Allegheny County
Churches
Diamond Jubilee
1863 - 1938
Saint Augustine Church
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Transcribed and contributed by Nan Smith
printer friendly version of text
St. Augustine Church Diamond Jubilee
Page 9
HISTORY OF SAINT AUGUSTINE'S PARISH
CHAPTER I
The School—1854
Wisdom is glorious. . .and is found by them that seek her.—Wis. VI, 13.
Pittsburgh, one of the leading industrial cities of the
world, lies between a barrier of hills at the confluence of the Allegheny
and Monongahela Rivers. Its history begins in February, 1754, when the
English at the suggestion of George Washington, began the erection of a
blockhouse near the forks of the two rivers. The stay of the English,
however, was short, for by April 16, their French rivals had driven them
away and themselves had built a fort called first Fort Assumption, then Fort
Duquesne in honor of the Governor of Canada. In 1758, the French in turn
fled from the English who built another fort which they named Fort Pitt
after William Pitt, the English statesman. It is from William Pitt,
therefore, that Pittsburgh derives its name.
From the very beginning the settlement bid fair
to prosper. At the end of the Revolutionary War colonists settled in great
numbers in the "City of the Forks" so that by April 22, 1794, Pittsburgh
ranked as a borough. By March 18, 1816, consequent upon the opening of the
iron, glass and nail factories, the borough had sufficient population to
justify its incorporation as a city. (1)
About three miles above the confluence of the two
rivers on the east bank of the Allegheny began the little town of
Lawrenceville. Like the great city of which it is now a part, Lawrenceville
has an interesting history. It is commonly admitted that the first man to
traverse this district was no less a personage than George Washington, the
Father of our country. Having explored the French Fort Le Boeuf, now
Waterford, Pa., Washington and his companion Christopher Gist crossed the
Allegheny from Wainwright's Island and arrived at Bullitt's Hill on December
29, 1753. The journals of Washington and Gist recording this fact have been
frequently published in historical works. (2)
According to local tradition, the site of Washington's
crossing is about three blocks east of the present St. Augustine's Church.
The Washington Bridge spanning the Allegheny at Fortieth Street commemorates
the historic event. So far as we know, Washington's Journal contains the
first written reference to the district which later developed into
Lawrenceville.
Till the year 1811 the future Lawrenceville lay
slumbering in its cradle of wilderness. In the latter year William Barclay
Foster, a wealthy and public-spirited man and father of Stephen C. Foster,
the famous songwriter, came up from Virginia and purchased a vast tract
beginning about three miles above the confluence of the two rivers. This he
parcelled out for prospective settlers. At first the elder Foster intended
to call his vast estate Fosterville, but sacrificed his ambition in favor of
Captain James Lawrence, who on June 4, 1813, died a hero's death in Boston
Harbor as a result of the encounter between his ship, the "Chesapeake", and
the English frigate "Shannon". The dying words of Captain Lawrence: "Don't
give up the ship," thrilled America and moved William Foster to call his
newly acquired tract "Lawrenceville." (3)
About this time William Foster sold to the United States Government thirty
acres of his land for one of the arsenals which Congress had decided to
establish shortly
(1) A. A. Lambing, foundation Stones of a Great Diocese, Pittsburgh, 1914,
p. 51.
(2) History of Pittsburgh and Environs, New York and Chicago, 1922, vol. II,
pp. 253, 512.
(3) Ibid., pp. 59, 512.
St. Augustine Church Diamond Jubilee
page 10
after the outbreak of the War of 1812. The Allegheny Arsenal
was established in 1814 and from this date the history of Lawrenceville begins.
Foster himself supervised this arsenal which during the Civil War was to become
one of the mainstays of the Northern Army. Until January 1, 1867, Lawrenceville
was a borough totally independent of Pittsburgh. However, the Act authorizing
its incorporation had been passed on April 6, 1866 with the proviso that it be
effective the following January.
