Our History

History of the Province

The Early Years - Last Gleanings

(13) Last Gleanings

Among the missions attended by the Fathers of Canal Dover is St. Stephen's, Bolivar. This town has quite an interesting history which dates back to the year 1778, when the United States government erected a fort about half a mile south of the present site of the town. In the early thirties of the last century the few Catholics of the place were visited from time to time by priests from Cincinnati, Cleveland, Louisville, and Canton, Ohio. Since 1840 they worshipped in the nearby church of St. Peter's, and since 1850 in the Church of the Assumption, or the "French Chapel," as it was called, about two miles west of the town. At last, in the year 1853, the Catholics of Bolivar bought the old district school of the place and turned it into a chapel, dedicating it to St. Martin. This was replaced, in 1882, by a new church, which was placed under the patronage of St. Stephen. In December, 1888, the Capuchin Fathers took charge of the mission. A cyclone having wrecked St. Stephen's in February, 1902, the present handsome stone and brick church was erected by Father Bernardine, O.M. Cap., in the following year. From that time Bolivar had regular services on all Sundays and feast days of the year until June, 1906, when the old order of visiting the place twice a month was re-established. The mission numbers about twenty-eight families. The first Capuchin pastor of the place was Father Irenaeus, who was in turn succeeded by Father J. Chrysostom in March, 1889; by Father Mark in February, 1890; by Father J. Chrysostom again in November, 1891; by Father Peter in August, 1894. From that time to April, 1897, Bolivar was attended by the pastor of Marges. In May, 1897, the Capuchin Fathers resumed the charge of Bolivar, Fathers Raphael Maria, Martin, Aloysius, Bonaventure, Peter, Bernardine and Patrick following one another in the order here given. The present pastor is Father Mark.

The Province lost quite a number of efficient men in 1887 and subsequently, when the Prussian "May Laws" were repealed and many of the Friars formerly belonging to the Westphalian Province were recalled or chose to return to their re-organized mother province in Germany.

A most joyful occurrence in the history of the Capuchins of Pennsylvania was the official visit of the Most Rev. Father General of the Order, Father Bernard Christen of Andermatt, in 1891. This was the first time a Minister General of the Order of St. Francis set foot on American soil.

In the year 1901 the Rt. Rev. Bishop Patrick J. Donahue of Wheeling entrusted our Fathers with the charge of the Church of the Sacred Heart in Charleston, the capital of West Virginia. Father Constantine, O.M. Cap., was the first Capuchin pastor of the Sacred Heart Church, Father Alphonse Maria, his assistant, taking charge of the missions of Bancroft, Scott, Blue Creek (or Mt. Haid), and St. Albans. Under the administration of Father Agatho, O.M. Cap., who succeeded Father Constantine in September, 1902, the interior of the beautiful church, which had been erected by Rev. J. W. Stenger in the years 1895-1897, was greatly improved. Father Richard, O.M. Cap., the present pastor, is about to erect three costly marble altars, which, together with other intended improvements, will make the Sacred Heart Church one of the most handsome churches in the State of West Virginia. The parochial school, which had been discontinued in 1894, was reopened in 1903 and placed in charge of the Sisters of SI. Francis of Buffalo, N.Y. It has at present an attendance of 150 pupils. The monastery was built in 1904. The congregation numbers about 700 souls, the missions have a Catholic population of about 300.

In 1907 the Fathers built a church for the exclusive use of the numerous Poles residing in Charleston. The new parish is in charge of Father Cyprian. Since August, 1906, Father Edmund, O.M. Cap., has charge of the inland churches served from Charleston. Among the missions which have not yet been mentioned in this sketch are St. Joseph's German Church in North Oakland and St. Wendelin's in Butler County, Pennsylvania, which have been attended by the Fathers of Herman for the last thirty years. The missions of West Winfield and Saxonburg Station, in the same county, were founded by Father Nicholas Maria, O.M. Cap., in 1901 and 1904. The Fathers of SS. Peter and Paul's Monastery in Cumberland, Maryland, have ministered to the spiritual wants of the ten Catholic families of Bean's Cove in Pennsylvania, 14 miles from Cumberland, since the year 1876. Father Aloysius, the present pastor, visits the place once a month, while Father Benedict has attended the mission of Cresaptown since 1892. Cresaptown is about nine miles from Cumberland and numbers fifteen families. It has services twice a month.

In Pittsburg our Fathers attended St. Joseph's Church, Bloomfield, from 1874 till 1877, and St. Agnes' Church, Bull's Run, from September, 1876, till September, 1877. At present, besides St. Augustine's Church with its 700 families, they have charge of six chaplaincies, including the Home of the Little Sisters in Pittsburg and the Home of the Good Shepherd in Allegheny. They are likewise called upon nearly every Sunday of the year to assist pastors, both in city and country, and not infrequently to attend churches for a considerable period during vacancies or the absence of their respective pastors.

St. Mary's Church in Metamora, l1linois, which was founded by Father Anthony, O.M. Cap., in 1878, as recorded in an earlier part of our history, was ceded to the Franciscan Fathers of Cincinnati in 1894, as was also the Sacred Heart Church in Peoria, in the same State, which the Franciscan Fathers took over in 1892.

This is, in brief, the story of the labors of the Capuchin Province of Pennsylvania. We have advisedly dwelt more in detail on the earlier history of the Province, since later events are sufficiently known to most of our readers. We have likewise described the foundations of Ellis County at greater length, since it is there the Fathers have done their best pioneer work, the parishes and missions attended by them in the East having, for the most part, been already formed when they were entrusted to the Order. It is to be hoped, however, that a complete history of the Province may before long be undertaken by someone who has both the experience and the leisure necessary for such an interesting, though by no means easy task. The history of the Capuchins in English-speaking lands has now been running for three years in the pages of the Seraphic Child, and the writer is anxious to bring his narrative to a close, lest his readers grow weary of the subject. It is his intention, however, to supplement this history from time to time with brief accounts of the earlier missions of the Capuchin Order on American territory.

On August 7, 1907, the Capuchin Province of Pennsylvania quietly celebrated its silver jubilee, or the twenty-fifth anniversary of its erection into a Province of the Order. At that time it numbered sixty-four priests, nineteen clerics, thirty-eight lay. brothers and two tertiary brothers. It comprises four monasteries and six hospices, a school of philosophy in Victoria, Kansas, a school of theology in Cumberland, Maryland, a college in Herman, Pennsylvania, and another in Hays City, Kansas.

The founder of the Province, Very Rev. Father Hyacinth Epp, O.M. Cap., outlived the silver jubilee of his foundation only by a few months. He died at St. Alphonsus Monastery, Wheeling, West Virginia, on August 31, 1907. His remains were laid to rest in St. Augustine's Cemetery, Allegheny County, five days later. We close this sketch with the lines that appeared in the Seraphic Child and which, while dedicated to the memory of Father Hyacinth, embody, at the same time, the writer's good wishes for the future prosperity of the Capuchin Province of Pennsylvania:

"Thou art not dead - thy name still brings

To untaught hours thy wisdom's light -

Thy deeds, in grateful memory bright,

Are stepping stones to higher things."

Fr. Bernardine Kuhlmann, OFM Cap

Fr. Irenaeus Kolb, OFM Cap

Fr. Mark Haas, OFM Cap

Fr. Peter Kemper, OFM Cap

Fr. Raphael Maria Schwarz, OFM Cap