History of St. Patrick's Parish, Merna, Illinois in 1929 Written by Margaret Larkin Kinsella
It is with deep pleasure that I write here the story of our parish at Merna. Reading in the Register accounts of other catholic settlements in this region, we find that many of them, and smaller ones, were founded before ours. But this is the humble history of Saint Patrick's, gathered, much of it, from the memories of us whose fathers and mothers pioneered here. About the year 1860 one would find some of the Catholic families of these parts driving in lumber wagons to Bloomington for Mass, whenever they could. Others, to the north, attended the Holy Sacrifice at the home of Dan Shine, and occasionally in that of Tom Maloney or Tim Fenton. But it was about '66, at the time of the illness with lung fever of Patrick Kinsella, that we came to have the Mass in our midst. His life being despaired of, his family sent to Bloomington for a priest.. After ministering to the sick man, Father O'Hara talked with Mrs. Kinsella, asking about the number of catholic families in this vicinity. She named them, scattered around, and then the priest said, "You should have Mass in some home around here." He inquired of Mrs. Kinsella a suitable location and she offered to ask her neighbor, Mrs. Edward Hanley, who had a four room place and would be happy to have it used for such a purpose. The priest said, "You ask Mrs. Hanley, and let me know her answer. I'll take care of the rest, and you shall have Mass." At the glad consent of Mrs. Hanley and her family, it was arranged that Mass should be celebrated every second Sunday. On several occasions the James Merna home, too, was used. And the Merna school having been built in '67, it was also sometimes used. Father McDermott was now Pastor of Holy Trinity in Bloomington, and, with his assistants, attended the people here. When the school proved too small to accomodate the growing congregation, it was decided to build a church. Patrick Kinsella donated ample ground for this, across the road and north of the house where Mass had been said. Subscriptions were cheerfully given; the frame building was begun. The farmers contributed their services freely, helping where they could. Everyone looked with pride at their growing edifice, a place in which to worship God. An appropriate altar, ample seats, two large heating stoves were placed -- and in 1876 Bishop Spaulding (John Lancaster) of Peoria dedicated the church as St. Patrick's. At this time Father McDermott was busy with the building of Holy Trinity Church, so Father Schrieber of St. Mary's, Bloomington, was given the parish here as a Mission. Father Schrieber, truly Franciscan, asked that the Stations of the Cross be erected. A few young ladies were given the duty of soliciting funds from the women of the countryside. Among them were Mary Larkin, my sister, and Miss Annie Sullivan, now Mrs. Henry Meyer of Colfax, who went about on horseback. They were given a dollar or fifty cents from the various house-wives who gave what they did at a sacrifice, for it was hard to manage in days when chickens averaged four or five cents a pound; eggs, six and seven cents a dozen; butter, ten or twelve cents a pound! A picnic was held on the grounds on the Fifteenth of August, with the food -- baked chicken, ham, bread, pies, cakes, milk, butter, and the like -- all donated by the willing women of the parish. I recall that my sister and brother drove in a lumber wagon to gather the food from ten or twelve families living to the north; Catherine Campbell and her brother did the same on the south; while one of the Evan's girls, with her brother, Steve, brought it in from the east. And so the erection of the Stations of the Cross was made possible. At this time, the Fathers, after saying Mass, had their breakfasts at the Hanley home, and later, the Kerwin family having purchased the Hanley place, with the Kerwins. -1-
When Father Weldon became pastor of Holy Trinity, our parish was assigned him as a mission. Father, later Monsignor, was very fond of the people of this vicinity. On one occasion, overtaxed with the Trinity debt, he asked the men to remain outside after Mass. When he came to them he told them he had to meet a note of eight hundred dollars --- for interest -- the following friday and that he did not know how he was to raise it. "Could they help him," he asked, "if only with a part of it?" They promised they would do what they could. So the priest drove around to see them, and in a few days the eight hundred was raised. For this timely aid and for other helps, Father Weldon never forgot them. In the year 