Here it may not be out of place to refer to one of Lawrenceville's famous sons,
Stephen Collins Foster. He was born in the Foster manor located on Penn Avenue
and Thirty-sixth Street. Here the talented composer lived and wrote his songs
till his parents moved to Allegheny, Pa. On the death of his mother in 1860, he
moved to New York where he died on January 14, 1864. His remains were returned
to Pittsburgh and interred in the Allegheny Cemetery.
But it is now time to turn to the
religious history of this interesting city. It is stated that Father Denis
Baron, a Recollect Franciscan, had offered the holy sacrifice of Mass in the
neighborhood of the forks as early as April 17, 1754. Friar Baron was the
military chaplain to the French garrison at Fort Duquesne from April 16, 1754,
till after the close of 1756. The Register of baptisms and burials kept by Friar
Baron from June 28, 1753 - December 27, 1756, was first published in the
original French by Shea and in 1885 in both French and English by Msgr. A. A.
Lambing. (4) Besides Friar Denis Baron, the Recollects, Friar Luke Collet and
Friar Gabriel Anhauser or Haneuser, also visited Fort Duquesne at this time.
Friar Luke Collet signed the Register on July 13, 1755, and stated that he had
officiated with the permission of Friar Denis Baron.(5)
Other priests who visited Pittsburgh
during this period were the Carmelite, Paul de St. Pierre in the spring of 1785,
and the Irish Capuchin, Charles Whalen in 1787, shortly after the War of
Revolution when the French Recollects had withdrawn from Fort Duquesne. In 1805,
if not earlier, the Capuchin, Peter Helbron, visited Pittsburgh and said Mass
there. The following year he collected the first money for the erection of "Old
St. Patrick's." (6) In 1804, the saintly Father Gallitzin said Mass in
Pittsburgh, but only fifteen Catholics attended, a proof of their small number
at that time. Nevertheless, since the natural advantages of Pittsburgh had
attracted many settlers, it was only reasonable to suppose that soon the number
of Catholics would also increase. Indeed, it was this conviction that prompted
Father William Francis Xavier O'Brien, appointed pastor of Pittsburgh in 1808,
to undertake the building of a small church, the "Old St. Patrick's," at the
corner of Liberty and Epiphany Streets, in front of the present Union Depot.(7)
Here in Old St. Patrick's both German
and Irish Catholics worshipped until 1834, when the Irish took over the newly
erected St. Paul's leaving St. Patrick's to the Germans. (8) Finally, in 1839,
at the invitation of Bishop Francis Patrick Kenrick of Philadelphia to whose
diocese Pittsburgh belonged, German Redemptorists settled in Pittsburgh. These
good Fathers devoted themselves especially to the Germans and with their
co-operation erected the large church on Fourteenth Street and dedicated it to
St. Philomena on October 3, 1846.
Due to the apostolic zeal of the
Redemptorist Fathers, St. Philomena's became the fruitful mother of many other
churches in Pittsburgh. Both the flourishing industries and the presence of a
German parish continued to attract the German Catholics to various parts of the
city. Soon their number increased to such an extent that the Redemptorist
Fathers found it impossible
(4) Historical Researches in Western Pennsylvania, vol I. Reprint entitled:
Register of Fort Duquesne, Pittsburgh, 1885.
(5) Lambing, Foundation Stones, p. 58.
(6) Ibid., pp. 74, 75. Lambing, A History of the Catholic Church in the Diocese
of Pittsburgh and Allegheny (Hereafter abbreviated: Church in Pittsburgh and
Allegheny), New York, 1880, pp. 29-40. Norbert Miller, O.M.Cap.. Pioneer
Missionaries in the United States (1784-1816), Franciscan Studies, No. 10. New
York, 1932, pp. 176, 181, 202, 217.
(7) Bernard Beck, C.SS.R., Die Redemptoristen in Pittsburgh. Ilchester, Md.,
1889, pp. 77, 87.
(8) Ibid., p. 95.
St. Augustine Church Diamond Jubilee
Page 11
to shepherd them properly. Moreover, so many lived at such great distances
from St. Philomena's Church and School that attendance became a serious problem
for both adults and children. At length, when the German Catholics of the
various localities were able to erect their own churches and schools, they
obtained permission from the Bishop to undertake the task. First' to break away
from the mother church in 1846 was St. Michael's on the Southside. St. Mary's in
Allegheny followed in 1848, and Holy Trinity in Riceville in 1857. The next in
order was St. Augustine's whose story we are about to relate.
