Abbe had 
 been some time at his mission. To the site of his 
 daring enterprise he gave the name of Presenta- 
 tion. The first months of occupation were solely 
 employed in building the fort, house, barn and 
 stable, and in clearing a certain amount of land for 
 working in the spring. It was necessary to have 
 many things ready for the coming of the Indian 
 families, and the missionary and his men worked 
 from three in the morning until nine at night to 
 attain their wishes in this respect. The land in 
 the neighborhood was considered the finest then 
 known to Canadian settlers, and was covered 
 with an abundance of oak timber. It was the 
 priest's idea to accustom the Indians to cultivate a 
 certain portion of tlie territory, and to raise cattle, 
 hogs and poultry ; while the timber, after a saw- 
 mill had been provided, could be shipped to Mont- 
 real and sold at one-fourth the price then paid 
 for it in the city. In the meantime the twenty- 
 
60 TBE FOUNDING OF OGDENSBUBG. 
 
 five rxenchmen and the four Abenaki Indians who 
 composed his party had to be provided for, and 
 measures taken to prevent any surprise on the 
 part of marauding Iroquois. Supplies were not 
 plentiful nor varied, nor was Abbe Picquet laden 
 with money. His ration from the king was bread 
 and pork, varied by the kindness of his Indians in 
 bringing him game and fish occasionally, which 
 abounded in that neighborhood ; yet the little 
 colony kept thriving, and six hundred dollars were 
 spent in the very first improvements made. Before 
 the Fall came on, a number of Iroquois Indians, 
 whom Picquet had made acquainted with his de- 
 sign, came to the fort and had an interview with 
 him, wherein they expressed satisfaction with all 
 he had done, and declared themselves willing to 
 remove thither with their families and relations. 
 
 Once the work at the new mission of the Pres- 
 entation had begun, Father Picquet did not have 
 much diificulty in persuading his superiors, civil 
 and ecclesiastical, of the natural importance of the 
 station. The deep and spacious harbor, the abun- 
 dant timber, the excellent quality of the land, the 
 good position of the station, something more than 
 midway between Montreal and Fort Frontenac, 
 quickly appealed to the good sense of travellers, 
 who could appreciate the comfort of a half-way 
 house to Ontario, and also to the officials of the 
 king then trembling at the unnatural and forced 
 relations prevailing on the continent between the 
 
THE FOUNDING OF OODENSBURG. 61 
 
 English and the French. Coming up the river 
 from Chimney Island, as it is now known, the first 
 visible objects of human presence were the store- 
 house, the fort, and the other buildings which the 
 Abbd had erected after his arrival. The ring of 
 the wood-chopper's axe resounded daily along the 
 quiet shores, through the hard winter, through the 
 spring and the summer. The land was cleared of 
 timber to the extent of several acres, and an occa- 
 sional vessel was anchored in the harbor. It was 
 something to have held one's own in that lonely 
 place for a whole winter, in spite of ofEcial indif- 
 ference and active opposition. With the summer 
 of 1749 came many evidences of deeper interest in 
 the mission and a slight cessation of the efforts of 
 the opposition. Five cannon of tAvo pound calibre 
 each were sent to Presentation along with a sup- 
 ply of necessaries for the men, while the Intendant 
 of Canada graciously sent to the king a memoir of 
 the expenses incurred by Picquet to the amount 
 of six hundred and fifty dollars. Hitherto he had 
 been forced to support his colony at his own ex- 
 pense and in the best fashion permissible. Before 
 the close of his first year in Presentation there 
 were six Iroquois families residing in the neigh- 
 borhood, all Pagans, but all anxious to avail them- 
 selves of the advantages derived from the presence 
 of a missionary. There were more to come within 
 another year. Every month, in fact, brought a de- 
 tachment from the southern cantons, and the Abbe 
 
62 THE FOUNDING OF OGDENSBUMG. 
 
 was kept busy iu preparing their habitations, and 
 in arranging his plans for the conversion of these 
 people and their attachment to the French cause. 
 In the month of October of that year the mis- 
 sion received a severe set-back from an attack of 
 Mohawk Indians on the fort, No one was killed, 
 but the palisades, out-houses and two vessels loaded 
 with hay were utterly destroyed. In endeavoring 
 to save the property one man was so injured as to 
 lose his arm. This was the only accident. The 
 Governor-general, fearing that this attack was 
 instigated by the English, ordered a detachment of 
 ten soldiers to be sent to Presentation, and made 
 preparations to have it more thoroughly prepared 
 for defence in the spring. Father Picquet mean- 
 while was cheerfully repairing the injuries done to 
 his mission by the savages. His loss was some- 
 thing more than five thousand dollars. It was 
 severe, but not irreparable. He had now more 
 help in rebuilding the fort, and his misfortune was 
 felt by the government to be also a misfortune 
 to France. Supplies were sent to him and letters 
 of sympathy containing promises of future support. 
 He felt enabled therefore to build more elaborately 
 than the year before ; and, ere winter set in, fort, 
 house, stable, church and palisade were there to 
 greet the eye of the traveller. Father Picquet 
 himself laid the foundation stone of these build- 
 ings with the usual ceremonies. On it was roughly 
 cut a cross and the Latin words : Francis Picquet 
 
T3M FOUNDING OF OGDENSBVRG. 63 
 
 began this building in the name of the Almighty 
 God in 1749. This stone was found a century 
 afterwards when nothing remained of the buildings 
 save a crumbling wall, and to-day it forms a part 
 of the magnificent town-hall of Ogdensburg in 
 whose walls it was inserted as a perpetual memorial 
 of the man who feunded the beautiful City of the 
 North. Father Picquet erected these dwellings 
 with many hopeful anticipations. His Indian 
 families numbered in the summer of 1750 eighty- 
 seven, and the cry was that more were coming. 
 The fields were beginning to grow green with the 
 young corn, and around the fort were scattered the 
 dwellings of such families as chose to live in its 
 neighborhood. The Governor-general had sent a 
 Mr. De la Jonquiere with some soldiers to aid the 
 Abb6 in maintaining order among these savages 
 and, as his inferior, to assist him in every way. The 
 fort had a magazine and eighteen small guns. The 
 whole mission had an imposing appearance already 
 and the Iroquois were enchanted. The fishing 
 was good, and the hunting excellent. They could 
 not be better situated, and returning to the cantons 
 south carried wonderful reports of the new mission 
 on the St. Lawrence. As a result Father Picquet 
 in the year 1751 had three hundred and ninety-six 
 families scattered through his territory. His fore- 
 sight was now justified. The mission of the Pres- 
 entation was a success, and his enemies were 
 silent. 
 
64 THE FOUNDING OF OGDENSBUBG. 
 
 He did not fancy the introduction of a garrison 
 into the mission which the -Governor-general wished 
 to establish. The missionaries had seen their 
 good influence over the Indians neutralized by the 
 licentious soldiery on many occasions, and were 
 convinced of the necessity of keeping their converts 
 far from civilization. He received Captain de la 
 Jonquiere on suiferauce, and did not intend to 
 permit the entrance of more of his kind could he 
 hinder it. His work was continuous and painful, 
 negotiating with the incoming tide of barbarians, 
 settling them in their homes, laying down rules 
 and conditions for their behavior, urging them to 
 cultivate the land, instructing them in improved 
 methods of farming, attending their sick, baptizing 
 their infants, using all possible means to bring 
 them to a knowledge and acceptance of Christianity. 
 He spoke the Iroquois tongue perfectly, and had 
 great influence with the savages both on this 
 account as well as on many others. 
 
 Finding his Indians -well established in their 
 new villages along the St. Lawrence, and likely to 
 remain there without trouble from the English, the 
 Abbe resolved to visit the French posts west, and 
 to use his direct influence with the remoter families 
 of the Five Nations to bring them to the mission. 
 With some of his Indians, a few soldiers headed 
 by Captain De La Jonquiere, he started in the 
 month of June, 1751. The voyage contemplated 
 had its perils and its difficulties in those primitive 
 
THE FOUNDING OF 0GDEN8BUEG. 65 
 
 times, but there seemed to be nothing in the wilda 
 of America that could damp the hearts of French- 
 men. The missionaries ever led the way, and the 
 voyageur and soldier followed. Probably less 
 noise was made over their departure, in a common 
 canoe made by the savages and another of stouter 
 build on the savage model, than would be made 
 over a single canoeist in our day. Father Picquet 
 visited Fort Frontenac first and was grieved to 
 find that important station so neglected that few 
 Indians were found there ; the bread was poor and 
 the milk bad, and not so much whisky as would 
 stanch a wound. Along the coast he came upon 
 a poor negro slave escaped from Virginia. Although 
 the chronicle does not mention it, it is probable 
 that Father Picquet took the slave back with him 
 to Presentation and made him an important char- 
 acter in the mission. Hearing that the Abbe's 
 journey was taken in part for the purpose of ob- 
 taining Indian families for the mission, he put in a 
 plea for the negroes of Virginia, and for many of 
 the white slaves abounding in the colonies, assur- 
 ing the priest that they were only too anxious to 
 escape from bondage, and would willingly accept 
 the faith with their freedom. The Abbe made a 
 mental note of this fact, which without doubt he 
 would have turned to advantage had French 
 dominion in America but held its own during his 
 lifetime. Continuing his voyage he visited the 
 Bay of Quinte, where stood the site of a once 
 
66 THE FOUNDING OF OGDENSBUEG. 
 
 flourishing Sulpician mission and where after- 
 wards arose the present village of Trenton: he 
 came next to Toronto then frequented by the 
 Mississagues Indians, a tribe more fond of the good 
 living which the French brought with them than 
 of religion, and whose indifference and evil way- 
 wardness he sharply reproved when they besought 
 him to obtain for them a black robe and a church ; 
 favors which he had no authority and no means 
 for granting them had they been deserving. Fort 
 Niagara, the river, and the famous falls were, next 
 visited, and here he met the Senecas with whom 
 he had come especially to treat. They were so 
 taken up with his designs in their behalf that 
 many chiefs promised to join the mission with 
 their families within the year. Many Indians 
 joined his return party at once, and he was pre- 
 sented with twelve children as hostages for the 
 fulfilment of the chief's promises. He explored 
 the Genesee river and measured its falls at Roches- 
 ter, surveyed Fort Oswego and calculated the 
 chances for the successful reduction of that post, 
 was received with military honors at Fort Fronte- 
 nae, and reached home in late summer satisfied 
 with the results of his trip and ready to give the 
 finishing touches to his great success at Presenta- 
 tion. He was not yet done with his journeys. By 
 the end of September he was in Montreal with a 
 deputation of his Indians, whom he presented to the 
 governor and formally engaged in the service of 
 
THE FOUNDING OF OGDENSBURG. 67 
 
 France. Promises of assistance were freely made 
 to these Indians by the head of the government, 
 and permission was given to the Abb^ to erect a 
 saw mill at the mission, which he did with all 
 speed upon his return. 
 
 There were now at the mission over four hundred 
 families and nearly three thousand souls, it was 
 self-supporting, the favor of the six nations was 
 obtained for it, and the Senecas, the most power- 
 ful cabin, had not hesitated to promise the re- 
 moval thither of themselves and their entire pos- 
 sessions. Presentation was thus become a most 
 important outpost of the French, and the hinge of 
 their affairs in America. To support Abb6 Pic- 
 quet was a matter of life and death with them, but 
 the home government was not sufficiently interest- 
 ed in retaining Canada to do much in behalf of 
 the missions. A miserable diplomacy, whose 
 highest aim was the natural advancement of each 
 nation at the expense of its neighbors, and the 
 humbling of the Pope and the beneficial religious 
 orders, now prevailed in all the courts of Europe. 
 Father Picquet needed but a dozen energetic 
 priests to assist him in converting the Iroquois 
 nation, yet he could scarcely obtain one. The 
 Jesuits were fighting for dear life, and the Sul- 
 picians were without recruits, so that the heroic 
 priest was forced to labor by himself through a 
 series of duties and a crowd of discouragements, 
 under such new circumstances as would have 
 
68 THE FOUNDING OF OGDMNSBUEG. 
 
 driven any but a man of his mould from the field. 
 His mission and his fame became known in this 
 year to the English. Straggling Indians brought 
 in reports of the new fort to Colonel Johnston, 
 which were daily augmented by minuter, and 
 more reliable informations concerning its charac- 
 ter and its head. In 1754 there met at Albany a 
 congress of colonial representatives to protest 
 against the steady encroachments of the French, 
 and in particular against the attempt to seize 
 upon the Iroquois nations. Father Picquet be- 
 came known among the English as the "Great 
 Jesuit of the West," all the ecclesiastical ability 
 of the time being popularly supposed to reside in 
 the famous religious order of Jesus. Soon at- 
 tempts were made by Sir "William Johnston to 
 prevent the emigration of the Six Nations to 
 Presentation. In part he was successful. But 
 had Father Picquet been assisted properly by his 
 government and his advice followed, the history 
 of the French and English wars would have had 
 another appearance. 
 
 He labored perseveringly and patiently with his 
 savages. About eighty families lived in the vicin- 
 ity of the fort while the remainder were scattered 
 along the river in three different settlements. Be- 
 sides teaching them how to provide for themselves, 
 to cultivate the land, and to store their crops, the 
 Abb6 was constantly instructing some in the Chris- 
 tian religion while persuading others to depart 
 
THE FOUNDING OF OGBENSBURO. 69 
 
 from Paganism. In the summer of 1752, Bishop 
 De Pontbriand of Montreal, attended by many 
 priests and civil dignitaries, came up the river to 
 baptize and confirm the converted Indians of 
 Presentation. The occasion was one of much 
 festivity and display. The ladies of Montreal 
 made a banner ^or the mission, covered with 
 mingled sacred and Indian emblems, which is pre- 
 served to this day at the Lake of the Two Moun- 
 tains. It was the first time that a bishop _ had 
 pontificated within the limits of New York. He 
 and his retinue were full of astonishment and ad- 
 miration for the work that Father Picquet had 
 done with and among the Indians, and spent ten 
 days there, baptizing, instructing, and examining. 
 Two hundred were baptized, and many confirmed, 
 the bishop himself giving baptism to over a hun- 
 dred persons with his own hand, " after which," as 
 the old chronicle says, " he returned to his see, 
 blessing heaven for the progress of religion among 
 the infidels." 
 
 That progress it was Abb6 Picquet's desire to 
 have continue, but with the strong influence of the 
 English now exerted against him on the one side, 
 and on the other the utter indifference of his own 
 government, what was he to do ? He first gave 
 his Indians a form of government. Twelve chiefs 
 were appointed to rule the tribe, having all the 
 powers necessary for the purpose, and, on a visit 
 to Montreal, took the oath of fidelity to the king. 
 
70 THE FOUNDING OF OGDENSBUBG. 
 
 Father Picquet gave them such advice and in- 
 structions as he thought proper from time to time, 
 instructed them particularly to drive out the dis- 
 solute traders who settled near them, and after 
 firmly establishing them in the practice of their 
 duties, he left his mission in the care of Father De 
 La Garde, his young assistant, and in the year 1753, 
 started for France to get the help which he so 
 much needed for the mission. Three savages ac- 
 companied him, as. hostages for the good conduct 
 of their brethren and as likely to create among the 
 French at home an interest in the missionary work 
 of America. He did not, however, meet with great 
 success. Attentions were showered upon him by 
 all, from the king to the peasant, and his Indians 
 were a great curiosity. His relations pressed him 
 not to return to Canada, and because of his refusal 
 disinherited him. He was asked to write papers 
 for the French ministry for their better information 
 concerning Canada. He was presented with a 
 paltry thousand crowns, and the king gave him a 
 few books, and then he was allowed to return after 
 a brief six months' stay, with nothing to remind 
 him of the gratitude of his nation but three self- 
 sacrificing priests who had given him their services 
 towards converting the Iroquois. Father Picquet 
 has left no record that we know of, as to his 
 opinion of this shabby treatment. No doubt he 
 left France with the conviction that if Canada was 
 lost to the French it would be richly deserved, but 
 
THE FOUNDINO OF OGDENSBUEG. 71 
 
 the prospect of the missions abandoned and de- 
 stroyed, of the thousands of souls given over to 
 damnation, saddened him, and gave him in conse- 
 quence a sharper determination to resist such a 
 consequence to the last. 
 
 Probably Father Picquet's effective work ended 
 with this year. iVar was already declared between 
 France and England when he reached Presenta- 
 tion, nor did it cease until Canada was lost to the 
 French. The peaceful life of the mission was 
 broken up by the demands of the war. The 
 Oswegatchie braves gave their services to the 
 French, and Father Picquet accompanied them in 
 all their expeditions. He was present at all the 
 principal battles between the French and English, 
 both to give aid and counsel to the French com- 
 manders and for another purpose which no his- 
 torian has mentioned. Father Picquet had not 
 yet converted one half of his Indians to Christianity. 
 He had merely drawn them into an alliance with 
 France, and was preparing them for the reception 
 of the faith when the war interfered with his 
 plans. The Indians who remained at Presentation 
 and its dependent missions he left in care of Father 
 De la Garde and his assistants, his own place was 
 with the exposed and unbaptized braves on the 
 battle-field. His influence and care alone was able 
 to turn their thoughts from the old-time barbarities 
 of their wars, and he used it with an effect which 
 has often earned the gratitude of many a captured 
 
72 TUE FOUNDING OF OGBENSBUBO. 
 
 foe. The ability with -which the war was carried on 
 in its first years merited the success which crowned 
 the French arms everywhere, but the mother - 
 country was indifferent, supplies became scarcer, 
 Montcalm was left to struggle on as best he could 
 alone, and everyone interested saw with saddened 
 hearts the approaching ruin of the French power 
 in America. 
 
 Father Picquet hopefully kept to his work of 
 improving Presentation, amid all the discourage- 
 ments of the time. A captured trader, named 
 Eastburn, whom Oswegatchie Indians adopted 
 into the tribe, details many curious incidents of 
 his stay at Presentation in 1756. Father Picquet 
 had given orders at one time for the digging of a 
 deep trench about the town, and had placed a 
 negro who could speak English, French and In- 
 dian well, to superintend it. In all probability 
 this was the same negro whom the missionary had 
 picked up on the shores of Lake Ontario. There 
 was considerable activity in the town. The suc- 
 cesses of the French arms at Oswego and on 
 Champlain had raised the hopes of the leaders, 
 but with the fall of Quebec in 1759 th«se hopes 
 came to an end. The prominence which Father 
 Picquet had taken in the affairs of Canada ren- 
 dered it impossible for him to remain as a subject 
 of the British crown. With twenty-five men he 
 made his escape to Illinois, passed down the Mis- 
 sissippi to New Orleans, where he remained for 
 
TBE FOUNDING OF OGBENSBUEG. 73 
 
 two years, and then returned to France. Full of 
 years and honors this energetic and capable mis- 
 sionary died in 1781. 
 
 One month after Father Picquet's departure an 
 English force took possession of the fort and mis- 
 sion. The presence of the soldiers soon demoral- 
 ized the Indians.' The better disposed departed 
 for the missions down the river. Those who re- 
 mained were transported to Johnstown, Canada, 
 by order of the British government, to remove 
 them from the contamination of the soldiery, 
 afterwards to Lisbon, on American soil ; and 
 finally, in the year 1807, they were distributed 
 among the Indian settlements whither their 
 brethren had already preceded them. Thus 
 faded from the St. Lawrence the last vestige 
 of the Abb& Picquet's work. Another people, 
 more hardy and enterprising, had already made 
 their appearance in the neighborhood, and the 
 retiring Indians saw with regret and mortification 
 elegant houses standing on the sites of their 
 ruined wigwams. 
 
tART I. 
 DISTRICT OF OGDENSBURG. 
 
 This portion of the diocese lies entirely in St. 
 Lawrence County, with the St. Lawrence river as 
 its northern boundary, and the woody region of 
 the Adirondack belt to the south ; east and west 
 lie the counties of Jefferson and Franklin. Lum- 
 bering, farming, and manufacturing on a small 
 scale are the industries which hold the population 
 together. The lumber supply is good for years to 
 come ; the land is exceedingly rich and well- 
 watered, and the rivers are deep and rapid in 
 descent, so as to afford favorable opportunities for 
 manufacturing. Considerable capital has floated 
 into the county, and the inhabitants show much 
 culture. The Catholic population is mixed, French 
 and Irish, the latter slightly predominant in num- 
 bers. The parishes were formed in the following 
 order : 
 
 Ogdbnsbueg, 1827. 
 
 Attended by Rev. James' Salmon, 1834. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Foley, 1840. 
 
 Rev. David Bacon, 1841. 
 
 Rev. James Mackey, 1883. 
 Rev. Joseph Conroy. 
 
EEV. JAMES MACKEY. 
 
76 district of ogdejsrsbumo. 
 
 Waddington, 1848. 
 
 Attended by Rev. Hugh Quigley, 1849. 
 
 Rev. Patrick Phelan, 1855. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Herftkins, 1866. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Swift, 1871. 
 Rev. Florence M'Carthy, 1879. 
 Rev. P. H. Ryan. 
 
 Potsdam, 1857. 
 
 Attended by Rev. Philip Keveny, 1858. 
 
 Rev. P. J. McGlynn, 1868. 
 
 Rev. Joseph Taney, ' 1873. 
 
 Rev. J. J. MacDonnell, 1879. 
 Rev. Bernard Marron. 
 
 Ogdensbueg (French Canadian), 1858. 
 
 Attended by Rev. Mr. Lemereier, 1863. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Renaud, 1866. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Griffa, 1867. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Jeannott, 1877. 
 Rev. P. O. LaRose. 
 
 Canton, 1868. 
 
 Attended by Rev. Mr. Brosnan, 1871. 
 
 Rev. James O'DriscoU. 
 
 COLTON, 1879. 
 
 Attended by Rev. P. J. Ryan, 1879. 
 
 Rev. Thomas Plunkett. 
 
 Norwood, 1878. 
 
 Attended by Rev. Thomas Walsh. 
 
 GoTJVERNErm, 1876. 
 
 Attended by Rev. Thomas Kelleher, 1877. 
 Rev. D. Guilbault, 1883. 
 
 Rev. E. C. Laramee. " • 
 
OQDENSBUBG. 77 
 
 OGDENSBURG. 
 
 The Iroquois whom Father Picquet had assem- 
 bled at Presentation with so much difficulty, faded 
 away from its pleasant shores within a few years 
 after his departure. The British garrison stationed 
 at Oswegatchie had a demoralizing effect on the 
 Indians, of whom the government removed some 
 into Canada, others followed Father de la Garde 
 to Montreal ; not a few were scattered among the 
 various missions on the river ; and a feeble rem- 
 nant, disreputable and shiftless, hung around the 
 scene of their earlier happiness and prosperity. 
 These, too, gradually faded, and before the nine- 
 teenth century had entered its second decade, all 
 trace of Picquet's magnificent work was lost. The 
 deserted buildings west of the Oswegatchie alone 
 remained, — now used to shelter British troops, and 
 again to serve as court-house and jail for the new 
 town which Samuel Ogden and his agent Nathan 
 Ford founded. Even these buildings crumbled, 
 and the only memorial of them, a single stone, 
 occupies a prominent place in the magnificent 
 town hall of Ogdensburg. 
 
 The first inhabitants of Ogdensburg under the 
 
78 OODENSBURG. 
 
 new dispensation were partly dependent on Mont- 
 real for their supply of skilled and unskilled labor. 
 At various times, from the year 1796 down to 1830, 
 masons, carpenters, woodmen and laborers were 
 hired in numbers at that city and sent to Ogdens- 
 burg. They were perhaps the only Catholics in 
 the town for many years. Few of them remained, 
 the new settlers not having' much sympathy or 
 affection for them. Emigrants from Ireland, how- 
 ever, caught probably by the flowery descriptions 
 of the new settlement which' Mr. Ogden scattered 
 through the country, speedily found their way up 
 the river from Montreal. They came earlier, per- 
 haps, than 1820, in which year a number of Irish 
 families were settled here and there along the St. 
 Lawrence. In 1820 Father Farnham, of Utica, 
 made his way north as far as Waddington at least, 
 and said Mass for such Catholics as he inet with 
 in his travels, being the first priest to follow in the 
 track of Picquet and De la Garde. His name is 
 already forgotten among the people whom he vis- 
 ited, nor did he ever go so far north again. Bishop 
 Dubois visiting St. Eegis and Waddington in 
 1827, accompanied by his vicar-general. Father 
 Powers, saw the necessity of sending a priest to 
 guard the faith of Catholic settlers, and despatched 
 Rev. Father Salmon thither that year. He was 
 the first resident priest of the parish, which has 
 never since lacked the presence of a clergyman. 
 The pastors of Ogdensburg followed one another 
 in this order: — 
 
0GDEN8BUBG. 79 
 
 Rev. James Salmon, 1828 to 1837. 
 
 Rev. Michael Foley, to 1840. 
 
 Rev. David Bacon, to 1841. 
 
 Rev. James Mackey, to 1883. 
 Rev. Joseph H. Conroy. 
 
 Father Salmon found about twenty families in 
 Ogdensburg, and a few more scattered promis- 
 cuously westwarcf towards Rossie. The priest 
 was a Connaught Irishman, tall, thin, and dark- 
 featured, somewhat advanced in years, and of a 
 stern dispositiou. He was not prepared, perhaps, 
 for the peculiar character of the Irish settlers in 
 his district, unless the story of the troubles in 
 New York had enlightened him. These happy 
 people had been studying the constitution of the 
 country and the religious customs of the inhab- 
 itants, and had been particularly impressed with 
 the Protestant system of hiring a clergyman at a 
 certain salary and retaining him or dismissing him 
 at pleasure. Not being numerous or wealthy, they 
 were unable to offer the priest a salary sufficient 
 for his decent support, but they were capable of 
 annoying him in many ways. He was put under 
 suspicion as an untrustworthy character, his steps 
 watched, his feeble revenues counted to the last 
 penny. When he was caught tripping, there was 
 instant clamor ; when he passed the ordeal, there 
 was much grumbling. This conduct on the part 
 of his people the priest justly and proudly re- 
 sented. As a consequence his decade of service 
 was one of continual bickering, and in the end 
 
80 OGDENSBUBG. 
 
 they triumphed over him. He was suspended from 
 his functions by Bishop Dubois, probably on the 
 occasion of his visit to Ogdensburg in 1835. The 
 bishop was accompanied by the Rev. Mr. Hughes, 
 afterwards the famous Archbishop of New York, 
 whose happy task it was to crush forever in New 
 ifork the spirit so persistently displayed by the 
 early Catholics of Ogdensburg and many of their 
 descendants. 
 
 Dates at this period have been somewhat mixed. 
 The exact year of Father Salmon's retirement is 
 uncertain : it was not later than 1835. He had 
 begun to build a small stone church on the spot 
 occupied by the present cathedral, saying Mass, 
 meanwhile, in private houses, of which Mr. Con- 
 way's and Mr. Fanning's were the principal. The 
 Magones, M'Carthys, and Leonards, were families 
 of this period whose descendants are prominent 
 to-day in the parish, and show little or none of the 
 bad dispositions which actuated the parishioners 
 of 1835. Father Salmon withdrew to his farm at 
 Waddington, and died there in much contentment 
 a short time afterwards, being buried at St. Regis, - 
 a safe distance from the people who had so harshly 
 treated him. 
 
 His successor was Father Foley, a young man of 
 good parts and good appearance, whose kindness 
 of manner and laissez faire disposition won the 
 hearts of his critical people. He accepted the con- 
 ditions of life among them philosophically, choos- 
 
OGDENSBVRG. 81 
 
 ing rather to go with the current than to attempt 
 directing it, which saved him much worry and 
 trouble on the whole, but left him exposed to 
 many humiliations. It is amusing to read in this 
 day with what self-importance the so-called leaders 
 of the congregation proclaimed and practiced their 
 crude ideas on church government. Father Foley 
 completed the church, and brought Bishop Dubois 
 to dedicate it. Matters were proceeding smoothly, 
 and the goodbishop, worn by the incessant clamor 
 and trouble in his episcopal city, was happy to find 
 one spot where even a fictitious harmony existed. 
 Father Foley governed the parish until 1840, 
 when he took ill and died. He was buried un- 
 der the church, and on the building of the new 
 structure his remains were transferred to it. For 
 some months there was no priest to take his place. 
 Father Campion, of Prescott, visited the parish 
 and said Mass on occasions, until the arrival of the 
 Rev. David Bacon, afterwards Bishop of Portland. 
 Father Bacon took charge of Ogdensburg in 1840, 
 and remained not quite a year. The temper of the 
 people was not agreeable, and he was fully ac- 
 quainted with the career of his predecessors, so 
 that as soon as a student of the seminary at La- 
 fargeville was ordained and sent to his relief, he 
 made an orderly retreat upon New York. This 
 student was Father James Mackey. 
 
 The history of the parish will ever remain in- 
 terwoven with his name. For forty years he was 
 connected with it, and his influence moulded from 
 
82 OGDENSBUBG. 
 
 the chaotic mud into which it was resolving itself, 
 a work imbued with considerable of the Catholic 
 spirit. Father Mackey was born in Ireland and 
 studied there, but finished his course in America. 
 He came to the parish in 1841. Affairs were at 
 their worst then. The American idea of church 
 government had a firm hold of the aristocracy and 
 the bright lights of pioneer wisdom. The parish 
 in fifteen years had increased in numbers and in 
 knowledge of the constitution. There were a 
 number of farmers, a few mechanics, and many 
 laborers. The extent of territory to be looked 
 after by the resident pastor of Ogdensburg was 
 about fifty miles square, and the people of the 
 square were more or less infected with the new 
 ideas. Where they were not turbulent, scarcity of 
 money had made them humble. Father Mackey 
 was obstinate, clear-headed, and shrewd. He 
 seized the dragon of rebellion at once, and shook 
 the life out of it. There was no coquetting, no 
 compromises. It was war on the instant, from the 
 beginning to the end. Many minor scandals arose 
 from the struggle, and enmities began that death 
 alone destroyed, but the parish benefited by the 
 attitude which the priest took and kept to his 
 dying day. He made many friends. The young 
 generation grew to manhood unsuspicious of the 
 spirit which had actuated the old, and the dis- 
 agreeable consequences of disunion were averted. 
 Thus, in Northern New York, Father Mackey 
 fought the fight in which Bishop Hughes, at New 
 
OGVENSBURG. 83 
 
 York, and Bishop Timon, at Buffalo, had con- 
 quered. He deserves in this point, public recog- 
 nition and gratitude. 
 
 Having taught his flock obedience, and revived 
 in their recollection some ideas of the constitution 
 of the Catholic church, F'ather Mackey, still fight- 
 ing his way through the jungle, began to lay the 
 foundations of the faith in a practical fashion. 
 The church was become too small for the needs of 
 the growing parish. The whole neighborhood, in 
 fact, was filling fast with new arrivals from Ire- 
 land and elsewhere. Rossie district had now its 
 churches, Potsdam was similarly provided, and 
 Waddington was contemplating a new church 
 structure. Ogdensburg was not behind. The 
 corner-stone of the present cathedral was laid with 
 the proper ceremonies, and ready for dedication in 
 1852. Bishop M'Closkey came up from Albany 
 to perform the ceremony, and with Father Thomas 
 Keveny and one altar-boy in attendance solemnly 
 presided over the service, while Father Mackey 
 took up a collection, wrangled with defaulting 
 parishioners, and looked after things in general. 
 The new church was a large building, and for the 
 time, very handsome and substantial. What diffi- 
 culties the pastor met with in its construction are 
 unknown. He was, however, master of the situa- 
 tion at that day. He was beginning the second 
 decade of his service, and his troublesome children 
 were now in a minority. His earnestness, his 
 ability, his steady devotion to his work, his re- 
 
84 OGDENSBURG. 
 
 tired manner of life, his success in managing diffi- 
 cult people, were facts and qualities visible to all 
 the world. There was no flaw in his armor. He 
 had many faults of disposition, some of them dis- 
 agreeable, but no one could point a finger or fling 
 a word at his priestly character. He had made 
 his people his friends, and his obstinate enemies 
 were forced to maintain a sullen silence. In the 
 same year that St. Mary's was built, a similar 
 church was built at Waddington, which was then 
 something more than an out-mission, and became 
 a parish in 1855. Potsdam also became indepen- 
 dent in 1857, and in 1858 the French Canadians of 
 the town of Ogdensburg withdrew from St. Mary's 
 and formed.a parish. The territory of St. Mary's 
 thus gradually diminished, but the population in- 
 creased, and the condition of the Catholics be- 
 came more comfortable. They began to acquire 
 wealth, which, added to their increased knowledge 
 of the faith and their good discipline, made them 
 a useful and respected body. 
 
 1862, twenty years after his arrival at Ogdens- 
 burg was a late day for the school which Father 
 Mackey established. Three years previously the 
 Canadians had opened a boarding-school in the 
 city under the care of the Ottawa Grey Nuns. 
 It would have been better had the school begun 
 its important work ten years earlier. Still, it 
 was an uncertain period, and remote pastors 
 were not always sure of their position. The 
 school was erected — a square stone building west 
 
BEV. FATHBB O'BErBH. 
 
86 OGDENSBUBG. 
 
 of the church— and two Sisters placed in charge. 
 In a few years it had become too small for the 
 numbers desiring to attend. The imperfect good 
 it accomplished has been of some benefit to the 
 parish. His house, church, and school built, his 
 parish reduced to reasonable size, the faith of 
 his people growing, and the finances in good con- 
 dition. Father Mackey felt with good reason 
 that the best part of his work was done. 
 
 The territory north of the Adirondacks was 
 made a diocese in 1872. It was expected that 
 Plattsburgh would become the Episcopal see ; con- 
 trary to expectation, Ogdensburg, as more central, 
 was fixed upon as the bishop's residence, and 
 thither came Rt. Rev. Edgar P. Wadhams to take 
 possession. 
 
 Bishop Wadhams was born May 21, 1817, at 
 Lewis, Essex Co., of Protestant parents, and was 
 educated in the Protestant faith. Destined for 
 the ministry he made his preparatory studies at 
 Middlebury College, Vermont, and afterwards re- 
 ceived deacon's orders in the Episcopal Church. 
 For a short time he served in this capacity in the 
 neighborhood of Port Henry. Becoming con- 
 vinced of the truth of Catholicity, he went to 
 Baltimore, was received into the church, bap- 
 tized by the Sulpician, Rev. Peter Fredet, in 1846, 
 and confirmed by Archbishop Eccleston. For 
 the next four years he pursued his studies in St. 
 Mary's Seminary, Baltimore, with the design of 
 entering the priesthood. He was ordained priest 
 
OGDENSBUEG. 87 
 
 on Jan. 15th, 1850, by Bishop M'Closkey in the 
 Pro-cathedral, Albany, remaining there and at the 
 new cathedral as assistant until 1865. He was 
 then appointed pastor of the cathedral and vicar- 
 general of the diocese, which positions he held up 
 to his elevation to the episcopate. In February 
 of 1872 he received his appointment to the new 
 see of Ogdensburg, and on May 5th was conse- 
 crated at Albany by -Cardinal M'Closkey, as- 
 sisted by Archbishop Williams of Boston and 
 Bishop De Goesbriand of Burlington. He was 
 installed in his see on the octave of the feast of 
 the Ascension, May 16th, 1872. 
 
 We have already written at length on the 
 effects of this appointment upon the diocese. The 
 Ogdensburg parish naturally from that moment 
 took a more prominent position. It was in a 
 manner quite prepared for its new dignities. 
 The faith was flourishing mildly, church property 
 had cumulated, and the people were fairly situated. 
 Father Mackey was appointed vicar-general, an 
 honor unsought, but more than deserved by him. 
 The parish became the scene of unwonted ac- 
 tivity. A new sanctuary and sacristies were 
 added to the cathedral, which some years later 
 was remodeled as to its interior and elegantly 
 frescoed. The old school-house, was deserted for 
 a large structure in 1877, and the Clerks of San 
 Viateur taught there for a number of years, as- 
 sisted by the Grey Nuns of Ottawa. A good 
 residence was bought for the bishop. Churches 
 
88 OGDEN8BVRG. 
 
 were built in the out-missions of Lisbon and Mor- 
 ristown, and a third purchased for the Catholics 
 of Heuvelton by Rev. John Murphy. The old 
 convent of the French parish was converted into 
 an asylum for the sick and destitute at consider- 
 able expense. These improvements covered a 
 period of twelve years. Father Mackey was over- 
 taken by the infirmities of age in 1881, and after 
 a gradual decline died in December of 1883, and 
 was buried beside Father Foley under the 
 cathedral on the eve of the Feast of the Immacu- 
 late conception. There was a great concourse of 
 priests and people at the funeral. Father Swift 
 of Troy delivered the funeral oration. Bishop 
 Wadhams gave the final benediction, and the 
 venerable remains were carried, amid the tears of 
 those who had grown old with him, to their final 
 resting-place. 
 
 His successor was Rev. Joseph H. Conroy, 
 present rector of the cathedral. Father Conroy 
 was born at Watertown, New York, in 1858, and 
 made his preparatory studies at the Sulpieian Col- 
 lege, Montreal, and at St. Michael's College, Tor- 
 onto. He studied theology in Troy Seminary and 
 was there ordained on Trinity of 1881. After a 
 brief service in the delightful mission of Cheru- 
 busco, he was put in charge of Rouse's Point, ^nd 
 served that parish for nearly two years, In April 
 of 1883 he was attached to the cathedral, and on 
 the death of Father Mackey, succeeded to his 
 position. 
 
WADDINGTON. 89 
 
 In the last two years the cathedral parish has 
 taken fresh life from the new impulses given to it. 
 Societies of young men and women have been 
 started ; the schools have been placed under a bet- 
 ter system and made more efficient ; the negligent 
 and indifferent in the faith have been stirred into 
 activity, and there is promise of .a happy future 
 for the people. The city itself has not fulfilled 
 the promise of its youth. Its population does not 
 increase, being subject to the drain of Western 
 emigration, and driven out by lack of home 
 enterprise. It will remain a city of moderate im- 
 portance, but has much to lose from the indiffer- 
 ence of its citizens. 
 
 WADDINGTON. 
 
 Waddington enjoys the distinction of being 
 one of the oldest parishes in the diocese. Irish 
 Catholics settled there as early as 1820, in a dis- 
 trict now known as the Irish settlement. They 
 bought land in the neighborhood and grew wealthy 
 with time. Among these early settlers I found 
 the names of Mr. Fitzgerald, John O'Hanlon, 
 Robert Martin, Thomas Hughes, a school teacher, 
 and Stephen and Michael Drew. 
 
 Father James Salmon was sent to take charge 
 of them in 1827. He fixed his residence two miles 
 
90 WADDINGTON. 
 
 outside of the village, and from that point made 
 incursions into the wilderness to hunt up and 
 serve the Catholics whom a venturesome spirit had 
 brought so far from the influence of religion. 
 Ogdensburg was then but an out-mission of Wad- 
 dington. Father Salmon said Mass in a log hut 
 on the outskirts of the Irish settlement, where now 
 stands the old cemetery ; and went occasionally to 
 the 'burg, living as much by the products of a 
 farm which he had bought as the aid his parish- 
 ioners afforded him, for money was a rare thing 
 then, and the people were poor. After remaining 
 in Waddington nearly ten years he was dismissed 
 by the bishop, and continued to reside on his farm 
 until his death. He was much loved by such of 
 the Irish as had held firmly to the faith; but 
 already a spirit had crept into some which brought 
 trouble to Father Salmon and to his successors, 
 and prevails in some degree up to the present 
 time. 
 
 Father Bacon and Father Foley, who followed 
 him, made their residence in Ogdensburg, the lat- 
 ter visited Waddington at rare intervals, and the 
 former not at all. In fact the annoyances which 
 certain Catholics inflicted on these worthy men 
 made the future Bishop of Portland only too eager 
 to escape from his tormentors, and probably 
 hastened the death of Father Foley ; annoy- 
 ances which Bishop Dubois but imperfectly 
 understood, and did nothing to suppress in 
 his two visits to the North. Father Mackey, 
 
WADDINGTON. 91 
 
 who succeeded them in 1841, was a fighter 
 of evil and pugnacious to the last degree. He was 
 not daunted by opposition or slander, and while 
 pursuing his troublous way at home was able to 
 give the people of Waddington a helping hand. 
 It was under his guidance, and supported by his 
 encouragement, ^hat the church was begun and 
 completed in 1852, — a commodious stone structure, 
 well-built and enduring, and a great credit to the 
 wise heads and skilful hands that put it together. 
 It is a pity that the present generation of Catholics 
 in Waddington should cherish an idea that it is 
 indefectible. 
 
 Father Mackey placed Waddington in charge of 
 Dr. Hugh Quigley in 1848, while still retaining 
 the pastorate of all missions in existence and yet 
 to come in that neighborhood. Dr. Quigley was a 
 man of some learning, and is well known to the 
 reading world as the author of the "Cross and 
 Shamrock," and " The Prophet of the Ruined 
 Abbey." He remained in Waddington one year, 
 and died lately in Troy at an advanced age. 
 
 Father Patrick Phelan succeeded him, and de- 
 parted in 1855. It was during his tei-m of service 
 that the church was built. Father Herftkins was 
 his successor, a Belgian, who was the first parish 
 priest independent of Ogdensburg. He lived in 
 Waddington until 1866. 
 
 Since that time three priests have had charge of 
 the parish : 
 
 Rev. Father Swift until 1871. 
 
92 WADDINGTON. 
 
 Rev. Florence M'Carthy until 1879. 
 Rev. P. H. Ryan, the present pastor. 
 
 By degrees the first importance of Waddington 
 was lessened into its present dimensions. Father 
 Swift during his short stay provided the people of 
 Norfolk and Madrid with churches, while the res- 
 idents of Louisville, urged by an unwise and un- 
 ruly ambition to be similarly situated, built a brick 
 structure on their own account in open dis- 
 obedience to the orders of their pastor. These 
 villages, Norfolk and Louisville, now form with 
 Massena the parish of that name. 
 
 Father Ryan, the present pastor, was born in 
 Ireland, in 1846, and made his preparatory studies 
 in the college of St. Jarlath, Tuam. His theology 
 he studied at All Hallows, Dublin, at Niagara, and 
 Troy, where he was ordained, in 1870, by Bishop 
 Bacon. He served as curate at Saratoga for a 
 short period, and had charge at times of Colton, 
 Trout River, Brushton and Watertown, until in 
 1879 he was placed in charge of Waddington. 
 
 The parish now includes but one other mission. 
 The territory which once belonged to it has been 
 split up into many parishes, and its spirit has in 
 some degree soured. The old leaven which im- 
 bittered the days of the early pastors, works un- 
 pleasantly even at the present hour, and gives 
 opportunity to bold characters, nominal Catholics 
 with the taint of Freemasonry in their blood, to 
 work up disturbances and destroy temporarily the 
 peace which distinguishes an obedient and well- 
 
POTSDAM. 93 
 
 ordered people. In time, with prudent and quiet 
 management, this trouble will pass away. The 
 spread of good literature, the gradual enlighten- 
 ment of isolated Catholic communities, and the 
 introduction of schools will remove, without dis- 
 order, the evils to which many parishes are sub- 
 ject. The gener3,l esteem in which Father Ryan 
 is held, his abilities, his patience and prudence, 
 will by degrees stamp out a spirit which should 
 not have been allowed a year's growth. 
 
 POTSDAM. 
 
 The first Mass ever said in Potsdam was cele- 
 brated in the house of a Mr. Burke as early as 
 1832, by Father Salmon, of Waddingtou, the first 
 priest to take charge of the deserted mission of 
 Oswegatchie, more than half a century after the 
 death of the Abbe Picquet. Father Salmon had 
 charge of the entire county of St. Lawrence, a dis- 
 trict which now embraces a dozen or more parishes. 
 In Potsdam he found but a few venturesome 
 Catholic families whom the cheapness and excel- 
 lence of the land had attracted, and who from the 
 beginning were practical enough to turn farmers 
 instead of remaining hewers of wood and drawers 
 of water to landowners. Among those who heard 
 the first Mass, I find the names of John and Pat- 
 
94 POTSDAM. 
 
 rick M'Govern, George Morgan, and John Kehoe, 
 still lingering in the memories of the younger gen- 
 eration. John Kehoe is remembered as the only 
 man who was wealthy enough to give one hundred 
 dollars towards the first church. 
 
