Evening Star Newspaper, June 7, 1931, Page 81

| e ——————————— two years was under roof, and in October, 1859, it was dedicated, the celebration of the semi-centennial of which the large congrega- tion is now anticipating. “Some few years the stately edifice to many appeared out of place, for, with the exception of the settlement southeast, the adjacent houses were few. For a little time the services at- tracted from distant parts of the city, the elo- quence of Father Maguire and others and the music of the choir, in which Ceecilia Young's, Anna Melchar's and olher voices were prom- inent, being drawing cards.” URING the Civil War, when hospitals for the wounded soldiers were so much in need, Bt. Aloysius Church was ordered taken for this purpose by the military authorities, but the members of the church, realizing the imperative need, but not wishing to give up their new church,” agreed as an alternative to erect a building for this purpose, and it is said that within a week a building was erected on the square between K and L and North Capitol and First streets northwest sufficient to ac- commodate 2,000 patients. This was opened in October, 1862, and was known as St. Aloysius Hospital. Over in Georgetown the organiza- tion of Trinity Catholic Church was not so re- sourceful, and this church was used as a mili- tary hospital from October, 1862, to January, 1863. A good account of the dedication of this church, which occurred on Sunday, October 16, 1859, and which was attended by President Buchanan, merbers of his cabinet, foreign ministers and a vast throng of people of all denominations, appeared in the National In- telligencer the following morning, and reads: “The dedication of St. Aloysius Church, at the northwest corner of North Capitol and I streets, took place yesterday. The day was a beautiful one, and thousands of persons from every part of the District and*neighboring coun- try gathered to witness the ceremony. From Georgetown especially great numbers arrived doth in omnibusses and other means of con- weyanoce. At the appointed hour of 10 o'clock the introductory ceremonial of blessing the new church was performed, by procession round the church, sprinkling the walls and reciiing in dLatin the services appropriate to that cerz- monial. This was conducted by the Rev. Mr. WVillager of the Society of Jesus, assisted by Rev. WMessrs. Maguire and Fulton, 8. J. Then came . the celebration of mass, preceded by the per- ™ gormance by the choir of the grand march f#rom “The Prophet” of Mayerbeer. At the con- clusion of mass and the performance of the *Gaudeamus,’ a quartette, all eyes were turned %o the pulpit, occupied by the Very Rev. Arch- bishop John Hughes of New York, who had been announced to preach the sermon. “THE dimensions of the church are 160 feet in length by about 80 in breadth, forming & long oblong, with the altar on the west. The height of the interior from the floor to the ceiling is 57 feet. It would be difficult to plan anything more architecturally striking and beautiful than this temple. Over the main altar, which is immediately surmounted by a taber- nacle of whit> marble, designed, worked and polished in the highest style by Mr. Jacob Veighmeyer, is a large painting representing the first cormunion of the saint to whom the 1_ church is dedicated, the figures at least the \sime of life. It was executed by Mr. Brumidi, well known as the artist by whom so much of thhe decoration of the Capitol of the United States has been p-rformed. “This whole bullding was planned by and executed under the personal supervision of Rev. B. Sestini, of the Society of Jesus, and, it is the barest justice to say, confers the highest credit on his judgment and taste. In round figures the cost of the church will be $50,000, but it is perhaps as complete for all its pur- poses as such a building can well be.” The first pastor of St. Aloysius, mentioned in the city directory of 1860, was Charles I. Stonestreet, his assistant being Rev. B. J. Ma- guire. In 1862 Fathor Maguire was serving as pastor, with B. T. Wiget assisting. The as- sistant in 1863 was R. W. Brady. In 1865 Rev. Father Stonestreet was again the pastor and in 1866, he had assis'ing him Revs. A. Roccofort and A. Hitsellberger. HE corner stone of St. Peter's Church, at Second and C strcets southeast, was laid in 1817 and the church dedicated October 4, 1821. Th= old building was removed and the present church dedicated in 1890. In 1822 the pastor was Rev. James Lucas, and in 1843 Rev. Falher Horseigh was as- signed to this parish. . Rev. Edward 8. Knight was in charge of s:rvices there in 1853, and he_ was succeedzd 10 years later by Rev. F. E. Boyle. In the early days interments were made in the churchyard surrounding the original build- ing. Many persons who recall the old St. Matthew’s Church, that stood for many years at the north- east corner of H and Fifteenth streets, where now stands the Southern Building. The ground for this house of worship