1883, Father Edward Ryan was appointed our first resident pastor. He roomed and boarded in the Kerwin home. Father Ryan was very fond of horseback riding. Mr. Kerwin owned a fine black horse, well gaited, and it was the priest's delight to mount the horse and visit his parishioners at a distance. The year 1885 found Father M. L. O'Connor succeeding Father Ryan. He, too, shared the home of the Kerwins until a residence was available. And here I pause to make mention of the hospitality of the good wife and mother of this family. She had much to do, her family consisting of her husband and five growing children. Annie, a daughter, was now married to Michael Gould. Mrs. Kerwin was a small, slight woman, very quick to accomplish work and ever kind and congenial. Father O'Connor, too, had a wonderful personality, so the pleasure in that home was mutual. In church there, had been the singing of hymns, with Mrs. Will Merna as organist. But since her home duties of necessity took much of her time, Father O'Connor reorganized the choir, attending all rehearsals, and soon had the Mass and Responses taught. The choir members at that time were Mr. and Mrs. Michael Gould, Mary and Maggie Crane, Ellen and Rebecca Kinsella, Thomas Hanley, Mary Kerwin, and Maggie Larkin. The priest, witnessing the growth of the parish, began plans for a parsonage. The town of Merna, named in honor of the Merna family as the Illinois Central Railroad came through this country in 1883, lay a mile to the north. It was there, then, that Father purchased an acre of land from Edward Crane, a parishioner residing where James Gould now lives. The people subscribed well, and the house -- not so large as the present one -- was built. Father occupied it, and then, sometime the following winter -- 1886 -- it burned to the ground. The building was well covered with insurance, but the priest felt keenly the loss of his beloved library which he highly prized. The house was rebuilt the next summer, on nearly the same plan, and Father moved into it. In the spring of '88 Bishop Spaulding called Father O'Connor to Peoria to act in the capacity of Chancellor of the diocese and named as pastor of our parish Father Daniel O'Dwyer, then assistant to Father Weldon at Trinity. Since the Rectory was at Merna, Father O'Dwyer had to drive the mile south to say Mass, as had Father O'Connor. The congregation was growing, more Catholics were moving in, and the little frame church was plainly too small for the eighty families it was now serving. Bishop, priest, and people being in agreement as to the need of such, Father drove out through the country to get subscriptions. I remember that at the end of the third day he had seven thousand dollars on his list, made up of three hundred, two hundred fifty, two hundred, and one hundred fifty dollar donations. When he had made the rounds of the parish, Father began the work of building. A short time before the Reverend J. J. Quinn had built St. Peter and Paul Church in Chatsworth, and he invited Father O'Dwyer with his committee -- Mr. Thomas Campbell, Mr. John Grimes, Fr. Frank Hanley, and Mr. Terrence Carmody -- to see it. This group was pleased with the Chatsworth Church and adopted almost the same plans and specifications, other than to make it larger. In 1890 the contract was let for $13,500. The church was to be a brick -2-
structure in gothic style to seat five hundred persons. The material ordered was soon shipped to Merna for unloading., Some parishioners came in promptly with wagons to move the brick, lime, and lumber to the grounds, while others brought plows, scrapers, and shovels to excavate the basement. Father O'Dwyer, his sister, and Miss Halpin, their housekeeper -- afterwards Mrs. Thomas Griffin, Sr. -- in their hospitable Irish way, prepared dinner for all those helping. The ladies of the parish, seeing this, provided hams, eggs, lard, milk, and butter for the following days and gave assurance that bread and pies would be sent in time for the noon day meals. Everyone worked in harmony and in ten days or two weeks the mechanics were on duty. This was in the spring of 1890. The building progressed steadily and was plastered and enclosed by winter. Sometime in January a bazaar was planned to help meet expenses. Business men in Bloomington donated well towards the ticket and articles to raffle. The bazaar proved a financial success and a gala time for the young people of the vicinity, of Bloomington, and of adjoining towns, providing, as it did, dancing and other amusements for almost two weeks. When spring came, work was resumed. The inside was completed, the decorating