It has been said that one of the proudest
distinctions of the early German Catholics in the United States was their
staunch devotion to the parochial school. Experience in the Fatherland had
taught them that a Catholic child must grow up in a Catholic school and that the
first act of the day must be the Mass. The German Catholics of Lawrenceville
were eloquent exponent's of this noble tradition. Indeed, while the origin of
the average parish is ordinarily associated with the building of a church, St.
Augustine's Parish has the distinction of beginning with the establishment of a
school.
About the year 1850 we find a goodly number of
German Catholics scattered throughout Lawrenceville, a neighboring town of
Pittsburgh, then rapidly developing into an outstanding industrial city of the
world. These Germans were faithful members of St. Philomena's Parish on
Fourteenth Street. Some of their children attended the school of the
English-speaking parish on Forty-sixth Street, but most of them went to St.
Philomena's. With the old-fashioned schoolbag thrown knapsack-like over their
shoulders, these latter children trudged many a weary mile to worship at the
shrine of learning. But in the fall of 1854 a seed was sown and destined to
strike root and grow and develop into both educational and religious advantages
for the children of many generations.
Midway between St. Philomena's and Sharpsburg there
lived at 4807-4809, Butler Street, a pious German family by name of Helbling.
Franz Xaver Helbling and his wife, Mary Teresa Knipschield, were of sturdy
German stock and at that time the parents of eleven bustling children. Mr.
Helbling was a butcher by trade and had a stand in the city market. Few, if any
of our present parishioners passing the double house still standing opposite the
Allegheny Cemetery, appreciate the important part that house played in the
history of their parish. Here it was that the first school, the forerunner of
St. Augustine's School, was opened for the German Catholic children of
Lawrenceville. It came about in this way.
The Redemptorist Fathers of St. Philomena's were
well acquainted with the Helbling family. Indeed, the home of this hospitable
couple was a welcome haven for them, especially in unfavorable weather and when
travelling to and from Sharpsburg. Doubtless, as these grateful Fathers broke
bread at the Helbling table, they discussed with their genial host's the
hardships of the children on their long way to St. Philomena's school. What
prospects were there to better the children's lot? The fall of 1854 brought the
answer when Father John Hotz, C.SS.R.,(9) called at the Helbling home and asked
the hostess if she would be willing to board a teacher who in return would teach
her children and spare them the long walk to St. Philomena's. Mrs. Helbling
replied that she would first consult her husband. This done, the offer was
accepted and a room on the second floor was set aside to serve as a school.
Shortly after this arrangement, the teacher arrived.
In the beginning the only pupils were nine of the
eleven Helbling children. Their names were: Elizabeth Barbara, Francis X.,
William, Philomena Rosana, Catherine Josephine, Mary Sophia, John Baptist,
Joseph Anthony, and sometimes Bertha Louise who was but two or three years old.
The teacher, tall, thin and middle-
(9) Born Aug. 28, 1818, at Baar, Switzerland. Came to the United States on Jan.
8, 1844. Ordained Aug. 24, 1844. Curate at St. Philomena's from 1815-1848, and
again from July IS, 1851-Aug., 1855. Rector of St. Philomena's, 1855-1862.
Attached to St. Peter's, Philadelphia, 1862-Aug. 21, 1893, when he died. Cf.
Beck, op. cit., pp. 216-227. Cf. Enzlberger. Sckematismus der Katholischen
Geistlichkeit Deutscher Zunge in den Vereinigten Staaten Amerikas, Milwaukee,
1892, p. 232. Hoffmann's Catholic Directory, Milwaukee, 1894
St. Augustine Church Diamond Jubilee
Page 12
Rev. Gerald Koehler, O. M. Cap.
Assistant
Rev. Ernest Horning, O. M. Cap.