 The Catholics increased slowly by accessions of 
 friends and relations of those already settled in 
 the town; and in 1841, there being twenty-five 
 families scattered through the district, Father 
 Mackey, of Ogdensburg, who for a few months 
 said Mass in the house of Henry Lenny and in 
 other places, ventured to buy a large dwelling- 
 house and to convert it into a church. He blessed 
 it himself and gave it the title of St. Mary's, say- 
 ing Mass there three or four times a year for some 
 fifty persons, which number was as great as the 
 church would hold. When Waddington was cut 
 off from Ogdensburg, Potsdam was attached to 
 the new parish, and was attended by the Belgian, 
 Father Herftkins. Bishop M'Closkey visited 
 Waddington shortly after, and thither the Cath- 
 olics of Potsdam brought their children for con- 
 firmation. 
 
 In 1857 Potsdam became an independent parish 
 with Father Philip Keveny as its first pastor. It 
 included the towns of Canton, Brasher, and Col- 
 ton, and ran west as far as Gouverneur ; east, as 
 far as North Lawrence, a district dotted with in- 
 numerable small towns in every stage of progress. 
 Father Keveny remained but one year. 
 
 Father P. J. M'Glynn succeeded him : a young 
 
POTSDAM. 95 
 
 man of great zeal and good parts, who was loved 
 by his people and respected by his neighbors, and 
 who placed the parish in a prosperous condition 
 during his nine years' administration. The village 
 had increased very much within' a few years, and 
 had drawn to it quite a number of French and 
 Irish Catholics. Land had become valuable, and 
 the Catholic farmers were on the high road to 
 actual wealth. Father M'Glynn found the times 
 favorable for building a new church. The old 
 structure was moved and sold for a dwelling-house, 
 its original destiny, and in 1859 Bishop M'Clos- 
 key came to dedicate a new building capable of 
 holding 600 persons. A house was bought later, 
 and, later still, a cemetery which Bishop Conroy 
 blessed in 1867. In the same year Father M'Glynn 
 died, December 13. His remains were taken to 
 Utica, and a memorial tablet was erected to his 
 memory in the church which he had built. 
 
 Father Joseph Taney took charge of Potsdam 
 in the spring of 1868. The parish had now been 
 diminished in size by the cutting off of Brasher in 
 1860, and of Canton as soon as Father Taney was 
 appointed. It was a still larger and wealthier 
 mission than when Father M'Glynn first came to 
 it, and so well established and organized that there 
 was little to do besides keeping up the impulses 
 which the late pastor roused. Father Taney paid 
 part of the debt upon the , church property, and 
 received Bishop Wadhams in July, 1872, on his 
 first visitation of the new diocese of Ogdensburg. 
 
96 POTSDAM. 
 
 On this occasion the bishop confirmed 228 souls. 
 Father Taney left the parish in the following 
 year. 
 
 In 1873 Father John J. MacDonnell took charge 
 of the parish, and died February 4, 1879. He paid 
 the debts remaining on the church property, with 
 the exception of one mortgage, and settled certain 
 annoying difficulties connected with them. Bishop 
 Wadhams visited the parish three times during his 
 administration. Father MacDonnell was buried 
 in Potsdam, and a memorial tablet was erected in 
 the church to his memory. 
 
 He was succeeded by the present pastor. Father 
 Bernard Marron. Father Marron was born in 
 Port Henry in the year 1855, and made his class- 
 ical and philosophical course in the Jesuit College 
 of Montreal: he studied theology in the Sulpician 
 Seminary of the same city, and was ordained by 
 Bishop Fabre for the Ogdensburg diocese in 1878. 
 He served as curate in Watertown until February, 
 1879, when he was appointed to Potsdam. On 
 his appointment, Colton was made a separate mis- ' 
 sion. To continue the work which his predecessors 
 had begun and consolidated, has been his task 
 during the past six years. A new altar has been 
 placed in the church, a debt of six hundred dollars 
 removed, and a host of improvements made. There 
 is a Sunday-school with an average attendance of 
 one hundred, and Rosary and altar societies. The 
 entire Catholic population numbers 1350, and 
 among these, seven or eight hundred yearly com- 
 
OGDENSBUBG. 97 
 
 nmnions are made. Bishop Wadhams twice visited 
 the parish, and confirmed in all 205 persons. 
 
 The Catholic spirit of the parish is very good, 
 and has never lost its tone from the beginning. 
 The rising generation, which finds work enough 
 at home without wandering westward, grows up 
 as steadfast in the faith and as pure as the preced- 
 ing. Good literature has a fair patronage from 
 them, — ^bad literature none at all. The time is 
 not far distant when these happy circumstanCiCS 
 and good dispositions will be supplemented by the 
 influence of a Catholic schooL 
 
 OGDENSBURG— (JFVencA Canadian). 
 
 The artisans hired in Montreal to build the 
 city of Ogdensburg gave a good account of the 
 rising city to their neighbors, and a few Cana- 
 dians emigrated there at an early date. The 
 Papineau rebellion, -vfhich was nothing less than 
 a successful revolt against the English govern- 
 ment, drove many across the lines much against 
 their will, and about two hundred families settled 
 in Ogdensburg. The peculiar idea which the 
 entire Canadian population entertain of Ameri- 
 cans has a bad effect upon the more ignorant class 
 of immigrants. They drop into a license of manner 
 and a religious indifference on their arrival in the 
 
98 OGDENSBUBG. 
 
 States which is very fatal to their commercial 
 standing as well as to the work of their salva- 
 tion. ^ Naturally a hardy, venturesome, and kindly 
 people ; at home hospitable, economical, and large- 
 hearted, many become dissipated roysterers, or 
 grasping and godless infidels. Where the blame 
 lies it is hard to say. They must be taken at 
 once upon their arrival here, and nursed under 
 the same methods which custom endeared to them 
 in Canada, otherwise they fall away from the 
 faith in countless numbers. 
 
 This was their situation in Ogdensburg, not 
 only in the city but in the diocese. The Bishop 
 of Albany supplied them very quickly with priests 
 acquainted with their language. In 1858 he sent 
 Father LeMercier to take charge of the two hun- 
 dred families who had settled in Ogdensburg, and 
 from that date the Canadians were almost with- 
 out interruption watched over and served by 
 faithful men in full sympathy with their poverty, 
 faults, and virtues. The priests succeeded one 
 another in the following order: — 
 
 Rev. Mr. Lemercier until 1863. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Renaud until 1866. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Griffa until 1867. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Jeannott until 1877. 
 
 Rev. P. O. Larose, present pastor. 
 
 Father Lemercier was a man of great ideas — 
 
 some of them impractical, — and of great piety, 
 
 He began his work on a rather extensive scale. 
 
 A piece of property known as the Ford estate was 
 
0GDEN8BURQ. 99 
 
 bought at the outset at a cost of $7,000. It stood 
 on the ground once occupied by Picquet's flour- 
 ishing mission, and included a serviceable building 
 used as a dwelling house and later as a hotel. 
 Here Father Lemercier established the Grey 
 Nuns of Ottawa to open a boarding-school. Mass 
 was said in a part of the building for the new 
 congregation. The foundations of the church 
 were laid on the east side of the property. In 
 less than a year the energetic priest had all these 
 undertakings begun, and was dreaming of others. 
 His ideas of church-building were decidedly 
 European. The immense structure, which he suc- 
 ■ ceeded in roofing before his death, excites the 
 wonder of the beholder. Its tower contains 
 enough brick to build a small church. The 
 second story carries the building to such a height 
 as defies the strength of steam to heat the space 
 enclosed. It is doubtful if it can ever be dec- 
 orated except in the simplest style. Father Le- 
 mercier quite exhausted himself in his endeavors 
 to pay for it. He travelled through Canada and 
 this State collecting, and raised a considerable 
 sum. He lived only to see his work partly com- 
 pleted, dying in 1863. 
 
 It was almost a year before his successor ar- 
 rived. In the interval Oblates from Montreal and 
 a few others attended the congregation. Father 
 Renaud retired in about two years and Father 
 Griffa, now of Oswego, one; — too short a term to 
 leave any notable memorial of their work. 
 
100 OGDENSnUBG. 
 
 Father Jeannott, who succeeded them, worked 
 vigorously and well during the ten years of his 
 stay. His congregation had increased since its 
 formation, were better disposed and in better cir- 
 cumstances. Taking advantage of these favorable 
 conditions he put a steeple on the church, added 
 a vestry, supplied it with the proper vestments 
 and utensils, and finally built a parochial residence. 
 The Canadians were now more happily situated 
 than at any other place in the State. Their church 
 property was exceedingly valuable, and they had 
 passed into the condition of a settled, well-ordered 
 community. Father Jeannott provided them in 
 IS"/ S with a free school, which was well attended 
 and has continued up to the present time. The 
 pastor, after ten years' labor in Ogdensburg re- 
 tired, and is now in Boston. 
 
 He was succeeded by Rev. P. O. Larose, the 
 present incumbent, who was born at Vercheres, 
 Canada, in 1845. He made his preparatory, 
 studies at L'Assomption College, and his theology 
 at the Grand Seminary, Montreal, where he was 
 ordained by Bishop Pinsonneault in 1871. After 
 serving at Chateaguay, Canada, and at Water- 
 town in this diocese, he was appointed to Ogdens- 
 burgh in 1877. 
 
 Twenty years of careful training had had its 
 effect on the Canadians of the parish, and the 
 work given the new pastor to do, while difficult 
 and ceaseless, was made easy by the good dis- 
 position of the people. He has paid off a debt of 
 
CANTON. 101 
 
 $6,100, and made improvements in the property 
 to the extent of $2,000 more. Two hundred and 
 twenty-five children attend the parochial school. 
 The boarding-school, owing to want of patronage, 
 ceased to exist in 1880, and the building has been 
 converted into a city hospital and orphan asylum. 
 Every day adds to^ the piety and worth of the 
 Canadians of Ogdensburg. Those points of their 
 social character least agreeable to Americans under 
 the friction of better circumstances and improved 
 condition are wearing away, and their natural hos- 
 pitality, and good business qualities recommend 
 them more and more as worthy citizens of their 
 adopted country. 
 
 CANTON. 
 
 Canton is a pretty town, fifteen miles south of 
 Ogdensburg, and was formerly included in the 
 parish of Potsdam. Its early history is included 
 in that of Potsdam. Father Mackey was the first 
 priest to visit it, and during his management built 
 for the farmers a small frame church capable of 
 holding about three hundred persons. When the 
 population had increased sufficiently to warrant 
 the measure, it was cut off from Potsdam and 
 made an independent parish, under the charge of 
 Father Brosnan, now of the Albany diocese : 
 this was in 1868. Previously, in 1861, Father 
 
102 CANTON. 
 
 M'Glynn, of Potsdam, had bought a cemetery for 
 the Canton people, and the other priests who at 
 various times attended the parish in many ways 
 added to its importance and prosperity. Father' 
 Brosnan provided the place with a parochial 
 residence at a cost of $3,500, and after a stay of 
 three years departed in 1871 . He was succeeded 
 by Rev. James O'DriscoU, the present pastor, who 
 for fourteen years has labored successfully to keep 
 his people in the practice of the faith, and to give 
 his parish an eminence which few others possess 
 and many are not likely to attain. 
 
 The number of families in Canton parish is 
 about two hundred. They are now and always 
 have been a faithful Catholic people, steady in the 
 practice of their faith, simple-hearted and indus- 
 trious, and their virtues have been rewarded by 
 marked material prosperity. The church built by 
 Father Mackey being now too small, Father 
 O'Driscoll determined to build another of more 
 convenient size and more imposing appearance. 
 Preparations began in the fall of 1873. On the 
 8th of December Mass was said in the old building 
 for the last time, for on the 12th it was set fire to 
 by an incendiary, and burned to the ground. This 
 was a severe misfortune for the parish. They 
 were compelled to meet in the court-house during 
 the winter, the regular revehues were suddenly 
 cut off, and the work on the new church was per- 
 force hurried under very discouraging conditions. 
 Father O'Driscoll did not despair. The work was 
 
CANTON. 103 
 
 begun in May, 1874, and the corner-stone was laid 
 on July 4, by Bishop Wadhams. Father Ryan, 
 the poet-priest and eloquent pulpit orator, preached 
 the sermon on the occasion. 
 
 For the next two years the work continued- 
 The time was favorable ; work and money were 
 plentiful, and prices high, but the lack of a regular 
 building for their' own use was sadly felt by the 
 Catholics and the priest. It is unnecessary to go 
 into the details of the difficulties which surrounded 
 the work. It was a large undertaking for the 
 Canton people. Every two weeks the workmen 
 had to be paid, and money procured with which 
 to pay them. It was not the pastor's wish to bor- 
 row money of outsiders until the willingness and 
 ability of the people had been exhausted, nor did 
 he care to confide the work to contractors, two 
 good ideas in church building, but hard to be 
 executed. He succeeded with them. In 1876 the 
 church was roofed in and ready for use. It was 
 dedicated solemnlj^ on the 15th of August of that 
 year, by Bishop Wadhams. Rev. John Walsh, 
 now rector of the Albany Cathedral, preached an 
 elegant and classical discourse on the occasion. 
 The building was given the time of St. Mary. 
 
 It stands on a rising ground in the centre of the 
 town, and is not only the most imposing building 
 in Canton, but takes rank as one of the best 
 churches in the diocese. The style is Gothic, the 
 material brick, with stone facings ; a beautiful 
 square tower rises from the front wall over one 
 
104 .CANTON. 
 
 hundred feet into the air ; the lines of the building 
 are as clean and clear as a drawing ; the propor- 
 tions are perfect ; the material and the workman- 
 ship alike excellent, and the appearance of the 
 church standing in the centre of a green square is 
 at once elegant and majestic. The interior is fin- 
 ished in ash and walnut, and can seat ten hundred 
 people. Last year the final payment was made, 
 and up to that date it had cost fifty-five thousand 
 dollars. A few thousand more will put it in per- 
 fect condition, and St. Mary's will then rank as 
 one of the remarkable churches of the diocese. 
 
 The people are to be congratulated on the work 
 they have accomplished. Had they not possessed 
 a strong faith and the charity in which Catholic 
 hearts abound, it would be impossible for the 
 priest, with all his labor and self-denial and patience 
 and business skill, to have done so much. It is a 
 monument to the people's virtue and the priest's 
 memory. 
 
 Rev. James O'DriscoU was born in Ireland in 
 1842, and studied his classics in Bandon, at the 
 noted Lordan school ; his philosophy and theology 
 were studied at All-Hallows' College, Dublin, 
 where he was ordained in 1867 by Bishop Mori- 
 arty, of Kerry, for the diocese of Albany. Arriv- 
 ing in America, he was appointed to Oswego as 
 curate, and later to Copenhagen as pastor, where 
 he remained until 1871, the year of his arrival in 
 Canton. Since that date he has remained in the 
 latter place, and is now enjoying a rest after en- 
 
NOItWOOD. 105 
 
 during the burden of church-building and debt- 
 paying for nearly twelve years. 
 
 The parish is composed of two hundred families, 
 principally farmers in comfortable condition, and 
 very devoted to the faith. The land is excellent, 
 and considerable employment is given in the town 
 to workingmen. The spiritual condition of the 
 parish, as shown by the frequenting of the sacra- 
 ments, is very good, and the promise of the future 
 ftill of hope. 
 
 NORWOOD. 
 
 This village lies five miles east of Potsdam, 
 and is the seat of a parish which include the vil- 
 lages of Norwood, Hopkinton, Parishville, and 
 Wick. It touches upon the tract known as the 
 South Woods, the extremity of which forms its 
 southern border. Farming and lumbering are the 
 principal occupations of its rather scattered popu- 
 lation, whose history resembles and is connected 
 with the history of Potsdam. 
 
 The family now represented by Daniel Morgan- 
 and the branches of that family, was the first Irish 
 family to locate at Norwood, and the earliest set- 
 tlers after him were the Collins, Quinns, O'Briens, 
 McCarthys, Driscolls, Bourkes, McCormacks, 
 Learys and Halligans whose names are still re- 
 presented in the parish. 
 
106 NORWOOD. 
 
 The first priest to say Mass in the town was 
 Father M'Glynn of Potsdam. The mission was 
 attended afterwards by the parish priest of that 
 Tillage, and by others from the episcopal residence 
 in Ogdensburg until 1878, when Rev. Thos. Walsh, 
 the present pastor, was appointed to take charge 
 of the territory included in the four villages above 
 mentioned. 
 
 Ground for a church was presented to the parish 
 by lioderick Luby, a sterling Catholic, ever dis- 
 posed to promote the work of religion, and on it 
 Father Walsh erected a neat and suitable church, 
 which was dedicated in 1883 by Bishop Wadhams, 
 under the title of St. Andrew the Apostle. It 
 is now paid for, and the Catholics feel deeply 
 grateful to God for so great a blessing. They are, 
 with few exceptions, practical Catholics, devoted 
 to their church and a comfort to their energetic 
 and earnest pastor. 
 
 Hopkinton is a mixed parish, composed of Irish 
 and French, with the latter in the majority. The 
 Canadians are indifferent and neglectful in the 
 practice of their religious duties, although occupy- 
 ing- few seats in the church and rarely asked to 
 contribute to the church support. The permanent 
 Irish settlers are Thos. Conlon, Charles McCarthy, 
 Cornelius Murphy, Patrick Regan, John Sullivan, 
 Jeremiah Bourke, and James Cotter, while many 
 others occupy hired farms and do general labor. 
 The better class of Canadians is represented by 
 Jules Le Blanc and others. 
 
NORWOOD. 107 
 
 In the same year in which St. Andrew's Church 
 was erected at Norwood, Father Walsh built a 
 small church in Hopkintonand placed it under 
 the invocation of the Holy Cross. It is not yet 
 dedicated, for lack of a permanent altar which will 
 soon be supplied ; nor is the cemetery, bought a 
 short time ago, yet Jblessed. 
 
 Parishville is without a church. Father Walsh 
 began one, but a storm levelled it while still in an 
 incomplete condition. The site of the church he 
 purchased himself and placed the deed in the name 
 of the few Catholics in the township, making the 
 donation in honor of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus 
 and Mary. The parish is under the protection of 
 St. Jude. A cemetery, boughlf some years ago, 
 was blessed by Bishop Wadhams in 1883. The 
 first Catholics in the district were the families of 
 John Keagan, his brother James, James McNierney 
 and a few others whose virtues and fidelity to the 
 faith are the glory of their children. 
 
 Wick is also without a church. The mission is 
 under the patronage of St. Columbia, the glorious 
 saint of Ireland, and its people, of Irish and Cana- 
 dian descent and nationality, are very few. The 
 first Catholic settler in the South Woods, Francis 
 Conlon, presented to the parish ground for the 
 future church and for a cemetery. The former 
 has been already blessed, and will remain a stand- 
 ing memorial of his faith and generosity. Father 
 Walsh has also purchased one hundred and fifteen 
 
108 GOUVEBNEUR. 
 
 acres of land for the use of the pastor, whose 
 revenues are necessarily small. 
 
 All these missions demand of their priest great 
 sacrifices owing to their present poverty. They 
 are far apart, and the Catholic families are few, 
 but their faith is good, and under the vigorous 
 guidance of a resident priest they have shown a 
 willingness to do much for their religion. Father 
 Walsh is an Irishman, and made his studies in Ire- 
 land where he was ordained. He has served many 
 years in this country, and is a man of considerable 
 learning, and well-known in the literary world. 
 
 Note. — ^From notes furnished by Kev. Thos. Walsh. 
 
 GOUVERNEUR.* 
 
 This parish is a recent growth. Gouverneur is 
 a town lying west of Canton, to which parish it 
 formerly belonged. In 1850 there were but two 
 Catholic families in the place, but its business in- 
 creasing a number of French and Irish settled in 
 the neighborhood, and were attended -by various 
 priests from Ogdensburg and elsewhere until 1873. 
 In that year they found themselves in a condition 
 to buy an old Methodist church which was for 
 sale, and which was handed over to them only to 
 be destroyed by fire the following year. 
 
 * From notes furnished by Kev. E. Laramee. 
 
GOUVERNEUR. 109 
 
 A new church was instantly begun and carried on 
 with much vigor and earnestness until its completion. 
 It cost nearly $4,000, and is a veritable monument 
 to the energy of a people for the most part poor 
 in the world's goods. Their spirit and success in- 
 duced the bishop to send them a priest, and in 
 1877 Rev. Thomas. Kelleher was appointed first 
 resident pastor of Gouverneur. He remained 
 there only one year. The parish of Massena 
 having become vacant he was sent thither, and 
 Gouverneur was attached to Rossie until 1882. 
 
 Rev. Damase Guilbault was placed in charge of 
 the mission in that year, and was very successful 
 in its management, until his departure for the 
 more difficult trust of Keeseville in 1883. He 
 was succeeded by the present pastor, Father 
 Laramee. 
 
 There are in Gouverneur and its out-mission 
 Keene station, about one hundred families, of 
 whom three-fifths ^re Canadians. They work in 
 the saw-mills and in the iron mines of the Rossie 
 Mining Company, and are not blessed with a sur- 
 plus of faith or fortune, but under the care of their 
 pastor they will improve no doubt in every way. 
 The Iron Company has offered the priest every 
 facility in the discharge of his duty, and at Keene 
 Station has provided its Catholic employees with 
 a neat chapel in one of their buildings. 
 
PART IL 
 
 DISTRICT OF CARTHAGE. 
 
 jErFBESON CorrNTY entirely belongs to this dis- 
 trict with certain parts of St. Lawrence and Lewis. 
 The South Woods bound it on the east, Lake 
 Ontario and the St. Lawrence River on the west 
 and north. It is the best business territory in 
 the diocese. There are woollen mills, iron manu- 
 factures, and minor <5oncerns in Watertown which 
 support a population of thirteen thousand. Car- 
 thage has also considerable business. The farm- 
 ing land is fair, in some places exceedingly rich. 
 The Catholic population is chiefly Irish, some 
 French and Canadians, all comfortably situated 
 and not inclined to emigrate to the west. The 
 faith of these Catholics is for the most part poor, 
 and Catholic life is dull and sluggish. Exception 
 must be made for Catholics at Rosiere and Clayton 
 who are moderately devoted to the church. Of 
 late, under the vigorous administration of reli- 
 gious orders and able seculars, it begins to shows 
 promise of a future condition more conformable 
 
Non-resident ; 
 
 < 
 
 DISTRICT OF CARTHAGE. m 
 
 to the religious spirit. The parishes were formed 
 in the following order : — 
 
 Cabthage, 1826. 
 
 Attended by Rev. Patrick Kelly, 
 
 /'Rev. Mr. Fitzsimmons, 
 
 Rev. James Cahill, 
 
 Rev. Thos. Daly, 
 
 Rev. Mr. Simon, 
 
 Rev. Mr. Salmon, 
 ^Rev. Walter J. Quarter, 
 
 Rev. Michael Gilbride, 
 Attended from Watertown until. 
 Curate, '48-'61. Rev. Michael C. Power, 
 
 Rev. Maurice Roche, 
 
 Rev. Michael E. Clarke, 
 
 Rev. Patrick O'Reilly, 
 
 Interdict until 
 
 Rev. Michael W. Barry, 
 
 Rev. Mr. Connolly, 
 
 Rev. Mr. J. Griffith, 
 'Rev. Jno. J. Fedigan, 
 
 Rev. Francis J. McShane, 
 Augustinians : < Rev. Edward A. Dailey, 
 I Rev. Patrick A. Lynch, 
 I^Rev. Patrick J. O'Connell, 
 
 1827 
 
 1836 
 
 1840 
 1851 
 
 1852 
 1855 
 1861 
 1862 
 1864 
 1869 
 1871 
 1873 
 1877 
 1882 
 1883 
 1885 
 
 ROSIEEE, 1832. 
 
 Attended by Rev. Mr. Simon, 1833 
 
 Vacancy, 18S7 
 
 Rev. Francis Guth, 1843 
 
 Rev. Mr. Kapp, 1845 
 
 Rev. Michael Guth, 1861 
 
 Curate, '54-61. Rev. Louis Lepic, 1867 
 
 Rev. C. F. Turgeon, 1869 
 
 Rev. Victor Ritter, 1873 
 
112 DISTRICT OF CABTHAGE. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Peret, 1873 
 
 Rev. Mr. Arents, 1875 
 
 Rev. Mr. Conlon, 1876 
 Rev. Jos. Durin, C. S. H., 1877 
 
 Rev. Jas. J. Sherry, 1883 
 
 Rev. F. Connors, 1884 
 Rev. William KeUy. 
 
 Watbetown, 1840. 
 
 Attended by Rev. Philip Gillick, 1844 
 
 Rev. John O'Dowd, 1846 
 Rev. Francis P. McFarlane 1851 
 
 Rev. Mr. Finlay, 1854 
 
 Rev. Mr. McNalty, 1861 
 
 Rev. James Hogan, 1878 
 Rev. Thos. Walsh, V. G., 1879 
 Rev. Florence McCarthy, 1880 
 Rev. Tobias Glenn. 
 
 Wateetown, (French) 1857. 
 
 Rev. Louis Lepic, 1867 
 
 Rev. C. F. Turgeon, 1873 
 
 Rev. P. Leclaire, 1875 
 
 Rev. P. O. Larose, 1876 
 
 Sacred Heart Missionaries : 
 
 Rev. Joseph Durin, 1881 
 Rev. C. Ramot, 
 
 Clayton, 1861. 
 
 Attended by Rev. Luke Harney, 1863 
 
 Rev. Jas. J. Sherry, 1867 
 
 Rev. Mr. DeSaunhac, 1873 
 
 Rev. Mr. Arents, 1875 
 
 Rev. Jno. Craven, 1876 
 
 Rev. M. Brown, 1877 
 
 Rev. Jas. J. Sherry, 1883 
 Rev. Edward Brice, 
 
cabthage. 
 
 Copenhagen, 1870. 
 
 Attended by Rev. Jas. O'Driscoll, 
 Rev. Thos. McNally, 
 Rev. Edward Walsh, 
 Rev. Mr. Field, O. S. A., 
 Rev. Jno. Fitzgerald, 
 Rev. Mr. Hagerty. 
 
 Redwood, 1872. 
 
 RossiE, 1878. 
 
 Rev. Jno. J. McDonald 
 Rev. Wm. Rossiter, 
 Rev. Mr. Brown, 
 Rev. Jas. Connor, 
 Rev. Mr. O'Neill, 
 Rev. Jeremiah Manning. 
 
 Rev. "Wm. Kelly, 
 Rev. Jno. Fitzgerald. 
 
 113 
 
 1871 
 1875 
 
 1875 
 1876 
 1881 
 
 1874 
 1877 
 1879 
 1882 
 1884 
 
 1884 
 
 CARTHAGE. 
 
 Cakthage enjoys an unenviable reputation. It 
 has earned a distinction in New York State alto- 
 gether different from that which was expected 
 from it. It's circumstances were very happy from 
 the start. It never knew the adversity which 
 befel its neighbors, and was never forced to 
 struggle against odds. Its unusual prosperity upset 
 the even balance of its temper, and its history is 
 one of constant dissension and eternal bickering. 
 Catholics made the first settlements on the site of 
 
114 ' CAHTHAGE. 
 
 the town. Two agents of a French laud company 
 named Simon Desjardines and Peter Pharoux to- 
 gether with one Mark Brunei built a mill there 
 in 1795, and afterwards transferred the property 
 to Rodolph Tillier who sold it to Henry Boutin. 
 This last settled beside the mill and was there 
 when the Irish and American colonists appeared 
 in 1818. 
 
 James Le Ray de Chaumont, a French nobleman 
 may be considered the founder of town and mis- 
 sion. In certain parts of this history I have re- 
 ferred to him as an untitled citizen of France. 
 The conflicting accounts received concerning him 
 caused this blunder and others which are here 
 corrected. He was a count and belonged to Nor- 
 mandy, from which he had been driven at the time 
 of the French Revolution because of his adherence 
 to the royalist cause. He purchased land in vari- 
 ous parts of Jefferson County, north of the Black 
 River, nor was he, as has been stated, the agent of 
 any land company. In 1818 he induced nearly a 
 thousand persons to settle on his land, among 
 whom were the Irish settlers at Carthage. They 
 were drawn to the place from their desire to live 
 under a Catholic landlord, and came from County 
 Meath principally, reaching Carthage by way of 
 Quebec. In the next year, 1819, Count James at 
 his own expense and on his own land built a frame 
 church, which is said to have been dedicated by 
 Bishop Connolly under the title of St. James. 
 The ground about the church was also blessed by 
 
CARTHAGE. 115 
 
 the bishop for a cemetery. In order to complete 
 the edifice Count James levied a tax of ten dollars 
 on each family which was willingly paid, for the 
 people were not ungenerous, nor yet disturbed by 
 the evil spirit which took possession of them later. 
 Among those who subscribed to this fund were the 
 four brothers 'named Murray, the two Martins, 
 Peter Castle, Edward Galvin, James Walsh, John 
 Finlay, the two McKennas, and Farrell Neary, a 
 gentleman who died at an advanced age in Water- 
 town two years ago. Father Farnham of Utica 
 was the first priest to officiate in the new church, 
 visiting the parish probably in 1829 which was the 
 year of his appointment to Utica by Bishop Con- 
 nolly of New York. A Father McBride also said 
 Mass before or after Father Farnham, but his name 
 is unknown to the Laity's Directory for 1822 and 
 he probably came from Canada. Soon after the 
 completion of the church, Count James became 
 financially embarrassed and signed over his prop- 
 erty to his son Vincent, whose share in colonizing 
 the country I have made prominent at the expense 
 of his father's reputation. For the beginnings 
 were made by Count James while his son Vincent 
 continued and completed the work very success- 
 fully. Count James returned to France, and died 
 at Paris in 1841. 
 
 Upon taking possession of the property Mr. 
 Vincent Le Ray had his Catholic tenants organized 
 into a parish corporation on the 9th of July, 1821, 
 and on the 30th of the same mouth made over to 
 
116 CAETMAGK 
 
 the seven trustees, appointed according to the laws 
 of the state, the lot on which the church stood. 
 These trustees represented what was known in law 
 as the Catholic society of Carthage, a;nd continued 
 to exist in that form amid woful clamor and dis- 
 cussion until 1872. Mr. Vincent Le Ray now 
 turned his attention towards other parts of the 
 country, having fairly started his Irish colony and 
 left them in the best condition. Father Beecham 
 attended them occasionally from Rome after 1822, 
 and in 1827, or thereabouts. Rev. Patrick Kelly 
 resided with them for a year or more. For ten 
 years they went without a resident priest. Father 
 Fitzsimmons, sent by the bishop probably, Fathers 
 Cahill, Daly, and Quarter of Utica, Father Salmon 
 of Ogdensburg, and Father Simon of Rosiere 
 frequently visited them to administer the sacra- 
 ments. They found them of good faith and docile 
 disposition. But ten years of freedom from 
 spiritual restraint, and communication with out- 
 siders had given birth to the spirit of evil. Many 
 married before the justice and the minister, impar 
 tient of the quarterly visit of the priest, and many 
 lost the habit of virtue and the practice of the faith. 
 Some patient souls travelled on foot to Utica or 
 Ogdensburg rather than suffer the shame of mar- 
 riage outside the church. They grew fewer with 
 the advance of time, and the priest who came to 
 serve the people of Carthage found that the Irish 
 feeling for the faith had suffered serious damage. 
 As has been said, the settlers were mostly Irish. 
 
CARTHAGE. II7 
 
 A few French and a straggling Canadian lived 
 among them, but not in numbers. The Protestant 
 element was not strong in the neighborhood, and 
 a priest was to be found somewhere in the county 
 at nearly all times. The church was there to re- 
 mind them of their duty to the faith. Few colo- 
 nists could be morQ happily situated, and their fall- 
 ing away is to be attributed to their own culpable 
 neglect and wilful insubordination. 
 
 The first entry in the baptismal register Avas 
 made by the French priest of Rosiere, Father 
 Simon, on the 9th of August 1833. The infant 
 was Ann Loughlin, born in March of that year. 
 In 1835 Bishop Dubois visited the parish accom- 
 panied by Rev. John Hughes and administered 
 confirmation. Alarmed at the fate which threat- 
 ened the people he determined to give them a 
 resident priest. In 1836 Rev. Michael Gilbride 
 took up his residence in Carthage and remained 
 there until 1840, attending the whole district as 
 far as Antwerp and working with great energy 
 and zeal. When he retired from the parish his 
 successors. Fathers Gillick, O'Dowd, and McFar- 
 lane found Watertown a more convenient and 
 agreeable town, and made it their residence, at- 
 tending Carthage as an out-mission. Such it re- 
 mained for nearly ten years, a second misfortune 
 as fatal as the desultory attendance between 1825 
 and 1837. Father McFarlane secured a curate, 
 Rev Michael C. Power, to assist him in his care of 
 60 large a territory, and confided to him Carthage 
 
118 CARTHAGE. 
 
 and other missions. Of this priest no praise can 
 be too high for the activity and zeal he displayed. 
 He started churches at Copenhagen and Harris- 
 burgh, bought the church at Antwerp, and, as 
 appears from the registries, witnessed marriages 
 and baptized in every town of the parish. Finally 
 in 1851 he became resident pastor of Carthage and 
 went to live in the house of Richard Gallagher. 
 Since his time the parish has never been without 
 its resident priest. 
 
 In 1852 he was succeeded by Rev. Maurice 
 Roche, who gave place in turn in 1855 to Rev. 
 Michael Clarke, one of the most energetic mission- 
 aries of his time. He built the churches at Rossie, 
 Pinckney, Louisburgh and Stirlingville, and left no 
 part of his parish unvisited or uncared for. His 
 manner, however, was eccentric, and he had little 
 patience with the dictatorial trustees and the un- 
 faithful people. The troubles which had all along 
 been brewing found vent during his pastorate, and 
 a violent storm arose. Bishop M'Closkey found it 
 expedient to put the parish under interdict, which 
 was not removed until Bishop Conroy was elevated 
 to the see of Albany. 
 
 In 1864 Rev. Michael W. Barry was sent to take 
 charge of the parish, a kindly and zealous priest, 
 whose career in Oswego has since brought him a 
 well-earned reputation. Father Barry found the 
 church erected by Count James Le Ray too small 
 for his congregation and proceeded courageously to 
 erect another. It was a vexatious time to under- 
 
CARTHAGE. 119 
 
 take so great a task, but it was successfully accom- 
 plished. The old church was sold to the Episcopa- 
 lians, who removed it to a lot on the opposite 
 street, where it stood until burned in the disastrous 
 fire of 1884. In this church, in 1852, Count Vincent 
 Le Ray heard Mass for the last time in America 
 with his son the IVl^rquis De St. Paul. In half a 
 century the changes around Carthage had become 
 startling, and must have caused him as much joy 
 as the weakening of the faith caused him pain. 
 Returning to France after this visit to the scene 
 of his labors he died at Paris in 1875. His son 
 James Le Ray de Chaumont died in 1877, and 
 there now survives but one child, his son Charles, 
 heir to the family title and estates. The Le Rays 
 were attached to the Bourbons, and intimately 
 connected with the Due de Chambord. A brick 
 structure, capable of holding a thousand persons, 
 built in Gothic style, very noble and beautiful in 
 appearance, was erected by Father Barry at a cost 
 of at least forty thousand dollars. It was dedicated 
 by Bishop Conroy in 1865, and is one of the seven 
 important churches in the diocese. Later, Father 
 Barry bought a cemetery outside the town and 
 blessed it himself, and having earned the love of 
 the people and the esteem of his superiors by tbe 
 tact and prudence of his management of a difficult 
 position, retired in 1869. 
 
 He was succeeded by Rev. William Connolly, 
 who was followed in turn by Rev. M. J. Griffith in 
 1871. During the term of Father Griffith, Bishop 
 
120 CARTHAGE. 
 
 Wadhams was appointed to the see of Ogdensburg. 
 As vicar-general of the diocese of Albany he had 
 been acquainted with the troubles of Carthage, 
 and was determined to make a radical change in 
 its affairs. In December of 187 2 he received the 
 resignation of the seven trustees, and reincor- 
 porated the church under the new statute, which 
 provides for five trustees with the bishop at their 
 head. The title was also changed to " The Society 
 of St. James 'Church, Carthage." The parish was 
 then put in charge of the Augustinians, and 
 Father Fedigan, a member of that order, sent by 
 his superiors to take the mission under his care. 
 Father Fedigan built a fine parochial house during 
 his stay of three years ; and adorned the church 
 with stained-glass windows. He was succeeded in 
 1877 by Rev. Francis McShane, who improved the 
 property and worked with a will to improve the 
 spiritual condition of the people. How sad that 
 condition is can be inferred from the fact that of 
 four hundred families only one hundred and fifty 
 can at all be called Catholics. Many Canadians 
 have immigrated to the town, and have added to 
 the general torpor ; and the population has in- 
 creased only to increase the general indifference. 
 In 1881 severe forest fires scarified the Irish settle- 
 ment, the breeder of many deplorable apostasies, 
 and in 1884 the entire town was destroyed by the 
 same element. ' The beautiful church escaped, 
 however, and the last disaster was saved this un- 
 fortunate people. Father Dailey succeeded Father 
 
EOSIEEE. 121 
 
 McShane in 1882, Father Lynch followed in 1883, 
 and Father O'Connell is the present pastor. 
 
 Twelve years of steady labor on the part of 
 religious have not been without their fruit in 
 Carthage, but the generation of disturbance must 
 pass away and their memory become as dust before 
 the faith can attaiq that purity which it enjoyed 
 in the first years of settlement. Carthage was 
 saved from apostasy almost against its will. It 
 was visited by six bishops on their official tours, and 
 has been carefully looked after for half a century. 
 
 ROSIERE. 
 
 Me. Le Rat entered extensively into the work 
 of colonization in Jefferson County. The situation 
 of the St. Lawrence section pleasing him, he built 
 a spacious residence at LeRaysville, and seemed to 
 contemplate a scheme of renewing in America the 
 pleasant existence of Old France before the Revo- 
 lution. He brought out villagers from his 
 native place, Chaumont, and from Rosiere, and 
 established them on lands in the vicinity of what 
 is now called" Rosiere, where their descendants are 
 until this day. Evidently he contemplated a time 
 when the whole district, settled by the faithful 
 people whom his fathers had honorably ruled, 
 would resemble in part the ancestral domain. 
 
122 ROSIEIiE. 
 
 The French of Louis the Thirteenth's time were 
 the first to set foot witliin what are now the 
 parish limits. On Carlton Island they erected a 
 fort in 1673, whose ruins are still visible. In 1789 
 Mr. Penett, a Frenchman, bought a tract of land 
 around Lafargeville, which he sold to Mr. Lafarge, 
 another Frenchman, after whom the town is named. 
 Mr. Penett is supposed to have died in San Do- 
 mingo. The house built by Mr. Lafarge was used 
 as a seminary in 1837. Father Francis Guth was 
 its first and last rector, and his assistants were 
 Fathers Moran and Hoes, with three tutors. The 
 prospectus of 1839 announced that the seminary 
 would open 20th September, and the pension 
 would be one hundred and twelve dollars. Rev. 
 Mark Murphy and Rev. James Dougherty were 
 professors the next year. Father Mackey was a 
 pupil, and Rev. Sylvester Malone another. 
 
 Mr. Lafarge was the gentleman who bought 
 from Joseph Bonaparte the chateau which he had 
 built at Natural Bridge. Count Le Ray's example 
 and presence brought to the neighborhood a num- 
 ber of persons who in France bore notable and ex- 
 alted rank. Among these were General RoUand, 
 Camille Armand, Mr. Pigeon and Louis Peugnet. 
 The Peugnet family were devoted to the Bona- 
 partes. Their descendants are still well-known 
 and respected Catholics at Cape Vincent and in 
 New York. The history of their connection with 
 the great Napoleon reads like a romance. 
 
 Mr. Le Ray brought his countrymen to Rosiere 
 
EOSIERE. 123 
 
 in 1828, probably. They came by degrees, and 
 were no sooner arrived than they set to work at 
 the building of a church. Its basement was con- 
 structed and ready for the laying of the corner- 
 stone by Bishop Dubois in 1832. His coming was 
 made the occasion of such a celebration as Old 
 France was accustpmed to hold in a bishop's 
 honor. The settlers came from the remotest 
 farms, finding their way to the church through the 
 forest by means of the blazed trees. The base- 
 ment of the church was decorated, the old veterans 
 who had fought under Napoleon stood at the door 
 in line, armed and uniformed. When the bishop 
 came up with Mr. Le Ray they presented arms. 
 The corner-stone was laid amid the rattle of mus- 
 ketry. It was like a day in the old Rosiere and 
 Chaumont. 
 
 The following extract from a circular published 
 by Mr. Le Ray for the benefit of his settlers and 
 those whom he expected to settle, is interesting. 
 It is a statement of the case by the actual settlers. 
 
 Extract from a circular printed in February, 
 1832, by the Honorable Vincent Le Ray du Chau- 
 mont : 
 
 On the opposite side of the St. Lawrence from 
 Cape Vincent lies Kingston, the former capital of^ 
 Upper Canada, a city of considerable size and af- 
 fording a good market for our products. It con- 
 tains a Catholic church. While we are unable to 
 build a church of our own the parish priest of 
 Kingston, thanks to the arrangements made by 
 
124 ROS-IERE. 
 
 Mr. Le Ray, will visit us from time to time. We 
 are, however, already busy with the construction 
 of a church. We contribute to its erection by 
 direct assessments, two mills to the dollar, which 
 will be placed to our credit in the pew-rent ac- 
 count. New-comers will be assessed in the same 
 manner. To hasten a work whose completion is 
 so much desired, the proprietary (Mr. Le Ray) be- 
 sides bearing gratuitously one quarter of the ex- 
 penses, will advance what we are bound, but are 
 as yet unable to pay. This he does that the 
 church may be ready next year, and may be built 
 of a size convenient not alone for the present pop- 
 ulation, but for the future increase we hope for. 
 Its situation is well chosen. It is central for the 
 present settlers, close to those farms which the 
 next emigrants must select, and three-quarters of 
 a mile from the saw-mill and grist-mill. There we 
 shall found a village for tradespeople and laborers, 
 and, as the first settlers and the majority among 
 us came from Rosiere, this shall be its name. 
 Rosiere, February 1832. 
 
 Signed, Huger Aubertin of Blonde Fontaine ; 
 Toussaint Laurent, Simon and Nicolas Cornair, 
 Pierre Barthelemy, Nicolas Cocaigne, Jean 
 Branch^, Nicolas Jacquet, Francois Chapron, all of 
 Rosiere ; Nicolas Chapron, Jean Billery of Au- 
 bercy ; Claude Barbien of Oignet ; Marcel Aubrey 
 of Sembry ; Jacques Mentry and Pierre Brunot of 
 St. Marcel. 
 
 Mr. Le Ray was certainly a considerate and 
 
E08IERE. 125 
 
 affectionate landlord. He had established his 
 land-oifice at Cape Vincent, and here in 1832. 
 Father Simon, probably brought to Rosiere and 
 left there by Bishop Dubois, said Mass. A few- 
 days later he visited Rosiere, and his Mass there 
 was served by a boy named Charles Gaugien, who in 
 his old age gave to me the chief particulars of this 
 account. Father Simon sought out the Catholics 
 in the country, and his name is found first in the 
 baptismal registry of Carthage. He attended the 
 missions only one year. The people afterwards 
 became dependent on accidental attendance dur- 
 ing four years. The priests from Kingston, and 
 an occasional Irish missionary said Mass and 
 heard confessions at long intervals. The faith of 
 the people was illustrated at this time by a curi- 
 ous episode. Without a priest to minister to 
 their wants they nevertheless spent the Sunday 
 in public devotions performed with much piety. 
 One Mr. Desemgrumal led in the exercises of 
 prayer, in the hymns, and in the processions. 
 His zeal in catechizing the children, visiting the 
 sick, and, in a word, performing those functions 
 of the ecclesiastical life which a layman can 
 properly perform, was remarkable. When Father 
 Francis Guth came to take charge of the Seminary, 
 and of the missions in the county, Mr. Desem- 
 grumal found himself shorn of many prized 
 oiBces and dignities and confronted by a power- 
 ful rival. Taking umbrage at some trifle he 
 departed from the church, and started a schism 
 
126 EOSIERE. 
 
 among his friends and relatives at Eosiere. He 
 became the chief functionary of the revolt, and 
 finding that he could not maintain his position 
 seceded into the ranks of Sectarianism. His 
 descendants are the French Protestants of the 
 neighborhood. 
 