finished, memorial windows donated and installed, the beautiful main altar and the matching side altars of Our Blessed Mother and St. Joseph erected. It was Father O'Dwyer who placed the statues of St. Patrick and St. Boniface as they are today. He selected them as the patron saints of the Irish and the German people who had contributed generously to the edifice. On June 30, 1891, Bishop John Lancaster Spaulding dedicated the church we all know and love so well. It may be interesting to learn that Mary Agnes Dalton, daughter of Harry and Ella Dalton, was the first child baptized in the new St. Patrick's; Mary Cunningham and the late James Larkin, the first couple married here. Sometime this year, too, the Bell -- St. Albion -- was blessed, with Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Campbell as sponsors. Heretofore there was no cemetery nearer than St. Mary's, Bloomington. The dust and the heat in summer, the often extreme cold and bad roads of the winter made this condition so hard that having a parish cemetery was discussed and Mr. Campbell and Mr. Kerwin enjoined to look for a site. Five acres of the William Casey place seemed most suitable. This land was purchased by Father O'Dwyer and was blessed by the Bishop in 1893 as Holy cross Cemetery. Mr. Michael Bergan was the first parishioner laid away there, December 1893. Mrs. Michael Moore and Mrs. Richard Kerwin were removed from St. Mary's Cemetery to repose in our midst. Without a doubt, Father O'Dwyer holds the record for the number of marriages performed here, many of our homes having been established during his time with us. He had regular attendance at Mass and the sacraments, well trained altar boys and a good choir. Members of the choir, as I recall, were Patrick and Catherine O'Rourke, James and Alice Quinn, Catherine Kinsella, Hugh Kelley and his sister Mary Ellen, Mrs. James Quinn, William Foran, and William and Bessie Larkin, with me as organist. I might name the organists as they followed one another: Mrs. Will Merna; Mrs. John Rhinehart; Maggie Larkin Kinsella; Catherine Kinsella, now Sister Ethelreda; Mrs. Richard Kerwin; Miss Therese Coyne; Mary Foran Pendergast; Mary Kinsella Kelley; and our present one, Margaret E. Kinsella. But now -- in 1898 Father O'Dwyer was transferred to Chebanse and Father T. J. McKinnery came to succeed him. Father McKinnery was with us just two short years when the Reverend Edward c Hearn was appointed in his place. It was in 1902, at the beginning of Father Hearn's pastorate, that the cyclone struck Merna that took the lives of Annie Kelley and the two Gahagan girls. The storm did considerable damage to the church, wrecking the steeple. While the building was being repaired, Sunday Mass was celebrated on the lawn just south of the church. At this time one of our good women passed away, the wife and mother of the highly esteemed Charles Hopt family. The Funeral Mass was in her own home, which now belongs to -3-
Sophie and Anna Hopt. now owned by De Loss Kagel family Father Hearn was most particular in his catechism instruction of the children. He was very strict with his altar boys too. After they had learned the Latin those of the boys living near had their weeks of serving the daily Mass assigned them. In this group we recall Leo Moore, Harry McGrath, Dan Carmody, Ray, William, and Bill Kinsella. Too, Father Hearn added a number of statues, the Baptismal Font, and the Pipe Organ. He organized an all male choir, his pride and joy. He also repaired the house and added to it on the rear. About 1909 the parishes of Downs and Colfax were established, taking some of our people from the south and east. In March, 1913, the Reverend Stephen N. Moore came to succeed Father Hearn, who was appointed to Clinton. Father Moore, a very pious priest, remained here only eighteen months when he in turn was transferred to Clinton and the Reverend John Lentz took charge of the parish. He was an elderly man, devout, content and happy, who loved this congregation so much that in his last illness he asked to be buried among us. He died in November, 1917, and to our happiness, lies just below the Celtic Cross atop the Mound in the center of our Cemetery. Appointed to succeed Father Lentz was Father Charles O'Brien who repaired the heating system of the church in the way of changing the air registers, greatly increasing the comfort of the building during the winter. Aged and delicate, he took sick the following year and died at St. Joseph's Hospital in the early fall of 1918. A young and active priest was now sent us, Father John Fitzpatrick, who was born and raised in Bloomington. Order