Assistant
St. Augustine Church Diamond Jubilee
Page 13
aged, was a peculiar man whose main occupation seemed to be to pray before a
picture of Our Lady of Gaudelupe and to teach the children prayers. He never
left the house save on Sundays when he went to Mass and then he wore a long
black robe like a priest or brother. He was eccentric, very abstemious, spoke
little and wore a cingulum. Mrs. Helbling thought he might be a priest but on
asking Father Hotz, was assured that he was no priest. Strange as it may seem,
the teacher's name was never revealed and the family simply addressed him as
"Teacher". The teacher's knowledge of English was meagre as can be gathered from
the following instance. One day Mrs. Helbling sent Bertha Louise to fetch some
corn-cobs from the yard and on returning the child said to her mother: "I got
them." The teacher, associating this remark with a well-known curse word, was
horrified and said: "Bertha Louise is surely going to hell."
Little wonder that the Helbling children soon
disliked and feared their stern, austere teacher. Indeed, the elder Helblings,
too, became ill at ease in his presence. Finally, after some months, Mrs.
Helbling, dreading that the teacher might lose his mind, asked Father Hotz to
dismiss him from her home. Accordingly, Father Hotz transferred the teacher to a
school in Sharpsburg. Here the unfortunate man actually did lose his mind and
had to be removed. From that time on nothing more is heard of the teacher. The
Redemptorist chronicle records no item on this "nameless" teacher but everything
seems to point to the fact that he was or perhaps had been a Redemptorist lay
brother. (10)
With the passing of the "nameless" teacher the
school was not abandoned but efforts for its continuation became stronger.
Father Hotz provided another teacher in the person of Mr. George Ruland, an able
man who also boarded at the Helbling home. By this time news of the primitive
school had spread and many parents applied for the admission of their children.
The room, however, was too small to accommodate all who applied, hence, like the
good soul he was, Mr. Helbling fitted out his unused storeroom for a school
room. A goodly number of pupils attended especially children by the family name
of Kalchthaler, Stein, Bischoff, Fleckenstein, Burckhardt and others. The first
scholastic year might have started a little late in the fall of 1854 and had but
a short interruption between the departure of the first teacher and the arrival
of the second. On the third Sunday after Easter, April 29, 1855, the following
announcement was made in St. Philomena's church:
Some months ago a Catholic school was opened in the home of Xaver Helbling, near
the cemetery (Allegheny) in Lawrenceville. Since a larger and more suitable
accommodation has been now provided by the same Mr. Helbling, we admonish all
the parents of Lawrenceville and the neighborhood who have children of school
age, to send them to this school so that they may be trained to be good
Christians. We ourselves shall take interest in this school and shall visit it
from time to time.(11)
The second school year began probably at the usual
time in September, 1855, as we learn from another announcement at St.
Philomena's: "Since the Catholic school of Lawrenceville has already commenced
and a good opportunity is offered the children of school age to acquire virtue
and knowledge, the parents living there are requested to send their children as
soon as posible.(12) However, with the opening of the second school-year the "Helbling
School" was abandoned for Squire Nickle's Mansion, a larger and more centrally
located building at 4016 Butler Street. This building, sometimes called the "Nickle's
School" and "Old Town Hall" was used as a house of worship by some of the sects
and also as a meeting place for political groups. It was a two-story stone
mansion standing on a high plateau about eighty feet from Butler Street. The
first floor was adapted for school purposes while the second floor was used for
a hall, external steps leading thereto from the front of the building. During
the time of Teacher Ruland some people referred to
(10) St. Augustinus, Oct. 1921, pp. 1-3. Hereafter abbreviated Si!-. Aug.
Hyacinth Epp. O.M.Cap., "Die Gemeinden der Pennsylvanischen Kapuziner-Provinz"
in Seraphischer Kinderjreund, vol. IX, pp. 2-5, 56-S7.
(11) St. Aug. Oct., 1921, p. 3.
(12) Ibid.
St. Augustine Church Diamond Jubilee
Page 14
this school as "Ruland Hall". Later, however, it was dignified
by the pretentious title of "The Lawrenceville Academy".