 Father Guth was pastor of the county, except- 
 ing a few places under care of Carthage, for six 
 years, coming in 1837 and departed when the 
 Seminary closed in 1843. He was succeeded by 
 Father Kapp, a German, whose mission work 
 extended to Croghan and Mohawk Hill in Lewis 
 County. He devoted himself to the Germans en- 
 tirely after 1845. His successor was the Rev. Michael 
 Guth, brother of the Seminary president, whose 
 stay in the parish extended over a space of six- 
 teen years. Father Michael found it necessary to 
 call in an assistant in attending the French and 
 Canadians of the county. He had charge of a 
 district which is now served by four priests. 
 Father Ancet was his first assistant, in whose 
 charge was placed the work of building a church 
 at Cape Vincent. He did not finish it. Father 
 Louis Lepic succeeded him in 1851, and completed 
 the work. In 1858 Bishop M'Closkey ' dedicated 
 it. The two priests then divided the territory 
 between them. Father Guth took Clayton and 
 Lafargeville, Father Lepic Cape Vincent, Water- 
 town and Evan's Mills. Both resided at Rosiere, 
 and served there alternately or as convenience 
 suggested. Hence parish lines became somewhat 
 
SOSIEHE. 127 
 
 mixed. Father Guth went back to Albany in 
 1861, and his assistant succeeded to the parish. 
 When he also retired, in 1867, Rev. C F. Turgeon 
 became pastor with his residence at Watertown, 
 an arrangement which the people, accustomed for 
 thirty years to the presence of the priest, could 
 not endure. Therefore, in 1869 Rev. Victor Rit. 
 ter took charge of Rosiere and the parishes to 
 the east, while Father Turgeon still attended 
 Cape Vincent and crossed his neighbor's territory 
 to reach this mission. Father Ritter built a small 
 parochial residence on the church ground which, 
 thanks to Mr. Le Ray's foresight, was extensive 
 enough to yield an annual revenue. It lay, how- 
 ever, a few miles distant from the church and 
 close to the railroad. In 1872 Cape Vincent was 
 restored to its proper parish which then took 
 the shape it enjoyed up to two years ago. The 
 attendance of the priests for the next five years 
 was irregular. Fathers Penet and Arents re- 
 mained a year each, Father Conlon two years, 
 and the Sacred Heart missionary of Watertown 
 Rev. Joseph Durin, one year, attending the mission 
 from his convent in the city. Father James 
 Sherry took charge of the parish in 1877. 
 
 It was now a half century since Mr. Le Ray had 
 established the first settlements of his neighbors 
 and countrymen in these townships. Three 
 churches were now erected in their limits, at Clay- 
 ton, Cape Vincent and Rosiere. The people had 
 been attended in the same fashion and by men of 
 
128 - BOSIEBE. 
 
 the same character as had been provided for Car- 
 thage. The results were very diEPerent. Like the 
 people of Carthage those of Rosiere accumulated 
 wealth, unlike them they retained the faith in fair 
 condition and transmitted it to their children. 
 Being a practical people they had allowed few 
 outsiders to work up the business opportunities of 
 their town. Their district schools were Catholic, 
 their town officials were Catholic, and the Catholic 
 spirit was strong among them by the power of 
 grace and of tradition and custom. Their old 
 church was become too small for its uses, and 
 without hesitation they could think of building 
 another. Bishops Dubois, M'Closkey, Conroy and 
 Wadhams had visited them many times, and ad- 
 ministered confirmation to their children. They 
 had perhaps lost the bloom of that enthusiasm for 
 the faith which belongs to populous districts, but 
 the principle was strongly held and faithfully 
 practised. Count Le Ray, dead two years, would 
 have rejoiced to see their steadfastness and har- 
 mony, nor blamed them for that which was more 
 the fault of surroundings than of neglect. 
 
 Father Sherry undertook the task of erecting a 
 church. It was not a difficult matter. A very 
 handsome, larger and prominent building was 
 erected and dedicated by Bishop Wadhams under 
 the title of St. Vincent. It was built on the parish 
 property, beside the parochial house. The old 
 church was not long deserted when it fell to ruin, 
 and its stone was sold for building purposes. Its 
 
BOSIESE. 129 
 
 foundations still remain, lying on the summit of a 
 gentle slope a few miles west of the railroad 
 with the rich and quiet farm-lands all around it. 
 The spot will always be sacred. Two good men, 
 high-souled workers in a good cause, trod its soil. 
 Looking at the ruined doorway and the road lead- 
 ing down the slope' it is easy for the traveller to 
 see in imagination the heroes of Austerlitz with 
 their old muskets shining in the sun, gazing with 
 kindling eyes on the old bishop and the young 
 nobles whose lives were spent in their service. 
 
 Father Sherry fixed his residence in Clayton as 
 more central for his missions, and remained in 
 charge of the mission until 1883. In that time he 
 repaired the church property and made many im- 
 provements in the Cape Vincent church. The 
 most notable was the introduction of stained-glass 
 windows, and the erecting of a magnificent altar. 
 The last was in great part the gift of the Peugnet 
 family, who have ever been generous towards a 
 district so full of charming association for them. 
 
 Father Sherry was succeeded in 1883 by Father 
 Connors at Rosiere, and Father Brice at Clayton, 
 the parish having been again divided. In 1884 
 Father Connors was succeeded by Rev. William 
 Kelly, the present pastor, who is a native of Keese- 
 ville, and was removed from Rossie to Rosiere in 
 1884. Father Kelly was born in 1853, and made 
 his entire course in Canada, studying the classics 
 at St. Laurent college, philosophy and theology at 
 Joliet. He was ordained by Bishop Fabre in 1878, 
 and was appointed the same year to Rossie. 
 
130 WATMBTOWN. 
 
 WATERTOWN. 
 
 In 1820 one Catholic was living in Watertown, 
 Mr. John O'Dougherty. By 1830 six Catholic 
 families had taken up their residence in the village, 
 among them "Mr. Thos. Bellew, whose name is 
 one of the most honored and respectable in the 
 parish of to-day. Watertown was then but a 
 suburb of Carthage and happened to possess 
 considerable water-power. A saw-mill and grist- 
 mill had been erected, and at Brownville, five 
 miles distant, was running the first cotton-mill that 
 had been erected in America. The capital of the 
 southern cities soon found its way to the north, 
 and the property of Watertown grew with remark- 
 able speed and promise. Many Catholic families 
 moved to it, and were numerous enough in 1838 to 
 take possession of a church. 
 
 The first priest to say Mass in the town was 
 Father O'Reilly of Utica, about 1831. He was 
 followed by Fathers Cahill, BaLfe, Waters, Bradley, 
 and Donahoe, who came from Utica, Rome and 
 Syracuse on occasions. Bishop Dubois returning 
 from laying the corner-stone of the church at 
 Rosiere said Mass in the court-house for the people 
 and preached to them. A number of Catholics 
 lived at Brownville. All were in danger of drifting 
 from the faith for want of a priest. It was a 
 

 BEV. JAMifiiS UOGAJS. 
 
132 WATIESTOWN. 
 
 peculiarity of the bishop's administration that he 
 never visited a district in lack of a priest without 
 making a strong effort to supply the want, so 
 touched was he by the unfortunate condition of his 
 people. His visit to Waddington in 1826 resulted 
 in the appointment of Father Salmon, and it was 
 owing to his care that Father Kelly served the 
 Cathage people for a short period. After his visit 
 to Hogansburgh and Carthage in 1835 Fathers 
 McNulty and Gilbride appeared, and now, as a 
 result of his trip to Jefferson County, Father 
 Simon was sent to Rosiere and Rev. John B. 
 Daly, O. S. B., (as nearly as could be discovered), 
 took charge of the Irish in the county and resided 
 nine months in Watertown. He said Mass in the 
 school-house once in two weeks, and seems to have 
 left a favorable reputation behind him. 
 
 Father Gilbride, taking possession of Carthage 
 in 1836, made that town his residence, and began 
 to plan extensively for the improvement of his 
 missions. In 1838 he bought for the sum of |1,850 
 the Baptist church near the Utica railroad depot. 
 Mr. Lafarge contributed one hundred dollars to the 
 work, Mr. Manteuil fifty. No doubt Mr. "Vincent Le 
 Ray gave considerable help, although no mention 
 of it is made. It shows to what importance the 
 Catholics had attained in eight years that the 
 priest felt enabled to impose this burden upon them, 
 The church held about two hundred people, and 
 the first Mass was said in it on October 29, 1838, 
 by Father Gilbride. His first trustees were Thomas 
 
WATERTOWN. 133 
 
 Bellew, whose son holds a similar position in the 
 present church, and Daniel Scanlan, a bold and 
 daring Catholic whom complicity in McKenzie's 
 rebellion drove out of Canada the year previous. 
 Father Gilbride surrendered to Father Gillick in 
 1840 the management of the parish, and died after- 
 words in the west. , 
 
 Father Philip Gillick resided in Watertown, 
 leaving Carthage in the condition of an out-mission. 
 The dead were still brought to the cemetery at the 
 latter place, so that it became necessary, therefore, 
 to purchase a few acres of land for a cemetery at 
 Watertown. This was effected by the trustee 
 Bellew, to whom Dr. Binsse, a well-known parish- 
 ioner, loaned the sum of one hundred and twenty- 
 five dollars for the purpose- The land was bought 
 on the Flats, as the place is popularly called, and 
 still serves the parish as a graveyard. Father 
 Gillick collected in Canada for the church during 
 his stay, and departed in 1844 to make way for 
 the Rev. John O'Dowd. Bishop Hughes visited 
 the parish in this year. 
 
 Father O'Dowd found the people affected with 
 the liberal taint, and the sects inclined to displays of 
 bigotry. Not blessed with a large sum of patience 
 he wrangled with both parties, and held at one 
 time so heated dispute with the Rev. Mr. Knox 
 that the whole town was nearly involved in the 
 controversy and the bishop interfered to calm 
 and restrain the impetuous priest. Father O'Dowd 
 remained but two years, departing in 1846. 
 
134 WATERTOWN. 
 
 His successor was Rev. Francis McFarlane, after- 
 wards Bishop of Hartford. He was a man of great 
 piety and of most kindly disposition, and the iive 
 years during which he ruled the parish are pleas- 
 antly remembered by many residents of the city. 
 The mission under his charge was at that time 
 extensive, embracing the present parishes of Red- 
 wood and Carthage with a number of smaller 
 missions. In 1848 he called to his assistance the 
 Rev. M. C. Powers who remained with him until 
 1851. In that year Father McFarlane retired, 
 and Carthage was made an independent parish 
 with Father Power as resident priest. The future 
 bishop during his stay foresaw that the time was 
 coming when the church would be too small for 
 the needs of the increasing congregation. He 
 collected three thousand dollars previous to his 
 departure, and left it to be used in commencing 
 the new church structure. 
 
 His successor was Father Finlay, who remained 
 until 1854 when he was succeeded by Father 
 MeNulty, under whose supervision the present 
 church was built. Father McNulty began this 
 important work immediately after his arrival. A 
 lot was secured near the corner of Arsenal and 
 Massing Street, A brick charch of noble exterior 
 and graceful interior was completed in 1856, and 
 Bishop M'Closkey came to dedicate it, under the 
 invocation of St. Patrick. Archbishop Hughes 
 preached the sermon of dedication, and the oc- 
 casion was one of much distinction. A parochial 
 
WATERTOWN. 135 
 
 residence was also built in the rear of the church. 
 The parish was thus properly provided with a 
 dignified and becoming temple suited to their 
 wants and prosperous condition. • The old church 
 of St. Mary's was closed for a short time and then 
 sold to a new church corporation. 
 
 The French and Canadians who had settled in 
 Watertown numbered at this time about fifty 
 families and three hundred souls. The majority 
 were comfortably settled in different avocations. 
 They resolved to buy the old church, refit it, 
 and establish a French congregation. J. P. 
 Primeau, Edouard Benoit and Antoine Lalonde 
 were chosen trustees in July of 1857, the church 
 was bought, and the first Mass said on New 
 Year's day of 1858. Father Louis Lepic of Rosiere 
 was the first to take charge, and was succeeded in 
 1867 by Rev. C. F. Turgeon, wHo remained until 
 1873. Father Leclaire followed for two years, 
 and Rev. P. O. Larose, at present of Ogdensburg, 
 for one. 
 
 Father McNulty left Watertown in 1861, He 
 was succeeded by Father Hogan, a quiet and un- 
 assuming gentleman, of sincere piety and gentle 
 disposition, and perhaps too easy-going for the 
 parishioners with whom he had to deal. Catho- 
 licity was now thirty years old in Watertown. 
 Its leading children were relatives and descend- 
 ants of the rebellious and disaffected Catholics of 
 Carthage, and were in constant communication 
 and sympathy with them. The generation born 
 
136 WATEBTOWN. 
 
 and bred since 1830 had been educated in the 
 public schools with little Catholic influence to 
 mould their lives. The number of mixed mar- 
 riages that occurred during this period was 
 simply frightful, and to day the parish is reaping 
 their results. The Catholicity of the new gen- 
 eration was good and bad by turns. Catholic 
 books and papers circulated rarely, Catholic 
 social life was unknpwn. With these people, un- 
 trained, a part Catholic only by baptism, without 
 Catholic instincts or spirit, gentle Father Hogan 
 had to deal. All admired, and the better Catho- 
 lics loved him. He was a gentleman, well- 
 educated and honorably connected. His stay of 
 seventeen years was, except in its latest days, 
 very agreeable to himself and his people. In 
 1867 it was found necessary to make extensive 
 repairs on the church, owing to a defect in the 
 first construction. This was done at a cost of 
 ten or twelve thousand dollars, for which a 
 mortgage was given in the church property. It 
 crippled the finances of a not over-rich parish, 
 and put off the building of a school for nearly 
 twenty years. The heavy interest eat up the 
 slender revenues. Anxiety preyed on Father 
 Hogan's health, and finally destroyed it forever. 
 
 In 1877 Father Chappelle, a religious of the 
 Sacred Heart congregation, was sent by the bishop 
 to examine into the condition of the French parish 
 and to establish a house of his community in 
 Watertown. For years the parish had been in a 
 
WATEBTOWN. 137 
 
 feeble and distressed condition, and given over to 
 trouble. He found the place suitable, and at once 
 opened a convent. Rev. Joseph Durin was the 
 first superior. A building was bought, and a 
 church erected on the north side of the Black 
 River, dedicated to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. 
 The new establishment prospered. It added to its 
 property, and in 1880 introduced a Sisters' school 
 into the town. The Fathers took charge of the 
 missions at Evan's Mills, Adams, Belleville, Fell's 
 Mills, and LeRaysville, and began work among the 
 Canadians in the district, whose good disposition 
 is evident enough, but whose poverty and igno- 
 rance are a heavy obstacle in the way of their 
 religious duties. Not more than half of their 
 numbers attended Mass, many of the grown people 
 had not made their first communion and some had 
 not been baptized. Under the care of Father 
 Grom this sad state of affairs is changing for the 
 better. The annals of Our Lady of the Sacred 
 Heart are published at the convent, a novitiate 
 has been established, and a school opened for 
 young men who have the desire but not the means 
 to enter the priesthood. 
 
 A year after the establishment of this institution 
 Father Hogan was removed from Watertown. He 
 had suffered a stroke of paralysis and was unable 
 to attend to the parish work. He died in Clinton- 
 ville near Utica in 1882, and was buried in Troy 
 amid the sincere sorrowing of many friends. 
 Father Walsh, now of Plattsburgh, succeeded him 
 
138 WATEBTOWN. 
 
 and retired a year later in 1879, after uprooting a 
 degenerate society whose chief aim in existing 
 was the annoyance of otliers. His successor, Rev. 
 Florence M'Carthy, also remained but a year, and 
 in 1880 Rey. Tobias Glenn, the present pastor was 
 appointed to succeed him. 
 
 The debt on St. Patrick's church in 1880 was 
 over sixteen thousand dollars, and the state of its 
 affairs was such that bankruptcy was threatened. 
 This danger was averted. Father Glenn began 
 his task of saving the parish with much prudence, 
 and in five years had removed the debt, repaired 
 the church property, and established a good Catho- 
 lic school under charge of four Sisters with an at- 
 tendance of two hundred pupils. Twenty addi- 
 tional years of instruction in the public schools 
 had left the Catholic children about as indifferent 
 as could be desired. The work of collecting 
 money to pay the debt, and of impressing this class 
 with the necessity ,of prompt payment, was an 
 arduous work, but it was successfully accom- 
 plished. 
 
 Father Glenn was born some forty years ago 
 near Utica and made his preparatory studies in 
 Niagara College. He was ordained from Troy 
 seminary, and after a brief service in Oswego was 
 appointed to the parish of Keeseville, which he 
 ruled for ten years. Under his business-like 
 management of Watertown parish it promises to 
 enter upon a more useful career, while the evil of 
 which it has been the occasion will give way in 
 time to the steady practice of the faith. 
 
BEY. BDWARD BKICB. 
 
140 CLAYTON. 
 
 CLAYTON. 
 
 This village is a famous resort for that class 
 whose ideas of pleasure are piscatorial, and the 
 railway runs a special train to it in the summer 
 season for the convenience of tourists. It faces 
 the charming neighborhood of the Thousand 
 Islands, being situated on the St. Lawrence at one 
 of its most romantic points. In earlier days it was 
 called Cornelia, after Madame Juhel, a relative of 
 Count Vincent Le Ray. 
 
 The first Catholic inhabitants of the town found 
 their way to it in or around 1830. Among them 
 were Moses Lefevre, Thomas Brennan, Thomas 
 Delaney, John Hayes, Patrick Cantwell, John 
 Tiernay and Mr. Mason. They took up land, and 
 became in time a wealthy farming community. 
 
 The first priest to say Mass in the town was 
 Rev. Francis Guth of the seminary. He said Mass 
 in private houses, and. took charge of the place 
 while he remained in the county. It is alfeo quite 
 possible that Father Simon visited the Clayton 
 Catholics, although I heard no mention of his 
 name. 
 
 The first church was built in 1844 under the 
 title of St. Mary's, and was of good size and build, 
 as it still serves the parish. The lots on which it 
 was placed were the free gift of Mr. Le Ray to the 
 congregation. A small house for the benefit of the 
 
CLAYTON. 141 
 
 future parish priest was erected by Father Guth, 
 to which Father De Saunhac afterwards added. 
 Father Guth also built St. John's church at La- 
 fargeville in 1849. The parish was thus graduallj"- 
 put in good condition for an independent exist- 
 ence. 
 
 Father O'Dbwd of Watertown, Father Clarke 
 of Carthage, and a Father Sheehan visited the 
 people at intervals. Father Luke Harney attended 
 the mission a year or two from Watertown as its 
 pastor, and finally, in 1863, Rev. James J. Sherry 
 became the first resident priest, taking up his 
 abode in the house which Father Guth had built 
 some years before. He retired in 1867. Since his 
 time the priests have followed one another in this 
 order : 
 
 Rev. Mr. De Saunhac until 1873. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Arents until 1875. 
 
 Rev. John Craven until 1876. 
 
 Rev. M. Brown until 1877. 
 
 Rev. J. J. Sherry (second time) until 1888. 
 
 Rev. Edward Brice, present pastor. 
 Up to the year 1872 the parish included all the 
 villages east of Rosiere, and Redwood was regu- 
 larly visited by the pastors of Clayton. In that 
 year it was confined to the villages of Clayton 
 and Lafargeville and a few unimportant hamlets. 
 Upon Father Sherry's return, however, Rosiere 
 and Cape Vincent were attached to it. Of this 
 form it remained until 1883 when Rosiere was 
 given a resident priest again. 
 
142 COPENHAGEN. 
 
 The parish is at present composed of two hun- 
 dred and fifty families, and a little over one thou- 
 sand souls. Their faith is of the warmest, their 
 piety sound and sincere. Over seven hundred 
 communions are made yearly. They have just 
 laid the corner-stone of a new church on that 
 ground which Mr. Le Ray presented to the parish. 
 When completed it will be one of the good 
 churches in the diocese, built of stone,> and in ex- 
 cellent taste. 
 
 Rev. Edward Brice, the pastor, -was born in New 
 York City, in 1856. He made his entire course of 
 classics philosophy and theology in the Canadiati 
 college of St. Cesaire, and was ordained in 
 August, 1881, by Bishop Wadhams. After a brief 
 service at Cherubusco his health compelled him to 
 retire to the Bermudas. On his return he served 
 at Mooex's Forks a few months, and was then ap- 
 pointed to Clayton. 
 
 COPENHAGEN. 
 
 This mission lies among the hills some seven 
 miles from the Black River and Carthage, and in- 
 cludes the four villages of Montague, Harrisburgh, 
 Pinckney and Copenhagen. The country is rocky 
 and picturesque, the farm-land is passable, and 
 the people are comfortably settled. There are 
 churches in each place except Copenhagen, where 
 
COPENHAGEN. 143 
 
 the pastor resides, an anomaly accounted for "by 
 the fact that this village is now central and near 
 to the railroad. 
 
 The first inhabitants were off-shoots of Le Ray's 
 colony at Carthage, and many of them possess the 
 same religious peculiarities as that unfortunate 
 parish. They Vere usually attended by the priests 
 of Carthage. Father Powers built the church of 
 St. Patrick's at Harrisburgh somewhere around 
 1850, Father Clarke that of St. Luke's in Pinckney 
 in 1859, and Father Joseph Fitzgerald of Lowville 
 put up a small chapel at Montague during his stay 
 in Lewis County. 
 
 It was in his time that these villages were re- 
 moved from the care of the Carthage mission and 
 attached to Lowville. Father Fitzgerald worked 
 hard to improve their condition, and especially at- 
 tended to Pinckney, on whose church he placed a 
 tower and added to it a capacious vestry. 
 
 A parish was formed of the four villages in 1870, 
 and Rev. James J. O'DriscoU placed in charge. 
 He remained one year, but in that time he repaired 
 the church property and bought a house at Copen- 
 hagen for the sum of $1,500. Since his time the 
 pastors have succeeded one another in the follow- 
 ing order : — 
 
 Rev. Thomas McNally until 1875. 
 
 Rev. Edward Walsh during 1875. 
 
 Rev. Father Field until 1876, resided at Car- 
 thage. 
 
 Rev. John Fitzgerald until 1881. 
 
144 REDWOOD. 
 
 ' Rev. James Brennan during part of 1881. 
 Rev. Mr. Hagerty, present rector. 
 
 Of these the most notable was Father Fitzger- 
 ald, now of Rossie, to whose energy the parish 
 owes considerable. He enlarged the church at 
 Harrisburgh and frescoed it. Pinckney church 
 he also frescoed, and purchasing organs for both 
 churches, started and trained the choirs for each 
 of them. He opened a mission at Copenhagen for 
 the benefit of its illy-instructed people, and before 
 he departed for Au Sable left the entire parish in 
 the best condition. 
 
 Father Hagerty, the present pastor, was born in 
 New York State, and studied theology at the 
 Grand Seminary, Montreal, where he was ordained 
 at Christmas of 1880. After eight months' service 
 in Watertown he was appointed to Copenhagen, 
 where he has since remained. 
 
 REDWOOD. 
 
 This parish includes in its confines the three 
 villages of Redwood, Stirlingville and Louisburgh, 
 and lies in a rough district east of the Ogdensburg 
 and Utica railroad. The territory is a continua- 
 tion of the West Adirondack wilderness, broken 
 up by deep woods and patches of rock, ornamented 
 by miniature lakes of great beauty, and containing 
 
BEDWOOD. 145 
 
 some good farming land. The scenery is delight- 
 ful, but the means of making a livelihood small, 
 which accounts for the scant and poor population 
 after more than fifty years of settlement. The 
 opening of the mines of lead and iron first drew 
 settlers in numbers to the vicinity, but the mines 
 were speedily exhausted. Such of the population 
 as had not fastened themselves to the rocky soil 
 as farmers, dwindled away rapidly. To-day it is 
 nothing more than a rocky fastness, remarkable for 
 its fine scenery, beautiful lakes and good fishing. 
 
 The first Catholic in Redwood, and indeed the 
 first inhabitant to erect a dwelling-house on the 
 site of the present village^ was Mrs. James Cos- 
 grove, at this writing a lively old lady of 78 years. 
 She came by way of Canada to Redwood, and set- 
 tled there permanently in June of 1831, being fol- 
 lowed speedily by ten or twelve' families, brought 
 to the village as workers in a glass-factory which 
 had been established. There being no saw-mill 
 convenient the glass-blowers built their houses of 
 logs, and settled down to a comparatively easy ex- 
 istence in the wilderness. Among these early set- 
 tlers were Louis Grenier, Mr. DoUinger, Mr. 
 Michaud, Thomas M'Cartin, Stephen, Joseph and 
 William Senecal. 
 
 Some ten or fifteen years later the first settlers 
 of Louisburgh made their appearance. The mines 
 had been opened by capitalists, and a number of 
 Irish families moved into the village, and remained 
 until good fortune departed with the exhaustion 
 
146 REDWOOD. 
 
 of iron ore. Mr. Patrick Mulvaney and a Mr. 
 Gaffney were among the very first Catholic settlers 
 in Louisburgh. 
 
 The priest who offered up the first Mass in the 
 parish presumably was the chaplain of Joseph 
 Bonaparte. It was a veritable wilderness at that 
 period, traversed only by the prince's agents and 
 those of the Compagnie de New York. After the 
 new and final settlements were begun, missionaries 
 from Utica and the priests of Ogdensburg, and 
 later from Watertown, made a casual visit to all 
 the settlers in the region. Father Gilbride, a 
 resident priest of Carthage, sought out the people 
 of Redwood in 1837 and said Mass for them in a 
 store, while Father Gillick, who followed him some 
 ten years later, was the first to say Mass for the 
 residents of Louisburgh and Stirlingville. From 
 this time the people were regularly attended by 
 the priests in the county. Fathers Dowd and 
 McFarlane from Watertown, Father Guth of 
 Lafargeville, Father Canfield from Brockville, 
 Canada, and all the priests who attended Carthage 
 up to 1862, served them at one period or another, 
 and with such diligence and success that the faith 
 of that early time appears to advantage when 
 compared with the present. 
 
 The gentle and lovable Father McFarlane was 
 the first to urge the building of a church in Red- 
 wood. As he could do no more than superintend 
 the work, the parishioners were left to their own 
 resources in executing the project. Mr. Patrick 
 
REDWOOD. 147 
 
 Stewart gave the land on which to build, and to it 
 was added another piece of ground given by the 
 parish in general. Mr. DoUinger, in whose house 
 the missionaries usually said Mass, was general 
 manager and went about the country collecting 
 money for the work. The Senecal brothers, stone- 
 masons, gave their labor at intervals ; Stephen, in 
 particular, working seven weeks at 'a stretch for 
 nothing. The material was stone, which had been 
 blown out of a ledge overhanging the lake, and 
 dragged across the ice the previous winter by the 
 parishioners. When the church was complete 
 Father McFarlane dedicated it, to the immense 
 pleasure of the little band who in the midst of 
 difBculties had so well succeeded. This dedication 
 took place around the year 1850. 
 
 The church at Louisburgh was built after a 
 similar fashion by Father Clark of Carthage about 
 1857, who also rebuilt the chapel at Stirliugville 
 destroyed a short time before by fire. Mr. Stirling 
 gave the ground on which it was built. In Father 
 Clarke's time the Redwood cemetery was pur- 
 chased and Bishop M'Closkey visited the parish. 
 
 Besides the priests above mentioned, the baptis- 
 mal records show that the parish was attended 
 from Clayton 
 
 By Rev. Luke Harney 1862 to 1863. 
 Rev. J. J. Sherry 1863 to 1865. 
 Rev. Mr. De Saunhac 1865 to 1868. 
 
 Immediately after Bishop Wadhams' arrival in 
 his new dioceSe he made Redwood an independent 
 
148 REDWOOD. 
 
 parish with a resident priest. It was no longer 
 possible for the priests of neighboring missions to 
 give it the attention it needed. They had quite 
 enough work in their own missions. Father Mc- 
 Donald, who afterwards died at Potsdam, was the 
 first pastor, and his parish included the missions of 
 Redwood, Rossie, Antwerp, StirlingYille, Theresa, 
 Alexandria Bay, and the debatable ground of 
 Fine. He took charge of these missions in 1872 
 and remained until 1874. After him his successors 
 came iii the following order : 
 
 Rev. Wm. Rossiter until 1877. ; 
 
 Rev. M. Brown until 1879. 
 
 Rev. Jas. Connor until 1882. ' 
 
 Rev. M. O'NeUl until 1885. 
 
 Rev. J. Manning, present pastor. 
 Under the special care of these pastors, all of 
 them young men of earnestness and ability, the 
 parish was rescued from the evil results of irregu- 
 lar attendance, and some hope given that the faith 
 would not die altogether with the departure of the 
 old generation. Father McDonald bought a paro- 
 chial residence, and made various repairs on the 
 church property though all his missions. His suc- 
 cessors were busied in paying old debts, providing 
 the churches with the necessaries of Divine service, 
 rescuing the children from the neglect of careless 
 parents, reviving the faith of the indifferent, and 
 putting the parish generally on a good footing. 
 Several times in his happy episcopate Bishop 
 Wadhams visited the parish, and spoke encourag- 
 ingly to the faithful few who uphold and profess 
 
BOSSIE. 149 
 
 the faith in its highest perfection. There is much 
 to hope for from the parish of Redwood. Careless 
 training of the children, and mixed marriages have 
 brought about unhappy results among the people. 
 Their indifference is discouraging. The number 
 of families is small, not more than 150, and these 
 are scattered through a large territory. The ma- 
 jority are farmers, the rest laborers and miners, of 
 a weak faith, but honest disposition. 
 
 The present pastor. Rev. Father Manning, was 
 born at Keene, Essex Co., in 1855, made his pre- 
 paratory studies at St. Laurent, Joliette, and St. 
 Michael's colleges ; his course of theology, at the 
 Grand Seminary, Montreal, and was ordained by 
 Bishop Wadhams, in 1884. After a few months 
 of service in Hogansburgh and elsewhere he was 
 appointed to Redwood in the same year. 
 
 ROSSIE. 
 
 Leaving the train at Hammond on the Utica 
 railroad, you drive by a picturesque road to the 
 village of Rossie, lying on Indian river among 
 rocks and woods in a sort of civilized wilderness. 
 The scenery, like that of Redwood, is very beautiful. 
 The farms are a curiosity being composed of equal 
 parts of solid rock and fair soil. The village is a 
 neat, thrifty place with many evidences of former 
 prosperity in its stone walls and solid dwellings. 
 
150 BOSSIE. 
 
 With Antwerp, some miles away on the Rome 
 railroad, it forms the parish of Rossie. The pastor 
 resides at the latter place. 
 
 The first settlers arrived with the few who 
 settled in Ogdensburg around the year of 1820. 
 Offered better inducements at Rossie they settled 
 there and found congenial employment in annoying 
 Father Salmon during his term of service. There 
 is a tradition of his battle with the Rossie trustees 
 which could not be resolved into any shape stronger 
 than a tradition. It is certain that he visited them 
 on rare occasions. Father 'Foley also attended 
 them. It was at Father Mackey's suggestion a 
 church was begun, of which the ribs only were 
 built and were then left to moulder in the open 
 air for many years. Among the first inhabitants 
 I found the names of Thomas Murphy, Owen 
 ■ Burns, Arthur McNally, Lawrence Phaler, Michael 
 McMuUen, Edward McGreevy, James and Garsett 
 Burns. 
 
 The first Mass was said, it may be presumed, by 
 Father Salmon on the occasion of his journey 
 though that county as far as Carthage, but tradi- 
 tion has it that Father Foley offered up the first 
 Mass in the house of James Burns about 1836. 
 The mission continued to be attended from Og- 
 densburg until 1856, when it was handed over to 
 the priest of Carthage and for a time remained a 
 debatable ground. 
 
 Antwerp was also settled at an early period, and 
 was visited by such priests as were stationed at 
 Carthage. Mass was said for many years at the 
 
KKV. JOHN F1TZGEI4ALD. 
 
152 EOSSIE. 
 
 residence of Mrs. Mary Brown, wl^o often received 
 under her roof the gentle and beloved Bishop Mc- 
 Farlane, the pastor of Watertown. 
 
 The discovery of a lead-mine at Rossie and the 
 building of works to convert it into marketable 
 form brought an increase of population and con- 
 siderable prosperity. The mine did not, however, 
 prove very profitable, and gave out in 1845. Many 
 of the employed rather than lose the wages which 
 seemed difficult to get, accepted land instead of cash. 
 In this way it happened that the farming popula- 
 tion became numerous. Later the iron-mines were 
 opened, and the business of the district revived as 
 suddenly as it had died out. Antwerp, and 
 Gouverneur benefited as much as Rossie, and more, 
 by the discovery of iron in the neighborhood, the 
 supply of which has not since failed and affords 
 employment to many. The young Catholics are for 
 the most part skille'd miners, and work failing at 
 home they seek it as far west as the Territories. 
 
 The people of Antwerp were quick to provide 
 themselves with a good church. Father Michael 
 Powers, pastor of Carthage and assistant at "Water- 
 town from 1848 to 1852, bought for them a good 
 brick building which had once been used as a 
 Union church. It was built by Mr. George 
 Parish for the use of settlers whom his inducements 
 attracted to the district, and was built in a solid 
 and enduring manner. Spurred by this example 
 and the advice of Father Mackey the farmers and 
 miners of Rossie made a futile attempt at building 
 a church in the village with the result of having 
 
BOSSIE. 153 
 
 its naked ribs stand exposed to the winds for 
 seven years. Father Michael Clark, pastor at 
 Carthage from 1855 to 1861, took charge of the 
 deserted work in his time, and with some difficulty 
 completed a church capable of holding three 
 hundred people. He blessed it under the title of 
 St. Patrick ; aifd later brought Bishop M'Closkey 
 to administer confirmation and give the people a 
 fresh impulse towards stronger faith and higher 
 virtue. 
 
 From this time the parish was attended pretty 
 regularly by the priests whose names are found 
 in the history of Redwood. Father McDonald 
 incorporated Rossie in 1872 with Thomas Kane 
 and John O'Brien as trustees and Patrick Spratt 
 as treasurer. The pastoral residence was bought 
 by Father Rossiter, and thus by degrees the dis- 
 trict was prepared for receiving the dignity of 
 independence. 
 
 In September of 1878 the bishop appointed Rev. 
 William Kelly first pastor of Rossie and Antwerp. 
 He remained in charge of the mission until 1884, 
 his chief work having been to build a new church 
 at Rossie and improve the church at Antwerp. 
 The former is a picturesque building of sand- 
 stone, tastefully designed and beautifully orna- 
 mented. It occupies a romantic position on a 
 steep overlooking the Indian River, and is one 
 of the prettiest sights in that lonely and rugged 
 landscape. The work of finishing the interior 
 fell to Father Kelly's successor, and it was done 
 with perfect taste and fitness. 
 
154 " EOSSIE. 
 
 ' Like the majority of the parishes Rossie has 
 reached its maturity from a material point of 
 view. It will grow no more. The population 
 are already passing into that state of quietude 
 peculiar to a farming district, and there remains 
 for the pastor only the important item of in- 
 creasing their spirituality, making them better 
 Catholics. There are in the parish about one 
 hundred and sixty families, mostly farmers com- 
 fortably situated and moderately devoted to the 
 faith. 
 
 Rev. John Fitzgerald, the present pastor, was 
 born in London, England, in 1850, and educated 
 at the College of Sedgely Park, Blackheath, and 
 St. Edmond. His theology he studied at Troy, 
 where he was ordained in 1876 by Bishop Mc- 
 Quaid. He was stationed successively at Essex, 
 Copenhagen, and Au Sable, and was appointed to 
 Rossie in 1884 where he has since remained, com- 
 pleting and perfecting the work of the many good 
 men who preceded him. 
 
COPENHAGEN. 155 
 
 PART III. 
 
 DISTRICT OF COOPERSVILLE. 
 
 The entire Champlain yalley is embraced by 
 this district, which extends south to Plattsburgh, 
 west to Ellenburgh, with the Canadian line on 
 the north, and on the east Lake Champlain. It 
 is principally an excellent farming country, al- 
 though mining is carried on in a weak fashion 
 here and there. The Catholic population is 
 French with a sprinkling of Irish, and in some 
 respects decently situated, but being close to the 
 border a gypsy horde meanders uneasily from one 
 country to the other to the disgust and detriment 
 of the settled communities. The faith of these 
 people is dead, often their morality too, and they 
 are a source of annoyance to pastors. The par- 
 ishes were formed in the following order : — 
 
 COOPEESVILLE, 1828. 
 
 Attended-by Rev. Victor Dugas, 1844 
 
 Rev. Louis Lepic, 1854 
 
 Rev. Louis Lebarbanchon, 1857 
 
 Rev. Jacob Sasseville, 1859 
 
 Rev. F. Van Compenhondt, 1861 
 
 Rev. Antoine Boyer, 1863 
 
 Rev. J. B. Legrand, 1866 
 
156 DISTBICT OF COOPERSVILLE. 
 
 Rev. Louis Lepic, (2nd time), 1873 
 Rev. F. N. Roy, , 1877 
 
 Rev. J. N. Beaudry, 1880 
 
 Rev. A. A. Thomas. 
 
 Champlaik, 1861. 
 Attended by Rev. Octave Lasalle, 1869 
 
 Rev. J. H. Carri^res, 1877 
 
 Rev. F. X. Chagnon* 
 
 Rouse's Point, 1869. 
 
 Rev. J. Scanlan, 1871 
 
 Rev. L. D. Laferri^res, 1873 
 
 Rev. D. M. Archambeault, 1875 
 
 Rev. F. Poisson, 1876 
 
 Rev. J. Scanlan, 1879 
 
 Rev. P. J. Devlin, 1881 
 
 Rev. J. H. Conroy, 1883 
 Rev. J. T. Smith. 
 
 Mooek's Forks, 1880. 
 
 Rev. J. N. Beaudry, 1882 
 
 Rev. Mr. Demers, 1883 
 
 Rev. F. X. Lachance. 
 
 West Chazy, 1884. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Brosseau, 1884 
 
 Rev. Michael O'Brien. 
 There are churches of good appearances in all 
 these parishes, and also at Sciota and Altona. 
 The only school in'the whole district is at Cham- 
 plain. 
 
COOPEBSVILLE. 157 
 
 COOPERSVILLE. 
 
 • 
 
 The first Catholic settler of Clinton County- 
 was John La Framboise, who in 1760, or there- 
 abouts, occupied land on the lake-shore near the 
 present village of Chazy. He was a Frenchman, 
 and came from France through Canada to settle 
 on the Lake Champlain, very familiar to the 
 French in their wars with the English colonists 
 and Iroquois. His descendants are still in the 
 neighborhood, but owing to an unfortunate quar- 
 rel which the son of La Framboise had with 
 Father Mignault, parish priest of Chambly, they 
 have become indifferent or Protestants. The 
 great-granddaughter of this early settler was lately 
 received into the church, in which she had reared 
 by a curious instinct three of her daughters. 
 
 A number of Acadians, and not a few of the 
 young men belonging to the Canadian villages 
 south of Montreal, having given their sympathy 
 and services to the American invaders of Canada 
 in the war of the Revolution, were compelled to 
 share the ill-fortunes of Montgomery's army, and 
 were driven into exile. After the war they were 
 reduced to great distress and poverty. The State 
 of New York taking pity on them, gave lands in 
 Clinton County to two hundred and fifty of 
 
158 COOPEBSVILLE. 
 
 these refugees. They settled in Chazy and 
 Coopersville, where the La Framboises gave 
 them a hearty welcome. Tradition preserves 
 the story of how these families met on Sun- 
 day in one another's houses to recite the 
 rosary and the prayers of the Mass, and to sing 
 the hymns which had once awaked the pleasant 
 echoes of Acadia. This was in 1790, and until 
 1818, a period of twenty-eight years, they were 
 unattended by a priest. For baptism and the 
 other sacraments they sailed down the lake and 
 the Richelieu River to Chambly, and occasionally, 
 perhaps, a military chaplain or wandering mission- 
 ary from Laprairie visited them. In 1818, how- 
 ever. Rev. Peter Mignault of Chambly took them 
 and all the Canadians in Northern New York under 
 his charge, and celebrated Mass for them two or 
 three times a year. His territory extended from 
 the line to Plattsburgh, north and south twenty-five 
 miles, eastward and westward as far as he and his 
 assistants chose to go. In that district there are 
 now nine resident priests, who govern the churches 
 and parishes of Plattsburgh, Chazy, Coopersville, 
 Rouse's Point, Sciota, Champlain and Mooer's 
 Forks. Coopersville having the greatest number 
 of inhabitants, and being centrally situated, nat- 
 urally became the seat of the parish. 
 
 From the year 1818 the inhabitants have never 
 been without a priest. Father Mignault was made 
 vicar-general of the Bishop of New York, and en- 
 joyed that dignity from each new diocese until his 
 death. For some time he said Mass in private 
 
COOPERSVILLE. 159 
 
 houses, an inconvenience soon remedied by the 
 building of a log chapel on the bank of the Chazy 
 River, not far from the site of the present church. 
 It was a poor structure, but as the rallying-point 
 of Catholicity in the north and the first church in 
 the diocese under the American dispensation, en- 
 joys an enviable»pre-eminence. 
 
 Father Mignault served the church until 
 1828. 
 
 Rev. Victor Dugas until 1844. 
 
 Rev. Louis Lepic until 1854. 
 
 Rev. Louis Lebarbanchon from 1856 to 1857, 
 there having been a vacancy for two years. 
 
 Rev. Jacob Sasseville until 1859. 
 
 Rev. Francis Van Compenhondt, a Belgian, 
 after a vacancy until 1861. 
 
 Rev. Antoine Boyer, after another brief va- 
 cancy, until 1865. 
 
 Rev. J. B. Legrand until 1866. 
 
 Rev. Louis Lepic (second time) until 1873. 
 
 Rev. F. N. Roy until 1877. 
 
 Rev. J. N. Beaudry until 1880. 
 The log chapel was burnt a few years after its 
 erection, and was replaced by another. The par- 
 ish meanwhile was growing. The rebellion in 
 Canada in 1837 drove many hundreds of Cana- 
 dians from their homes into the promising Ameri- 
 can wilderness. At the same time the Irish emi- 
 gration to Quebec had begun. The Irish, fearful 
 of being dragged from New York vessels as rebels 
 and traitors by the English officials, took passage 
 in English bottoms to quasi-English soil and then 
 
160 COOPMRSriLLE. 
 
 crossed the line from Montreal, settling all through 
 the north, and particularly on the east and west 
 shores of Lake Champlain. It became necessary 
 to build a new church at Coopersville for accom- 
 modating the increasing numbers. 
 
 This Father Lepic accomplished. The present 
 stone church, 100 x 60 feet, and a presbytery were 
 erected at a cost of 13,000, and a small bell was 
 placed in the tower. This building was put up in 
 1845, and blessed in the presence of Father Mig- 
 nault who had begun mission work there a quarter 
 of a century previous. It was the central spot for 
 the Catholics from Plattsburgh to Malone exclu- 
 sive of these two places, and here they came, thirty 
 and forty niiles to be baptized, confirmed, and 
 married, and to make their Easter duty. Coopers- 
 ville was a great place in those days. 
 
 The increasing population soon made many 
 changes. Champlain village became an indepen- 
 dent parish in 1861, Rouse's Point in 1869, and 
 Mooer's Forks with Sciota in 1865. So many 
 alterations have been made in the shape of these 
 parishes at various times that it is next to impos- 
 sible to indicate them precisely. Lately West 
 Chazy has become a parish also with a resident 
 priest and a church. Coopersville is now confined 
 to a small district six or eight miles square. It 
 numbers about one hundred and sixty families 
 whose faith is of a sort which leaves much to be 
 desired. Many have apostatized without any 
 apparent reason save their own malice and indif- 
 
GHAMPLAIN. 161 
 
 ference^ Under efficient discipline they may come 
 to something. There is no school in the parish, 
 and the revenues are anything but generous, yet 
 the present pastor has managed to decorate the 
 interior of the church very neatly and otherwise to 
 provide for the decent offering of the Divine Sac- 
 rifice. 
 