was his first law. He was quite a homebody, serious in matters of concern, fond of walking, and particularly interested in baseball. He liked to have the young lads at this game and delighted in "batting flies" for them. During his stay here the parochial residence was remodeled. Father Fitzpatrick remained until May, 1929., when he was appointed to the Sacred Heart Parish, Rock Island. Madeline Hopt and Coke Heller were married May 1928 by Father Fitzpatrick. We come now to the Ninth Inning, when Father John D. Ring, our present pastor, took charge. The first year, probably, times were good, but then came the Depression, making it hard to meet the running expenses of the parish. Father, however, was patient and full of confidence. In 1936 he had the Stations and statues painted and in 1937 undertook the task of having the interior of the church redecorated -- an outstanding accomplishment. The delicate colors so beautifully blended, the gorgeous angels, the inspiring symbols are the admiration of all and a definite incentive to prayer. I daresay there are few churches more artistically finished or few more truly gothic. New flooring and padded kneeling benches followed. Too, it was Father Ring who established our homecoming on Labor Day. Former parishioners return and there is much handshaking and sociability. Father Ring is kind, zealous for souls, and most comforting in sickness or trouble. This, being a meeting of the Altar and Rosary Society, brings to mind that we are indebted to Father Ring for having had our Society (Sodality) canonically erected and thus made sharers of the privileges and indulgences granted by Rome. Father Graham gave our Forty Hours and he and Father Ring enrolled members. Our pastor and his beloved sister, Miss Sally Ring, are good company and we appreciate and enjoy having them with us. Throughout these years our parish has been blessed with several religious vocations. Two aunts of Joseph Merna became Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondolet in the early seventies -- Margaret as Sister Ciscilda and Sallie as Sister James. Sister James was soon appointed the Mother Superior of an Orphanage and remained so for years. Anna Crane joined the Sinsinawa Dominicans in 1880 as Sister Polycarp; Bride Quinn as Sister Amata in 1892; Mary Merna (Mollie) also Sister James and sister of Joseph Merna, joined the same St. Joseph community as her aunt and taught school in Campus, Illinois. Julia Wall entered the Dominican Order in '99 as -4-
Sister Bernice, Catherine Kinsella in 1906 as Sister M. Ethelreda; and Rose Kerber in 1925 as Sister Audrey. Charlotte Kinsella, now Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity, O.C.D., entered the Carmel of Bettendorf, Iowa in 1927. Rosella Merna, also Joseph Merna's sister, became a Visitation nun, Sister James, at Rock Island in 1928. Margaret Josephine Kinsella, Sister Mary Ange, O.P. joined the Dominicans in 1929 and Marcella Soeldner, Sister John Fischer, in 1937. Father Edmund. Sweeney of the secular clergy of our diocese was born and baptized in this parish. He was later in the Joliet Diocese when that diocese was formed and was made a Monsignor. Father John Edmund Flanagan, a Jesuit, grandson of the Patrick Kinsella mentioned at the beginning of this article, we claim partly since bis mother grew up here. Father Thomas (Terrence) Carmody was ordained June 7, 1931, at St. John's, Collegeville, Minnesota. Father James Francis Larkin, C.S.V., our Viatorian, was ordained in 1939 in Washington, D.C. Steve Gould, baptized here and a grade school and altar boy of our parish, is now a cleric in St. Paul, while Leo Kinsella, whose parents Arthur Kinsella and Lucy Frawley Kinsella were life-long residents of this place, is a Dominican novice in Kentucky. Before closing I wish to add that we feel a pleased pride in -- I shall not say our ancestors or forefathers, but rather --our parents and grandparents, who struggled to give time, energy, and means to build such a fine edifice in which to honor and worship God. We shall try to do our part to maintain and to keep kindled the faith in God and the love of Him that they handed down to us, parishioners too, of St. Patrick's. These good people had not the opportunity of daily Mass, frequent Communion, and the devout exercises that we have. As we kneel at home or in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, let us pray for the happy repose of their souls. Added in 1959 and re-edited in 1975. On October 12, 1950, Father Ring was made Rector of St. Patrick's, Bloomington, and Father Walter Buche took up the pastorate of