Why was the school transferred from
the Helbling home? There were various reasons for the transfer. First of all,
the Helbling School was too far for many of the smaller children. Then the
Helbling store had no provision for heating and the school room was too cold in
winter. Finally, the storeroom was too small for the increasing number of
pupils. These reasons seem cogent enough to explain the change of location.
Teacher Ruland did not continue long as teacher in the new school. He resigned
most probably in 1856. Rumor had it that his resignation hinged upon
disappointed matrimonial aspirations to the hand of one of Mr. Helbling's
daughters.
The next teacher was a lady whose name we could not ascertain. The lady was
probably an Alsatian for she spoke both German and French. During her teaching
term she boarded with Mr. Alexander Wirth on Willow Street. How long she
remained is not known but very probably she held the post for some months until
the arrival of Teacher Mertz sometime in 1856.
Teacher Mertz was of small stature
and in the thirties and is said to have limped. He had crossed the ocean in the
company of his sister who died on ship. He kept her jewelry and was fond of
displaying it. The report we have of him is not very flattering. He was
neglectful of personal appearance, his hair and beard not used to the comb or
brush. He was fond of playing cards and drinking beer. Hence he was seldom fit
to teach and when he fell asleep during class periods the pupils had a jolly
recess. He was no disciplinarian and the pupils soon realized this for on the
occasion of an altercation between the teacher and an older pupil, the latter
forcefully ejected the teacher from the room. Undoubtedly, Teacher Mertz had
been reprimanded for his misconduct but instead of reforming he became defiant
and ultimately refused to teach the catechism or to give religious instruction
in any form. Indeed, he finally succeeded in wrecking the Lawrenceville Academy
for a time, as we learn from the Announcement Book of St. Philomena's:
Since the former German Catholic teacher of Lawrenceville intends to start a private school, saying that he leaves the religious instruction and catechism to the priests and parents while he teaches the other branches, we consider it our duty to tell you that we cannot recommend such a school and that Catholic parents of Lawrenceville and of the neighborhood must send their children of school age either to the English school of Father Gibbs or here to Bayardstown until another Catholic school can be provided. (13)
Accordingly, the German Catholics withdrew their
children from the Lawrenceville Academy and sent them either to St. Mary's on
Forty-sixth Street or down to St. Philomena's. This condition prevailed for
about a year and a half.
At length new interest awakened, due
to the efforts of the Redemptorist Fathers. On August 22, 1858, the following
announcement was made in St. Philomena's:
Since the roads in fall and winter are especially bad for the children of
Lawrenceville, it is certainly necessary that a school be established there.
Hence we request the men of the Lawrenceville district to meet this afternoon at
four o'clock in the old school near the residence of Mr. Fleckenstein—4012
Butler Street—to discuss the school question.
The outcome of this meeting was the
opening of another school in Robinson Hall at 4121 Butler Street. Here a
spacious room on the second floor was engaged for a school room. Again the
Redemptorist Fathers appealed to the parents of Lawrenceville to send their
children to this school:
Since the schools in Sligo and
Lawrenceville are established again, the respective parents are urged to send
their children to these schools, and to contribute to their support. Without a
good Catholic school little good may be expected in life either from the
children or from the parents. (14)
The teacher hired for this school was
Mr. John Beck. He was tall, of swarthy complexion and of affable manners. He was
forty-five years old and married. Unfortunately for the school, he fell ill and
died on February 6, 1859, some months after beginning his work, and was buried
from
(13) Announcement Book, March 11, 1857. Bayardstown, i.e., the district of St.
Philomena's Parish, Fourteenth Street and thereabouts.
(14) Ibid., Oct. 3, 18S8. Sligo was the local name of the section settled by the
Catholic Irish, i.e., Forty-sixth Street and the neighborhood.
St. Augustine Church Diamond Jubilee
Page 15
St. Philomena's Church on February 10. Again the Lawrenceville school was in
a precarious condition and to prevent its failure a meeting was called for
February 13, 1859. The Announcement Book says:
Since the teacher, died last Sunday, we request all
the men of Lawrenceville to meet this afternoon at four o'clock in the school.