 Efiv. A. A. Thomas, now serving Coopersville, 
 was born at Perigueux, France, in 1830, and after 
 his ordination in 1854 exercised the office of the 
 ministry in his native country for more than 
 twenty years. At one time he belonged to the 
 order of Augustinians, but his health compelled 
 him to return into active life. He attaelied him- 
 self to the diocese of Ogdensburg in 1881, and 
 was appointed to the charge of Coopersville. 
 Father Thomas is a writer of considerable merit, 
 and has lately published a graceful and spirited 
 account of his travels in Europe and America. 
 
 CHAMPLAIK 
 
 This village lies four miles to the west of the 
 lake and has a Catholic population entirely French 
 of nearly two thousand souls. It is an old gather- 
 ing-place for Canadians. In 1818 when Father 
 Mignault came to hunt up the scattered sheep of 
 the flock he said Mass in the house of Louis Mar- 
 
162 CHAMPLAIN. 
 
 ney. The McKenzie rebellion . in Canada sent 
 many of its participants into exile here, all of 
 whom attended the church at CoopersviUe until 
 1860. 
 
 In that year Father Francis Van Compenhondt, 
 a Belgian and pastor of CoopersviUe, a man of 
 great eloquence and a remarkable financier, pro- 
 posed to the villagers that they should buUd a 
 church. A Methodist meeting-house was bought 
 and moved to a small lot in the village ; when the 
 proper repairs were finished the total amount ex- 
 pended on the work was $800, a considerable sum 
 in those days. Father Francis undertook to pay 
 part of it by giving a series of public conferences 
 in the new church to Protestant believers, at which 
 there were remarkably large and interested audi- 
 ences. A considerable sum was realized. The 
 church was blessed by Bishop Goesbriand of Bur- 
 lington and the Canon Fabre, now bishop of Mon- 
 treal, was present at the ceremony. 
 
 Father Francis remained but a year after the 
 builing of the church. Leaving his assistant. Rev. 
 Octave Lasalle, to take charge of the mission, he 
 went on westward building churches and organ- 
 izing parishes as he went. Father Lasalle was a 
 Canadian and a most exemplary priest, gentle 
 beyond belief, and utterly devoted to his work. 
 He was the second priest in the North to impose 
 upon himself the trouble and self-sacrifice of 
 maintaining a school out of the slender revenues 
 of a small parish. Its first teacher was Monica 
 
BEV. F. X. CHAGNON. 
 
164 CHAMPLAIN. 
 
 Bordeau to whom as well as to the priest the 
 young fathers of the present generation owe very 
 much. Father Lasalle became in a short time 
 parish priest and remained in Champlain until 
 1869 when he was appointed to take charge of 
 the French Catholics of Cohoes, and built there 
 a church, residence and school before he died in 
 1878. His life was one of extraordinary sacrifice 
 and eminent piety ; his character so remarkably 
 pure and beautiful as to win for him the love 
 and respect of all classes, as the manifestations of 
 grief at his funeral by Catholics and non-Catholics 
 of all nationalities testified. He was buried iu 
 Canada. The work which he did in Champlain is 
 fully appreciated by the priests who followed 
 him. He left them a docile, well-instructed, and 
 charitable people, and so they have remained. 
 
 He was succeeded by Rev. J. H. Carridres who 
 remained until 1877, and besides improving the 
 property built a substantial pastoral residence. 
 
 Rev. F. X. Chagnon took charge of the parish 
 in 1877, and has remained there since in posses- 
 sion. He is one of the most noted priests of the 
 diocese for his activity. On his arrival he im- 
 mediately opened the Catholic school which had 
 been allowed to die a year before, and soon had 
 an efficient teacher and eighty pupils in attend- 
 ance. A debt of five thousand dollars was speedily 
 removed from the church property, the house 
 refitted, the finances established on a sure and 
 convenient basis, the national spirit among the 
 
CHAMPLAIN. 165 
 
 Canadians revived, and a stronger impetus given 
 to the faith. In 1884 a public school was bought 
 at a cost of $1,100, and this year was laid the 
 corner-stone of a new church, more commodious, 
 and better-suited to the needs of the people and 
 of the Divine Sacrifice. It will cost when com- 
 leted 110,000. * 
 
 The parish consists of farmers, boatmen, and 
 laborers. There are 344 families, of whom 39 own 
 their own farms, 61 are lake boatmen, 162 trades- 
 men, and the rest professional men, laborers, and 
 merchants. On a tax-list of $11,000 the Catholics 
 pay $4,200. They hold various responsible offices 
 in the town, and possess a public spirit most com- 
 mendable. Of the 1000 inhabitants 1100 are 
 yearly communicants. On August the 15th of 
 each year, the church being under the patronage 
 of our Lady of the Assumption, the parish chil- 
 dren make their first communion, and the day is 
 made a general fete of Christian gayety and good- 
 will. Altogether there are few parishes which, 
 in the midst of contrary influences, have so re- 
 markably preserved the spirit and practice of the 
 faith. 
 
 Rev. F. X. Chagnon the present pastor was 
 born at Verch^res, near Montreal, in 1842, His 
 classics were made^ partly in his native village 
 during the years 1859 and 1861, and partly at 
 Joliet College where also he made his philoso- 
 phical course in 1865. He studied theology at the 
 French Normal school, Montreal, at Terrabonne 
 
166 ROUSE'S POINT. 
 
 College, and in the Seminary of St. Sulpice where 
 he was ordained in 1870 by Bishop Pinsonneauit. 
 After serving as curate of St. Line, St. James 
 Major, St. Philomfene, St. Michael, St. Isidore, 
 St. Jean and St. Bridget, he was appointed to 
 Champlain where he has since remained com- 
 pleting and expanding the work begun by Father 
 Francis and firmly rooted by the amiable La- • 
 salle. He is a notable figure in the effort to 
 organize the French Canadians in the United 
 States, and a man of considerable executive and 
 financial ability. 
 
 ROUSE'S POINT. 
 
 In a certain way this branch of Coopersville 
 parish once flourished. It is a straggling, homely 
 town situated at the very point where the lake 
 empties itself into Richelieu river. Its surround- 
 ings are majestic and beautiful. The broad sweep 
 of the blue lake is visible for seven or eight mUes 
 to the south. Behind its wooded shores rise the 
 Green Mountains on the east, and on the west the 
 sombre Adirondacks. In the days when only the 
 Grand Trunk Railroad entered the town, the 
 traffic on the lake gave employment to hundi-eds 
 in various ways, but as soon as the Central Ver- 
 mont bridged the lake and the Delaware & Hudson 
 
I?***'^""^ 
 
 
 BKV. J. T. SMITH. 
 
168 SOUSE'S POINT. 
 
 Co. completed their line from Albany to Platts- 
 burgh, boating became a relic of the past and the 
 glory of the spot departed. It is now a place from 
 which the young fly with delight to carry their 
 energy and muscle and cheerfulness to scenes of 
 healthy activity. There remain only the middle- 
 aged, and the very young who may be born in the 
 town limits and must be trained for the benefit of the 
 outside world. There is little capital and no am- 
 bition. A floating population rides in and out on 
 the advancing and retiring wave of accidental 
 prosperity, and at any moment the entire town 
 may collapse into a Rip Van Winkle sleep of 
 length indefinite. 
 
 When Father Lebanbarchon was pastor of 
 Coopersville the people began to talk of building 
 a church. Those who felt inclined to go to Mass 
 went to Coopersville on foot of a Sunday. Occa- 
 sionally Mass was said in the house of Mr. John 
 Myers, an energetic business man, whose memory 
 is held in regret and benediction as the most public- 
 spirited gentleman that ever lived in the town. 
 Previously a visiting priest from Boston or any- 
 where visited the families on occasions, and Father 
 Mignault was also solicitous for their welfare. 
 The building of a church was pushed energetically 
 by Mr. Myers and others. Bishop M'Closkey's 
 consent was obtained, and in 1858, a brick struct- 
 ure capable of holding 300 persons was finished 
 and blessed by Bishop De Goesbriand of Burlington. 
 Father Mignault had the satisfaction of laying the 
 
ROUSE'S POINT. 169 
 
 corner-stone the year previous. The first trustees 
 were John Myers, William Collopy, R. Condon, 
 John Sweeny and Ambroise David. The land upon 
 which the church was built was donated by Mr. 
 Heaton, and Mr, Myers and a part bought outright. 
 
 The first resident pastor of St. Patrick's was 
 Rev. James Scanlan, who came to take charge of 
 it in 1869. He was a young man of exceptional 
 ability and a very eloquent speaker, and won the 
 hearts of his people more completely than any of 
 his successors. The debt on the church was paid 
 off and a pastoral residence built at a cost of 
 $3,000, during his stay of two years. 
 
 Father L. D. Laferriere succeeded to the parish 
 until 1873, and Father D. M. Archambeault until 
 1875, when he died and was buried under the altar 
 of the church. The stay of his successor, Rev. 
 Francis Poissons, was made notable by a curious 
 trouble in the parish, akin to those which annoyed 
 the early years of Archbishop Hughes in New 
 York City. The new act of the legislature chang- 
 ing the trustee system having passed, the old 
 trustees were required to surrender the property 
 into the bishop's hands ; which they refused to do, 
 the church was interdicted in consequence for six 
 months, many unfortunate mishaps and lamenta- 
 ble misunderstandings followed, and although the 
 disobedient trustees finally surrendered, the evil 
 effects of this accident remain until the present 
 day. 
 
 Father Scanlan again took charge of the parish 
 
170 ROUSE'S POINT. 
 
 in 1877 and remained in it until his sudden death in 
 1879, when he was succeeded by Rev. P. J. Devlin. 
 During the stay of this pastor the church was 
 wonderfully benefited. The grounds surrounding 
 the church property were set in order, and the 
 finances improved to a degree which left the priest 
 free at least from the embarrassments of poverty. 
 
 He was succeeded by Rev. Jos. H. Conroy, now 
 of Ogdensburg, who paid a debt of $600 remaining 
 on the church, did what was possible during a 
 brief sojourn to improve the faith of the people, 
 and was removed in 1883 to the important charge 
 of the cathedral parish in Ogdensburg. 
 
 He was succeeded by Rev. J. T. Smith, the 
 present pastor. Father Smith was born at Sara- 
 toga in the year 1855, and made his entire course 
 of classics, philosophy and theology at St. Michael's 
 College, Toronto, Canada ; was ordained by Bishop 
 Wadhams, in his cathedral at Ogdensburg, July 
 17th, 1881, and served as curate to Watertown 
 parish until 1883. when he was sent to Rouse's 
 Point. 
 
 There are in his parish very nearly 200 families 
 and something over 800 souls, of a faith, on the 
 part of the gypsy population, very poor, and on the 
 part of the settled inhabitants cautious and criti- 
 cal, due mostly to the influences of a social and in- 
 tellectual life for many years quite free from Cath- 
 olic influences. Without Catholic schools. Catholic 
 papers. Catholic literature, or any connection with 
 the great world of Catholic thought, it is not to be 
 
BEV. F. X. LACHANCB. 
 
172 MOOER'S FOBKS. 
 
 wondered at that the people are cold to the faith, 
 strangers to its spirit, and ignorant of its teach- 
 ings. The rising generation promises better. If 
 the town does not die out, another decade will see 
 it quite as Catholic as can be desired. 
 
 MOOER'S FORKS. 
 
 Father Feakcis superintended the whole ter- 
 ritory as far west as Ellenburgh, and had his resi. 
 dence at Coopersville. Immediately after the 
 building of the church at Champlain he turned his 
 attention to Mooer's Forks, a village on the Og- 
 densburg railroad, pretty, but surrounded by an 
 obscure and dull country, in which a large number 
 of French-Canadian families pick up a precarious 
 subsistence by tilling a stubborn and ugly soil. 
 He made a mission of it, and said Mass in the 
 house of Michel Morin in 1861, where at the same 
 time he also organized the congregation, and with 
 his usual energy set them to work at a new 
 church. It was built the same year under the title 
 of St. Ann's, and is still in use, a dark brown, 
 homely structure, built after the fashion of a 
 Methodist meeting-house. 
 
 The priests who as curates and pastors have 
 taken charge of the mission in the past twenty- 
 four years come in the following order : — Fathers 
 Boyer, Jeannotte, Crevier, Legrand, Lepie, Clem- 
 
MOOEB'S FOIiKS. 173 
 
 ent, Laporte, Langlois, Nolin, Delphos, Hubert, 
 Scanlon, Brennan, Roy, Beaudiy, De Mers, La- 
 chance. 
 
 With the exception of the last three we have 
 not been able to fix the dates of their administra- 
 tion, nor in every case to discover what they did 
 in the parish, ^nd what was their after fate. 
 Father Legrand is now pastor of Olmsteadville, 
 Father Beaudry of Redford, Father Delphos is at 
 Douglas in the diocese of Springfield, and Father 
 De Mers at Rogersfield ; Fathers Lepic, Langlois, 
 Scanlan, Crevier, Hubert and Brennan are dead. 
 
 Mooer's parish embraces the villages of Mooer's 
 Junction, Altona and Irona, inclosing an area of 
 fifteen square miles, and belonging to as cheerless 
 and wild a section of country as one would care to 
 see. The people are all laborers and poor farmers, 
 and the work to be done among them has always 
 been of an up-hill nature, and of most discouraging 
 character. The families number about six hun- 
 dred and eighty, and, when they are not engaged 
 in farming, work in the forges at Altona or do odd 
 jobs for richer people. In this field seventeen 
 priests have labored since the time of Father 
 Francis. The church was enlarged after a time. 
 Father Langlois built a church at Altona, and 
 Father Roy another at Sciota, both cheap and ser- 
 viceable structures. Father Langlois also bought 
 a hotel near his church at Mooer's and turned it 
 into a dwelling-house. Nothing further was done 
 in years except in the line of alterations and small 
 
174 MOOER'S FORKS. 
 
 improvements. The priests were assisted by ear- 
 nest parishioners in their discouraging work, 
 among whom were Michel Morin, Germain 
 Richard, Henri Eire, Israel Lefebvre, Thomas 
 Murray Jeremiah O'Brien and many others. 
 Bishop M'Closkey and Bishop Conroy visited the 
 place and Bishop Wadhams has administered the 
 sacrament of confirmation three times ; the last 
 during the pastor's stay, when he confirmed over 
 two hundred persons. 
 
 The parish has been specially indebted to the 
 steady and valuable services of Father Beaudry, 
 Father De Mers and Father Lachance for its grad- 
 ual progress during the last four years. Father 
 Lachance is the present pastor. He was born in 
 1845 on Crane Island below Quebec, Canada, 
 and made his preparatory studies in the normal 
 school of Quebec and in the college of Terrebonne. 
 He was twenty-four years of age when the news of 
 Victor Emmanuel's advance on Rome stirred the 
 Catholic heart throughout the world with the 
 deepest indignation and alarm. The enthusiasm 
 of the hour took a practical shape in the formation 
 of regiments of troops to be sent to the help of the 
 Holy Father, one of which the young seminarian 
 promptly joined. He served under General de 
 Charette in the Papal army, remained in Rome 
 until in 1870, was under fire at the Porta Pia, 
 through which the royal troops entered Rome, and 
 after the surrender of the Holy City returned to 
 Canada. He resumed the soutane, and was or- 
 
WEST CHAZT. 175 
 
 dained at St. Hyacinthe by Bishop Moreau in 1876. 
 After serving as curate at Bedford, Farnham and 
 Iberville, and as professor of Sorel College for 
 three years, he came to the diocese of Ogdensburg 
 and was appointed pastor of Gregg, Rogersfield, 
 and Mooer's successively. 
 
 WEST CHAZY. 
 
 In 1884 Bishop "Wadhams cut off from Mooer's 
 Forks the towns of Sciota and West Chazy and 
 formed them into an independent parish. Three 
 hundred and thirty families were scattered around 
 these villages, too remote from the centres of 
 activity to be thoroughly managed. Long neg- 
 lected they had drifted into indifference, not 
 a few into apostasy and vicious lives, and the 
 establishment of a church and priest in their 
 midst became a necessity if they were to be saved 
 to the faith. A church had already been built at 
 Sciota. Another was required at Chazy, and ac- 
 cordingly Rev. L. A. Brosseau was appointed in 
 the spring of 1884 to begin the work. 
 
 The Catholics of the parish are all Canadians 
 with few exceptions, and many are descendants 
 of the Acadian soldiers of the Revolution to whom 
 the State of New York granted lands 'on the 
 west shore of Champlain in 1789. Father Mig- 
 nault visited them regularly, and for a time they 
 
176 WEST CHAZY. 
 
 were under the care of Coopersville, but of necessity 
 they were more and more neglected as the parishes 
 around them increased in population. The lib- 
 eral spirit found good ground among them for 
 its unwholesome growths, and flourished and 
 waxed powerful in their midst. Vicious habits, 
 drunkenness and immorality as a natural conse- 
 quence found their way among young and old, 
 and the appointment of a priest was not made 
 any too soon to check the progress of disease. 
 
 Father Brosseau began to build a church in 
 May and Bishop Wadhams laid the corner-stone 
 in a driving rain-storm. The first Mass was said 
 in the closed building early in July, and the church 
 was finished in September when it was blessed 
 under the title of St. Joseph. It is a plain wooden 
 structure, neat and tasteful, with Gothic porch, 
 windows and towers, and capable of holding a 
 few hundred people. 
 
 The work of collecting sufficient money to 
 build it, to provide a house for the pastor, and to 
 meet current expenses was sufficiently arduous 
 among a cool and sceptical people. It was 
 accomplished however. The more generous- 
 minded subscribed liberally. The work being 
 begun it can easily be foretold that an immense 
 amount of good will be accomplished within the 
 decade. 
 
 Father Brosseau was born at Laprairie, Canada 
 in 1854, made his classics at the Jesuit College, 
 Montreal, and his theology with the Sulpicians. 
 
EEV. FATHEE BKOSSBAU. 
 
178 WEST CHAZT. 
 
 He was ordained in 1879 by Bishop Fabre, and 
 served at St. Martine, St. Cunegonde, Montreal, 
 and St. Gabriel ; later at Mooer's Forks, and was 
 finally appointed to Chazy. He was lately suc- 
 ceeded in the last named place by Rev. Michael 
 O'Brien. 
 
 Rev. J. T. O'Brien was born in December of 
 1860 in Ireland, received his classical education 
 at Seton Hall CoUege, and his theological course 
 at Emmittsburgh. He was ordained at St. John's 
 Church, Plattsburgh, in 1884, and after a year's 
 service in Ogdensburg Cathedral was appointed 
 to Chazy. The task before him is not easy or 
 pleasant, but it offers a large opportunity for zeal 
 and perseverance. 
 
DISTRICT OF PLATTSBURGH. 
 
 This portion of the diocese lies in the south- 
 east corner of the plain north of the Adirondacks, 
 and in part penetrates into the mountains. Mining, 
 lumbering and farming are the occupations of the 
 people, — hence, although its condition is now fair, 
 it is subject, like Port Henry, to sudden changes 
 of business temperature, not at all agreeable to 
 the poor. The land is very good, and the farmers 
 fairly situated. The Catholic population is French 
 and Irish, with the former largely in the ascend- 
 ant. The parishes were formed in the following 
 order, the dates indicating the term of each priest's 
 service : — 
 
 Plattsbxjegh, 1827, attended by — 
 
 Rev. Patrick McGilligan, 1828, 
 
 Vacancy, 1832. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Rogers, 1835. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Raftery, ^ 
 
 Rev. Mr. Rafferty, ^ 1836. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Burns, j 
 
 Rev. George Drummond, 1839. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Rooney, 1854. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Kinney, 1856. 
 
180 DISTRICT OF PLATTSBUBGH. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Cahill, 1860. 
 
 Rev. R. J. Maloney, 1879. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Normandeau, 1880. 
 
 Rev. H. J. Shields, 1881. 
 Very Rev. Thos. Walsh. 
 
 Keesbvillb, 1848, attended by — 
 
 Rev. Michael McDonnell, 1851. 
 
 Rev. B. F. McLaughlin, 1852. 
 
 Rev. Jas. Keveny, 1861. 
 
 Rev. Pliilip Keveny, 1863. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Carroll, 1866. 
 
 Rev. J. J. McDonald, 1869. 
 
 Rev. Tobias Glenn, 1880. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Conlon, 1881. 
 Rev. P. J. Devlin. 
 
 Plattsbtjrgh (French), 1853 — 
 Oblate Fathers. 
 
 Keeseville (French), 1853 — 
 
 Rev. Mr. Negron, 1856. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Renez, 1858. 
 
 Rev. Louis Lebarbanchon, 1865. 
 
 Rev. Mr. LaMarque, 1865. 
 
 Rev. P. J. Legrand, 1869. 
 
 Rev. Fabian Barnab^, 1883. 
 Rev. Damasd Guilbault. 
 
 Au Sable Forks, 1868 — 
 
 Rev. Jas. Smith, 1876. 
 
 Rev. H. J, Shields, 1881. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Fitzgerald, 1884. 
 Rev. Denis Nolan. 
 
DISTRICT OF PLATTSBUBGH. 181 
 
 Redford, 1869 — 
 
 Rev. N. Z. Lorraine, 1879. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Decarie, 1882. 
 
 Rev. J. N. Beaudry. 
 
 Cadyvillb, 1872 — 
 
 Rev. Jas. J. McGowan. 
 
 « 
 
 Black Brook, 1881 — 
 
 Rev. Thos. Carroll, 1882. 
 
 Rev. Michael Charbonneau. 
 
 ROGERSFIELD, 1881 — 
 
 Rev. Mr. Lecomt, 1882. 
 
 Rev. F. X. Lachance, 1884. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Demers. 
 
 Dannemora, 1883 — 
 "Rev. Geo. Belanger. 
 
 All these parishes are in a flourishing condition, 
 and have good church buildings, residences, and, 
 at Redford and the French parish of Plattsburgh, 
 schools. There are also churches and chapels at 
 Clintonville, Peru, Morrisonville, the Patent, 
 Bloomingdale, and Union Falls. The parishes 
 are, however, far from being in a settled condition, 
 and another decade must pass before the uneasy 
 shifting of parish lines, the paying of debts, 
 assimilating new-comers of poor faith, or none at 
 all, and the work of building schools, are finally 
 done away with. The district is wealthy and 
 populous, and the final results are neither doubtful 
 nor far removed. 
 
182 PLATTSBUBGH. 
 
 PLATTSBURGH. 
 
 The parish of Plattsburgh ranks among the 
 first in the diocese both by reason of its age and 
 by the importance of its position in one of the 
 four reasonably-sized towns within the limits of 
 this border diocese. The town has a pleasant and 
 commanding position on the shores of Cumber- 
 land Bay, and in a small way busies itself with 
 sewing-machines, lumber, tourists, and a few 
 other industries. The Saranac River, famous all 
 the world over by its connection with the 
 Adirondack lake of the same name, and with a 
 whipping which the British received on its banks 
 in the war of 1812, runs through the town. The 
 Green Mountains show themselves across the 
 Champlain water, which is here dotted by many 
 islands ; there are many handsome private resi- 
 dences, a few respectable hotels, a musical society, 
 and a good sprinkling of cultivated people and 
 energetic lawyers, while the working-people are 
 fairly well-paid and their houses have an air of 
 comfort and thrift about them more agreeable to 
 the soul than the elegance of the dwellings of the 
 rich. 
 
VEKY REV. THOMAS WALSH. 
 
184 PLATTSBUBGB. 
 
 All this present prosperity and activity arose 
 with gradual growth from the settlement made on 
 the towu-site in 1785 by Zephaniah Piatt, after 
 whom the place was named, and his associates. 
 The history of the village is that of a thousand 
 others through the country and is too common 
 and uninteresting for insertion in this book. 
 Plattsburgh became in time the county-seat of an 
 immense district, and drew all the attention centred 
 on the North to itself. It was visited by Catholics 
 long before the enterprising citizens of Pough- 
 keepsie thought of reclaiming its fine acres from 
 the primeval solitude. When tho territory was 
 in the possession of one Count De Fredenburgh, in 
 the colonial period, John La Framboise, a French- 
 man was his nearest neighbor. How many other 
 scattered Catholics from Canada might have fixed 
 their habitation in the vicinity it is impossible to 
 say. The granting of lands to French Acadian 
 soldiers who fought in the Revolution brought 
 old Father Mignault, of Chambly, to Coopersville 
 to minister to their spiritual necessities. He 
 found a few French families and a straggling 
 Irish soldier in Plattsburgh whither he came fre- 
 quently as late as 1825, making his abode with 
 the Piatt family who were always happy to wel- 
 come the old French priest. A clergyman of any 
 sort was a rarity in the North at that period. 
 Whether Mass was said in Plattsburgh by Father 
 Mignault is doubtful. There is no tradition to 
 
PLATTSBUBGH. 185 
 
 that effect anywhere to be found. He visited the 
 town merely to look after the general welfare of 
 the few probably careless Catholics living there, 
 and willingly surrendered the obligation of at- 
 tending it all to one Father Dorgan, of whose 
 history and fate I could learn nothing, and later 
 to the indefatigable Father O'Callaghan, of Bur- 
 lington, who seems to have discovered and visited 
 every Catholic family on either shore of Lake 
 Champlain. 
 
 In some part of the year 1827 the parish was 
 was formally organized by the Rev. Patrick Mc- 
 Gilligan. The first Mass ever said in the town 
 was said at the residence of Hugh McGuire, a 
 shoemaker, whose house is still standing on Broad 
 street, but by whom this Mass was said is a 
 mystery which no amount of investigation could 
 solve. In Father McGilligan's time the new 
 congregation hired and furnished a building 
 known as the Red Store in which to hold the 
 Sunday service. This building and • its pews still 
 remain, memorable and charming contrast to the' 
 elegant edifice in which the Great Sacrifice is now 
 offered. The inducements to settle in the town 
 were not great, and the congregation increased 
 too slowly for any practical work to be under- 
 taken by the pastor. He died in November, 
 1828, and was buried among his people. Priests 
 succeeded one another with great rapidity in 
 next decade. Mass was said occasionally by 
 
186 PLATTSBUBGH. 
 
 priests from distant parishes who came to' instruct 
 and encourage the people while waiting for an 
 established pastor. Father Mannigan remained 
 at one time three months. Finally, in 1832, 
 Father Rogers a newly ordained priest was sent 
 to take permanent charge of the place, and to 
 make every effort to put it on a respectable 
 footing. He was a young, vigorous and earnest 
 man, and infused a new life into the church. 
 Circumstances favored him. A number of Irish 
 families had immigrated from Boston that year 
 where they had saved a good sum of money 
 and settled in Plattsburgh. They invested their 
 money in land, forming what is now known as 
 the Irish settlement, where their descendants are 
 to this day, and where they formed a solid and 
 respectable nucleus for the rising congregation. 
 There was much hard work and self-denial, and 
 slow profits at the beginning, but by spring of 
 the year 1834 Father Rogers was able to pur- 
 chase of Judge John Palmer a lot on which to 
 erect a church building. The conveyance was 
 made to Hugh McMurray and Edward Kelley, who 
 in turn conveyed it to the trustees of the church 
 some two years later when Father Rogers had 
 departed for other fields of labor. The work of 
 the priest was not confined to the village of 
 Plattsburgh. The working of the mines and the 
 opening of foundries had drawn French and 
 Irish families to Keeseville, Au Sable and Black 
 
PLATTSBUBGH. 187 
 
 Brook, and these Father Rogers frequently 
 visited. The ready money in the hands of the 
 iron workers at Keeseville made them a more 
 enterprising and pushing body than the farmers 
 of Plattsburgh. Father Rogers was enabled to 
 build a good church for them in 1835, and brought 
 old Bishop Dubois from New York to dedicate it. 
 There was little for him to do at Plattsburgh 
 except to confirm and counsel the Catholics and 
 to urge them to greater exertions in their own 
 behalf. Father Rogers departed the same year. 
 He is still living in the diocese of New York a 
 venerable man of seventy-five years, well-remem- 
 bered by the surviving members of the church he 
 labored for. 
 
 Within a half year three priests succeeded one 
 another in the parish, Father Raftery, of whom I 
 could learn nothing beyond his mere name ; Father 
 Rafferty, who went to collect for the church 
 through the diocese, was appointed to another 
 parish meanwhile and did not return, and Father 
 Burns, who died in April of 1836 and was buried 
 by the side of Father M'Gilligan. The rapidity 
 with which these gentlemen followed one another 
 left their memory in the minds of existing parish- 
 ioners very obscure. Rev. George Drummond 
 came from Syracuse on the death of Father Burns 
 and took charge of the parish. In May after his 
 arrival the church was properly incorporated under 
 the name of the First Roman Catholic church of 
 
188 PLATTSBUBGH. 
 
 the town of Plattsburgh, and Patrick Foy, William 
 Eagan, Richard Cullen, Michael Kearney, James 
 Trowlan, John Hogan, Barney McWillianis and 
 Christopher Sherlock were elected trustees, to 
 whom Messrs. McMurray and Kelley made over 
 the lot purchased from Judge Palmer. A church 
 was immediately commenced on it, and during the 
 course of its construction Father Drummond went 
 to Canada to collect the funds which were not to 
 be collected at home for its completion. He was 
 taken ill and died at Quebec in the fall of 1839, 
 where he was buried. 
 
 His successor was Father Rooney, whose long 
 administration of fifteen years has left his memory 
 fresh and luxuriant with the people of Plattsburgh. 
 He was a medium-sized, rosy, well-knit and choleric 
 Irishman, of good business abilities, and quite able 
 to hold his own against the tricks of the children 
 of Mammon. He was the first priest whose ag- 
 gressive nature, united with his long stay in Platts- 
 burgh, enabled the congregation to pass from the 
 state of obscure struggling to a firm and respect- 
 able place before the world. He was pastor of all 
 the territory north of the mountains, west of the 
 lake and east of Chateaugay, and his whole time was 
 spent in infusing into the scattered parishes a show of 
 the vigorous life which he brought with him. The 
 church begun by Father Drummond was pushed 
 to completion with a vigor that did not always suit 
 the purses of the parishioners. It was a stone 
 
PLATTSBURGH. 189 
 
 edifice, stone is cheap and plentiful in Plattsburgh, 
 perfectly square and able to hold four or five 
 hundred persons. It was dedicated solemnly on 
 Sunday the 25th of September 1842, by Arch- 
 bishop Hughes, who confirmed many hundred 
 children on the same day, and gave one of his 
 magnificent "(iiscourses to a crowded congregation 
 of admiring Catholics and curious Protestants. 
 He was entertained at Father Roouey's residence. 
 It was his first and last visit to the northern limits 
 of his vast diocese. His trip along Lake Cham- 
 plain convinced him of the need of a new see in 
 New York State, and a few years after his return 
 to New York, Albany was made the see of a new 
 diocese with Bishop M'Closkey, the present cardi- 
 nal, at its head. The edifice which was thus dedi- 
 cated served the congregation for over thirty 
 years, and was only given up when the new church 
 was finished. Father Rooney employed the next 
 twelve years in removing the debt which he had 
 contracted to complete the church, and in con- 
 solidating his parishes. Bishop M'Closkey made 
 Keeseville an independent parish in 1848 with 
 Au Sable and Black Brook for its dependencies, 
 and some months previous also removed from his 
 charge the feeble missions along the lake which 
 he had looked after on occasions. The French 
 Catholics also withdrew from the church in 1853 
 and under the charge of the Oblate Fathers formed 
 an independent organization. His territory, how- 
 
190 PLATT8BUBGH. 
 
 ever, was still extensive, and the constantly in- 
 creasing immigration soon made up in part for 
 what the parish had lost. A parish residence was 
 bought, the cemetery and the church improved. 
 Bishop M'Closkey visited the place in 1850. He 
 removed Father Rooney to Albany in 1854. The 
 good priest was then well advanced in years, and 
 did little ministerial work from that time till his 
 death. He left his entire property to the church 
 with a special bequest for Plattsburgh, where his 
 memory is held to this hour in benediction. The 
 work which he accomplished was decidedly bene- 
 ficial to the advancement of the faith in the North. 
 It was, as much as such work can be, largely per- 
 sonal. The priest was popular not only with his 
 people but with his Protestant neighbors, who 
 could appreciate his business skill and natural 
 shrewdness, his courtesy, his learning and his de- 
 votion to duty, if not his religious belief. 
 
 The baptismal records for the years from 1839 to 
 1847 show 1013 births as the Catholic quota for all 
 the parishes attached to Plattsburgh. The times 
 were good, and the settlers making money, so that 
 the birth-rate stood high, and as capital and 
 immigrants flowed into the mining region together, 
 Plattsburgh began to assume an importance which 
 no one had ever dreamed of. Father Kinney 
 succeeded Father Rooney, and after a stay of two 
 years was in turn followed by Father Cahill, who 
 made way for an Oblate missionary. Rev. Richard 
 
PLATTSBURGH. 191 
 
 J. Maloney, in May, 1860. The six years covered 
 by the two first-named priests were uneventful in 
 parish history. It remained for Father Maloney 
 to give to the history of the parish a completion 
 and perfection which does not belong to any other 
 in our diocese, and to cast upon it a glory which 
 shall not fadS easily. 
 
 It was foreseen at the time Father Maloney 
 took charge of the parish, that at an early date the 
 district embraced by the diocese of Ogdensburg 
 would be cut off from Albany and formed into an 
 episcopal see. It was supposed that Plattsburgh 
 would be its seat. Father Maloney, under that 
 impression, determined to erect a church structure 
 which would be worthy of the name of cathedral. 
 In 1867, the lots fronting on Margaret, Broad, and 
 Oak streets, were bought, and on the first day of 
 July, 1868, the corner-stone of the new church was 
 laid by Bishop Conroy. On the 27th of May, 
 1869, the church was re-incorporated under the 
 new act of 1863, with the title of St. John the 
 Baptist, and the lay trustees appointed were 
 Bernard McKeever and Patrick Delaney. In the 
 fall of 1871 the roof of the church was finished, 
 and in the winter of 1874 it was used by the con- 
 gregation for the offering of the Divine sacrifice. 
 Bishop Wadhams came from Ogdensburg to dedi- 
 cate it in August, 1875, and was assisted by Bishop 
 Goesbriand of Burlington. The building was 
 erected, but the object of its size and grandeur 
 
192 PL A TTSB UBGH. 
 
 had not been attained. The see of the new 
 bishopric was placed in Ogdensburg. 
 
 It is the most imposing edifice in Northern New 
 York, cruciform in shape, built entirely of stone, 
 201 feet long, and in the transept 84 feet wide, 90 
 feet high. It is Father Maloney's monument, and 
 is really a stone history of Plattsburgh in Catho- 
 licity. The parishioners dug the foundations, 
 hauled the stone from the quarries, and the tim- 
 bers from the mills, gave their day's labor to it, 
 their time and thought; as well as their money, 
 and have lately relieved it, in great part, of its 
 heavy burden of debt. 
 
 Father Maloney departed from Plattsburgh in 
 1879, and was followed in succession by Father 
 Normandeau of Brushton, and Father Shields of 
 Troy Seminary, now dead. The present incum- 
 bent, Very Rev. Thos. Walsh, was appointed to 
 the charge of the parish in 1881. He was born in 
 Ireland in 1842, where he made his classical course. 
 He studied theology in Troy Seminary, and was 
 ordained priest in 1868, serving as curate for one 
 year at St. Mary's, Oswego, and St. John's, 
 Albany. In 1869 he succeeded Father De Luca, 
 as pastor of Hogansburg, where he remained nearly 
 nine years, building there an elegant and tasteful 
 church at a cost of 118,000. During Bishop 
 Wadhams' absence in Rome he acted as adminis- 
 trator of the diocese. In 1878 he was sent to the 
 mission of Watertown. In 1879 he was appointed 
 
PLATTSBURGH. 193 
 
 vicar-general of the diocese, with temporary resi- 
 dence in Ogdensburg, and was finally placed in 
 charge of Plattsburgh. During his administration 
 the debt of the church has been reduced $11,000, 
 a house and lot has been bought and fitted up as a 
 parochial residence, and within a short period the 
 debts remainfng will have disappeared, and the 
 energies of the parish will pass into healthier chan- 
 nels than mere debt-paying. 
 
 Plattsburgh Catholics number twelve or fifteen 
 hundred, exclusive of the French, and though a 
 somewhat cautious and shrewd people, have a 
 strong faith, and observe their religious duties 
 faithfully. Without much enthusiasm they are 
 capable of doing great things, as the building of 
 their church bears witness, and of making great 
 sacrifices ; it remains to be seen if they have 
 succeeded in transmitting their virtues to their 
 children. 
 
194 KEESEVILLE. 
 
 KEESEVILLE. 
 
 The tourist who wishes to visit the wonders of 
 the famous Au Sable chasm, leaves the cars at 
 Port Kent, and mounts, by easy degrees, over a 
 fair mountain road to the chasm, five miles distant. 
 The higher he goes the wider and more astonish- 
 ing the view which expands behind him. The 
 blue outlines of the Vermont mountains, thirty 
 miles of blue Champlain water, numerous islands, 
 the spires of Plattsburgh, the broad plain which 
 sweeps northward from the base of the Adiron- 
 dacks, gradually unfold their beauties to the eye, 
 until at the top of the ascent the rapids of the 
 Au Sable and the white mist of the falls appear 
 below, and the descent into the river valley shuts 
 off the wonderful vista. Crossing the Au Sable 
 and following the road along the river — a hard, 
 shady, delightful road — the village itself comes 
 into view, — a hilly, thrifty, comfortable town, set 
 upon opposite hills, with the river running like a 
 racer through a deep rift in the earth eighty feet 
 below. There are all sorts of manufactories, pre- 
 tentious streets, fine residences, solid poor men's 
 
UBV. P. J. DEVLIN. 
 
196 KEESEVILLM. 
 
 dwellings and the other health commonplaces of a 
 well-to-do town. The Adirondacks glower on it. 
 Through a break in the hills old Whitefawn shows 
 his snowy front to the villagers. At the very 
 summit of the town stands the church which 
 Father Rogers built a half century ago, and across 
 the river in a similar position, another belonging 
 to the French Canadians. 
 
 Sixty-four years ago Hugh McGill and his fam- 
 ily arrived in KeeseviUe from Canada with a ten- 
 year-old daughter, now Mrs. McKeever, who lived 
 to give to the writer of this book the chief facts in 
 the history of the KeeseviUe church. A few log- 
 huts, a store, a mill and a dam, were then the ad- 
 vance guard of civilization. Father Mignault and 
 Father Dorgan paid the place a casual visit, for 
 there was but one Catholic family there, John 
 Keenan and his children, who have lived to see 
 the things done by this generation. Father Cal- 
 laghan said the first Mass in the house of Hugh 
 McCarthy in 1825 — omnipresent Father O'Cal- 
 laghan; baptized the infants and the neglected 
 elder children, taught them their catechism, pre- 
 pared them for the sacraments, married the unmar- 
 ried, and the legally-married, who had not patience 
 to wait for the priest, and revived the faith gene- 
 rally among the venturesome people of that period. 
 After him the mission was attended by the priests 
 who came in succession to Plattsburgh — ^by 
 Fathers MoGilligan, Rogers, Raftery, Rafferty, 
 
KEESEVILLE. 197 
 
 Burns, Drummond and Rooney, under whose ad- 
 ministration it had advanced to that degree of 
 strength as to permit of its being formed into an 
 independent parish. 
 
 Previous to Father Rogers' time Mass had been 
 said in private houses, mostly at the residence of a 
 Mr. Sheridan, and still later in a schoolhouse, 
 which is still standing, near the present church. 
 In fourteen years time, however, Keeseville had 
 made some strides towards prosperity, and had re- 
 ceived its share of accidental immigration. The 
 town had considerable ambition, and its Catholic 
 population was more pushing, and better supplied 
 with ready money than their Plattsburgh neigh- 
 bors. Indeed the priests of the mission would 
 have much preferred steady residence there, but 
 that it lay so far out of the line of regular travel 
 and from the centre of their extensive territory. 
 It offered a fair field for Father Rogers' exertions, 
 and he commenced the erection of a church in the 
 spring of 1835. It was the first building of the 
 kind in Keeseville. The sects had slight foothold 
 in the village as yet, and their adherents were 
 scattered and poor. The congregation took hold 
 of the work in a purely personal fashion. Money 
 was not wanting, but time, and labor, and lumber, 
 were given as well. The parishioners dug the 
 foundation, cut and hauled the lumber, assisted 
 the masons, carpenters, and painters, and had the 
 satisfaction of seeing the building dedicated before 
 
198 KEESEVILLE. 
 
 the summer was ended. Father Rogers brought 
 old Bishop Dubois from New York to perform the 
 ceremony. It was a grand occasion for the primi- 
 tive church. The Catholics for miles around came 
 to the village, pouring in from the neighboring 
 towns, and travelling from remote recesses of the 
 mountains to witness, many of them for the first 
 time, a Mass and a public ceremony. The old 
 white-haired bishop preached, baptized, confirmed, 
 healed old wounds and serious differences, blessed 
 illegal alliances, and absolved the excommunicated, 
 during his brief stay. It was really a new impulse 
 of grace communicated to the church, and was felt 
 for years afterward. Later the finishing touches 
 were put to the sacred building. Each priest has 
 added to, or improved it in one way or another, 
 until it now presents a creditable appearance, 
 standing on the high hill above the town, with 
 the graveyard at one side, and the wild Saranac 
 rushing at its feet. 
 
 In 1848 Keeseville with Au Sable and Peru 
 were formed into a parish separate from Platts- 
 burgh. Father MacDonnell, who still enjoys in 
 that neighborhood the reputation of being the 
 most polished orator known to the people, was 
 placed in charge of it, — a tall, portly, fine-looking 
 man with a high temper and a lovable disposition 
 that made him many friends. He left the parish 
 in the summer of 1851, and died afterwards in the 
 West Indies whither he had gone for his health. 
 
KEESEVILLE. 199 
 
 Father B. F. McLoughlin succeeded to the 
 parish, and remained until 1852. He is still living, 
 the hale, portly, venerable pastor of Cortland in 
 the Albany diocese. 
 
 Father James Keveny took charge of the parish 
 for the next nine years, and his brother Philip suc- 
 ceeding him remained there until the spring of 1863. 
 The former vv^as one of the patriarchs of the 
 North, and has identified his name with the history 
 of Catholicity in this and the Albany diocese. He 
 built the old and new churches at Au Sable. Both 
 brothers, most estimable men, are since dead. 
 Father James having been pastor of St. Francis in 
 Troy and Father Philip pastor of Amsterdam. 
 
 Father William Carroll had charge of the parish 
 from 1863 to 1869. He died lately in Troy. 
 Father John MacDonnell, who died a few years ago 
 at Potsdam, succeeded him and remained in the 
 parish until 1869. During his term a lady who 
 had become a convert presented to the Catholics 
 of Clintonville, an out-mission of Keeseville, a 
 deserted Methodist church which she bought and 
 fitted up for their use. It stands on the Au Sable 
 road, in the heart of a mining district, a plain 
 wooden edifice so high above the village as to be 
 visible for many miles. The sound of its bell on a 
 summer morning is the most charming memory a 
 visitor can take away from the valley of the Au 
 Sable. 
 
 Father MacDonnell was succeeded in 1869 by the 
 
200 KEBSEVIZLE. 
 
 Rev. Tobias Glenn who owns the distinction of a 
 long residence in Keeseville as pastor. Up to this 
 time the northern district was but the training- 
 ground of young priests. Its Catholic population 
 was poor, scattered, and floating to some extent, 
 and there seemed little prospect of its ever rival- 
 ling or even approaching the prosperity of the 
 south. In consequence the south drew to it the 
 men of age and ability, priests were changed fre- 
 quently, no sooner becoming acquainted with their 
 flock than compelled to leave them. The faith in 
 the more remote missions suffered naturally from 
 an inevitable misfortune. Father Glenn however 
 remained in the parish for eleven years, and left it 
 in 1880 only to undertake a task of immense im- 
 portance and great difficulties. (See the history of 
 Watertown parish). He raised Keeseville to a 
 higher standard than that which it had followed, 
 and probably brought it to its highest possible 
 growth under the circumstances. For the old 
 parishes of the diocese are now almost stationary. 
 They have the fixity and maturity of English 
 country villages, and after a certain degree of per- 
 fection has been reached refuse to be polished 
 further without wearing. He was succeeded by 
 Father Conlan who died the next year, when 
 Father James Devlin, the present incumbent be- 
 came pastor. 
 