was purchased in 1839, and the church dedicated the follow- ing year, and it seems a residence was erected about the same time for Father Joseph P. Done- . Jan, most likely the first pastor, since his name appears as such in the city directory for 1843. It is said this church adopted its name not only to honor St. Matthew, but also to per- petuate the connection with it of Rev. William Matthews, who, when pastor of St. Patrick’s parish, “gave a house valued at $10,000 to be soid, and the funds derived therefrom to be used for completing the church.” Father Charles I. White, D. D., succeeded Father Donelan at this ghurch and remained there for many years. It may be-interesting to note that in 1800 ground in this vicinity was valued at 3 cents & square ‘foot and that by 1820 the price had gone up to 9 cents. Two blocks away, and nearer to the White House, it is said that Henry Clay once traded a mule for a lot—but a good, Kentucky mulé in those days brought good money, and no doubt would today. HE present St. Matthew’s Catholic Church, on Rhode Island avenue, between Seven- teenth street and Connecticut avenue, was begun in 1892, and is an imposing edifice. “ gt. Dominic’s ' Chiurch wids consecrated in THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C. JUNE 7, 1931. " . Immaculate Conception Catholic Church at Eighth and N streets. 1856, and the address in the city directory for 1858 places the old building on F sireet between Sixth and Seventh streets southwest, though a picture shows it to be on the northwest corner of F and Sixth streets. Rev. Victor F. O’'Daniel, O. P, of the Dom- inican House of Studies, Catholic University of America, with whcm the writer had a very pleasant and interesting interview, and who lent the picture of old St. Dominic’s Church for reproduction, says that the Dominican parish on the “Island” had its birth in the closing days of 1852, or early in 1853, when Rev. George A, J. Wilson was sent here to begin the work of organizing a Dominican parish in the National Capital. In his history of this parish, Father O'Daniel says: “The first baptism on the records of the par- ish bears the date of April 16, 1853, and is that of Elizabeth Frances, daughter of Henry W. and Rachel Freeman Wathen. The godmother was Ann Tull. The first marraige was that of William Walsh and Margaret Donahoe, July 30, 1853. Both were from County Cork, Ireland. The first death was that cf William Donovan, who died May 2, 1853, and was buried two days later in St. Patrick’'s graveyard. “Father Wilson was received by the Islanders with open arms. Ground was soon purchased from Georgetown College for the erection of a church, school and convent. The land thus se- cured, an execellent site for the purpose, in- cluded the eastern half of block 466 and ex- tended along the west side of Sixth street from E to F. But the erection of buildings in keep- ing with the promises held out by the locality was a matter of time, labor and patience. Money was scarce and small the number of the faithful in the undeveloped- territory assigned to the new parish. Fortunately, George Mattingly, a devout Catholic and a well-to-do man, in addi- tion to a generous contribution, not only opened the parlors of his mansion as a place of wor- ship for the people, but gave the fathers a home with the family. Although considerably changed, the Mattingly hcu:e, which still stands on the north side of F street, between Sixth and Four-and-a-half streets, deserves to be called the first Catholic church and rectory in Southwest Washington. “A man of no common courage who had seen hard service, and hard times in the West, Father Wilson shrank not before the trials with which he was confronted in the National Capital. In the Spring of 1853 he was jcinédd by the Rev. Nicholas D. Young, whose nearly 40 years of strenuous missionary life in the West and South had given him a national reputation. For Father - Young the location purchaszd for the future Dominican Churca had associations that were quite dear and per-" scpal. It had been the former site of the barn and barnyard of his grandfather, Notley Young, & wealthy landowner of Maryland and the District of Columbia, which the veteran friar remembered well. The two priests had the happiness July 1, 1853, of breaking sod for the sacred edifice on the corner of Sixth and F streets.” YEAR or two ago, Judge Robert E. Mat- tingly, in a paper read by him before the Association of Oldest Inhabitants, ¢n South ‘Washington, spoke very interestingly of the first St. Dominic’'s Church, which was re- moved in 1886. He said: “On F street between Four-and-a-half and Sixth my grandfather, who came to Washing- ton fron St. Marys County, Md., in 1803, had™ erected one of the earliest houses, and one cculd look therefrom, view unobstructed, to the Potomac River. That house was erected be= fore St. Dominic’s Church was established, and mass was said in the'old house in the absence of a church. People-attending would