St. Patrick's Church and Society of Oneida, N.Y.
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ZPClPTTILj^IB IBlDITTOISr. Copyright 1888. All rights reserved. ONEIDA, N. Y. : D. A. Jackson & Co., Printers 1888. sL Ok lUtr' The Library of Congress WASHINGTON PREFACE. The writer of the following pages offers no apology for their existence, save the simple one of a necessity for some scrap of church history, however crude, but in the main authentic, that would give an outline regarding the growth and develop¬ ment of that Church. That many will find errors of detail in relation to supposed facts, which have had no more permanent foundation than a passing memory, he does not doubt ; but when it is considered that the lack of proper education, and the daily exactions of commercial life, together with the fact that the work is a self imposed one to meet the necessity men¬ tioned, all tend to disqualify him for any claim to literary ex¬ cellence, leads him to hope that its numerous defects will be overlooked. The future historian of St. Patrick’s church and society will find a new condition of things, in which our exis¬ tence will be more strongly set forth than was that of our prede¬ cessors. That this little work will meet the requirements of its friends, and be of some small aid to an abler pen in a similar, though vastly broader field, is the sole ambition of The Author. Oneida, N. Y., August io, 1888. acknowledgment. In collecting material for this work special care lias been taken to secure as near as possible, authentic information ; and we acknowledge our Indebt¬ edness to the courtesy of Lawrence Kenna, Patrick Devereux and Thomas O’Brien, of Oneida, N. Y.; also, to Rev. P. H. BeScham, of Baldwlnsvllle, N. Y., and Rev. Michael Powers, of Wappinger’s Falls, N. Y.; John C. Clifford, of Syracuse, N. Y., and Edgar L. Welch, of Albany, N. Y. To many others we are equally grateful, particularly to members of the press of Central New Vork, who have shown a kindly interest In our often embarrassing researches. TO REV. JAMES A. KELLY, HECTOR OF ST. PATRICK’S; A SINCERE ADVOCATE OF CHRISTIANITY IN THE * MINDS OF YOUTHFUL MANHOOD : AND TO THE MEMBERS OF ST. PATRICK’S SOCIETY, PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE, THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. CONTENTS. Page St. Patrick’s Church and Society, - - - - 5 The Formation of St. Patrick’s Society, - 9 Biography of Key. Wm. Beecham, - - - - 16 Biography of Rev. Patrick Kenna, 25 Biography of Rev. John McDermott, - - . 29 Biography of Rev. James A. O’Hara, D. D., - - 30 Biography of Rev. James Maurice Sheehan, - - - 36 Biography of Rev. Wm. F. Sheehan, - - - 41 Biography of Rev. Wm. Fennelly, - - - - 45 Biography of Rev. James Luke Meagher, ... 50 Biography of Rev. James A. Kelly, - - - 55 Biography of Very Rev. Theophilus Mayer, V. G., Madras, India, ...... .59 Biography of Sister Mary Cecelia, ... 64 The New St. Patrick’s Cemetery, - - - 66 The Mission at “ The Ridge,” .... 67 The New Diocese of Syracuse, and the Consecration of its First Bishop, Right Rev. Patrick A. Ludden, - 74 Building the New St. Patrick’s, - - - 86 The New St. Patrick’s, - - - - - 91 Laying the Cornerstone of the New St. Patrick’s, - 93 The Future of St. Patrick’s Church, ... 103 ILLUSTRATIONS. Page. Rev. James A. Kelly, - Frontupiece The First Catholic Chuech in Oneida, - - - 7 The Old St. Patrick’s Church, - - - - - 13 Rev. Wm. Beecham, ------ 17 Cardinal John McCloskey, - - - - - 21 Rev. Patrick Kenna, ------ 26 Rev. John McDermott, - - - - - 27 Rev. James A. O’Hara, D. D., 31 Rev. James Maurice Sheehan, - - - - 37 I Rev. Wm. F. Sheehan, ----- 43 Rev. Wm. Fennelly, - - - - 46 Rev. James L. Meagher, 51 The Altar oe the Old St. Patrick’s Church, - - - 57 Very Rev. Theophilus Mayer, V. G., - - - - 61 The Mission at “ The Ridge,” - - - - - 60 New St. Patrick’s—Front View, 87 The New St. Patrick’s—Side View, - - - - 95 ST. PATRICK'S CHOP pD SOCIETY. AN HISTORICAL SKETCH. In the following outline history of Catholicity in Oneida, the origin, growth and development of St. Patrick’s society, * * we know of no better introduction than a brief review of the early efforts of the Jesuit Fathers to Christianize the Oneida Indians. * * The town of Lenox, being the centre of the Oneida Nation, was selected by the learned Father Jacques Benyas, his mission being named St. Francis Xavier, where he labored many years in bettering the spiritual condition of the Indians, it being re¬ corded that he baptized some thirty-five persons. Some years later, about 1684, the Rev. Father Pierre Millet was delegated by the Governor-General of Canada, De LaBarre, to take charge of the Oneida Mission, a duty ably performed for some twelve years. Of the succeeding years we have but scant data, as during the invasion of Canada by the French the Jesuit Missionaries were recalled and the Oneida Mission in the vicinity of Oneida Castle left without a resident or even an itinerant pastor or head. Still the work of the early missionary fathers was not wholly obliterated by the troublous times which followed, nor can it be save by the extinction of the Indians as a race, for we find many Christian people among the now de¬ clining numbers of those remaining of the Six Nations. That the Indians were capable of receiving and comprehending * Named after St. Patrick, its patron saint, wlio was a distinguished mis¬ sionary of the fifth century, and known throughout the world as the Apostle of Ireland. * * See Hammond’s History of Madison County. 6 ST. PATRICK’S CHURCH AND SOCIETY, religious instructions we have good assurance in the meaning of the word “ O-ne-i-ta,” from which we believe our Oneida is derived. In proof of the existence of a religious sentiment we are informed by tradition in their belief that they were followed at all times by a remarkable stone, a huge granite boulder, by the name “O-ne-i ta,” to which they gave the meaning as the “ people of the stone;” the word Oneita in their dialect being construed “Onei” meaning “stone” and “ta” signifying “life” or “living stone.” Thus in time they became known as the Oneidas, and the first evidences of Christianity known in our local history is traceable to the efforts of the Jesuit Fathers as missionaries among the Oneida Indians. Of the growth of Catholicism in the state, we need only refer to the fact that in 1830 there were but two hundred priests in this country doing work on the missions. Later, when Rev. John Huges, D. D., (1797-1864) was consecrated Bishop of Basileopolis, inpartibus, and Coadjutor to the Bishop of New York, in 1842, the total number of clergymen of that diocese was only forty-eight. At that time the Diocese of New York embraced the states of New York, New Jersey, and what are known as the Dioceses of Albany, Brooklyn, Newark, Rochester, Buffalo, Ogdensburgh and the new Diocese of Syracuse. It must be evident then that the people of so large a territory and one so sparsely settled by Catholic families, could not expect many nor frequent visits from these forty- eight priests. In 1836 the nearest Catholic church was that of St. John’s in Utica, under the pastorate of Rev. Walter J. Quarter. It was here that the priests of the missions stopped when journeying through the state, and it was here that Father Beecham made known the wants of the few Catholics he met in the wilderness of the town of Lenox.