 Father Devlin was born in Ireland in 1856, 
 made his collegiate course in Derry, and studied 
 
KEESEVILLE. 201 
 
 theology in the Troy Seminary where he was or- 
 dained in 1879. He was curate at Ogdensburg 
 for a time, and parish priest of Rouse's Point later ; 
 from which place he departed to take charge of 
 the mission at Keeseville. His work there is the 
 ordinary routine work of an Adirondack priest, its 
 roughest feature being the long rides on the moun- 
 tain roads, which must be taken winter and sum- 
 mer, and are certain to wear out the toughest con- 
 stitution. His parish contains about two hundred 
 families, all Irish and of Irish descent ; a good, 
 simple people, comfortably provided with a share 
 of the world's goods, and proud of their fifty years 
 of Catholic history. The parish has been visited 
 once by Bishop Dubois, once by Bishop Hughes, 
 twice by Bishop M'Closkey, once by Bishop Conroy 
 and three times by Bishop Wadhams. 
 
202 PLATTSBUEGH. 
 
 PLATTSBURGH— (^reweA). 
 
 In 1853 the French Canadian Catholics sepa- 
 rated from the Irish congregation, having 
 attained to numbers which made special su- 
 perintendence by a priest speaking their own 
 language a necessity. Bishop M'Closkey gave to 
 the Oblate Fathers the charge of the mission 
 which then comprised all the territory now em- 
 braced in the independent missions of Redford, 
 Black Brook, Dannemora, Cadyville, Rogersfield, 
 Morrisonville and Rand's Hill. 
 
 Revs. John P. Bernard and Claude Sallaz were 
 sent in August of 1853 to organize the new parish. 
 It was without a church or any place of public 
 worship. Mass was said in a hall leased for a 
 period, while priests and people were earnestly 
 engaged in the work of church building. On 
 the 5th of September, 1853, Father Bernard, in 
 presence of the trustees D. Laforce, F. Davis, 
 Jos. Fontaine, Louis Chauvin, and Z. Jourdonnais 
 and a great crowd of citizens, broke ground on 
 the spot where the foundations of St. Peter's 
 were to be laid. The entire Catholic body, en- 
 
PLATTSBURGH. 203 
 
 couraged by the burning words and shining 
 example of their pastor, made prodigious sac- 
 rifices. The people were for the most part poor, 
 and help was sought outside the parish, particu- 
 larly in Canada. The work was vigorously 
 pushed, and after two years of struggle the build- 
 ing, a serviceable and comely structure 167 feet 
 long, 64 wide and 58 high, was completed. The 
 first Mass was said in the sacristy in February 
 of 1855, and the church was dedicated under 
 the patronage of St. Peter by Bishop Guigues 
 of Ottawa on the 29th of June of the same 
 year. The celebration was made notable by the 
 presence of the venerable pastor of Chambly, 
 Canada, M. Mignault, who for a quarter of a cen- 
 tury ministered to the Catholics of the Champlain 
 district, and who lived to see many prosperous 
 parishes scattered through the territory which he 
 had often traversed when it was a nfere wilder- 
 ness. 
 
 Plattsburgh is the capital of Clinton County, 
 and Clinton County is the seat of a large Cana- 
 dian population, which is gradually rising to a 
 state of sober and lasting influence and prosperity. 
 It was natural that the congregation of St. Peter's 
 should increase and flourish under the providence 
 of God. The church, once finished and paid for, 
 was by little and little tastefully decorated ; 
 stained glass windows were put in, with choir 
 stalls, an organ, a beautiful pulpit, and an elegant 
 
204 PLATT8BUEGH. 
 
 altar. The population increased naturally and 
 by immigration as only French-Canadians can. 
 There are now in the parish 630 families, repre- 
 senting some 3500 souls. In each year there are 
 over 1700 communions, 250 baptisms, 50 mar- 
 riages, 75 burials, 100 children prepared for first 
 communion. Then societies are attached to the 
 church, and the Sunday-school is regularly at- 
 tended. A fine school, under the charge of the 
 Gray Nuns of Ottawa, who also teach three hun- 
 dred children in the public primaries, was erected 
 opposite the church a few years ago. 
 
 The priests under whose charge the difficult 
 work of reorganizing the Canadians has been 
 conducted were, besides the two mentioned above, 
 Rev. Fathers Garin, Cauvin, Thenier, Mourier, 
 Bournigalle, Lauzon, Trudeau, Gaudet, Lebret, 
 Peltier, and Medieville, the last named of whom 
 died recently in Montreal. The present pastor 
 in Plattsburgh is Father Amyot. 
 
 The parish has had its trials, some of them 
 severe enough, and has been tried severely by 
 the indifference and malicious opposition of 
 vicious brethren who have forgotten the practice 
 of their faith ; but at this moment it enjoys the 
 full measure of complete success, and is beginning 
 to experience that repose of perfect order and 
 discipline which cannot but increase under the 
 happy circumstances surrounding the French 
 Catholics of Plattsburgh. 
 
KEESEVILLE. 205 
 
 KEESEVILLE— (JVewc^ Church). 
 
 Until the 23rd of October, 1853, the French 
 Canadians of Keeseville mingled with the Irish 
 congregation. When Bishop M'CIoskey gave to 
 the Oblates the charge of the French in the 
 Southern part of Clinton County, these energetic 
 missionaries lost no time in establishing parishes 
 in the important centres. Under their direction 
 and management the new Canadian congregation 
 was formed in Keeseville, and a church was 
 bought from the Presbyterians to be converted 
 to Catholic uses. Previous to the coming of the 
 Oblates, a French missionary. Father Petit, visited 
 the Canadians in 1828, and Father Mignault also 
 attended them up to the time when the church 
 was built at Keeseville. 
 
 As soon as they were formed into a separate 
 congregation the Canadians showed commendable 
 zeal in assisting the Oblate fathers. A bell was 
 bought and placed in the town, and Father Reniz 
 felt justified in starting a boarding-school for 
 Catholic boys. Perhaps the time was ill-chosen 
 or the management inefficient, but the school 
 
206 KEESEVILLE. 
 
 broke up after a brief existence and has never 
 been renewed. The pastors of the church suc- 
 ceeded one another in the following order. 
 
 Father Negron until 1866, who bought the 
 church and began the work of building up the 
 congregation. 
 
 Father Reniz until 1858, who founded the 
 boarding-school. 
 
 Father Lebarbanchon until 1865. 
 
 Father La Marque during the same year. 
 
 Father J. B. Legrand until 1869. 
 
 Father Fabian Barnab4 until 1883. 
 
 Father Guilbault until the present writing. 
 
 Each of these priests in his own way did honor 
 to the new parish and assisted more or less in 
 its gradual improvement. Debts were paid, 
 church property added to, the neglectful and the 
 bad slowly won back to the fervor of childhood ; 
 the Canadians little by little climbed up from the 
 dull level of indifference, ignorance, and poverty 
 to a position of physical and spiritual comfort. 
 It was reserved for Father Fabian Barnabd in 
 his long service of fourteen years to leave the 
 deepest impression upon the people and to do 
 more for them than can easily be done again. 
 
 Father Barnab^ was a Canadian, of stern yet 
 charitable disposition, exceedingly sensitive, and 
 of lofty ideas of personal honor. His piety^ 
 charity, and devotion to duty were so well known 
 that his brother priests and his fiery people were 
 
KEESEVILLE. 207 
 
 alike impressed by them, and regarded him with 
 the deepest respect and affection. In the face of 
 many difficulties he worked bravely, continu- 
 ously and cheerfully, undisturbed by the tor- 
 tures of ill-health or the ingratitude of the peo- 
 ple, or the failure of most cherished plans. It is 
 but little to saiy that he bought the parochial 
 residence, improved the church property, and 
 left it free of debt for his successor. Material 
 improvements were the feeblest part of his good 
 work. He brought his people into the practice 
 of sobriety, and of all the Catholic duties. He 
 formed numerous and successful societies among 
 them, and taught them habits of thrift and virtue. 
 The sick and the sinful were his special care, 
 and out of his tenderness for them sprang a won- 
 derful success in dealing with them. In fact 
 Father Barnabe lost his health by his great at- 
 tention to the wants of his people, and died too 
 soon for the glory of the church in the north. 
 He was buried amid the sorrow of the entire dio- 
 cese. A distinguished concourse of priests and 
 Keeseville citizens headed by the bishop paid 
 the last honor to his remains, and his memory 
 will long be in benediction among those who 
 knew him. 
 
 He was succeeded by Father Guilbault the 
 present pastor, who was born in 1862 at L'As- 
 somption, Canada, made his entire course of 
 studies at the college in his native town, and 
 
208 KEESEVILLE. 
 
 was ordained there in 1881. After serving as 
 curate at Ogdensburg and Fort Covington he 
 was appointed to Keeseville in 1 883. 
 
 The work at Keeseville after Father Barnabe's 
 management he found pleasant and easy. A 
 new church was built at Peru for the benefit of 
 Catholics in that neighborhood. There are in the 
 parish over four hundred families numbering 
 two thousand souls and affording an average of 
 fourteen hundred communicants. Nearly three- 
 fourths of the families own their own property, 
 and are situated in comfort, and it will not be 
 long until a Catholic school lends its aid in ce- 
 menting the faith which so many good men under 
 adverse circumstances labored to increase and 
 perfect. 
 
AU a ABLE FORKS. 209 
 
 AU SABLE FORKS. 
 
 This village lies, like an egg in the nest, in the 
 very heart of the Adirondacks, on the route to the 
 Lake region. Every week there passes through 
 the village the famous stage-coach which carries 
 tourists from Saranac and St. Regis to the railroad 
 depot, a long but picturesque journey of thirty or 
 forty miles into the recesses of the mountains. 
 The village is built on both sides of the Au Sable 
 river — here little more than a mountain torrent — • 
 and straggles hither and thither in a clumsy, 
 irregular, crowded fashion wherever the close 
 overhanging hills would give a house a foothold. 
 The opening of the iron mines drew hither the 
 Irish and French as far back as 1830, and they 
 were visited occasionally by the priests who had 
 charge of Plattsburgh ; but tradition gives it that 
 Father Rooney, in 1840, was the first priest who 
 said Mass there and in Black Brook, and who 
 found a sufficient number of families in the place 
 to give hopes of its present independent position. 
 Father MacDonnell bought ground for a church in 
 1848 shortly after his arrival in Keeseville, and 
 
210 AU SABLE FORKS. 
 
 Father James Keveny in the summer of 1854 
 built a stone church of fair dimensions and neat 
 appearance. It was washed away by a freshet the 
 next year, in which many persons were drowned, 
 but the energetic priest and his congregation re- 
 paired the loss that very year, and were housed in 
 the present church building before the winter 
 closed in. The earliest residents in the place were 
 James Quirk, James Kelly, Mr. Lynch and Matthew 
 Dwyer, and among the trustees we find in the 
 earliest records the names of James Bracken, 
 Bernard Riley, Hugh M'Carthy, and James Lalor. 
 
 In 1868 Au Sable was made an independent 
 parish with the Rev. James Smith as pastor. A 
 great number of families, French and Irish, had 
 been drawn to the place by a boom in the iron 
 industry, and made a resident priest a necessity. 
 Father Smith remained eight years, and was after- 
 wards removed to Brasher. He was succeeded by 
 Rev. Hugh Shields, a talented Louvain graduate, 
 for some time a professor in Troy Seminary, and a 
 remarkably eloquent speaker. Father Shields, 
 with an interruption of a few months in the winter 
 of 1880, was connected with the parish until 
 January of 1881, when he died somewhat suddenly 
 after a brief illness. His successor was Father 
 Fitzgerald, who was again succeeded in 1884 by 
 Rev. Dennis Nolan the present pastor. 
 
 Father Nolan was born in Ireland in 1857, made 
 part of his classics there and part in America at St. 
 

 BEV. DENIS NOLAN. 
 
212 A U SABLE FORKS. 
 
 Michael's college, Toronto ; studied his theology at 
 Troy and was there ordained on the Christmas of 
 1881. He has been pastor of Fort Covington, and 
 chancellor of the diocese previous to his present 
 appointment. The duties imposed upon him are 
 not numerous, nor burdensome ; but circumstances 
 require of him much patience and tact in dealing 
 with a population as unsettled as the ocean. The 
 iron-works rise and decline with painful regularity, 
 and the people come and go accordingly, so that 
 work is always beginning and it is difficult to give 
 to parochial labor stability or to measure a work 
 by results, There are two hundred families in. 
 the parish, of which twenty-five are farmers, the 
 rest being iron-workers ; this number may be sud- 
 denly augmented if at any time the iron trade 
 should become prosperous. The church at Au 
 Sable is remarkable for its neatness and taste, and 
 it is worth a visitor's time to hear the children sing 
 at the high mass on Sunday. Like the sound of 
 the bell five miles below at Clintonville the visitor 
 carries away no prettier memory of Au Sable than 
 the voices of the children on a Sunday afternoon 
 beating the clear mountain air with the solemn 
 measures of the Tonus Peregrinus. 
 
RUDFORD. 213 
 
 BEDFORD. 
 
 This place is one of a range of mining villages 
 which lie around Lyon mountain looking down on 
 the fertile valley of Champlain. It is built among 
 the untouched stumps of the primeval wilderness, 
 and is sadly disfigured by the mining refuse cast 
 out of the bowels of the earth. As early as 1821 
 a few families found their way into this wilderness 
 headed by the agent of a lumber company, John 
 S. Foster, who built a saw-mill and grist-mill, and 
 later a glass manufactory which enjoyed a precari- 
 ous existence until 1852. 
 
 In 1847 a Canadian, Pierre Tremblay, discovered 
 the iron mines which capitalists worked afterwards 
 and in this way brought population and prosperity 
 to Redford. Previously Father Rogers of Platts- 
 burgh visited the Irish and French families resi- 
 dent there, and said Mass for them. They num- 
 bered about forty families. From that time until 
 the Oblates took charge of the Canadians of the dis- 
 trict Redford was attended by the priests of St. 
 John's church. 
 
 In 1853 the mission passed into the hands of the 
 
214 
 
 BEDFORD. 
 
 Oblates. Father Sallaz found but sixty families 
 in the place, and built for them a small chapel 
 which serves to-day as the sacristy of the new 
 church; but the mines being now in full blast the 
 population so rapidly increased that in the next 
 year, July 10th, 1854, he laid the corner-stone of a 
 spacious and elegant structure which was ready 
 for service a year later. From sixty families the 
 population jumped very suddenly to something 
 over six hundred, of which all but eighty are 
 Canadians, and work for the most part in the 
 mines. 
 
 The Oblates attended the mission until 1869, 
 when the Rev. N. Z. Lorraine was named by the 
 Bishop of Albany the first resident pastor, a posi- 
 , tion which he held for ten years and resigned to 
 return to his own diocese of Montreal. A few 
 years later he was made bishop and vicar-apostolic 
 of Pontiac in Canada. 
 
 He was succeeded in Redford by Father Decarie 
 of the parish of St. Henri of the Tanneries, Mont- 
 real, who remained until 1882, and began the con- 
 struction of a magnificent convent, which, under 
 the care of the Franciscan Sisters, has progressed 
 encouragingly to this day. 
 
 Father J. N. Beaudry succeeded him, and is the 
 present pastor. He was born in Canada in 1848, 
 made his classical studies at St. Marie de Monnoir, 
 his philosophy and theology partly at the same 
 same place and partly in Montreal, and was or- 
 
EEV. F. N. BEAUDBY. 
 
216 BEDFORD. 
 
 dained in 1873 by Bishop LaRocque of St. Hy- 
 acinthe. For five years he was director of the 
 college of St. Marie de Monnoir, was appointed to 
 Coopersville in 1878, to Mooer's Forks in 1881, 
 and finally to Bedford in 1882. In every place he 
 has distinguished himself as a priest of exceptional 
 ability, and the work confided to him has been 
 carried on in a way that has won the admiration 
 of his superiors and the respect and affection of 
 his people. In the mining wilderness he finds 
 many and severe labors, and suffers, as do his 
 brethren, from the tepidity of his people ; but the 
 influence of a good school, ably conducted under 
 his management, and of perfect Christian organi- 
 zation, will, it is certain, soon do away with luke- 
 warmness in the service of God. 
 
CADYVILLE. 217 
 
 CADYVILLE. 
 
 • 
 
 This village lies a few miles to the West of 
 Plattsburgh and is the centre of an industrious and 
 hard-working farming community. Along with a 
 district called the Patent it forms the parish of 
 Cadyville. The farming-land lying among the 
 rough foot-hills of the Adirondacks is not always 
 the most fertile nor easily cultivated. Catholics 
 found their way here with the emigrants of 1825, 
 and always attended the church at Plattsburgh, 
 whose priests up to the time of Father Maloney 
 had charge of them. The first settlers in the 
 Cadyville district were John Sullivan, John Judge, 
 Eugene and Patrick Corrigan, Edward Reilly, John 
 and Edward Ledwith, James Ryan, Philip Butler, 
 Dennis Farrell, and Eugene Sullivan ; in the 
 Patent, James McGinty, Philip Bernard, Owen 
 and James Fitzpatrick, Thomas Murray, Thomas 
 Dolan, William Quinn, and Michael Morgan. 
 
 As early as 1830 Mass was celebrated in the 
 house of Mr. McGinty by the priests who occa- 
 sionally stopped in Plattsburgh, probably by 
 Father McGilligan or his successor, but until the 
 coming of indefatigable Father Rooney nothing 
 was done towards organization. In 1840 he built 
 a church at the Patent which enjoys the singular 
 
EEV. JAMES m'GOWAN. 
 
CADYVILLE. 219 
 
 distinction (in the North) of having been dedicated 
 by Archbishop Hughes. St. James's church at 
 Cadyville was also begun by him at nearly the 
 same time and completed by Father Maloney. 
 
 The three districts of Dannemora, Cadyville, 
 and the Patent were in 1872 formed into an inde- 
 pendent parish and placed under the charge of 
 Rev. James .J. McGowan. Father McGowan built 
 a stone sacristy to Cadyville church, put in new 
 pews, and completed the decorations, besides add- 
 ing to the comfort and beauty of the parochial 
 residence by many additions and improvements. 
 
 In 1881 Dannemora was made an independent 
 parish. The united districts of Cadyville and the 
 Patent number one hundred families of good faith 
 and simple, honest character. There are three 
 hundred annual communions. Bishop Wadhams 
 administered confirmation several times, and the 
 parish has been visited by Bishops Hughes, 
 M'Closkey, and Conroy. 
 
 Rev. James J. McGowan was born in Ireland 
 on October 28, 1830. He made his preparatory 
 studies at Mt. Mellery, Ireland, and the Irish 
 college, Paris, and his theological course at Ottawa, 
 Canada, being ordained in May, 1866. He was 
 first appointed to Papineauville in Lower Canada, 
 finally adopted by Bishop Wadhams and appointed 
 to Cadyville, where he is much honored and re- 
 spected by his people, for his piety and devoted- 
 ness. 
 
220 BLACK BROOK. 
 
 BLACK BROOK. 
 
 This is the title given to a mission embracing 
 the three villages of Black Brook, Union Falls, 
 and Bloomingdale, which lie among the Adiron- 
 dacks, and are the most remote mountain parishes 
 of the diocese. Their history is in part separable, 
 but inasmuch as they all belonged at one time to 
 Keeseville, and later to Au Sable Forks, it is con- 
 sidered advisable to treat them as one parish. 
 
 The first Catholic settlers pushed their way into 
 the wilderness along with the stragglers who, as 
 early as 1828, began to wander from Canada into 
 the southern boundaries of the St. Lawrence. It 
 is but a score of miles from Black Brook to Keese- 
 ville, where, as early as 1820, a few Irish and 
 French had settled ; it was easy for the adven- 
 turous to reach it. Some good farming land lay 
 around Union Falls, and tanneries provided work 
 for the day-laborer. 
 
 The first Catholics attended Mass in Keeseville. 
 They were few in number. All the priests who 
 had at various times officiated in Plattsburgh and 
 Keeseville, from Father Gilligan down to the 
 division of the Plattsburgh parish, visited them on 
 rare occasions ; and mention is made of a Father 
 
• ' ■'■■'^'':/;;i;>:;:-:;j.>-':.r::;.::.^' ■ 
 
 BBV. MICHEL CHAKBONNEATT. 
 
222 
 
 BLACK BBOOK. 
 
 Petit having gone from Chazy to Keeseville as 
 early as 1829. 
 
 While the mission was attached to Keeseville it 
 had grov7n to such a size as warranted Father 
 James Keveny in the attempt to build a church 
 at Union Falls. It was finished in 1854, and 
 blessed under the title of St. Rose of Lima. For 
 twenty years it served as the house of worship 
 for all that country, until increasing population 
 brought other churches into existence. 
 
 During the government of Au Sable parish by 
 the Rev. James Smith, Black Brook had become a 
 place of unusual importance, and he built a church 
 there in 1875, capable of holding 400 persons. 
 Father Scanlan fitted it out with pews and an 
 organ, painted the building and placed an altar in 
 the sanctuary. 
 
 The mission became for the first time a really 
 independent parish upon the appointment of Rev. 
 Thomas Carroll of the diocese of Montreal to the 
 charge of Black Brook and its outside missions in 
 1881. He was pastor a little over one year. 
 During that time he had the church neatly fres- 
 coed, adorned with handsome statues, and pro- 
 vided with a new altar, a chalice, an ostensorium, 
 and necessary articles of church furniturci, He 
 also, built a parochial residence. His people gen- 
 erously assisted him in all his undertakings, and 
 much regretted the illness which forced him to 
 return home, where he died shortly after. 
 
 Father Michael Charbonneau, the present pas- 
 
BLACK BBOOK. 223 
 
 tor, succeeded him in 1882. He was born at St. 
 Benoit, Lower Canada, 1848; made his classical 
 studies in the colleges of St. Th^r^e and St. 
 Mary's (Montreal) ; his philosophy and theology 
 at the seminary of St. Ther^se. Bishop Fabre or- 
 dained him in 1877, and sent him to serve on the 
 Manitoba missions, where his experience with the 
 Orangemen nicely illustrates the barbarism and 
 bigotry of that order in the Dominion of 
 Canada. One morning as he was going out to say 
 Mass, seven or eight Orangemen abruptly entered 
 the house and threw themselves upon him. He 
 was beaten to the ground with the butt end of a 
 revolver, and dragged into the open air and across 
 the fields, a long distance by the heels ; while 
 those who followed struck at him with sticks and 
 revolvers, jumped on him and kicked him, and 
 otherwise ill-used him, until a wagon was reached, 
 and he was conveyed to the Orange village. The 
 thermometer was thirty degrees below zero, and 
 he was clothed in nothing heavier than a cassock. 
 He was thrown into a lonely room at the hotel, 
 without food or fire, his body bruised, his features 
 disfigured by wounds and clotted blood. A ten- 
 der-hearted woman dressed his wounds and ren- 
 dered him what assistance she dared, while the 
 Orangemen in the village gathered around the 
 window of his prison and hurled insults at the 
 victim they feared but longed to kill outright. 
 Apprehensive of consequences the leading citizens 
 let him go in the evening. He staggered on foot 
 
224 BLACK BROOK. 
 
 the five miles of distance, and for days lay in de- 
 lirium and at the point of death. For six weeks 
 he was confined to his house, and on recovery his 
 health was too shattered to endure mission life in 
 Manitoba longer. The authorities never troubled 
 themselves over the outrage, and the Catholics 
 very foolishly allowed the matter to rest. 
 
 Father Charbonneau returned to Montreal and 
 was appointed successively to Bedford and Keese- 
 ville in this diocese as assistant, and finally made 
 parish priest of Black Brook. 
 
 The debt on the church on his arrival amounted 
 $2,100, while the revenues were not sufficient to 
 carry it, and at the same time pay current ex- 
 penses. Amid some clamor the pew-rent was 
 increased, and a fixed annual subscription placed 
 upon the heads of families, a proceeding which 
 placed the parish out of difficulty at once. 
 
 Father Smith, in 1875, began a church at 
 Bloomingdale, which, for want of means, was dis- 
 continued. Father Charbonneau met with better 
 success. He built a smaU chapel 40 x 27, and on 
 the day of its dedication gave their first com- 
 munion to thirteen children. 
 
 At Black Brook there are 123 families of Cana- 
 dian blood ; and of Irish, 22 ; all animated with 
 fair religious dispositions. Two flourishing socie- 
 ties of the Rosary and Apostleship of Prayer 
 number 400 members, and do much good. 
 
 At Union Falls there are 63 families, all Irish, 
 nearly all farmers ; and of the 393 souls among 
 
BOGEESFIELD. 225 
 
 them, 300 are regular communicants. The present 
 pastor has placed their church in excellent con- 
 dition. 
 
 Bloomingdale has 20 Canadian and 15 Irish 
 families ; but has been almost destroyed as a parish 
 by the great number and fatal results of mixed 
 marriages. ' 
 
 The distance between the last-named place and 
 Black Brook is twenty-two miles, but the limits of 
 Father Charbonneau's jurisdiction are practically 
 unknown. He may be called at any moment to 
 ride fifty miles into the mountain recesses to min- 
 ister to the necessities of dying Catholics. These 
 solitudes are inhabited in the most unexpected 
 places by venturesome and careless Catholics. 
 The severe and lengthy winters, the miserable 
 roads of spring and summer make life and labor as 
 trying as endurance permits. Yet the faith 
 thrives, and the faithful priest holds aloft its ban- 
 ner with a steady arm and unfailing courage. 
 
 ROGERSFIELD. 
 
 This congregation has had but a brief existence, 
 having been cut off from the parish of Redford 
 in 1881. Previously it was attended by the 
 priests of Redford, Monseigneur Lorraine being the 
 first to say Mass for the inhabitants when the 
 
226 BOGEESFIMLD. 
 
 houses in the village did not number a round 
 dozen. Father Decaries built the church there 
 when the opening of. the mines brought to the 
 place an army of French Canadians, of whom 
 there are now three hundred families together 
 with one hundred of Irish extraction. 
 
 The first resident pastor was Father Lecomt, 
 who remained but one year and was succeeded by 
 Father Lachance now of Mooer's Forks. After 
 making extensive improvements on the church 
 property Father Lachance was replaced by Father 
 Demers the present pastor. The population is 
 engaged in the mines principally ; and the parish 
 has no farmers, as the Iron Company owns the 
 whole territory. There is as yet no school, much 
 as the district needs it ; but the place being new 
 will in time awaken to the necessity of introducing 
 that potent influence. 
 
 Rogersfield is the city of a day, having sprung 
 from nothing to the second place in the list of 
 Clinton County villages. It takes rank after 
 Plattsburgh, and so long as the mines hold out 
 will continue to increase in population and im- 
 portance. Connected with it are a few out- 
 missions known as the Junction, Settlement 81, 
 and Bradley's Pond, remote and impossible places 
 where seekers after wealth scrape and dig in per- 
 ennial obscurity. 
 
 Rev. L. B. Demers was born near Quebec in 
 1838, and made his entire course of studies with 
 the Lazanist congregation He was ordained in 
 
DANNEMOEA. 227 
 
 1859, and, after serving in various places through- 
 out the United States, attached himself to the 
 diocese of Ogdensburg and was finally appointed 
 to Rogersfield. 
 
 DANNEMORA. 
 
 This mission contains within its limits the 
 famous state prison, and formed for sixteen years 
 a part of the French parish of Plattsburgh. The 
 first Mass was said there in 1854, in the house of 
 Leon Ledoux, by the Oblate Father E. Cauvin, in 
 order to give the people of the district better 
 facilities for making their Easter duty. Fathers 
 Bernard and Sallaz gave a mission at the house of 
 Oliver Patenaude in December, 1855, and again 
 in 1856 in the house of Peter Kernan ; all the re- 
 ligious attention which the Catholics of the dis- 
 trict received for the first few years of theii? 
 corporate existence. 
 
 From 1856 they were regularly visited once a 
 month,, and Mass was said chiefly in the upper 
 part of a wheelwright's shop belonging to J. B. 
 Riel, and later in the log boarding-house of Oliver 
 Patenaude. Here on the first Sunday of August, 
 1858, after the Mass, it was seriously proposed to 
 build a church to the honor of God, sufficiently 
 large to hold the slowly increasing congregation. 
 
228 DANNEMORA. 
 
 Land for church and cemetery was obtained both 
 by gift and direct purchase ; a building of suitable 
 size was put up, and in January of 1859 Mass was 
 said for the first time in a chapel not very large, 
 but able to accommodate the congregation. It 
 was blessed under the title of St. Joseph. 
 
 Before the next winter itwas enlarged some fifteen 
 feet in order to provide a small sanctuary and ves- 
 try, and a bell was purchased and placed in the tower, 
 ringing out the Angelus on the mountain solitude 
 for the first time on New Year's day of 1860. The 
 Jubilee of 1861 demonstrated the necessity of a 
 larger church to hold the rapidly increasing popu- 
 lation. In that year Bishop M'Closkey visited the 
 parish and administered confirmation to a large num- 
 ber of persons. He urged the people very strongly to 
 begin a new and more commodious church, and in 
 accordance with his wishes the present structure 
 52 X 42 was biiilt and dedicated in June, 1862, by 
 Bishop Guigues of Ottawa, in presence of a great 
 concourse of priests and people. One-half of the 
 old church forms the sanctuary of the new, and the 
 other half the sacristy. Until 1869 the Oblate 
 Fathers faithfully served the parish in the order in 
 which their names appear in the history of St. 
 Peter's, Plattsburgh. 
 
 In that year, Bishop Conroy of Albany, ap- 
 pointed Father Lorraine pastor of Redford, Dan- 
 nemora and other small missions in the neighbor- 
 hood. He was presented to the congregation by 
 Father Sallaz, who announced with much feeling 
 
DANNEMORA. 229 
 
 that the care of the Oblates for that mission, which 
 had lasted over sixteen years, would now cease. 
 He confided them to the tender heart of the new 
 pastor. Dannemora was attached to Redford until 
 1872, when it was united to Cadyville and placed 
 in charge of Rev. J. McGowan, who remained its 
 pastor until 1881. In that year it was again at- 
 tached to Redford. Father Decaries made a com- 
 plete change in the interior of the church while he 
 had charge of it. The old seats, given to unex- 
 pected tumbling in the middle of the Mass, were 
 replaced by elegant pews ; and three altars, sur- 
 mounted by three beautiful statues, placed within 
 the church. 
 
 The mission now numbered two hundred fami- 
 lies — 142 Canadians and 58 Irish — all animated by 
 the very best dispositions, and Bishop Wadhams 
 felt justified in making of it an independent parish. 
 In May, 1883, Rev. George Belanger was appoint- 
 ed first parish priest. He was born in 1849 at 
 St. Cuthbert, Canada, made his entire course of 
 studies at Joliette college, where he was ordained 
 by Bishop Fabre in 1877, and taught moral and 
 dogmatic theology for a number of years. After 
 serving as assistant at Joliette and Redford for 
 two years he was appointed to Dannemora in 1883. 
 
PART V. 
 
 DISTRICT OF HOGANSBURGH. 
 
 The fertile lowland of the St. Lawrence and a 
 ridge of wild territory east and west of Malone 
 are embraced in this district. It is watered by 
 by numerous Adirondack rivers, and is perhaps the 
 most flourishing and the most Catholic portion of 
 the diocese. Farming, lumbering, and hop-raising 
 are the chief occupations of the people, who are a 
 simple, kindly, well-housed, and well-educated 
 body, strong in the faith, with certain exceptions, 
 and only needing a continual spurring to accom- 
 plish great things. The parishes were formed in 
 the following order : — 
 
 HOGANSBHRGH, 1836. 
 
 Attended by Rev. John McNulty, 1840 
 
 "Vacancy, )-843 
 
 Rev. Jas. Keveny, 1851 
 
 Rev. Thos. Keveny, 1855 
 
 Rev. Maurice Sheeha-n, 1859 
 
 Rev. F. McGiin, - 1862 
 
 Rev. Mr. De Luca, 1869 
 
 Very Rev. Thos. Walsh, 1878 
 
 Rev. Thos. Walshi 1879 
 R^y. M. J. Brown. 
 
DISTRICT OF BOGANSB UBGH. 231 
 
 M ALONE, 1849. 
 
 Attended by Rev. Bernard M'Cabe, 1858 
 
 Rev. A. Thaves, 1862 
 
 Rev. F. Van Compenhondt, 1867 
 
 Rev. J. J. Sherry, 1877 
 Rev. Wm. Rossiter. 
 
 Beashbe, 1860. 
 
 
 Rev. M. McDermott, 
 
 1870 
 
 Rev. M. MuUany, 
 
 1871 
 
 Rev. John O'Haire, 
 
 1872 
 
 Rev. Jas. Scanlan, 
 
 1876 
 
 Rev. Jas. Smith, 
 
 1883 
 
 Rev. Wm. Nyhan, 
 
 
 Chateaugay, 1863. 
 
 
 Rev. E. M. DePauw, 
 
 
 M ALONE (French), 1868. 
 
 Rev. J. B. Legrand, 1883 
 
 Rev. Mr. Blanchard, 
 
 FoET Covington, 1869. 
 
 Rev. M. C. Stanton, 1873 
 
 Rev. Thos. McNaUy, 1881 
 
 Rev. Denis Nolan, 1883 
 
 Rev. Chas. J. McMorrow. 
 
 Beushton, 1870. 
 
 Rev. D. A. Archambeault, 1873 
 Rev. P. J. Ryan, 1876 
 
 Rev. Mr. Normandeau. 
 
 Massena, 1871. 
 
 Rev. Edmond Walsh, 1872 
 
 Rev. Mr. Brennan, 1878 
 
 Rev. Mr. Kelleher. 
 
232 BISTBICT OF BOGANSBUBGff. 
 
 Teout Rivee, 1870. 
 
 Rev. Denis G. O'Keefe, 1871 
 
 Rev. P. H. Ryan, 1873 
 
 Rev. C. F. Turgeon. 
 
 Chektjbusco, 1876. 
 
 Rev. Mr. O'Rourke, 1878 
 
 Rev. Mr. Conlon, 1880 
 
 Rev. J. P. Murphy. 
 
 Constable, 1883. 
 
 Rev. J. J. Sherry. 
 
 St. Regis Falls, 1884. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Ouellette, 
 
 St. Regis, 1760. 
 
 Rev. Anthony Gordon, S. J., 1785 
 Vacancy, 
 
 Rev. Roderic McDonnell, 1806 
 
 Rev. Mr. Rinfret, 1807 
 
 Rev. J. B. Roupe, 1813 
 
 Rev. Jos. Marcoux, 1819 
 
 Rev. Mr. Dufresne, 1824 
 
 Rev. Jos. ValM, 1832 
 
 Rev. F, Marcoux, 1883 
 Rev. Mr. Mainville. 
 
 These missions are all provided with handsome 
 church structures, and there are churches also at 
 Burke, Norfolk, Louisburg, Ellenburgh, Titus- 
 ville, and North Lawrence. The only schools in 
 the entire district are at St. Regis, Brasher, and 
 Hogansburgh, but the day is not far distant when 
 an earnest attempt will be made to provide every 
 parish with a useful Catholic school. 
 
BOOANSBURGH. 233 
 
 HOGANSBURGH. 
 
 The site now occupied by the village of Ho-' 
 gansburgh was once a settlement of French Cana- 
 dians wlio had established a saw-mill on the St. 
 Regis River, running through the town, and thence 
 floated their rafts to the market at Montreal. 
 Father Anthony Gordon, the Jesuit who establish- 
 ed the Indian Mission at St. Regis is said to have 
 begun this saw-mill, and to have established the 
 Canadians there in a village known as St. Regis 
 Mills, but the tradition of the affair is obscure and 
 uncertain. A mill was burned there in 1804, but 
 in December of 1808 there were no mills in exist- 
 ence. Later two Frenchmen named Beron and 
 Bouget erected mills on the river, and were suc- 
 ceeded by Soufa^on, and Jean Baptiste Parissien 
 who left in 1816. 
 
 All the land in this neighborhood belonged at 
 one time to the Indians of St. Regis, who conceded 
 a certain amount of their territory to white set- 
 tlers. They receive from the government two 
 hundred dollars a year, for the use of the water- 
 power in Hogansburgh. In 1818 an Irish Catholic 
 named Michael Hogan bought a tract of land 
 known as Township No. 1, established there a 
 number of settlers, and built a grist-mill on the 
 River St. Regis. Hogansburgh was named after 
 
234 HOGANSBURGm 
 
 him, and Bombay, a few miles distant, was so called 
 in compliment to his wife whose former home had 
 been the commercial capital of the East Indies. 
 This Hogan had made a fortune in the East, had 
 served as American consul at Valparaiso, Chili, 
 and was for some time a merchant in the city of 
 New York. He met with many reverses of for- 
 tune but was distinguished always " for his enter- 
 prise, intelligence, and probity, a hospitable and 
 liberal disposition, and the urbanity of his man- 
 ners." He died in Washington on the 20th of 
 March 1833, aged 68. 
 
 The first Catholic settlers reached the district 
 by way of Montreal as early as 1820. They were 
 few in number and lived in a scattered fashion, 
 attending Mass when they could at St. Regis 
 village and making long and tiresome foot-jour- 
 neys to receive the sacraments. The registers of 
 St. Regis show a queer mixture of Irish and Indian 
 names. Among those who first emigrated I find 
 the names of John Keenan, John Hammill, Peter 
 Hannan, Jas. McNally, David O'Neill, Chas. Burke, 
 Samuel Hamon, Murtagh Kennedy, Lanty Adams, 
 Philip "Walsh, Peter Daly, Maurice O'Neill, Thos. 
 Monahan, Thos. Ward, Henry Ward, John Mac- 
 Adams and Jas. Murphy. When the numbers of 
 Catholics had increased and communication with 
 one another became more frequent an attempt was 
 made to build a log church a few miles west of 
 the town at a place called Kavanagh's Corners ; 
 but a priest, whose name was not remembered, 
 
EEV. MICHAEL BBOWN. 
 
236 HOOANSBUROS. 
 
 probably Father Rafferty of Plattsburgb, happen- 
 ing to visit the village at that time, strongly advised 
 the people to wait until they could afford to build 
 in the village itself. The ground in the neighbor- 
 hood vras then given over to the uses of a ceme- 
 tery. In the winter of 1826-27, Bishop Dubois of 
 New York visited St. Regis. During his stay he 
 gathered the people together in a barn belonging 
 probably to David O'Neill and urged them to build 
 a church, an advice followed a few years later, 
 when, under the counsel of Father Salmon of Og- 
 densburg, a stone church, 60 by 40 feet, was built 
 in the village, where it stands until this day, on 
 land donated by Mr. Hogan, who also presented 
 the timber. The first Mass was said in it by 
 Father Foley, who had succeeded Father Salmon 
 in Ogdensburg, but as soon as the church was 
 fairly begun Bishop Dubois again visited the 
 neighborhood, and seeing the need of the people, 
 appointed the Rev. Father McNulty pastor of 
 the whole north district between Ogdensburg 
 and Lake Champlain. 
 
 From the territory then embraced in Father Mc- 
 Nulty's jurisdiction have since been made the 
 parishes of Massena, Fort Covington, Brasher, 
 Brushton, Trout River, Constable, Malone, Cha- 
 teaugay and Cherubusco. Some idea can be had, 
 therefore, of the labors imposed on Father Mc- 
 Nulty when in 1836 he came to take charge of his 
 large parish. The floor was not yet laid in the 
 church, nor was there a parochial residence. The 
 
HOGANSBURGH. 237 
 
 pastor finished the church, and for four years was 
 active in promoting the faith, buying land in 
 promising towns, urging the people to build, and 
 building himself when he had the opportunity. 
 The close of his administration was unfortunate. 
 Charges were made against him by bitter-minded 
 Protestants and disaffected Catholics, which tlie 
 whole tenor of his life from first to last entirely 
 belied. He left the diocese, and retired to Hamil- 
 ton, Canada, since which, in a village called Dun- 
 das, he built a home for the destitute, presented it 
 to the Sisters of Providence, and died within its 
 walls at an advanced age a few years ago. He 
 was thoroughly liked by his people, and left an 
 honorable memory with them. 
 
 After his departure a vacancy of three years 
 occurred, and the people were attended by the 
 priest of St. Regis, and by Father Moore of Hunt- 
 ington. In 1843 Father James Keveny arrived to 
 take charge of the parish, and remained in it until 
 1851, a period of eight years. He built the resi- 
 dence, and consolidated the work which Father 
 McNulty had so well begun, but finding the extent 
 of country too great for one man he advised the 
 bishop in 1849 to cut off the Malone district and 
 to make it an independent parish. As a result 
 Hogansburgh was confined to Massena, Brusher, 
 Fort Covington and Constable. Bishop M'Closkey 
 visited the parish in 1851 and administered confir- 
 mation. 
 
238 SOGAffSBURGH. 
 
 The priests who followed Father Keveny suc- 
 ceeded one another in this order : 
 
 Rev. Thomas Keveny until 1855, during whose 
 term the parish was reduced still more by the cut- 
 ting off of Brusher Falls. 
 
 Rev Maurice Sheehan, now of Albany, until 1859. 
 
 Rev. F. McGiin until 1862. 
 
 Rev. Thos. De. Luca, an Italian, until 1869, dur- 
 ing whose term Fort Covington was made a parish, 
 and Constable with Trout River added to Malone. 
 
 Rev. Thos. E. Walsh, the present vicar-general, 
 until 1878. The church having grown too small 
 for the needs of the parish Father Walsh proceeded 
 to erect a handsome brick structure capable of 
 seating 1200 at a cost of 125,000. It is one of the 
 handsomest churches in the diocese. 
 
 Father Thomas Walsh until 1879. 
 
 Father Michael J. Brown until the present date- 
 Father Brown was born in Malone in 1850, made 
 his classes in Baltimore, his philosophy and theology 
 in Troy, where he was ordained in 1876 by Bishop 
 McQuaid of Rochester. He was first stationed at 
 Clayton, then at Redwood, and finally appointed 
 to Hogansburgh which he has served faithfully 
 since 1879. In that time debt of 17,000 has been 
 removed from the church, and a set of stations in 
 bas-relief, Munich workmanship, placed on its 
 walls. In 1880, under his patronage and encourage- 
 ment the Sisters of Mercy built a large and elegant 
 boarding-school in the village, which has flourished 
 with wonderful vigor. 
 
MALONK 239 
 
 There are in the parish 130 families, all farmers 
 and all of old time faith and virtue, unaffected by 
 the indifference and scepticism of the Champlain 
 and Black River portions of the diocese, simple in 
 their customs and style of living and comfortably 
 situated. Their children are growing up like their 
 fathers, and the future of the parish spiritually 
 and financially is well assured. 
 
 MALONE. 
 
 Fifty miles east of Ogdensburg stands the town 
 of Malone, by its size and importance ranking high 
 among the parishes of the diocese. In 1801 it 
 was but an insignificant village, a sort of append- 
 age to Fort Covington, but happening to be on 
 the line of the new railroad it owes to this lucky 
 chance its sudden rise to prominence. Catholics 
 found their way here as early as 1820. In 1826 
 the brothers McFarlane, and Mallon, with Mr. 
 Chas. Carlyle, Mr. Cosgrove, and Mr. Darqy 
 ■were settled in the town along with others of 
 their race. Old friends and relations settled beside 
 them, and most of the present congregation now 
 own for houses and lands and permanent homesteads 
 in the fertile region. Their steady and even lives 
 won for them at the outset the good will of their 
 neighbors, who were somewhat alarmed at the 
 
240 MALONE. 
 
 invasion of a people commonly supposed to be the 
 barbarous professors of an idolatrous worship. 
 