The purpose of this meeting is to take steps to prevent the discontinuing of the
school.(15)
The record of this meeting has not come down to us.
It seems, however, that some Sisters, probably from St. Philomena's, came daily
to prepare the children for first Communion and to teach during the remainder of
the term. The St. Augustinus (16) records the testimony of Mr. John Wirth, then
one of the oldest members of the parish, that the Know-nothings and other bigots
ridiculed the Sisters and spread caricatures representing the Sisters
maltreating the children. The Sisters must have discontinued their work at the
end of the school term of 1859. The next teacher, Mr. T. Feaux, was engaged for
the fall term of 1859. We know nothing more of him than that he taught until
sometime in 1860 or 1861.
At this point a digression seems in place. The
ever-recurring difficulties with the school proved the necessity of one thing— a
better and more permanent organization of the German Catholics under competent
leadership. This was all the more necessary since the population was growing, as
is evident from the fact that in 1860 no less than seventy houses were built in
the district and Butler Street was paved. Accordingly, the more energetic men of
the German colony effected an organization of the German Catholics and called it
a Gemeinde or congregation. In thorough-going fashion they drew up a
constitution called: Constitution der Deutsch Romisch Catholisch. Gemeinde zu
Lawrenceville. This happened toward the end of 1859 or in the beginning of 1860,
when the school problem had become acute.
What was the specific object of this organization? Evidently to take definite
steps in the way of establishing a school and a church—a Gemeinde or parish for
the German Catholics of Lawrenceville. To this end they selected three men of
sterling character, Messrs. August Hoeveler, Alexander Wirth and Louis Unverzagf,
and entrusted them with the task of securing suitable property.
From the very outset Mr. August Hoeveler was the
leader and director of the organization. John W. Jordan(17) furnishes the
following incomplete biography of this interesting character. He was the
youngest son of William and Clara Hoeveler and was born in Ankum, in the kingdom
of Hanover, Germany, in 1820, and came to the United States when he was
seventeen years old. Here he married Elizabeth O'Leary, daughter of William
O'Leary, a glass manufacturer. Eight children were born from this marriage. The
brothers of August went into the grocery business and soon increased the number
of their stores to three. August, too, became a member of the firm and took
charge of the wagon routes. Later he became sole owner of the store located in
Bayardstown. In 1850 he abandoned the store and undertook the manufacture of
glue, soap and candles. Together with Messrs. Edward Frauenheim and Leopold
Vilsack he helped to establish the Iron City Brewing Company of Pittsburgh and
was also associated with the German National Bank of Pittsburgh. Later he
engaged extensively in the real estate business.
August Hoeveler was a shrewd business man and a
pioneer in laying out suburban property. His plan was to buy large tracts of
unimproved land in desirable locations, divide it into building lots and sell it
on reasonable terms. He was sagacious in his locations and the sites he chose
soon developed into important sections of the city. He was a member of the
borough council of Lawrenceville and when the borough was annexed to Pittsburgh
he was elected to the City Council but died on December 20, 1868, before he
could be initiated into the office.
Entrusted by the Gemeinde to secure property,
Hoeveler as head of the committee of three accomplished the task with marvelous
dispatch. For, on April 20, 1860, by deed made between Robert Wray and
(15) St. Aug., Oct. 1921, p. 7.
(16) Ibid.
(17) A Century and a Half of Pittsburgh and Her People, The Lewis Co., 1908,
vol. Ill, pp. 236-237.
St. Augustine Church Diamond Jubilee
Page 16
St. Augustine Church
Corner 37th & Bandera Sts.
Dedicated 1901
St. Augustine Church Diamond Jubilee
Page 17
Elizabeth Teese, parties of the first part, and August Hoeveler,
Alexander Wirth and Louis Unverzagt, parties of the second part, all the
land between Butler and Bandera Streets, Thirty-sixth and Thirty-seventh
Streets (18) became the property of the German Gemeinde of
Lawrenceville. The Committee paid $7,350.00 for this property. The
committee, further, selected the most suitable portion of the property
facing Butler Street between Thirty-sixth and Thirty-seventh Streets for
church, school and pastoral residence. The remaining land was laid out
in twenty-two lots and sold.
