LYNCH, REV. JOHN ALOYSIUS, son of John and Mary (CRONIN)
LYNCH, was born in South Wheelock, Vermont, August 11, 1868. His parents
came from Ireland in youth, and settled in St. Johnsbury, which, with the
exception of intervals spent on their farm at South Wheelock, continued
to be their home until their death. Four of their eight children are now
living, namely: Lieut. William M. LYNCH, of the Boston fire department;
Dr. Edward R. LYNCH, a prominent surgeon of Brattleboro; Mary E., wife
of Charles A. MCGOVERN of St. Johnsbury, and the subject of this sketch.
A large part of the boyhood and youth of Father LYNCH was
spent upon the Wheelock farm. He attended the old "Mountain district" school,
and, later, sometimes the public school in St. Johnsbury.
His academical studies were begun at the Green Mountain seminary,
at Waterbury Center, Vermont, and were continued in Boston, where he spent
five years engaged in mercantile pursuits and studying under private tutors.
In 1892 he entered Seminary of Philosophy, in Montreal, and
after finishing his philosophical studies he entered St. Mary's Theological
seminary in Baltimore, Maryland, and was ordained a priest at Burlington,
August 24, 1897.
He was at once stationed at Swanton as assistant at the Church
of the Nativity, whence he was transferred in January, 1898, to St. Johnsbury.
Here a new Catholic parish had been established the previous year. Rev.
M. J. CARMODY, the rector, had been forced by ill health to resign his
charge, and the half finished church was turned over to Father LYNCH. With
characteristic energy the work of building and organizing was carried forward.
On October 26 St. Aloysius' church, a large and beautiful Gothic structure
of brick and stone, on Main street, was dedicated. The non-Catholics of
St. Johnsbury showed a kindly interest in the new parish and its work,
and their appreciation was expressed in the gift of $1,000 toward the purchase
of a pipe organ. A parochial residence was erected the following year.
St. Aloysius' parish has continued to prosper, and has won a prominent
place in the religious life of the community. Father LYNCH and his people
have been identified with every movement having in view the progress or
moral welfare of the community.
His labors have not been confined to St. Johnsbury. He has
charge of St. Lawrence's church at Copperfield, Vermont, and has organized
a new parish and just completed a beautiful little church building, St.
Leo's, in Lunenburg, Vermont. He finds time,
also, to accept some of the
numerous calls upon him for public speeches and lectures.
Source: Successful Vermonters,
William H. Jeffrey, E. Burke, Vermont, The Historical Publishing Company,
1904, page 76-77.
Prepared
by Tom Dunn January 2005
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