stamnd and kneel out into the street during the mass. I have no recollection when the old church was built at Sixth and F streets, but the lower porticn was a parochial school; the upper story was the church. Well do I re- member the very high steps one ascended to attend mass, and the great difficulty experi- enced by funeral corteges, heavy caskets being taken up those steps and lowered in the same way by straining pallbearers. The school was presided over by a good old Irishman, one Cornelius Kenealy, who fcund it necessary to rule with a ‘ruler’ a good deal of the time, but the unruly scholars of those days justified the teacher’s action. He believed in the adage ‘Spare the rod and spoil the child.'” HEN the ground was broken for St. Dominic’s Church a relic of Barry Chapel was unearthed and subsequently used in the walls of the Holy Name Chapel attached to the Dominican church. Speaking of this, Mar- garet Brent Downing says: “Barry’s Chapel served the Catholics about Greenleaf’s Point for some years, but its entire history is very vague. Some workmen were excavating about the site of this shrine at the time when St. Dominic’s Church was being built. They unearthed the corner stone, and it was reverently imbedded in the foundations of the ~beautiful Dominican church, in South Washington.” “In the name of the blessed undivided St. Dominic’s, Rev. Raphael Burke, the Barry Chapel stone was referred to, and the writer was taken to the rear of the church, where this interesting relic was imbedded in the outer wall, and there he copied the following in- scription: “In the name of the blessed and undivided Trinity. Amen. This first stone of a small Rcman Catholic Church is laid in the City of Washington in the year of our Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ, 1806, and dedicated to the blessed Virgin Mary under the title and name of St. Mary's. Gloria in Excelsis Deo. Erected by and at the charge of James Barry.” The site of Barry Chapel is placed by Father O’'Daniel, “east of South Capitol street, two blocks due south of the present St. Vincent de Paul's,” and says that it “was replaced by St. Peter’s, on Capitol Hill, in 1821 or 1822.” Incidentally the new church is said to occupy the site of the barn and barn yard of Notley Young, an original proprietor of land in the Federal Capital, and patented under the name of Duddington Pasture. An early letter describes the first St. Dom- innic’s Church as follows: “A neat and beau- tiful building. 1Its site is handsome, standing as it does about the center of the Island, in full view of th2 Capitol. The dimensions of the church are about 70 by 40 feet. The interior has been finished in a handsome style, with a rich cornice and ceiling.” The first priest attached to this church, was Rev. George A. S. Wilson, who served from 1853-1856; 1863 and from 1866 to 1867. TH! first building for St. Mary’s German Catholic Church, on Fifth street between G and H, was erected, according to Sessford's “Annals,” in 1846, a year after the parish had been formed in the basement of St. Matth>w's Church. Gen. John P. Van Ness, who, together with his wife—the daughter of David Burnes— did much religious charity work, also donated the site for this church. Father Matthias Alig was the first pastor assigned here, and he con- tinued at this post until his death, in 1882. At this church the writer met Rev. Charles J. Trinkaus, and a most gracious and magnetic man, the kind that makes a stranger feel per- fectly welcome and at home. From him the picture of old St. Mary’s and of Father Alig were obtained, and the writer was shown some of the church relics, including the trowel with which the corner stone of the original church was laid and which was labeled as follows: “This trowel was used by ‘The Most Rev. Samuel Eccleston Archbishop of Baltimore at The corner stone laying of The Old St. Mary’s German Catholic Church ‘Washington, D. C. on The Feast of the Annunciation 5 - of the Blessed Virgin Mary March 25, 1846.” The same trowel was also used on July 27, 1890, in laying the corner stone of the new St. Mary’s Chusch and later on.November 4, éfiw laying the corner stone of St. Mary's ' 9 ! The writer felt that the laying of the cerner stone of the first St."Mary's Church must’have been a riotable event, and in this thought he was not mistaken, for in the National Intelli- gencer of March 26, 1846, he found quite an account of the ceremonies, which said: “The corner stone of the new church ine tended for the use of the German Catholics under the pastoral care of the Rev. M. Alig of this city, was laid yesterday by the Most Rev. Archbishop Eccleston, with appropriate solem- nities in the presence of an immense body of people, who witnessed the ceremonies. A very large procession, accompanied by the German Band, moved along Pennsylvania avenue, from St. Matthew’s Church, passing into Four-and-a- half street and thence to the site of the church of St. Mary Mater Dei, which is situated