THE

BENEDICTINE FATHERS

IN CAMBRIA COUNTY
PENNSYLVANIA

Gold Cross

1925

By The Rev., Modestus Wirtner, O. S. B.

PERMISSU SUPERIORUM

Copyright 1926

Rev. Modestus Wirtner, O. S. B.

CONTENTS

St. Joseph's Church 9
The First Settlement 11
Catholic Missions 12
The First Mass in Western Pennsylvania 13
Father Gallitzin at Loretto 14
Biographical Sketch of Demetrius A. Gallitzin 15
The Second Church in Cambria County, Ebensburg 16
Pioneers of St. Joseph's Church 16
St. Joseph's Church 17
St. Joseph's Church. "Hart's Sleeping Place" 18
Subscription List to Build St. Joseph's Church 18
Building of St. Joseph's Church 20
Date of Dedication of St. Joseph's Church 20
Bishop Kenrick Visits the Mountains 21
The Benedictines at St. Joseph's Church 23
The Rev. Peter Henry Lemke, O.S.B. 27
Lemke a Luthern Preacher 28
Lemke a Catholic Priest 31
Lemke Goes to America 31
Father Lemke's First Meeting of Father Gallitzin 36
Lemke Pastor of Ebensburg 38
Lemke's Baptismal Register for 1834-35 40
The Experiences of a Missionary 41
Lemke Pastor of St. Joseph's Church 43
"The Old Chapel" at Carrolltown 45
Lemke Buys a Farm at St. Joseph's Church 46
Father Lemke's Dwelling at Carrolltown 47
The New Location of Carrolltown 49
Lemke Takes a Vacation 52
The Rev. Boniface Wimmer, O.S.B. 53
The Rev. Boniface Wimmer, O.S.B. 54
Rt. Rev. Aurelius Stehle, O.S.B. 56
Lemke Sells Lots in Carrolltown 57
Lemke Returns to Carrolltown and Becomes Benedictine Monk 59
Lemke Leaves for Kansas 60
A New View of St. Vincent Archabbey, College and Seminary 61
Lemke in New Jersey 63
Father Lemke's Death 64
Life of St. Benedict 69
Spread of the Order Over Northern Europe 75
The Benedictines in the United States 78
The Medal of Saint Benedict 80
Instruction on the Medal of Saint Benedict 81
The Cistercian or Trappist Monks at Carrolltown 85
The Diamond Jubilee 95
Introduction 97
St. Benedict's Church 98
St. Benedict's Church, Carrolltown 99
The Very Rev. Celestine Englbrecht O.S.B. 100
The Subscription List for a Church 101
The Rev. Peter Lechner Begins the Church, also at Glen Connell 104
The Very Rev. Benedict Haindl 106
The Very Rev. Celestine Englbrecht, Dedication of the Church 106
The Missions Attended from Here 108
The Very Rev. Ildephonse Boeld. Final Statement 109
The Very Rev. Celestine Englbrecht 111
The First Parochial School 112
High Altar, St. Benedict's Church 113
Bishop Young, Bishop Wirtner 114
St. Benedict's Parochial School 115
The Very Rev. Utho Huber. The Mission. The Cemetery 116
The Very Rev. Otto Kopf. The Cemetery. The Stoves 116
The Very Rev. Giles Christoph. Small Pox Epidemic 118
Nicktown. The Church Enlarged. The Monastery Built 118
The Very Rev. Benno Hegele 119
The Sisters. Parochial School 119
The Very Rev. Aemilian Wendel. Jos. Behe's Saw Mill 120
The Very Rev. Amandus Kramer. The Tower 120
The Bells 121
A First Mass, Father Anthony, Father's Ambrose and Denis 122
First Brick Parochial School House 123
Farewell to Prior Kramer 124
The Very Rev. Otto Kopf, O.S.B. Father Vincent Huber 124
St. Benedict's High Altar 125
The Rev. Modestus Wirtner. Joseph Eger 126
The Rev. Louis Flick and Alcuin Maucher 126
The Very Rev. Benedict Menges. Painting Outside of the Church 127
The New Congregation at Hastings 127
The Very Rev. Raymund Daniel. Patton, Spangler, Churches 128
The Very Rev. Michael Hofmayer. The Rev. Aloysius Luther 128
The Rev. Agatho Strittmatter and Denis Severin 129
The Very Rev. Emmeran Singer. Silver Jubilee of Rev. Anthony 129
Golden Jubille of St. Benedict's Church, 130
The Monastery Destroyed. Father Clement and Bakerton 131
The Very Rev. Leopold Probst. Death of Rev. Celestine 132
The New Organ. Dedication of Bakerton Church 132
The Enlarged Parochial School Building Blessed 133
The Very Rev. Thomas Wolf. The Enlarged Cemetery Blessed 134
The Rev. Michael Hlafcak, Alto Hecker, Malachy Brawley 134
The Very Rev. Thomas Wolf, O.S.B. 135
The Church. Is it a New Building? 136
Rev. Claude Geary, O.S.B. 137
Donors of Windows 138
The Church Committee and the Organists 139
St. Scholastica's Convent, Carrolltown 140
St. Benedict's School 141
Pastors and Assistants 142
Benedictine Monastery, Carrolltown 144
Missionary Work and Outside Missions 145
Vocations to the Priesthood and Religion 146
Names of Sisters of the Parish of St. Benedict, Carrolltown 147
A Group Picture 149
Societies of St. Benedict's Church 150
World War Service Men 152
Rt. Rev. Vincent Huber, O.S.B. 154
Soldiers Buried in the Cemetery Here 155
Chronological Events 156
Carrolltown, "Know Your Town" 165
Notes 183

DEDICATION

This Book is Dedicated to the people of Saint
Benedict's Parish, Carrolltown,
Pennsylvania.

Rt. Rev. E. A. Garvey, D. D.
RT. REV. E. A. GARVEY, D. D.

PREFACE

The following pages were written in order to gather up the fragments lest they be lost. The first part, the history of St. Joseph's Church, gives the correct year of building St. Joseph's Church, the date of the Dedication, the year in which the Rectory was built, and a list of the Priests in charge of the congregation.

The second part: The life of The Rev. Henry Lemke, O.S.B., gives the exact time when he bought his farm at St. Joseph's, when he changed the location of his prospective town, Carrolltown, and incidently to show why the town was called Carrolltown, and when the first houses were built in the town.

The third part: Gives the year when the Cistercian Monks, sometimes called the Trappist Monks, lived here in the vicinity of Carrolltown.

The fourth part, the History of St. Benedict's Church was written for the special occasion of the Diamond Jubilee of the Dedication of the Church.

If these few pages brush away the cobwebs from the mind of the reader, the writer will regard himself as adequately rewarded.

Rt. Rev. Jno. J. McCort, D. D.
RT. REV. JNO. J. McCORT, D. D.
Bishop of Altoona

 

Part 0 - Contents
Part 1 - St. Joseph's Church
Part 2a - Life of Rev. Henry Lemke
Part 2b - Life of Rev. Henry Lemke (cont'd.)
Part 3 - St. Benedict, Patriarch of the Monks of the West
Part 4 - Cistercian Monks
Part 5a - St. Benedict's Church
Part 5b - St. Benedict's Church (cont'd.)
Part 5c - St. Benedict's Church (cont'd.)
Part 6 - Carrolltown - Know your town
Contributed to the PAGenWeb Archives by Romayne Shay McMahon, 2005.
OCRed and proofread by Judy Banja jbanja@comcast.net
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