 For many years no priest appeared to serve them. 
 Mass was said at no nearer place than St. Regis, 
 twenty-five miles distant. It was not an uncom- 
 mon feat for the Malone Catholics, men and wo- 
 men, to walk to the Indian village for the festi- 
 vals of Christmas and Easter. Mrs. Healy, an old 
 pioneer, told the writer with much vivacity the 
 story of her journey thither in winter time, when 
 the roads were good, the snow hard and firm and 
 the nights bright for walking. Twenty-five miles on 
 foot to hear Mass ! There was a faith whose fervor 
 would honorably compare with that of the early 
 Christians. Father Moore, a Canadian priest, came 
 at long intervals to minister to the wants of the 
 new community. The first Mass was said probably 
 in June of the year 1831 in the house of John Mc- 
 Farlane and Mr. Bernard Mallon, then a young man 
 just arrived from Ireland, now an octogenarian, 
 served it. Later Father Rafferty, who was parish 
 priest of Plattsburgh, preached one afternoon in 
 the court-house for the benefit of a mixed congre- 
 gation. It was not until 1836 that Father Mc- 
 Nulty received from Bishop Dubois his faculties 
 for the parish of Hogansburgh, which included as 
 much of the surrounding country as he was able to 
 traverse without infringing on the territories of 
 Ogdensburg and Plattsburgh. 
 
 Father McNulty remained until 1840 when an 
 unfortunate incident put an end to his parochial 
 
EKV. WILLIAM BOSSITEE. 
 
242 MALONE. 
 
 labors. In the meantime he had purchased ground 
 in Malone, and built a small wooden church 
 capable of holding about one hundred and fifty- 
 people. It was finished in 1837 and Michael 
 Cowan was one of the first trustees of St. Patrick's 
 congregation. Father McNulty was succeeded 
 by Father James Keveny who found the parish 
 too large for one priest to attend. In 1849 he 
 persuaded the bishop to form Malone into an in- 
 dependent parish. 
 
 Father Bernard M'Cabe was the first pastor. 
 He remained until 1858 and was for a time as- 
 sisted by Father Callan, a young man who died 
 a few years after his ordination. Father M'Cabe 
 built a transept to the church. He was acci- 
 dentally burned to death after nine years' stay in 
 Malone. 
 
 Father A. Thaves succeeded him. He was a 
 Frenchman, and was sent to his charge by Bishop 
 M'Closkey whom he had been assisting in the 
 Albany Cathedral. The congregation had in- 
 creased rapidly in wealth and numbers within a 
 few years, and he therefore found it necessary to 
 provide a larger church for their accommodation. 
 The new structure was begun in 1862, the foun- 
 dations were laid and the frame put up when he 
 was called away to another mission in the same 
 year. He is at present engaged in parish work in 
 the city of New Orleans. 
 
 Father Francis Van Compenhondt, the ener- 
 getic Belgian church-builder, succeeded him. He 
 
M ALONE. 243 
 
 had just provided several eastern parishes with 
 churches and was thirsting for fresh opportunities 
 to build. Under him it was completed, a plain 
 substantial brick edifice large enough for the 
 present and future needs of the parish. Bishop 
 M'Closkey dedicated it. 
 
 In 1867 Father James Sherry succeeded to the 
 charge of the parish. He remained until 1877, 
 during which time the congregation met with 
 unexpected and severe reverses. In 1871 the 
 church which Father Francis had finished took 
 fire and was burned to the ground. The times 
 were good however, money and work were plenty, 
 and the building of a new and much larger church 
 was at once begun. Its corner-stone was laid 
 with impressive ceremonies on July 4th, 1871, by 
 Bishop Wadhams, then vicar-general of the dio- 
 cese of Albany. In November of that year the 
 walls were up, the roof on, and the work being 
 rapidly pushed to completion when a severe wind- 
 storm demolished the entire structure. Not dis- 
 heartened, the pastor proceeded to build again 
 and in the spring of 1872 the basement was pre- 
 pared for the Sunday Mass while the rest of 
 the church was closed in and left to await such 
 a time as would see the parish financially re- 
 covered from the disaster. 
 
 Father William Rossiter succeeded to the parish 
 in the year 1877 while the church was still in its 
 unfinished condition. Mass was said in the base- 
 ment for eleven years, it having been determined 
 
244 MALONE. 
 
 that no more debt should be incurred until the 
 parish was able to carry the burden. In 1880 
 Father Rossiter began his preparations to finish 
 the building. The church is one of the largest in 
 the diocese, and the expense of even a slight 
 decoration very large. A New York artist frescoed 
 the interior in a simple and yet attractive style, 
 the panels of the sanctuary were filled with scen'es 
 from the life of Our Lord, an attractive altar was 
 put in and in 1883 the edifice was dedicated with 
 great splendor to the service of God. Bishop 
 Wadhams performed the ceremony, and Bishop 
 O'Farrell of Trenton preached the sermons. Many 
 neighboring priests were present and a few from 
 the diocese of New York. It was with a sense of 
 deep thanksgiving that the people saw themselves 
 once more in possession of a good church and a 
 reasonable prospect ahead of recovery from the 
 disasters of past years. Since 1877 a debt of 
 twenty-five thousand dollars has been paid off, and 
 the sum which remains will soon disappear under 
 the careful management of the pastor with the 
 generous assistance of a willing people. 
 
 It is well understood what a heavy weight on 
 the general progress, what a damper on the faith, 
 is the presence of a great debt upon a congrega- 
 tion. It has well-nigh paralyzed the people of 
 Malone. For years the spiritual life has been 
 stagnant, but not altogether without a certain 
 development. Bishop M"Gloskey visited the town 
 in 1864 and Bishop Conroy in 1867. Bishop 
 
MALONE. 245 
 
 Wadhams administered confirmation in 1878, 1881, 
 1883, to two hundred and seTenty-one children. 
 A community of Sisters once managed a convent 
 and parochial school in the city, but were com- 
 pelled from lack of support to depart to Hogans- 
 burgh and it will be a long time before the parish 
 will have strength sufficient to do its share 
 towards the education of the children. Its ter- 
 ritory has been gradually diminished since the 
 first formation of the parish. Consta,ble, Trout 
 River, Brushton, Chateaugay, are now independ- 
 ent parishes with resident priests, while the 
 French residents of Malone have their own 
 church. Three hundred families, mostly farmers, 
 compose the Catholic population, and the esti- 
 mated value of their ecclesiastical property is 
 $65,000. 
 
 Father Rossiter, the present parish priest, was 
 born in St. John's, Canada, in 1843, made his 
 classics in Montreal, and his theology in Troy, 
 where he was ordained in the year 1874. After 
 serving the mission of Redwood for a short time 
 he came to Malone in 1877, and has since done 
 good work both in the troublesome matter of 
 paying the debt aud in the more important affair 
 of waking and strengthening the faith of a peo- 
 ple weighed down with much adversity, but now 
 enjoying a moderate and well-earned prosperity. ■ 
 
246 BBASHEB FALLS. 
 
 BRASHER FALLS. 
 
 Brasher carries the reputation of being the 
 banner parish of the diocese both from its enter- 
 prise and from the strong Catholic spirit of its 
 people. The first Catholics settled there around 
 the year 1835, and by gradual accessions from 
 the old country, their numbers swelled into great 
 proportions. Their territory was included in 
 the parish of Hogansburgh, whither the people 
 went to Mass. The more distant from the parish 
 town attended Potsdam. But in 1851 Father 
 James Keveny of Hogansburgh built, one mile 
 outside the town, the church structure which 
 with various additions has served the people to 
 this day. It was built after the fashion peculiar 
 to church work in the extreme North. " Bees " 
 were held for digging the foundations, hauling 
 the lumber and erecting the frame, and money 
 was raised by voluntary subscription. After or- 
 ganizing the parish and while the church was 
 building Mass was said in the houses of Bernard 
 ScuUen, Bernard Lantry and James Murray ; 
 houses which should be held in veneration by the 
 people. Father James himself dedicated the new 
 church. Brasher was afterwards attended from 
 Potsdam by Father Philip Keveny and Father 
 McGlynn. 
 
- - / ; 
 
 KEY. WM. B. NYHAN. 
 
248 BBASHEB FALLS. 
 
 In 1860 the Catholic population had increased 
 to such an extent that a resident pastor was 
 needed. The building of canals and railroads 
 had brought over a large Irish emigration from 
 which Brasher residents had picked out and 
 coaxed to their neighborhood friends, relatives 
 and neighbors, all from the County Cork, the 
 majority carrying the names of Hanley, Murray, 
 or Lynch. The French Canadians had also found 
 their way in considerable numbers into the town, 
 so that Father McDermott, the first resident pastor, 
 when he came to take charge of the parish in 
 1860 found a large congregation awaiting him, 
 generous in their Catholicity, simple in their 
 habits, and retaining all of the old country fervor 
 and innocence. Father McDermott worked 
 fciithfully among them for ten years. He built 
 galleries in the church, put in a new altar, built 
 a parochial residence and removed all debt. In 
 1865 Bishop M'Closkey visited the parish, and 
 was received in much the same hearty fashion 
 as at Chateaugay. He confirmed one hundred 
 persons, and commended the people for the 
 good work they were doing. Father McDermott 
 died much regretted in September of 1870, and is 
 buried in the parish graveyard among the people 
 he served. 
 
 Father Michael Mullany, now of the Albany 
 diocese, was pastor until 1871, and Father O'Hare, 
 since dead, until 1872. The latter built a church 
 in North Lawrence at an expense of five thousand 
 
BRASHES FALLS. 249 
 
 dollars for the benefit of the people at that end of 
 the parish. 
 
 Father James Scanlan succeeded him and re- 
 mained until 1876. The poet-priest of the South, 
 Father Ryan, gave a mission in Brasher in 1874, 
 Avhich is still remembered for the commotion it 
 created and the good it accomplished. 
 
 Father James Smith succeeded to the parish in 
 1876 and remained until 1883. In the firstyear of 
 his stay a mission was given to the English speak- 
 ing parishioners and another to the French. The 
 latter, in order to be faithfully present at all the 
 exercises, pitched their tents around the church 
 and there remained in picturesque assemblage 
 until the mission was over. 
 
 Father William Nyhan, the present pastor, was 
 born in Cork, Ireland, in 1846, and came to America 
 when two years old. His family resided in 
 Syracuse where his education began. In Niagara 
 College he made his classics and philosophy, studied 
 theology in Troy Seminary, was ordained in 
 October of 1869 by Bishop Conroy, and appointed 
 to the curacy of St. John's church, Albany. His 
 first parish was Lowville where he remained for 
 twelve years, and which he left to take charge of 
 his present mission. Since his arrival in Brasher 
 he has built a rectory at a cost of four thousand 
 dollars, and has procured the services of a religious 
 order in establishing a day and boarding school 
 for his people. A suitable building has been 
 
250 CHATEAUGAY. 
 
 bought and one hundred and sixty scholars are in 
 attendance. 
 
 The Catholic population of Brasher had reached 
 the height of its strength and importance when 
 the war broke out. The new generation had all 
 the virtue, simplicity and fidelity of the old, and 
 the quiet routine of Catholic life was unbroken by 
 worldly excitement. The civil war gave the 
 parish its first shock. The young men became 
 soldiers and rarely returned to the North. Their 
 example drew many after them, and the West has 
 drained the district of much of its needed popula- 
 tion. The parish now numbers two hundred 
 families, all as honest and virtuous as their pre- 
 decessors and all prosperous. It speaks well for 
 the priests who have had them in charge that they 
 preserved them through so many years from the 
 dangers into which their neighbors too often feU. 
 Bishop Wadhams has made the parish his special 
 care, has visited it eight or ten times, and in 1884 
 there confirmed two hundred and fifty persons. 
 
 CHATEAUGAY. 
 
 This parish was at one time part of Malone. It 
 is situated twelve miles east of Malone, and is well 
 known to tourists by its famous chasm, a deep 
 fissure in the earth through which run the waters 
 
BEV. EDMOND DE FAXTW. 
 
252 CHATEAUGAY. 
 
 of the Chateaugay river. The first priest who 
 , said Mass in the neighborhood may have been any of 
 the priests who had charge of the Hogansburgh 
 mission prior to 1847, but it is not remembered 
 that any priest visited Chateaugay, except on a 
 sick call, previous to the arrival of Rev. Bernard 
 M'Cabe in Malone in 1849. In 1840 Mr. John 
 O'Neill of Cherubusco, and Messrs. John Hogan, 
 James Dwyer and Edward Langto met in the 
 village tavern and drew up a petition to Bishop 
 Hughes of New York, asking for a priest to attend 
 their mission, a petition which neither Bishop 
 Hughes nor Bishop M'Closkey was able to grant 
 for more than twenty years afterwards. 
 
 In 1844 Father James Keveny built a good-sized 
 church for the congregation, and Mass was said in 
 it at rare intervals, as often as a priest in charge of 
 twelve mission's could find his way there. Mass 
 was oftener said when Father Bernard M'Cabe 
 took charge of Malone. In 1857 a tremendous 
 wind-storm destroyed the church, and Father 
 Thaves built another of which only the bare walls 
 were erected when he left Malone. Bishop 
 M'Closkey once visited the church in 1850 and 
 administered confirmation. 
 
 Chateaugay was made an independent parish in 
 1863, with Rev. Edmond De Pauw as pastor. 
 Father De Pauw is still resident priest in Chateau- 
 gay after twenty-two years of faithful and success- 
 ful service. He was born in Belgium in 1830, 
 made his classical studies in his native land, and 
 
CHATEAUGAY. 2f3 
 
 a course of philosophy and theology in Italy. He 
 had the honor of receiving deaconship at the hands 
 of Cardinal Pecci, now Pope Leo XIII, and was 
 ordained priest in 1854. For six years more he 
 pursued his studies in Italy. In 1860 he came to 
 America, and devoted himself to missionary life, 
 being first statiened at Syracuse, and afterwards 
 as assistant at Malone, from which he received his 
 appointment to Chateaugay. In the district then 
 embraced by the parish there were almost six 
 hundred Irish and French families, the former 
 being slightly in the majoritj'. The work to be 
 done among them was something incredible. 
 Father De Pauw first turned his attention to com- 
 pleting the church, which, owing to various causes, 
 was still in an unfinished state. When this was 
 done he bought a residence. In 1863, Bishop 
 M'Closkey visited the parish and administered con- 
 firmation to one hundred and fifty persons. The 
 bishop was received with old-time pomp and en. 
 thusiasm. A band from Malone headed a proces- 
 sion of children, to conduct him to the church and 
 back again. The new graveyard, which had been 
 bought, graded, and fenced in within six weeks, 
 was solemnly blessed on this occasion, and the 
 bishop took back with him a pleasant memory of 
 his visit to Chateaugay. Nowhere in the North, 
 as he himself afterward observed, had he been re- 
 ceived with such a display of reverent affection. 
 Bishop Conroy also visited the parish in 1868, and 
 confirmed five hundred children. Bishop Wad- 
 
254 CHATEAUGAT. 
 
 hams made his visitations in 1872, '75, '78, '80, '81, 
 and '83, and confirmed eight hundred and twenty- 
 five altogether. Finding the parish too large for 
 one priest to attend satisfactorily, Father De Pauw 
 gave up the mission of Ellenburgh in 1868, and 
 that of Cherubusco in 1872, in which place he 
 had either begun or completed a church. Burke 
 was given up in 1883, the church of which Father 
 De Pauw — the congregation having purchased it 
 without his consent, — paid for. In the twenty- 
 three years of his administration he has expended 
 on Chateaugay alone the sum of fl2,000. The 
 value of the church property is there estimated 
 at §18,000. Two hundred and fifty families, mostly 
 farmers, constitute this parish. 
 
 Such is the history of the exterior and material 
 development of Chateaugay, which would be in- 
 complete without an extended notice of the growth" 
 of Catholic virtue among the scattered people. 
 The Irish came to the neighborhood as far back as 
 1825, the French somewhat later. The building 
 of the Ogdensburg railroad, more than trebled 
 the population, and brought to the parish elements 
 most undesirable. It was next to absurdity to ex- 
 pect that a priest stationed in Hogansburgh, forty 
 miles distant, with an immense parish on his hands, 
 could do any effective work amojig the people. 
 They were practically without restraint for forty 
 years. In that time heresy and vice made sad 
 havoc with their faith and virtue. The loose doc- 
 trinal opinions of Americans infected both parents 
 
CHATEAUGAT. 255 
 
 and children with false ideas of their duty and of 
 the church, and made hundreds nothing more then 
 nominal Catholics ; while their moral conduct 
 found no guide or corrective, except those which 
 innumerable whisky-shops and unlimited danc- 
 ing were able to supply. When Father De Pauw 
 made his iirst vi^t to the parish, Whisky Lane was 
 pointed out to him as the residence of scandalous 
 French and Irish Catholics, whose lives were any- 
 thing but Catholic. His attempt to examine the 
 condition of the church was made vain by the 
 prompt action of a trustee, who locked the door in 
 his face. The church itself was little better than 
 a barn, with no pews, badly heated, and so un- 
 finished that the snow found entrance, and the 
 sacred wine froze in the chalice. When the priest 
 made preparations to introduce pews into the 
 church, the twelve trustees protested, and finding 
 their protest vain, resigned. A collection was an- 
 nounced for the second Sunday to raise funds for 
 purchasing wine, breads, altar furniture, and other 
 necessaries. Twenty-five coppers were collected. 
 These were a few of the incidents which occurred 
 during the first months of Father Edmond's stay, 
 and which illustrate the condition of the parish. 
 A people with little faith and low morals, spend- 
 ing their substance on drink, and their virtue and 
 health in riotous living and drunkenness, spurred 
 to attend church only by a kind of feeble self-re- 
 spect which was more a tradition than a reality ; 
 ungenerous, disobedient, irreligious, and indifi'er- 
 
256 VHATEAUGAT. 
 
 ent i a severe climate to work in, and an extent of 
 territory which almost prevented anything like 
 consolidation ; no sympathy and no support except 
 from the distant bishop ; these were the difficul- 
 ties which Father De Pauw, and Father Kebeney, 
 and all the early priests of this diocese had to 
 contend with in laying the foundations of the 
 faith in the hearts of the people. 
 
 All these difficulties have mostly disappeared. 
 How the work was done a Catholic fully under- 
 stands. The grace of God is always with the will- 
 ing worker. Father De Pauw fixed his parish on 
 a firm financial basis. He corrected disobedience 
 and rebellion by a firm stand for authority ; he 
 organized temperance societies, and fought whisky- 
 selling and whisky-drinking in the confessional and 
 at the polls ; he introduced the various Catholic de- 
 votions into Catholic families ; he .preached, taught 
 the catechism and rained upon his people supplies 
 of cheap literature ; he brought them to the sac- 
 raments as often as possible. His influence was 
 everywhere for good and it was constant for 
 twenty years. No man assisted by the grace of 
 God can work in this fashion and for this time in 
 vain. Years ago the fruits of the work began to 
 ripen and fall. Whisky law has disappeared, so 
 have the dances, the socials, the youthful immor- 
 ality, the public scandals. The spirit of obedience 
 and of piety strongly prevails. Three thousand 
 communions and confessions are made yearly by 
 two hundred and fifty families. The people are 
 
-' NOTBE DAME OF MALONE. 257 
 
 wealthy in part, and nearly all are in comfort. In 
 the town the no-license law was carried this year 
 by three hundred majority as against a majority of 
 one six or seven years ago. At the beginning of 
 his work Father De Pauw despaired of effecting 
 any good among the people, and wrote to Bishop 
 M'Closkey asking to be removed. The bishop 
 urged him to remain, to hold on for a little while, 
 as he had seen a great improvement in the people 
 within a few years, and was hopeful of changes 
 for the better. His hopes have been more than 
 realized. There is great work still to be done 
 among them ; for the leaven of Protestant heresy, 
 which agitates the air we breathe, is faintly work- 
 ing among them as among all congregations. 
 Catholic literature has not yet the strong encour- 
 agement from them which it should have. But 
 patience ! There is a time for all things, and we 
 are on the threshold of a new era for the Ameri- 
 can branch of the true church and for its current 
 literature. So much has been accomplished that 
 one can hope for almost anything from this poor 
 but vigorous diocese of the North. 
 
 NOTRE DAME OF MALONE. 
 
 In the centre of Malone, facing an elegant park, 
 stands the church of the French Canadians. Its 
 exterior is very plain and modest, but the repose 
 
258 NOTRE DAME OF MALONE. 
 
 of its surroundings lends it an air of strength, and 
 religious majesty. One feels, that it is the house 
 of God, and involuntarily adores. Such as it is, 
 the little church is a beautiful expression of the 
 faith which animated the pastor and people who 
 built it, an eloquent witness of their devotion and 
 love towards the God who deigned to dwell among 
 them. It is a clear evidence of what the Canadians 
 are able to do in the United States in spite of their 
 poverty and other disadvantages when directed 
 and encouraged by a priest who lives only for 
 them. 
 
 Seventeen years ago there was little sign of 
 the organization which to-day gives such impor- 
 tance and strength to the French Canadians of 
 Malone. There were then in and around the 
 town 550 families without any place of assemblage, 
 and destitute of all means of reviving or reanimat- 
 ing their faith and patriotism. Thirty or forty 
 families faithful to their religious principles fre- 
 quented the Irish church ; the rest went nowhere, 
 but grovelled for the most part in lamentable 
 ignorance and degradation. God had pity on his 
 people, and gave them shortly signal evidence of 
 his mercy and power. It pleased Him to select 
 Rev. Father Legrand, for three years pastor at 
 Keeseville, as the instrument of his designs in their 
 behalf, animating him with a courage which noth- 
 ing could weaken. 
 
 Father Legrand arrived in Malone Nov. 29, 1868. 
 The next day he bought a house near the park 
 
■■r-^\.-!&v' 
 
 BEV. FATHEB BLANCHABD. 
 
260 NOTBE DAME OF MALONE. 
 
 and transformed the principal part of it into a 
 chapel. Towards the end of the winter, aided 
 very much by Edward Cherner, Louis Langlois, 
 Joseph Langlois, Oliver St. Come, Joseph Dumas 
 and a few other faithful and devoted Canadians, 
 he undertook the task of building a church. In 
 the month of March, 1869, he bought the land on 
 which the church was to be built. His enter- 
 prise was looked upon by all as a piece of extrav- 
 agant folly. But God wished to save his people, 
 impossible as seemed the task, and what appeared 
 in the beginning a rash venture, became a grand 
 success. 
 
 Thd beginnings wese disheartening, the obstacles 
 many and powerful. The foundations of the 
 church were laid May, 16, 1869 ; so low were the 
 finances that the idea of engaging an architect 
 had to be put aside. Still the work went on. In 
 June, Bishop Wadhams, then vicar-general of 
 Albany, solemnly blessed the corner-stone, and on 
 August, 15th, Father Legrand celebrated for the 
 first time Holy Mass in the Church of Our Lady of 
 Malone. It was indeed on that day only a large 
 barn 108 feet long, 42 wide and 35 high, roughly 
 put together, and without other altar than a rough 
 wood structure, but its pews were already hired 
 by enterprising members of the congregation, and 
 a beautiful statue of Our Lady, which seemed to 
 scintillate with joy at the honor paid that day to 
 her Divine Son, stood in the sanctuary. The 
 people assembled in large numbers. Everyone 
 
NOTRE DAMS OF MALONE. 261 
 
 was stunned with emotion when the priest as- 
 cended the altar and his voice was heard in the 
 poor building, and when he addressed the people 
 in words of congratulation and encouragement 
 tears of joy moistened many a cheek. The good 
 feeling generated that day did not abate, atten- 
 dance at Mass became larger each Sunday. The 
 exterior of the church was finished before winter, 
 and the Canadians, supposedly so poor, furnished 
 between August 16, and December 25, over three 
 thousand dollars towards the church. In the 
 following year the revenues amounted to $4,378. 
 
 Soon the church became too small for the con- 
 gregation. In 1874, a church was built at Con- 
 stable, six miles north of Malone, for eighty-four 
 Canadian families who could not come to Malone. 
 This church was put under the patronage of St. 
 Francis Assissi and transferred to Trout River 
 district. In 1877, a third church was built at 
 Titusville, nine miles south of Malone, at the en- 
 trance to the Adirondacks,.for seventy-two fami- 
 lies who resided there scattered through the 
 woods and among the mountains. The people were 
 rather poor and careless, and unwilling to make 
 any sacrifices for their religion. Father Legrand 
 with the help of his own family, Mr. Lemarie, Mr. 
 Louis Crombeg and others of his friends at Tour- 
 coing, France, was enabled to build it, and hand 
 it over to Bishop Wadhams free of debt. It was 
 blessed under the patronage of St. Helena, and 
 enjoys the distinction of numbering the Count de 
 
262 FORT COVINGTON. 
 
 Chambord among its benefactors. A residence for 
 a priest was built shortly afterward, and a pastor 
 appointed to the mission. New recruits have 
 swelled the numbers of the congregation. Fami- 
 lies which for twenty-five years lived without the 
 sacraments or any connection with the church of 
 their baptism have returned to the faith. 
 
 Such is the early history of Malone. Father 
 Legrand was removed in 1884, and was succeeded 
 by Father Blanchard, who was born at St. Rosalie, 
 Canada, in 1843. He made his entire course of 
 studies at the college and seminary of St. Hya- 
 cinthe, where he was ordained in 1868. After serv- 
 ing in his native diocese for some months he was 
 sentto Sherbrooke and served there in various capa- 
 cities until 1878. Returning to St. Hyacinthe he re- 
 mained three years. In 1881 he offered his ser- 
 vices to Bishop Wadhams, and was appointed to 
 Olnisteadville, from which he was transferred to 
 Malone. 
 
 FORT COVINGTON. 
 
 This village derives its name from Gen. Leonard 
 Covington, killed at Chrysler's Field in the war of 
 1812. It is prettily situated east of the Salmon 
 river, in the heart of a splendid farming country 
 close to the Canadian line. Fornaerly it was 
 
EKV. C. J. MACMORKOW. 
 
264 FOET COVINGTON. 
 
 known as French Mills, and possesses considerable 
 historical interest from the fact that Gen. Wilkin- 
 son encamped here with his army during the fall 
 and part of the winter of 1813, and that some 
 skirmishing took place in the village between the 
 British and American troops to the confusion of 
 the latter, who surrendered and were carried 
 prisoners to Montreal. 
 
 Previous to its settlement by Americans the 
 French had a saw-mill on the Salmon, and quite a 
 number of families were settled in the neighbor- 
 hood. They were the first Catholics on the ground, 
 but disappeared before 1805. John Hunsden, an 
 Irishman, clerk to the Indians of St. Regis, was iij 
 the place in 1803. If a Catholic it is impossible to 
 say. The oldest living resident in the town was 
 Mrs. Lepine, a Frenchwoman who lived to the age 
 of one hundred, and whose history dated back to 
 the time of the saw-mill. 
 
 In 1822 Cornelius, Patrick and Michael Dineen, 
 lately from Ireland, settled at Fort Covington by 
 the mere, accident of looking for good land and 
 finding it there. They were part of the general 
 emigration which had begun a few years previous 
 and was to fill all this district with Irish Catholics. 
 Others soon followed them, and in 1826 Father 
 Moore said Mass, the first Mass said within the 
 limits of Fort Covington, in Bridge's hotel. The 
 priest came but rarely, and for all ordinary needs 
 the people went to St. Regis, walking fourteen 
 miles through the woods to Mass and back again 
 
FOUT COVINGTON. 265 
 
 without thinking nauch of the performance. Bishop 
 Dubois visited them in the winter of 1829-30, in 
 a sled drawn by dogs, confirming the old and young 
 and urging them, as he always did, to keep alive 
 the faith and to make preparations for building 
 the church they would soon need. 
 
 A year .after. Father McNulty's appointment to 
 Hogansburgh in 1837 he organized the congrega- 
 tion of St. Mary's of the Fort, a lot was bought at 
 a cost of $200, and the present church erected. 
 The first trustees were William Leahy, William 
 McKenna, Michael Caldwell, James Fitzgerald 
 Michael Murphy, Hugh Laffey and Austin Mc- 
 Donnell. Mr. Leahy provided the money to carry 
 on the work, Patrick Holden gave part of the 
 stone, the rest was bought or collected, and the 
 entire Catholic body turned out to build the 
 church. Many sacrifices were made to complete 
 it, and before the winter of 1837 Mass was said 
 within the walls. The building was large enough 
 to hold 500 persons. There was yet no sacristy, 
 but money was scarce in those days and the people 
 were content to wait now that they had a church 
 building. 
 
 The parish was attended for the next thirty-two 
 years from Hogansburgh. Father James Keveny, 
 who had a special affection for the place, completed 
 the church during his term and made it a neat 
 and fitting temple for the'Holy Sacrifice. Bishop 
 M'Closky visited it during his first and last tour 
 of the Albany diocese, and gave confirmation to a 
 
266 FORT COVINGTON. 
 
 large number. The parish became independent 
 in 1869 by the appointment of Father M. C. Stan- 
 ton, who found his people well organized and 
 eager to receive him. He bought a parochial 
 residence at a cost of $3,000 and paid for it in two 
 weeks. From the careful accounts of the parish 
 kept by him it appears that there were one hun- 
 dred and seventy families in the congregation. 
 The number of annual confessions two thousand ; 
 one hundred and twenty children attended the 
 Sunday-school; ninety-two were yearly prepared 
 for first communion, and one hundred and seventy 
 confirmed by Bishop Conroy. By strict at- 
 tention to the details of his work, by occasional mis- 
 sions and the frequent urging of the people to 
 attend the sacraments, the faith of the people 
 strong before, was made still more perfect. 
 
 Father McNally succeeded to the parish in 1873, 
 and during his stay put a new roof on the church 
 at a cost of $3,000. 
 
 Father Guilbeault succeeded him in 1881, but 
 remained only until January 1882. 
 
 Father Nolan followed until September 1883. 
 
 Father Charles J. McMorrow, the present pastor, 
 succeeded him that year. He was born at Cohoes^ 
 N. Y., in 1853, and made his classical studies at 
 St. Michael's College, Toronto ; his philosphical 
 and theological course at the Seminary of St. 
 Sulpice, Montreal, frorii which he was ordained in 
 1883 by Bishop Wadhams. He remained for a few 
 months at the Cathedral until his appointment to 
 
BnVSHTON. 267 
 
 Fort Covington. Under his management the 
 parish is improving. A new cemetery has been 
 bought, new colored windows placed in the church,^ 
 its vestments and furniture renewed, and the 
 property in general renovated, while that most 
 pressing need of the North, good schools in every 
 parish, promises «oon to be supplied to Fort Cov- 
 ington. 
 
 The population of the parish is much the 
 same as in Father Stanton's time. The natural 
 increase and more has been lost by emigration to 
 the West, partly made up for by emigrants from 
 Canada. The people are mostly farmers and still 
 possess the country simplicity, although their 
 faith for various reasons has somewhat diminished, 
 but in a few years under present circumstances it 
 promises to equal its former enthusiasm. 
 
 BRUSHTON. 
 
 This district once formed a part of the parish of 
 Malone, and embraced the three towns of Bangor, 
 Brushton, and St. Regis Falls. The first Catholic 
 settlers were part of the contingent which arrived 
 in Malone in 1825. Like the unfortunate people 
 of Chateaugay they were for many years left to 
 their own devices, deprived of the steady and 
 healthful influence of a priest, until Father M'Cabe 
 
268 BBUSHTON. 
 
 settled in Malone and took them in charge. He 
 was the first priest to say Mass for them, some- 
 where about the year 1850, in a building known 
 as the Old Red Store, which still stands on the 
 main street close to the Salmon river. The whole 
 district in that day mustered about thirty famiUes, 
 all farmers, all laying the foundations of future 
 prosperity amid much trial and disappointment, 
 and all still poor. Nevertheless, Father M'Cabe 
 bought a piece of land, and in 1855 built a church 
 which he probably dedicated himself as there is no 
 record of any bishop having visited the place prior 
 of the time of Bishop Wadhams. It was a plain 
 wooden structure. Part of the lot on which it 
 was built was converted into a cemetery, which 
 Father Thaves blessed during his administration 
 of Malone. Father Sherry bought the present 
 parochial residence with a view to the speedy 
 foundation of the district into an independent 
 parish. This was accomplished in 1870 and 
 Father Archambeault was its first pastor. In 
 twenty years the number of families had increased 
 to three or four hundred, a number sufScient to 
 give one priest as much work as he could possibly 
 attend to. Father Archambeault remained until 
 1873, where he was removed to Rouse's Point and 
 died there shortly afterwards. 
 
 The difficulty of getting a priest to succeed him 
 left the parish A'acant for some eight months, when 
 Father Peter Ryan, now of Waddington, succeeded 
 him, and remained until 1876. 
 
EEV. J; G. WOEMANDEAU, 
 
 ^K'^'^''' 
 
270 BRUSHTON. 
 
 In that year he was succeeded by Father Nor- 
 mandeau, the present pastor, whose stay of nine 
 years among the same people has in a high degree 
 contributed to give shape and firmness to their 
 faith and Catholic spirit. Father Normandeau 
 was born in Montreal in 1844, and made his clas- 
 sical studies in the Sulpician College. In 1863 
 he enlisted in the Second Massachusetts cavalry 
 for the civil war, and served two years nnder 
 Sheridan in the Shenandoah valley. He was under 
 fire at the battles of Fisher Hill and Winchester, 
 and formed one of the cavalry detachment des- 
 patched to guard Washington at the time of Lee's 
 raid into Pennsylvania. Being shot in the leg at 
 Berryville, he was sent to the hospital, and after- 
 wards honorably discharged. He resumed his 
 studies in Montreal some years later, feeling that 
 his vocation was for the church; completed a 
 course of philosophy and theology, and was or- 
 dained in 1875 by Bishop Fabre of Montreal, for 
 this diocese. After serving the Cathedral parish 
 for a short time, he was appointed to Brushton, 
 where he has since remained with the exception of 
 a short period spent in Plattsburgh. 
 
 Under his administration Brushton parish has 
 steadily improved. The church was enlarged to 
 suit the increased numbers of the congregation, a 
 wing thirty feet by fifty having been added ; a 
 marble altar was erected, a tower built, a new bell 
 and organ put in, stained glass windows took the 
 place of plain lights, the interior was frescoed 
 
MAS SENA. 271 
 
 neatly, and the exterior painted, at an expense of 
 five thousand dollars. The parish now possesses 
 a commodious and handsome structure, entirely 
 paid for. It was dedicated with solemn ceremonies 
 by Bishop Wadhams, in 1884, under the title of 
 St. Mary's. The same bishop also administered 
 confirmation in 1878, '80, '82, and '83, to four hun- 
 dred and sixty individuals. The number of annual 
 confessions and communions is about 800, and 
 the baptisms since 1876 number 923. In 1884 the 
 district of St. Regis Falls was cut off from Brush- 
 ton, and formed into a separate parish. Without 
 it, Brushton still numbers three hundred and fifty 
 families, three-fifths being French Canadians, and a 
 majority thriving farmers. The effect of fifteen 
 years' steady clerical work among them has been 
 to convert a kindly but neglected people into pious 
 and spirited upholders of the faith, and to give 
 them unity of aim and spirit. 
 
 MASSENA. 
 
 Massena proper was formerly included in the 
 parish of Hogansburgh, although it now embraces 
 territory including the villages of Norfolk and 
 Louisville which was once ruled from the episco. 
 pal see. It is a magnificent farming district, 
 watered by pleasant rivers, and its village is famous 
 
272 MASSENA. 
 
 for the sulphur springs within its limits, which 
 for three quarters of a century have attracted in- 
 valids from all parts of the country. 
 
 As early as 1820 Irish Catholics made their ap- 
 pearance in the district. William Whelan, an 
 Irish-American, born iu Montgomery County, and 
 still living, a vigorous old man of more than 
 eighty years, settled in Louisville in 1825, but 
 came to the district five years previous. In 1822 
 a small Irish colony settled near Waddington. 
 Earlier yet, in 1812, Charles Whelan, a brother 
 of William, settled with his family on the St. 
 Lawrence. These emigrations were always from 
 the direction of Quebec and Montreal. The 
 land was cheap and good at five dollars an acre, 
 where it is now worth fifty and sixty, and the 
 emigrants showed their wisdom in settling upon 
 it, and waiting for the natural increase which 
 fifty years of steady labor on good land is sure 
 to bring. They are to-day, with their children, 
 quite wealthy, and are the backbone of the faith 
 in St. Lawrence County. 
 
 The first Mass said in Massena, was said by 
 Bishop McDowell of Kingston, sojourning at the 
 Springs for the benefit of his health. He found 
 there John O'Flaherty and Bryan Keating with 
 their families, who had settled there in 1826, four 
 years previous. These and a few others he assem- 
 bled in a school-house on occasions, and during his 
 residence at the Springs continued to say Mass for 
 them, to instruct them, aiad to encoui'age them to 
 
BBV. THOS. KELLEHER. 
 
274 MAS SENA. 
 
 steadfastness in the faith. Somewhat earlier, a 
 piiest of Utica, Father Farnham, penetrated into 
 the northern wilderness, administered the sacra- 
 ments and said Mass for the scattered Catholics of 
 the district. 
 
 The establishment of cement works in the vil- 
 lage drew a number of laborers to the place among 
 whom were a few Catholics, and Father McNulty, 
 lately arrived at Hogansburgh, came to say Mass 
 for them in the house of one Alex. Leclair. The 
 next year, 1838, under his instructions the people 
 built a small church 24 feet square, which Father 
 Keveny blessed afterwards under the title of St. 
 Peters, along with a new cemetery. It cost the 
 modest sum of 1120, and for six years answered 
 the needs of the congregation, when Father 
 Keveny added 24 feet to the structure. In 
 1859 the parish was attached to Waddington, 
 and so remained until 1871. The people of Louis- 
 ville and Norfolk were always attended from 
 Waddington. Father Swift purchased a Meth- 
 odist church for the Norfolk Catholics, and con- 
 verted it into a neat Catholic chapel, while during 
 Father McCarthy's time the inhabitants of Louis- 
 ville erected a brick church of their own accord 
 and without much credit to their reputation for 
 obedience. These three towns, Massena, Louisville 
 and Norfolk, were made an independent parish in 
 1871, and Father Edmund Welsh Avas appointed 
 pastor. He was succeeded the next year by 
 Father Brennan, who built a new church at 
 
MASSENA, 275 
 
 Massena at a cost of $15,000. Father Brennan re- 
 mained until 1878, and then retired to Copenhagen, 
 where he died. 
 
 In half a century the wealth, importance, and 
 numbers of the Catholics had increased remarkably 
 if there was little advance in more important 
 matters. The tand was cleared of debts, and 
 Western emigration had made small demand on 
 the population. The new church was somewhat 
 of a burden. Father Kelleher succeeded to the 
 parish in 1878, and found little difficulty in heal- 
 ing the dissensions existing among his people. 
 He paid off a debt of f 7,000 and built a parochial 
 residence at a cost of |6,000, at the same time doing 
 much to improve the church property in general. 
 The faith was well preserved among the people 
 and the sacraments were much frequented, and 
 although at the present time they show much of 
 that sluggishness in religious matters peculiar to 
 country-people, they are still steadfast and practi- 
 cal Catholics. 
 
 Father Kelleher was born in Ireland in 1847, 
 made his classical course with the Jesuits in New 
 York, and at St. Therese, Canada, studied philos- 
 ophy, and theology in Troy, and was ordained there 
 by Bishop McQuaid in 1876. He was first ap- 
 pointed to Au Sable Forks, filled the office of 
 secretary to the bishop for a short time, was first 
 resident pastor of Gouverneur, and was finally 
 appointed to the parish of Massena, where he is 
 
276 TROUT RIVER. 
 
 sincerely respected by his people and is doing 
 honorable work in building up the parish and 
 utilizing its many resources. 
 
 TROUT RIVER. 
 
 This parish lies in the northwest part of the 
 town of Constable, Franklin County, close to 
 the boundary line between Canada and the States. 
 It is part of the fertile plain in which Hogansburgh 
 is situated, and possesses a similar history. The 
 first Catholic inhabitants were those emigrants 
 who in 1825, or thereabouts, travelled from Ireland 
 through Quebec and along the St. Lawrence until 
 they reached the lands watered by the cool and 
 dark-water streams of the Adirondacks. Here 
 they settled, bought farms, cleared and planted 
 them, and in time grew as rich as their neighbors. 
 
 Among the first inhabitants of Trout River were 
 the McCaffreys, Cunninghams, Dempseys, Lyons, 
 Murphys, and Lynches, men of hardy and venture- 
 some character, and withal devoted to the faith, 
 moral and intelligent. They brought up their sons 
 and daughters docile and self-respecting citizens of 
 the country, without absorbing any of the perni- 
 cious ideas peculiar to the nation, and left them a 
 heritage of piety and respectability more valuable 
 and enduring than their fruitful acres. 
 
 The Catholics in Trout River and Constable 
 
TSOUT RIVER. 277 
 
 were attended regularly by the priests of Hogans- 
 burgh until 1865, or thereabouts, when the territory 
 was attached to Malone. Father McNulty, Fathers 
 James and Thomas Keveny, and Fathers Sheehan 
 and McGiin said Mass in its limits during their 
 residence in the parish. Father Sherry then took 
 charge of it, aitd was its pastor until 1870. A 
 suitable brick church had been built and dedicated 
 under the title of St. Bridget, large enough to 
 accommodate the congregation. A number of 
 Canadians had settled in the parish after the rail- 
 roads were built, and the parish was sufficiently 
 large to require the services of a resident pastor. 
 The Canadians of Constable attended at Malone. 
 
 In 1870 Bishop Conroy of Albany cut off Trout 
 River and Constable from Malone, and sent Eev. 
 Denis G. O'Keefe to organize the parish. This 
 was an easy task. The people had long sought 
 this favor and were ably prepared to assume the 
 burden and the responsibility. Father O'Keefe 
 remained but one year. He was succeeded in 1871 
 by Rev. P. H. Ryan, the present pastor of Wad- 
 dington, who for two years served the congre- 
 gation with unaffected devotion to their welfare. 
 He retired in 1873 leaving behind him a deep and 
 sincere esteem for his character. 
 
 Father Turgeon, who for many years had worked 
 among the French and Canadians of Jefferson 
 County, and was the first resident priest of the 
 French parish in Watertown, succeeded Father 
 Ryan, and for the last twelve years has devoted 
 
278 TBOUT RIVER. 
 
 himself to the service of God in this region. In 
 1874, a year after his arrival, Father Legrand of 
 Malonebuilta neat brick church at Constable' for 
 the Canadian residents there. Naturally, although 
 this does not seem to have been foreseen, the 
 structure became the gathering point for all the 
 Catholics of the neighborhood, and the balance of 
 existence around Trout River was disturbed. The 
 new church was shortly afterwards attached to 
 the Trout River mission and Father Turgeon 
 attended it. 
 
 In 1883 the form of the parish was again changed. 
 Father De Pauw had erected a church at Burke. 
 Constable and Burke were formed into an indepen- 
 dent mission and placed in charge of Rev. James 
 J. Sherry, who has since continued in the charge. 
 
 St. Bridget's was then suddenly reduced to an 
 inconvenient size. It now numbers but thirty- 
 eight families. The good pastor has but little to 
 do attending them, but that little is done with 
 sincerity and humility. Bishop Wadhams has 
 visited the parish on several occasions, and ad- 
 ministered the sacrament of confirmation. The 
 people are simple-hearted and kindly, and thor- 
 oughly Catholic. Their littleness among the 
 parishes does not trouble them. A few more years 
 will no doubt see the whole parish in its original 
 and most natural form. 
 
CBERUBUSCO. 279 
 
 CHERUBUSCO. 
 