The plot reserved for parish property
comprised more or less the central portion facing Butler Street between
Thirty-sixth and Thirty-seventh Streets. The flanking lots and also the
six large lot's facing Bandera Street in the rear of the parish plot
were sold. On the parish plot there stood a small frame house badly in
need of repairs. At first it was suggested to repair this house and use
it for a school, but later the idea was abandoned. All the property was
held in the name of the committee and not in trust because the Gemeinde
had no priest and no official standing.
It is interesting to know how the committee
raised the funds for this extensive purchase. They had three sources of
income: they contracted loans to the extent of 46,750.00 between April
21, 1860 and December 22, 1862;(19) they sold the superfluous lots,
twenty-two in all, and when the purchaser was unable to pay in full the
committee retained a mortgage at six percent interest; they held a
picnic probably on the newly acquired property on July 4, 1860. The old
Organization Book still preserved in the parish archives contains the
minutes of three interesting meetings held in preparation for the
picnic. To show how detailed and formal were the preparations for the
picnic, we shall give here the minutes of these three meetings.
FIRST MEETING, JUNE 7, 1860
The committee for the German Roman Catholic picnic has decided that:
1. Mr. August Hoeveler be the president of this society.
2. Teacher T. Feaux be the secretary.
3. Mr. Benjamin Schmidt be the treasurer.
4. The dinner and supper tickets be each twenty-five cents.
5. Everybody pay ten cents at the entrance.
6. Dancing be permitted July 4.
7. For three dances, everybody, be they German or English, pay ten
cents.
8. The president engage from four to six musicians.
9. The secretary advertize this picnic in all German papers and send out
invitations to all German Catholic societies.
10. Two constables be engaged.
11. The following men be appointed to keep order: A. Hoeveler, Louis
Unverzagt, Aug. Sterer, Anthon Barth, Alex Wirth, and Matthew Bader.
12. John Elsesser and George Engelking collect tickets and money for the
meals.
13. Aug. Hoeveler and Frank Hawk provide all beverages.
14. The following men attend the bar: John Wirth. John Fleckenstein,
Xaver Helbling, Heinrich Engel, Xaver Burkhart, Jos. Brentner. Joseph
Bischof, Jacob Helbling, Alex Ouoczalla. Michael Helbling, Xaver
Loeffler and Frank Hawk.
15. Mr. B. Schmidt have the supervision of the money.
16. Messrs. Eneel. T. Wirth. and Engelking arrange with the women for
the fortunewheels (Glückschafen).
17. Aug. Hoeveler and Alex Wirth look after the booths and platforms.
18. Frank Link and Albert Wirth collect the entrance money.
19. All members turn in the proceeds to the treasurer for a receipt.
20. Mr. Schmidt procure the prizes.
(18) In those days Bandera Street was called Bank Street;
Thirty-sixth Street was Sycamore Street, and Thirty-seventh Street was
Prospect Street.
(19) borrowed from the following: John Wirth. $300 on April 21, 1860;
Andreas Greilich, $700 on Feb 8, 1861; Xavier Loeffler, $1400 on July 21,
1862; Xavier Helbling. $500 on July 25, 1862; Fred, Mary and Joseph
Genth, $820 on Aug. 4, and $200 on Oct. 14, 1862; Michael Stiebich,
S600 on Sept. 18, 1862; Heinrich Rettmann $710 on Oct. 8, 1862; Gottlieb
Wirth, $300 on Oct. 9, 1862; Johann Buetner, $200 on Oct. 14, 1862: Peter
Junker, $100 on Oct. 25, 1862; Melchior Koffeler, $470 on Nov. 28, 1862; Peter
Blimling, $400 on Dec. 2, 1862; Nickolaus Hay, $50 on Dec. 22, 1862. Cf.
St. Aug., 1921, p. 6.
St. Augustine Church Diamond Jubilee
Page 18
21. The picnic committee meet again in the school next Sunday at seven o'clock.
(Signed) June 7, 1860.
