continued
Priests
of Saint Michael’s
So
very little is known of the priests who first cared for the spiritual
welfare of Saint Michael’s congregation that we cannot do much more than
list their names and the dates of their administrations. The baptismal and
marriage records of the parish go back to August and September of 1850
respectively. However, it would seem from Bishop
Michael O’Connor’s notes that at this time and perhaps for a
few years thereafter, Greenville was cared for twice a month by priests
from the Pittsburgh area. The first to sign him self as pastor in the
parochial registers is Father Andrew Schweiger,
who records himself as “pastor of West Greenville (as it was then known)
and Sharon. The date is March, 1858. If he was indeed the first pastor, or
if some of the priests who preceded him actually resided here, the
location of their residence is unknown. Perhaps they lived with some
parishioner, or they might even have used part of the church as a rectory.
From other histories of this period the latter seems to have been not
uncommon.
Father
F. J. Hartmann, Pastor
1861
- 1864
Following is the list of priests who
served St. Michael’s congregation from its earliest years: Fathers Hugh
P. Gallagher (1842-1843) John Reid and M. J.
Mitchell (1844-1850), M. J. Mitchell (1850-1851),
T. A. Smith (1851-1853), Peter
M. Garvey (1854-1854), Arthur McConnell
(1854-1856), J. Reiser .
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Father
John Willis
Assistant
1907 - 1907
(1856-1856), Arthur
McConnell (1857-1857), J. J. Gallagher
(1857-1857), Andrew Schweiger (1858-1859), Joseph
Gobbels (1859-1861), F. J. Hartmann
(1861-1864), John J. O’Keefe (1864-1866), Kiearan
O’Branigan (1866-1868), Thomas Tracy
(1868-1876), Bernard Donohoe (1876-1897), P.
Cosgrove (1897-1898), J. Lenahen
(1898-1898), Rt. Rev. John P. Kearns
(1898-1936), Fathers John Willis
(Assistant—1906-1907), James J.
Kearns
(Assistant—1908-1936), James J. Kearns
(Pastor—1936- ), Charles J. Hacherl
(Assistant—19361937) John C. Cronin
(Assistant—1938-1944; 1946- ) and
Francis J.
Johnston
(Assistant—1943-
).
Besides these, the names of Fathers
C. M. Sheehan—1854, Rock—1856,
Skopez—1857, Injohn—1865, occur a
few odd times in the old parish records.
Father
Francis J. Johnson
Assistant
1943 -
Inasmuch
as Father Thomas Tracy, Father Bernard Donohoe,
Monsignor John Kearns and Father James Kearns
have served St. Michael’s for the longest periods of time, it seems only
proper to cover the periods of their pastorate more completely
continued
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