St.
Michael’s Early History and Growth
The
history of Catholicism in Greenville dates as far back as 1838.
It
was in that year that a priest (name unknown) from the diocese of
Philadelphia on one of his missionary tours, celebrated the Holy Sacrifice
of the Mass in Greenville. The home privileged to witness the first Mass
was that of a Mr. Bryan McNally, a Catholic,
an emigrant from Ireland, and a pioneer tailor in Greenville. His home was
located on what is now North Race St., a little north of the northwest
corner of North Race and Main Sts.
Besides
Mr. McNally there were present at this Mass: John
and Ferdinand Schmidt, Martin Lindeman, John O’Hara, John McCoy
and John Hoffman. The Schmidt
brothers had come from Germany and were attracted to Greenville by
employment offered on the old Erie Canal. Hoffman, also a native of
Germany, was a blacksmith for the canal constructors. McCoy
and O’Hara had come from Ireland; the
former was a contractor in the canal construction, while no record of the
occupation of O’Hara has come down to us. Other missionaries sent out by
Bishop Francis Patrick Kenrick from
Philadelphia cared for the spiritual needs of the little Catholic group in
Greenville and environs intermittently for the next few years. We know,
for instance, that in the summer of 1842 Father Hugh
P. Gallagher of Loretta, Cambria Co., following the path of the
canal, stopped in Greenville and celebrated Mass in the same McNally home.
Present at this Mass in addition to those mentioned above were: Mark
and Bridget Doyle, Patrick and Anna Doyle, and James
Doyle; Richard, John and Patrick Marley of Greene Township,
John Savage and Mrs. Schoonmaker. All
of these were natives of Ireland with the exception of Mrs.
Schoonmaker. Father Gallagher returned to Greenville at intervals
for over a year and was succeeded by
continued
Mercer
County Genealogy