 The parish known by this name includes the 
 three villages of Cherubusco, Clinton Mills, and 
 Ellenburgh, and lies between Chateaugay and 
 Mooer's Forks, on the line of the Ogdensburg 
 railroad. The history of the missions is compli- 
 cated, owing to the fact that the territory which 
 they now include was once divided between Mooer's 
 and Chateaugay, and was not formed into a single 
 parish until a few years ago. The first priest who 
 said Mass in the neighborhood was Rev. Bernard 
 M'Cabe of Malone. The few farmers and laborers 
 in the district at that early day attended indiffer- 
 ently at Coopersville and Hogansburgh, but the 
 distance to each of these places was too great to 
 be often travelled. The building of the railroad 
 brought a number of Irishmen to the parish, and 
 Father M'Cabe visited them along the line, and 
 said Mass for them in the shanties, in the same 
 year of his appointment to Malone, 1849. Finding 
 a good number of Catholics at Ellenburgh, he 
 formally organized them into a congregation, in 
 the fall of 1852, assembling them in the log shanty 
 of Mr. Sheehy, where he was accustomed to say 
 Mass. Among those present were Chas. Ward, 
 Jas. Wallace, Owen Sandiford, John, James, and 
 Hugh Duffy. Jas. Keefe, Michael Sheehy, and 
 
280 CHEBUBUSCO. 
 
 Mr. Kearney. From that day dates the history of 
 the parish. 
 
 The priests of Malone regularly came five or six 
 times a year to visit the people. Father Thaves, 
 who succeeded Father M'Cabe, built for the 
 Catholic residents of Cherubusco a small' wooden 
 chapel, capable of holding about one hundred peo- 
 ple, and Father De Pauw, upon coming to Char 
 teaugay, had the foundations laid and the plans 
 made out for a similar structure at Ellenburgh. 
 The people were restive, however, and ambitious 
 beyond their means. They desired a resident 
 pastor, and became so troublesome that Father 
 De Pauw left them to their own inclinations, 
 which resulted only in their being attended from 
 Centreville by the priest of that parish. As it was 
 necessary that they should have some sort of a 
 church at once. Father Langlois built a temporary 
 chapel near the foundations laid by Father Ed- 
 mond. It was afterwards converted by Father 
 Nolin into a residence. At the same time he did 
 what was possible towards completing the church 
 designed in the commencement, and erected a 
 huge, ungainly shell, of proportions so immense 
 and unnecessary, that for many years it remained 
 on the back of the wondering and perplexed con- 
 gregation, a veritable nightmare. Father Nolin, 
 one of his successors, made many attempts upon it, 
 and succeeded in closing it to the cold and rain, 
 but the enormous expense which attended every 
 improvement, made it a work to be left as much 
 
EBV. J. P. MUBPHY. 
 
282 CHERUBUSCO. 
 
 alone as possible. The situation, when the whole 
 territory came to be included in one parish was 
 perplexing. At Cherubusco a mere barn of a 
 church, of no shape or color, at EUenburgh an im- 
 possible residence and a monstrosity of architec- 
 ture laden with debt, were circumstances of an un- 
 inviting nature. The bleak country, the scattered 
 and unsympathetic population, poor and unwilling, 
 were other circumstances calculated to daunt even 
 the willing hearts. 
 
 Rev. Father O'Rourke was sent to re-organize 
 the mission in 1876. It was now more populous 
 than in Father Edmond's time, for the opening of 
 the lumber district had brought in a great number 
 of Canadians. Cherubusco was made the residence 
 of the priest, and Father O'Rourke built there a 
 solid and comfortable residence, the first need of 
 the missionary priest, in the intolerable backwoods. 
 The presence of a man with much sympathy for 
 his work, and good business capacity, soon revived 
 the half-dead district, and from that date Catho- 
 licity began to flourish. Father O'Rourke de- 
 parted to Port Henry in 1876, and Father Conlan, 
 his successor, to Keeseville in 1880, at which time 
 Rev. P. J. Murphy, the present pastor, took 
 charge. 
 
 Father Murphy was born at Bellows Falls, Ver- 
 mont, in 1848, made his preparatory studies at 
 the Jesuit College, Montreal, and his theological 
 course partly at Troy, and partly in Canada, and 
 was ordained by Bishop Fabre in 1880. He was 
 
ST. REGIS FALLS. 283 
 
 immediately sent to take charge of Cherubusco 
 mission, where he has since remained. 
 
 The work which Father O'Rourke so well began, 
 Father Murphy continued with much energy and 
 good success. Misfortune had soured the people, 
 and the Canadians had developed a great indiffer- 
 ence to religious matters. These bad dispositions 
 have in part been overcome. The pastor was en- 
 abled to put Ellenburgh church in decent condi- 
 tion. After much trouble and expense it was 
 given a pretty and even elegant interior, and the 
 harshness and folly of its exterior was considerably 
 toned down. Some shape has been given to the 
 parish, and some discipline to the people, and al- 
 together in its brief parochial history of ten 
 years, it has shown evidences of a quick return 
 to the steady practice of the faith. Emigration to 
 the West has had a special charm for the young, 
 people, and more than forty families have departed 
 from the parish in the last half-decade, their be- 
 ing no manufactures, and little spare land to hold 
 them together. 
 
 ST. REGIS FALLS. 
 
 The church of this mission is aptly named 
 St. Anne of the Adirondacks, for the parish lies 
 among the foot-hills of those beautiful mountains 
 surrounded by lake and forest scenery of mar- 
 vellous grandeur. It was but lately part of the 
 
284 ST. BEGIS FALLS. 
 
 parish of Brushton, when a wave of unexpected 
 prosperity reached it, the population suddenly 
 trebled, and there arose the need of a resident 
 priest to look after the people. 
 
 The first Mass was said in St. Regis Falls not 
 earlier than 1864, when one Father Smith, a priest 
 stopping in Malone, sought out the few Irish 
 farmers that dwelt in the place and offered up the 
 Holy Sacrifice for them in a private house. 
 They were attended fitfully until the parish of 
 Brushton was cut off from Malone, where Fathers 
 Archambeault, R3-an and Normandeau, succes- 
 sively attended them from Brushton. The lum- 
 ber district around St. Regis Falls is valuable 
 and extensive and lately attracted the notice of 
 capitalists. A railroad was built to Moira, con- 
 necting with the main line East, and in a few 
 months saw-mills were erected, a few ^hundred 
 teamsters and choppers introduced into the woods, 
 and as many families settled in and around the 
 village. A thriving town is the consequence, 
 which, like the other lumber and mining towns 
 of the North, may go on in high prosperity for 
 half a century and then collapse. 
 
 The district was formed into a parish in May 
 of 1884, and Rev. F. J. Ouillette appointed pas- 
 tor. He proceeded at once to build a church 
 which was completed by January, a cemetery was 
 bought shortly afterwards, and the parish began 
 its existence under the patronage of the good St. 
 Anne. 
 
8T. BEGI8. 285 
 
 It numbers about two hundred families mostly 
 Frencb-Canadians, with a ' sprinkling of Irish 
 farmers. From two to three hundred men are 
 employed in the bush and in the mills. 
 
 Father Ouellette, the pastor, was born in the 
 province of Ontario in 1842, made his classics 
 at the College of St. Hyacinthe, P. Q., and his 
 theology in the Seminary of the Montreal. After 
 his ordination he spent some years in the diocese 
 of London, as secretary to Bishop Walsh, and as 
 pastor of the missions. Ill-health drove him for 
 a time into retirement, from which he emerged to 
 accept the office of building up the new parish of 
 St. Regis Falls. 
 
 ST. REGIS. 
 
 Two miles from Hogansburgh, on a point of 
 land washed in on one side by the river St. Regis 
 on the other by the St. Lawrence, stands the In- 
 dian village founded in 1760 by the sons of a 
 Massachusetts Puritan. The spot is bleak, bare, 
 and sandy, the houses have the desolate neg- 
 lected appearance of idlers and tramps, the farm- 
 land lying on every side is unmarked by fences 
 and shows much swamp and small cultivation ; 
 and the stranger visiting the place, wonders at 
 the absence of neatness and comfort and takes 
 away unfavorable impressions of the people and 
 
286 ST. REGIS. 
 
 the work being done among them, failing to 
 recollect that little over one hundred years ago 
 the ancestors of this people were Indian savages. 
 
 A company of Indians coming suddenly upon 
 the village of Groton, Massachusetts, found two 
 boys playing in a barn and carried them away 
 into captivity. They were adopted by the 
 Christian Indians of the Caughnawaga mission, 
 and grew up to manhood in habits and feelings 
 Indians, marrying in time daughters of chiefs of 
 the tribes. They were known at Groton by the 
 name of Tarbell, among the Indians they had 
 Indian names. After their marriage petty quarrels 
 with their Indian brethren made life at Caugh- 
 nawaga so unpleasant that by the advice of the 
 missionary they withdrew with their families 
 and near relatives, — four families in all — 
 to the neighborhood of St. Regis, where a 
 piece of land six miles square was given them, 
 by Louis XIV., as a document signed by Colbert 
 testifies. Here in, 1760 came Father Antony 
 Gordon, a Jesuit, with a colony of Indians, to 
 establish a mission and to take charge of it in 
 person. The Tarbells had cleared some land, and 
 planted corn before the arrival of their brethren, 
 who numbered some few hundred, and whom 
 Father Gordon had won away from the dangerous 
 proximity of Montreal and its dissolute whisky 
 traders. 
 
 A log church roofed with bark was at once 
 errcted, and one end of it partitioned from the rest 
 
ST. REGIS. 287 
 
 to serve as a dwelling for the priest. In this poor 
 structure Mass was said for two years. At tlie 
 hour for the Divine Sacrifice a messenger went 
 from house to house and announced it to the 
 people. The church had no bell. Here Father 
 Gordon labored in the patient, painful way pecu- 
 liar to the* missionaries of savage tribes. He 
 taught the children such knowledge of their re- 
 ligion as was possible, instructed the people not 
 only in the moral life but in the civilized manner 
 of living, persuading, scolding, threatening, urging, 
 and doing all with unaltered patience and cheerful 
 courage. His church and its records were de- 
 stroyed by fire in 1762, but another of better quality 
 was immediately built, and a bell procured for its 
 belfry. The records from that date, February 2, 
 1762, have been carefully kept, and there is no 
 trouble in following up the history of the mission. 
 Father Gordon remained at St. Regis until 1775, 
 when his health failed him and he returned to 
 Caughnawaga to die two years later. It was a 
 great misfortune for the Indians who were left 
 without a resident priest until 1784, although it is 
 probable that the missionaries visited them at cer- 
 tain seasons of the year for confessions and com- 
 munion. 
 
 The records show that in October, 1784, Father 
 Denaut, afterwards Bishop of Quebec, and a Jesuit 
 named LeBrun visited St. Regis regularly. In 
 December, 1785, Rev. Roderio McDonnell, a 
 Scotchman, settled permanently with the Indians. 
 
288 ST. REGIS. 
 
 Finding the frame church too small for their needs 
 he built, in 1793, a solid stone structure with walls 
 nearly four feet thick. It was provided with every 
 necessary for Divine Service, and the Indians re- 
 garded it with much pride. A residence of ample 
 dimensions was also built for the pastor opposite 
 the church, and by these improvements the mission 
 was made one of some notability. Father 
 McDonnell died in 1806, and was buried with be- 
 coming pomp under the church he had built. 
 Among those present at the ceremony were Colonel 
 McDonnell and Captain McLean, military relatives 
 of the missionary. 
 
 His successors came in the following order : 
 
 Father Rinfret until 1807. 
 
 Father J. B. Roupe until 1813. 
 
 Father Joseph Marcoux until 1819. 
 
 Father Nicholas Dufresne until 1824. 
 
 Father Joseph Valle until 1832. 
 
 Father Francis Marcoux until 1883. 
 
 Father Mainville, present missionary. 
 During the war of the revolution the Indians 
 maintained a scrupulous neutrality in spite of the 
 efforts of Sir Guy Carleton to have them enter the 
 English service. Their financial state was embar- 
 rassing. It was yet to be decided whether they 
 were subjects of the English King or wards of the 
 United States. The American government had 
 not yet recognized their title to the land given 
 them by Louis XIV, and the support afforded all 
 these missions previous to the conquest by the 
 

 BEV. FATHER MAUTVILLB. 
 
290 ST. BEGIS. 
 
 French Government had been abruptly withdrawn 
 in 1763. The line between the two countries was 
 drawn through the Indian reservation, and became 
 the cause of unhappy dissensions. The people 
 were given the choice of residence on either side 
 of the line. The church property remained in 
 Canada, one reason why the entire district has re- 
 mained under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of 
 Montreal. A majority remained in Canada, 
 governed by their chiefs, about 700 at the present 
 day are Americans and are governed by trustees. 
 
 When the war of 1812 broke out, partisan spirit 
 quickly developed itself. The combatants had 
 agreed to leave the Indians in peace, but through 
 a misunderstanding St. Regis was occupied by 
 British soldiers, and when they retired it was 
 seized by Americans who made Father Roupe a 
 prisoner in his house. As the Indians were receiv- 
 ing rations from the American commissariat, part 
 of which they brought to their pastor. Father 
 Roupe for this cause was condemned by the 
 Canadian government. Finding himself between 
 two fires he withdrew from the mission and gave 
 place to Father Marcoux, who takes high rank in 
 the literary world for his works on the Iroquois 
 tongue. 
 
 The most notable of the missionaries, however 
 was Father Francis Marcoux; who for fifty-one 
 years remained at St. Regis the devoted servant of 
 a fickle and discouraging people. The missionary 
 Was a man remarkable for his fine physique and 
 
ST. BEGIS. 291 
 
 commanding appearance. His blue eyes, yellow 
 hair, and rosy complexion won for him the Indian 
 name of Clear Sky, but amiable and courteous as 
 he was in manner he was severe enough to offend 
 the Indians on occasions. During his administra- 
 tion a number of the disaffected were induced to 
 listen to the persuasions of Protestant missionaries, 
 and soon formed themselves into a Methodist con- 
 gregation. These apostates are not numerous, 
 and so strong is tradition among them that pictures 
 of the Blessed Virgin and the Saints are still ne- 
 tained in their houses and the rosary is said by 
 each family in spite of the earnest dissuasions 
 and explanations of their ministers. 
 
 Through some accident the church built by 
 Father McDonnell was destroyed by fire in 1865, 
 and Father Marcoux was put to the severe necessi- 
 ty of building another, a work among the Indians 
 of great difficulty. He raised the walls and roofed 
 it, but in eighteen years was able to do little more. 
 After his death, in 1883, Father Mainville, who 
 succeeded him, completed the work, decorating the 
 interior very artistically and providing the church 
 with all necessaries at an expense of 16,000. It is 
 with extreme difficulty that the Bishop of Mon- 
 treal can replace the missionaries at St. Regis. 
 Their life is lonely, the toil severe and of the most 
 thankless kind. The labor of learning the lan- 
 guage is hard. The Iroquois tongue is complicated, 
 and though without any but the simplest terms 
 gives more difficulty than the most polished 
 
292 ST. REGIS. 
 
 modern tongue. Father Mainville, a former 
 member of the congregation of San Viateur, 
 educated at Rigaud College and ordained by- 
 Bishop Bourget in 1868, consented to take charge 
 of the Indians on the death of Father Marcoux. 
 He has remained with them since, has acquired 
 considerable fluency in their language, has restored 
 the church property, and rules his capricious flock 
 with kindly vigor and prudent success. He is 
 known to his flock as " The man who looks up to 
 heaven." 
 
 The government of the Indians is by their chiefs, 
 of whom their are nine, six Canadian and three 
 American, with the powers of justices of the peace- 
 The missionary is grand chief, and the govern, 
 ment agent constitutes the court of last resort. 
 The Indians have a great horror of the jail. Their 
 chief troubles arise from their jealousy of one an- 
 other, and from white interference. In religious 
 matters tradition has the strongest hold upon them. 
 The women are patient and devoted, the men in- 
 different and bad, but the pride they take in their 
 church property and in the ceremonies of the 
 ritual and their desire* to follow in the footsteps 
 of their fathers are ties which hold them firmly 
 to their duty. The Fate Dieu procession is a 
 curious instance of the power tradition has over 
 them. It is conducted with great splendor. Cer- 
 tain individuals have the honor of wearing albs 
 and carrying candles in the procession, an honor 
 
ST. REGIS. 293 
 
 which descends from father to son, and is tena- 
 ciously maintained. 
 
 There are six schools in the parish, poorly at- 
 tended because of the indifference of the parents 
 to education. About sixty children attend the 
 Sunday-school. The communions are five hundred 
 yearly, a smaill percentage of the population, but 
 the Indian labors under peculiar difficulties in the 
 matter of confession. He is scrupulous, and comes 
 many times to his confession before being satisfied 
 that his duty is done, and if it so occurs to him 
 not all the persuasions and commands of the priest 
 can induce him to confess or commune, until he 
 considers himself worthy. In their social life the 
 Indians are somewhat hilarious. Immorality is 
 not specially prevalent among them, unless the 
 whites appear in the neighborhood. They are very 
 sociable and make kindly neighbors, and in their 
 wedding feasts spend three days and nights in a 
 continual round of dancing, drinking, and eating 
 a traditional ox slaughtered for the occasion. 
 
 As has been said, missionary work among them 
 is hard and thankless. They are suspicious, fickle, 
 ungrateful, and lazy. But the progress towards 
 civilization is rapid for all, as one may see by a 
 comparison of their present condition with their 
 past. They are not dying out like their brethren 
 of the West, but are rather increasing, and each 
 decade finds the growing children a trifle in ad- 
 vance of those that preceded them. The number 
 of souls saved, the moral torpitude from which 
 
294 ST. REGIS. 
 
 they have been snatched, and the half-civilized 
 state to which they have been brought is compen- 
 sation sufficient for the self-denial of the mission- 
 aries. Considering these things the neat and 
 precise Caucasian can condone the want of neat- 
 ness and taste in the Indian village. 
 
PART VI. 
 
 DISTRICT OF CONSTABLEVILLE. 
 
 This district lies in the Black River valley and 
 includes nearly the whole of Lewis County. 
 Farming is the only occupation of the people, 
 although a certain amount of lumbering is done. 
 The lands is good but not well watered. The 
 Catholic population is Irish and German, well-to- 
 do, industrious, and sober, but of a faith rather 
 weak and cool. There are schools at Croghan 
 and Mohawk Hill, and churches at Belfort, Dayn- 
 ville, Maple Ridge, Fish Creek, Prussian Settle- 
 ment, Highmarket and Botehford Tannery. The 
 parishes were formed in the following order. 
 
 CONSTABLBVILLE, 1845. 
 
 Attended by Rev. Mr. Howard, 1851 
 
 Rev. Mr. Sullivan, 1853 
 
 Rev. Mr. Fitzpatrick, 1861 
 
 Rev. Mr. Sheehan, 1864 
 
 Rev. Mr. Brady, 1864 
 Rev. Mr. Howard (2nd time), 1868 
 
 Rev. Eugene Carroll, 1874 
 
 Rev. John Craven, 1879 
 Rev. James McKenna. 
 
296 DISTBICT OF CON STAB LEVILLE. 
 
 Ceoghan, 1853. 
 
 Attended by Rev. Mr. Fedderman, 1854 
 
 Rev. Mr. Heimo, 1857 
 
 Rev. Mr. Nicola, 1858 
 
 Rev. Clemens Mutsears, 1862 
 
 Rev. Ladislas Korter, 1864 
 
 Rev. James. Smith, (came) 1867 
 
 Rev. James Conlon, (came) 1875 
 
 Franciscans, (came) 1876 
 
 MoHAAVK Hill, 1851. 
 
 Father Tappert, 1852 
 
 Father Fedderman, 1854 
 
 Minorite Fathers and others, 1876 
 Franciscans. 
 
 LowviLLE, 1865. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Herbst, 1867 
 
 Rev. Joseph Fitzgerald, 1871 
 
 Rev. William B. Nyhan, 1883 
 
 Rev. Joseph Redington, 1884 
 Rev. M. O'Neil. 
 
 Poet Leydbn, 1874. 
 
 Rev. Eugene Carroll, 1882 
 
 Rev. Mr. Connors. 
 
CONSTABLEVILLE. 297 
 
 CONSTABLEVILLE. 
 
 CATHOLioe began to settle in Lewis Cbunty 
 shortly after the war of 1812, when colonization 
 schemes began to ripen. A French company, 
 had much to do with the settlement of the 
 whole district from Utica to the St. Lawrenc.e, and 
 under their guidance came the first Catholic emi- 
 grants. It was at first a difficult matter to pro- 
 vide these people with priests. A stray clergy- 
 man from Utica occasionally pierced the northern 
 wild and ministered to the most pressing wants of 
 the faithful.. Carthage and Lafargeville had at 
 early periods resident priests, who in a desultory 
 way attended two counties, assisted at intervals 
 by the Franciscans of Utica and others. 
 
 Constableville, high perched among the hills of 
 Lewis County, was the Catholic centre of the dis- 
 trict; settlers reached it as early as 1835 and here 
 in 1845 came Father Howard to build a church 
 and concentrate the scattered energies of the 
 faithful. It was erected under the title of St. 
 Mary's, at a cost of $2,000, and with 780 members 
 in the congregation. And was twice visited by 
 Bishop M'Closkey, who administered confirmation 
 each time. The efPect of its building and of the 
 constant supervision of F-ather Howard was to 
 
298 CONSTABLEVILLE. 
 
 strengthen the spirit and practice of the faith 
 among a people who were losing both fast. The 
 priests who have had charge of the parish at vari- 
 ous times came in the following order : — 
 
 Father Howard, 1845 to 1851. 
 
 Father Sullivan until 1853. 
 
 Father Fitzpatrick until 1861. 
 
 Father Sheehan until 1864. 
 
 Father Brady left the same year. 
 
 Father Howard returned until 1868. 
 
 Father Carroll until 1874. 
 
 Father Craven until 1879. 
 
 Father McKenna, present pastor. 
 The church built by Father Howard seated three 
 hundred, was subsequently enlarged, and Burned 
 to the ground, in May of 1879. In the meantime 
 the country had so increased in Catholics that new 
 parishes were erected and Constableville was 
 gradually stripped of its first importance. Where 
 one priest had sufficed, six now were needed, and 
 the children of the original parish in time surpassed 
 the parent. Constableville had many troubles of 
 a delicate nature. The people grew cold, suspi- 
 cious, and critical, and for many years the faith was 
 at a stand still, lifeless, inert, without a particle of 
 that enthusiasm which marks the eastern point of 
 St. Lawrence County. There were revivals at long 
 intervals. The rising generation, educated among 
 Protestants, became even harder to reach than their 
 fathers, and things promised badly for Catholicity 
 in the district. 
 
C0N8TABLEVILLE. 299 
 
 Father McKenna took charge of the parish in 
 1879, and began the slow and painful work of 
 reviving the faith. Highmarket, an out-mission, 
 had no church, and its people, overcome by 
 indifference and a dangerous tendency to drink 
 out their farms, were fast drifting into nothing- 
 arianism. There was no church at Constableville 
 and Mass was said in a hall too small for the 
 number of Catholics. Poverty's seal was stamped 
 on the mission, and the priest who undertook its 
 reform was bound to meet with numerous diffi- 
 culties. 
 
 After six years of work Father McKenna has 
 reason to be satisfied. A church capable of seat- 
 ing 800 was built in Highmarket at a cost of $4,000, 
 and another at Constableville at a cost of 12,600, 
 Both were dedicated in 1884 by Bishop Wadhams. 
 A third church is building at Botchford Tannery. 
 With his forces thus concentrated Father McKenna 
 may congratulate himself on the patience and 
 courage and self-denial which have brought about 
 results so happy. It is impossible to describe in 
 the limits of this sketch the numberless trials to 
 which the ruler of a broken down parish is sub- 
 jected. Father McKenna has patiently endured 
 them, and has turned suspicion and distrust into 
 respect and deference, lifting up the tone of Catho- 
 licity to a respectable plane, and draining from it 
 large promise for the future. The faith is affected 
 by a curious scepticism along the entire line of 
 railroad from Utica to Ogdensburg, and it will 
 
300 CBOGHAN. 
 
 take -some decades of patient work in many ways 
 to root it out. 
 
 Father McKenna was born in Ireland in 1841, 
 made his classics at St. Dunstan's College, 
 Charlottetown, Prince Edwards' Island, and his 
 theology at Laval Seminary, Quebec. He was 
 ordained priest in 1867, and served as curate and 
 pastor in the diocese of Prince Edward's until 
 1879, when he offered his services to Bishop "Wad- 
 hams and was appointed to Constableville, a parish 
 which owes very much to the care and labor he 
 has bestowed on it during the last six years. 
 
 CROGHAN. 
 
 This village, entirely inhabited by Germans, lies 
 on the east side of the Black River among the 
 barren, sandy hills that skirt the Adirondack 
 wilderness. The parish includes the villages of 
 Croghan, Belfort and DaynviUe, towns which owe 
 their existence to the French company and to James 
 Le Ray and his son, Vincent Le Ray de Chaumont. 
 All the land in the neighborhood belonged to 
 them, and was sold on easy terms to the settlers. 
 
 The emigrants appeared in 1830. French, 
 Germans, and Irish nationalities being represented, 
 with the French in the majority. The first con- 
 tingent of Germans numbered 187 souls, the 
 second, arriving many years later, — numbered 230. 
 
EEV. GEEGOKY SCHLITT, O. S. F. 
 
302 CROGHAN. 
 
 They settled at Croghan while the French and 
 Irish took possession of Belfort, where the com- 
 pany had built a saw-mill, and also erected a 
 church which was to be given to the most numer- 
 ous denomination. As there were few Protestants 
 in the neighborhood it passed into the possession 
 of Catholics. The French colonists not liking the 
 place soon drifted away, and to-day Belfort is prin- 
 cipally Irish. 
 
 At Croghan Father Guth, head of the Lafarge- 
 ville College, made 'his appearance in 1837, and 
 had the congregation build a small temporary 
 shanty for saying Mass, which was replaced in 
 1842 by a solid and comfortable structure capable 
 of seating 400 persons. There were nine baptisms 
 the first year of his service. 
 
 Like Mohawk Hill, Croghan ' was very irregu- 
 larly attended from 1844 up to the coming of the 
 Franciscans in 1876. Father Kapp succeeded to 
 the charge of the mission in 1844, Father Tappert 
 in 1850, Father Herbst in 1852, Father Fedder- 
 man in 1853, Father Heimo in 1854, Father Nicola 
 in 1857, Father Clemens Mutsears, well-beloved and 
 tenderly remembered by his people, in 1858, 
 Ladislas Korter in 1862. During a long period 
 of five years the parish was attended from Mohawk 
 Hill. Father James Smith, now of Colorado, 
 came in 1867 ; Father Conlon who died in Keese- 
 ville was there in 1875, and a few others after- 
 ward. The Minorite Fathers of Utica gave their 
 time and care to it for many years. 
 
OROGHAN. 303 
 
 The parish was first incorporated in 1853, and 
 the first trustees were Nicholas Gaudel, Chris- 
 topher Miller, and V. E. Rofinot, jr. Father 
 Mutsears started a school in 1859, taught by 
 seculars, and his successors, Gabriel Volkert, con- 
 tinued and improved it. Father Volkert was a 
 secular, and f emained in the parish from 1868 to 
 1874. Bishop M'Closkey visited the place in 
 1853 and administered confirmation, in which year 
 the people of Daynville built a small church under 
 the title of Sts. Peter and Paul. 
 
 The really efficient work of the parish began in 
 1876 when the Prussian Franciscans were placed 
 in charge. A house was built in 1877, and six 
 Franciscan Sisters were brought to take charge of 
 the schools. The next year a neat convent was 
 erected for them. The corner-stone of a new 
 church was laid by Bishop Wadhams in 1879, and 
 the completed edifice dedicated by him in 1881. 
 It is a very handsome structure capable of seat- 
 ing 700 persons, and cost $16,000. The Fran- 
 ciscans have now the handsomest church prop- 
 erty and completest parish in the diocese. Their 
 schools are conducted under peculiar difficulties 
 The children of farmers form the majority of the 
 pupils, and cannot attend with the regularity of 
 village children. In consequence the attendance 
 compared with the number of children in the 
 parish is small. Some wonderful results have 
 been accomplished, and the proficiency in music, 
 
304 CROGHAN. 
 
 displayed by the whole town as well as the chil- 
 dren is remarkable even for the Germans. 
 
 There are twenty-two hundred souls in the parish, 
 of a faith much stronger than can be expected from 
 the Black River district, and more than one half 
 attend regularly to confession and communion. 
 They are attended by three priests, of whom the 
 superior is Father Gregory, a man of considerable 
 ability, and of gracious and kindly disposition, who 
 has administered the affairs of the parish for the 
 last three years. He has hopes that the history 
 of Croghan, for the next few decades, will be more 
 thoroughly Catholic than in the past. 
 
 Father Gregory was born in 1844, at Homburg, 
 Germany, made his preparatory studies at Fulda 
 and Dusseldorf, and finished his philosophy and 
 theology at Paderbon and Fulda, being ordained 
 priest at the last-named place in May, of the year 
 1868. When Bismarck began his work of expel- 
 ing the religions orders from Germany, Father 
 Gregory followed his exiled brethren to America, 
 and was after a few years placed in charge of the 
 Croghan mission, where his ability and piety wield 
 a remarkable and beneficent influence over the 
 Germans. 
 
MOHA WK BILL. 305 
 
 MOHAWK HILL. 
 
 A COMPANY of German Catholics emigrated to 
 Lewis County in 1830, drawn thither by the prom- 
 ises and inducements of the French colonization 
 company, ancf Mr. LeRay de Chaumont. Part of 
 these colonists settled around Croghan, and a part 
 around Mohawk Hill, where they and their des- 
 cendants still remain. They reached the high lands 
 of Lewis County, in 1830, and as soon as they had 
 broken ground, began to prepare for the building 
 of a church. 
 
 The first priest who said Mass in the parish was, 
 as nearly as could be discovered, a Father Raf- 
 feiner, who afterwards died pastor of Holy Trinity 
 Church, Brooklyn. He was sent out by Bishop 
 Dubois to do what was possible for the German 
 settlers, of whose coming he was made aware 
 through Mr. Le Ray. The Mass was said in a barn 
 half a mile from where the present church stands. 
 Father Raffeiner came rarely. The distance was 
 great in those days from New York to the wilds 
 of the North, and made a tedious journey. Priests 
 from anywhere came on occasions to say Mass for 
 the congregation, but unable to speak the lan- 
 guage, could do little besides. The practical Ger- 
 mans, however, under Father Raffeiner's remote 
 direction built a church, and had the pleasure of 
 hearing Mass said in it on All Saint's Day of 1834, 
 four years after their first coming. Father Raf- 
 
306 MOHAWK HILL. 
 
 seiner blessed it, and gave it the name of St. 
 Michael. 
 
 The population gradually increased. Settle- 
 ments were made at Fish Creek and what is known 
 as the Prussian Settlement. Father Guth from 
 the neighboring Cape Vincent said Mass in 1842, 
 and for a time looked after the interests of all the 
 Germans in the country. Father Kapp, from the 
 same place, succeeded him in his care until 1850. 
 There came two resident priest, Father Tappert 
 and Father Fedderman, under whom the parish 
 took a fresh start and did some good work in the 
 way of rejuvenation. 
 
 It was so difficult to get German priests at the 
 time that the history of the parish is very much 
 confused so far as the priest are concerned. 
 Father Howard of Constableville was called on 
 occasionably to supply interregnums. The Mino- 
 rite Fathers of Utica had charge for many years, 
 and some of their priests were the best beloved by 
 the people of any who attended them. 
 
 The land belonging to the church in Mohawk 
 Hill was bought by Peter Reidal. The first church 
 having become too small, Father Tappert had his 
 people build another in 1851, under the same title 
 and capable of holding four hundred people or 
 more. Bishop M'Closkey laid the corner-stone in 
 that year, and returned to dedicate it in 1852, 
 Father, Fedderman built a church at Fish Creek 
 in 1853, under the title of Sts. Peter and Paul, while 
 the people of the Prussian Settlement built of their 
 
MOHAWK HILL. 307 
 
 own accord in 1851 a handsome stone church un- 
 der the title of the Assumption. Father Clemens 
 Luitz in 1867 repaired church property through- 
 out the parish, and added to it considerably. 
 
 The history of the parish took a definite shape 
 when, in 1876, a body of Franciscans, expelled from 
 Prussia, took charge of it. A people irregularly 
 attended and left for a great part of the time to do 
 as they saw fit in religious matters could not but 
 deteriorate from their first honorable condition. 
 The Feanciscans have had some trouble in this 
 direction, but under their careful management it is 
 gradually disappearing. In 1882 a convent was 
 built beside the church, and in 1883 five Francis- 
 can Sisters took possession and opened a school. 
 They have now thirty boarders, and the good which 
 they are doing has already begun to make itself 
 felt. 
 
 There are one hundred and sixty families in the 
 parish, all Germans, all speaking the German 
 tongue and all farmers. Scattered as they are 
 among the bleak hills of Lewis County, where 
 the themometer it often at thirty below zero 
 and the snow three feet on the level five months 
 of the year, they are served under circumstances 
 of peculiar hardship. But all difficulties seem to 
 be gradually overcome, there are yearly 600 
 communions and those people under the steady 
 discipline of the church and the unfailing Francis- 
 cans promise to become one of the most pious as 
 well as prosperous congregations in the diocese. 
 
308 [LOWVILLE. 
 
 LOWVILLE. 
 
 This town is the seat of Lewis County, and is 
 prettily situated in the Black River valley some 
 thirty miles North of Utica. It is comparatively 
 wealthy, does considerable business, is remarkable 
 for a certain degree of refinement, and is sur. 
 rounded by a good farming country. The parish 
 consists of Lowville and a mission a few miles 
 distant, known as Maple Ridge, Mass being said 
 on alternate Sundays in each place. The Catholic 
 population of Lowville is made up of mechanics 
 and laborers mostly, while that of Maple Ridge 
 consists entirely of farmers. 
 
 As was said in the history of Constableville, the 
 entire Black River valley was attended for years 
 in a desultory fashion by priests from New York, 
 Utica, Syracuse, Lafargeville, and Carthage. The 
 first Catholics to settle in what is now the parish 
 of Lowville were James Heffernan, who came 
 from Tipperary and settled in Martinsburgh as 
 early as 1828, John Lynch, from the city of Dublin 
 in 1832. William Curtis from West Meath in the 
 same year, and James Kelly from New York in 
 1840. Among the first Catholic settlers of the 
 Lowville were John Siegel of Bavaria, Germany, 
 who settled there not earlier than 1841, Michael 
 Phelan in 1856 and David O'Keefe in 1860. The 
 county seat was then at Martinsburg, and Low- 
 
LOWriLLE. 309 
 
 ville a place too unimportant to attract settlers, 
 Until the building of the canal and railroad settlers 
 were drawn to the business parts of the county. 
 
 Father James McBride of Utica is reported to 
 have said the first Mass in the parish at the house 
 of James Kelly somewhere around 1840. Later, 
 Father Ho-v?-ard of Constableville, first parish 
 priest of the entire district, visited Maple Ridge 
 and said Mass in the house of James Heffernan. 
 His territory embraced almost the whole of Lewis 
 County with Constableville as his head-quarters. 
 Maple Ridge was made the gathering point for the 
 people farther North, and was the corner-stone as 
 it were of the present parish of Lowville. The 
 history of the parish is that of Constableville up 
 to the year 1865. 
 
 In that year Father Herbst was appointed by 
 Bishop Conroy to take charge of the territory now 
 included in the towns of Lowville, Martinsburg, 
 Pinckney, Harrisburgh, Denmark, Watson, and 
 North. He stationed himself at Lowville, which 
 was now rising into importance, and said Mass in 
 the court-house, although Maple Ridge rejoiced 
 in a church capable of holding 300 persons, which 
 Father Cornelius Fitzpatrick, lately of Fort Ed- 
 ward, had built under the title of St. Patrick's in 
 1859. Father Herbst remained almost two years, 
 and left in 1867. 
 
 He was succeeded by the Rev. Joseph Fitz- 
 gerald, a man of uncommon ability, whose after 
 fate is left in sad uncertainty. He built the Low- 
 
310 LOWriLLE. 
 
 ville church in 1869 under the title of St. Peter's 
 and dedicated it himself on October 3d of that year. 
 It is a plain wooden structure capable of seating 
 450 persons. On the forming of a parish in 
 Copenhagen he surrendered to it Maple liidge> 
 which again reverted to Lowville in 1871. 
 
 Father Fitzgerald was succeeded by Rev. Wil- 
 liam B. Nyhan in 1871. There were then in the 
 entire parish eighty families, the vast majority 
 Irish, a small number Germans. In Lowville the 
 faith had so declined among the people that not 
 more than one half attended to religious duties. 
 The remainder were a cold, sneering, calculating 
 set of liberals, whose evil influence and example 
 troubles the parish until this day. The total reve- 
 nues of the parish would not support a priest in 
 even beggarly comfort, and there seemed no im- 
 mediate prospect of a better condition of things. 
 In 1872 a mission was given by the Jesuit Father • 
 Langcake, which had a good effect upon the people. 
 The attendance at church and the sacraments in- 
 creased remarkably, A better spirit began to pre- 
 vail, which was strengthened and added to by 
 Father Ryan the poet priest, in a mission given in 
 1874. Still later the Jesuit Father Dewey gave 
 a third mission as successful and important as the 
 others. As a result of these efforts Father Nyhan 
 was enabled to make many improvements in the 
 parish. Its interest and faith were partially 
 awakened, and have since remained in that com- 
 paratively happy state. A residence for the priest 
 
LOWriLLE. 311 
 
 was built at a cost of $4,000, a pipe organ placed in 
 the church, and a new altar and sanctuary added 
 to the building. In Maple Ridge a new altar and 
 new pews were placed in the church, and from the 
 whole parish several, debts were removed which 
 had hampered work considerably. Bishop Wad- 
 hams visited' the parish four times and administered 
 confirmation to many hundred children and adults. 
 The number of souls in the parish doubled. With 
 this awakening of the faith has come the hope that 
 very soon out of Lowville and the whole Black 
 River valley the unfortunate ' liberal ' spirit will 
 be completely rooted. More precise and abun- 
 dant knowledge of the faith among the people, and 
 good schools for the training of the young will in 
 time bring about the desired result. 
 
 Father Nyhan after a stay of twelve years in 
 Lowville retired to take charge of the important 
 parish of Brasher Falls. He was succeeded by the 
 Rev. Joseph Redington in 1883, who left the fol- 
 lowing year, when Rev. Michael O'Neill the pres- 
 ent pastor took charge of the missions. Father 
 O'Neill was born and educated in Ireland, and 
 after his ordination served for some time in the 
 diocese of Glasgow, Scotland. On coming to 
 America he joined the diocese of Ogdensburg, 
 was assistant at Clayton, pastor at Redwood,' and 
 was finally appointed to Lowville. 
 
312 PORT LETDEN. 
 
 PORT LEYDEN. 
 
 This is one of the most recently formed parishes, 
 and lies some miles below Lowville, on the line of 
 the Utica and Black River railroad. It is a pretty 
 town, of no great size, and is chiefly concerned 
 with lumber and farming, although years back a 
 furnace was opened for the purpose of utilizing 
 the iron ore found in the neighborhood ; which 
 drew to Port Leyden a great number of families, 
 and then collapsed in a final and hopeless manner. 
 It was at this period of delusive prosperity that 
 the district was made a parish. Rev. Eugene 
 Carroll was appointed to take charge of it, and 
 watch ove?; the bud which never blossomed out of 
 its budhood. The priest was old, but of a vigor- 
 ous constitution. The people were as usual, poor, 
 and yet not unwilling, with all the coolness of 
 faith peculiar to the region in which they live, to 
 do a little for their own salvation. 
 
 The first inhabitants were Irish, whom the Ger- 
 mans closely followed, and among the earliest 
 settlers were Martin Filbin, Thos. Sweeney, John 
 McHale, Martin Kelly, John and Peter Beck. 
 They attended Mass at Constableville, until Father 
 .Carroll was appointed over them in 1879. Then 
 ^ass Fas said in the town-hall, and in the mean- 
 (iime a jieat phurch edifice was built, of good brick 
 and sound timber, capable of holding a few hun- 
 
PORT LETDEN. 313 
 
 died people ; a pretty altar and good pews were 
 put in it, stained glass windows bought, the arched 
 roof tastefully ornamented with carving and colors, 
 and the new building dedicated by Bishop Wad- 
 hams with great splendor, to the pleasure and de- 
 light of the few hundred families that then com- 
 posed the coogregation. This was in the year of 
 grace, 1880. 
 
 The church having been built, the prosperity of 
 the town declined with the shutting up of the 
 furnace. Port Leyden, however, was in form and 
 dignity a parish, and has maintained that form and 
 dignity up to the present moment in spite of the 
 decrease in its Catholic population. No doubt it 
 will continue to do so as long as possible, which 
 means a very long time, north of the Adirondacks. 
 Father Carroll, well known by years and reputa- 
 tion to the people of this State, died in 1882, and 
 was buried outside of Port Leyden, followed to 
 his grave by many friends among the clergy and 
 the people. 
 
 As the parish had no parochial residence, and 
 was now reduced to ninety families, of varying 
 shades of Catholicity, it was thought that the 
 mission would again be attached to some important 
 parish in the neighborhood. However, Rev. 
 Father Connor of Redwood was appointed to suc- 
 ceed Father Carroll, and accepted the new charge, 
 where he has since remained, much respected by 
 his people, and entirely devoted to them. 
 
 Father Connor was born at Worcester, Mass., 
 
314 POET LETDEN. 
 
 studied his classics at Holy Cross College, in the 
 same city, and made his theology at the Troy 
 Seminary, from which he was ordained for this 
 diocese. First serving as assistant at the Cathe- 
 dral, he was next appointed to Redwood, and 
 finally to Port Leyden. In all his work Father 
 Connor has won the respect and affection of those 
 whom he served, by his unassuming charity, and 
 faithful devotion to his duty. 
 
PART VII. 
 DISTRICT OF PORT HENRY. 
 
 This region is situated in the south-east part of 
 the diocese, is entirely mountainous, extending 
 from Port Kent to Whitehall, and enclosed by 
 Lake Champlain on the East side and the Adiron- 
 dacks on the West. Mining and farming, with 
 the business incidental to these occupations, are 
 the chief pursuits of the people. The mines are 
 of considerable value, and the land is fair but dif- 
 ficult to work. The Catholic population is princi- 
 pally Irish and of Irish descent, and the Canadians 
 are well represented. The parishes were formed 
 in the following order from the parent parish, Port 
 Henry. 
 Poet Heitet, 1840. 
 
 Attended by Rev. Jeremiah O'Callaghan, 1847 
 
 Rev.. Michael McDonald, 1848 
 
 Rev. Mr. Olivetti, 1863 
 
 Rev. Luke Harney, 1879 
 Rev. J. H. O'Rourke, 
 
 Olmsteadville, 1867. 
 
 Attended by Rev. Louis DesRoches, 1868 
 
 Rev. Mr. Moore, 1870 
 
 Rev. Jno. Craven, 1873 
 
 Paulist Fathers, 1874 
 
 Rev. Mr. Conlon, 1875 
 
 (Warrensbnrgh) Rev. Mr. Kelly, 1879 
 
316 DISTRICT OF PORT HENRY. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Pelletier, 
 Rev. Mr. Blanchard, 
 
 1881 
 
 1884 
 
 Rev. J. B. Legrand. 
 
 
 TiCONDBEOGA, 1868. 
 
 
 Attended by Rev. Louis DesRoches, 
 
 1870 
 
 Rev. Bernand Caraher, 
 
 1873 
 
 Rev. Joseph Butler, 
 
 
 MlNKVILLB, 1870. 
 
 
 Attended by Rev. Mr. Philips, 
 Rev. Jo's. Taney, 
 Rev. Florence M'Carthy. 
 
 1871 
 1830 
 
 Westpoet, 1882. 
 
 
 Attended by Rev. Jos. Redington, 
 Rev. J. T. Sullivan, 
 
 1883 
 
 1884 
 
 Rev. M. Halahan. 
 
 
 The date opposite the name of each clergyman 
 is the date of his departure from the parish. In 
 all these missions there are good churches, but no 
 schools. There are also churches in Crown Point, 
 Hammondville, Schroon Lake, North Hudson, 
 Boreas River, Indian Lake, Keene, Essex, Elizar 
 bethtown. They are not well supported. The 
 entire district has in fact deteriorated from its 
 early prosperity, money and men are alike a scarc- 
 ity, and the hard labor which the priests undergo 
 is but illy recompensed either by happy successes 
 in working among the people or by the practical 
 piety of the congregations. Fluctuations in the 
 iron trade will make the history of the region one 
 of ups and downs, until its mines are exhausted, 
 when it may pass into an era of sober and moderate 
 prosperity which can be counted on at least with 
 a fair degree of certainty. 
 