The next meeting took place on June 14, 1860. It was
ordered that John Wirth get the ticket's from the president and distribute them;
that after the picnic, the money be turned over to the treasurer for a receipt
and that they meet again two weeks later.
The third meeting was held on July 1, 1860 and
passed the following resolutions:
Decreed that:
1. Mr. Aug. Hoeveler have the right to appoint the men who are to keep order on
the dancing floor.
2. Xaver Burkhart serve as butler and retail the beverages to the bartenders for
cash payment.
3. Xaver Burkhart distribute the Deidesheimer wine to the bartenders for
twenty-five cents and the Markgrãfler wine for twenty cents.
4. The teacher shall examine every article delivered and give a receipt for
same.
5. Xaver Burkhart and J. Helbling collect all things for the picnic and haul
them with their own teams to the grounds. Frank Helbling, Johann
Kalchthaler, Fred Kalb cut meat for the tables.
6. Anton Bischof provide lemonade.
The proceeds of this much-heralded picnic are given as
$403.41. From now on picnics and festivals were held periodically, for the
organization was live and energetic. Rivalry among the workers was common. We
are told, for instance, that the custom prevailed that the workers who were
first on the grounds might select any stand they desired. Enthusiasm and rivalry
ran so high on one occasion that some of the workers were on the picnic grounds
as early as two o'clock in the morning so as to secure the stand of their
choice. (20)
But while busy with picnics and other money-making
amusements to pay off the property debt, the Germans did not fail to struggle
ahead with their school. In 1860 or 1861 they withdrew from the old Robinson
Hall on Butler Street and placed the pupils in what was called the "Alley
School" located in the alley between Thirty-sixth and Thirty-seventh Streets. At
that time the Alley was a much used thoroughfare since Thirty-sixth Street was
in bad condition. The building used for school now stood on the fifth lot from
Bandera Street and was owned by Mr. Patrick McCabe. There was nothing attractive
about the location of this "Alley School". All along the lots there was a
precipice due to a great washout of the past. The rear room facing Thirty-sixth
Street rested on posts and the entire building was lower than the alley level.
The main entrance faced the alley. The corner of the present Church Alley and
Thirty-sixth Street seems to correspond with its location.
The first teacher in the "Alley School" was Mr. T.
Feaux who had taught in Robinson Hall. His successor was Maximilian Werder. For
some unknown reason he was discharged and again the school had to close for some
weeks until the new teacher, Mr. John Kraus. appeared on the scene. The "Alley
School" reopened and continued to operate till January, 1862 when a new school
was built.
In recounting the story thus far we must not fail to
pay a well-merited tribute to the Redemptorist Fathers of St. Philomena's. It
was they who started the school and fostered its development during the first
seven years of the parish history. With true missionary zeal they worked quietly
and persistently in the spiritual vineyard they had planted in Lawrenceville.
While the records of heaven contain adequate details of their apostolic
activity, their own chronicle records only the following few items of this
period:
As to our activity—it is about the same as in the
foregoing years. Most of the German Catholics of Lawrenceville attend St.
Philomena's Church, but some worship either at Sharpsburg or at the English
Church in Lawrenceville . The schools of Pittsburgh were visited by two
priests twice a week. Once every week a Father visited the school at Sligo, and
returning from Sharpsburg, he would visit the Lawrenceville school to impart
religious instruction. But unlike the school at Sligo, the Lawrenceville school
was not without frequent interruption owing to the frequent changes of teachers.
With the organization and determination of the
Germans to obtain their own independent parish, the active interest of the
Redemptorists seems to have ended. Report
(20) St. Jug., Nov., 1921, pp. 7, 12.
St. Augustine Church Diamond Jubilee
page 19
had it that while they did not oppose the move for an independent parish in Lawrenceville, they did not countenance it with favor, and so far as the writer could ascertain, their name is nowhere mentioned in connection with the parish property. In 1861, an altogether new name appears in the records—that of Reverend George Kircher. His part in the further development of the parish we must now relate.
Return to Allegheny County Archives Index Page
Martha A C Graham, Allegheny County Archives File Manager
Copyright 2011 - Present, USGenWeb Archives