St. Patrick's, Merna. He was a personable, energetic, zealous priest who made many improvements in the parish property as well as many friends. He taught us to sing and recite the prayers of the Mass. Florence Rosenkranz, his housekeeper, was. well regarded by the people. In June of 1956 Father Buche was sent to found and establish Holy Family Parish of Peoria, and Father Raymond G. Sprague came to be our Pastor. He and his mother, Mrs. Kathryn Sprague, were devoted to each other and her death on July 27, 1971, after some weeks at St. Joseph's Hospital, was sad for him. We have more vocations to speak of. Father Eugene Gould, of our diocese, we can not claim, but like his brother, he spent his boyhood here. In September, 1945, Michael Gould entered Maryknoll as a student at Venard, Pennsylvania. He was ordained on June 12, 1954, and was sent to Bolivia, South America, for missionary work. On May 26, 1956, Father Donald F. M. Kelley was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., and was sent to a parish in Bryantown, Maryland. After almost seventeen years in Bryantown and several months as administrator of St. John Vianney Church in Prince Frederick County, Father Donald was made Pastor of Holy Redeemer Parish in College Park, Maryland, on March 24, 1974. In 1954 Ann Elizabeth Kelley entered the Dominican Order. After her Profession she taught in high schools in Madison, Wisconsin, and in Oklahoma City. In 1966 she took up Newman work, serving three years as a chaplain at Ball State University in Indiana and six years at the Harvard-Radcliffe catholic Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1975 she was awarded a doctorate in church history from Boston University. Charlotte Gould entered the Sinsinawa Dominicans and was received in 1962. Sister Charlotte taught in New York and in Peoria, and has done special nursery school and kindergarten teaching at Immaculate Conception School in Chicago. -5-
The father of Bishop Edward W. O'Rourke was born and raised in our parish as was the mother of Reverend Joseph McGown of Peoria. Bishop O'Rourke's mother was also born here. We are proud and glad to have now as our bishop, Edward O'Rourke. He is humble and very concerned about the poor of the world. His first assignment in our diocese was to the Newman Center at the University of Illinois where he taught many credit courses and made life-long friends. Later, as Executive Director of National Rural Life, he helped establish cooperative and education projects among the poor in different areas of our own country. As a member of the Board of Directors of International Voluntary Services he made many trips to foreign countries and he has worked on legislative measures in Washington, D.C. His catholicity is appreciated by the people of this diocese. We are justly proud of the fine young married couples who live in and around Merna -- of their lovely families and their zeal and interest in the values of their religion. We have had dedicated catechism teachers who worked for many years under the direction of Mrs. Clarence carmody with two Dominican Sisters coming each week to work with the high school group. Our choir members have been devoted to their work as evidenced by the music they presented on the 75th anniversary celebration of the parish. We prize and appreciate the talent and direction of Mrs. Barbara Heller who prepared the anniversary celebration. Organists not mentioned earlier include Margaret Kelley, John Kinsella, Jr., Martha Larkin, Kay and Bernard Killian and Rosemary Korte. We have had a number of study clubs, one organized by Mrs. Alice Carmody and Miss Margaret E. Kinsella in 1939 and still active thirty years later. In 1952 our Blue Cross Catholic Medical Society Mission Circle was established by Mrs. Carmody. . Following her move to Bloomington Mrs. Joseph Merna carried on for three years until 1974 when Mrs. James Bliss took charge and it has flourished with new vigor. Our parish has admirably supported our efforts. The establishment of Epiphany Parish in our end of Normal made catholic schooling available to many of the young children and, of late, some of our families have joined that parish. Father Sprague, in virtual retirement, is still the Pastor of our Church. We descendants of the people who settled this country and built this parish hope to exemplify further the good we have known from them, to prove our gratitude for the noble heritage and God given blessings that are ours. Our prayer is: God bless us all -- Thanks be to God.
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Towanda District Library - Towanda Area Historical Collection