. PORT HENRY. 
 
 Coming down Lake Champlain from Whitehall, 
 over that course so often traversed by the French 
 armies in the early wars of America, the tourist 
 passes at the same moment within a stone's-throw 
 of the New York and Vermont shores. On the 
 right is Chimney Point, uttermost eastern tip of 
 the Puritan land; on the left the famous spot 
 where the French erected a fort against the 
 English — Pointe S. la Chevelure, translated and ever 
 since called Crown Point. The ruins of the old 
 Fort St. Frederic, within whose walls the Adora- 
 ble Sacrifice was offered for many years, are still 
 to be seen, and history keeps the record of the 
 chaplains who there ministered to the soldiers 
 from the inception of the fort to its final evacua- 
 tion. North-west of these two points, on the 
 shores of Bulwagga bay, clings, not stands, the 
 village of Port Henry. A more unlikely spot for 
 the homes of civilized men could not be found on 
 the rugged west shores of the lake. The moun- 
 tains have here planted their rude feet in the very 
 
318 PORT HENRY. 
 
 depths of the waters. Their heads rise one above 
 the other as far as the eye can follow the slope. 
 Deep ravines cut their rough sides, down which 
 rush the torrents in the early spring ; and the 
 primeval forest still adorns the steeps in the 
 neighborhood of the village. Among these rough 
 eminences are scattered the churches, schools, 
 shops and dwelling-houses of Port Henry, some of 
 them imposing, many costly and beautiful, all 
 pretty and picturesque by reason of their situation. 
 Scarcely a house is there that does not cling 
 to a hill: one street looks down on the roofs 
 of the next ; a front door may be reached by a 
 single step, but the side or back door is certain to 
 have ten ; no street without a curve or a dip every 
 few rods, and all sorts of surprising views bursting 
 upon the tourist's eye as he toils among these vex- 
 atious avenues. Iron is the magnet which drew 
 people to the wild neighborhood, a,nd still holds 
 them there. The mountains are full of it, and for 
 over half a century hundreds of men have been 
 digging at the rocks and fearfully defacing them 
 to obtain the precious ore. There are furnaces 
 not only here but at all available points in those 
 mountains from Chateaugay to Ticonderoga ; and 
 by giving employment to hundreds of men have 
 made the wilds cheerful and busy with the clamor 
 of healthy labor. 
 
 After the French and English wars which ended 
 with the fall of Quebec in 1759, there was a season 
 
KEV. J. H. O BOTJBKB. 
 
320 POST HENRT. 
 
 of repose for the water-way of Champlain. The 
 echoes of war no longer disturbed its peaceful sol- 
 itude, and the French transports, laden with 
 munitions of war or troops of French regulars and 
 Canadian peasants, gave way to the sloops and 
 scows of ambitious emigrants looking for good 
 farm land. A few straggled through the rocks of 
 Port Henry, and clung there like the moss to the 
 forbidding rocks ; but the greater part went on 
 to the plains north of the Adirondacks. The few 
 who thus made their home in sight' of old Fort 
 St. Frederic, throve fairly for a few years without 
 churches or post-offices, an innocent, plain-spoken, 
 ignorant people, with few convictions and much 
 natural charity, until the steamboats began to 
 'find their way to Plattsburg, and the inquisitive 
 wealth-seekers to smell the iron treasure in the 
 hills, when Port Henry suddenly waked up to 
 commercial life and the adventurous Irishman 
 came to assist in the digging out of the iron from 
 the mountains. 
 
 The families straggled into the village at inter- 
 vals, and their history begins with the first Mass 
 said at the residence of Michael McGuire in 1840, 
 by Father Jeremiah O'Callaghan of Burlington. 
 Probably thirty persons attended. There were 
 fifteen families of Irish Catholics found by the 
 Burlington priest to be in need of his services, of 
 which very few members survive to-day ; of those 
 that knelt in the one room of Mr. McGuire's poor 
 
POUT HENRT. 321 
 
 residence, probably not a soul but has gone to its 
 account. The numbers of the faithful, however, 
 increased rapidly as travel became more frequent 
 and easier between Albany and Plattsburg, and 
 Father O'Callaghan's congregation began to swell 
 beyond the proportions of kitchens. The priest 
 was an impetitous, sharp-visaged man, beyond mid- 
 dle age, with a strongly marked character. He 
 had been the author of a work on Usury, whose 
 chief peculiarity was that it touched but slightly 
 on the subject indicated by the title. His labors 
 in the region of Champlain were multiplied and 
 arduous, and he had become in his solitude a sort 
 of apostolic missionary, whose facilities and priv- 
 ileges were limited by necessity only. He was 
 energetic, and quick to perceive and provide for 
 the necessities of his missions ; but whatever he 
 intended to have done for Port Henry was cut off 
 by circumstances. Bishop M'Closkey was ap- 
 pointed to the new see of Albany, and Bishop de 
 Goesbriand to that of Burlington, and Father 
 O'Callaghan returned to Boston, where he died in 
 the course of time, remembered to this day by the 
 people whom he once served faithfully. 
 
 The Bishop of Albany gave the charge of Port 
 Henry to Father MacDonnell, of Keeseville, a 
 town thirty miles to the north. The new priest 
 was the orator of the district, — a tall portly man, 
 of middle age, and of considerable ability. His 
 first Mass was said under unusual circumstances. 
 
322 POBT HENItT. 
 
 There was no church of any sort in the village. 
 Occasionally a stray preacher found his way to 
 the place and held services in the school-house. 
 The Catholics of Port Henry concluded to use the 
 same building for the saying of Mass as their 
 numbers forbade the use of a private house ; but 
 when they came to talk of the matter to the 
 schoolmaster, he had temporarily fled the town, 
 leaving instructions with the man to whom he 
 intrusted the key, that it should be given to no 
 one until he returned. This was the first and last 
 evidence of bigotry which the neighbors displayed 
 towards the Catholics. An altar was erected in 
 the woods, back of the old furnaces of the Bay 
 State mining company, — it was reverently en- 
 closed with pine boards, — and here, on the 2nd of 
 August, 1847, Father MacDonnell said his first 
 Mass at Port Henry in full view of the old Fort 
 St. Frederic, where once the Mass had been freely 
 offered by the French chaplains long before the 
 foot of Englishman had trod the soil. It was an 
 impressive scene for these poor Irishmen. Below 
 them lay the quiet waters of the lake ; in the dis- 
 tance the dismantled walls of the fortress ; around 
 them stood the old pines now witnessing, not for 
 the first time, the solemnity of the Mass. This 
 hill ought to be dear to Port Henry Catholics. 
 The incident, however, roused them to a sharp 
 display and exercise of their religious feelings, and 
 to a prompt assertion of their rights in the matter 
 
POET HENRY. 323 
 
 of using the school-house. The citizens of the 
 town were ashamed of the bigotry of their minis- 
 ter, and a building known as the Academy was 
 obligingly placed at their service. For a few 
 months Mass was said in this institution ; but as 
 the people felt more and more the need of their 
 own church building, Father MacDonnell began to 
 collect money to provide for the want. It fell 
 upon an inopportune time. The times were not 
 prosperous, and Port Henry folk felt the pinch of 
 distress severely, so that after gathering in four 
 hundred dollars the priest was compelled to give 
 up collecting. With the sum on hand, however, 
 he put up a small shanty on the property which 
 still belongs to the Catholic corporation. One 
 Isaac Stone sold half an acre of rocks and pine 
 trees to Father MacDonnell on the lowest slope of 
 the village, which was added to in after years 
 until the land summed up about two acres. With 
 this beginning the people were content. There 
 was now no fear of being driven into the open air 
 again to offer up the holy sacrifice, and they had 
 the satisfaction of being the first to put up a build- 
 ing in Port Henry specially dedicated to the ser- 
 vice of God. Father MacDonnell, admired and 
 beloved for his learning, his oratory and his fine 
 physical presence, a true representative of the 
 church, and the race, served the people only that 
 summer, when he was removed by the bishop from 
 Keeseville to St. Peter's Church, Troy, while the 
 
324 PORT BENRY. 
 
 same authority attached the mission of Port 
 Henry to Whitehall. 
 
 Father Olivetti, pastor of Whitehall, said his 
 first Mass in the shanty church Oct. 20th, 1847. 
 He was an Italian, a man of great learning, and of 
 splendid physical presence, being over six feet 
 high and turning the scale at three hundred 
 pounds. His sad after-fate has given him a mourn- 
 ful celebrity in the annals of the parish, and his 
 name is never mentioned by those who remember 
 him without a sigh of regret and pity. The atten- 
 tion of capitalists had now been fixed on Port 
 Henry when the new pastor arrived, the mines 
 were fast being opened, many families were arriving 
 weekly, and a steady flow of moderate prosperity 
 had set in upon the town. Father Olivetti at once 
 began the erection of a new church. Stone of 
 good building quality was thick in the church lot 
 and elsewhere. It was hewn out of the soil by the 
 parishioners in leisure hours, cut and placed in 
 position when money and convenience permitted, 
 for the priest had other missions to attend to be- 
 tween Port Henrjr and Whitehall and could not al- 
 ways be present to look after the work. It was 
 a solid thick-walled building made to last for decades, 
 built on a hill above the bay with the altar against 
 the west wall so that it overlooked the distant 
 peninsula of Crown Point with its ruined church 
 and silent fortress. It was not finished when, in 
 1852, Bishop M'Closkey came to examine and con- 
 
PORT UENRT. 325 
 
 firm the people, young and old, who had kept the 
 faith with such fidelity, The seats were rough 
 and temporary, and the roof but just closed in, yet 
 the ceremonies and the presence of the bishop were 
 inspiring, and one of the objects of his visit was 
 certaiuly accomplished, — to wake the people into a 
 brighter life and greater efforts to build their 
 mission into a permanency. The church was 
 finished in 1854, and after a time Father Olivetti 
 made the village his residence, attending "Whitehall 
 and his other missions from Port Henry, and 
 making a home for himself in the basement of the 
 church. His face and figure were well known in 
 all the region from his constant travel. The next 
 few years passed away in the ordinary routine of a 
 well-established mission. Bishop M'Closkey came 
 again to speak words of thankfulness and sincere 
 congratulation to the people. Father Olivetti, 
 seeing as many prudent Catholics had seen in that 
 day the advantages of settling Catholics on the 
 land and forming a Catholic farming class, bought 
 at an auction sale the whole of the seventeenth 
 township now known as the town of Pendleton. 
 He induced a few families to take up homesteads 
 on the land, and was preparing to go into coloniz- 
 ing extensively when the tragedy occurred which 
 put an end to his beneficial schemes and to his 
 useful, honorable, and pious life. 
 
 On the 16th of September, 1863, he returned from 
 Ticonderoga to Port Henry. It was his custom to 
 
326 POBT HENBT. 
 
 visit Albany on business matters at certain times 
 of the year. Sickness overtook him while on his 
 way and he returned. The steamer touched at 
 Port Henry late at night, the wind was high, the 
 night dark, and the dock a rough affair full of pit- 
 falls and byways, with which, however, the priest 
 was well acquainted. A boy, the only native about, 
 offered to carry the heavy satchel of vestments, 
 but Father Olivetti thankfully declined. The 
 watchman's lantern was blown out by a sudden 
 gust of wind and left the neighborhood in thick 
 darkness. One other passenger, a loose character 
 from Ticonderoga, got off the boat and disappeared 
 with the priest in the darkness. He remained that 
 night with a friend and returned on the next day's 
 boat to his home. No attempt was made to inter- 
 fere with his return and examine him, although 
 Father Olivetti's dead body was found the next 
 morning lying in a pool of water a short distance 
 from where he had uttered his last words to the 
 kindly boy who had addressed him. His satchel 
 of vestments had disappeared, his pockets turned 
 inside out and their contents gone, the belt which 
 he wore torn off, a few bills lay near him on the 
 ground, and his body was partly plunged in a 
 shallow pool at one side of the road. There were 
 few bruises on him. He had probably been seized 
 suddenly by the throat and hurled into the water, 
 where he quickly smothered. With much grief 
 and appropriate ceremonies the poor priest was 
 
TORT HENnr. 327 
 
 laid to rest in the graveyard which he had recently 
 bought for the parish. 
 
 An indelible disgrace is fixed upon the coroner 
 and his jury, and upon the magistrates of the dis- 
 trict, by their criminal management in the matter. 
 " Came to his death from causes unknown " was 
 the verdict, which slander tried to supplement 
 with the whispered tale of Father Olivetti's ine- 
 briation. Apart from the fact that the priest was 
 notoriously as prudent as the race to which he 
 belonged, the captain of the steamer and the boy 
 at the dock testified to hife honorable condition at 
 the moment of leaving the boat. The affair 
 dragged and fell to nothing. The loose character 
 from Ticonderoga was allowed to return without 
 molestation, and since that day the affair has 
 remained a mystery. 
 
 Father Luke Harney, small of stature and stern 
 of countenance, succeeded the unfortunate Italian 
 in October of the year 1863. The iron industry 
 had begun to swell to immense proportions, and 
 more than two thousand souls were placed in the 
 new pastor's charge. Money was plentiful and 
 the people were generous, and there was little that 
 he could not do in the line of improving his parish. 
 A new mission had been opened in Mineville, six 
 miles distant. Here he began a church ; in Port 
 Henry he built a modest residence, and at the 
 same time he made preparations for enlarging its 
 church. There were sixteen hundred communions 
 
328 POUT HENRT. 
 
 and confessions in the parish on his first Christmas 
 there ; and when the newly-oonsecrated Bishop of 
 Albany, Mgr. Conroy, made his episcopal visita- 
 tion in July, 1864, six hundred young persons 
 presented themselves for confirmation. The church, 
 which he renovated, and, in one sense, actually 
 built, is, however, his monument. There is no 
 other to match it in the diocese, perhaps not in the 
 State, for the qualities of beauty and fitness. It is 
 not large nor costly. The stone is native, the walls 
 are thick and low, the shape cruciform. Nestling 
 in the upper corners of the cross are two pretty 
 sacristies with stained glass windows. The walls 
 and the corners are buttressed, the windows are of 
 real stained glass, beautiful and reverent in their 
 designs, the wood everywhere is wood unpainted, 
 and undisguised. But the loveliest feature of the 
 church is the bell-tower, rising to a proper height 
 from the corner under the right arm of the cross, 
 that is on the east side of the right transept. The 
 main entrance to the church is in this tower. To 
 one accustomed to the hideous edifices called 
 churches in our day, there is nothing so surprising, 
 nothing so beautiful and reverent as St. Patrick's 
 Church at Port Henry. Father Harney did good 
 work in his sixteen years' stay among the people. 
 He was still in the parish when the new diocese of 
 Ogdensburg was formed from the Albany diocese, 
 and had the honor of welcoming Bishop Wadhams 
 on his first visitation of the diocese, and once after- 
 
PORT HENRT. 329 
 
 wards. In 1879 Father Harney retired from the 
 parish, and was succeeded by the present pastor, 
 Father O'Rourke. 
 
 In the last five years the history of the parish 
 has been uneventful. The iron industry of the 
 Adirondaeks began to decline about the time of 
 Father Hari^ey's departure. Mineville had become 
 a separate parish, and from three hundred and 
 fifty families Port Henry has been reduced to a 
 little over two hundred. Without the means 
 which lay in the hands of predecessors. Father 
 O'Rourke has still done good work in perfecting 
 finishing, and sustaining the work begun over 
 forty years ago. Port Henry has but one out- 
 mission, and receives a greater share of its pastor's 
 attention than when the whole coast of Lake 
 Champlain was under the care of Father Olivetti. 
 Still, on various occasions, the mountain and lake 
 missions fall into the hands of Father O'Rourke, 
 and crowd him with more work than one man can 
 at all accomplish under present systems. The 
 beautiful church in his charge lias been completely 
 renovated inside, painted and preserved with per- 
 fect taste, so that after admiring the beautiful 
 exterior, the cultivated eye receives no shock from 
 the soft and fitting colors of the interior. A hun- 
 dred improvements and valuable church neces- 
 saries have been added, and in spite of depressed 
 times the parish has lost nothing in its onward 
 progress. 
 
330 POBT HENBT. 
 
 Father John H. O'Rourke was born in Montreal 
 in 1846, and is now thirty-eight years old. He 
 made his studies in St. Mary's College, Montreal, 
 and in Fordham, where he took his degree of M.A. 
 In 1870 he was ordained by Mgr. Pinsonneault, 
 retired bishop of London, in the Cathedral of 
 Montreal ; and after serving in different parishes 
 severed his connection with the Montreal diocese 
 to transfer his services to Bishop Wadhams, who 
 finally appointed him to the parish of Port Henry. 
 
 The particulars of this brief history were learned 
 chiefly from Mr. and Mrs. Francis Carr, estimable 
 Catholics of Port Henry, who were in the parish al- 
 most from the beginning. Very few of the old resi- 
 dents are left, and the quick years will soon remove 
 these few from the world. God has rewarded the 
 virtues of all the people, living and dead, and their 
 steadfastness in the faith by the steadiness and 
 virtue of the new generation, who are represented 
 in the eternal priesthood by these honorable and 
 pioTis men. The old house where Mass was first 
 said is in ruins, but the same trees grow on the 
 hill which saw the Mass in the open air ; and 
 across the bay shine the clear outlines of Crown 
 Point redolent with pious memories. 
 
TICONDEROGA. 
 
 More than half a century ago, in the year 1831, 
 the indefatigable Father O'Callaghan, of Burling- 
 ton, said the first Mass on the ground now occu- 
 pied by the village of Ticonderoga, — the first 
 Mass, it should be added, under American rule, — ■ 
 for in the days of the French power the army 
 chaplains had often celebrated the august sacrifice 
 in the shadow of the wonderful mountains. En- 
 gaged in searching out the faithful along the 
 shores of Champlain, he had found in a log-cabin 
 on the hill which overlooks the village from the 
 east, an Irishman named Edward McCaughin and 
 his family. One other family, the Quigleys, 
 formed with the MeCaughins the new congrega- 
 tion for whom Father Callaghan said Mass at long 
 intervals until he returned to Boston. 
 
 Like all the towns on the west shore of Cham- 
 plain, Ticonderoga occupies a site of exceptional 
 beauty and of great historic interest. The whole 
 territory from the lake, half-way up the valley to 
 Lake George, was the scene of the great French 
 
332 TICONDEBOGA. 
 
 victory over the English, during the last struggle 
 for the possession of Canada. More than fifteen 
 thousand men, regulars and volunteers, fought for 
 a whole day along the precipitous slopes of 
 Mounts Defiance and Hope, under the leaders 
 Abercrombie and Montcalm. The Frenchman 
 was victorious, and the English lost the brilliant 
 favorite Lord Howe, one of their best generals. 
 The spot where he fell is marked by a monument 
 erected to his memory by the Rev. Joseph Cook. 
 At the foot of Mount Defiance, south of the town, 
 was built the French Fort Carillon, stubbornly 
 held for a few years, evacuated, held by the Eng- 
 lish and Americans successively afterwards, and 
 finally rendered untenable by Burgoyne, who 
 planted his artillery seven hundred feet above on 
 the mountain. To-day its position is indicated by 
 a few mounds of earth visible from the car win- 
 dows of the Delaware road. The graveyard 
 where repose the French dead is close by, and 
 only lately a settler in digging there came across 
 the bones of an Indian warrior. The outlet of 
 Lake George, a brawling narrow stream, finds its 
 way through the valley, a distance of four miles, 
 to the waters of Champlain ; passing through the 
 village of " Ti." it is pressed into the service of 
 sundry pulp, saw and cotton mills which lie at the 
 lowest point in the valley : so low, indeed, is the 
 town situated that the mountains in the neighbor- 
 hood derive additional size and grandeur when 
 
BEV. JOS. BUTLKB. 
 
334 TICONDEROGA. 
 
 compared with the diminutive dwellings at their 
 feet. 
 
 When Father Callaghan found his Irishmen in 
 this mountain fastness the primeval place had not 
 been disturbed since the lake echoed with the roar 
 of MacDonough's cannon in the M'ar of 1812. It 
 was not a choice neighborhood for farming, and 
 though often explored by immigrants had no 
 charms for any but the McCaughins and Quigleys. 
 It increased but slowly. It was thirteen years 
 after the first Mass before a church was built, and 
 this structure was erected by Mr. McCaughin at 
 his own expense and on his own land in the year 
 1844 under the title of St. Mary's. Father Rooney 
 of Plattsburgh was commissioned by Bishop 
 Hughes of New York to dedicate it, and to min- 
 ister to the young congregation, but on the ap- 
 pointment of Father Olivetti to Whitehall the 
 entire series of small settlements along the lake 
 from Whitehall to Westport were given into his 
 charge. It 'was at this place he met his probable 
 murderer on that fatal day in September which 
 saw his violent ending. Bishop M'Closkey visited 
 the town in 1852, administered confirmation, and 
 proposed to Mr. McCaughin the graceful act of 
 presenting to the parish the church and lot which 
 he had so generously given over to sacred uses, an 
 act which the old gentleman did not feel disposed 
 to perform. The old building is still standing on 
 the McCaughin farm outside the town with its 
 
TICONDEBOGA. 335 
 
 altar and seats, and is still in the possession of this 
 family, but the people who there attended are for 
 the most part enjoying the rest of the grave. As 
 it was imperative that the parish should own its 
 church property, Father Olivetti received instruc- 
 tions to build a church as soon as practicable. 
 The structure which he began was finished by 
 Father Harney of Port Henry, of which parish 
 " Ti." was a dependency until the year 1868 when 
 Father Louis Des Roches, a Canadian priest, was 
 made its pastor. Manufacturing interests had now 
 given the place some small importance, and the 
 number of families had increased to nearly one 
 hundred. In 1870 Father Bernard Canrher suc- 
 ceeded to the parish, and was followed in 1873 by 
 the Rev. Joseph Butler, the present incumbent, 
 who for the past eleven years has attended to the 
 wants of the town and the missions in its neigh- 
 borhood. 
 
 Father Butler was born in Ireland in 1828, and 
 at the age of twelve went with a number of com- 
 panions to study in the Island of Malta in the 
 Mediterranean. He made his theology in Rome 
 afterwards, and as a member of the Franciscan 
 order was ordained in the Albany Cathedral by 
 Bishop M'Closkey in 1858. Since that time as a 
 missionary priest Father Butler has served his 
 order and the church in various parts of the east 
 and west and in South America, until Bishop 
 Wadhams appointed him to Ticonderoga, where 
 
336 TICONDEBOGA. 
 
 he has remained for over a decade like all the 
 priests in his neighborhood engaged in giving the 
 finishing strokes to the work of former missionaries. 
 The mission had already been favored with the 
 visits of the Bishops M'Closkey and Conroy of 
 Albany, and with one visit from Bishop Wadhams 
 in 1873. Since Father Batler's time the bishop 
 has made four episcopal visitations at regular 
 intervals of three years, confirming some 800 
 children whom the priest had already brought, after 
 steady instructions, to their first communion. The 
 debts of the parish have been removed, the prop- 
 erty put in order, and a better organization given 
 to the parish, which now numbers about one hun- 
 and twenty families. 
 
 As Port Henry was the mother of many churches 
 in the neighborhood, so Ticonderoga in turn has 
 presented her daughters to the universal church ; 
 daughters whose sudden demise fitly illustrates the 
 mutable character of many missions in the diocese. 
 In 1824 a mining company erected a furnace at 
 Crown Point, a village seven miles distant from 
 the Crown Point of the French regime. Families 
 crowded in, the times were prosperous, and Father 
 Butler took charge of the new mission. A church 
 was erected at a cost of seven thousand dollars. 
 Two thousand were paid, when the furnace gave 
 out and the mission went down so suddenly that 
 but ten families are left to divide among them the 
 debt of five thousand dollars. 
 
TICONDEROGA. 337 
 
 Hammondville, another mining town, was formed 
 into a mission in 1878 and built a church in 1880. 
 To day the mining population is fled for the most 
 part, but there are farmers and laborers in the 
 vicinity numerous enough to support the church 
 which Father Butler left free of debt. It is now 
 attached to the parish of Port Henry. 
 
 Ticonderoga itself is subject to dangerous fluc- 
 tuations in business. A cotton-mill recently de- 
 parted life in its boundaries, and as its manufac- 
 turies form the sole reliance of the villagers it may 
 yet meet with the fate of its children. The popu- 
 lation is to some extent floating. The very old 
 residents are few, and mission work therefore lacks 
 much of the interest which makes the loneliest spot 
 pleasant to the missionary priest. With its gloomy 
 background of everlasting hills and its view of 
 Lake Champlain shut in by the elevation to the 
 east, Ticonderoga will never charm strangers into 
 a long residence. 
 
MINEVILLE. 
 
 Thb road from Port Henry into the mountains 
 has a grade of two hundred feet to the mile. 
 Along this steep ascent winds a mining railway 
 whose depot at Mineville is some twelve hundred 
 feet higher than its depot at Port Henry. The 
 foot hills at Bulwagga Bay disappear gradually as 
 the traveller mounts the grade, and finally dwindle 
 into insignificant knobs before the approach of 
 their grander brethren the hoary and gloomy 
 Adirondacks. Between these foot-hills and the 
 mountains lie long stretches of fine farm-land, 
 dotted by bits of forest of the early growth and 
 made more beautiful by comfortable dwellings on 
 their heights and sleepy villages in their valleys. 
 This land explains the preferences of the early 
 settlers who clung for dear life to the crags of 
 Port Henry. When the mines are exhausted the 
 presence of the farmers will keep life in the lan- 
 guishing lake villages, as they do now when, for 
 incidental causes, the iron business declines. The 
 road to Mineville is, like all mountain roads, won- 
 derfully picturesque ; but the village itself, like all 
 
MINHVILLE. 339 
 
 mining villages, is an eyesore. It seems to be of 
 mushroom growth. The churches, houses, and pub- 
 lic buildings are built anywhere and everywhere, 
 back to back, sides to fronts, at all angles to the roads 
 or streets, and with the carelessness of structures 
 temporary. The experience of a decade has shown 
 the villagers that at any moment it may become 
 necessary to seek a living elsewhere, which has 
 bred a consequent disregard of solidity, comfort, 
 and neatness. There is a griminess and roughness 
 over the whole place, features prominent in a 
 mining town, and not even the gorgeous summers 
 of the mountain can hide them. The boom in the 
 iron trade first drew to Mineville the Irish settlers, 
 a rough but respectable body, grown rougher from 
 the hardships and dangers of mining, and known 
 at once in older communities by their hardy bodies 
 and fierce dispositions. The first settlers in the 
 place attended the church at -Port Henry, but 
 shortly after the arrival of Father Harney their 
 numbers had swelled sufficiently to warrant build- 
 ing them a separate church. There was consider- 
 able rivalry between the two villages in church 
 matters, and it is on record that in every collection 
 made at Port Henry the miners on the mountain 
 waited the announcement of its total in order to 
 make theirs a few dollars better. The building of 
 a new church was taken up with eagerness, but 
 delayed by many causes. The extensive missions 
 under the pa,stor's charge made it impossible for 
 
340 MINEVILLE. 
 
 him to give to the work uninterrupted attention, 
 and he was finally compelled to give up the parish 
 to the charge of Father Philips in 1870. Mine- 
 ville has therefore a brief history of only 15 years. 
 The health of the first parish priest failed him 
 during the first year of his residence and he died 
 in the summer of 1871 without having been able 
 to accomplish more than a fraction of the work 
 began. He was succeeded in the same year by 
 Father Taney, who with better health in his pos- 
 session was enabled to put affairs in a prosperous 
 state. The church was finished, a house built, and 
 a cemetery bought within the next few years. 
 There were difficulties to be met with of a kind 
 peculiar to the place. Hard times affected the 
 pockets of laborers. The iron trade is very sensi- 
 tive, and Mineville seemed to be its register to 
 such an extent that the parish work often lan- 
 guished at unexpected intervals and occasionally 
 threatened complete cessation. In collecting for 
 the mission the parish priests found it necessary 
 to make frequent visits to the mines, visits at- 
 tended with some danger and much inconvenience. 
 The chambers hewn under the earth were never 
 free from falling rock or the dangers of blasting, 
 and were damp always from the water which 
 streamed through. In those places the priest was 
 compelled to remain for hours, interviewing those 
 members of the congregation who could not or 
 would not be reached during leisure hours. 
 
MINEVILLE. S41 
 
 Father Taney died in 1880, and was succeeded 
 by Rev. Florence M'Carthy in the same year, to 
 whom we are indebted for the facts of this brief 
 history of Mineville parish. Father M'Carthy 
 was born in Ireland forty years ago, and was or- 
 dained by Bishop Conroy, from Troy Seminary, in 
 1868. Hg was successively stationed at Norwich, 
 Syracuse, and Albany, and was appointed pastor 
 of Massena Springs, in 1872, in the then diocese 
 of Albany. He was also pastor of Waddington 
 for seven years, and previous to his present charge 
 was stationed in Watertown as successor to the 
 lamented Father Hogan. In Mineville his work 
 has been to complete the beginnings of his prede- 
 cessors, to remove the burdens still remaining on 
 the people, and to rouse them to a stricter observ- 
 ance of their religious duties. This has been done 
 while struggling with the same difficulties which 
 annoyed every incumbent of the parish. There 
 were defects in the church which had to be reme- 
 died at great expense. In fact it had been almost 
 built over, while a debt of some thousands on the 
 cemetery and other property has been paid off en- 
 tirely. Mineville has now a neat brick church 
 capable of holding five or six hundred souls, a 
 good parochial house and a cemetery, and will 
 have in the near future a good school. 
 
 The present depression in the iron business has 
 deprived the parish of almost a hundred families 
 and as many young men, and thrown upon the 
 
342. MINEVILLE. 
 
 work of salvation a forced lull which the prosper- 
 ity of the next month may as suddenly destroy. 
 It is one of the most annoying features of the 
 parish that the primary work of bringing negli- 
 gents and others to the practice of the faith is 
 never done. The good depart and the evil and 
 the negligent come day after day to disturb the 
 harmony of the parish, and to inflict upon its head 
 the vexations and cares incidental to the formation 
 of a new cure. There are but one or two families 
 of the migration still living in the place or on the 
 earth. Progress has been made in many ways 
 which can be measured, but owing to the floating 
 away of the population it is difficult to say how 
 the people have been affected. Bishop Wadhams 
 ha,s visited the place at intervals to confirm the 
 young and to fix the faith of the old ; and as far 
 as the records show he is the only bishop that has 
 ever visited the place. The traveller, after drink- 
 . ing in the beauties of the view which it offers — a 
 slip of Champlain and the mountains of Vermont 
 in the distance — ^leaves it without regret, glad that 
 the grade to Port Henry permits him to fly down 
 the mountain within the hour. 
 
 you are at least able to try. I believe you will 
 He flushed, with something of his old boyish 
 
 Authority. (1870.) 86 
 
 Y. 
 The Choice of a Profession. (1871.) 104 
 
OLMSTEADVILLE. 343 
 
 OLMSTEADVILLE.* 
 
 This is the lone star parish of the diocese. It 
 lies among the southern Adirondacks, and to be 
 reached by rail necessitates a round of travel. 
 Properly it belongs to the diocese of Albany, and 
 is easily reached by rail from Saratoga. It is part 
 of the territory which Father Olivetti, of tragic 
 memory, bought to colonize with Catholics, and 
 the first inhabitants were with exceptions a few 
 Irishmen, whom he sent thither to occupy land 
 and make the beginnings of a grand settlement. 
 Among them were Edmond Butler, who came 
 directly from New York to the place and found 
 ahead of him, James Dougherty, Thomas McGiin, 
 Richard O'Neill, and Edmond Ryan, all farmers, 
 for nothing else besides farming can give employ- 
 ment in the country of mountains, lakes, and 
 forests. 
 
 The parish as it now stands is thirty miles one 
 way and of any length the other. It is composed 
 of six small villages, OlmsteadviUe, where the 
 priest resides, Schroon Lake, a noted town for 
 tourists, Newcomb, Long Lake, Blue Mountain 
 Lake, and Indian Lake. In the first two villages 
 there are churches, and a third a few miles from the 
 parish seat, where Mass is said one or twice a year. 
 
 The first is under the invocation of St. Joseph, 
 
 * From notes collected by Rev. J. B. Legrand. 
 
344 OLMSTEADVILLE. 
 
 and in the mission reside one hundred families. 
 Our Lady of Lourdes is the patron of Schroon 
 Lake, St. Nicholas of North Hudson, St. Anne of 
 Boreas River and St. Gabriel of Indian Lake. 
 
 Until 1842 no priest came to visit these 
 distant and lonely settlers. In that year Edmond 
 Butler wrote to Bishop Dubois of New York 
 asking that a priest be sent them. The bishop 
 promptly replied to the request by placing the 
 mission in care of the priests of Troy. Father 
 Shanahan was the first to visit them and say 
 Mass in the district. He was followed by Fathers 
 Kelly and Quinn, all of whom said Mass occa- 
 sionally in the house of Mr. Butler, ordinarily in 
 the house of Richard O'Neill. Father Olivetti of 
 Port Henry, having purchased an entire township 
 in the mountains, was the first to build a church 
 in the leading village of Olmsteadville, then 
 known as Minerva, and to open and bless a 
 Catholic cemetery. Both still exist. At this 
 time there were but sixteen families in the place. 
 The land on which the church stood was given to 
 the parish by Frederic La Ross, to the trustees 
 Butler and McGuire, whom Father Olivetti had 
 placed in charge of the construction of the church. 
 When it was finished Bishop McCloskey, attended 
 by the Rev. Mr. Murphy of Glenn's Falls, dedi- 
 cated it, and left the mission in charge of this 
 priest. He visited Minerva a few times a year. 
 Father McDermott, his successor and still resi- 
 dent at Glenn's Falls, observed the same custom 
 
REV. J. B. LEGEAND. 
 
346 OLMSTEADVILLE. 
 
 until, in 1877, Father Louis Des Roches was made 
 pastor of all the missions. He left in 1868. Since 
 his time the pastors succeeded one another as 
 follows : — 
 
 Father Moore until 1870. 
 
 Father John Craven until 1873. 
 
 Vacancy until 1874, during which the Paulist 
 
 Fathers and FatJier Butler of Ticonderoga 
 attended the mission. 
 
 Rev. John Conlon until 1875. 
 
 Father Kelly of Warrensburg until 1876. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Pelletier until 1881, when he died. 
 
 Rev. E. Blanchard until 1884. 
 
 Rev. J. B. Legrand, present pastor. 
 A burst of prosperity fell upon Minerva when, in 
 1865, Mr. Olmstead erected tanneries in the moun- 
 tains. So great a number of Irish families were 
 drawn to the place, that the small church could not 
 contain them. At a cost of six thousand dollars 
 another church was erected in the village which 
 the new industry had given birth to a few miles 
 from the old Minerva. This new village was 
 called Olmstead ville. Father Craven built the 
 church. Bishop Wadhams, then vicar-general of 
 Albany, laid the corner-stone in 1871, and in 
 1872, as bishop of Ogdensburg, dedicated the 
 building. 
 
 It was not until 1850 that Catholics went to 
 settle at Schroon Lake. The tanneries also drew 
 them to the vicinity in 1850, and added to the 
 population afterwards. Among the first were 
 
OLMSTEADVILLE. 347 
 
 Edward and Peter Clark, Patrick and John 
 Sheehy, Patrick M'Carthy. W. Gaffney, and 
 John Brown, who has ever been first in the general 
 esteem. Three years since a neat church was 
 erected close to the lake, and the priest visits it 
 once or twice a year. A few Canadian families 
 after a few years settled in the territory, and at- 
 tached themselves to the soil. 
 
 As quickly as the region rose to prominence 
 and prosperity, as quickly did it go down when 
 the work of the tanneries was ended. The bark 
 within reach of capitalists was soon exhausted, 
 the tanneries closed, and the better part of the 
 laboring population drifted to the centres of em- 
 ployment. About two hundred families remained 
 within the limits of the mission, of whom more 
 than one-half, that unfortunate generation edu- 
 cated at the State schools or not educated at all, 
 are beyond the influence of faith or virtue. The 
 outlook for the mission is very gloomy. It 
 will probably diminish in numbers until it has 
 reached the condition of a farming community 
 simply. All its work should be carried on with 
 that fact in mind. Its story is but one of 
 many, and its final condition that to which the 
 greater part of the diocese is coming. 
 
348 WESTPOBT. 
 
 WESTPORT. 
 
 From Whitehall to Port Kent, on the line of the 
 Delaware road, the traveller passes through a 
 stretch of lake and mountain scenery which can 
 hardly be surpassed in beauty by any spot in the 
 world. On one side lies the Champlain water, 
 slowly widening towards the north, dotted by 
 wooded islands, varied by innumerable' bays ; on 
 the other rise the blue peaks of the Adirondacks, 
 in the distance stand the Green Mountains of Ver- 
 mont, and the railroad winds by turns through 
 rocky passes and cultivated fields, with lake or 
 mountains always in view. Westport stands in 
 the centre of this charming district. Its valley 
 forms one of the easiest entrances into the reces- 
 ses of the Adirondacks, and hundreds of tourists 
 visit the village yearly, to enjoy for a summer its 
 health-giving air and wonderful scenery. 
 
 The parish of Westport includes the villages of 
 Essex, near the lake, Elizabethtown and Keene, 
 in the mountains, and a few minor places scattered 
 like mushrooms about the country, enclosing a 
 territory sixty miles long and thirty broad. Its 
 history dates back to the day when Father Jogues 
 was hurried down Lake Champlain by Indian cap- 
 tors, and during their stay on Mud Island made to 
 run the gauntlet as a pastime for the savages. 
 Mud Island is still pointed out to the visitor, but 
 
EE'V. M. HOLAHAN. 
 
350 WESTPOBT. 
 
 being of clay formation it is rapidly disappearing 
 under the action of the water. When New York 
 presented to the Canadians who had suffered exile 
 for their devotion to the revolutionary cause, cer- 
 tain lands on the west shore of the lake, a number 
 of their people settled at Split Rock Bay, and took 
 to farming. Here they were found in 1790, by 
 Father De la Valini^re, whose history, as given by 
 John Gilmary Shea, in his History of the Church 
 in the United States, makes an interesting episode 
 for the chronicle. 
 
 Peter Huet de la Valini^re, born in Brittany, 
 1732, was ordained priest of the order of St. Sul- 
 pice at Quebec, 1757, and was one of the twenty- 
 eight Sulpicians who became English subjects after 
 the conquest. Having little affection for the Eng- 
 lish, and being suspected of leanings towards the 
 American cause, he was seized by the British 
 governor, and sent a prisoner to England. After 
 eighteen months in a prison ship he was set at 
 liberty, and returned to France, but being coolly 
 received by his order, he determined to return to 
 Canada ; sailed to Martinique, and was taken down 
 with yellow fever at St. Domingo ; traveled thence 
 to Massachusetts, and on foot to Montreal; where 
 his superiors begged him not to remain for fear of 
 complications with the government. He returned 
 to New York on foot, and for a time served the 
 French and Canadians there, until his restless dis- 
 position drove him West, where for three years he 
 fought with the Illinois French, and was worsted. 
 
WESTPOET. 351 
 
 He travelled to New Orleans, to Havana, back to 
 New York, and to Montreal ; and finally in Nov- 
 ember of 1790, sought out the Canadians at Split 
 Rock Bay, where he built a church and residence, 
 and without permission or faculties formed a 
 parish. His piety and sincerity were undoubted, 
 but few cou!d tolerate his eccentricities, and after 
 a three years' stay he set his loose-minded parish- 
 ioners so much against him, that in order to get 
 rid of him, they burnt his church and house to 
 the ground, a fair indication of their Catholic 
 spirit. Overcome now with years. Father De la 
 Valini^re returned to Canada, and lived retired 
 upon a small pension allowed him by the Sulpi- 
 cians. He died in 1806. His residence became 
 later a hotel, and a gentleman stopping there one 
 evening found the woodwork covered with medal- 
 lions enclosing verses which the priest had written, 
 exhaling his griefs. He was the author of a poem 
 describing his travels, which was published in 
 Albany. To the last he preserved his eccentric 
 manner and severe piety. 
 
 The Canadians were as peculiar in their practice 
 of the faith as their priest was eccentric. They 
 have faded away from Split Eock, and the village 
 of Essex now stands not far from their short-lived 
 settlement. 
 
 By degrees Irish Catholics found their way into 
 the mountainous country from the more populous 
 communities in Port Henry and Plattsburgh. 
 The land was good in places and cheap, and offered 
 
352 WESTPOBT. 
 
 inducements to poverty not to be found elsewhere. 
 Settlers came from Canada also, and having be- 
 come numerous after a time were desirous of being 
 visited by a priest, but priests were few at that . 
 period and the Bishop of Albany, lately appointed, 
 found it difficult to satisfy more pressing demands 
 nearer home. Father McDonnell of Keeseville 
 occasionally visited them, and Father Olivetti of 
 Port Henry gave them considerable attention. In 
 the hope that the bishop might be induced to 
 send them a priest a number of the leading citizens 
 bought a piece of ground in Westport and partly 
 erected a small church ; not having consulted their 
 ecclesiastical superiors concerning their purposes, 
 the work lagged for want of their favor, and for 
 many years the walls stood in an unfinished state. 
 The people of "Westport attended at Port Henry, 
 those of Elizabethtown at Keeseville, and priests 
 from the missions visited the district on occasions. 
 Essex meanwhile grew to a respectable size, and 
 the farmers became each year more prosperous, so 
 that it was finally decided by Bishop Wadhams 
 that an effort should be made to put the parish on 
 a good footing. Father Shields was appointed to 
 take charge of the missions shortly after the new 
 bishop had taken possession of his see. He built 
 a church at Essex, of stone, capable of holding two 
 hundred people. It was dedicated under the 
 patronage of St. Joseph. Father Shields becom- 
 ing pastor of Au Sable after a year or two, the 
 missions again lapsed into their former condition. 
 
WESTPOBT. 353 
 
 Father O'Rourke upon taking charge on 
 Port Henry gave considerable time and attention 
 to them. He built a church at Elizabethtown in 
 1882, which was dedicated by Bishop Wadhams 
 the same year, under the protection of St. Eliza- 
 beth. It seats two hundred persons and cost 
 $1,600. He also ^ook in hand the half-built church 
 at Westport, and completed it in 1879. Finally* 
 Father Fitzgerald of Au Sable built at Keene a 
 small church which was dedicated in the fall of 
 1883. 
 
 The mission being now well provided with 
 churches it was easier to obtain a priest who would 
 face the hard labor of attending so large and rough 
 a district, and in 1882 Father Joseph Redington 
 was appointed pastor with his residence at Eliza- 
 bethtown. He was succeeded by Rev. John 
 Sullivan in 1883, who died suddenly in the win- 
 ter of 1884, his delicate constitution completely 
 worn out by the fatigue of the mission. It re- 
 mained vacant until the next summer when Rev. 
 Michael Halahan was removed from the position 
 of assistant at the cathedral and placed in charge 
 of the parish. 
 
 In one year Father Halahan paid off the debts 
 which had encumbered the churches to the amount 
 of $2,500, and improved the church property to 
 the extent of $500 more. As Westport was the 
 central spot of the mission he erected a parochial 
 residence there recently at a cost of $2,000. The 
 amount of labor required to accomplish these 
 
354 WE8TP0BT. 
 
 heavy tasks while doing the ordinary mission work 
 is not easily appreciated by those unacquainted 
 with the mission. A ride of forty miles over the 
 rough mountain-roads is an everyday feature of 
 the pastor's life, and this feat on occasions is sur- 
 passed by a journey of seventy miles. There are 
 not more than two hundred families in the mis- 
 sion, and these are scattered over a wide area. It 
 is the consolation of the priest that the faith 
 flourishes generously among them. 
 
 Father Halahan was born at Brasher in 1854, 
 made his classical course and his philosophy at 
 Fordham, and studied theology at the Grand 
 Seminary, Montreal, where he was ordained in 
 1882. He served as curate at Cherubusco and 
 Ogdensburg until his appointed to Westport, and 
 in all these places has distinguished himself by the 
 faithful and solid work which he has performed 
 in the service of God.