on Fifth street, between G and H streets. The procession formed at the German Chapel on Eighth street and marched thence to St. Matthew’s Church. When the procession ar- rived at St. Matthew’s, there was a consider- able increase of its numbers. As it passed along Pennsylvania avenue we noticed— “1. The German Band. “2. The German Beneficial Society, two and two, wearing white rosettes and bearing a handsome banner with a representation of the Merciful Samaritan. “3. The German Male and Female Sodality: the males wearing red sashes, the females dressed in white, with wreaths of flowers on their heads, preceded by their pastor, Rev. Mr. Alig. < “4. The Washington Benevolent Society, two and two, bearing their handsome green silk banner, and each member wearing a green badge. “5. The Rev. Messrs. Flannegan and Ray of Georgetown, and Rev. Messrs. Donelan of Washington, and several of the Baltimore clergy, in their clerical robes. “6. A numerous body of Germans and citi- zens, walking two and two. “When the procession reached the site of the intendéd church a lane was formed from a house on Fifth street to the corner stone, where the Most Rev. Archbishop Eccleston, in pontifi- cals, with his attendants, passed along it, fol- lowed by the clergy, the mayor and other gen- tlemen. The corner stone was then laid by the archbishop, after which a sermon was deliv- ered in English by the Rev. J. P. Donelan, and another sermon in German by the Rev. Mr. Haslinger of Baltimore. The services and cere- monies continued for more than two hours. We understand that the archbishop and the clergy dirled at Mr. Miller’s, on the corner of Ninth and F streets.” EV. MATHIAS ALIG, who was pastor of this church for 36 years, was naturally very popular in his parish and generally beloved throughout the city. The Star of June 10, 1882, in speaking of his death, said: “Rev. Mathias' Alig, pastor St. Mary’s (German) Catholic Church, whose death oc- curred yesterday at 2:15 p.m., will be buried Monday morning in the new Metropolis (Ger- man Catholic) Cemetery. The funeral cere- monies will take place Monday morning, in St. Mary's Church at 9:30 o'clock, when solemn requiem mass will be celebrated by Rev. Father J. A. Walter of St. Patrick's Church, assisted by Rev. Dr. Ryan of Immaculate Conception as deacon and Rev. Father Sullivan of St. Peter's, subdeacon. A funeral sermon will be preached by Rev. Father Slencher of St. Jo- seph’s. Father Alig had been confined to his home for several months by indisposition. He was in his 79th year, and his long life had been very active in service to the church. He came here nearly 40 years ago, soon after arriving in this country from Germany, and his early struggle to establish St. Mary's parish seemed to promise nothing but failure; but he devoted his time and a comfortable inheritance, which came to him at an opportune moment, to the task. and lived to see it one of the most pros- perous parishes of this diocese. He was greatly beloved by his parishioners. In his will he leaves the church and the remainder of his property to St. Mary's congregation, with a proviso that the sermons shall always bz deliv- ered in German. At St. Mary's Church, the adjoining school buildings, and some of the residences of Father Alig's parishioners in the neighborhood of the church were draped in mourning today.” At the funeral Schmidt’s “Requiem Mass™ was sung, St. Mary's choir, including Mr. Neff, di- rector, and Mrs. Schwakoff, organist, being as< sisted by the following members of St. Patrick’s choir: Misses Kate Burrows, A. Geir, Kate Neff, Tillie Bauer, L. Smith and C. Degen, sopranos; Misses Lulu Boone and Kate Bishop, altos; Messrs. Fennell, Bauer, Ruppert, Jordan and Schwakoff, tenors, and Messrs. Boswell, Neff, Treanor, A. Neff and A. Schwakoff, basses. The active pallbearers were N. Happ, e Menke, Bernard Geier, R. Eichorn, Philip May and George Bergling. The interment was in St. Mary’s German Catholic Cemetery, near Glenwood Cemetery, and which formerly had been located at O street between North Capitol and Third streets northwest. Hail Storm Foe of Farmer., NE of the serious enemies of the farmer in Idaho and Utah is the hail storm and this would seem to be one thing about which the Department of Agriculture could do nothing. The farm experis have tackled worse prob- lems than this, however, and as usual have a remedy to present. One crop that can be raised with success in these States and par- ticularly on irrigated Jand is the sugar beet and the department holds this up to the farmers as a crop which can defy the hail storm. The beet leaves, when beaten down by the hail seem to recover far better than most crops and can assure the farmer a fair return for his efforts, at least in size of crop. Nematode infestation often wipes out a sugar beet crop but this can he eliminated by the substitution of some other crop t‘gr a season, p:gpdlng the cropg are of a naturé that give x’:osupporftod\eneiuz:flea. ' "‘